Our Ward Halloween Party

K was out of town for the week last week and so I asked Z to run the camera for me while I held H since Z seems to have outgrown Trick or Treating this year. Today I was looking through the pictures that he took. Hum....here they are!

I just have to say that Halloween is NOT my favorite holiday so I'm okay with not having any really great pictures. It's just funny what he thought was important to take pictures of. I guess that he captured the overall feeling of chaos that I felt that night! On Halloween night, though, I'LL be running the camera!!!

Artistic Adventures Night

At school, they had an Artistic Adventures Night. Every student was encouraged to display one or two items of art.

S loves to make jewelry. She just learned how to make this style of bracelet this week. I am constantly amazed by each necklace that she makes. She would like to try earrings next. I think she is getting pretty good.

J really enjoys drawing so I got him a burn pen and he enjoyed making some wood signs. He also loves aquariums and any living creature but I'm not big into pets right now so he enjoyed making these candles as a cheap substitute for the real thing.

Z loves anything Harry Potter so when we found this card set, he was hooked. This is the begining of Z's interpretation of Hogwarts made out of cards. This has definately been a fun project for him to work on.

My other artistic children:

A is always happy!

K is a tease!

And H is very curious and always dirty!

We also got to meet their teachers and see where their desks are and meet their friends and other parents. I was proud of my kids for participating. They enjoyed the positive feedback from others and they equally enjoyed seeing and complimenting the other childrens projects. It was a very fun evening.

Can you read this?

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the first and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can slitl raed it wouthit a porbelm. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?

6 Things about me that you don't know! But...now you will!

Cindy tagged me the other day. I'm suppose to tell 6 things about myself that most people wouldn't know and then tag 6 people and leave a comment on their blogs. I had to take a couple of days to think about this one. I think I have some good ones though. Here goes:


1) I realized this week that I have this annoying routine of going through the house several times a day and making sure that all the light switches are down. Most of the lights have two switches, one on each side of the room basically, and throughout the day they get turned off and on from different ends of the rooms. This makes it so that when all the lights are off, some of the switches are up and some are down. This bothers me so I go from one end of the house to the other a couple times a day and turn all the lights switches down. I sleep better at night knowing that all the doors are locked, blinds are closed, kids are in beds, and light switches are all the same direction...DOWN.

2)I love poetry, music and art! I feel like emotions and feelings that cannot be expressed through regular words can be felt and expressed through poetry, music, or artwork. However, I personally have no talent in any of those areas (I can play the piano) so I am really grateful that there are so many very talented artists in this world who are willing to share their work for me to enjoy.

3)When I eat potato chips, I always categorize the chips and then eat them in a certain order. I ALWAYS eat the folded ones first. They are my favorite ones!!! Then I start with the small broken ones and work my way to the big ones. The big ones that are not broken are the ones that I eat last and I don't usually like them so I will either brake them and then put them in piles by size and then eat them or give them to one of my kids to eat. I also have to eat the broken ones two at a time and they have to be the same size and shape. Sounds complicated but I have eaten them like this for years. I have no idea why. I eat my french fries two at a time and by size also.

4)Since we are talking about food, I have a couple other rules. I never combine my foods. I always eat the different things one at a time and I never move on to the next food until I have completely finished the first one. Like, all the corn. then all the salad, then all the bread, then all the meat. Also, I like to eat in order of what I like least to best, except the meat, and it's always last. I also have rules to eating colored candy, like M&M's or Smarties. I put them in groups by color. Then I eat them according to how many there are of each kind. Most of the time I try to make it so that there is the same number of each color. Once I get it to that point, then I eat one of each color and give the rest away. Or if there is a big difference in the amounts, then I eat one of the least color, then two of the next color, then three and so on until I've had each color and then give the rest away.

5)One more food thing. I LOVE FRESH FRUIT!!! I love watermelon, pineapple, cantaloupe, peaches, pears, any fruit as long as it is fresh!!!! I could live on just fresh fruit (and chocolate! They are heaven together!)

6)I prefer plans that are spontaneous. I get stressed out too much if I have to plan something out in advance. I would much rather just get a spur of the moment idea and go for it!! This is hard with my kids and my husbands job but I love drives to the mountains, picnics, surprise visits, anything unplanned. I also don't do well with lists and schedules, however, I don't get much accomplished without them. I a love/hate thing! I used to be more organized. I'm trying to figure it all out again. Like today is Friday and Friday is the day that I have decided should be my cleaning day, then I don't have to do it on Saturday when the kids are home. So, since it is Friday, so far I have done no cleaning!! Because I know I'm suppose to. Why do I do this? I won't clean tomorrow either because I am suppose to clean on Fridays. So, basically, if I decide to clean right now then I will but if I plan to clean then I don't. Why do I fight myself like this? It makes no sense to me.

My poor family!!!!!!!

So, after reading this you may decide that I need therapy. Do you think it would help?

Now it's my turn to learn what makes you unique! I choose:
Rachelle
Angie
Jenna
Lynnette
Holly
Ashley

Have fun! I look forward to learning more about you!!! Thanks Cindy! This was fun!

My name

On Friday evening, our ward Relief Society had an Enrichment meeting. I had signed up to make a couple of the projects so I felt like I had to go. I left the kids home alone, since K was working late, and headed out for an evening of good food, spiritual inspiration, and fun crafts. My kids called several times on the drive over to the church to let me know who was hurting whom and that the baby was crying and everyone was hungry and could I please not go and just come home. I was beginning to doubt my decision to go. I walked into a room full of familiar faces but I felt alone with no kids hanging on me. We have lived in this ward about 7 months but I have been teaching Primary for 6 months so I honestly don't know very many people. I was very much out of my comfort zone. There was a line for the dinner so I went over and got in line. The woman standing next to me turned and said, "Your name is L, right?" The woman in front of her turned and said, "I don't waste time on learning names. I just know who you belong to." I was a little surprised by her comment but I calmly said, "Oh? And who do I belong to?" She smiled and said,"You're S's mom." Another woman behind me spoke up and said, "I just know your V's sister." Another woman said, "I know you as the cops' wife with all the kids."

WOW! I was speechless.

Who am I?


Yes, I am a daughter!


Yes, I am a sister!


Yes, I am a wife!


And Yes, I am a mother!

But, my name is L! What is yours?


Do you remember names? Or do you settle for just knowing who someone belongs to?



P.S. I sat by the woman who knew my name.

Growing up...

Z and K are at a Stake Priesthood meeting right now. I am feeling tortured because I was not invited. AHHHH!!!

Okay...Let me back up a week and start at the beginning.


After church last week, Z had to stay for BYC. When he got home here's how the conversation went:
Z: "Hey Mom. Some man at church asked me to give a talk at a meeting."
Me: "Who asked you?"
Zh: "I don't know. I never saw him before. Some old man. He was nice.
Me: "What meeting?"
Z: "I don't know. A church meeting with some men. He said that I was to talk about something, I can't remember what, but it's in one of my books.
Me: "What book?"
Z: "I think one of my Young Men books. He said that it should be 5 minutes long.
Me: "Okay...was it one of your leaders?"
Z: "No, I never saw him before."
Me: "Was one of your leaders with you when he asked you?"
Z: "No. I was in the hall waiting."
Me: "When did you say this talk was for?"
Z: "Maybe next week. He said it was at 6 o'clock, in the morning, I think. So, can you help me?"
Me: "Okay...so, some man asked you to speak at some meeting at 6 in the morning that might be next week about something for 5 minutes ...and no one was with you when he asked you? Sure...I can help you. I just need a little more information."
Z: "It's okay, Mom. He said to just follow the spirit and to share my testimony."
Me: "Really.....? Great! Go get your books!"
As he runs off to find his Young Men books, I'm trying to figure out: AAHHHHHH!!!!!WHO? WHAT? WHEN? WHERE? WHY?

The phone rang shortly. The voice said, "This is President Schroder from the Stake Presidency. I was visiting your ward's Young Men's Priesthood meeting today and I had the pleasure of meeting your son, Z, for the first time. His spirit made such a strong impression on me and I have been unable to stop thinking about him. He has such a pure, kind spirit about him and I want the rest of the Stake to get to feel of his spirit also. I tried to find you after church but I missed you. I did run into Z though and so I asked him to speak at our General Priesthood meeting next Sunday. He was happy to accept. I asked him to speak on Honesty from his For the Strength of the Youth booklet. His talk is to be about 5 minutes long and he should share some personal experiences and his testimony. The meeting is at 6 p.m. at the Stake Center. I asked him if he had any questions for me and his only request was that I call his mother and let you know the details in case he forgot some of them. Has he mentioned any of this to you yet?"
Me: "Yes! Sort of. Thank you for filling in the details."


So, fast forward one week to now. I'm feeling a little anxious for him. The last time he gave a talk was in Primary a couple years ago. I wrote the talk for him and then stood next to him and whispered it in his ear while I held the pictures for him. He has only been 12 for 6 weeks. He has never even given a youth talk in Sacrament Meeting. This is a stake meeting. He has no idea what he's in for. I suggested that I could hang out in the mother's lounge and listen on the intercom thingy if it would make him feel better. He reminded me that I was not a Priesthood holder and that he was 12 years old now!

He was a little nervous when he left a few minutes ago with his Dad. I gave him my most famous pep talk: "Brush your teeth:) and say your prayers!"

So, now I am waiting...and praying...he's a good kid! He'll do great!

Some times it's tough for mom's to grow up!

Who's watching K?

We were in the car, pulling out of the driveway, when I turned around and saw BLUE...Lots of Blue. K had been sitting in the car, coloring, with chalk! Her picture was pretty though and she was behaving very well as she waited for everyone else to get in. Now, you would think that having had to get kids ready for church every Sunday for the last 12 years, that I would just plan to allow time in my schedule for last minute disasters. Well...that's just not my personality. I prefer to be right on time, usually without a second to spare! It's good for my stress level. J had the opening prayer in Primary, Z was being set apart as Deacons Quorum President at the beginning of Priesthood, and I had to teach Primary today.

And guess what? Church started on time...without us!!

There's always next week!!!

As I was typing this post, S came in and said, "Come on Mom! We have an emergency." I'm thinking, "I hate emergencies!!!"

It's K...AGAIN! This time she is covered in baby formula!! She said "It's milk and it's really good!" I guess I forgot to tell her that that kind of milk costs $14.00 a can. At least church is over and I was going to wash that dress anyways!

The rains came down and the floods came up...

It's a pond!

It's a lake!

No! It's just my backyard!!!

This will be our first winter in this house and it appears that we may have a problem. The neighbors said that last year our whole backyard froze over into this really great ice skating rink, so, obviously we need to buy some ice skates!

What Kind of Soda are You?

You Are Root Beer

Ultra sweet and innocent, you have a subtle complexity behind your sugary front. Children love you, but so do high end snobs... when you're brewed right. Your best soda compatibility match: Dr. Pepper Stay away from: Diet Coke

What Kind of Soda Are You?

This is great! Because I love ROOT BEER.
What's even better is Ken prefers DR. PEPPER!

I always knew it was TRUE LOVE!!!!

So, what kind of soda are you?

Updates

I feel like such a slacker but I have a good excuse.

I've been sick!

It's been almost two weeks of thinking that I might die before the doctor came up with a diagnosis that seems to be working.

This has been ongoing for a while but about 3 weeks ago I started to get more sick until I was no longer functioning. The doc ran several blood tests and everything came back negative, so he basically started treating my symptoms. I felt ill but I knew I wasn't sick.

My body was just freaking out.

He finally decided to treat me for fibromyalgia which if I understand it correctly is basically, something is wrong but it's not all these other things that we have test for so since there is nothing left to try let's call it this. Did that make any sense?

So, today I finally feel normal so I will probably NOT die! (Yes, there are people out there who dislike me enough right now to probably wish that last statement was not true but that's a story for another day.) That's the good news. The bad news is I am taking a handful of horse pills and which ones are making me better? Maybe they all are, maybe none of them are! Who knows? (One of them is a birth control pill which makes me sorta mad because I just tied my tubes so I won't have to take that little tiny thing ever again! GRRR!) I'm doing some research though and hoping to find my own answers and get this figured out. So, if you know anything about FIBROMYALGIA I am currently looking for information.

Moving on.

S is still in her class with her same teacher. Thank you for all of the advice. I have basically done nothing to improve the situation.

She has Thursday and Friday off this week because of inservice and then by next Tuesday we should know if the charter school has an opening for her. It's like this, they have 2 openings right now and she is #3 on the waiting list. They have until Monday to make a decision. So, we wait and pray that #1 or #2 are very happy with their current school arrangement, one of them declines and then we're up!

So, we are waiting....and praying....and waiting!!!!
I'm not a very patient person.


H started crawling this week! I thought he would love being able to move around. He doesn't! He cries all the time now. Not really sure what's going on. Probably has nothing to do with the fact that I have been totally ignoring him for 2 weeks, or that he just got his first 2 teeth last week or that he is also getting 2 more teeth or that he has not been sleeping well because he has a stuffy nose or that he got his 4 month shots the same day that I went in to the doctor (He's a little behind on the shots because I HATE GIVING SHOTS TO BABIES but I'm also too chicken not to. I'm not the bettin' kind. I always loose!)(Oh, and note to self...next time you feel deathly ill and you go to the doctor and he suggests that you catch up on you baby's shots during the same visit, JUST SAY NO!!! You can always come back. What's one more week when you're already 3 months behind! If you don't, the next few days may be kind of hard! )

A was the V.S. P. (very special person) for a week and a half at school (since this week was a half week). History lesson: We had a FHE on praying more for each others needs in our personal and family prayers. We then went around and suggested areas that we each may need extra prayers in. Some of the kids wanted help with understanding school, or making friends, or dealing with mean teachers:). When it was A's turn she asked that we pray for her to be V.S.P. at school next week. I tried to kindly explain that some things are maybe not as necessary to pray for since all the kids would get a turn and well, I sorta didn't really know what to say. She confidently said that that is what she would like us to pray for and that Jesus would answer her prayer. I went to bed that night praying not that she would be the V.S.P. but that her faith in prayers would not be destroyed. That following Friday, she proudly presented me with the forms to fill out and instructions about being the next class V.S.P. Not only was her pray answered on schedule but she got an extra 3 days that the other kids wouldn't get because her week was followed by a half week.

Yes! Heavenly Father sent me children "to lead me, to guide me and to walk beside me because I often loose my way. They teach me things that I need to know so that I may live with him again someday."(I am a Child of God, LDS Children's Hymn) And he sent me alot of children because he knew that I would need alot of chances to relearn the same gospel principles over and over and over....

AND ....

We are going on vacation for one day tomorrow because our family needs a vacation. The boys are skipping school tomorrow (I kept them home today also and we did nothing all day. It was so great! SHHH!) and we are going to stay in a hotel with a pool and free breakfast :) with some of my brothers and sisters and their kids! We have several rooms all together!

Can you say PARTY!!!!! We are so excited.

Actually, the reason for this decision of insanity is that my little sister is taking out her endowments tomorrow so we are going to support her in that but, since we have to make the trip anyways, let's make it something to remember!

Wish us luck!

It's going to be GREAT because I love Fall, I love going to Utah and seeing the Wasatch Mountains, I love BYU, I love Temple Square and I love General Conference Weekend!

Happy Conference Weekend!