A Morales Minute

Another Birthday come and gone! Not quite 35, close enough...34. Before I know it I'll be 40! It's true, time goes faster the older you get. Next year I'll have a teenager! Wow, this is just hitting me. I'll be 35 next year and Lindsey will be a teenager! Anywhoo, back to my birthday. Sarah, the sweet friend that she is, asked if she could take me out to lunch on my birthday Thursday October 8th. It was a pleasant surprise to see a bunch of other ladies waiting for me at Olive Garden. They had my spot at the table piled with sweet gifts. We spent 2 1/2 hours visiting over lunch. Having all my kids in school all day now really can have its perks! ;) The day was continually made special by phone calls, texts, and visits from other friends that couldn't make it and calls from family. The most surprising phone call was from dear Bill and Pat Flory so they could sing to me. I do miss seeing them when we lived in Grandview. They're truly amazing and thoughtful pe...

On Sunday September 27th there was a full lunar eclipse blood moon. After church we went to have dinner at a friends house. While we were there we'd go out side every now and then and check the moon and watch as it gradually got darker in color. It wasn't completely dark yet in this picture and the moon was still low. As it was getting later we headed back home. The kids had set chairs up in the back yard to watch the eclipse. It felt magical as we all sat outside talking and looking up at the heavens.  This is the kind of picture I got with my iPhone. It looks fuzzy and not really like a moon but that's what it is! And then when we get out a REAL camera you can get a beautiful clear image. This looks more like what we were staring at. And as the red creeped across the moon till all red was gone the giant super moon was so bright! It truly was beautiful. It almost looked like a brilliant white. I loved just sitting out in the yard with m...

Saturday morning session of General Conference The girls watched both sessions on Saturday. We don't make them watch it. We require them to stay for Sunday but Saturday they don't have to. They just can't have friends over so that Jaime and I can sit and listen without too much noise. I pleased the girls wanted to be with us during conference. I think this also made the boys want to be with the rest of us. So they created a "fort" out of blankets and our legs laying on the ottoman.  Aidan's fort is under the blanket under mine and Jaime's legs.  Sunday we bust out the Conference Bingo. It gives the kids specific words to listen for. President Packer, Elder Perry, and Elder Scott passed away so three new apostles were called in the Saturday afternoon session. Elders Rasband, Stevenson, and Renlund I love listening to conference. I got so much out of it. Things I need to work on and the inspiration to push forward in doing ...

On Friday October 2 my parents created a fun movie themed night for us to come and enjoy a dinner of hot dogs, pizza, hot dogs, and nachos. All purchased by movie tickets.  Yummy treats! We watched Rio It brought back memories for my kids from when I put on a movie theater night for my kids three years ago for Valentine's day. Olivia thinks I should do it again for Valentine's Day in 2016. It's definitely a fun activity to do but I think I want to try and do something new.  Speaking of movies, on Friday September 25th we had an outdoor movie night. The kids and I strung christmas lights along the fence and put lanterns outside. Jaime set up the projector outside and displayed the movie Big Hero 6 on the house, nice and big! We had candy and 3 different kinds of popcorn to snack on. We had 5 families (all from our neighborhood) bringing our children total up to 22-24 (two of the older ones left at one point for previously made plans). The adults mostly s...

My mom is now teaching my girls piano lessons. I wasn't completely happy with their last teacher so I started looking around for a new one. As much as it was going to cost me to pay for a new teacher I could pay less and drive Jaime's fuel efficient car to my mom's for less than a teacher. My mom is great at getting the girls excited and understanding theory.  Olivia decided to teach Aidan how to play one day. It wasn't exactly correct but he enjoyed playing. When we went to my mom's on Wednesday (after the kids got home from school on the day I had my day out with Tyler) Aidan got out his book and showed my mom what he had learned. She helped correct him and show him what the book was really saying. He's so matter of fact when he explains things I absolutely adore it. 

Tyler lost his first tooth! Can you tell he's very excited about this? We barely noticed it was loose Monday and he told me to pull it out Tuesday evening! I wasn't sure it was loose enough and worried it hurt when I pulled it. I used a napkin to grab the tooth so it's not so slippery, grabbed the tooth, pulled ever so slightly and out it came! He has this perfect little circle in his gum. Apparently the tooth was looser than we thought. :) Tyler didn't have school on Wednesday September 30th so I decided to make it a day out together. The other kids were getting out of school early (every Wednesday is early release) so I thought Tyler and I could be gone the entire morning and get back when the others got home around 2. Tyler and I went to the river. He was so sweet walking along the water with me. He'd take off a few times to chase a few seagulls then he'd come right back. He'd talk about the "rules" to follow when be...

Today was the Primary Program. It was Lindsey's last one. I can't believe she will be turning 12 soon and going to Young Women. The program was so sweet. The boys had speaking parts and got them all memorized. No saying it too fast or mumbling. Perfect! Olivia sang a song with her classmates. That girl knows all the words. She has a talent but doesn't like to share it too often. Lindsey sung the 2nd verse of I Know That the Savior Loves Me in a trio of three girls. Little angels singing. :) Jaime is a primary teacher so he was up on the stand with the kids. I sat by myself, thoroughly enjoying the program and feeling the Spirit. It was a wonderful sacrament meeting for me. I just felt like I was beaming as I sat and watched and listened to these children. I feel so blessed!