Tender Mercies All Around

Two posts ago, I wrote of a struggle I'm having.  Well, not really "I'm having," but I'm borrowing from one of my children.  I mentioned in that post that I knew there would be tender mercies offered to that child (do you know how hard it is not to say "him" or "her" while writing this?  Ugh!).  Well, that thought has come to pass.  Just a bit more proof that God is aware and loves my children as much as He loves all of us.

Yesterday, said child came home with a CD that was borrowed from a friend. On it, was this song along with a bunch of others from one of our favorite movies:



Last night, Z and I pulled this child aside again and had a talk (lecture--that's when it's a one-sided conversation), so yes, it was probably more of a lecture.  This is where the heart break lies.  This child has never been one to have a lecture because it's always been a two-way thing, so I have a hunch that there are things not being shared--things this child is not proud of and is afraid of the repercussions of what might happen if these things were made known.

I've gone for days with knots in my stomach--praying continually to know what to do.

Last night, during our lecture, there were things that came.  This isn't the first time this has happened as we've been dealing with this situation.  There have been many words placed in our mouths by a God who loves my child.  Phew!  Alone, I know I'd fail, so glad He's there for us.

One thing I asked last night was if this child felt like he/she was the same child he/she was even a few months ago.  The reply was "No," accompanied by an uncomfortable look on this child's face.  The face said that there was some amount of regret.  I suggested that there seemed to be some level of self-respect gone that might become hard to reclaim if things go on much longer.  I felt just what I needed to say next.  It was that this child has to learn to be strong...NOW.

The problem has been that this child, as we have urged, has been using Z and me as an excuse not to do things with friends.  We have always told our children that we will always be the bad guy if they need us to be.  This has been going on.  The only problem is that if this is used, then the friend says, "Oh, but you don't feel that way, so let's just skirt around your parents, and they'll never know."  I'm surmising here, but that's what I'm assuming has been happening.  It's as if the parents are pulling one way, the friends are pulling the other way, and the child is in the middle--a pawn being pushed and pulled.  This child, at this point, hasn't known what to do, so I urged this child to take a stand--to become "firm, steadfast, and immovable."  It's time to become your own voice.  "My parents said I couldn't do that, and I agree with them.  I don't want to do that."

I'm sharing this because I wonder how many kids find themselves in this same situation.

I think, when this child went to bed last night, there was a feeling of being empowered.  There was an understanding that this child was strong and could defend and take care of him/herself.  All the decisions of what to do in these kinds of situations have been made from his/her earliest days.  Now it's just a matter of using what is already known.

This morning, I could hear the above song playing over and over again.  It came from the struggling child's room.  Through the halls of my house, I could hear a tender mercy.  I could hear a child empowering him/herself and gearing up for the day ahead.  I knew that this song was singing to my child that my child's heart was strengthening.

I am left with one feeling He loves my children, and I need to trust Him.  I'm not nearly as worried today.

A Little Perspective

With feeling so down today, I realized that I need to return to the lessons I've been learning lately.  The two predominant ones are of gratitude and service.  These two things, above all else, seem to put life back into perspective.  So, today I need to create a list of the things I'm thankful for (in no particular order)...

I am thankful for:

• patient, smart, understanding, trusting parents who raised me and set a good example that I can lean on now.
• wonderful children who teach me more about life and make me stretch into someone I couldn't have ever become without them.
• the perspective that life is a journey and that there are always turns in the road--there are lows and highs and things are always changing.
• a loving, living Heavenly Father who knows me personally and sends me little reminders that He's aware of me.
• a home to live in that fits our needs and keeps us safe and warm.
• my husband's job that keeps clothes on our backs, food on our table, shelter over our heads and some of the pleasures of life, but just the right amount so we are learning to draw a line.
• safety.
• rain that makes the grass green and helps the flowers grow.
• sun that warms me and cheers me from the outside in.
• great people in my life that inspire me and teach me that life can just get better and better.
• each new day in which I can do better than yesterday.
• forgiveness.
• a husband who was intended just for me; who is patient; and whom I get to figure out how to live with and love for the rest of eternity.
• an understanding of the gospel--to know that this life is not the end.
• the keys to a happy life that I learn through prophets' words.

Dread

There is one enormous drawback to having seven kids... 

When one is having a hard time, it's as if my whole world is falling apart.  Thankfully, it has been rare that more than one is struggling at a time--a tender mercy I'm sure. 

I have been silent recently because one of my kids is having a hard time.  I don't dare share any details at all, but my heart feels like it's breaking.  I've counseled and counseled with this child, but to no avail.  I have to let this child face the consequences for the choices being made, but it's killing me.  It's the old been there, done that, didn't like what followed scenario.  Ugh!  It would be so nice to go through life as if it were a field of daisies, but this is not why we're here, huh?  I keep reminding myself of that, but it's not helping much.  I have to remember that God is as aware of my children as much as He is of me, and that there are tender mercies to be had for my children too.  I just hate the feeling that my hands are tied.  I just need to trust that He will help take care of this situation.  All I can do is pray.

I had no idea I put my mother through these kinds of feelings when I was a kid.  Wow!  How sorry I am now.

Sometimes Life is Hard

Decisions....

Ugh!  Sometimes they're so hard to make.

Sometimes you know what you're supposed to do.  You know what would be in your best interest, but in order to do that, you have to change course.  You have to cancel plans that you've made.  Plans that might even affect others.  Sometimes those plans even affect others in big ways.  Plans you made even though you knew that what you were doing wasn't right, but you hoped those feelings that it was wrong would somehow magically change to feel right.  What a surprise that they never do.  Wrong is just always wrong.  No matter how many different ways we try to make it right and thus avoid the hard things that go along with the change.

What would have happened had we just listened to those feelings before committing so much time and effort into what we knew deep down we could never, not in a million years, change.  Is it that we would have missed out on a lesson?  Or could it be that we missed out on other, better lessons by ignoring those feelings?

I would love to be one of those people who always listens.  I feel like, as I'm getting older, I'm finally learning to listen and respond based on what I hear and feel a bit more consistently, but I'm still not great at this.  I still feel like a little kid in so many ways regarding this.  I want what I want to be the best thing for me.  So many times it's not.  Why can't I just learn to follow that?  Why can't I trust that?

Ugh!

Decisions....

Aspirations of a Three-Year-Old

Yesterday, as we drove in the car, T sat right behind me.  Suddenly he said, "Someday, I'm going to be big, and...I'm going to have a loose tooth, and...I'm going to whistle, and...I'm going to have money, and...I'm going to Chuck E. Cheese, and...I'm going to have a donut.

Ahh!  If life could just be this simple!  I think when it all comes down to it, I really, deep down, want these things too...well, all but the loose tooth.

Cousin Connections

I've love going to our family reunions and watching my kids reconnect with their cousins.  It's like old friends who meet up.  They're absolutely thrilled to see each other and then  immediately pick up where they left off.  To hear my kids in the car as we drive up to the hotel, well...it's kind of magical.  The sound of love and admiration they have for these people whom they haven't seen in a year.  It is clear that somehow, instinctually, they love these people.

This is something I missed out on as a child.  We didn't have reunions.  My grandparents had all passed on by the time I was born.  I only had one aunt and uncle on my dad's side.  We got together with them every so often, but there was little connection there.  My mom was an only child, so there were no connections there.

I have appreciated the initiative my older siblings have taken to get the reunion thing started for our kids.  They started small--a family gathering for a picnic in a park when my brother's family was in town one year.  From there, it has blossomed, and every year it gets better.  As soon as it's over, my kids count down to the next July.

Because my mom was an only child and her mom passed away when she was so young, family connections have been severed.  Through exploring family history and putting some of it on the web, I have now made connections with a number of the Stegner (my mom's) side of the family, but last night I had a long-lost cousin experience.

I think it's strange that I'd choose to post about Esther (my last post) when I did.  I'm not sure what caused me to write about her, but yesterday, via Ancestry.com, I received an email from a Holz cousin.  Esther was a Holz.  I have her piano (as I mentioned before) and a chest that the Holz family brought over to the U.S. from Germany.  I have a love for them that I can't explain.  The day my mom passed away, I went through the things on her desk.  Among them was one family history book--the Holz book.  It was, most likely, the last family she had researched.  The Holz family has been very hard to find.  Of all the research books she kept, the Holz book is by far the smallest.

I went to Ancestry and found a message from a woman named Jennifer.  She tole me that she is the great-granddaughter of Esther's eldest brother, Harry.  I responded and asked her to come to the Esther blog post.

We corresponded about three times yesterday.  I gave her my phone number, and at 9:59 last evening, she responded with hers.  I read her message to Z and he persuaded me to call her.  It was 10:15pm.  I told him there was no way I could do that, but he said, "She just wrote you.  She's up.  Call her!"  So, I did.  You can do that with family, right?

It was a cousin experience just like my children have at the family reunions.  She accepted my call with an enthusiastic voice.  We chatted for a little more than an hour.  The conversation was non-stop.  It was as if we'd always known each other.

She, like me, has a lost family link.  Her grandmother, Harry's daughter, had also died at a young age, leaving Jenn's mother when she was nine.  Jenn, like me, is wanting to fill in that gap and regather her family.  She said that she had heard the names Hamm and Stegner from her mom, but they didn't know who that was--that was my mom, so I know my mom had made contact at some point in the past.  What else would I expect--that was my mom.

As we talked, I scanned a few photos for Jenn--her great-grandfather as a child with his younger brother and the Holz children with two cousins.

During that one hour, I learned more about the Holz family than I had known before.  I learned that my great-grandparents who always had someone living with them, raised my great-grandfather brother's two children after their parents had died of tuberculosis.  I learned that those children had lost both of their parents on the same day.  I learned that the baby who so hauntingly resembles my children, the baby "sleeping" so peacefully in the casket, was the child of this same family, who died at five months old from whooping cough.

Suddenly holes in this family history are being filled in.  So now, my next task--scanning the photos.  I figure if I do about five a day, there will be discs ready for the family well before Christmas.

See These People?

I love them!

Grandma, You'd Be Proud

This is my grandmother--Esther Dorothea Holz Stegner.  She is my mom's mom.  This photo was taken right before she passed away.  She was 37 years old.  Esther died of breast cancer.

The saddest thing about Esther's passing was that she left behind a daughter, who a month later, would turn six years old.  Another sad fact was that that same child, after starting Kindergarten, contracted whooping cough, and so that her mother could rest, was sent to live with her German-speaking grandparents.  She continued to live with them until her mother's death.

This photo is of her grandparents--Johann Heinrich Wilhelm and  Dorathea Catherine Kluever Holz in their younger years--they are the couple to the far left standing in the back.  From what I understand, in their married life, they nearly always had someone else living with them.  They must have been very good, charitable people.

When I would ask my mom stories about her mother, she sadly told me that she had no memories of her, and so, my mom got involved in family history to learn about her mom.  She started writing letters to cousins, aunts and uncles to find out some of her mother's characteristics.

One of the fun stories she learned was from her Aunt Sally.  She said that Esther was the first adults that spoke to her as if she were also an adult.  At twelve, this meant a lot to Sally.  She loved that Esther didn't treat her like a little child.

The other thing that was shared was that Esther had a piano that sat in a sunny spot in the parlor of the house.  She would take Ruth (my mom) in to sit in the sunshine and sing to her while she played songs on the piano.

As I sit here, on this Sunday afternoon, Esther's piano sits in my front room.  My daughter, Q, is playing it.  I think if Q could do anything with her time, this is where she'd be.  I love hearing the mustic from Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserable, and others.  Q has a way of not merely playing the notes, but making the music come alive with emotion.  It's truly one of my favorite things--listening to her play.

We learned, after moving the piano into this house and having it tuned, that the serial number on it is from 1879 and that it had come west with the Holz family from Wisconsin.  It was crafted in one of the good years for this particular piano manufacturing company.   I don't know if the piano was ever tuned when it sat in my parents' house, so I believe it just might have all the original strings--that is until we had it tuned.  When we got to the treble end in the tuning process, three strings broke.  We also found that before being tuned, each note was off by exactly one half-step.  I thought that was pretty amazing for so many years going untuned.

Shortly after this tuning, Z, for Mother's Day, gave me a card saying that he would pay to have the piano restored, but they would remove the ivory keys and replace them with plastic.  They would remove all of the insides and redo them.  I couldn't bring myself to do it.  It was such a part of Esther to me.  I will never do it.  I figure that will belong to the next generation.

For now, I think it would please my grandmother to know that her great-granddaughter makes beautiful music come out of it.  That all the effort her family went to to bring the piano with her was worth it.  To me, when Q plays, it is a tribute to Esther.

Just Not Feeling So Blogorific

I want to write something SO badly.  I wish I had something to say.  A friend of mine, a couple weeks ago, called me "shy."  I laughed out loud.  I don't know that I'm really shy.  I've just had a lot on my mind.

I met up with this friend at a church activity.  The previous Sunday I'd been given a new calling, and it hadn't been made public yet, so I had to be quiet about it.  I was a bit stressed about it, so I was just being quiet because of those two facts.  At least, I think that's it.

Last Sunday it became public, and I was called to serve as Primary president.  Other than serving in two different Young Women's presidencies as a counselor, I have never held a leadership calling before, so this is new territory for me.  To be honest, it's a little bit scary, but I have two great counselors and a wonderful secretary, so this has alleviated a lot of my concerns.  I also have no doubt that Heavenly Father will help us.  Just choosing the women I get to work with was evidence enough that He is right there.

When the bishop asked me to do this, I was taken aback.  My first thought was of the nursery.  I loved my nursery calling so much!  More than I ever would have dreamed.  It was like going to a party every Sunday.  It was total play time.  I feel like I've all of a sudden grown up and been called to work.

This past Sunday, when church was over, someone came up to me in the hallway and asked how things went.  I told her that everyone was still alive, so it must have gone okay.  I really felt like I was in a fog.  I'm hoping that sensation goes away soon.  I have been impressed with everyone in our ward that I've asked to help with various things over this past week.  Each person has been great about accepting opportunities to serve.

I love that we live in a patient ward and that I get to learn to serve better and lean on the Lord a WHOLE LOT.  I have so much to learn.  I know I'm going to make mistakes and that scares me, but I also know that I get to serve the best people in the ward--the kids.  It's going to be so fun getting to know them.  I will also get to spend time with my three boys during church each Sunday.  That's never happened before.  I haven't served in the Primary in ten years, since B was born, so this is an opportunity I'm going to treasure.  I just hope I get over the jitters soon and can overcome my "shyness."

A Real Pain in the Neck

I just saw a headline for an article on Yahoo--"Nine Surprising Symptoms of Stress."  The guy pictured was rubbing his neck.  I didn't stop to read the article, but if the rubbing of the neck is one of those symptoms, it's not worth reading.  That's no surprise symptom if you ask me.

Z and I used to joke around that I had a pain in the neck and he had a pain in the butt.  I'm sure I have no idea what he's talking about.  Oh, and I promise, it was just a joke (at least on my part).

Lately I really do have a pain in the neck.  It's almost daily.  It ends up being a full-blown migraine most days.  Being a nursing mom, I can't take what I normally do to nip it in the bud, so I've had to be a little more creative than normal.

Yesterday, I decided that since these headaches are coming on in the morning, it must have something to do with the pillow I'm using, so I went and bought a new pillow.  I was so excited last night to sleep on it.  I was sure it was going to be just perfect and I would be in heaven.

I climbed into bed with great anticipation, laid my head down on it's clean, white, fluffiness and...

Whoosh...all the fluffiness deflated right out from under my head.  HUGE disappointment!  I could actually feel the matress through the layers of pillowcase and pillow.  I kind of smooshed it all up under my head and that was much better.

On the good side of this, I don't have a headache this morning.  My neck's a little achy, but I think that's kind  of par for the course right now.

So, I went back to Yahoo and read part of the article because I saw that it would tell how to remedy each problem.  Here's what it said, oh, by the way, the neck thing was #1 on the list, "If you're experiencing what you believe to be stress-related muscle symptoms, try this exercise: Take 5 to 10 deep breaths and focus on relaxing the tense area of your body, says Dr. Lombardo. For the neck, try gentle neck rolls or enlist your husband to give you a quick shoulder rub."

I'm totally laughing...oh and rolling my shoulders and breating deeply while focusing...Why does it say "husband?"  Do they just assume that women are the only ones who get this pain?  

Timing is Everything

Tomorrow is my birthday.  I'm kind of thinking, eh...so what.  Honestly.  I don't feel sorry for myself or anything.  It's just kind of become another day, which is kind of weird.

After my mom passed away, I got the feeling that April 13th was only a truly significant day to one other person in my life--my mom.  It was the day she met me for the first time, and it was the day I met her.  Others in my life have forgotten my birthday in the past, and I haven't thought much about that.  I realized that my mom was the only person who would never forget why it was a significant day and that that significance was because of me.

So, now, let me share my Twilight Zone kind of life.  I guess you could say it was more of a tender mercy, but it depends on if you believe in coincidence or in miracles.  I tend to be a miracle-believing type of girl myself.

When I was a child, because I was born on the day before Easter and because my mom found their fuzziness so irresistible, my mom would buy me a stuffed rabbit for my birthday.  Even my second year of college, I went to the apartment door after hearing a knock, to find the mailman standing there with a large box.  Sure enough, it was full of a large, flop-eared white stuffed bunny.

The year after my mom passed away, I went to visit my dad.  It was April 12th.  When I walked into his bedroom, he told me he'd been cleaning out some closets and found some things I might be interested in.  They were on the dresser.  The first thing I went to was a plastic bag.  I opened it; inside was a small, white stuffed rabbit.  Amazing, even gone from this life, she was remembering my birthday.

That rabbit has sat on a shelf in my bedroom ever since.  It's become such a part of the furnishings that I had forgotten that it was even there.

So, let's step a little farther into the Twilight Zone...

I got up early this morning.  I was given a new calling at church yesterday, which is proving to be a lot of work, so I got up to get some things done.  I worked for quite awhile and got a lot accomplished.  I was happy about that.  I got up to get L as she was done with her nap.  As I went to climb the stairs to the bedroom, there, on the stairs was the old white rabbit.  The one my mom had "given" to me the year after she died.

Suddenly the significance hit me.  Why today of all days?  T had found it on the shelf this morning.  Why, when it has been there for years had he chosen today to climb on a chair, pull it by the leg and drag it down the stairs just to drop it on the bottom step?

Could it be that she's thinking about me?  Could she be telling me that I'm still significant to her?  I like to think so because she's still significant to me.

An Amazing Life

I'm going prom dress shopping tomorrow.  We're going to Abby's Closet.




This is kind of cracking me up.  Q's friends'll be here at 6am, and we'll head out for a morning full of adventure. 

I'm just thinking...how interesting life is.  Within the past year, I have given birth, been extremely sleep deprived because of a nursing baby and a teenage daughter.  I am experiencing everything from diapers to potty training to prom gowns.  Wow!  What a life!

Shopping Success!

I did something I NEVER do yesterday.  I went shopping.  I don't mean grocery shopping.  I went clothes shopping. 

I bit the bullet and took the two kids who are home with me to Kohl's and I actually bought stuff for me.  Of course, shortly after changing into the first outfit, T announced that he had to "go potty," so I left everything except the purse and the kids--including my own clothes, and made a dash for the back of the store where the restrooms are.  I didn't know this fact, so I had to ask the ladies at the jewelry counter.  They noticed the tags hanging from the dress and yelled after me, "Cute outfit!"  I then knew I had a winner.

I'm taking half of the clothes back today, but I did end up with a jacket, a black sweater with 3/4 sleeves, a pair of gray pants, a shirt and a dress.  Oh, I also bought earrings to match the dress, two pair of expensive nylons (yah, like the expensive ones'll last longer than the cheap ones from the grocery store.  HaHa, but it's a nice thought), and I went to another store and bought two pairs of shoes.

Funniest thing...
I wore the shoes last night on my date with Z.  I kept complaining about my right shoe flipping off my heel.  Couldn't figure it out for the life of me.  So, this morning, I took a closer look at the shoes.  The shoe on the left is a size 7.  The one on the right, a 7 1/2. 

So, there's part of my reasoning for taking things back.  The other is that I didn't absolutely love everything I brought home.  I decided that life's too short to be stuck with clothes that I have convinced myself look good on me.  I worry that over time I won't wear them any more, and they'll just take up space in my closet.  So, I'm saving those things that I love and I know look good  on me.  Considering that for more than a year, I haven't been able to find ANYTHING that looked even remotely good on me, this is a good development.  I'll post pictures later, if I can get up my courage to do so.

Wordless Wednesday - Darn Bird!

The Best Kept Secret

For more than a year now, I've been keeping a secret.

I'm afraid to tell you about it for fear that you'll want to keep this secret too and then it won't be a secret any more because we'll both know about it, but it's so great I can't not tell you.

So, here it is....

On Sunday, right around 12:30pm, I found the GREATEST place to be.  Let me describe it to you...

You can take your shoes off and just relax.



You can sit on the floor if you want to.

You get to have a snack.

You can play with toys.



You get to go on a walk.



You get to hang out with people that love you unconditionally, and actually I've learned from experience that the more silly you act, the more they love you.

You get to blow bubbles and hear your friends giggle as they dance around you popping them.




You get to experience sheer joy through a child's eyes.




Nursery is just a little sampling of heaven.

Shhhh.  Don't tell.

To Create One's Self

After the Saturday morning session of General Conference ended, I got on Facebook for just a moment.  That's the kind of relationship I have with Facebook--a moment here, a moment there. 

As soon as I logged on, one of Q's friends (who is Christian but not LDS) popped up in a chat box.  She asked, "What do you think it means to create yourself?"

I thought this was an interesting question, and what a time to be asked it...right after listening to spiritual giants tell you all you need to know to be a good person.  I didn't hesitate in my answer...

"I believe that God sends us here to accomplish certain things, so it's up to us to let Him create us.  We just need to be able to humble ourselves enough to accept the experiences and lessons that help us become what we are meant to be.

"It seems that those things that are hardest for us to go through are the very things that do the best 'creating.'"

I love that, in this world where things seem to be in upheaval most of the time, there are answers to be had.  We don't need to wonder or worry because we have access to God.  He knows us and loves us.  I love that I didn't have to work hard to come up with an answer to this question.  It was right there.  It's just true.

Happy Homemaker Monday

Found this blog parade today.  Looked like fun.  So, here it is...

 

The weather in my neck of the woods:

41°F | °C

Current: Showers
Wind: S at 13 mph
Humidity: 87%

Mon

49°F | 41°F

Tue

53°F | 41°F

Wed

66°F | 44°F

Thu

51°F | 38°F

Things that make me happy:
Everything family!  Quiet.  Finishing things.  Little experiences, so small that I might be tempted to overlook, that make me sit up and realize that God is aware of me and what's going on in my life.

Book I'm reading:
Organize Now by Jennifer Ford Berry


On the menu for dinner:
Beef Taco Skillet and cornbread

On my To Do List:
Laundry
Take L's photo and post on facebook
Clean out the fridge
Create grocery list/find coupons

New Recipe I tried or want to try soon:
Thai Noodles with Veggies and Peanut Sauce

In the craft basket:

Not much of a "craft," but I LOVE this and want to do it to my house (scroll down to the "after" picture of the stairs).

Looking forward to this week:
Getting things in order.
Watching my daughter run in her first official high school track meet.

Tips and Tricks:
To keep an active little boy busy, let him help you refill Easter eggs with marshmallows, raisins, etc. and some with little slips of paper in them with things for him to do "pick up one toy," "clap your hands three times," and take turns hiding them for each other.

My favorite blog post this week:
This is my favorite so far.

Blog Hopping (a new discovered blog you would like to share with the readers):
Clothed Much.  I love this woman's style.  Wish I could dress like she does and look like she does.  I just admire people who can look at things and put them together in such a great way.

No words needed (favorite photo or picture, yours or others you want to share):

Lesson learned the past few days:
To deal with my children one-on-one and quietly when they're misbehaving, so I don't embarrass them.  It may take a little longer, but the effects are longer lasting.

On my mind:
New responsibilities I've taken on and how they're going to change my life.
The statistics class I'm falling behind in.

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:
Read Mormon 1 last night.  I was impressed with how it was clear from such a young age that Mormon would be a prophet.  How God prepares us for what we are to do in this life.  Makes me look at my children differently.
Also General Conference.  It was WONDERFUL!!!

The Conference Experience (a.k.a. The Hess Family Food Fest)

In seven hours I'll be getting up to make cinnamon rolls and scones for my family.  It's General Conference weekend, and I'm so excited!  It's kind of become a major food fest at our house.

With four kids playing spring soccer, and this being the first weekend for games, I was pretty sure we'd be out for most of the day.  There have been years in the past when I've put my foot down, and we've skipped games so we could watch Conference, but today we received an email stating that the one game we'd have tomorrow is canceled due to fields being too wet.  YAY for good ol' Oregon rain!!!  Sometimes you've just gotta love it!

So, I'm excited to get up and get baking.  But, most of all, I'm excited to get to spend the weekend with my family and learn and grow from the Conference experience!

Friday Follow

Friday Follow 4-2

I've never tried this before, but it looked like fun.  Anyone can join...see below if you want to give it a try too.  

Here's how YOU can join the Friday Follow celebration:

* * Link up your blog name and URL using the MckLinky below. Only need to add on one blog to be seen on all the blog hops.
* * Grab the Friday Follow and Sponsor buttons and include both on your Friday Follow blog post.
* * Follow the Friday Follow hostesses listed in the first 3 slots.
* * Follow as many other blogs on the linky as you'd like
* * Take a moment to comment on the blogs telling them you're from Friday Follow
* * Follow back if you like, when you get a new follower through Friday Follow

The list is new each week. The links do not carry over. Please link up each week for new participants to find your blogs. The list is only open to add your blog links on Fridays. It will be visible all week to visit the blogs listed.

I'll Admit It

So, I'm a brat.  Not just a brat, a spoiled, rotten brat.

We sat down at family council on Sunday evening to go over the calendar for the next month.  We came upon my birthday, which was mentioned and quickly followed by track, Cub Scouts, a team dinner, and two soccer practices.  UGH!  Definitely the busiest night of the month.

So, I'm having a bit of a pity party
      cuz I'm thinkin' that's the only kind of party that's gonna happen.














(photo from: http://rlv.zcache.com/youre_invited_to_my_pity_party_tshirt-p2351658436934031933lnf_400.jpg)