Halloween

Wow. I’m pretty exhausted after today! But I think my kids had a great Halloween so it was a success. Kade and Tenley both had fun parties at school. We got home and they helped me get ready for our church Trunk or Treat. I cooked hot dogs all day and my friends helped so we’d have 400 hot dogs tonight. Almost all of them were eaten! And then our youth all had a trunk decorating contest and my girls won! 

The weather started turning pretty cold about a half hour into the trunk or treat and it rained a little bit but we survived. Luke was a trooper! Kade ended up going trick or treating with some friends and Brad took the three littles home. When I finally made it home we lit a fire, watched a Halloween show, and Ryder and Tenley took turns answering the door to hand out candy. They loved doing that. They’d both yell “Happy Halloween!” as the the Trick our Treaters left. It was so cute!

A Clean House

I cleaned and organized our house today because some people wanted to come see our home this evening. They’re interested in buying the same layout. It was good motivation to really get our house clean. I had to take some pictures because it hardly ever looks this nice!

Playing Cars

Ryder asks me multiple times a day to play cars with him. He loves cars and he loves to race. He always gets creative with ways to race them as well. Today we raced them over Elmo.

Kim

Today one of my counselors had to be released. She is going to school and will have a conflicting schedule soon so we knew it was coming but I’m still so sad. She is an amazing person and has taught me so much. She is one of the best teachers I’ve seen. She is so good at asking a lot of questions, getting good discussions going, and helping the girls learn for themselves. She has taught me the power of silence. She is so wise but doesn’t flaunt it. She is so supportive and helpful and intuitive and kind. She is confident in the most humble way. I can’t say enough good things about her. I’m grateful for the opportunity I had to work so closely with her this past year and I hope I’m able to remember all the things she has taught me.

I love this picture that my Dad took of his sunrise this morning.

Carving Pumpkins

Kade and Tenley had a piano recital this morning. They’ve been working hard on their songs for the past month and they both did such a great job! I’m amazed by how quickly they can learn and memorize a new song. 

We finally carved pumpkins this afternoon. It’s a hard task but the kids love it. Somehow Ryder became convinced that the pumpkins come alive when we put a light in them and will come and bite you. This really scared him after looking at Kade’s scary pumpkin’s face. He may or may not have been chased around the house by someone caring Kade’s lit jack o lantern. He was crying and seemed a bit terrified. Poor Ryder is so easy to tease.

We have hopefully all been able to comfort him enough and get him to realize that pumpkins aren’t real and they won’t bite you!

Bike Rides, My Parents, Memory Books

It was a warm enough day for a bike ride so even though the wind was blowing like crazy, Brad and I decided to go out for a ride. I’ve been wanting to do a particular ride for a while now that includes three challenging hills in order to get a good workout and we decided to give it a try today. We quickly realized that each hill would have a head wind of 30 mph. It was hard! There was a point going down a hill when I wasn't pedaling that I was barely moving forward because the wind was pushing me back so hard. We could have skipped the last hill and gone on a flat path instead, but we went for it anyway! It wasn't as hard as we had expected and it felt good to have actually done it. We'll have to try the ride again sometime when it isn't so windy.
During the tough ride I kept thinking of how hard Satan tries to push us back and keep us from reaching our goals. Satan blows fierce head winds at us that tempt us to turn around, go an easier way, or just stop and give up. Every day is a battle against him and those winds won't stop blowing. We just need to keep pushing forward against those winds. We need to make the daily consistent effort to overcome them. We can do hard things!


Today was my parents 35th anniversary! I chatted with them a little bit through Marco Polo and they made me laugh a lot with the way they teased each other. They had a very simple night of celebration; dinner at Kneaders and home to watch shows by the fire. I love them so much! I'm lucky to have parents that love each other.



Brad took Kade to the big rival High School football game tonight. They call it the Crosstown game. It's when the only two High Schools in town play against each other. It was crowded at the game, but they had a good time. While they were gone I was able to read the memory book of June that Kimber just finished. We just got it in the mail a few days ago. It is amazing and emotional. I know we and our children will cherish it. 

Morning Walks

Ryder and I were able to walk to playgroup today in the sunny warm-ish weather. Well, he rode his bike and I walked. The neighborhood was so quiet and peaceful with most everyone gone at work or school. It was nice. Ryder really enjoyed hearing the leaves crunch under his bike tires and tried to run over every leaf he saw on the ground.

He had a lot of fun playing with his friend Shelton. They played cars for the first little bit and then went outside to race their cars down the slide. He was happy and I’m glad we were able to have a fun morning out of the house. And I’m really happy that this nice fall weather has been sticking around. I will miss it when winter comes.

Tenley was playing teacher with Ryder while I made dinner. She's a great teacher!

The Most Important Priority

Today has been busy! I’m planning two big events that are coming up soon. Our ward Trunk or Treat is next week and three weeks later is Young Women in Excellence. I feel like my mind has been racing all day with ideas for both. I took my two little boys to Sams Club to get all the hot dogs and hot dog buns that we’ll need for the Trunk or Treat. It all filled up the cart so quickly! I sure hope all 400 of them get eaten!

By the time it was time to make dinner I hadn’t sat down or played with my kids all day so instead of making yummy bread sticks and ironing Brad’s work shirts while they baked I laid down on the floor and watched Disney Junior with my kids. It was so worth it. They needed a moment with me and I definitely needed a moment with them. They are the most important priority in the day and I shouldn’t have pushed off that time with them until the end. That short 20 minutes got me through the rest of the day with a lot more energy!

Swim Meets

Kade had his first swim meet today. He was so excited. He really loves swimming. He did a great job and he swam his hardest! We were there a while watching all the swimmers and Ryder and Luke lost their patience. But I’m glad we were all able to be there and support Kade!

Family Night

Oh, family night is the best. Football season is over so we actually got home at a decent hour and had plenty of time for a lesson and activity. Tenley gave us a great lesson about faith and how important it is for us to have faith in Jesus Christ. She did it all on her own, asked good questions, had good comments, bore her testimony, and never asked for my help. I love seeing her progress! 

Ryder’s Personality

Ryder had me laughing a lot today. He was so fun and sassy. When we got home from church today he put on pajama shirts a T-shirt on backwards and long socks. He looked hilarious but he owned it!

Tenley and Luke

Oh Tenley and Luke. Honestly this duo can’t get any cuter. He loves her! He’s always so happy when she’s taking care of him. She is really good at making him smile and she’s so sweet to him. I’m glad I have her as my helper!

Kade had his last football game of the season this morning. It was great weather again! We enjoyed watching him play. And then we finally got some of our chores done around the house!

Ski Swap

The weather was too beautiful to stay inside today so we forgot about our projects, loaded up the kids and our bikes, and headed to the river trail. We started our bike ride at the kids’ favorite park so they could play there when we finished. We rode for an hour and I’m always so impressed with how well Kade is able to keep up and that he’s able to ride for so long. I’m even more impressed by the happy attitudes of the three other children that are crammed into the bike stroller. They definitely earned some park playing time.

We went to the ski swap tonight and picked up some skis for Kade and Tenley. Ryder has some that he’s borrowing from a friend so now we all have skis! It will be a fun winter. I’m so, so excited to go skiing again! 

I think Luke loves Tenley a lot!

Fall Break

It was the first day of fall break, but I still had to get Tenley up early to take her to cheer camp. She is my smiley, happy little cheerleader! She loves going to cheer camp and she has been so excited for today. 

After her camp was over we picked her up and went straight to the indoor jump place in town for a play date with friends. Their hour of jump time went by really fast. They had so much fun.

We came home and did some chores and then spent a lot of time outside. The weather was beautiful and perfect today. Ryder and I ended up laying on the tramp outside for an hour.

We all enjoyed the football game tonight. I was so grateful that the weather was nice. If it had been cold it would not have been as enjoyable. Tenley’s half time show entertainment was great! She smiled the whole time. She is SO cute! I couldn’t get over how beautiful and grown up she looked.  Time seems to pass too quickly. Tenley is one very special girl.