304: halloween 2013

 2 of the 3 are the same thing they were last year! 

{Jim's photobombing in the background...along with Brody}

 Skyler and Brody..tacky tourists

 Buddy the Elf..thanks to my mom for helping {pretty much doing all the hard sewing} with this costume.  I had a picture I was working off and I think we did pretty dang good. He stayed in it for about 5 minutes..but I got my pictures and am happy.  This is payback for him being so naughty!

 Dallin and Ryder

I even dressed up for seminary this morning! 

303: big feed corn maze

We have lived in Temecula for 10 years now and have never done the big corn maze.  We drive past it everyday and always talk about doing it, but never have time. Today I decided to take Ryder and his friend Crew to check it out.  It was pretty difficult and took us a good hour. It was huge and so intricately detailed. It was pretty cool though. Then we found a play yard of corn..my very own corn on the Ryder.

302: an ensign to the world

Today in seminary we talked about being an Ensign to the world. I had my students create a pendant depicting what they viewed as most important to them and how they can be an example of truth and righteousness. 

301: how tall this fall

Sadly, our trips to the pumpkin patch are getting shorter and shorter.  I think we did it in less than 10 minutes. I'm a stickler on tradition, so they have to at least give me a couple pictures. It started raining on us, so it made the trip even quicker. Jim had a meeting at church, so he couldn't make it.

300: brasil report

No, we did not fly to Brazil for the day! Though, sooner rather than later, we will go!  Jim is dying to take me here, where he served his mission: Rio de Janeiro. Today I borrowed a picture from the internet as I had to help Jayden do a project that was due 1 1/2 weeks ago! When asked why he didn't do it or even tell me about it, he said, "I forgot!" Arrrrghhh! That doesn't cut it with me!

299: mt. sac invitational with skyler

I have never seen so many runners in my life.  I guess the Mt. Sac invitational is one of the biggest in the state for cross country. Sadly for Skyler, it was hot! He didn't race until 11:20 so it was kinda miserable. I couldn't imagine running those hills in the mid-day sun. He powered through and had a strong finish.

{Skyler is officially taller than me!}

298: mole check day

Mole check day..I had a little something on my face that I continually picked at so the doctor decided to just freeze it off. 

297: my top dawg

I couldn't be more proud of this guy!  He ran his heart out!! Jayden is my lease competitive son..he didn't want to come in first.  All he wanted to do was earn his "Top Dawg" shirt and in order to do that, he had to run a 6:30 minute mile. Todays cross country meet was his day. He ran his 2 miles in exactly 12:00 minutes, earning him his shirt.  He was so excited he cried. He worked hard to get it and he got it! 

296: school spirit

Crazy Sock day at school..it's red ribbon week!

If I blink, I might miss it! Skyler is not one for participating in all the school spirit..this is his first time, ever..and it might be his last because he got very mad at me for taking a picture.

295: students sport support

Went to watch a few of my students today!

Volleyball..won!

Cheerleading..caught her handspring in action, on my phone!

Waterpolo: won!

294: smile

S.M.I.L.E.

Spiritually Minded Is Life Eternal

2 Nephi 9:39

Another year of Meet the Masters: art program has begun!

This is my 9th year!

293: giant zit

Failed to take any real pictures of the weekend. This was a quick one before we left. That's all my stuff on the table in the back..everyone else had left or was about to leave.

Jim had quite the morning. He had to speak in church at the building on the other side of town. He woke up late, after having prepared his talk all night, only to find that somehow, the pilot light on the water heater was out and there was no hot water. He quickly turned on the spa and the boys "bathed". If that wasn't drama enough, Jayden woke up with a ginormous zit under his nose. He refused to go to church with it {this is it after it had been popped once}. Jim sent Ryder across the street to go to church with our neighbors and he took Skyler. Little did he know that of all mornings to be late, this was not a good one because there was a breast cancer run/walk going on by the church and all streets were closed! It took him awhile, but he found a detour. 

See what happens when mom is out of town!

292: girls weekend

It was a girls crafting/scrapbooking weekend. I spent the time organizing all my computer files and pictures and pulling all the pictures I needed to finish Jayden's baby book and to start Ryder's.  It was a lengthy process, but I powered through it and finished all that I set out to do! I'd call that a very productive weekend.

291: sin and justification vs. atonement

My object lesson in seminary today..took styrofoam packing peanuts {which were conveniently in the shape of a s for SIN} and used them to represent our sins. We talked about how we justify that they are not that bad..afterall, we're not out killing anyone, or robbing a bank.  I explained that that's what Satan wants us to do..Justify and rationalize. Then I had a jar of acetone to represent the Atonement.  As soon as you drop the peanut in the acetone, it dissolves. Christ has paid the price for every sin, through His atonement and all we have to do is give it up to him.

Here's a video demonstration:

290: buddy's sick again

Buddy has had this awful, deep cough. It's at it's worst at night, when we're all trying to sleep.  I took him into the vet today and they told me it looks like kennel cough!  It's going around town like wildfire right now.  Seriously...this dog catches every communicable disease that's out there! They put him on an antibiotic, so let's hope that does the trick.

He's 98 lbs. now!

289: where's the dog

Ryder has taken over Buddy's bed!

288: skyler's league meet

It seems like there's a lot of running going on around our house lately!
Skyler's school: Great Oak High School, took 1st!

287: jayden's 1st cross country meet

Jayden's first cross country match..Vail Ranch Middle School

There were about 8-10 different middle schools all competing.  Jayden did a great job and ran his little heart out!

286: paul's birthday

Happy Birthday to my nephew Paul..out of his 6 years, this is the first time we've been able to celebrate his birthday with him.

285: hot cocoa...take me away

It was one of those days...nothing a hot bath and a cup of cocoa can't fix.

284: letter from rubios

I may not like the changes they have made with their salsa, but I love their customer service! I was so surprised to first, get a phone call from the 3rd in command over the comment I had sent them via email, and then, a handwritten letter expressing his gratitude for my passion about their product. It feels pretty dang good to know my voice was heard.

283: a new tooth

Not really a new tooth, rather a new bonding! I had a tooth, that was bonded terrible. It was shorter and darker than the rest of my teeth. I finally did something about it. I was going to do veneers, but decided for the money, I would rather go to Hawaii. So I took the cheaper route and went with a new bonding! Such a small change made a huge difference {in my eyes}!

282: it never goes away

One word to explain where the bulk of my time is spent:  LAUNDRY!

281: ghetto 9 balloon

The anual balloon picture almost didn't happen! In Jim's rush to clean up, he had thrown away the 9 balloon before I got a chance to take Ryder's pictures.  A couple weeks later, I had the brilliant, yet borderline white trash, idea to go into the store and pose with the ballon. Ryder agreed with my plan on the basis that I would buy him a ball. I think that's an even exchange for what I had him do.

280: 40 lbs. of chicken

40 lbs. of chicken! Fresh, no hormones, no preservative, no chemicals! I spent my morning with my food saver and some meaty breasts! The most delicious chicken ever!

You can only order 2 times a year..spring & fall!

279: general conference

An amazing weekend of General Conference.

278: broken dishwasher

This is life! Non-draining dishwasher. Paid the plumber $60 for 2 minutes of work. He unclogged the air hose..not anywhere near the dishwasher, but up on the sink. Didn't see those instructions anywhere in the manual or on the internet! Go figure.

277: buddy

It's been awhile since I posted a picture of Buddy doing something non-destructive. 

276: my superheroes

It's spirit week {homecoming} this week at Great Oak High School!

Today was Superhero day! Love these kids!

275: 1st league meet

Skyler had his first, league cross country meet. Great Oak took 1st in every division. 

274: temple day

Went to the temple this morning. No special reason, just because.