Halloween Fun.....So Far!!

Okay....before I begin with the Halloween festivities I have to say that my computer finally went out and I had a REALLY LONG 8 days without a computer before I got my new one! I thought somebody had cut off my right arm - not only no Ebay, no paying bills, no checking my account balances - but worst of all - NO BLOGGING! Only you fellow bloggers will understand this addiction!!! So now I am trying to catch up - not only on posting - but reading others that I have missed out on.

I guess the good news is that it gave me more time to spend on my newest sewing obsession....Halloween bags. I made these for some co-workers. They are a lot of fun - but more time consuming than I thought....especially since I am just learning!
I just love FEET JAMMIES...we bought these new ones at the store and she couldn't wait to put them on....so she was in her jammies at 4:00!! Oh well - at least she was comfortable (and warm).Last Saturday we went to the Halloween Spooktacular event on Main Street in Price with Nana & Papa (Dad was in Mount Pleasant). We weren't really sure what we thought of the whole thing - but Hailey had fun. She liked wearing her costume and when she had about 10 pieces of candy she kept looking in her bag and saying "I have tons and tons of candy!"
Tonight we had a family night of carving pumpkins! Hailey was so excited and had so much fun. She dug out the stuff and then drew faces on her little pumpkin. After they were finished and we put the candle in and turned the lights off she was so cute dancing around. She didn't want us to turn the lights back on. We finally did and finished the night off with banana splits....yum!


We can't wait to for more fun Halloween activities in the next couple of days!

Happy Fall......literally!

This morning the wind was blowing like crazy......Hailey & I were hanging out in the scrapbook room when Daddy came in and said "look out the window - do you see something wrong in the front yard?" I looked out the window (the blinds were already open) and couldn't believe what I saw. I guess the wind really was blowing hard. Good thing it didn't fall over the other way or we would be TRAPPED with no way to get out since the bridge to the left of the downed tree is the only bridge over the canal. A day at home with nowhere to go sounds good to me (scrapbooking, sewing, playing on the computer) but DARREN would go crazy. I guess he has a lot of work to do to cut up that tree! He said he's going to wait until it's not so windy!!!

Vote for Obama???

Can you guess who this is????? We couldn't stop cracking up when my brother put this mask on that my Mom had bought for him for Halloween!! We couldn't believe how real he looked - and he did an imitation of him that was unreal! My brother the democrat!!!

My New Sweet Little Niece Ruby

We finally got to go to Salt Lake on Friday and meet my newest neice Ruby Kay! She is my only brothers newest little baby girl!! She is named after my grandma on my Mom's side - whose name was Ruby Dooley Hills.

She was born on Monday, October 6th & it was a long week waiting to meet her! She is just beautiful. I can't believe how tiny she is. I know every mother says it - but I can't believe Hailey was ever that small!

There aren't any pictures of Hailey meeting her newest cousin because on the way up there her nose started running and she said her throat was sore so we dropped her & Daddy off at her Grandma and Grandpa's house in West Jordan and just me, my Mom and Steve went and spent the afternoon with them. Hailey was really sad!!!

Molly & Lincoln came home from school and we got to see them for a little while too! Molly is now 9 and Lincoln is 6! They just love their new baby sister!

Invisible Mom....

I received this e-mail and thought I would share it with you....I thought it was a wonderful reminder of how important it is to be a Mom - even though we do feel "invisible" sometimes! Have a great day!


It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room, while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously, not.

No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books, and the eyes that studied history, and the mind that graduated sum a cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going; she's going; she is gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And, I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.

The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime, because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my daughter to tell the friend she's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours ,and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want her to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right.

And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Great Job, MOM! Hope this encourages you when the going gets tough, as it sometimes does. We never know what our finished products will turn out to be, because of our perseverance.