One of our better family home evenings

So more often than not our family home evenings are, well frankly, disasters :) That might be a little dramatic, but they just don't usually turn out the way I envision them. This one however was great!! The kids had fun, it kept their attention, and Skylar is still talking about it.

Lately Skylar has been having a little trouble with lying. I think its pretty normal and part of a stage she's in, but still, I felt like it needed to be addressed and I think fhe is the perfect place for that. So for this one I got two big pumpkins. I cut the tops off of both of them and scooped the guts out of one, and left them in the other. Then I made up a silly story about two pumpkins, Patty and Perry. Both cute pumpkins made some mistakes and told some lies, but Patty said she was sorry and tried very hard to not do that any more. Perry didn't say he was sorry and kept telling more and more lies. I then talked about how Perry felt inside when he kept lying, and how Patty felt when she apologized and didn't lie anymore. Then I had the girls stick their hands into the pumpkins, Perry was yucky and dirty, and Patty was nice and clean. I asked Skylar what she wants her insides to be like, you can guess her answer.

It was really, really fun and a good visual for something I am always trying to explain. You could also definitely use this for repentance or a lot of other things. Then after we carved and painted the pumpkins and just enjoyed being together.

And of course, gotta have a fun dessert and dinner :) I saw these pizzas at Papa Murphy's and thought "I could do that" :) and saw these cute candy corn desserts online somewhere, I am sorry, I don't remember where. It is just butterscotch pudding, then banana cream pudding, with some cool whip on top.

One thing that made me smile today...

She is my quirky little girl! :)

One year anniversary :)

This picture was taken at the Cheesecake factory last week where we went to celebrate the fabulous Karlee and her birthday (We missed you Nate)! Afterwards Paul and I were reminiscing about how we have been friend with these fabulous people for over a year now. In life sometimes you meet people that you automatically click with, and these, for us, are those people! The first night we hung out I cried from laughing so hard, and haven't stopped since. These are the kind of friends you can laugh hysterically with, but they are always there when you need them too. I could go on and on about the wonderful examples they have individually set for me, but just so I don't get too mushy I'll just say:

Happy one year anniversary!! :)

I love Gardner Village :)

I don't know what it is about this place, but I absolutely love taking my kids there, and at Halloween time it feels almost magical. Today was one of those perfect days, the wind was blowing we were bundled up with scarves and cute fall sweaters, the leaves were falling, it smelled like apple cider and my kids were angels. What more can you ask for in a day??

This year we printed off the list of Witches they have from the Gardner Village website and went on a witch hunt. It was so fun, and the kids got so excited when they would see one from our list! This is my favorite picture, the kids were being so cute, imitating the witch hula-hooping! :)



We always take a lunch when we go there and today I tried to make ours a little festive. I know, I am a HUGE dork, but my kids get a kick out of it, so I don't care :) Pumpkin shaped pbj's, and vanilla pudding colored orange with ghost sprinkles in it!



My kids also loved playing in all the leaves. You can tell we don't live in an area with big trees, they were so excited to throw them in the air and jump in them.





So many days at home with the kids are difficult, but thank goodness for days like this when you remember how much FUN being a mom is!

Creative Party Place

If you are like me and love to throw a fun party you NEED to check out this site,
www.creativepartyplace.com

The parties they feature on this site are amazing, and somehow they were kind enough to feature our fun Elmo party we did for a Kendall a few months back. If you ever need any ideas, make sure you check this place out, I can't wait for an excuse to throw another party!!

Wee Witches Night!

On Saturday night Paul was planning on going to the Priesthood session, but came down with a horrible 24-hour flu bug. So like the wonderful, loving, doting wife that I am, I left him at home with Britton and went out with the girls! And by the girls I mean Skylar and Kendall :) Gardner Village (one of my absolute favorite places!) was having a Wee Witches Weekend, and I knew we had to go.

They had lots of fun activities for the kids and Skylar about died when she saw the Glitter Eyes booth. I am such a sucker, I just couldn't resist. Isn't she gorgeous?:)



The girls loved getting dressed up in their costumes and Skylar especially loved the big stage she could get up on and DANCE! This girl is a born performer, its fun to see how uninhibited she is, she is my joy.



Kendall just loved her warm, snuggly costume, she is such a content little girl. She just hung out in the stroller and laughed at Skylar's antics. I am such a lucky mommy!

I need your help...:)

I've had this idea in the back of my head for several months now, but am ashamed to say I haven't followed up on it. It keeps coming to me again and again that this could really bless our family, but then I get busy and forget :) Well, no more! Only problem is, I need some of your fantastic ideas.

I have decided I would like to have a family service project that Paul, I and the kids do every month. We will use the first family home evening of the month to kick this off, sometimes we will be able to accomplish it that night, other times it will just be a starting point. My problem has been in coming up with service projects that will not only bless the lives of others, but that my children, even as young as they are, can participate actively in. I have thought of a few that would have special meaning for our family (taking things to families that have babies in the NICU, etc) but I need many more! Please leave me comments with your ideas, I am lucky to know so many amazing people that are such great examples to me! Thanks!

Tummy Time!

Tummy time at our house has always been a much-hated thing! ALL of my kids have screamed and screamed on their tummies, and Britton (up until this week) has been no different. So I decided we would have family tummy time every day and do some pilates moves I remembered from doing it years ago. It is cute to see how much fun the kids have and how Britton is slowly learning to not hate it so much, doesn't hurt that he can now roll over any time he wants to be on his back again :)