Man vs. Nature

I’ve been wanting to write this for a while now. I had this analogy in my head, where yard work parallels our righteous progression. I thought I’d post it here, just for funsies.

Every year, I have the “man vs. nature” classic struggle, of trying to keep up with my yard and its many weeds. There are times that I think I should just give up, and just let the weeds take over. Especially grass-it’s great when it grows, except when it grows where I don’t want it to grow!  

But I realized, no matter how bad it gets -how riddled with sin we are, or how many sins of omission we commit (not reading scriptures, etc.), it is still worth fighting the good fight. Paul Harvey said, “Someday I hope to enjoy enough of what the world calls success so that someone will ask me, ‘What’s the secret of it?’ I shall say simply this: ‘I get up when I fall down.’”

There may be weed upon weed in my flower beds, but if I can pull just one, that’s one that I have overcome. All it takes is that first step. And usually, once I take that first step, no matter how overwhelming or daunting it may feel to get started, it leads to pulling more weeds, and more and more, until I can see the beauty lying beneath, until the bed is clean of the unwanted weeds. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said, "Let us not give up. Let us be true to our covenants. Let us never lose sight of our Advocate and Redeemer as we walk toward Him, one imperfect step after another."

I also realized that if I get to the weeds when they are small, the easier they are to pull up. If I let them go, wishing they will just go away on their own, they get worse (like grass, or those climbing weeds). They will create a deeper, stronger root. And then the weeds choke out the good things I may have in my garden.

I also realized that there will never be the “perfect” time to start pulling weeds. The day is either too hot, or too cold, or too windy, or too busy. I can always find an excuse to NOT start. But, as they say, there is no time like the present. If I don’t get to it now, then when?

Is my yard perfect? Certainly not. It never will be. But it’s something that I can keep working on, until my weaknesses become my strengths. But that won’t happen until I put forth the effort-no matter how hard it may seem or how hard it may actually turn out to be. “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.”

Moon Walking

A couple of Fridays ago, Pete had to work overtime (he normally does 10-hour days, 4 days a week).  His work is about an hour's drive from our home.  Out past his work, about 20 minutes or so, is an area called Craters of the Moon.

That morning, Pete texted me and said, "Hey, since I'm already out here, let's go to Craters."  I was game.

I hadn't been there since I was a kid, maybe in 5th grade.  So the kids and I drove out, and met Pete at his work.

(The sign behind Jake's head says something like, "Warning: Watch your kids and make sure they stay on the path so they don't FALL and DIE.")

They have a visitor's center, which is pretty cool.  But they also have a bunch of hiking trails to go and see the sites up close and personal.  We ended up going on the perfect day-it was kind of overcast and was sprinkling on and off, so it wasn't hot at all to walk amongst the mountains of black rocks everywhere.

We walked on one of the trails that takes you to a cave.  I should say "cave", because it had somewhat of a ceiling, but it was mostly an open hole in the ground.  But it was still way cool.  We even saw some bats flying around in there.

I drew all sorts of parallels while we were walking to the cave and back.  Jakob kept walking on the very very edge of the pretty narrow path.  I was like, "Jake, you've gotta walk in the middle of the path."  And he didn't get it.  I pointed out to him that we don't know how strong the rock is on either side of the path, and if we were to walk there and it gave way it could be dangerous.  Also, I showed him that there were large drop-offs on either side of the path.  I told him, "Jakob, if you were to be on the very edge, and slip even just a little, you will hurt yourself."  I thought about our path in life, how we need to be constantly vigilant, and we shouldn't even flirt with dangerous edges; the middle is the safest way to go.

It was a really fun excursion.  It also made me very grateful for the hard-working husband that I have.  There's no way I would drive (or ride a bus) for an hour to get to work, especially so early in the morning like Pete does.

Memory Monday: Appliance Gratitude

This last week, our microwave decided to die on us.  (This isn't the "memory" part of my post.  This is just the setup of what brought back this particular memory, or memories, if you will.)  One minute it was working, the next minute there was absolutely no heat emitting from its...micro waves. 

The appliance fixer guy came out and said a piece wasn't working.  I keep wanting to call it the Megatron.  The...Magnavox?  The...MAGNATRON!  Yes!  I remembered!  (Seriously, my brain goes to Megatron first.  I must have boys in my house.)  Anyway, that's the thing that makes the microwave work.  We could either replace the part, or get a new one for the same exact cost.  I went with a new one, because why not?

While I was looking around the store, I saw some really fancy appliances.  It's only been 5-ish years since I've done some appliance shopping, though at the time we had Budget X to work with because that's what our home builders told us we had.  Of course we could have gone over Budget X to get fancier things, but we didn't have more money with which to spend on the fancy, so Plain Jane is what we ended up getting.

But now?  There are microwaves that have grills inside of them.  Crazy, huh?  And there are ovens that have a smaller oven door, which totally fits a 9x13 pan, but you only have to heat up the smaller one (and then there's a full-size oven underneath), so it's more energy efficient and all that jazz.  (Here's a picture of one.  Awesome, huh?)

And then there's the fancy, roomy dishwasher. *sigh*  Of all my appliances, I would want my dishwasher to break.  It's short, and small, and the utensil holder is in the bottom instead of on the door so it takes up a ton of room, and then it has that spindle thing in the middle of the bottom and top that shoots water up, so you have to work around it.  And because my dishwasher is short, if I use a normal-sized skillet, I have to lean it over, so it takes up more than half of the bottom of the dishwasher to clean it.

I was coveting, my friends.

However.  This experience brings me to my Memory Monday.  And because it's late, I'm sure I'll forget all sorts of descriptive details about it.  Though, I think for Memory Monday's sake, I'm going to just stick to the appliance section of this time in my life.

The year span was 2002-2005.  Pete and I got married in June of 2002, and we moved into married student housing on campus at Utah State.  I think these beauties were built in, like, the 1940s or something.  There were plenty of things wrong with the Aggie Village apartments, but for two really poor college students, they were just fine.  Here's a pic of one of the buildings:

Sweet, sweet cinder block walls with no air conditioning.  Very cold in the winter, warm like unto an oven in the summer.  (And then being SUPER pregnant during one of those summers!  Yikes.  Bikes.)  They were cheap, but a great deal because our water, cable, internet, phone, garbage, sewer, and electricity were all included in the price.  The downside: no appliances to be had.

Laundry machines?  We were lucky enough to have the laundry building right next door to our building.  Microwave?  Pete's siblings all pitched in to get us one for our wedding gift.  It sat on an old desk that Pete had had in his single days.  Dishwasher?  I called my dishwasher my hands, my sink, soap, and a towel.  We had a dinky little gas oven in which only one of my cookie sheets would fit all the way.

Our cabinets had sliding fake wood doors.  Our "pantry" was maybe a foot wide and maybe two feet deep (I'm being generous on the measurements).

One day in Sunday School during church (which was basically our whole ward, because there were, like, 5 kids old enough to be in nursery while the rest were all brand new babies, and that was the entirety of our primary), someone made a comment about our fake wood sliding cabinet doors, and our lack of counter space.  And I think every woman in the room started fantasizing about real wood cabinets, and appliances that were younger than she was.  And our teacher (I can't remember his name, but he had red hair, if I'm remembering right) made this comment:

If we can always remember our fake wood cabinets during this time in our lives, we will always be grateful for what we have.

That really hit me.  I think he was trying to say a few things-or, I interpreted it a few different ways.  One, that someday we'll look back and realize how poor we were in college, and that hopefully we'll be better off in the future, but we need to be grateful for how far we've come.  Two, that aren't we lucky to even be in college, and that we even have cabinets in which to house our food and dishes.  And three, all we need are the basics, and our happiness doesn't come from material goods.

So yes, I coveted a new dishwasher last week.  But then I remembered what life was like without one, and I realized how great I have it.  I am so blessed, and not just with appliances.

The Gym

I signed my boys up for a gym class for the year.  Jakob had done a hip hop class last year, and really enjoyed it, but wanted to try something new.  And I thought it would be a good thing for all my boys to do together.

It's a tumbling class.  They've all been doing great in it.  It's so funny to watch their different personalities come out while they're doing the class.

(I haven't been able to get very good pictures-because they're so far away, and it's so big and not super bright in there, they all come out blurry.  So, there's a good butt picture for you.  I'm actually kind of surprised at how flexible they all look right there.)

Jakob has been spastic.  He's gotten really good at front rolls and back rolls.  He loves doing the different tricks on the long trampoline they have.

Brock has been exact.  He'll observe the teacher closely and try to do it exactly right the very first time. 

Troy has been important.  Even though he's the smallest kid in the class, you'd think he was the biggest.  He's just so happy to be there.

They just got a new teacher-I think their other one went off to college or something.  The new teacher has them grab onto a large rope at the end of their lesson, and swing out over a pit full of large foam cubes.  Then they let go and fall in.  It's the best thing since sliced bread.  It's very Tarzan.

They have a parent section, that's up above the floors.  One side has video cameras that play on some TVs, and the other side you can look down and watch.  I like watching some of the other classes.  There are some little girls that are amazing gymnasts.  It's like watching the Olympics every week.

One lady comes and cross stitches the whole time.  I asked her about it, and she said her daughter comes twice a week for 4 hours each time.  She was all, "I guess I could be at home cleaning my house, but if she's doing something she loves for 8 hours a week, why can't I?"

I guess I could cross stitch as well, but instead I take my logic puzzles book.  Which, for me, is still very zen.  Ivy comes along as well, and I try to bring crayons or toys for her to play with.  For a while she kept trying to steal a little boy's food and toys.  When I forget toys we munch on TicTacs.  Have you tried the green apple ones?  They're yummy, although they don't necessarily give you fresh breath.

There's also a Russian guy that teaches there.  At first I couldn't really hear his accent.  And I was like, dude, I wonder what he says to people when they ask what he does for a living.  "I yell at little girls."  He doesn't mean yell all of the time, but you have to yell to be heard in there-it's very tall and open in there.

The boys' gym class starts right when I would be preparing dinner, and ends too late for me to whip up something afterwards.  So I decided to make that night my crock pot night.  My friend Arin lent me a crock pot recipe book, and I photocopied a whole bunch of 'em.  I've really liked all of them.  And I LOVE being able to just dump everything in either in the morning or early afternoon, and it's ready to go when we get home that night.  If only every meal could be so easy.  (Well, I guess it could be, if we had crock pot stuff every night.)

Here are a few of my favorite recipes that we've tried thus far:

HEARTY HODGEPODGE (a.k.a. Minestrone Soup)
1 1/2 pounds ground beef, cooked
2 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) condensed minestrone soup
1 21-ounce can pork and beans in tomato sauce
1 12-ounce can tomato juice
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup water
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. dried oregano, crushed
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced (I just used a little bit of minced garlic)
Dump it all in a crock pot.  Cook for 7-8 hours on low or 3 1/2-4 hours on high.

COUNTRY STYLE PEACH RIBS
3 pounds country-style ribs
1 medium onion, sliced
1 18-ounce jar peach or apricot preserves
1/2 cup orange juice or water
2 Tbl. bottled teriyaki sauce (I think I used soy sauce)
3 cloves garlic, minced (used minced garlic again)
Put the onion on the bottom, put the ribs on top.  Mix the other ingredients in a bowl, and pour all but 1 cup on top of meat in crock pot.  Put the remaining in the fridge.  Cook for 8-10 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high.  Heat up the sauce that's been in the fridge, and pour over the ribs before serving.
(I used the leftovers and made a sandwich for myself with green peppers and Swiss cheese the next day. YUM!)

ITALIAN BUFFET DINNER
2 1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck
1 medium onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large red sweet pepper, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 14-ounce jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried oregano, crushed
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 1/2 cups hot cooked spaghetti or mashed potatoes
grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Cut meat into 1-inch pieces.  Dump everything in the crock pot except spaghetti or potatoes.  Cook for 9-10 hours on low, or 4 1/2-5 hours on high.  Serve over spaghetti noodles, or with mashed potatoes.

So there you have it.  My time at the gym.

Unfinished Thoughts

I've been a little frustrated all week.  I think it's because I taught a lesson on self-mastery to my cute Young Women on Sunday.  And I'm probably the last person that should be teaching that.  Because I'm the ultimate non-master of myself. 

We were talking about bad habits, and I told the girls that sometimes I end up leaving my dishes unwashed, so that they're lining my counter, and have dried food on them and I hate that that's become one of my habits.  Now, it's not every day, but still, it happens way more often than I'd like.  I was explaining this, and one of the girls got this "how gross" look on her face.  And I was like, I know, right?  Totally gross. 

But really, it's not just dirty dishes.  It's laundry that piles up taller than Troy (I measured today).  It's unmopped floors and stinky bathrooms.  It's the unfinished projects sitting by my computer.  It's the oh-crap-we're-almost-out-of-milk-better-finally-make-a-list-and-run-to-the-store.

It's procrastination.

And I hate it about myself.  It's even hitting the snooze button-I'm procrastinating getting up out of bed.

I wish I could be one of those tackle everything immediately kinds of people.  And I can be like that about some things.  But I end up procrastinating a lot more often than I'd like.

Let's be honest.  Most of the things that I procrastinate are the things that I hate doing.  Chores, if you will.  And it boils down to being part of my "job" as a homemaker.  If I had a performance review right now of how I was doing, I'd probably get fired.  I'm surprised my kids haven't fired me yet.

So, what to do about it?

I only had a few minutes to prepare my lesson.  (Not because of procrastination, luckily, but just a miscommunication.)  So here are a few more thoughts that I wish I could have brought up.  I'm writing them here, just for myself.

In the lesson I brought up the ending of the poem Invictus.  The last two lines read "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul."  I wish I had had a copy of the whole poem, and had given it as a handout.  We talked about it briefly.  Basically, we are in charge of our own destiny.  If we don't like the direction we are heading in, we need to change it. 

I wish I had known beforehand that the author of that poem, William Ernest Henley,  had to have his leg amputated at 25 (which is about when he wrote the poem), and he died at 53 after leading a very active life.

We also read a scripture: Mosiah 4:27-...it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength.  And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize...  I wish I would have had a minute to think about that scripture.  Because right now, it's not realistic to expect my house to be spotless-I have four little kids running around making messes right and left!  But again, I can't blame them for it all.  I need to be diligent, that I "might win the prize". 

I was thinking about some of our girls that play sports, especially the track girls.  Every person has their different strengths; not everyone is made to sprint; not everyone is made for long distance, either.  But everyone has their own race to run, at their own pace.  What one person can accomplish in a day is not the same as another person.  And it can ebb and flow in our own lives-there are times when we can conquer a lot, get a lot done, and feel great.  There are other times when it's all we can do to get everyone fed for the day, never mind do the dishes on top of that.  But you can't win a race if you don't even get on the track to start the race to begin with.

The gist of the lesson was thoughts lead to actions, which lead to habits, which lead to your character, and finally to your destiny.  So to change a habit, we need to change our thoughts and our actions, which will lead to a different destiny.

So this is my step 1: I'm trying to change my thoughts.  I've realized that no one is going to do the laundry for me.  No one is going to push me out of bed.  Not that this is a new epiphany for me, but I'm the only one to blame for having a laundry pile the size of a small mountain.

My step 2: my actions.  Yesterday I "caught up" on dishes.  Today I "caught up" on laundry.  My goal to change my habit of procrastination is to do two loads of laundry every day, and to do my dishes every day, no matter how late. 

And, this should lead to my step 3: my habits getting changed.  There are so many other things that am tired of procrastinating on, like painting my downstairs living room, or making new bedspreads for my boys.  But if I can conquer the mundane everyday tasks, then I can move on to bigger and better, and conquer those things, too.

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

I challenged my girls to pick just one bad habit, and work to change it.  And that is what I am going to do.  Because I AM the master of my fate.  I AM the captain of my soul!

Epiphany

Last night I was doing the dishes.

I realized that a lot of what a mother does is very repetitive. Sometimes it seems that, as soon as we do it, and YAY! it's done!, we have to do it all over again. Dishes. Meals. Changing diapers. Grocery shopping. Laundry. More laundry. (Did I mention laundry?)

Even what I say to my kids is the same old thing. Day in, day out. ("Time to clean up", "brush your teeth", "sit down and eat please", etc.)

A hamster wheel. Around and around.

Groundhog Day.

Have you seen that movie? Basically, the main character, Phil, is stuck in the same day, repeating the same actions. Eventually he learns that he should take advantage of the time he is given: to help others, to improve their lives, and to improve and perfect his own life.

So, back to my dishes. I realized that, I can do the same dishes the same way, over and over, and have a crappy attitude about it, or I can see it as an opportunity to perfect myself. I can do my dishes (among other duties) and become a better person, a better mom, because I get to repeat my daily actions so much.

Another movie analogy: Karate Kid.

Mr. Miyagi has Daniel do chores, over and over, that don't seem to relate to karate at all. But one night Daniel realizes that, even though it seemed pointless, he was actually learning the right moves and building his muscles the right way so that he could be great at karate.

My "pointless" tasks of keeping house? It just means I'll be fit for the kingdom. When I'm doing dishes, I'm not just doing dishes, but I'm teaching my children that cleanliness is next to godliness, that we need to take care of what has been given to us, and that we're blessed with work, not cursed with it.

And here is a scripture I memorized not too long ago, that I think are the characteristics of a great mom. I hope I can polish them up in this life: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law. -Galatians 5:22-23

Just a Few

I taught a lesson in Young Women's this last Sunday that I think resonated more with me than with the girls I was trying to teach. It was about setting goals, and how the things that we do now in life can get us to some of the more major goals we have for the future. For example, what do these girls want in their lives in one year? What about in 5 years, or 10 years? (They were all freaking out about that: "In 10 years I'll be 24! WEIRD!") And it is pretty weird to think about-in 10 years I'm going to have 3 teenagers, one of which will be dating and driving!

I loved this quote: No plan. No objective. No goal. The road to anywhere is the road to nowhere, and the road to nowhere leads to dreams sacrificed, opportunities squandered, and a life unfulfilled. -Thomas S. Monson

Anyway, some years I've made New Year's Resolutions, and some years I have not. When I was younger, I'd always have a huge list of things that I would be better at or would want to be doing, and of course January 1st I'd try to do all of them, and fail miserably. Sunday after my lesson, I sat down and wrote the things that I want to do this coming year, whether it's a habit I want to implement in my life, or a project that I want to get done. I also wrote down specific things that I want to do in order to accomplish my goals (a point my lesson made). And hopefully, as I implement some of these things now, it will help me as I get into what I want in 5 or 10 years from now.

So without further ado, some of my goals/resolutions:

Learn how to make freezer meals. I never know what will freeze well, or what to do when I want to actually use that meal (thaw it out for a couple of days? just put it in the oven for longer?) So I want to learn this fine art, and implement it in my life. That way, on the days I don't want to cook, we won't be tempted to eat out at yucky overly-salty McD's.

I want to scan in all my old scrapbooks into my computer. I don't know if at that point I'll make CDs of them, or if I'll keep my scrapbooks or get rid of them, or what, but I'll figure that out as I go along, I think.

I want to have Ivy potty trained some time in 2010. My friend told me about this book, of potty training when your child is 22 months old, and in 3 days. She did it with her triplets, and she said it was literally 3 days and they were all trained. If I train Ivy when she's 22 months old, that means March. (I get little flurries of excitement just thinking about how awesome it will be to NEVER change a diaper again!)

Scrapbook-digitally-the years 2008 and 2009. When I had done some of 2008 before my computer died, it didn't take me all that long to do. So hopefully...

Reading the Book of Mormon with my kids every night. We're really good about saying prayers every night, so adding reading to that shouldn't be too big of an adjustment.

Getting up before my kids do. I was doing awesome at this before my surgery, but after it was all I could do to get up with enough time to get Jake out the door.

Build up food storage. We have a bunch of "store and ignore" (food that's sealed and will stay good for at least 30 years), but I want to build up a supply for meals that we eat regularly. I have a little bit, but sometimes it's only part of the meal.

I could go on and on, but I don't need to re-write all my goals that I've already written down.

Happy New Year, everyone, and may you reach your goals and live the life you want to be living!

Gittin Mee Sum Edukaytid

My awesome mom took me and my sister to Education Week on Saturday up at Ricks (a.k.a. BYU-I). It was wonderful-to learn, to be touched by the spirit, and to be very very silly.

We walked by the different statues and took pictures of us imitating them. Then we saw a fountain in a really pretty garden area, and Kar and I posed doing "Three Coins in a Fountain", like the guys in the hilarious play Forever Plaid.

After the day was over, we ate at a little place called Chiz's, in St. Anthony. Very, um, small town. They serve Chinese there, as well as burgers. Who knew?

The first class was on marriage. The speaker talked about finding out your spouse's needs, and trying to meet those needs (and have your spouse meet your needs in reciprocation). Find, then meet, the needs of our spouse.

He also said always ask yourself, "What can I do to be a better spouse?", but you could fill in any word: a better parent, or better at my job, etc.

The second class was on the Proclamation to the World, and he focused on one section: Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.

A quote by Russell M. Nelson: Marriage—especially temple marriage—and family ties involve covenant relationships. They cannot be regarded casually. With divorce rates escalating throughout the world today, it is apparent that many spouses are failing to endure to the end of their commitments to each other. And some temple marriages fail because a husband forgets that his highest and most important priesthood duty is to honor and sustain his wife. The best thing that a father can do for his children is to “love their mother.” (Here's a link to the talk.)

The third talk was on raising resilient kids, to teach them I am, I can, and I have. We need to teach children to face their problems, to rely on the Lord, and to let them solve problems themselves instead of us rescuing them. Kids look to us to see how we respond to a crisis or to stress; do they see fear or faith? We need to teach them that behavior=consequences. We need to ask them questions on how they are going to solve their problems, (what have you thought of? have you prayed about it?), not tell them what to do (fix it this way, stop doing that, you must, you can't).

The fourth class was on forgiveness, how we need to look past man's faults to eternity. Forgiveness is an act. The sin of refusing to forgive involves us in the sin of refusing to accept Christ's forgiveness. (Read The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom, for the ultimate lesson in forgiveness.)

Our last class was on family time and traditions. She talked about how everything that leads to meaningful family beliefs and a transfer of values is worth keeping. From family home evening, to family scripture study and prayers, to the things we do on holidays like Easter and Christmas, to teaching children to clean and cook, any time spent with children and with family can become a tradition. We should just do our best; it doesn't have to be fancy or expensive-some of the best times and things are free.

It was a very fun, very fulfilling day. Thanks, Mom!

For the Record

This weekend we had Stake Conference. But it was extra cool this time because we had an apostle come to speak to us: M. Russell Ballard. I got a chance to go to the adult session while Pete stayed home with the kids.

There were several speakers at both the adult session as well as on Sunday. I even took notes at the adult session because I was, you know, not holding kids, or drawing pictures of Wall-E for the kids, or getting drinks at the fountain, or mixing bottles of formula, or settling fights of who got to sit by Mom or on Mom, etc. (Can you tell how much I got out of the Sunday session?)

BUT...I wrote just a few notes on a random piece of paper on a quickly dwindling notebook Saturday night, so I thought I'd put what I wrote down here. These thoughts aren't all from Elder Ballard. But they're all things that I needed to be reminded of. And maybe what I got out of conference isn't what others did, but maybe it will help others out there that read this. So without further ado...

-We need to teach our children to have their own personal prayers and their own scripture study.

-We need to shrink our expenditures to fit our income.

-We can always do a little better.

-We need to fill our time with the essential things. We need to make sure to have family prayer and family home evening.

-We need to gather our children together, and teach them, and testify to them, and be an example to them. Nothing can compensate for failure in the home.

-Keep positive and prayerful through our challenges and our trials. Count our trials as blessings, because they keep us humble.

-We can't teach or discipline our children while in the throes of anger.

-We need to do the best with what we are given.

-The priesthood is so precious and powerful.

-Remain true and faithful and we will be blessed.

-PRAY, and God will watch over you.

To Catch a Thief and Other Walmart Woes

Before I start, I just want to say "To Catch a Thief" is a good movie. Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, and directed by Alfred Hitchcock? Wonderfully classic.

So. On Saturday we went to Walmart. Some people hate it, some people love it. I'm indifferent, though their diaper and formula prices are lower than at Winco, and since I'm a one-stop shopper kind of person, that's where I head. I also don't like going to Winco by myself because they don't bag your groceries; so I just get done loading them up when the cashier finishes at the same time, and then I feel like I'm holding up the entire line while I attempt to bag my groceries myself, and then I just feel stupid. I like to feel smart while I shop, like, "Ha! The cashier put my bananas in the same bag as my frozen juice! I could totally bag better than that!" Catch 22, really.

While I was loading groceries on the belt and Pete was off finding a clothes hamper for the boys' new room downstairs, Jakob decided he wanted a Snickers bar. So he puts it in his pants. No, not in his pants pocket, in his pants, sandwiched between undies and jeans. Gross, I know. The lady in line behind me saw and informed me, thank goodness. So I bought it because putting it back would just be sick and wrong. We attempted to talk to Jakob about stealing, and what that means. And he replied, "But I just wanted some chocolate." Yep, totally my son, a chocoholic. I think he gets it now, that we have to buy stuff at the store when we want it; we don't just take it. At least we caught it before we left the store.

Second Woe: When I went to Walmart last Monday (sometimes I feel like I live there!), I was in a super rush, buying groceries while Jakob was at preschool. And since I can barely walk, rushing doesn't really happen; I go at a shuffle. So I'm attempting to load my groceries on to the belt as fast as my fat belly will let me bend, and Mandy comes into the line right behind me. I haven't seen this cute girl since high school! I felt really bad, because I wanted to talk to her, but I was trying to get everything done and not get to Jakob's class late. So I kind of feel like I blew her off, not really talking all that much. Mandy, I hope you read my blog, and I apologize for not chatting. We'll have to meet up sometime, just not at Walmart. Or Winco. Maybe we can share a Snickers bar.