“Work kept us from dwelling too much on the difficulties of our circumstances. Although our situation didn’t change overnight, it did change. That’s the thing about work. If we simply keep at it—steady and constant—things certainly will improve. …

“The Lord doesn’t expect us to work harder than we are able. He doesn’t (nor should we) compare our efforts to those of others. Our Heavenly Father asks only that we do the best we can—that we work according to our full capacity, however great or small that may be.

“Work is an antidote for anxiety, an ointment for sorrow, and a doorway to possibility. Whatever our circumstances in life … let us do the best we can and cultivate a reputation for excellence in all that we do. Let us set our minds and bodies to the glorious opportunity for work that each new day presents.

“When our wagon gets stuck in the mud, God is much more likely to assist the [person] who gets out to push than the [person]who merely raises his voice in prayer—no matter how eloquent the oration. President Thomas S. Monson put it this way:  ‘It is not enough to want to make the effort and to say we’ll make the effort. … It’s in the doing, not just the thinking, that we accomplish our goals. If we constantly put our goals off, we will never see them fulfilled.’

“Work can be ennobling and fulfilling, but remember Jacob’s warning not to ’spend … your labor for that which cannot satisfy.’ If we devote ourselves to the pursuit of worldly wealth and the glitter of public recognition at the expense of our families and our spiritual growth, we will discover soon enough that we have made a fool’s bargain. The righteous work we do within the walls of our homes is most sacred; its benefits are eternal in nature. It cannot be delegated. It is the foundation of our work.

“Remember, we are only temporary travelers in this world. Let us not devote our God-given talents and energies solely to setting earthly anchors, but rather let us spend our days growing spiritual wings.” ~ Dieter F. Uchtdorf

**********************************

During this Thanksgiving season and during this time of great uncertainty as we strive to make several major decisions for our family, I am beyond grateful for these wise words of wisdom uttered by a man inspired of God.

It fills me with some much needed hope.

Please note:  Be warned … there is a somewhat graphic picture further down this post.  It shows the incision from my husband’s foot surgery.

A little over a week ago my husband went in for his outpatient foot surgery.  He had a “largish” [I called it a golf ball size lump, he called it a peanut M&M size lump ... though even the surgeon said, "You can't miss seeing that" when he checked the lump during pre-op] ganglion cyst on the inside of his right foot, near his ankle, that needed to be removed.

The surgery itself went well, though it was a long day.  The doctor was running 3 hours behind schedule so it felt like we waited and waited for our turn to come around.  Thank goodness the kind souls who watched our kids didn’t mind the change in plans.

Here is his foot a few hours after surgery.  He is wearing the boot he has to hobble around in.  He also is supposed to use crutches, though 4 year old Cory calls them “crunches.”

And here is the actual incision 4 days after surgery.

We think it is healing well, but he still is trying to take it easy (though my definition of easy and his definition of easy aren’t the same)  and keep his foot elevated.  Hopefully when he goes in next week to get the stitches removed we will hear a good report.

I am ready for it to be fully healed so we can get back to our “normal” routine in life.  It has been kind of a long month with his business travel, his foot surgery and then some hefty decisions we are still attempting to make … when and where to move, whether or not to pursue the elusive Ph.D, what career path do we want to be on and some other family issues that have arisen.

But then again, my heart is full of gratitude for all the good things and good people we have in our life.  Despite the stress and  overwhelming anxiety I have felt lately, the Lord still blesses me with those occasional peaceful happy moments.  It is at those moments that I have to pause and step back and remember His words, “Be still.”

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

~ “Be Still My Soul” hymn; Text by Katharina von Schlegel

The husband has been gone all week on a business trip.  (Who ever planned a business trip to involve Halloween weekend probably doesn’t have kids.  And while we are on the subject of not having kids , whoever enacted the time change law also must not have kids!?!)

Let me tell you it has been a long and tiring week, but I also know I was strengthened beyond my own means.  I never could have survived without all the prayers being said.  I even woke up with a lousy migraine this morning, but thankfully some medicine and 8 year old Keri came to my rescue. She “babysat” the kidlets while I attempted to get some extra shut-eye this morning.

Anywho, here are some fun pictures of our adventurous evening last night.  We first went to our Church’s trunk-or-treat party and then the two older kids went trick-or-treating in a local neighborhood.  (Much thanks to my dear friend who watched Eli for us so he didn’t have to freeze!)

Trying to get all 3 kids to look at the camera at the same time is not an easy feat.  Hence the candy wrapper and bulge
in little Eli’s mouth.

These two kids adore each other!  Best buddies!

Maybe our little 15 month old tiger should have been a monkey. He loves to scale everything!

The kids had a blast last night!  Cory declared that Halloween is his favorite holiday. Keri likes it second best, Christmas ranks first for her.

On the agenda for this week?

My husband is having foot surgery on Wednesday.  And there is supposed to be a three week recovery for it.  Hopefully it goes well and hopefully I will still be standing after a month long bout of parenting on the solo side !

Do you have too much Halloween candy on hand from all your trick-or-treating munchkins? Or too much left over from trick-or-treaters who never visited?

Besides doing scientific experiments on it or running a small candy store where your kids trade in their treats for little toys or fun family outing coupons, try freezing some or putting it in your food storage.  We like to do this and recycle their treats into their Christmas stockings, Valentine’s Day gifts, etc.

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!

It is hard to believe November is here. Thanksgiving (one of my favorite holidays) is in a few weeks.  And Keri promptly told me this morning that Christmas is in 55 days. Yikes!

A few weeks ago, Rudy mentioned a couple of different times how he thought little Eli was starting to look kind of like a girl.  He thought Eli’s hair was getting too long and shaggy.

I should have taken a before shot.  This was from the
beginning of September.

Learning how to cut hair is something I have always wanted to do [kind of like how I eventually want to take voice lessons and how I eventually want to take photography lessons and how I eventually want to learn how to sew and how I eventually want to take piano lessons again], but right now I don’t know the first thing about how to do it.  I once shaved my brother’s head in high school … with clippers even … and it looked wrong.  Just wrong.

I have also attempted to trim Cory’s and Keri’s hair before, but I wasn’t overly fond with the way it turned out.  It seemed somewhat crooked and lopsided to me.

Apparently my domestic/homemaking skills are non-existent in this  department.  That doesn’t come as too much of a surprise to me, though, because in general I don’t have much of an artistic or creative flair.  It is hard for me to even visualize things in my head.  Perhaps that is why I didn’t like geometry in high school, but I adored algebra and calculus.

I think my older brother got all the art and design genes in the family.  Although, somehow those genes have been passed on to my kids.   Both Keri, who is 8, and Cory, who is 4, draw WAY better than me.  Even my stick figures tend to be crooked.

Anyway, I didn’t feel like shelling out a bunch of cash to go get Eli’s hair cut, so I decided to try and take on the project by myself.  I was a bit nervous, but I did search the Internet for some tips on how to cut kids hair, especially toddlers hair when they don’t want to hold still.

If I do say so myself, it didn’t turn out as bad as I thought it would.  His bangs aren’t the straightest thing in the world, but for the most part I think it looks kind of decent.  Especially since I only used scissors and no clippers.

However, now that he has his hair cut, he looks much older to me.  He looks like a little boy, not a little baby.

I miss my baby!

But I am glad he is growing up.  Just don’t grow up too fast, OK little one?

I adore libraries.

I love meandering up and down the quiet aisles perusing the titles of dozens and dozens of books.

I love holding a book in my hands and thumbing through  its pages which hold the words of a story waiting to be devoured.

Not only do I love finding great reads for me, but I also get a thrill out of finding literary treasures I know my kids will enjoy.  I can spend forever and a day in the picture book section of the library poring over all it has to offer.  In fact, I don’t think I can enter a library …  even when I don’t have kids with me … without stopping in the children’s section.  It is too enticing.

While in the library today with my three little ones, I absentmindedly picked up a Halloween book.  As soon as I looked at the cover I was flooded with a myriad of memories.  (Don’t you love it when something you see, hear, smell or taste brings back pleasant childhood memories?  I cherish these unexpected trips down memory lane.) Instantly I knew this was a book I wanted to share with my kids.

I remember reading this book, “A Woggle of Witches,” as a young child. I remember curling up on our family room couch and being fascinated by the paintings this author-illustrator, Adrienne Adams, created.

It was charming and magical.

It taught me that a woggle is a medium-sized group of witches.  It taught me that witches like to eat bat stew.  It taught me that witches get scared, too.

This book probably helped sparked my love for the Autumn season.

And now it has sparked my new obsession with the word woggle.

Woggle.  Woggle.  Woggle.

Although I think I am going to use it to mean anything medium-sized … medium being relative.

I should now hurry off and attend to the woggle of books waiting for me in the other room.

Hmmm.  Maybe the stack is more like a woggle times a woggle.  Or a woggle to the woggleth degree.

If you live in Western Washington, I just thought I would give you a heads up that Disney on Ice Worlds of Fantasy will be performing at the Comcast Arena in Everett, Thursday November 5th – Sunday November 8th.

Disney On Ice presents Worlds of Fantasy takes flight this fall as Feld Entertainment’s newest ice spectacular, featuring four fun-filled classic and current Disney stories.  Worlds of Fantasy showcases beloved characters from Disney/Pixar’s Cars, Disney’s The Lion King and The Little Mermaid, as well as a live debut of the magical cast of new Fairies from the 2008 release of Walt Disney Pictures Tinker Bell DVD.

In a captivating “fairy tale” segment, audiences will enter into the wondrous world of Pixie Hollow and meet the Disney Fairies from Tinker Bell. The entire ice floor will transform into springtime, as the fairies’ magical role in the mysteries of nature is finally revealed.  From wheels to waves, Pride Lands to pixie dust, your family’s favorite Disney moments come to life at Disney On Ice presents World of Fantasy with dazzling skating, special effects and beloved characters certain to create a lifetime of memories.  Special Bonus!  Disney Princess Pre-Show: Arrive up to one hour early to tour our dazzling display of gorgeous gowns.

If you are interested in purchasing discount tickets (4 tickets for $11 each) then click HERE.  Enter MOM as the password.

We will definitely be heading to one of the shows thanks to the tickets Disney provided us.  I know my kids are going to love it!  Of course my boys will love the Cars act and my daughter will adore the skating in general. We hope to see you there!

If you know me at all, then you must know that I positively adore Autumn and everything about it.

Crisp, cool nights.  Seeing the trees ablaze with color.  Relishing new beginnings that come with the start of a fresh school year.  The smell of pumpkin, mingled with cinnamon and other spices.  Snuggling under soft, cozy blankets on your bed late at night and early in the morning.  Sipping a steaming mug of hot cocoa.  Indulging in delicious pumpkin chocolate chip bread.

‘Tis the best season indeed.

And since we love Fall, we obviously have to decorate to help us celebrate.  The kids enjoyed helping me put up some simple decorations around the house.

For the last few years we have had fun making egg carton spiders, but this year we decided to try a new spider craft thanks to the generosity of California Raisins.  They sent us a package that included all the ingredients to make a batch of Spooky Raisin Spiders.

The verdict?

The kids had a blast mixing up these no-bake treats in the kitchen and they loved decorating the spiders with colorful eyes and wiggly legs.  Since there is so much candy and sugar around Halloween time, it was nice to have a somewhat more healthy alternative.  (Although, for one of my kids this was especially healthy because she didn’t so much care for the taste of the treat, but she thoroughly enjoyed putting her creative skills to work.)

Many of you probably already have the ingredients on hand to whip up this in-the-kitchen craft-treat, but I am still going to offer one lucky US resident reader the chance to win their own Spooky Raisin Spider kit.

What do you need to do?  Simply leave a comment on this post before Tuesday October 20th.

If you want to be entered into this giveaway three times, then in your comment answer at least one of the following questions:

• What are you or your kiddos going to be for Halloween?
• What do you love about Autumn?

If you want to be entered into this giveaway five times, then write about this giveaway on your blog or your Facebook or Twitter account. If you do this, though, please make sure you tell me in your comment.

I hope you are having a …

Happy Autumn!

Me and office supply stores go together like kids and toy stores.  I can’t get enough of the organizing paraphernalia I find in these places.  And don’t even get me started on all the fun pens and markers.

You can probably guess then that I actually enjoy all the back-to-school supply shopping … that is until I get to the check out counter and have to fork over the cash.

Thanks to Avery, though, I am now the proud owner of this free and fabulous gift basket. It will definitely help with my office supply fetish and with all the school supplies my kidlets need.

And did you know that Avery recently partnered with Box Tops for Education?

“Now, when you purchase Avery school and office supplies you also receive Box Tops coupons to clip and return to your child’s school to be redeemed for cash.”  This is perfect for me because Keri’s school is an avid collector of these little coupons.

“Avery has also teamed up with organizational expert Jodie Watson, founder and president of Supreme Organization and the organizational expert from TLC’s Real Simple. Real Life.  She has many tips for parents and children to organize for school success in order to reduce stress and be more efficient and productive.”

Kindergarten – 2nd Grade

** “Create a binder to house the best of your child’s school work as they go through the school year.  Use a template to create the front cover and spine of the binder with your child’s name, school, year, etc.  Use dividers to make sections for homework, artwork, certificates of recognition, awards, projects, etc.  Keep papers inside sheet protectors so the work will stay in good condition.  Take pictures of any larger artwork or projects they make and place the photo in the binder.  Photos can be printed as large as 10’x8” for best viewing.  At the end of the school year, you will have a completed binder with all their best work.”

3rd – 5th Grade

** “Place a dry erase calendar where you and your child can see and reach it.  With a marker write down all the upcoming school dates for the year – school breaks, events, field trips.  As you go through the year, use the calendar to track project due dates and help your child to schedule in the days they will be working on long term homework assignments in order to complete them on time.  Calendar can also include play-dates, parties, doctor’s appointments, and sports or dance lessons.  This is a great way to introduce your child to project management at an easy to understand level.  If you have more than one child, use a different color marker for each one to easily differentiate between their schedules.”

6th – 8th Grade

** “Help your child create a fully personalized, unique binder with Avery Signature Binders to organize their work for the upcoming school year. They could use one binder to hold all of their class work or individual binders for each class they will be taking.  Use dividers to create separate sections for each course or class, such as: history, math, science, and/or create separate sections within each class, such as: notes, assignments, handouts, etc.  Label each divider with a permanent marker or print labels on your computer so you can clearly see which section is which.  Insert a copy of your child’s class schedule into a sheet protector and place at the front of the binder.  For each class make a cover sheet with the class name, teacher, room number, location, days/times of classes.  Place the class info cover sheets into sheet protectors and insert into the binder at the front of the section for that particular class.”

** “Encourage your child to use a highlighter to empathize important content while taking class notes or on handouts.  This will help them to find relevant content later on when they are studying.”

So how do you win this giveaway?

Simply leave a comment on this post before Saturday October 17th.  One lucky winner will be selected for this Avery gift basket that contains nearly $50 worth of goodies.

If you want to be entered into this giveaway three times, then in your comment answer at least one of the following questions:

• How is your house doing with the kids being back in school?
• What is your favorite office supply?

If you want to be entered into this giveaway five times, then write about this giveaway on your blog or your Facebook status or your Twitter account. Make sure you indicate in your comment that you did so.

Sorry, but this giveaway is for U.S. addresses only.  The winner will have 2 days to claim their prize.

I hope you are having a Happy October!

A new favorite quote of mine:

“Never forget that these little ones are the sons and daughters of God and that yours is a custodial relationship to them, that He was a parent before you were parents and that He has not relinquished His parental rights or interest in these His little ones. . . . Rear your children in love, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Take care of your little ones. Welcome them into your homes, and nurture and love them with all of your hearts. They may do, in the years that come, some things you would not want them to do, but be patient, be patient. You have not failed as long as you have tried.” ~ Gordon B. Hinckley (emphasis added)

[Note to self:  Be patient with them.]

[Second note to self:  Be patient with me.]

[Last note to self:  Remember I, too, am a "little one" who has parents.  Be gentle.]