Friday Fill Ins

1. It was a dark and stormy night, Halloween night to be precise. It is the night of ghouls and deamons, spooks, and scary noises that go bump in the night. I cast my gaze out the window eagerly awaiting my cousin Annabel. Tonight we were going to settle in with some spooky movies and popcorn. A slight movement caused me to shift my gaze to the left. I stopped breathing when I saw two bright green eyes staring at me.

2. Visions of monsters formed in my brain. The green eyes started coming closer as I threw the curtains closed. My heart pounded in my chest as the doorbell rang. Since when do monsters ring door bells??

"Come on let me in! I'm getting soaked out here!" Annabel's voice shouted through the door. My cousin! I sighed with relief as I unlocked the door and let her in. We had a good laugh when I told her I thought she was a monster. "So are you ready for a scare fest or are you too scared already?" She smirked as she headed to the DVD player. Ha, ha, I thought.

Halfway through the first movie Annabel sat straight up and covered her mouth with her hand. "I totally forgot to bring Michael his books! He said he had to have them for a report due Monday!" Michael lived only two doors down and Annabel was still trying to dry out so I offered to take the books myself.

3. Rushing out, I tucked the books under my raincoat so they wouldn't get completely soaked by the relentless rain.

4. I was almost to Michaels house when I slid to a stop on the slippery sidewalk. I stammered to myself,"...I think I heard a howl!" I turned around and saw the bush I just passed shaking unnaturally. Luckily for me Micheal saw me coming and motioned for me to come inside. I didn't hesitate as I raced into his house and headed immediately to the window. I pressed my face against the glass waiting for a werewolf to pop out any second.

5. "Shhhh..." I whispered to Michael. "There's something outside your house." I then turned to look at Michael and instantly my fear was calmed for a moment as I saw his ridiculous disguise.

6. "What, you don't like my mask?" He gasped in pretended offense as he wiggled his eyebrows up and down. I just shook my head and smiled until a light knock sounded on his door. All silliness was whisked away as I remembered what could be right outside the door. Michael ran to the door and threw it open before I could stop him.

"No!!" I shouted. All I saw was teeth and fur as I slammed the door with all my might and turned the lock. "What in the world are you doing?" Michael questioned, looking at me dumbfounded. I just opened my mouth to answer him when I heard a childs muffled voice yelling, "Hey! Trick or treat and give me something good to eat!" I just groaned as I sheepishly opened the door to reveal a child in a werewolf mask. Michael gave the boy a handful of candy as I sputtered out an apology.

"Oops, guess my imagination got the best of me," I shrugged. Michael just laughed as I handed him the books and quickly stepped back out into the pouring rain. "I have got to stop scaring myself just because it's Halloween." I whispered to myself as I made my way home. "That's the last time I get spooked tonight." One pair of shining green eyes watching me from a bush however didn't agree...

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to the Elementary school's Halloween carnival, tomorrow my plans include goofing off and going trick or treating with the kids and Sunday, I want to catch up on cleaning and sneaking the kids candy!

Wordless Wednesday

Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere!

This weekend we got some of the family together for Mexican food and pumpkin carving!

Everyone had a different pattern and it was so fun to see their creations.



Kaitlyn found out she was allergic to the "pumpkin guts" as she gutted hers out.



I just love Halloween preparations!!



Here is Tauna with her "batty" creation.

I was busy working on ol' Mr. Frank.



Mom wanted to do a dragon on her pumpkin. Sorry it didn't work out ma! Her paper got messed up halfway through the process.

Here's a cute little boy making a Halloween candy necklace.



Carlee was really getting into the spirit of things as she drew on her mini pumpkin!

Collin is so proud of his pumpkin face!



Here's a close up of Carlee's pumpkin.



And Collin's!



Here's my flaming skull of death. Mwah ha ha!

I loved Frankenstein!! Kisses!! Hee hee...

Anyways, thanks fam for the fun night.

Dee I hope you get your pumpkin finished today!!

Can't wait for Halloween!

Rawr!!

It all started out innocently enough

with a simple flier in my sons backpack.

Before I knew it I was signing Collin up to be a tiger cub in the Boy Scouts of America program.

And me? I am now Akela. Cubmaster Akela to be precise. The job is going to take alot of responsibility, time, effort and planning.

I have been getting a lot of flack for volunteering to this program but I am so excited! It has been so fun seeing how excited the boys are. I organized our very first pack meeting on the 17th. Collin was super excited to wear his uniform and was bouncing off the walls. He helped me so much getting ready for the meeting. What a sweetie!! He colored, cut, hung and placed up most of the decorations. I could not have done it without him. Plus Eric helped me set up too which was so nice! He would be a good cub scout leader. I'm trying to convince him of that, hee hee! We will be starting our first den meeting the beginning of next month. We only have 3 tiger cubs but Collin is working hard trying to recruit some more!

I'll have to post a picture of Collin and I in our awesome uniforms later. I forgot to take pictures of our first meeting. Wish our tiny troop success! I might need the extra encouragement. I'm looking forward to having fun with the boys and learning new skills. Yea for fun boyish scout activities I never got to do because of being a girl!

Krazy Kids!!

I felt something like a string touch my arm. I ignored it and pressed forward. As I walked further I felt a new sensation on my arm; something that felt like eight tiny legs. I frantically brushed off the black creepy invader that dared touch me and ran screaming up the stairs like a baby. Yes, I am a baby when it comes to spiders. They give me the willies!! This is why I had my husband rescue our Halloween crates from the black widow infested basement.

As I was going through the decorations my kids were out of control excited. They wanted to pull everything out and set it up right away! They found a couple of witch hats and immediately had to model them for me.

They go perfectly with PJ's and pink rain boots don't you think?

Carlee's eczema was so bad that day, the poor babe!

Dancing up some trouble!

Where did that cute witch go??

There she is!!

What a face!
My kids are krazy.
Krazy hilarious!

My baby is 4!!

Oh I can't believe that my baby is 4 years old! She's getting old enough that people think I'm strange for still calling her my baby. I don't think moms ever outgrow calling their babies "babies" though do they??

Thanks everyone for coming out and sharing Carlee's last minute party. I wasn't really in the mood to even throw a party in the first place. Unusual for me I know. Oh well, I'm certainly glad that we had some family there to share in Carlee's tragic fast ending of number 3.

My mother did such an awesome job in decorating the cake! (see slideshow below). Carlee absolutely loved it! Grandpa and daddy were in the basement and Carlee couldn't wait for them to come up. She devoured the whole fence on one side of the cake in about two seconds flat. The fence was white chocolate and boy did she enjoy it. I should have had that on video. It was too cute.

Anyways, thanks everyone for coming over to celebrate with us. Carlee, happy birthday!! We love you!!

Alma

I was very excited to review Heather B. Moore's latest novel titled "Alma". This book continues the story from her previous book titled "Abinadi". Once I read that book I was hooked! Heather is one of those authors that writes with such passion that you can't help but fall in love with her characters. You'll end up begging for more when the last chapter ends.

Her characters jump off the pages with raw emotion and conviction. Get ready to experience a tilt-a-whirl of emotions including heartache, joy, hatred, suffering and elation. This is truly an inspirational book!


Synopsis from Seagull Book:

King Noah is thundering with rage. The former high priest Alma has vanished from the city of Nephi, and every night more of his believers manage to escape. The king blames Amulon and threatens certain punishment unless Amulon recaptures Alma-a seemingly impossible task. But Amulon has a plan. An equally valuable prisoner is at his fingertips: Noah's wife, Maia, whose newfound faith means bitter humiliation for the king and an opportunity for Amulon to seize power.

Amulon's disavowed daughter Raquel has plans of her own. Despite her grief, she is determined to begin a new life in the colony Alma and his followers are building. When Lamanites plunder and burn her settlement, Raquel and her young son are forced to flee to the waters of Mormon.

Drama and danger escalate as Alma the Elder organizes the Lord's Church and baptizes its members, bringing an outpouring of divine grace and power. But even as they rejoice, the believers have profound and perilous trials to face, from the outward threat of Amulon's treachery to the inward threat of pride and disobedience. With poignant emotion, gripping suspense, and rich inspiration, this new epic story from H.B. Moore vividly brings the Book of Mormon to life.


I have always adored books based on historical fiction. H.B. Moore not only brings the Book of Mormon characters to life, she captures the imagination. It's truly fascinating to read what the early prophets may have acted like. I was actually inspired to pick up the Book of Mormon and study. Any book that can inspire readers to more faithful aspirations must be a powerfully written book indeed!

This was a delightful, enticing read and I can't wait to read "Alma the Younger" next fall!

To nominate Alma for a 2009 Whitney Award click here.