Minneola Ward Fall Festival Saturday, October 25, 2008

As the Minneola Ward Activities Chairpeson, I was in charge of planning and carrying out our Ward Fall Festival. I was outvoted on the date, so it was Saturday, October 25 - yes, the same as Peyton's Birthday. I think it turned out to be a success! We had each classroom set up with games for the kids to play and they would trick-or-treat in the rooms for candy as well. My sister Robin, her husband Brent and my 4 year old nephew Dakota were here visiting and came with us. Lucky for them because they are also in charge of their Ward activities in Baton Rouge, Louisiana! She said it was like having a preview night for their Fall Festival because ours was before theirs! No fair!



We had contest - pumpkin carving, chili cookoff, Halloween cake decorating and costume contest. We had country music with Line Dancing lessons and we had MANY actively involved in that!! It was a lot of fun!

One of the areas was set up so that the kids could make their own popcorn balls. They were so yummy, but Peyton didn't think so! Probably because her cool cousin Dakota kept making faces! Monkey see, monkey do!


I caught my sister munching down on some junk food - her favorite food group!

Here is my brother in law, Brent. He was our Master of Ceremonies and was AWESOME!! He has a BOOMING voice that demands QUIET when he is talking!

This is Peyton "posing" in her ladybug costume

Peyton, Dakota and Aunt Robin

Sisters

The whole Tittsworth Gang

Back row: Ryan, David, Andrew

Front row: Jean with Aubree, Kellie with Laci, Gina, and Me with Peyton

Atlanta

I flew to Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday evening to attend the "Contraceptive Technology" conference. When I leave here on Friday, I should be prepared to answer your contraception questions!

When the front desk clerk called our room yesterday morning, she said, "Good morning, Mrs. Stewart (my classmate-roommate). Its 6:45 and 34 degress outside." I am LOVING this cold snap! It was even 48 degrees in Orlando on Tuesday morning. I know it won't last, but at least we won't be wearing shorts for Halloween!

I made it

I survived the busy week! The ward Fall Festival went off without too many hitches and Peyton enjoyed her birthday party yesterday. I would've enjoyed it more if I hadn't lost my wallet. I brought it in the clubhouse where the party was held and put it in the kitchen. I haven't seen it since. I've looked through all of our bags we took home, searched through the garbage twice, and ripped my car apart - no luck.

The worst part is, I fly out to Atlanta today for a 4-day conference for school and I don't have my drivers license or any credit cards to travel with. Please pray for me that I find it today!

I will be home Friday just in time to grab Peyton to go out Trick-or-Treating!

I am a Cleaning Machine

As I already mentioned, I have family coming into town on Friday - one of whom is my cleaning-freak sister, Robin. So...I have to get my house in order. I am CLEANING today - at least starting to clean because what I'm doing will definitely take more than one day!

I cleaned my kitchen very well, doing things I don't do often, such as cleaning the inside of the microwave, putting comet in the sink and scrubbing it really good, wiping down the cabinets and appliances.

I have started to dust - which I absolutely HATE to do - which is why my home with 3 cats stays very dusty. I take a long time to dust and dust everything that isn't moving from top to bottom. I turned off the ceiling fan and used a pool broom to clean that off and then used that same broom to go around the ceiling and in the corners. I got out the dust buster to open the windows and clean in the cracks and after all that - I haven't even began using the Pledge yet! Now, Peyton is sleeping so I'll have to use this "quiet time" to study for my test tonight. I will start the Pledge as soon as she wakes up! Hopefully, I'll be able to finish the entire living and dining room today! Wednesday I'll conquer the bathrooms!

I will SURVIVE

This next week will be CRAZY and filled with many things on my To Do List. I thought that by "venting" here on the Blog, I would be able to reduce my anxiety...hopefully!

As most of you know, I was recently called as the Ward Activities Chairperson and we will be having our Fall Festival this Saturday, 10/25/08. Now, you may be asking why I'm having the Fall Festival on the same day as Peyton's third Birthday. Well, I was outvoted on the date, so I'm planning the Fall Festival and having family in town for Peyton's birthday.

So, today I have a test that I have to take at some point before I go to bed tonight. We also have the Chick-fil-A Birthday Club party at 6 p.m. We've been going to this since Peyton had her first birthday. She really likes it and we have fun watching her. Then, Andrew has school at 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday: I'm supposed to work at the hospital if they are busy - I need the money, but really don't have the time right now. After work, I have an Activities Committee at 7 p.m. which will be our last meeting before our Fall Festival.

Wednesday: I have an 8 a.m. doctor appointment, I need to order Peyton's birthday cake and make a run to Sam's to get some stuff for the Fall Festival, and I need to make some awards to hand out for prizes to the kids at the Festival.

Thursday: I "work" from 7:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. at the Orange County Health Department. This is my "free" job where I work to get experience for school. I only have about 2 or 3 more days and then I'm DONE - for the entire SEMESTER and my entire PROGRAM!!!

Friday: I am at the nursing home with the Community College Nursing Students from 6:30 a.m. until about 2:30 p.m. I have a haircut at 3 p.m. and a food storage canning to do at one of the sister's houses in our neighborhood. Then, Robin, Brent & Dakota fly in at about 10:30 p.m. and I need to get them from the airport.

Saturday: Peyton's Birthday & she wants to go to "Monkey Joe's" and indoor inflatable bounce house place. She really wanted to have her birthday party there, but we have too many kids on the invite list and it is WAY too expensive for that many people. We're actually going to one of the bounce places here in Clermont that isn't Monkey Joe's, but she thinks they're all Monkey Joe's. Anyway, we thought we'd just go there in the morning with her cousins, Aubree, Laci & Dakota. We'll try to wear them out enough so they'll take a good nap before the Fall Festival at 5 p.m.!

Sunday: NO plans - church then family night at the in-laws.

Monday: Andrew is taking off of work and we will spend the morning with Robin, Brent and Dakota. Peyton's birthday party is from 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. at one of our friends' neighborhoods at the clubhouse/pool. Hopefully, the weather will be nice and they can swim a little bit. Otherwise, they will be wearing Pirate/Princess outfits and having fun inside! Oh! I also have another school assignment due at 8 a.m. this morning. After the party, we will bring Brent, Robin & Dakota back to the airport.

So, I know everyone is busy, but I sometimes start overwhelming myself as I look ahead to what the week has in store for me - wondering how I'm going to get everything done that I need to. I know that somehow, in the end though...I will SURVIVE!!

Spiritual Feeding

We attending a Parent Fireside on Friday night at the direction of our Stake Presidency. The Stake Presidency wanted to speak to parents of children ages 1 and up - which is pretty much everyone. I could always use some parenting help, so I didn't think twice about going.

We were asked to take notes, and luckily, I already planned on doing that and was prepared! President Carter had emailed his three grown daughters who were faithful, devout LDS members, married in the temple, and were generally "good" kids. He asked them what was it that their parents did that helped them become the people they were today. They all wrote to him, giving details they remembered during the course of their childhood. He read to use what they wrote, telling us how we could be better parents in raising our children up in the gospel.

Some of the things he said that impacted and even surprised me were:
1). At age 14-16, most kids make the decision if they are going to stay active in the church or not
2). If your youth is involved in a steady relationship or consistently dating one person, 70-80% will transgress teh law of chastity in some way or another. This is true EVEN IF they are dating a church member - sad, isn't it?
3.) Our youth have to have consistent developing testimonies that begin at an early age if they are to make good decisions. How do we do this? Give them Spiritual Experiences! Teach them how the Spirit works.

Well, I don't know about you, but I've been feeling the weight of this heavy responsibility in raising our Heavenly Fathers children. I feel very inadequate, and even at a loss at how to possibly do all of this and do it right so that I will give my daughter all the the knowledge she needs to make good decisions and stay in the Gospel.

But, parenting is a heavy responsibility and shouldn't be taken lightly. I am happy to have the opportunity to raise a daughter and hope that I can learn to be a good parent. I take my job as a parent very seriously and am so saddened when I think of all that the youth today are faced with and I know things will be far worse when Peyton is older. I know I can't be the kind of parent I want to be and need to be without the help of my Heavenly Father and I know that I can call on him when I don't know which way to turn. For that I am ever grateful.

There are about 30 things that President Carter said we need to do as parents. This is too much to list here, but I'm going to post in a list on my Blog homepage. I hope you Enjoy!

The BEST time of the year!

Our "Raggedy" family last year

I LOVE Halloween! It might even be my favorite holiday! When Peyton's arrival was getting closer and we found out that we weren't going to make it to my November 13 due date, I suggested to Andrew that we have the c-section scheduled for October 31. He said that was sick! I just thought it would be cool to have a Halloween birthday every year! October 25 is close enough I guess.

I have to beg Andrew to dress up every year. I did know years ago that I would constantly have to force him to have FUN - especially now with a little one in the house! I'm not sure what we will be this year, but Peyton will be a ladybug. It took quite some convincing on that one because she has many princess dresses, but her favorite is Cinderella. She has 3 Cinderella dresses that were hand-me-downs and are all pretty big on her. I thought it would be too dangerous for her to walk around in those oversized costumes so I let her pick out her own costume - with my help, of course!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!