Dear person who took my wallet,

I am slightly put out by your actions. I have to spend a few extra hours this week going to the bank,getting new debit cards, license and various other cards.

What did you do with my debit cards? they were blocked so you didn't use them. What did you do with my photo I.D.? sell it to someone who looks like me for a fake I.D.? What did you do with the stamps I was collecting from food lion for a new pan? through them out? How about the card from the consignment store I love that I had been getting stamped and was about to earn 25% off my next order, and my costco card? did they get trashed?

How about my checkbook? is the person who looks like me going to try and use my ID to write fake checks...? my bank is aware of the situation, it won't work. How about my family projected budget that I worked on for hours and hours that has been my family's bible for paying bills and spending money during this tough time? did that get trashed?

And what about my temple recommend? You are welcome to try and use it, but I am pretty sure you won't like being there and will just leave.

When you try and steal someone else's life, what do you get for it? $20 for my I.D.? and a $5 wallet with a broken snap?

I'll tell you what else you get...you get one more little pebble of guilt put on your back to carry around. I am sure that doesn't matter to you now, but it will at some point. You see, we all wrong people in our lives. Everyone of us, yes, even those you steal from. That doesn't make you justified in what you are doing. The idea is that as we go through this journey of life we learn to feel bad for the things we have done, and hopefully one day we get to a point where we can do more to lift human spirits than to bring them down. Right now, you don't care what you are doing to disrupt people's lives. But one day you will, so I want you to know, that when that day comes, and you feel bad for disrupting so many people's lives, that I forgive you and view this as nothing more than a bit of an annoyance. You have also reminded me that as much as I love people, I still need to use caution when dealing with them.

signed

You know my name, my birthdate and my checking account number.

P.S. did you really need to take the separate wallet that contained health insurance cards for 6 people, library cards for myself and 3 kids, community center cards for myself and 3 kids, and all 4 of my grocery store savings cards.

What did you do with all that except make my life that much more complicated?

One of my favorite things...

I love when the kids randomly put their works of art all over the house....

Hockey Bear

Some Bendaroo's art!

Two weeks ago a pumpkin patch lived where the trains are. I guess the pumpkins were all harvested and are now being shipped?

End of an era??

We wrapped up the soccer season with a pizza party on Saturday. I really enjoy working with the kids and relish each of their milestones. Of my 5 kids, only Greg elected to play soccer this year. They each get to choose two sports a year, Shawn, Alex and Melissa elected to play basketball as sport one and baseball as sport two (softball for Melissa)and David elected hockey again(which counts as his two, unless he is conviently on whatever team Greg picks, then he can play a second sport) ANYWAY...Greg elected baseball and soccer. After being one of the best kids on the team, and showing real talent in soccer he informed me that he likes everything else better. Starting with football (which he has never played). Really? Football? 'Yeah mom, tackle football!" you are six, how about flag football. "no mom, I want to TACKLE, can you sign me up?"

I thought it was a phase, but he has been talking about playing football for longer than a year now, and he tackles EVERYONE all the time! .I LOVE watching football, but it's one thing to watch another women's babies beating the snot out of each other, it's another thing to ask me to watch MY baby be a part of it! Having a child play football was never a wish of mine, but if he wants to do it, he gets to do it. So next year, looks like we will be tackle football fans. Baseball is his second favorite, so he will play that, and his third favorite is basketball. I asked if soccer was his 4th favorite and he responded by saying "is there another sport I might like to be my fourth, then soccer can be my 5th favorite"

I guess I am done being a soccer mom! it's alright, I hate that stereotype anyway. I could see myself coaching basketball for my daughter, but other than that, I might be out of the coaching gigs as well!

you know it's halloween when....

You find candy wrappers in the everyone's bedroom...

and upstairs...

and amoung the toys...

and in the laundry room...

and on the bathroom floor....

and under the couch

and behind the piano, (along with Greg's toy parrot's feet)

and in my office

speaking of halloween...we had lots of fun at all the different festivities! Here is Melissa (Hermione Granger) in the school parade.

And David the Mummy...

And 'Bones" (aka Greg)

We went to the ward halloween party, Alex invited his friend. I heard Alex tell his friend, "it's at our church, so no masks and no weapons and no blood or gore"...We forgot to tell him "no nudity"...

After several minutes of laughing so hard I cried followed by fixing makeup in the bathroom I was composed enough to get this shot. (After Alex's buddy made his grand entry into the party Dale was MIA for awhile...I guess he needed to compose himself also)

Thats Alex hiding himself under his hoody and Shawn is Sherlock Holmes...Alex's buddy is the plus size naked hula girl ...

sadly there was not a costume contest this year..he totally would have brought home the gold!