Fall Randomness

I wish Fall lasted longer than it does.  The bright yellows, reds and oranges found in the trees and bushes.  The perfect mid 70 degree weather!  Then of course all of the yummy Fall desserts filled with pumpkin and spices.  We have made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, a layered pumpkin cake with a nut crust, peach and apple cobblers and of course good old pumpkin pie.

Jerrica was so proud of her pumpkin pie that we made together one afternoon.  She kept asking me to go and get the kids from school so that they could try it.

I read a lot in the Fall.  It seems like I’m always waiting a few minutes for a kid to finish a lesson or practice, and I make sure to always have a book there to wait with me.  I just finished this book, and didn’t want it to end.  It was so nice each day to escape into that time period with all of the characters.  I REALLY enjoyed it!

We have also been reading a slew of Halloween books.  Ashley has enjoyed this Junie B. Halloween one.  She even decided to be a clown this year because of it.

Rebecca took this picture of Ashley and I reading Junie B together.  I’m glad she took it because it will remind me of these days together and that little finger pointing at each word.  I do enjoy snuggling with her and reading together. She makes me smile when she giggles at silly little things in her books.  Although after seeing this picture, I’m thinking my hands are starting to look older…. 

 

The kids have had a blast with the leaves this Fall.  Some years we have an early snow and all of the leaves get wet and mushy.  This year we have crunched them under our shoes, made huge nests with them, and of course we have had a few leaf wars.

I wonder what is behind her back?  Surely not more leaves to throw at me!

We have also been busy harvesting and canning.  When I came home from my mom’s, I brought home a ton of her tomatoes and canned them with mine.  Kaylee and I made salsa, marinara sauce and had a little brushetta day.  There is something about the aroma when those sauces are simmering.  I really think I could drink salsa.

We finally picked all of our pumpkins from the garden.  The kids have already claimed which ones they want.  I miss seeing this big one out in the garden.  It always made me smile when I would drive in our driveway.

Fall is definitely my favorite season!  I completely agree with L. M. Montgomery….

“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”

Loved This

A quick must read article – HERE. 

Loved the following quote from the article…

“We often hear the phrase, “light at the end of the tunnel,” but that doesn’t mean there can’t be light inside as well.”

I so needed to read that tonight!

Quote

Found this from a friend and loved it!

“Our house is just a little house....but God knows where we live.”

There is not a doubt in my mind that God knows where we live, because He lives here too.  :)

My Little Witch

Halloween is fast approaching.  Jerrica decided to be a witch this year so that she “can scare all of the three year olds”.  It makes me smile every time she says it.

She wants her cat to come trick-or-treating with us.  I assured her that he would much rather stay home and hunt for his treats.  She sure loves him.

I think he is a little scary….

She can scare the three year olds and Fat the Cat can scare the 40 year olds.  :)

Parks

Our family goes to a lot of parks.  We have soccer games, picnics and get togethers at parks.  Now to some, parks may be for just the young kids.  Not our family.  Stephen is always ready to go with some kind of game, and when he plays, the teenage boys play, we ALL play. 

One game is ball tag.  We usually have a soccer ball in tow.  Stephen and I are getting older so real tag is hard for us to keep up with the boys, yet BALL TAG makes it all possible.  It’s pretty much you throw a ball to tag somebody else.  If your aim is good, then you are good.

When Stephen decides he is going to get you, he WILL get you. 

   

The little girls play for a while and then run on to something else.  They usually run back to join in the fun after all of us are worn out.

Another game that Kaylee and Nathan were playing as we were waiting for soccer to start was Swing and Shoot.  Once again it involves a ball.  You swing a baby swing back and forth and then try to make a basket into the swing as it’s moving.

Of course the game escalates to, “let’s shoot from the top of the monkey bars, let’s shoot while sitting on the bench, let’s shoot with our eyes closed, …”

Another game that I play a lot with the little girls is Secret Missions.  I give them little tasks that they have to complete in order to receive their next mission.  I used to do this with the boys when they were little and they all have loved it for some reason.  The missions vary from go swing 20 times, go find a pinecone, go find two different colored leaves, go say hello to someone, go bring me 5 blades of grass, go touch the fence, go down the slide three times….  Notice I’m always saying “go” to get them away from me.  :)

I don’t know what it is about parks, but we love them.  The fresh air, a picnic, and a little exercise just makes for a great outing.

Jack-O-Lantern FHE

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven (Matt. 5:16)

Start with a happy little pumpkin with his candle lit.

Have you ever been just afraid of the dark? Have you ever been in a place that was so dark that you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face, even with your eyes wide open?   Think of when we have been camping and used just a small flashlight to see our way around.   What a difference it is to have light!   Even a small light makes a big difference in a dark place.

Jesus Christ taught those who followed Him were “the light of the world.” He said that you don’t light candles and put them under baskets. When you light a candle, you put it on a candlestick so that it gives light to everyone in the room. He told us, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (See Matt. 5:14–16.)

What happens when you cover this pumpkin with a blanket?  Is the light as bright?  Eventually the light will go out.  What happens when you don’t share your light?  Would it be hard to relight the light within you, when it goes out?

How can you let your light shine? One way is by keeping the commandments and choosing the right. When we are honest, when we keep the Sabbath holy, when we are kind, we are letting our lights shine. When we obey the Word of Wisdom, when we dress modestly, when we use the names of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ reverently, we are letting our lights shine. Each small light makes a big difference!

Uncover the pumpkin and talk about how good it feels to have light in a dark situation.  Then testify and share how good it is to be in the light!

Of course this is perfect for carving pumpkins as the activity!  :)

Kaylee

Kaylee had an 8 o’clock soccer game Saturday.  Rebecca was still in Oklahoma with my parents.  Nathan had a game in Boulder and Jacob had a swim meet in Lakewood.  Stephen and I went off with the boys, and left Kaylee to babysit and entertain the little girls for the day.

I sat at the swim meet relaxing to the rhythmic sound of the swimmers warming up lap after lap.  I had the best book to escape into, and an icy drink to top it off.  Stephen and Nathan made it back to watch Jacob’s last event, and home we went.  We had been gone most of the day.

We arrived home to find a stack of board games that had been played in the living room.  There were remnants of popcorn in the loft where they had watched movies.  Pictures were stuck all over the fridge that had been drawn.  Then I took a look at my Kaylee. 

She looked exhausted and drained!  She stood there explaining all that she had done with the little girls and how tired she was.  I asked her if she was ready for bed, to which she replied, “No, I want to get out of this house.”  Oh how I could totally relate!  Working and keeping kids entertained at home is HARD work!

I told her to run up to her room and get fixed up, she was going on the date with dad and I tonight.  We were already planning on going out and to the movie.  A huge grin spread across her face and she quickly got all fancified to go out.

I sat there snuggling her by my side during the movie thinking how grateful I am to each of my kids.  They make it possible for me to spend one on one time with each of the other kids.  I was able to spend the afternoon with Jacob knowing the girls were in good hands with Kaylee.  I then could spend the evening with Kaylee knowing the little girls were safe with the boys.

Love doing things with all of the family, but also love and know how important it is to do one on one activities as well! 

Glow in the Dark

I have said many times that my sisters are very, creative and crafty.  Here is yet another example…

Aunt Tanya made a glow in the dark tic-tac-toe game.  She used glow in the dark puff paint to draw the game lines.  Then she sewed little orange pockets to the bottom to hold the glow in the dark spiders and snakes.

 

Kaylee and Rebecca played one night in their room after we first got it.  Today I played with Jerrica in my walk in closet.  It was fun to play with snakes and spiders.  I had to smile at all of Jerra’s comments as we played.  She is SO enjoying this Halloween!

Thanks again Aunt Tanya!  We love it!

the Temple

The Friday before conference Stephen and I went up to the temple in Denver on a date.  I love the peace I feel as I enter the doors of the temple.  I love having Stephen there by my side.  I love that my kids were at home “knowing” where we were.  I love the inspiration that I receive.  I just love the temple and the blessings it brings into my life.

http://cariosbornephotography.zenfolio.com/

I want to remember that Fall day with Stephen.

Halloween Drawings

Jerrica LOVES to draw!  She goes through a lot of paper! 

Jerrica has drawn a ton of Halloween pictures this month.  Today as I was gathering up her papers from the table, I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures of her masterpieces.  She was grinning ear to ear as I was doing it, asking if she was a good artist.

This one is a Frankenstein taking outside his pumpkin that he carved.  It’s night and it’s Fall with the leaves coming down.  Rebecca taught Jerrica how to draw stars and Miss Jerrica thinks she is all that when she draws them.

Here is her vampire and bat.  She was drawing all kinds of bats when she first started drawing her Halloween pictures this month.  I just love her bats!  They make me smile every time I see one.  Jacob had taught her how to draw a bat with a little trick for their wings.  I also love the cut fringe.

 

The last one amazed me with her detail.  It’s a picture of a witch with her pet dog that is also in costume, notice her stars once again.  The bee is a trick or treater coming for candy from the witch.

 

I just love these little pictures!  I have a feeling they will be staying in my Halloween box for years to come.

Photo Shoots

 

This week was FILLED with photo shoots for so many different clients. 

However, the shot above I’m a little partial to.  :)

Or maybe this one below with just the kids…

LOVE Fall!

Hotel Transylvania

A couple of Saturday nights ago we deemed the night a family night.  We all went and cheered Kaylee on in her basketball game.  Then we headed straight to the movie theater to see Hotel Transylvania.  Jerrica has been soooo excited to see it, and I thought it was the perfect movie to kick off the month of October.

It was such a cute movie.  We LOVED it and highly recommend it!  I enjoyed figuring out who was playing the various parts of the voices.

I also enjoyed Jerrica on my lap beaming ear to ear that we were finally watching her movie.  She snuggled me so that I wouldn’t be scared.

My sister, Kristy came up with a cute idea to go with the movie.  They were key necklaces for the girls, like a hotel key.  I like to give the kids things that will remind them of the memory of the movie.  Kristy’s idea was perfect because in the movie all the monster guests were gathered around trying to check out and hand their key back.

Ashley was cute yesterday swinging her key necklace on her neck and talking about the movie.  Kaylee chimed in that she wants to name her first daughter, Mavis because she thinks it’s such a cute name.  I love reminders of memories, maybe that’s why I love pictures so much!

The Tooth Fairy

Ashley finished watching the movie, “the Tooth Fairy”, and immediately went to work.  No one was really paying attention until she was all set up in her room.

She was quite creative and had cut a plastic bag in half, using the handles as two wings.  Of course she had to color the plastic and add a little glitter.  She had Rebecca’s white baptism dress on.  Then she had lined every couch pillow in the house into a long walkway into her room.  She sat there at her desk ready to grant wishes with her homemade magic wand.

This girl LOVES to pretend and act out movies.  She makes me smile at her creativity, but frown slightly at the huge messes she makes to create these scenarios.

Bike Ride

One of our favorite Fall traditions is going on a bike ride under all of the changing leaves.  This year Stephen didn’t have to pull the trailer because now Miss Jerrica can ride all by herself!

 

Since the bike ride, Jerrica keeps saying, “I’m really good at riding bikes.  Can we go again?”.   A little confidence sure goes a long ways with kids.  :)

LOVE these absolutely beautiful Fall days!

Family Movie Night

You know what happens when you buy each of your family member’s favorite BIG candy, put a note like this on each of them, and then place them on their beds?….

It turns into an extra special family movie night!

The Boys

The boys always look forward to the Priesthood session, Saturday was no exception.  I think part of it involves a night out with dad and going to dinner.

They sure LOVE and look up to their dad!

Communication FHE

 

We had a Family Home Evening on communication, and the above picture in now hanging on our fridge as a reminder.  I knew it was needed in more ways than one!  The kids needed to communicate better with their teachers, friends, coaches and ME!  However, the lesson was probably more for me, as is usually the case.

I had a few communication experiments to start the lesson.  I had Ashley come in front of everyone and I stood behind her.  I then said something that could be taken two ways depending on my tone and body language.  I kept my tone the same, but expressed a lot of emotion in my face and hands, which Ashley couldn’t see me doing.  The rest of the family knew exactly what I meant because they could see my body language, yet Ashley was clueless that I was mad because she couldn’t see my body language to help her understand me.  We then talked about eye contact, hand gestures and facial expressions.

Then I had Rebecca come up for the next example.  I told her to say the ABC’s in her mind over and over as I talked.  She of course was concentrating on her ABC’s and when I was done had absolutely no clue what I had been saying.  I then used this as an example of what happens when others are talking to us and we aren’t concentrating on them, but instead thinking about other things in our head.  I expressed the importance of keeping your mind open to the conversation and the other person.

Next, I had Jacob come up.  I told him that he had to understand what I was explaining without asking any questions.  I was then VERY vague in an explanation of something.   Of course he was clueless as to what I was trying to say, and we then discussed the importance of asking questions so that there are no questions.

We then talked about people that can express themselves well, and how they communicate.  We all agreed that we love people that compliment and make us feel good. 

There are many ways to communicate and we need to always be aware if we are being as effective as we can be.

I finished off the night with a game and treat.  We divided the kids into two teams.  They had to designate a person to relay the instructions and two to carry them out.  We told the two relay leaders a very detailed explanation of where their team’s treats were hidden.  They had to remember the details and relay them to their team.  Their teammates then ran to find their treats.  It was interesting how a few details that were left out created a lapse in getting the treat. 

Days after we had this lesson, I would get Nathan’s comments as I would yell for him to do something … “Oh sorry mom, I couldn’t see your body language with that and couldn’t really understand what you wanted”  He is such a smart-aleck!  :)

Jerrica’s Puppy Party

Jerrica just turned FIVE.  She wanted a puppy party. 

    

We made puppy invitations together, and she proudly passed them out to her friends.

We played “Who has the Bone”, “Cat, cat, cat, DOG” (basically duck, duck, goose), “Master says … Roll Over” (basically Simon Says), and then finished off the games with pin the nose on the puppy.  Jerrica has Jacob wrapped around her finger and he drew her a giant Pet Shop puppy for the game.

The big hit was the puppy shop.  They adopted a puppy and received all kinds of goodies to go with it.

This shows the table of goodies better.  When we would fill out the puppy adoption certificate, we would ask if their puppy was a boy or girl.  Depending on what they would say, we would give a small pink or blue blanket out.  Then there were Scooby snack bones, a chew ball, and dog food (Trix cereal)  The kids LOVED this part, and apparently from talking with their moms, they still are loving their puppies.

  

It was a late morning party so we served lunch.  I had found cute dog dishes from the Dollar Store and that’s what they ate their hot dogs, chips and macaroni and cheese out of.  I was planning on washing them for the kids to take home.  I smiled as some of the kids wanted them washed out so they could also eat their ice cream and cupcakes out of them.

 

We ended the party with a friend that brought her cute black puppy for the kids to pet and watch his tricks.  I wish that I would have taken a picture of him!

My older kids were actually home from school on the day of her party, and I was THRILLED to have their help.  There were ten kids that came, and I couldn’t have done it without all of the help from my own kids.  It REALLY was a fun party to do.  HERE is a link to the Crafting Chicks post that gave me so many of the ideas.

This was one of her favorite gifts.  She tells me that I’m now a grandma.

We ended the night on a date with Jerrica at Sonic.  She went in her jammies and kept reminding us that all the other kids at home were jealous of her.  :)

Sure love my baby and can’t believe that she is FIVE!