Happiness

Angela Johnson's Website. I love this artist. Her work will be leaving the Washington D.C. Temple Visitor's Center on Sunday. Will I get a chance to see it one last time? I don't know, but it touched my life and my heart. Old Navy I love Old Navy! This pink, puffy coat that is on my dream wish list! I LOVE all the Fall Family Photos that are being taken recently- especially ones of babies. Love it! My twin sister M and her family will be visiting us for Thanksgiving and her husband D, who is a good photographer- will be taking our family photo this year. Stay tuned! Have a GREAT HALLOWEEN WEEKEND! Love, Megan

via Oct 2009 3 More days until Halloween!!! We've had a chain hanging up in our dining room since the end of September (bad idea- wait until it is actually Oct!) and the kids have been counting down excitedly! They can tell you at any given time of day how many days until 1. Halloween and 2. Trunk or Treat. Since Halloween is actually on Sunday this year, we will not be going Trick-or-Treating. I'm planning a fun dinner (Cheeseburgers with the cheese shaped into jack o laterns. I would do stuffed pumpkin dinner but the thought of cooking anything inside a gourd creeps me out! Black frosted cupcakes, Halloween soda and anything else Halloween I can devise that day) the day of. The day before, we are going Trunk-or-Treating, the infamous Mormon/LDS event where everyone parks their minivans, suburbans or what have you in the parking lot, opens their trunk and passes out the candy. Last year the Spanish Ward was doing Pinatas inside the Church. Two of them. Of course, my kids go in...

Well, maybe I shouldn't be writing my bucket list at 3 am on a Tuesday morning in October. Oh, well. I'm up, so I might as well make the use of my time- instead of just facebooking it away. That should be a new verb- facebooking! Love it! I've seen a few bucket lists and birthday lists (thanks, Brittanie and Tracey!) online lately and it has made me want to do my own. So, here it goes. My bucket list. The things I want to do before I die. (There I said it!) 1. Have another child. 2. Take beautiful gorgeous newborn pictures of said child/have someone else do it! 3. Bake a coconut chocolate cake that Marrisse gave me the recipe for but I never made. 4. Keep no balance on our credit cards for a year- thank you very much. 5. Visit Florida. 6. Go to Disney World. 7. Go on a Caribbean Cruise. 8. Return to Spain. 9. Kiss in front of the Eiffel Tower. 10. Eat a pastry and write poetry in Paris. 11. See my Grandparents in Wisconsin before they pass away. 12. Publish my...

We made baby ghosts with salt dough from familyfun.com. The kids loved it! Elizabeth made hers into a girl ghost, although no picture was taken. I even had to run to the store for more salt to make a second batch so the boys could use the Halloween cookie cutters and make some bats. Scary! Jonah really, really wanted to paint his pumpkin. He chose a white one this year and it seemed destined to be painted instead of carved. I asked him if he wanted to paint it or carve it. He said both. I said "You can pick one." "Paint it." he replied after some hesitation. It turned out really cute! Here's Asher painting something. That boy loves to paint. There are 3 things that will guarantee squashing an uprising tantrum for this kid. 1. gum. He will always take a piece- or a half a piece I should say- and become happy. This comes from the kid who had a binky until he was 3 1/2. Yep, 3 1/2. He is so orally stimulated. I won't be doing that again though! 2. TV. I don...

Asher. smiling in the sun. Asher and Toby- his friend from preschool and Church. The whole preschool class. Asher is in the last car in the middle. I've been really busy- doing PTA things and getting ready to host a first time ever political Meet and Greet at our house on Tuesday. Martha Shaerr, a Mormon Mother of 7 who has lots of experience on PTAs and such is running for a seat on the Board of Education. Josh met her husband, who is also a lawyer, and one thing led to another and we're hosting an Open House for her next week. Hopefully it goes well! I even forgot to wear make up for the first half of the day today. And I almost forgot to make my kids lunches completely. But, I didn't want to forget this blog! So here are just a few of the several pictures I snapped at Butler's Orchard with Asher's Preschool class. It was a warm, sunny day- perfect for pumpkin pickin'I tried to post them on facebook, but it wouldn't let me! Maybe another time! Happy Octobe...

Here is Ethan at his first soccer game ever. He didn't want me to take his picture. Can't you tell? First time soccer Mom here. Glad we found a coach- finally- didn't want to do that one! Can you spot the Abbott in the picture? Needless to say, the coach played the bigger, more experienced kids more than mine. I made sure Josh told him at the next game to play them at least the two required quarters. C'mon, coach! Put my kids in! Maybe I should have been coach- as I would have played them most of the time! ;) Josh and Elizabeth. They were having a serious discussion, so pardon the serious faces. Josh is growing a beard, btw- for Halloween!- more pics to follow. Jonah and Asher being cute! Asher actually fell down, scrapped up his hands pretty bad- which later got infected and had to be drained by the Dr. and he had to be put on anti-biotics as well. He was happy after a lollipop from my first aid kit though. What a beautiful sunset! At 6:30 pm! Josh took this shot of me...

I still need to trim this up a bit, but it was really easy to make. Love the colors on this one! We had an enrichment activity- now called a Relief Society Mtg. last Friday where we crafted until we crashed. I stayed until 10:30 pm- later than I was planning on and some stayed until 12 pm, cleaning everything up. My Mom wanted to see some pictures of what I made- here ya go, Mom! This is my blog. My name is Megan A.

Sunday I broke out my personal binder. The one with my goals, my inspiring quotes, my home decor cutouts and my financial goals/wishlist (one of them includes to own a Mazda Miata by the time I'm 50). It also includes a Personal Mission Statement. Way back in 2006 I took a class at UVSC on Steven Covey's 12 Principles of Highly Effective People. I had to drop the class because it cost way too much, but before I did I wrote a personal mission statement. I love it and it inspires me to do good and improve. This is what it looks like: Learning, Living, Loving My Mission I want to live a life of learning, living and loving. In order to do this fully I must live up to these standards: Learning: I must: Keep my mind busy and focused, by reading often and taking classes. Keep my heart open to the will of the Lord, through humility. Maintain vision, passion and organization in all of my work. Play the piano, write poetry and blog daily or whenever I’m inspired. Living: ...

A Conference Talk given by Elder Patrick Kearon, of the Seventy, to the Priesthood of our Church, has once again, spoken to my heart. In his talk he tells a story, to which I have a very personal connection. He says: "As a seven-year-old boy living in the Arabian Peninsula, I was consistently told by my parents to always wear my shoes, and I understood why. I knew that shoes would protect my feet against the many threats to be found in the desert, such as snakes, scorpions, and thorns. One morning after a night’s camping in the desert, I wanted to go exploring, but I did not want to bother with putting on my shoes. I rationalized that I was only going for a little wander and I would stay close by the camp. So instead of shoes, I wore flip-flops. I told myself that flip-flops were shoes—of a sort. And anyway, what could possibly happen? As I walked along the cool sand—in my flip-flops—I felt something like a thorn going into the arch of my foot. I looked down and saw not...

This is a re-post of the post I wrote when I had my first miscarriage at 8 weeks, this past April. It's been six and a half months since then. I apologize for the bad grammar. I don't think I was thinking very clearly. Everything was a jumble of hormones and misplaced dreams at that time in my life. My miscarriage Here's to all those Mothers out there who are mourning the loss of their babies, no matter what age. Here's to you, Molly- you lost your baby at 16 months old. We love you and Charlotte and remember both of you on this special day. This is my blog. My name is Megan A.

I love this new website the Church has come up with. Elder Russell M. Nelson refered to it in His General Conference talk in the Priesthood session on Sat. Oct 2, 2010. I love General Conference. This year I was sick, so I watched most of it. Okay, so I usually watch most of it, but this year, I stayed on the couch for most of the time. Right when the text for the talks come out, I read the talks that I might have missed (half of Sunday afternoon this time since I fell asleep) and the talks from the Priesthood Session. That session is for the Priesthood holders, but the talks can apply to our lives as well. Elder Nelson mentioned that you can make your own profile on www.mormon.org. I did a few months ago, so I went to the site and tada- my name and profile appeared! Now, my picture is not that great and I hope to change that, but I love this site and I love reading about other Mormon members. Go check it out. Make a profile. And report back to me! This is my blog. My name is Megan Ab...

I'm doing it again. The He Did Deliver Me from Bondage book by Colleen C. Harrison. That's right, I said again. When I was depressed, my Father in law recommended this book to me. I bought it right away off Amazon.com, used and marked up and tried it. As I did, I beat myself up over all the things I have done wrong in my life- for my pride, for my headiness and my arrogance. And I put the book away. Not to look at it again. Until later. Until I had been on meds for at least a year and counseling for even more than that. Now, when I read He Did Deliver, I am calm and happy, reassured in each moment of time that I spend studying about our Savior's - MY Savior's love, that even if I am prideful and foolish and heady, He still Loves me and is there for me. ALWAYS. The book is a twelve week course on solving addictions. It is based on Alcoholics Anonymous 12 step program, but puts it in a Gospel perspective. Principle One in AA is ""Step One: Admitted that we of ou...

Enjoying the Small Things If you haven't read this month's Parents Magazine, or seen this blog linked on to someone else's blog- here is a lovely blog about creative Parenting. Kelle is a Mother of two little girls, one of which was unexpectedly born with Down Syndrome. Her pics are amazing, her writing refreshing and cool and her zest for life out of this world. Modcloth.com has a wonderful array of cute clothes, accessories and gifts. Check it out! Oriental Trading Co . sells lots of cute little things for cheap, including crafts, Holiday decor, pencils, stickers and personalized items. Love it! This is my blog. My name is Megan Abbott.

Every year we like to go camping. Somehow we missed last year, so I was convinced that we needed to go this year. Plus, I'm not hugely pregnant, as I have been a few times in the past. That always makes sleeping in a tent a little more rougher than usual. I am "joyful" though and woke up very early and finished the night off in the van. Josh didn't even worry about where I was, I wake up early so often and go on mini adventures without him. We got there a little late- 7 pm- to be exact and by the time we got a fire going and the tent (which was borrowed so new to us and huge and lovely) mostly up, it was pitch black. Next year I will be going up early to set up the tent myself. Maybe. We ate half frozen, half cooked hot dogs, grapes, ginger ale and for dessert- huge campfire marshmallows with chocolate and graham crackers. The marshmallows were so huge, they oozed out of the half squares of graham. I read the package. One marshmallow to one whole chocolate bar and t...

Asher is going to the same preschool he went to for half of last year- Creative Playtime- 4's - in Montgomery Village. He LOVES it! The teacher is amazingly wonderful and he loves playing with friends his own age. They play dinosaurs, spiderman, rescue hero and build huge towers of blocks. He does not, though, play with any girls. I asked him "Who do you play with?" and he said "No girls, Mom! No way!" Wow. Asher is my swee thearted little boy. Last night I was putting him to bed and he said "I made up a song for you. It goes like this 'I love my Mom, I love my Dad, I love my sister and my brothers.' " I just melted! What a great blessing from our Heavenly Father! On another note, Elizabeth has been having a hard time being happy. She cried before school for the first four weeks. We had no idea what to do. Finally, last week she just made a goal to be happy for a week and she's been doing better- not crying as much. Yesterday she was grump...

Don't take Lithium on an empty stomach in the morning. It will feel like you have taken poison. Then, again, you have taken poison, it's just a tiny amount.

So, I spent this weekend sick. That's right, folks. Sick. Didn't I post on Monday that I was sick? I did? Well, yeah, it went away and then came back- with a vengeance! Friday night was all good- we gathered up our four little kiddos and went out for a night on the town. Actually, it was a Football game at the local High School, but it felt like a night on the town! Me, Josh, the kids, getting a good deal on admission, since Watkins Mill El. kids got in free that night. Although I guess no one else thought it was that cool, because we saw about 3 kids from our school there. 3! So there we found ourselves, sitting pretty close to the band, ten bleachers up, eating Kit Kats that Josh snuck from home from work and trail mix with mini pb cups and candy corn (delish!) and watching the Watkins Mill Wolverines try to pass the ball and make a touchdown. Josh was busy showing our 3 boys who was who and what was what and everything football. Elizabeth was busy getting her hair done by o...

On Sunday, Sept. 5, 2010, I had the opportunity to go to a Parenting Fireside given by Jane and Richard Eyre at the Visitors Center of the Washington D.C. Temple. I first discovered Jane and Richard Eyre when I joined a Joy School co-op in 2007 and was introduced to them through their Joy School Website at www.valuesparenting.com . Each month they would send out a Parenting newsletter for us Joy School Parents and I loved learning about Parenting with a Gospel Perspective. Jane and Richard Eyre have nine children, have written many books on Parenting and spearhead the Joy School program. I've been reading their newsletters for almost 3 years now so when I heard they were coming to the D.C. area and speaking at a Fireside I was so exicted! I even made a facebook event page for it. Crazy, huh? Well, the day came and I went. It turns out the Eyres were in town to visit one of their sons- Eli- who lives near D.C. and were willing to speak to us as long as they were in town. They both s...

This morning, Friday, I told the kids all to wear something blue or yellow, since it was Spirit Day at school. We are the Watkins Mill Vikings and our colors are yellow and blue although at the pta presidency mtg I said "Our colors are orange and blue right?" Um. Nope. Oh,well. I keep myself humble! Since I am on the PTA this year, I really want my kids to get more involved.We may even buy all matching Watkins Mill Elem. t-shirts. Even if they are $12 a piece. Anyways, It's neat to see Jonah in blue actually since he always wears red- he looks really good! As we were getting in the car to go to school, Jonah said "Everyone is going to be wearing blue or yellow, right, Mom?" I said "Well, some people will be, but not everyone." Asher replied "Yeah, because it's Holy Ghost week." It took me awhile but I got it. Spirit= Holy Ghost in Asher's mind. Someone's been paying attention at Church/Family Prayers! This is my blog. My name is M...

...the remodel of our Master Bath? A while ago, ok- a long while ago- we got the tile re-done (we didn't do it ourselves, but we did buy all the materials and supplies and noticed how it was done, so we can do it by ourselves for the kids Bath, right?) and the walls got a new paint job. We also hung up some new bamboo curtains. Now, all that is needed is some curtains to hide a few tiny gaps and a new sink/vanity.We're thinking pedestal (sink wise)- what do you think? Maybe next Tax Return! Love, Megan