Happy Halloween

Here are a couple pictures of our "Garden Fairies" from Halloween. We took these while waiting for Ben & Kristy to come home...we got to see the new decor post wedding & it was very very cute.
However, the girls were too excited about Halloween to sit still for pictures and so I had to snap a few when and where I could.
Here is the little ladybug. She was a lady bug for her very first Halloween, so I guess she has come full circle.
Ellie wanted to be a Dragonfly FAIRY...not just a dragonfly & I told her that the tutu made her a fairy and she was convinced.
Sarah was a butterfly (however her wings were on the bench the moment we hit the playground)...oh well.
The "bumble fairy" also ditched her antennae and wings in favor of the slides, but she was awfully cute even without the accessories.

Silly Sarah

As Sarah and I were playing outside, she turned to me and politely asked, "Mom, one day may we please have peas and arugula?"
Silly girl!

Thief in the Night

This one is slow in coming, but I thought I would post it because the girls are officially un-grounded today.
Two weeks ago, my extended family flew in for Ben's wedding, and one night Greg took the girls to my parent's house to see the fam (I had Young Women's and a shower so I couldn't go). Well, the next day I took the girls down again since I hadn't seen my aunt or grandma, and my mom decided to show the family what she got my girls for Christmas. Sadly, she couldn't find Becca or Ellie's gift. We searched and searched but found only the empty boxes where the Webkins should have been. The girls were in school, but as soon as they got home I asked them what happened. Becca played dumb...even to the point of asking "Webkins? What Webkins? I don't know what you are talking about." To which Ellie responded, "Just give up, Becca, I already told Mom the truth." (She got home from the bus stop first and through sobs told me she and Becca had taken them).
I asked them how they did it & they told me that they used a high chair my mom keeps in the basement for use when needed, and climbed up to the top shelf where the toys were hidden, opened them, stashed the boxes, and then slipped out the basement door and hid the Webkins in the car.

We had a nice long talk about how that was STEALING, made them apologize, and told them they were grounded from friends and all media for two weeks.

Since then, we really haven't had much trouble around here...which is good news for me, but it does leave the blog high and dry without the interesting stories to tell.

L/R

Ellie just picked up my contact case, looked at the "L" and "R" on the lids and said, "I know what these mean."
I asked her what, and she said, "R- is for RIGHT NOW and L-is for LATER." Then she opened up both sides, saw that they were empty and said, "Mom, have you been using both sides? No wonder you have problems."

Happy Day!

Yesterday was a wonderful day. My little brother Ben got married to sweet Kristy!! Grandpa Welling performed the ceremony and did a great job, and everything at the reception center was beautiful. The girls behaved themselves splendidly during the reception (we were there almost five hours including picture time before the reception). Greg was GREAT with the girls, and toward the end of the night we slipped out of the main ballroom & let the girls watch Tinkerbell (which improved everyone's disposition).

Here is a picture of the girls outside the reception center (well, the girls minus Rachel) thanks to Greg for the picture, too!

When "Warm Fuzzies" DON'T Make you Feel Warm & Fuzzy

One of my favorite stories from General Conference was President Monson's talk about service & all the different acts of service that were "given" to him for his birthday. I really liked the giant jar of "warm fuzzy" pom poms that one Primary gave him, and decided to make our family a "warm fuzzy" jar. I picked up a bag of pom poms from the dollar store and introduced the idea to my girls Monday night for Family Home Evening. I was very excited and set the jar on the counter with a bucket of "warm fuzzies" for them to choose when they did something nice.
However, today, after helping Becca practice piano, I went in the family room and discovered something that did not warm my heart.
Rachel had taken strawberries and grapes out of the fridge and was biting each one, shouting "yucky" and throwing the remainder of the fruit around the room.
Sarah had taken the bucket of "warm fuzzies" and was chewing them up and using them as spitballs around the room.
And Ellie took my black branches and crows that I had set up for Halloween on the mantle by the mirror and was breaking the limbs into toothpick sized sticks, and de-beaking/plucking my birds.
I have now mostly cleaned up the mess, and I forgot to take a picture until I was talking to Haylee & thought about the fact that I should have documented the disaster as proof--should they ever try to deny their actions.

At present, all the girls are in bed...and I am just contemplating how on earth they could think they would get away with such behavior. I am proud to say that none of them received a beating...or even a yelling, but when Ellie asked if we could please go to McDonald's since Greg was gone for the evening, I'll admit I laughed at her, gave her (and her sisters) a PBJ on stale bread and sent everyone to bed an hour and a half before bedtime.

General Conference

Does anyone else have a family room that looks like a hurricane blew through? I don't know when my front room gets messier than when we turn it into a miniature art studio for the six hours I try to keep my kiddos entertained there during one weekend (the other two hours of conference are spent at Grandma's house). But whatever the sacrifice to my house, I think it is worth it to be able to be able to listen & recharge my batteries.
There is something wonderful about listening to the leaders of the church reminding us to be more loving, more service oriented, and more like the Savior.
It helps me to focus on the blessing of being a mother and to enjoy the mischievous antics of my girls while they are still little.

This year the reminders to be grateful for life was even more poignant because our neighbor/Primary President/Sarah's favorite nursery leader/first person to invite us over when we moved into the ward passed away this weekend suddenly and we were reminded how fleeting life really is.

How grateful I am for the gospel, and for the knowledge I have of Heavenly Father's plan. This weekend really buoyed my spirits and helped me to remember what is most important.