Some of this some of that.

Clean dishes.
Calvy enjoying the view on the way to our super cool trip! More on that later.
Dirty shoes mean happy and sleepy kids.
The amazing Alan, my best friend.
Our delicious lunch before we left. Yummo! Recipe on my food blog, here----------->

Deep Thoughts by Keara B.

We went for a Sunday drive tonight after dinner. We drove around looking for all the "Halloween Houses". As I held Alan's hand with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir playing in the background I felt a sense of total contentment. We had been missing our Daddy who was away at a NUCCA conference for 3 days. I love my family, I love when we are all together in the same space, whether it be a car or bedroom or a family room, I just love when we are all together, safe and happy.

I love driving through the neighborhoods and seeing all the windows lit up with blue lights, it makes me feel comfortable and safe, I envision us in our own home sitting on the couch together watching a movie cuddled under a blanket drinking hot chocolate and eating popcorn. There is a sense of safety I feel when we are in our home protected against the weather and those who might harm us. I remember playing "camping" as a child, we would use every sheet in the house and all our dining chairs and hair ties and make a tent. We would turn all the lights off and put a lamp in the middle of the tent and pretend that it was a fire. I would pretend that we were out in the wilderness somewhere, where there were deadly animals that might try and hurt us, but I would stay close to the fire and be safe. I still remember that feeling of safety, I often feel it while we are driving cross-country and we are all in our car driving through the darkness when all that can be seen is lit up by our headlights. In the midst of all that darkness I feel safe and protected and very blessed to have all of my little family snug and safe in our car.

I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and for that being my light in the midst of the world or darkness. I am so thankful for the Plan of Salvation and temples which will allow me and my family to live together for eternity. I love my Savior, I am so humbled to know what He did for me, to know that He did it for us all because of love, I am truly grateful for such a blessing.

Zonked.

My friend got a new Halloween cartridge for her Cricut and wanted to try it out. Being a little overenthusiastic about Halloween has it's benefits. These are just a few things we did.

The local Libraries are have a "chairity" event and auctioning off chairs that people had decorated and donated for a silent auction. I put in a bid for this one. I love it, I love sunflowers and the quote just topped it off for me. The auction isn't over until November 4th, so there is still a lot of time for others to out bid me, but here's hoping I get it.

Looking forward to October break, Halloween, our trip to Ohio and Alan's parents coming to town. YAY!

~Keara

Calveanorisms.

Ellie: "I wan my poon."

Mommy: "It's a tooth brush"

Ellie: "poop bruss. I wan my poop bruss"

Mommy: "tooth brush."

Ellie: "I wan bruss my teese"

C: "I was a punching bad guy, that's why I was doing that."

M: "Well, just be nice, don't punch anyone."

C: "but I was a punching bad guy, that's what bad guys do."

It's a BEAUTIFUL Life

Boy, does that missionary look hungry. ;0)

We fed the missionaries and had our super wonderful neighbor, Linda, come over to join us. The meal was not half bad, it totally fit my diet at nobody complained, they actually said it was delicious. My friends tell me I'm quite the gourmet, though I would never profess to be, all I know is my friends say so....10 points to whoever can name that movie.

~000~

Football. I love Alan because he is such a good Daddy, he loves playing with the kids and enjoys teaching them new things. Sadly football is new to them, we are not much for sports in our house. I am so glad I was able to capture this moment on camera, I love seeing their smiles and remembering how it felt to sit out in the cool breeze watching my favorite people enjoy themselves.

Ellie didn't quite grasp the concept of taking the ball and running with it. . .

She sure did love it though.

Fierce.

Calvy just loved it, they "tackled" each other and Alan played monster football player.

~000~

One of the cruel realities of going to school away from home is that you make great friends, "friends for life" who lets be honest, you will probably never see again once you graduate. It's not that you don't really love each other it's just that life does go on, and your focus changes. I experienced my first good-bye this last week. One of my VERY great friends moved home last week, so we threw her a going away sha-bang. I, of course, went out with my Halloween decor to make it a spooktacular night for everyone. This is my largest pumpkin for this year, sitting atop one of my favorite chairs.

This is my great friend, who at this point-in-time is enjoying some nice sunshine in a nice new house with nice grandparents who take the kids so Mommy can enjoy a nice break every morning. I am a tiny bit jealous of her...a tiny bit. :0) I love you Tori! Kiss those babies for me.

These are my other pumpkins on top of our TV armoire, I pulled that grass out of someones yard. tehe, I though it would look cool in a vase, and it does. ;0)

These are just some pics of the spread, I didn't take one when we had all the food...well I'm pretty sure it was all junk food, which I did NOT eat, I stuck to carrots and celery and a few pieces of fruit.

It was really hard for me to pass up those donuts, seriously, my favorite thing in the WHOLE world to eat...SERIOUSLY.

I love my little highchair, Alan thought it was weird that I decided to out our drinks there.

Alan came home from Priesthood Session of Conference, the kids were so excited to have their Daddy, they had a little tickle fight. You can see in Calvy's eyes how much he loves his Daddy. Being a parent is so cool, how else would you get another human being to look at you in that way? I am convinced there is no greater call. Love it.

~000~

Bike ride, Conference and misc happenings

This was our sweet ride for our "After Conference Bike Ride". Alan rigged up the carseat so Hellie(that is what we are calling her now, for very valid reasons) could ride with us in comfort and not to mention...style. Alan came up to get us and said, "I just keep thinking Beverly Hillbillies" I didn't know what he was talking about, but I was scared. It was a lot of fun, but I definitely did feel like the hillbillies. ;0)

My McDreamy! Still gives me the giggles.

While on our bike ride Calvin said, "whoa, I was afraid that car was going to hit me(it wasn't, it was at least a block away), I was afraid it would hit me in my head, and then I would have had blood dripping all over my face."

...Gross. I have no idea how he learned to be so graphic.

This is from this morning during the Sunday Morning Session of General Conference. Nixon sat like this the whole 2 hours. He really wanted some of that bacon to fall, I think he might have gotten a blueberry instead.

This is what I ate. Oh yes, I DID eat that waffle, I did break my no sugar rule and I will probably be paying for it, and no I don't really think it was worth it. It was good, but I'd rather not have a sore upper-half.

Diggin in.

Oh Yes, this is me in my morning glory. I got up "early" and took a "thinking of you" gift to a good friend(we love you!) then came home helped finish breakfast, dug in then enjoyed conference with my cute chubalishess bud. Such a good morning.

Oh man, I am re-living that bacon....SO good.

Checkout my new sweet ottoman we got at the Salvation Army for $1...yes a buck. I am so excited to recover it, it's just another testament that we are known in Heaven.

This is a random picture of Hellie a few mornings ago. Look at that hair!...and Nixon licking himself in the background.

Palmer ICAA Bar-B-Que. Hellie took that treat from the table, she was NOT supposed to get one. I love the two cherios stuck to her cheek.

Just playin and havin some fun in the treehouse.

Today Calvy said to me, "when I get big like you, I will be humungous!"

...Hmmm.

This made me laugh, Calvy just puttin his feet up after a long day of playing.

This was the result of Alan's solution to our bat problem, one pair of my nylons cut into pieces. So far it has worked....thank goodness.

I'm sorry that my posts have been so lame lately. I feel like I don't have much inspiration for anything to write about, maybe it's my energy...I have none. ;0) Or maybe it's because I need to heed the words of our Prophets and Apostles, and slow down. I do feel as if I am running around doing the hokie pokie all day rather than getting anything done. I have realized that if I want a clean house that is all I can do all day long, is clean, so I have come to grips with the fact that I will never have a spotless house the way I would like, if I want to be a good person and Mother. So...I am going to bed with dishes on my counter, toys all over the floor, clean laundry in the basket, a laundry chute full of dirty laundry and Halloween decorations all over. I am ok with it...well getting there, but I would rather do service and go to bed with a dirty house than go to bed in a spotless house and forget those who need my help, especially my family.

I love being a mother, I LOVE staying home with them and hearing all of the funny things Calvy says all day like, "Let me measure this, oh it's foot and toe long", and catching Hellie standing on the back of the couch just in time to see her jump off, or picking up a full glass of milk and dumping it on the couch or maybe noticing that the reason why she was sitting so quietly under the desk while I blogged was because she found a pencil and decided to use it a make "art" ALL over the wall. I love being a Mommy to my sweet baby Caleb who is so good and so ticklish and gives me such goofy smile and laughs that I think it might be possible for me to just eat his cheeks. Being a Mother is all I ever wanted to be, I remember answering the question in 5th grade, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" with "Mommy". I was born to be a Mother and I am so grateful for this gift.

I thoroughly enjoyed Conference and hearing from all of the speakers and I encourage you all to watch it or watch it again. You can get the audio here and later they will have video on that same link. Have a great week, I should have some good posts for you this next week.

-Keara