Punkin Carvin'

Ok, I don't know how to manipulate these pictures very well. So, I don't think this post will be as well planned out as I had it in my head. Monday night for FHE we carved pumpkins!! Here's a Before, during and after shot. They aren't all actually finished. Dallin and Dailie have a little more carving to do on theirs, but I thought I'd better get these posted sooner than later. We ended the night with pumpkin donuts and cider for treat!!

Brandon Mull

Brandon Mull, LDS author of the Fablehaven series, visited Dallin and Dailie's school today. Since Dailie was wearing a BYU shirt (I recommended this), she was chosen as a volunteer for part of the assembly. He said he had gone to BYU, and that was why he chose her. Anyway, all the volunteers got these T-shirts, and he signed them!! He'll be at Barnes and Noble tonight signing books, and we're hoping to make it there. Pretty cool, huh?

For all you Twilight fans out there...

Check out the little quiz I took online, just for fun. I couldn't figure out how to post it here, so I put it on the sidebar.

The "I" Tag

Ok, tagged again. I'm obedient, so I'll do it. Plus it helps me stop and think about myself. Honestly, I think tags are a great idea, I'm just frankly surprised at the number of them out there. Can't anyone think of anything to blog about without them? (Sadly, maybe we can't)

I am - a Cougar fan (hee hee, just had to put that), a Latter-day Saint, a mom, generally a happy person.
I have -blond hair (I still call it blond, although some people think it's light brown), blue eyes, a screw in my elbow, and metal plates in my face
I get frustrated when -running 4 times a week for 6 weeks results in no weight loss, I lose my patience with my kids, other people don't give themselves credit (when it's due, of course- at the same time people who give themselves credit when it's not due also frustrates me)
I value -Honesty, hard work, a job well done, "real" people, good friendships, memories
I wish - I was 15 pounds lighter, we had a different candidate to choose from in the upcoming election, that I could travel the world!!
I fear -the results of the upcoming Presidential election, the results of the vote on Proposition 8 in California
I dislike -Most shows on TV these days, unkind people, hypocrites
I love -Chocolate : ), laughing, talking with friends (including my husband) for hours on end, even better- laughing with friends, learning about the lives of people who live differently than me, whether they live down the street or across the globe
I tag- someone who reads this and has never commented on my blog (please comment to let me know who you are), Kelly, Sarah, Amy T.(cause you need to start a blog, hee hee), Honor

In Mourning for my Cougs

The Cougars had a rough night last night. They lost 32-7 to TCU, ending the longest current winning streak in college football. I wouldn't be so sad if they had fought a good fight last night, but they really just didn't show up. Sad. Don't get me wrong, TCU played a great game, and if BYU had played their best it would have been close, not even for sure the Cougars would have pulled it off then, but they just didn't look like the same team who played UCLA and Wyoming. I'm hoping they'll return next week : ).

Rejected!!

So we had a blood drive a the Church tonight. I try and donate blood regularly, although it has been since March that I last donated. I went in to donate, and I was rejected!! My iron was too low. I'm not sure what was up. I've always been fine with my iron before, and I even had broccoli for dinner before I went. It might explain why I've felt so tired the last couple of days. Guess I'll try again later!!
I found this funny cartoon when I did the Google search for the above image. I thought it was pretty funny, so I figured I'd share it with y'all.

ME-HE-CO, Here We Come!!!

I guess you could say that it started during the first session of General Conference, when the re dedication of the Mexico City Temple was mentioned. Although perhaps it started back when Rick and I were first married. We had a jar labelled MEXICO that we put our spare change in. We never got very far with that jar, although the change always came in handy when we wanted to go on a date. You might have to say that it started 15 years ago on the day we were married, since this is sort of an anniversary trip. Technically I guess it started 18 years ago when Rick was called to serve as a missionary to the Mexico City Easy Mission, although he did always say he'd never take me back to Mexico City itself. Wherever the notion first started, the reality now is that Rick and I are GOING TO MEXICO CITY!!!!!!

We've bought the plane tickets, and booked the hotel. It's official. This country bumpkin, who has never lived in a city bigger than Peoria (metropolitan area 370,000), is about to travel to the second largest city in the world (metropolitan area 20,000,000)!! I've only been out of the country once, when I was five and went with my family to Canada, but I have ALWAYS wanted to travel the world. First stop, Mexico City. I'm very excited (maybe you could tell). I'm also very glad Rick will be with me, since he's been there before, and he knows Spanish : ).

On Nov. 16 the Mexico City Temple will be rededicated after it's renovation. We will fly out of Chicago the morning of Thurs. Nov. 13, and spend 5 days, 4 nights in Mexico City. We'll get to attend the re dedication on Sunday as well as the cultural presentation that is planned for Saturday night. The temple was part of Rick's mission when he was there, and for a portion of his mission he lived in an apartment right by the temple. Rick has always said he would never take me back to his mission. He served in an area of the city that is not so safe. He felt he was protected as a missionary. Needless to say, we'll be staying in a different part of the city.
I'm sure you'll all be hearing much more about both the preparations for this trip, and the actual trip itself : ). The last time we had a "getaway", just the two of us was for our 10th anniversay, 5 years ago. We did go to Tennessee with my parents and siblings a couple of years ago, but we took 9 month old Daniel since he was still nursing. We're long overdue for a getaway. Wow!! We're going to Mexico!!!

Returning to a Simpler Life

General Conference is always just what I need. It seems my bucket is need of refilling every six months, and it never fails to be filled by the messages given at Conference. Saturday and Sunday we listened as a family to the words of prophets and apostles of the Lord. What a tremendous blessing. I look forward to the opportunity to read the words that were spoken, to be reminded of things that I heard, and to catch the things I missed. As I wait, I thought my blog would be a good place to record some of my "Conference nuggets" that I remember. That way, if some of you want to record some that you remember, you can!!

• Referring back to the title of this blog, Elder Perry's talk on the simple things in life. I want to stop letting the voices from the great and spacious building have such an impact on how I live my day to day life. I know the things that are important in life, and I must focus on those.
• I thrilled at the announcement of 5 new temples!!! Rome, Italy?? Won't that make quite the news story when the Pope attends the Open House of a Mormon temple, right in Rome (assuming he will, of course)? And did you realize that Independence, MO is in the greater Kansas City area? Just an interesting point, not claiming any prophecy : ).
• Elder Holland's talk on angels took me back to that week two months ago when, along with the rest of the Jeffs family, we experienced so many angelic gestures from many angels walking around right here in Peoria.
• Unity from Pres. Eyring. I thought of the unity I desire my family to have. Pres. Eyring spoke of the ways FHE can help to unify a family, as well as family prayer.
• Sister Dalton called for a return to virtue, something the world hungers for, in my opinion. Am I doing my part, or am I being drug down with the rest of society?
• A member of the YM General Pres. spoke on gospel teaching, and it caused me to think about my current calling as a RS teacher.
• Last week Pres. Uchtdorf taught the women of the Church about finding lasting happiness through creation and compassion. I marvelled at his understanding of women, and often felt he was speaking right to me. To me, this ties into returning to the simple life. How can we do it? By finding happiness is creation and compassion, as God does.
• Saturday Pres. Uchtdorf spoke of hope, something I find myself trying to cling to more and more as the world appears to be more troubled.
• Someone spoke of Elder Maxwell's saying of leaving our summer home in Babylon. I know I keep that summer home handy when I have a desire to live in the world a little, and I think it's time to be rid of it once and for all.
• Pres. Monson spoke of living for the todays. Enjoying the moment. It seems like he wasn't the only one who spoke of such things. Someone told me I would miss the fingerprints on my walls one day, and I couldn't help thinking of my last blog post. I will miss this all one day, and I must embrace it while I can.
• From Elder Wirthlin: Come what may, and love it!!!

Thanks for listening to my pondering on Conference. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did!!

Double Whammy

Yesterday I noticed that Daniel had taken a pencil and made a lovely mark on the wall all the way up the stairs. I noticed this on the way down the stairs after cleaning up the marker on the carpet just inside his bedroom door. But, honestly that wasn't what I considered the double whammy. Pencil is easy enough to clean off of a wall, so I pulled out a Clorox wipe and got to work. Here's where the double whammy comes in. As I pulled the wipe away from the wall and looked at it, I realized I was in for a lot more cleaning than I had bargained for!! I was not prepared for how dirty it was, although I should have been since Daniel is my 5th child, and it's not like I haven't seen this before. How had my walls gotten so filthy? Granted, I was wiping right at Daniel's height up the stairs. Picture a 3 year old walking up a flight of stairs. Are their arms every just hanging at their sides, or are they capable of reaching the handrail? Not likely. They walk up the stairs sliding their hand along the wall as they walk. These are things that people without children don't tend to ponder. Anyway, back to my walls. One pencil mark on the wall (ok it WAS a long pencil mark) opened my eyes to the grime, and then there was no turning back. I then needed to continue wiping until I had finished with all the surfaces on the stairway that might have been touched by little hands. At least I was able to stop at the stairway, I wonder what his bedroom walls are like...

FreeRice.com

Check out this COOL website. www.FreeRice.com. I have to give my sister Amy credit for telling me about it. It's great. You go to the website and answer a variety of types of questions. It starts you out on Vocabulary, but you can change the subject to Famous Paintings, Multiplication Tables, Chemistry, Spanish, French, German, and others. For every question you answer correctly, 20 grains of rice are donated to the United Nations World Food Program. Watch out, it's addictive.... It's also a really fun learning site. I plan to point it out to my kids to help Dallin on his French, Dailie her Spanish, and Audri her Multiplication Tables. It's set up very well because it tells you the correct answer when you miss one, and then quizzes you again on it a little later, making it easy to learn things you didn't know before. I've already had a lot of fun on it and have gotten something like 15,000 grains of rice already!! It reminds of a funny line I read on Ed's blog a while back. "I like rice. Rice is great if you're hungry and want 2000 of something."

Enjoy!!