Weekends

Why do they ever have to end? 

Mischievous

When I put Layton down for bed at night, is it odd that I sometimes have the urge to say

“Mischief Managed”?

Yes, I am a Harry Potter geek and I am totally not ashamed to admit it!

Swingin' Big

Layton thinks that he is such a big boy swinging in the big kid swing. While he may think that he is all grown-up, to the rest of us, he’ll always be baby Layton.

Digital Creations

We live is such a digital world. And I love it. I thrive in it. I can’t imagine life without it. Like I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I even love to scrapbook digitally. And I especially love digital photos. Mixing photography with computers is like putting icing on a cupcake. They just go together so perfectly.

I am not an artist. Or at least not one in the traditional sense of the word. But putting to use my love all things digital makes me feel like I am. Remember this photograph of Layton:

While it may not look like a masterpiece to you, it feels like one to me. Why? Because this the original:

I think there is a huge difference, don’t you? Kind of like this photograph:

I think it really gives it such a retro dreamy feel.

I’m not showing you these things to brag that I am some magnificent photo editor. Because, truth be told, I’m not. The effect for the first photo I did following along with a tutorial from Spoon Graphics. The next one was done using a programmed ‘action’ in Photoshop Elements where all I did was click one button and it did all the work for me.

But somehow doing these things makes me feel like I can have a little taste of what an artist must feel like when they create something beautiful. Obviously it is not the same. My experience with it is just a shadow of what a true artist must feel, but it still gives me a feeling that I have added a little bit of beauty to my tiny world.

What President Uchtdorf said at the Relief Society General Meeting last year is something that I am learning to be true:

The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before.

Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty.

Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty.

Even when our creation is something as simple as a flower garden, a scrapbook page, a lovely home cooked meal, or a touched up digital photograph, I think we feel a sense of accomplishment and joy in our creation.

Randomocity

While driving down the highway on a Sunday morning, we were quietly listening to uplifting music. Out of nowhere, we hear a shout from the back of the van as Dallin yells out, “I’m a chicken.” For some reason this broke our silent reflective mood (I can’t imagine why) and resulted in cascades of laughter. Now, when I am playing with the kids, I have taken to randomly shouting out, “I’m a chicken.” They look at me like I am crazy (probably am) and I collapse in fits of giggles. You all should try it. It really is fun.

The Haunted Train Ride

Halloween night was a dark cold night. Just standing still for a few minutes brought shivers up and down our spines. And we were crazy enough to stand out in the cold for an hour and a half just to ride a train.

A mysterious scary clown showing up in our pictures was enough to spook anyone, but the train ride itself was pretty darn spooky! Poor Mandy was terrified. Heck even Nathan jumped and I screamed when we passed a line of trees and a fire engine suddenly came to life.

The train robbers with their guns blasting were pretty scary too. Not to mention the goblin jumping onto the train and trying to grab at us, the chain saw murderer, the witches, the monsters, and every other scary creature you can imagine. We had to pry Mandy’s hands away from Dallin’s legs because she was hanging on so hard that she was hurting him!

I asked Dallin after the ride if all the waiting was worth it. He responded with a resounding YES! I think one the best parts for him was that Meme (my mom) was waiting inside the train station helping out with directing people onto the trains. And while he was happy just to see her, he was even happier when she surprised him and Mandy with their very own train engineer hats. It is now one of his most prized possessions. We are looking forward to going back to ride the Christmas train in December!

Mandy loves hers too.

Trunk Or Treat Bristol Style

We were lucky enough this weekend to go visit some of my family and since it also happened to be Halloween, we went to the Trunk or Treat there too. Both wards participated and it was so much fun to see so many extended family and friends, some of which I haven’t seen for years.

People really went all out with their trunk decorations!

A few of my favorite ones were “Happy Hallo-McQueen”

“BEE-ware” with a couple of very scary bee keepers

I tried to get Layton to take a picture with the Bee Keepers, but this is what I got instead:

This one was my absolute favorite – the “Woman Cave”

One really cool thing about this trunk-or-treat is that they open it up to the whole community and even serve soups/chili for dinner. Talking to a few people the following day, they estimate that they handed out little treat bags to over 400 kids. Add in all the parents and that was quite a crowd!

The Pros and Cons of Sisters

Having a sister definitely has lots of positive aspects for Layton. One of the best ones is that she teaches him all kinds of fun things to do. One of their favorite new things to do together is jumping off the couch:

I am sure you remember that Mandy is an expert at this, learned it from Dallin and has now passed on the fun.

And while this is definitely a benefit as far as Layton is concerned, having an older sister does occasionally have it’s downside. Like continually being used as a dress up doll. This time she tried to make him look like a butterfly fairy princess. The odd thing is, check out that smile, I think he actually likes it!

Wouldn’t it be Great

to spend everyday just doing this:

Ever since seeing “Where the Wild Things Are” the movie, Dallin has been wanting to us to sleep in a pile, just like Max and the Wild Things. This is about as close as we’re going to get :) The only one missing is the Wild Thing taking the picture. Don’t worry though, he is always there when our three little wild things find their way into our bed to make a pile every Saturday morning!

Open House and Parade

Last Thursday was Dallin’s open house. It was a very crowded but fun night. Have I mentioned that Dallin got a new teacher? About a month into the school year, his other teacher left for a different teaching position and Mrs. White was moved into her place. Mrs. White had been teaching ESE classes at Coppergate for the last couple of years and had been waiting and waiting to get her own regular class. And surprise, this opening came up and she jumped at the chance. Dallin loves her and seems to be doing really well with her.

After a little visiting and picture slide show in the classroom, we navigated our way through the crowds to hear all the first graders perform a few patriotic songs. I think it is always nice to hear the good fun patriotic songs even when we are not celebrating a national holiday. It is great to be reminded of what a wonderful country we live in!

The following day, we went and watched Dallin in the costume parade at school.

My favorite costumes were by the media center/music/art/computer teachers. They all dressed up as a mariachi band, complete with real musical instruments that they actually played. It was awesome seeing them walk by to the tune of La Bamba!

Good times at Coppergate Elementary!