Laughing through it

You know that on my blog I like to show things as they really are. In that spirit I wanted to share our Sunday evening with you...

Casey and I just enjoyed a weekend away while my sister Kristina watched our girls for three days (with help from Grandma and Poopah next door.) They really had a great time and were very well taken care of. But I think being away from us for so long took its toll. They have been a little crazy last night and today. And Casey and I were up too late last night so we were not at our physical or mental best today.

So tonight they were going ballistic. Two banshees crying on the floor, obviously exhausted and it was only about 7pm. We had to practically hog tie them to brush their teeth. (And then the toothpaste made it look like they were foaming at the mouth which just added to the rabid dog scenario.) It was crazy and all I could do was laugh. And laugh. And thankfully Casey started laughing with me. Sometimes it's just so crazy that you get past the impatience and frustration and have to see the humor in the intensity of the situation. Because you know it won't always be like this.

Well the girls did not start laughing - they kept right on freaking out. They were pretty much past consolation so we decided to hop in the car and let them fall asleep on a drive. It didn't happen right away like I expected but it eventually worked and we will hopefully have more normal days ahead. Actually, I have no doubt that we will.

I also look around and my house is kind of getting away from me. I mean, there are little messes everywhere. But my stamina is low and so I'm learning to let things be right now, because again, it won't always be this way. Hopefully my nesting instinct will kick in and we'll be in ship shape before the baby comes.

But on a positive note...yesterday, after our two days together, Casey went climbing with some guys while I stayed home and organized photos on the computer. For about 4 or 5 hours straight. And I am DONE! Everything is in it's place and ready for me to make cool photo books for my girls which is my goal before Christmas. I had another marathon organizing session last month when Casey and the girls were at the ward Daddy-Daughter campout. I'm talking thousands of photos from our whole married life that were just thrown in folders for the most part.

So my kids may be crazy and my house may be a mess but my photo folders are not. :)

Extra love

I am so grateful for the primary presidency in my ward. My Eva has a hard time going to Primary almost every week and they are so good to her. Each week the president or one of her counselors immediately comes to Eva (who is clinging to me) and asks her to come "help" them get something out of the closet or carry something from the library. She always comes away from Primary as happy as can be - she just needs extra help right now getting there.

Eva has taught me a lot. She can be challenging in so many ways. And sometimes I really struggle knowing what to do for her. I want her to be disciplined but sometimes I have to stop and realize that maybe she just needs a little extra love. And that's what her Primary leaders give her.

I don't cry a lot but I got a little choked up in Sunday School today thinking about their example of charity to my daughter. It would be easy to be annoyed with her, but they never are. And that's something I can learn from.

I read this quote last week on a blog I like. I'm trying to incorporate this concept into the way I treat my kids.

Children need love, 

Especially when they do not deserve it.  

~Harold Hulbert

That blog is Clover Lane. I'm trying to limit the blogs I read to ones that I really feel are worthwhile and this is one I've held on to for now. She is a thoughtful, opinionated, mother and I agree with her on a lot of things.

Saying No

Today, while Eva was at preschool, Mae and I hit up 5 stores together. (I realized that's way too much to do when you're 7 months pregnant but we got a lot done.) Mae was a sweet and good companion but I found myself constantly saying no to her. No to each treat she saw. No to each toy. And I got so frustrated that there is so much JUNK in the world that turns me into a no-saying mom all the time. If we were surrounded by good choices I could be saying yes so much more. But as it is, the stores are full of things our bodies, minds and spirits don't need. And I have to say no a lot.

While I am indeed grateful for agency, sometimes I wish, when it came to trivial things, that we didn't have so many choices. I always want to feel like I'm getting the best deal or the best value and sometimes it becomes paralyzing. We have so many options! For food, for clothes, for entertainment. It makes it hard to just be happy with what you have because you find yourself wondering if you have what's best for your money. When we bought a bigger car recently I took a little time to decide on one make and model I wanted and I told myself I would just be happy with it no matter what. I didn't want to test a billion different types. I wanted to find something useful and reliable (and affordable) and be grateful for what I had. And so far it has been great.

I don't know if those two paragraphs exactly related to each other but that's what was on my mind tonight. I'm wondering if anyone feels the same way.

Notwithstanding My Weakness

Wow. I had to think for a second what my blog address even was. It's been that long.

But anyway... I found a great article tonight and wanted to share it. It's called "Notwithstanding My Weakness" and it's by Elder Neal A. Maxwell (he was a seventy at the time.)

When I read this part I wanted to shout out loud. It spoke to my heart:


The scriptural advice, “Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength” (D&C 10:4) suggests paced progress, much as God used seven creative periods in preparing man and this earth. There is a difference, therefore, between being “anxiously engaged” and being over-anxious and thus underengaged.


Ha! I wanted to shout when I just read it again!


There is a lot of good insight in this article. Read it. Maybe I'll come back with more commentary. But for now I just had to share and now I have to go to bed.

We're having a BOY!

We are so excited for this change in our family. We took the girls to the ultrasound with us and they were so sweet. They were smiling from ear to ear and each took turns coming over to grab my hand as I lay on the table.

Eva wants to name him "Flower Head" but we'd like to come up with something a little ... I don't know... shorter, less eclectic, more masculine. We'll see.

Anyway - that's our good news. And everything checked out good with him so that is the greatest blessing of all. He was measuring a little big so that means I'll either have him sooner or he'll be BIG! Let's hope I just have him sooner :) Although big babies seem to be more content so I guess I'll just take what I can get.

Slow roasted goodness

Casey likes to tell me that the secret to a good grilled cheese, or other various foods, is slow roasted goodness. Meaning, take your time.

Lately I've been relating this to certain things with my kids. For instance.

The girls and I recently spent some time in Star Valley, WY with Casey's parents. (Casey had to stay home to work.) Two of the days we went to a neighborhood pool, where I observed a young college-age looking girl teaching swimming lessons to various little (4-5 year-old-ish) kids on rotation. It seemed so miserable because she spent most of the time trying to wrangle their attention. They weren't really getting anywhere with the lessons.

Last summer I took Eva to some swimming lessons taught by my good friend Krista. Eva was pretty timid about the pool (and group lesson situations) at that point so the lessons didn't really get her anywhere because she spent most of the time clinging to me. (I don't necessarily regret it because it was super cheap and I'd pay money to spend time with the illustrious Krista.) It wasn't the teacher's fault. Eva just wasn't ready. I realized then that all she really needed was more exposure to the pool. In a non-classroom atmosphere.

Fast forward to this summer where she is having a ball at the pool. She wears a life jacket and every time we go she tries out something new. Jumping in, going under, diving. Even taking off the jacket and just holding onto it to float. She is learning in her own way. Someday formal lessons will probably be a good thing for her. But at age 4 it's not what she needs.

Now Mae. I decided awhile back that I was going to get serious about potty training with Mae. I read about a method where you just take away diapers during the day and deal with the accidents until they realize what they are doing. It's supposed to only take a couple days. Well I didn't even last one morning. It was a mess and just didn't seem right for her. I remembered that with Eva we just started taking her to the bathroom in the morning and after naps when she'd wake up dry. And over time she just got it. So that's what we've been doing with Mae for a few weeks and it's working. She's even starting to tell us when she wants to try.

It's been so stress free for all of us. Joyful, actually. We are so excited for her and she is proud of herself and there is no fighting about it. It kindof eases me into the idea of having to take her potty in public, too. (Diapers are so much easier.)

SO, my point is, at least in these two instances, and at least in our family, slow roasted goodness has been the way to go. Your kid might excel at 4 year old swim lessons. They might do great with the potty-train-your-kid-in-a-day method. But this is what has worked for us so far. And I thought I'd put that out there for anyone who might need another way of seeing things.

It's easy for us as parents to see what other kids and families are doing and feel like we have to rush in and do them to. But I'm learning that I prefer to let them be little and let them ease into things. Instead of fighting and pushing and forcing and getting nowhere. Sure, being "potty trained" in a day sounds worth the effort but it might not be the way your kid works. And for our two girls it isn't. And for this mom it isn't.

So where have I been the last 3 months? Not blogging, no. But growing a baby as most of you already know. We find out on Wednesday what it is! I'll be back to share that news. And then I might just disappear again for awhile. My posts are boring anyway :)

Dear Diary

Some people refer to their blog as their journal. I suppose I've come to that. Lots of writing. Little photos.  Random and long. So read if you want to. But you have been warned :)


Something I've learned a lot in my YW callings over the last year is to have FAITH. I think this stems from the fact that I have been constantly having to push myself to do things that I'm not initially comfortable with. And faith is the only thing keeping me going sometimes.

I get stressed and worry and wonder how things will work out. But I say lots of little prayers, and work with the other leaders and things ALWAYS work out. It's kind of silly that I don't trust in faith more. I've had plenty of times where it has proven itself. But I'm still always a little bit amazed when things happen so well.

Conference weekend was nice. We started out by sleeping in a tent in the backyard. We watched Tangled and then the girls fell asleep pretty quickly. Mae kept waking up coughing and I finally took her inside where we slept much better (thanks to Vicks rubbed on her feet - works wonders!)

On Saturday Casey worked in the yard with a radio and the girls be-boppin' around him. I worked inside with the TV on. We BBQ'd with a bunch of his extended family that night.

Today we plunked the girls in front of Disney movies in another room so we could enjoy conference. Is that bad? (Mom, you can share your thoughts in the comments section :) I figure they are so very young and we can ease them into having an attention span for conference. In the past we have tried to have them in with us and we end up getting nothing out of it. So maybe next time I will try to have Eva listen to a talk  or two, and then we'll build up from there.

This afternoon was chaotic because we didn't have them in the other room and no one was feeling well (lots of colds in our little fam.) Then Eva had this big blister on her toe that we popped (because I think it's actually a sliver, not just a blister.) She was freaking out. THEN she cut her finger with some scissors and was bleeding like crazy. Finally little sicky Mae fell asleep on the floor and Eva and Casey fell asleep on the couch. I was able to get the last half of the session in peace again. (I should mention I fell asleep earlier - don't want to rat out Casey without ratting out myself :) - like I said, we're all a little sick.)

I guess I share my conference weekend experience because it would be interesting to know what other little families do. So feel free to share. Oh! And I'm so excited for my sister Diane who will have a Temple closer to their family in Ft. Collins, Colorado. What a blessing! And I'm sure their hard work in their stake over the years has helped get their area to this point.

Let's see - what else is on the brain? My sister Kristina had a 9lb 14oz baby this week! Yes, my 5'3" sister had her 6th and by far her largest baby on Tuesday. And she is beautiful and precious as can be. Tessi Moana Puriri. I can't wait to hold her again. Gotta get us all well and go out and see her soon.

One last spiritchal thought. In President Eyring's talk to the Young Women last week, he spoke about living Testimonies. I'll quote from him a little... and highlight my favorite parts in bold and italics.

"But, like a growing plant, it must be nurtured or it will wither. Frequent and heartfelt prayers of faith are crucial and needed nutrients. Obedience to the truth you have received will keep the testimony alive and strengthen it. Obedience to the commandments is part of the nourishment you must provide for your testimony.

You remember the promise of the Savior: “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” ⁵

That has worked for me, as it will for you. One of the doctrines of the gospel I was taught when I was young is that the greatest of all the gifts of God is eternal life. ⁶ I learned that part of eternal life is to live together in love in families forever.

From the first time that I heard those truths and they were confirmed to my heart, I felt obligated to make every choice I could to avoid contention and seek peace in my family and in my home."

I just really liked that concept that once you are given the truth you need to make your actions align with that truth.

Someone today spoke about how God will give testimonies to those who will share them. I like that idea too. The part that freaks me out the most about YW (besides everything :) is teaching. I'm not very confident in my teaching abilities. But I started thinking that above all I just need to make sure I bare my testimony about the principles I am teaching. If the girls come away hearing my heartfelt testimony of truth then hopefully their time will not have been wasted. And hopefully I'll be blessed with more testimony as a result. And become a better teacher as a result of that :)

Don't you think this conference's big focus was Christlike service? That's what I got out of it overall. Can't wait to go back and read those talks.