October 2013
  

Our Hallowe'en Morning

This morning I awoke to the sound of a whisper.

It said, "Happy Hallowe'en Mom", right in my ear. I opened my eyes to see which girl had said it, but my eyes weren't ready to focus right away and she was already scurrying away. My eyes focused just enough to see a little head bobbing away as she scurried out of my room. Based on the messiness of the hair (hers is curly, her sister's isn't) and the height of the girl, I think it was this little munchkin:

She had school yesterday and got to wear her costume- today is Talia's turn

Soon I looked at the clock and realized we had slept in. I decided not to care. I told Talia she wouldn't make her bus and we just got ready at our normal pace- I even had a shower before I left (I had to- I didn't wash my hair yesterday and I wasn't willing to face the school secretary without showering this morning!)

I was proud of myself for not rushing or getting stressed. Talia & I left for school calmly and happily, talking about the fun day ahead of her. She had her costume in a bag under her arm and rubber boots on her feet (it is raining today- ALL DAY LONG... but it's not snow, so we are thankful for that).

We walked into the school and I signed her in. When you sign your child in, the paper on the clipboard asks you to write the time, the child's name, teacher, reason for lateness, and parent's signature. I filled everything out except for the reason (glancing at the few lines above where reasons were "flu shot", "doctor's appointment", "mom late"). I tried to think of a way to state my reason that sounded responsible and unavoidable but I couldn't do it. So I wrote, "Crazy Morning". And I drew a winking happy face. I hope the secretary has a sense of humour. On the way home, I thought that I might have written "missed bus" or "slept in".. but those aren't really responsible sounding either.

And then I decided not to worry about it.

Hope you have a stress-free, worry-free, super happy Hallowe'en today!!

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Meet the Little People! #FPLittlePeople

My kids are fans of little people and so am I. My parents still have the original little people that my siblings and I used to play with at their house, and we have several sets of the new ones at our house. My kids were pretty thrilled to get the new little people in the mail!


Did you know there are 5 new little people?

They each have names and personalities!


Here's a bit about each of the new Little People:


Sofie is a stargazing fashionista. She's curious and never without a box of crayons.

Eddie is a high-energy, sporty team player who likes to go, go, go!

Mia is a sensitive, gentle, proper little lady who loves bows & collecting.

Koby
is a silly jester who is full of comic energy, makes everyone laugh and loves dinosaurs.

Tessa is a spirited go-getter- a little dancer who loves to twirl and loves animals.


You can Meet the Friends at Fisher Price's website
(and see cute little videos about them, with songs your kids
will have fun listening to and dancing and moving along with).

Just like the new Little People, my kids have their own unique personalities. I think they each can relate to several of the little people. I like that they don't fit perfectly with one of them because that's just the way it is in "real life" when they meet and interact with others. I want them to be able to recognize and appreciate the different skills, characteristics, and talents in others and themselves!


Contest!

In October and November, Treehouse will hold the Little People, Big Discoveries contest. Contestants will be able to play a hide and seek game to find new characters on playsets, watch the videos and be entered to win 1 of 5 $265 Little People Prize packs.

Disclosure: I am part of the Fisher-Price Little People® Blogger Campaign with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

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Written On Our Hearts

When I was 20 and away at University in Idaho, I decided one day that it was about time I read the Bible. I set out to read it from cover to cover because I had never read it that way before. It took a LOOONG time! There are many parts of the Old Testament that are difficult to read and understand! At times I was reading just to say I had read it, because I wasn't getting a lot out of what I was reading.

Having had that experience, I was excited to read Emily Freeman's new book, Written On Our Hearts, published by Deseret Book.


This is a really neat book and it's totally tackle-able! The book is separated by different parts of the Old Testament and within each section, there are small 2-3 page "chapters" that share Emily's thoughts about a part of the Old Testament. Each section has a question or invitation with it.


I love this because you can just focus on one little section at a time and ask yourself the question or try to apply it in your life. I think reading the whole Bible through is a great thing to do (and by the way, I never actually finished! So sad to have to admit that- and the bookmark fell out of my scriptures one day and I couldn't remember where I had left off, so I gave up.) One day I'll have to revisit that goal, but for now, I am happy to be able to approach it in little "bite-sized" pieces. :)

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book for review purposes.

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How to Hang a Piñata Inside!

Have you ever wondered how to hang a piñata inside?  Here's how we did it!

We made a button piñata for Talia's Lalaloopsy Birthday Party. (You can see how we made it here). With a little paint, some buttons, and a glue gun, the piñata was complete!

Since her birthday party was during the winter, we had to come up with a way to hang a piñata indoors.

How to Hang a Piñata Inside

  1. Ken found a piece of wood and drilled a hole in it.
  2. We threaded the string attached to the piñata through the hole in the piece of wood.
  3. Ken stood on the stairs and held the piece of wood as high as he could, pulling the string to fool the girls and make the piñata go higher or lower. It worked quite well! (Although Ken's arm may have been tired afterward!)

how to hang a piñata inside
How to hang a Piñata Inside

Here's what we put in the piñata:




Other parts of Talia's Lalaloopsy Party:


A Different Way to Make a Pinata

How To Make Button Jewellery & Hair Clips

Lalaloopsy Face Paint

DIY Lalaloopsy Party Bags & Colouring Activity


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Blogging - Tell Me What You Think!

I've been thinking about blogging lately. 

Particularly about my blog- where it's been, where it is, and where I'd like it to be.

(and I'll share my thoughts first,
but please stick with me until the end- or skip ahead,
because I have some questions for YOU!)

When I started blogging, it was to share my photography with clients and friends, online. Then I started "Raising Memories" to share fun parenting ideas. Since then, my blog has grown and I have had many opportunities to blog that have allowed me to make some money and to try out some really great products. This has been so fun!

One of the things I like the most about blogging is being able to share an idea with others and to know that there are people reading it and trying it and appreciating it. It feels good to know that I am reaching people because I put a lot of time and effort into this blog. It stinks to feel like you're doing all of that and hardly anyone is seeing it.

There are some things that I do for this blog that are for me (because I want to- because it's fun), there are some things I do that are for you, and there are some things I do to try to bring in a bit of money, to help pay for some of the time that I'm putting in here.

What I've been thinking about lately is whether everything I'm doing is worth doing. I wonder if there are things that I'm doing (writing posts, displaying ads) that aren't worth the time and effort because you don't even care to read those posts, or see those ads. I know that happens, because I'm also a blog reader. There are certain types of posts that I skip over, that I'm just not interested in. I wonder if I'm posting many of those, for you.

For example, I've done a lot of book reviews this year. These are books that I am interested in, but many of them are focused on my religion. Do you see another book review and immediately skip over it? Or are you interested in them, too? Should I be more choosy about which books I share here?

I've played with google ads on this blog over the past year as well. I wasn't sure how I felt about having a big ad across the top of my blog, but I gave it a try for a while, to see if it would be worth what I would make from it. After several months, I took it down because I didn't think the money I was making from it was worth having it there. I didn't think it was very pretty! I still have a google ad in my sidebar & may still play with them, but do you think they're obnoxious?

I have also had other sponsor ads in my sidebar for companies or bloggers that I have worked with more directly. I do think I will continue with those- they are people I support and want to share with you.

I've been trying to figure out which kinds of posts I should focus on.

Usually I just decide what to write on my own (and I still will), but I'm curious about what you think, as a reader... will you take a moment to tell me? I'd like to know, and take your thoughts into consideration!

Are you interested in book reviews?
Do you read the "Monday Moments"?
Do you like giveaways? Do you enter them?
Do you like the "Thursday Thoughts" posts where I talk about my thoughts on random things?
Would you be interested in reading photography tips?
Is there something you'd like to see me write about?
Is there a type of post that you tend to skim/skip over?
Is there a type of post that you look forward to or get excited about?

I would LOVE to know what you think!
 
I am so curious & I don't want to guess anymore! :)



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Monday Moments: Home Reading

Katrina's starting a home reading program for school. Each school day she brings home a new book to read that's at her reading level and she reads to a parent each day. Last night was the 3rd day of this and Ken hadn't heard her read yet, so I called him in to hear her read.

She read a couple of pages and Ken said, "Good job, Katrina! Really good reading!"

Katrina: "You're welcome, Dad." (in a tone that totally seemed to say, "no problem, I got this.")


[Me & my little munchkin]

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October 2013 Sharing Time & Week in Reveiw

Welcome to October 2013's Sharing Time Linky :)

---------------------
Some posts you don't want to miss:


There's a giveaway up on the blog for a Booster Seat



A colouring activity and DIY Party Bags for a Lalaloopsy Party.



Lalaloopsy Pet Face Paint



I shared a book by Thomas S. Monson called Consider the Blessings



Katrina's thoughts about doctors, and How to Make Button Jewelry and Hair Clips.



Now, onto the October Link Party! I'm loving all of the fun Fall ideas you're sharing!

(I know something's up with the code for the button for sharing time- I'm not sure why it's not showing up. Feel free to link up even if you can't get the button code. It would be great if you'd just put a text link to Sharing Time in your post, to say that you're linking up!)








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Lalaloopsy Face Paint!

Can I just tell you how awesome it is to have a mother in law with an interest in face painting?

She came to Talia's Lalaloopsy Birthday party to do some face painting. I told her not to worry about painting anything related to the party (Lalaloopsy dolls' eyes are buttons... kinda hard to paint that on ;)

But, she went online and did a little Lalaloopsy research and printed some pictures of Lalaloopsy pets. She gave the girls a choice and they all ended up with these fancy faces! :)



Best part about having her over to do face painting at a party? The kids just love to watch her do it!



Other parts of Talia's Lalaloopsy Party:

A Different Way to Make a Pinata

How To Make Button Jewellery & Hair Clips

DIY Lalaloopsy Party Bags & Colouring Activity

An Indoor Piñata

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