Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Randomness

Time flies around here. I can hardly believe that it is November and that the holidays are here. This past week has been pretty chill, but we have had some good things so here they are.

The Temple: Gaupo and I were able to go to the temple on Saturday. It was so nice to be able to go. We dropped the girls off with Aunt Kitt and they were SOOO excited to see her again. We were making pretty good time and we were at the temple with plenty of time to make the 11:30 session. I get my temple bag out of the car and start looking for my wallet. I discovered that I had left it with our backpack back at Kitt's place. DANG! So, we headed back picked up and luckily made it to the 12:00 session, which was apparently added, so double thank goodness. It has been so long since Gaupo and I have been to the temple together that it was really nice to be able to go together. I really wish I could go more often, but alas I have two kids and the temple is at least an hour away so all the time is not possible. I love going. I love the calm and peace that fill that wonderful building. After we were done at the temple, Kitt went. So, we didn't get to spend as much time with her as we would have liked, but we will get to see her soon.

R.S. Activity Mtg: I went to my first R.S. Activity planning meeting. It was really interesting. They do a really good job, but it led to a lot of questions that don't have easy answers. So, I am currently trying to figure out what our sisters need and how to use the extra meeting to actually help them. However, I do have a great committee and chairman. They really do an awesome job.

Missionaries: On Wednesday, I went out with the missionaries. Both of their drop-in appointments didn't answer, but we were able to go through my YSA list and learned some good things. I am not sure I could take the constant rejection that missionaries do, however, I hope one day I get the chance to figure it out.

Flu Shots: The girls and I got flu shots on Thursday. They both did really good, but Kylee was sure mad that I made her one. I think that getting the band-aid off hurt worse than the actual shot did.

Water Zumba: I went to a water Zumba class this morning. I really enjoyed it. I wish I could have stayed for the whole thing, but after the first 30 minutes my family was ready to go home, so we came home. I am really surprised at how much resistance water can create and also and gentle it is. It is no wonder that water helps things be no-impact.

WARNING: Don't but two 3-year olds and an almost 2-year old in the same room. I am listening to the noise as I write this. Although, really we never have people stay over, so I thought I would see how it went. I think it is going crazy in there.

Life is good. I still feel like it takes everything I have to just get the basics done. I am continually amazed at how hard it is to get life back on the tracks. It seems like a constant battle and honestly sometimes I lose. Sometimes I don't have the time, energy, emotional strength, etc. to keep it all together. However, I do have a great husband and kids who are very forgiving and please with what I can do. One day I hope to be able to have everything pulled together and have everyday kind of flow like it use to, but it isn't now. My sister reminded me that it all takes time. I guess it is kind of hard to be patient when there isn't a constant reminder (in my case Derek) do help me remember why its okay that life is a little off kilter. However, I still love life. I am grateful I can run, play at the park, jump, laugh, play hide-and-go-seek, and cook breakfast and dinner.


Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Halloween and Other Adventures

Holy cow, time seems like it is in fast forward. I can hardly believe it is November. Part of me thinks that is should still be the beginning of October. Even though time is flying we  have managed to fill it with some traditions and adventures.

Every year for Halloween our family tries to have a Halloween meal every day for dinner. We also have quite a few Halloween movies that we usually watch that lead up to Halloween. However, this year was a little crazy and we only watched two of our Halloween movies. But we did manage to have a Halloween meal every night. This year the meals were pretty simple. They were still a little time consuming, but for the first year ever I liked everything we made. Here is what we had.

Monday: Trick-or -Treat Turnovers. These are a repeat, but always so good.
Wednesday was pizza snakes. The girls did a great job painting them.
Thursday Mummy burritos. 
Friday: Meatball Creepy Crawler. Kylee helped me with this and insisted this guy have 3 eyes.
Saturday: Worms and Moldy Mac. 
In addition to crazy foods we usually have drinks and a fun dessert too.

Dracula Blood Punch
This Warlock and Witches conjured up some homemade root beer. I am pretty sure we do this just for playing with the smoke.
Tia drinking from her big cup. She loves all this related to big people.
Monster Oreos.
I really like doing these creative foods, but it is kind of time consuming. However, it is super tasty and a fun tradition.

Along with crazy food, drink, desserts, and movies we also stick to the basics of dressing up and trick-or-treating. The girls went trick-or-treating 3 times this year. They had a lot of fun each time and are still enjoying the spoils of it.

Kylee as a nice witch and Tia as a Kitty.
After trick-or-treating both these guys stripped their costumes and played. Here is what they undo spell at our house looked like.


Just in case this week wasn't fun enough we had some other adventures too. For example, Kylee really wanted me to build a "castle" for her. We that usually takes up a lot of space and time. Plus it comes tumbling down way to easy. However, I had a brainstorm and we did this instead...


Kylee and I played castle in their for a bit. Then her and Tia had a snack in there. Then they read books, and Kylee pretended to do her homework in it too. It was really fun to see how pleased she was this simple "castle."

Also, last week I had my first go at making changes to a visiting teaching board. It was kind of frustrating made more complicated by a two year-old who loves magnets and bright colors. Tia wanted the VT board so bad, and all she wanted to do was knock all the names off. Oh boy, that was an adventure. However, we did get it figured out and nothing was permanently damaged.

Friday, was Gaupo's Friday/Saturday switcheroo. We both need new shoes, so we headed to our favorite place--Sports Authority. However, they are in the process of moving so their inventory is crazy low. They literally had no Asics in my size, and Gaupo couldn't find anything he was willing to pay for. So we struck out for shoes, but we found a great deal on Rollerblades. Yes, I am now the proud owner of Rollerblades and I LOVE them. They are so smooth. They go fast. It is AWESOME. Although, it is kind of scary getting out of my steep driveway. For example, Gaupo had gotten his on and was following me and our driveway is pretty steep and then to turn to go down around our mailbox is kinda tight. Well he didn't make the turn and ran into the mailbox. Both he and it were okay. However, later I was testing things and seeing what I could do and I was trying to make the same turn and got going to fast too and ran into it. I finished it off. Gaupo spent a good portion of the evening putting it back up. The drive and that turn are a little crazy which is why if the girls are in the stroller with me I have to back down the driveway. I really enjoy taking the girls for rides with my Rollerblades and I am loving the beautiful fall days that are lingering around.

Our final adventure of the week was yesterday. We went to free day at the zoo with Heather and Matthew Merrill and their friend Issac. It was a really busy day at the zoo, but it was still fun. Man my kids were troopers. We got their shortly after 10 and then walked everywhere until about 1:45 when we headed home. They didn't even start complaining until the end. They did so great. Both were really pretty good at staying by me and we got to see all kinds of cool animals. My favorite this time were the Seals. They were swimming and barking and showing off it was so fun. I was so glad we got to go. We are really going to miss our adopted Merrill family when they move to Salt Lake at the beginning of the year.We had a great day. I actually really like the Denver Zoo. I think it is like the perfect size.

Kylee and Tia watching the Giraffes. 
Kylee, Tia, Matthew, and Issac watching the Seals.
The tuckered out crew. We were on the road for about 5 minutes or less and they were all zonked.
So grateful for family and friends. They really do make life worth living. It is so fun to get out, have adventures, and make memories.