Mothers Who Know About Halloween

I have totally and completely NOT finished last week's Mother Who Knows challenge. And until I do, I am not going to blog about the end results. But in the meantime, my sil, Juli, blogged about it and since putting the link up isn't working correctly, here is the link to her blog. www.juliandnick.blogspot.com I hope you will go and check out what she wrote about becoming a Nurturer and a Homemaker.
Also in the meantime, I'd like to get a little less backed up on some cute Halloween photos I've been wanting to share with you. :)
My kids looked absolutely adorable for our ward Fall Festival on Saturday. I loved the beanie on Spidey but it ended up being too hot. Maybe next month.

After carving pumpkins yesterday (that will be it's own post), my kids snuggled on the couch to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas. They are getting along pretty well these days and it makes my heart happy.

Since I was supposed to dress up for work today (yes, I'm working...just filling in for 3 weeks), I decided to wear Halloween colors and wear my Mom's favorite Halloween sash that says "Your Worst Nightmare." So I was something different to everybody that saw me. Well...I thought it was pretty funny.

I took the kids trick or treating tonight (for ten minutes) and Petey insisted on being Belle. Why did I make that Queen of Hearts costume?!! :) She is so silly, that girl.

And after many fights tonight, since Spidey learned how to climb out of his crib today, the kids fell asleep sharing a bed. So sweet!
We have had a great week. Hope you have too.

And that's how Suze sees it.

Things About Me

Well, since I have gotten a lot of new readers in the past couple of months, I thought I would tell you some facts about myself, mostly about my growing up years (Actually, mostly just about high school...not sure how much "growing up" I did in those 4 years).
This is me at the age of 3 or 4 (around Petey's age right now). Notice the super awesome golden brown curly hair and those big, chubby cheeks? Yes, I lost my baby fat...I think it happened around the time that I turned 16. :) (But now I seem to have found it all again.)

This is my absolute favorite picture of my high school years. Sometimes I look at this picture and think, "Is that really ME?" I know, I know, I'm being kind of vain. But I hope everyone has a favorite picture of themselves. It's good to like our beauty without sounding vain.

In high school, I had nearly perfect hair. I could curl it, straighten it, dye it, bleach it, etc and it would do exactly what I wanted. I guess eight years later, the bad way I've treated my hair has finally caught up with me.

In high school, I went to ANASAZI (see www.ANASAZI.org) and became a more outdoorsy kind of person. Whil visiting my favorite friend (Yes, you're my favorite, Sam) up in Utah, we hiked the Y and I nearly died. I couldn't believe how wimpy I was! I did make it to the top but only after multiple complaints and breaks. :) (Sorry, Sam and Emmy.)

I was involed in a lot of activities as a teenager. Dance, choir, marching band (color guard), etc. This picture is of my senior dance recital. I am all the way on the left. Did you find me? Yup, right there. I still love to dance but unfortunatly, I am overweight, out of shape, and completely out of practice. But in the privacy of my own home, the kids and I do A LOT of dancing. :)

This one time, at band...all the color guard members took a picture. Can you find me? Look harder. Look for the girl in the red shirt. You've found me! I love and sincerely miss color gaurd. I have so many fond memories of dancing, throwing rifles/flags/sabres into the air and perfecting the art of catching them. Seriously, Boss' cousins are in marching band (one did color guard last year) and I WISHED I could be her coach.

Another color guard picture. There's only 5 people so by process of elimination, you've probably already found me. :) And if you havent, just point your eyes at the girl posing like a weirdo. You've found me!

Another thing that I love is to sing. If you've ever riden in a car with me, this is not news to you. :) My sisters and I love to sing together and do it as often as possible. I think I was 13 in the picture above, singing karaoke with my older sis, Andrea. (I'm in blue...not red.)

I really, really, really, really, REALLY love having all of my sisters. It's honestly one of the reasons I want to have another daughter so badly. We have so much fun together. And me being the youngest (Ok, second to youngest but sweet little Candace can't talk and doesn't like to go on trips, act crazy, etc with us.), I like feeling like I am hip and cool (Ok, now I'm just laughing at the things that are being typed...but they are pretty honest so you can laugh all you want).

My sisters took all of the height from me. I got none of it. They are all 5'6-5'8 and I'm 5'2.

Included in this awesome family of mine is also my youngest sibling, my only brother. He is more special than words can describe. All in all, my entire family is just special!

I live a pretty fun life.

Lived. Live. Will live.

And that's how Suze sees it.

The Beginning of our Halloween Festivities

On Monday night, we had our first of 4 Halloween parties. My parents' friends invited us over for a big Halloween bash and it was incredibly fun!
Here's my boy in most of his Nacho Libre costume.

Both kids dressed up. Petey is the Queen of Hearts and Spidey is Nachoooo! :)

Pretty girly. She LOVES this costume so much. I'm glad I let her pick out what she wanted to be before making it.

Besties/Cousins.

Excuse the weird face Boss decided to make. This moment was so sweet. He asked my friend if he could hold her 4 week old baby. He NEVER does that but lately, he's been stealing everybody's babies out of their arms. :) It's a sweet thing for me to watch.

They had pony rides and I had no doubt Spidey would LOVE it...and he did!

Petey, on the other hand, kept saying she wanted to ride but I would've bet money that she would back out at the last second...

...but she didnt! She got right up on that pony and smiled for a picture. This girl hates the smallest of puppies so this was a weird thing. I honesty think having that bunny for a few months made a big difference in her attitude toward animals.

The smile quickly faded when the pony started walking but she stayed on it and didn't complain at all. I was so proud of her.

My little brother, Spidey, and Boss. :)

The kids loved watching Bro. Allen do magic tricks. He is SO good at it and the kids were baffled and had no idea how he was doing any of it. :)

And then right before we left, I put Spidey on the cake walk and let him go around 1 time...and he won on his first try! There were angry kids because they hadn't gotten a cupcake yet and they'd been playing for a while. Lucky boy. :)

It was such a fun night and I'm glad we were invited to go. Hopefully, the rest of our Halloween festivities are just as fun!

And that's how Suze sees it.

Mothers Who Know Are Nurturers

Mothers Who Know Are Nurturers
"Mothers who know are nurturers. This is their special assignment and role
under the plan of happiness. To nurture
means to cultivate, care for, and make grow. Therefore, mothers who know create
a climate for spiritual and temporal growth in their homes. Another word for
nurturing is homemaking. Homemaking includes cooking, washing
clothes and dishes, and keeping an orderly home. Home is where women have the
most power and influence; therefore, Latter-day Saint women should be the best
homemakers in the world. Working beside children in homemaking tasks creates
opportunities to teach and model qualities children should emulate. Nurturing
mothers are knowledgeable, but all the education women attain will avail them
nothing if they do not have the skill to make a home that creates a climate for
spiritual growth. Growth happens best in a “house of order,” and women should
pattern their homes after the Lord’s house (see D&C 109).
Nurturing requires organization, patience, love, and work. Helping growth occur
through nurturing is truly a powerful and influential role bestowed on women. "

When I think of the word nurturing, I think of a person who speaks softly and lovingly, who shows others she cares for them and cares for herself.
This part of the talk seems easy enough and yet, it is probably more challenging than last week. I am not a good cook, nor do I like to cook. My house is often unorganized and choatic. I yell far too much at my children.
And the sad thing is, I recognize all of these things and know they are issues in my home. I am just so darn tired all the time, which can be chalked up to unhealthy eating habits and no exercise. "sigh"

This week, I plan to cook more meals for my family, organize my home, teach my children about the sweet spirits that they are, and better my health so that I have the energy to do all of the above. :)

AND Boss and I should finally be able to make it to the temple this Thursday.

I hope to make this week incredibly memorable and filled with happiness.
Because life is just too short to go through it without laughter and joy.

Please join me! And let me know if you would like to blog your feelings about how the challenge went for you this week. I'd love to give you a shout out and link to you on my blog.

And that's how Suze sees it.

Quick Snacks

I have been on the lookout for healthy snack ideas for my kids.
My kids are the weirdest eaters (actually, they are probably as normal as most other children...but it still seems weird). Petey will finish 4 bowls of cereal at breakfast time, wait 5 minutes, and start asking when it's snack time.
Boss and I decided that we were going to implement a snack time every day because the kids don't need to be eating all day long. So they usually eat at 7:30-8am, snack at 10:30am, lunch at 12:00pm, Petey gets a snack while Spidey naps around 2:30pm, and we eat dinner around 5:00pm. Then, sometimes, they get another snack before bed. This has made a big difference for us and makes eating time a lot easier.
We also decided that snack times were to be held at the kitchen table, so as not to let the kids get used to walking around the house with food in their mouths.
So as I was saying, I needed healthy snack ideas! I didn't want to be giving my kids goldfish and fruit snacks at every snack time.
I found an idea on Pinterest from The Accidental Hostess, where she put grapes on wooden skewers and put the in the freezer, for a much healthier popsicle treat. I decided to make a variation of this treat and use blueberries too, since my kids LOVE blueberries.
So here are my lovely skewers (not frozen in the picture). I actually used really long toothpicks that we already had on hand but once we use all those up (if we ever do), I'll probably get the long skewers. My kids both ate 3 of these "popsicles" for snack yesterday and ate a couple more today. Also, today I tried Ants on a Log. I used to eat these when I was little and loved them but now I get a small allergic reaction to celery (among almost every other fruit and vegetable) and so I don't eat celery often. The kids loved them! Ok, actually I thought Spidey had eaten his really fast and it turns out licked all the peanut butter out and threw the celery behind his chair. "sigh". But Petey liked the celery. :)
I also found a list of 25 Toddler Friendly Snacks (Ok, the link is only if you click on the "5". Not quite sure why that is happening). I tried cottage cheese today and my kids weren't big fans. I take that back, Spidey was a HUGE fan of painting with it and throwing it on the floor but neither of the kids ate much of it.
It takes a lot more work to not only think about the 3 meals a day my kids are eating but also remember to keep their snacks healthy. But hey, I'm trying! :) And practice makes perfect. Soon enough, I won't have to think twice before giving my kids a healthy snack versus an "easy" one.

And that's how Suze sees it.

Mothers Who Know Honor Sacred Ordinances and Covenants

At the beginning of the week, I posted my first challenge in becoming a mother who knows. Throughout the week, I have tried to stay true to this challenge and focus on it in my daily life.
On Wednesday, I took my kids over to the temple.
I brought Spidey his favorite book...our church's hymn book. That may seem odd to you but he has loved that book ever since he was little because he sees his Aunt Candace flipping through it daily (She has autism and has the entire 300+ pages memorized). Petey and I read some scriptures while Spidey played in the dirt. (That's my boy!) And boy was she a happy camper. We only read a couple of verses but I told her some Book of Mormon stories and we talked a lot about the temple and why we go there. Go to http://www.mormon.org if you would like to know more about temples and what I believe.

Today Boss and I had planned to go to the temple together but this morning, he was throwing up. I was sad that our temple trip was going to be canceled (we also tried to go last week and had to cancel). Then, I realized I could go alone. I didn't need to have him there and it might be a good experience for me to get some personal temple time.
So I did. And it was a very spiritual morning. When I was waiting, I open the Book of Mormon where I'd been reading in my personal studies and read a couple of chapters. I was reading in 1st Nephi, chapter 4, of when Nephi went back to Jerusalem to get the golden plates. Verse 6 really stood out to me:
"And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do."
Does anyone else ever feel like this? Like you know you are doing the right thing but you have no idea why? This verse hit me hard that as long as I stay close to the Spirit, I will be blessed and I will know what is right.
In those first days after being diagnosed with PCOS and realizing that it would be hard to have more children, I was angry and scared. I didn't know what to do or where to go next in my life. It wasn't until I got down on my knees and prayed that I felt peace and a reassurance that this IS the plan for me. And if I follow God's commandments, He will bless our family. And if we end up having no more children, I trust that He will give us peace to know that that is the right decision for our family.

I hope you will join me in becoming a mother who knows.

And that's how Suze sees it.

PS: If you blog about being a mother who knows, let me know so I can link up to you and refer my readers over to your blog.

Proud Mommy Moment: He's the Master of Messes

Today, I am linking up to Emmy Mom with her Proud Mommy Moments. I have dont this one in a while and wanted to get in on the action.

It's no secret that my son is adorable but what you didn't know is that he has master mess-making skills.
Serious skills indeed.
It doesn't matter what we are eating, HE WILL MAKE A MESS.

Or let's say he drinks a cup of chocolate milk...his face will look like this.

His favorite thing to do is dump his drink or soup (or any type of liquid, really) onto his tray and slurp it up. Weird.

Yes, that pile of mush is chicken noode soup.

And it makes my boy SO happy. "sigh"

This boy likes to keep me on my toes ALL DAY LONG. I am constantly cleaning behind him as he goes and if I don't, the house becomes disaster...which seems to happen often.

Oh how I love my sweet Spidey boy...but really, I could do without all the messes.

And that's how Suze sees it.

A Plethora of Pictures

I finally finished Mr. Spidey's birthday collage, filled with everything he loves so we can remember what he liked at the age of 2. Also, if you're wondering why we didn't do a birthday interview, I think the best age to start that tradition is age 3. So he'll get one next year. Now onto the rest of the blog post...

Spidey's two year pictures did not turn out well. He was really mad and did not want his picture taken with all of his Toy Story friends and I was pretty bummed that it just didn't work out that day.
So today, as we were sitting on the couch and the kids were watching a movie, I decided to dress them up a bit and head on over to the temple to take some pictures (a post on the temple visit at the end of this week).
I got tons of great pictures (and a couple of funny bloopers) so I had to come share my favorites with you. And there are many.
Of course, the second we got there, Petey started giving me cute smiles and perfect poses.

She is really good at the whole camera thing and loves it a lot.

Then I tried to get a group shot...and in all seriousness, this is the best one I got. I just cannot get a good picture of both of my kids sitting next to each other.

Of course, Petey on her own gave me another good pose. Sassy girl.

And another good pose.

Then, I got my first good one of Spidey. He may not be smiling but that face is totally my boy. He had something mischevious on his mind.

He is a ball of cheese, I tell ya. I wish I could get more genuine smiles from him but usually, this is all I get.

Then they wanted to take pictures in the tree. Petey asked me to hand Spidey to her and umm...it just didn't work out. :)

So she took a couple by herself.

That scrunched up nose is making me laugh.

And when I started playing peek-a-boo with Spidey, the real smiles showed up for a few minutes.

Such a cute, happy boy, that two year old of mine.

Doesn't he just look old?!

Of course, many snacks and other forms of bribery were involved to get some of the good pictures taken. This boy just does not like my camera! He usually runs away unless I bribe him. :)

Then, I put the ASU jersey on the Bubs because Grandma needed some pictures for the book she is writing about our Spidey (a tradition she has with the grandkids).

Seriously, what is up with the scrunched nose? It's hilarious.

And well, this is how it all ended. :)

Hope you had a fabulous Wednesday!

And that's how Suze sees it.