Who knew Halloween could be so fun?

At the beginning of October we were having a video call with some of our friends in France on Skype and they saw some Halloween decorations the girls had made on the door. In case you're wondering, the big 'X' things are spiders :). They were surprised that we were already starting the celebrating, and even I (whose first full sentence as a child was the Halloween mantra, "I want candy!") had no idea just how much fun we were in for. Fundamentally, Americans look for reasons to celebrate and Halloween provides so many opportunities. Weeks before the actual miraculous outpouring of trick-or-treat candy, there are costumes to plan, (Ryn is a clown in the very costume Kevin wore when he was 3, Elle is our little witch-- grace a la famille Gandon, and Eden is our little lamb that Ryn was for her first Halloween)
bat, ghost, and pumpkin cookies to make and share , pumpkins to carve (we had a fantastic Family Home Evening last Monday with Ryan and Grandpa and Grandma Linkous),

parties to attend--one at the Pepperwood Ward and one at Ryn's dance class (where she's wearing the witch costume Elle wore for everything else and is glued to the teacher's side comme d'hab :)),

and songs to sing (I showed Ryn some minor chords on the piano and how we could make spooky owl and ghost songs out of them).

That afternoon we had a blast at the Discovery children's museum with our friends, Ben, Tatum, Bethany, Mary Jane, and Miles Norris. With kids exactly the same ages as ours, they've been a blessing since the day we moved into this ward.

Ryn's favorite part of the actual Halloween night was just being able to knock on every door she saw. On a walk yesterday, she couldn't understand why we couldn't keep such a good thing going and asked at nearly every home, "can we go to that house?" Elle loved telling people at every door what a witch says--"Come here, my pretties..." I'm sure they were all terrified :).

Good-bye to fall already?!

It's snowing.

So before we fill this blog with wintry things, we need to get some fall pics and memories recorded :). Like catching raindrops (before we catch snowflakes) on our tongues...

And walking to the park in short sleeves, with purses and suckers (before we're in coats, with mittens and sleds)...

The good thing is--fall or winter, at least the smiles should stay the same :)

Batten down the hatches! Eden's on the move!

Yes, the much-anticipated crawling
milestone has arrived.

Things on the floor in any room are no longer safe from endless slobber. Even though it means more messes to clean up and more stress to make sure everything off-limits is out of reach, I absolutely LOVE seeing the joy on Eden's face now that she can go wherever she wants, whenever she wants. FREEDOM! In the 2 days since she seriously found her quatre-pattes, she has whined and cried only when she's ready to eat or sleep, instead of the recent, almost constant, I-need-a-change-of-scenery scream.




















This is one of my absolute favorite parts of motherhood. As my mom calls it--"Watching the light come on." Even though Eden learned to crawl on her own (all babies will eventually crawl, walk, talk, etc), I can't help but feel like my encouragements and teaching played a teeny tiny part. And even if they didn't, just being a witness to this miracle of life, as it grows and develops, is its own reward.

The funnies

Even though I haven't been consistent enough here, I have been writing down some funny things the girls are saying on the calendar. So here are a few dating as far back as JULY ?!$@#

Ryn:
"Mom, will you clean up this mess I made?" (July 1)

We had been talking about going to Aspen Grove the next week and I was listening to a Josh Groban song. Ryn asked who was singing. When I told her she must not have heard me well and asked, "Aspen Grovan?" (July 2)

We were trying to get hair brushed (always the most exciting challenge of the morning) before leaving to be in a Youth Days of '47 parade in Salt Lake and Elle was not cooperating. Ryn put on her best mom voice and tried to reason with her: "Elle, you have to have a ponytail or you're going to scare the other kids." (July 18)

An impromptu song she sang at lunch: "I'm beautiful like a flower...come and smell me and think that I'm a flower!" (July 17)

I was encouraging every one's involvement in picking up the crayons the girls had spilled on the floor with, "We need to pick them all up!" Ryn replied, "Actually, you have to." (and a smile... funny girl :) ) (Aug 22)

Elle wanted Ryn or me to sit on her lap. Ryn, seeing the obvious challenge of fitting anything bigger than a baby doll on that tiny excuse for a lap, told me: "When she's a mommy she can have a lap." (Sept 1)

Their latest way of defining roles when they play house cracks us up every time, "OK, I'm the mommy and you're the honey." (first heard on Sept 19)

Ryn is always trying to help Elle choose the right and understand why. I left the kitchen for a minute one day during a lunch Elle was having a hard time finishing. I heard Ryn explain to her: "You have to grow big and be my friend. So eat your food, OK?" (Sept 22)

Anyone who knows Ryn has seen her joyful enthusiasm as she literally bounces her way through each day. The other day I asked her for a hug and she backed away from me, saying as she bounced before take-off, "I just love to give everyone running and jumping hugs!!!" (Oct 6)

And today I was asking what Ryn thought we should have for dinner--fish, salad, chicken....and she answered with this question: "Oh yeah! Mom can we go to Old MacDonald's and eat chicken and go down the slide that's not outside?"

Our favorite vocabulary word of hers right now--lasterday (yesterday)

Elle:
Wearing an Ariel dress-up dress, Elle wanted Kevin to admire her beauty. Kev exclaimed, "Wow! You look like a mermaid!" Elle--"No, I look like a Elle--you know, E-l-l-e." (July 20)

I was wearing my France soccer shirt with its rooster mascot embroidered on it when Elle was pretending that a witch was going to get us. "The witch! She's going to grab your chicken shirt!" (July 22)

Only Dora fans will get a kick out of this one: Elle, standing under an empty diaper box, warned us in her mean voice, "I'm Swiper the Box!" (Aug 10)

I keep all treats on a high shelf in the pantry and usually only bring them out to reward special achievements. The chocolate treats are reserved for the best of the best and, more often, are kept on the shelf until the girls are in bed and I reward myself for surviving the day :). One day at lunch, though, I needed a quick fix and got out a bag of Rollo's. Elle sat up straighter in her seat, immediately more interested in the lunchtime happenings and said, "Where'd that come from, Mom?"(Aug 21)

Then this invitation to me from tiny little Elle sitting on her tiny little potty chair in the kitchen--"Do you wanna sit on my wap?"

This was one of the earlier potty training days and I had been repeating over and over that "we don't poop (or go potty) in our pants"...just on the potty chair. All day she kept picking out random things to add to the list of interesting unacceptable bathroom break spots...."We don't poop on our dinner....Nooo!" "We don't poop on our chairs.....Noooo!" "We don't poop on Mommies....Noooo!" (Aug 29)

Kev was helping Elle eat one night (always a prime spot for funny moments in the midst of ultimate exasperation) and he asked her, "Don't you want to be like Nephi and obey?" Elle simply said, "No, I want to be a bad guy." So Kev sighed and got up to get something from the fridge. Elle asked, "Dad, are you happy?" Kev--"Not when you make me sad." Elle sighed on her end and decided out loud, "Okay, I'll obey like Nephi." (Sept 24)

I've mentioned before how I sing "Mess-maker, mess-maker, make me a mess..." when I'm cleaning up all the messes Elle makes for me--it keeps me smiling instead of wringing her little neck :). One day I was really pushed to my limit after she had about 4 potty training accidents, poured the milk out of the carton, and did a few other things that I can't remember now (one of the miracles of motherhood). As I waked away to get a towel for the last one, I started to sing the song through gritted teeth and Elle laughed, "Mom, I'm right here! I made one for you!" (Sept 26)

After I put Elle's shoes on--"Thank you, Mom! You're a big helper!" (Oct 8)

I was reading a little kids' biography of Abraham Lincoln to the girls which obviously included him being shot by Booth and dying the next morning. Hearing that, Elle looked up at me and said, "I'm going to die in two minutes." ?! She kept saying it all that day with her most serious voice, looking up at me with those huge brown eyes. It killed me every time :) (Oct 13)

Today at the park there was no bathroom, no one else was there, and she really needed to go. I pulled down her pants and tried to help her squat, but she would have no part of it. Squirming and protesting, she cried, "I don't want to go potty on the grass! That would be YUCK-Y!" And she held it until we got to the library's restroom at least an hour later. Like mother like daughter, I guess, since my mom always talks about me holding it all day rather than having to go in a stinky port-a-potty when I was 2.

Tonight we went to see the Halloween fun at Gardner Historic Village and as we walked back to our car, Elle commented that she liked going to the witches' party. I told her that life with her and Ryn and Eden was all the party I needed. "You're my party, Elle." She set me straight with "I'm not a birthday cake, Mom."

Change is good, possible and essential

So I'm here to return and report on the difference in my life since re-acquiring the necessary habits of consistent daily prayer and scripture study. Bottom line: I just can't believe I ever let myself justify getting casual about those 2 essential things. The benefits and blessings have been immediate and obvious-- at least to me. (You'll have to ask Kev about his recent lottery win/loss record). Life is still crazy and hard, I still lose my cool and my patience, Elle's still not 100% potty trained, etc, etc, etc. Nothing about my challenges has changed. But I have. And that is the miracle.

As Ezra Taft Benson explained, "The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature."

Every morning, when I used to get the first wave of being overwhelmed by all I had to get done, now I can more easily prioritize and accomplish things bit by bit. I feel good about what I do get done instead of beating myself up for not getting everything done because I do the things that have the most worth first. I can just hear Dad, "if you put first things first, you get both first and second things. If you put second things first, you lose both first and second things." :) My perspective is more consistently focused on the eternal consequences of my choices, so patience and love dictate more of my reactions. I have greater faith and hope in my ability to make all the continued changes I need because I know I am not working alone.

There were so many talks in conference that reinforced the things I've been feeling and learning for myself these past few weeks. Just one example....Elder Bednar spoke of our need to do more of what we know is right--to be more diligent and concerned in our homes. I felt the Lord telling me personally to "be not weary in well-doing" and rejoiced in the promise that "we will never be left alone in these important concerns."

Life is good. The Lord wants to help each of us in every way. We just have to be willing to ask, listen, and obey.