Happy Halloween!

The boys love their Ironman and Transformer costumes 

and have been wearing them all month long. 

Reese won a mustache as a prize.  He really wanted it so he could look like Mario.
I explained that it was more of a cowboy mustache, so he obliged me with the getup.

 Grayce was "BOO-tiful" for Halloween.

I bought her a cute zebra costume for Halloween, but even though it's size 6-12months, it's way too big for her.

  She's sucking on a lollipop and when I tried to take it away for the picture -she threw a fit!

 Reese's preschool Halloween pic. (Hayden's class didn't take one).

I was a bunny at work.  I even had a cotton tail pinned to the back of my scrubs.

One scary scarecrow...

Reese learned this story in school...
The words are: One pair of shoes go stomp stomp.

                         One pair of pants go wiggle wiggle.

                         One shirt goes shake shake.

                         One pair of gloves go clap clap.

                         One hat goes nod nod.

                         One scary pumpkin goes Boo! Boo!

                         And the scary scarecrow scares all the birds away.

This sandbox was in place when we bought this house, but the sand was so depleted and packed down it was like concrete.  I had wanted to fill it up with sand again for some time, and finally had some surplus in my budget to do so.  I had 4 tons of sand delivered to my driveway.  Edward had thrown out his back, so I shoveled and hauled all the sand from the driveway to our back yard using that nifty mac daddy wagon pictured below.  It was quite a workout, but oh so worth it.  The kids have been enjoying the sandbox every day.

Now the wagon comes in handy for hauling kids around in ;)

Craft room

So our house came with another empty -too small to be a room, but bigger than normal closet- downstairs.  

This one I turned into my craft room.  When the boys were tiny they got into it one time while Brian was babysitting them, and it's been a growing mess the last few years.  I finally got around to organizing it and now I love going in there!  I even made Grayce some hair-bows for her Birthday yesterday. :)

Toy closet

There aren't very many projects of mine that turn out successful,

but one of the few accomplishments I am very pleased with is this toy closet.

It was just a plain white empty itty-bitty room when we moved in.

We used to tease Brian when he lived with us, that if he got grounded 

that'd be his new room, and he'd have to sleep sitting up. ;)

(the room is about the length of Brian's legs.)

I painted the walls, and changed the ceiling fixture so there's more light.

I bought the wood and L brackets for the shelves at home depot.

The measurements were so precise, that if the cut had been off by even an 1/8th of an inch

 the pieces wouldn't have fit at the corners, so I know the Lord blessed the old gentleman

who cut my wood with steady hands and a sharp eye.

The gentleman who cut my wood the next visit was not as precise,

but luckily those were just the thin support strips for under the shelves, 

and I was able to correct his measurements with my dinky little handsaw at home. 

I painted and installed the shelves myself.

I measured this IKEA shelf and it looked like it would fit perfectly against the side wall,

but I forgot to take into account the baseboards at the bottom -which took away about an inch of space.

So I had to modify the end of the shelf with a thinner piece of wood so it would fit, 

Again I got the wood from Home depot, and painted it to blend in with the rest of the shelf.  

Honestly I dream of these shelves being filled with books, but for now

this closet works great to store the kids toys since it is right in between the boys and Grayce's room. 

 Another project I am proud of is hauling 4 tons of playground sand from our driveway to 

our sandbox in back all by myself...but I'll post more about that later. :)

She's getting to be a busy girl!

Grayce figured out how to open the cash register...

Baking pumpkin cupcakes...

Somebody "Booed" us and we got a fun bucket of Halloween surprises.  This package of cupcake mix and Halloween sprinkles was the boys favorite part.  It made for a fun evening =) And then we got to "Boo" somebody the next night.

Attitude adjustment

This week in the Pathway program we studied 1 Nephi 15-22.  One thing that really stood out to me was Nephi's attitude while bound on the boat as they were journeying across the sea.  In 1 Nephi 18: 15-16 he says,

"And it came to pass that we were about to be swallowed up in the depths of the sea. And after we had been driven back upon the waters for the space of four days, my brethren began to see that the judgments of God were upon them, and that they must perish save that they should repent of their iniquities; wherefore, they came unto me, and loosed the bands which were upon my wrists, and behold they had swollen exceedingly; and also mine ankles were much swollen, and great was the soreness thereof.

 Nevertheless, I did look unto my God, and I did praise him all the day long; and I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions."

By this point Nephi had been beaten and bound by his brothers several times in the past already, and thinking of myself in that situation I would no doubt be remembering all the prior beatings added to the current one and feeling sorry for myself, feeling that my life was so very hard and full of so much injustice...and on and on.  But Nephi is able to feel gratitude even in the midst of his trials, which is so wonderfully amazing and humbling.  

In our Pathway group we talked about why the Lord allowed Nephi to remain so tightly bound in this instance when in the past He had loosed his bands.  We came to the conclusion that it was for Laman and Lemuel's benefit -not in their seeking for revenge -but in The Lord's attempts to teach them.  He had already tried sending an Angel to speak to them, shocking them, proving to them that he would provide a way for them to get the plates, get food in the wilderness, and build a boat to cross the sea, and none of those methods got through to them because they once again hardened their hearts.  

In 1 Nephi 18:11 it says, "
"And it came to pass that Laman and Lemuel did take me and bind me with cords, and they did treat me with much harshness; nevertheless, the Lord did suffer it that he might show forth his power, unto the fulfilling of his word which he had spoken concerning the wicked."

 and then in 1 Nephi 18:20 it says, "And there was nothing save it were the power of God, which threatened them with destruction, could soften their hearts..."  

 I am humbled and inspired by Nephi's example. I hope to find gratitude in  my trials and trust in the Lord and not complain!