God's Blessings to ........Me!

Sunday was a most wonderful day, not only because it was my birthday, but it really was a beautiful day. Jeff made breakfast AND cleaned up, the kids put up birthday decorations then we went to church. The kids choirs sang at our favorite church service. I got a new dress from my mother-in-law that I got to wear to church. One friend stopped me at church with a bag full of things I love, and another came over afterwards with a batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies that spelled "Happy Birthday." Those are the best birthdays with surprises around the bends. I spent the rest of the day studying, which was exactly how I needed to spend my day. The kids left me little notes saying they love me and wishing me a happy birthday too. Jeff also grilled some salmon and made a big salad for dinner (even more impressive is he spent saturday night helping me look for black patent leather shoes.) And he made his very first cake; my favorite, chocolate with chocolate fudge icing. He even found the cake with 30% less fat!!! I was very impressed. I am one very lucky and very blessed woman!

Blogging... an Obsession?

So we're having a family hike in a nearby state park and all I can think about is that I left my camera in the car. All I could think about was how great these pictures would be for my blog. I should have been enjoying the beautiful scenery - at one point the wind blew and tons of yellow and red leaves fell like snow. It was a once in a lifetime photo op and I was without camera. As soon as the hike was over, I had to try to capture the scenery with picture of the kids... but boy do I wish I could show you how the leaves looked as they fell. We are pretty lucky to live so close to a state park. We kind of take it for granted and I think it is nearly as pretty as Starved Rock.

LSA 1st grade Auction Quilt

This is a cute idea that this teacher started when Skyler had her for 1st grade. Our school has an auction every year and all the classes make a group-made item for the live auction. I learned while sewing my first quilt, this is now my third I've done for the auction. It is not a hard endeavor but just time consuming. Luckily, with my exam out of the way and Jeff off Friday, I got a good 5 hour block to put it together. It turned out pretty well. In the past, they have brought in about $500 at live auction. I just hope plenty of parents are there this year so it can do that well. The kids drew some great pictures for 1st graders. The theme was "Thanksgiving - I'm thankful for...."
Doccy's picture the fish next to the snowflakes. I found that odd since he doesn't really like fish.

One More Trick or Treat video

Most of the night, Sethie spent riding in the wagon. He would go up to one house for every 10 the other kids went to. Once he got his treat, he wanted to chill in his ride and eat it. Pretty smart kid if you ask me. But when his reserve was gone, he had to go back to work. He's one of those "work to live not live to work" types.

Trick or Treat

I had to try this (Marta's was so cute). I think the cutest part is Joe's freestyle chicken dance at the end.

Halloween Hoopla

We had a very busy but fun Halloween. Sierra and Doc sang for Reformation at school and I got to hear them sing before heading to preschool. Joe preschool had their party with kids in costume and lots of games to play. He was a bit freaked out by all his friends' transformations but eventually warmed up for snacks. I was so hoping to go home and study the respiratory system for my exam that day, but his teacher encouraged all parents to stay. Seth wanted to play all the games with the kids and of course have a cookie too. So I guess it was worth the sacrifice.
On the way to preschool, the trees that I have been watching change colors, beckoned for another picture. So I snapped it - it's interesting to see the change in just a week.
After preschool, I fed the kids a quick lunch, put them to bed and hit the books for an hour before the exam. Then, with exam under my belt, zipped over to pick up kids from school, bid adieu to grandma and started picking out kiddie costumes.
We had great fun trick-or-treating, great exercise too and since our neighborhood is built up yet, we got to turn off the porch light and go as a family. That means a lot to us since we know Skyler will go only one more time maybe. He was a good sport this year and still got excited for it. I'm so glad he's not "too cool" to trick-or-treat yet.

Our official costumes this year were - Dracula, Juliet, Harry Potter, Buzz Light Year and a cute little chicken.