My new favorite picture, and the Christmas Sing-A-Long Blurriness :)

I think we were sitting down to have Sunday dinner and these little cheese balls were all getting along for the moment.  I saw this awesome picture and TOOK IT! I'm in love with it!!  The only thing that could make it better is if ALL my kiddos were in it :)  But seriously, are they not the cutest little kids ever?!

I know these pictures are horrible, and I'm not sure why I'm posting them or planning on putting them in the blog, but I went to the Sing-A-Long and even though I was sitting WAY in the back, in the wrong place to get a decent picture of ANYONE, I was there!  So I document it!

Lukey looked so cute and big up there!  Singing with all the big Kindergartners!!  I can't believe how much he's grown this year!  They sang Jingle Bells and he had his cute hands in his pockets the whole time!  So cute!

Here's Bradley's group... and the back of Bradley's head.  They sang All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth :).

This was Kelly's group and I still can't see her in this picture.  Oh well, maybe she'll like seeing her friends?  They sang Up On The Housetop.  Kelly was bummed that her class didn't learn Ukuleles like the other class.

And here's the big FOURTH graders!  Charity's group.  She's WAY back in the middle!  You can't see her in this picture.  They sang Santa's Using Zebras to Pull His Sleigh.  So cute.

And as usual, Santa showed up at the end!  This Santa looked like he had been on some kind of Low-Carb diet all year?!  I'm glad my kids know that he isn't the REAL Santa.  It was a lot of fun though!  And as always, I got to sit by my good ol' buddy Kim Ball.  This is a fun tradition, I'm glad the school keeps it up and even though parents aren't really invited, I'm glad that I get to go every year :)

Family Party

This happened so long ago that I've forgotten what we even did!  Let's see what I can remember:

Grandma gave all the kids a striped shirt.... 

They all loved that.  Especially Luke and Brad... they jumped up and put theirs on!  Very cute boys.

Kelly took the opportunity to give Alvin and Charlie the gifts she got them.  She was so cute this year, she bought something for EVERYONE!!  I couldn't believe how thoughtful she was with it all!!  Sweet girl.

I believe the girls put on a little show for us... they're so funny. 

We had finger foods for dinner.  Maybe this was a dumb idea of mine, but I was DYING to try some of these recipes I had found on Pinterest and needed a good excuse :) (because apparently cooking dinner for my own family isn't good enough?)  I made Mini Southwest Egg Rolls, some Garlic Chicken Balls, Wingers chicken, Cake Mix Rice Krispie Treats (I thought these were really yummy!  Some people couldn't tell a difference though, so maybe it was all in my head).  Seems like I made something else too, but I can't remember now.  Maybe it will come to me.  We decided to forego the bacon wrapped club crackers, and the Rolo Cookies since I had overdone it already.  I thought that all the food was really tasty, I loved that the kids could eat it relatively easily.  That is a plus.

After the food, we took pictures of all the grand kids in their stripes.  This was the only picture that didn't have something horribly wrong with it.

And this one was my favorite :) for obvious reasons :)

We didn't do much else, Mom talked us into singing some Christmas Carols, but insisted that I play the piano, so it was a little choppy.  I need to practice those throughout the year so I can get better at them, but I don't like Christmas music until AFTER Thanksgiving.... 

I felt bad about talking my Mom out of having white elephants, it's just so silly when our family is HALF of the group.  But the party was lacking the Christmas feel.  We needed to do something.  

Oh well though.... better luck next year :)  

It was still a good time!

Journaling

- I spent about 5 hours at the school on Monday.  What a crazy day!  I had to be there at 11:15 for the Box Tops Store, then since Nate had the car (and he was such a good Daddy, he took Erika to her well child appointment for me with 3 other kids!  One of them was not even ours!  He gets major Daddy-brownie-points for that one), I had to just sit there at the school and kill like 45 minutes!  I tried to find useful things to do, but I didn't have any luck!  So, at 1:30 it was time for the 4th Grade Market Square.  An activity where they each were given a profession, along with a different amount of money and then they had to go around to about 10 stations making big money decisions about what kind of house they would buy, what kind of car, clothes, food, toiletries, even insurance, and put money in the bank, and be given a "chance" which was either paying or earning money.  It was pretty cool!  I sat at the Clothing table and had to show the kids what kinds of stores they could shop at for what kind of money.  They could choose between shopping at Yard Sales/Thrift Stores, Walmart/Target type stores, The Mall, or Designer clothes.  I was SO surprised to see how many boys picked designer!!!  Made me and Annie's mom laugh :).  I was impressed with Charity.  She is a smart shopper anyway, but she started out with I think $180, as a Dental Assistant, and still had $59 left at the end!  Good girl!  There were 2 kids that had to come back to our booth and sell back their designer clothes so that they would have enough money for food or something else.  Kinda fun.  I think that it was a fun way to get the kids thinking about money.  I was surprised to see how many different areas they covered- especially for those little 4th graders!  Good though, they need to know about those things!  So anyway, that was a fun part of my time there.  Then we had the parent meeting for the Musical.  I must say, I get SO annoyed at those kinds of meetings.  They hand you a paper with all of the information on it, then they won't let you just pay and go.... they want  you to sit there and listen to them read the paper to you.  Like we're idiots.  I know I sound harsh, but it is REALLY starting to get to me!  If you have something important to say, say it, but don't insult me by putting it all on a piece of paper and then making me sit there for a half hour while you jibber jabber about it.  It's not that difficult!  It's the wrong time of year to waste my time I guess :).  Anyway.  I do love visiting with my friends at those things, and I am glad that all those ladies will put forth the time necessary to make the play possible.  It's very nice.  So at 4:00 I was finally out of the building!  So crazy.

- We went up to Grandpa Hatch's on Monday night for some pizza and cinnamon rolls and ice cream and pistachios.... and whatever else Grandpa let my kids pig out on!!  It was fun to sit and talk with Steve and Grandpa.  I really can't believe how excited the kids get to go up there.  They were RUNNING up to the door, Erika flew in there, bounced around being happy about being there, took her coat off and threw it on the couch and said, "That's better!" all funny, and then sat herself down in front of Tangled on Grandpa's TV (apparently there's something really exciting about Tangled at Grandpa's, even though we watch it like every other day).  So cute though!!  They were all so happy!  Makes me laugh, but I'm glad at the same time.  And my Dad is so good to them.  He runs around getting all their treats and drinks, and turning on movies and finding games on the iPad.... it's adorable.

- Tuesday I was only at the school for 2 1/2 hours.  For the Christmas Sing-a-long, and the Box Tops Store.  I enjoyed both, and will be posting some of my lame pictures of the Sing-A-Long.  Nate's been playing Mr. Mom all week.  I need to think of some kind of fun thing for him to do to get a break from it all.... maybe tomorrow...

- I did some organizing today (though you'd never know if you saw my house) in certain areas.  My goal was to make it so that Noah's clothes were in lower drawers so that he could get to them and I wouldn't have to anymore.  The way our clothing drawers are arranged, it wasn't possible in the boys' room.  I've had Erika's clothes in the drawers in the hallway since we got rid of the rubbermaid thing in her room, but they were taking up two drawers when they really didn't need to.  Below that was our toothbrush/ hair stuff drawer (I know it sounds disgusting- and frankly it was, but I didn't have any other ideas).  I realized the other day that our school supplies drawer thing was not being used to it's full capacity and decided that it would make the perfect toothbrush/hair stuff drawers (and keep them separated thank goodness!) so I emptied all of the school supplies into a less convenient, but just as useful box and pencil boxes, then cleaned out the small drawer thing for the bathroom.  It fits nicely under the sink (though it's not my favorite way to have it), and will hopefully be managed a little better than before.  THEN I moved all of Erika's stuff up to the top of the three drawers (got rid of all of her burp clothes, diaper covers, old swim suits, and outgrown shoes) and gave Noah the bottom two drawers!  I'm very happy with how it is right now.  Hopefully this will solve the Noah sleeping in his clothes every night because Nate and I are too lazy to get up and get them at night.  Pathetic, I know, but true nonetheless.  I'm going to work on the games and the snow stuff tomorrow.... I LOVE organizing when I have the right tools!  12-21-11

- I finally finished all of the neighbor gifts that I can do (until Charity and Nate are home to pass out theirs).  We ended up doing a lot more than I had planned, and therefore a lot more cooking!  I'm cheap, so I just make food, but it was a LOT this year!  We made Nutty Cereal Candy first, when that ran out, we did White Chocolate Popcorn, and when that was gone, we made some Rolo Cookies!  I think we'll be making some Poppy Seed Bread for the last few.  I found a decent recipe.  Did I mention that the other day?  I actually got some 5 star comments from a Primary Teacher in my ward who got one of the two Poppy Seed loaves I made.  He was VERY complimentary and coming from the husband of someone who I aspire to cook like, it was VERY nice :).  So anyway, it was a long night.  The kids fought The. Whole. Time. we were passing things out.  It was very embarrassing to have shrieks and shrills coming from my vehicle each time I opened another door.  Gotta love the pre-Christmas nerves.  They're as bad as me.  Luckily it's only three days away!  It was definitely cute to watch Erika pass out the treats she had wanted to do for hers and Noah's teachers.  She was so shy, but just so happy to pass them out.  I loved it.  12/21/11

Journaling

- Nate and I almost have ALL of our Christmas shopping done!  It's so wonderful to have so much done already!  We mustn't forget the few we have left to do, because that's what usually happens when we "almost have all of our shopping done" so early, but it is nice to be close :).  We got a lot of it done on Monday during the day. 12-12-11

- Also on Monday we got to go out to the Beckstead's for a little dinner and Christmas fun.  Becky made the most amazing dinner for us, then we acted out the Nativity and then they spoiled us with gifts.  It was a lot of fun.  Our kids had a blast.... which is more than I can say for poor Casey and Adam.  They're so much older, I can't imagine they had any fun :).  But it was definitely fun to get some one on one time with their family.  I do love them all so much.  I hope they know how grateful we are for their generosity and love.  Oh!  And afterwards, we followed Becky over to a Live Nativity that their ward puts on every year.  How cool that was!  They had this cute little stable, with a young girl and boy and doll sitting inside (real people) and then they had wise men, shepherds, angels, ANIMALS!  Donkeys, cows, sheep just wandering around.  It was so cool!  And so neat to be able to enjoy it.  The kids LOVED the animals.  Of course.  I wish I had brought my camer... for the whole night.  I never seem to have it when I need it most anymore.  It was a nice time though.  Until we all got cold :).  Good times though.  12-12-11

- Monday was also Kelly's class SPELLING BEE and she WON!  She gets to go onto the School Spelling Bee in a few months!  We're very excited for her!

- Thursday was Charity's class SPELLING BEE and she got second place and will get to advance to the School Spelling Bee as well!!!  SO COOL!!  We're very excited for her as well!  It will be a big family event :)

- I finally got my oven back on Friday morning, not a moment too soon with an order of 24 loaves of bread to be made by that afternoon!  Unfortunately nothing was working right for me that day!  As I started making the bread, I realized I didn't have enough sugar.  Luckily my Mom was out and about, so she saved the day.  Then my first batch (and this was annoying because it was 3 batches worth! that's 8 loaves of bread!) didn't quite work out, didn't rise or something.  So I scratched those, started on some pumpkin bread, because by then I was out of almond extract!  (I had a car, but kids were napping, and I wasn't really dressed to go out)  So I made some pumpkin bread.  I got the batter done just in time to pick up the kids from school and figured I may as well go get the other things I was running out of at that point so that I could at least attempt to make the rest.  I had a horrible time at Dick's, contemplated getting some store bought loaves, but they didn't have any.  So I resorted to buying some of their disposable tins.  I knew I wasn't going to have time to get it ALL done before our meeting to wrap them up, but I had to do what I could.  When I got home I baked the batch I had ready to go, they took WAY longer to bake for some reason, and as soon as they were cooled and out of their pans, I had to run out the door to wrap them.  I was SO BUGGED!!!  I had mixed up the batter for 2 more batches of poppy seed bread, but I just hate it when I look flaky!  Especially when it wasn't really my fault.  It was the landlord's fault for not fixing my oven quicker!!!  So anyway, it turned out that Carol had made lots more than necessary, and so I only needed 4 more from the batches at home, and it worked out just fine.  Apparently my prayers had been answered after all ;).  But it was just a crazy day!  (just as a side note, my second and third batches of poppy seed didn't turn out either!!!!  Dumb recipe!!!  I was so annoyed! Usually my Lion House cookbook is so reliable! but anyway, I stayed up later on Saturday night and finished some more poppy seed bread- a different recipe I had found online, just for my peace of mind, and knowing that I CAN still make poppy seed bread! :) )  So anyway, I think I made my kids crazy that day, and my house was a complete disaster area, but I did get it done!

- Friday night, Nate surprised me with a date!  We decided to wait until the younger four were asleep, let Charity and Kelly stay up to "be in charge" and we went to see a movie!  We saw Sherlock Holmes.  I liked this one the best!  It was really fun, loved the special effects.  But most importantly, it was a very nice time with my sweetie that I enjoyed immensely!  It's nice when we get out to just play during this time of the year and not just shop!  Although, I do love the shopping part too!  Anyway, Thanks Babe!  For the surprise!  You're a sweetheart!

- Sunday was such a big day for our family!!!  I can't believe how busy I was from the minute I woke up until the minute I got home!  It was nerve-racking, but I think it went well :).  All things considered.  I wanted to document my Sunday, just so I can remember that I survived.  Plus maybe I'll be able to adapt to my responsibilities at church and I will feel more competent and capable.  Hopefully. So I woke up at 6:00 am, Erika woke up as I was trying to get out of bed, so I laid in bed waiting for the perfect moment to slip away.... didn't really happen, so at 6:30 I handed a screaming Erika over to Nate and took my shower.  I made breakfast, got my nativity all ready to go, scrounged up some flowers for the girls hair (of course, all things I should have done the night before.... I do regret that), then woke up the girls about 7:30, fed them and did theirs and my hair until about 8:30.  We were WAY late for my choir practice, but Nate dropped us off at the church a little early.  I went in to finish off the last song with the choir (I HATE walking in late... but it happens SO MUCH lately).  The girls went into the Primary to set up my Nativity for Carol's Sharing Time.  She did the cutest little display of Nativities for the Primary to look at!  It was so neat!  I loved the Eskimo one and the African one... very cute!  I need more for my collection I think :). So Primary was even hectic!  But they did sing to me for my birthday, and gave me a much needed pack of gum :)  I was really craving gum :).  I had to check on Erika about every 15 minutes to see if she needed to go potty and about 1/3 of the way into the first meeting, she needed to go potty but wouldn't sit on the big potties!!!  It was so nerve-racking!  She kept telling them she had to go, then would tell me she was done and didn't need to.  So I kept taking her anyway.  During all that, one of our Sunbeam teachers had to leave for an ordination, so I went and sat with their class for about 10 minutes.  That was fun.  Then, near the end of Sharing Time during Junior Primary, I went in to go get the future Sunbeams (one of which is Noah) and started to bring them into the Primary room when Erika announced that she needed to go potty and it sounded urgent!  Noah of course needed to go too :) SO I took both of them to the bathroom.  Erika refused, and said she needed to go home, to which I was thinking 'that's not a bad idea'.  Then Noah took his time going potty.  Then we ran around the church like crazy people looking for Nate.  I forgot he was in the Family History class. I couldn't find him and I felt this urgency to get Noah back to Primary because I wanted him to experience a little of Sharing time (he had missed it the other time).  But when we got in the Primary room, he and Erika both flipped out for some reason!  I ran out of there, went searching for Nate again.  I was in a little bit of a panic because I needed things to be under control by the time Primary was over so that I could go into the Chapel early and start on the prelude music on the organ.  So that was going through my head.  I finally found Nate, he was nice and took Erika home.  Then I ran Noah back to Primary, trying to prep him a little better for the sitting in Primary idea.  He was much better this time.  We sat on the back row for a minute, then he and I went and sat on the little chairs up in the front for the last few minutes.  It was nice to see him warm up to the idea a little.  He's not big on change.... we'll see how the next week goes!  Then chaos started, it was time to dismiss, I needed to round up all my kids (thanks to Charity a lot of that was done for me), and get into the Chapel.  I sent them to a row on the other side of the room, so that we could be in a convenient spot to see the girls sing, and frantically went up to play the organ.  When I saw Brenda, I just knew I had to ask her to change the song.  I was in NO condition to play the song I wasn't all that comfortable with, even though I had practiced all month.  I was shaking really bad, I knew I hadn't eaten breakfast, I knew I was tired, and already nervous and frazzled from the earlier events, so I caved and just asked her to change.  She was flexible, thank goodness and we sang Joy To The World instead of Hark The Harold Angels Sing.  I still feel guilty, but it was necessary at the moment.  After playing the prelude, I saw my Mom and Simon out in the congregation, then after the opening song, my Dad showed up.  It was really nice to see him there.  I love it that my kids have opportunities to do things that we can invite him to.  It was nice to look out and see him there.  I played the Sacrament Hymn, then moved on over to the choir seats.  The program went really well, I love our organ!!!  They did bells and a flute in different songs throughout the program!  Very cool.  Then the girls sang their song with the Holley girls!  That was a lot of fun for them, and they did such a great job!!  I can't believe my two little girls sang with the choir as backup!!!  Very fun.  I love that the church gives them so many opportunities to share their talents.  They really are so talented!  So after Sacrament meeting I ran to the gym to pass out the books and bread to the primary teachers.  Then ran to the kitchen for a quick stand up meeting for employment specialists.  That was a nice meeting.  I felt relieved to find out I was getting a new person, and I feel a lot more equipped to help my new one.  It's an interesting responsibility, but I do think if anyone's got the time for it, it's me.  After that, things mellowed out considerably.  My Dad came over for a few minutes, Erika watched his phone the whole time... mostly her birthday over and over again.  That's always fun.  She gets so attached to him when he is around.  It's really cute!  I think it's safe to say she likes him more than me even.  Which is saying a LOT! :).  After my Dad left, and Erika calmed down, we had a little to eat and then the Home Teachers came.  I felt bad because I was just so exhausted when they were here.  Just sitting does that too me.  And I had a sleeping Erika on me.  They were so nice, Keith gave all the kids a Christmas gift, and they all opened them and sat and used their crayons and markers and what not, the rest of the time.  I thought that was so thoughtful of him!  And so fun for the kids!  After that, everything is a blur :).... I did get a nap though!  Felt SO GOOD!!  Minus my body going numb because of our uncomfortable couch.  So anyway.  That was my day.  I can't believe I actually wrote it all :).  I did have a nice day.  It was crazy that it all worked out and most things went well.  I give all the credit to my Heavenly Father for that.  I prayed like crazy for all of it!!  And he did help me out.  Hopefully I can get better at this!!  Practice makes perfect I guess!

ALL ABOARD!!!!

ERIKA'S ON THE POTTY TRAIN!!!!

Back on Tuesday, Grandma Hatch showed up with some cute little Princess Potty training stickers and chart.  Erika LOVED them!  I was skeptical because I had tried the stickers and chart thing and it didn't work.  We've actually done a few "first days of potty training" in the last 6 months or so, since the first time I bought her some Tinkerbell panties.  None of them took, and I was just trying to be relaxed about the whole potty training, I'd made the mistake in the past where I tried to push it and ended up pushing the kid away from it more.  So anyway, my strategy was to just take it easy and not expect it to happen overnight and well......

it kinda happened overnight!!!

Tuesday she got the chart, put on some panties and got started.  I think she had 1 or 2 wet accidents that day (I can't actually remember 2, but there must have been more than the one I remember...), then Wednesday, she was anxious to put her panties on again (which hasn't really been the case any other time), and she went MOST of the day without any trouble, just one accident (which was really disgusting and made Facebook).  We even went shopping on Wednesday with her in panties, and had to make about a million trips to the bathroom- I think she liked the tiny potty in the Family Restroom- which happens to be a major selling point for shopping there right now.  That is where she made her first poop in the potty!!!  YAY!!  The pooping in the potty is HUGE to me :).  So we had to celebrate with ice cream!  She actually had a little diarrhea that night, so that wasn't helpful.... she did have an accident that evening.... and that was pretty gross too.  

(I'm sure you all love hearing about Erika's bowel movements and urination... sorry... it's my blog ;) )

So anyway, Thursday she only had one accident (wet) and that was because Lukey was in the bathroom, so she didn't make it in time.  She was TOTALLY disappointed!  And actually, on Thursday, I had to run some errands, and then stopped at my Mom's for a minute, and she didn't go to the bathroom (she sat on it but didn't do anything) for FOUR WHOLE HOURS until we got home!  So she knows how to hold it now!  She had even taken a nap in the middle of that four hour period and didn't have an accident!  WOW!!!  

It is now Friday morning, and I just witnessed my little 2 year old girl, holding it ALL NIGHT LONG!!!  She didn't have one accident in the night!  

(It was a long night, she had come down to sleep in my bed and I knew she only had panties on so I didn't want her in my bed, so I took her out in the family room and "slept" with her there for most of the night.... asking her if she needed to go potty about every 2 minutes.... I was just amazed she didn't need to go!)

So anyway, before I left to take Nate to work, I instructed Bradley to remind her to go when she woke up and sure enough, when I got home, she had used the potty all by herself and filled it with a WHOLE night's worth!!  AMAZING!  

Erika and Noah have sure made potty training look easy!

I'll be the first to admit it wasn't this easy with any of our other kids.  I think Bradley and Luke were the hardest... for different reasons.  The girls just seemed to take a LONG time so that was what I was anticipating with Noah and with Erika, and they have just surprised me!  

I think I'm going to write a book that goes against all the other books out there.  It doesn't NEED to take a day.  It can take several months.  And if you approach it with that attitude, it's a lot more pleasant for you and for the kid.  Also, don't stay at home!  Most of my kids have done WAY better on the potty training when we're not at home!  Something about the thrill of using a store potty or a friend's.... I suggest Walmart because of the Family Restroom.  AND make sure they are ready!!!  

(wouldn't hurt to have Grandma show up with a cute potty chart of their favorite thing to help jump start their motivation!  Thanks Grandma!)

  

WAY TO GO ERIKA!!!  WE'RE SO PROUD OF YOU!!!

A Good Place To Be

Last night was the Maynes' Family meeting.  Every December we go to Temple square for the meeting.  We were a little late, but we finally found a parking spot and made it there.  We thought we knew where the family was, but unfortunately we were unable to meet up with them.  BUT we did manage to enjoy ourselves quite a bit!  

I've said this before, and I'm going to keep saying it :).  Temple square is a very special place to Nate and I, that's where we spent a lot of our time when we were dating and engaged.  Just looking at the lights there brings back a flood of memories. The whole feel of it makes me and Nate all giddy and cheerful.  So it's a lot of fun to take the kids there and tell them all of our stories and memories (I'm sure someday they'll make us stop, but until then :)....).  

It was fun to show it all to Erika for the first time (again... she was a tiny baby the last time she saw temple square with lights).  She was obsessed with the baby Jesus's all over the place :).  I think it's adorable and cater to her need to hold our ceramic nativity's baby Jesus all the time.  So these larger ones just blew her away :).  She couldn't get enough.  Anytime I said, what should we see next, she would shout out, "Baby Jesus!" or "See duh Donkey!" (that's because she had a hard time seeing the donkey in the nativity up at the Bountiful temple the other day, and the thought of going to the temple to see the lights and baby Jesus reminded her of that)  She's got a good memory!  She was especially sweet at the Nativity with the narration.  We had a front row spot (go in from the west side, that was our trick ;) ) so we could see it all really well.  She sat on my lap as I pointed out the baby Jesus to her, she kept asking about the donkey looking in the window.  She liked the thought of the shepherds and the wise men wanting to see the baby Jesus too.  She loved the star at the end, and when we were done and walking away, she kept talking about the baby Jesus and I said, "You sure like baby Jesus don't you!?  That's cool."  And to that she said, "And baby Jesus wike me!"  Brought tears to my eyes.  I'm not sure if she realizes what she's saying, but I love that she said it.  Jesus does like her!  A lot.  I know it!  She seemed to do pretty well with the cold, she had her "glubby glubbies" (gloves) she wanted out of the stroller halfway through and her legs fell asleep after sitting on Daddy's shoulders, but overall, she did really well!

Noah had fallen asleep on the way there, so he was still waking up for the first half of it, in Nate's arms.  Then he never really was warm for some reason, and was overall, unimpressed with most things.  He did like seeing the water though :)  It's a little bit of a fetish with our kids... possibly genetic from all the swimming and fishing their parents did maybe :)... HA!  He's the strong silent type though, so maybe he enjoyed more of it than I know ;)

Lukey was funny, as we were leaving he said, "Good cuz I'm hot!"  I guess we had bundled him up TOO much.  Not sure how that worked with our kids because some of them were freezing and others were not.... go figure.  Luke was such a good boy, he stayed close to us the whole time, didn't wander off at all, and he wasn't even holding my hand until the end, which he announced that he loved :).  He seemed to like most everything, though he doesn't say much either.  It's fun that he's getting old enough and is actually showing interest in the information we are feeding them all as we walk through a place like that.  It's taken him a little longer than the others, but it's nice to see him care.  He always listened, he just rarely made it obvious to us :).

Bradley was a good boy too, he enjoyed pushing Erika through a lot of it.  He said he liked everything there.  He was good at showing Erika all of the nativities, and he stayed really warm.  He wanted to dive into the fountain to get some money but mean, Mommy, I wouldn't let him.  He listened carefully to the things we told them all, and he was especially cute when I was telling him about the first time Daddy held my hands there, in the parking garage of the JSM building.  He seemed interested, and let me hold his hand while I was telling him.  It was really sweet to have the hands of my two boys as I was talking about the first time I held hands with their Daddy :)  I love that cheesy kind of stuff.  

Kelly was a little cold, she needs a knew coat, but she loved it too!  Her favorite was "A-L-L!"  So I think she had a good time.  She seemed interested in hearing about mine and Nate's memories.  Especially when we were in Mommy and Daddy's spot, where he proposed.  She wanted to know the exact spot where I had been sitting when Daddy got down on his knee.  I LOVE sharing those experiences with my kids.  Especially in the spot where our family started.  It's SOOOOOOO sentimental!  Kelly seemed very into all of the churchy things and got all blushy when she saw Angel Moroni :)  I wonder if that crush will ever wear off :).  

Charity went around taking pictures of all that her frozen little fingers would let her.  It's fun that we found her camera and charger in time for Christmas.  She was into all of the luminarias, the nativities, and the horses out on the street :)  She got lots of pictures of the lights.  So I think she liked them too.  I was reminiscing about Grandpa Mottishaw (as I do when I'm there, since he was a tour guide there, many years ago, I always associate the place with him.  He would teach us cool things that I like to teach to my kids too....) and Charity said, "I miss Grandpa".  I thought that was sweet.  I miss him too.  And my Grandma's too.  Whenever I'm anywhere that I feel the Spirit though, it's always easy to feel them nearby.  I wonder if my kids will be able to feel them nearby even though they hardly knew them?  Charity was really a big girl that night.  It's fun to see her growing up to be such a sweet little lady.  

A lot of mine and Nate's firsts were on Temple Square (or the JSM building).  And it is where he proposed.  The spot where he proposed has a lot of special meaning to me.  When I was riding the bus to UVSC from Bountiful everyday, in college, I would take a bus that drove up state street.  I don't remember the details, but one day when I really needed it, the bus stopped right in just the right spot, so that I was facing the Salt Lake temple head on.  It was a really cool moment for me.  And it hit me that there was more to life than what I was dealing with at the moment and that I had a Heavenly Father who had provided love and comfort for me, so many times, and that He could again.  It was really neat.  And I decided that that spot on State St. was the perfect place to get the perfect view of the temple.  Well, later on, when I was at Temple Square for something, I found that waterfall, over on the east side, east of the old reflection pond, and I realized it was just off State St.  I went and sat there and there it was again!  The perfect view of the Salt Lake Temple.  And it became MY spot!  I of course showed that to Nate the first time (well, every time for that matter) and it was soon OUR spot.  I LOVE that spot!!  So many awesome conversations in that spot, so many good feelings.  It's next to being inside for me for some reason.  So anyway, Nate had to leave to take Noah to the bathroom at one point last night and we were just walking toward our spot, so we decided to meet there.  I took the other kids and we saw the luminarias and talked about the nativities that were over there, and discussed what the Church Office Building is, and the JSM Building, Administrative building, and then we got to our spot, and I told them all about it.  It was so fun!  Kelly and Charity were especially interested.  I had to go sit there and take some pictures of the temple from there.  Erika started getting fussy and Nate wasn't there yet, so I was holding her and walking around with her in my arms, talking about all the special things, and then all of a sudden I caught a glimpse of Nate and Noah, and my heart seriously melted!  It was so sweet!  There's really just something about that place that makes me fall in love with Nate all over again, and that's what happened at that moment.  He looked so cute and had the biggest smile on his face, then I had the kids all running up to him in my peripheral.  So heavenly.  I'm sure this sounds really cheesy, but it was special to me.  Very romantic if you can imagine that with a grumpy baby and 5 other little kids :).  I loved it.  I just want to remember how I felt at that moment.  And then from then on, the whole evening, everything just tugged on my heartstrings.  I had been really emotional all day from fasting, so I'm sure that had a little effect, but not all.  I loved it.

And even after the crazy getting-in-the-car chaos, the whole way home just felt so nice.  I felt so recharged.  Everything just felt so good, any problems that I normally think about or worry about, were gone, and I just knew that we had the best family, with the best situation, and we are loved by a Heavenly Father who will continue to bless us.  It was so peaceful.  I'm counting that as my Christmas this year.  It was just perfect.

Foamy Paint

It's been a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time since we did anything like this, so I had to post about it.  One of the good things about Pinterest is I have all these great kid craft ideas, right at my fingertips.  And it gets me thinking about it.  So Friday, when Lukey and Carter came home, we whipped up some of this foamy paint (which we've done before but it was so long ago, it was like knew :)

Lukey and Erika seemed to be the most into it.  

This one is Luke's, he got very creative with the q-tips :)

Here's one of Erika's masterpieces.

This one is Noah's, before he lost interest.  Which happened way too quickly for how much paint I had made ;).  

Carter was the first to quit.  I attribute that to having been in preschool and done stuff like this everyday for the last two years.  One of the many PROS for NOT putting your kid in preschool.... but then again, maybe some people would consider this a con..... depends who you are I guess ;).  I'm just always looking for reassurance that I haven't scarred my children for life by not sending them to preschool :).

Noah heard Carter playing the wii downstairs and had to join him.  This just wasn't cool enough to pull him away too long.

But Erika and Luke were my little painting buddies for quite a while.  They were a lot of fun, and HAD a lot of fun from my perspective.  Erika got LOTS of practice on her colors!  I'm impressed with how well she knows them already!  We haven't worked on them enough.  I was surprised this held Lukey's attention as long as it did.  He usually wants to play the wii, so that made me happy.  

Overall it was a great time!! 

I had made this picture:

as I always do when I have a craft that can make letters in my hands.... 

and Lukey said, "Why didn't you make one that said, 'I love Luke'?"

So I made this:

And then I realized I had these 8 bowls full of foamy paint, and decided I needed to make these:

And at the very end, I got this crazy idea, to see how this paint worked in a baggie (used like a cake bag)

so I scooped up the remaining paint, colors all mixed up, 

and I made this: 

Turned out pretty cool if you ask me!  Wish I'd thought of it sooner :)

Later on that night, Kelly had her friend Jaycie over and they insisted that we make some more foamy paint, and they had even MORE fun making TONS of pictures.  They did most of their with the baggies, and then just went crazy with the leftover stuff.... it was everywhere!  But they had fun.  And I was glad to have something fun for them to do.

So anyway.... I like crafts with my kids.  I need to do them more often.

Another crafty day :)

This is not that great of a picture... should have picked a different one. Either way, on Saturday, I pulled up another great crafty idea from Pinterest and we decided to try it.  It was clay for bead making.  It was a little different from our usual salt play doh recipe, but I really liked it!  It dries a lot better, though I felt like the colors faded more than I wanted them to.  Bradley, Kelly, Luke, Erika, Noah and I had a lot of fun making these beads.  I should have taken a picture of all of them!  But these were the bracelets and ring that Kelly and Bradley made for me on Sunday.  I think they turned out pretty good!  And it was a lot of fun too!  We'll be doing this again for sure.

Future Memories

- The cast for Beauty and the Beast was announced yesterday!  Kelly is part of the chorus, and Charity is 'The woman with a cane'.  So should be fun :)  We're excited to see it!

- The cutest thing happened on Friday night.  Erika fell down the last half of the stairs (that's not the cute part!), I ran over to hold her, and make it better, and not even a whole second later, her cute big sister Kelly, was right there with me, with her arm around Erika, saying sweet things to her.  Then milliseconds later, her sweet big brothers, all of them, even the one who had his 2 friends over, were right here, giving her loves, and trying to make it better.  They were all SO SWEET!!!  (Charity was at a friend's house, just so you know :) she would have been right there too)  It makes me so happy to see that they've learned to show sympathy even when they don't have anything to do with the problem.  Felt good :).  I'm sure Erika felt differently, but she recovered quickly.  The poor little girl falls down our death-trap stairs almost weekly.  I wish there was something I could do.  So anyway.  12-9-11

** The same thing happened for Lukey the next day, when he pinched his arm in the drawers in the kitchen!  Kids jumped up from the fun project we were doing even!  I just love my kids!  12-10-11

- Our ward Christmas party was today.  During Nate's Saturday shift.  Kind of a bummer, and it did take a lot of convincing to get me to take all the kids myself, but somehow (well, I know how) I was able to drag myself out of bed in the morning to take Nate to work, so that we could have the car, so that we could go.  And we did.  I was thrilled when I realized they were serving the food at the buffet tables, it wasn't self serve!!!  That was monumental for me.  It's so difficult to fill up plates for 6 kids (three who need real help) when it's self serve.  So that made me smile!  Then we got to sit by the Holley's so that was a real treat too :). They are so fun.  The party was eating and then wandering around to the different rooms filled with fun and games.  The kids loved the seed-spitting.  Not sure what it has to do with Christmas :), but my kids were the champions, so who cares :).  They had a little "Taste of Bethlehem" food tasting thing, that was cool!  And then Nativity Bingo in another room.  The kids had a blast.  And I had fun too!  SO win win.  If we hadn't had Bradley's little melt down as we were getting into the car (yes, it was ANOTHER "I don't want to sit in the back" melt down.... I still haven't rememdied this problem), I would declare the whole morning a complete success!!  But it was close anyway!  Good times.  More power to be able to carry this out if it ever happens again :).  All my single mom friends out there.... hats off to you all for all that you do on your own!!!  I could never be a single mom!  EVER!    12-10-11

Future Memories

- Aunt Jen threw her big Cookie Party this Saturday.  This is always a highlight of our Christmas season.  The kids all get together with their cousins.  Jen feeds them all pizza for dinner.  Then they all decorate lots of sugar cookies and then play games and watch movies for the rest of the time.  Somehow Jen has managed to keep this tradition up, and it's actually gotten longer over the years.  And this year, we were able to take ALL of our kids.  So Nate and I got a four hour date night for FREE.  How nice is that!  I love that I know the kids will be safe, happy, and entertained, and I can relax.  Nate and I went to see Hugo.  It was such a good, fun movie!  I'm not sure if the kids would really be all that entertained by it, maybe Charity or Bradley... I don't know, but I really loved it.  Then we went to Red Robin for dinner.  So delicious.  I don't know why but sometimes our dates feel so unreal.  This was one of them.  And it was over before I finally figured out it was.  :)  It was a good time though, and I loved it.

- For FHE we let the kids take out a bunch of their money out of the family bank, and we all went Christmas shopping!  I was so surprised at how much they all spent!  We were even at All-A-Dollar :).  Kelly went all out and got gifts for everyone in the family, not just the one whose name she drew.  They all seemed to be putting a lot of thought into their friend gifts, trying to think of what they like, their hobbies, I love that they know how to do that.  Noah had just woke up from his nap, so he was a little grouchy during most of it, but he snapped out of it once we found him a bag of cheetos :).  Bradley and Luke were very frugal, didn't want to spend too much money.  Erika found about a million things to "give dis Alwin?"  She loves her little cousin ;).  After All-A-Dollar we went to Target.  Nate and Charity ditched us for most of the time :)  And were being all secretive, so that's exciting ;).  Everyone kind of ran around as they pleased while I kept track of it all.  It was fun though.  I love that they are learning how to think about other people, their likes, and put forth the effort and sacrifice the money the way they did.  I think it's such a great thing to learn, and teach children.  I wish I'd learned this better.  They did a good job and came out on top I think :).  We still have a few more things to get, but I think most of them finished all of their Christmas shopping!  With 3 weeks to spare!  Impressive.

- Our school's play this year is going to be Beauty and the Beast.  The girls are very excited!!  We had our first tryouts today, Tuesday, and we were at the school for 3 hours!!!!  No, we were not planning on being there that long.  It was chaotic.  To say the least.  But the girls did great! (so I've heard, but didn't get to witness thanks to some crappy moms who ruined it for the rest of us!) They were practicing all morning, with flashlight microphones, testing out every song they know ;).  Charity ended up doing the song from Tangled, at the beginning, and Kelly's first audition she sang a song from somewhere, that I don't know.  She sounded lovely when she did it for me, but I guess she forgot the words when she was doing it for the judges.  Luckily we were near the end of the line, so they let her go back in and try again.  She did the Tangled song the second time and Charity said she did great!  (Charity got to be in there, along with the Holley's and some other people.... you can imagine my frustration when I learned that I COULD have been there AFTER the fact.... I"m not over it yet.)  I did get to sit and visit with some friends, the littles ran around to their little hearts' content.  It was an interesting evening.  We will find out who goes back for callbacks, tomorrow.  I hope we can sleep tonight! 12/6/11

- Wednesday night we had a last minute, kind of impromptu Choir practice, to make up for the missed practice on Sunday.  The lame thing was that it was at 9:00pm.  Kinda strange.  I decided that since I needed to go get Nate at 10:00 anyway, that I would just put the kids in bed, and ask my Mom to come sit here while I went to the practice and picked up Nate.  She was so nice and consented.  Erika was giving me a hard time though (of course, isn't that how it always is!) and wouldn't go to bed peacefully.  I decided to try rocking her (sometimes I resort to this, when I've already had enough crying for the evening).  She was determined to stay awake!  An hour passed, and my Mom got here, and Erika was still wide awake.  So I decided rather than leave and have her screaming and crying/waking everyone up, for my crippled mother, just to bring her with me.  It was probably risky, but I have this thing in my head that taking one kid anywhere is doable.  So she came.  It turned out to be one of the funnest little outings I've had in a while :)  She was so adorable!  She was all smiles through the Choir practice.  She sat in her seat almost the entire time.  And when she did get up, it was just in front of her seat.  She didn't try to wander around.  So nice.  I was surprised at how interested in the music and singers she was.  She pulled the paper clip off of my music, and when I looked down at her, jokingly angry, she gave me the cutest smile and the sweetest little, "Just Joking!"  I loved it!!  So did all the cute ladies around us.  She kept saying it over and over (as she does with most new phrases), and made me laugh lots.  Then it was time to go get Daddy.  On the way there, we sang lots of Christmas songs, and played her new favorite game, "NOTHING!"  Where she gets your attention, then says, "Nothing" and laughs.  It's hilarious really.  It's a total Elementary school thing, so it's funny coming out of a little 2 year old :).  Makes me laugh.  She does that over and over again too.  Along with quoting her favorite lines from Tangled.  She says, "Mom, Tangoed says, 'Coming Mudoh!'" And "Tangoed mudoh says, 'Take...wong!'" And she gets the tones right and everything!  It's hilarious.  Oh!  She added a new one to the mix too, "Mom, Tangoed Huhsey (horsey) says, 'AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!'"  Hilarious.  She is a funny little girl.  And she loves to make people laugh.... sometimes :).  Don't laugh at the wrong time though, she's mastered the art of pouting, tantrums, and screaming.  It was a lot of fun.  Glad she finally went to bed an hour after we got home. 12/7/11

I hate being a jerk sometimes

Confession time.  I know I use this blog for too many things.  Venting, bragging about my kids, complaining.... all of the things I shouldn't.... but tonight, I did something and it's really eating away at me.  I wonder if writing things down will help me to figure out how I really feel.  So don't mind me, I'm just going to confess my sins to all of you!  And I'm going to preface it with all my excuses so that it doesn't seem so horrible.... at least I'm honest.
Tonight was a crazy night.  I took the three littles with me to pick up Bradley and sit out the girls' play audition thinking it would only be a half hour or so.  Much to my surprise it took THREE HOURS!!!  I'm not kidding we didn't leave the school until 6:30.  I posted about their tryouts on my Future Memories post so don't think I'm just skipping over that excitement.  I have to put it in a separate post so that I don't accidentally put this in my book.  Anyway!  So at 6:30, I took my whining, tired, hungry, kids home.  I should say, I was anxious to get home because I wanted to see how the kitchen looked.  We had had a guy painting it all day (it seriously took way longer than it needed to, and the guy was a complete bone head.... just saying).  So I wanted to see how it looked, and frankly I was anticipating that he did something wrong, or left a mess like the last couple of times he had made repairs or done work in our house.  Just as I had anticipated, the kitchen was a HUGE mess.  I was SO TICKED OFF!!!  And I know that my already tired, hungry, grumpy attitude was not helpful, and I should have just backed away and gone somewhere in the car, but no matter how hard I tried, I just could not let it go!!  On the floor, along all the walls, were piles of dust.  Even the top of the lenoleum ledge, where he should have swept BEFORE painting, had dust.  I glanced behind the fridge and it was one BIG pile of dust, that he had not swept before pushing the fridge back even!!  I really can't express how much dust and crap there was all over the kitchen floor.... AND my table!!!  Which, here's one of the more annoying things, he took my pictures off the walls, set them on the table, and then didn't cover up the table OR the pictures!!!  So they all have dust on them!!  And these aren't regular pictures, they're the fake tile ones, that are impossible to clean.  Their wood frames are all covered in white dust.  Ugh.  I just get so mad thinking about it.  So then I get over to the microwave, and he had totally not covered up anything over there either!!  I had my little "pay check" notebook that I use for the kids, on the side next to the wall, along with a Friend magazine, and he hadn't moved them either, they were COMPLETELY covered in dust.  Like, to the point where I don't want to use them, because they feel all chalky!!  I'm sure this sounds lame, I wish I'd taken pictures, the whole kitchen was covered in white dust!  It was ridiculous!  Even a plate of cookies!!!  He hadn't moved anything.  Or even asked me to move them!  I was SO ANGRY!!!!!
And like I said, this wasn't the first time for this guy.  He has been on my list from day 1.  The very first time he came to do work in our house, I answered the door, and without so much as a "Hello" (much less, a "Hi, my name is __________, I'm here to do such and such") he barged in and got to work.  He would leave for hours at a time, then come back and just walk in!  Like he'd had personal access to the place for the day!  Which irritates me SO much when I've got little kids here and I'm alone.... anyway.  He would yell stupid things down the stairs like, "Hello!  Any adults here?"  Just because the kids would be up and down, since we're not very good at putting their lives on hold for dumb little repairs that mean very little to me.  And he was just really rude!!  Today, he came in, for the first time, without Nate answering the door and just yelled downstairs, "Hello, any adults here?" When Nate told him he shouldn't walk in our house he said, "The 2 year old had answered the door".  Give me a break.  So anyway.  He was an hour late, told us he'd be done at 11:00 and wasn't done at 2:30 when we left to take Nate to work. Who knows when he finally finished.  The guy is just a pain in the neck.  I'm not even mentioning the fact that he "dropped the ball".  The ball being him painting our kitchen 2 months ago.  Yeah, he "forgot" to paint it after tearing off the wallpaper and spackling.  I've never had anyone come into my house who is SO rude, SO disrespectful, and SO messy as he has been.

So here's the horrible part.  I called the guy.  And actually, I had called the landlord first because I wanted to tell him about our oven not working, and the call to the Landlord started out okay.  I was pretty polite, but then as the message I was leaving (which I KNOW he won't return because he NEVER DOES!) went on, I just got more and more frustrated, brought up their crappy painter guy, and just went off.  I even said, "but since you never return my calls!..." in my message. So embarrassing.  So I guess leaving that message wasn't enough for me, I took one more step into the kitchen, and freaked out again, and ended up calling the painter guy (I have no idea what to call him, I don't know his name).  I started out by asking him when he was going to finish the job.  He acted surprised of course, and I was like, "The painting looks fine, it's the mess you left that I want finished."  It was when he said he swept it before he left that I got really hostile.  There is NO WAY he swept it!!  He was just a lazy worker.  He made a comment about how he isn't responsible for moving our stuff, and I'm thinking, what painter doesn't cover up the room before they paint??  Is that not normal??  Of if I have left something there, that is going to get ruined, TELL ME!!  I will gladly move it! I couldn't even be in the room because he would get all huffy when someone was in his way at all.  I couldn't help but say, "I know we're renters, and we're not the ones paying you, but you ARE getting paid!  You need to do the whole job!  No cutting corners just because your check is coming from someone who doesn't have a clue what's going on!"  I really do think that these guys get away with things like that because of the situation.  And I don't think it's fair!  I didn't ask to have the room painted, it was hideous before, but it wasn't something I chose to have them do.  I don't feel like I should have to rearrange my day for it, and then clean up after it when it wasn't for me!  Not to mention I have 6 kids to clean up after!  I don't want to clean up after a grown man who is getting paid to do a job!  He was funny because even though he "swept it before he left" he said, "The soonest I could be up there to clean it up would be tomorrow afternoon."  Apparently he didn't realize he was admitting his guilt.  Like I'm going to leave the crap all over the kitchen for a whole day!  We eat in that room!!!  UGH!

Yeah, I'm still bugged. So anyway.  I just hate it when I explode on people.  As mad as I was, I KNEW I shouldn't call, and I KNEW it would go bad.  I wish I had used more self-control.  Luckily my kids were downstairs, I think they missed all the action, but still.  I have my conscience.  I guess I'm just getting so sick of faulty service.  I feel like everyone is always cutting corners!  Nobody gives you what you pay for, and nobody seems to care about doing a nice job.  It's like BARE MINIMUM!!  I'm tired of it.  And now I feel bad.  Do I need to call the guy and apologize??  I don't want to.  I feel like he really needs to know that I don't appreciate his crappy job, and I don't appreciate his disrespect.  I just wish I had done it with a little more class.  If that's possible.  With a little less anger and explosion.  Have you ever done that??  What did you do about it??

I guess that's all.  I'm a jerk.  I hate being a jerk sometimes.  I wish I could just let things go.  It's been a while since I let myself call someone.  It should be never.  Anyway.  Now that I've made myself look horrible..... comments??????

Ox in the Mire

Wow today (Sunday) was interesting!  We got up an hour earlier than usual because we were determined to be on time to church today.  It's important that I be there on time with my new calling, and we don't have two cars to split up in.  So we were on top of everything all morning!  It was fantastic!  Then I got a call from the Primary President telling me that they were cancelling the block meetings and we were just going to have a short Sacrament meeting and then break to go home, eat, and clean up the debris all over the neighborhood before the upcoming storm.  WOW!  That totally blew me away!  Eating, putting on work clothes and skipping our meetings wasn't something I planned on doing this Fast Sunday..... So anyway.  I called my people.  We got into our warm work clothes and headed on up to the Church.  I had been told that it was okay to wear work clothes to the meeting, so we did.  We were the only ones (almost) who did.  Sort of embarrassing until they announced what we were doing.  Most people didn't know I don't think.  It was a nice, short, little Sacrament meeting.  We did get the Sacrament.  The Bishop explained what was going to happen and where everyone needed to be, then Brother Hinkle in the Bishopric bore his testimony.  President Dibb was there, he spoke about the importance of service and that this was a decision made by our Priesthood authorities, and that it was what the Lord had wanted us to do.  It was very powerful.  He said some funny things about weathermen and said he was still hoping for good weather, even though we were going to be doing all this work in preparation for a storm, and gave the ward his blessing.  It was cool.  Then we all headed home.  I realized then that the women weren't really part of this clean up party and I was kind of bummed.  I've really been wanting to help with all the disaster stuff but because I was feeling so crappy and since I have kids I need to take care of, I hadn't really been able to.  So I got it in my head that I was going to go anyway.  I called my Dad, and dropped the kids off at his house for the morning.  Then caught up with Nate and Bradley at the Bradbury's house and started loading up the trucks with branches and branches and branches.... I can't believe how many branches there were all over the ward!!  But what an awesome experience.  I really don't think I'll be able to express how neat it was to be there with all the Priesthood brethren (I was the only Female around).  I'm sure I was in the way, but if anyone knew what that did for my testimony of the Priesthood, and the leadership of the church, they would be okay with my in-the-way-ness.  There were so many who made me feel welcome, and that was very sweet of them.  But I  was almost in tears a lot of the time at the thought of all the sacrifice those older men were making, I'm sure they'll be in pain for days!  I might even be!  They all worked together SO well, and so hard.  It was so neat.  I would have totally missed out had I not been there.  I love that kind of atmosphere.  I was so grateful too, that they were so nice to my little boy who had wanted to help out so badly.  Bradley was the only person under 12 there.  And he had wanted to be there which is just cool if you ask me.  He's going to make the most amazing Priesthood holder one day.  He's already got so much initiative.  I love it.  And I love that there are so many good men in the world (besides his Dad of course!) to look up to.  Another great thing about our church.
I think my favorite thing during all this, was when the men needed someone to drive the Bobcat.  Everyone was looking around, mumbling things (I had no idea what they were talking about), and then a few minutes later, I looked around and couldn't see Nate anywhere.  Then a couple seconds later, where did I find him?  In the Bobcat, all cozy and buckled in!!!  He looked so hot in that thing!!  And this was before he figured out how to work it!  So he was in there, kind of testing all the controls out and everyone was just standing around watching him.  It was actually really funny.  Several of the guys asked me stuff like "Does he know what he's doing?" " Has he ever driven one of those?" "Should we be worried?"  It was hilarious.  I proudly answered, "YES!  He has driven one.  It's been a while, but he can probably figure it out!  If there's one thing about Nate, he can do whatever he wants to do!"  And that about summed it up!  Then a couple seconds later, he was scooping up the debris and dumping it into the dump truck (the Elder's Quorum President didn't trust his new Bobcat driver with his own truck, so he pulled it away and let the dumptruck take it all :) Nate was glad.... and frankly, I think he would have done fine, but I was glad to not have to worry about scratching up the nice, shiny truck :) ).  I know this is TMI, but it totally turned me on to watch Nate work.  Working the Bobcat especially.  It totally made my heart skip a beat to see all the men standing around incapable of doing something that MY man can do ;).  I loved it.  I'm sure I looked silly til I was finally able to wipe the grin off my face.  Lots of fun :).

So at one point in the day I got a text from my Dad asking if I had any diapers, so I knew Erika needed a change.  So I had to leave to go change her.  That drive up to my Dad's was an opportunity for a special little talk with my Heavenly Father.  I felt so frustrated that I hadn't helped or done much before this point.  I always get frustrated when I hear about something that happened when I could have helped, but didn't.  And it's usually because I didn't think about it.  And that just frustrates me.  So anyway, I was telling Heavenly Father, or asking rather, to please point out these opportunities to serve to me.  And help me recognize them.  To help me find ways to step out of my comfort zone, and give me ideas.  It was a nice little talk with Him and I felt very comforted at the time.  Knowing that he understands me and knows what goes on in my busy little head, and he forgives me for not doing more.  But I also felt that he knew what I was saying and would do that for me.  It was a neat experience.  So anyway, I got up to my Dad's to change Erika.  It had already started snowing but just the tiniest little bit had stuck to his driveway.  Unfortunately it was enough to make the ground slippery and I totally slipped and fell.  I landed on my hand/wrist and my shin on the step.  It hurt SO bad.  I made sure nobody had seen (of course who knows how many neighbors saw, you're just kind of on display up there on those steps up to my Dad's front door... not that it really matters), got up and ran inside.  

This is just a side note, but Erika was so adorable when I got there.  She came up to me as I walked in and said, "poopy."  With the most adorable, disgusted, little face.  She was so grossed out by it all.  It was sort of funny.  And then I changed her and she was back to her cheerful self :).  They were watching Tangled, thankfully that entertains Erika right now.  So that was nice.  I drove back down the hill to go back to work with the men.  On my way down, I caught a glimpse of an older woman pushing a garbage can up the sidewalk.  It occurred to me that she could slip and fall, just like I did, and that wouldn't go well for an older woman her age.  I kept driving because I NEEDED to get back to helping with the ward.  But as I drove on, I thought, that maybe she needed some help with what she was doing anyway?  I kept pushing this thought away because I really wanted to get back with the ward.  But immediately I felt this overwhelming, "You told me you wanted to know when you could help.  I'm telling you what you should do.  Please listen." It was kind of cool because I rarely feel something so strongly, but I did!  And so I quickly turned around.  I got back up to the woman, parked my car, hopped out and asked if I could help.  She was hesitant to accept my help, and I realized that she was not someone I recognized from the ward, though she lived in the boundaries.  It occurred to me that she may not be a member (or less-active), and it made me push more.  I really wanted to be able to help her.  I think I forced my help on her at first, but she softened up to me after a few minutes.  She let me do most of the work.  It was just a couple of piles (I'm sure she had swept them) of twigs and branches she was trying to put in her garbage can and then move her can down to the vacant house below to get it out of the reach of the wind.  She began talking to me about her last few days, with no power, no gas, she talked about her husband having a surgery, just lots of small talk, and not so small talk, and she just kept talking :).  It was so fun!!  She seemed a lot like my Nana.  She didn't really ask about me, but she seemed like she had been wanting someone to talk to.  A friend.  I was SO HAPPY!  I can't tell you how much love I started to feel for this woman and the Spirit was so strong!  It's been a long time since I've felt that!  Used to happen to me a lot when I was taking the bus to Orem everyday.  So anyway.  After a while, I got a call from Nate saying that he and Bradley were going to take a load to the dump.  I realized that I was fine staying and talking/helping that lady because I wasn't about to go back to the ward without Nate around :).  Then after I hung up the phone with Nate, I got a call from a friend of mine in the ward who had been watching me from her window.  She was so funny!!  She was talking about how she was worried about me because the woman I was helping was one of the "scary people" who yells at them and she was worried that she was yelling at me.  It was one of the funniest phone calls I've ever had.  She offered to come help and made her way outside.  My friend was so happy that I had been able to help/talk with that woman because she had never been able to.  She and her husband really keep to themselves I guess, and have never wanted to have anything to do with anyone as far as my friend knew.  She was able to sit and talk with them with me and everyone got along really well and had a good time talking.  It was so nice!  We even got the lady's husband in on it all and it was just really cool.  They talked about their pasts, some of their experiences.  It just felt really cool.  I felt like I had made a new friend.  And I really hope that this can be a planted seed.  I would love to keep in touch with them and take them cookies and stuff.  We will see how that goes.  I was really just so happy that I got to do that for them, and hopefully for the Lord.  

I hope this doesn't sound like me trying to talk myself up or something.  It really was just a neat experience and something I haven't done in a long time.  I miss being helpful to people other than my family.  And I know that home is where I belong, and that my family needs to come first.  But today, I really needed to get out of the house and serve.  I really felt it was needed.  And I know why now.  It was just such a huge boost!  It was really cool.  

After talking with the elderly couple, and talking with my friend, I headed down to where the men were and they were practically done.  Nate said I should just go get the kids.  I had gotten my fill for the day, but it still was sad to be done with it all :).  I know that sounds silly.  I had to thank my Heavenly Father, on my way back up to my Dad's, for the opportunities, for the prompting, and for the amazing feeling I was feeling all day.  It was incredible.  

I'm sure this is not something that will happen too much more in my life.  I've never been in an Ox in the Mire situation like this one.  It was strange at first and took a minute to wrap my head around it, but the thought that it had come from the Area Authority, Stake President, and Bishop, I knew it was the right thing to do.  That those men would not lead us astray.  What a beautiful thing the Priesthood is. And our obedience to our leaders, and the faith that we can show our Heavenly Father through our obedience to their cousel.  It's just SO cool!!  So amazing!  I'm getting chills just thinking about it!  So anyway.  Strange way to spend the Sabbath,  but same Spirit as usual :).  What a neat experience.