A Day In The Life.

Monday...Took the kiddos to get summer shoes. Sam picked out these sandles and put them right on his little tootsies. He then found the nearest trash can in the store and put his nasty boots in. He actually threw away the boots! Good thing, too. They were falling apart.

Tuesday...I forgot the order of my pictures and so these are not day specific. But at least I did it, right?! Ruthie's kindergarten program. All the kids sang and had parts and were so cute. Ruthie sang her heart out! I can't believe she'll be in first grade!

I had lunch with my friend Kim. We talked and talked and ate. Thanks Kim!
Wednesday...This is actually what happened on Wednesday. Went to Ruthie's kindergarten program. She got out early. Went to get a treat with my girl. Got the boys. No Webelos. We all went to piano lessons. Went to get new summer shoes for the kids. Sam threw his old boots away! Told the kids that if they were great and awesome, I would get them a treat. They were great and awesome and chose 7-11. Went into 7-11. Picked treats. Mostly. Sam was still choosing. Gave car keys to Isaac so he and Ruthie could get in the car and wait. Sam brought his treat to me. Isaac AND Ruthie came back into the store. Ruthie said she locked the car. With the keys inside.
Panicked!
Sam said a prayer asking Heavenly Father to help us choose the right thing to do. We discussed breaking a window. Walking home...No keys, remember? Can't get into the house. No phone, can't call anyone.
Wait!! We're at 7-11.
Went into the store and got a phone book. Called the only listing for a locksmith who will save in the city. 7-11 phone doesn't have a dial tone. The really nice gal let me use her cell. This is how he answered the phone..."Are you locked out? This is Steve." I said "hi Steve, yes I'm locked out. Can you help me?!" He said he'd be there in an hour. We waited outside and watched for a white Caddilac. We ate our treats. Got a Slurpee. Threw rocks. Collected rocks. Talked to one of the 7-11 gals. Used the bathroom. Then our piano teacher drove up! She saw us. Wanted to help. But then Steve got there!
He unlocked the door. I payed him. We went home!
I ordered Pizza for dinner. I felt we deserved it.
Friend and freezer fixer, Lance, came over to analyze why the freezer doesn't work. Blockage. 10 year warranty. Happy dance. Parts ordered.
Bed!

Thursday...Field day at school. This is a last day of school picture and you can still see some of the face paint on the boys. Pack meeting in the rain in our backyard. They launched bottle rockets! So fun!

Friday...Last day of school! Hip hip hooray! We went to the family ranch for a family reunion. We were only staying one night. Bummer! We got the big trailer and this is Sam on one of the bunk beds.

Saturday...Not much sleep. I stayed in bed until after 11 am. Isaac got just a couple hours of sleep. Sam crashed on a 4-wheeler. Ouch! We got home, showered, jammied, laundry, bed. Ruthie's glasses are now 2 separate entities. And unwearable. At least she isn't totally blind!

Sunday...Daniel and I both subbed in Primary. Baked potatoes for dinner. We watched River Monsters on the animal channel. Giant stingrays. The last one he caught had babies while they were taking pictures. The kids thought it was so cool.

Isaac's lightening from field day!

Have a great week!

An Epiphany....Almost.

Last night as I watched the finale of The Biggest Loser...which title I need to explain to my children is not meant to demean or be rude...it's to lose weight and be healthy...I had an epiphany! It went like this: I will walk every day...long distance. I will build it into a run. Then I will run every day. Then I will run a marathon. Then I .... got really tired just thinking about it and put band aids and duct tape on my heels to protect the new blisters from my cute new shoes that I need to break in for the cruise. Epiphany? Almost!

A Choice.

There are several things I am very passionate about. My family. My Faith. My political views. One thing I am very sure of involving these things is that I don't put my religion or my politics on my front lawn or on my car. I don't even put little stickers spelling out who is in my family on my car. But it's fairly obvious, when you come to my house, what my family situation is. I have kids. And I hope it's fairly obvious what my faith is. And even perhaps my political views.

But I have been perplexed by something recently seen on the news. A former first lady has just written a book and was doing the book tour with news agencies, etc. She has stated that she is for abortion when the mother's life is at risk or for “other reasons”. That's what she said. She is pro choice without giving the baby a choice.

And that's where I have a huge problem. And frankly, it's something I feel the need to “soapbox”about. So here it goes.

I am pro life. But I also have called myself-only with the opportunity to explain it-pro choice. When a young woman finds she is pregnant and isn't ready for the responsibility, there is a choice. It's called adoption. Why does the choice only include killing an innocent child or raising it under less than ideal circumstances? I know the abortion debate is very political. But it's also moral. It involves another person who has no say in what the mother chooses.

Did you know that only 1% of abortions occur as a result of rape or incest? Only 6% occur because of potential health problems for the mother. That leaves 93% of abortions occurring just because. That is inexcusable! In 2005, 1.2 million abortions were performed in the U.S. Even though that number is lower than the number in 2000, it is 1.2 million babies that were not given an opportunity to live. And that many babies who weren't even considered to be placed in the arms of a man and woman who have been struggling and waiting and hoping to have a baby placed in their arms.

I had made a statement out loud about abortion once. I was later reprimanded by a woman who was there who said she had had an abortion. She was full term and the baby was not going to live once born. But he was still alive. His brain stem hadn't developed. So. She. Aborted. Her. Son. He was full term. He was still living.

My mom has a friend who found, during her pregnancy, that the baby girl had not had a brain develop. She had that baby. They knew she wouldn't live long. So they took her home. As they knelt for family prayer, that baby, with no brain, but with a strong and sweet spirit, looked around at her eternal family as they prayed together. She died shortly after that. I can't imagine a sweeter experience.

I know this is a debate that will go on forever more. And I am sad. I love my children. I look forward to my family growing again. Trust me! You'll know when my family is going to grow!! I will rejoice in the choice that our birth mom makes to give her baby life. And I pray, because I am passionate about my faith, that more will make that choice. And Choose Life.

Please note that I know that not everyone who reads this post will agree with my position. Please don't flame or vent or accuse on either side in the comments. Any such comments will be removed. Thanks! ~me

Oh Drat.

Oh, right. I have this blog. I assumed I would have all this time to just....um. Blog. Not.
So I sat down just a bit ago to put all the pictures and update on the last few weeks. But I realized something. Many of my pictures are gone. And Isaac isn't home to ask. He had my camera for a while. I have no idea what happened to all the pictures. But these are the ones that are still there. Mostly what he took on his field trip.

So consider this a catch up. But not really. I had pictures of my latest updates to my family room. From Mother's day. The baptism. And other such things. So it's just a filler. Unless I can't find my pictures.

Isaac's field trip to Promontory Point. 4th graders smell funny. I've gone on all but one field trip with these beasts. They smell funny. Ever hear of showers? Deodorant? Toothbrushes?? At least I got to sit by Isaac the whole time. He doesn't smell near as funny. He just is funny!
The kids did a reenactment of the marriage of the rails. Isaac got to be the rail worker. He so efficiently got to drive the last spike into the rails. He's so awesome!

Isaac took this picture of the 2 original trains. The Juniper and the, um, something else. I apparently was too distracted other things. I don't remember what the other train was called. But I liked it better.

Last Friday night, Daniel took the boys on the Ward's Father/Son Camp Out. It rained, snowed and was freezing. But they had fun. Sam refused to put pants on. He's so strange!

Isaac crossing his eyes? Why? No idea. Ruthie and I went to Applebee's for dinner then stayed up late and watched Hannah Montana the movie. We had a fun slumber party and were really warm.

The snow. The cold.

The new Primary President and her first counselor/my previous first counselor stopped by last week with this book and a gift basket. They had all the kids write letters/draw pictures for me. The basket had lots of chocolate and relaxing stuff just for me.

This was my favorite page in the book. There isn't a name on it, so I don't know who it's from. It says, "Hi, you were a good teacher and now you have a breake from being a good teacher." Thank you. I needed a break!

For mom's day, Daniel set a precedent last year with the blog books. This year I got volumes 3 and 4. Yep. That's me driving a tractor. These books are wonderful scrapbooks of our family. All I had to do was update my blog. Hmmm. Maybe I should be doing that more for the next volumes!

And that's all my pictures. You know what I've been doing lately? Reading. A book. I know. I actually haven't been able to just sit and get involved in a good book for 2 and a half years. Whenever I would try, my mind would run through all the myriad of things that needed to be done. I didn't realize how much of my life Primary took. I am enjoying a great book and have purchased more books from DI.

I have a new calling! I'm the Wolf Den Leader. yahoo! I am loving it! 8 year old boys smell funny, too, but I can handle it better than 50 10 year olds on a school bus. Daniel is still the Cubmaster, so we actually get to kinda work together again. I love it!

In 2 weeks, Daniel and I will be sailing through the great state of Alaska! I went to get me cute shoes and some rain ponchos today. Now I need to start making my lists. Lists of stuff. Kid stuff. Mom and dad stuff. Grocery stuff. House preparing stuff. Packing stuff. Stuff. And then there's all the other stuff.

There are only 4 days and 15 minutes left of school. Then I will have a 5th grader, a 3rd grader and a 1st grader. Man! They're getting old!

So I think I have caught up on most of what's been going on.

Make A Treat.

I had a few people ask for my Cinnamon Bread recipe. It's actually just a quick bread recipe that I believe I've posted before, and I just decided one day to add cinnamon and sugar and butter to it. And it worked. So here it is....

You need a Kitchen Aid or a Bosch for this bread recipe.

Put 1/4 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp salt, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 2 cups HOT water and 2 cups of flour into the mixing bowl. Mix on low for 1 minute.

Add 1 1/2 Tbsp yeast and begin adding 3-4 cups more flour until the dough doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl. Then mix that baby on high for 8 minutes. Yes, set your timer. I have to stand by my mixer with my arm over the top so it doesn't shimmy off the counter. It's a lot of fun!
After the timer goes off, stop the mixer and reset the timer for 5 minutes. Let that stuff rest for 5 minutes! It needs it after the beating it just got. Get your bread pans (2 of them) sprayed with non stick spray and get your cinnamon, sugar and butter and rolling pin ready!

After the timer goes off again, cut the dough into 2 pieces and "spank" them to get the bubbles out. Lay one out and roll it the width of the bread pan and about 12 inches up and down.

Then spread the melted butter on. Then put handfuls of sugar on. Then sprinkle cinnamon on. Do it like you love cinnamon more than anything in the whole world. You'll appreciate it later. I always add another sprinkle of sugar over that. I don't know why. I just do.

Then roll it up like you were going to make a short roll of cinnamon rolls. Pinch the bottom and tuck the ends under. Put it in the bread pan. Before I put it in the bread pan, I roll the top in the extra butter, sugar and cinnamon on the counter.

Put it in a preheated 170 degree oven for 25 minutes. When the timer goes off, change to oven temp to 350 without taking the bread out. Don't open the oven! Reset your timer for 35 minutes and enjoy the aroma that fills your house. Can you smell it yet?

Butter the tops of the bread and set them out to cool.

I enjoy eating it plain. I enjoy putting it in the toaster and then buttering it. I now enjoy it made up as french toast like Kim suggested. That's what we had for dinner last night.

Mmmmm!!

Enjoy your Cinnamon Bread and please use my name!

This is one experiment gone completely well!

Baptism Day.

Alright. I guess since it's his day it's okay that this ended up as the first picture. I am struggling with blogging. I don't know what my problem is. Here's the post....

(I know this is years late. I have a list of about a dozen blog posts I need/want to do. This is my first to catch up. Enjoy!)

Sam started his Baptism Day by getting right into the jumpsuit and then sitting to pluck some soft tunes. Daniel and I think he will start a band later and be the keyboardist/sound mixer. His band will be called "Super Sam Band". Or "The Worms". He's cool like that. Before the baptism. A picture with dad. This is as serious as he would get. He gets it from his dad. And when his dad was telling him to knock it off, I gently reminded his dad that he is following his example. Sam's good at following examples!

See? So silly. That's why we call him Silly Sam. Dang! He's cute!

This is Sunday. With the suit and the new scriptures and bag. He thinks the scripture bag is like Indiana Jones' bag. So I figure it was worth Abbie's effort because the boy will actually bring his scriptures to church. Well, IN TO the church. They haven't stayed in the car in the parking lot for 2 weeks now! Next we work on tucking in the shirt. Baby steps.

The mom, the dad, the Sam. Look at Sam's glow!

The cleanest boy in the world. Oh, Sam, I can't believe you are baptized and have the Gift of the Holy Ghost. So handsome. So good. So silly. So our wonderful 8 year old!

DANG!! I just deleted it! It's going on the top of the post now!

Therapy.

For therapy this week I decided to make something for my presidency and the new presidency. A thank you and a congrats and good luck!

A few weeks ago while making a quick couple loaves of bread, I decided to try something on one loaf. I spread it out just a wee little bit and put melted butter, sugar and a whole lot of cinnamon. Then I rolled it up like a big giant cinnamon roll and baked it as a loaf of bread.

You know, cause it's a loaf of bread.

The result was a yummy smell wafting from my kitchen. Like cinnamon rolls on steroids.

Oh Yum!

And then we ate some. Oh, holy hannah in a handbasket.

It was delish!

And then we tried making toast out of it.

Oh good heavenly days!

So this is what I did with the early half of my week...

I baked.

And baked.

My house smelled delicioso!

And the feedback has been like salve to my soul.

Not that I need salve.

But I am feeling a little jealous of all those people who get to just go to Primary on Sunday.

A Very Long Post.

I feel pretty. Oh so pretty. I have a double cold sore on my lip and my nose is runny and wiping it has turned it red. I cried so much on Sunday that my eyes are still puffy. And now I can't upload any pictures. I believe I had trouble when it came to putting pictures of Isaac's baptism up. Now it's Sam's turn. But even without pictures, I suppose it's time to blog again. I will have to stop to blow my nose, though. I'm sick.

The last 2 weeks have been busy and full. Oh, and emotional. I knew what was coming...field trips, cub scouts, preparing taco meat, my sister's wedding, Sam's baptism and being released from Primary. So I think I'll go back and just....share.

I started booking things for last week knowing full well that I had a baptism lunch to prepare. Taco meat. Taco chicken. Salsa. Bowls to put stuff into that would be pretty. Oh, and Sam asked me to give the talk on the Holy Ghost. So I found myself getting as much meat/chicken done in between field trips and cub scouts and preparing for a Mother's Day sharing time. I also knew that my time in Primary was going to come to an end.

Then the phone call came. Will you and Daniel come in to see the Bishop tonight? Yes. I had mixed feelings. It was official. I would be done this coming Sunday. Mother's Day. With a sharing time for moms. With a baptism on Saturday. My last baptism. Did you know that Isaac was my first baptism in this calling? Yep. And Sam's my last. I cried as the Bishop and Ken (my priesthood advisor) told me what a wonderful job I'd done. I expressed that this was by far my most favorite calling! It was challenging and rewarding. I love the kids! I would miss it. It's time for someone new.

I cried every night. I would realize what I would miss then get teary then cry. Then I would think about going to church and not sweating! That makes me happy. I took Sam in for his baptism interview. He was wiggly and answered all the Bishop's questions. I was proud of him. Daniel joined us half way through. He had left work early so he could be there. It was a nice moment for us to be with Sam as he assured the Bishop that he is ready.

I cleaned the house. I cooked. I purchased food. I asked my sister to bring the guacamole to take extra pressure off. I bought a new dress. I realized that I really don't have to actually buy flats now because my feet have been hammered by wearing heels every Sunday while running. I'm prideful like that. I must wear heels. But I still may get some cute flats just to wear. Because I can. And because I'm prideful like that.

Saturday came to us sunshiny and beautiful! Just perfect. Sam was so excited. This was his big day. He would be following Jesus' perfect example and be baptized by his dad. He wanted both grandpas to be witnesses and asked if my grandma, Meme, would give the closing prayer. He fit into his new suit and looked so dapper. He was baptized and confirmed a member of the church. He glowed just a little. He was a perfect little boy right then. Just like when he was born. Not that he isn't perfect any other time. But he is a boy after all!

After the baptism family members came over for lunch. All the food prep was noticed and enjoyed. YAY!! A taco bar is the best thing on a Saturday afternoon with family. Sam got new scriptures from Grandma and Grandpa and a new, very cool, scripture bag from Abbie and Poppy. After everyone left, Sam wanted to go to 7-11. So we went. And then we had cereal and tacos for dinner. We just enjoyed our evening together.

Sunday morning brought breakfast for mom. Dad prepared the night before for a big deal. It was worth it! The kids all gave me their gifts they made. They were all so excited about what they had made. Especially for me. I love being their mom. I have amazing kids!

I went to church feeling...sad...happy...anxious...stressed...excited...ready. As I was being released, I started to cry. I could feel the mantel being lifted. I raised my hand high in support of our new Primary President. Wow. What an amazing new presidency. The kids will be blessed. I cried through the beginning of Jr Primary. If I hadn't put so much work into my sharing time for their moms, I would have just told them how much I love them and left the room. It was a difficult day. But those kids are amazing. Many came and gave me a hug. Many teachers hugged and said wonderful things to me. Daniel came up the hall at one moment and just hugged me as I cried. Primary is the best place in the world. I will miss it. This has been an amazing position to be in. I wish Jen and her new presidency much luck and happiness as they serve those kids!

And from there we are here. Less stressed. Crying at odd moments. Realizing how blessed I was and how blessed I just am! In 4 weeks I'll be on a cruise ship. You know how people who don't really understand how infertility works say "Just relax, you'll get pregnant"? Well I now can relax. And then be alone with my man on a cruise ship. Maybe I'll get pr...wait...Maybe I will get that phone call. Or maybe not. But I can't wait to just enjoy my kids, my husband, my new calling, my life. Hold it. I already am!

And thanks, Kim, for the Coldblaster you brought. Between that and the Tylenol Cold, I'm feeling pretty good!

Now if I could just get rid of the cold sores!

Update...

This has been a whirlwind weekend. My dress came in handy. Sam was successfully baptized. I have absolutely wonderful kids and couldn't have had a better Mother's day! I was also released today. I cried a lot and smiled a lot. My mixed feelings are getting farther away from sad because I know it was time. Jen and her new presidency will be absolutely wonderful!!!

I will sit and do pictures and details.

Soon.

Very soon.

I promise.

Well, I'll do my best!

I Actually Did It!

No, I didn't clean my bathroom. As you can see from the picture. I did clean the laundry room. But that's another post. And this isn't A Day In The Life. So it's not that either. So what did I actually do????

I BOUGHT A DRESS! And in order to appreciate this, you must know that the last dress I wore was a black with red flowers gorgeous maternity dress. Do you know how long it's been since I was pregnant and could fit into that dress?? 10 years. I wear skirts for a reason. And with this cute wrap around number I need to make sure my girdle is in place. Trust me on that one!

Why the dress?

Well, if it was atrocious in the dressing room, the only offended would be the dressing room surveillance crew.

Oh yeah, and...

My sister is getting married tomorrow. Sam is getting baptized on Saturday. Mother's day and many another thing is on Sunday. And I think I look cute in it!

But don't count on me buying a bathing suit any time soon. Just be happy I got a dress and will actually wear it!