Memorial Day Weekend

This weekend we...

• Weeded (ugh) the flowers beds together.
• Did laundry.
• Cleaned the hamster cage.
• Vacuumed the house.
• Cleaned the bathrooms.

• The kids made cupcakes and sold them in front of the house (they made $8).

• Had a chilly family party to celebrate Tess' 9th birthday.
• Had a peaceful Sunday at church and at home, and then Family Home Evening.

• We woke up to more rain on Monday!! Memorial Day is supposed to be sunny is it not?!

• Landon made waffles for everyone.

• The sky cleared up in time for our visit to the cemetery.

• We took a self-portrait at the cemetery.

• We spied this plaque at the cemetery.

• Got to spend a little time with Andrew during our lunch together at my parents' house.

**How was your weekend weather?

Did you go to the cemetery?

Are you sick of rain?**

Comment Window Tidbit: These last few days at school are pointless. We watched movies in all 4 classes today! I also successfully completed my first Sudoku puzzle.

Sunday Thoughts

These are my notes from the second part of my favorite class at Women's Conference this year (here's the link to my notes from the first part).

• Life delivers many antidotes to pride.
• Through the Savior we know we are capable of rising above our struggles.
• We are beset by the tendencies of the natural man.
• Agency is the great gift of mortality.
• Day by day, hour by hour we show who we are. (I was a weepy mess at this point and felt relieved that it isn't just me who has to try, fail and try again hour by hour to be Christ-like.)
• The Holy Ghost testifies, teaches and guides.
• Have you yielded to the promptings about who the Lord wants you to be?
• We are free to choose how we will respond to life.
• The Holy Ghost can soften our hearts and help us to forgive.
• The Holy Ghost can change our hearts, it is the key to personal growth and happiness.
• Pride keeps us from apologizing, forgiving and from celebrating the successes of others.
• Between thinking it and saying it there is a choice.
• Promptings are enticings to a better self.
• Humility is a much neglected virtue.
• Remember who God is and what it means to be His child.
• Understand that Christ is our Redeemer. We are in His hands.

At the end of her talk, the teacher had us write a Psalm (which was definitely a first for me) using a few key word prompts. It was a very spiritual experience for me and I was surprised by how easily the words flowed from my mind to my pen to the paper.

These are the words she gave us, then we filled in the sentences from there.


Praise Ye the Lord
For He Hath
And
The Lord He is

This is my psalm...

Praise Ye the Lord

For He hath given me another day, to try again though I continually fail.
And He restored my health and answered my prayers.
The Lord He is patient, all-knowing and kind.
He sees what I can be, though my vision is so dim.

**Do you feel like you struggle

day to day and hour by hour?

Have you ever written a psalm?**

Comment Window Tidbit: Even though I'll be done with work for the school year on Thursday I'm still happy to have a day off tomorrow.

Smarter Than a 7th Grader?

Just when I was finally feeling confident about my 7th grade math skills,  my mind was blown by this story problem. Can you solve it??

There are three times as many ducks as sheep on a farm. 

All the ducks and sheep have 2400 feet altogether. 

How many more ducks than sheep are there?

I will send a prize to the first person to get the correct answer. I will give you extra credit if you send me an email attachment showing your work, ha.

Comment Window Tidbit:  I'm learning to enjoy story problems, it's kind of like a game to figure them out...unless I can't figure them out of course.

Wordless Wednesday

Comment Window Tidbit: It's always a bit sad when soccer season ends, I wish it would last a couple weeks longer.

Nice Surprise

I came home from work today to find this fabulous grill in our driveway. Once again Amie has amazed me with her generosity and product surplus (remember she has given us a washer and dryer, a toaster oven, Blue Tooth, and so much more).The last time we got together I was telling her a riveting tale about how the element in our electric grill (which as a hand-me-down from Adam and Amy) burst and Randy had to finish cooking our steaks on our panini maker (not good), when she said "We have an extra grill, do you want it?"  So not only does she give us huge, useful gifts but she delivers them as well! (They delivered the washer and dryer on Christmas Eve 2003!)

I found this nice note and 2 vanilla Tootsie Rolls (I love these) inside the grill. I just love little treats like this!

**Do you grill very often?

Do you have any surplus appliances that work?

Do you enjoy vanilla Tootsie Rolls?**

Comment Window Tidbit: Weeds, weeds, everywhere weeds!

Torn

I often can't decide what exactly it is I want to do.
I have big plans in my mind for how I want things
(my life, my body, my house, my yard, my family) to be,
but then feel overwhelmed with the many reasons
why I can't do them (usually money-related).
This feels lame to me, like a series of excuses to keep me
from having to really do these things, but the thing is I really do
want to do them, so why would I be looking for excuses?
I probably need therapy (a team of specialists in Vienna)
to help me get past whatever mental block I've got going on,
but I don't see that happening.
Meanwhile 40 is knocking on my door (45 days)...
but when it comes down to it, all I really want to do is read.

**Am I crazy or can you relate in some way?**

 Comment Window Tidbit: We've been having a lot of rain lately and I'm loving it. I get excited when the sun is shining too, but I think I will always be a rainy day kind of girl.

Sunday Thoughts

Here are more of my notes from the class I took at Women's Conference that had the most impact on me.

•  For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father. Mosiah 3:19
• We need to be a constant being, the same in public and private.
• Magnify your callings, not yourself.
• Seek to bridle all your passions.
• Blessed are they that humble themselves without being compelled to be humble.
• Whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies.
• We need to pray always.
• Blessings require work and effort on our part.
• It is one day at a time that we overcome our imperfections. Look to the Lord for daily help to make it through. (This sentence hit me hard, I need to remember not to be overwhelmed by my failings, but to work on them one day at a time.)
• Doubt not, fear not.
• Pray for the Lord's will to be done.
• Circumstances, ideas and resources come unexpectedly.
• Learn to trust in the Lord and walk with Him day by day.
• Just do what you need to do today.
• All things will give thee experience and be for your good.
• The hallmark of a Saint is love.
• The gift of Charity protects us from an enormous range of temptations--hate, envy, jealousy, insecurity.
• Charity endureth forever, one day at a time.

**Thoughts**

Comment Window Tidbit: I had to go to a 2.5 hour Relief Society Activity Committee Meeting today...any good Sunday feelings are now gone.

Women's Conference--Days 2 & 3

Despite having such a busy first day and late first night, we arrived at The Marriott Center on time for the 9:00 session by Sister Beck. (It helped that Kristi had secured our sweet parking spot by reserving it the day before.)

Once again, Michelle and Susan had arrived early and saved us some seats so we were able to join them along with Denise, Charlotte and Emily. Sister Beck gave a great talk (of course) but I had heard much of it before since I've been able to hear her speak twice already this year. I was a little disappointed by this because her talk last year was life-changing for me and I expected this one to be also (no pressure right?).

After Sister Beck's talk we all split up to attend different classes. Kristi and I went over to the HFAC to try to get into a class called "Enhancing Our Temple Experience". The room capacity for that class was 509, but we didn't even make it into one of the three overflow rooms! I must say the combination of it being day 2 of my cold, standing in a long line of women, and not feeling like I had heard what I needed to hear yet was making me irrationally grumpy. I felt full of negativity (not what one should be feeling while at Women's Conference) and frustrated that I was giving in to those feelings (it's exhausting to battle my emotions all the time).

So after waiting for ages to get into the temple class only to be denied, we opted to go to a class across the hall called "Putting Off the Natural [Wo]man, and Come Off Conqueror".

 

I sat down feeling all grumbly and out of sorts, but as soon as Sister Reynolds started speaking I knew I was in the right place (this was emotional and humbling for me). She said, "The natural man is an unrepentant man and that a disciple is one who is learning to be like Christ. To think, feel, and act like Christ, to change from being a natural man." I have always thought the natural man meant being worldly, so this rocked my world and made me see how much this applies to me! Not that I'm not repentant, just that I need to repent so often! (I'm going to use the rest of my notes from this class for my Sunday Thoughts post this week, so stayed tuned. )

Oh my goodness, by the end of this class I was a complete wreck! I had already been a snotty mess from my cold, so after all the crying I had done it felt like I'd lost control of my face. (Kristi took this picture with her iphone after the class.) I managed to choke out "This was the class I needed!" and then continued to sob. I'm not even sure I can articulate exactly why the things said in this class hit me so hard, but they did and I was am so grateful!

After that emotional class we went over to The Wilk to get some lunch. We met up with Michelle (and eventually Susan) and got some time with Collette since her office is in there.

We ended up not being able to get into our next class because we waited too long to get in line, so we went over to the art museum to see the Dorthea Lange exhibit.We weren't allowed to take any pictures in there, but we were both moved to tears by the photographs.

We moseyed over to The Marriott Center for the closing session and took our self-portrait on the bridge walkway.

We met up again with Michelle, Susan, Denise, Charlotte, Emily and Shannon.

My bag was full of trail mix and tissues.

Elder and Sister Bednar were the speakers for the closing session and both did an excellent job. I especially loved what Elder Bednar had to say about creating and living a spiritual pattern of small and simple things. He said, "Consistent, meaningful prayer is more effective than one long prayer said in a time of need." I need to rewatch/reread his talk because there was so much substance to it that I missed in my note taking.

We didn't get to spend much time with Michelle this year since she was in high demand with her family, but we were able to get this self-portrait of the three of us when it was all over.

 

After the conference we gathered outside to chat and say goodbye to everyone. (I love this candid shot I took.)

Our final group shot. If they weren't such nice people I would think they were too cute to hang out with.

I love this picture of Michelle and Susan.

It cracked me up to see Kristi juggling 3 cameras as she took a group shop of the Blogger Moms.

I love Wende's response to a shot of them jumping.

After parting ways with everyone, Kristi and I drove over to visit a girl who had been one of her Young Women back in Nashville when she was the YW's President.

Then we met up with the Blogger Moms at The Brick Oven for dinner. We had a very interesting waiter who did a really good job but lacked a sense of humor (I think it would be hard to work there).

We woke up Saturday morning to 3 inches of snow!

 We got to sleep in until 9:00 on Saturday, which felt luxurious after such a busy couple of days. Kristi put on the world's cutest skirt and went to the temple. I got ready and went to my niece Olivia's baptism, where I made a fool of myself as I tried to lead the music. Robyn must have wanted some comic relief at the baptism, because my music-leading debut at my grandma's funeral a few years ago went so poorly.

By the time I got back from the baptism and Kristi got back from the temple and then lunch with some friends it was time for her to pack up and go. She originally planned to stay until Sunday morning, but since Jeff was getting sustained as Bishop of their ward the next day she changed her ticket so she could get home Saturday evening.

Our final self-portrait which ended up being comical as we had to keep shuffling around so the sun wasn't in our eyes.



Farewell until next year! Though this year was good, it wasn't like the roommate weekends we've had in year's past. We rolled with it since all our challenges were out of our hands, but hopefully next year we will get to spend more time together as a threesome.

**Thoughts??**

(I'm too tired to think of any questions.)

Comment Window Tidbit: This post took so long to put together that I fear I won't recover for days and days! Plus, the frustration of getting used to the new blogger template is driving me crazy. The spacing and centering for this post is wonky and I can't fix it!

Five for Friday

I gotta say, my natural inclination is to whine about the slowness of blogging these days, but I'm sick of all of that so I'm not going to say anything else...just know that it's responsible for the gaps in posting and is driving me crazy.

1. We got together with my whole family the day before Mother's Day for a bbq, and got to see Andrew for the first time since he moved into the group home (my parents have seen him multiple times but we hadn't had a family gathering until then). He seems to be doing well and adjusting (he's not a chatty one so it's hard to know).

2. Lori jumped on the trampoline with Andrew (which was funny to see) and impressed me by doing a toe touch; if I were to attempt such a thing I would surely pull a muscle, pee my pants and need to visit my chiropractor.

3. Randy was a really good sport and participated in our Relief Society play "Who Has My Name" last week. He memorized a long paragraph and took on the role of a man from 1673 (hence the ensemble), and delivered it in an English accent. He was fantastic and totally impressed everyone (especially me).

4. Randy continues to pack lunches for Whitney and me everyday; this has been a serious life saver for me.

5. We had Robyn's kids with us at Whitney's soccer game and Ashley ended up falling asleep in Randy's arms. The man puts out a lot of heat, so I think she had no choice but to surrender to it.

6. The Young Men of our ward are preparing for their 6 day 50-mile hike this summer so they've been doing smaller hikes to get ready for it. The one they did last week involved wearing their packs filled with the amount of weight they'll be carrying when they do the real thing this summer (1/3 their body weight). Poor Landon could hardly stand up under the weight of his pack (33 pounds!) but managed to do the hike and come home in one piece (I was praying for him); this is what his shoulders looked like after 3 hours!

**What keeps you from posting?

Would you be willing to act in a play?

Can you do a toe touch on the trampoline?**

Comment Window Tidbit: I realize it's only Thursday, but this is what I'm posting.

Found Artwork

Whenever Whitney watches a movie on the computer she ends up leaving a pile of drawings on the table next to the computer. These are the two I found yesterday, they tell a story if you look at them in order.

Click on picture to enlarge.

The dog laughing on the right especially cracked me up.

**Thoughts??**

Comment Window Tidbit: We froze our nards off at another soccer game tonight...what is up with this weather?!

12 on the 12th--May Edition

Michelle saved my bacon again this month and made my grid for me.

1. Taking an iron pill first thing in the morning is now part of my daily routine.
2. Family scripture reading, we're almost finished with The Book of Mormon again.
3. Landon has been using weights to work on his "guns".
4. It was a gorgeous morning!
5. A picture of the dry erase board in a Math 7 class I work in every day. There's a countdown to the end of the school year...it's crazy that the school year is almost over.
6. Reading while eating lunch in the car; this has become one of my favorite parts of the day.
7. We came home from school to find 3 bags of clothes from Lori for Whitney.
8. The kids rode bikes to the elementary school to play basketball together. (I stayed home and cleaned in peace.)
9. Landon's last band concert of the school year.
10. Dinner at Chili's as a family (I had a gift card from Christmas).
11. Randy and I watched our Thursday night shows.
12. My favorite things to see at the end of the day are my bed and books. (I got the Gerbera Daisy at church for Mother's Day last week, I love having it in a vase on my desk.)

**Did you document your 12th?**

Comment Window Tidbit: I am so excited to have my sidebar links set up again, I was feeling lost without them; plus now I know who has updated, woohoo!

Sunday Thoughts

Virginia H. Pearce was the opening speaker at Women's Conference this year; she spoke about this year's theme "By Small and Simple Things, Are Great Things Brought to Pass".

• Prayers are heard and answered.
• Prayer is the earliest ritual we teach our children.
• Prayer rests on the principle of faith.
• Prayer becomes natural and instinctive when we recognize the relationship of Father and child.
• Prayer is an act of agency or choice.
• Prayer grows from humility.
• We are all dependent on God.
• We can take joy in adversity because we know it brings us closer to Christ. (I loved this thought.)
• Act on promptings.
• Increased temple attendance and prayers change our hearts. We can get rid of guilt, dread, worry and fear.
• Repeated acts of prayer and obedience are small and simple things that make big changes over time.
• Our prayers can bring about miracles for others. The Lord often answers our prayers through someone else, thus we are often the answer to other people's prayers.
• Through prayer our will can change to that of the Lord.
• Our pleading becomes part of the experience.
• We inform ourselves as we reverently speak to the Lord (He already knows what we're going to say).
• Often the changes in us are so gradual they are almost imperceptible. 
• The miracle of prayer is the relationship we develop with the Lord.
• Prayer works!

**Thoughts??**

Comment Window Tidbit: Sister Beck visited our ward today for her nephew's mission farewell. I went up to speak to her after the meeting and totally embarrassed myself. I sounded like a star-struck groupie, but I managed to choke out my thanks for her wonderful talk at Women's Conference last year.