Happy Halloween!

Halloween began the Friday prior for us this year with a break from the traditional TRUNK or TREAT.  Our ward threw an indoor dinner with fun festivities this year.  Primary did a cupcake walk, there was cosmic bowling, cool decor, and lots of candy for the kids to trick or treat from room to room. I could not convince the boys to do a family theme this year :( :( :(, so last minute Ruby, Ben & I pulled a little something together: Football Player Mama, Ruby the Cheerleader & Coach Ditka Daddy. Grandma made K's Donkey Kong suit while we were in Oregon, and I finished off the look with bicep muscles, tie, and face paint.  He loved the face paint!  D insisted on being Spider man... again. Ruby wanted nothing to do with her poofy, girly, beautiful fairy costume, so we went with plan B. At least it was a little girly, which was my only requirement this year. I have a feeling I will have no say next year at all.

 This is typical Ruby...always trying to do whatever the boys are doing.

Ben + Mustache = Halloween Happiness...he can't resist!

 Check out that candy filled smile!

Halloween we had friends over for chili and cornbread, then hung out in the driveway to pass out candy.  Ben & Brody took the kids trick or treating, while us girls & Tito chatted & handed out the goods. Ben reported that Ruby said thank you every single time without being reminded, better than the boys!  It was a fun-filled, food-filled night with fun friends, to say the least.  It's two days later when I'm posting & we're still recovering!

Wordless Wednesday

Mystery

SOLVED!  7:15 am: I notice a lego man missing it's head. It was right next to Ruby's place at the bar where she was sitting the night before. I checked the floor and all around, and noted it was no where to be found.  KIDS! 12: 22 pm I hear a mysterious little rattle coming from the pink & green sippy and decide to investigate. Sure enough...the lost head was found! Ruby had shoved the head through the "nipple" of the lid. It was one of those nuby type cups. Awesome.  Happy I found it here & not in her diap, ear, or nose later. :)

I often re-use sippy cups before washing them, esp. if there's a little milk left. I'll just put it in the fridge, refill it the next day & serve. Is that gross?

Wordless Wednesday

#1 Fan

I waited a long time (it seemed to me) to have kids, and then I waited 4 or so more before I became a soccer mom.  Fast forward to now and I'm a football & t-ball mom at the same time....CRAZY FUN!  I don't know who was more excited...D to start his first real sport (I'm grooming him to be my baseball player), K to play his first flag football game, or me. I agreed to wear K's SAINTS hat which didn't match my outfit at all, so that must say something! :)

Dylan reminded me so much of my baby brother, Jonny. During his whole practice he kept looking over to see that I was watching.  He'd give me cute smiles, wave, or thumbs up. I was a little nervous for him because some of the boys had played a year, were older, and this was his first time.  He also had more than a few meltdowns last winter during his tiny tots class where he flat out refused to do what the coach wanted him to do. We prepped him on the way on the rules of sports: #1 Listen to coach #2 Do your best #3 Have fun #4 Be a good sport. I was pleasantly surprised because he did everything the coaches wanted him to do and he was really quite aggressive in going for the ball. It did my heart good to see him with a glove in hand, cap on head, and in his "baseball ready" stance.

Kaleb has become quite competitive lately, and that's been fun to see, too. While we were in Oregon, we went to Haylee's fun run at her school.  We started a few laps behind the rest of the group because Kaleb wasn't sure he wanted to run. When he did, I joined him and he just couldn't wait for Haylee, who was already tired after doing two laps.  So I jogged beside him and any time a group of kids would come up behind us, he'd go into super fast race mode and dart ahead of them. It happened at least three times. So funny! Then as we were getting ready to go to his game, he wanted to put black under his eyes (I didn't have any :( any) and wanted me to wear his brand new Saints hat.  He did really good on defense & pulled 5 flags (our version of tackles). He seemed to have lots of fun, giving big thumbs up to me, and getting double thumbs up from Rylan. Then after the game, snack, and coaches pep talk, he gave me a hug and just lost it.  Tears for no apparent reason.  Except there was.  "We lost. The other team scored 5 times and we only scored 4."  I tried to cheer him up, but he was pretty grumpy on the car ride home.  Kinda reminded me of someone else I used to know. ;)

The only way our sports night could have been better is if Ben was there.  But since he wasn't, I can claim #1 fan!

Wordless (?) Wednesday

Deep Beauty

I feel as if I've aged 10 years in the past few weeks. I can't stop making this face...furrowed, worried brows, with my coin slot wrinkles getting deeper and deeper. And then I read this article the day before my mom went in for surgery. I wanted to share an excerpt that made me feel better about being me. Here's a link to the entire article Remember Who You Are!, by Elaine S. Dalton, the general Young Women's President. Hopefully it will make you feel better about being you, too!

“You are literally the royal daughters of our Father in Heaven.” ¹³ Each of you was born to be a queen.

When I was attending Brigham Young University, I learned what it truly means to be a queen. I was given a unique opportunity, along with a small group of other students, to meet the prophet, President David O. McKay. I was told to wear my best dress and to be ready to travel early the next morning to Huntsville, Utah, to the home of the prophet. I will never forget the experience I had. As soon as we entered the home, I felt the spirit which filled that home. We were seated in the prophet’s living room, surrounding him. President McKay had on a white suit, and seated next to him was his wife. He asked for each of us to come forward and tell him about ourselves. As I went forward, he held out his hand and held mine, and as I told him about my life and my family, he looked deeply into my eyes.

Pres. & Sis. McKay

After we had finished, he leaned back in his chair and reached for his wife’s hand and said, “Now, young women, I would like you to meet my queen.” There seated next to him was his wife, Emma Ray McKay. Although she did not wear a crown of sparkling diamonds, nor was she seated on a throne, I knew she was a true queen. Her white hair was her crown, and her pure eyes sparkled like jewels. As President and Sister McKay spoke of their family and their life together, their intertwined hands spoke volumes about their love. Joy radiated from their faces. Hers was a beauty that cannot be purchased. It came from years of seeking the best gifts, becoming well educated, seeking knowledge by study and also by faith. It came from years of hard work, of faithfully enduring trials with optimism, trust, strength, and courage. It came from her unwavering devotion and fidelity to her husband, her family, and the Lord.

On that fall day in Huntsville, Utah, I was reminded of my divine identity, and I learned about what I now call “deep beauty”—the kind of beauty that shines from the inside out. It is the kind of beauty that cannot be painted on, surgically created, or purchased. It is the kind of beauty that doesn’t wash off. It is spiritual attractiveness. Deep beauty springs from virtue. It is the beauty of being chaste and morally clean. It is the kind of beauty that you see in the eyes of virtuous women like your mother and grandmother. It is a beauty that is earned through faith, repentance, and honoring covenants.

My beautiful little Mama & Ruby. 4/11

Gramma, Ruby & me at the beach. 7/11

The world places so much emphasis on physical attractiveness and would have you believe that you are to look like the elusive model on the cover of a magazine. The Lord would tell you that you are each uniquely beautiful. When you are virtuous, chaste, and morally clean, your inner beauty glows in your eyes and in your face. My grandfather used to say, “If you live close to God and His infinite grace—you won’t have to tell, it will show in your face.” ¹⁴

My boys and me.  I'm guessing 3/08.

I'm going to try a little harder to focus on deep beauty, and not worry so much about the beauty that's skin deep. My dear & talented friend Cindy sent me some pictures of the boys and me from a few years back that I'd never seen. She took them for a R.S. slideshow that was celebrating our role in the Relief Society...I think. I don't want to brag, but here's the best photos I've seen of me in a really long time. She captured those mother eyes I've wanted all my life and have never seen in myself. Thank you so much, Cindy!

Wordless Wednesday