Grateful

It was cold when I woke up this morning. The kind of cold that makes you want to stay in bed. I was in a funk. My to do list was glaring at me, and I was missing my sister. So I laid there thinking about all the reasons my life was hard.

Then Jules woke up. I sighed, and went to get her out of bed. I changed her diaper, apologizing for my cold hands, and then snuggled us both back in my bed to nurse her. As she ate, I wondered how people in truly cold climates kept their babies warm. And then I thought about all the people who couldn't keep their babies warm. Who weren't sitting in houses with heaters and blankets and pantries full of food, but woke up this morning much colder than I was, and worried about what they were going to feed their babies.

The gratitude hit me like a tidal wave. I have SO much. I never worry about where my next meal is coming from. And even though I wince when our electric bill comes, I still keep the temperature in my house comfortable. I have clean diapers, plenty of food, and lots of clean blankets to keep Jules clean, dry, fed, and warm at all times.

Gratitude is a cliche in November. I sometimes feel like it is being thrown at me from every direction. Facebook posts, church talks, grocery store signs all remind me that I should be grateful for what I have. And since I hate being told what to do, my inclination is to run the other way, to list everything that it seems everyone but me has.

I wish I could say my moment of gratitude snapped me out of my funk. It didn't. I still glared at the dirty kitchen floor (seriously, can't it learn to mop itself??) and mentally whined when I had to go grocery shopping. But it was a good reminder that I am truly, unfairly, inconceivably blessed. And I am grateful.

Halloween

Halloween was really fun this year! We dressed up as The Flinstones. The costumes were Steve's idea. I wanted to do something more witty and less character-y, but I couldn't think of anything. Plus, we make really good Flinstones! 

I made all of our costumes, and I was really happy with how they turned out! I'm sure anyone with real sewing skills wouldn't be impressed, but since I don't have any I was proud of myself! I even made Jules's bone headband from salt dough.

We also carved pumpkins! As always, Steve's were amazing. Amanda's turned out really well. Mine was ok. In my defense, I rushed through it so I could get back to sewing black triangles onto Steve's costume. 

 

We also let Jules finger paint her pumpkin. It took her a while to figure it out, but once she did, she has a blast! 

We went to the ward's trunk or treat on Halloween night. There were a ton of people there, so we started to run out of candy pretty quickly. So we closed our trunk and walked around to see everyone's costumes and say hi. A few people wanted to give Jules candy, she had fun playing with the wrappers, and we had fun eating them when she was done! Oh, and one funny story. Someone gave Jules a pack of chewy life savers. She loved chewing on the wrapper and it was dripping in baby drool. I noticed that it was gone, and then I realized I must have put it in someone's bag!! So to the trick or treater with the moist life savers, I'm really sorry.  The candy inside should be ok!

I'm already excited for next year! I don't know how many more years Jules will let me dress her up in what I want, or how long she'll think its cool to have family themed costumes, so I'm going to take advantage as long as I can!