2012 Election

I try to keep my political opinions to myself considering how dang annoying it is to listen to anyone's complaining (regardless of party).  I don't enjoy listening to bashing and I'm sure no one would enjoy listening to me bash.  But, this is a very historical election and since this is my blog and I still have the freedom of speech, I'm sharing my own opinion.  Feel free not to read.  I won't be offended.  :)

I am thankful for the opportunity I have to live in a country where the peoples' voices are heard because far too many in the world don't have that privilege.  I won't keep it secret that I voted for Mitt Romney.  It wasn't even a difficult choice for me.  And no, it's not because I'm LDS and he's LDS.  It's because he had a plan that I agreed with (plus a pretty impressive resume) and, to be honest, I think Obama is pretty horrible.  I think he likes to say nice things while moving people by speech, and then do his own thing (or just plays golf).  But despite my opinion, it is just my opinion.  I am grateful that people actually went out to vote and did their civic duty, even if my own vote didn't really matter. 

When I got on facebook this morning and it was filled with people talking about having food storage and ammo, I have to admit that I was thinking the exact same thing.  Do I think that Obama equals the end of the world?  Probably not.  But I think it's a definite step toward it.  We know that we need a year supply of food anyway, so even if this isn't the reason why, hopefully it gets people to actually become more motivated to follow this important counsel. 

One of my biggest concerns is Obamacare.  It worries me that some people think it's such a blessing.  Listen, Ben and I have been without insurance for years and we survived.  I'm grateful to be able to afford real insurance now.  It really is a blessing in case anything crazy happens to someone in our family.

Another one of my concerns is how we will stand in the world.  How can we defend innocent countries properly if our military shrinks and we get rid of our nukes?  America has a HUGE role to play in world politics and I feel like we just flushed the hopes of many non-Americans down the drain.  It's understandable that a country worries about itself, but I wish that others would have thought about those who depend on our strength.

Despite my disappointment and the fact that I literally got sick to my stomach today out of fear, my only comfort is the gospel.  I am more grateful than ever to have a consistent eternal knowledge of the real truth.  I have been reading the Old Testament nightly and one thing that has opened my eyes is when I read about the long line of evil rulers who rule one generation and the next evil ruler rules the next generation.  I am thankful that I don't have to hand my entire lifetime over to one ruler.  I am thankful that every four years we get a vote, and that no one can win all the time, because wouldn't we all just love that?  I am thankful for church leaders who can direct us where we need to go.  I am thankful for the Holy Ghost and that we can be individually guided.  I am thankful that this life is just a speck in the eternal timeline and that someday our current struggles won't be struggles. 

So this Thanksgiving, I really will be celebrating our country and all that we have to be thankful for.  I'm happy for my liberal friends while I hold onto my own opinions and worry a little.  Despite my worries, I realize that our country is a far better place to live than most.  I'm grateful that I don't have to worry about my children's safety on a daily basis and that I don't have to worry about having the basics like food and shelter.  Hurricane Sandy really reinforced my opinion of what's truly important in life. 

Yesterday, on Election Day, I fasted.  I knew it was a tight race and that either side could win, so I fasted that the Lord's will be done and that I would be able to accept who won.  I will pray for Obama even if I don't agree with all he does. 

On a side note, Ben and I did figure that it would take 65 gallons of gas to get our van to Jackson County should we go by car.  Just saying.....  :)

God bless America.

Halloween

Happy Halloween.

 

When we went to Costco and got Halloween candy, I kept in mind my mom's rule: only give away candy that you would actually eat yourself.  So we bought 3 humongo bags of chocolate candy to give away to trick-or-treaters.  But you'd better believe I sorted through that candy and kept the good stuff for us in the pantry and gave all the littles (and not so littles) weird stuff like Milky Way midnights or whatever they're called.

 

 Since Ben's habit of getting sick on birthdays and holidays popped up a few days ago, I got to be the lucky one to take the kiddos trick-or-treating for the first time.  Yep.  The very first.  Last year was supposed to be their first go but we didn't feel like venturing out in the mini-hurricane-like weather.

 

Skyler was Buzz Lightyear (again....) and Miss Lil was Belle.  It was so funny because whenever someone would ask her who she was she'd look at them weird and say, "Lily."  Belle, Lily.  Belle.

 

 

We went trick-or-treating with the Wilsons.  We had a practice round at our front door first.

 

The kiddos.

 

 Left: Ben's pumpkin.  Right: My pumpkin that I dedicated to Ben in all his sick glory.  But mainly because doing an Avengers, Hunger Games, or Downton Abbey pumpkin sounded too hard. 

 Left: Lily's Hello Kitty pumpkin (carved by me).  Right: Skyler's Finding Nemo shark (carved by Ben).  Unfortunately the shark face shrunk over night.  Boo.

 

 

They were pretty happy with their spoils.  Although I have to laugh at that because back in the day, I took trick-or-treating very seriously.  I'd fill up an entire pillow case.  It's a miracle I was skinny back then.

 

 

And Ella just had to wear the mermaid costume we made for Lily back in the day. 

 

Why does Ariel wear sea shells?

Because she can't fit into D-shells.

*cheesy joke courtesy of Pinterest*

 

Ben's going to kill me for posting that.  Bahahaha.

 

Hope everyone's Halloween was as fabulous as ours.  Except for the whole Ben-being-sick thing. 

Baby Cuteness

I realize I'm a biased mom, but I think Ella's pretty cute.

But I'll let her speak for herself.

(Not so literally, of course)

 

 

 

 

Oh, baby legs.  Is there anything better in the whole world?  I'm not so sure there is.

And here I give you proof that Ella is a mellow baby.  This is what happens every time I don't buckle her into the swing.  She slowly wiggles her way down and eventually her entire body (except her head) is on the floor.  And she just stares around like, "whatever."

 

Aren't my priorities totally in order?  I mean, wouldn't you go for the camera first instead of your baby's rescue?  



Toddler Brilliance

Skyler yelling, "Bad Mommy!" for taking too many pictures of him.  I should probably have this face recorded somewhere since this is the look I get for the better part of the day.  It's an interesting relationship we have.  He's mad at me most of the time and yet he wants to live in my lap.  Hmmm....

 

 

On Sundays when I was a kid I played something called the "marshmallow game" with my dad and sisters.  It's simple really.  Daddy would ask us a trivia gospel question and if we got the answer right we would get a marshmallow.  I'm pretty sure he used pennies and chocolate chips, too.  (And let me add that I really did learn a lot about the gospel from this game.  After all, every 5 year-old should know that another name for Satan is Beelzebub). Well we decided to play that game for FHE this week and we used popcorn instead.  We asked them simple questions like "Where are you going to get married?" and "What did Noah build?" and "Who is the prophet today?"  Fun, right?  The kids ate their fair share of popcorn and were happy to play.

 

So.  The next morning happened.  I thought I'd take a break and watch a movie with Lily and Skyler while Ella was napping.  They asked for popcorn.  I promise we don't eat popcorn on a daily basis, but I said "Sure you can!"  I made them a big bowl to share and when Skyler went to grab a handful Lily said, "Wait!  You have to answer a question first."  She proceeded to ask him gospel question and when he got the answer right she let him eat it.  Then it was Skyler's turn. 

 

Skyler:  "What do you do when you get sick?"

Lily:  *staring at him like that's the dumbest question in the universe* "Um.  You go to the doctor.  And they give you medicine."

Skyler:  "WRONG!  Temple, Lily.  Temple."

 

All while I'm just sitting on the couch watching this play out with my hand over my mouth.

 

 

Another quote of the day:

Me: *frustrated*  "Skyler, why did you wet your bed last night?"

Skyler:  "Because my bed needed a drink."  *Grins*

 

Ella Update

I think I'm overdue for an Ella update.  She is a huge part of our lives right now -- even if it doesn't show on the blog. 



 

Lily and Skyler were both chia pets, too, but I'm pretty sure Ella deserves some sort of award for her hair.  It's about 3-4 inches long all over her entire head.  It's full of curl and I have to wash it with head and shoulders during each bath to get rid of her cradle cap.  And since Lily and Skyler never lost any of their hair, I'm not expecting Ella to lose hers either.  It's darker at the ends and pretty light at the roots.  But it's different colors all over her head.  I'm not quite sure how it will all look when it's grown out, but for now I'm just hoping it's not zebra print.  Mmmm.  I just love rubbing my nose around in all that head fluff.

 

She's such a happy baby.  She only cries when she feels like she's been neglected for too long.  Depending on the day that could mean 45 seconds or 45 minutes.  But she's getting better at realizing that I've got my hands full and I can't hold her every second of the day.  She is especially happy first thing in the morning.  Whenever she wakes up she just beams at us like we're the best things that ever happened to her.  I always imagine her thinking, "Look at me Mommy!  I slept through the night!  Aren't you so proud of me?!?!"  Her happiness is pretty contagious.  Oh, and yes, she sleeps through the night about 80-90% of the time now.  Have I mentioned that I love this baby?

 

She is finally starting a schedule.  I'm not much of a schedule person myself, but I LOVE it when my kids are finally on one.  She takes a long nap in the morning, a long nap in the afternoon, and she stays awake until about 8 PM.  We wake her up to give her a bottle at 9, stick her in bed, and (most of the time) say goodnight until about 6:30 the next morning.

 

I'm not going to lie.  I thought three kids would be really really hard.  But people kept telling me that the third child is typically a mellow baby and since I'm a third child, I can testify of that.  Just kidding!  But Ella really does fit that stereotype.  And we love it.  Lily and Skyler have adjusted very well and help me out all the time.  The only real adjustment I've had to make is that I have a whole lot more laundry to do (I always forget how much laundry a baby goes through...) and I just have to be okay with the fact that at the end of the day not everything is going to get done, hence my freezer meals.  Other than that, we are a happy little bunch over here and Ella's one of the reasons why.  I just have to remind myself to enjoy everything while I can because she's already pushing 3 months and I have no idea where the time has flown. 

Camera Practice

I'm pretty sure that y'all don't visit my blog because of my fantastic photography skills.... or lack thereof.  Looking back at my blog posts, the only thing that makes me cringe are the poor pictures.  The cameras that I have had have always bothered me, and so for years I have longed for the day when I would have the money to invest in a much better camera.  With Ben's new job, that day is now.  Woot!  So we bought a few different cameras at Costco this week and tested them out.  I think we're just about settled on our Nikon.  So to make sure, we grabbed a pizza and had a picnic at the park.  Perfect time to practice on things other than what's lying around the house. 



 

This was just minutes after Ben discovered he had been lying down on a red ant hill and got over 70 bites on his arm.  Ouch.  He just laughed it off.

 

Swinging around.

 

Skyler's favorite feature of the playground.

 

 

 

She was playing hide and seek.  You'll never guess where she's hiding.

 

 

And a picture of our front porch.  Those flowers have bloomed approximately 382304.39084 times this summer.  (Lizzie, I added the decimal just for you.  I knew you'd love it.)  They've been in bloom since May.

 

For all of the pictures being unedited, I think they're pretty fabulous.  I guess we found a keeper.  Merry early Christmas to me!

Ben

 

Ben is my all-time, over the top, hands down best friend.  No competition.

 

When I'm about to wet my pants because something is so funny, he's the one I have to laugh with first.

 

When I'm at the end of my rope and I'm about to explode, he's the one who calmly takes over kid watching and dinner making so I can go take a shower and drown out the world.

 

He's the type of guy who asks me every single day what he can do for me and then tells me I'm pretty on top of it.  Although when I'm still wearing the same sweats from two days ago and my hair's in post-tornado mode, I'm not so sure he's telling the truth as he is just trying to make me happy.

 

I normally think it's super lame whenever people gush about their husbands/boyfriends online.  I think they are just trying to get public attention and attempting to make it look like their lives are all perfect and together. 

 

Well take a look at the zoomed out twin picture that I posted a few days ago:

 

My house is obviously not all together.

I wear shirts with spit up stains and I don't even feel gross about it.

Whenever I make dinner for people they always get a better meal than my family gets.

I only ever really put on make up when I'm going out in public.  And really only church.

 

I am not even close to the ideal housewife.

 

But I never really feel guilty about it.  Because Ben is so good at building me up and telling me how important I am.

 

This team effort thing is awesome.  So here's to every husband who ever made his wife feel good.  You guys rock.