find joy in the journey

trick or treat

You've gotta think that for kids, Halloween is the best day of the year.  You knock on a door, say trick-or-treat, and people willingly hand you candy with a smile.  Don't you think it just blows their little minds?  And once they "get it", there's no stopping them.

But it also surprises me to see that my kids get just as much joy in handing out the candy as they do in receiving it.  Even Anna has picked up on this.  At the trunk-or-treat tonight she stood in the back of the van with me, gleefully holding candy in her fists, reaching out towards everyone who came by -- she never tried to open or chew on them, she just wanted to share her candy! 

We had a great Halloween, lots of candy, I did finish the costumes (the last stitches were done at 11:30pm last night), and everyone was very well behaved (no sugar meltdowns).

QoTD

So, I don't know if anyone noticed my vox badge on the lower right side bar.  Not that I think you need to pay attention to it . . .  just something I added for fun.  Typepad has set up a new free service for blogging and I'd thought I'd test it out -- it's free, what the heck.  One of the things I like over at Vox is the latest QoTD -- Question of The Day.  So that's basically what I do over there, answer the QoTD.  And sometimes I contribute to the VoxHunt -- another daily question/assignment where they ask you to show them something cute, or blue, squiggly, or nostalgic (just some of the past hunt themes). 

rambling, rambling, rambling . . . Just thought I'd link my response to today's QoTD:  Do you remember your first flight?  Where did you go?  Why?  Over the course of answering the question I unwravelled some other stuff that was pretty fun blogging, but too much to recreate here -- think flashback to 1993, age 13, the evolution of scrapbooking, and yes there are incriminating photos. 

okay got to go.  Now that I think about it, the fact that I'm blogging about a blog post might be a sign that I'm way too addicted to this stuff.  Hmmm, maybe the computer needs to stay off this weekend . . .

on a fall day

Yesterday afternoon I looked out the window, saw patches of blue sky, and the golden fall sun streaming across the neighborhood.  As quickly as I could I gathered everyone together (pants, shoes, jackets) and headed outside for some fresh air.  The boys rode their bikes, Anna furiously walked up and down the sidewalks as fast as her little feet could carry her (like she had just been released from her cage), we picked up crunchy leaves, and stopped to admire leaf-storms when the wind picked up.

This last week I have really enjoyed the precious sunshine we have received.  The golden light has inspired me to take more pictures, bouquets of fallen leaves enter the house daily - they're just so pretty, and I'm thinking more and more about painting my family room a warm yellow/golden color. 

In my november Parenting magazine some doctor says, "women who don't get enough [light] can feel low on energy and have trouble focusing".  They're suggestions include

• wash your windows to let more sunlight into your house (ha, likely that will happen),
• take walks in the morning
• find the sunniest spot in the house to read or relax in
• or paint a room that gets plenty of sunshine a light color to make it even brighter (hmmm, that's got me thinking)

Or my suggestion, take your kids outside on a leaf-finding & gathering expedition.  The kids have also enjoyed counting them (doesn't take very long or much work to get to 100).  And they like doing leaf rubbings/etchings as well.

Anyways, I just wanted to wish you a happy fall.

one pan chicken and potato bake

• 4 bone-in chicken pieces (1 1/2 lb.)
• 4 large potatoes, cut into wedges
• 1/4 cup zesty Italian dressing
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place chicken and potatoes in 9x13 pan.

Pour dressing over chicken and potatoes, sprinkle with cheese.

Bake 1 hour or until chicken is cooked through.  Sprinkle with fresh parsley, if desired.

A new recipe; I made this for dinner tonight.  Pretty good.  But the reason it is making my delicious list comes from these jaw-dropping words that came out of Conner's mouth, "Can we have this for dinner again tomorrow?"  I'm just shocked.  Dinner for Conner usually involves a piece of bread & butter and the few bites of everything else on his plate that we require him to eat.  So at dinner tonight when he kept saying "this is so good.  Thanks mom for the great dinner!", asking for seconds, and laughing & giggling the whole time, I knew this was a moment to remember.

note:  Conner did not eat any of the potatoes and he doused his chicken in ketchup.  So whether or not it's a great recipe could be up for debate.

update:  We had this a second night, like Conner requested (I didn't make it all over again, just warmed up the leftovers) and he stuck his nose up at it!  He said it tasted like fish and he does not like fish.  These kids are so fickle.

honesty

I taught in RS yesterday -- my topic was honesty & integrity based on a recent general conference talk.  In my preparations I came across a quote by Spencer W. Kimball that I had put into my lesson plan, but ended up not having enough time to use it.  Now if you can't remember or just don't know much about Kimball . . . he tells it like it is and he doesn't ever leave you guessing on his stand.  Here he is speaking about his desire for his grandchildren to learn honesty:

I hope you will teach my dear ones to be honest. There is so much cheating and stealing and dishonesty. Integrity is laughed at and dishonesty is taught by the family and the community. Little dishonest pranks are laughed at. The little child is often clever enough to deceive and take advantage of its cuteness. The child is often permitted to get by with little thefts. A parent who understates the age of the child to avoid adult prices in shows and planes and trains and buses is forcefully teaching the child to be dishonest. He will not forget these lessons. Some parents permit the child to break the law as to fire crackers, the use of guns, fishing and hunting without license. The children are permitted to drive without a license or to falsify their ages. Those who take little things without accounting for [them] such as fruit from the neighbor’s yard, a pen from a desk, a package of gum from the … shelf, all are being taught silently that little thefts and dishonesties are not so bad.
            We may be bucking a strong tide, but we must teach our children that sin is sin. … I express my concern over the increasing need of fortifying our youth. (“What I Hope You Will Teach My Grandchildren and All Others of the Youth of Zion,” [address to seminary and institute personnel at Brigham Young University, 11 July 1966], 2)

Get ready, because next year we will be studying his teachings all year long.  It's going to be so much fun!!

german pancakes

I told the boys I was making German Pancakes for dinner tonight.  Payton kept asking me:

when are the germs and pancakes going to be ready?

This totally caught me off guard and funny because we have German Pancakes quite often, but I don't ever remember him calling them "germs & pancakes."  I guess we always called them "rectangle pancakes" so maybe he has never heard the real name.

Today I also let him try on his half-finished Peter Pan costume and he asked, "Can I fly now?"  Isn't that just so sweet!  It was a while back ago that we decided on Peter Pan for little mr. Payton this year.  He seemed to be excited about it until one day he came to me with his squishy face, furrowed brow, and pouty lips and said, "but I'm afraid to fly."  Also, a very cute comment.  But obviously he has gotten over his fear and he is ready to fly.

spooky treats

Made some of these today with the kiddo.  It was a totally fun project -- sooo easy and a great snack for 9:00am. =) 

our hawaiian vacation

We're back.  Tan.  Rested.  Relaxed.

We loved every moment of our vacation -- we can't think of a single thing that we would have changed.  We sat on the beach, we read our books, we got 9-10 hours of sleep every night, we ate lots of pineapple, we did a few activities here and there.  But we never rushed ourselves.  We rarely left the resort.  It just couldn't have been any better.

On our first day there we decided to rent a couple chairs and an umbrella for the day.  When we brought our rental ticket to the chair guys on the beach they asked us, "where would you like you chairs?"  Scott and I scanned over the beach and said, "ummm . . .  I don't know . . .  wherever."  The guy then said to us, "you must be on vacation."

Yes . . . yes we are.

And that little story is so indicative of how we went about our whole vacation.  Taking it easy and not worrying too much about the next thing -- just letting it all flow. 

I've put together a photo album with pictures and more details from our trip if you'd like to take a look.  click here - Hawaii

aloha

the view from our breakfast table

on our beach

today's parasailing adventure (that would be the deluxe 800' rope)

oh, and 2 hours of treatments at the spa

we are definitely on vacation & loving every minute of it.

kooky

I was tagged, and so now I'm supposed to list 5 weird things about myself.  Although, I'm starting to really like the word kooky -- it has rubbed off on me from a wow! wow! wubzy! episode.

1.  When I read words, or even with the words that run through my thoughts I have this compulsive urge to "type" things out with my fingers.  That doesn't mean that my fingers actually move -- in my head I'm just thinking about hitting all the letters on the keyboard.  But you gotta give me a break -- in high school I actually participated in a word processing competition . . . twice . . . and I even won.

2.  I don't like teddy bears.  Any other stuffed animal is fine, but teddy bears do not give me warm feelings inside.

3.  I just labeled food storage bins in my garage with tags & cute ribbon.

4.  As a kid I loved to eat the fat off of meat, or the skin on chicken.  Once I finished mine, I would ask everyone around the table, "can I have your fat?"  Nice, huh.

5.  When I'm driving as a passenger with Scott, as soon as we get on the freeway I always lock the doors.

Bet you think I'm pretty kooky, don't ya?

So now I am going to tag:  Heidi, Lisa, Jenn, Nicole, Sheila.  You ladies better be willing to share some pretty good stuff!

one and talking

Although I'm posting a little late, Anna did have her birthday and it was a great one.  She was so into opening the presents (I think more aware and excited than any of the boys were at 1).  As she peeled back the wrapping paper her eyes got big and she would say "ooo, ooo" -- with the monkey lips, of course. 

She also very much enjoyed her birthday cake.  {sigh}  The story of the birthday cake could be another post all to itself.  Instead, I'll leave you with a picture of what it looked like at the end of the day.

This evening at dinner Payton was entertaining us with his turtle song from preschool, which ends with the words, "bubble, bubble, pop!"  Suddenly I realize that Anna is doing something . . . I turned to her (in her high chair) and she's saying, "bubble, bubble" with the hand motions and all!!  I silently motioned for Scott to look quick and we both just watched her do this over and over again.  Soon the video camera came out as well.  We were both shocked and we're definitely counting "bubble" as her first word at age one!  How fun!