Blessings Realized

Memories Stirred

2011-12-15T05:52:00.000-08:00

I had two memories come up to my mind as I've gone about my Christmas shopping. The first really doesn't have anything to do with Christmas but I still wanted to write it down. I bought a little headband for my little Coco bean yesterday, along with two bows that can be changed out of the headband. I was so excited about this buy to match her Christmas outfits perfectly. The funny thing is that I couldn't understand why this was such a big deal to me. Then a memory of two shoe strings hanging on a bathroom wall next to a sink came to me. Attached to the shoe strings were matching barrettes of every different color you could think of, and they weren't plain barrettes. They had round ruffles with bows in the middle of them. They were so girlie and cute, and they perfectly accessorized all my childhood friend's clothes. Her name was Tanya and I do believe that I coveted all those cute bows. My hair was always unruly as a child and I know my Mom tried occasionally to put ribbon in my hair but for the most part she was happy sticking it in dog ears without any adornment. Looking back I was cute even without bows, but I fear my poor daughter will have many hair bows in her life :)

The second memory or maybe I should say realization about myself was that over the years gift giving from me has taken a certain track when it comes to my children. I was looking at the gifts that I've bought my children so far, and I discovered they were all learning presents and presents that will promote growth either socially or talent wise. They will receive fun gifts too, but the majority of the gifts are aimed to edify not entertain. Yes even that alien science lab was meant to encourage my son in his love of science and experimentation. I do believe that he concoted many solutions with that kit, lol. And in the picture below, those are music instruments, not weapons, as it appears by the picture they believed (rolling my eyes). I hope someday they realize that those gifts were more a reflection of my love than any of the ones that I bought that they asked for. Like Heavenly Father, I wish for my children to succeed and make the most of what has been given to them, so I search for things that will profit them in strength.

I am counting my blessings this morning that I have been able to type this up before my little ones have stirred. Merry Christmas everybody! Just in case I don't have a chance to blog again before the big day ;)

This Years Blessings

2011-11-27T17:34:00.000-08:00

I have found myself dwelling upon my adversities and what I feel is limbo for us. I realize that this doesn't need to be so. I need to be moving forward as always even if that doesn't equate to physically moving forward as I desire it to be. So instead I will recount my blessings and set new goals and redouble my efforts to meet short term and long term goals and stop "waiting for my ship to come in".

First I am so grateful and blessed to have a husband that even in the midst of one of his biggest trials and stressful times in his life, still finds the time to make sure that I feel appreciated and to help me with the children and house.
Secondly, I have been blessed with THE prettiest little girl I could never imagine ;)

I say this because I never imagined having a child born with so much hair, lol. And it looks like it might be auburn. I truly have a wide variety of looks when it comes to my children. We call her our little coco bean. It has been difficult to learn to manage three. Indeed, I haven't mastered it by a long shot, but I'm told the first two years are the hardest. Hmmmm...that means I only have a year and 11 months :S
Back to blessings :)
Third, I have the cutest and sweetest boys. I love that they all gravitate to me and need their time to snuggle. Even the teenagers.
Fourth, I have a fabulous mother that has made being separated from my teen age boys bearable. Knowing that she is a daily influence in their life makes me breathe a great deal easier and knowing that she is getting them to seminary for a daily dose of Heavenly Father in their life is what makes me be able to let go.
Fifth, I have been blessed during the trials of the past months to grow closer to an awesome friend. And I have a feeling that it will be one of those lifetime friendships that never fizzle out.
Sixth, I have been blessed with great health this year. I made it through my last pregnancy with barely any hiccups and no bed rest. No shingle out breaks and my allergies have barely given a showing. Which was a HUGE blessing, seeing how my worst allergies are usually right when I was due to have our little Coco Bean. This means I would have had sleepless nights and had a hard time keeping from coming down with an infection because I rely a great deal on being able to physically exercise in a major way to keep up my natural antihistimines, and that is limited during pregnancy.
Seventh, a working car and a beautiful home.
Eighth, being able to stay close with friends that I've developed close friendships with over the year and to be able to spend time with them and much of my family.
I could go on but I might begin to sound like I'm bragging, lol. So I'll have to continue in my journal.
Time to make new goals and move forward spiritually and step out of the limbo I have put myself in. Afterall, I wasn't given these blessings to sit upon a shelf :)

Beginning Seeds through Experience

2011-10-14T09:10:00.000-07:00

I have pondered much on the talks from our church's General Conference addresses that had to do with why even the righteous go through much hardship in life and why we have the experiences we do. (reference talks by Quentin Cook and Robert D. Hales, both of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles)
My thoughts turned to the beginnings of my own testimony. When did my personal testimony begin to solidify and not piggy back off of that of my parents and other leaders? Which led me to the memory of one of the most signifying events of my life at the age of 17, my senior year of high school, and Christmas Eve.
I had gone with my Dad to work to be able to do some last minute Christmas shopping after he took care of a couple of things at the office. I remember feeling very tired and kind of sick and closing my eyes in the car while I waited for him and telling him I didn't feel good when he got back in the car. I must have gone to sleep. When I awoke, it was to excruciating pain. I didn't remember that it was Christmas Eve. All I could think about the pain and the non stop vomiting that was resulting. My parents later told me that my skin was literally a shade of green. I remember our home teacher coming over to assist my Dad in adminstering a blessing. I know that I was assured of my Father in Heaven's love for me and that they would be able to figure out what was wrong with me, then my parents rushed me to the emergency room. I was diagnosed with accute gastroneuritis. Really bad gas. My parents knew something more serious was going on, but all they could do was pray. On Christmas morning a nurse came to do a routine check and discovered that I had a burst appendix. She was responsible for taking the measures to get me as quickly as possible into surgery. Since it had already burst, they had to do two surgeries one to open me up and drain me and then after most of the infection causing puss had drained they stapled me back up and sent me home. However, the doctor failed to prescribe me antibiotics and I had to go back into the hospital to go through the same process again. Only my monthly menstrual cycle had started after I had been released and the doctors knew I would need a blood transfusion or I wouldn't survive the operation. My Dad and another church member went to donate blood for me. The blood bank lost the other persons blood and so my only hope became my Dad's that was iron rich and really thick. I was dehydrated and my veins kept rolling and the nurses couldn't get the blood to go in. They had only minutes before the blood would go bad. My Dad gave me a priesthood blessing and the blood flowed in with seconds to spare. So twice my life was spared through priesthood blessings.
Now what was going on with me on the inside. During this time period of my life, I had started to stray from the straight and narrow. Because of this I didn't know if I was worthy of these blessings and I was afraid to die because I knew I needed to repent. There were times that I did wish to die because of the pain, but mostly I was afraid of that possibility.
What I took away from the experience were three eternal truths that would see me through many a future trial and hardship. 1) My Heavenly Father loved me unconditionally. 2) That there truly is power in the priesthood and can be exercised through righteous priesthood holders. 3) My Heavenly Father had a purpose and a plan for me and I was being given a chance to realize that purpose. I also learned a temporal truth and that was that I had parents that would always be there for me. My Mom stayed with me the entire time at the hospital. My Dad was constantly there and as afore mentioned doing everything in his power to save his daughter.
Now I'd like to say that from that day forward that I began to be the model daughter and teenager of exemplary character. But alas, I chose the hard road. I did begin to try harder and those truths were deeply imbedded in me at that time and led to me eventually grasping an even firmer grip on my testimony.
As I've pondered this experience, I've realized that there were other eternal truths to be learned through this experience if I choose to look a little deeper, just as the Isrealites could learn deeper truths from their experience with being bitten by the snakes and being saved just by looking to the snake on the cross that Moses held up to them. So these are the things that I have learned by taking a deeper look at the experience. It was my Father's blood that saved me from dying. Just so it is my Savior's blood that ransoms me and saves me from spiritual death and permanent temporal death. It is not the "arm of the flesh" that we should trust in. I know that nurses and doctors did their part in bringing about my recovery, but ultimately it was through God's inspiration and power that I was restored to health.
My Dad shared with me multiple times how this experience strengthened his testimony. I know it would have surprised him just how deeply the experience blessed me. So if we are the sum of our experiences, I would add to that that we are the sum of how we react to our experiences. Just as Laman and Lemuel had a great deal of the same experiences as Nephi in The Book of Mormon, they chose to react to those experiences in different manners. Nephi focused on his blessings in the midst of trials and his brothers chose to focus on the hardships. Nephi sought for the spirit for guidance and Laman and Lemuel trusted to what they could see and continually failed to exercise faith. Nephi's strength therefore came from his belief in God's love and his courage to exercise that faith in his belief. I'm so grateful for all of my experiences that have led me to this juncture in my life. Especially these that led to the beginning seeds of my Testimony.

Prayers Unanswered?

2011-09-12T04:19:00.000-07:00

by Vector Graphic
Approximately a month ago, I asked Heavenly Father for confirmation that we were supposed to move and that he supported us in it and that it was going to happen. I got that confirmation. I won't go into more detail because it was definitely a sacred experience for me, but I did get it. I am 15-30 days out from my due date and starting to question whether or not that meant the move would happen before the baby is born. Also I have been among those praying and even fasting (in a nontraditional way, afterall I am pregnant), for rain for Texas. The fires that have raged in Bastrop have destroyed my In-law's home. My mother, brother, two teenage boys, and grandmother have been threatened from all sides by fire. Closer to home, water mains are breaking left and right which not only threatens water pressure but reserves and we have been on stage 2 water restrictions for weeks. I know we aren't the only ones suffering. I look at the flooding in the East and empathize because in the past that would be us and right now we would definitely take some of that rain from them. House structures, foundations, roads, plants are all being destroyed by the lack of rain. Not a great time to be trying to sell a home. I know many of us wondering why our prayers are seemingly going unanswered. As I've pondered this thoughts of the early pioneers came to mind. They were really good people, but they went through some unbelievable trials. From persecution to traveling thru some mighty harsh weather and sickness as well. I know some of them wondered why God didn't atleast make the weather unseasonably beautiful for traveling if they had to be driven from their homes, or couldn't he keep sickness from their midst or or or...
I know all of us have these feelings at one time or another. So here is what I reminded myself. I chose to come here to get a body in the premortal exsistance. I knew it would be hard that this was a proving ground. The pioneers had to go through the refiners fire to strengthen their testimonies and strengthen them in their unity. I think that's what is going on now. Texans are known for our generosity and for our belief in Christian values. Living in Texas and it's contrary weather has always made for attracting those that can endure. But I think that we are being asked to endure just a little more, and to stretch and grow that our testimonies in God might be strengthened and that our humility and charity might be tested. Which means that he is preparing us in a big way to continue to be a strength to this nation. What a great blessing ! Doesn't feel like it now, but I know that we will look back and see it as that if we continue being faithful. So then I changed my pondering to what do I need to do to combat the feelings of doubt stirred by the adversary and I thought, oh yeah, count my blessings that I can see now! Duh! So here they are...
1. I have never been put on bedrest and have had a relatively healthy pregnancy and the strength to handle my challenges physically through it.
2.My in-laws have wonderful sons and daughters that have all stepped up to the plate to help them
3.My family including my 2 sons have been kept out of harms way.
4.I have been able to find multiple ways to serve
5. I have had the pleasure of deepening relationships with friends from my church that have come to serve me and help me with keeping up my house for showings
6. My husband and I have strengthened in our communication skills with each other
7. I have a supportive husband who has strived to uplift me and keep me cheerful through out these external pressures
8. My Mom has been able to continue taking my boys to seminary
9. I have a bigger appreciation for anything green :)
10. Most importantly I am thankful for the blessing of happy moments through out like in my new blog picture. Moments that we find to have a good time and enjoy each other even if it's just to take a walk with each other. We have many of those moments all the time. Why is it the most important to me? Because man is that he might have joy. I know Heavenly Father doesn't want us to be miserable, so I need to focus on those little moments, so when I read our no rain forcast I won't start bawling again. I will be able to say, 'okay I guess I need to pray a little harder and endure a little longer'
Afterall, prayers don't go unanswered. Sometimes it's 'yes' and sometimes it's 'no', and sometimes it's 'be patient and this will work out for your good'

Sharing A Slice of Life: Beautiful Me

2011-09-04T18:59:00.000-07:00

picture from"blog.eyenmart.com"

So my sister's prompt this week is to write what is good and wonderful about ourselves for family history. I hate this, why is it so hard to think of unshallow stuff when put on the spot. So I asked my teenagers what was great about Mom to get me started. Never ask two teenage boys a question like that, lol. "Well Mom, your nice and kind." Geez! Could you be more specific?!? Arghhhhh!
But I am nice and kind. I love looking for ways to show random kindnesses, to find ways to sustain my fellow church leaders, to look for ways to express my love to those close to me. I was thinking about people that start malicious gossip or do things to intentionally hurt others, and I just don't get it. I think there is only one person that I ever prayed that God would curse them and it was a mean bill collector that was super ugly to me and I was pregnant and hormonal, that's my excuse ;)
I'm also very forgiving. I think I've been very blessed to be able to learn how to let go of hurt feelings, to try and see the other side of things, and even when I don't receive the apology that I know I deserve (wink wink), with a little prayer and a bit of a struggle I can look at it eternally and forgive and move on.
I'm a very positive person. Some might accuse me of being Pollyanna. And I don't have a problem with that. Even Pollyanna had her moment of clouds but for the most part she radiated sunshine. That's me, I hate seeing somebody down and will quickly look for ways to uplift. I have developed a great appreciation for nature. I don't think I always noticed anything beyond the sky till these past years with my new husband. Except maybe bodies of water. But now I notice the green of the grass, the trees rustling in the breeze. The dust devils being kicked up by the wind, the way the mocking bird imitates walkers' cell phones ;)
I have always loved jewelry but have just begun to enjoy learning the ability to create beautiful pieces to give as gifts or to uplift myself. I love matching the different colored beads and textures to create an original unique piece. I keep a clean house. My husband might argue that point at times, lol. But I've been in and out of many houses and apartments of Mom's with young kids, and whatever he says, I know that I keep a very clean house :p
I am not afraid of sharing my testimony. I struggle with knowing how to share the gospel in a way that will move beyond planting seeds, but I keep trying. Which I guess leads me to one of my best assets. I do not know the meaning of giving up. It has been my saving grace. I have made many mistakes and had to make many painful decisions in my life. I know some might say that I quit on my first marriage, but they couldn't be more wrong. I never stopped hoping that my ex would turn his life around. I may have been angry at him multiple times and had many stretching and growing moments in learning how to communicate better with him to enable better relations. We now have a tenative friendship. My husband and I have served him and he has served us. We have had forgiving conversations and I have hopes that one day for the sake of our boys and his happiness that he will come more fully into the gospel. But my decision to leave him was for my safety and was a difficult decision. It was not because I quit. Otherwise I would have no real communication or relation with him now. I know my ability to not give up comes from a strong testimony of my Father in Heaven's love for me. From my desire to show my love to the Savior for all that he sacrificed for me. Knowing that I am a divine daughter of my Heavenly Father has given me much strength in my life even when I haven't felt worthy of such an appointment because it didn't matter whether or not I was worthy. It's just a fact. God doesn't disown us when we make a mistake, he reaches out to us to help us dust ourselves off and to do better and that's what I've become very good at :)
"picture from pixeljoint.com"

New Baby! And Changes Changes!

2011-08-31T17:51:00.000-07:00

So I haven't been posting lately due to finishing remodel on our house and putting it up for sale. That has taken a great deal of my time and energy and then add to the mix that I am also pregnant with our last baby and you could say that I have been overwhelmed! I am excited about the fact that the baby is a girl and at the same time incredibly nervous about the change in dynamics that will occurr. Having only boys has had it's advantages. My two teenagers decided to go live with their Dad this year and go to school out there. My Mom lives out there too and has been making sure they make it to seminary everyday. It means that she is less available for me, but I am so appreciative. I love hearing her stories about their trips in the morning and it makes me so jealous. And yet I know that it wouldn't be the same if I was taking them every morning. I'm so grateful that she is making these memories with them. I know that it will sustain and support them in the years to come and that this is going to make this year especially special for them. I miss my two older ones but I have been trying to count my blessings. So here are all the ones that I have counted as a result of this change.
1. I spend less in gas. ( I no longer have to drop or pick up anyone from school or run to lessons of any sort)
2. I have more time to focus on teaching the younger ones and meeting their needs
3. As I am now seen less, the older boys are quicker to show affection and I get their good sides instead of the constant teenager complaints :)
4. I now get more weekends which means the older boys get more church. I will also get the majority of the summer which will make for more variety in vacations.
5. They both have phones which means I can still keep in touch on a fairly frequent basis and they can always call me if they need me right away.
6. As we have had the house on the market, it has actually made it easier to keep the house clean. One less bathroom to clean on an ongoing basis and one bedroom that always stays clean makes a difference
7. dinner is more simple
8. less laundry
9. They get to be closer to their grandma and build that relationship. I also don't think my younger son would have been doing seminary if it wasn't for the situation.
10. Last but not least, I don't have to get up for seminary, lol.
Not that I wouldn't give up a number of these for the blessing of having them in my home just about everyday, but I will just have to keep counting the blessings, praying for them, and trusting in God to make up the difference when I can't be there. I think based on what I've seen, that is exactly what he's done :)

Sharing a Slice of Life: The All Nighter

2011-08-30T17:14:00.000-07:00

The only all nighter that came to my mind is staying up late to finish a research paper that I had procrastinated on in I think 8th grade. I guess it really sticks in my mind because I probably wouldn't have had to pull an all nighter if the darn computer hadn't crashed and erased my paper and I had to stay up inputting it all over again. Back then we didn't have auto correct and I wasn't as fast at typing. Not to mention it was a Comodore 64 word type program and as a teenager all the settings were foreign to me. I remember how quiet the rest of the house was as my then 4 siblings slept in peace. I don't think my mother's sixth had come along by that time. I remember my Mom coming in to check and see how I was doing somewhere around 2 am. I don't think I went to bed till 4am. My sons have done that to me once or twice now and now I know that my Mom was probably not sleeping, but laying in bed wanting to go do it for me, so it could be done but knowing that I needed to learn a lesson on procrastination. Motherhood is definitely hard in that way. Pulling back and letting our children learn from their consequences is sometimes harder for us than it is for them, although they won't know it till they have their own children ;)

Slice of Life #34 Pets "The Parade"

2011-01-09T17:53:00.000-08:00

Okay I know I've skipped a few posts but I'm doing the best that I can ;)
My pet that I want to post about was my parents before he was min. I actually had a long line of doges from them or so it seemed. I always had a hard time sleeping while I was single and my Dad thought I might feel safer with a dog, so they kept giving me their rejects. Well one was of my choosing and while she was sweet dog, she was an energetic dog and not a match for a family that was hardly home. Our sweet Angel kept getting into trouble and knocking the boys down when they would venture outside. We adopted a little wienie dog mutt that the boys found at the bus stop. But he followed us out at Halloween and apparently got adopted by another family. My oldest son found that out for sure later on. We had another one for a very short stint, I can't even remember his name, but I told my Dad that he had to come get him. A-bear was the last in this parade of dogs. Dad had named him such b/c he looked like a little bear cub when he ran. He was mostly blue heeler, but was very burly unlike the sleek looking True bloods. Dad probably would have rather kept him but a different dog of my brothers was bullying him and Dad thought maybe the sweet disposition of A-bear might work for me better. He was so right. A-Bear had been taught to shake hands somewhere down the line and would always greet you. He hardly barked which was fabulous. But I also bonded with him when I developed CFS and as on medical leave for three months. He would walk with me or run with me if I biked, back and forth to one of my best friends houses. He was such a trooper. I would talk to him and he'd just look at me with those sad eyes and his tongue lolling and wait to be petted. I'm not an overly affectionate animal owner. It's just hard for me to bond with them. I think they are great for other people and I love petting other people's pets, but I'm not one to be overly emotional if the fish dies or if an animal doesn't work out. When our family dog died, when I was a teenager, I wasn't that upset. He'd had a long life and passed away quietly in the sun. I remember trying to make my sisters laugh b/c they were crying and I guess I didn't know what else to do. They thought I was so insensitive and I guess I was, but I just felt it was his time and it didn't upset me. But when A-bear lay dying, I didn't know what to do, I didn't want to go to work. I asked my brother to give him a blessing. I couldn't stand knowing he'd given me so much and I couldn't give him half as much. He was the BEST dog ever. And I had my brother bury him under my pear tree. I cried and cried and when the boys turned around and wanted another pet right away, I rebelled. My Dad was ready to give me another dog and I wouldn't have it. No dog could have taken A-Bear's place. There wasn't a dog good enough. As I cast my mind around for a solution, I remembered as a kid I had preferred cats to dogs. I had a vet friend take me to a farm that was giving away kittens and I found one that would let me hold her. I named her, Ruth, because she gave me comfort in my time of sorrow. She has been a sweet pet. She plays tag with me and lets the little boys pull her tail. She's been with us now for about 6 years and has been through many family changes. I have to say the only time she really drives me crazy is when she is about her crazy night time escapades and accidentally makes something crash which isn't that often so for the most part she's the cat's meow. Even people that say they don't like cats have a tendency to like her. She's just that sweet. So there you have it. We have had a fish and a turtle too. But that was in the very beginning and another story for another day ;)

Slice of Life post #28 Icy Roads

2010-12-05T15:08:00.000-08:00

On February 14th back in 1994, I was married to another man. He recieved a phone call from his sister asking if we could come pick her up. It was the dead of night so he didn't think about it in his sleep hase that she had whispered the words. He asked me to go ask my Dad if he could borrow the car. I can't remember right now why we were between cars now, but were and it was so cold because there was an ice storm going on. As my Dad came out of his room, my husband, at the time thought to call his sister back because he realized that it was weird that she was whispering since it wouldn't matter that everyone in the house was sleeping b/c she was on the phone. One of her roomates answered and when asked if he would get her replied, "the b#$%@ just shot herself" and laughed. He found out what hospital she was being taken to and so started the long journey as we jumped in the car. We knew she hadn't shot herself b/c she had called two people to come get her. We don't know why she was killed, the police ruled it a suicide, but I digress. As we drove to the hospital as fast as we could on the icy roads, we all three were praying. My parents and I had developed a relationship with this sister and she was one of the few members of my ex-husbands family that I felt had accepted me. My Dad later said he thought he saw her spirit flying towards us and immediately asked us to pray with him.We did and he felt that our prayers were being answered. She died that day. The proceedings leading to it our another story, but I will never forget that long and anguishing ride. Feeling inadequate to comfort and needing comfort. Not being able to wrap my head around the reality and feeling as numb on the inside from shock as I was on the inside from the cold. Some things apparently are reflected in our surroundings.

I was Hiding

2010-11-21T17:14:00.000-08:00

I had an experience with Lil Red this week that jogged a memory. In telling my mom about it she said I should write it down, so here it is.
When I was about 10, my grandparents who lived across the way from us often had charge over my brother and sisters and I. One such time my older sister was off when my Mom and Dad and my brother and I had been given chores to do. I had finished mine and was enjoying doing nothing when my brother came in and was whining about having to pick up the trash that strewn all over the lawn by the dogs which was his fault anyways for not having put the lid on the trash holder. Anyways, he has done NONE of it and comes in and says he needs help and so my push over grandparents ;) asked me to go out and help them. "I did my chores!".
"Just go out and help him! He's younger than you."
So I begrudgingly walked over to the closet to get my coat and go out help him. As I opened the closet door I looked back and realized that noone was watching me. I quickly slipped inside the closet and closed the door and hid behind the coats. After a long while, (or it seemed so to me), my brother came in and asked if I wasn't coming to help. That confused my grandparents since they KNEW I'd gone outside a while ago. Grandma came to the door and yelled for me. I didn't respond. Now we lived in the country on what seemed like alot of property back then and is compared to most these days. My grandfather got around on a tractor because he lost a leg in a freak log accident. When I didn't come after they did a cursory search and alot of yelling, Grandpa came to the closet and reached out to get his coat. I remember holding my breath because I knew he was going to discover me. But he didn't and went out on the tractor and started hunting for me. I was trying not to laugh as I heard all of the commotion, thinking of how I'd tricked them. At the same time a bit of anxiety started to seep in as I realized that I was good and trapped now. Because how could I come out and say what I'd done without getting a major spanking. As I set there pondering my situation I heard my Grandma say to Penny, a cousin staying with them at the time, " I sure hope Lester doesn't have a heart attack." She said some other things as well, but the point that sank in was that I was causing my Grandfather physical distress and I didn't want anything to happen to him even if it meant that I got in trouble. So I came out of the closet and walked into the kitchen which was right next to the closet. My Grandma, stunned face, said, "where have you been?".
Head down, in a mumble,"in the closet".
I don't think I got in trouble, they were to happy that I hadn't run away and gotten hurt. Which brings me back to present day.
I was trying to get out the door to run to Home Depot for Big Red and had loaded Lil Red into the car when I realized I didn't have my purse and I needed to pee really really bad. I ran insided and was back out in 2 minutes. Not kidding, I really can pee that fast. Anyways I come back to the car and no Lil Red. I knew I hadn't seen him inside as I ran through the house. All I could think of is that he'd decided to cross the road and go for a walk like he does with his Dad. And I start screaming for him, hoping he's hiding behind a tree. Big Red hears me yelling and says, "he isn't in the car?"
"No"
"Go check in the house"
He continued to look outside as I headed for the house. I walked back by the car as I was heading inside continuing to yell for him and now a couple of precious minutes have ticked by. And I hear his sweet voice from the back of the car, "I'm here Mom! I was hiding!" accompanied by a proud grin. I think it was karma. And I totally get how I didn't get in trouble the relief was way to great!

Slice of Life#26 The Big Thank you

2010-11-21T17:00:00.000-08:00

My big Thank you just came today. I mean I've recieved wonderful 'thank you's' from my husband and friends and kids, but this one was so unexpected it made me cry. Some people may not even consider it a thank you, but I did because I know that it was meant that way. There is a inactive sister in our ward that has been taking the missionary lessons with her common law husband and I have been participating in the lessons. It's been amazing being a part of their journey. Well their family is moving towards baptism and the temple and one of the steps is for them to get married. She cornered me after church today and asked if I would be her Matron of Honor. I was so touched that I almost started to cry. She explained that she didn't have any real family close by and not that many friends, but that she would love for me to be a part of it. The funny thing is, is that just this past week I was thinking that while I had been a bridesmaid for my two sisters weddings that I had never been a Maid of Honor of Matron of Honor, and wondered what that would be like to be chosen b/c you had a special bond with the bride. Now I know :)
It's a major honor and I'm so excited to be a part of Her happy day.

Slice of Life #18 Random Picture and Even More Random Post

2010-09-19T13:13:00.000-07:00

I love this picture of me and my Mom. I can remember many a journey in this back back. As we got older and more little ones came along, I can vividly remember fighting over who would get to ride in it. We didn't want to be told that we were to big for it. I think the great love for it was for three reasons. #1 When you were riding back there, you got to see things at the same level that your parent did. It's always cool to be taller and see farther and more, right? :)
#2 Also you were able to be close to Mom and Dad and still have freedom to move about from side to side and not be super restrained. And last but not least, you had no problem keeping up because you were attached, lol! And Mom or Dad got to do all the work, he he. My Mom and I were talking the other day about how we liked these better than the frontal pouches of today. These were great because they lasted for toting the kid around till they were atleast 3. Although my boys are so big, maybe that wouldn't be true for me ;)
I love the scarf in my Mom's hair. Maybe I picked up my love of wearing scarfs like that from her. Never thought about it before. This is a favorite picture of her for me. She told me that we were at Foss Lake in this picture, which is in Oklahoma, where my Grandparents had a trailer by the lake. My Grandpa had a thing for fishing. He tried to pass it on to us grandkids, but unless my brother takes it up, I think it was lost cause. I've been a handful of times as an adult, but I'll never need a fishing license. I would love to go deep sea fishing, just once. I got close to going once, but the trip fell through at the last minute. Anyways, I digress. Needless to say as this picture shows I LOVE my Mom! And I love that people say I look like her. Who wouldn't love that when they see what a cute hottie she was ;)

Slice of Life #17 Chore Memory

2010-09-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

The picture on the prompt sparked a memory of a chore that was partial punishement and life lesson handed to us kids by Mom. I remember my Mom coming upstairs to grab the laundry to do and finding a whole bunch of clothes she'd just cleaned down on the floor where they had gotten dirty again but never worn. It must have been like the hundreth time she'd gotten irritated over it, so she and Dad had a talk. They pulled us together and told us that we needed to take better care of our clothes and appreciate the modern conveniences that we had and not take them forgranted. So....(I believe it was for a week, maybe it was longer, it sure seemed like it, lol)....we were to do our own laundry with a scrub board in the bath tub. It worked for me. That was alot of work. To this DAY, I am still grateful for washers and dryers. Most of my growing up we hung out our clothes on the line. That eats up alot of time and hear in Texas near the coast, you have constant little showers that you have to watch out for. I'm thinking I've felt the same way a time or two lately with my older boys. They better watch out or Mom will be running to the hardware store for a bucket and a wash board ;)

2010-08-27T13:03:00.001-07:00

My Football Players B-day

2010-08-27T12:35:00.000-07:00

That's right! My skinny boy has decided to take on the big and the stocky, lol. He is very hyped. We just got together on Monday to celebrate his birthday and have some fun at a pizza buffet game place. The pics are above. Lil Red was ADD with all the games to play. Kept his Daddy very busy, lol. What was cute was watching him put two coins in the coin slots at a time, hate to see him in Vegas ;)
My lil piglet, now named because he constantly squeals, was wrapped up in Grandmommy's arms because he was so cold. And what does she do, lol, feed him icecream! Although with two teeth coming in that morning, he wasn't really complaining.
And yes Mr. Cool left his sunglasses on the whole time. I would think he was a vampire if I didn't witness myself that he sleeps like a log at night and is very active during the day. Both of the boys are adjusting well to their new schools and it looks like this will definitely be a good year for everyone :)

Prompt #14: Sneaky Snake Goes Dancin'

2010-08-22T15:23:00.000-07:00

Okay I don't think the snake was dancing, but it was definitely being sneaky. My story is when a friend and I, we must have been 16 at the time, had been left to baby sit my brother, 3 years younger than me, and my two younger sisters and toddler brother. For some reason I didn't have on my glasses, and you have to realize that the last time a doctor told me my actual vision stats it was 20/200 and this was sometime around then, lol. So I was walking around the house blind, and my friend was getting my toddler brother to stop playing with the phone when she sees this snake right there by the phone! She scoops him up and shaking in her boots says, Miss Sunshine, " there is a snake over there by the phone!" In a very imperative whisper. I think she didn't want to upset the snake and I don't blame her, lol. So I, not believing her and thinking she saw the telephone cord or something, laughingly walk over to check it out. I'm blind, remember. So as I stick my head down to peer at the phone I came almost nose to nose with that snake! I really can't remember point A to point B at that point, lol. But somehow I got everybody screaming and hollering out the door and lickety split over to Grandma's house which was about a yard away. She gave us a stick or a shovel, can't remember which and told us to go back and kill it. So we took my 3 year younger brother and stood on the porch shouting encouragement and let him be the brave warrior, lol. He couldn't find it. I didn't think I'd ever sleep again. My Dad found it about a week later and according to my Mom grabbed the first thing he could get a hold of which was a spatula and kept stunning it while he yelled for her to get him a shovel or anything that would kill it. It turned out to be a copperhead! I've not seen any since moving to Houston, but I know there out there and hope they stay hidden!

Comment about Wonder Woman Bathing Suit

2010-08-22T15:19:00.000-07:00

I just have to contradict Texasblu a little on her comments from last week. That wasn't it :P
That bathing suit, which I have VERY fond memories of never saw more than a sprinkler. The incidents I'm talking about were at the age of atleast 10 and that 4 year old swimsuit would have looked mighty funny at that point even without me swimming in it. lol.

Slice of Life: The Watering Hole

2010-08-16T06:51:00.000-07:00

That last post looked way out of place on my summer blog background. LOL! This one should be much more appropriate ;)

I have had several thoughts on this meme. I have memories of going to the swim pool with my day care class and being very anxious to swim and be like the other kids my age, I would hold to the side of the pool till I got to the deep end and then push off a little bit and try to paddle back to the edge. Thank goodness the Daycare workers were keeping an eye on me b/c eventually I got to far off and started to drown. They then sent me back to the shallows. I remember saying, "I could to swim", to someone else and trying to prove it. I then proceeded to be laughed at b/c my bottom would go in the air and apparently I was trying to swim to the bottom of the pool to no avail. LOL. I was very embarassed as they showed me what I looked like. Soon there after my Mom put us in swim lessons and swim team. I can never thank her enough. I could spend all day in the water. I've always been jealous of those that have their own pools. I would go down to the one in my second apartment complex when the boys were at their Dad's and pretend I was a dolphin. I love how the water whites out all the noise and confusion. It's just you and the water. So peaceful. I love the ocean waves and the sound of kids laughing and sea gulls crying. It's the other place I run to when I'm under extreme stress. Even if it's just for a few hours. My older sister has explained to me why this is so important for my personality. I just hope someday soon we move closer because gas is getting way to expensive for a short trip. I think I'm trying to instill in my children a love for the beach. I took Lil Red at 6 months for his first trip. And now my little Pooh bear at 5 months. The post picture is of this last trip. This last trip actually came about because Lil Red had been asking to go to the beach. He'd been watching several cartoons about the beach and decided he wanted to go. He was so excited. I'd been assuring him for a week that we would go. On the way there, his excitement level was so high that he would cry and get touchy about anything. I think he was afraid he'd never make it. Then when we arrived we handed him his toy basket that I had bought specifically for the beach. (It was on clearance, a $1.50!What steal!) He stood there and clutched it to his chest as he just stared and took it all in. He probably would have stayed that way if I hadn't have told the older boys to take him and get him started digging. Here are some of my faves of the trip.

My muddy swamp monsters. They looked like ooey gooey after they got done slugging each other with the muddy beach sludge. lol

My little Pooh Bear playing with his toes and chilling out on he beach towel.

My skinny boy taking a break from the waves.

This is them looking at a hermit crab they dug up to show me.

Fire!!!: Slice of Life #12

2010-08-08T15:11:00.000-07:00

My sister says she has lots of stories about fire, and here I am racking my brain for one good one. I have always enjoyed a good camp fire. My Dad always used to make jokes about how you could always find men gathered around a fire. Moths aren't the only ones drawn to a flame. It's the flickers of different colors dancing in the dark. Banishing nothingness into shadows and bringing warmth along with illumination. I remember once my neice, Athena, while at my house (my first house, when I was single)came to me and said, "Aunt Sunshine, the fireplace is like a rich persons house and then you open the refridgerator and your like a poor man." LOL! She was right. A fire in the hearth does make you feel like a rich man. I remember listening to my older sister talk about an apartment they were looking into renting and being so excited that it had a fireplace. We have a gas fireplace in the home that I share with Big Red and it has been the center of many a cold evening. We have had some romantic moments and I have had some alone moments there as well. One such night was almost two years ago. My husband was out on the roads after pulling a late night for his company that was going through some legalities. It had been an enchanted evening. I had attended a Relief Society Christmas party with the soft snowflakes coming down. Which by the way is unheard of in Texas! The feeling of wonderment at such a miracle and peace of the still night stayed with me after I put the kids to bed and grabbed a throw off the couch to wrap up in, turned on the fire and the Christmas lights and like a little kid stared off into their lights feeling like a child again as I waited to make sure that my husband came home safely. Now that two of my children are coming of age to drive, I wonder if so many more such nights are in my future. Maybe we will have some talks setting in front of the fire. That would be pleasant :)

The picture is of Lil Red warming up after being out in the snow this last year making snowmen, here in Houston. Again BEFORE Christmas :)

Slice of Life #11 Dancing

2010-08-04T12:52:00.000-07:00

I have always loved dancing! From the time I was little and figured out how to spin around in circles till I was dizzy, or even before that when Daddy would grab me by the hands and spin me around and around as my feet left the ground. My favorite talent, twirling incorporates alot of dance and my favorite show right now is, "So You Think You Can Dance". I always have to watch movies with dancing in it. I can care less about the story line or the acting. I love watching the choreographed dances. I wanted to be a dancer when I was 12, but some thoughtless words from a young women's counselor crushed my dreams. It was no wonder that while I was single, I was always looking for someone to teach me a new lift or swing move. And that my eternal companion would be a wonderful ballroom and country dancer. I could talk about the dance that we finally had our first kiss at, but I have to say my most memorable dance will always be with my Dad at our wedding. Not because it was the sweetest moments of my life, but the most torturous. I believe it was for my Dad as well and we endured it together, so here is the story...

I decided that Dad should pick out the music for our dance b/c I wanted it to be meaningful for him as well as for me. He picked the song from his favorite musical, "Fiddler on the Roof". The song..."Sunrise, Sunset". Alright, slow song, so it should have been a fairly easy Daddy, daughter dance. Well to make it more special we decided to ask my Sister in law to play it on the grande piano in the ballroom. She was delighted to do so. Well first problem, we didn't specify how many verses she was to play. It has a couple. One would have been enough. Second problem, it is a waltz. My Dad took ballroom a long time ago and taught me how to waltz. But somehow over the years the knowledge of the steps left him. Apparently it's not like riding a bike. He warned me the week prior to the wedding and we tried practicing a couple of times in the office (I was working for him at the time). I thought he had the hang of it, but I guess we needed more practice. This was also right prior to him finding out that he had colon cancer and he was in alot of pain that evening. So we start dancing. After 10 seconds, we were both done. He couldn't get the rythm down right even with me smiling as I repeated it and I was laughing because I couldn't even match steps to his because he kept changing what he was doing. The music kept playing. Problem number three, my dress probably should have been taken up a little more. He kept stepping on my dress. No matter how hard I tried to keep my skirts out of the way. By the second verse one of my bridesmaids took pitty on us and came and grabbed my train to hold it out of the way. We were laughing and out of breath by this time and wishing that my Sister in law didn't have her backs to us, so that we could cut her off. And then it was over. I wouldn't have had it any other way. We must have looked so funny on the floor, and we had no time to reflect on the beauty or meaning of the song, but that's just like Dad and daughter relationships. Laughing and grumbling, dancing and stumbling, twirling and shuffling. And sometimes, to keep from killing each other, we need someone to step in and help.

Slice of Life #10 Friends

2010-07-25T15:16:00.000-07:00

I think that one of the truest tests of friendships is to be able to stay friends no matter what life changes occur in either persons life and to be able to stay in touch. I have to say my friendship with Gardenia has truly stood the test of time. We were introduced by my parents. They were looking for friends for me to help me be stronger in the gospel of our Savior and they thought that I would be a good friend for her in return. I was a struggling single Mom at the time and constantly having issues with being lonely when my boys would go visit their Dad for the weekend. Our first meeting I believe was at the movies, our whole family met to watch one of the Lord of the Ring movies. Anyways after that we started getting together. I don't know who started our outings but my parents couldn't have been more right about such a postive friendship in my life. Gardenia, as she is known on line, and by the way happens to be my favorite flower, was always there for me when I needed help. Whether it was cleaning my house, a shoulder to cry on, or being up for one of my crazy expeditions. She quickly became Aunt Gardenia, well her real name plus Aunt, lol, but you get the picture. One of our favorite stories is how she decided we should go to a dance, she might say it was my idea, but I'm pretty sure it was hers. This was for 30 year olds and up and at the time I was slightly under age even though at times I felt older than all attending. Looking back now that is highly laughable, but I digress. So neither of us knew anyone else going to this church dance but I was always game for a dance and she thought that I being a highly outgoing person would be able to make us a friend or two right away. Well she learned something new about me that day. We walked in and looked inside at the dance and I turned and looked at her and said, "now what". She say, "your the outgoing one". I laughed and said, "only when I know everyone". Well I decided we hadn't come all that way for nothing, so I said,"Let's go to the food table. You can always find something to talk about around food." So we did and pretty soon we were chatting it up with a couple of people and dancing. So it was a sucess!The best thing about Gardenia is that she is always up for a lark. The top picture is of her in costume at Big Red's and my open house, halloween party, that we through right after we got together. Not everyone dressed up. But Gardenia is way to much fun to not to do so. Below are pictures of a pool party right before that. Where she provided the pool for my son to have his party and house. His birthday is always to hot and I'd wanted to do this for awhile but never had the ability. She and my husband (friend at the time) got into a hand standing competition at the pool. I have to say they both had such good form. I can't remember who won.

I remember going and buying this suit for her. Back then she was Wildwoman Gardenia. Still is truth be told :)

This was our first double date. My husband was taking the picture. And while things didn't work out with Mr. Tall in the picture it was a growing experience and we had fun saving her, lol. And she looked super pretty.

Once we even went to Mississippi on a rediscover Gardenia tour just to get out of Texas. We saw alligators, jelly fish, and snakes and she laid on her someday grave ( I know weird, lol). I have to note that we did that with another good friend. We've seen many a movie together infact with no girls amongst my children, I'm so happy to have someone to go see the Twilight movies with. Otherwise I'd have to do it when my little ones were taking a nap and my husband at work and my boys at school and it had come out on video and I'd probably get depressed instead of enjoying the movie b/c I have to hide out to do it, lol.

So we've been through some life changing experiences on both sides. Some good and some bad and some just stepping stones, but through it all we've been there for each other like good friends should.

Slice of Life #9 - Bugs

2010-07-18T17:51:00.000-07:00

As a toddler I would chase the tree roaches that had gotten in the house and stomp on them in my bare feet. Needless to say I never had a love of bugs. Growing up in Texas the June bugs have long been my enemy. I remember watching a bug zapper that my Dad bought to hang up outside the front door to lower the amount coming inside. It was like 4th of July early, lol, 'Zap-Zap-ZZZ-Zap!'. I never got tired of hearing that noise. It meant one less icky sticky fingered bug to fly into my hair and freak me out. I'm sure my brother's and sister's have plenty of memories of me shrieking and shaking my hair or brushing off my clothes to get the things off of me. I'm sure I looked plenty silly too, but I just can't help it, June bugs are to me what snakes are to Indiana Jones. If I remember correctly he didn't like bugs either, lol, I think it's a big reason women love his character so much, they identify.
When I was a young woman, I attended our young women's youth camp at church. There was one year that stands out in my memory and I often tell this story when bugs come up. It had rained alot that year. Kind of like this year. And bugs were creeping and crawling from everywhere to get to high ground to survive. As we arrived near dark, I can remember going to our slabs to put up our cots and grossing out as we heard milipedes crunching under our shoes. Needless to say, no one went barefoot. There were two girls that were so full of themselves that they had mosquito nets and were teasing the fire out of the rest of us for not having one. It was sweet revenge the next morning when we woke up to screaming the next morning from the two. One had awakened to find one on the pillow next to her and they both had them climbing up the nets on the inside, so they were surrounded. Oh sweet justice! Okay so not very Christ like of me, but I was young ;)
So there's my bug memoirs. Hoped you enjoyed!

Wrapped Gifts

2010-07-11T17:20:00.000-07:00

Last week was my Grandmother's 91st birthday. My uncle had a birthday dinner for her and invited everyone that could come to come over. For the last several years I have just bought my Grandmother a card or sometimes given her a new updated picture in a frame. It's always hard to know what to give someone who has all that they need and very little space in there home for more. However, over the past year Mom discovered a store near me that is an outlet store that carries the kind of shirts that she likes. So this year I decided to get her a shirt and see if I could make her a bracelet to match. This is a new found hobby of mine. Well as you can see below, I found the perfect beads to match her new shirt. And the shirt was to me, so like her, it was just the perfect gift.

So I started looking through my closet for a gift bag to recycle and give her the present in. As I was going through the bags, I thought back to my childhood. My grandmother had worked at Foleys and J.C.Pennys when she was younger and had learned the art of wrapping gifts. Infact she is the one who taught me how to make my Christmas wrapping turn out better than a wadded taped mess, lol. I remembered the beautiful paper and pretty bows and Dad having to help get the box open because of the tape and then reaching through the layers of tissue to see the most beautiful sweater or gorgeous tafetta dress. And as those memories flooded back to me I knew that I couldn't throw these specially picked items into a bag with pretty tissue. It needed to be wrapped in loving care with layers of tissue paper to enfold it and keep it wrapped neatly for her discovery. So I ran to the store and bought a matching blue paper. Nothing fancy, just simple and elegant like my Grandmother. I folded the shirt neatly with the bracelet laying on top into layers of tissue paper and wrapped the box and attached a squiggly pearlescent bow to the top and taped her card up underneath. I loved seeing my little Red all proud to be intrusted with such a pretty package, carrying it very carefully for a two year old to give it to his Grandmother. Well he didn't get that far. He gave it to his Great Uncle but he just knew it wasn't for him. Lol. So I guess my point is this, that yes, sometimes it's not the outside that is important but what's inside. But as we grow the outside becomes just as important as the inside.

Slice of Life Meme's: Goodbyes

2010-07-11T14:35:00.000-07:00

My last walk as a single mother, as I became part of another person and his life forever
(My boys with their adopted cousin making ground hog holes in my bestfriends backyard two months before our wedding)

One of the hardest goodbyes in my life was because of good things happening in my life. I had said goodbye's several times in my life by the time I reached my 33 year of life. However, in the preceeding 7 years I had made a great deal of personal growth and been in a stable environment, making many friendships and having many acts of kindness performed for me and my boys that left such feelings of warmth and affection between me and givers. I had been single for almost ten years, and finally the man of my dreams had asked for my hand in marriage. It was a whirlwind of activity to get married as quickly as we wanted to, and yet the months seemed to drag by interminably as we worked through the process. Yet all the time, in the back of my head, was the realization that we would be leaving behind not only the lifestyle of a single mother family that we had learned to cope with, but also many loved ones. My boys had friends that they had just estabilished bonds with and started spending time with beyond school. I had friends that I knew while I might contact them once in awhile that they wouldn't be as much a part of my life. It was so hard to give in to my new husband's needs and move. I remember as I started sifting through the things to put in the garage sale that my Mom was afraid that I was giving up my identity because there were so many cherished things that I put up for sale in the garage sale. I look back now and realize that while I knew that wasn't true, I didn't realize that I was in the process of saying goodbye. It was much easier to say goodbye to things and it was symbolic for me of letting go of all the things that I knew and putting myself into my beloved's and Savior's hands. I also know that the Lord prepared the way by sending me a visiting teacher about a year ahead to build a relationship with that later would move into the same ward as my husband right about the time we were to be engaged. This along with an old friend of my husbands that we have adopted as a Great Aunt, so to speak, who made sure she gave me hugs every Sunday, went along ways to making me feel that I was loved in my new ward. It is true that with great blessings come great responsibilities. I went from being taken care of by a ward family, to taking care of others and being among familiars to having to constantly reach out and make new friends. In the 3 years that I have lived here that hasn't changed much as our ward is very transient and my boys have changed school 3 times already. However, with every change and painful bit of growth, my Savior has been there for me. I am thankful that we never have to say 'good-bye' to him. Through prayer we have his constant companionship and I know he helps us through every 'good-bye' in our life. I am thankful that my husband had us move here. There are people that I miss from our old ward, but I know that we were needed here and that our whole family has been growing and being given the time we need to bond. I also know it was where we needed to be to prepare for our step to becoming an eternal family. I know in my heart that eventually we will leave this area and again it will be very hard as we have again made so many deep and lasting friendships, but I know that 'goodbyes' aren't forever and so I love the phrase from one of everyone's favorite hymns..."till we meet again, and Jesus's feet".

Slice of Life Prompt: Fireworks Stories

2010-07-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

I have to start out by saying we are heading out soon to see the fireworks tonight. I will not be deterred. Last year was a huge dissappointment when we thought that a certain place was going to have fireworks and then they didn't. Shame on them! But we did have fun earlier in the day getting soaked by the neighborhood fire trucks as part of our neighborhoods celebrations as you can see in the top picture. As a girl I remember going to many a fireworks display until we got to be teenagers and then my Dad would complain about the traffic and it was always my Grandma that had to go to see the fireworks. It was thanks to her that I remember seeing them out on the lake at Walden and again at the Race Track in Houston. Both were very memorable displays. Two years ago we saw them in Bastrop out over the river. The fire works were so close that we had some fizzle out right into us! But my most memorable experience was watching the finale in Hermann Park with my Dad's Brother and some cousins anf my family. I think I was 8 at the time. Back then we usually got together with my Dad's side because it was the day before my Grandmother's birthday. More about that in later post. Anyways, after sharing lot's of yummy food at my Grandmother's we had all driven over to the park. I remember walking around with my family looking for the perfect spot. They had speakers all around the area that were piping in loud patriotic music. I've always had a great love for music and this appealed to me. But what made the biggest impression was during the finale, they played "Coming to America" by Neil Diamond. He was my Mom's favorite singer for awhile, so I was no stranger to the song. But around me the adults started talking about the significance of the song and I just felt that moment and the excitement that is found is this land meld in me forever during those special moments of spectacular sights and moving sounds.

Slice of Life:Summer Storms

2010-06-27T15:29:00.000-07:00

I have been through a couple of hurricanes and some major floods. I have stories about all of them. One of the most faith building ones was when I was single and owned my home. My brother was staying with me at the time and attending college. We awoke at 1 or 2 am in the morning to the wind howling and rain coming down in sheets. I immediately ran to the window and peered out. I kid you not that I could sense a tornado forming over head. I felt prompted to knock on my brothers door to ask him to pray with me. I was to scared to be able say a prayer and asked him if he would say it. Although, he had just said one privately, he agreed to kneel down with me. We knelt and asked the Lord to protect us and my two boys and our home. We also said other things in the prayer, but as that was the main order of business, I honestly can't remember the rest of what was said. We were really scared! After we said the prayer, I really felt that we would be okay and I went back to bed with my two boys cuddled up with me and went to sleep. The next day I heard that a tornado had touched down not that far from us. I am really thankful that we had that experience. It taught me that whenever I feel afraid, that if I have the faith in my Father's love for me that I can call on him for protection and to ease those fears. I have had similar experiences with Big Red and I know that I never doubt that the Lord's spirit can bring me peace in the most turbulent of experiences.

Slice of Life #5 The Road to Drivers License

2010-06-20T18:24:00.000-07:00

Well here is a Daddy's day story leading up to my procurement of the much coveted document - the drivers license!
We were driving my older sister up to college when my Dad decided to let me drive the car for the very first time. I'm talking I had never been in the drivers seat even to drive around the drive way. I'm thinking, "what!?, Did you ask me if I wanted to drive?". The answer would have been a "NO!". Of course, at that age I was too timid to say anything, which people would laugh at now, but really I was. So I hopped into the drivers seat. Now, we were taking two cars, so that Texasblu would have a car to drive while up at college. We didn't have cell phones back then, but we did have CB's. I should have been fine driving on the long stretch of New Mexico rode, is what my Dad was thinking. Unfortunately, it was fated to be a short drive, which he should have realized when I asked as we pulled out..."What side of the rode should I be on?". To say I was terrified is putting it lightly. I am also a stickler for rules. Well we were falling behind my Mom and so my Dad wanted me to step on it. They had made a turn and in trying to catch up with them he had me turn too soon. So he's getting really antsy now. We are pulling up to this stop sign and he's yelling at me, "go go!". Because no cars were coming and he was trying to get us caught up. However, I knew enough about stop signs that I knew you had to look both ways to see if a car was coming before you stopped. So I am trying to look both ways and follow his directions at the same time which since the street dead ended there, I was putting us in a ditch. Of course, NOW...he is saying, "STOP, STOP!" I mean really, you'd think my Dad could make up his mind. And then he had the gall to lay the whole thing at MY feet, and I'm thinking, "I never wanted drive in the first place anyways :P ". There were more bumps on the way to my getting a drivers license but I'll save those stories for another day. I have to say this first one was probably the funniest. So I hope I haven't made you fall out of your chair or wet your pants :)
And parents, don't take forgranted that your kids know anything about driving when beginning to teach them, lol.

Family Reunions

2010-06-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

The 'Slice of Life Prompt' is family reunions. I haven't attended alot of family reunions in my lifetime, and I'll probably have more stories on that after I attend Big Red's next weekend, but there are two family reunions that have made an impression on me.

The first was when my brother came back from his mission. He's the one on the right. My younger sister who was living with me at the time went with me to pick him up at the airport. I was excited to get to be the one to pick him up, but while he was gone I didn't really feel his absence. He was doing the Lord's work and I missed him, but I didn't get all emotional about him being gone like my Mom ;) because I knew he'd be back. So it surprised me when he came into the baggage area that tears were in my eyes and in hers and his and the love that we had for each other was so strong in the air and how proud we were of him and glad to have him back. I knew then that that was what it would be like after we return to Heavenly Father if we've lived to be true and faithful.

The other reunion is fairly recent and occurs constantly as of late. My sweet Lil Red has realized the phrase, "I miss you". So if I have just been gone to the store for 10 minutes and come back in the door, you would have thought I had been gone for a year. The arms open wide and he runs as quick as his little toddler feet can carry him to wrap them around my neck and says, "I miss yous". I have to admit that I have felt tears smart my eyes more than once at such innocent and sincere expression of love. I also have to admit that there have been times that I have left the house just so that I can hear that sweetness, lol. Which goes to say that you don't need to wait for long moments of time to go by to appreciate being together with someone again and that has impressed me that I need to be good about showing that I miss family members and the contributions they make and just their being there when they have been off to work or school or visiting others overnight. It emphasizes that they are an important person in my life and that I love them . Thanks Lil Red!

Temple Goal Reached!

2010-06-11T00:55:00.000-07:00

On the day before Mothers Day, I recieved the best Mother's Day gift ever! I was sealed to my husband and my FOUR boys and any children to come for all eternity. This is a very big deal. Why am I just now blogging about it? Well I wrote about it in my journal, and just realized tonight (as I'm suffuring from an upper respitory virus, yuck!) that I never blogged about it, lol.

The day dawned bright and beautiful with fantastic weather especially for Texas :) Two of my siblings were staying in my home so they could be a part of such a sacred and wonderful occasion. My sister that came with her family jumped through some hoops to come, and I am so glad that she did, seeing as how she lived with me during some of my harder years in life and saw me through many heartbreaks. She deserved to be there to see the fruits of the Lord's labor in my life. But I digress...

We started out the day at the park. The boys, uncles included, played some friendly football. Big Red kept the little ones happy with their own balls. Although, they kept trying to hone in on the older guys fun once in a while. My sister enjoyed the atmosphere and loving on her 5 month old. My sister in law and I went for a nice walk on the trail winding through the park, so we could chat for awhile. I LOVE our chats! When the guys got tired of football playing I came over to mess with them for awhile, but eventually we made our way back to the house to play a game of Loaded Questions while the little ones went down for a nap. This is a great getting to know you game, and I think the older boys had fun getting to know a little bit more about their aunts and uncles. We had so much fun that we almost let to much time get away with us and had to start rushing around so that the household that had swelled from 6 to 12 could be ready on time. We made it to our appointed time with time to spare ;)

I have to say that the temple workers are so awesome about making you feel like your royalty. The whole process was awesome. There is just no other word! It was very meaningful to me to be able to have my Mom come help me dress in the bridal changing room. It was humorous to me to have this huge room to myself and this big closet to hang a huge wedding dress in and my needs were so simple. Even though it was not my Mom's wedding dress that I wore. It was my Mom's temple dress that I wore, as my dress wouldn't fit due to the joys of nursing, lol. Those moments as Mom and daughter preparing for the realization of a major choice in life was very meaningful and sweet. It contrasts sharply to the harried picture popping moments before my wedding, where some unrelated person dictated my time with my parents. It was quiet and a time of reflection. I had time to say a prayer of gratitude as I waited for my Mom to come up. I have to say it was one of the most real and fulfilling experiences of my life from start to finish. The time I spent with my husband in the celestial room as we awaited the actual sealing was the same calm moments spent in reflection and reveling in the sweetness of our love. Again it contrasts sharply to the actual wedding where one is usually a bundle of nerves and doubts can assail. After 3 years being married to my husband, I can say that I was more sure of my desire to be sealed to him than I was the day that I married him. What a blessing it is when we listen to the promptings of the Lord. And I know of a surety that that is the reason that we ended up together to begin with ,as we were both allowing are doubts to keep us just friends in the beginning.

I won't say much about the sealing. My thoughts are recorded in my journal and it was just to sacred and special to share here, but I will say that seeing my sweet boys come in all dressed in white was an amazing experience. My two older ones told me later that they had to keep their laughter in check at seeing Big Red and I in our temple finery. It was the opposite for me. I think as a mother my heart was about to burst from pride at the handsomeness of my family. Watch out girls, my two older boys are getting close to dating age! :)

We were again made to feel like royalty as friends started snapping pictures left and right as we exited the temple. One of my adopted sisters that I've written about on here before was able to make it with her husband and quickly became our appointed photographers. I will embarass her a bit here to note that her being there was as important to me as the rest of my family's being there. We met through visiting teaching, and she became more than a friend to me as she continued her service to me and my boys long after she was reassigned. The two toddlers, Little T and Lil Red were barely restrained from jumping in the fountain and held up under the onslaught of pictures. I'll try to post a bunch later. My Father in law made me feel very special by telling me that he loved me as we sat outside by the fountains and how he is so glad that I'm part of their family. It meant alot to me to have such sweet words from the patriarch of my husband's family as I couldn't hear such words from my own Father. I wish I could say that I felt his presence during the proceedings, but I cannot. There were things that happened that reminded me of him and his love for me, and I know he is happy for me. I did feel however the presence of my Heavenly Father and his pleasure at the choices we have made to bring us to this juncture. I think that is the most important feeling that we can have, especially since our spirits know that we are here to work on becoming like him. It is no wonder then that we experience such great joy upon feeling his approval. I want my siblings that weren't able to be there to know that they were missed and maybe that is why I couldn't feel my Dad's presence. Maybe he was helping to comfort them somehow. I do know that the important thing is for us all to make it back to Heavenly Father for the really BIG day when we realize our blessings of exaltation.

(After those comments the rest of this sounds so lame, lol, but afterwards, we all went to eat a barbecue place, and were excited that one of my three musketeer friends from my single days was able to make it with his wife. It was a long evening and I thought it appropriate that my siblings had left to go stay with my Mom for mother's day and going home it was just us. Our newly sealed family.

My Hero: From "Slice of Life" Prompt

2010-05-30T19:07:00.001-07:00

I really don't know how to condense down to one hero. I have had so many. My two biggest heroes have been my parents. I was just telling my husband how I remember my Dad wanting to be relatable to others and struggling with it. So he decided to work on his joke telling skills which means that us kids were the guinea pigs. While we heard some of the same jokes over and over, I learned that you can overcome social fears if you just have the courage to try something new and work at it. I really credit him with my being the outgoing person that everyone sees me as. My Mom has been my hero in alot of areas, but #1 as the wonderful wife she has been to my Dad. She always edified him. She found ways to learn and grow with him and she was always by his side. Another one of my heroes is my oldest sister who has started this blog prompt. When we were growing up there was noone prettier than my sister. All the boys liked her ;) She was smart. She got this big trophy for reading the most books throught out the school year. She seemed to me to be good at everything. She did cheerleading, then she picked up my thing twirling. She played the flute and didn't seem to be terrified like I was about performing on it infront of others and was much better than I at it. She had good ideas like creating the Libby's Stand where we sold peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches and servings of open cans of green beans to my parents and grandparents for a quarter. And no we didn't pay them back for the ingredients that we pilfered from the kitchen. It didn't matter how much we quarreled, if someone was picking on me, she would stand up for me. Once she even tried to take on a teacher, it was probably a good thing that she couldn't find her. When I turned 18, she through me a surprise party. I had always complained about not having any great parties growing up b/c my birthday was right up against halloween and back then halloween parties were big. So she threw me the most memorable and creative birthday party ever. It's even on tape somewhere. When I went through my divorce, she did what she could to help me handle being a single Mom. I still use my homemade cookbook that she put much work into. I have to say it's looking a little worse for wear. When I got married, she knew how much I wanted her there, but there was no way should could make it due to distance and weather so she spent the whole evening before chatting with me about the upcoming wedding and all my bridal issues. So she has shown me that we protect those we love, that we give encouragement and cheerlead for those that we care about, that we get creative when can't do what we'd like to do and we do what we can for others to make this world a little brighter. She's a pretty amazing sister and a wonderful Mom and wife full of rich ideas and talents. I'm pretty lucky that I have her to look up to. What's really cool is that I get to thank my hero and know that she'll read this and be able to see that she's made a difference. So not trying to suck up to the prompter ;) I didn't edit so if you read from the beginning you can see that I just started writing and realized that she IS my big hero :)
Thank you!

Firsts: From "Slice of Life" Prompt

2010-05-23T16:08:00.000-07:00

I think my first BIG first....you know the first thing that gave me a real sense of freedom and accomplishment was getting my own apartment. I was in the middle of a yucky divorce and I had a job that paid a little more than minimum wage at Foleys. I was living with my two toddlers, at the women's shelter in Conroe, TX. It was not a fun time for me. You had to share a room with one or more other mothers and their children. And of course not everyone has your same beliefs or way doing things and that could be stressful. Add into that that the kids all had a hard time as their own lives were being turned topsy turvy and you can imagine the stress and tension felt by the adults. We also had to have our kids in bed by 8pm if I remember right, so that we could meet back down stairs for our resident meeting every evening. After that we would split up and do our chores before going to bed ourselves. Well with being in a strange place and Mom being gone all day, you can imagine that my two boys didn't really want to go to sleep. It was then that I developed our bedtime routine that would become a blessing and a memory for my two oldest for a longtime there after. I would read a story out of the picture Book of Mormon. Then one other story of their choice. Then we would say prayers and I afterwards I would sing song after song till they fell asleep. It is so funny, I remember feeling so good about my singing after a fellow roommates daughter put in a song request. I was always so afraid that I would miss the deadline to be at the meeting and get kicked out, but I was always blessed. The kids would fall asleep just in time. But you can imagine my relief when my application for an apartment through HUD housing,( government assisted housing), came through. The apartments were in the worst part of town. Later I was told that it was the area where cops refused to go. My Dad was so worried about us going to live there, and the only way he reconciled himself to it, I was told later, was that their was a lady there that he knew that said she would keep an eye out for me. The apartment wasn't mutch. there was no carpet. It was all linoleum tile. And not the pretty kind if there is a pretty kind, lol. It was the stuff you see in hospitals. The walls were all white. It was kind of dingy but it had two bedrooms. There was no little porch but it was on the first floor and that was a blessing in some ways. Eventually the behaviors of the other people there would drive me to seek shelter till another application went through, but in those first days I was so excited! I was thrilled to be out on my own. Atlast! I was going to be taking care of myself and I was proving that I was capable of it. I was so excited about my little space that I asked everyone over to celebrate Christmas Eve at my house.

I wrote my Dad a poem that year to go with a picture of he and I in my first snow together. This is me reading it to him. The poem was a thank you for believing in me. He had just helped me to buy my first car, so that I could continue forward. I remember my parents brought down my Aunt Lynn that year from Oklahoma. She came to visit too. It was the last time that I would see her before she died. We bought her pink pig slippers because that was her favorite thing to collect, pigs. She loved them as you can tell by the picture. I thought that my Christmas tree was the most beautiful thing ever. It was the one thing that I asked my husband, at the time, for. The boys and I had decorated pine tree cones and I bought ice garland strands. I loved that natural theme and built on it year after year till I remarried and had to merge our Christmas's. In the I even commemorated that first Christmas on our own in my own apartment by buying an our first Christmas ornament.

I have it to this day. I know most people would think that is weird since those are usually for a couple's first Christmas, but for me it's still important to remember that first. The knowledge that I could stand on my own two feet and make it. I think everyone should know that. To have that innate belief in themselves that they can make it, no matter what life throws at them. Lot's of firsts for me that year and definitely a year to feel grateful and blessed.

New Calling and Tidbits

2010-05-02T11:13:00.000-07:00

Next week I will be released as a Relief Society teacher and called to be the new compassionate service leader. After talking to my mom about the calling, I'm actually excited. When it was extended to me earlier, I felt they were phasing me out of teaching b/c they didn't think I could handle it with the two little ones and they were giving me a less demanding calling. Now I realize that it will probably be more demanding and very fun for me as I love getting to know people and finding ways to serve others. It's funny that I can look back over the last year and see how Heavenly Father has prepared me to serve in this capacity. From being on the recieving end to giving and helping to coordinate service. There have also been lessons that I've taught that have prepared me spiritually as well. So I am excited and ready to magnify!

As for tidbits, I'd like to know if anyone would like to start experimenting with me in the transferal of energy from toddler to parent. I figure that if this can be accomplished, just to a median point, I might stand a chance against little Red. My poor baby has had his face smashed in by Lil Red and been tripped over and pounced upon by him more times than I can count, due to the never ending supply of toddler energy. Sometimes I can see them as Tigger and Pooh. Although Lil Red has also had the need of many a kiss to the knee and bandaid's over scratches as well. Sometimes he's his own worst enemy. Imagine Tigger's tail falling behind the actual bounce and you'll envision what I mean, LOL! I am grateful though that Lil Red has so much independent spirit built up in him. It is great that I can give him his clothes and tell him to put them on while I keep going with my own readiness. That I can get him to wash his hands and brush his teeth. While I get baby dressed. He truly is a BIG boy! and growing every day ;)

Don't you love the energy in this picture ;)

I know you've noticed that I keep calling our new one baby. I'll have a nick name for him in a little while. He's only two months and in many ways over shadowed by Lil Red, so I'd like to give him a while before I saddle him with a nickname on here. So please bear with the constant referrals to my sweet baby :)

Hope your Sunday was fabulous!

Recent cute photos:please vote :)

2010-04-25T18:15:00.000-07:00

These are our recent photos. Some of them I put in here just for fun. But I'd like to frame some of them so please vote on your two favorites for framing. The turtle just popped his head out of the water! cool!

This duck won't know what just hit him, lol. A cheerio!

Father and son. Working together to fatten up the turtles.

I know! What a big turtle!

Mom you know I can't walk yet. Dad, why are you egging her on?

Mom wanted a pic of his blue eyes. My guess is that they won't be blue for more than one more month, maybe.

Okay this one is getting printed and frame so don't bother to vote on it. I think I'm going to do a double with one of Grandma W. on the otherside with him from Easter.

There should have been so many great pics from this bluebonnet shoot, but James was hungry and crying in more than 80% and John wouldn't look up b/c he was pouting b/c I woke him up from a nap. I swear I've only had one fun blue bonnet picture shoot and the two older boys were about 7 and 8.

This one had potential. Unfortunately I noticed what Isaac was doing. Aaaargh! The Turkey!

So sweet! Amadeus adores little James!

I love the colors in this one!

we've had alot of time lately with their cousins by Aunt S. This picture was too cute.

So tell me what you think and don't forget to vote!

Sealing Date Set!

2010-04-25T17:12:00.000-07:00

We are so excited, as can be expected, to have a date set, and to know that our entire family will be sealed together on May 8th. I'm so happy that I have such a wonderful Mother's Day gift to look forward to. I went for a walk today and thought about what this means to me. To know that I will be sealed for all time and eternity to such a special man. I can't believe that we've only been married for 3 years. I thought about the many experiences that we've already been through together. Just to list a few...

my Dad's fight with cancer and his death, two pregnancies and births, one miscarriage, many family home evenings, and Isaac's appendectomy.

to me those were the big spiritual experiences, where much growth has taken place, but there have been other simpler moments where I know we've grown considerably as well. I know that I was blessed because I chose to listen to the spirit at the Fall single's conference in 2006. I shudder to think that if I hadn't I probably would have gone my way and he his. I am so glad that I have a second partner to balance me out and to talk to about ideas and goals and decisions, the first being Heavenly Father of course. It's amazed me how much we've grown as a family and as a couple in such a short time. I know that Heavenly Father truly blessed me in my choice of a spouse because he chose for me a man that was humble enough to want to learn with me. I can't wait to enjoy so many more experiences with him as our children grow older.

I am also excited that both of my older boys have chosen to be sealed to us. I know that it will make the day that much more special.

Thank you, all of you who have continued to pray for this blessing in our lives!

Baby is almost here!

2010-02-10T01:22:00.000-08:00

The doctor took me off of Breathine yesterday and said that at 36 weeks and the size of baby that we could let things take their course. It was funny b/c I could tell that he thought hard about whether or not he wanted to let me go. B/c right before I left I was coming off the breathine and had a huge contraction, but because my cervix wasn't widened by much he decided to let me go home. I'm so glad because while I continued to have contractions all day long they haven't gotten regular or strong enough to do anything till this morning at 1:45. I'm heading to get my husband up now as they are super strong. TTYL
:)

The New Picture for My Heading and Other News

2010-01-11T06:05:00.000-08:00

The new picture for my heading is of Lil Red pondering his latest art drawing with his new markers and craft/cooking apron that he got for Christmas. It is one of the many beautiful pictures that have been taken with our fabulous camera. The funny thing is that Big Red has opened up a new avenue of interest in Lil Red by buying a cheap but nice camera on ebay. I can't believe that my ALMOST 2 year old is going around with a camera around his neck snapping pictures and using a tripod. It's hilarious. I'll have to put up the pics of him taking pics later. I just don't know if Big Red has down loaded them yet or not b/c I can't find them. Life around here has been fun. I think everyone needed a break from Mom's hurried pace. Between the cold weather and me being on bedrest, life has been pretty simple. We have spent alot of time on the game Peggle with a great deal of ribbing and teasing about shots and excitement and good shots. If you go to my Mom's blog, the link is labeled 'Mom's newest', you'll see some embarassing pics of me with my mouth my open. Last night we took a break and played "Risk". I've decided that for a quote "simple game", it sure is complicated. There was so much competitiveness that my Mom was threatening us all.
I've really enjoyed having my Mom around. I think each of us kids would steal her forever if she'd let us. Good thing she has a life ;)
The boys started back to school last week and Lil Red is going as stir crazy as I am even if he does get out for little jaunts in the car. But I hear him now so gotta go.
Hugz!

Out of Hospital

2009-12-15T18:48:00.000-08:00

These are our pictures of the new baby. The technician thought he was so cute and couldn't quit snapping pictures of him. She even forgot to record his heart beat and had me have to come back. lol. He has really big feet and big hands but such a cute face. Wish you all could see the actual ultrasound. The pics don't do him justice b/c even though he was sleeping he was still moving. Not going to be one to sit still. I am home and on meds and bedrest. I will just have to be the Christmas Nazis from my couch :)

Love you all and thankyou so much for the prayers!

Contractions

2009-12-07T06:20:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm having contractions on and off again. I'm just waiting for the doctor's office to open up so I can call. They will probably have me come in again to check things out. I wouldn't be so worried except I'm still pretty far out and my body hurt so bad the morning I was having a hard time walking around. I'm hydrating big time and last night I drank chamomile. The last thing I need is to go on bed rest, so please big prayers. I'm hoping they tell me that nothings changed and my body isn't doing anything. I'll edit this post later and let everyone know what they say :)
Hugz!
Okay, I'm back and so far so good. But they are threatening me with bed rest, so I'm off to relax and behave myself :)

How Do You Put a Snowman Together?

2009-12-04T16:04:00.000-08:00

Fun with Snowmen!

2009-12-04T15:39:00.001-08:00

Here are some pics that I either forgot to include in the slideshow below or I wasn't pleased with how they turned out on the slideshow.

Lil Red was getting cold in this pic. We went in for awhile right after.

Isaac wanted to make a snow angel. He did it but the angel was green instead of white, lol

This is our new friend, you'll read more about her below. She drives so though I don't know her age she's older than the boys

Lil Red warming up before going another round.

So going to get the boys from school in the snow was not fun, but once we got home the fun began. The boys ran out and began building a snowman. They were so excited, they've always wanted to build one and never had the opportunity. I took one look at them running around and busily working and having fun and I knew what gift I could give them. I ran inside and grabbed baby carrots, a box of buttons, scarves, and hats. The boys decided at that point that they should make the whole family. A neighbor girl saw them and asked if she could join in that she'd never made one before and how do you do it. They laughingly told her it was their first time, but how they'd had success in making a snowball and starting to roll it. She was impressed! She said they looked like experts. When she saw all the stuff I brought out she ran home for some coal to contribute. In the meantime, neighbors started showing up and using our snowmen as a back drop for their Christmas pictures. The boys snowmen were a big hit. Lil Red who had been napping came out for a while to help and then got to cold and had to go warm up by the fire. He came back out when they were done for more pictures. He was cute when it first started coming down. I took him to the window and he looked out and said."oooohhh, BEAUTIFUL". With his voice in hushed awe. It was precious. He sat contentedly with the cat just watching it fall till it was time to go pick up the boys. Amadeus has proclaimed this the best day ever! I don't know if I'd say that. My giving birth to them and my wedding day certainly top this for me, but I have to say it's up there in the top ten. There was no bickering all day. No harsh words, no yuckiness. There was no time. We were all to busy enjoying a precious gift from God that comes sometimes once a lifetime for Texans. And to busy being excited and making new friends with our wonderful neighbors. Lifes surprises our certainly some of the greatest blessings.

2009-12-04T15:38:00.001-08:00

SNOW!

2009-12-04T09:27:00.000-08:00

Not only is it pouring down snow outside but it is the middle of the day!
:O
Oh my goodness! And the kids school still hasn't released for the day. Hope the drivers I meet on the road in a little while decided to be careful.
Hugz!

What is it about little boys and trains :)

2009-12-01T13:08:00.000-08:00

Promised pics and More!

2009-12-01T09:48:00.002-08:00

Below are some of our holiday pics. I have to admit that I wasn't very good at taking pictures this Thanksgiving. I was too busy enjoying myself and the kids and having fun cooking. The last couple of pictures are of FHE last night. We put up the tree and it was the most fun that I've had doing it in a long time. The older two participated and there was no bickering or arguing. I made fudge for treats. And Lil Red is so entranced with the lights that he even dreamt about it last night. We heard him coo at 4 in the morning. OOOOHHHHH beautiful! Which is his standard phrase everytime he sees new Christmas lights. This morning after he woke up, he was content to cuddle in my lap for half an hour with no noise. Just staring at the tree and our fiberoptic angel on the mantle. I've also confiscated the radio in the car in the spirit of the Christmas Nazis. There is no other music to be played in the car other than Christmas music. Isaac is very distressed and has taken to making snide comments about poor frosty and how he should have been eaten as he, after all, is an over sized giant snow cone. LOL. Well atleast scrooge overcame himself last night and had fun with us decorating.
Hugz to all!

2009-12-01T09:48:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving

2009-11-28T14:08:00.000-08:00

This years Thanksgiving was a relatively quiet affair if you don't count the three toddlers that we had running around :)
Mom was in Cali. and so those of us left in Texas sans my youngest brother decided to get together and do Thanksgiving lunch. I have to say that I adore cooking with my brother's wife. She's so much fun to be in the kitchen with. We ended up with a wonderful spread that was way too much for the number of people eating. We made three pies that all turned out wonderful and I think I gained five pounds this weekend. We got to play with my sisters kids and Lil Red across the way at the park several times and enjoyed playing games with my brother and his wife. Friday we drove up to see my Grandma and then went over to some antique shops to look around. Big Red and I found a desk that if it's still there when we go back in December we are definitely going to get it. It was a roll top secretary just Lil Red's size! and in wonderful shape too!
I would be remiss if I didn't list some of the things that I'm thankful for this year so here goes....
1. my husband- He is so good to me and I love growing with him in the gospel and I love watching him with the kids. I know I made the right choice in marrying him.
2. my children- Amadeus is always such a comfort to me. He has such a deep desire to see everyone happy. Isaac is always making me laugh. And I'm so proud of the strides he makes. They are both going to be fine young men. Lil Red is such a great helper and so smart. I know that he just makes his Daddy's heart sing. And this new little one. I'm so glad that we have this sweet spirit on his way. I know that he's going to be a special edition to our family and that it was super important for him to come to our family.
3.my family- From my mom to my sisters and brothers. I am thankful that I have good relationships with them all. I know I'm closer to some than others, but I guess that is true in all families. I just know that I'm blessed to belong to a family that understands the importance of families and when I see a brother or sister I never have to muster up courage to give them a hug. It's just the natural course of things :)
4. the gospel- As I've been studying my lessons for teaching in Relief Society over the last few months, I've realized WHAT a great blessing the restored gospel is. I'm thankful to participate in temple ordinances. I've worked hard to be able to do so and I know what a blessing it is.
5. For our home- It's been a challenge over the last two years as we've dealt with leaks and oppossums and other challenges with our home. I was so excited when Big Red said we needed to start looking at the housing market for a new one closer to his work. But over the last month, I've taken stock of the home that has been ours since we married. And it's been a good home. A great place for all of us to learn and grow together. That has offered us the chance to be close to my Dad's mom and to deepen ties with his family. It's offered many funny stories for us to tell our grand children as we get older of oppossums falling through the ceiling and bailing water in the middle of the night so that our bed didn't float away. So even though it will be great to move to a house with more space to grow, I have to say that I DO love and appreciate the home that we've had here.
I promise I'll post pictures tomorrow. Hugz to all and a VERY Happy Thanksgiving!

Potty Training on His Own

2009-11-06T07:49:00.001-08:00

So other than making a big deal when I have to go to the bathroom, or setting Lil Red on the potty before his bath or when he wakes up, we haven't done anymore potty training. He was having frequent diahreah and just didn't seem ready so we backed off. Well today out of the blue, he ran in and grabbed my leg like he does when he wants me to follow him and started shouting, "pee pee!". I followed him to the bathroom and helped him take off his diaper. He had already started peeing, but realized it and stopped himself. After I helped him onto the toliet, he didn't want me to help anymore. Using one hand to balance and the other one to shove me away, so I didn't help balance him. He is VERY independent! He finished peeing in the potty and was so funny b/c he got down and wanted to pull the seat up and sit on the potty again with the seat up. I went and got Daddy for reinforcements that that is not how it's done b/c he wasn't wanting to listen. So after we got that cleared up, he raised his hands above his head in the victory cheer and said, "I did it!". We cheered for him and then he asked for a new diaper, which is new for him, b/c usually he would run away from us and try to stay butt naked, lol! So Yay! maybe we'll be in big boy pants by his birthday :)

Lil Red's Pony Trick

2009-11-01T17:31:00.000-08:00

Halloween Fun

2009-11-01T09:43:00.000-08:00

Okay these pics got put in in reverse order. LOL. But Lil Red was Huckleberry Finn for halloween last night. He loved his freckles. lol. We decided since it was so chilly that we would stay in and watch a show and let him hand out treats to trick or treaters. We had two whole trick or treaters come by. I should of put up a sign, " Candy in here!" . He had fun giving the two kids candy though. And I think he was glad that there were only two b/c it meant more candy for him to raid. I told Big Red that he should have given handfuls of the nasty marshmellow peeps to the two kids. I said, " I don't mind getting stuck with the chocolate, but those marshmellow things are nasty". He laughed and said I wasn't very charitable :P
Maybe so, but I wouldn't have bought the peeps in the first place that was his doing. LOL. We also went to the airshow yesterday. I'll blog about that later today and put up a slide show. For now suffice it to say that Lil Red had a BLAST!

Amadeus's Grades

2009-10-28T05:57:00.000-07:00

I realized that I've neglected posting the excitement that is going on for both of the older boys lately. You'll see Isaac's below. But I have to post that Amadeus is having a fabulous year. He received all A's last 9 weeks, and I just received his progress report, and it looks like he'll be getting all A's this 6 weeks as well. I don't think it's because the school is easier. Amadeus has always been super smart. He always does well on tests and can talk about many different subjects with a great deal of knowledge. He is just terrible about homework. Since he knows the subject; feels homework is a waste of time. This has proven that he can do it; he will just have to take homework more seriously when we change schools, so that he can continue with a good GPA for college. But YAY for Amadeus!

Isaac Focused on his Art Project

2009-10-28T05:53:00.000-07:00

Isaac's school is having a talent show. Included in this is various pieces of art work. He is working on a sword. He has been super excited about it, and his Dad and Step-Dad have been there to help him with it. I'll have to post a picture of the finished project. We are not sure if he is going to be able to get it turned in on time though. It supposed to go in on Thursday, but I emailed and asked for them to give him till Friday. We're all supposed to go to the temple tonight, so he won't be home to work on it, obviously.And he needs atleast one more day to finish. So pray with me. I know he'll be so dissapointed if he doesn't get to participate.

Sweet Boy

2009-10-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

So, I went to find what Lil Red was up to, and found him up against a cranny with my huge honey bottle. He had managed to unscrew the lid, and his little sticky fingers were covered. And can you believe we just finished w/ getting cavaties filled a week ago! Talk about a sweet tooth, lol. Well atleast it was something edible :)

2009-10-24T09:44:00.001-07:00

Muffins w/ Lil Red

2009-10-24T09:28:00.000-07:00

Lil Red and I made Bannana Pumpkin muffins this morning. If you want the recipe go to google and type in "Healthy Banana Muffins Recipe", it's on recipe zaar. We ended up making 12 muffins, 12 mini muffins, and 3 mini loaves. And the recipe says that it freezes well too. And they super healthy. If you don't count the cup of white sugar and the cup of brown sugar. LOL. And we had a very yummy breakfast. Daddy asked Lil Red if he helped make them and he replied quickly, "yes, I did!". He was so proud :)

Roofs

2009-10-22T11:02:00.000-07:00

We finally have a new roof on the house! Yay! No more leaks! At least not from the roof, lol. It was so nice to stay in bed last night when it started raining, and not worry about damage control. And the color that Big Red picked out is beautiful! Don't you think?

So I was thinking about the roof this morning and it's leaking and how that relates to us spiritually in our relationships. To me the leaks in the roof are like when you choose to be angry or take offense to someone, and refuse to see them for who they are. When you do that, you may have a roof over head, but you allow Satan access to your heart and he does the same thing that leaks do to the inside of a house. It causes mold, corrosion, and serious needs for re-sheet rocking :)

If we are seeing people for who they are, children of God, then when the rain comes, (people choosing to be ugly or not thinking before they say something, etc.), it will run off of our leak proof roofs to the ground doing no harm. Our spirit will stay warm and dry and sheltered and able to offer love and comfort to all those who need it from us :)

Isaac Loses Appendix

2009-09-23T19:14:00.000-07:00

They found it somewhere in China, lol. Actually this morning I took him to the ER after he started screaming and yelling in pain and throwing up. I recognized my own symptoms from many years before. I was fortunate that I was able to get ahold of my home teachers wife, to come watch Lil Red b/c I could never have managed to get Isaac from the car into the hospital and carry Lil Red as well. I was bowed over from Isaac's weight. Luckily for my sweet boy, I went through having my appendix in the wrong place and was able to make sure that the technicians checked for it even though his pain was centralized like mine. They diagnosed him pretty quickly, but we had to wait till 3:30 this afternoon b/c the surgery rooms were full till then. He is sleeping soundly and Mom is stretched out where I am supposed to be sleeping. She says she'll move when I'm ready to lay down, but she looks like she's there to stay, lol. I am so thankful for my husband, who came back home when he found out what was going on and brought me a change of pants, Isaac threw up on me, and Isaac his glasses, and me some food. Then he hung out all day with Lil Red to make sure everything was okay. I know it meant he got behind at work and that he is exhausted tonight from dealing with a napless Lil Red. But he is so awesome! I wouldn't have made it through the day without him and I know it meant alot to Isaac that he stayed. Isaac also had his best friend visit, his Dad made it down with some special chef food that he made in class for him. It felt like I was in a celebrities room, lol. My mom of course came down as well and is the reason I am able to type this up. The surgery went well and hopefully by tomorrow night we will be at home in our own beds.
Hugz to everyone who prayed for us :)
Oh the picture with the blue hat is his party hat going into surgery. Isn't he handsome!?

My Big Boys Big Strides and a little one for Lil Red

2009-08-27T05:36:00.000-07:00

This is not a bragging post. It's actually a joyful mother post. Isaac has decided for himself that eating vegetables is important if he is going to get his body in shape. And last night he was in the kitchen cutting up raw carrots and adding it to his food. He has been out shooting hoops for an hour and the day before working on his football catching with his brother. His prayers have all of a sudden moved on from two sentences to 10 or 12. Amadeus is working hard to put away his issues with his brother and to love him even when he's unlovable. Which lately has been less. When I was sick last night, Amadeus took over cooking dinner and with just a little bit of supervision finished our slightly complicated orange chicken dinner. Lil Red has learned to hand me his drink when he is through instead of throwing it, when he is in his stroller. We are still working on when he's in the car seat, lol. Both of the big boys are working on their own musical talents. And Isaac has gotten really excited about passing off his scout stuff and getting caught up. He was pouring over his book for atleast an hour last night. I am so excited at the maturing changes that I have seen happening in my boys. I find these big blessings even though to others they may seem small.

Ramblings about Today

2009-08-26T12:55:00.000-07:00

The boys just finished mowing the lawn. Lil Red is being a turkey and finding as much to get into as possible. My allergies are killing me. Lil Red and I made it on our walk today. I went three times around the mall. I am so proud of myself :)
I'm thankful for my sweet older boys. They have been so pleasant over the past week and a half. Both have been super helpful and I have only heard minor complaints on chores. Isaac has only tried to negotiate twice. It used to be 10 times a day, lol. Both have pulled their weight and been such great big brother's to Lil Red. Since Amadeus has been home, Lil Red has had no problem sleeping in his bed. He has even stopped needing a bottle to go to sleep and the past two nights, when he woke up, Amadeus said he didn't ask for a bottle, just snuggled up to Amadeus and went back to sleep. I have to say that home this week has been a piece of heaven for me. Yeah we've all been fighting allergies and yesterday Lil Red and I were a bit grumpy, but as a whole I'm so pleased with the strides that we all have been making. It gives me hope for eternity. I love my family soooooooooooooo much! And even more than that...I really like them :)

Darrell Jr. has a new song ;)

2009-08-23T16:51:00.000-07:00

I'm a Tex, I'm a Tex, I'm a Texas Star

Way out west where the Bronco's are..

I can rid'em, I can rop'em, I can show ya how it's done..

Come on ya riders with your six shootin guns!

Bang! Bang! Bang ba ba da da bang bang...

BANG BANG!

Bubble Fun

2009-08-21T15:18:00.000-07:00

Well Isaac and Lil Red had a blast blowing bubbles. Amadeus was having fun with them as well, but decided to go check his email before I pulled out the camera. Here is some fun footage of Lil Red attacking Isaac's bubbles. He found this infinitely more fun than blowing them :)
The stinker!

Tales of the Potty take III

2009-08-14T07:30:00.000-07:00

This morning I ran to the potty to go myself and Lil Red followed me. As I'm setting there beginning to tinkle, he climbs into my lap, and laughingly pretends to go making noises and saying Pooh. lol. Then he found his potty stool while I was working on our bed this morning. He pulled it into the living room and started pretending to go. It was obvious that he wanted his diaper off, so we took it off and let him play for awhile. He pointed at his bottom and said pooh, and said push as he sat on the potty. He would sit for a second then stand up and stick his head in the plastic pee and poop holder to see if there was a change. LOL. He was mad at me when I tried to put a diaper back on him so I let him be for a little while and then when he started putting it back into stool mode, I explained that if he wasn't sitting on the potty that we needed a diaper but that if he needed to go to tell me and I'd take the diaper off. All I have to say is this part of potty training is fun :)

More Tales of the Potty and Other News

2009-08-12T14:00:00.000-07:00

So we were playing today and Lil Red gets this look on his face and looks at his diaper and starts poking it. I asked, "do you need to go to the potty?". He got so excited and ran to the bathroom laughing. We took off his diaper and he managed to squeeze out a little more pee. Whooo Peee! lol.

Now in other News.....If you don't know yet here is the official announcement.... I am pregnant again :)

I am 10 weeks along and according to this last ultra sound, baby's heart beat is normal and the spine is straight and everything looks fabulous. I had the normal blood work up done today and he'll see me in 4 weeks. I'll try to upload the ultra sound pic. Baby is not that big. He magnified the screen so we could see baby a little better which is why baby is a little blury.

So big big blessing and here's hoping that Lil Red is outta diapers by the time baby gets here. The baby is due March 6th, my thoughts are that it will be a February baby though. Both Lil Red and Isaac were early. Lil Red by 2 weeks and my water broke with him. With Isaac it was 1 week early. So we'll see :)

Okay got it uploaded. Sorry about the blue weirdness. The computer did that when I was trying to crop the thing so personal info wasn't on there. Oh well you get what you get :)

Tales of the Potty

2009-08-09T15:34:00.000-07:00

So when we got home today, Lil Red had a very wet diaper. I changed it and went ahead and left his pants off while I went to the kitchen to heat up something for us to eat. After I got it in the microwave, I started calling out to Lil Red who had gone missing. I finally found him in our bathroom. He had managed to pull himself onto the potty without a stool, (pretty amazing feat for an 18 month old!). He was trying not to fall in and pulling paper off the roll, so he could feed it into the toliet. Thank goodness this was not an easy task, so it wasn't too much waste. I am so proud of my boy for taking the initiative on his own, we're just going to have to work on the removing bottoms part, lol!
Have a great Sunday!

Big Red has a Big Win!

2009-08-07T15:56:00.000-07:00

Today, Big Red's company went to court to close their bankruptcy and come out of it. The judge just had to sign off on the plan. Sounds like no biggie, but out of the woodwork this last week, an old investor tried to come in from the side lines at the last minute and take over the company. This would have possibly put his job in jeapordy. Well they went to court today and the judge saw it their way and they closed the deal! They are out of bankruptcy and it looks like his company has a bright new future! So let's hear it for Big Red!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We'll be off to celebrate as soon as he gets home. Lil Red and I are all cleaned up and looking our best to greet our hero when he comes home :)

Messes Only a Mother Can Clean Up

2009-08-07T05:38:00.000-07:00

This morning I was in the bathroom for literally 3 minutes doing my morning ablutions, when I hear Lil Red yelling for me. I let him know I was in the bathroom and he came padding in from the living room where he had been playing. I smelled him immediately! I lifted him under his arms to stand on the counter and asked if he had been worried that I'd left him. That's when I noticed the poo poo stains on his socks. I said, "uh oh, do we need to go change you diaper?". "poo poo", he says. So I carry him against my chest instead of wrapping his legs around me, so that he doesn't get it on me and pick up the diaper and wipes. I lay him down to do the change when I realize that he has poop on his jammy shirt. I think he must have put his finger in a couple of times to experiment b/c it was diarrhea and wiped it on his socks and top. EEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWW YUCK! So I changed the diaper and just as I was finishing I realized that my top had poop on it from having him against me and a strong whiff of the diaper hit me. I was up and at the sink heaving for 3 minutes! Poor Lil Red was clinging to my knee worried about me. So I got control, got rid of the diaper and dirty clothes, changed my top and washed his hands THOROUGHLY! Now 10 minutes later he smells good and is snuggling me and watching Lil Bill while I type. I love my Lil Hooligan! I just hope his next investigation isn't so nasty :)

Baby Shower madness

2009-07-23T12:38:00.000-07:00

Today we went to a baby shower, and poor Lil Red who didn't get much sleep last night didn't know which bothered him more. Having to share toys, or being in a different room than Mom. Every 5 min he would come in and check on me, share my food, complain about another kid, or try to dump my drink in my lap. If he saw another kid playing with a different toy, he would decide that was the one he wanted. He would let out a howl and come running for Mom to make it right. Unfortunately Mom wasn't siding with him. Let's just say that it was a very long hour and a half! Some advice that was given the new Mom was to "remember in trying moments that these pass and to focus on the child's sweetness". I said, "oh like now!" Everyone thought that was very funny, but I wasn't trying to be, or maybe I was :)
We did make it through though, and b/c I offered to drive a friend, I even managed to socialize a bit, lol. And now the sweet boy is napping. I would be too,but I find myself unable to shut down, but atleast there is peace.

My tale from under the pew

2009-07-19T16:13:00.000-07:00

My sister does a "Tales from the Pew" on her blog every Sunday. We've never had anything exciting happen during sacrament. It's usually during Gospel Doctrine or Relief Society. For example one Sunday Lil Red had been flirting with this Sister in front of me and she happened to be the one who was called to say the closing prayer. As she went up to the front, he made a dash down the side aisle. He looked back at me with his taunting smile. I decided if I didn't run after him, he might stay where he was atleast till after the prayer. Nope, he ran for her knees. She smiled down at him and preceeded to say the prayer. Thinking the worst was over. I just kept an eye on him. Unfortunately he caught sight of the piano behind her and before I could make it to the front was pounding on the piano. I was so mortified!
Well this Sunday, we were doing are best to keep Lil Red quiet when his friend, Jason pops his little head under the pew in front of us and babbles his baby talk. Two pews in front of us I see his mom looking frantically for what has become of him. Big Red and I are trying so hard not to bust out laughing. Atleast I was. Lil Red was delighted. When all of a sudden, "Whoosh!", Jason disappeared. His mom had managed to grab his ankles, lol. Lil Red hit all fours on the floor and started calling out, "mom!" as he peered under the bench for his friend. Needless to say, Big Red eventually had to take him out b/c he wouldn't be distracted from finding his friend, lol. So there you have our first Tale not from the pew, but from under it!

Sweet Moments

2009-07-09T12:07:00.000-07:00

I was folding laundry a minute ago, and Lil Red came and crawled in my lap and said, "book", as he made the sign for it. I realized immediately that he had decided it was time to sing, Book of Mormon Stories. Usually he only does the book and sometimes folds his arms at the end. This time he did all the motions. It was so cute. Now he is playing like his white teddy is a baby and carrying him around in a basket. It's also sooo sweet. I love my cute baby boy :)
Wish I could give you pics but unfortunately my camera still hasn't surfaced :S

So I just put this typically cute one of him playing in a basket at guitar lessons. He is always climbing into baskets or boxes or (his new love) crawling behind the mountain of pillows on our bed and sliding down behind them. He particurlarly loves to surprise us from there when we don't know he's done that. lol

4th of July Vacation Week w/ Boys

2009-07-08T13:47:00.000-07:00

We started out the week by traveling to San Antonio to visit my brother and sister-in-law and do baptisms at the San Antonio temple. This is the view from the temple. They were both pretty sleepy b/c they had a hard time settling down the night before. They always get rambunctious when they visit their Uncle. It was a special experience. Not one that I'll ever forget. It was Isaac's first time to attend the temple. He was funny b/c he has such long limbs and they would try to come up, but his Uncle who didn't want to have to dunk him more than once would shove him down, lol. Then his Uncle started to call him Sister and that woke him up! He said, "Hey I'm not a girl!". Amadeus was so reverent, I was so proud of him. I was truly thankful that I was afforded such an opportunity with my older boys. While we were busy being dunked for our ancestors, Lil Red was having fun at a neighbor's house w/ a cute puppy and a brand new baby! He was in heaven. Afterwards, we all had lunch and headed to Splashtown for some more wet fun. About 30 min after we got there, Lil Red was wading from one baby slide to another and lost his balance and fell into the side of the pool and split his head open! I tell you that was one of the scariest moments of my life. It took me a sec to get the life guards attention and then it seemed all any one could do was ask me how it happened! Finally! I said can we get to medical area and get something to stop the bleeding! They gave us some bandaids and sent us to a mediclinic where we wasted an hour and a half, only for them to send us on to an emergency room b/c they didn't have the tools to take care of such a deep and wide cut on a toddler. His Aunt and I had left the boys to play at the park while we took care of Lil Red. With this new development, we decided to go pick them up. However, we had no way of communicating with them. I swear the spirit must have been talking to my brother b/c they were sitting outside waiting on us for only 5 - 10 min when we arrived to pick them up. We went to the hospital right by the temple. They were fantastic. We were in and getting taken care of within 30 minutes! Everyone was kind and attentive. The doctor let me stay in the room while he did the stitches. It was an amazing experience. They had to put Lil Red under b/c he had 2 stitches on the bottom and 9 on the top. A total of 11! Yes, he bled all over me when it happened. Here is a pic of his stitches. His Uncle said we would have to rename him Frank, lol!

Then we came back home to hang out w/ my grandmother at her 4th of July party at her assisted living home. It was so much fun to see her serenaded by a barber shop quartet. He held her hand and had his other hand on his heart. So cute! Then the next day we went to visit and play at Grandmommy's. Below is a pic of Isaac w/ Lil Red and water guns. Lil Red has learned to shoot them and was having so much fun getting everyone!

Then everyone came over to attend the Katy Tea party and our 4th of July parade in our neighborhood. I wish I had pics of the parade. We did a great job of decorating our stroller, but my camera was lost at the tea party and the only reason I have these pics is b/c my sweet sister-in-law forwarded them to me from her camera. Below is Lil Red at the tea party. We thought they were going to have fireworks, but for some reason they didn't. It was a major bummer. Oh and Lil Red's shirt was picked out by his GrandMommy, who felt it very, very appropriate, lol.

Finally, Sunday we went to my Grandmother's 90th b-day party. She was soooo surprised. It was great. Her son and daughters did a great job planning a sweet program. The great grand kids got to come up and hand her their home made cards. When Lil Red went up, he started to get upset b/c he didn't want her to keep it. And the rest of the night he kept going up and trying to steal it back. I hadn't realized that Marian got the picture of me w/ Grandmother. I'm so thankful. It's a beautiful picture. And it was a beautiful evening.

On monday the boys and I made a trip to Pancho's before taking them back to their Dad's with a friend and her daughter. It was funny seeing them be very macho in front of her beautiful girl. They are growing up way tooo fast! All in all it was a very blessed week and I'm thankful it was filled with so much of family.

Summer at Grandmommy's

2009-06-29T06:31:00.000-07:00

While school has been out, Lil Red and I have been making trips to Grandmommy's to learn about gardening and canning. I think Lil Red liked the day we went out there for gardening better. As you can see below, he was able to check out the different kind of plants, he made friend's with his Uncle's dog and decided to cool off in his water dish. That was truly funny. He didn't play in it. He just looked at it. Crawled in shoes and all and sat there for a second and then got out, lol. He just was hot and knew how to cool off! We weeded and sprayed around the plants for ants with a soap solution. Unfortunately, Lil Red recieved his first experience with fire ants! Although, thankfully, I realized what was wrong immediately and he only recieved a few bites. This past Saturday we invested in a pair of tall galloshes for him. So we will be more prepared next time. We tried to go for a ride in the golf cart to check the mail, but the battery was having issues so we pretended instead, lol. We also had a delicious squash bundt cake that my mom made. Very yummy! She gave us mucho, fresh veggies. Then the next weekend our big order came in from the co op. We went over the following monday to can tomatoes. I don't think it would have taken that long, but I wanted stewed tomatoes and you have to use a pressure cooker. If you don't have more than one pressure cooker this process is a LONG one! And I've decided to stick to buying stewed tomatoes. Although it was fun until the end of the day. I left at 11pm b/c poor Lil Red couldn't handle it anymore. But Grandmommy went till 3 am and still had half a box to go! I had so much fun talking about the past with her and learning. I can't wait to go back and have another day there. Oh and I can't forget one of the best things was sitting on the back porch after having cleaned up our potting mess and relaxing with some ice water as we rocked on the porch. We would listen to the breeze rustle the leaves and it was so very peaceful. My mom cracked me up when she looked out over the back and said, " You know it's hot when even the weeds are withering". Said with a real southern drawl. Leave it to Mom to start a new saying :)

2009-06-29T06:30:00.001-07:00

Tribute to the Father's in my Life

2009-06-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

I find this Father's day that I have much to be thankful for. I had a great Dad, who inspired me to be a better person and loved me through my myriad of life's dissapointments and trials, and what's more celebrated with me my triumphs and happy days. I am also thankful for my ex-husband choosing to be part of his boys' life. Granted there are days that I'm frustrated with his decisions because they wouldn't be mine. But there is no denying that he loves his boys and has endeavored to ensure them of that. I am very grateful for that because I know how important it is to their emotional well being. I am also thankful for a sweet and wonderful Father-in-law. When Big Red and I were dating and I had the opportunity to meet his parents for the first time. I was genuinely touched by the card that his Dad left to ensure me that they approved of me. Hanging out at their cabin reminds me of my days growing up as a little girl and riding the back of my Grandfather's tractor around our property. I truly admire him and his strength of spirit. While he is a quiet man, I have had the opportunity to listen to him as he has imparted wisdom with others and always felt strengthened by it. Knowing my husband has such a father as a role model brings me such happiness. Which brings me to the fount of my happiness on this day. I am so thankful to have been blessed with a righteous man that is as wonderful a husband as he is a Dad. The day Lil Red was born and the love that poured from this man that I married both to me and his newborn son brought me such joy. I love watching him and Lil Red 'work' together. It is already apparent that Lil Red is determined to follow in his father's footsteps. The other day I was discussing this phenomena with my Mom and littlest brother and he said, that Big Red would be a good father to emulate. I so agree. He is kind, hardworking, definitely a doer, and so loving. I find myself over whelmed with my love for him on so many occasions. So happy father's day my beloved!

Moaning Myrt

2009-06-15T18:21:00.000-07:00

Lil Red has started a new phase. If he isn't getting what he wants or he gets a minor hurt. He will start moaning and run to me and put his head on my shoulder and continue to moan. Reminds me of moaning Myrtle from Harry Potter. LOL. Anyways it's so sweet. I love my little moaner :)
And Marian, the race is definitely on! :P

Monetary blessings are more

2009-06-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday I went to the kitchen to de-thaw some chicken for dinner. They are the individually frozen kind, so I had to run them under cold water for a couple of minutes to remove the glaze. While I was doing this I could hear Lil Red giggling and yacking away as he played. After 10 or 15 min I realized that I wasn't always hearing his voice come from the living room. So I walked in the dining room. He was coming from the wash room with fist fulls of.......cat litter! Yuck! I grabbed him and rushed to the sink with him and proceeded to wash his hands and feet and mouth. Yes, I think he did try a taste. Ugh! As I took him to put him in the playpen to have him out of the way while I cleaned, I got my first good look at the living room. He had thrown it a good 4 feet into the living room. It was on the carpet, under the couch, on the couch, and under the toy box. It took me minutes to clean up the mess. Disgusting. He had tried this once before 2 days earlier and we had caught him on the out set. None had gone in the mouth and just a little clean up was needed. Realizing this was a new game for him, my telling him no and putting him in time out, yelling, or spanking him wasn't going to deter him in all likley hood from doing it again, I decided I needed a gate. The next morning as I woke up and was lying in bed and going over what I wanted to accomplish that day, the thought came to my mind that I needed to consult craigslist to see if there were any baby gates up for grabs. There was one entry for a :arage sale for that morning and it started at 7:30am. That was right then! I hurriedly dressed myself and Lil Red. Chopped up some peaches and grabbed a juice cup for him and ran out the door. It was 8:30 when I arrived. As I scanned the spread for the gate my heart sank b/c it wasn't there. I had prayed the whole time going there that it would still be there when I arrived. I knew she was going to tell me it had been sold, but I felt to ask her anyways. She replied that it had been one of the first things to go. I told her that was the only reason I had come. Her face turned sympathetic as she apologized, then her face lit up and she said, "oh wait, I had another gate that I was going to put out here and I forgot about it. It's not the big durable plastic kind like the one I had this morning. It's just a wood one, but let me go get it". It was like new and perfect for what I needed it for. I expected her to ask somewhere around $10. And was perpared to negotiate down just a little. $3! Need I say more. I know that gate was meant for me. I know the Lord was looking out for our needs as I've tried to be more frugal and conscientious with what I buy, so we can get out of debt. I am so thankful for blessings like these that not only help us monetarily, but serve to enforce in my mind that my Heavenly Father is mindful of me and my family. That he loves his children and will help them as they endeavor to choose the right.

Yay for Microwaves, And Thankgoodness for Cheese!

2009-06-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

I went to make eggs for Lil Red and me this morning only to find that my electric stove won't turn on for some reason. I was ready to just do yogurt for breakfast when I remembered along time ago making eggs in the microwave. The only thing is that it always tasted slightly like plastic to me when cooked in the microwave. So I melted some cheese on top. Cheese makes everything better! lol. So that was my blessing today. I had a microwave and cheese!

I am SSSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!

2009-06-03T10:04:00.000-07:00

I just called the charter school to ask how quickly we would know if Amadeus could attend their school because the other school gives a discount on their fees if you register before the end of June. She said it would be the latter part of June, but then asked me some more specific questions and told me that she really didn't think it was going to be a problem and that I should bring his current transcripts after they release from school. Soooooooo it looks good!

School Choices

2009-06-02T09:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the secretary from the charter high school down the road from the one we currently go to, called and asked if I was still interested in Amadeus going there. I had dropped the idea as we had decided to go to this private school instead. But when she called something told me to keep my options open. Previously, Amadeus had been adamantly opposed to the idea. However, I asked him last night if any of his friends were going to this school, and he thought maybe two of them. Which makes it somewhat appealing. We got online and found they have a shorter school day which would be cool b/c I could pick him up and he could help me with Lil Red during lessons. I also like the building better. I know that sounds weird, but the building at the other school is kind of dark due to them not having tons of funding. Anyways, still not sure if he'll get in, but atleast he is open to going there if it does happen. I pointed out that if he did that Mom would definitely make enough money teaching twirling for me to continue with fencing and to be able to continue music lessons for both of them. I also made a commitment last night to Heavenly Father that if this happens that I'll start putting a good deal of the money from child support back in accounts for them to go on missions. I've always wanted to open accounts for them but never had surplus to do it. So hopefully it happens, I really feel better about the charter school than the private school. Mainly because I would have a lot less time with him if he went to the private school and it would be harder for me to be involved at his school. So keep praying for us!

Sometimes Big Blessings Come in Small Orange Packages

2009-05-30T19:25:00.000-07:00

I was making pancakes this morning and as I was puting in the baking soda, I glanced at all the household uses for it and thought, "hmmm, I really should keep that stuff in mind as I clean around the house. Within the next 5 minutes, I opened the fridge to grab the mild and......................CRASH! The BIG pickle jar along w/ a few other things fell to the ground. The only thing that broke though was the pickle jar. And man do pickles stink. Amadeus was quick to grab the broom and help me get the big stuff up and after I had used the paper towels to clean up the majority of the wet mess. I quickly grabbed the baking soda and sprinkled it all over the area. Within seconds the smell was gone and after we were done with breakfast, I put Lil Red in his playpen and mopped the floor with a wet rag. And wa la! My floor was clean and fragrant free! As I set there cleaning the floor, I thanked God for blessing me to read that before the accident happened, otherwise, it would have seemed a bigger trial than it was. Three cheers for baking soda! Hip Hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hooray! HIP HIP HOORAY!

Mom's Voice

2009-05-29T09:53:00.000-07:00

These are my three gifts from God. As their parent, I am faced with challenges everyday. From frustration because someone still won't stay still during their diaper changing, to please find something positive and uplifting to say, to how in the heck do I motivate you! Over the last year I have really been seeking to find a way to be a better parent. I started with personality profiling thinking that if I could just understand my kids better that things would be easier, and it helped but it still wasn't what I needed to keep me from snapping with things got to stressful. Over the past weeks with my middle son it has seemed to me that things have escalated again. And I kept hearing myself saying things like, "I just can't handle this anymore!". And it was true. I couldn't handle the fights that would leave me feeling icky and like crying, because of course there was never a winner except satan. And I'm for sure not going to let him win and yet... I was. So I started doing more pondering and more scripture reading and more praying because I knew that somehow I had to change. I can't change my kids atleast I can't force them, especially the older ones without dire consequences, but I know I can develop better control of myself if I could just change my paradigms. It helped me to come to this roads since I had read "The Peace Giver" and "Bonds that Make Us Free". Both books had already helped me to take ownership for my parts in conflict. I just have been struggling on how to break patterns. Well I've also been trying to do more missionary work and so I've been focusing on being more Christlike. So when I went into the bookstore to get a book on developing your conversation skills and couldn't find it....Well the book, "Christlike Parenting" by Dr. Glenn I. Latham jumped out at me. It literally jumped into my arms and walked out the door with me, after I payed for it of course ;)
I went to the temple right after that and found myself reading a passage in Matthew that is talking about recieving the Lord's annointed but at the end talks about recieving his little ones. I'll come back to that in a minute. I had to pick up my older boys from their Dad's after that and of course my middle child with in minutes had turned the radio on to rock in roll. Now after the peace of the temple and the calm evening...listening to that stuff was not my first choice and normally I would probably have said something that would have caused him to turn sulky or a big fight to ensue, but I decided I would hold my tongue as long as we kept the music decent then I wouldn't say anything. My oldest, in trying to battle his insomnia, has taken to asking me to come in and sing a song to him before he goes to sleep. It's usually a primary song but sometimes a song that is special to us but always soft. My middle one surprised me that night by coming in to listen. So I started reading the book and low and behold within the first chapter, I can see myself, the parent that just wants to be appreciated. It was embarassing reading some of those quotes and seeing myself in them and yet it helped to remember I wasn't alone and atleast I didn't want to be that person. I want to let go of all of those feelings and change. Change into a more Christlike person where peace could rule our home. Yesterday, I read a quote from President Hunter in the book that says, "Please remember this one thing. If our lives...are centered upon Jesus Christ...nothing can ever go permanently wrong. On the other hand, if our lives are not centered on the Savior and his teachings, no other success can ever be permanently right." This goes hand in hand with my focus of late which has been that we need to do everything in our lives only after first dedicating our performance to Christ so that it can be a blessing to us! This so excited me. It's not new none of the concepts in this book our new, they are just bringing together principles that I already know and love and applying them to parenting. The other thing that really struck me was in Chapter 2 it talks about how if you asked a teenager if they loved their parents they will usually say something like...'yeah, I guess, but' and from a parent about a teenager, 'yes...but'. But if you ask a parent the same thing about a baby, the response would more likely be a quick affirmative. My thoughts flew back to that scripture that I read in Matthew in the temple, and I realized that that was what I needed to change. I needed to stop looking at my kids as challenges. They aren't problems to be solved. They have problems they need help solving and they bring challenges to my life, but they are still my children that God blessed me with. No matter how old they get or what stage of life they are in; they will ALWAYS be my children. And I should love them with NO 'BUTS' in the way. If you think about it in relation to a gift, like if I recieved a shirt from somebody and they said don't you just love it and you basically did but there was this bow on the bottom that bugged you and so when you said that 'yeah you loved it'. Your whole heart wasn't in your voice because it wasn't completely true. How could I do that to my kids?! I realized that if those stupid 'buts' were there; there would be times and probably had been alot, especially lately when they didn't feel the full force of my love. I have never felt so ashamed. So now that I know. I have gotten to work and I have done homework in line with the things that he talks about. I'm taking it slow trying to make sure that concepts sink in. But I had my first real win/win last night. My middle son came in and was angry b/c he wanted to play playstation and couldn't find the controller. He naturally blamed the baby since he is always walking around with them and started being ugly. I remained calm and asked him if he would please sack up the garbage for me while I started looking for it that I was sure we could find it. After looking everywhere we couldn't find it. He was getting more ugly. I told him that he needed to not be mean to his little brother b/c it looked to me like maybe his older brother had taken it to his Dad's over the weekend and forgotten to bring it back. Of course at that point his wrath turned to his brother. I stayed cheerful and said "well the way I look at it you have two choices. You can either stay angry and alienate everyone or you can find something else to do". Well he mumbled something negative, I chose to pretend I didn't hear anything so I would maintain my calm and give him space to exercise his free agency. Oh my gosh! Within 5 minutes I heard "Star Wars" going on in the living room and he and the boys' friend who was over were having a great time discussing all the nuances of the show. Later I noticed that he had also gone the extra mile and put the new liner back in the trash can for me and I made sure to tell him I really appreciated it. I found something to thank both of them for through out the night. When it was time for bedtime, both boys insisted I come and sing. I offered to come to the middle ones room after but he said he was content to come in and sit and listen with the older one. I hope as time goes by and I continue this path that Mom's voice will become a boon and that the days of nagging and harshness will be drowned out by the softness of the sought out lullabyes.

Twirling Recital

2009-05-27T18:48:00.000-07:00

Okay this is the last half of the routine. Douglas didn't think about using his phone camcorder till they were almost done. But that's okay I was so nervous I didn't even bring my camera. And I thought it was cool that he even thought to do it. Thanks Honey! So here it is the end of the routine. Wish you could see their outfits better. They were so cute! They rushed a couple parts of the routine, but atleast they didn't forget anything :)
Also I have my first for sure scheduling of summer lessons. So here's crossing my fingers that I get atleast one more, Then I'll only need three for August.

Great Movie: Henry Poole is Here

2009-05-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

Spoiler alert! I plan to talk about the feelings that this movie brought out in me, so I might tell a few things that would spoil the movie. It is a movie where a loner who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, moves back to his childhood neighborhood to find his depressed solitude infringed constantly by his neighbors and especially after one neighbor finds what she believes to be Christs face in a water stain on the stucco of his house in his backyard. First of all, I loved the persistant caring of these people. He is rude time and again, but realizing that there is something behind this anger and sadness, they refuse to take offense. I think that is true in most of life's encounters. This is the true form of charity, looking beyond the offense to the person and loving them anyway. I also loved the priest, who offered to listen to his problems. Poole says, "I don't want to talk about it". He replies, "yes, you do. Or you wouldn't have brought it up". That is so true! I hear Poole's words echoed all the time in my middle son. I have found with a little patience and persistance, he always spills all to me. Poole didn't want to be alone and to bear his burden alone, but being a loner he didn't know how to talk to people about it. And I think he was also cynical when it came to believing that anyone could care. I believe this aspect is reflected daily in our lives. Heavenly Father brings each of us to places where we can find people that will help us to grow. Poole, sees time and again, people exhibiting their faith. I love in the end, how after he has destroyed the face and had the house fall on him, lol, and landed himself in the hospital. The ladies that have become his friends tell him that he doesn't have any illness anymore, and he says, "I was never ill?". It reflected where he was at. I think that many people who are learning to have faith, begin that way. They explain away a miracle or a sign after it is given and then later on after many more life experiences look back and admit. My Dad was an example of that. As a young man, and after a particular trying experience, he looked up and the sky and it being an extremely overcast day and seeing no star in sight, he said, "God if your really there then let me see just one star in the sky". He looked around for a second and didn't see anything and said, "see I knew you didn't really exsist", in that moment he looked up and directly over head the clouds parted and a bright star shown down above him. By the time he walked into the house he had explained it away as a coincidence. But obviously deep down he wanted to believe and in later years after having had more experiences that brought him closer to God and building his testimony of the exsistance of God, he knew that that was a sign and a miracle that God gave him in that moment to let him know he was there and he cared. I don't think this movie was just about this man's struggle to have faith. But a movie that portrays that God puts us where we need to be because he cares and loves us and wants to help us grow and be happy.
"Adam fell that men might be. Men are that they might have joy." 2 Nephi 2:25
God wants us to be happy. But we can only find that happiness through having faith and interacting with others in a way that is uplifting and strengthening.

Yay I cut Amadeus's hair!

2009-05-19T07:28:00.000-07:00

And I did a good job! Tell me what you think? Amadeus said it was "ok". He didn't feel the need to get it fixed or wear a bag over his head, lol. But he would have preferred it to be not sooo short. Actually I thought I left it a little long, lol. The first pic is my favorite. Such a silly guy!

I should have taken some before pics. He had a major afro! He hadn't had a haircut in almost 2 months! There was soooooooooooo muuuuuuuuuch haaaaaaaiiiiiiirrrrrr! It looked like I'd sheared the sheep! But now, oh there's my kid, for a while I thought I had a werewolf for a son, he he.

Leaps of Faith

2009-05-19T07:13:00.000-07:00

Next year I need 12 twirling students in order to pay for fencing, guitar lessons and Amadeus's private school. I've been asked if fencing and guitar lessons are really a need. The answer is a resounding, "yes!"! Both of the boys schools don't offer a physical outlet and fencing not only meets that need but the need to be able to be flexible in their competitions so they can spend time with their Dad. Plus their coaches are so wonderful and supportive. Definitely the environment that they can grow in. As to Isaac's guitar. Well I know enough music wise to work w/ Amadeus on the trumpet on our own. But I have no idea when it comes to the guitar and Isaac has shown real aptitude and a desire to stick with something for once. He even practices without me telling him that he needs to! Amazing! So in the boys developments, yes these are needs. I was counting on my students first recital to make a big splash and generate some excitement. And I think it did some of that. But because they split up the recitals there wasn't as many parents in attendance as I would have hoped. But my girls did awesome! They caught 2 out of 3 of their partner tosses. They were in sync on the important parts of the routine. And two of them caught their back catches. They were in short, very impressive :)
So hopefully with the buzz of their performance and the flyers that I just put out in the classroom, I'll get the response that I need. If I don't, well then my next step is to advertise on Craigslist. So keep us in your prayers.
Hugz,
LMSS

Sleeping Through the Night and Other News

2009-04-19T07:35:00.000-07:00

Okay I know this post is going to irritate Em and I hope it doesn't jinx us....But Douglas and I are celebrating right now. Lil Red has slept through the night for the past two nights. This also means that he is down to a brief nursing right before bed time! Texas Blue, I need your dancing baby, lol. You'll have to tell me how to put him on here.
In other news....Isaac gave his first guitar performance. He had butterflies in his stomach and was super nervous, but he did great! I told him that you couldn't tell that he was nervous in fact he was the first out about 15 that seemed to enjoy his piece. He played Delta Blues. He says the ending was all wrong, apparently he blanked out on how it ended and made up something. Bravo! I say! That's talent. He never stopped or let on that he forgot and he's the only one that did his piece from memory.Great job Isaac!

Tea Party w/ Grandma and Lil Red

2009-04-16T06:30:00.000-07:00

My mom and I attended The Woodlands Tea Party Texas Wednesday w/ Lil Red. He had so much fun. He stole two ladies flags and waved them around for awhile till Grandma made him give them back. He got licked in the face by a big black dog, lol, he didn't know what to think of that. Just pursed his lips and said "ewww". However, it didn't deter him from chasing all the dogs he saw to pet and say,"woof". We signed a declaration banner, and picked up bumper stickers for our cars. We listened to couple of the speakers including Mattress Mac, who was awesome. I asked Mom if she thought he would run for office. She said, "no, he's always been civically minded.". My comment is, "exactly! and since he's a well known figure he would be perfect for stepping up to the job". We do need a change in leadership. I admire the young man who is running against Kevin Brady this next term. He saw that Kevin Brady voted for stimulus packages and decided that he was going to do something about it. I wish my brother would run for office. I know he'll read this and laugh. He has in own goals, but he's the kind of leader that would be conscientious and think through his decisions and come up with good ideas. Our people our thirsting for good leadership. The world is thirsting for good leadership. Enough w/ all these celebrity politicians! Give us down to earth, God fearing people!

Easter Fun

2009-04-15T09:53:00.000-07:00

Okay these pics aren't exactly in order but oh well, lol. Lil Red has already decided that he wants to learn how to drive Grandpa's big wheels :)We didn't do much in the way of Easter Egg hunting. I put out 5 eggs. He was interested in picking up one. Douglas was laughing at me, telling me he told me so.

Below is a pic of us swinging on the swing together. But here Lil Red wanted to swing himself :)

Douglas loves this picture. He feels it's such a typical expression for Lil Red. "You want me to do what, mom?"

We had a blast tickling Lil Red's tummy. He is very interested in his belly button and has infact learned to say, "belly button". Her he is getting that bb tickled by mommy.

Here is Grandma feeding Lil Red some chocolate. Looks like he just bit her finger, lol.

Here is one of us on the swing together. I love his sweet smile.

Tons of pics, but First!

2009-04-13T15:01:00.001-07:00

I just have to write a post about the most terrific mom in the world! Last night and the night before, Lil Red didn't sleep much which means I didn't sleep at all. Due to my body being taxed already by the growing baby and then no sleep for two nights. I had an outbreak of shingles this morning. Now my mother asked me two or three weeks ago if I needed her to pick me up some shingles rescue. I was almost out but I haven't had a break out in over a year, so I told her nope, I thought I was okay. So she called today and found out that I was dealing with a baby w/ a bad ear infection and me not feeling well from nausea and dealing w/ shingles. She promptly asked if I would like her to go buy me some shingles rescue and bring it to me. Which meant an extra 2 and half hour drive for her. Then when she got here she visited w/ me for a short while which is always a comfort. I was going to try to give Lil Red to her to hold while I picked a bit, but he was only wanting me since his fever was up. So instead she started picking up. Not a whole lot but enough that I wasn't depressed looking around at the simple things that I wanted to pick up but couldn't b/c someone wouldn't let me move from the couch and holding him.
By the time she left, Lil Red and I were considerably cheered and since then I have gotten all of our stuff put away out of our bags from this weekend. Quite an accomplishment. But pictures will have to wait b/c someone is a begging at my knees again. Guess it's time to cuddle some more. Thanks Mom for uplifiting my day!
05

Tuesday's walk

2009-04-09T07:44:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, we woke up to a chilly morning and none of our family had slept well. Big Red and I had been up w/ a cranky baby almost all night. Amadeus had construction noise going on outside that kept him awake and Isaac, I think had one too many cookies before bedtime, lol. So after taking the boys to school, John and I settled down immediately for a much needed nap. Afterwards, we ate a late breakfast and romped around the living room. It looked very beautiful outside but I checked the temperature and it was kind of chilly. When I start walking to our favorite park sometimes I walk pretty briskly and w/ a chill poor lil Red's nose and ears can get rather cold. So I almost talked myself out of going but I finally mustered the courage and bundled him up just enough. I am so glad that I did! By the time we we're halfway there the blanket came off of John and so did my jacket. I kept a slow pace and he and I enjoyed making "Bu bu" sounds as the bikers passed to work on saying 'Bike'. The honey suckle had died back but the trail was alive w/ pink, purple, red, white, and orangish pink blooms. When we got to the park there was a grandpa wearing a cowboy hat. Reminded me of my grandpa and he had a beautiful chocolate dalmation. Now this was no ordinary dalmation. He was very mild mannered and his coat was so soft. He was very calm as Lil Red came over to pet him and love on him. I even enjoyed petting him. Good thing the man wasn't trying to sell the dog or poor Douglas would have come home to a new pet. LOL. So then Lil Red and I played and played all over the playground. We even came down the big red slide together on our bellies with our hands linked. Lil Red thought that was hilarious. On the way back we stopped and checked out every kind of new blossom we saw. What a beautiful and enjoyable excursion! And to think we could have missed out on it b/c I was feeling truth be told a little bit lazy. So if your thinking about a walk and you just don't know if you have enough energy or whatever... suck it up, take it slow, grab an energy drink...but whatever you do......get out there and enjoy!

Lil Red get's his groove on w/ Dad and Amadeus

2009-04-09T06:27:00.000-07:00

At first he is a little fussy but once Dad get's the right song he just takes off! lol.

Enjoy! We do this is one of our favorite activities in the evening. Even Isaac enjoys dancing with him, but I think he was on facebook at the time.

Playing w/ Remote control cars

2009-04-05T17:58:00.000-07:00

Douglas took this on his new phone toy :)

Lil Red Antics Take 2

2009-04-05T16:30:00.001-07:00

Big Red bought a new computer and the box was perfect for Lil Red. My fave pic is of him peering through the hole in the side. He's had a lot of fun climbing in and out. The video below is of him singing on the karoke machine. He had gotten quiet and I went in search of him. Only to find him in Amadeus's closet. When I coaxed him out he had the mic in hand and had been pushing buttons trying to get it turned on. So I brought it out and hooked it up. He is soooo musically inclined. lol. I'll have to get a video of him dancing w/ Big Red's Blackberry I-pod. He loves the Beatles song "I work all day". I think that's what it's called. Anyways...enjoy!

Blue Bonnet Pics

2009-04-05T16:18:00.001-07:00

I haven't taken blue bonnet pics since the boys were 7 and 8. I love the pictures because they are so vivid w/ rich color, but I'm not one of those die hards that does it every year. But I've been wanting to do it for awhile now and the timing was right, so we took some great pictures today after conference. I wish the wind hadn't been blowing. But I figure that next weekend on the way to Mom and Dad W for Easter that will stop and take more of John and Me. I'd like to get some pics of Douglas and I, but well, we know how he is about pics. Isaac on the other hand had a blast with this and even let me take some singles of him. I think they definitely reflect his personality. None of the ones with me and all three of the boys came out but atleast there are the couple of cute ones with all three of them. Well enjoy! And come back in a couple of weeks for the next set :) Oh and don't forget that if you double click on a picture you can get a bigger view.

Grieving Awkwardness

2009-03-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

So yesterday, we went to a birthday dinner for a friend of ours that had turned the big 40. A couple of the people there know my mom and have spent many years with my Dad in the same ward. It was silly but I was hurt that not only did they fail to ask how my Mom was doing but they failed to offer their condolences. As a matter of fact it seemed to me that they did their best to not bring up either of my parents at all. Which to me felt awkward. During the first weeks of Dad's death and at the funeral. I did my best to avoid the condolences. I didn't want to hear how anyone was sorry about him dying or how he would be missed. I think now that was because I was trying to come to terms and accept that he really was gone. Now I'm at the point that I'm ready to talk others beyond my Mom and brothers and sisters about him. I want to know that we're not the only ones who miss him. I've had dreams that he isn't really dead and will be helping me in the dream to do something. I did that with my grandpa to. I just find myself in moments crying b/c I miss talking to him. I think I call my mom more than ever now to fill the void that is left. I loved going to lunch with him and rolling my eyes at his crotchetiness over the waiters. I loved just going in his office and chatting with him over various things, but especially spiritual milestones in my life. I am soooooooooo thankful that we are all sealed to him and that I know that I will see him again, but that doesn't change the fact that I miss him being available for our chats, I miss his presence, his funny stories that we heard so often that we had them memorized. I miss my Dad.
On a lighter note. Last night Douglas and I decided to get dessert at the dinner. We had seen another man and his son sharing the restaurants chocolate mousse cake. And it was huge and looked so moist and yummy. So after telling the lady we didn't want anything, we told her we changed our minds that we wanted one. So next thing we know she's putting one in front of Douglas and then in front of me. That's right, she thought we each wanted one! Douglas told her that was okay. I kept trying to give away bites. But even after I convinced three people to take a bite out of the side I hadn't touched, I could barely notice what would amount to a mouse's nibble. suffice it to say.... next time I'm saying no, it's not okay, you take the other one and go give it to the kitchen help! LOL. But....it was really really good ;)

The poem three entries below

2009-03-27T06:15:00.001-07:00

Okay I have been asked twice now if I wrote that poem myself. The answer is, "yes"! I worked very hard on it. And for those of you who aren't sure but would like to ask...yes, I am pregnant :)

San Antonio Temple pics

2009-03-25T06:50:00.000-07:00

The one group shot of us. It was nice of the sister that was leaving to offer to take this. She was older and didn't get Marian's camera, but she still did a great job!

I love this one! Edward was trying to figure out why we weren't paying attention. We told him we wanted a casual picture. It reminds me of the scenes on the t.v. before general conference starts of temple square.

This was our fun one. Edward and I making goofy faces. Doesn't really go with our mode of dress does it? lol

Me and my little big brother :) I'm so glad I got to do this with him. We're planning a baptismal trip for the boys here in the summer. I thought that would be a cool place for Isaac to go for his first time.

Me and my beautiful Sister in law. I love that we have a close friendship. And I hope we get to attend that spa together soon ;)

New Hair Cut

2009-03-25T06:36:00.000-07:00

Okay I promised Em I would put pics of the new haircut up. I've been working to get the right length in the front for a while so I could get this one. I love it! My husband seemed to like it to. Not like the last one when he came in and said, "Why did you do that ?". LOL. Reminded me of Dad. Totally honest! It feels so light and chic. Just the thing I needed as morning sickness sets in and I have to hang over the toliet! It will be nice not to worry about having to hold my hair out of the way. LOL. Although, knock on wood, so far I've just dealt with queasiness, but while it bothers me, it hasn't sent me running for the porcelain god. So maybe I'll skip out with this one :)

Do you think I posted enough today?

2009-03-22T15:21:00.000-07:00

LOL! Sorry I got so far behind. I promise I'm almost done. So today I got released from my calling. Three little boys, all brothers, approached me after church to tell me they would miss me. The oldest, said I was a really good teacher. Then the middle one not to be out done said I was a good singer. The littlest one started piping up "me too, me too". I think that meant he felt the same. I said "wow, thank you. I don't think I've recieved so many compliments at one time and from such handsome men". Upon hearing this the older one says..."And your very pretty". I told them my head just got to big for my shoulders. The mother of these three charming young men was cracking up! I told her I'd have to tell Douglas that he had competition ;)
So here is a poem for everyone, let's see if you can figure out what it means...

The Test

My heart thrills,

My mind reels,

Excitement pumps within my breast.

My eyes are bright,

My head is light,

I think I maybe holding my breath.

One minute, two minutes,

Three, then its,

Count how many lines appear.

Grinning ear to ear,

I tell my dear..

"Honey another one is on the way!"

Comments on Isaac's pics below

2009-03-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

Lately, Isaac has been spending a great deal of time reading fact books. You know the big books with beautiful pictures and photographs that contain textbook information on specific subjects. He's alot like Douglas that way. He also has been taking pictures of the buildings he creates with Lil Red's blocks. I told him maybe he should be an architect. He told me nah, he only likes building with blocks, lol.

A bit about Isaac

2009-03-22T15:16:00.001-07:00

Playing on Grandmommies slide that she gave us, and hanging out in the yard

2009-03-22T15:14:00.001-07:00