Getting some ZZZZzzzz…

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It’s always so nice to make the rounds before bedtime to watch the children sleeping so quietly and sweetly. The other night Jimmy noticed Max’s crazy position. This is very common for him. I really want to have a sleep study done to see how well he sleeps. I still think he needs his humongous tonsils out so he can breathe better. Anyhoo…. Liza snoozing restfully. Tru kept stirring because I either kept trying to put medicine on his gashed lip or taking pictures with a flash. Hannah – princess Snow White with ruby lips. Abe content and comfy. I love quiet sleep time… one of my favorite times of the day. (p.s. I would so super mad if someone took a flash picture of me sleeping. My sleep is so precious… don’t waste the time. Not that I sleep with my mouth open or look horrible when I sleep or anything).

Grateful

The other day my sister shared a picture on instagram of some Gisele chick:
a glamorous woman breastfeeding a baby, with 2 stylists fixing her hair.
At the same time, she was receiving a manicure … all in a fancy apartment.

Real life?!  uhhh, no.

But then again…

after a dinner of tomato soup & grilled cheese…
tonight I was sitting on the bathroom floor sorting oodles of laundry
(me thinks the washer and dryer are both on the fritz, by the way).

Truman started combing my hair.
Then Liza joined in and brushed my hair.
Two Stylists fixing mother’s hair.

Then Tru started singing, “Baby it’s cold outside.”

And we laughed.  How does he even know that song?

He tells me that I taught it to him.
He listens every time I sing that when we leave the house I guess.

This moment made me chuckle.  I may not have the glamorous life that the ‘world’ thinks everyone ought to have,
But I have so many glorious blessings in my life.

Grateful.

p.s. Tru found 2 pennies when we were sorting laundry.
This kid thinks he’s so rich to have so much $.
We are blessed.

Monday … & Mercies…

not much filtering going on this evening on this blog… too tired to deal with that…

I’m not sure what else I would expect of today…
after a fun family trip that exceeded expectations…
& inspiring lessons at church on Sunday…
and then wham – Monday.

As soon as I woke up to Abe’s never-ending alarm, dozed off, and then woke to Hannah playing a recorder downstairs, I knew it would be a DIG DEEP day.

Pulled through the morning of needy littles.
Put on my happy knee-highs & shorts {ok… really I didn’t have any clean jeans and I needed my legs to be warm}
Quickie trip to Walmart with 3 little people to price-match milk for $1.94 (thanks Wendi for that heads up)
Had a nice chat at the bus stop with a neighbor.
Another nice chat at another neighbor’s when dropping her girlie off.

Downhill from there people.
Tru bit Max {again} on the back.
Another bandaid and shrieking from Max.
Massive tantrum from Tru about alone time to calm down and apologize.
No nap from Liza.
Late lunch.
Hannah had a horrid day at school.
Horrid.
Mama Bear came out in me … again about stuff @ school.
Max snuggled & cried because his friends weren’t available to play with.
Cranky Liza from feeling icky gooby nose, teething, losing voice, and still no nap.
Abe and his friend were goofing off, forgot all rules of safety, Abe skinned his back on the moving treadmill.
Ouch! Like Major Ouch!
“I thought it was a good idea for a second.”
Hannah & I did a slam-bam tidying session for 30 minutes and the explosion in the home simmered.
Dish Fairy showed up for work right before Jimmy came home.
Jimmy came through with huge bandaids for Abe… and BLT’s for supper.
Tru was picking skin on his lip and had blood all over. Ouch!
Water & Lipstuff Tru! Where is your mother?
FHE.
Had absolutely no expectations so I was pleasantly surprised.
Everyone shared a scripture about Thanksgiving/Gratitude.
Wrote a family ABC list of things we are grateful for.
Prayer…
Off . to . bed . for . the . littles.
Then more project time with Hannah. Gluing cardboard Chinook longhouse.
Studio C for Abe.
Bed for Tweens.
Mom made it through without losing her marbles.
I think the happy socks helped.
Crash.
Wow… emotions are so hard to keep in control all day long with so many little people needing.
I was strong and didn’t freak out at anybody too harshly… uhhhhh hopefully.
My intellect knew everything would be okay… that nothing was tragic.
My emotions were on overload.
It may take a bit to recover from today.
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And my life isn’t even that hard. Yes, I had a zillion tiny things that added up to ‘hard’ for me personally.
About 4 p.m., I sat down in the midst of the chaos and read this article about
Ten Sisters Missionaries who experienced a miracle … lived through the typhoon in the Philippines.
Tender Mercies… Miracles.
Put things in perspective for me.
I’m so grateful for every day Miracles.

Then my friend shared this principle…
mercies
We are so blessed to have a loving Heavenly Father who sends tender mercies to us
every . single . day.

I love my family…
and though today was exhausting,
I am grateful for each & every one of them.
As Truman said in the dinner prayer
“Grateful that Hannah, and Mom, and Liza, and Abe, and Max, and Dad could all be happy.
Grateful for my body.”
Keepin’ it simple, Tru.
Love.

General R.S. Broadcast change Announced

My Mom & I went to the General R.S. Broadcast on Sept 28, 2013. Turns out it’s the last General R.S. Broadcast ever! Who knew!? I have gone a few times since we have lived in Utah and I love going with my mom!IMG_20130928_180827
Today they announced a combined women’s meeting for girls age 8 and older. This will be really neat! Just a change. But now Hannah can join my mom and I on our traditional yearly broadcast run to SLC! Hurrah!Screen Shot 2013-11-04 at 8.49.12 PMHmmm… I was going to share my favorite notes from this last R.S. Broadcast, but my notes & journal cannot be found. And that probably tells more about me than having my notes to share. Sigh…

“Super-Duper-Duper-Duper-Duper-Duper Windy” ~ Max

Title quote by Max from this morning. We were expecting snow… or so the rumors said. So we checked the weather this morning. Yes! ~ it might only rain. We’ll see.Screen Shot 2013-11-03 at 7.07.40 AMWe kindof like checking the weather. I think for Hannah & Abe, it helps them anticipate the day so they check the temperature every morning. As for me… I have some presets on weather.com. Sometimes I feel better about our weather if I compare it to Alaska or Sugar City (sorry Steph & Mary!). But lookie here from a few days ago. Alaska wins for the warmest temps!Screen Shot 2013-10-28 at 11.32.31 PMHonestly, I’m completely dreading this winter. Last dark season was really hard with kids cooped up inside. Jimmy wants to move somewhere with warmer winters. Sigh… I guess we’ll see. Now – I’ll try and be positive about cooler temps!

p.s. update at 8 a.m. SNOW! mixed with rain. Max is so excited!

John 3:16

for god so loved the worldWe read this scripture out loud as a family tonight during scripture study. What a precious truth! God loves each of us so very much… so much that he would sacrifice His Son that we might have eternal LIFE. So grateful for this knowledge! We are loved!

Truth & Wisdom

I’ve been in a stew about several issues lately… one being Common Core Curriculum & grading going on at the school this year. In such a stew that I’ve considered home schooling – this is serious! I hear so many different sides to Common Core… confidence in, good, bad, & horrible. Which is the truth? I can’t help distrust anything released under the current U.S. leadership. I need to investigate & educate myself to find out the real scoop as best I can, but I’ve also felt pulled in different directions mentally on this… Reminds me of Joseph Smith as a youth.TRUTH & WISDOM1I am so grateful for the Holy Ghost to guide us on so many issues. We can trust that we will not be led astray if we follow those promptings.TRUTH & WISDOM

p.s. also in a stew about the government. It’s about to implode… really! And China knows it!  I don’t even know anything about politics, but I can sense great discord & distrust in national politics. Obamacare is the tip of the iceberg. And Utah – I’m afraid their government leaders aren’t inspiring much confidence either. sigh… press forward with a steadfastness in Christ… having a perfect brightness of hope!

Miss Pepper Potts

My friend’s friend is selling Miss Pepper Potts for $3,500. I really want to buy her. Can you believe that of me?Screen Shot 2013-10-09 at 7.04.11 AMScreen Shot 2013-10-09 at 7.02.37 AMWhen I was little we had a cow named Cornflakes that Daniel used to milk. I remember we sold the milk to people in the neighborhood. I somehow think having a cow would be a great work project for the kids. But wow – the price tag! Maybe someday if we have more land in the country, we can buy a cow!

p.s. can you imagine the flies?! I had about 20 in my house yesterday and they were driving me mad. A cow would probably make the situation much worse. Aaaaaak!

Is this what it has come to?

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“The House first tried to defund ObamaCare. Then, it tried to delay the whole law and then just the individual mandate. In the final hours before the midnight deadline, the House ended with a simple proposal. It would agree to fund the government, if the Senate agreed to scrap the special subsidies lawmakers and staff receive to purchase health insurance. The final House proposal only effected people on Capitol Hill. Harry Reid said, effectively, we’ll shut down the government to keep our subsidies.” Mike Flynn

(in layman terms: Congress didn’t want to have to abide by Obamacare … didn’t want to live by the Law they would pass … so they shut down the government instead)

The Federalist Papers shares some safety nets so the government wouldn’t get out of control. The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay promoting the ratification of the United States Constitution.

Federalist Paper #57– “[Congress] can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as on the great mass of the society.”

“[If the people of America] shall ever be so far debased as to tolerate a law not obligatory on the legislature, as well as on the people, the people will be prepared to tolerate any thing but liberty.”

“The American people are that far debased from the perspective of Madison and Hamilton, a government that exempts themselves from the laws they pass for everyone else is the very definition of ‘tyranny’.”  Jimmy

And there we are!  Seriously… it’s going down hill fast.  Prepare to head toward the hills people.

(Can you believe I’m speaking out on something political?! That and mama grizzly bear all in one week! What is the world coming to?!)