Halloween= Nothing to do

So Halloween is a good and fun holiday, but it makes it very difficult for me to get work done. Here at an elementary school, kids do not do any work. This means that I cannot help them with their work and therefore have nothing to do. I'm so bored. And hungry... but that is another story. Here is a Halloween survey since I can't get onto my myspace page on my work computer:

What are you going to be for Halloween this year? Undecided... either Joe the Plumber or Sarah Palin... doing what I can to help people remember to vote.

Will you be making your costume yourself? Why, yes, I am.

What was your best Halloween costume? Two years ago, I was Miss Conception since I was preggo and everything. I remember dressing up as Ernie when I was a kid and I totally loved that.

What was your worst Halloween costume? Probably the ones that I can't remember. They must have been that lame.

Will you be having a Halloween party this year? I wish. No room at our inn. That's ok, we have other plans.

How many houses will you trick or treat at? None! Yay for Trunk or Treating. It's good for us lazy and paranoid parents who don't want or like to go house to house.

What is the best thing you have received when trick or treating? Full size candy bars. Gotta love those rich neighborhoods.

What is the worst thing you have received when trick or treating? Those stupid candies wrapped in orange or black paper. They are always hard as a rock. I couldn't even tell you what they were supposed to be.

Have you ever performed a trick for not getting a treat? Well, does TP-ing count?

Have you ever watched scary movies at Halloween? Of course. It wouldn't be Halloween if we didn't. But nothing too scary, I'm kind of a baby.

Do you get afraid during Halloween night? No, should I?

What was your best Halloween memory? My mom and dad used to decorate for Halloween and that was always special. Also, I remember when we were in junior high and Valerie ratted her hair out, hairsprayed the heck out of it, and colored it (green, I think). I remember we were all running for some reason and she fell and killed a bug with her hair alone. It was pretty great.

What was your worst Halloween memory? I think I remember getting teased by older kids. That always sucked.

Do you decorate your house for Halloween? No, I am too busy getting ready for Christmas.

How much candy do you buy to give out at Halloween? A bag. Maybe two.

What is your favorite Halloween monster? "Igor." "No, it's pronounced 'eye-gor.'" "But they told me it was 'ee-gor'." "Well, they were wrong then, weren't they?"

A Prayer for Today

In light of the election and economical issues, Billy Graham has offered the following prayer: 'Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and Set us free. Amen!'

Define Femininity

In the talk, The Joy of Womanhood, Margaret D. Nadauld, a previous Young Women General President, says:

President Faust observed that femininity “is the divine adornment of humanity. It finds expression in your … capacity to love, your spirituality, delicacy, radiance, sensitivity, creativity, charm, graciousness, gentleness, dignity, and quiet strength. It is manifest differently in each girl or woman, but each … possesses it. Femininity is part of your inner beauty.”

Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity.

Reflections of Christ

I had to share this slideshow. I know several of you have already seen it, but I had to display it so others could have the chance to see it as well. These are beautiful photographs depicting Christ's life. They are already available to purchase at deseretbooks.com on DVD, CD, and text.

"The Mesa Arizona LDS Temple's visitor center is currently displaying a beautiful collection of images created by Mark Mabry entitled Reflections of Christ. With daily visitor counts as high as 1,000 people, the exhibit is attracting a lot of attention. Mabry's images brilliantly capture both the humanity and grandeur of Jesus and His ministry. The following slideshow, created by Cameron Trejo, includes every image in the exhibit along with a beautiful arrangement of Come Thou Fount performed by Clyde Bawden and Freddie Ashby."

If you haven't already seen it, go to the website to see the slideshow which is under the heading Video:
http://76.163.100.54/index.html

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

With this week being the week of Halloween and the beginning of November, I begin to prepare myself for the most anticipated holiday, Christmas! Like I mentioned earlier, Eddie has decided to allow me to get out my holiday decorations early this year (mostly because he probably doesn't want to hear me whine anymore). Now as I am getting my holiday decor out and primed, I wish we had the space for a large Christmas party. The past couple of years Eddie's work had provided a beautiful semi-formal Christmas party and I just thought it was the greatest thing. This year Eddie is at a new job that employs over 3000 people so a company Christmas party is out of the question. So lame. How do I get my holiday party fix? Our apartment is too small for the party I have envisioned. So sad and so lame. Well, I guess it'll just have to wait.

Happy Halloween!

Remember kids, if Obama were in charge of Halloween, he would take the candy you worked hard for and give to the kids who stayed home and did nothing. Scary, eh?

These are the days.

Wow. So Benjamin is now almost 20 months old. He's almost at that age when I'm not supposed to count it by months. Eh, maybe I will just keep doing it anyway. "Hi, yeah, this is my son... he's 49 months old..." Ok, maybe not. He is just so much fun these days. Yeah, he's got an attitude on him, but it's really only when it comes to food which he takes very, very seriously. I think he gets that from me.

Recently, Benjamin has hit a growth spurt in his personality. He makes jokes all the time that only he understands and cracks up at them. He is always smiling and laughing. He loves to smile for the camera too. He gives sweet kisses and super tight hugs where he sees how tight he can squeeze you. He loves his stuffed animals and will hug them and rock them in his arms. His new thing is that Eddie and I have to give his Pup-pup (stuffed animal puppy) and/or his teddy bear kisses goodnight. I love it.

I love being a mom and it has taken our new working situation to make me realize how precious every day is. I just can't get enough of my kid. I look forward to the prospect of staying home and watching my son along with a couple of other kids. Though it might be difficult, it would definitely worth it.

President Joseph F. Smith said on one occasion: “After all, to do well those things which God ordained to be the common lot of all man-kind, is the truest greatness. To be a successful father or a successful mother is greater than to be a successful general or a successful statesman. One is universal and eternal greatness, the other is ephemeral” (Gospel Doctrine, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1939, p. 285).

The above picture shows Ben sitting in his old baby carseat which he now deems as his recliner. He likes to sit in it and watch Disney movies, something we don't get to do much anymore. The second picture shows Ben doing what Ben does best: EATING. C'mon. That is a seriously happy face. All it took was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Simple pleasures.