FALL!!

It's in the sixties today!
I'm not new to Arkansas. I know it will get hot again.
But today it's lovely!
I got out my pumpkins and all the Halloween goodness!
I'm baking pumpkin bars!
General conference is next week!

Fall sings to my soul.

house arrest

So, a week ago last Tuesday Miss M was sitting next to a boy in class when he threw up all over.  I figured she was a ticking time bomb and sure enough, she was sent home on Thursday after throwing up on the playground.

Enter mommy guilt. I had lectured her that morning on not staying home for a little tummy ache. We can't afford too many absences with disney world coming up.  Yes, it's true. I'm that mom.

Miss M was sick for a whole morning and was fine the rest of the day and back at school for Friday. When we made it the whole weekend without it spreading, I figured the rest of us had dodged a bullet.  Then Tuesday afternoon, Lu came down with the virus.  I didn't call off my week though because it was such a quick virus for her sister.  And now, two and a half days later, here we are.

Lulu is a trooper and in between bouts of sickness, she is playing and spending way too much time on netflix with the Backyardigans, but that's okay. My house should really be cleaner than it is for how much we've been home but I've enjoyed the downtime too.  Some of our days, especially when we're going from 6am to 7pm straight, are long and hard on all of us.

But I'm cooking more! I checked out the new Pioneer Woman cookbook and tried her Fancy Mac 'n Cheese.  Very tasty, but seriously, she makes you use so many dishes that it could be its own load by the end!

blurbing

I'm working on making this blog into a bunch of books. It's our family history and I'm always worried that someday the big blogger box in the sky will crash and I'll lose, no joke, the ONLY newborn pictures we have of Lulu!

The program you use is a little laborious and the layouts don't  often match my blog posts.  It's time consuming and I worry that I'm not putting enough effort into it still.  The first year is 200 pages long and I'm so anxious to see how it turns out!!!  I'll let you know!

parenting the strong-willed six year old

I sometimes wonder if there are no more little Holman's yet because I can't figure out the ones I have!
Parenting is kicking my trash right now.
Miss M is going through a long and tough phase.
I constantly wonder what a six year old has to tantrum and be angry about so much!
And we've created a perfect storm.  I get so frustrated, that I fly off the handle, and I'm screaming, and then by bedtime, we're all crying and upset.

Last week, for example, Miss M screamed through the entire grocery store because she got in trouble for driving the grocery cart into Lulu!
Just another evening in paradise.

I remember when all I heard was how sweet she was.
Now people say things like, she has so much spirit! I know what that means!
I mentioned my concerns to the pediatrician last month and she was encouraging that we were doing the right things. But that we might need some more help.

And so, I'm going to a parenting class in October.
I'm hoping that it gives me more tools for handling her meltdowns.
And some better coping so I don't lose it when she starts losing it!

In the meantime, I've checked out books from the library and I'm venting to my cousin Mae, who seems to live a parallel parenting life to me.  Thank heavens for those that understand.

Spooky reading?

ok friends.
i need book advice!
I'm in charge of picking the book for book club next month.  This job stresses me out every time.
I chose October (meaning we announce at the beginning of October but I host the first week of November really) because I wanted to read a Halloween book.

I was originally thinking of Dracula or Frankenstein. The real, old books to get us the in the Halloween mood.

But the last three months of book club have been war mysteries and heavier books and I'm thinking it's time for some fluff! I know fluff doesn't exactly lend itself to book club discussions, but I'm kind of the designated fluff girl in our group and I'm thinking it's time. But I can't shake the desire to pull out something like Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman!

Here are some I've been looking at:

The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
The death and life of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood

Now I haven't read ANY of the above books so I'd love input on whether any are too racy for a mostly Mormon book club or what you think!
Thoughts?
Other suggestions?

grand lake

We spent Labor Day weekend at Grand Lake, CO with W's cousins at his cousin's aunt's cabin. Got that?

It is on the edge of small private Lake Columbine.

the views were stunning, the cabin was lovely, the bed was fabulous, and the company was delightful!

Lu and Miss M enjoyed the lake, the scenery and after a short bit of adjusting to the altitude, we all enjoyed the break from reality!

Sorry Em, but we had to get Tom in there! (nice hair, by the way! :)

Aunt Barbie said the trees have really suffered from pine beetles destroying them which is why the fires were so bad this year.  It was sad to see so many dead trees.

W took us to the Grand Lake Lodge which holds many childhood memories of his family and especially his Grandpa Bob.

He told us that Grand Lake Lodge was famous for big visitors such as Ford.

The views from the lodge of Grand Lake were stunning!

We also perused the town and enjoyed the scenery there! It was a delightful little mountain town, right on the edge of the lake!

Back at the cabin, Miss M had so much fun at the lake, splashing around.

Aunt Barbie got a new kayak and just about everyone got to try it out!

W needs a kayak. He loved it!

I paddle boated instead of kayaking. That was more lulu's speed too!

W was not the only one who saw a moose!  They came out most evenings! I was driving around the lake one evening and there it was, right in front of the car! I just sat there for a few minutes until it made its way up the hill because I was nervous it would charge the car!

It was beautiful and bit terrifying!

The girls took to their cousin Tom and to Aunt Barbie so well! They loved her cabin and company. Aunt Barbie seemed to enjoy them as well!

a few instagram pics:

my beautiful girl at the lake!

and my boy who needed to get away so badly!

birthday week!

I had a whole week of birthday festivities! My friends spoiled me with a lovely breakfast and gave me flowers at play group. 

My husband took me on a lovely date at Bravo!

 My sister in law made a fantastic chocolate cheesecake with raspberries on top!

 And my girls were my sweet girls.  Excited to celebrate! 

mountain driving

I love the lush green of Arkansas. But I must truly admit, I have missed the mountains as well!

On our initial drive up I-70 to Grand Lake, I couldn't resist taking picture after picture out my window.  

They're not fabulous, but I couldn't help be so excited to see the mountains in the distance.

We went over Berthoud Pass and it was fun to teach Miss M about the tree line and the teeny glacier we saw at the top.

And then we got to spend a week surrounded by them. So beautiful!!