Odds and Ends...

First things first. Today was the Primary Program at church. Landon was pretty nervous about saying his part (even though he had it memorized). Last Sunday they practiced it in Primary and after church I asked him how he did. He told me that 'I got tears in my eyes because I was a little nervous so my teacher had to help me say my words'. So we practiced it a lot more this week and yesterday they had a practice in the actual chapel (instead of just the primary room). He wasn't too keen on the idea of having to be in the front, so we went to the primary room and practiced a couple times, then he went and sat in his seat. I had to sit with him for a while, but was eventually able to sneak away. When I picked him up after he told me that he wasn't going to be nervous at all today, because he did such a great job on the practice. Well, I should have known that would be too good to be true. We got there this morning and he was a mess! He would only stay up there and not wail if I was with him. So, he sat on my lap. Then the bishop came and took my spot after the sacrament was passed. Landon LOVES our bishop, so he was pretty okay with that. When it came time for him to give his part though, you could see the fear in his face. He started crying while he was walking up to the microphone. Then he briefly stood in front of the microphone and turned around and walked back to his seat crying. Luckily he was NOT crying his LOUD cry (that would have been HORRIBLE!!) I felt so bad for him. I just wanted to cry. He sang all the songs great, but it was just too much to expect him to conquer his nerves, I guess. So as of now his record is zero for two.

In other news...My mom came in for the program. It's always so fun to have family come visit. We spent most of Saturday organizing our guest room/office/storage room. The pictures don't really do it justice (and I hope you all know how brave I am to put these 'before' pictures on here!) but I'm so happy with how it turned out.
BEFORE:I didn't take a picture of the bed before (it was a DISASTER! I had been sorting through things and a ton of the stuff was on the bed, and we didn't really glamorize, or make it any cuter or fancier, but everything is ORGANIZED!!! Oh what a great feeling that is!!
AFTER:I've realized over the past year that I'm a 'survivor' not a 'problem solver'. When something is out of control in my life, I just go into survival mode, not solver mode. That's what happened with my back room. It was just out of control and I wasn't sure how to tackle it. It was just too overwhelming for me. So I just avoided that room as much as I could. This is one of my weaknesses, I know! So it feels so great to have this space organized in a way that I can maintain. Mom and I had to call dad to get some tips (since this is what he does for a living! Not really on a home level, but the same principles apply. He organizes companies to make them more efficient, so I trusted that he could help me with my 'company') Anyway, I never got took a before picture of my hall closet, so the after picture won't be at all impressive, but those who have seen my closet before will notice the difference. We've been in this house for 5 years, and I just realized that a solution to this problem I've had, would be an over the door shoe holder. Before the shoes would just get thrown in the floor of the closet (along with coats and bags) and it was a HUGE pain to find shoes, because we had to dig through everything in the closet. So, behold my closet (which now looks like a normal closet and not a unorganized mess!)While mom and I tackled the mess, Steven and the kids worked on pumpkins. We didn't carve any, we got these great 'mister potato head' pieces that you stick in the pumpkin. The kids were SO excited about it!Landon and his pirate!!Addie and her princess! And this one was for Grant (even though it's a witch and kind of girly). The kids and Steven put it together for himFall is here in full force! We've had some very gray days, but today the sun was out and the trees looked SO pretty. My pictures don't do them justice.And because this post isn't long enough,here's a bunch of random goofy pictures of my cute kids (and believe if or not, I do wash their faces. It just always seems like their faces are dirty when I take pictures!) Landon took quite a few of these of himself. He's a little photo happy!Oh, by the way, my son's a genius! He now blows kisses, does the signs for the weather song, mimic's us when we say 'Mama' 'dada' 'buba' 'uh-oh' 'A-do' (I think that's his way of saying Addie) and a couple other things!!But he doesn't like to look like a girl!! (I thought it was cute! Steven, Landon and Addie all agreed with Grant and were insistent I take it out!!)Landon, the ghost!Isn't she so pretty? Dirty face and messy hair and all!