Count Your Blessings!

just do it!

Christmas with the Delicious Bass

...that title may or may not be misleading.

This is Sophie (oh, really?) on a Merry-Go-Round at the Bass Pro Shop.
Which is now my new favorite Christmas Location.

Lindsey Insight Coming Your Way....

We have all said it at one point or another in our lives. 

"Sorry my house is dirty."

"The house is a mess, but come on in!"

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"

Okay, so maybe not the last one, but you'll see what I mean in a minute.

The past couple weeks I can count three different times when someone apologized for the mess in their house. I would like to make a public announcement about these Dirty House Statements. When you say your house is dirty all you are doing is drawing more attention to the Mess. (Gasp!) And here's another weird thing: Those three times I was in someone else's home, I didn't even NOTICE the mess until they said something! It's the same concept as "Don't look at the elephant in the corner." What are you going to do when someone says that to you? You're going to look at the pachyderm, of course! 

So let's look at Dirty House Statement #2 "The house is a mess, but come on in!" Do you know what it really means? Either (1) "I would have rather that you called before you stopped by so that I could have made the front room presentable" or (2) "I wouldn't have cleaned this even if you did call before hand, I just would prefer that you don't come in" or (3) "I'm pretending the house isn't normally like this, but it actually is."

Now about Dirty Houses. I can honestly say that I once saw a "Dirty House" and was relieved about it. I once entered a lovely, cozy, well kept home. "This woman obviously has everything pulled together and has an amazing life!" I thought. Then a few weeks later I went over to her house again. It was pretty messy. I sighed within and felt at peace knowing that she wasn't perfect yet.

Conclusion: We do not need to make excuses for our homes when they are messy once in a while. Life happens. We get busy, something throws us off track, our kids are insane.

I definitely am not a clean freak or a perfectly organized CEO of the household. But I have sworn off saying, "Welcome to my home. My house is a mess. Please make yourself comfortable in between yesterday's Squashed Frozen Pizza and my daughter's freshly messed panties."
Okay, actually I may say that one day. But just for kicks.



**This post is not meant to offend anybody on their protocol on inviting people into their homes. Just take it as a general Lindsey opinion on her observations of life.**

The month of November? Oh yes! I love that month.

Thanksgiving Activities:

We had a great day of Giving Thanks down in the Old Pueblo. I have always loved the month of November because it is sandwiched in between Halloween (love) and Christmas (really, really love) and not to mention it is my birthday month. And, of course, Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, here's what happened on that eventful day:

 

Football.

 More Football.

Family Walk.

I love Arizona Thanksgivings. Where else can you spend the whole day outdoors with no jacket?

      

My Birthday!

Yes, I am a quarter of a century old! Hooray!

Check out what my sister, Laura, gave me:

1940's Opera Glasses! What an awesome and completely random gift!

Phantom of the Opera here I come! (That is, when they come to town next and if we ever have money again after our large purchase this month).

Another Sophie Moment

(Dave calls this pic Sophie's Dramatic Teenager Pose)

 So the other day Sophie and I are reading the Barney Opposite Book. We get to this page:

I ask Sophie pointing to the first picture, "What is this?" 

"Bath!" was her reply.

Then I point to Barney toweling off. "What is this one?"

"Cold!"

Yes, Sophie. The opposite of Bath is Cold.

Monkey Prayers

(monkey picture - coming soon!)

So, for today's fun tidbit of raising a toddler:
We were helping Sophie say her prayer tonight, and sometimes she likes to hold her stuffed animals and help them pray. Tonight it was big monkey's turn, and Sophie did a thorough job of it, folding his arms, bowing his head, and repeating the words of the prayer:

Mommy - "Dear Heavenly Father..."
Sophie - "Our dear Father"
Monkey (Sophie in higher-pitched voice) - "Dear Father"
Sophie - "Good Job!!"
Mommy and Daddy - (giggling)

Good to know that Sophie thinks compliments are part of the learning process, so I guess we're doing something right :)

Lindsey-added:
In other news...
The other night we were making brownies and wanted to watch a movie:
Lindsey - "Let's watch Inception or Pride and Prejudice."
Dave - (silence)
Lindsey - (gets out Inception)
Dave - "But I wanted to see Pride and Prejudice."

Here Comes the Bride.

Dave keeps saying, "It's so weird to see Joseph kissing someone. He's still a baby to me!"

This weekend we celebrated the Joseph and Hannah's Wedding! It was a fabulous weekend. Here are a few of my favorite pics...

Brotherly Love.

This is probably my favorite.

This was the best part of the weekend. Seeing this girl show up for her photo shoot in this dress!!! The photo does not do it justice. :)

My two loves. Three if you count the Temple. :)

Things in life that make me happy

#1
This girl. Duh!

#2
Homemade Crockpot Applesauce
Thanks to a certain Hawaiian Friend, the most amazing cinnamon-applely smells have been filling our house. I've already made two batches. This is seriously going to be a new Fall Tradition in this Joslin home.

#3
Time Out for Women
I have some awesome parents that made last weekend possible. All us girls in the Hancock clan ate lots of food, hung out at the mall, and stayed up late talking in the hotel room until the security guard shushed us. Oh yeah, and we listened to some awesome inspirational speakers!

For more TOFW pics, click here.

#4
We're getting closer to our house. I mean seriously close. It's kinda weird. But please--still keep your fingers crossed!

It's all about the lips...

Dave's Goatee

Dave is all prepared for Halloween to be Mr. Tony Stark (complete with one mega-hot girl always hanging around him). This is kinda amazing in our household because Dave has always been anti-facial hair. He even went to church with it (which may not sound so incredible, but it is if you know Dave).

I think he looks like a bad guy in a movie or that one guy on Star Trek (Dave says his name is Reiker?).

What think ye?

I think he really looks like the Star Trek guy here.

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

I will always remember Sophie like this--Hair blowing in her face!

Watch out. Mischievous 2 yr old coming your way!

New Toy

Were ya wondering what I was doing with all that millions of extra monies I was making teaching piano? Well, I bought a camera. I've been drooling over this camera for months (maybe even years) and now have it in my very own hands. Can I just tell you about the emotional anxiety I went through buying this? Have you ever saved up some money so that you can buy a house and then on top of that save up even more money to buy some expensive piece of equipment? Every day was a struggle of "What should I spend my money on?" Thankfully, Dave was there telling me to just buy the stupid camera! So I did. Thanks, Dave.

PS- More on the house situation later.

Quality Daddy-Daughter time. The book: The Difference Between Babies and Cookies. I picked it out.

 
Occasionally, I even let Dave us my camera.

Finally. A few pictures of ME on this blog!

 I will now share with you a few Proud Mommy Moments:


Oct 2
This past week I was helping the Achievement Day Girls practice a special musical number for Church, "I Lived in Heaven." On our way out the door to go to the practice Sophie grabs this plastic stick that attaches to a bubble wand. When we got there Soph was real shy at first of all these young girls singing songs, so she stayed close to me on the piano bench and just watched. I had the girls get real close to the piano so I could hear them sing and as we rehearsed Soph used her plastic wand to conduct the girls. It was one of those proud Mommy moments where I just couldn't help but gush over my girl. I even think she might have been singing a little bit too. I'm real glad that she brought that plastic wand because it came in handy as I had the girls practice conducting each other with the same stick. (I got the idea from Sophie).

Oct 4
Last night Soph was already "in bed" and I was about to say my prayers when I hear her door squeak open and her little feet creep into my room. She said she wanted to lay down on Mommy's bed so I help her up and lay her on a pillow while I finish my prayers. As I'm praying, Sophie placed her little hand in mine and starts singing a couple lines form "I am a Child of God." (Lead me, guide me, walk beside me). It was the cutest thing and it just melted my heart. That's what precious little girls do--They melt your heart.

 

Oct 19
Sophie is officially potty trained! She's been in big girl panties for 4 weeks straight and getting more independent every day! Do you know what this means? It means I can leave Sophie at the Ikea babysitting club and go shopping by myself. (They don't except kids in diapers--I was really annoyed when I realized that last time I went.)

I just love the light going through those jelly shoes! (Insert Beyonce: I don't think you're ready for this jelly. I don't think you're ready for this je-lly.)

 So the house thing. We are waiting to hear back about a house we really love. So if all goes well, we'll be in a house soon-ish. Hopefully my next post will say "We bought a house!" :)

You can see Sophie is real excited about the door mat I made.

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

Cool Cat

Check out this fashionable celebrity--

complete with her accessory dog!

Yes. Those are Big Girl Pannies she's wearing.

Can you see my legs?

Now for a story....

The other day I was doing something in the kitchen when I hear Sophie complaining to her brother Orion in the other room. Sophie came stomping into the kitchen a bit upset saying something about "the kitty get the glasses."  So I follow her to my room where our awesome cat, Orion, is sitting casually with my sunglasses around his neck. I have no idea what was going on between the two before I arrived, but when Soph tried to take the glasses from Orion, he wouldn't have it!

Please feel free to ignore the piles of laundry behind Orion. Our washer went out lastweek but lucky for me, I have a handsome handy husband!

Another story...

Duck-Duck-Goose. We play it every Monday night for Family Home Evening. We have a prayer, a really short lesson, and then finally it's time for Duck-Duck-Goose. It has gotten to the point that now whenever we play Duck-Duck-Goose on an impulse, Sophie makes sure we have a prayer first. I think she believes we need the extra protection. :)

♥

And this pic just makes me happy. :)

My First Crafting Project (in a long time)

Check out these baby dividers I made!

Not all the dividers are shown. I made a total of 6.

These are baby clothes dividers that I made for my SIL baby shower. I got the idea at the Life with the Ellwoods blog.

I was pretty darn proud of myself since I don't consider myself a crafy person. Hooray!

And just for fun.... I have to say this is a beautiful song! Enjoy!



Commentary: Adele reminds me of Barbra Streisand (at least in this song) in that she makes you believe every word she's singing. We all know Barbra is the most amazing singer ever. Period. It's good to see some more goodness.

Let's give it up to Barbra and Adele for being awesome. Word.

Summer Daze

What do you do when it's 115°F without a trace of a cloud in sight?

Why, you strip down to your birthday suit, splash in some hose water, and blow bubbles of course!.... Which is exactly what we did (and by we I actually mean Sophie)!

I don't know what it is, but when you get a garden hose out and start spraying people instead of things, I get very reminiscent of my happy childhood.
Ah, let us all reflect now on running through the sprinklers, and jumping on the trampoline with the sprinklers underneath, and covering every visable inch of skin with mud.... Time to make new summer memories with my girl!

You can see the nicely deaded grass we killed.

Epitome of Summer Above. Drinking from the hose.

Yes, I know. She's beautiful.

And here is the sequence in which Sophie pops bubbles:

PS- About the whole naked thing...
Sophie had an accident so therefore we are justified in stripping her down.