Spontaneous Delight

You can't pause life...

...but you can climb a tree to take a little time to let your mind wander and wonder about things like

• how cool it is to be high up in a tree
• stick fighting
• the huge sky that goes on and on
• how life really is good

I love my tree climbing childhood memories & am so glad my kids will have their very own!

Speech Delay

Sometimes I feel like I live in a bird sanctuary with all of the chatter that goes on in our house. With so many voices constantly "sharing", using multiple pitches, and often bursting into song, it's hard to believe that one of us isn't talking quite up to speed. Wesley about 6 months or so behind in speech development. Not a huge concern, but we're thankful for Early Intervention....for Jeanine, Ruth, and Sheila who so kindly and skillfully played with and assessed Wesley. Ruth was so much fun. She was supposed to give Wesley a new, unique command, so she told him to "put the cup on the cow" (they were using small toys). Wesley looked at her like "You're nuts, why would I want to do that?" and matter of factly said, "No." After she was done, Ruth came over to talk with us about her observations. A few minutes later, Wesley came up to her and said, "Hey, c'mon!" and he led her off to explore and play. She did a great job. They all got a kick out of Wesley's facial expressions; one of his endearing qualities. You can tell that he's processing feelings and thoughts in that sweet head of his, but forming sentences to tell us all about them is another story. We'll get there. Bring on the chatter!

Just for me

I'm not a seamstress, but I can sew a straight line....lots of them when needed. After eyeing Amy Butler's Mid Mod quilt for quite some time (the pattern is on her website under "free pattern downloads."), I purchased the fabric and started sewing....lots of straight lines. When I got my quilt back from the long arm quilter, Christina admired it and asked, "Who's this for?" "Me!" I answered, anxious to bind it and put it to use. Christina's reply was a very sincere, "That's awesome."

I've made lots of quilts, mostly crib size, but it's nice to have one of my quilts to snuggle up in while I get lost in my current read, or in the quaint town of Cranford. Of coarse I'm happy to share my quilt for bird watching & swordfights in the front yard.

I'm thankful for my very own quilt. I'm thankful to pass on to Christina something that is easy to lose sight of once you take on the role of "mother"--- nurture yourself regularly. Trust me, it's good medicine for mundane housekeeping, whining, & potty training.

Blessed

So, we're kneeling down for prayers this morning and Wesley looks at me and says, "Mom." I reply, "What, Wesley?" He sat there for a moment, clearly without a planned follow-up to calling my name. Then he looks at me and blows me a kiss. Melt my heart! I'm pretty sure that's the first time Wesley blew me a kiss first. Blessed is how I'm feeling right now & I honestly think that kiss will keep my heart happy and content for a very long time....even through a full day of housework & laundry.

Do you feel blessed today? Go to the very talented, Angela Henrie's blog...she's got another giveaway going on.... a "blessed" charm on a very pretty necklace!

PS. Laura, I'm counting this for my thankful post! I'm sooooo thankful for a sweet kiss from Wesley to get me through a day. :)

Simply Halloween

Friday night we had our ward Trunk or Treat....delicious hot cider & yummy donuts, and round and round trunk or treating.

We reused costumes from last year and the dress-up basket....Thomas was Anikan Skywalker again, Grace was a witch (the stick broom was Wayne's handiwork), Caroline was Cinderella, and Wesley was himself....Wesonator. He really doesn't like wearing his cape (thus the capeless photo below taken at the last stop of the night, our house). This little guy came to us with a "no fuss" attitude. This is usually great, unless I want him to sport the cape I made for him, or get a haircut....both situations seem to annoy Little Handsome. Christina didn't dress up this year, but was happy to help Wesley collect and eat Halloween candy.

We dumped the kids' candy from Trunk or Treating into a bowl and that's what we offered Trick or Treaters on Halloween night. 4 bags worth of candy in the house is beyond PLENTY!

Before the kids headed out, we had a simply spooky Halloween dinner with the missionaries:

Witches' Brew {a triple batch}

Graveyard Salad {garlic bread tombstones on leafy cemetery grounds}

Candy Corn Dessert {layered lemon and orange jello with whipped cream on top}

Wesley offered a "Dank you" after each trick or treating stop, and the kids all agreed that the best stop was Garrett's house where they got HUGE candy bars!

We hope you had a Happy Halloween!