Christmas

I was reading the Ensign this morning and I loved reading, "The Real Christmas" which is from a devotional given by President Howard W. Hunter in 1972. I thought I'd come on and share some of the quotes I loved the most.

"The real Christmas comes to him who has taken Christ into his life as a moving, dynamic, vitalizing force. The real spirit of Christmas lies in the life and mission of the Master.

. . .

'It consits of a willingness to forget what you have done for others and to remember what others have done for you; to ignore what the world owes you to think of your duties in the middle distance and your chance to do good and aid your fellow-men in the foreground -- to see that your fellow-men are just as good as you, and try to look behind their faces to their hearts -- to close your book of grievances against the universe, and look about you for a place to sow a few seeds of happiness and go your way unobserved.'

"If you desire to find the true spirit of Christmas and partake of the sweetness of it, let me make this suggestion to you. During the hurry of the festive occasion of this Christmas season, find time to turn your heart to God. Perhaps in the quiet hours, and in a quiet place, and on your knees -- alone or with loved ones -- give thanks for the good things that have come to you, and ask that his Spirit might dwell in you as you earnestly strive to serve him and keep his commandments. He will take you by the hand and his promises will be kept."

Getting my Christmas Cards done

If you know me at all, then you know that I've had my christmas cards done since October. We're talking envelopes addressed and everything (but not stamped in case they raise the price of stamps). I've just been sitting around waiting to take a picture to put in them. So FINALLY, my sweet and awesome friend Shanna agreed to take some photos of us. The poor girl did not know what she was getting in for.

I don't think anyone should have to take pictures of my children. Ellie has this new thing where she refuses to look at the camera. And Nate was getting a little tired, so I was shoving candy corn into his mouth just to keep him sitting. Awwwww, such sweet children.

Anyway, so here are what we have left in the bunch that are useable. I'm trying to decide which one to go with (let me know if you have opinions). If only we had waited a week or two. I buzzed Nate's head and he now makes the most ridiculous face when he sees the camera. I have some on my camera, but alas. . . I still haven't bought a CF card reader or bothered to try to figur eout how the cords work.

Boo hoo

My CF card reader isn't working. You know, the little thing that hooks up to your computer and transfers the pictures from your CF card to your computer. Anyway, it appears to be kaput. I am majorly bummed. How will I get my pictures onto my computer??? I am sure there is some way to do it with all those cords they give you, but I prefer the ease of my CF card reader. So I'll be running out to buy one this weekend!

However, until I get my car reader, I cannot blog. Without photos, I'd have to rely on words to entertain you all and that just isn't going to happen. I need PICTURES so you can see what I'm talking about.

Let me tell you what you are missing out on here.

Pictures of the girls at girl school. At one point every single one of them had on dress up shoes and they were click clacking down the hall. I made the mistake of asking the "girls" if they wanted to read a story. I was then informed that they were not girls, but princesses. And then I had to hear which princess each of them was (heck if I can remember any of them). It's a good thing there are a zillion Disney Princesses, that way you can still have 10 girls over and you don't have to double up. Although, I'd hate to be the girl who was stuck being Pocahontas. There really are "lesser" princesses. You know, the ones that don't get played very much. The top 3 are Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Snow White. The next tier is Ariel, Jasmin and Belle. After that you get left with Mulan, Pochohontas and Meg. None of them are really Princesses, but Disney will play them up that way just to squeeze some more money out of you. But the girls are smart. They know who the "real" princesses are.

Maybe I should write my thesis on Disney princesses??? You can tell I've put a lot of thought into the whole thing.

The other picture I wish you could see is of my back yard. As we speak, the landscapers are putting on the finishing touches. It is so green and beautiful. I am beyond excited. And the kids are pumped up too. Every night this week, Ellie takes us out back to show us her "beautiful" yard. The grass just came last night, so the grass area has been just dirt and Ellie will race around the dirt yelling, "Go me!"

And so there you have it. Everything you're missing out on!

Is it over yet?

That was it? I feel a little let down after all the excitement leading up to Halloween. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but an hour of trick-or-treating in the Church parking lot, was not all the grandeur it's made out to be. I think the barbecue before was more fun than the actual event itself.

But it's done! Over! I seriously could be a happy woman if I never saw that Sleeping beauty costume again. Although, it was worth every penny for the amount of times Ellie wore it. Do you think she could let me get a good picture of her in it? No. The girl refuses to smile at me. She'll smile at her friends, smile at the ground, but actually *looking* at the camera and smiling is not something Ellie is into right now. Thank heavens I can still strap Nate into something and force him to pose for me.

Nate actually wore his costume without freaking out. I guess slowly breaking him into it by making him wear it every single day for a week before hand actually did the trick. Is he not adorable? Look at him holding his little tin. Like he's going to be able to eat any of the candy people gave him. He was just happy to have something to keep his hands busy.

He was happy as could be just getting strolled around, looking at all of the costumes and all of the different people. I would have let him walk, but the silly boy refuses to wear shoes *and* walk. If I put shoes on him, he sort of stares, sits down and won't move. Even if I try to stand him up. He won't budge if there are things on his feet.

After 30 minutes, Ellie decided that she was done trick-or-treating (fine by me). She also decided that she wanted out of her costume and wanted to go home despite the fact that there were still kids coming around. Dustin was off visiting people with Nate and there was no way I was backing out of a parking spot with that many kids swarming around, so I did as all good moms do -- I threw her in the back of the car with one of her buddies (who was also done trick-or-treating) and let them eat M&Ms until the whinning died down.

After it was all over we went over to some friends to let the kids watch a movie and wind down. I was *shocked* that they didn't want to dig into their candy stash right away, but I'm guessing Ellie might have been full from her chocolate binge earlier. And that was Halloween. Must be my Jewish blood that can stretch a holiday out for an entire week.