Primary Program

Yesterday was our Primary Program in Church. The theme was "Our Eternal Family". It was a very enjoyable meeting and the boys both did a great job. My mom asked Noah before what he his part was in the program. He promptly replied "Classified". He just was not willing to give any spoilers! Curtis was asked to talk on his baptism. He wrote his part himself. He said "I was really nervous because I was afraid my dad would mess up." He also said some really sweet things but I can't remember because I was laughing too hard at that sentence! Sam and I were asked to speak for a few minutes about how family prayer has strengthened our family. Lucy decided to join us and yanked the microphone towards her every few seconds and uttered a "yah yah yah" into it and then chuckled to herself. I was glad for her comic relief as I was able to get through my part without crying (a curse of mine, for certain). Lucy also decided to make a dash out of Sam's arms towards the stand during the closing prayer and (observed from my one eye while trying to show some semblance of reverence)did her best to elude the grabbing hands of the Primary presidency. She managed to get a little dance in next to the podium before the "amen". My thoughts of putting a child gate on the end of the pew have resurfaced.

Sacrilege

Sunday during Sacrament meeting was rough. Sam was home very sick so I was left to do the battle of the squirmy, tired toddler by myself. I spent most of the time trying to get Lucy to quiet down in the foyer but did have a few moments on the pew.
During one of those rare moments, right after the sacrament water had gone through our row, Noah leaned over and said "I wish they had chicken for the body." What? "You know, chicken instead of bread. That would taste much better." I'll admit, I did the church bench shake for a few minutes. I know it's a little sacrilegious, but the kid has a point, no?

Updates

Yesterday marked the end of one of my "busy seasons" with Young Womens. The last 2 months I have been attending Ward Conferences to visit the Young Womens classes. My counselors and I have been teaching the lesson so I only had to teach twice. We decided to use the talk from Elaine Dalton entitiled "A Return to Virtue". I feel like this call is so timely as our world actually looks down on virtuous women and we are being bombarded on all sides to abandon our virtue.

A few thoughts that stuck out to me were:

"What could be more deceptive than to entice women, young and old, you and me, to be so involved in ourselves, our looks, our clothes, our body shape and size that we lose sight of our divine identity and our ability to change the world through our virtuous influence?"

"I truly believe that one virtuous young woman or young man, led by the Spirit, can change the world, but in order to do so, we must return to virtue."

We talked about standing in holy places and where those holy places are. One of the leaders yesterday said that our holy place can be inside of us and as we live a virtuous life people will be drawn to us. I realized that this greatly applies to motherhood that as we make every aspect of our lives a holy place, we will always be prepared to teach our children by the Spirit in any situation.

Our Stake President spoke about the Lord being mindful of each of us. One of the quotes that struck me yesterday was by President Ezra Taft Benson: "men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life."

I love that but sometimes forget it. As I work diligently as a wife, mother, and Young Women's President, I will be blessed now and eternally. Sometimes I can only focus on the stress and busy-ness of now and not realize the blessings that are in store for me. I just need to remember that the Lord will make up the difference when I have done my best.

In other news: I finally got Sam to go to Ikea with me. For the year that Ikea has been here, he has wanted nothing to do with it. So, I was a little shocked on Saturday when he actually agreed to go. When we got there he was a little intimidated by the amount of cars in the parking lot ( he generally avoids big crowds) but as we started looking around, he realized what all the fuss was about. He actually admitted to me that he thought it was an awesome place! We ended up buying two shelving units to hold the myriad of Legos that our boys have accumulated. We needed a better storage solution (or ANY storage solution, for that matter). Curtis actually put both shelves together by himself, well, Sam had to step in a few times by for the most part, it was all Curtis!

Check him out with his completed shelf! I think this kid has a future as an architect or engineer. he loves to figure out how things work and how to put them together. He's a pretty cool kid!

Blog Funk

Anyone else sick of seeing that picture of Curtis? Sheesh.
I have kind of been in a blog funk lately. I've thought of blogging several times but every time I sat down to do it, I just didn't have the energy. I'm not especially feeling it right now but I had to do something!

Things have been a little stressful on the church calling front. As most of you know, I'm the stake Young Womens president. About 40% of the year,it is a pretty mellow calling. A meeting here, an activity there. Then comes Standard's Night, Girls' Camp, Youth Conference, Opening Social, etc. And the craziness sets in. This year, the stress is about 10 times worse!

For Youth Conference we are doing a Pioneer Trek and started planning awhile ago but had no real concrete plans except the date and place. Then our Stake YM's presidency got released so its like we are starting over with the planning. Thank Goodness for us, the new President is one of my favorite men in our stake. He is close to my dad's age and goes to Girls' Camp every year as the priesthood chaperon. He is awesome. I finally feel a little relief about this whole Trek thing. Oh, and because I have a nursing baby, I'm planning a Trek I can't participate in! Bummer!

A few months ago, I went to a meeting with the Stake Presidency and all the Bishops in my stake. We have a pretty small youth group and some of the kids are really suffering from the lack of a structured program or the strength of a bigger group. So the Stake Pres. proposed that we combine all the youth in the stake for weekly Mutual activities. That way, the age groups can split up and have more than 2 or 3 in their group. Several more meetings have followed and I've had a few stressed phone calls from parents or young women leaders. Finally on Sunday, the program was presented to all the youth, parents and leaders in the Stake. I think it went well and am excited to get the program up and running in the coming weeks. After that meeting we went straight into a Trek meeting so all the youth and parents could be there together and hear the plans. My presidency and I kind of took charge of that and it worked out fine.

Last Tuesday, Sam was called to be on the High Council so right before our 2 youth meetings Sunday afternoon, he was ordained a High Priest and set apart. He is nervous about the calling but also excited for the learning opportunities he will have.

So, Sunday afternoon, I was feeling pretty relaxed that all these things were taken care of. Then came Monday afternoon...

We had a very capable Girls' Camp Director called that already had a ton planned before we even had a meeting with her. So, I wasn't feeling too stressed about that. Yesterday I got a call from her telling me she just found out she has some medical problems and may not be able to go to Camp! Yikes. So, we have to call an assistant that can take over the whole thing if need be. The stress is starting to creep back in.

I think this year I might lower the mellow percentage to 25...

Sweet Silence

So, I am obviously not the best blogger since my last entry was a month ago yesterday! Oh well!

Right now it is 9:51 and everyone in my house (except me, obviously) has been asleep for at least an hour. Did you hear that? EVERYONE!!!! That is unheard of! It is so quiet! My kitchen is clean, my bathroom is clean, the laundry is folded and I just put another in the dryer. What's a girl to do? How about Blog!!!

Today I took Lucy in for her 2 month appointment. I really can not believe this little girl has been with us for 2 months...it really has gone so quickly. She has gained exactly 3 pounds since birth and grown 2 inches. 37% for weight, 44% for height. She has met all the milestones that a 2 month old should meet. Her little neck muscles are so strong and she is holding her head up really well. She is also so smiley! I love it! She smiles so big that she lets out a little giggle.



I'm not the best photographer but I think I captured her sweet smile in these photos.
Unfortunately, she had shots today so we haven't seen that smile very much. I'm sure it will be back tomorrow.

This weekend is really special for our family. Curtis turns 8 on Friday and will be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Saturday. We decided to have Lucy blessed the same day so family doesn't have to travel two days in a row. Curtis is very excited to be baptized and also to share this special day with his baby sister. I honestly don't know how Curtis can be 8! I feel like it was just a few years ago that HE was my 2 month old. It makes me realize how important it is for me to make the most of everyday with these kids because they won't stay little forever and before I know it, they will be at college, on missions, married and having their own children!

Before I sign off, I just want to send a shout out to my dear friend Karen. Happy Birthday Karen! I hope this year is even better than last! Love you!

Ramblings

I received an email today from the boys' pre-school teacher. Kellie found out last January that she had breast cancer and she has bravely battled through. She submitted her story to foreverybody.com in August when they were asking for stories from women with breast cancer for a contest they were holding. She found out a last week that she was one of the 12 finalists and then last night got the call that she won the contest! They are having an "Evening in Pink" next week to honor her. Just wanted to share that great news and congratulate Kellie! We love her so much and are so glad she is doing well!

Today I had my 36 week appt. with my midwife. As she was measuring my impressive girth, I asked her to measure me around my waist. She kind of looked at me oddly and I asked her if I was the first person to ask her to do this. She replied that, as a matter of fact, I was. She asked why I wanted to be measured around my waist and I told her "I'm just wondering if I'm as wide as I am tall, yet." Thankfully, I'm not! We both got a little chuckle out of it, though.

She then proceeded to tell me about an anesthesiologist she used to work with that was pregnant and in a surgery. Every time she walked by the patient, she noticed his head would move. So she gave him more anesthesia to stop him from moving. This happened several times before she realized...the guy had PLENTY of medication, she just kept bumping his head with her huge stomach!!! I can totally relate as I have run into several things with my belly in the last few days...doorframes, fridge doors, countertops. It's getting big, I tell ya!

We went to Parent Teacher Conferences last week and got good reports from both teachers. They both are doing well. Noah is doing awesome with learning how to read and write and Curtis is a spelling whiz! He has got 100% on almost every spelling test! I really like both teachers and am grateful for their care and concern towards my sons. I told Sam that was the first PT conference I've been to for Curtis that I haven't cried. He has come a long way and I think we have too!

Along those same lines, Sam and I were asked to speak in church this Sunday. My topic? Parenting. Great. Not looking forward to that.

I cashed in my Service Auction certificate and had my kitchen and bathroom deep cleaned on Monday by a sweet lady in my ward. Get this, she said she thinks cleaning is FUN. What? I don't understand. I like the reward from cleaning but I certainly wouldn't call it fun! Anyway, she did an awesome job and I appreciate her so much! Thanks Dorothy!

Was "Ramblings" an apt title or what? Nothing profound to say, just wanted to share!!!

Service Auction

About 6 years ago I was called to be the Enrichment Counselor in my ward Relief Society. This made me laugh because I had been a sporadic attendee to this ward's Enrichment meetings. But, this was what I was supposed to do and I realize now what a growing experience it was for me. At one of our stake training meetings I was given a bunch of great ideas for Enrichment meetings; one of them being the Service Auction. It was a big undertaking but decided to go for it. My committee and I made paper money, put together about 70 bidding paddles, came up with a questionnaire and made dinner for about 70 people. Of course, any time you are in charge of a big event, you are worried things might not work out the way the are supposed to but the whole night was a success. Everyone that attended brought either an item that they had made or filled out a service coupon to auction off. Then everyone filled out a questionnaire that gave them points towards "service money". Some of the ways to earn "money" were "5 points for each load of laundry you have done this week" or "15 points if your Visiting Teaching is done" "20 points if you've been married for 25 years or more" "10 points if you've had FHE every week this month". You get the picture. So after all your points are added up, you trade them in for "money" and then the bidding began. Our RS Pres was the auctioneer (Karen, who is one of my greatest friends now) and people really got into the bidding. Everyone left with at least one or two items and a great memory. So, the next year, we held the 2nd annual Service Auction.

Saturday night I attended the 5th annual Service Auction. This is still one of the favorite activities for the sisters in the ward and we all look forward to it. I took some Christmas Cards that I made and a board with vinyl lettering that says "Believe". I ended up coming home with a plate of cookies, homemade salsa (with chips), a cute pink baby blanket and, my favorite, a coupon for a sister in our ward to clean my house!!!! I also came home bouyed by the friendships I have with the women in my ward and the love they show to me. I'm so glad that this has become a tradition in our ward, despite all the changes in the RS presidencies, everyone knows that this is an event that can't be missed! I'm already looking forward to next year's auction!