Attitude of Gratitude

This time of year always helps remind me of the many many blessing I am grateful for! So I just wanted to quickly put a few of them down that are close to my heart tonight;
- I married my very best friend who tells me he loves me all the time and enjoys being around me
- My 3 kids challenge me, in different ways, depending on which kid it is and the day:) But they help me to grow as a mom daily
- We live in a great neighborhood with so many great people to surround us and influence us for the good.
- We are blessed with very good friends who allow us to open ourselves up and who accept us no matter what
- The Gospel of Jesus Christ!!! The Plan of Salvation. That I can receive revelation and know where to turn for answers.
- We have both families close to us. I talk to my mom everyday!!! I love it!
- For entertainment such as movies and fun TV shows to help you escape and enjoy life
- Claire's multiple wet slimy kisses a day
- Ella's squeezes and hugs and telling me she loves me
-Mason's true kindness and concern for others, (he rubs my head when I have a headache without even having to ask)
- Ryan's hard work ethic, ability to make me laugh so hard that no sound will actually come out, and his ability to calm me
- Warm fires, hot cocoa, snugly balkets, date nights, good night sleeps, and a warm house
-My FaMiLY!!! I Love being a mom!

"Do it Anyway"

I received some great advice recently that I needed to write down and share... As women, mothers, wives, ,and daughters etc... we carry with with the need to help those we love, catch those we love when they fall, prevent bad things from happening, teach them, recognise the cues that something is wrong with them, set a good example for them, trust and love unconditionally, and serve with all we have in us. WOnDeRFul gifts that our Heavenly Father has given us. And we also know that where much is given much is required so, I think that is why it is so hard to watch those around you make wrong or hurtful choices to both them and others and then have to stand back and let them fix it, come to their own penatance, and choose to be better; and act only as a support when everything inside of you wants to do it for them. This is where I was at recently, and I did all that I could to fix it for them in a "supporting" way and what it came down to was that I couldn't. Choices were made beyond my control and I got hurt again. So I came to a point where what ran through my mind was, "what does it matter anyway? I did all this and It didn't matter. Give up, on just about everything!"
The advice that was given to me came in the form of a quote that Mother Theresa said:
"Do It Anyway"
People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered,
-Love them anyway
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives,
-do good anyway
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies,
-succeed anyway
The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow,
-do good anyway
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable,
-be honest and frank anyway
What you spent years building may be destroyed overnight,
-build anyway
People really need help but may attack you if you help them,
-help them anyway
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth,
-give the world the best you've got anyway

The point was that we are given the gifts we are given and are suppose to do the right things because our Heavenly Fathers asks us to be that way. The most important relationship we can have is the one with our Heavenly Father. So when that day comes and we are asked if we did all we could for those around us we can say yes... and the way in which others respond to that service will be theirs to answer for.
So my new little saying in my head when I just can't seem to make myself do something because of a long list of excuses or fears is, "Do it anyway"

Princesses on Ice

Me, my mom, and Ella- what a great girls night out! So fun to go out with just us girls and focus on girly things and talk about girly things and watch Ella's curious little mind figure out things and her eyes light up as her favorite princesses danced on the ice. What a fun memory! We started off at Chili's (always a great choice), and then we took trax downtown. It was Ella's first time on the "train"... which she seemed to like alot, staring out the window on the way there and totally asleep on my lap on the way home. The ice show was great, I think they did a really great job and I even found my self feeling the butterfly's as the princesses took the stage and began to tell their stories. Ella was so entranced... no cheering and clapping...but totally mesmerized by the entire performance. She hasn't stopped talking about the night since we have been home. She is constantly asking me if, "we can go to dinner with grandma, then on the train, and then go see the princesses on ice?" I keep telling her that they have gone home by now but she isn't quite getting it yet. I do hope that she remembers it for a long time though! It was a great night! Jasmine was her favorite story followed my Cinderella and Snow White! She really is princess crazed!

ThE BeST DaD

Ryan truly is amazing! He has so much fun with Mason and can come up with really fun things for them to do (maybe because he is actually the same age as his 7 yr old son:) But the past few days Ryan came up with these patterns to build their own plane, helicopter, and jet. So they spent quite a few hours in the garage building these fabulous creations! They turned out pretty great I think! Can't wait to see whats next.

TrIcK-or-TrEaT

What a beautiful day!!! All week was so cold, snowy, rainy and drab. But Halloween was beautiful. The kids didn't even need coats over their costumes, just layered them up underneath and they were fine! I love that, I love being able to see all the costumes without coats hiding them!
I spent most of the day in the kitchen getting ready for the party that night. Homemade soup, rolls, pumpkin bars and caramel apples! I love making all that stuff for when people come over to see the kids as well as for when the trick-or-treaters come home they have yummy food to look forward too. Mitch and Elizabeth, my parents, and Mac and his family came for all the fun. The apples are my favorite to make. Its kind of become a tradition for this time of year. My lucky family and friends all get one to take home. Our favorite flavors are... Apple pie, and Peanut butter and chocolate! They all turned out great this year.

Mason was Anakin Skywalker. Him and Braden took off by themselves for a bit and then went again with Ryan. They got so much candy!!




Ella was Jasmine (big mistake spraying her hair black. It looked terrible and was a huge mess. And she wanted purple eyeshadow on as well which also ended up looking terrible. But she still was darling and had a fun time trick-or treating!


Claire was a Baby chick! So squishy and soft. She hated wearing the hat though. But was a big help passing out the candy! We also discovered that she LOVES sour candy straws! She could not get enough of them! Crazy baby.






Friends and family:














The Caramel Apples:

Halloween Parties and Carving Pumpkins!

Jasmine... aka Ella at her dance class party... we love Miss Cassie


Anakin...aka Mason at his school parade and class party. I was lucky enough to help at the party and decorate some sugar cookies








Carving pumpkins this year was a lot of fun... and yes you are seeing it right, Ryan has the power tools out. Redneck or genius, its still up for debate. Although I am leaning towards the genius side. His pumpkin was like cutting into a piece of wood. It was so hard! They all turned out great!




Ella wasn't too thrilled about the cleaning out process, but who is?


The scary face is what her pumpkin is suppose to look like.


Claire was happy justing watching us play... although she tried many times to sink her teeth into her pumpkin; GROSS!






Mason was gagging as he was cleaning out his pumpkin, it was actually kinda funny. (Am I a mean mom for admitting that?). But once he got it all cleaned out he went to work. He did a great job tracing the picture on and carving it out!