Sugar cookies

My girls are having a hard time adjusting to the time change. They are getting up an hour earlier than usual(the time they did before the clocks changed) and are geared and ready to play. Needless to say, I am not getting to sleep in at all. We are up and breakfast in our bellies before Jason leaves for work. This is very strange for us. Jess is usually up, but Jason typically just gives Cailyn a kiss before he leaves. Not anymore. So, I got busy cleaning this morning and by 9:00 the house was presentable. Of course I left out the most undesirable tasks(remember--kitchen floor and bathrooms), but everything else was done. This includes vacuuming and a load of laundry. As I was finishing getting ready for the day around 9:30 Jessica was ready to lay back down. With the kitchen clean and Jessica napping, I wanted to bake. So, I made some sugar cookie dough(with whole wheat flour--so yummy!) and set it in the fridge to cool. As soon as it was even close to being ready, Cailyn and I were in the kitchen rolling out our cookies. She quickly decided she didn't like to roll, just cut out. She was so cute, working so hard to cut them out and pleased with herself when it worked right. It was so much fun.

But, we weren't going to decorate them until after dinner and she refused to finish her meal and decided to go to bed early. This left Jason and me decorating our pilgrims and pumpkins. They aren't the prettiest things, but they will do.

Finally, Halloween pictures

After a week of pretty cold temps and grey skies, Halloween day was beautiful. That morning Brandon went to school to study while Travis did his interview. The kids, girls and I dropped Jason off at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and then drove over to the West side Market . It was amazing. Any kind of fruit you could think of was there. Delicious dried fruit(including strawberries and peaches, which are my faves), any kind of grapes you could want, and free samples. After hitting the fruit and veggies, we went into another building that had fresh meat, cheeses, and bakeries. It was food heaven. I even found some cheese curds(aka squeaky cheese). I think I could spend a small fortune in that place everyday and never get tired of it. There was such a HUGE selection of just about anything you could ever ask for and it was all so delicious. It is a hidden blessing that I don't have that market close to me, we would be fat, happy, and broke.

After retrieving Jason we drove out to a pier overlooking Lake Erie. We just shot a couple of pictures of the kids because it was lunch time and we all know how kids get when they are hungry(really it was this fat pregnant lady who was hungry, but when you can blame the kids, why not?).

After some delectable inside out cheeseburgers we got the kids ready for some trick-or-treating. Once the kids were ready to go, the guys went to a Reliant K concert and the girls and kids and I headed down the street, bags in hand ready to be filled with way too much candy. I am sorry to say that I didn't get very many pictures, but if you head on over to Rachel's blog you can see more(there is a link on my side bar). Cailyn and Jenna were matching Fairy Princesses, Jessica was a princess(I guess), and the boys were monkeys. They all looked so adorable. When we started out the boys were in a stroller and the big girls were prancing from house to house while Jessica and I were trailing behind. We were at least 2 houses behind everyone almost the entire time. She was hilarious too. Of course she can't say trick-or-treat yet so I did that for her. Then the nice people sitting on their porch would drop some candy in her bag. Then Jessica would flash her cute little dimple and put her hand in their bowl again for more candy. Everyone just said, "oh you sweet thing, of course you can have some more." Then Jessica would blow a kiss or wave goodbye, content with her double dipped amount of candy. She made it about 2/3 the way walking, but then was very happy to be put in the stroller. Cailyn and Jenna were too cute almost dancing to each house, being absolute certain that they said, "Thank you, Happy Halloween" to each person, and then hysterically tell us(in a high pitched voice of course) that they were given more candy. I feel very confident in saying that they all had a great time.

Halloween Success!!!!

Niagara Falls

On our way back from Palmyra we stopped to see the beautiful Niagara Falls. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe and then headed over to the falls. They were gorgeous, but it was absolutely FREEZING!!!! We stayed down by the falls for probably 10 minutes at the most. We were all too cold to think straight. BUT, we now can say that we were there and have seen the falls.

Those buildings on the other side of the falls are hotels on the Canada side. One of them was the hotel we were supposed to stay, but idiotic us forgot our birth certificates. We had a trip full of forgetfulness.

Speaking of forgetting; the unthinkable happened. Yes, that is right, we left Cailyn's beloved blanket in Palmyra. We have called and are still awaiting its arrival. She is holding up alright, but we run to check the mail everyday to see if it came.

Picture tag

This is kind of fun, but a bit too revealing. Oh well, here it goes.

The rules: Read after the last picture to see if you've been tagged....The rules are you have to take 10 pictures of the following things and you have to do it right away. No straightening, cleaning or wiping your child's nose (I mean it!). Then you tag six others.

The picture from my fourth folder, fourth picture.

Jason's Halloween costume always ends up in pictures, but never at a party or on Halloween.

What the kids are doing right now:

A few seconds ago they were both playing the piano. Seconds count!!

My bathroom:

You get my wall, enough said!

My dream vacation:

New York City or Venice

A self portrait:

I needed a beautiful baby girl to allow this to ever happen.

My closet:

Not my favorite place

Laundry room:

embarrassing

Fridge:

Can anyone make a fridge look good?

Kitchen sink:

I still haven't done the dishes today

My favorite room:

I love this room because there are no toys, no TV, and there's a piano in here! Practically Heaven on Earth.

My favorite shoes:

I guess this is kind of cheating, but I prefer to not wear shoes.

So, I tag: Da, Tonia, Geri, Jenny, Cassie, and Rachel(because I want to see how you capture your fridge)

Attacked

While putting clean dishes away this morning so I could clean some more, I was attacked by an overwhelming emotion of loss. I found myself thinking of how much Mom would have enjoyed seeing the girls in their costumes. How much she would have loved to see Palmyra, or even just talk to me about it, sharing her testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith. How much excitement she would show about our newest baby and how much he is growing.
Now, when I say attacked, I mean ATTACKED. It came on so fast. Usually I can feel these emotions coming on and prepare a bit for them, or force them away. But this one gave no warning. I fell victim to this emotion and was unable to do or think of anything else for several minutes, sobbing and whimpering in the kitchen while the girls played happily in the other room.
There are times when I just ache to talk to her. There are no replacements for a conversation with my mom, or her comfort. I find myself jealous of my children because they can come to me when thy get hurt or feel sad and find that emotional balance that only moms can give.
The other day I had a conversation with someone who expressed her irritation with her mother. While I can't say that I never felt that while my mother was alive(I did many times), I didn't quite know how to respond. I cannot say that I always got along with my mom, but now there are times when being with her and talking to her is the only thing in the world I want to do. I know that every daughter is annoyed my her mother at some point in her life and I wanted to let this girl know that I understood, but I just couldn't right then. I hope that I didn't make anyone feel weird during that conversation(that was certainly not intentional if I did), and I hope that people can still talk to me about whatever is bothering them, but I guess there are times when I can't show empathy properly. I apologize. Eventually I will get past this and be strong enough to help others, it is just taking me a while to get there.
As the holidays draw closer, I can't describe how much I miss my mother. She loved the holidays. Christmas was HUGE at her house. The entire house was covered in Christmas trees and you could always hear Christmas carols being sung(either by my parents or on CD). I think the Holidays will always be hard now. There will always be someone missing.
So, here I am crying uncontrollably while my sweet Cailyn stays close to comfort. She sings, hugs, and loves when I need her to. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me because he gave me a loving mother, but also that he gave me a loving daughter willing to comfort at appropriate times. I don't think I could make it through this without her sweet loves. Thank you, my dearest Cailyn! I love you!

Trip to upstate New York

This past week we were in Ohio, but Monday we loaded up the cars an headed to Palmyra, New York. I can honestly say that fall is a beautiful season---Now that I have actually seen a fall. We drove for a couple of hours and the kids needed a break, so we stopped at a rest area. It was beautiful and the kids had a great time, even with the cold temps.

This is at the rest stop, gorgeous huh?

This is sweet little Jenna, isn't she beautiful?

This is Brandon, Jason's brother, climbing two trees at once. How cool is that?

I just wanted to squeeze adorable Spencer every time I saw him.

Jason's brother and sister-in-law rented a house in Palmyra and when we got everything unloaded we headed over to the Sacred Grove. We tried to get some family pictures, but the girls weren't exactly cooperating. Oh well, we will have to try again sometime when we can feel our fingers and noses. Somehow I managed to get out of there without a picture of Cailyn. I know, terrible mom.

The next morning we had appointments for sessions at the Palmyra Temple. I forgot to bring my skirt so I had to borrow Rachel's. It was quite comical because we had to switch in the restroom in the temple and her skirt didn't exactly match. Thank you Rachel, it was nice to be able to attend the Temple.

That afternoon Brandon and Rachel took the kids to fabulous children's museum in Rochester while Jason, Jessica and I went on some tours. I was so glad to have had the chance to see and walk in the same places as Joseph Smith and his family. I was surprised at the size of their homes. Much bigger than I imagined, but still pretty small for the number of people living there.

Most of the furnishing in these homes are replicas, but that chair is an original of Lucy Mack's. Way cool!!!

Our original plan was to head to Niagara Falls, Ontario for the next night. However, Jason and I failed to bring our birth certificates to get across the border(we had to call several people at the hotel to cancel our reservations), so we stayed in Palmyra another night. Because the weather was so cold, we headed to the visitor center at Hill Cumorah the next morning. We spent quite a while inside before we headed out to the hill. We tried for more family pictures, but I think Rachel has those so we will have to check her blog for them(her pictures are better than ours anyway). On our way out the front Jessica fell down the stairs and needed some mommy cuddles(and a fresh diaper) so she and I didn't make the trek up the hill. It was absolutely beautiful though.

I am so happy we made the trip up to these sites(we went to Kirtland also and as soon as I find those pictures I will post them), even if the weather didn't cooperate with us. It is definitely something I want to do again, possibly in the spring.