THANKFUL THURSDAY

Today I am extremely thankful for three things...

#1) Washing machines. I couldn't even imagine trying to wash all these clothes in a bucket outside, or with a washboard, or in a river. Although, back in the day when that was how laundry was done, they had far fewer clothes. That would be nice....

#2) Ibuprofen. With how I am feeling today, a couple ibuprofen are heaven sent. Just keeping myself dosed up on 'drugs' =), and I will be just fine...

#3) A good book. I have found a new joy in reading lately.....which may explain my messy house, and mountain of laundry! =) So for the past month I have been reading, A LOT. I am a fast reader, and can usually finish a book in about a day or two. I have been reading a lot of Nicholas Sparks, and am about to start the Chronicles of Narnia, and also want to read the Lord of the Rings, but I have had such a hard time getting through The Hobbit that I usually just quit before I even start (given the fact that The Hobbit is a prequel). Anyway, I am thankful for a good book... =)

*Can anyone out there suggest a good book, or series of books that are big, thick, and something that would take more then a day or two to read? (By the way, I refuse to read the Twilight or Harry Potter series. Witchcraft and vampires are not my thing.) I gotta find a good book that I can really get into, that will last a while. I love historical fiction, love stories (not dirty romance novels!), and science fiction stuff too. Any suggestions????

HALLOWEEN PARTIES

This has been fun weekend full of Halloween parties, for both the kids, the adults too! Although there was no costumes allowed on Friday, each one of the older kiddos had 'Halloween Enrichment' at school. I made Nathan and Aubrey platters of rice krispie treats, and Emily got apples with caramel dip (healthy snacks only in kindergarten, poor kids.) They had lots of fun at their parties at school and brought home bags of left-over goodies.

Friday night David and I dressed up in borrowed costumes (thank you Christie and Eva) and went to a very fun adult Halloween party thrown by some good friends in our ward. It was SO MUCH FUN, and TONS of laughs... We loved it, thanks for the invite!

Saturday was a busy morning, that led into a busier afternoon trying to wrangle up five costumes for our annual Peterson Halloween Party at Eva's house. It was lots of fun, watched a crazy movie called "Night of the Lepus", and we took the kids trick-or-treating around Woodruff (tiny town between Snowflake and Holbrook). It didn't take long, and gratefully, they have already eaten ALL their candy. I think I much prefer it this way. They ended up with about 30 candies a piece, and was given the 'all-clear' and ate it all. ALREADY. Way too much sugar for a weekend, but it is better then having over 15 pounds of candy, eating, trashing my house, and fighting over it for weeks.... (like last year.)

Sunday was another party. In my book at least! =) It was our Primary Program, so I had 4 out of my 5 kids off my bench, and out of my hair during Sacrament Meeting. I actually listened, felt the spirit and REALLY enjoyed church (after the Sacrament was passed, of course). Yes, for the first time in a LONG time.... The kids did wonderful, and both Nathan and Aubrey said their parts without help. Emily and Betsy knew theirs too, but opted for a little assistance. Thanks for all the hard work you wonderful primary presidency! I have spent many years being involved in primary programs, so I understand the stress involved. It was nice to sit in the audience, and enjoy from the other side this year!

I love living in a small Mormon town for a lot of reasons. And last night I discovered yet another reason I love living here...So technically Halloween was on Sunday. We know that, and although there were hundreds of trick-or-treaters on Saturday the 30th, there was NOT A SINGLE ONE last night. (We did keep our light off for good measure). I love that people are passing on to their children the value of keeping the Sabbath day holy. It made me so happy, and feel so safe to live in the wonderful town of Snowflake.

***My camera is FULL of pictures, yet I can't find my plug-in cord do-hickey.... When I find it, I will load this post up with pictures. ***

THANKFUL THURSDAY

Today I am thankful for nap time. My kids have actually been pretty good today, so it is not because I need a break from them, but mostly because I have so much to do. The kind of things that have to be done without little helpers. Like cleaning the bathrooms and sewing on Cub Scout patches. So I better get to it!

TRUE CONFESSIONS TUESDAY

#1: I have no idea what my kids are going to be for Halloween. Because I don't really care too much about the holiday, and haven't really focused on it, the kids don't seem to notice that it is in just a few days. I asked them last night what they want to be, and none of them really had an answer. I feel kinda bad for raising kids that don't make a big deal out of this holiday, but then again.... I don't.

#2: I have a pile of five loads of laundry that need folded sitting next to me on the couch. Any volunteers?!?!

#3: I am in the midst of the semi-annual clothes sort for my family. My children have two sets of wardrobe. A winter set and a summer set. I am packing away the summer set and pulling out the winter set. This makes a huge mess, a lot of stress, and storage bins stacked around my house for days. It is not a fun time for me. In fact, I HATE IT. I am just grateful that I am over half way done. I did the three girls clothes yesterday, and I am now focused on the two boys clothes today.

#4: My youngest child will turn 3 in December. I need to start potty training the boy, but you know what? I just don't want to. I have made a few attempts, but I just don't have the desire to keep it going.

#5: I went to bed last night at 8:45pm and woke up at 6:30am. I got nearly TEN hours of sleep last night. I realized this morning that too little sleep OR too much sleep is dangerous for me. I need between 7-8 hours to feel good and ready for the day. Any less OR more turns me into a witch. I am not having a particularly good day today, and I have lost my temper more then once with my kids. Why can't I be one of those "good moms" that I read about on my friends blogs? Because I am not feeling like a good mom today... or wife, or housekeeper, or cook, etc.... maybe tomorrow.

MEMORIES MONDAY

I have decided that it is hard to come up with a memory to write about. Don't get me wrong, I have many memories, but zeroing in on just one has proven more difficult then I thought. So, as I was trying to hone in on said memory, I had a few thoughts. I could write about music, I could write about high school, I could even write about things like children's births or my wedding. BUT, the thing that kept coming back to me, was him...

George. Bubba. Bubbastibum. Bart. Bartman. Just. Justin.

He is by far my most very favorite brother in the whole wide world. I am sure that the day I came home from the hospital as a babe in arms, he was disappointed. I am sure that a few of my family members were, to be honest. They wanted a baby brother. A boy. And I am not. BUT, that never stopped Justin from teaching me the ropes. He has always been a very good brother. I have been wrestled, thrown to the ground, spat and farted on, all by this great guy. Even as he was torturing me with the ways mentioned above, I also knew, deep down he really did care and love me.

There are a few times in my growing up that affirms this truth. I was 12, which would have made him 17 or 18. We were outside 'shooting hoops', when his friends pulled up and asked him to go with them somewhere. He looked at them, looked back at me, and told his friends no. He stayed home that night with me. He and I played basketball for a while more, and I was so excited that he WANTED to be with me. I have no idea if he even remembers that day so long ago, but I will never forget.

The next experience was when I was packing up, and moving out, headed to college. It was a stressful time, and I was feeling every kind of emotion possible. I was thrilled to be on my own, scared to death to be on my own, happy to be leaving, sad to be leaving.... you understand. So in the midst of tearing my room apart and loading things into the back of my dads truck, the phone rang. It was my brother, who was now married with twin toddlers at the time. He knew that things were a bit stressful and overwhelming for me, and asked me to go with him to Fillibertos. It is a dirty, dive of a Mexican joint on Main Street in Mesa. But the food is to die for. He had taken me there quite a few times, and out of the blue, after about 4 years of not going there, he asked me to go with him. I said yes. I don't hardly remember anything about our conversation, but I do remember that Justin took time out of his already busy life to help and be with his little sister, and I will forever be grateful for him.

The upper picture (when we both looks so young), was the night before he left on his mission. I was 13, he was 19. It was a hard and sad time for me. There was a lot going on in our family around the time he left on his mission and so this picture is particularly special to me. The last night of the "normal" that I had grown up in. Just a couple months after he left, my twin sisters left for Ricks College, leaving me an 'only-child', and then a couple months after that we moved to Colorado. I love looking at this picture, because I can see just how much he loves me.

The picture above is not a flattering shot of Justin. In fact, I could probably dig up about a dozen more pictures with him pulling this exact face. It is his 'ugly face' that he has perfected over the years. I took this shot of him in June of this year. Without showing you one of these pictures, you couldn't really get a feel for Justin, or his humorous personality.

So with that I will say, I love you George. And love that you are my favorite big brother!

SPECIAL SATURDAY and SPIRITUAL SUNDAY

It is two for one today. I really did want to, and was planning on making a post yesterday, but that didn't end up happening...

So yesterday, for our SPECIAL SATURDAY:

Because Nathan and Aubrey were both away (sleepovers), and we had a pretty late bedtime the night before (thanks to a last minute Wal-Mart run), Saturday MIRACULOUSLY started with a bit of sleeping in. The whole family were all in bed and sleeping soundly until 7:30 am. For those of you that think that 7:30 is early, may I inform you that 99.9% of days start around the 5:30-6am mark around here at the Peterson household. So yes, 7:30 am is SLEEPING IN. If you would have told me that in high school or college I would have died, and/or never had children. =)

So it was overcast and miserably cold in the morning. It felt cold enough to snow, and I was not to keen on that idea, and I am glad that it didn't end up doing so. Part of the reason that sleeping was still going on into the 7 o' clock hour was that our rooster didn't crow. We went out to move the chicken coop to another area where they hadn't scratched it to death, and the rooster was lying there, barely breathing. He must have gotten sick or something. ? So our dear, LOUD Speed Racer was laid to rest yesterday. Nathan took it pretty hard (Speed Racer was technically his chicken). So we had yet another lesson on life and death and animals. They all seem to be fine about it today, and I happily was not awoken this morning to a crowing rooster. So, R.I.P Speed Racer. It was LOUD while it lasted...

Along with the whole killing-a-rooster ordeal, we also harvested the last of our tomatoes. We wanted to catch them before a frost came and killed them all. The kids enjoyed helping and we got a large mixing bowl full of mostly green tomatoes.

David had a few things going yesterday. He helped set up tables and chairs for a funeral, and also went along with the elders quorum and high priests to cut wood for some of the widows in the ward. We are coming on cold here in the white mountains, and so I have begun to notice the smell of wood burning stoves around the neighborhood. Unfortunately our wood stove it still wrapped in a tarp on my back porch. We had good intentions yesterday to get some major work done on getting it back inside, but that didn't happen either. I don't know how many more days of 65 degrees inside my house I can handle. That furnace looked mighty tempting yesterday...

It was a pretty early bedtime (hence the fact that the night before was a late one), and a haircut for David, and that is how our SPECIAL SATURDAY ended.

On to SPIRITUAL SUNDAY...

Here in the Peterson household, Sundays are not considered restful, holy, peaceful, calming or any other synonym you can come up with that is supposed to define the Sabbath. I, in fact, muttered at least 10 times today about how much I hate Sundays. Not the church part (usually), but the morning that proceeds the church part. My house goes to shambles, my sanity hangs on the brink and my children are horridly behaved. I don't understand why the whole week can go relatively smooth, but as soon as it is Sunday, the kids all turn into little miniature devils. Anyone else have this problem??? please.

BUT, church really did go pretty good. A small meltdown by Jay, but other then that, I actually got to kind-of listen to the speakers today! I love the fact that my kids are getting a bit older, and can almost sit quietly at church. And the really bright side of it all is that it will only get better! Hopefully...

At church I heard a neat quote from one of the speakers about temptation. I will paraphrase, because I don't know the exact words. "Sometimes temptation is not a bad or destructive thing, but just a little bit of shade." She spoke about a herd of cows that lost a few calves, because they were enjoying a bit of shade not far from the path. Following the 'straight and narrow' is not always the easiest or most comfortable thing, but it is worth it, so we don't end up lost or distracted by the 'little comfortable' sins. I ended my worship service today with choir practice. I really love to sing, and love the peace the music brings to my heart and spirit. It is a wonderful way to end a sometimes stressful Sunday.

I think that I am going to go get my kids to bed a little bit early tonight. I probably could, because our church time (1-4pm) is right in the middle of nap time. I would love a quiet Sunday evening with my husband, but he is gone home teaching and being the worlds best Elders Quorum President alive. I like that he loves his calling. Okay, maybe 'love' is the wrong word, but he sure enjoys and magnifies it all the time.

FAMILY FRIDAY

Because I missed last Fridays blog day, this one will cover TWO weeks. It feels like this will be more of a day to day itinerary then anything... sorry if it is boring, but I am treating this blog like a journal and will be making one of those cool blog books when we have some money to do such things. So, here goes....

I feel like Fall has finally arrived. It has become more and more clear these last couple weeks. Nathan, Aubrey, and Emily all took class field trips to a local pumpkin patch, and brought home these three beauties. They are very proud of their pumpkins, and are looking forward to carving them in the coming week. I also went to parent/teacher conferences for my three older ones who are in school. I was glad to hear that each one of my kiddos are doing amazingly well in school. It does a mommas' heart good to hear that her children are succeeding and behaving well.

During that week, I got to help out my wonderful sis-in-law and watch her 14 month old son, Thomas, while she and her sweet family enjoyed a trip to Disneyland. JEALOUS! But, he was such a joy, and I was so happy to help them out. He is such a great little baby, and I enjoyed my time I had to hold and rock him. I have to admit that our family has fallen in love with sweet Thomas Tenney. I would be more then happy to watch him again. He is such a wonderful, fun baby boy!





On Friday the 15th, I ran around like a chicken with her head cut off. I cleaned my house spic-n-span, and packed for a five day mini-vacation to Mesa. We got on the road about an hour later then we had planned, but that seems pretty normal around here. We arrived in Mesa safely, after only one pull-over for a sick tummy (she gets that from me).

One of the major highlights of the trip was that my mom, sisters, and I got to attend Time Out for Women in Phoenix on Friday night and all day Saturday. It was an awesome, fun, spiritually uplifting, and surprisingly casual type of an event. We had lots of fun laughing, crying, and being together. It was great! I was SO excited to run into one of my dearest and most special friends, Julie Potter. She happened to be there on Friday night, and we ran into each other, even in a room of over 2,600 women. It was wonderful to see her!

On Sunday I got the chance to go back to my home ward. I was raised in that ward, and it was SO good to see faces that I have known my whole life. As I sat there in Relief Society surrounded by people that helped raise me, I felt right at home. I love the feeling of "coming home", and I especially feel it when I go back to the 46th Ward.

Sunday evening all my family meet together at my parents house for our monthly dinner and Family Home Evening. I usually miss those, so it was so wonderful to be there with my family. Uncle Jacob gave a lesson on peer pressure (geared at the kids, of course), and then the kids played 'Cut the Flour'. (Josh, Nathan, and Brenan are pictured). I had completely forgotten about that fun game. It brought back a lot of memories of my childhood, watching my children and nieces and nephews enjoy it.





Monday and Tuesday of this week was our "Fall Break". It was a fun couple days to spend with my parents and sisters. We went to the Phoenix Zoo on Monday morning, and had a pretty good time looking at animals. The kids were fascinated at Monkey Village, where the squirrel monkeys swung over our heads! Here is Betsy in one of the interactive displays. She is being a cute little (okay, BIG) tortoise. Tuesday was spent doing laundry. My mom always insists that I go home with a suitcase full of clean clothes, as apposed to dirty... I love my mom. =) We also cleaned out my van, and washed all the car seats. I also got the privilege of adding my signature as a witness to my dads mission papers. I was honored, and pleased to be there when their official missionary papers went in. SO exciting for them! We can't wait for the blessings....

We drove home, after dark, back to Snowflake on Tuesday night. It was a pretty slow, scary drive. I usually don't mind driving in the dark, but coming up over the rim, I had four different occasions of people flashing their lights at us, signaling danger ahead. Two of the four times, traffic came to a screeching halt due to deer in the road. No cars that I was traveling near hit them gratefully, but it keep my adrenaline high and I was pretty worn out and tired when I pulled into our driveway.

Wednesday the kids all went back to school. At 1pm I pulled them out for a dentist appointment up in Show Low. Nathan went in and got that silver tooth he was so excited about and one other cavity filled. He did really well, and I gave myself the title of "mother of the year" for hauling all five kids into that small dentists' room, and keeping them all under control during Nathans visit. They did really well, and all earned a token for the prize tower. Nathan got two tokens, because technically he was the one being worked on! I should have earned a token or two myself! =)

Both Thursday and today have been a pretty quiet and relaxing. I love the days when there is absolutely nothing on the calendar. They seem to be getting more and more rare, so I really try to enjoy the times that I don't have anything to do, and/or nowhere to go. Looking forward to a productive weekend....we shall see.