Today's Tragedy

Today's tragedy is a sobering moment that urges reflection. I was going to blog about feminism and Mormonism today. But something has just happened that takes priority of the mind. In CT at an elementary school 27 people have been shot and killed, 18 of them being children. Most of them appear to be kindergarteners. Little facts are known right now as the story is still unfolding. What is known is that the shooter was a 24-year-old male from Hoboken N.J. who had 2 guns. His mother is a Kindergarten teacher at the school.

My heart aches, and I have shed tears for the families in CT. I am resisting the urge to run to pick up miss E from our elementary school early. Miss K is home finishing up with the flu. DJ doesn't have preschool on Fridays, so he is here with me too.

The best advice I heard today was from a doctor or psychiatrist (can't remember) on one of the major networks who said to explain to your children that this is a rarity. It is like how rare it is to be struck by lightning when playing in the rain. We know it can happen, but we still let our kids go outside and play in the rain because it is so rare. I think that will help a child have perspective on this tragedy.

However, she ended her segment saying, "Assure your kids they are safe." But with the Columbine shooting, the shooting at Va Tech, and others, how can we assure our kids that they are safe? I don't think we can say that. We can say that the schools and teachers work very hard to keep kids safe and that they put safety as a top priority. We can say that we as parents pray for the safety of our children at school every day. That is something I posted on facebook this morning. I realize that in the world today, I now need to pray every morning for my kids' safety before I leave them at school. Frightening to think that that is reality.

So where is the peace in our world today? Where can we turn for peace following tragedy? I just gave a wonderful Relief Society lesson on this a few Sundays ago. It was full of fabulous quotes from one of our past prophets, George Albert Smith. You can read/reference it here. You have to look to God to find peace in a tumultuous world, for He is a source of security. He maps out a plan for peace in His teachings of the gospel.

When miss E gets home from school, or before the kids go to bed tonight, I will remind my children that God gives us a guide to peaceful living. It is found in the gospel, in the Plan of Salvation, and in the scriptures.

Evil exists and evil people exist. There is evil in the world because free agency is allowed. It is a part of the Plan of Salvation. We cannot change other people, but we can change ourselves. Through the atonement we utilize the repentance process and can be made whole. Sorrow, sin, pride, heart break, you name it ... can all be repaired or forgiven through the atonement of Christ.

I pray for peace in the world. I pray that righteousness will prevail and that as we are so close to celebrating the birth of our Savior, more hearts will turn to Him who provides peace and love for those who are willing to partake of it.

Happy Halloween

This was quite possibly our best Halloween yet. 

The kids are older. We know our neighbors better, 

and the weather was just right.

 After meeting two-doors down for dinner with our neighborhood, the kids TOOK OFF for their 1st round of trick-or-treating. 

Yes, just the 1st round!

 They RAN up and down the street, which made it hard for Jr. and his buddy to keep up. Every now and then, we met up with the big kids (see K and JR. below). For the most part though, 

I couldn't keep up. As a result, this post isn't peppered with pics. 

Also, I never got one of all 3 kids together. BOO!

 The 3 boys in all our photos are the exact ages of my 3 girls. 

Why is it that we always live next to boys, boys, and more boys???

No matter, bc all of the boys in our neighborhood are so good. 

The kids here are the nicest we've ever met.

 I'm weird. I like taking pics of the backs of people. 

There's something fun though about the anticipation 

of the door opening and getting to add to one's loot. 

I like capturing that moment in a pic.

 E's pumpkin below, 

which she carved by herself this year for the 1st time.

 K's pumpkin, carved with help from Dad.

Upon tucking the girls into their beds, I asked, 

"Wasn't this such a fun night?" 

To which K replied, "It was SPECTACULAR!"

*For the record, I have never seen E so hyper on a Halloween night. She never stopped talking. Even after I whispered into her ear, prompting her to not dominate conversation, she said ok and kept talking! Bless the hearts of the boys who politely sat at the table, feigning interest. Her mouth was like the Energizer bunny, it kept going, and going, and going ... all night long!

Fun in the warm Colorado sun!

 This is what we did all summer long. It was a combination gift from us and both sets of grandparents for K's birthday. 

We found it on sale at Target after I'd scoured the internet for one.

 Somersaulting downward was a hit.

 Above cousin K tumbles down, and below cousin B slips down.

 cousin A gives it a try

 Not to be outdone by the rest, Jr. climbed up by himself

 and shot down by himself.

 It was so deep at the bottom, he nearly went under.

 The hose water was super cold, even on the hottest of days.

But they all still kept going back for more. 

The cousins are now back in Ca. 

Plenty of friends and neighbors have come over 

to join in the fun though.

Recorder Concert

 Last year, at the end of the school year, E played in a 3rd-grade Recorder Concert. It was not until this school year that she told me, "Mom. I just always put my mouth on the recorder and pretended to play, but I didn't really play it." Nice. So here are some photos of E air playing her recorder. BTW, you can't even see her in the photo above. She was in the very back row. What you can see is her pink dress. So, you really have to look for her on the big screen below. That was the only way we could see her face.

 See her? With the white top and cool cat sunglasses?

 Never one to be left out, K wanted a pic as well.

 Just for kicks, I decided to throw in some 

cool Colorado cloud pics. 

 awesome

K's Fairy Birthday Party

  K wanted a fairy party for her birthday last year. Before my mom left from visiting us over her spring break, we went to Hobby Lobby (super love that store!) to buy some decorations. Then we planned out the par-tay. Mom later mailed me the homemade invites along with some pieces she cut out for the home made wands I put together with the girls and my glue gun.

 We sang to K and everyone decorated their own cupcake.

 She opened her presents a little early 

because a couple of the girls had to run to another party.

 I totally forgot to take a picture of the food before everyone dug in. Here's the aftermath. I got food ideas from Pinterest. Oh, and there are the wands that my mom sent us butterfly cut outs for. They turned out cute, but after the girls waved them around during a game of Capture the Fairy, most of the butterflies broke off. Boo!

 These homemade mushrooms turned out really cute too. 

The girls and I painted them days before. 

I think even Jr. got in on that act.

 Uh-oh. Do I spy a troll in our fairy garden?

 Cousin A enjoyed bubble blowing.

Playing Capture the Fairy while everyone waited to be picked up by parents.

Easter

Last Easter I snapped some pictures of the kids exploring what the Easter Bunny left in their baskets.

We also joined some other families in the ward for an egg hunt at a local park. It was cold. So very cold. The kids had fun of course because they were collecting eggs full of candy.

 My mom was visiting with us, 

so she and Dr. Drew helped Jr. find some loot.

 Also, the cousins were living here at the time. 

Cousin hang time makes everything more fun for kids.

 my girls

 cousins

Last Spring

 I love pictures of my kids in the water.

 They have so much fun!

 Pretty little faces.