Back to School

Back to school is always a blessing for us.  I love my children very much, but by the end of the summer it's best for all of us if school starts :).  Mac started Kindergarten this year.  I have a hard time sending kids to Kindergarten, but I know it will be so good for him.  He has a wonderful teacher, so I'm not worried.  I've already written how grateful I am for teachers and school in past posts, so- ditto to them.   Here are just a few pictures:

First Day of Kindergarten

First day of 5th grade and 3rd grade.  Will wanted to be in everyone's picture.

Teacher Appreciation Week- last May.  Tavish helped me make the little peanut kids.  I really do appreciate the teachers.

My Good Husband

Today I'm grateful for my sweet Tavish who got up early to put out flags with the scouts for Labor Day, then came home to take care of our sick baby so I could sleep.   Just had to jot it down, because I feel sooo much better after being up with little Will for a few nights.  And... I am sooo grateful for a dedicated, loving, unselfish husband. I hope Will gets better soon and that Tav can get a nap today! :).

No Tooth for the Tooth Fairy

A couple of weeks ago Sara lost a tooth.  She put it in a little baggie and was carrying it around the house for a while.  When it was time for bed, she couldn't find her tooth anywhere.  We all tried to find the tooth- it still hasn't showed up.  Sara was pretty upset.  She decided to write the tooth fairy a note that she lost her tooth.  She put the note under her pillow, and the very generous tooth fairy gave her a dollar even without a tooth, but left a note (written in very tiny, fairy- like handwriting) that said, "You owe me a tooth young lady!"  We were thinking that it would show up so she could offer her tooth another night, but, like I said- it never did.

Anyway, a few days ago Sara lost another tooth- yes she has many gaps in her mouth right now.  She left the tooth and this note under her pillow.  If you can't read it it says, "you don't have to give me eny money for this".  Oh- what a sweet girl.  It was so cute to see that.  I love it when my children are willing to make sacrifices to do what is right- all on their own.  I'm sure that was hard for her to write.   Sweet Sara- she's my blessing of the day. 

PS- The tooth fairy must have liked the note too, because she had compassion on her and still gave her $ for the tooth. 

Catch Up- Sara's baptism

I have a hard time keeping up on this, just like everything else in my life.  Sometimes I see these blogs of stay at home super moms that must have a caffeine drip going through them intravenously.... all day.  They are super organized, wonderful cooks, homeschool their kids (which sounds a little like torture to me), study their scriptures, magnify their callings, keep healthy and fit, and blog about all of it too- with nice pictures because they are photographers also.  What in the world?!  What's my problem?

Anyway, I was considering quitting the blog thing because I must move in slow motion compared to these super women, and have to prioritize my time.  I asked myself, "Is this worth my time?"  I guess you can see that I decided it was- even if I don't do it often.  I figure it may be of some worth to my children and grandchildren someday, and its better reading than my journals (that I don't keep anymore).  So, I'm sticking with it- for now.

A blessing that I need to catch up on and document is Sara's baptism.  She was baptized in January this year.  She's such a sweet, easy-going girl.  Her dad baptized and confirmed her, Grandma Sue gave a talk on the Holy Ghost, and Grandma Bobby gave a prayer.  I'm glad that she didn't ask me to do something, because I just sat there and boobalooed.  It was such a nice day with all of the family.  On Sunday, Sara even bore her testimony.  I was proud of her because she's like her mama- doesn't like the public speaking thing. :)  

So, this is for Sara- I'm so happy for your determination to do what is right, your easy going demeanor,  your patience with your brothers, and I love you!  You are my blessing of the day.

A Flip of the Switch #1

This summer, my Dad's twin sister passed away.  My dad's family has a history of mental illness, and my aunt Diann inherited it, so it was actually a relief when she left, because she is finally free and whole again.

A little history here: My dad's mom had mental issues and couldn't take care of the kids.  She had five kids in five years, the youngest died not long after birth (I think that right there is enough to make any mother go insane).  When she had my dad and Diann, the Riggs family in the ward took them in.  They had many teenage/young adult girls and one boy that helped raise my dad and Diann.

Anyway, at Diann's funeral one of the Riggs girls spoke.  She told of her mom's difficult decision to take the babies in to raise, stories from their childhood... etc.  I never have really heard my dad's stories from this family's perspective; it was interesting.  Then she went on mentioning several of the Porter family's trials- mental illness, the death of their dad and other family members... then she said something like, "There is a crown of glory in store for the Porter family."  And immediately, like a flip of the switch, I thought, "You're the one who will have a crown of glory".  And it came to me how blessed I am because of this family.  I honestly felt like God was saying, "Holly, look how blessed your life is because of them."  I always knew what a blessing they were to my dad, but I guess I didn't think much about how it affected me.

What a sacrifice they made taking in the twins of a dysfunctional family.  Now, as a mom, I can especially recognize what a sacrifice that would be.  Because of them, my dad had opportunities he never would have had without them.  He graduated high school and college,  had a mom write him letters every week on his mission, got a good job,  and actually met my mom through one of the sisters.  I have a wonderful dad and have had a good upbringing.  I'm certain a large part of it is due to the Riggs family.

I recognize the hand of the Lord in my life- he inspired a sweet mother of teenagers to raise my dad.  She will never know how she blessed his family's life.  I am forever grateful to her and her family.

A Flip of the Switch

Recently I watched one of the Mormon Messages by Elder Bednar that got me thinking.  He spoke in a General Conference about revelation.  He said that revelation generally comes in two ways. One way is like a light switch- the light turns on suddenly and the room is  lit.  To me it's like one of those ah-ha moments.  Of course, it could be even more dramatic like visits from angels- which of course I haven't had.   The other, more common way, is like a sunrise.  Gradually bit by bit you see the light.  The 'sunrise' revelation is much more common, but harder to recognize and generally takes more time.  Anyway, one of the things I was going to post about from this summer was one of those flip-of-the-light switch revelations.  And since those flip-of-the-switch revelations don't happen too often to me, I thought I should document it.  Who knows, maybe while I'm at it I'll document a few more of those flips of the light switches from the past that I've never written down.  Of course, you all know how good I am at keeping up this blog, so no promises.

http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/mormon-messages?lang=eng&id=2012-01-012-patterns-of-light-spirit-of-revelation#2012-01-012-patterns-of-light-spirit-of-revelation 

Life with kids is never dull

The more time passes, the more I don't want to write on my blog, because I'm too far behind.  But then I thought- Hey it doesn't have to be something  spectacular- right?  I have many things I'd like to post from the past few months, but today I'll start simple.

Today I'm grateful for my kids and the entertainment they provide.  I'm not the most exciting person in the world, so I'm glad I have my husband and kids to liven things up.  For example:

Andrew and Sara were discussing the hauntings in Santaquin.  Their conversation in the car went something like this:
Andrew: Family Tree is haunted.
Sara: Our school is too.
Andrew:  Yea, someone said they saw a Kleenex floating in the air.
Sara: I saw a ghost once in our house- out of the corner of my eye.  She was reading our books.
Andrew (seriously contemplating):  Hmm...  It must have been an angel that was off task.  The angel that is supposed to be guarding you got off task reading our books.

Ha ha- I hope our guardian angels don't get off task when we really need them!

Mac has been the one who has kept me on my toes the most though (besides the baby that wants constant attention- day and night):

One day I walked into the bathroom and caught him peeing in the garbage can.  He looked at me with a guilty look  of  "I've been caught".  I gasped, "What are you doing?!"  "Do you want a red hand print on that bare bum of yours?!"  and he said giggling, "Yea!" so... that's what he got.  He looked at me in shock like that wasn't the red hand print he was expecting.  Not sure what he was thinking he was going to get.   No wonder my bathrooms had been smelling like pee.

Mac also decided to put small legos up his nose too.  Why?  I'm not sure.  I heard screaming, "Mom, get the lego out of my nose!"  We had the tweezers, blowed... for quite a while.  Finally I held down one nostril and told him to blow really hard... and it shot out.  Good- I didn't want to go to the doctor.

He decided to dump out all of the salt and pepper out of the shakers the other day- all over the table and my laptop- luckily it was shut.

He colored on our carpet and window sills downstairs.

Just yesterday he told me that he saw elves watching him.  Yes, it was wonderful!  He tried so hard to obey and help out.  But apparently the elves left, because he decided to throw rocks at our basement window and broke one.  Then he told me that Andrew taught him that... I said, "No he didn't".  Then he said Sara taught him that.  "No she didn't"  Then he said Will taught him that.  Ha ha.  Then he went up stairs and grabbed  one of the No David books and showed me that he did what David did in the book.  Ya- I told him that that book was about David being naughty not nice.  I'm not sure if Mac will make it on the nice list this year.

When I call to Mac from another room, "What are you doing?" and it's something naughty he says, "Don't look at me Mom"--which he just did as I'm writing this, so I better finish this up.

Someday I'm going to look back on these experiences and think they are sooo funny- especially when my grandkids are doing the same thing!

All of that said (and much more that wasn't said), I love my kids.  They are my blessings with creative minds and strong personalities.  There is never a dull moment in our house.

Mac put this sticker on cute little Will.  Will must never be left alone with his brother.