Gratitude: Day 4

I am Grateful to have my Children all with me.

"Family" seems to be an objective term now days

David is in Salt Lake. I don't know if it matters to anyone there except Chris. I mean, his Parents will see him because he's staying there. But no one else is going to stop by to say "Hello." I know that we see people there every few months. That's the point. People who make a big deal about how Family is more important than anything only care to see each other 3 or 4 times a year.

Then there's MY Family. My Mom is different. We see each other every chance we get... but we also talk several times a week.

We came to Salt Lake a couple of weeks ago and made a huge effort to make it to a Baby Blessing that we were not even invited to originally, and I don't think it mattered to my Aunt's Family.... who I used to be pretty close to.

My Uncle's Family, who I am not even technically related to.... and even my cousin's Wife's Family seemed to care more than my own relatives did.

I know I always whine about this topic. I just grew up with a COMPLETELY different idea of what Family was. And this isn't it.

Merry Christmas... Early!!!

I made this for my MIL for Christmas... Enjoy the spoiler :-)

So excited

I have a Friend who expressed an interest in buying some of the products I sell through Passion Parties.

She is getting married in Nov so we decided she should have a party. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to afford to drive down to do the party. But we've now got enough people RSVP ing that they will or might be there that I think it'll work out just fine. :-)

So Friday Sept 3rd at lunch time, David will get off of work and we'll drive to Salt Lake. That evening, I will do her party in Tooele.

Saturday, we are fortunate enough to be able to attend a baptism for some of our most TRUE Friends' son.

Sunday, we have the Baby Blessing of My Cousin's Baby. And then off to Timpanogas to hike with our Dear Friends, and David's Brother and his family.

Home on Monday!

I am sooooo excited for that weekend!

OBVIOUS "Hidden" discrepancies

I get tired of people who tell me they don't favor one person over another who then seem to go out of their WAY to show that they DO.

I especially hate this when it comes to Family. I have been "downgraded" several times because it's just not "fair" to show me and My Family "special" treatment. But then, wait. That only seems to apply to US.

I HATE seeing "Friends" or even EX Girlfriends of David "connect" with "Family" on a level that they would NEVER try with Us.

"special" treatment, and preferences ALWAYS exist. And trying to pretend they don't is just dishonest. SO just TELL me you like them better and let me go where I feel cared about for Heavens sake.

Scheduling

We, as a Family, by nature resist a schedule. We don't like having to be somewhere at a set time on a regular basis. We do well with routine, but not schedules.

But David has been home almost every day for 8 months, and we aren't a whole lot closer to having our limited space organized and fully functional than we were last summer. Of course, part of this is due to the fact that we just don't have enough room for the 6 of us and our stuff. But it also has to do with a lot of different things too.

SO, I am putting us on a schedule. It will allow for outdoor time EVERY day. As well as playgroup, etc. The only thing it will not allow for is my HORRIBLE choices in sleep hours.

Let's see how this goes :-)

Wii: Bringing Families to Life

Our Wii is one of the BEST purchases we have EVER made. David has been wanting one for about 3 years now. And it wasn't an expense I was ready to justify. We finally agreed that it was time. YAY for us! Honestly, a day where we all get our Wii Fit Plus in, sets the whole tone for a better day all around.

We weigh and measure everyone's balance and BMI (as if the children have ANY....so it's really just seeing if David and I are still really Fat or not ;-) And then all of us... except Jacob do some training.

And we all have some fun, and feel good.

Rock Band, and Wii Sports are pretty fun all around too. We can all participate on some level.... again, except Jacob on Wii Sports. But on Rock Band, he bounces up and down in his Jumper while David and I play instruments and the girls dance around.

Looks like we had better get on it and get "Just Dance" soon!

The "Starting" Line up

I'm a Field of Dreams sort of person. I have learned from my own experiences that I seem to be set up on a "If you Build it..." course.

SO, here's what I am presenting:

David will either get the job in Alaska, or Libya. We will be buying a house either in Tooele, Ut or just outside of Anchorage, Ak.

We will have 3 more children, 2 Girls and 1 Boy:

Prudence Nicole
Arabella Hope (Bella) : Twin A
David Benjamin (Ben) : Twin B

Wish me LUCK!

There it is...... we'll see how it plays out ;-)

(And if ANY of you steal my name's, you WILL feel my wrath ;-)

AMEN Sister

Ginger, I have to warn you right now: You are soooo inspiring that you might just have to deal with me feeding off of your words and turning many of them into my own.

Ginger just wrote a blog about Women when it comes to their nature... as apposed to Men and theirs.

Women are designed to nurture. We are designed to protect life. We are designed to care more about the well being of those we nurture than our selves. Men protect and provide, but very few even have the ability to nurture on the level that a real Woman can.

However, if you threaten the things that a Woman has nurtured... her children, her home, her core, it can get incredibly ugly.

IT IS SOOOOO TRUE!!!!!!!!

That is one of the things I cannot agree with more! And believe it or not, society as a whole has lost sight of this. However, if a Woman is worth ANYTHING, she as stated above. And Men need to put their faith and effort into supporting and even defending this in the Women they love.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I have in my care 4 of the most precious treasures in the world. I own a gun for this exact reason, and I WILL use it if they are threatened. And I don't just fight for their physical safety... but for the home that makes them feel safe and secure and provides for their emotional safety as well.

Dear Prudence

Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play? Dear Prudence, greet the brand new day. The sun is up, the sky is blue, it's beautiful, and so are you. Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play.

Dear Prudence, open up your eyes. Dear Prudence, see the sunny skies. The wind is low, the birds will sing, that you are part of everything. Dear Prudence, won't you open up your eyes?

Dear Prudence, let me see you smile. Dear Prudence, like a little child. The clouds will be a daisy chain, so let me see you smile again. Dear Prudence, won't you let me see you smile?

Look around, round, round. Oh look around.

Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play? Dear Prudence, greet the brand new day. The sun is up, the sky is blue, it's beautiful, and so are you. Dear Prudence.... won't you come out to play.


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David and I really seem to like the idea of naming a Daughter Prudence. I normally don't get into names like that. However, it's such a pleasent song. It just makes one Happy. And I like the idea of having a Daughter's name inspire so many happy thoughts that you just want to sing.

That's a little bit of the reason I like Elysia's middle name, Noelle, so much. And with her being born in December, I sing "The First Noel" to her every year at Christmas time.

Learning Part II

So along with what I wrote last night, I am actually learning the lessons involved in the trials as well. I'm learning how to back off and play nice even when I don't WANT to be the Peace Maker. But I once read an entry in the Ensign where a Woman realized that she'd rather be Married than "Right."

My Family is soooo important to me. And all that it entales. We have had to fight evil for our Family to be together. And we are going to win.

Just as we start to make progress and get a "leg up," Satan turns up the volume. And he knows just where to hit us. And it works 99% of the time. But we are learning to take the hit, and not let it mortally wound us. We are also gettting better at keeping our Armor strong: building our testimonies, keeping the Spirit in our home, going to church, saying our prayers, etc. And that protection makes a difference.

I thought about it last night.... because whatever lesson needs to be learned, we need this trial our Family has been facing for the past 7 months to be OVER! And I realized that if I am not willing to learn anything from it, then what's the point. I kept thinking last night about whether David had learned HIS lessons. Who BLOODY cares what HE has learned. I can make all the difference if I have learned. And that is exactly what is going to happen. I am going to learn and practice the things I need to and that is going to make a world of difference.

I'll tell you though that this has been one unproductive week. We have taken two very well planned hits and even though we survived very well, it takes some major recovery. Sad, huh? Like I said they are well planned by the adversary. SOOOO all of the packing, and organizing I had planned for this week is taking a back seat to recovering emotionally. But I know The Lord plans and allows for this, and it's just a matter of getting our Family through this.

Our Green Dinner

Tonight turned out to be a bigger pain than I anticipated when I decided to make a special St Patrick's Day Dinner. However, despite how long it took before we could finally eat, it turned out pretty well.
Here we have my Irish Soda Bread, Green Lemonade, Green Funeral Potatoes, and Green Scrambled Eggs.

We also had some bacon to produce a Hearty Irish Meal, as well as simulate Green Eggs and Ham.