Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have read this book many times.  It is not an easy read, but rewarding in the gems of wisdom I glean from every trip through its pages.  It challenges me to think differently about my life and the world around me in a good way.  I read (almost) everyday from its pages not to have great epiphanies but for a thread of peace that keeps me in my crazy world anchored to Jesus Christ.


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life in the fast lane

It is Sunday evening and it is the first time I have had down time in 4 days.  Tuesday I spent cleaning my house so that when the missionaries were here for a discussion that night the clutter didn't distract from the spirit.  After work on Wednesday I took Molly to a tri-stake fireside for mutual.  It was good but 40 min too long.  We arrived home and of course the other kids had not put themselves in bed.  Thursday morning Molly and I took off early to go to Dr Brooks office to get her braces off.   It was a 2 1/2 hour appointment.  The rest of the day was spent in preparation for Activity Days and shuttling kids around.  I made dinner at 3:30 because that was the only window of time I had.  Friday morning Reed and I left the house at 6am to go to Sedona so he could perform a wedding.  It was beautiful but too quick.  We did lunch a quick hike (15 min) and suffered from indigestion the whole way home from greasy spoon food (just barely feeling better actually).  Friday night was a soccer game, Saturday was work, Reed shuttled the kids around to various parties, practices, games etc...I went to the RS broadcast, came home and took Molly shopping.  Sat night late was preparing for 5th Sunday lesson at church, which spilled over to Sunday morning.  Then it was church, choir, feeding kids, trying to keep them on task and then to bed.  I am only writing this because sometimes you need to remember so you can appreciate quiet times later.

samurai saddness

Today Heidi told Tanner that Power Ranger's Samurai are not real.  He cried for 10 minutes.  I didn't try and console him because honestly I couldn't refute what had been said and I was afraid I would start laughing and make the situation worse.

Spring break is over...

The last week has been crazy, playing all day, up late at night (grumpy kids from being super tired). I just sent the last one out the door to go back to school. Now the house is quiet except for the sound coming from the Teleconference Reed is on. Too quiet.

random observations

Last weekend (my birthday) Tanner wanted to go mini-golfing. After doing some other things we finally acquiesced and drove to Golfland. It was crazy busy there with everyone and their red-headed uncle from out of town wanting to hit the greens. We decided we would not have an optimal experience and decided to give Tanner a rain check. His reaction "You are ruining my day". Heidi earlier in the day had expressed some frustration with the plans (we went to a baptism). When Reed asked if we should respect the fact that it was my birthday the answer was a definitive, "That doesn't matter." I think as a mom having your birthday on a Saturday is bogus, because you still have to be a mom and keep everyone happy, and invariably that means sacrificing your own happiness on the very day you don't want to do that. On a positive note, my parents went above and beyond this year. My mom brought over a huge apple blueberry crumb cake which we ate off of for three days. They sent a bouquet of 41 balloons and gave me a gift card to Target. At the end of the day I went alone with my gift card and bought myself something to wear (I picked up some Christmas presents too).

Last night was our ward Christmas party. All was well. I was watching the parents of little kids trying to keep them corraled and thought-this is getting so much easier. That was bad ju-ju. During the eating of desserts Tanner ate half of a peanut butter cookie that send him into fits of alternately spitting and gagging which ultimately led to him throwing up. Oh what fun.

Today Heidi was reaching into a cupboard to retrieve the syrup and knocked over a bottle of vinegar which fell to the floor and crashed into a million pieces as it made contact with the tile floor. It was balsamic vinegar which was brown and smelly and sticky and oh so fun to clean up. This was after choir practice. Shortly before choir practice Zoe had a meltdown (tired on a fast sunday=recipe for disaster) claiming that I was ruining her life and she would rather be an orphan living on the streets that have to deal with all of us on a daily basis. Very few things push my puttons like a complete lack of gratitude. I should have let it go and had a mutual cool down (time out anyone?) but I didn't and I kept pushing her and she kept yelling and I went to choir practice and felt the whole time reproved by the spirit for the course of action I had taken. Parenting is extra hard because I am human.

Last thought. We made it through the birthday season. Christmas is coming and I am longing for a simpler time, or at least a personal shopper. Or a maid. Or both. I haven't recovered yet from Thanksgiving, but maybe next week?

good intentions

Tonight Reed intended on taking the kids to see the Diamondbacks using tickets the kids earned from reading over the summer from the library. They left early with the hope of getting a bobble head doll. I headed to the General RS broadcast. When I got home they were here watching a movie. Turns out that since the Diamondbacks are doing well this season (they clinched the pennant on Friday night) their fan base has expanded. Reed and the kids hiked from neverland to avoid paying the parking lot pirates (the place we usually park is $5, tonight it was $20). When they got to the ticket window they were informed that the tickets associated with the library were all sold out. Reed could have bought tickets for he kids, but that defeats the purpose of the free game. The kids were dejected. Zoe became very bitter at the scalpers who she was convinced had usurped her ability to go to a game because they had bought blocks of tickets where she was supposed to be. Molly was good and acknowledged that just being together was the most important thing. They got back to the car, loaded up and came home via little ceasars and Redbox. Sometimes life doesn't turn out the way you planned. Good times.

first week of kindergarten

Tanner's preschool teacher Miss Teddie sent an e-mail asking how the first week of kindergarten was going. This was my response. I thought it was worth remembering.

You are so sweet to inquire about how Tanner is doing. He likes it and is having a lot of fun and he is completely exhausted at the end of the day- he can barely keep his eyes open during dinner. I don't have a lot of feedback on preparedness-other than I should have had him stay for more lunch bunch because most of our problems this week have been with lunchboxes-putting half drunk pouchdrinks, half eaten go-gurt, and containers without lids back in the lunch box. His lunch box was so soggy the first day it came home in a plastic bag. I have had to wash the whole thing down and hang it
out to dry twice this week. Fortunately it dries really fast outside right
now.