How THIS guy got us some free tickets for a Witchy Breakfast :)

A few week ago I noticed a contest Gardner Village was having on their Facebook page. First you must understand my obsession with Gardner Village....what can I say, I'm obsessed!! I love going there, and there is no time I love it more than at Halloween time. If you don't believe me see the posts here and here :)



This contest they were having was for 4 tickets to their annual Breakfast with a Witch! I have thought the last several years that this would be fun for our family, but I have never been able to part with $40 for a breakfast buffet :) However, all you had to do for this contest was to share your favorite Halloween memory for your chance to win. As everyone always says, I never win anything, but I thought I would give it a try. I have lots of good halloween memories, my mom was always great at making everything special and fun, but one always stuck out to me....



When we were younger we were poor....I mean, really poor. Like living in a garage, surviving on food stamps, single mom working and going to school full time POOR. The great thing was though, I never felt poor at the holidays. My mom would tirelessly work to make holidays special and memorable for us, without spending lots of money. One year she came up with the best costume idea I have seen yet....she had my little brother be the Little Ceasar's Pizza Guy!! I mean toga, grecian headpiece, and two pizzas on a stick and everything!! It was SO clever, and trust me we got lots of attention everywhere we went (which I loved, because it really translated into more candy ;)



As I told my mom about the contest she reminded me about little details I had forgotten, how she had used frozen pizzas during the day for the school parade. They got pretty soggy, so for trick-or-treating she tried cooking them instead...I am not sure that result was much better ;) But the best thing about this all is what a great reminder it was to me about the importance I feel in making things special for my kids. Even though at the time it feels like so much work, they really will remember all the love and energy that went into all the silly little things we do...even if it doesn't go the way we planned.



I love my mom and the example she has set for me in so many ways. As I sat with my daughters while we dined with the witches I was SO grateful for the loving way I was raised, that helped prepare me to create such special memories with these children of my own. And yes...now I am feeling a little bit of pressure to get more creative with the kids Halloween costumes! :)

Dinosaur Week

A week and half late on the Preschool Theme....NOT cool!! But here it is, better late than never, right? This is always one of my favorite weeks to do fun activities and teach the kids...what is more exciting than DINOSAURS?! We won't actually be doing this theme til next week at our house, so if you have any great ideas PLEASE leave them in a comment. I love to hear what others are doing with their little munchkins too :)

Tuesday

Color or the Week (brown)

Number of the Week (4)

Letter D Tracer page

Sound Bag

Read "Dizzy Dinosaur" book

Dino Bones hunt with capital and lowercase letters (cut out dino bones and hide them all around the house, then have child match corresponding upper and lowercase letters on the bones)

Dinosaur coloring page

Dinosaur feet craft (Kleenex boxes)

Dino hunt snack (gummy dinos in chocolate pudding)

Thursday

Color of the Week (brown)

Number of the Week (4)

Letter D Tracer page

Sound Bag

Read "Dizzy Dinosaur" book

Dinosaur puzzle (Trace a large dinosaur on posterboard, and then cut into puzzle pieces)

Dinosaur egg matching game (fill easter eggs with matches of little plastic dinosaurs)

Snack time

Have a great week everyone!!

What do socks, french toast, and joy all have in common?

They are all things that were in abundance at our home this conference weekend! :) I really love General Conference, I think it is a beautiful time to not only hear the words of our Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, but to forge stronger family bonds and create lasting memories and traditions.

I am a big lover of traditional foods, you know, the foods you only have on special occasions a few times a year. Our absolute favorite family breakfast is Creme Brulee French Toast. My sister-in-law made this for me right after I had Britton, and it is now tradition for Sunday Conference and Christmas breakfast. Here is the recipe (warning: it is VERY rich and VERY high in calories!!:):

Creme Brulee French Toast

A new tradition we started this year was our "Conference Socks". I always print off the conference packets you find online and put them in a binder with markers, crayons, and a matching game of pictures of the apostles. I also have little buckets filled with treats, amazing what kids will sit through with some crayons and fruit snacks! :) But in all seriousness, I love these packets, they help familiarize my little ones with all the Apostles and the reasons we have conference. ANYWAY...back to the conference socks! :)

This morning sitting next to the treat buckets and binders were pairs of fuzzy Halloween socks for everyone in the family. Every morning when the kids wake up they talk about how cold their feet are on the tile. I thought this would be a fun way to illustrate a principle I want to instill in the children: Feeling and recognizing the Spirit! So to tie it all together here is the poem I came up with (take it easy on me, I wrote it at 7 this morning, not my best work ;)

Conference Socks

On cold fall mornings, it can get a little chilly,

Walking around on the cold tile, it just seems a little silly!

So here are some warm fuzzy socks, to put on your little feet,

But when you put these on, I want you to think of something even more sweet.

Today we listen to Conference and feel the Spirit of the Lord,

We listen to President Monson, he tells us of Heavenly Father's words.

Just like the socks make our feet feel warm, the Spirit can warm our hearts too,

And when you get that warm fuzzy feeling inside, you know what you hear is true!

So every time you put your socks on, I want you to remember what you feel,

President Monson is a prophet, and Heavenly Father and Jesus' love for us is real!

Cheesy....YES! Did the kids get a kick out of it....YES!!!

I am so grateful for General Conference. I have been praying for guidance lately, and the things I heard this weekend reminded me of the covenants I have made, the things that are truly important, and areas in my life I need to be more vigilant in following after my Savior. It was a wonderful weekend :)