PUMPKINLAND FIELD TRIP

Jaren and I went on Eden's Kindergarten field trip to Pumpkinland. I met up with them at the church. MAN... it was a really chilly day! Good thing they had stuff to do inside! They had an activity, cookies, a story, and games all at the church. Then we bundled up and went to see the animals and go on the coldest hay ride that I've ever been on!!!

After "Storytime" inside the church.

Sayde, Eden and another boy from her class eye to eye with the goats.

Eden and Sayde

A wild turkey. Get a load of Eden's face as she's pointing to it!

Eden getting cozy with her teacher, Mrs. Burk! It was a COLD hay ride!

OCTOBER FARMER'S MARKET

Ed was working Saturday and so I asked my mom if she would watch Jaren so I could take the kids downtown to the market. (I thought it was too chilly for little Jare). The last farmer's market of the year is when they have fun games and crafts for the kids to do. The kids get dressed up and get to go trick-or-treating at the downtown businesses that participate. They had free popcorn and hot apple cider as well. I bought some small pumpkins and apples for a night of fun I had planned later on in the week.

Eden and Ollie making "Ghost Suckers".

Playing "Pick a Pumpkin" to win a small prize.

Eden playing "Pin the Nose on the Skull"

Coloring pictures of Frankenstein.

To Rake... Or Not To Rake... That is the Question.

Well... I decided that it was about time to rake up the leaves in the front yard since the leaves had mostly all fallen from the trees AND since we CAN'T afford to move... it needed to be done.

Our trees are some of the last ones to lose their leaves on our street... so our neighbors have their nicely raked lawns and then there's us. "Hey... I'm not gonna rake my yard if all of the leaves aren't off the trees yet! What do they think I am? A glutton for punishment?!?" Anyways... there were soooooooo many leaves it wasn't even funny! I'm sure with our luck it will probably snow by the time we get them packed into half ripped open bags, and then we will be left with a dirty crop or lawn circle rather, in our front yard! Too bad when we try to reseed in the Spring... we have neon green grass clumps dotting our lawn. As you can see, I don't know much about the different types of grass seed. It's like Grandma's Crazy Quilt over here on Oaklawn!

So... McKenzie, Eden and I all shared the raking responsibility. The girls took turns sharing a small rake and small plastic shovel to build up the massive pile of leaves. They LOVED running and jumping into it, and even pretended to be swimming amongst the leaves. I was hoping all the while that they wouldn't get impaled on a renegade twig and have to take an unplanned field trip to the local E.R.! No injuries... just fun!

General Conference Weekend

Well, this weekend was General Conference, a broadcast from Salt Lake that happens twice a year. Sessions are on Saturday from 11 am - 1pm & 3 pm - 5 pm our time. Saturday is the Priesthood Session for the men of the church from 7 pm - 9 pm. Ed and his Dad and brothers always go out for ice cream afterwards... it has always been a tradition of theirs. Last Saturday evening was the Relief Society Broadcast, for the women of the church, actually the largest Women's Organization in the world... but I couldn't go, because I was sick... yet again. BLAH!

Then on Sunday we watched the morning session of General Conference with Mike and Mandy Williams and listened to the afternoon session online while Ed packed for his business trip and I cleaned up the house a bit. I really enjoyed President Henry B. Eyring's talk. Ed and I both agreed that we really need to look at what the Lord has done for us... EVERYDAY! We tend to not notice things in our busy and stressful lives. We need to be more grateful, in times of plenty and in times of famine, that is for sure! I also really enjoyed Elder Dallin H. Oaks' talk as well. It seemed like there were several talks about doing missionary work, as that is what we are here on earth to do. It is hard to get out there and open our mouths and share our testimonies, but I know it needs to be done. That is something I will personally be working on... praying for missionary experiences. It's amazing how often the apostles and prophets talk about being more Christlike. We will NEVER be perfect in this life, but we need to strive to always become more like Christ. I need to pay more attention to the Spirit, instead of the natural man... that is quick to judge and quick to anger. Thank goodness we all have the opportunity to repent and to get back on track!

ANYWAYS... these pictures are from Saturday, October 6th. We went to Ed's parents' home for lunch and Eden played in the leaves as we left! Then we popped over to my mom's house and the kids played there for a while. Later that night, during the men's session, I hung out with Meg, since Garran was also gone to the session. The kids had fun playing and we had fun chatting the night away. When Garran got home, he and Ollie did some capoeira and Garran taught Ollie some exercises to do in order to gain more strength and flexibility. Oliver was in HEAVEN!!! :) He's ALWAYS practicing his moves at home! "Practice makes perfect!"

Broke as a Joke... but... not a Funny Joke...

Okay. I love this time of year... I hate this time of year. Let me break it down for ya. I love Fall... I love the cooler weather, the beautiful color of the changing leaves, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, carving pumpkins, apple cider, etc. I hate this time of year because of the lack of MONEY. I guess from the end of August through the end of October... is the time I dislike. First... you need MONEY to buy school supplies, MONEY to buy new school clothes (Even though I get most of them at Goodwill and Garage Sales), MONEY to buy the right size of shoes for the new school year, MONEY for registration and MONEY for lunches for the kids (We are broke, so the kids get reduced lunches this year! YEAH!) Also... September rolls around and you need MONEY for school pictures, MONEY for Cattle Congress IF you can afford to go... we couldn't, MONEY to buy things to help out with Fun Fair donations and MONEY to help buy things for the school parties, MONEY to register the car. HERE comes October... more MONEY for three Halloween costumes, MONEY for our water bill which comes quarterly, MONEY to go to fun places like... Gays Mills... Heartland Pumpkin Patch... MONEY for gas to go on drives to see the beautiful leaves or go for a day trip somewhere. MONEY... MONEY... MONEY! I can't freakin' take it anymore! I HATE NOT HAVING ENOUGH MONEY TO PAY BILLS, BUY GROCERIES OR DO FUN STUFF WITH THE FAMILY!!!! It's not like I'm complaining about wanting a bigger house, or wanting a boat or jet skis... It's memory making things with the family... and paying what we need to pay for in order to get by. Health insurance... taxes... debt... student loans... medical bills and prescriptions... BLAH BLAH BLAH! We never went on a honeymoon (no MONEY) or go on family vacations. My kids don't get to be in anything and everything, like karate or swimming or soccer or what have you. Don't even ask about birthday gifts or baby shower or wedding gifts... or graduation cards or Christmas presents... that's a whole other story! MONEY makes the world go 'round... I guess our world is at a standstill. Ed works two jobs already, I stay home with Jaren because if I did get a job, it would all go to daycare, so what's the point!?! AND I'd rather be around for my babies and teach them OUR values... even though it IS a huge sacrifice to live in a one income household. (I saw on the news a few months ago that the average family income is $90,000! Because BOTH people work! Yeah... we make a lot less than that... A LOT LESS.) I guess I need to just be grateful that I CAN stay home, even though the lack of MONEY sucks. Life kinda sucks sometimes... "It's my BLOG I can complain if I want to, complain if I want to, complain if I want to. You would complain too if it happened to you!!!" ...THE END.