It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Every year, we have a family tradition to carve a pumpkin.

Yes, it is just singular--pumpkin, not pumpkins. I guess I am too cheap too buy one for each of us, just to throw away in a weeks time.

Luckily, the girls have not seemed to notice or care. We always work on it together. Each one of us draws part of the face.

This year, Cecily did the eyes and nose, while Ariel drew the mouth and eyebrows and I got to carve with Mike's help (there is no way we are putting knives in the hands of Ariel and Cecily. LOL).

There are no rules.

IF the eyes are scary and the mouth is happy--that's OKAY! That's what usually makes it FUN and cute.

Don't you agree?

(please ignore the wall in the back--remember my wallpaper post--well, we decided to take down ALL 3 LAYERS, and it's taken us this LONG. But the good news is we are done and getting the walls prepped and ready to paint).

This year we added something a little different. The girls LOVE pumpkin seeds, as do I. Usually, we throw them away, but this year, we decided to roast them!

AND WE CAME UP WITH THIS YUMMY TREAT!

AND what would be carving a pumpkin without watching that favorite Charlie Brown classic?

The night ends HaPPy because We too know the there is a Great Pumpkin Linus--He is sitting outside OUR door!

If you don't believe us take a look:

Isn't this such a fun time of year?!

Blueberry Delight With a Capital "Y"

As in YUMMY!!!

Delight can't express how I feel about this enough.

SCRUMPTIOUS, ENCHANTED, BLISS, EXUBERANCE...

I think you might kinda get my point.

What has brought about all of this excitement?

Mike's favorite dessert ever (well, outside of $20 and higher priced truffles. LOL) is Blueberry Delight. It is something that I learned how to make quick when we got married, and luckily for me it is very easy.

Basically, it consist of a graham cracker bottom with a cream cheese filling, with blueberry pie filling and cool whip to top it off. It is pretty good, if you've never had it.

Back in September, Mike had been going on service project on several weekends, and one day when he was returning home, I wanted to treat him to his Favorite dessert--

Blueberry Delight!

I had all of the ingredients. Or so I thought.

I was getting everything together and realized, NO blueberry pie filling!

UGHH. NO!! Don't you hate it when that happens. Going to make something and missing one item.

Oh well, so I tried to gather the girls all up so we could go to Wal-mart and get that one missing ingredient (and probably end up bringing a little more home too). Luckily, Wal-Mart is literally right around the corner (we could walk there, but not today).

Just as we are about to head out he door. The inevitable happens.

The phone rings.

I have to let everyone in on a secret. When the phone rings, I have to check it to see who is calling, then I decide if it is important enough to answer or just walk out the door.

It was Mike's mom, and YES, I did answer.

Man that lady is inspired. I told her that I was on my way out the door to get the blueberries and she asked the greatest question, "Do you have any of your blueberries left?" (When we went to Mike's mom's for a visit, we visited a blueberry farm and picked fresh blueberries--the girls absolutely LOVE doing this. We EAT ALOT and Freeze the rest to enjoy later.

Anyway, she said, that I did NOT need to go to Wal-Mart, but that I could make my own filling.

Okay, let me stop here. At this point, I must confess. I was doubting my abilities here. In my mind, I was like, "okay, I'll listen to her, and then go and get the blueberries from Wal-mart."

I was just afraid it would taste funky and Mike would not LOVE his dessert.

Plus, Mike's mom is TOTALLY a real life Martha Stewart. Remember this post. So I had no doubt that she could do it amazingly well, but ME...I just wasn't sure.

But again, she believed in me. She walked me through it on the phone. Told me step by step what to do. And this is what happened:

100 % PURE DELIGHT--YUMMY DELIGHT, YUMMY BLUEBERRY DELIGHT!

Let me just say, as long as I have fresh blueberries, I will NEVER buy another can of OVERLY price blueberry pie filling AGAIN.
Here is the recipe Kara:
Blueberry Topping

• 1 cup of sugar
• 4-6 tblsp cornstarch
• 1 1/3 cup of water
• blueberries (sorry, but I did not measure this I just added the blueberries until I thought it was enough).

1. Whisk sugar, cornstarch and water together in a pan. Mash a few blueberries and add in (this will give you the color--it really doesn't take a lot to do this). If it is a little stiff add a little more water.
2. While whisking, bring to a boil until smooth on top of stove.
3. Remove from stove
4. Let sugar cornstarch mixture sit 1-2 minutes.
5. Add blueberries (if frozen, make sure they have been defrosted). Stir gently as to not mush blueberries and then let cool.

She said you can do this with other fruits too.

A Chip off the 'Ole Block...Err, I Mean--Tooth!

Last Wednesday night, our family was all at the church. I had my meetings and Mike was doing whatever he does as a member of the Bishopric on Wednesday nights.

Of course we had the girls with us. However, they did not have any activities that night, so they were playing in the gym.

Then the dreadful thing happened. The girls were playing ball, and both were trying to get the ball from each other. Somehow (don't ask), Cecily tripped up Ariel.

Ariel fell.

and then....

Cecily fell......on top of Ariel...hitting her mouth on the back of Ariel's head and chipping her bottom front tooth.

When I came out of my meeting, I saw Ariel, Cecily, Lisanka and Mike on their hands and knees in the gym looking for something.

Ariel and Cecily were both crying.

Mike got all serious and called me into the Bishop's office and told me to have a seat. I thought I was in trouble. No kidding. He was being that serious.

I was like serious back and said, "WHAT?"

Then he told me what had happened, and that both girls had been crying for the past 20 minutes nto because of the TOOTH, but because they did not want ME to find out that Cecily chipped her tooth on Ariel's head. They were afraid that I would freak out!

Okay, if that doesn't prove that I'm a crazy mom, then I don't know what does.

O.K. maybe they did have a point. When Ariel knocked out her two front teeth at the tender age of 3 the day before Mother's Day, I did freak out! More than I'd like to remember.

I still have bad memories of that day even 7 years later! Not kidding.

However, I'm a little more mature now.

Yes, I still freak out about accidents, but I'm a little better at handling them.

I guess my frequent calls to Poison Control have helped with that. One year, I called Poison control so much, I really thought they knew me by name when they heard my voice. Hey, I've even had to call them from Wal-Mart. I'll have to share some of those stories on another post.

Anyway, I was a little frantic at the thought that she may have damaged a nerve or killed the tooth because unlike Ariel who knocked out baby teeth, this tooth is her permanent.

However, I remained calm. I even laughed that Ariel must really have a hard head and also that they were actually looking on the floor for the part of the tooth that was chipped off. I also said, "I wonder if the tooth is stuck in Ariel's head."

That made them laugh too.

Well, the next day, I took Cecily to the dentist. They were able to work her in. Let me just say, with the amount of money we spend on teeth in our home, at least the money goes to great dentist and orthodontist. You may have remembered me bragging about Dr. Oliver our orthodontist. If not, he's AWESOME!

But equally as awesome is our pediatric dentist, Dr. Greenleaf. My girls adore him! They actually love to go to the dentist and frequently ask if they can visit him. And this is he man that has pulled 15 teeth on Ariel, and so far 4 for Cecily. That alone says a lot that they like to go back!

We love Dr. Greenleaf.

He took an x-ray of Cecily's tooth and.....

Good News...

The tooth was fine!

Dr. Greenleaf was able to build the tooth back up (not sure of the appropriate term) and you would never know it happened (well, except for the money it cost--lol).

He did such an awesome job even in the matching of the tooth color. We really can't tell that it was ever damaged. The tooth looks amazing. I'll try to see if Cecily will let me take a picture so that you can see the amazing job.

So THANKS Dr. Greenleaf--you are the best at what you do!

"Come What May and Love It!"

This quote came from Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin's talk during the Saturday session of conference. I am trying to make this one of my new themes in life along with that a quote given by our dear prophet, Thomas S. Monson to "Find Joy in the Journey."

General Conference was so uplifting and inspiring. This was the first time that I ever watched the entire conference in real time. I usually watch both the morning and afternoon session on Sunday, but have never done that with the Saturday session. Usually on Saturday, I will catch the morning session or the afternoon, but never both. I usually will get on the internet at another time and watch the one I missed, or just wait for the Ensign.

However, this past weekend, the girls went to visit Mike's mom with Mike, and I stayed home. I really needed to hear this conference, every word of it. Also, there is really something to say about watching the entire thing in real time, and by myself. It was exactly what I needed. It was nice to "sit at the feet" of prophets and apostles and listen to their inspiring words.

Although I used the quote above for my post title, I can not pick a favorite talk this conference. They were all so good. I have to agree with President Monson, the spirit was very strong at this conference. For me, it was one of the best.

Every single talk spoke to my spirit and changed my heart.

Perhaps it's because it is what I needed at this time. I felt like those talks answered so many prayers and that each of them were talking to me personally.

Perhaps it's because conference led me to remember a First Presidency message that was written by the late President James E. Faust in Feb. 2006 entitled "Refined by Our Trials" Here is the little piece that kept coming to my mind, which led me to a greater source of peace and comfort.

"Into every life there come the painful, despairing days of adversity and buffeting. There seems to be a full measure of anguish, sorrow, and often heartbreak for everyone, including those who earnestly seek to do right and be faithful. The Apostle Paul referred to his own challenge: “And lest I should be exalted above measure … , there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the
messenger of Satan to buffet me.”
The thorns that prick, that stick in the flesh, that hurt, often change lives which seem robbed of significance and hope. This change comes about through a refining process which often seems cruel and hard. In this way the soul can become like soft clay in the hands of the Master in building lives of faith, usefulness, beauty, and strength. For some, the refiner’s fire causes a
loss of belief and faith in God, but those with eternal perspective understand that such refining is part of the perfection process."

The last sentence made such an impact on me. Something that I needed to remember. The eternal perspective.

The Lord truly is good. I love Him. I love Jesus Christ and again I am so grateful to my friends who loved me so much that they were willing to share the gospel with me. There has been no greater gift ever given to me by a friend, or in this case friends.

I'm grateful to have the knowledge that the Lord still speaks through prophets today, in what often seems like troubled times, just as He did in the days of the Old and New Testament. The gospel gives me hope and joy.

This conference left me with a new sense of hope and joy. To be kinder, more forgiving, more understanding, to be grateful, love my family more, to be a friend (especially to those who are in need of a friend), to have a greater desire to share my joy and knowledge with others, to be of worth in the life of others and so many more things. I'm sure many of you left with the same feelings.

Another great experience was having the opportunity to talk about conference when my family returned home and hearing what their favorite talks were and why. My heart is full of joy that I just can not properly express.

I can't wait to get the November Ensign and get out my highlighter and re-read those addresses. I hope you will too. Or better yet, click here to listen to those inspiring words now. You won't be sorry.

To reiterate the words of President Thomas S. Monson, I hope we will all take time to "Find joy in the Journey". Even if you are not a member of our church, I encourage you to take the time to listen to it here.

P.S. If you missed "On the Lords Errand: The Life of Thomas S. Monson" which was shown in between conference session, you really missed out on a great thing. We watched it as a family during Family Home Evening and all I can say is , "WOW, what an amazing man who truly is on the Lord's Errand!"

You're Just Holding the Bag!

I've been meaning to post about this experience for a while now and just now have found the time (having been awake since 2 am--for some reason, I can't sleep).

Anyway, about a month and a half ago we were all outside as a family, doing yard work. Mike was trimming the bushes, I was raking up the mess, and the girls were holding the bag open so I could dump the leaves, limbs into it.

Well, Ariel began complaining about how she hated holding the bag, how it was so hot, that the bugs were getting on her. Basically just complaining. She would rather have been doing anything but be outside helping to clean up our yard.

In her defense, she did want to rake, but I just wanted to get the work done so we could move onto something more fun with our Saturday.

Okay, so we are back to Ariel complaining. Finally, I looked at her and said matter of factly, "Ariel, you are just holding the bag! That's it! Nothing more. What's so hard about holding the bag? It's not like I'm asking you to mow, weed the yard, trim the bushes, edge the sidewalk etc.. Just hold the bag."

Finally, she stopped complaining. Why would I want to blog about this? Well, it all has relevance at least for me.

About a week later, I was feeling a little overwhelmed with my calling and I was praying to Heavenly Father. Well, in all honesty complaining to Him. I was whining-- wishing I could have a break from everything (which now I feel ashamed to admit because soo many more people in our ward do sooo much more).

As I was in prayer with Heavenly Father this thought clearly came to my mind, "You're just holding the bag!" My head rushed back to my conversation with Ariel, and then another thought came to my mind, "I'm not asking you to take upon the sins of the world, all the sorrows, pains. It's been done. I'm just asking you to serve--just hold the bag."

A small job in comparison, but still one of importance. Something that needs to be done. So, whenever, I start to pity myself, I think about the fact that I'm "just being asked to hold the bag" in a sense. When I do my part, I am working to build up His kingdom. We all need to do our part.

When I look from that perspective, like Ariel I stop complaining and do the work. After all, I'm really just holding a bag! :)