Ward Trunk or Treat

Tonight was our ward trunk or treat.

 

Before I forget, here are a few funny Sandyisms.

She loves to go to Old McDonald’s. (that is what she calls the fast food place).

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I carry bags like this one in my car and sometimes stop to give one to someone with a sign asking for help. Every time I do this, she asks about it and we talk about how the person has a sign that says that they are hungry and we are so blessed to have food to eat and so Jesus would want us to share our food.

We were on the way home from the park and Sandy wanted a snack and I told her we’d get one at home. Then I saw someone with a sign and decided to hand out one of my homeless bags. After I gave it away, Sandy said, “I’m hungry just like that man is hungry!”

We had a very nice discussion about how we could go right home and have a snack, but this man couldn’t do that and how she is such a lucky little girl to have a nice house to live in, good food to eat, warm clothes to wear, and a mommy and daddy that love her so, so much.

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Speaking of being hungry, this morning Sandy came in and asked for breakfast. She said, “I’m so hungry my whole mouth is hungry!”

Fall Fun

It doesn’t take much to entertain us:

 

I promise Sandy (usually) starts the day in clothes that match. This was, oh, I don’t know, maybe her fifth outfit of the day. I care less and less as the day goes on.

 

 

It was a beautiful fall day:

 

The weather was gorgeous – the girls wanted to wear hats, but they took off their shoes.

 

Sandy showing off some rocks she collected:

 

Contemplative Abby:

Clothes for Pictures

We are taking family pictures next month when we’ll be in Houston with my parents, siblings and their families. The colors are black, white, gray, and red. I’ve been trying to figure out outfits and I think I’ve found something for each of the girls.

I love Abby’s gray sweater with a white onesie and jeans. She also has a red shirt, but I don’t think I like red on her as well.

I was thinking of this outfit for Sandy. She really likes it. Do you think the pattern is too busy, though?

They both have black boots. Then, I was thinking it would be fun to add an accessory with just a pop of red for each of them. Something like this headband for Sandy and this bow for Abby.

For me, I looked to see what I have in my closet.

I think the gray shirt in the bottom right corner is my favorite, but the sleeves are a bit sheer so I’d need to find a shirt to go underneath that doesn’t disrupt the neckline too much. Also, I’m not sure if I want to wear short sleeves? My second favorite is the button up, striped shirt. I don’t like either of the cardigans at all – maybe if I untucked the white shirt they’d be a little better. I usually wear them with dresses and I think they hang a bit better.

I love this cardigan (and the way it looks on her!):

I also love this necklace. I think it would work with the gray shirt, but not with the button up one. I have a simple strand of black pearls, though, that would work with the button up shirt.

 

I’m not sure what Bill will wear. He wants to wear black pants but the only shirt I can find that is even remotely in the color scheme is a gray sweater with a blue argyle pattern. I’ll have to go look for something. He has a set of swatches his sister put together for him of colors that look good on him. These are the reds – they are more burgandy and magenta than red, though, so maybe I should stick with plain gray.

I would love any comments or suggestions. And, for those that are taking the pictures with us, I’d love to see how this matches up to what you are planning to wear.

A few pictures

Sandy showing off her pumpkin picture – and the outfit she picked out today.

 

Abby loves to brush her teeth.

 

The girls got these fun blankets in the mail from Grandma Sherri. Check out this crown.

 

Here I am with the girls and their blankets.

 

Also, I’ve had a couple of people ask about my craft blog. You can find it here.

General Conference Highlights 2011

Who were your three favorite speakers?

President Thomas S. Monson (multiple talks, I love that he announced the temple fund that will pay for a one-time temple trip for those that would otherwise be unable to go!)

President Boyd K. Packer (Saturday morning, he has such a distinctive voice, I enjoyed his stories from his childhood, and I like his repetition – the children today are being born in enemy territory)

Sister Elaine S. Dalton (Sunday morning, to Fathers of Daughters. What a great message! This is the number one talk I hope we study as one of the Teachings for our Times lessons.)

 

Which talk spoke to you the most?

It’s hard to pick one. Probably one of these:

Elder Neil L. Andersen (Saturday afternoon) about having families

Elder Ian S. Ardern (Saturday afternoon) about using time wisely

 

What was your favorite hymn and why did it move you?

Consider the Lilies by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in the Sunday morning session. Abby liked it, too.

It is a beautiful song, but it was more than that. I felt throughout the conference such encouragement and hope and this song really put words to those feelings.

 

Which speaker was the best dressed? (Come on, we can have a little fun.)

I don’t know, but my 3-year-old daughter was excited that Sister Dalton was wearing purple just like her.

 

Were there any topics that you felt like were repeated often? Any conference themes?

*The Book of Mormon, importance of studying it, gaining a testimony of it

*Not to fear

*Use technology/social media & time wisely

*Heavenly Father desires to bless us but we need to ask. I loved the back to back talks Sunday afternoon of Elder Bennett (his near drowning experience where the life guard had circled around the current and was waiting for him to call for help) and Elder Cornish (who talked of praying to find a quarter so he could buy a chicken thigh on his way home). 

 

Share a few of your favorite quotes from any of the talks (paraphrasing is fine).

I’ll be glad when they release the printed versions:

*President Packer had some great quotes and promises about being protected if we follow the promptings of the holy ghost

*President Eyring had a quote about the Book of Mormon changing character I’d like to go back and look up

*Elder Cook had a quote about the tender mercies of the Lord, many of which we are unaware of

*President Uchtdorf: Man is nothing compared to God but to God, man is everything

 

Name something(s) that made you smile or laugh during conference.

Elder Alonzo (Saturday morning) when he talked of looking for his son that was lost and commented that they didn’t stop to have a planning meeting.

Bill’s orange-cinnamon rolls that he made on Sunday made me smile!

 

Was there any evidence that your children paid attention?

There were a few moments:

When Elder Bennett (Sunday afternoon) told the story of his 3-year-old granddaughter being given the choice between eating dinner and having ice cream or not eating her dinner and going to bed without ice cream, Sandy said, “I like to go to bed because I get tired.”

After Elder Cook’s (Sunday afternoon), Sandy said, “He said Amen. We say Amen to prayers and to talks, too.”

 

What doctrine did you learn as you listened to the choir(s) sing?

I thought “I’ll Go Where You Want me to Go” was a fitting song after Elder Ballard’s Sunday morning talk about using the correct name of the church (I’ll say what you want me to say).

 

Did the music enhance your General Conference experience? How?

Yes. I loved the primary choir in the Saturday afternoon session. It was wonderful to hear the children singing.

I also loved when the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang I Believe in Christ after President Monson’s talk (one of the Sunday ones, I can’t remember which one now).

 

What are some of your post-conference goals?

*To read a conference talk with my scriptures before I go to bed. I’m hoping to get through the conference Ensign several times before next conference.

*Evaluate time spent on computer – i.e., waste less time

*Pray more for divine help with daily struggles

*Remember (more consistently) President Monson in my prayers and in our family prayers

 

And here are a few more pictures:

 

Note: These questions came from here.

New Hairdo

 

Sandy’s hair is tricky to do – it has a very fine texture and it’s come in unevenly. I’ve tried to braid it, but I can’t get it to stay, even with a lot of gel. I put up one side, but it usually falls out as she is playing. Also, her bangs are getting long and always seem to be hanging in her face.

Yesterday, we saw one of her friends who had just come back from cookie cutters. I tried to recreate the method they had used and it worked great. I’m so excited to see Sandy with her hair out of her face and have a fairly quick hairdo that will stay put through some running around!

Basically, I made a little pony tail with her bangs, pulled the tail through the pony tail then combined it with a second pony tail, pulled that tail through, and combined it all into a third ponytail and pulled that one through as well.

Oh, and Sandy’s wearing her home depot apron because she has an amazing dad that takes her the first Saturday of every month to do the kids workshop project.

September Wrap Up

We had a family celebration of the September birthdays.

 

Mine:

 

Autumn’s:

 

April’s:

 

Here are some other pictures from that night.

 

Grandma & Autumn working on a cake:

 

Abby & I:

 

I think this was my favorite picture of the night. Kate watching Autumn open presents and crying – she’s so adorable, even when she’s crying. I think Abby took off with the present right behind Kate at one point, but I don’t have a good picture of that.

 

I got to go to the General Relief Society Broadcast. It was nice to see it live.

 

Abby loves to swing and sometimes just wants to stay there even when I tell her I’m done pushing. One day she was sitting there, I was picking up the backyard and looked up to find this:

 

Sandy on the same day:

 

I love watching these two play together. Here is Sandy pushing Abby in a laundry basket:

 

Abby’s masterpiece:

 

This is what the girls looked like afterward (and the reason they don’t usually get to color with markers):