Handful of Happiness . . .

Since our sky was not blue today . . .

here is a spot of color for us all!

1 - The past few days have been quite rainy but it has been fun to hear Dallin exclaim . . . "Hey look Momma! The sun is trying to wake up!!!" anytime he could see the sun behind clouds :)

2 - A warm, cozy home on windy, rainy nights

3 - Hot chocolate and Oreo cookies to dip into it . . . thanks to my Wonderful Hubby who found some gluten free "oreos" for me. Ummmm, it was so super yummy!!!

4 - The end of the week . . . there were a few times this week that I thought the weekend would never come. It has not been a bad week - just a very busy week!

5 - Sunday - and having a full day to be together with no other worries of the week to deal with.

6 - Going to the Symphony last Friday night with Jonathan! They showcased many Broadway musicals - it was great!!!

7 - Getting to go to the temple on Saturday morning with Jonathan - that is just always such a wonderful place to be together!!!

8 - Wonderful Brittney who took care of Dallin on Friday night until about 11pm and then was willing to take care of him again on Saturday morning starting at 8:30am - we love that girl!!!

9 - Having time to sleep each night . . . that may sound silly but really - isn't it
nice that we just automatically have that sleep time built into our daily lives!?!

10 - Looking forward to making bread tomorrow - Yumminess awaits :)

A Few Little Changes . . . But What a Difference!

You all know how things wear out and need to be replaced as the years go by. Well, I have recently found a few things in my kitchen that have seen their day and have needed to be replaced.

It all started as a bit of fun when I found a four pack of small paring knives at Target. They were only $1.00 and so brightly colored that I decided to buy them . . . even though I knew I had two white paring knives at home already.

Well, as I started using the new knives - I came to realize just how dull my old knives were. But then I realized that they are nearly 7 years old - so it was time for a change :)

Next on the list were our salt and pepper shakers - again, almost 7 years old. I was refilling the salt shaker one day and found that the underside of the lid was getting rusty - YIKES!

Definitely time for a new set!

And last of all - two of my favorite spatulas! They are bent, they are cracked, they are stained . . . and so they too finally found their resting place in the garbage can. They have provided nearly 7 years of help in my baking - but time to move one and I even found some fun colored ones to replace them!

So there are a few small changes in my kitchen - they may not seem like much but they make me smile!

Organ Donors :)

We donated our lovely organ to a new home today. We have been doing some rearranging in our home and just don't have a good place for it anymore.

Jonathan and I have used it off and on - but not often enough anymore to really keep it around. Dallin is the one who has used it the most lately - and he already misses it a bit. Luckily he loves to play our piano as well. So his musical fingers can still have some fun - our piano just won't make all the silly sounds that the organ could do :)

We were a bit surprised at how hard it is to get rid of an organ. We had a few people who were interested - but just for taking it apart to use for repairs on other organs. We thought that was going to end up being our only option, but we were lucky and found someone who was looking for an organ for his home. He was very excited to come and get it today and we were glad to know it was going to a good place!

We were blessed by the man who gave it to us a few years back - and now someone else can enjoy it as well!

Just A Little Weird . . .

The other night we had quite a wild thunder storm! It began just a little after midnight with some very bright lightening strikes followed by the most awesome thunder!

But the weird part was this . . . the brightness of the first lightening strike woke us up and I could hear Dallin start to cry a bit. So I was getting out of bed to check on him when I heard some Christmas music playing. Somewhere in our bedroom something was quietly playing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". Jonathan could hear it too - so I know I was not imagining it! We could not figure out where exactly it was coming from - but it was somewhere in our room. It only played once and then was done.

The next morning, we checked all around our room but could not find anything that would have made the music. So it is all a bit weird!

Handful of Happiness . . .

We have sunshine coming through our windows - it makes for a beautiful Sunday afternoon!

1 - Our alternating rainy and sunny days . . . I like the contrast and the fact that we still have some pleasant days!

2 - The crunch and smell of raking up fall leaves!

3 - My wonderful husband who worked behind the leaf blower yesterday to help get all our leaves cleaned up!

4 - Dallin who intently pretended to trim our lawn while we worked on the leaves - he will be a good "mower guy" when he gets a bit older :)

5 - Time to lay down and close my eyes for a bit - I have a hard time falling asleep for a nap but even time to just close my eyes and hold still helps boost my day!

6 - The inside of my bathroom closet is painted! I have been wanting to get that done for a while now and it is finally done! Much like other closets in our home it had a couple splashes of different colors but now it is all "tidy" and all one color!

7 - Finding joy in knowing that one more little project in my home has finally been tackled :)

8 - Watching Dallin's excitement last night as he handed out Halloween candy . . . and hearing his cute "you're welcome" to those thankful trick-or-treaters :)

9 - The last of my tomatoes have finally reached their redness and are ready to add to all the rest for some canning time - lots of yummy spaghetti sauce to make this week!

10 - Looking forward to making "Cougar Squares" tonight . . . a favorite in our home! My first attempt though at making them the gluten free way - so here's hoping they turn out great!

"It's Pumpkin Day!"

Dallin has been very excited for "Pumpkin Day" . . . He sort of understands trick-or-treating but not really. He knows he needs a costume and that candy is involved - and that somewhere along the way we get to carve pumpkins. He was sure a happy boy tonight though! We did take him around in his Fireman Hat and Snow Boots - which he thought were the perfect addition to his costume (they did look great with his outfit!). We did go to the 3 or 4 neighbors close to our home. Then it was back to our house where Dallin's real fun began . . .
He was our candy man tonight - he would get SO excited every time a new bunch of kids came to the door! He would not let us hand out the candy - that was His job :) He did a great job too - and so politely told everyone "Your Welcome" with each handful!

Here he is anxiously waiting for more trick-or-treaters . . .

And also trying to decide if he can sneak a piece for himself :)

No Better Way to Spend a Fall Day . . .

Than Carving Pumpkins . . .

And Helping to Smash Leaves into the Garbage Can!!!

Fascination . . .

Dallin loves to have us read stories to him and now he has even more joy as he looks for each and every question mark and exclamation point on every page - yes, it takes a while to read a story with all that going on :)

His eyes have been picking up on new things in his books - such as the ? and ! - that are not "letters" he recognizes. And being the curious kid that he is, he has been asking us all about them.

He was excited - since he LOVES to ask us questions - that a question mark is just for that purpose . . . to let you know when someone has asked you a question. And he also loves that an exclamation point lets you know when someone is happy, surprised, excited, etc.

The best part for us is simply listening to him as he excitedly (!) calls out that he has seen a question mark or an exclamation point because his pronunciation is just so great on each one :)

Handful of Happiness . . .

"It's Fall Time!" - - - This is almost a daily reminder from Dallin :)

1 - Having found our couch cushion - - - see story from yesterday is you don't know what I am talking about :)

2 - Early morning story time with Dallin - fun to have time to cuddle in bed before breakfast time and read some stories!

3 - Rain and Sunshine and Fog . . . so many changes in weather each day :)

4 - Warm Apple Muffins for breakfast!

5 - Doing crossword puzzles with Jonathan - he is so smart and it is fun to work out the puzzles together

6 - I love the way my kitchen smells when I am canning apples - so warm and sweet and wonderful!

7 - Pajamas - no better way to say your day is done!

8 - Jonathan - my sweet husband - who does so much to help care for Dallin! (Especially at the end of long days when I don't have a lot of energy left to put out . . . and Dallin's energy is still going and going and going!)

9 - Dallin - who is always so excited to see Daddy when he comes home from work! (He told me the other day that he wished Dad did not have to go to work - that way he could just play with Dad all day!)

10 - The sound of the rain pattering against our windows - it is fun to listen too and also makes our home feel a little extra cozy!

A Bloom for My Window . . .

I have finally had to pull some of our flowers in our front yard - their season has finally come to an end. I will greatly miss the wonderful colors of my flowerbeds! I was able to cut a few final roses from my bush and brought them inside to put in my window - hoping they would still bloom a bit. And they have begun to open up - such happiness as their colors still show :)