Thankful

Although the Thanksgiving holiday has passed, I still want to share a few things that I've been thankful for these past few weeks.

I am thankful for beautiful flowers on gray days.
(And especially for the wonderful husband who gave them to me.)

I am thankful for a good helper around the house.

I am thankful for this rambunctious boy...

...and this wiggly baby.

And I'm thankful for so many other things that don't have pictures to go with them right now, like wonderful extended family members, a kind and diligent visiting teacher, the gospel of Jesus Christ and, again, my marriage to a wonderful, loving husband. Life is good!

Life, briefly

Benjamin makes sure all shoes are where they belong, even Mr. Potato Head's.

I read the boys some books.

Benjamin chats with 'Nene (Aunt Alene) on Dad's cell phone.

Paul and I share sleeping quarters with these two bed hogs.

Laundry still isn't folded.


The End.

Late Halloween Report

For some reason Halloween hasn't turned out like I planned the past two years. It's been all rush rush rush for us, and by the time the costumes are ready it's too late to do anything we planned! But, despite that, we had a fun Halloween week. We started Monday at Family Home Evening with decorating sugar cookies.

Best Sugar Cookie Recipe I Know Of

2/3 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 1/2 cups flour

Cream butter and sugar; add eggs. Dissolve baking soda in milk and add to butter mixture along with vanilla. Sift flour and salt; gradually add to mixture. Chill (because the dough is super sticky and completely unmanageable if you don't). Roll on floured surface (dough will still be a little sticky) to about 1/8 inch thick (I usually do a little thicker), cut out, and bake on greased cookie sheets at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

They were a hit. Later in the week the boys and I enjoyed the cool fall weather by playing in the leaves out back.

Since my jack-o-lantern ideas are rather stale (my pumpkins have had the same face for the past 5 years or so, I think), I insisted that Paul carve the pumpkin.

We roasted the seeds for a tasty snack with some Worschestershire sauce, garlic, and salt. Yum!

Like I said, Halloween night was a bunch of rush rush rush. I was just finishing up Rhett's costume when Paul came home from work. Luckily our dinner was in the CrockPot ready to go. Benjamin had refused to nap and had been bouncing off the walls all day. He still seemed pretty energetic as we got ready to go to the candy-free Halloween carnival for the little kids in Bellingham, so I figured we'd make it through the night. Afterwards we planned to eat dinner then take him up and down our street for a little first-time trick-or-treating.

The carnival closed at 6:30, and we left our house at about 6:05. Paul and I briefly debated whether it was still worth going, and since I was so looking forward to taking Benjamin to a fun Halloween activity we decided to go for it. But not five minutes down the road I turned around to see Benjamin sound asleep in his car seat.

We went home.

While the boys slept Paul and I had our traditional chili-in-a-pumpkin dinner. Then we popped some corn and watched a movie on TV while trick-or-treaters visited our house.

Not the fun Halloween I had planned, but all together it wasn't bad. Hopefully I've learned my lesson about leaving the costumes till the last minute. And maybe I'll lower the bar so that things like tired kids don't leave me with a silly disappointed feeling when we don't complete my planned activities. At least next year it's on a Saturday.

(Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox)