Happy Halloween

From our web to yours!

I saw these Spider Pops last year on the Family Fun website. When I found the spider web bowl at Pier One, I knew what our new Halloween tradition would be. This year we made around 70 and surprised teachers and Trunk or Treaters with this Halloween treat. Nathan had a day off work and got his hands in on the fun, too.

If I had a million dollars . . .

I might pay someone to round brush my hair everyday.
The salon where she works is called "Fountain of Beauty" and she has clients that drive from Dallas every 6 weeks to have HER do their color.
(That's over 2 hours, folks).

Heard at the Hunts: Heaven

When we got home from the Trunk or Treat, there was a LOT of candy trading at the table. Bryn handed me a plain Hershey's bar and said, "Here, mom. It's HEAVEN."

Diana piped in, "I want a bite of Heaven."

I shared.

"How is your Heaven?" I asked.

"It's good."

Fall Favorites

Flag football
Fall colors on the trees in Chicago
September weather there
Butternut Squash Soup
Baking
Hot cereal on a cold morning--if I wake up in time to make it.
Harvest time: My neighbor brought me green peppers, fresh salad greens, fresh herbs, and lemongrass. She promised more to come. Yum.
Fall fabric centerpiece. Bought the fabrics on my only Black Friday early morning shopping trip EVER. In Ohio, with Sarah.
Halloween Pumpkin shirts (matching hand me downs in two sizes from two sources).
How I love those cheeks! So kissable.

Time is ticking.
Soon it will be Thanksgiving, my Favorite Fall Favorite.
What pies are you baking?
We are having:
Two Pumpkin
Rhubarb
Apple Cranberry

A new favorite: FALL WALL "Blank Slate"

I read (too many) blogs with great design and great photos. One of them featured a wall covered in scrapbook paper and it got me thinking. Since we don't have fall colors here, why not make my own? The first photo is the "blank slate," including the helper who helped me put it up. It is in our kitchen, right behind Nathan's spot at the table. The second photo contains our fall artwork. I hope my kids remember me coloring with them.
It's one of the best parenting duties.


Did I mention my kids don't have art class at school?
Can you imagine elementary school without art?

Diana this morning at breakfast: "My pumpkin is weird."

The best made plans . . . . (Fish week)

If you were to title this week's menu, it would be "Fish week."

Monday night we ate frozen fish sticks because it was a busy day and Nathan wasn't going to make it in time for dinner.

Tuesday night: Refried beans and rice.

Today I discovered that my kitchen helpers put the frozen fish into the fridge, not the freezer. They were so efficient that I didn't even notice them or give them a second thought, until I found 3 dinners worth of fish in the fridge, (plus 3 lunches worth for N to take to work).
OOPS. When I found the first package, I thought "Great! I didn't have a plan for dinner tonight and since they are already thawed, it will be perfect."

Then, hiding behind package one, I found packages 2 and 3. I laughed because what else could I do? It was too late to re-freeze them.

We ate Tilapia Fish Sticks tonight. This is a favorite Tara gave me when we were neighbors in Chicago. Tilapia was always on sale at one of our favorite stores, and it has become a family favorite (for some of the family, that is).

Tomorrow will be LOTS of salmon, are you coming for dinner?

My helpers begged to have their picture taken after their baths and combing their own hair. I love my helpers and their working hands.


Friday will probably be fish, too.

Now, I wonder, "Was it my helpers? Or was it me?"

Gatesville

Today Nathan was assigned to speak in Gatesville, a town of about 16,000, about 40 minutes from our house.

To get there we passed other small towns named Flat and Moffat, and drove by the North gate to Fort Hood, the largest army base in the USA. We crossed the Leon River, pictured below, which looked more like a lake.

We admired the practice field for the H.S. band. The Gatesville Hornets have the nicest band field either of us have ever seen--fenced in, marked astroturf and a stand for the drum major about 10 feet in the air. All the schools in Gatesville are in one central location, and the church is right across the street. Wal-Mart, the next big landmark, is less than half a mile away.


His message today was from Thomas S. Monson's talk from April Conference, "Be of Good Cheer." Nathan's thesis stated that being of good cheer will not only help us grow it will save our lives: physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Here is a section of his talk:

"Being of good cheer will save you physically. When I was growing up, my friends and I learned that we could be cheerful doing things that were difficult. When I began middle school I talked with one of the counselors at school that encouraged each student to get involved in activities outside of class. She talked to my mother and me about cross country. I grew up scouting and enjoying the outdoors so this sounded like something I would really enjoy. When I learned more about this sport I wasn’t so sure it would be fun. However, I had signed up and I was going to do it until it was over. On the first day of practice I learned we could run and laugh and enjoy one another’s company and for the next 15 years it became a regular part of my life I as ran cross country in the fall and track in the spring through middle school, high school and much of my time in college. I ran road races and fun runs in the summer and winter. We sang and laughed while running. I laughed and laughed at those practices. We stopped and went swimming in ponds or irrigation canals. We raced each other, cars, and occasionally an intimidating dog. We ran through sprinklers, up hills, in the sand, and on the asphalt and when it was over we were glad we did it. We ran cheerfully. The task of running did not change, it was and is still difficult for me, the difference is I learned, at a young age, that I can choose to be cheerful even if what I am doing is difficult and that has made a tremendous difference in the way I approach running and many other difficult chores and situations. The task in itself does not change but my approach to the task has. Vigorous exercise is important to our health and learning to be of good cheer while doing it has physically saved my life."

He choked up a little when he got to "For the next 15 years," and I did too.

Diana got to stay with us during class time and seemed OK with it, until church was over. When she realized church was over, she said to Nathan, "I forgot to go to nursery!" and cried. They didn't have any nursery children. Can you imagine?

On the way home we stopped took this photo as evidence that the Texas National Guard is alive and well, not far from our house. Across the aisle from this row of helicopters was an identical row. Andrew was SO excited to see all of these in one place.


It was a lovely day together.

the DRESS part 1

Background: Eight years ago, I was pregnant and did not find out the gender of my child. When SHE was born, I decided I would sew her a blessing dress. Less than a week after her delivery, I was at Joann's buying fabric and a dress pattern. What was I thinking? A few days later, (the night before her blessing, when the dress wasn't finished), I stayed up late next to my mom as she sewed the dress. I think I only sewed one seam, and even that might be generous.

Having my first daughter made me want to be able to sew dresses for her. Specifically modest clothing that is also cute. I set a goal to sew her one dress each year.

Fast forward eight years, to 2009. In that time, TWO dresses have been sewn, and only ONE for that daughter. Nevertheless, time moves on and we are planning a December baptism. Once again, I am pregnant with a child of unknown gender . . not that much has changed. Bryn will have a dress sewn by my two hands, and my mom will not be finishing it the night before. Due to my current pregnant and highly emotional state, I will not be either, it must be done in advance.

That said, last night I finished (almost) Bryn's prototype baptism dress. I didn't get the hem done. This morning I sent her to school with the dress on a hanger so she could wear it for school pictures. She did, though the strings hanging off the ends at the bottom bothered not only her, her teacher offered to trim them for her.

"My mom is still sewing it and I might get in trouble, so please don't," Bryn told her. I wish I could have been there.

Here it is.


New skills: I sewed my first darts and set in sleeves! The sleeves were easier than the darts. It might be that because of the elastic gather in the sleeve, the mistakes on the sleeve don't show? Darts in an of themselves don't seem so tricky. The trick is trying to match the second dart to exactly the same size and shape as the first.

Isn't she lovely?



The icing on the cake is that if my baby is a girl, she has a dress already waiting for her in the closet. Thanks, Mom.

Decision 2009

Nathan accepted a position at Orthopaedic Center of the Rockies, in Loveland and Ft. Collins, Colorado. Find more about them here.
He will start work for them in July, 2010.

Heard at the Hunts: Singing Time

After dinner, we had some time before the kids went to bed. We sat in the living room and sang songs together. Each person choose a song, I played the piano, and this is what they chose:

D: I Am a Child of God
C: Love at Home
B: Book of Mormon Stories (all 8 verses)
A: I Stand All Amazed

Me: The Family is of God
N: Teach Me to Walk in the Light

I am including a copy of the words to the song I chose. I love them! They resonate in my heart what I believe about families. I love to hear these words or sing them. Here is a link if you want to hear it, too. It is worth your time to listen to it.

The Family Is of God by Matthew Neeley, Oct 2008, Friend
1. Our Father has a family. It’s me!
It’s you, all others too: we are His children.
He sent each one of us to earth, through birth,
To live and learn here in fam’lies.

2. A father’s place is to preside, provide,
To love and teach the gospel to his children.
A father leads in fam’ly prayer to share
Their love for Father in Heaven.

3. A mother’s purpose is to care, prepare,
To nurture and to strengthen all her children.
She teaches children to obey, to pray,
To love and serve in the fam’ly.

4. I’ll love and serve my family and be
A good example to each fam’ly member.
And when I am a mom or dad, so glad,
I’ll help my fam’ly remember:

[Chorus]
God gave us families to help us become what He wants us to be—
This is how He shares His love, for the fam’ly is of God.

I love singing together in our home. I enjoyed it as a child and I enjoy it as a parent as well. As we sat together in Sacrament meeting, I was the only one singing on my bench. (Nathan was gone). But everyone sang, and/or danced at home.

I'm so grateful for the encouragement my parents gave me to learn to play the songs of our church--it has brought me many happy memories and good feelings to our home. I resisted piano lessons when I was a teenager, but picked it back up in college.

Nathan and I bought a used piano about a year and a half after we married, for $600. It was the first piece of furniture we purchased together, and one of the best investments we've ever made. We've taken it from UT to IL and now to TX. I try to play for 30 minutes each Sunday, and sometimes I play during the week, too. I often wish I put more focus on developing my skills, but this is working for now.

88

Degrees in my town right now.

We've been enjoying some rain and cooler temps over the past few weeks. It made our grass turn green and grow again.
But today the heat is back.
Diana lay down to nap with a wet sweaty head. I'm pretty sure she'll wake up with that, too.

It's not time to put away the summer clothes yet.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day
But knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

by Robert Frost


My seventh grade English teacher, (who I REALLY liked), had us memorize this poem. I've never forgotten the message, even though I can't recite it word for word anymore. I love this poem.

Questions:
Why is the title of the poem about the road he didn't take?
What is the "road less taken" in our case?
Where do the paths lead? He never mentions destination, just the road to get there.

We are at a fork in our road.
After 9 years of post college training,
Nathan has two great job offers for a career we hope will last for 20-30 years.
We are deciding this week.

Please give us any advice you have on making life/career/big decisions.
We are listening.

The Boy in the Shirt

Andrew earned his Wolf badge! These are a few happy memories and lessons learned during his first year in scouting:

Fun
Learned a lot
How to tie a square knot/overhand knot
What to do when someone tries to kidnap you
How to shoot a BB gun
How to shoot arrows
Went to the fire station
Building bookends & a message board

He wasn't the only scout to advance at our pack meeting. We had 3 others become wolves and one earned the webelo. We set up the same number of chairs as normal and had to add to them. Our scout group is growing! Fun to see since it all began with 3 boys at my home.

The outing to the scout store was more than a little chaotic--I purchased 85 items. My goal for the next time is to fax them a list of what I need in advance. It is too much to keep straight--even when I have it written down. Our scout store is about 40 miles away, which adds to the fun.

I am willing, however, all for the boy in this shirt.

Why I don't read fiction . . . very often

Just finished a book I started yesterday. This is one reason why I don't read fiction . . . at least very often. I get sucked in and can't set a book down.

These books, Chasing Vermeer and The Wright 3 are written by Blue Balliet. Andrew is reading the first one right now, and the Wright 3 is the sequel.
Great stories--they have mystery, math, secret codes & patterns, art, architecture, and they take place in Chicago! I enjoyed looking up Vermeer on the Internet and learning more about his paintings. After finishing the Wright 3, I must return to Chicago to tour the Robie House. (I always wanted to see Frank Lloyd Wright things while we lived there . . . but never did).

If you are looking for a good read, I recommend either one (but go in order, of course) and enjoy! Don't pick them up on a day you need to do housework, however, or you might get caught with your book read and your housework left undone. Like me.