Is it me, or is the world coming to an end? I don't know what it is, but every time I turn on the radio (sorry, I don't do t.v., but I'm sure it is the same there to), all anyone can talk about is how terrible the economy is--how we are all going to loose our homes, our money, and our jobs. Yikes!
On top of that, my ward is totally into disaster preparedness. No one wants to know how I am doing spiritually, they just grill me on my 3 month supply of legumes. At a recent activity, I actually learned how to make meat out of wheat (yes, you read that correctly). And if that isn't a sign that the end is coming, I don't know what is. Add the nail-biting political ruckus of the past few weeks, and life "sounds" pretty chaotic. It reminds me of a poem I once read by a guy who could have used some Prozac. (j/k)

"No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member -
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds -
November!"
-Thomas Hood

It just leaves you feeling warm and cozy all over doesn't it?

Then I take a deep breath and a look around me, and this is what I see: my snug home that is in no danger of being taken away from me, three astounding children, and a loving husband. We are both lucky enough to be gainfully employed in jobs we enjoy. We have friends and family that rally around us, enough food on our table, and a religious beliefs that sustain us. I know things sound bad, but for regular folks like us, life really isn't the ticking time bomb that the media makes it out to be. (At least not yet!) I just pray that the the men and women running our country can make wise and non reactionary decisions that will protect our freedoms and keep our country a great place to live.

Okay. Enough preaching! Here is a quick and random update on the Idaho branch of the Patterson family.

Halloween was fun. There is no other word for it. I am all about holidays, and this one was great. I even tried making dinner in a pumpkin. It was tasty enough, I just wish the recipe had warned me to set my pumpkin on a pan before putting it in the oven...

Tyler was thrilled to discover that trick-or-treating involves massive amounts of free candy. Laura informed me that she decided not to be scared of spookily decorated houses this year. This was an improvement over last year when I could have worn her as a scarf around my neck because she had me in a choke hold if anyone even mentioned skeletons, witches, vampires, and the myriad other creepy things that abound this time of year. Laura also couldn't decide what to dress up as, so she went to three different Halloween functions in three different costumes. This is the one that I thought was the cutest:

Emma is at the age where she is experimenting with what is funny, and has an inexhaustible cache of Halloween jokes for anyone willing to hear them. Q: What do ghosts call their mistakes. A: Boo-boos. (Thanks Grandma Patterson).

The Halloween program at school went well. I was so worn out by the end of our party that only the thought of stealing chocolate out of the kid's goody bags kept me going. :-)

When Tyler got up to sing with his class at the program, he amused/horrified the parent audience by picking his nose the entire time. As pay back, I am posting this picture as proof/future teenage torture.
On a less embarrasing note, Tyler earned his Alphabet Crown at school. For those of you who don't know, this is a BIG DEAL! It means that Tyler knows all his letters, their sounds, the vowels, and how to read a few simple words. Way to go Ty!

That's about all the news from last week. I hope that this November finds you a little less pessimistic then Thomas Hood and that,

"the winds will blow their own freshness into you,
and the storms their energy,
while cares will drop away from you
like the leaves of Autumn."
-John Muir