America

As we were out Trick-Or-Treating tonight, I thought to myself what an amazing event Halloween is. Granted it has its cons; like too much candy to rot the teeth, media that enhances the dark side, and individuals who poison candy or other various malicious acts. But in all reality those things happen everyday. So... in my little suburbia of kids running from house to house screaming for joy and a million little girls dressed up as princesses... I thought it is truly a blessing to live in America where we are rich enough to pass out candy to kids and provide costumes of some sorts above and beyond just a shirt & set of pants to wear. It never seems to amaze me how blessed we are in the United States.

Here is a picture of my little trick-or-treaters!

Prudy Saves the Day

Quick notes for the day:
-Julia still sick with fever & running nose
-Therefore had to miss Ward Halloween Party tonight
-Consequences= No trial run through for kids' Halloween costumes & no free dinner= Mom and Julia extremely UPSET!!


***So.... at the end of the day I am grateful that Mike finally came home from work before 7pm (truly amazing!) and Prudence Pennywise provided amazing dinner recipes of Roasted Tomato & Corn Vegetarian Chili in the Slow Cooker & Soft Whole Wheat Pretzels. If you haven't checked at Prudy's blog at http://www.prudencepennywise.blogspot.com/ you are truly missing out!

Luke was truly glad to see his Dad too!

Little Helpers

Yesterday Julia started running a fever right around dinner time (oh the evil hour of motherhood) and stayed up most of the night coughing and wanting Mom. This morning despite feeling crummy she was in a pretty good mood. What was even more amazing was to walk into the kitchen and find Julia unloading the dishwasher and putting the utensils back into the drawers. When I asked her what she was doing she said, "I am helping Mama. I am cleaning". I was literally speechless at how sweet Julia was and the fact that she was putting the dishes away in the right spots. Take look for yourself!

As a mother I worry that I do not spend enough time teaching my children how to be polite, helpful, kind, and most important Christlike. Today, though, I am grateful for those little moments when your children surprise you and you realize that you are doing at least an okay job of being a mother.

LMH

Today was Luke's official 9 month well-baby check-up and this afternoon as I had some quiet time I reflected on how lucky we are to have Luke as part of our family. Honestly, I haven't always been so excited to have 2 children. It took 3 years for Julia to join our family and when Luke came along 20 months later I was scared and exhausted. Now it is hard to imagine life with out Luke.

Here are just a few of the things I LOVE about LMH:

*He is a great napper!

*He loves Julia and can always make her smile when Mom can't.

*He is a mellow, happy-go-lucky baby (most of the time) thanks to the thumb.

*He is ours for eternity.

He was such a good sport as he got poked and prodded by the doctor and ended up with 2 shots. Here is his stats from today: 29 inches long (75%), 17lbs 2 oz (5%), and 46 cm head circumference (65%)- a Long and Skinny Kid!

Here is a picture of Luke today and one from 7 months ago.

Survival Day

I LOVE PUMPKIN! I love pumpkin pie, muffins, cookies, soup, cake, milkshakes, anything with pumpkin I love. So... today when Luke was crabby from cutting a tooth last night, Julia was crabby from missing her nap yesterday, and I was crabby due to (like you can't figure that out!).... I decided there was only one way to rememdy this situation: Bake PUMPKIN COOKIES. I found a yummy Pumpkin & Caramel cookie on http://everydayfoodstorage.blogspot.com/. Crystal, author of the everyday food storage blog, posts yummy, easy, and cheap ideas for using your food storage. Note: The picture of cookies is also from Crystal's blog.

Here is the recipe with a few changes I made:

Pumpkin Cookies with Caramel Icing Cookies

1 cup shortening (I used 1/2 cup shortening & 1/2 cup butter)

1 cup sugar ( I used 3/4 cup)

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 egg

1 t vanilla

2 cups flour (I used 1 cup all purpose & 1 cup whole wheat flour)

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1 t cinnamon

½ t ginger

1 t salt

Heat over to 350. Cream shortening and sugar. Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla. Sift and add dry ingredients. Drop by teaspoonful on cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 mins. Yields 2 1/2 dozen.

Icing

3 T butter

¾ t vanilla

1/4 C. milk *note from Crystal-3/4 T. dry powdered milk + 1/4 C. Water*

½ c brown sugar

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Combine butter, vanilla, milk, brown sugar. Cook, stirring constantly to rolling boil. Cool. Stir in powdered sugar. Generously frost cookies while warm. Return icing to heat if too thick.Cookies will appear raised when cooked. Frosting will melt on top of cookie.

As you can tell by the recipe- I am truly grateful for Libby's Pumpkin Puree. These cookies made my house smell so good and occupied Julia as she ate 5 cookies. Sorry Mom- no pictures of the kids today- just a pure survival day!!

Monkeys & Bananas

I remember when Julia was finally delivered the very first thing I wanted to know was her Apgar score (the measure of how healthy your baby is at the time of delivery). It had been a horrific 24 hour labor that ended with a C-section and I was so relieved that my little baby was healthy.

Today I am still truly amazed at how healthy and vibrant my children are. This is a blessing as a mother that I feel I take advantage on a daily basis. However, I try to remind myself of this fact when I find my little 2 year old monkey in the craziest places. Here are some pictures that testify to this fact. Julia was able to accomplish all of these feats in just our short walk to the park and back home.

Counseling Buddies

Seven years ago Mr. Q and I moved to Boise, ID as a newly married couple. I was young, naive, and homesick as I entered the School Counseling Masters program at Boise State. There were 15 people in the program all from very different walks of life. Over the next 3 years these 15 individuals became some of my closet friends. This weekend 2 of my favorite people in that program visited me here in Utah. We had a great day of shopping at IKEA, eating lunch at Thanksgiving Point, and gabbing non-stop. I am truly grateful for their friendship and a Heavenly Father who placed these ladies in my life.

Here is what I love about each one of them:

Shauna- She is one of the most sincere individuals I know. She understands what it means to be a true friend and is so good at keeping in contact. Just being with her makes you feel special. Also... she drinks Diet Pepsi with her cereal in the morning!

Lynn-Is constantly caring for others. She is one of the most generous and loyal people I know. Her ability to listen and empathasize makes her one of the most amazing counselors I know. Also...she can entertain a 2 year old like no one else! Especially my little Julia!

Shauna & Lynn-Thanks for helping me be a better person-miss you lots-LesliAnn

On the most hectic of days, the most practical things in life draw my greatest appreciation. Today was one of those days as we headed to dreaded (only to mothers whose children will not stay in the carts) grocery store. I have 2 amazing friends coming into town this weekend and I wanted to have more than 2 day old rice, 1/2 a gallon of milk, and moldy green onions in the frig- so I made the venture.

So... today I make a shoutout to the individual who invented the "car" cart at grocery stores. I am eternally grateful to him/her. I can fit 2 children and groceries in 1 cart!!! Now granted Julia ended up in the grocery portion of the cart by the end of the trip, but the "car" cart seat became a great place for milk and the 24 boxes of Go-Gurt I got for $12 (50cents a piece)!

Screwdrivers & Cords

Here is one piece of advice I wish someone had told me before I had children: Kids don't need toys, everything you don't want them to play with is a toy to them.

i.e.= the cord of the carpet cleaner was Luke's favorite today. Now granted the carpet cleaner has been sitting in the kitchen for 3 days now, ever since Julia spilled her fruit shake on the carpet. But come on, 3 days is nothing compared to the screw driver that has been on my nightstand for a month- in case of burglars- right?!

Today though I am most grateful for the beauty of this earth the Savior created. The changing colors of the leaves reminds me of growing up in New York and the longing I have to move back east someday. However, for right now I am grateful for these 2 bright red bushes the closest I can come to the colors of fall.

The start of all of this....

This morning Julia woke up at 6am and Mike went in to her room to find her with half of her pjs on. Needless to say she was freezing! Mike quickly helped her put her pjs back on and she nestled back into her blankets. As he left the room she whispered to her Dad, "Dad I am going to miss you today." Even in the darkness of an October morning Julia's little rays of sunshine penetrate her parents' sleepy souls.

So...........as the normal craziness of dumped Rice Crispies, stickers on the walls, and Luke's magazine ripping parties filled the morning routine I found myself thinking back to a talk given by President Henry B. Erying in the October 2007 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When his children were young, President Erying began to write down a few things about what had happened every day. President Erying writes, "Before I would write, I would ponder this question: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?” As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day......More than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they happened."

As a mother of 2 busy little ones, I strive for little teaching moments where the Holy Ghost can fill our home. I want my children to know of my gratitude for them and for my Savior. Personally I want my testimony to continue to grow through the promptings of the spirit.

So join me for a daily testament of the craziness of my 2 little people and the things I am grateful for!