Permission Request!

I need someone to give me permission to spend an entire day doing nothing but updating the blog with the many simple events the last couple of months have been made up of.  I get up in the morning and think if I can just get this, this and this done then I'll LET myself blog a bit.  Somehow I never seem to get to that point.  Somehow today is already Thursday.

Monday - regroup from the weekend - laundry, job lists and more, appt with John and then lunch, hair-cut and hi-lite, friends for dinner, FHE and games.

Tuesday - Alli Gator to the groomer, cleaning, moved TV from garage to Parker's room all by ourselves, sewing project w/Macey and friend (skirt - so cute)(For Macey's bday - her friend, Janiel, gave here this fabric, a pattern for a skirt, matching thread & elastic and the promise to sew one with her.  Janiel's mom is a pro-sewer!  What a great gift! I would never have thought of that.), start replacement claim for missionary clothing items to missionary mall, pouring rain, scout physical for Parker, late dinner.

Wednesday- Made a short list of 'have-to-get-dones'!
1.  Missionary Mall Warranty claim for Austin on both pairs of shoes, charcoal suit pants, black suit pants and both pairs of washable black slacks -mmmm; 

2.  Set-up HP printer to print (call if necessary); 
3.  Check on flights to potential destinations - WA state, UT, Albania, NY (Hill Cumorah pageant), Washington, DC (Parker's dream vacation).
4.  Get box fans from girls camp back to Marji.
5.  Schedule eye appt for Parker. 

I did accomplish the first (4).  Along with making a run for groceries to Publix at 9am in my pj's before I launched into 'the list.'  Mainly because Parker & Macey were distraught that I didn't have anything they thought suitable for breakfast.  Once the cupboard was stocked with their favorite box of cereal - Parker, Cocoa Pebbles and Macey, Captain Crunch Berries; plenty of mac 'n cheese, a few cans of ravioli, along with some healthier choices - deli meat & cheese, lettuce, strawberries and blueberries, almonds, yogurt, granola bars, etc, the day could begin.

**Marji dropped off her son, Kyle to keep Parker entertained during my focus time.
**Nicole brought Janiel over for Macey to hang out with.
**Parker went to another friends mid-day to spend the night.
**I took the girls to the pool for an hour.  It poured down buckets & buckets of rain.
**They didn't let that stop them.  There wasn't any thunder or lightening so they got to really enjoy it!
**I finally took a shower and got dressed for the day at 6pm (don't tell anyone)!
**We dropped Janiel off on our way to YW movie night.
**We thought 'Legacy' was a good choice since most the girls had just been on TREK.
**They had made a bday cake for ME!  Thank goodness there were a limited number of candles.  I had a hard time blowing the few out!  We had such a good time hanging out with the girls - Macey & I didn't get home till after 9pm.

Thursday - Today!  It's 10:30am.  I've switched laundry, done some dishes, had Macey comb her hair, and *gasp* blogged a little!  It literally would take me all day to catch up a bit and that isn't on my 'to-do' list for today.  I will have to save that for another day.  At least I made a token attempt and had a little fun doing it!  Hope it continues to be a great day!

Kicking It To The Curb!

Kicking it to the curb - one garbage at a time. Thought I'd try my hand at getting some Spring Cleaning done.  I'm a little behind, but better late than never.  Got this one to the trash and have another large black garbage bag full to drop off at Goodwill.  This was (1) day and (1)bathroom and linen closet!  Why do I need sheets and such for a full bed when we don't even have a full bed anymore.  Yea for me!

The Smith's Have Goats!

Gotcha!  Yes, the Smith's have (3) baby goats - it's just not these Smith's!  I'm not overly clever very often but I thought I was pretty clever with this one.

The other Smith's are the previous Bishop of our branch and his wife - Bill & Louise Smith.  (No relation - darn it!  They might not want to claim us but we would claim them in a heart beat.)  The have (3) three week old baby goats that they are bottle feeding.  They had invited anyone who wanted to come and see them and take a turn feeding them to come on by.  So come on by we did.






It was a Monday.  What better thing to do for FHE - thank you Macey for your insistence.  John was in Palm Beach Gardens for some partner meetings so he missed our little family 'farm' experience.  It would probably have brought back some fond memories of home.  He grew up on  a small farm.  I don't think he had goats as a child but they did have cows and chickens.

I had taken two of the young women to Joann's after school to pick out their TREK skirt & bonnet material.  One of the girls lived out in the same area as the goats so I offered to take her home.  We called the 'other' Smith's on our way and they said, "come on out!"  We had a blast in case you can't tell.  The kids thought they were in heaven.

Parker insists that's the life he wants to live - on a farm.  I've tried to impress upon him all the work that this would entail.  He seems to think it would be 'fun'!  He moans and groans when I ask him to let the dog out, mow the small backyard or take out the trash.  Mmmm - I think he would tire of 'life on the farm' real quick.

What To Do, Or Not To Do!

I know how much I Love to catch up and see new things on everyone else's blogs.  Why do I have such a hard time making that happen myself.  Got to get that bed made and dressed for the day right?!  That and sometimes seemingly several other more pressing things to get done.  Things of a more time-sensitive nature like TAXES.  

Then there is prepping so that things are in order for the Young Women to help and participate in sewing part of their clothing for the TREK.  Next Wed. is our sewing day.  Gotta get moving on that too.  I've got (2) helpers lined up - hope I get a few more because heaven knows I'm not good for much in this arena.  I'm only good for getting the ball rolling.


So for now, I just work on getting through the things at hand today while having all the other at the back of my mind.

Deep down it really is my faith that gets me through these times in life.  Deep down underneath the trepidation of decisions at hand and circumstances we can't control, I have a firm belief that I am being looked out for by a Heavenly Father who knows me, loves me and will help me.  When I look back over decisions we have made as a family over the past 20+ years I can see so clearly how his hand guided us along even when we weren't sure or didn't really know.  I am so grateful.

To look on the bright side of things - at least I'm not walking in waist deep snow in  the middle of winter with no shoes and nothing in sight.

Macey & Me

Our Stake had a first annual Mother/Daughter Day Out!  So guess what Macey & I did?  We went. 

 Macey and I might butt heads about a lot of things but she seems to love it when we get to do things 'just the two of us'!  She's always asking, "when can just you and I . . .?"  I am grateful she wants to do things with me.  I hope this will always be!

We missed the scout garage sale (darn! only 2nd one in 10yrs I've missed and longest one ever!).  We got to take our friends the Rice's with us to the 'girl' activity and met some other friends there.  It was held about an hour away.  It didn't take as long to get there as we thought (we had planned for 90 minutes).  It was held at Caloosahatchee Regional Park in Alva, FL.  (Basically out in the boon docks - but boon docks with some really nice houses along the way).

They took our picture and had a portable printer to print them on the spot.  We made picture frames and hung them on string with clothespins to dry and display - cute!

We made flower rings, pins or barrets out of pipe cleaners (courtesy of Martha Stewart, I'm told).  They were the most awesome creations!

We painted nails - Macey chose a deep bright red.  It actually was a pretty color.

We also got to put 'temporary' tatoos on the girls and the girls on their moms.  Thank goodness Macey chose 3 small glittery flowers for me since they were still there the next day at church.  (I noticed them after I had sat down from speaking).

 

We did a relay race where the girls had to be the mom and the mom got to be the girl.

We took a little hike but got a great picture of all the girls we had.  I had a great time spending time with my favorite gal - my daughter, Macey.

How Do They Do It!

In talking to a fellow friend blogger - who has surpassed even my most lofty goals of being a great design blogger in a mere 3 months vs. my 3 years of blogging about just the days in my life.  I learned in five minutes from her what I couldn't figure out on my own pertaining to the labels on my blog.  Now I just need to go back through 3 years = 75+ posts and correct what I did wrong.

I am amazed at how much so many other people accomplish in their life.  How do they do it?!  How do so many seem to fit a whole other life within a life.  They have amazing blogs with amazing ideas.  There are others that are continually creating and accomplishing a new project every day.  They design things, sell them, blog about them.  Then there are those that have a job, young children, big life challenges, go back to school, know the latest world news, and more.  Do they have the same 24hr day that I do?!

And me . . .I get up, make my bed, pick up the house, do laundry, take care of my church responsibilities, try to stay in touch with family & friends on a limited basis, update my blog now & then and my days are gone without having accomplished any of these great things that so many others seem to. 

My single greatest accomplishments in a days time are that my bed does get made every day, there's rarely more than a load of laundry in the hampers at a time and we sit down together as a family almost every night for dinner.  Not that it's a great dinner by any stretch of the imagination.  Just another thing I only do marginally well.  Grateful that my family (particularly my husband) loves me anyway and tolerates having tacos once a week!

I am thankful that so many others do all that they do.  Because in reality, if not, I wouldn't be able to seem to do a few great things.  I wouldn't have their ideas for my Young Women's lesson or the joint activity I'm in charge of tonight and be able to tweek and make it my own.  I'm a good copier just not a good inventor of original ideas.

I aspire to greatness but I have yet to discover it.  To find where it lies in me. 

I'm a lover of simple things - reading, family, friends, the greatness in others, children's books, poetry, diet coke, boston baked beans, Panera Bread's cinnamon crunch bagels w/honey walnut cream cheese,  carrot cake, key lime pie ice cream and the likes.

In years to come when someone asks my children what would define their mother, I really wonder what they will say.  I hope they will say that they always knew I loved them, wanted the best for them and just as the warriors of Helaman, they knew & never doubted that their mother had a testimony of Jesus Christ.  In reality, the only success I am seeking is yet to be determined in the years to come as my children grow, learn and begin lives of their own.  The manner of men (and woman) they become will be the measuring stick of my life's accomplishments, my greatest reward.

I am not fishing or requesting comments, compliments or validation. I am merely voicing the musings of my mind at the moment.

My Funny Valentine's!

I bought (3) pink chocolate chip pancake mixes to give as a few fun gifts at Valentine's.  I did give (1) away and then when the day arrived my (2) sweet young 'uns wanted to know if I was going to make them some 'perfectly pink pancakes'!  How could I refuse!

So for my (2) sweetest & funniest valentines - perfectly pink pancakes with a little creativity thrown in.

Macey had a very long drawn out discussion about who my Valentine was (dad or her) and who was going to be her Valentine.  I told her I would be her Valentine.  In true form she argued with me.  I couldn't be her Valentine because I was daddy's Valentine.  She protested that one person couldn't have (2) Valentine's.  And on it went.

I hope she knows deep in her heart that she will always be my other Valentine!