what's your favorite calling?

Most of us have had many callings in life and in church. Some of them easy, some of them not so easy. Up until my current calling (Bear leader for Cub Scouts), I would have said that being Primary Chorister was the funnest thing I have ever done in the church. I just loved seeing those cute little faces get all animated and work so hard.

Being Primary Chorister wasn't all that easy though. It took a lot of work and preparation to do things the way I felt I should. Perhaps the reward was greater because of all the work that went into it, I'm not sure. I do know that my mission worked under that same sort of principle though. Being a mother seems to follow suit too.

For the time being, I am more than happy being the Bear leader for our ward. Those 9 year old boys sure can be a lot of fun, not to mention easy to entertain. I love it! My calling isn't really hard though, in that is doesn't require tons of preparation. Yet, somehow I still seem to reap the same sort of blessings and satisfaction from it. Perhaps it is because I give it my all. Who knows? What I do know is that it is a sacrifice for me to fulfil my duties. (They aren't hard or time consuming, but considering all that I have going on in my life, I don't think I could handle much more.) So, maybe there are some other principles at hand that I haven't quite figured out yet. All I do know for sure is that this is my favorite calling and I'm grateful for the things that it teaches me.

Face lift for my blog

Today I decided to be brave and try a couple of new looks for my blog. Normally I'm not very experimental with computer stuff, but I saw several cute sites run by women that shared their own backgrounds for free. They made it sound so simple too. I figured that if these ladies could do it, I could too. So what do you think?

For now this will do, though I'm tempted to learn how to create some of my own backgrounds later on. This particular background I found at http://simplychicblogs.blogspot.com/
There are also lots of other free backgrounds available at http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/

If you are interested in making your own alterations, just google "free blog backgrounds" and you'll find that there are many other options out there besides those mentioned above. Just make sure that your text colors stand out enough to be seen through your new backgrounds. (I had to change mine, but that was rather simple to do.) Most of these web sites share additional helpful tips like that, in case you wish to make other changes to your site, and even tell you how to do it. In return for their services most sites just ask that you give them proper credit and that you supply their link for others to see. Hope this helps! Happy blogging!

Hungry?

This morning Matthew had a rough time waking up for school. He didn't have time to sit down to breakfast, so I advised him to grab a few Fig Newtons and raw almonds to hold him over until lunch. Nolan helpfully piped in that if Matthew needed to, he could always go to the school nurse and tell her that he had a stomach ache because she would give him crackers to help him feel better. I kind of chuckled at this, and then tucked the memory away without a second thought.

Later on today I get a call from Nolan, who was "sick" in the nurses office for the second day in a row. After getting mixed information from Nolan about whether he needed to come home or not, I decided to talk to the nurse. After we went over things like temperature and so forth, it finally dawned on me what might actually be going on. I then proceeded to tell the nurse what Nolan had said earlier today and she laughed. She then told me that she hadn't tried giving him crackers today, like the day before, but that she would try it again and see if they made him feel "better". LOL !!! (I then gave Nolan crackers after he got back from school too.)

One way to make a living

Somebody should give this kid a scholarship, he makes for a great linguist!

Found the picture! So...what do you think?

The most ridiculous item of the day:

Today as I washed dishes, I thought I'd give the Bonnie Hunt show a try. As part of her show, Bonnie showed this ludicrous photo of a very pregnant woman wearing a wedding dress. Apparently this bride decided to celebrate her condition by flaunting her bare belly through a gigantic hole in her dress! (Really!!!!) What is this world coming to?

I apologize that I was unable to find the picture for you. Ah well, perhaps it is for the best.

Some things that I love...in ABC order

A clean house, All animals, Art, Avocados,

Babies, Baths, Beads, Beethoven, Bills that are payed, Books,

Camping, Celtic Woman (the group), Cheese, Chocolate, Chomping on ice,
Church, Classical music, Crafts, Crystals, Cuddling, Culture,

Dancing, Dave, Daydreaming, Debussy, Dvorak

Enya, Everyone, Exploring,

Family, Fire, Flowers, Flying, Fresh air, Friends, Fresh Fruit,

Gardens, Geology, Giving, Grieg, Guacamole,

Happiness, Helping, Hiking, History,

Ice skating, indigo blue,

Jane Austin stories, Jumping on trampolines,

Knowledge,

Languages, Laughter, Learning, Less stress, Limeade,

Maraschino cherries, Marzipan, Mexican food, Moon, Mountains, Music,

Natural remedies, Nature,

Obedience, Oil painting, Olives,

Pasta, People watching, Pistachios, Pizza, Plants, Playing the piano,

Quiet,

Reading, Red, Rivers,

Salads, Sauteed mushrooms, School, Science, Singing, Sleep, Snow, Smiles,
Stars,

Tart candy, Temples, The Savior, Tomatoes, Traveling, Trees,

Universe,

Valentines Day, Visiting friends,

Walks, Weddings, Wisdom, Work, Writing,

X-ellence,

Yacking (not the throw-up kind, mind you),

Zoo's.

The Hallowean of Fright

Those familiar with our household know that Dave loves Halloween. It's his favorite holiday, and he doesn't miss a "creak" or an "eek" when it comes to decorating our house. Every year his amazing displays are touched up, perfected, or made even larger and gruesome. Similarly, more and more people come by to admire his handiwork, engaging their inner child (if they aren't already one).


Dave built it, and they did come. And did they ever come! Last Halloween word spread even faster than the year before. "Come and see the Grimm Reaper's house"! This was no drive by and see the pretty lights type of frenzy, mind you. This was a "Get out of your car and check it out!" kind of thing.

In addition to decorating the outside of our home, we have several window displays in our formal living and dining areas, all of which can be seen by the street. (We aren't talking murals or decals here either.) We also hang a menacing ghoul that floats just above our front door (on the inside) that can also be viewed by passer byes. We have fans, strobe lights, fog machines, scary sounds, music, and lots of black lights too. And then there is Dave....


Dressed up as a 7 foot tall Grimm Reaper, Dave lurks about, silently entertaining those who come within his range. Occasionally some unwary soul will turn around startled, having finally been made aware of Death's presence by the laughter and stares of onlookers. People just can't get enough of his "you will be next" pantomime. Dave's performance has proven to be such a hit, in fact, that by the time things ended last year, he had been asked to pose for numerous photos while dressed in character. If that weren't enough, he also made it on to a few private video recordings! He's a celebrity now, what more need I say?


Sadly, despite all the fun and glory, there always ends up being a few minor incidents in which a child or two ends up on the verge of tears. Although we've managed to avert a catastrophe thus far, this year may prove to be different, as a number of set backs already challenge Dave's flawless record.

As many of you know, I tend young children during the day. I have even been privileged enough to be able to do it from the comforts of our home, unlike when I first started. For this I am truly grateful. On the whole, this hasn't changed our home routine nearly as much as working outside the home did. That is, until the creepy crawlies, and the ghastly ghosties needed to start making guest appearances.


As fate would have it, it turns out that the cute little whippersnappers I take care of freak out extremely easy! (I'm not exaggerating either.) Not only are they highly sensitive to things that go bump in the night, the mere thought of such things puts them in such a state of panic that they literally can't go anywhere alone, much less be in the dark. (They freeze with terror, and cling for dear life, as the saying goes.) Therefore, change is in the air for Dave's Halloween affair.

So what types of alterations are being made to Spookfest 2008? I would love to report that things are being toned down a bit by the adaptation of more kid friendly themes, but sadly this is not the case. In fact, things are probably getting scarier! Dave has decided to do try something else instead; a plan which requires less sacrifice on his part. Dave plans to wean the kids of their Halloween fright: (You actually didn't think that was a typo in the title, did you?)

For starters, Dave is letting the kids play with most of the things he plans to use. We have been having them do things such as honk the masks' noses, pretend to carve pumpkins, or play tag with loose limbs. They pretend to cut pizza with Michael Meyers' knife, which adds it's own scary music at the touch of a button. We also let them talk into a fun voice distorter, which allows them sound like aliens, monsters, storm troopers and so on. You get the picture.

Additionally, Dave has been putting together his villains where the tiny tots can see them transform day by day from mere masks, pieces of PVC, costumes, and so on, to the final product. The kids are encouraged to touch and explore. We move the props around and change their posture occasionally as well. So far things are going as planned.

Next, Dave plans on letting the children help out with the indoor displays by letting them assist with the smaller sized props. Once the spider webs are up, perhaps they may venture out to help put the spiders in place and so on. Then, once the kids have gone home on Oct. 31, David will add the final touches and change into his costume.

We can say that we are doing this for the kids' own welfare, it's also just some harmless fun, but is that entirely so? I have to admit, all of this gradual desensitizing reminds me of Satan and his own subtle methods which lead the children of men "carefully down to hell". (2 Nephi 28:21-22) It makes me wonder who is really being numbed here, the kids, or us?

Though celebrating Halloween by no means comes even close to being a sin, does dressing up as fictitious malefactors glorify the face of evil in some small way? Does portraying gruesome scenes make light of heinous acts? I think so. I think we as a society have slipped ever so slightly into hallowing the not so hallowed. Perhaps instead of weaning little

children of their fright of Halloween night, maybe we should start weaning Halloween night of all the fright. Besides, isn't all the creative costumes, candy, and happy children fun enough?