November 01, 2013

An IPhone Halloween


I'm not going to explain anymore why I'm only posting pics from my phone.
Because-- I'm too lazy to find my camera cord.  Ok?!!!  
(I secretly love blurry phone pictures... Don't you?)

Halloween.
Usually I LOVE holidays.
This year I dreaded the thought of dress-up and... effort.
We have always done a family theme and I just knew I didn't have it in me to sew costumes like I have in years past.
When Heavenly Angels whispered "Nerds" into my ears I rejoiced!
Because this year I had just enough effort for Nerds.  
It was perfect.

I felt myself come back to life as the holiday approached.
I was forced to decorate a pumpkin with Lily for her Kindergarten class.  (Actually, we ended up using a butternut squash.)  I did not want to do it-- but being creative felt so good.  I was stretching muscles I haven't used in a long time.

(We made a CAT-- she told them it was a BAT.)



Just having a pumpkin on my table made me smile.
We bought cider, we went to an apple orchard and a barn dance.
I didn't WANT to do any of these things, but (like riding a bike) as I did them I felt familiar.
Little by little the joy of the season seeped through my dread of mess and effort.
Halloween through the eyes of children is fun and magical!
We did it!  The whole shebang.

And, it was HARD.
There were meltdowns and messes and I had to use every ounce of motherly magic to calm the waves and herd the nerds... But, it was a great day.

Unlike my children, I do NOT like carving pumpkins.  Messy and wasteful- I like to keep my pumps to decorate for Thanksgiving.

I never would have made pumpkin rolls if my sister in law didn't push me a bit, saying how cute they were.  AND, they were easy and darling.

Piping ghosts into our stew took 2 minutes.  Two.  And, I smiled through dinner.  

I know the Professor was not happy to take a family picture before we went Trick or Treating (in the rain, with a tired baby).  But, he did it. He parted his hair and smiled big.  And later, he was glad.

{My girls have Leprosy.  This rash-like stuff on the insides of their legs.  I can't figure out if it's dry skin (it's crazy dry here) or yeast or a virus?  Anyway-- that was a crazy part of getting everyone dressed amidst the tears. Yes- crazy but fun.}

Todd explained that he "Just didn't get as much intrinsic enjoyment out of trick or treating as I did."  And, I laughed.

Just so you know-- just so he knows--
I don't get intrinsic enjoyment out of Halloween. I PRETEND I like it for the sake of my kids.  And, somewhere AS I'm pretending, I find myself really happy. That usually happens in the middle.  Because, the beginning and the end are hard.
Just sayin.

I do find intrinsic pleasure in a mashed potato ghost piped in my stew, however.
With pea eyes.  Ghostly stew increases my, um, endorphins.  I have intrinsic pea-eye endorphins that my husband doesn't have.

I also have silly-smile endorphins. Eve's silly smile while wearing nerd glasses makes me tingly happy.

And, I really do love Thanksgiving.
Naturally.
So, In the spirit of Thanksgiving, let me start by saying how thankful I am that Halloween is a year away!
(And, when I threatened to eat all of Leah's candy if she didn't hurry and put her shoes on, she told me that it was all gone.  Ha!  Before school even started!  Perfect.)
Life is good- this first day of November!

10 comments:

Tiffany said...

You guys are adorable nerds!

Lanette said...

I'm not sure if you've tried this already, but have you tried downloading your pictures straight from your memory card? I've never used my cord, I just pop out the card and slip it into the computer and BAM, they download. Easy-peasy.

Looks like fun at your house last night! I LOVE the ghost in the stew...how fun!

Unknown said...

Love it. I wish we could come be family again at thanksgiving. I'm glad life is starting to be " normal" you guys are such cute nerds:)!

Allie said...

I read this the other day and am still thinking about it. For some reason I found so much comfort in a mom admitting that the things we do for our kids are hard. and work. and sometimes things we don't look forward too.

your line "joy of the season seeped through my dread of mess and effort" spoke to me.

Of course we don't always want the not-so-perfect feelings in life to be the things we talk about the most and it sure throws people for a loop if we have nothing but a perfect smile on while raising kids...but I so appreciate your writing this because I can relate so much. I had my own pity party the day before Halloween just thinking of the mess and expectations and demands that only a mother can fulfill!

So thank you! Thank you for being honest and for helping the rest of us along our way!

jenifer said...

You're still invited...

jenifer said...

I was going to make a picture of Todd on a stick as my costume. Or, have everyone dress-up except him. Haha.

jenifer said...

Thanks Net. Todd told me the same thing... I'm going to figure it out. I think I have over 800 pictures on my camera.

jenifer said...

Thanks Allie. I think we can be real and still positive. Because really- our lives ARE good and fun (and hard). Thanks for your comment.

Unknown said...

All I can say is...WOW. my name is angie and i live in utah. i am also a memeber of the lds church. 3 weeks ago I went into my doctor for a regular 19 week checkup. They checked for a heart beat and nothing was there...I had miscarried. Because I was so far along I had to deliver the baby. Long story short, the baby came out fine but the placenta did not. After almost bleeding to death they gave me a full blood transfusion and put me into surgery, and during the surgery they found that I had placenta acreeta. After a week in the hospital I am home recovering with my husband and 4 beautiful children. I finally got the courage to google placenta acreeta to educate ,so i could educate myself a little bit more about it and your blog popped up. You always here in church and through the gospel that by serving and being involved with others you will find out that there is always someone who has it worse than you do. After reading your blog for three hours, that is exactly what I felt is that I am so blessed to be alive and where I'm at today. My body still hurts and isn't back to normal yet. But it will get there soon. I have experienced nothing like you have, and I admire your courage and strength. I have been so grateful for the gospel during this time and have relied on the spirit and our Heavenly Father to get through this. After reading your blog, I know that you are a very special person and The Lord is using your trials to help others and I am so glad I came across your blog. I sat in relief society today and thought of what you said about being grateful for our bodies and if we feel good an are in good health that we need to be grateful. I have been amazed at the healing power that our bodies really have. Thank you for sharing your story. We will pray for you to continue to heal...you have a beautiful family! Lots of love and prayers from Manti UT. Angie Taukei'aho

jenifer said...

Angie-- I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your youngest. Accreta is scary, especially when it is diagnosed during delivery. I'm glad you could find some comfort in my story. My thoughts and prayers will be with you and your family tonight. Thank you for your kind comment. I'm wishing you a full and restful recovery.

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