Grandma

Today my grandmother died. She lived a long, fulfilling life - working with my grandfather to raise 14 children and dedicating their lives to serving the Lord. She was a hard worker who passed along that trait to her children.

I remember when I got married she asked my mom, "Does Courtney even know how to cook or clean?" I didn't but I learned. I also remember having her in the temple on our wedding day and what a calming force she was. My grandpa really loves babies and was always encouraging us to have them. But, Grandma always reminded him how important it was for me to finish school and get my CPA. Later, when we brought Seth to meet them, I asked her if she ever got a chance to just sit around and hold her babies. She said no. I guess with 14 kids in 20 years you wouldn't. On the day each of my children were blessed they were wrapped in a blanket made by my grandmother. Every time my baby turned one, I'd remember her telling me that if her babies hit their first birthday and were still on the bottle she took it away on their birthday. I can remember the last time we visited with them talking to her about laundry routines and breakfast schedules and enjoying relating to her on a new level.

I like to think about what she was like as a young mother. With fourteen kids there was always something going on - mail order monkeys, kids falling out of windows, back porch fires. My mom always talks about how easy going grandma was in dealing with the chaos. I never really had the chance to see that side of grandma but love to hear the stories.

She was a great example for us all. We will miss her.

Have you ever...

Have you ever had a family home evening that ended before you had the lesson because your kids were out of control and your patience was on the low level? We did this week. We had to have it the next morning during breakfast so we could start our Thanksgiving Countdown Jar (you can get it here, only 2 or 3 are religious so it can work for anyone).

Today, Kate drew the paper that said "I am thankful for my sister." The girls drew pictures for each other. Seth offered Paige the last caramel ice cream cone. I thought I'd blog about my super sisters (all 8 of them).

Mandy and I are four years apart. That seemed like a lot growing up but now it's nothing. As Laney and Allie will tell you, we talk on the phone multiple times a day. She is my go-to girl for all things. I am lucky to have her.

Carrie is Jeff's oldest sister. I've always looked up to Carrie and admire the way she has raised her children. She is also really great at making videos, playing scrabble and blogging (privately). She even keeps up on making blurb books out of her blog which is something I have not yet managed to accomplish.

Dionne is Jeff's next oldest sister. Dionne is the maker of award winning-halloween costumes, fancy cakes and the softest blankets. She also keeps me grey hair-free when I see her. I am always impressed that she follows through with her ideas and gets things done.

Melia is one of Jeff's younger sisters. She is a patient and loving mother who inspires me to be more like that with my own kids. She is also a great sounding board when I am trying to figure out how to parent my kids. Melia never has an unkind thing to say.

Ruth is Jeff's youngest sister. She is a talented musician who is always working to improve her art whether it's writing music or learning to play the drums. She also is a great aunt who really loves the kids and they know it.

Kamy is married to my oldest brother, Casey. She is the closest in age to me and it has been fun to experience life with her - we were pregnant with our firsts at the same time which helped us bond and delivered our next ones on the same day. She is also really good at finding good deals and trying new recipes!

Taylor does a great job blogging about newlywed life in the Big Apple - whether discussing the highs or the lows, it is always entertaining. She is also a great houseguest - she plays with the kids, cleans up after herself and even brings treats. Plus, she helps mellow out my super, serious brother!

Stephanie is the newest addition to our family - just joining this summer when she married my youngest brother. We knew she was a keeper when she skipped Christmas with her family so she could spend the day getting to know my kids - she was up and ready Christmas morning before half the kids.

Live in Thanksgiving Daily

Before I start loading the Christmas music for a new pandora station, I thought I should pause and notice it is November. I was asked to teach the lesson on gratitude in Relief Society on Sunday. President Monson has given a number of talks on the subject which were all good reads but I developed most of my lesson from a devotional that Elder Wirthlin gave at BYU in 2000 called "Live in Thanksgiving Daily." It really was a great reminder on how to live a happier life. Check it out here.

Here are a couple of my favorite quotes used in my lesson:

President Joseph F. Smith proclaimed: “The grateful man sees so much in the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil. Love overpowers jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life. Pride destroys our gratitude and sets up selfishness in its place. How much happier we are in the presence of a grateful and loving soul, and how careful we should be to cultivate, through the medium of a prayerful life, a thankful attitude toward God and man!” (Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. [1939], 263).

“Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend … when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present—love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness]—the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.” - Sarah Ban Breathnach

Now I am off to load the Osmond Family and Carpenter Christmas music to Pandora.

Halloween Parties

Chase and I had a fun time at the girls' class parties last week. I also attended in the capacity of yearbook photographer (yes, I am definitely big time these days) which basically means I get to attend the party and take pictures rather than run a craft.

Seth's teacher had signups for the entire year of parties at back to school night. Since we didn't know what we were doing or where we would be living, I didn't sign up for anything and so we didn't get to go. Chase and I went and had lunch with Seth the day of his party which I hoped would make up for my lack of attendance. I don't think it worked. After school, he excitedly showed me all his party goodies and told me about all the fun activities.

He then said, "Mom, you know what the saddest part of my day was?"

"No, what?"

"When you didn't come to my Halloween party."

I've got to find a way into the next party!

Halloween

We had a fun halloween. As usual, we were running a bit behind so I never got any great posed shots before we started.

Seth wanted to be a nerf gun warrior. We weren't really sure what that meant so we went with an army guy. Chase was a cute little spider. The girls wanted to be pet fairies. They have been reading these books and Paige decided to be the puppy fairy, Ellie the bunny fairy and Kate the goldfish fairy. I used every bit of craftiness in me to make the skirts, necklaces and hair accessories. I even had to come up with a last minute fish bowl. They seemed happy so that's the important thing.

We enjoyed trick or treating down main street and then had dinner at some friends. By the time we got back home, Ellie was done with trick or treating. She wouldn't even put her costume back on to trick or treat at the neighbors. Luckily all of the kids were revitalized by handing out treats to the masses of trick or treaters we had. Everyone told us there would be a lot of people but I was not prepared especially for the grown ups including a 65 year old woman who came trick or treating. Seth was hanging from the tree handing out candy while the girls yelled out "candy for sale! candy for sale!" They were so disappointed when we ran out of candy that they started handing out their own stashes. Once we were out of candy we ended the night at our neighbors for more chili and pie.

It was a great evening. Even better after a bit of a chilly week (at least in California terms), it warmed up so we could trick or treat in t-shirts and shorts. We are loving life in San Diego!

The eye of the duck

Right before we moved, the kids (mostly Seth) and I watched Rocky III and IV. As we entered the soccer season, I have often been able to refer back to the movie and the lesson of the "eye of the tiger."

So far the season has been going well. Seth finally seems to get soccer and plays hard and aggressively. The girls also have a good coach and are really learning the fundamentals. Unfortunately, they haven't really learned to play aggressively yet. Ellie had her first goal a couple of weeks ago and she really tries hard and stays with the game. Kate and Paige seem to get injured a lot. The funny thing is their coach still can't tell them apart. Game days their names are on their jerseys but at practice he has to ask them who they are or just calls them "sweetie." He has learned it's best to separate them as much as possible because they get rather silly.

On the drive home from their game a couple of weeks ago, I reminded them of the importance of the eye of the tiger especially in sports. Paige replied, "I don't really have the eye of the tiger. I think I have the eye of the duck."

Boo!

Right in the middle of family night, someone surprised us with this cat/jack-o-lantern full of supplies to make caramel apples.

Of course, we wanted to get in on the fun too. I thought the caramel apple idea was brilliant so we went that route too (with a little candy thrown in for fun). We decided to pass the cat along to another member of our ward but wanted to start the fun in our neighborhood as well so we made two boo bags. I downloaded the label, instructions and ghost here.

We had a lot of fun but I'm pretty sure everyone knows it was us. We started at our neighbor's house and Seth got stuck trying to get out of their gate (Jeff told me to go open the gate but I was too slow) and we were caught. Next we went to the ward member's house - as I was walking down the street with all the kids but Kate trying to figure out which house was theirs, we passed the dad. I'm not sure he totally recognized us but he did do a double take. At the third house, the dad was about 5 feet from the door so instead of ringing the bell Seth yelled "boo" really loud and ran. It's much harder to be sneaky when everyone has their doors and windows open.