YW
Today was ward conference so we had the Stake YW leaders come meet with the advisers and presidency beforehand and then they also taught our YW for the first hour. It was a nice meeting, nice lesson although, I felt a little confused on what a discussion is. It didn't feel like their lesson was a discussion but they had made such a big deal about how they would be demonstrating how the Come Follow Me lessons should be taught. So I guess on the one hand I feel a little more confident because I feel like I am doing at least what they did. But on the other hand, I feel a little confused because of what Brother Jacox has been teaching us. So weird. Not that I am judging them, I'm sure it's nerve-racking to teach a bunch of young women who don't know you. You can feel their love so strongly though, I do like that. It's nice to have their support. 2-8-15
O YE THAT EMBARK
So excuse me while I relate our YW lesson to myself for a minute. This just stood out to me today and kind of gave me a little boost. The Stake YW President, Sis. Lancaster brought up what embark means. She wanted us to realize that to embark doesn't just mean coming aboard, it means you're making a commitment to stay aboard. She used the example that when you go on a cruise you can't board the ship, ride off on the ocean and then change your mind out there on the ocean and climb off. It's something that you have to commit to and endure to the end. I liked this, NOT because I was relating it to the Gospel, but because it reminded me of this pregnancy. I know- it's on the brain- 24/7- sorry. I prayed long and hard to be able to have this baby that I knew was waiting to come to our family. It was a lot of work emotionally. I wanted it SO BAD. Now that it's here, there are a lot of other emotions mixed in. Of course I still want this baby to come to our family, with ALL my heart. There are so many other things pulling me in this negative direction though. The pregnancy symptoms pull me down so much. I feel like I won't make it sometimes. But I need to remember that I chose to embark on this journey. And wanted to more than I ever had. When I made the choice to embark though, I made the decision to stick it out til the end. I can't jump ship in the middle of it- it is going to go the whole 9 months. Not that I want to- but just as in life, it's not just the end that matters. I need to make the most of the whole journey. I've spent a lot of pregnancies in what I've affectionately named the pit of despair. Am I proud to admit that? of course not. But I will admit, I was there. I lost touch with my Heavenly Father. I know he was there for me, don't get me wrong, he carried me through all seven pregnancies, but as I've said before- I was not aware of it at the time. It makes it so hard! I am trying so hard (especially since this could possibly be my last pregnancy) to stay close to Him. To keep Him so close to my heart I will not lose track of His help, His blessings, and most importantly right now, His love. I need it!! I need Him! I cannot do this on my own and I don't want another pregnancy where I pretend like I'm doing it on my own. It's miserable. So anyway. I've embarked. I need to endure. But I don't want to just endure, I want to grow. (not just bigger :) ha!) I want this pregnancy to be a turning point for me spiritually. Or at least a huge step up. I want it to be something that brings me closer to the person Heavenly Father wants me to become. That's what trials are for. And this is the ultimate good trial. I need to make it work for me this time ;). There. That's all I have to say :). Thanks for reading. 2-8-15
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NANA!
I wonder if Nana still thinks I'm crazy for wanting more kids. She told me to stop after six. I hope she's rethinking that now :). I hope my new little baby, waiting to come to their new family, has been able to meet my Nana. 2-8-15
FHE
For Kelly's lesson last night she had us pull out an object out of a bag. Each object represented someone's favorite scripture story and then she had us talk about why it's our favorite. I thought it was a great idea! She's totally all set to teach a lesson from Come Follow Me! I was proud of her. For Erika's activity she wanted to play sardines. Kelly hid first and found the most amazing spot in the house apparently (which unfortunately is in my closet....), but it took EVERYONE about 10 minutes to find her! And that wasn't until she started saying "Marco"! Kinda funny once Kelly told us how many times they came in there and came really close to finding her. Charity had even touched her toe! We played one more round and then it was SO time for bed- we got off to a late start thanks to the Jazz game. 2-9-15
TUESDAY TEMPLE DAY
So it happened! We got the Young Women to go to the temple at 5:00 in the morning!! Took a little work coordinating, but I was so pleased with our turn out! I was so surprised when all eight of them texted me before 5:00, saying, "I'm up!", "I'm coming", "Come get me now!".... just awesome! What a great way to start the day really. I mean minus the horrible night's sleep because I was so worried I'd oversleep and the midnight texts that I'd forgotten to remind Aubrey, and having it take FOREVER to get BACK to sleep- dang nausea- Oh, and let's not forget my stupid idea to set an alarm for every 5 minutes from 4;00-4:30 so I would for sure wake up :). But really, other than that!! I loved it! I was so glad Jami came, we were able to do some family names of a lady in our ward. We had such a great time. I love doing baptisms! I feel just like Tiffani who goes weekly, "like it's my second home". And don't get me wrong, I love the rest of the temple too, but there is really a special place in my heart for the Bountiful temple baptistry. So many memories. As I was sitting there near the font, moving one seat over as each youth took their turn, I was trying to think of what it is that gave me my testimony and my love for temple baptisms. This is what came to me. So when I was younger, my Dad actually worked at the Jordan River Temple in the baptistry, and I got to hear about a lot of the cool experiences he had even before I ever went. I remember that being something that stood out to me and felt like it was already part of me because it was part of my dad. I remember being SO excited to turn 12 and go to the temple. In fact from the age of 8 on "!2" was my favorite number for that one and only reason. I counted down the days til I could go. I think things were a little different back then because I don't remember going RIGHT AWAY. Or maybe it was just harder to get a recommend- not sure, but I do remember my first time being with my Mom and Brent. It was SO SPECIAL!!! I was so pleased with everything about the temple. No unmet expectations and no real surprises. It surprises me now to think that it didn't surprise me more back then. It's different. But anyway. I loved going with our Young Women in the Sandy ward. I think I got to go a few times with my ward in Bountiful, but I'm pretty sure that the real testimony and love came from my Seminary make up. Missing early morning seminary 26 times (over a two year period mind you) sounds like it would be a bad thing, but honestly, I think it was one of the best things that could have happened to me. I was given the choice to clear my absences by going to the temple once per absence, so with very little time left, I ended up going almost everyday for a good month or two. If I remember correctly I even went twice in one day a few times. I LOVED IT!!! It was the best thing I could have done at that time. I took friends with me after school, even before school sometimes, then I went a lot in the morning too- which just blows my mind to think about since it was difficult to get up for 6:30 seminary much less the temple too. I know I went more than the 26 times before school got out. I believe it was that experience that made my leaders want to ask me to speak at my seminary graduation (kinda strange, but I thought it back then and still believe it). So once I started on that track, I just had to keep it up! I went almost everyday that summer, which worked great since I was a swim teacher/lifeguard- I just went straight to work after- wet hair and all. I went almost everyday. It was amazing. That is where my testimony grew. I wish I'd been able to keep it up that first year of college, but with no car and little time, it wasn't possible. I believe my Spirit would have taken a bit of a dive had it not been for my 5 institute classes. So anyway. NOT to toot my own horn in any way, just so grateful that I had that time to serve in the temple. It was a blessing. And now a great strength to my testimony. I hope to help instill a little of that love into some of the young women in the Shadowbrook ward.
So back to our trip- We got there around 5:30 and everything went smoothly, we got home by 7:20. So it worked out great! It was Chloe's first time!! I love being there with Charity too! Can't wait to have Kelly come :) 2-10-15
SWIM LESSONS!!
Erika has been counting down the days for the past week til her first SWIM LESSON! It was a BIG DEAL! She had her back packed the night before so it was really funny when she forgot it :). No towel, no change of clothes, no shampoo/conditioner... but we made it work :). She was SO EXCITED!! Her teacher's name is Megan, she did great on her first day! Her teacher said to practice putting her bumb up in the air when she swims with her feet... not sure when she'll practice that between today and Thursday, but whatever ;) 2-10-15
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STEVE!
We took Steve, Jauslin and my Dad to dinner for Stevie-poo's birthday tonight. I just love spending time with them. It's just nice. Laughing, reminiscing, hearing about all of Steve's successes :). I really do love it. The food wasn't too bad either- Kung Fu Gourmet was all that Steve said and more :). I can't believe he is 27!! We couldn't help but talk about the 63 cents (or however much it was), that Smith's robbed me of- and that fun evening. Also, Nana's, "You're not going to let a girl pick on you are ya?"- Nana, that's a boy!- "Shhhh, I know- I'm trying to embarrass him!". Good times. I love my little brother. 2-10-15
TOTALLY USELESS
Well, I was a complete waste of space today after getting up early for the temple. I'm thinking once a month might be enough for me.... it sure took a toll on my body. And my house for that matter. Thankfully the kids all did their jobs today.... 2-10-15
MEET THE MORMONS
The Beehives had a few issues this week with planning and carrying out their activity. Not sure I like how it went, but I think it was a good learning experience. In the end, we ended up going to Meet the Mormons at the JSMB. I like that movie. The girls seemed to like it as well. 2-11-15
FULL DAY
We had a very full day on Thursday. Started with reading with Noah's class, then swim lessons, lunch at Bajio (favorite part), Sprint store for Nate's new phone, Park with Becky, Pick up the kids, Scouts, finding pictures for Noah's poster, finishing Valentine boxes, then a mad dash to go practice Charity's solo for Solo and Ensemble, then to the school for that, then home to change, then up to the Stake Center for YW basketball (which we had an amazing turn out for! 8 girls!!! We totally killed them 24-6... in a nice churchy way...), then back home to finish Noah's poster (thanks to my mom for picking up the pictures!). It was nuts!! I was exhausted by the time it was over! Nate was even exhausted! Crazy how my life just feels like it's totally picked up some steam and each day is just full! Might be in my head.... not sure. 2-12-15
AT THE SCHOOL
We spent a good three hours at the school on Friday. First in Luke's class party. That was a lot of fun. We brought our heart bean bags for a bean bag toss- prizes a must- seemed like the kids loved it. Mrs. Beckstead was adorable the whole time. She is THE funnest teacher on the planet!! She went around taking pictures of the kids, laughing at all the fun stuff, praising the moms... I just love her. I just hope and pray Noah can get her.
Then we ran over to Noah's class for his "Show and Tell" of his poster. He did such a great job, talking in the microphone, telling everyone about the pictures. It was fun to watch him. I loved the question time. I'm gathering that he's embarrassed by his ol' superhero obsession... might be moving out of that phase, not sure, but this was the convo:
Cute girl: Do you like Spiderman?
Noah: No!
Cute girl: Then why do you have him on your shirt?
Noah: [silence].... [looking around for the next question]....
It was funny. Someone asked him his favorite superhero and he said, "None of them!" really quickly. Interesting. Not that it matters, just an observation.
Then we hurried off to Arby's for Luke's lunch, got back just in time for birthday tables with him. That was a nice time. He was in a good mood and talked a lot. I loved that he loved our game at his party. We waited quite a while even after Luke left (course he left 5 minutes before he usually does because he wanted "extra recess time!" funny kid), we had to wait for Jack to snail his way through his lunch. He is a SLOW eater!! Especially with all the distractions :).2-13-15
VALENTINES
The kids sure loved and looked forward to Valentine's Day this year. They all were anxiously engaged in making their own boxes way before the day. They all filled out their Valentine candies way early in the week as well. It was cute. I love that they are so self motivated on those things. Makes my job easy. Brad made a three box tall Robot for his box. Kelly did a purple minion out of a oatmeal box. Luke had wanted to make his own basketball hoop one like Bradley's last year, but waited so long (not the most motivated :) ), so he just fixed up Brad's... one good thing about keeping that thing all year. Noah made his bag at school. Erika was totally jealous and can't wait til next year!
FIRST DOCTOR VISIT
So we went in for my first prenatal visit on Friday. That was a relief. It always is... I don't know why, but I build up so many worries in that first month. It's silly. But my lungs were fine, everything was looking really great. We got to have an ultrasound and saw our baby's heartbeat! That's priceless. I loved that we got to see him/her moving around!! So cute! Dr. Thackeray decided to go with the due date from my ultrasound again (surprise, surprise), so my new due date is September 5th. Five days sooner than I thought, kinda cool. But that would put us delivering in August which isn't okay.... We already have an August birthday! We're (Nate and I- yes, I got him on board my crazy train- we want to deliver on September 1st :)). Thackeray said that as long as I'm not in labor before that, we can choose whatever we want, but mentioned that by then I might feel differently. Agreed. We'll see how it goes. Who knows what Heavenly Father or this new little Spirit has in mind... we don't have total control! It will be within a week of Jack's birthday either way... I'm not sure why I have the lame everyone-needs- their-own-birth-month obsession in the first place. Oh well. So yeah, all was well. Erica the nurse asked about Erika this time :). That was cute. I like that they know me there :). Erika has been our nurse for the last probably 4 kids! Kinda cool. I can stop being superstitious now that we had nothing go wrong on our Friday the 13th doctor visit. That was a relief :). 2-13-15
DISPOSAL, FISHING, VALENTINE'S DAY, ENGAGEMENTS, and BIG HERO 6
So, kind of a busy/lazy day at our house this 14th! Nate spent most of the morning installing the new disposal. That was a lot of work. I wish I hadn't had to, but I kind of saved the day with a lucky move helping Nate with the piece he'd been trying for an hour and a half. Cool for me, not for him, but at least it was done! Then he and Brad went on their much anticipated fishing trip to the ponds. Have I mentioned their "fishing bug"? Bradley announced to me earlier this week that he and Dad have a fishing bug. They've gone over to the ponds a few times this week, had a few bites, but nothing real big. It's been really cute because Bradley has just been reading and studying the subject all week! He has a book that Nate stole from his Dad and he's quickly becoming a fishing expert! He knows just what to do! He needs to learn how to tie on his own bait, but that will come. Nate says he's doing really great! He had two rainbow trout to show for it on Saturday. So fun for him! We got a video of the fish still moving after it's been gutted... gross. I love that Bradley has an interest and is digging in so deep! This is kind of how he is. He's done that with the basketball lately too. It's great. So anyway. They hurried back so that Nate could get ready for our date. The lazy part of our day was me- I pretty much lazied around (minus 3 or 4 loads of laundry and some indexing) until our date. It was my turn to plan though, so I took Nate to Sushi Monster. I knew he would love it :). Wasn't sure if I would be able to eat anything, but sure enough it all went down happily and stayed down! Lucky me :). I gave Nate his new Jazz jacket and t-shirt, plus some caramels before lunch. He spoiled me with the world's softest blanket! I can't keep it out of the kids hands. It really is soft. I love it! Lunch was great, I love being alone with Nate in the middle of the day. One of the great things about his schedule is the time we get to spend together when we're not dead tired. It's nice. We had a lot of fun. I only wish it could have lasted longer. We got back just in time to go take Dan and Adele's pictures. That was a lot of fun. I hope they end up liking them. We did a few in our backyard, then down to the ponds for some more. They look so cute together, I'm just so happy for Dan. It's cool to think that Jen and Adele will eventually meet in heaven, I just think Jen will love her so much!! They're actually a lot alike :). I was glad Nate was there to help with the poses. After that, Nate hurried off to work and the kids and I lazied around some more. After a while though, I started feeling like a total slacker. I usually do something valentines-y with/for my kids, heart pancakes or something, but I'd done NOTHING! So I texted Nate asking him what I should do that would be fun and he always comes up with way funner ideas than I do, he suggested Big Hero 6 at the Kaysville Theater. The kids were in! We totally scrambled to eat dinner and go, but it turned out to be the perfect ending of our day. What a cute movie!! I guess some people didn't think it was for little kids, but that's the first movie I've taken Jack to that he's been completely engrossed in the ENTIRE TIME. He didn't want to get to comfortable for fear he'd fall asleep so he sat on the edge of my lap the whole time, with his eyes glued. It was perfect for me I was able to just relax. I know he has an unhealthy addiction to screens, so I shouldn't be so happy, but this was a good thing :). I loved hearing him giggle at all the slapstick humor though. That was my favorite part. He gets it :). The boys had to witness a little fight over saved seats next to them. That was a bummer. They were cute about it though. Feeling bad for the poor kid who was left to save the seats and then had to move. Some people are so weird. I kind of wish I'd known what was going on- I would have pounded them- I hate that stuff! Happy Valentine's Day!
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Luke's Family Party pictures courtesy of Erika
So, Erika discovered that she enjoys taking pictures! And after finally uploading my camera, I discovered that she's pretty good at it! So, here are a whole bunch of pictures from Luke's party that have very little to do with Luke and his birthday :), great pictures nonetheless.
I think I took these of Lukey opening his presents
Kelly made him these really cute cards, this particular one was a pop-up one. Way cute. She's very thoughtful.
I think this is Grandpa Russ trying to convince Luke that he needs his birthday spankings.
Erika's got the camera again :)
Look, she does exist! (meaning me. very few pictures of myself these days.... possibly a good thing, but I like having one or two here and there for posterity's sake)
The great thing about having short people take pictures are the flattering angles of course.
We served lasagna for dinner, minus the lasagna noodles.... with spiral pastas instead.
I'm just impressed someone got a picture of grandma with both eyes open... Erika, you win!
I think I already documented the story about me wimping out of making his cake. It was going to be a really cool basketball one... such a pity that this ice cream cake was missing the delicious cookie inside. I think everyone was slightly disappointed, though no one as much as me. I had to get orange writing so that the girliness of the pink didn't take over. Luke does love strawberry cheesecake though :)
We had a little karaoke night, the girls sang a song from Rigoletto for Grandma Ruthie.
What a handsome little guy. I love my Lukey.
Luke and Brad did a little number as well... it's the parody version of "Ready to Wack You" that goes with some video game... no, that's not really what the song is called, that's just what I call it. I'll remember the real words later.
I think Luke had a good enough time.
One of the things I love most about Luke is that he is himself. He rarely does things just to please others. He only does what he feels like doing. I love his cuddly nature even though he turns it into obnoxiousness sometimes :). But I love that he knows how to have fun too. He is a goof ball. Always has been. We love his sense of humor and his easiness to it. He is usually happy. It's not always visible, but all it takes is a little tickle and he's there :), laughing his head off. He's a great student, his teachers always talk about how they love him and think he's good at everything. He kind of is. One of his talents. He is growing up to be such a cool kid. I'm really proud of him. I can't believe he's nine!!
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Milk Bubbles
It occurred to me, the other day, that my two little littles haven't done milk bubbles yet!!! Poor deprived children!
I used to let Charity, Kelly and Bradley do this all the time when they were little... it was a good time killer back in the day. These two loved it just as much!! Might be a new favorite.
Now that I think about it, Luke and Noah probably didn't get to do it either... maybe a good Sunday evening activity :).
This is his smile :) just FYI
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Things to Remember 2-1-15
AGAIN
Stayed home from church again, Jack had a fever. It's starting to feel like it does when I miss to much church. I was actually very relieved to not have to go. I hate it when I start to feel like that. I need to go next week. Here's to hoping everyone is well. 2-1-15
SUPERBOWL (I was going to put which one it was, but I can't remember and don't really care enough to bother looking it up)
We had Heidi and John come over :). I felt bad for John since Nate wasn't here to do the football talk with him. I think Bradley had a good time with him during the first part of the game. It was fun to visit with Heidi though :). I loved that John made Bradley feel like a lucky charm when the Patriots pulled ahead at the end of the game and won "just because Bradley was in the room again". That was cool for Brad :). We were all VERY relieved when the Patriots won! I didn't want to see John depressed. Favorite part: John's victory dance. Funniest part: Charity working so hard to get Grandma to come over and then having to leave for Lamb of God practice just before she came :). Funny for me, not Charity- she was actually a little depressed about it. Anyway. 2-1-15
INCIDENT MANAGEMENT
I was trying to drive Jack down to Bountiful to the Dr. to have his ears looked at and on the way there we ran out of gas. I totally knew it was going to happen. I didn't have the card or any money though, so filling up wasn't an option. It was kind of funny because I started moving over to the left as I do, just before Centerville so that I'm all ready to get off on 500 W. Then right then I had the thought, if I run out of gas here, I will have to cross over 4 lanes of traffic to pull over. RIGHT THEN!! The car started to chug a little. I quickly started to move back over to the right- thankfully I'd been warned and knew to act quickly because it did happen quickly! I got over to the shoulder and hardly even coasted at all before coming to a complete stop. I wasn't even over enough for my comfort. It was so weird. I didn't even feel mad. I called the doctor's office where they told me I would still have to pay for the visit and I asked why and they said that I didn't give them 24 hour notice (not even for out of gas?!!!), but I rebuttled with "I made the appointment 5 hours ago?" She thought about it for a minute and then said, "I'll see what I can do, but I think you will still have to pay for it." I think that's dumb, but that probably doesn't matter. They were sort of rude. Do people really FAKE running out of gas?? I have a hard time thinking that someone would, but I can't figure out why she wasn't more understanding and polite? Oh well. I know receptionists have a job. So anyway. I was pulled over, nothing much to do. It was 3:00, Nate was getting off at 3:30, I had texted and texted and called and texted him, no reply, so I knew he was not on break and he would not be leaving any sooner than 3:30. Noah (skipping school), Erika, and Jack were in the back seat, I made them stay buckled in because it felt like we were too close to traffic. I was having crazy images in my mind of us getting hit by a semi and flying over the fence onto the train track and getting smashed by a train. I know, crazy, but I was seriously uneasy. Some major praying taking place. I was still remotely calm and not all that mad. Strange for me. I saw a truck pull over about 1/4 of a mile up ahead, wondered about it, but not enough. Then around 3:45 a cop pulled up, I didn't see him until he was right up next to the passenger window- seriously scared the crap out of me, I think I even jumped- I motioned for him to open the door- which he did. Then he proceeded to ask me all the questions. I told him we were out of gas, Nate worked at the control center and was getting off at 3:30, he would come help. The cop said he wanted me off the freeway sooner than that and that he "had someone who could get me some free gas" sooner than when Nate could get there. That sounded great, but definitely too good to be true. The cop said he needed to go check on the truck up ahead and then left. A few minutes later someone was pumping gasoline into my car!!! Hadn't said a word to me!! Kind of strange, but I was mostly just shocked that they would give me free gas. It was incident management. Who knew. The cop came back, told me the person in the truck up ahead was Don Williams (well, he said he was a shady looking guy who said he knew me), saw that we were there and tried to call- I had ditched his call- oops. So that was kind of funny. And nice of him to care. After that we were on our way! To the gas station that is :). I only had enough gas to get me to the Chevron just off the freeway. We sat there for another 20 minutes or so, which was really fine. I still wasn't angry. Do I seem surprised about that? I am!! Nate showed up and saved the day.
I had missed so much of my afternoon though, and was pretty exhausted (from sitting in my car for an hour- go figure), that I changed the plans for the evening and decided to ask Luke if he'd settle on an ice cream cake from DQ. Luckily he was on board. HUGE RELIEF! As much as it tickled my heart when he asked me if I had started on his cake that morning, and knowing that he actually wanted one, it was definitely nice to know the next 2 1/2 hours would be mostly laid back. Now I feel like a lazy quitter, retelling all this, but it was probably for the best. So anyway- that was my afternoon. Story's over. 2-2-15
REPLAY
I've got to do something about the replaying of things in my mind after they happen. It's getting really bad with my YW board meetings. I cannot help but drag myself through the mud after. It's so depressing. I feel like I'm not getting better or more comfortable with this group. I still feel like I"m annoying everyone. I keep catching myself cutting people off, or interrupting and I DON"T WANT TO DO THAT!!! I wish I could go back and fix things immediately. Rather than having to wait two weeks, forget about it all, and then repeat all the same mistakes. UGH. I wish this could stop happening. I will say that as I was cleaning up tonight, I was reminded of the blessing I had a few days back. The one where I was told that this calling is for me. Heavenly Father wants me to be in the YW organization and I am there for a reason. I am sure there are people who don't like me. That's really okay. I am sure I do things that don't comply with how everyone wants things done. I'm sure I'm doing some things wrong! I will learn. It will be okay. It's not going to be perfect and I'm not perfect, so I need to just sit back and relax and let myself grow. And just be patient all the way around. That's hard for me. I don't think I was born with natural patience. I feel like it's always a struggle. I will get there though. I am determined to remain positive. I may need to re-read this later :). 2-3-15
NAL
We won again! Even with the other team's coach arguing almost every single question! Go Kaysville! GO CHARITY!! 2-4-15
NEW BEGINNINGS
So first of all- Kelly's much anticipated day arrived! She finally got to go to New Beginnings!! She was SO EXCITED!!! I love that my girls are so anxious to go to YW. I got to stand up and say some things about Kelly. I wish I could have said more, but I talked about how she is a planner, very organized, creative, and how she loves to take care of people and serve others. That is Kelly in a little tiny nutshell.
So we let the "Young Women Leaders" (Bro. Jacox asked us to try to call the YW Young Women Leaders, and the leaders are now called "Advisers"- this will take some getting used to) be in charge of New Beginnings. It was really tough since they started planning with Debbie and then when the new people were put in, it switched to us guiding them along. It was less than smooth, but all was well in the planning department. Charity was in charge of invitations. She did an excellent job. We had very few little hiccups and most of it seemed to be really well done! I was so proud of the girls. 2-4-15
BRADLEY
I came downstairs after my shower this morning, having slept in a little and rushing to wake everyone up, and there was Bradley, in the kitchen, preparing everyone's lunches! What a sweetheart! Thank you, Bradley! 2-5-15
HANDWRITING WORKSHEETS
Erika's latest craze is reading and writing! She is really getting good at both. I love her motivation and stamina! We printed off some practice worksheets today. I only hope she doesn't get bored in Kindergarten this year :). 2-5-15
BASKETBALL
We had such a great turnout at basketball tonight, I was so happy! I should bribe them with Slurpees every week :). Charity did fantastic! She didn't even seem too tired this time, even though they all had to play the whole game with no breaks. It was a great game. I only wish they'd not counted the last post-buzzer shot from the other team... that was annoying. Highlights: Annie's throw of death toward the audience. Savannah fixing her pony tail during the last couple minutes of the game, having to hold up her hand to block a pass to her :). Charity's victory dance when she made her shot!! GO MARSHMALLOWS! 2-5-15
NINE WEEKS
I'm loving keeping track of the weeks because they are going by surprisingly quickly. That's one good thing about being pregnant while raising 7 kids- life has to go on! And it goes by so fast. Growing kids. So new symptoms include swollen ankles, more nausea- and it's not fitting in with my theory, I've been eating right before bed, eating right when I get up, and I"m still pretty sick most of the day. Some days I never do get to feeling normal and so I hardly eat a thing, which I KNOW is counter productive. I really need to keep a good supply of cereal on hand- it seems to be the only thing my mind will let me eat. My body hurts when I stand for more than a few minutes. Right at my hips. Kind of annoying. I'll live. I really need to refocus, readjust my mind to go along with all this right now. I keep reminding myself that I asked for this! I need to be strong. But I grow increasingly more excited about this baby! I don't know if I already mentioned, but my Mom read the blog this week and surprised me with some pregnancy foods: pickles, ice cream, and saltines. She also brought a gift for our baby! A cute little outfit. Gets me all excited. I really can't wait for this baby to come! I know it's early to be saying that, but I can't! I keep trying to plan out the bedroom arrangements, but it's too soon for that too :). PATIENCE!! 2-5-15
MRS. BECKSTEAD'S CLASS
Nate, Erika, Jack and I got to go to Luke's class on Friday morning to talk about him for his Star Week thing. First of all, I LOVE his teacher!!! She is the best. So she sat us down in the front of the room, with Luke's big poster pictures blown up on the overhead, visible on the big screen. So cool. So we sat there and talked about all of Luke's pictures on his poster. If only I'd known we were going to do that- I would have put more exciting pictures on there... oh well. Live and learn. So we sat and talked about Luke. Then he got to answer questions from his classmates about some of his favorite things... I love watching Luke in his world. He's such a cool kid. Then Mrs. Beckstead had all the kids raise their hands and say what they like about Luke. I loved some of the answers: he's fast, he's funny, good friend, nice (from a cute girl :) ), smart, etc. Then Mrs. Beckstead took a turn. The first thing she said is "Luke is good at EVERYTHING!" She listed off all the subjects he's good at, and she named pretty much all of them! I was surprised :), that she would say all that in front of the other kids, but then I realized, she's just a great teacher- she probably says similar nice things about all of them. I love that about her. So then we passed out Luke's birthday donuts, and left. It was a lot of fun. I love doing those things for our kids. They deserve the extra little attention.
REFS
Today we had what I would have to call the most poorly reffed game I've ever seen!!! Bradley and Luke's team got whooped up on by the other team AND the refs!! Within the first couple seconds of the game there was a jump ball (two kids fighting over a ball for at least 5 seconds) and the refs didn't call it! There were about a million missed fouls, and other strange calls. Not sure how Luke got a foul called on him when he got knocked over by someone from the front. Then they had this foul on a shot, right near the end of the game, the ref said, "foul on the shot", even made the hand motion, then the other team called time out. When the brought us back into the game, they handed the other team the ball and let them throw it in!!! No foul shot, not even possession of the ball!! It was SO BLATANT!!! I couldn't believe it. I finally said something to the "Staff" guy, and he just blew me off. Doesn't surprise me because he was playing on his tablet the entire game and had no idea what was going on. It was so sad. I felt so bad for our guys. They spent half the game on the floor from being knocked over. We had a couple in tears. Not how basketball is supposed to go! I hate it when I want my kids to learn good values and how to have fun with good sportsmanship and everyone around them is playing unfairly or cheating. I still can't believe that other coach didn't say a word!!! So dishonest. Anyway. Such a bummer. Better luck next week. Sidenote: I really am becoming a pro at the thankless jobs. Wyatt's mom threw a fit about how pictures were on a day that she wasn't expecting. She "didn't even know it was picture day!" Yeah, well, if your kid misses the game where we hand out the picture information, you will have to just pay attention to your emails!!! DUH!!!! Bugs the crap out of me that they think they can be snobby to us. We're not getting paid to do all this stuff!! So thankless. No offense, but I go out of my way to thank coaches when my kids are on sports teams. They do so much for nothing. It seems only fair. Anyway. Now I"m done. 2-7-15
STAR PARTY
After Charity's oh-so-close basketball game, Heidi and John came home with us and stayed with the kids so that I could go get things for our star party. Last week I needed some extra work done around the house and knew I needed to call in for reinforcements, so I planned this star party. The kids worked pretty hard. Granted it was only 1 week, but we needed to jump start them I think. I got lots of prizes and we did our games. We were running a little low on time so we only did one game by each kid. Luke passed on the game planning. Charity did the bouncy ball throwing into the bowls game that has become a regular. The kids still love it and amazingly Lukey threw the bouncy ball into the tiny little pretend pitcher that had a mouth about 3 inches in diameter! It was pretty amazing. 250 stars for him! Kelly did the ol' suck up the marshmallows with the straw and move them from the bowl to the cup. Everyone had fun with that. I think Charity dominated in that one. Bradley got out the lawn darts and set up some targets in the family room. They struggled with this one, and enjoying it, but Bradley managed to come out of it with 200 stars! Go figure :). Noah's game was the big money game. They had to drop marbles in a cup and then on a plate to see where they landed. They all walked away with between 1,200-1,800 stars from that game! Pretty amazing. Then Erika, at the last minute, well, the last five minutes- I set a time limit thank goodness- thought of Sardines. We made it so that they could earn 100-500 depending on who found the person first. Pretty fun. Then we had our auction and watched the Jazz game. It was a fun little party. I think I might just have to do one of these every month for the next oh.... seven months or so... my house needs it I think. Good times. 2-7-15
Stayed home from church again, Jack had a fever. It's starting to feel like it does when I miss to much church. I was actually very relieved to not have to go. I hate it when I start to feel like that. I need to go next week. Here's to hoping everyone is well. 2-1-15
SUPERBOWL (I was going to put which one it was, but I can't remember and don't really care enough to bother looking it up)
We had Heidi and John come over :). I felt bad for John since Nate wasn't here to do the football talk with him. I think Bradley had a good time with him during the first part of the game. It was fun to visit with Heidi though :). I loved that John made Bradley feel like a lucky charm when the Patriots pulled ahead at the end of the game and won "just because Bradley was in the room again". That was cool for Brad :). We were all VERY relieved when the Patriots won! I didn't want to see John depressed. Favorite part: John's victory dance. Funniest part: Charity working so hard to get Grandma to come over and then having to leave for Lamb of God practice just before she came :). Funny for me, not Charity- she was actually a little depressed about it. Anyway. 2-1-15
INCIDENT MANAGEMENT
I was trying to drive Jack down to Bountiful to the Dr. to have his ears looked at and on the way there we ran out of gas. I totally knew it was going to happen. I didn't have the card or any money though, so filling up wasn't an option. It was kind of funny because I started moving over to the left as I do, just before Centerville so that I'm all ready to get off on 500 W. Then right then I had the thought, if I run out of gas here, I will have to cross over 4 lanes of traffic to pull over. RIGHT THEN!! The car started to chug a little. I quickly started to move back over to the right- thankfully I'd been warned and knew to act quickly because it did happen quickly! I got over to the shoulder and hardly even coasted at all before coming to a complete stop. I wasn't even over enough for my comfort. It was so weird. I didn't even feel mad. I called the doctor's office where they told me I would still have to pay for the visit and I asked why and they said that I didn't give them 24 hour notice (not even for out of gas?!!!), but I rebuttled with "I made the appointment 5 hours ago?" She thought about it for a minute and then said, "I'll see what I can do, but I think you will still have to pay for it." I think that's dumb, but that probably doesn't matter. They were sort of rude. Do people really FAKE running out of gas?? I have a hard time thinking that someone would, but I can't figure out why she wasn't more understanding and polite? Oh well. I know receptionists have a job. So anyway. I was pulled over, nothing much to do. It was 3:00, Nate was getting off at 3:30, I had texted and texted and called and texted him, no reply, so I knew he was not on break and he would not be leaving any sooner than 3:30. Noah (skipping school), Erika, and Jack were in the back seat, I made them stay buckled in because it felt like we were too close to traffic. I was having crazy images in my mind of us getting hit by a semi and flying over the fence onto the train track and getting smashed by a train. I know, crazy, but I was seriously uneasy. Some major praying taking place. I was still remotely calm and not all that mad. Strange for me. I saw a truck pull over about 1/4 of a mile up ahead, wondered about it, but not enough. Then around 3:45 a cop pulled up, I didn't see him until he was right up next to the passenger window- seriously scared the crap out of me, I think I even jumped- I motioned for him to open the door- which he did. Then he proceeded to ask me all the questions. I told him we were out of gas, Nate worked at the control center and was getting off at 3:30, he would come help. The cop said he wanted me off the freeway sooner than that and that he "had someone who could get me some free gas" sooner than when Nate could get there. That sounded great, but definitely too good to be true. The cop said he needed to go check on the truck up ahead and then left. A few minutes later someone was pumping gasoline into my car!!! Hadn't said a word to me!! Kind of strange, but I was mostly just shocked that they would give me free gas. It was incident management. Who knew. The cop came back, told me the person in the truck up ahead was Don Williams (well, he said he was a shady looking guy who said he knew me), saw that we were there and tried to call- I had ditched his call- oops. So that was kind of funny. And nice of him to care. After that we were on our way! To the gas station that is :). I only had enough gas to get me to the Chevron just off the freeway. We sat there for another 20 minutes or so, which was really fine. I still wasn't angry. Do I seem surprised about that? I am!! Nate showed up and saved the day.
I had missed so much of my afternoon though, and was pretty exhausted (from sitting in my car for an hour- go figure), that I changed the plans for the evening and decided to ask Luke if he'd settle on an ice cream cake from DQ. Luckily he was on board. HUGE RELIEF! As much as it tickled my heart when he asked me if I had started on his cake that morning, and knowing that he actually wanted one, it was definitely nice to know the next 2 1/2 hours would be mostly laid back. Now I feel like a lazy quitter, retelling all this, but it was probably for the best. So anyway- that was my afternoon. Story's over. 2-2-15
REPLAY
I've got to do something about the replaying of things in my mind after they happen. It's getting really bad with my YW board meetings. I cannot help but drag myself through the mud after. It's so depressing. I feel like I'm not getting better or more comfortable with this group. I still feel like I"m annoying everyone. I keep catching myself cutting people off, or interrupting and I DON"T WANT TO DO THAT!!! I wish I could go back and fix things immediately. Rather than having to wait two weeks, forget about it all, and then repeat all the same mistakes. UGH. I wish this could stop happening. I will say that as I was cleaning up tonight, I was reminded of the blessing I had a few days back. The one where I was told that this calling is for me. Heavenly Father wants me to be in the YW organization and I am there for a reason. I am sure there are people who don't like me. That's really okay. I am sure I do things that don't comply with how everyone wants things done. I'm sure I'm doing some things wrong! I will learn. It will be okay. It's not going to be perfect and I'm not perfect, so I need to just sit back and relax and let myself grow. And just be patient all the way around. That's hard for me. I don't think I was born with natural patience. I feel like it's always a struggle. I will get there though. I am determined to remain positive. I may need to re-read this later :). 2-3-15
NAL
We won again! Even with the other team's coach arguing almost every single question! Go Kaysville! GO CHARITY!! 2-4-15
NEW BEGINNINGS
So first of all- Kelly's much anticipated day arrived! She finally got to go to New Beginnings!! She was SO EXCITED!!! I love that my girls are so anxious to go to YW. I got to stand up and say some things about Kelly. I wish I could have said more, but I talked about how she is a planner, very organized, creative, and how she loves to take care of people and serve others. That is Kelly in a little tiny nutshell.
So we let the "Young Women Leaders" (Bro. Jacox asked us to try to call the YW Young Women Leaders, and the leaders are now called "Advisers"- this will take some getting used to) be in charge of New Beginnings. It was really tough since they started planning with Debbie and then when the new people were put in, it switched to us guiding them along. It was less than smooth, but all was well in the planning department. Charity was in charge of invitations. She did an excellent job. We had very few little hiccups and most of it seemed to be really well done! I was so proud of the girls. 2-4-15
BRADLEY
I came downstairs after my shower this morning, having slept in a little and rushing to wake everyone up, and there was Bradley, in the kitchen, preparing everyone's lunches! What a sweetheart! Thank you, Bradley! 2-5-15
HANDWRITING WORKSHEETS
Erika's latest craze is reading and writing! She is really getting good at both. I love her motivation and stamina! We printed off some practice worksheets today. I only hope she doesn't get bored in Kindergarten this year :). 2-5-15
BASKETBALL
We had such a great turnout at basketball tonight, I was so happy! I should bribe them with Slurpees every week :). Charity did fantastic! She didn't even seem too tired this time, even though they all had to play the whole game with no breaks. It was a great game. I only wish they'd not counted the last post-buzzer shot from the other team... that was annoying. Highlights: Annie's throw of death toward the audience. Savannah fixing her pony tail during the last couple minutes of the game, having to hold up her hand to block a pass to her :). Charity's victory dance when she made her shot!! GO MARSHMALLOWS! 2-5-15
NINE WEEKS
I'm loving keeping track of the weeks because they are going by surprisingly quickly. That's one good thing about being pregnant while raising 7 kids- life has to go on! And it goes by so fast. Growing kids. So new symptoms include swollen ankles, more nausea- and it's not fitting in with my theory, I've been eating right before bed, eating right when I get up, and I"m still pretty sick most of the day. Some days I never do get to feeling normal and so I hardly eat a thing, which I KNOW is counter productive. I really need to keep a good supply of cereal on hand- it seems to be the only thing my mind will let me eat. My body hurts when I stand for more than a few minutes. Right at my hips. Kind of annoying. I'll live. I really need to refocus, readjust my mind to go along with all this right now. I keep reminding myself that I asked for this! I need to be strong. But I grow increasingly more excited about this baby! I don't know if I already mentioned, but my Mom read the blog this week and surprised me with some pregnancy foods: pickles, ice cream, and saltines. She also brought a gift for our baby! A cute little outfit. Gets me all excited. I really can't wait for this baby to come! I know it's early to be saying that, but I can't! I keep trying to plan out the bedroom arrangements, but it's too soon for that too :). PATIENCE!! 2-5-15
MRS. BECKSTEAD'S CLASS
Nate, Erika, Jack and I got to go to Luke's class on Friday morning to talk about him for his Star Week thing. First of all, I LOVE his teacher!!! She is the best. So she sat us down in the front of the room, with Luke's big poster pictures blown up on the overhead, visible on the big screen. So cool. So we sat there and talked about all of Luke's pictures on his poster. If only I'd known we were going to do that- I would have put more exciting pictures on there... oh well. Live and learn. So we sat and talked about Luke. Then he got to answer questions from his classmates about some of his favorite things... I love watching Luke in his world. He's such a cool kid. Then Mrs. Beckstead had all the kids raise their hands and say what they like about Luke. I loved some of the answers: he's fast, he's funny, good friend, nice (from a cute girl :) ), smart, etc. Then Mrs. Beckstead took a turn. The first thing she said is "Luke is good at EVERYTHING!" She listed off all the subjects he's good at, and she named pretty much all of them! I was surprised :), that she would say all that in front of the other kids, but then I realized, she's just a great teacher- she probably says similar nice things about all of them. I love that about her. So then we passed out Luke's birthday donuts, and left. It was a lot of fun. I love doing those things for our kids. They deserve the extra little attention.
REFS
Today we had what I would have to call the most poorly reffed game I've ever seen!!! Bradley and Luke's team got whooped up on by the other team AND the refs!! Within the first couple seconds of the game there was a jump ball (two kids fighting over a ball for at least 5 seconds) and the refs didn't call it! There were about a million missed fouls, and other strange calls. Not sure how Luke got a foul called on him when he got knocked over by someone from the front. Then they had this foul on a shot, right near the end of the game, the ref said, "foul on the shot", even made the hand motion, then the other team called time out. When the brought us back into the game, they handed the other team the ball and let them throw it in!!! No foul shot, not even possession of the ball!! It was SO BLATANT!!! I couldn't believe it. I finally said something to the "Staff" guy, and he just blew me off. Doesn't surprise me because he was playing on his tablet the entire game and had no idea what was going on. It was so sad. I felt so bad for our guys. They spent half the game on the floor from being knocked over. We had a couple in tears. Not how basketball is supposed to go! I hate it when I want my kids to learn good values and how to have fun with good sportsmanship and everyone around them is playing unfairly or cheating. I still can't believe that other coach didn't say a word!!! So dishonest. Anyway. Such a bummer. Better luck next week. Sidenote: I really am becoming a pro at the thankless jobs. Wyatt's mom threw a fit about how pictures were on a day that she wasn't expecting. She "didn't even know it was picture day!" Yeah, well, if your kid misses the game where we hand out the picture information, you will have to just pay attention to your emails!!! DUH!!!! Bugs the crap out of me that they think they can be snobby to us. We're not getting paid to do all this stuff!! So thankless. No offense, but I go out of my way to thank coaches when my kids are on sports teams. They do so much for nothing. It seems only fair. Anyway. Now I"m done. 2-7-15
STAR PARTY
After Charity's oh-so-close basketball game, Heidi and John came home with us and stayed with the kids so that I could go get things for our star party. Last week I needed some extra work done around the house and knew I needed to call in for reinforcements, so I planned this star party. The kids worked pretty hard. Granted it was only 1 week, but we needed to jump start them I think. I got lots of prizes and we did our games. We were running a little low on time so we only did one game by each kid. Luke passed on the game planning. Charity did the bouncy ball throwing into the bowls game that has become a regular. The kids still love it and amazingly Lukey threw the bouncy ball into the tiny little pretend pitcher that had a mouth about 3 inches in diameter! It was pretty amazing. 250 stars for him! Kelly did the ol' suck up the marshmallows with the straw and move them from the bowl to the cup. Everyone had fun with that. I think Charity dominated in that one. Bradley got out the lawn darts and set up some targets in the family room. They struggled with this one, and enjoying it, but Bradley managed to come out of it with 200 stars! Go figure :). Noah's game was the big money game. They had to drop marbles in a cup and then on a plate to see where they landed. They all walked away with between 1,200-1,800 stars from that game! Pretty amazing. Then Erika, at the last minute, well, the last five minutes- I set a time limit thank goodness- thought of Sardines. We made it so that they could earn 100-500 depending on who found the person first. Pretty fun. Then we had our auction and watched the Jazz game. It was a fun little party. I think I might just have to do one of these every month for the next oh.... seven months or so... my house needs it I think. Good times. 2-7-15
Monday, February 2, 2015
Things to Remember 1-25-15
SUNDAY
Sundays have become so busy lately! I wish they could slow down. I'm not sure if it's all the meetings I've had to go to lately or Nate working or the sick kids, but I'm ready for a day of REST!! Sitting on the hard chairs isn't helping. It was a nice day today though. I appreciated our training meeting with the Bishopric... feels like there's a lot of work to do, but I think it's good. 1-25-15
BLESSINGS
So I had the most incredible blessing from Nate on Sunday. It was one of those times I just needed a little pick me up. What a blessing that blessing has been. It's changed so much of the way I think now. It's been huge. I feel so much love and so much comfort from my Heavenly Father. My fears about this pregnancy and how it might end are gone. I know that this baby is coming. I know that it is this baby's time to come. I know that Heavenly Father wanted me to have this baby at this time. That is such a comfort. I am not so worried about every little pain I feel. I am not stressing about getting attached to this baby. (not that I was really holding back, I just kept having doubt and worry in the back of my mind) I know that I need to get close to this baby's Spirit. I know that this is a special spirit. That is fun to know and look forward to. I've given birth to many of those :)... seven to be exact. It's such a blessing. I'm actually very excited and for real right now. I just feel so much love. I'm so grateful to have a Heavenly Father who loves me. I'm so grateful that He knows me. He is there. He is aware of my needs and knows what is going on in this crazy head of mine. He knows how much I love Him and want to serve Him. That is comforting. He is the only one who knows the real me, completely, and yet he still loves me. So cool. So anyway. I guess I will probably have to look back on this every once in a while and remind myself of these things :). I'm not saying I'll forget, but I probably don't need to say that :). 1-25-15
WORDS
For FHE this week Bradley's lesson was about our words and how much they can affect us and other people. He made everyone eat a tablespoon of salt and then a tablespoon of sugar to notice that while the two look alike they can taste very different. Just because words come out of the same place doesn't mean they taste the same. It was a great reminder especially after we had just gotten done talking about how we need to be nicer to each other (there's been lots of bickering lately), so this was a great lesson. He did a nice job and then I told him he should bear his testimony at the end- he did and it was so sweet and pure. I loved it! Made me wish he would do that on fast Sundays :). That's okay though. Poor Luke didn't love the salt. There were some tears shed. Erika loved passing out her treat- chewy chips ahoy- made me think about how old she's getting. She loves to be in charge of things now. Not as shy. I like it :). 1-26-15
NEIGHBORHOOD
This week has been early out week and we were so blessed to have almost nice weather! It's been so fun because the kids were out with the neighbors almost all week. Feels so much like Spring! I'm so grateful for so many good kids for my kids to play with. I have more confidence in the parents of these kids than I do in myself, to top it off. Just a great place to live. Very blessed. 1-27-15
NAL
Have I mentioned that Charity is on her school's NAL team? She has been competing every Wednesday after school. It's been a lot of fun to go and watch her team win. This week I took Kelly (because she's been wanting to see what it's all about and finally could because she had early out), Luke (because he needed to take his bday invite to Carter's and we were headed to Mueller Park JH), and Erika (because she and Luke were "buddies" :) ). I was so happy with how well the extras were during the match. They were so quiet and actually interested in most of it. Luke kept close watch on the score for most of the first two quarters... while the score was close... Charity presents in the 3rd quarter and did a great job, if I am correct her team go 13 the other team got 11 on their presentations on the National Park Crisis. She did great I thought! After that things went quickly downhill and we did end up losing this time... kind of a bummer after all the wins. But anyway- we were all very proud of her. 1-28-15
THURSDAY
Thursday was my big day. Everything was on Thursday. I'm not sure how I let that happen, but Nate helped me pull it off and all was well. Once kids were off to school (Kelly early for newsletter), I had to go read with Noah's class at 9:00, then from there, visiting teaching at 10:00, came home for a second and talked with Nate (who was busily cleaning the kitchen- 10 points for him), then off to Cheesecake Factory to meet my Dad for my birthday lunch. That was a lot of fun. Then hurried back for SEP's which went really well, I'll probably do a separate post about that :). We quickly drove Brad, Luke and Charity home for Scouts and New Beginnings invite making, so that we could go get Kambree. I was able to sit down for a few minutes while we waited for the Clarks to come, then it was holding their cute little baby for the next couple hours :). That was nice. I left all 9 kids with Nate so I could go to YW Basketball with Charity and the TWO other YW who came. We were short and had to forfeit, but they gave us a couple extra players and let us play. After that it was off to a final New Beginnings meeting at Jami's. PHEW! What a day!! Felt pretty productive though :). 1-29-15
SEPs
I have grown to really love SEPs. I keep waiting for them to not be as ejnoyable, but it's not happening. Thankfully :). I'm loving it. Kelly's teacher is amazing. One of the best in the school. She takes seriously the things that Kelly needs her to. Unlike some of the teachers she has had in the past. It's nice to see that Kelly is comfortable and in good hands. She can be very sensitive, so it's nice that Mrs. Williams is aware of that and is sensitive to her needs.
Luke's was next, with Mrs. Beckstead. I love that woman!! She is another one of the best teachers in that school. So happy with how this year has been for Luke. He has actually been enjoying school! She makes everything into a contest or a game :). Perfect for Luke. She loves Luke and had a lot of nice things to say about him. He really is doing great in her class. It's so fun. She is fun to talk with as well. We always end up going over :).
We were of course late for Mrs. James, which Bradley had insisted that we not be since she "had a meeting right after his appointment" I felt bad. He felt bad. She didn't seem to care. She had a lot of good things to say about Bradley. I'm glad she gets him and can see so many good things in him. That's nice to know that he is appreciated.
Noah was last, Mrs. Horning was very nice. She loves Noah and Noah was adorable talking to her. I'm so impressed with how vocal he is in those. I think Mrs. Horning is too :). She had nothing but good things to say about him. It was great!
Book Fair books all around... we are so proud of our kids. Hopefully they can keep it up :).
1-29-15
EIGHT WEEKS
Heidi says this is going by fast :). Not sure i agree, but I know time is moving forward, so we're good :). Our baby is the size of a large raspberry right now according to the baby app. That's exciting :). I keep getting this crazy idea that I'm further along than I am because I keep feeling was seems like movement! Way too soon though, so I'm probably just "airing" my most recent annoying symptom :). Who knows. We'll find out I'm not soon enough :). How I can think the same crazy things every time I"m pregnant is beyond me. But let's go through the motions I guess. The tiredness has gotten the best of me these last couple days. I slept Friday afternoon away. When I sleep in, I am deathly ill for MOST of the day. Rats. No more sleeping in. 1-29-15
TEMPLE
Michelle and I decided to go to the temple together while trying to determine who our next Beehive President should be. I had the family name "Helen Ann Bell" that Charity had found and done baptism and confirmation for, in my purse and was planning on doing her endowment, but then I realized (duh) that she still needed initiatory. So I talked Michelle into doing initiatory instead. At first I thought that would be quicker, but nope :) we sat and waited for about an hour before going in.l Took us almost as long. We were both so pleased with the time there though, and Michelle thanked me several times for the idea to do initiatory :). It had been a while for both of us. What a nice way to start the day. I loved it. Nate did the grocery shopping while I was gone :). That was nice of him. 1-30-15
SATURDAY
Fun day. The boys' game was a lot of fun. They were behind for most of the game and then during the last five minutes or so managed to get 8 points! I think Bradley was the one to tie them up :) just before the game ended! It was so intense! The parents were all into it- lots of fun. We spent a lot of the day earning stars for our upcoming star party. That was nice. The kids noticed that if they worked together on jobs, they would get more points than if they did them on their own- that was fun because they were buddying up and having fun together. I like it when they do that. Then we finally tried out the Krispy Kreme good grades thing... took our report cards in and they gave us 2 dozen donuts for free!!! One donut per A up to 6 donuts. Kinda crazy that they will do that, and that we actually DID it, but very fun. Everyone loved it. Their donuts are so yummy. So bad for you, but so yummy! 1-31-15
ANNIVERSARY
It's been exactly one year since I got my appendix out. Haven't been the same since. HA! I just like to say that because I heard someone say it right after, meaning that they've had a lot of health issues and stuff since then, and actually, this was probably the worst year for me as far as illnesses go, in at least a couple decades, so maybe there's actually some truth to it... doubt it... but whatever. I really just like to say it since it's true :). I'm not the same :). I'm missing an appendix. 1-31-15
Sundays have become so busy lately! I wish they could slow down. I'm not sure if it's all the meetings I've had to go to lately or Nate working or the sick kids, but I'm ready for a day of REST!! Sitting on the hard chairs isn't helping. It was a nice day today though. I appreciated our training meeting with the Bishopric... feels like there's a lot of work to do, but I think it's good. 1-25-15
BLESSINGS
So I had the most incredible blessing from Nate on Sunday. It was one of those times I just needed a little pick me up. What a blessing that blessing has been. It's changed so much of the way I think now. It's been huge. I feel so much love and so much comfort from my Heavenly Father. My fears about this pregnancy and how it might end are gone. I know that this baby is coming. I know that it is this baby's time to come. I know that Heavenly Father wanted me to have this baby at this time. That is such a comfort. I am not so worried about every little pain I feel. I am not stressing about getting attached to this baby. (not that I was really holding back, I just kept having doubt and worry in the back of my mind) I know that I need to get close to this baby's Spirit. I know that this is a special spirit. That is fun to know and look forward to. I've given birth to many of those :)... seven to be exact. It's such a blessing. I'm actually very excited and for real right now. I just feel so much love. I'm so grateful to have a Heavenly Father who loves me. I'm so grateful that He knows me. He is there. He is aware of my needs and knows what is going on in this crazy head of mine. He knows how much I love Him and want to serve Him. That is comforting. He is the only one who knows the real me, completely, and yet he still loves me. So cool. So anyway. I guess I will probably have to look back on this every once in a while and remind myself of these things :). I'm not saying I'll forget, but I probably don't need to say that :). 1-25-15
WORDS
For FHE this week Bradley's lesson was about our words and how much they can affect us and other people. He made everyone eat a tablespoon of salt and then a tablespoon of sugar to notice that while the two look alike they can taste very different. Just because words come out of the same place doesn't mean they taste the same. It was a great reminder especially after we had just gotten done talking about how we need to be nicer to each other (there's been lots of bickering lately), so this was a great lesson. He did a nice job and then I told him he should bear his testimony at the end- he did and it was so sweet and pure. I loved it! Made me wish he would do that on fast Sundays :). That's okay though. Poor Luke didn't love the salt. There were some tears shed. Erika loved passing out her treat- chewy chips ahoy- made me think about how old she's getting. She loves to be in charge of things now. Not as shy. I like it :). 1-26-15
NEIGHBORHOOD
This week has been early out week and we were so blessed to have almost nice weather! It's been so fun because the kids were out with the neighbors almost all week. Feels so much like Spring! I'm so grateful for so many good kids for my kids to play with. I have more confidence in the parents of these kids than I do in myself, to top it off. Just a great place to live. Very blessed. 1-27-15
NAL
Have I mentioned that Charity is on her school's NAL team? She has been competing every Wednesday after school. It's been a lot of fun to go and watch her team win. This week I took Kelly (because she's been wanting to see what it's all about and finally could because she had early out), Luke (because he needed to take his bday invite to Carter's and we were headed to Mueller Park JH), and Erika (because she and Luke were "buddies" :) ). I was so happy with how well the extras were during the match. They were so quiet and actually interested in most of it. Luke kept close watch on the score for most of the first two quarters... while the score was close... Charity presents in the 3rd quarter and did a great job, if I am correct her team go 13 the other team got 11 on their presentations on the National Park Crisis. She did great I thought! After that things went quickly downhill and we did end up losing this time... kind of a bummer after all the wins. But anyway- we were all very proud of her. 1-28-15
THURSDAY
Thursday was my big day. Everything was on Thursday. I'm not sure how I let that happen, but Nate helped me pull it off and all was well. Once kids were off to school (Kelly early for newsletter), I had to go read with Noah's class at 9:00, then from there, visiting teaching at 10:00, came home for a second and talked with Nate (who was busily cleaning the kitchen- 10 points for him), then off to Cheesecake Factory to meet my Dad for my birthday lunch. That was a lot of fun. Then hurried back for SEP's which went really well, I'll probably do a separate post about that :). We quickly drove Brad, Luke and Charity home for Scouts and New Beginnings invite making, so that we could go get Kambree. I was able to sit down for a few minutes while we waited for the Clarks to come, then it was holding their cute little baby for the next couple hours :). That was nice. I left all 9 kids with Nate so I could go to YW Basketball with Charity and the TWO other YW who came. We were short and had to forfeit, but they gave us a couple extra players and let us play. After that it was off to a final New Beginnings meeting at Jami's. PHEW! What a day!! Felt pretty productive though :). 1-29-15
SEPs
I have grown to really love SEPs. I keep waiting for them to not be as ejnoyable, but it's not happening. Thankfully :). I'm loving it. Kelly's teacher is amazing. One of the best in the school. She takes seriously the things that Kelly needs her to. Unlike some of the teachers she has had in the past. It's nice to see that Kelly is comfortable and in good hands. She can be very sensitive, so it's nice that Mrs. Williams is aware of that and is sensitive to her needs.
Luke's was next, with Mrs. Beckstead. I love that woman!! She is another one of the best teachers in that school. So happy with how this year has been for Luke. He has actually been enjoying school! She makes everything into a contest or a game :). Perfect for Luke. She loves Luke and had a lot of nice things to say about him. He really is doing great in her class. It's so fun. She is fun to talk with as well. We always end up going over :).
We were of course late for Mrs. James, which Bradley had insisted that we not be since she "had a meeting right after his appointment" I felt bad. He felt bad. She didn't seem to care. She had a lot of good things to say about Bradley. I'm glad she gets him and can see so many good things in him. That's nice to know that he is appreciated.
Noah was last, Mrs. Horning was very nice. She loves Noah and Noah was adorable talking to her. I'm so impressed with how vocal he is in those. I think Mrs. Horning is too :). She had nothing but good things to say about him. It was great!
Book Fair books all around... we are so proud of our kids. Hopefully they can keep it up :).
1-29-15
EIGHT WEEKS
Heidi says this is going by fast :). Not sure i agree, but I know time is moving forward, so we're good :). Our baby is the size of a large raspberry right now according to the baby app. That's exciting :). I keep getting this crazy idea that I'm further along than I am because I keep feeling was seems like movement! Way too soon though, so I'm probably just "airing" my most recent annoying symptom :). Who knows. We'll find out I'm not soon enough :). How I can think the same crazy things every time I"m pregnant is beyond me. But let's go through the motions I guess. The tiredness has gotten the best of me these last couple days. I slept Friday afternoon away. When I sleep in, I am deathly ill for MOST of the day. Rats. No more sleeping in. 1-29-15
TEMPLE
Michelle and I decided to go to the temple together while trying to determine who our next Beehive President should be. I had the family name "Helen Ann Bell" that Charity had found and done baptism and confirmation for, in my purse and was planning on doing her endowment, but then I realized (duh) that she still needed initiatory. So I talked Michelle into doing initiatory instead. At first I thought that would be quicker, but nope :) we sat and waited for about an hour before going in.l Took us almost as long. We were both so pleased with the time there though, and Michelle thanked me several times for the idea to do initiatory :). It had been a while for both of us. What a nice way to start the day. I loved it. Nate did the grocery shopping while I was gone :). That was nice of him. 1-30-15
SATURDAY
Fun day. The boys' game was a lot of fun. They were behind for most of the game and then during the last five minutes or so managed to get 8 points! I think Bradley was the one to tie them up :) just before the game ended! It was so intense! The parents were all into it- lots of fun. We spent a lot of the day earning stars for our upcoming star party. That was nice. The kids noticed that if they worked together on jobs, they would get more points than if they did them on their own- that was fun because they were buddying up and having fun together. I like it when they do that. Then we finally tried out the Krispy Kreme good grades thing... took our report cards in and they gave us 2 dozen donuts for free!!! One donut per A up to 6 donuts. Kinda crazy that they will do that, and that we actually DID it, but very fun. Everyone loved it. Their donuts are so yummy. So bad for you, but so yummy! 1-31-15
ANNIVERSARY
It's been exactly one year since I got my appendix out. Haven't been the same since. HA! I just like to say that because I heard someone say it right after, meaning that they've had a lot of health issues and stuff since then, and actually, this was probably the worst year for me as far as illnesses go, in at least a couple decades, so maybe there's actually some truth to it... doubt it... but whatever. I really just like to say it since it's true :). I'm not the same :). I'm missing an appendix. 1-31-15
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