A Black Mark

This morning was rough. I didn't feel well and Maren woke up way too early. I didn't get a chance to get in the shower when I wanted to. I was running behind with everything. The girls were great to get themselves ready for school while I was dealing with other issues. It wouldn't have been so bad except for the fact that I had to go to the school and read to Sydnee's class. I love helping in Sydnee's class. This morning however just wasn't going good. We made it out the door and to the car in what I thought was plenty of time, until I noticed the ice on my windshield. Grrrrrrrr! I got the kids in the car, started it and turned the defroster on. I tried to scrape as much ice as I could, and I thought okay, we're going to make it. Then Addy said she forgot her library book, sigh. She ran in the house and got her book. The school isn't very far, but the traffic was awful. Lots of other moms were late as well. We pulled into a parking space and I told Addy to run, the first bell had already rang. I got the stroller out and loaded Maren in. As Sydnee and I walked to the cross walk, we noticed that all the classes at her door had already gone in. Now, I have never made my children late to school and it really bothered me. We were greeted in the hallway by the secretary who took Sydnee's name and marked her tardy. When we first walked in, she was busy with other children and we could have walked right by, but I didn't. It made me feel awful that Sydnee how has a black mark on her spotless record, a big fat tardy. I know this isn't a huge deal, but it is to me. I really want to be a good mom and a responsible parent, and today I just didn't cut it. The worst part was during the morning announcements at school they announced they had a huge problem this morning, there were 42 students who were tardy. Even though I wasn't the only one who was late, it made me feel even worse. Hopefully the day will get better and I can get back on track.

FHE Follies

Monday night Ben gave a lesson on family responsibilities. It was pretty crazy. The kids were wired and Maren was vying for the spotlight. Ben started by asking the kids what daddy's responsibilities were. The kids gave answers like go to work to make money, hold the priesthood, and give blessings. When he asked the kids what mommy's responsibilities are, they said things like take care of us, clean the house, and get us to school. Then Addy said "Mom sometimes gets mad at us." I guess that could be considered a responsibility. I was laughing and Ben was trying to keep things in control. We talked about my responsibilities and how sometimes I do get mad when they do bad things. I don't think I get mad very often, but there is nothing like a child to point out all of your flaws. I now have something to work on and remove from my list of responsibilities.

Spooky Dinner

mummy pot-pie

Little Jack's

Blood and eyeballs

We started the tradition a few years ago of making a fun Halloween dinner. This year we had mummy pot pie, mini pumpkins and bloody eyeballs for our drink. The kid look forward to this now and we have fun coming up with new concoctions.

It was a dark and stormy night.....

I think my face says it all

Addy the pirate

Rapunzel

Princess Lea-check out the buns

Quite literally, It was a dark and stormy night for trick-or-treating. I braved the weather and took the kids around our little street and then over to my parents house. The kids loved running in the rain and our neighbors were very generous with the candy.

Crazy Week

waiting for the parade to start

Sydnee's class

Our neighbor Donna, she's an aide for Sydnee's class

The week of Halloween was super busy. We went to the carnival at the church that our young men and young women put on. The kids loved it. Friday was the costume parade at the school and right afterward was Sydnee's class party. I was in charge of the party, just a little stressful. Luckily it turned out great. It's a good thing that kindergarten kids are easily entertained. After school, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Yancey's for another party. The kids had fun running around in their costumes and feasting on scary food. After dinner they carved more pumpkins and then we went home to crash.

Jack the Pumpkin

My dad grows a giant pumpkin every year. It's his baby, he tends to it every day. He even builds a shade canopy for it. This year instead of growing just one, he grew three. We were the honored recipients of one of his pumpkins. It's an awesome pumpkin! The girls designed the face on the sidewalk with chalk and then Ben and I carved it out. Everyone helped clean the guts out. Too bad it was so rainy on Halloween, we didn't get to light it. My parents pumpkin looked awesome all lit up. Thank you Dad for our huge, perfect pumpkin!