Mo Candy

I took the girls trick or treating tonight by myself. Rick had 2 seminary classes and insisted that you can't skip seminary for Halloween :) I carried Claire in one of those baby carriers that you wear and just held Kate's hand. It took us 45 min to go to 7 houses. At first she didn't really understand why she was wearing a "cos to men" (costume) but when I told her she'd be getting some candy, she said "that sounds fun to me!" so off we went. At the second house we came to, she got a piece of candy and I told her to put it in her bucket. She said, "no, no...I put it in my mouth."....and she did. Well, after 45 mins, 7 houses and one burned hand from a pumpkin candle, I thought it was time to go home. We had the best time...and Rick even called between his classes to see how we did. (OH...and on a related Halloween note, Rick told me he won a contest at work today by stuffing 94 candy corns into his mouth in a minute!!!)

Real Beauty?

We've all heard about the work that goes into making the people on TV beautiful, and this short video shows the process. It's really interesting to watch.

Click Here to see the video

Click comic in enlarge...

Kate-18 months old-10-22-06

Dear little Kate,

Today you are 22 months old! Right now I am watching you dance around the room. It is so funny and a wonderful thing to watch. There are few things in life more fun than watching that. You are such a good talker! You speak in sentences all the time now so we have some funny conversations. You’re new favorite sentence is “I think so.” I’ll ask if you want to go somewhere and you say “I think so.” You are also picking up on things and understand a lot more than we think sometimes. Your father was explaining to you how to paint and the next day, I turned my back for 30 seconds (I wonder how many more stories will start with that…) and I heard “helping daddy paint!” I turned around and you had taken the lid off of the paint can and had dipped 2 paint brushes in the paint can and there was paint on the kitchen table and on the floor! I wish I had taken a picture but at the time, I was in a panic as to what to do! One day this week, I was having “one of those days” and was pretty tired. You had gotten into the paint, fallen off of a chair, Claire was screaming because she was hungry….but then out of no where, you looked at me and said “I love Jesus.” Sweet, sweet Kate…I love Jesus too. Right now I think your favorite thing to do is to go get candy at Boo’s house. You are always asking to do that. You love your aunt Sarah and she loves you. She helps me out a lot and I hope that you and Claire will be as kind to each other and she is to me.
This month we went to the zoo, the pumpkin patch and the playground (a LOT.) At the playground, you are becoming bolder and you like to try hard things like climbing up ladders and once you do it you’ll say “all by myself” or “I’m so proud of you.” You are also becoming more scared of some things like the bathtub, riding lawnmowers and noises you’ve never heard, so we’ll see what happens with that. I will write to you again next month but know now I love you and I am thankful for you.

I love you more than you know,
Mommy

Claire-6 months old-10-19-06

My dear Claire,

Today you are 6 months old! I can’t believe how fast the time has gone. You are such a sweet little baby. You are eating and sleeping great. You sleep from 7pm-7am and I am still nursing 5 times a day and you eat baby food twice a day. You can sit all by yourself now. The longest you’ve gone has been around 30 min. I’ll put some little toys in front of you and you’ll pick them up and play with them (by playing with them I mean you’ll chew on them!) Also, you’ll stop chewing on your toys to look and see what Kate’s doing which is sweet. You also grab everything so I can’t do anything holding you without you trying to take something from me!
With Kate, I used to always wonder and anticipate when she would reach the next “milestone.” When would she sit-up, crawl, walk, talk, etc. Not because I didn’t like the particular stage she was in but I guess just out of excitement to see her grow and learn.
It’s a little different though with you. I know how fast you will grow and how this time next year, you’ll be a little girl walking around everywhere and saying little words. So this time, I really do try and enjoy everything and not wonder what’s coming next. I just want to hold you and see you smile.
I pray that the Lord will give you a little girl; (maybe you can read these letters to correspond with her age) then you will know how I feel about you. I don’t think, well, I know that there are no words to describe my love for you. They do not exist. I cannot explain the feeling that comes over me when I look at you and when I hold you. To see that smiling face (with no teeth)…there is something physically that happens to me. I can’t explain it but that’s why I hope you will have a little girl of your own some day so that you will know what I feel for you. The bible says “He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” (Rom 8:32) Loving you and knowing the depth of the love that a parent has for a child, helps me wonder at my Savior even more.
My mother says I will love you more and more and that this moment is not even close to the peek of my love for you. That must mean that there will never be words that I could find to express my love for you.
I love you and Happy 6 months…..
Love now and always,
Mommy

II Timothy 3:1-9

II Timothy 3:1-9 was read before our seminary class started the other night. I could not help but notice how well it describes the society we live in and the temptations with which I struggle (lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, proud, etc.). These things do not please God. These are described as "time of difficulty". Let us all hear and learn rather than be "always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth".

II Timothy 3
1But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. 9But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

Here's what happened today:

Here's the setup: Rick brought home a little bag that he had received from work and gave it to Kate (she loves purses.)

Rick: Kate! Here's a new purse for you!
Kate: (very excited...looking at the bag)
Me: Kate...what do you say?
Kate: (looking in the bag then up at Rick)....MONEY????


Me: (Placing a box of rice on what I thought was the counter but was apparently really not the counter....the rice falls all over the floor.)
Kate: Mommy's making a mess!!


Kate: (Hysterically laughing while pushing Claire's nose)
Me: Kate...what are you doing???
Kate: (Hysterically laughing) LAUGHING!!!!

Kate: (while praying with Rick) Thank you for Mommy.

I didn't really say much about Claire. She got her nose pushed by Kate and snorted greens beans up her nose....hmmm.....

My 2 girls-both around 5 months old

Kate
Claire

This Wall Paper has GOT to go!