Moving Up in the Ranks

I'm so proud of Chandler for working so diligently, and happily, toward his Wolf badge. He has really been so positive when I've been a little over the top about scouting activities. It seems Wednesday afternoons are the best time to complete a little requirement or two before den meeting. I love that he is excited to set this goal and is willing to work to achieve it. He even figured out how many arrows he can earn until he is old enough to work on his Bear badge. Great job Kiddo!

A Halloween to Remember

So much fun! That was Halloween this year. I thought things could be a little different for this holiday for our family. I really wanted to have some of those traditions that I remember from my childhood. I asked Chandler if he would like me to make his costume this year. He wasn't thrilled about it, but he didn't have his heart set on anything specific so he humored me. Scott, Chandler and I visited JoAnn's and looked at different patterns. (I'm not the most creative seamstress but I can definitely follow a pattern.) Scott and Chandler's excitement didn't really begin until we came across the costume fabric...then the ideas came flowing. Chandler decided to be an alien, complete with a Mexican wrestler type mask, and Scott and I would be the MIB. Easy enough. Aside from sewing the pants together with one side right side out and one side right side in, there weren't a lot of frustrating moments. It was totally worth it though! Chandler was really excited to wear his costume and even asked if he could sleep in it. Scott was impressed with the final product (he was pretty nervous about my skills and kept asking me if I knew how to sew.) It was fun to dress up and be a family.

It seemed there was always something fun to do in October...parties, get togethers, pumpkin carving. We hosted the family pumpkin carving the Wednesday before Halloween. The weather was perfect! We built a fire and had treats set up in the courtyard.

Everyone had plenty of pumpkins to carve and the kids looked so great in their Halloween costumes. There were some real masterpieces this year! I can't wait for next year!

Catching Up

So much has happened this past month. I'll get to that later but I have a little dilemma that seems to keep occurring. This has been hard for me to talk about because I really want to become more positive in life and focus on the blessings that come to me so abundantly. But, here it is, I have a hard time with my husband's ex wife. It seems drama and pain are really the only way to live with her. I don't know how to change my attitude and feelings so my words and actions don't make matters worse than they are. I'm sorry to all of you that hear me talk about the same situation with her over and over. I'm sorry I've allowed myself to change for the worse because of all of it. I've let the difficulty with her really impact my life and my family's and I don't know how to climb out of this hole...
I guess the climbing out for this comes like it does for anything difficult--one step at a time, moving forward with faith, believing Heavenly Father will help the burden be lighter, counting blessings, living more abundantly with the spirit.
What lesson am I to be learning here? Any suggestions for me to learn it faster so I can just be done with this difficult part of life? I'm working on it but I'd really just like some rest from this hard part of my life.