The Rest of Our Busy Week

Now that the week is almost over I'm finally at a point where I can write about the REST of our busy week... last week.

Last Friday was our ward trunk-or-treat party and it was lots of fun. There were tons of people that I haven't even met before, lots of great chili (mine happened to win 2nd place... thank you, thank you), fun games to play, and of course lots and lots of candy. Here are the kids enjoying their spoils:

The next day I took Margaret to get her very first haircut, during which she cried nonstop until the stylist gave her a sucker (her weak spot.) I forgot to take an after picture, but the stylist took one with her camera and stuck it on a little certificate. I didn't have anything major done to her hair, just a trim (it was starting to look really scraggly in the back.) In fact, I don't think anyone can even tell that her hair was cut besides John and myself, but just knowing makes all the difference. Or in the words of G.I. Joe "Knowing is half the battle!" :)

And finally, because this was the last week that we had to make Halloween crafts we really threw it into high gear. We started off by painting our pumpkins on Monday (a tradition in our house) and then putting fun stickers on them when they dried. We had some other pumpkins that we were going to carve later in the week, but being the genius that I am, I put them outside to make the yard look a little festive until we were ready to carve them. When I went to leave for mutual Weds. night, they were gone! I'm still pretty upset about it, especially because I'm pretty sure that I know who did it. Moving on... We also painted handprint ghosties, made scary paperbag puppets, and decorated our mantel with egg carton spiders (thanks to Bethanne for that idea.) Here are some of the pics:

Steven's pumpkin

Margaret's pumpkin

Our really scarey puppets

Steven and Margaret's handprint ghosties

Mr. Spider

The Spider family

They're taking over the house!

Happy Halloween!

Mummies and Ghosts

Alot has happened over the last few weeks that I haven't had a chance to blog about yet. Last Saturday we took the kids to a Halloween party given by some of our friends from our old ward; they had such a blast. We hadn't gotten their new costumes yet, so Steven wore his Buzz costume again and Margaret didn't have anything.)

Here's my beautiful little girl, unable to stop playing with her tongue for two seconds.

One of the games we played was a race to wrap the kids in toilet paper like a mummy. The first one to finish their roll wins! Steven and Daddy did a great job!

Margaret and Mommy... not so great. The picture is blurry because she kept running away from me. Everytime I really got going she would run away and break the line of toilet paper! And I'm very competitive, so you know I was chasing her around with my roll and wrapping her every haphazard chance I got!

The kids also had a chance to break the ghosty pinata. Steven took it very seriously; just look at that face of concentration.

My little ham, on the other hand, was laughing the whole time.

I'll have to post more later about the rest of our week, but right now I've GOT to go to bed. Happy Halloween!

Happy Birthday, Leah!

This is a post just for Leah. Steven and I are so sorry that we missed your birthday party this morning. We were running a little late and then when we got close to the park, there were policemen making everyone turn onto a different street. We drove around for a very long time trying to find another way to the park, but I didn't know the area very well and nothing worked. At 11:00 we finally tried to go around a completely different way, but everyone else had the same idea and cars were backed up almost to the tollway. We wouldn't have even gotten there until after the party was over anyway. We're very sorry. But Steven wanted to make this video for you to let you know that he loves you and to wish you a happy birthday!

Recent Pics of the Kids

Another thing that I haven't been doing very well this year is taking pictures and videos of my kids. That's not really something that I can add to the schedule, though, so I guess I'll just have to try harder to think of it on my own (it used to be so easy!) Here are a few pics that I did happen to take over the last few months. Enjoy!

One of the few days that I tried to get away with a clip (you can see it dangling in her hair.) This is why I always try to have her hair fixed... but other than that, what a cutie!

I absolutely love Margaret's bed head when she's had a bath the night before... it's so smooth and full of body! And don't you just love Steven's expression!

Margaret taking a ride on Daddy's legs.

Steven posing with his sunglasses for the camera.

My cute girl and her big, beautiful smile!

Something's Not Right

So I don't usually go this long without posting on my blog, but I'll admit that I just haven't been myself lately. I have NO IDEA what the problem is (probably a culmination of many different things) but my mind has just been everywhere and nowhere at the same time. As some of you may already know, I always tend to get a little down in the dumps at this time of year because it brings back alot of memories of my grandma, whom I miss desperately. But I don't really think that's the case right now. For starters, I'm in desperate need of work but everything that I find is either full-time or just not for me, which has been stressing me out. So if anyone happens to hear of any morning time part-time work (especially working with kids) then let me know ('cause I'm so close to just filling out an application at Target). I've also been super, super exhausted lately (and no, I'm not pregnant... I would be crying if I were), which I can only attribute to the fact that I am so unhealthy right now. So now add to the mix alot of stress over trying to get back into exercising/eating healthier along with being constantly tired and you've got one cranky mom. I've also been super-stressed about my kids lately. Am I playing with them enough? Am I providing enough opportunities for growth and learning? And on and on. I know that this seems trivial, but I'm absolutely serious when I say that questions like these have been keeping me up at night (which just adds to my fatigue.)

My solution to try to deal with all of this? I've created a daily schedule for myself... a serious one. I have every minute of everyday planned out (obviously allowing for unexpected circumstances or impromptu deviations.) In college this was the only way for me to balance rowing practice, karate, working out on my own, orchestra, band, drum practice, bass practice, classes, studying, ect., so I might as well give it a try. I see myself as a very lazy, lax procrastinator and too many times I've been climbing into bed feeling like I got absolutely nothing accomplished today. So in order to meet all of the high demands that I've been putting on myself lately (daily prayer/scripture study, daily exercising, play with my kids more, schooltime for Steven, clean the house more efficiently, improve journal writing, and really getting serious about writing children's books and poetry), I decided to lay it all down on a piece of paper. And I must say, on paper it seems like I can fit everything in. Now don't get me wrong, I don't intend to become a slave to the clock (my personality would never allow for that anyway.) But I've been reading over and over in all of my education books about how children thrive on routine and I was just thinking to myself "You know what, maybe I would thrive on a routine, too." When I've transferred my schedule to Excel then I'll load it up and show everyone my (very lofty) plans. But for now, considering that a key component of my new schedule is to get to bed by ten every night and it is now eleven, I'll talk to you guys tomorrow!