You've Been Booed + Time For A Change.

(Again, posting this so I can find it in the future.)

We did this as a class activity for YW this month, and it turned out super fun.

We asked the girls to each bring a plate of goodies (the leaders brought several too), then we split up into cars and let the girls choose friends and neighbors to take them to. We wanted to spread the love to several different neighborhoods. It was a great time to chat with the girls in my car, and I kinda think they like the doorbell-ditching part of things, too.

(pdf link here)

I finally, FINALLY changed out this picture of Mar,

thanks to Austin. When he was here for his short visit, he kindly took time to snap and edit a few pictures. He didn't even have his "good" camera. He's a picture genius, I say.

Ta-da!

I think Mar is happy to have an update.

I also changed out this picture of Britt, Austin and Scarlett

to this one:

More updates of other pictures will be coming soon.

Things are changing!

A Ghastly Menu.

I am posting this so I'll know where to find it in the future. I have done this activity with the youth in our church several times over the years, but they have been so spread out, any documentation saved on ancient computer hard drives are gone, baby, gone. 

 (link to pdf here)

I usually ask the youth to tie the activity into a gospel principle, and it's always pretty amazing what they come up with. Just in case they struggle a bit, I like to have something in mind.

Some possibilities:

1.  From President Thomas S. Monson: "When faced with significant choices, how do we decide? Do we succumb to the promise of momentary pleasure? To our urges and passions? To the pressure of our peers? 

Let us not find ourselves as indecisive as is Alice in Lewis Carroll's classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. You will remember that she comes to a crossroads with two paths before her, each stretching onward but in opposite directions. She is confronted by the Cheshire cat, of whom Alice asks, 'Which path shall I follow?'

The cat answers, 'That depends on where you want to go. If you do not know where you want to go, it doesn't matter which path you take.'

Unlike Alice, we all know where we want to go, and it DOES matter which way we go, for by choosing our path, we choose our destination.

Our Heavenly Father did not launch us on our eternal journey without providing the means whereby we could receive from Him God-given guidance to assist in our safe return at the end of mortal life. I speak of prayer. I speak too of the whisperings from that still, small voice within each of us, and I do not overlook the holy scriptures, written by mariners who successfully sailed the seas we too must cross.

Each of us has come to this earth with all the tools necessary to make correct choices."

2.  Free Forever, to Act for Themselves by Elder D. Todd Christofferson.

3. Choose Wisely by Elder Quentin L. Cook.

The youth always love this activity, and it's really pretty simple to pull off with a little help dishing up the crazy courses.

Trunk Or Treat.

Last Saturday evening our ward held it's annual Trunk-Or-Treat activity.

Lots of yummy food...

...great emcee...

...fun costumes...

...lots of people...

...decorations and lights...

...and lots and lots of candy.

These awesome ladies helped make it happen, then cleaned it all up.

Trunk-Or-Treat success.

This Just Happened.

Late Saturday night, Bill and I received this:

Then we got a phone call (per my fb request... sort of).


On Sunday, Lex sent me these:

A romantic location + photographer (thanks, Britt & Austin!)
A (hopeful) surprise (according to Lex, not so much).
A beautiful ring.
A lost set of keys... found (a story for another day).
Such a sweet engagement.

Congratulations, Jason & Lex!

Sunday Thoughts.

I've re-listened to many of the talks from General Conference this past week and, as always, feel inspired and uplifted, gently reminded, and encouraged to do better and to be better.

Here are a few quotes from Tad R. Callister's talk, Parents: The Prime Gospel Teachers of Thier Children that have motivated me to improve.

"As parents, we are to be the prime gospel teachers and examples for our children... As their prime gospel teachers, we can teach them the power and reality of the Atonement -- of their identity and divine destiny -- and in so doing give them a rock foundation upon which to build. When all is said and done, the home is the ideal forum for teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ."

"One of the most meaningful things we can do as parents is teach our children the power of prayer, not just the routine of prayer."

"As parents, we can teach our children to pray for things of eternal consequence -- to pray for the strength to be morally clean in a very challenging world, to be obedient, and to have the courage to stand for the right."

"We can also teach our children to use their time wisely. On occasion... we will need to put our foot lovingly but firmly down to restrict our children's time with television and other electronic devices that in many cases are monopolizing their lives. Instead we may need to redirect their time into more productive gospel-oriented efforts. There may be some initial resistance, some complaining, but...
we need to have the vision and the will to stick with it."

"One day our children will understand and appreciate what we have done. 

If we do not do this, who will?"

"We might all ask ourselves: do our children receive our best spiritual, intellectual, and creative efforts, or do they receive our leftover time and talents, after we have given our all to our Church calling or professional pursuits?"

"In the life to come, I do not know if titles such as bishop or Relief Society president will survive, but I do know that the titles of husband and wife, father and mother, will continue and be revered, worlds without end. That is one reason it is so important to honor our responsibilities as parents here on earth so we can prepare for those even greater, but similar, responsibilities in the life to come."

"As parents, we can proceed with the assurance God will never leave us alone."

"God never gives us a responsibility without offering divine aid..."

I love my family!

Halloween Party.

Mar and her friend Tori decided a couple months back to have a Halloween party. I vaguely remember Mar asking me if I was okay with it... it would be at Tori's house... it would be during fall break... on a weekend night...  Sure, I told her. Just let  me know what we needed to do.

The girls got together several times to plan things out. They made the invitations (something like 45), put them in little bags with candy, and passed them out at school and church.

I, of course, knew it was all in the works, but kept any details at the back of my mind, because, in my world, that's what I do: tackle today's duties today, and worry about tomorrow's... tomorrow.

On Monday of last week I came to the realization that Mar's party had been scheduled on Saturday night, which happened to coincide with our Stake Conference "12-and-up" meeting. The meeting that has been announced the past few weeks at church and on the Stake Calendar for more than a year. 

Ooops.

Too late to change it. My bad.

I don't know how many times I need to learn the lesson to check the calendar before committing to anything.

Tori's parents hadn't realized it, either, until the middle of last week.

Since it was planned to be at their house, they dutifully stayed home from the meeting to chaperone the party, then Bill and I joined them after the meeting was over.

The other thing I hadn't realized is that the girls had planned the party to go until midnight.

Midnight.

I certainly would have advised 10:30, or 11 at the latest, had I been paying attention during those early planning stages. Another lesson learned.

Regardless of all the pre-party regrets, the day of the party arrived, and Mar and I worked on her contributions:

These are supposed to be Hallowiener snakes:

 Mar and I found the idea here.

We used my homemade bread recipe, though, so the dough wasn't cold (per the recipe), which resulted in chubby snakes, and we decided to forego the raisin eyes and licorice tongues, but they were supa yummy. If you use your imagination, they kinda look like snakes.

Then we had the costume dilemma. I had told Mar that I didn't really want to purchase anything for her costume (cheap mama + tight budget = use what we have). But Mar, being the baby of the fam and all, knows how to keep needling away at me. Could I just buy her a blue wig? (She wanted to be some Pokemon character.) We hunted for the right blue wig, but never found one that would work. While at Target one day, shopping for something else altogether, she came running to me with these bat wings. $15. I just wanted to be done with the costume discussion (it had been going on for weeks), so I caved. 

Mar loved the costume she put together:

 (Oh yeah, we had to purchase some fabric for a cape, black hairspray, and some eyelashes... that girl can be exasperating sometimes!)

Those bat ears? Her hair. That Crew Fiber can do amazing things.

The party was fun.

Luckily not all that were invited attended.

The costume winners:

Mar around 11:30:

 Yes, midnight is too late for a party of 12 and 13-year olds.

The kids remaining until the bitter end (most kids were picked up earlier, as their parents also thought midnight was too late), sat around the kitchen table, talking and eating candy. Lots and lots of candy.

I don't think any of my other kids ever had a Halloween party.

This sweet, darling, enthusiastic, social, creative last child of mine is going to wear her old mamita out!