Halloween In Pictures (and a few words)

For school the Little Guy wanted to dress up as a Hawaiian tourist. I tried to talk him into the white sunscreen on his nose but apparently he has a strict "no makeup" policy.

The third time around being in charge of this guys Halloween Party. I'm glad he's not sick of me yet! 

 

Getting ready to go. My sweet little Dorothy and a spooky mummy.

She's terrified...can you tell?

And toto too!

 

By the end of the night he had almost come completely unwrapped despite my best efforts and sewing the bandages to him!

 

 

We had a fun neighborhood dinner with yummy soup, scones and lots of friends! 

Trick-or Treating at Grandma's house. 

(Notice his bandages already coming undone?)

We love our grandma! Plus, she gives out giant candy bars!!

Happy Halloween!

October VT Message...better late than never

So, I've had this little handout ready to go on my computer since the end of September, but the printer was out of ink and so it sat. Until now! I never really feel like my little camera does justice to these cute little handouts, but I do the best I can. Just know the little packages sitting on my table look both cute and tasty!

The October visiting teaching message this month, titled If We Do Not Doubt, focuses on the strength we can gain, as women and mother's by studying through the inspiring story of Helaman's Warriors. (See 53: 56-58) You can find the entire message here.

October is such a fun time to come up with little treats and clever ideas for your sisters. This month quotes from the message are printed inside the treat "bag" or maybe it should be called a treat tent. Either way, when my sisters open up their treat they'll be able to revisit the message. To put together your message cut a 12x12 cardstock grade paper in half. This cute polka dot print is a Making Memories paper I've had sitting around, with once good intentions, for just way too long. Make sure you place the paper in your printer so you won't be printing on the design side of your paper. Also, you'll need to set your printer to print on a 6x12 inch paper. You can do that in your print settings. Print this:

sorry these are jpeg this month instead of PDF files. I'm hoping you can make it work. The PDF files wouldn't save in a 6x12 format for me. Not sure, but probably a user error.

With an X-acto knife cut a square out of the front panel of the tent. Crease along the dotted lines. Fill sandwich sized ziplock bags with the Halloween Popcorn Mix (recipe below). And staple treat tent closed. Now, print and cut out these tags:

 And affix it to your tent with cute ribbon.

Have fun visiting your great sisters!

Halloween Popcorn Mix
1/2 c. popcorn kernels (Or 1 bag of microwave popcorn)
1 1/2 lbs. White Almond Bark
1 bag candy corn
1 bag Reeces Pieces

Pop your popcorn and put it in your biggest (I mean BIGGEST) mixing bowl you have. If you air pop your popcorn like I do you might want to add a little salt and butter (I use butter spray) after it's popped. You'll get a nice sweet and salty taste in the end. Add the candy corn and Reece's Pieces to the bowl. Meanwhile, melt the almond bark in the microwave for 90 seconds. If it requires more melting do so in 30 sec. increments until it's fully melted and smooth. Pour the melted almond bark over the popcorn mixture and stir until evenly coated. Spread the mixture onto tinfoil or wax paper and let cool. Once cooled break into smaller pieces and enjoy!

This is really so easy. If you've never used white almond bark before it's pretty much white chocolate. It melts quickly and is great for coating treats around the holidays. You can find it in the baking isle by the chocolate chips. You can also add peanuts, M&Ms, or any other kind of tasty thing you might like dipped in chocolate. This recipe makes more than you'll need for the sisters on your route, so your family will be happy too!

Let's Hear It for The Girls!

It seems to take me 5.3 times longer to do anything these days. Blame it on pregnancy brain, or exhaustion, or a mix of both, but it seems to be a regular part of life these days. 

On September 21st the whole family clamored into the car excited to find out who we'd be welcoming into our family. And here SHE is!

 

How excited the Pip-squeak was to welcome a sister into our home! My sweet 8-year-old was obviously a little disappointed but he kept a strong face. It about killed me when he said, in a very forlorn voice, "Well, at least I don't have to share my toys, or my room." The poor kid. I immediately felt like it was me who had disappointed him. For weeks I had been focusing on what I knew would be a loud and long upset should my pip-squeak find out we were having a boy. I prepped her and repeatedly told her how great it would be to have a brother. She would retort with things like, "I will not kiss a baby boy," or, "I won't bring it home if it's a boy." I focused so much on prepping her on the idea of a brother I think I kind of, sort of, convinced both the Little Guy and myself that it was going to be a boy! Needless to say, seeing my Little Guy suck it up and still tell me he was happy to have "any baby" in the family nearly made me break down. He is such an amazing brother and when he told me, "It's OK mom. I already know how to be a great brother to a sister." I knew he was going to be alright. But boy is it harder to disappoint the rational one instead of the fit-thrower! 

We are all now settled into the idea of having a sister and are busy thinking of names for this sweet little baby. In a short 17 weeks she'll be here. And if I'm still taking 5.3 times longer to do everything I'll probably be starting to think about getting a crib set up. Maybe! Wish me luck.

September Visiting Teaching Message

It's been months since I've actually felt well enough, and had enough time to put together a VT message! September's message is about Strengthening families by increasing spirituality and keep an eternal perspective. You can find the whole message here. A great message to start out a new school year. So often the primary focus at the beginning of the school year is academic goals for the following year. This year, wouldn't it be nice, to add some spiritual and personal goals into the mix as well? We, as sisters, have a wonderful opportunity to create strong homes full of love and can do so through inspiration and knowledge gained through scripture study and prayer. Elder M. Russell Ballard asked the question, "What can we do to better prepare our children spiritually for their eternal roles?" And then goes on to answer, "Perhaps the most inclusive answer is: Teach them how to live the principles of the gospel." Catagorically easier said than done, but priceless. The most comforting part is that we're not alone and we have Father who can teach each of us how.

Here's what my sisters will be getting this month:

 Along with that I'll be giving them a bag of apples with this tag:

 Click on the pictures to get the PDF version. Have fun this month!

As almost always I used a cute free download from shabbyprincess.com , called Festival, and the fonts Jailbird Jenna, and Batik Regular