Happy Birthday, Uncle Matthew!

Merry Christmas!

Yeah, it's a little late. But it still counts.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

My 100th Post!

In celebration of my 100th post,

I would like to announce that

our blog will be going

"private" starting Dec. 1st.

(This means you will need to be logged in to your google account to view this blog.)

If you would like to read our blog in the future,

please leave your email address in the comments.

(I have set the comments to private so no one else will get your email address.)

Happy Halloween!

We started out last night taking the kids trick-or-treating to both sets of grandparents. That way the kids don't get too tired and cranky by the time we make all the rounds.

Here they are trick-or-treating at Grandma and Grandpa Chandler's house.

The Costumes

Alice the Ladybug

She really did NOT like wearing this. But once she realized people would put candy in her bucket, she decided she could tolerate it. Whatever works.

Sam the Skeleton

We told him to make a scary face for this picture but for some reason he's also doing Spiderman hands. But he thought he was pretty spooky.

Kate the Cowgirl

She posed for every picture...a true model.

Trunk-or-treat at the church

Now the costumes are off. The jammies are on. And everyone has had their ration from their candy stash. Now all that's left to do is blow out the candles in the pumpkins....

...hmm. Easier said than done.

Pumpkin Carving

Last week we took the kids to pick out pumpkins to carve. Sam had just woken up and was too tired but luckily his had already been picked out for him because it was from Grandma Williams' garden. Kate made her choice very selectively while Joe looked for the tallest one he could find. Alice found a little one and wouldn't put it down. She'd even fussed at us when we went to purchase them because she did not want to let go!

Then we had a lot of fun Monday night carving our pumpkins together. We hollowed them out and the kids we disgusted by the "punkin guts." Kate and Sam used markers and drew faces on theirs. Sammy got a little frustrated because he didn't know how to make a "silly punkin face for his guy." So I asked him, "Do you want it like this [making a funny face], like this [making a happy face], or like this [making a scary face]." The scary face won.

Now the kids love going out to the front porch to check out our pumpkin family.

.............Joe's....................................... Rachael's............

..........Sam's.......................................................... Alice's.................................................... Kate's...........

3 Years Old

opening presents

Wow! Look at our big boy! It's hard to believe he's already 3 years old! I remember when he was just a tiny baby and would giggle every time we changed his clothes because he was just SO ticklish. Sam still loves to be tickled and laugh but also loves to snuggle and give kisses on your nose and give big hugs. He is always learning something new. He loves to play with cars, trucks, trains, planes and boats. He's becoming quite the little athlete and is already perfecting kicking a soccer ball. (Daddy's so proud!) He loves to be silly and make us all laugh. He is always on the move. He loves going to his "church cwass" and playing with "the toys and the childwen" or "the guys." Sam can figure out how to have fun anywhere he goes.

Happy Birthday, Sam!

WE LOVE YOU!

Do the Sticky Stuff

by Whiney Permann

For me, one of the most frustrating parts of being a wife, mother, and woman is that most of what I do does not stick. Let me explain.

I do the dishes. Every dish in my house in clean. Then what happens? Someone gets a drink. Then someone eats off a plate. And then? Time for dinner. My clean dishes have gone bye bye.

Does this sound familiar? You do the laundry, someone spills. You make a bed, it gets undone. you sweep, crumbs get dropped. And here's my favorite--you change a poopy diaper, and 2 minutes later...the "follow-up" arrives.

SO much of what we do as women never stays done. It doesn't stick. And if you are like me, you may feel like you are often running around in circles.

On one particularly challenging day, I was reading in Luke chapter 10. You remember Mary and Martha? This is the part where the Lord comes to visit the sisters at their home. While Mary sits at the feet of the Savior and listens to Him teach, Martha is running around "cumbered about much serving."

She asks, "Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

Never before had I noticed those last 8 words, "which shall not be taken away from her." Learning from the Master was something that Mary got to keep forever! It stuck. Laundry, dishes, full bellies, clean diapers, made beds--although they are important and HAVE to be done--they all get taken away from me. There are, however, a few things that STICK.

Scripture study sticks. Prayer sticks. Playing with my kids sticks.

Can you think of other sticky things? A date with your husband, writing in your journal, having family home evening...in my opinion these are all things that cannot be taken away from us. They stay forever. They stick. The effects of these simple acts--little by little and line upon line--change our very natures, and shape our eternal destinies.

Spend time each day doing the "stinky things." No matter how chaotic my day has been, no matter how may times I re-sweep the floor, re-wash the dishes, or re-gather toys, I feel satisfied if I have spent time doing the things that matter most--those few precious things that cannot "be taken away" from me.

So go ahead--do the sticky things today!

Whitney Permann is part of the LDS group Mercy River. http://mercyrivermusic.com

Painting is "The Better Part" by Simon Dewey.