304/365

Happy Halloween!!!

Super fun day! The kids scoured the neighborhood for yummy treats, hot chocolate and spooky houses! They had so much fun.  When they got home, Kaden said, "My legs are exhausted!"

The Ninja

         

Belle... The Princess

The Bumblebee..... used for the 4th time.... gotta love hand me downs.

 This little guy had a blast passing out the candy.  I think he liked this part even more than trick or treating. Whenever he opened the door he would give handfuls of candy to every one that came by.

... and of course... Thomas the Train (we've already talked about this killer costume!)

303/365

OH MY GOSH!!!!  WE'VE MADE IT 300 DAYS!!!
I can't believe this is my 300th post.  Crazy how fast this year has gone.

What a better way to celebrate than to enjoy an afternoon in the mountains with my favorite people in the whole world.  We love being outside, but especially love it in the fall!

I love these two pics.

302/365

Today was the most relaxing day I've had all week. It's been insane! I actually got a few hours to work on finalizing the script for the primary program with a quiet house.  It was wonderful. 

The cutest part of the day was when Brighton was "waiting" for his blanket to get out of the dryer.  I told him to go play, but he wanted to sit in the laundry room and wait.  I have to think that there's a part of him that has a bit of anxiety every time I put it in the washer. 

He's super protective of his "guankey"! 

301/365

Tonight was the night my neighborhood looks forward to all year long.  I have this crazy amazing friend named Amy who is the most amazing host and party planner.  I can't even begin to explain the detail she puts into her parties without writing pages and pages.  For the past 5 years, Amy has planned a Witches Tea each Halloween.  This tea has evolved from about 15 ladies to almost 60! It is the best party of the year! I love this woman! She is the most inspiring, loving, non judgemental, kind person.  She makes everyone around her be a better person.  I wish I was more like her.  Sadly, she just sold her house so she's leaving soon. I'm really going to miss her.

Here's the Springview Farms Witches in all our Glory!!!

My amazing friend Amy.

Just a small look at some of the decor.  Believe me... we go all out!! It's so much fun!

A couple of my awesome witchy friends.  They were voted "Most Sexy Witches" 

300/365

Dear Brighton,

Today was your preschool halloween party.  You were an adorable Thomas the Train.  At some point in the future, I'm sure you will see your Thomas costume that you wore when you were obsessed with trains,  and then you might see Kaden's costume when he was obsessed with trains.  I want to tell you right now.... YES, I LOVE YOU JUST AS EQUALLY!!!! Just because I didn't spend hours making an actual train out of a box for your brothers costume, doesn't mean I don't love you less because I picked up your costume for 9 bucks at Wal-Mart. The actual truth is..... you are my 3rd kid... Kaden always got the cooler costume (for example...see examples below) because I had more time...... MUCH more time.  Now I'm lucky to get to Wal-Mart to actually get a costume.  So, my dear 3rd child, you are loved. You actually LOVE your wal mart special thomas costume and you looked pretty darn cute chugging all over the house today.  I apologize I'm not as overly ambitious with the Halloween costumes as I once was... but you still looked adorable.  

Happy Halloween Party.

Kaden's Thomas Costume of Yester Year                                                   Brighton's Wal Mart Special

Kaden Bee Costume of yester year                                  Connor... Throw on the bee costume at the last

 (yes, I actually made it to fit over his stroller!)                     minute... dirty pants, no socks... call it good!
What was I thinking? Like he'd even be trick or treating!              

           

I AM SO GETTING MOTHER OF THE YEAR. 

299/365

We went and and got our pumpkins today.  I love this time of year.  

Avery wanted the biggest pumpkin.  She said, "Holy Cow! I got like the biggest pumpkin ever!"

LOVED the mini wheel barrows. So cute! The mini kid in the big wheel barrow is pretty cute too!

298/365

My little girl got her first set of fake nails today.  She's officially more of a girl than I am! I've never had a pair of fake nails.  Maybe I should try it one of these days, she sure seems to like them.

297/365... Brighton-isms

Here's some Brighton-isms.

Explanation of picture.

Mom: Bright what are you doing?

Bright: I'm trying to get comfy mommy! 

Age 3 1/2
"mommy, my foot is hurting. I need food to make it better.
I'm sorry Bright. You need to go back to bed though.
No. No. No mom.. my head is wobbling, I need a snack.
Bright. Go back to bed.
But mom, my hands are sparkly.
Bright!
Mom, my tummy hurts. I need a treat.  "
------------------------------------------------------------------

I was singing in the car to Brighton today and he said, "Mom, STOP!!! You are breaking my ears!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------
(while we are at church)
Mom, I want my guankey!
No, bud, its out in the car.
But mom, lets go get it.
Nope, blanky is resting right now.
MOM!!!! It doesn't have any eyes!!

------------------------------------------------------------------

295/365

Today was the big "Crystal Sale"
If you can believe it, the kids made $11.00!!
I guess it was a big hit.   When business got slow, Kade hopped on his bike and started going door to door while Avery held up the storefront. The kids were great salesmans.

294/365

Today was a the photo shoot for the cake I made before I left.  I think it turned out pretty cool.  It was HOURS of work, but I was happy with the finished product.

293/365

Today was the final day of our very short trip. We spent most of our time at the pool.  The kids could  spend hours and hours chillin in the pool.  I have to say, this was a really fun vacation.  It's amazing how less work it is to just have two kids with you. Especially when they are the older ones.  As much as I missed Bright and Connor, I have to admit, it was the most relaxing vacation I've ever had with kids with me.  We had a blast.

Before we left, we went to see the St. George temple. It was cool to be there with the kids and talk to them about the peaceful feeling of the temple.  It was one of my favorite parts of our trip.


We also went to this crazy place in the middle of no where.  It was called "The Glitter Pit". It was full on gypsum rock that "glittered" in the sun. The kids brought back two huge buckets of rock to sell to their friends. We'll see how it goes.

All in all, I think we all had a great time. I loved this trip.

292/365

Tonight was the big play!!
We had so much fun.  The kids loved it.  We took them to Texas Road House before the play.  These kids LOVE steak!



 Little Mermaid made me cry.  Let me take it back.... Avery watching Little Mermaid made me cry! At intermission, she said, "Ahhhhh! I love this soooo much!!"  Then at the end when we were clapping for the actors, I told her that when you think they did a good job, you can stand up and clap.  Before I could finish the sentence, she popped up out of her chair and started clapping.

                          

It could have stopped there, but then we got to see Ariel... ok....I'm just gonna start crying again.  My little girl is ALWAYS going to be my princess... no matter how old she gets.  What a fun night.

291/365

Hello St. George!!!!

We decided to take Kaden and Avery on a little mini vacation to St. George this year to see The Little Mermaid.
They feel pretty special to be going on a special trip.
They are most excited for these three things:
1) That they get to stay in a hotel and go swimming
2) They get pancakes and waffles every morning
3) They get to go without Brighton (I love you buddy... you can go next time!)

Funny how Brighton wasn't invited, but these guys made the cut.

We weren't in our hotel room more than 30 seconds before the kids had their swimming suits on and were out the door.  They LOVED that our room was right next to the pool.



 Dad was a much more fun swim partner than mom.

290/365

It's 3 am and I'm ready for bed... finally.
Getting ready for vacations are so stressful.
Laundry Cleaned..... check
Bags Packed...... check
Snacks bought.... check
Bathrooms cleaned..... uh... not this time
Wedding Cake done for photo shoot on Friday.... check
I'm tired.

289/365

"Mom, do you know why I'm dressed like this? 

 Because Kaden made me into a Diva Girl! I even have a phone!!

(then she rummaged through her purse to get her phone)

(So, apparently to become a diva, here's what you need:

 a purse, a paper phone, a hat and a skirt and a pair of princess shoes.  

That's all it takes. Now you can become a diva too! 

(the best part of what Avery said, is that she can't say her "r"s very well, it when she was talking to me, it was  more like: "Mom, do you know why I'm dressed like this? 

It's because Kaden made me into a Diva Goel"

288/365

Happy Birthday Connor!!! 

 

Dear Connor,
I can't believe this year has come and gone so quickly.  You have brought our family so much joy. Your brothers and sisters love you and take care of you all the time.  They love to hug you, hold you, feed you, play with you.  Everytime they see you, they all stop what they are doing and run over to you and say, "Connor!!!!" They love to see your smile. They love to make you laugh.

Connor, you are our last little one and I just want you to stay small just a little longer.  You make me so happy to be a mom. Being our last, you have helped me appreciate every little moment, every little milestone, every little smile.  I love how you cuddle. I love how you laugh when you you try to roll away when I change your diaper. I love your open mouth kisses.  You are my special buddy! I love you so much!

We had a fun little party tonight with your Grandma's and Grandpa's. Mom is feeling a little bit guilty that you didn't get a fancy cake, but you didn't seem to mind, You LOVED!!! your cake.

Opening your presents were a little too hard for you, but your favorite toy was a plastic want that makes noises when you move it.  Luckily, Brighton loved all of your presents. He's going to "borrow" them until you are big enough to play with them yourself. 

Oh, and he loved your cake too! 

287/365

Although I don't do the canning in our family, I do get to reap the rewards.  I have to say that FRESH grape juice is AMAZING!!!  Thanks Bri for all your hard work!

When I say fresh, I mean FRESH!!!

Brian picked these today about 10 am (Thanks John and Shauna for being such great gardners!)




A few hours later, all those grapes turned into this.
Oh my gosh, AMAZING!

32 Bottles later.... we've got grape juice to last us a while.  YUM!

286/365

Have I done any good

As I was cleaning the kitchen tonight, somewhat grumbling about how my day turned out, this song came into my mind:

Have I done any good in the world today?

Have I helped anyone in need?

Have I cheered up the sad?

Or made someone feel glad?

If not I have failed indeed.

Here's the back story.... 

(it's a minute by minute journal log... I apologize in advance for the lengthy post)

It's been a rough week.  Sick kids all week long, and then today Brian was home with the goomba as well.  All I wanted to do today was get my life back to normal, have a little time to clean my house, get my laundry caught up from the countless sheets and clothes I've had to wash due to peuking kids and work on  this cake I'm doing for a photo shoot next week that is going to be ridiculously time consuming.

Well, as typical days go... life happened.  Here's a re-cap:

Took Kaden to school. Got home and took Avery to dance.  Ran to the cake store. Picked up Avery from dance. Hurried through the drive through at Chick fil-A for a quick lunch because Brighton was going to be late for preschool.  Got home just in time for Brights car pool to show up and sent him on his way. Hurried and did Avery's hair and got her all dolled up for school picture day and sent her out the door.  Whew! Three kids are in school. Sick hubby is asleep and Connor is napping as well. I'm about ready to fold a load of laundry that's been sitting on my couch since last night when I hear crying.
Yep... Connor's awake.  Really?  Naptime is mandatory around here! He is not allowed to be awake when all the kids are at school!!  When I go into get the little guy, I realize he's burning up.  I check his temp and it's over 101.  AFter about 20 minutes, I finally get him calmed down and he's about asleep in my arms when the doorbell rings.  I ignore it, because I just want to hold my baby and make sure he's comfortable.  And truthfully, I don't want to talk to anyone, I'm already really behind on my scheduled "'to do list" for the day. The doorbell rings again.  OK. OK.. I will answer it.
It's one of my old young women who came over to see if I was busy because she was having a major cake disaster and was in need of help. She had told a friend that she'd make her wedding cake and it had all crumbled to the ground and it needed to be done in less than 4 hours.  Ahhh! Seriously?? How in the world does she think she can fix a wedding cake in 4 hours when the whole thing is ruined?
(This is about the time I start to grumble.  This is not on my to-do list! I've been so good the last few week about following my schedule and actually feeling like I have my life a bit organized.  All I wanted was to have a bit of quiet time to get some stuff done before the kids got home from school.)

So I take my sick kid over to her house to help her start over on a wedding cake she was trying to do without really knowing what she was doing. Luckily the grocery store had frozen sheet cakes so we could do actually pull this off! I Stayed there for a while to help her fix things, then ran home just in time for Brighton to get home from school and give poor Connor some medicine to lower his temp.  He finally went down for a nap, and I took Brighton to the store to get Brian some Sprite I had promised him a couple hours earlier.  (Ahhh!! I haven't even been around to take care of my sick hubby!!!.. this day is getting nuts!) We got the Sprite and made it to the kids school just in time for the school "store" to open.  Kaden has been dying to buy a toy at the school book fair with his own money.  He wanted to get the "Airblaster".  A funnel like thing that apparently shoots air about 20 feet. (All this could be his for a low price of $12.95!) There were only 3 of them, so he was very worried they would go fast. We had made a deal that I'd meet him after school so we could get it.  Luckily he was patiently waiting for me in the office (with his awesome thigh length black and red striped socks on for crazy sock day.... he looked pretty cute!) and we got to the book fair.  The good news was, the Airblaster was still there.  He ran over to it, (actually crawling between some kid's mom's legs to make sure he got this gun thing that no one was even trying to get at the time!) He grabbled his little baggie of money and handed it to the librarian.  He was one happy kid! We ran home and he wanted to put this dumb toy together.  All I have to say is that some toys are a pain in the behind to put together! This stupid thing took me forever to put together!!! Luckily I got it put together and off he went to play with his new toy. Now it was time for diner to be made. Got that taken care of, fed the fam and started on our nightime routine. Homework, showers, prayers, etc. etc.  I didn't even get to the kids doing their evening jobs, I just wanted them in bed. They lucked out tonight!

Wow.. I can't believe me my day is almost gone.... now it's 8:00 pm... I finally getting to clean the dishes from dinner and get to all the housework and laundry I was planning on doing all day long.  Well the kids are in bed. I's quiet! Finally... no distractions! I went into a cleaning zone and  happily my mind began to clear..........It's always great when cleaning can de-stress me.
No,w back to the reason for this lengthy post.

As I was enjoying cleaning my dishes without any distractions, the song came to my mind, but this time, I had some answers:

Have I done any good in the world today? 
Have I helped anyone in need?   (yep, I did that)
Have I cheered up the sad?  (I did get to cuddle my sick little baby in my arms and calm him down)
And made someone feel glad? (I was lucky enough to see Avery's big smile when I praised her for picking up her things on the floor without being asked)
If not, I have failed indeed.  (hmmmm... maybe the day wasn't that bad after all)

The truth is... life is all about perspective.  I need to remember that it's what I do for other people that's really important.  Heavenly Father  doesn't care if I have a couple extra loads of laundry or if my dishwasher needs to be filled.  He DOES care that I' do good in the world,  that I help those in need. I've cheered up the sad, and make others feel glad... and as the song goes, if I don't do that, I've failed indeed.
When I look at this day with a clearer vision, I'm happy about how it turned out.    Even with a little grumbling, I did the right thing... not because I felt like I had to, but because in heart, I really wanted to.  I'm happy I didn't fail on what matters most. It really was a good day.

285/365

Halloween Crafting!

I decided to do a little updating on my Halloween decorations this year.  

(It looks much cooler in real-life)

Once I had it all decorated, Kaden said, "Whoa mom... this is the best our house has EVER looked for Halloween!" 

It's always good to have your kids approval.

Like My Bottles?  How did I get such cool bottles you ask?

I MADE THEM!  Yep, Angie and I had a "craft night" the other night till about 1:00 am making these fine bottles.  We had way too much fun with modge podge.  Who knew that stuff could be so cool?