Girl in a Whirl

Last Saturday I attended a Women's Conference for our Stake. We had break-out classes which I really enjoyed! I went to a herb gardening/cooking mini-class, and to an emotional health mini-class. In the emotional health class, the teacher shared this poem. I think it is hilarious, but sometimes too true to what we as LDS women and moms expect of ourselves. Sometimes we need to just slow down, do what really needs to be done, and leave the rest for another time in our lives. After all, we all want to live! Enjoy! (read Dr. Suess style!)

The Girl in a Whirl         by ‘Dr. Sue’ (a.k.a. Vickie Gunther)  
         Look at me, look at me, look at me now!
         You could do what I do
         If you only knew how.
         I study the scriptures one hour each day;
         I bake,
         I upholster,
         I scrub,
         and I pray.
         I always keep all the commandments completely;
         I speak to my little ones gently and sweetly.
         I help in their classrooms!
         I sew all they wear!
         I drive them to practice!
         I cut all their hair!
         I memorize names of the General Authorities;
         I focus on things to be done by priorities.
         I play the piano!
         I bless with my talents!
         My toilets all sparkle!
         My checkbooks all balance!
         Each week every child gets a one-on-one date;
         I attend all my meetings (on time!  Never late!)
  
         I’m taking a class on the teachings of Paul,
  
         But that is not all! Oh, no. That is not all .
         I track my bad habits ’til each is abolished;
         Our t-shirts are ironed!
         My toenails are polished!
         Our family home evenings are always delightful;
         The lessons I give are both fun and insightful.
         I do genealogy faithfully, too.
         It’s easy to do all the things that I do!
         I rise each day early, refreshed and awake;
         I know all the names of each youth in my stake!
         I read to my children!
         I help all my neighbors!
         I bless the community, too, with my labors.
         I exercise and I cook menus gourmet;
         My visiting teaching is done the first day!
         (I also go do it for someone who missed hers.
         It’s the least I can do for my cherished ward sisters.)
         I chart resolutions and check off each goal;
         I seek each “lost lamb” on my Primary roll.
         I can home-grown produce each summer and fall.
         But that is not all! Oh, no. That is not all .
         I write in my journal!
         I sing in the choir!
         Each day, I write “thank you’s” to those I admire.
         My sons were all Eagles when they were fourteen!
         My kids get straight A’s!
         And their bedrooms are clean!
         I have a home business to help make some money;
         I always look beautifully groomed for my honey.
         I go to the temple at least once a week;
         I change the car’s tires!
         I fix the sink’s leak!
  
         I grind my own wheat and I bake all our bread;
         I have all our meals planned out six months ahead.
         I make sure I rotate our two-years’ supply;
         My shopping for Christmas is done by July!
         These things are not hard;
         ’tis good if you do them;
         You can if you try!
         Just set goals and pursue them!
         It’s easy to do all the things that I do!
         If you plan and work smart, you can do them all, too!
         It’s easy!” she said
        and then she dropped dead.

Just things.

Sometimes life sends you rough days.
Sometimes you have no logical reason for why that day is tough.
It just is.
It is hard to feel like that.
Yesterday was one of those days.
I'm glad it's over.
I'm glad I have a hubby who loves me and supports me.
I'm glad that once I get the ball rolling, it is easier to keep going.
That is all.
--
Now for happy things.
This is pretty much the BEST sandwich ever.
I think that 60% of my lunches in the past 2 months have been this.

Homemade bread- toasted.
Little bit of light mayo.
Tomatoes. S&P.
Cheese.
Cucumbers. S&P.
Spinach.
YUM!








Reminds me of Summer.
--
Now for annoying things.
Deer.
This herd really likes our yard.
Eating trees.
Taking naps.

We now throw snowballs at them to make them leave.

We want fruit this summer.

If they eat all the buds, we won't get any.

I'll be mad.

Robby said the other day, "There is a reason for 'deer season'. They are pests."

Apparently the Mapleton Deer know how to hide.

So snowballs it is.

--

Procrastination can be evil.

Laundry IS evil.

I got busy and did my laundry.

Folded it, too.

Didn't put it away immediately.

I learned my lesson.

Two year olds don't understand folded laundry.

Grr.

I had to refold it all.

Then I put it away immediately.

--

Kids are cute.

When they sleep.

Love him.

The End.

Spencer had a birthday!

Shout Hooray!!
(but mom does not get a hooray for waiting almost 3 months to post about it)

Spencer's 2nd birthday was November 1st . We were up in Canada for my brother's funeral at that time. Since we didn't bring any of his presents we decided to get a cake to celebrate. Lucky for us, their Halloween cakes were way on sale. So we got a cute White and Orange cake with Mickey Mouse on it... who really cares that he was dressed as a pirate and had a bag of candy in his hand. Spencer liked it.

Sadly my grandma couldn't find any candles, so we just sang and dished up. (she made the comment that there was a point in time where she never would have gone without any birthday candles in the house... times change I guess!)

 We decided to make it a celebration for my brother's birthday as well, because his is November 2nd . (And that was the day of the funeral) Sadly he isn't in any pictures because he was the one taking them. Thanks Thomas!
Here is a video, sorry it is long... I have yet to learn how to edit/shorten videos, but that's OK,  the BEST part is near the beginning!

And yes, I really did almost drop the cake!

It was yummy cake, but I should have opted for the MUCH smaller one (despite the number of people we had there to eat it), as we were eating cake for a long time after that.

After me and the boys got home from visiting North Dakota after the funeral, we had Spencer open his gifts!
He got a SO CUTE frog hat from Gandma/pa Evans, and Awesome sand toys and a Thomas the Train book from Gandma/pa Nordquist.

I didn't get any pictures of the sand toys, but they were put to good use the very next day... in the snow!

Snowman Rhyme

Timothy learned this cute rhyme in preschool last week. Enjoy!

This is the actual poem,

The Chubby Little Snowman-
There was a chubby snowman,
who had a carrot nose.
Along came a bunny,
and what do you suppose?

The hungry little bunny,
was looking for his lunch.
He grabbed the snowman’s nose,
NIBBLE! NIBBLE! CRUNCH!

Cookies

Sometimes I am a fun mom and do cute, fun things with my kids... sometimes.

Today we made cookies (the package of which was given to us as a Christmas gift... see, sometimes)
I let both boys help stir, mix, roll, and cut, then they even cleaned up (without me asking!). They loved it!

 We have everything from ducks and elephants to ghosts and witches. 

With lots of hearts and ABC's in between!

Those darling aprons they are wearing come from my Grandma Harris. As her "keep busy" project last year she made an apron for every one of her posterity. (to give you an idea, she has 8 children + spouses, 31 grandchildren + several spouses, and 12 great-grandchildren) She is Amazing!

Now, we will frost and eat them for Family Home Evening tonight!
I think I just got a few Drops of Awesome!

Cute song!

Timothy sang this cute little song the other day. I loved it! (I have to write it down before I forget).

"Old MacDonald had a farm E-I-E-I-O! And on that farm he had a dog... and Bingo was his name-o, B-Y-N-G-O!"

It tickled my funny bone! Love my cute, smart, growing boy!
p.s. I think he got the B-Y- part from us getting him to chant "BYU!"
Go Cougars!

The boy who cried "mommy"...

and other random thoughts.

-Last night Spencer was not feeling well and so it took him a while to fall asleep. After finally falling asleep I heard him saying, "mommy, mommy" so I went in. He didn't stir... he was still laying down in a nice cozy ball. I put a blanket on him and left. About an hour later I heard him again saying, "mommy, mommy". I let him be only to hear again, "mommy, mommy". I went in and the same thing. He was still in a nice cozy ball, laying down and didn't acknowledge my presence. I again replaced his blanket and left. A third time, about an hour later, I heard, "mommy, mommy" I chose to ignore it... again, "mommy, mommy" , ignore, then, "daddy, daddy, mommy." As his volume was increasing and I didn't want him to wake Timothy, I went in and this time he was standing, calling out, needing a drink of water... After helping with that and snuggling him back down I went back to bed. First thing I said to Robby, "man, that boy sure knows how to 'cry wolf" or I should say 'cry mommy'.
(Sadly this actual needing me started the whole night of not sleeping because every ten minutes he was calling out needing water or his blanket, or medicine or whatever. Normally I would just ignore him and make him fall asleep himself, but with him being sick, I had to do my part... man I'm tired.)

-The other day we were driving somewhere as a family and Timothy just started laughing. Out of the blue, a full on laugh. We turned and asked him what was funny. He laughed again and said, chortling through his whole story, "I turned on and off the microphone when Austin was talking in it!" Robby was confused, but I told him that two days before he had been plugging and unplugging the microphone in the RS room while Austin (his cousin) was trying to talk into it. He thought it was funny at the time too. That was the very first time we have ever seen/heard Timothy laugh at a memory. We loved it! But wow, is our boy sure growing up!

-It is really nice to know that people worry about you. Yesterday Robby was sick. He basically stayed in bed all day. It was also the first day Robby was supposed to go back to work after our family trip. That night after hearing from my brother (that works with Robby) that he wasn't at work, we had three different family members try to call or text us to make sure we were still alive or that we really did make it home safely. Since my phone was in the van and Robby's was on vibrate, we didn't immediately answer their inquiries and sent some of them into panic...(my dad even told my brother to come over and make sure we were still conscious!) It may seem silly, but it sure feels nice to be loved and worried over.

-I changed my blog look again (something I like to do now and then to match the season or my mood!), but I also added something new and exciting! Take a look around and see what you discover!

-I have lots to write about... Christmas, our Family Reunion, etc. but those will be their own posts.
Thanks for Reading!