Come Unto Christ

Well, Sunday I was made Young Women's President in our ward. I'm not really nervous, I've been here before. I knew a change was coming, about 2 months ago, but as usual, I thought I was just making up feelings for having a desire to be done in Cub Scouts after 2 and a half years. In cub scouts, that is not really very long. Then after Christmas, the beginning of January we met with our bishopric member. They asked me to be primary pianist. I was really content with that, because I haven't had such a simple job, doing the one thing I love most, MUSIC!!!! As our bishopric member extended this calling to me, he let me know that it was very temporary. Like, only 2 or 3 weeks temporary. I then spent the next 2 weeks thinking, but not really thinking too hard about it. We also had the opportunity to attend a ward temple night. We rode in big passenger vans, and had an enjoyable time all the way to Logan. As we entered our session, we ended up ahead of the rest of our group. I know it was intentional on the Lord's part. He needed me to be on my own, so that I could receive the inspiration I needed to prepare for this calling. I knew then, that my counselors were to be the 2 ladies I rode to the temple with. And while I have always said, young women's is my life long calling, I still wasn't sure if I was headed to young women's of relief society. I love the time that I receive such divine and specific instruction from the Lord, in the temple. Come Sunday, we were asked to stay after church and meet with bishop and his counselor, and they extended the call for young women's president. I told them I needed to pray about the names, but after a very long and very sleep deprived, for counsel from my Heavenly Father, Sunday night, I had my names. Then came the next, extremely long week. Every day dragged. I was so anxious to get in there and get going, that it was hard to wait that whole week! Then as I waited for that week to end, I started looking into things for Young Women's. Come Unto Christ is the theme this year, and I am more excited for the many learning opportunities I am going to have with this theme. As I sat through our first lesson yesterday, I was reminded why I love young women's so much! They are such sweet spirits. They are simple believers, and sometimes I try to make things so complicated, and our religion isn't about that. Pure and simple Faith, with the invitation to "Come Unto Christ and perfected in him." Here's to a fabulous start to a new year!

Thankful

So, this month is about being thankful for the amazing blessings we have in this life. On Facebook, all of my friends are posting something daily, but I feel I don't have time, or I will forget, the latter being more likely. So why not post all the things I can think of that I am thankful for? So, Here goes! I am thankful for family! I am most thankful for a loving husband, who forgives my shortcomings and loves me in spite of all of my quarks. I am thankful to be a mother to 3 beautiful, wild, crazy, and wonderful children. I am thankful for fall, and the cooler weather, and the autumn colors we have here. I am thankful for amazing friends who touch my life and make me a better person. I am thankful for a home that gives shelter, and provides a loving environment to raise my family (most of the time). I am thankful for new opportunities that come into my life, and make me stretch into new areas that I have not been. I am thankful for good health. I am thankful for trials that make me realize that it is beyond my control, and I have to rely on the Lord. I am thankful for a warm fireplace. I am thankful for candy corns, because that sugary bliss is pretty awesome! I am thankful for Pepsi, without which, I might lose my mind some days. I am most thankful for the gospel in my life. Without that, I would not be the person I am today, and I would not have anything to push me to strive to become a better woman. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite time of year. I was born on Thanksgiving, and I always love the chance to reflect on the things that make me so happy. Gobble, Gobble, everyone!

Happy Birthday!!!!

On the day before school, Isabelle turned 6! She has been anxiously waiting for months, as most children do. After counting down, clear from 60 days, to making a paper chain with grandma, we finally made it. Her number one request for a present, was earrings, and school clothes. A few toys, but not too many. So sure enough, she got a lot of earrings, and some school clothes. She was one happy girly, all day long. We bought mac and cheese and juice boxes and had her friend come over for lunch. We had a family get together, early, because it was our first school night. We are so blessed to have this little monkey in our lives! She is so sweet, and cares so much about everyone. She is quick to make friends, and she is as rough and tumble, pretty princess as they come. Right now Isabelle loves to play with friends. She is learning to read, play the piano, she loves to dance, dance, dance! She loves to play dress up, and draw pictures for everyone (a habit she is passing to her little sister). She always wants to know what we are doing, and what is next on our fun list of things to do! I love this little chicky more than words! She is so beautiful, and sweet.

Little Missy

Nadja had a birthday in April. She turned 3 years old. My how she has grown up. A few weeks ago, we decided to potty train. The first day, she was pretty difficult, and she was pretty against it by about the 4th time I made her go potty. We suffered, and I began to wonder, was I pushing too hard? After a day of frustration, we started again first thing in the morning, with a tantrum that she did not want to of course, and she had her first success. After that, with minimal accidents, she had it figured out, and will tell us now, when she needs to go. Night and day difference! She is such a big girl. I have always thought that she is a little smarty. Anyhow, with 3 comes wonderful things. She is funny. She is always making me giggle. She loves to tell you secrets, which are generally, "I love you" She got a fish for her birthday, which she named Boots. But then she decided she liked Dora. Then she decided it was Boots Dora Scow. Now she calls him Dorothy, like Elmo's fish. She also talks to Dorothy like they do on Elmo. "Dorothy, this is how my sister goes downstairs" You get the picture right? I'm not sure what this fish will be called when it kicks the bucket, but the reading of it's name, will be eulogy enough, and could very well take an hour or two. She is stubborn (I think she gets it from me), and she lets the world know when you have done her wrong. She is the most snuggly baby I have. She also does not like the competition her brother and sister bring, when they decide they need a mom snuggle. She is my little sidekick. She loves to go places with me. We do the shopping, and play outside, and barbies, and she goes to meetings with me, and suffers through all of it pretty well, for a 3 year old. She wants mom when she is hurt or sad. There is no way around that. And while it really frustrates family members, it is sweet to be needed so. She loves music. She is in a little music class, and sings her little heart out everyday. She also sings along with the radio. She loves to be with all of us. She has a unique bond with each one of us, and she is all grins and love when she is with you. I almost forgot, one other thing about our little ya-ya, is she loves nursery! She can't wait for sacrament to be over, so she can get to nursery. She has the best nursery leaders, and she loves it when she sees them outside of church! My baby is 3! That makes me feel panicky that time is going by so fast!

Wyatt

Clearly I am not keeping up with this blogging business. But, I thought I should take few minutes to update. Wyatt turned 8 in March! I am so completely amazed at the fact that I have an 8 year old! Where has the time gone? Where is my sweet little baby boy with the funny little lips!!!?!? Wyatt is so amazing, and everyday, Jared and I remember what a miracle he really is! Right now, Wyatt loves to: Read, Read, Read! He is always reading, and learning new things. Play with friends. He really loves to be with his friends, and create new games to play. Make us laugh. He likes to make up words, and sometimes it drives us crazy, but other times it is pretty funny. He is starting to like riding his bike a little more. He's kind of an inside kid, but lately he has been being the dare devil and riding it out in the dirt fields, all over the hills. He loves to play with his sisters, and to torment them. He thinks it is pretty funny when Nadja gets mad at him, and when he laughs at her when she punches him, it makes her more mad, and he laughs even harder. He is so deeply spiritual. I know, he is only 8, but he gets it. He really gets it. He knows with a perfect assurance, what his Heavenly Father expects of him, and he strives to be that person. He is a ray of light to our family. Here are some pics, of our little man!

I forgot!

Yesterday, was a panic moment for me. You know when you go shopping, and you turn around for just a second, and then when you look back, one of your kids is missing? That instant panic and fear that comes to your heart, even though you know that they are just around a corner, not too far. I drove down the hill to wait for Wyatt to get off the bus, so I could pick him up and drop all the kids off at grandma's, and head to work. The bus pulls up, drops 4 kids off, and Wyatt was not one of them. One of the boys runs to my car and says, "Wyatt didn't get off the bus!". Panic! I know that the bus will turn around and bring him back, if he knew to tell them that he forgot to get off. But I had the prompting to follow the bus. Knowing my Wyatt, I knew that he would be in tears, and a little panicky. So, off like an Indy race car driver I went, following that bus! It finally stops, at the top of a hill 5 minutes away, and I jump out of my car and run to the bus door, tell the bus driver, my son didn't get off, and she says, this is my first stop. My heart dropped to the ground. Did I follow the wrong bus somehow? She says that she will call the other bus driver, and then, miracle of all miracles, Wyatt's head pops up over the front seat, and just as I knew, he was in tears. Wyatt lives in his head a lot. He is my make believe king. And he was daydreaming when the bus stopped on our street, and he forgot to get off the bus. After grabbing him off the bus, and hugging him fiercely, and telling him I loved him so much, we decided to talk about it on the way to grandma's. He said, "I knew it wasn't far from our house." How wrong he was. He would have been an hour walking home, if he could get out of the subdivision the bus went to, and make it to the street that he knew. How grateful I am for that prompting to follow the bus, because if he had gotten off the bus, and tried to walk home, it would have been a nightmare for all of us! I love my crazy son, who maybe daydreams too much, but now he knows to tell the bus driver next time if he forgets!

Sickness

Today marks the beginning of week 2 that we have been sick at our house. I started it with a fever and a cough. Random, just a cough. That was really awful. There is nothing worse than a cough. You can't control it. Then you suck on cough drops all day, and your teeth feel gross, and you have chronic bad breath, and you still cough a little. Needless to say it spread quickly, to Wyatt, who still has the cough, but the rest of the cold has faded. This also means sleepless nights, with kids getting up in the middle of the night to come get mom. Then Nadja started with the fever and stuffy/runny nose. A few days later the cough started. Then Isabelle started 2 days after that. Monday, Nadja still had a fever, so we packed up the whole family, and went to see our pediatrician. We love that our pediatrician will take the time to look at all of my kids, even if we scheduled the appointment for just one of my kids. You know, there are strict guidelines that I try to follow so that I don't take my kids to the doctor for every little sniffle, and cough, and 5 days with a fever is one of those questionable things for me. With a chest x-ray, it is determined that our little bug, has a mild case of pneumonia. A second look at Isabelle confirms that she is probably not far behind Nadja. As I have been home all week with sick girls, I began thinking about how much I love being mom. I don't love losing sleep, but that panic that sets in when I hear one of my kids crying in the night, and the chance I have to fly out of my bed to their room to help them, reinforces in my mind, that I was meant to be their mom. I love that I can help soothe the pain, and panic that comes from feeling so yucky. Being a mother is most important above all, and I am truly blessed to have the opportunity. Yes, I have gotten away with the bare minimum when it comes to house cleaning, and cooking as well. I'm just glad that when it comes to my kids, I can be here to help them through whatever they are going through. How grateful I am for a husband that provides so I can do exactly as I want, and that is to be a stay at home mom. I love to be with my kids. They drive me crazy sometimes, but I will take that madness, because it fills my heart to overflowing!