Sister Missionaries

Since President Monson's announcement that young men could now serve missions at 18 and young women could at 19, there has been a phenomenal increase in missionaries!  Our ward received 2 more too, Sisters!  We love the Elders and will continue to have them in our home each month grateful for the example they are to our sons.  But we love the Sisters too and are so glad that our little Noé will also have such a great example.  I'm so excited that now our "boy & girl" twins will be able to serve missions at the same time if they choose!

These 2 sisters were in Young Women's when I served here 10 years ago and now they are Sister Missionaries too!  We ran into Sister Kyle last May when we went to my cousin, Lindsey's wedding.  Leonard ran into her again when he went to the MTA conference this April.  Sister Duval was at Temple Square for some training and now she is serving at the St George Temple Visitor's Center.  I love how it is such a small world in the church!

Crazy Hat Day

It seems like every time I turn around, someone is asking me to donate money.  I try to be a generous person, but we are a family of 7 living on a single income and we already give away over 10% of that income in charitable contributions.  So sometimes I do get a little annoyed.  This school fundraiser was fun though, the kids got to wear a crazy hat to school if they donated $2 to the charity of the week.  Surprisingly, we have lots of crazy hats to choose from.  Here's what the kids chose:

 

Lucky leprechaun Kaleb.

 

 

 The witch princess Noé.

 

 

And of course, train conductor Gavin (could you imagine him choosing anything else?).

Mouse Ears and Dwarf Boots

This little boy was playing dress-up with Mickey Mouse's ears and he obliged me with a darling photo op.

This past winter (and early spring) Hiram wore these little slipper boots all the time- even when he was wearing footy pajamas.  He looked just like he could be one of Snow White's dwarves!

Not "cooking" dinner anymore!

I love food!  I hate food!  Every day is a challenge for me regarding food.  I can't get my taste buds, appetite, and waistline to agree with one another.  If I satisfy my taste buds and appetite my waistline grows larger very quickly.  If I try to pay attention to my waistline I must deny my sense of taste and always feel hungry.  I'm getting tired of this game! 

 

Plus, our children are terribly picky eaters (except Kaleb) and will only willingly eat waffles, bagels, or pasta.  You know, all the stuff that has NO nutritional value.  My hubby had a fabulous idea for us to give up cooking dinner and just eat 2 raw veggies, 2 raw fruits, some nuts, and some cheese for dinner.  We tried it and were all eating better for a while.  We'd let the kids just choose which fruits and veggies they wanted and I felt like they were getting some healthy nourishment.  But the excitement of new things wears off and our kids are as picky as ever. 

 

We've been doing this for 2 months now and we pretty much eat this way during the work week, but then eat regular meals during the weekend.  We love our frozen pizza night (I just eat a little Weight Watchers one now) and our Sunday crock pot meals are a save from having church from 10:00-1:00. 

 

If you're interested in not cooking, here's some of our favorite combos:

*apples & blueberries, carrots & celery (with dip and/or peanut butter), cheddar, cashews

*strawberries & kiwis, cucumbers & avocados, mozzarella, walnuts

*pineapple & cantaloupe, sweet peppers (red, orange, yellow) & snap peas, provolone, almonds

*peaches & grapes, broccoli & cherry tomatoes, Havarti, pecans

*honeydew & blackberries, green peppers & olives (cheat from can), Camembert, peanuts

*plums & raspberries, corn on the cob (cooked), cauliflower, cheese curds, sunflower seeds

 

I found this caramel yogourt (although I say carmel yogurt, ha!) and it is so good.  I don't feel guilty eating it either.  And popcorn in our new stir-crazy popper with a little oil and sea salt is another favorite treat.

 

I saw this on facebook and it made me laugh!  Last year when I ate healthy meals all day I lost weight and when I had a splurge day I maintained.  Now I have to eat healthy all day to maintain and when I have a splurge day the weight piles back on.  I give up, I will gladly stay a bit overweight if others find me attractive, intelligent, and funny, ha!

Greatness vs. Goodness

We took the kids to see Oz The Great and Powerful during spring break.  To be honest, I was disappointed with the movie.  However, the last conversation between Oz and Glinda hit home to me.

Glinda: I knew you had it in you.

Oz:  What?  Greatness?

Glinda:  No.  Goodness.

I've always wanted to do something GREAT with my life, but alas I am just an average woman.  But I'm a woman who tries to be good.  I try to be a good wife.  I try to be a good mother.  I try to be a good homemaker.  I try to be a good friend to those around me and I try to serve in any capacity that I can.  And you know what?  I'll choose that life over fame or fortune anyday. 

 

With today being Mother's Day of course I think of my children's futures.  I want them all to be happy and successful in the paths they choose.  Maybe they will accomplish greatness in their lives, but most importantly I hope they accomplish goodness.

 

I saw this comparison about successful people vs. unsuccessful people by MaryEllen Tribby on facebook.  I'd like to change the words to happy people vs. unhappy people and share it here:

 

Happy People - Unhappy People

Compliment - Criticize

Forgive others - Hold a grudge

Accept responsibility for their failures - Blame others for their failures

Keep a journal - Say they keep a journal but really don't

Want others to succeed- Secretly hope others fail

Keep a "to-be" list - Don't know what they want to be

Set goals and develop life plans - Never set goals

Continuously learn- Think they know it all

Operate from a transformational perspective - Operate from a transactional perspective

Have a sense of gratitude - Have a sense of entitlement

Give other people credit for their victories - Take all the credit of their victories

Read everyday - Watch TV everyday

Talk about ideas - Talk about people

Share information and data - Horde information and data

Exude joy - Exude anger

Embrace change - Fear change

Keep a "to do/project" list - Fly by the seat of their pants

 

My friend Chandra has some quotes on her blog that I love so much I have to share them too! 

 

"Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Masquerading as a normal person day after day is exhausting."

-Anonymous

 

"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."
-Oscar Wilde

"You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

"What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?"

-Anonymous

 

The last quote is my favorite. May we each live our dreams while being good to those around us!

I'm a Mom

I love being a mom, but probably every other day I think I'm lousy at it.  I forget to do important things (like have family scripture reading) or I do things I wish I hadn't (raise my voice to get my yelling children to stop yelling).  But I love my children with all that I am and they know that (I've asked them).  I read a cute post on: 320 Sycamore and wanted to share some of Melissa's words here:

 

"We are the ones that can set the tone in the home, whatever a blessing or curse that may be. With our words, reactions, or listening ear we can build, encourage, comfort, and inspire. And when days don’t go as we hoped they would and we see those sweet faces sleeping at night, every unkind word and retort comes piercing back to our hearts. And yet, we get up and try again the next day, to bite our tongue, to not raise our voice, to be patient when it is taking 17 minutes to get a shoe and sock on, and to be interested in hearing about the 7th grade field trip at 10:30 when we just want to drop dead into bed.

 

You are doing so much better than you think you are.

 

You are the Mom that God gave to your children. You are exactly what they need. Your kids don’t care what other Moms are doing, just what you do. You have a tiny idea of how much God loves His children because you know how fiercely you love yours. I know this is a blog about bringing out the potential in your homes, but what you build inside of them will be forever more important than what you build or makeover inside your home. You all know that, but it’s good to hear again and again and again.

 

I love being a Mom, and it’s the hardest thing I have ever done. But it’s always the hard things that are most worth it."

To ALL women- Happy Mother’s Day to you!

Don't give up on things that make you smile!

I am SO far behind with this blog, but I am NOT giving up!  This blog makes me smile so I will keep working on it.  Most of my life is spent serving others and that's how I want to spend my life, but it's good to have some "me" time too and I think that's important.  Anyway, here's a sneak peek at 20 posts that will hopefully be coming soon:

 

Greatness vs. Goodness

Not "cooking" dinner anymore!

 

Mouse Ears and Dwarf Boots

Crazy Hat Day

 

Sister Missionaries

 

 Easter

 

MTA Conference

 

Castles & Towers

 

Penpals

 

Double the diapers (still)

 

My "mantel"

 

April Date

Brought to you by the letter "T" and the number "4"

 

Mothers and Daughters

 Home Again

 

ALIVE

 

Sweet Sixteen

May flowers

 

May Date

 

 Cinco de Mayo

Smiling, so I don't cry!

Sweet Sixteen

Today is our sixteenth wedding anniversary and I don't think life could get any sweeter.  Here are 16 of my favorite pics from that time!

 

Engagements:

The photo we used.  (I see you Kristopher.)

 

The photo I wish we used.

 

Bridals:

(Well not really, our photographer brought this backdrop and snapped some extra pictures on our wedding day.)

Len's fav.

  

My fav.

 

At the Temple:

 

After being sealed for time and all eternity!

 

The Groom's fam.

 

The Bride's fam.

 

3 generations.

(I miss you Granny!)

 

So young and so in love!

 

Len thinks he scored...

 

...but I know better, I'm the winner!

 

At the Reception:

My mom's fav.

 

The small wedding party. (Minus Jeff, Jeremie, and Rob who weren't able to make it in the end.  It's a good thing or our party might have been too big, ha!)

 

Cutting the cake.

 

Drinking the toast.  (I see you Connor.)

 

Off to our honeymoon and happily ever after!