These are a few of my favorite things

My mom used to make the best Christmas candies.  She made them every year.  Still does.  In fact she is visiting our house this year on Christmas and when I mentioned that I didn't think I would have time to make any candy she volunteered to bring one of Brad's favorite pecan logs and of course, I said yes, we would love for her to bring that.  I am feeling a little spunky today and have decided to make candy tonight, but it won't be as good as hers...I miss going home for Christmas :)  Hopefully one day, my kids will feel the same way.

Our house is decked out and ready for Christmas.  My two favorite Christmas decorations. 

The tree:

And the nativity.

I added a few more decorations this year.  I used to wait for after Christmas sales to buy what I like, but this year I didn't.  I got most of these from Pier 1, one of my favorite stores.  I could stay in that store all day.  Literally.  

I bought a couple new nativities,

an angel,

and a few new stockings.

I know the stockings should be hanging over the fire place but Brad always makes me move them away.  He says they are a fire hazard.  So I put them under the window this year.  The funny thing about this picture is the stocking on the far left (the santa) is one I've been trying to get rid of for a few years.  This year I finally found a santa stocking to replace it with.  It's the stocking the 3rd from the right.  Unfortunately, my kids still saved the old one and put it over one of our other stockings.  How is it that they always find the tacky things I try to get rid of and put them up for all to see?  I guess the other thing you can see from this picture is I still haven't painted my gold wall yet. *sigh*  I also haven't gotten rid of this lovely picture arrangement that Brad put up.

There used to be a small cooler here in the wall for a wet bar and since we didn't need a wet bar and because it took up valued space in our garage it was one of the first things to go.  Then we, actually Brad's dad, dry walled it in.  It's ready for texture and painting but we still haven't gotten there either which is why I've left the lovely arrangement for now.

Back to my favorite things:

Brad and the crazy faces he makes is one of my favorite things.

 The way he can make pretty things for me too.  He just bought me a new dresser and stained it for me.  It's the first dresser we've ever bought since we were first married years ago.

Since we're speaking of Brad I'll mention a few other of my favorite things about him.  

I love the way Brad mauls me.  At least, he thinks I do:)

 

And the way he photobombs my pics too.

This picture I took so you could see my new braces.  What braces you say?  My new invisalign braces.  And while they may not be one of my favorite things 'cause they are still making me sore (I just got them Thursday)  I'm sure my new straight teeth will be one of my favorite things.

Harley and the way he looks in from out side is one of my favorite things.

He just knows I'm the sucker and if he looks in with his cute face and his tail wagging often enough I will be the one to fold and let that stupid dog in.  I haven't folded yet though.  I'm holding strong.  Part of that may be the way he gets dog hair on me when he sheds for a new coat and the mess he makes of our yard.  If he makes that much of a mess outside, what would he do inside?

Of course, I'm not the only one that loves that dog.  Just so you can see how much the kids love him look at the art Ben brought home the other day.

On to other things, Kenzie is one of my favorite things and while I didn't get a picture of her in costume, I did manage to get a picture of her on stage after her last performance. 

She's so fun.  Of course, there are times that she frustrates me, I won't lie.  Like yesterday, she kept saying to me over and over:  I hate the color brown mom, you know like CHOCOLATE. I couldn't figure out what the heck she was talking about and she had me very confused until she informed me when she was throwing one of her fits (she seems to be very up and down emotionally now that she's twelve) that she saw the box that showed she was getting a CHOCOLATE bean bag for Christmas.  

 CHOCOLATE MOM!  REALLY?  At that point I thought to myself, hmmmph!  See if she gets a Christmas gift at all!!!  Of course, today I am calmer and glad that what's in this box really isn't a Chocolate bean bag.  I'm tricksy that way.

My other favorite things about Kenzie lately is how she complains about her brother and what a slob he is.  Here's my favorite picture I caught of her today.

 She was literally saying to me when I took this picture, "Mom, my roommate is such a slob.  Can I get rid of him?"  

(Picture of said slob eating, he is always eating.  Of course, she may have a point here.  All the things in the picture are from a mess he made)

Funny thing is SHE'S the one eating popcorn in her room...eating in her room a habit of a slob I say.  And while this is the ONLY mess Jordan has out:

 Notice what Kenzie has right beside her:

 Those aren't Jordan's clothes.

The last of my favorite things:  the homemade gifts that come out during Christmas.  I found the younger children working on their gifts today. 

Riley and Ben making a sword.  For who?  I don't know yet.

And here's Jake's list of  people he is making presents for.  Those with a check mark are already done.

I caught him working hard on a drawing for one of his gifts.  So engrossed in what he was doing, I couldn't even get him to look up when I took the pictures.

 And while the pictures don't look quite like they are supposed to:

They are a genuine gift from his heart and will be loved.

Merry Christmas to you all!  I hope you are reminded of a few of your own favorite things this year!

Quick post will say more later

Okay, I'll just let you know that I'm not the one who takes the pictures in the family.  SOMEONE, I won't mention any names but his name rhymes with rad, has been slacking on that end.

Kenzie performed in her first musical this last week.  She was  a wife in Joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat.  She loved and hated it.  Loved the music but hated the fact that the play wasn't as good as the play the highschool put on this fall...but I told her for a junior high play it was pretty high quality and it was.  Way better than the HMS pinafore that we performed in eighth grade.  Although, they maybe should have had more girls playing the brothers, the boys voices just don't develop as quickly.  Pictures to come at the end of this week.

Kenzie and I also had to sing together in a church choir performance this last week.  I thought it would be just for our sacrament but it was for both wards.  I haven't sung in front of people in a LONG, LONG time.  It was the very last song and I was so nervous I couldn't even breathe...a problem when you're singing.  I felt like I was going to pass out but made it through in the end.  Don't think I'll do that again.  I like playing the piano and singing with a choir much better.

I'm trying a new workout because with the busy schedule of teenagers and working I don't have very much time some days to work out.  Right now I'm working with T25.  I'll let you know if I have good results.  There's something about turning 40 (or maybe sitting in an office all day) that makes it difficult to keep the pounds off.

Jordan is off to a good start in wrestling.  It's fun to see his improvement.  In practice, he wrestles in a weight that has some of the top contenders in the state so his defense is much better than it was last year.

Harley is back to normal.  I'm still totally amazed how healthy he is and how quickly he rebounded.  We had to get a barking collar this week for him.  Dogs learn so quickly with the shock collars and spray collars (that's what we got him for barking because we didn't want to confuse him with the electric fence).  Two squirts is all it took and he hasn't barked just to hear his voice since.  I'm thinking maybe I need some of those for my kids when they're sassy or refuse to work....you know, something that just sprays citronella in their nose.  I don't think it would be abuse since it wouldn't harm them physically:)

And just to end on a funny note and since I dont' have any pictures of us, I found this of Jake a few weeks ago and decided to post it for you all to see.  I think it is funny and maybe it will bring you a good laugh today.

Rat Poison and vitamin K1

If you know about rat poison you may have suspected that a blog may come up written about this when you read that Harley ate rat poison a few weeks ago.  At the time, I really had no idea about how dangerous the little bit of rat poison he ate would be.  When he did eat it I read a lot of posts (apparently not enough) on what I should do and how I should proceed.  I also read a lot of posts telling me what physical signs that I should watch for that would indicate I needed to bring him to the vet...coughing, lethargy, bleeding from the nose, etc...

A week went by and there were no physical signs whatsoever that the poison had affected him.  So, since I had made him throw up the day I suspected he ate rat poison I thought we were out of the woods.  On Sunday of last week I noticed that Harley had a strange cough.  He was still running and playing like normal though so I really didn't think anything of it yet....until Monday morning.  Jordan went out to feed his dog as usual and came back in crying telling me that Harley was dying.  He wouldn't move, eat, or even look at him.  When I dropped Jordan off for seminary and proceeded to the office to work, we were all certain we would come home to find our dog dead. We didn't though and that night we moved him into the garage.  Brad and I debated on what we should do.  I wanted to bring him to the vet but as Brad spoke to the vet over the phone about what they would do he felt it wouldn't be the right thing.  As I read online about how cruel it was to let a dog suffer and die this way we wondered if we should put him down ourselves.  At that point Brad said to me, he has a slight chance of surviving.  Let's bring him into the garage, monitor his vitals, feed him and see what happens.  He told me how terrible he would feel if he was the one to put the dog down only to find out he would have survived.  So that is what we did.  We knew that we needed to get some vitamin k1(which reverses the effects of the anticoagulant that the rat poison contained) into his system as soon as possible and the only place I could order it was amazon...which I did.  I even expedited the shipping and waited hoping the medicine would be there in a day or two.  I read up on how I could provide vitamin K1 to him naturally and bought things like kale, spinach and brocolli (anything green) to put in his food.  By Tuesday the dog wouldn't eat anything so Jordan created a slurry and together with Kenzie spoon feed our puppy.  Wednesday was a repeat, only worse because now Harley would not only refuse to eat but wasn't drinking either.  Again, Jordan created his concoction and he and Kenzie spoon fed our puppy.  On Thursday he was taking more than 120 breaths each minute and we thought the end was near.  However, he did show an increase in hunger that evening.  Friday he began to move around a little and by Friday afternoon we had the vitamin k1.  By Saturday Harley was again acting like a normal dog would and we knew he would survive.  He is on the road to recovery and we expect to see him back to his old energetic self within the week. 

So what two lessons did I learn from this?

#1 Never keep rat poison like DCon.  Yes, it's bad for your domestic animals but it also wreaks havoc in young infants and toddlers.

#2 If you suspect that your dog ate rat poison induce vomiting immediately AND start treating him with vitamin k1.  If you own a dog YOU SHOULD ALWAYS HAVE A BOTTLE ON HAND.  Had I begun treating Harley immediately with vitamin K1 he would have never come so close to death in the first place.

We are glad to have our Harley back and so glad we were able to save him.

So much of our energy and efforts went into the dog this week that we thought of little else.  

What I'm Thankful For

1.  I'm Thankful our practice is strong.

There at the beginning, when we received one week's notice from our front desk and I stepped into the office, I didn't know if we would make it.  As we had patient after patient call to transfer their records from our office to the doctor's just across town, the doctor who had worked in our office 3 years prior to us buying the practice and who had our ex-hygienist working for him one day a week, Brad and I faced the reality that we may go bankrupt and all our hard work and sacrifice up to that point would have been in vain.  We continued marketing, we continued serving the public and we gave everything we had to breathe life into the investment we made.  Both Brad and I have put our whole souls into our practice and I am truly grateful that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  I'm so glad our hours have increased, our staff is growing and our patients know and trust us enough to help us become strong. 

2.  I'm thankful for repentance and forgiveness.

Having strong family relationships requires both.  I've always known this, but as I have entered the teenage parenting stage I find myself in uncharted territory and I am definitely making many mistakes.  I find that at times I'm impatient, unkind and forceful of what I want for them.  I find myself looking on my actions from the outside and not liking what I see.  I'm grateful that change is possible and that my children forgive me and let me change.  I'm thankful too that I have a forgiving heart as mean words seem to fly out of the mouth of teenagers much more quickly than they did when they were younger.  We're all growing, changing and discovering new territories together, a journey that requires repentance and forgiveness from us all.

3.  I'm thankful for laughter and good humor.

One of my favorite conference talks was given by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin in October of 2008.  My favorite portion of the talk follows:

"The first thing we can do is learn to laugh. Have you ever seen an angry driver who, when someone else makes a mistake, reacts as though that person has insulted his honor, his family, his dog, and his ancestors all the way back to Adam? Or have you had an encounter with an overhanging cupboard door left open at the wrong place and the wrong time which has been cursed, condemned, and avenged by a sore-headed victim? There is an antidote for times such as these: learn to laugh.

I remember loading up our children in a station wagon and driving to Los Angeles. There were at least nine of us in the car, and we would invariably get lost. Instead of getting angry, we laughed. Every time we made a wrong turn, we laughed harder.

Getting lost was not an unusual occurrence for us. Once while heading south to Cedar City, Utah, we took a wrong turn and didn’t realize it until two hours later when we saw the “Welcome to Nevada” signs. We didn’t get angry. We laughed, and as a result, anger and resentment rarely resulted. Our laughter created cherished memories for us.

I remember when one of our daughters went on a blind date. She was all dressed up and waiting for her date to arrive when the doorbell rang. In walked a man who seemed a little old, but she tried to be polite. She introduced him to me and my wife and the other children; then she put on her coat and went out the door. We watched as she got into the car, but the car didn’t move. Eventually our daughter got out of the car and, red faced, ran back into the house. The man that she thought was her blind date had actually come to pick up another of our daughters who had agreed to be a babysitter for him and his wife.

We all had a good laugh over that. In fact, we couldn’t stop laughing. Later, when our daughter’s real blind date showed up, I couldn’t come out to meet him because I was still in the kitchen laughing. Now, I realize that our daughter could have felt humiliated and embarrassed. But she laughed with us, and as a result, we still laugh about it today.

The next time you’re tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead. It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable."

  

I loved my dad's dry sense of humor growing up.  I loved how he would sing along to his favorite songs from the 50s and 60s in the car as we traveled 16 hours from Washington to Utah.  I can still hear him singing, "Yackety Yak. Don't talk back" and though he may have felt silly just letting go it is one of my own cherished memories.  It was my dad that got me into SNL and all the comedies thereafter with his, "That's the ticket," quotes.  As you may know it's still one of past times to sit and watch comedians or funny videos on youtube

One of the things that first attracted me to Brad was that he could make me laugh.  When we went on our first date as Elder and Sister recently returned from our missions and I was so put off by being asked out by a missionary from my mission it was his humor that had me agreeing to a second date.   

Or now, as I call Jordan retarded (I know that's not politically correct but it's what we call each other when someone does something dumb) and he replies back to me that he's not retarded just special in his silly voice all my anger dissipates.  

And when we have moments likes this where we're all just being silly and laughing it makes heavy worries and any problems melt away as if there's nothing in the world but us and the time we enjoy together.

Bed Head

Lot's has been happening this last two weeks but now as I'm sitting down to write I can't remember anything that I was going to write.

Pictures will help.

Our bear visitor has been back.  When the dog barks and the trash is scattered that lets you know they are around.  We really haven't been visited much by them since this early summer.  The kids said they saw a couple hanging around this summer a big one and the small one that I posted a picture of.  One night after the kids had been reporting about the bears, Brad had been awakened by one of them.  He peeked out the window and saw the big bear.  I woke up to him loading his gun and sat in fear as he didn't speak to me about why he was loading the gun he just snuck out quietly.  I wondered if he had heard a robber and was going to face him or something.  I just shook in fear half asleep in bed.  When I actually heard a gun fire my imagination went wild (as did Kenzie's I found our the next day).  I was relieved shortly thereafter when Brad did return to bed and told me that he had just seen the bear and shot at it's side to scare it.  Since that day the bears have left us alone.  Until recently like I said.  We were all able to see it when Harley barked one night and Brad snuck out and shone his headlights at it.  It is HUGE.  He was up on his hind legs and reaching into the back of our truck bed and into our trash cans without even stretching.  It was easily eight feet tall.  Although we weren't able to capture a picture of the actual bear, we were able to capture a picture of it's footprint in the mud this last weekend after a heavy rain. 

We think it's a mama bear because of the small paw print beside it.  Harley must have made it mad this last week as it swiped his dog house and tore off the front door.

Speaking of Harely, he has me feeling like a dog abuser.  I should be careful what I say here.  There may be those out there that think I really am just because I make him live outside.  Many are the nights and afternoons that we are inside watching a movie, eating or playing cards that Harley sits by the window and watches.  It tears at my heart.  It's also kind of funny though as at times he puts his paws up on the window and stares in like a peeping tom or like a spy.  I wasn't able to capture the best picture of this but I did catch one.  It's much better at night.

We have an electric fence now and have had good luck of not having to pick him up at the pound since we installed it.  He also got into rat poison today and we had to make him throw up.  In case you ever need it you can find that info on youtube.  Luckily we caught him shortly after he ate it and don't expect to have any problems.  Dogs....

My younger three boys have fallen in love with the movie Lion King and especially like this song.  Jake probably more than the others.  So much so many are the Saturday mornings we wake up to him early singing as loud as he can , "Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba Sithi uhm ingonyama" which means here comes a lion, father.  Oh yes, it's a lion.  (I had to look that up.  I love the web.)  Of course he doesn't pronounce it as well but it's pretty funny.  Especially as he wakes up Jordan and there ensues a threat from Jordan that if he doesn't shut up he going to lock him outside.  Brad and I just sit there and giggle at how mad it makes Jordan.

My final picture comes from my iPhone.  Let me give you some background here.  When Brad cut the little boys' mohawks the condition was that as soon as they started school they all had to get buzz cuts.  True to his promise the buzzes were given.  Everyone knows that with a buzz cut you don't have to comb your hair.  So the younger boys went to school every morning without even looking in a mirror.  It worked for a long while.  No combing and out the door they went.  Apparently they got too habituated to this.

Every Thursday before Thanksgiving the elementaries (and junior highs and highschools) put on a Thanksgiving dinner that the parents are supposed to attend with their children.  Unfortunately I have 5 children and am unable to sit at every lunch with each child (maybe this is a fortunate thing if you consider that because of this I don't have to partake of a school lunch).  I didn't think much of not going the first year until my children came home so upset with me because I was the ONLY mom to not attend the luncheon.  So I came up with a solution to take my elementary students out to lunch on this day.  My middle schooler and high schooler don't care so much.  I think by then they are embarrassed if their parent shows up.  So this last Thursday I went to pick up my boys from the elementary.  As I went to Riley's class to hand his teacher the note I saw only Riley's head and was so shocked by the bed head that I commented out loud to his whole class, "Nice hair Riley." His teacher laughed.  I guess she teases him every day.  It may reflect poorly on me if I don't notice the bed head until I pick them up from school.  I do see them leave but I am so occupied by getting all 5 out the door and to seminary and work that quite frankly I don't notice their hygiene.  (Although to be fair to me I do notice if they try to sneak out the door with the same outfit from yesterday on...not that I always get them to change it. )  So, the talk had to be given, comb your hair or get a buzz cut again.  So far, they've been combing it.  I took a picture of the hair with my iPhone but really, the picture doesn't show the flatness liked I hope it would.  It just shows how it sticks out everywhere. 

I love it when they don't care how they look.  It all starts too soon when they have to have their home combed perfectly everyday so I'm just going to sit back and enjoy that bed head for now.

Just something I read today that I thought I'd share

Jake made me promise I'd read him a bedtime story tonight.  He went upstairs and came back down with a book by Marjorie Pay Hinkley called Small and Simple Things.  My mom got it for me for my birthday one year I think.  Anyway he opened up to this page and the following quote is what I read:

"It is for us to go about our work, making certain that underlying everything we do in the course of a day is a settled faith in God, in His existence, personality, and attributes.  This faith will give us the power to work righteousness."

My mind being overwhelmed with worries for my teenagers (yes plural here, Kenzie included) this is exactly what I needed to hear. 

It is faith in God, in His existence, personality, and attributes that does give us the power to work righteousness.  And at the end of the day when we've done all we can we must sit back and trust in His infinite goodness and wisdom knowing that in and through his son Jesus Christ all can be made right.

This is something I need to remember everyday because for me letting go is hard and having that trust is hard.  But my life and trials seem to teach me more and more that despite what I think I know and what I think I can do, the Lord really is much more powerful than me.  And that person that I love and worry about he worries about and loves too and will do everything he can to let that person feel his love.  He teaches me that, after I've done all that I know how to do, I just have to let go and let him work the miracle.

I'm sure glad we have showers

Who isn't glad really to have showers. I know I am.  And apparently some of my children are too.

Said by Jake to Jordan, "Boy, I'm sure glad we have showers Jordan or else we'd have to lick ourselves like Harley."

Good observation Jake.  Licking ourselves would be yucky.  Now, if I could only get them to turn that appreciation into hard work so that they would keep their bathrooms clean.  I ventured into their bedrooms and bathrooms this week and was disgusted by what I found.  So disgusted that I took pictures so I could blow them up and show them what was gross about what I found.  I'll share my favorites with you:

 
I don't know why the seashells were in the sink or what the Smaug drawing had to do with the bathroom but there they were and so was the mold and all the other disgusting things that can grow when you tell your mom that you cleaned it last week but really didn't.  My kids got quite the scolding when they came home...especially my older kids.  Then I proceeded to tell them how simple it is to keep shells out of the sink, wipe the sink ocassionally when there is standing water and scrub the toilet.  The toilet probably wasn't as dirty as it looked in the picture.  We do have some minerals in our water here that turn the toilet brown quickly.  I'm working on that with the water analytical lab and a guy that filters well water around here.

And yes...I have carpet in the bathroom.  That will change and hopefully sooner rather than later.

So while they may have gratitude for running water so we don't have to lick ourselves clean, I still think they have a long way to go until they truly appreciate a clean bathroom...and I guess they are not old enough for me yet not to walk in their bathrooms at least once a week.

Other happenings this week:

Harley ran away again which led to the final installation of the electric fence so he won't run off anymore.  Which also led to him getting his rabies shot so that I won't get charged by the  pound anymore to come and get him.  Of course, this last time they, the pound, let me off free.  Taking him to the vet made me think about whether or not I wanted to get him neutered which led to a discussion with Jordan about breeding puppies.  I know, I'm crazy to have even entertained the idea with the bathrooms looking the way they do but for a moment I thought it may just be a good idea for the kids...just for a brief second. 

The kids primary program was today.  Ben actually sang a solo.  I was surprised by this and even more surprised that he volunteered.  He did a good job.  Now the music leader is trying to talk my boys into singing with Kenzie at the Christmas program.  I told her that she'd probably have better luck getting my boys to sing than I would.  Why is it that boys stop singing after a certain age?  Is it just my boys that do that?

I've also been called to be the primary chorister.  HA!  That's funny.  I sing, kind of.  I can lead, kind of.  But I'm not creative AT ALL.  It will be a challenging calling for me.  I wish I was primary pianist instead. I'd feel much more comfortable there.

Halloween in Colorado

New challenges have arisen in the state of Colorado with the legalization of marijuana. For example, just a few days before Halloween this is what was sent home with my kids:

It was a nice reminder that I should be checking my kids candy after they trick or treat, but my first thought was really?  Would people give out this type of candy to my children?  Really??

I did check their bags and luckily no crazy packaging or tampered products were there.

We went trick-or-treating with some friends from the ward this year.  Where we live there is a lot of rural neighborhoods that make it difficult to trick-or-treat in (ours included) so many people just go downtown to trick-or-treat.  I always do bring several bags of candy to hand out though.

My kids made their own costumes again.

Riley was a lumberjack,

Ben, a football player,

and Jake a cowboy, vampire ghost.

You can't see it but Jacob had a pair of vampire teeth that he insisted wearing with the ghost costume.  And with the sheet and all, he didn't trip one.  The ghost costume took me back to the E.T. days.

They were my only three trick-or-treaters this year.  I have followed the same rule my mom gave us which was no trick-or-treating after 6th grade.  I dealt with Kenzie's attitude the whole day about what a mean mom I was and how ALL her friends were trick-or-treating this year.  In the end, I did let her dress up and told her she could walk with her friends while they went trick-or-treating.  She did and came back without any candy which I was proud of.  So, I'm going to ask you all out there, when do you stop letting your kids go trick-or-treating.  To be honest, maybe I am being to hard-nosed.  Even most of Jordan's friends still go.  Opinions?  You have to stop sometime, right?

I went to see the movie, "Meet the Mormons" with Kenzie in the theaters.  Funny, I had mixed feelings about the movie.  I loved the stories but hated the narration because I felt like it assumed that everyone had incorrect views of us as Mormons which I don't believe.  I know there are people out there who could use some more education for certain, but for the most part I feel that people know we are normal people trying to live good lives. 

My favorite story was the missionary mom who was a convert to the church.  What a good story of what the gospel can do when brought into the life of someone who truly is trying to do what is right by herself and her children.  I also love the song by David Archuleta that goes with it.  Have you heard it?  You can here.  It inspires me to want to do better.  It'll probably go on my top favorites of all time. 

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

It's one of my favorite children's books.  Have you read it?  In it a young donkey finds a magic pebble that grants wishes.  To have the wishes granted he has to be holding the pebble.  Accidentally, when he stumbles upon a lion he wishes he would turn into a rock so that the lion doesn't eat him.  Unfortunately, as a rock, he can no longer hold the pebble to make wishes.  When he doesn't return in the evening his parents send out a search party.  The search party returns home unsuccessful in their efforts.  Soon winter and spring pass and Sylvester's parents give up hope thinking that their son is gone forever.  To cheer themselves up they decide to go for a picnic.  It just so happens that the place they choose to set up for their picnic is Sylvester.  While they are picnicking they find the rock and place it on Sylvester.  Wishing that he was able to be with his parents in his normal form without knowing that he is touching the rock, Sylvester finds himself returned to his normal form as a donkey.  Both parties are overjoyed at the reunion and decided to keep the pebble in a safe place.

Why am I sharing this story?

Just the other day I was in the car with Jake.
     Jake says to me, "Mom, there's a book fair tomorrow at my school and I want to buy some books."
    I say back to Jake, "You know I don't buy books for the book fair."  I have my reasons.  I'm not just a mean mom.
   He says back to me, "Oh.  You don't have to pay for it Mom.  I have plenty of money."
   To which I reply, "Oh.  Where did you get that money from Jake?"

    His eyes got big and round and in an excited voice but in all seriousness answered, "Oh!  I was out walking the other day and I found my old wishing rock.  I threw it outside the other day on accident but I found it this morning.  So I made a wish that I could have one thousand dollars and Mom, I've been finding LOTS of money lately."

Just how much money you ask?  One hundred and twenty nine cents.  And all that from a wishing rock. 

Air Harley, Harley's recliner, spiders and a picture I just had to take

I've always wanted one of my children to love basketball...and they kind of do.  We go out and shoot hoops here and there together and really, for wrestlers, they're not too horrible.  We were out shooting today in fact and had quite the surprise.  It's not only me that likes basketball, but it's our dog Harley too.

He can play defense,

rebound, 

and even dribble a little.

Now, if I could just teach him how to shoot...I think he'd be pretty famous, don't you?

Speaking of Harley, Harley is named after Brad's grandfather who is deceased.  Recently, Brad's parents brought up a chair that used to be his grandfather's.  One day while we were cleaning we put the recliner outside.  Within minutes, we found this:

like he's owned it all along.  We hope Grandpa Belt (Harley) is happy with Harley's new favorite spot to be.

Just in time for Halloween the tarantulas have decided to come back out.  We found this in our garage just the other day.

The kids are more accustomed to seeing them now and are willing to take close-up shots right next to one.

Harley's not so sure of them though.

Brad put it in a bucket to save for the kids.  When they went to play with the spider in the evening, it had escaped.  We're hoping it didn't escape into the house.

And finally, a picture I just had to take.

Really, how often do you get to see them like that, right Moms?  It just warms my heart to look at it.

Mean

When I was in high school I had a crush on this boy named Jeremy who had just moved into our ward, well actually in the other ward that was in the same town as us.  When I say crush, I mean, CRUSH.  I couldn't even speak to him I thought he was so cute.  My best friend Becky went to church with him.  One day while their ward was in session and my ward was not, my best friend had her older brother call me and pretend it was Jeremy.  I was so nervous but excited that he would talk to me.  At the end of the conversation my friend's brother, also another of my good friends, told me it was him and they made fun of me for about a year over the whole thing.  I never thought it was funny...just mean.  And although I eventually got over it and consider them good friends, that one act still kind of hurts thinking about it.  Why would anyone ever do that?

When we first moved here, Jordan got a real hard time from kids at school.  I mean he was teased and called gay and stupid.  He was hit with a ball in the face in the hallway.  Guys would shove him into his locker.  Girls would tell him to leave that he wasn't welcome in their conversation.  Many were the nights he would come home crying.  What does a mom do?  Brad said if he was slapped randomly or hit randomly he should hit the kid back.  When Jordan actually did start standing up for himself so that he wouldn't be bullied I was actually called into the school to have a sit down talk about how quick to anger he was.  I had to really keep myself in check when I told the teachers the real reason behind his behavior.  The worst part of it all?  Some of these kids were kids from church.

I once had one of my friends ask me how Jordan became so kind.  She proceeded to tell me a story of when she was watching him at a party.  She saw him go out of his way to be kind  and include a girl that wasn't really very much a part of the group.  She said that every time she sees Jordan interact with people it is in a kind manner.  I told her that it was directly correlated to the way Jordan had been treated by others in the past.

He got over the experience of his first year here.  No one gave him a hard time after that seventh grade year here but he never really has made any close friends either.  He's kind of been a loner.  This year we were so excited to be going to high school because the two junior highs here come together.  There are a bunch of mormon kids all in Jordan's grade, about 10 in all, that's a lot for here.  They really, for the most part, are great kids.  Like I said we were so excited to have them all together finally, both he and I. I thought they'd really have each other's backs and take care of each other.  I think Jordan felt like he finally wouldn't have to be so alone at school.  The first few weeks it went great.  Then everything started taking a turn for the worse.  I think it all started with one of the girls saying how "touchy" Jordan was.  Another girl told the others, "Don't you think he says homie too much?"  And then, when a different girl found out who he thought was cute she told him how "creeped out" that other girl was.  When the "secret" slipped out another girl quit talking to him.  And tonight, a girl I really like and admire had the gall to say in front of Kenzie that her brother was a "stalker" and the other day when he had saved a table for them all to sit at how funny it was that they ditched him which made Kenzie REALLY upset...so upset she was crying.  She said, "How can I get them to understand that he's just being nice?  How can they be so mean when all he wants is their friendship?"

Actually a good lesson for Kenzie as there is a new girl that she isn't directly mean to in our ward but by simply ignoring her doesn't make the girl feel accepted either.  I have noticed her behavior toward that girl and have told her time and again how that isn't the way should she behave.  It isn't what we're taught in the church. It isn't what Christ would have us be.

I know my kids aren't the only ones that have experienced bullying (I hate to use that word I do think it is overused in our society) or participated in similar behaviors.

This article and the comments associated with it are truly a tragedy.

This video from mormon messages always makes me cry.

I've shown it to my girls in young womens twice.  I tell them sometimes it only takes one to say, "Stop.  That person's not so bad." and then everyone else's view changes.  Sometimes it only takes one to start it all.

My Dad has said that the best person he ever knew was his own father.  His father was the best person he ever knew because he was so kind to everyone, especially to him.  When I think of the person I want to be I remember what my Dad has said and I try to be like my grandfather.  I never want to make a person feel hurt inside because of some unthoughtful thing I've said.  I know I have.  I remember one girl I used to make fun of and if there's any one thing I would go back and change it would be my own treatment of that girl.

The point I want to make through this all is really said more elequently by President Uchtdorf and I will end this post with his words:

"Brothers and sisters, there is enough heartache and sorrow in this life without our adding to it through our own stubbornness, bitterness, and resentment."

"In a world of accusations and unfriendliness, it is easy to gather and cast stones. But before we do so, let us remember the words of the One who is our Master and model: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone.”

Brothers and sisters, let us put down our stones.

Let us be kind.

Let us forgive.

Let us talk peacefully with each other.

Let the love of God fill our hearts.

“Let us do good unto all men.”^"

Divergent, fall colors, jury duty and short hair

I just finished reading the divergent series.  The books were okay...an easy read.  Two quotes that I liked from the last book.

"I used to think that when people fell in love, they just landed where they landed, and they had no choice in the matter afterward.  And maybe that's true of beginnings, but it's not true of this, now.  I fell in love with him.  But I don't just stay with him by default as if there's no one else available to me.  I stay with him every day that we fight or lie to each other or disappoint each other.  I choose him over and over again, and he chooses me."

I like that one because I truly believe that staying married is a choice.  It's not something that just comes easy but it's something that you have to choose even when the difficult times come.  So many times when I am teaching the young women in church they have this fairytale view of being married.  And that is good to a certain extent...but to stay with someone after you've fallen in love with them is something that isn't easy.  Your spouse will enrich you just as much as they will challenge you.  They will hurt you and you will hurt them and you have to choose to make it work by applying the atonement and extending forgiveness.  It's so easy to just let that relationship slip and "fall out of love" like so many do today.  That's easy and takes no effort.  Successful marriages take a lot of work.

The other quote I liked was the following:

"Since I was young, I have always known this:  Life damages us, every one.  We can't escape that damage.  But now, I am also learning this:  We can be mended.  We mend each other."

Kind of reminds me of my favorite scriptures in Mosiah that says, "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."  I really feel that life does test us and that Heavenly Father expects us to help with the mending that needs to be done here.

During the 2nd session of the conference today we decided to go for a drive to see the beautiful fall colors.  Fall is my favorite time of year.  I love the crisp evenings and mornings.  I love the warm days.  But my favorite is the turning of the leaves

 The pictures don't quite do the colors justice.

Just so you know we really were there:

 

So Brad was called to jury duty this last week.  We thought it would be fairly quick.  He'd check in.  They'd ask him whatever questions they need to ask.  Brad would inform him he had an emergency patient coming in that morning (which he did) and the judge would release him.  Not as easy as we thought.  Brad said he felt like he was under citizens arrest as soon as he walked in.  After waiting two hours, Brad was finally able to let the judge know that he had a patient in the chair with a dental emergency and finally he was released.  He said that he didn't feel that the judge would have cared if we had to shut down the office for 1-4 days so it is good we did have a patient in the chair.  I don't really have any issues with jury duty.  I do think it is important to serve if at all possible.  That being said, when it will cause extreme financial or circumstantial difficulty I think there should be a way to notify before the day of the jury summons or before you're trapped in a room for four hours.  I don't know.  Maybe I'm just being whiny. 

Work was busy, the kids were busier.  Riley, Ben and Kenzie are loving the swim team and Jordan has started his pre-season wrestling.

I finally got my decorations up in my house.  Next up, painting.  Any suggestions for living room colors?  I have mustard yellow now and I hate it. 

Kenzie wants to cut her hair.  I keep telling her no that she doesn't really want to.  I tell her when you have long hair you can pretend it's short by wearing it up or in a pony tail or in a bun.  I tell her that when you have short hair you have to do your hair every day.  You can't just put it in a pony tail and go.  You can't even just comb it and go.  You have to blow dry, style, curl, spray...such a hassle.   I tell her all boys like longer hair better.  Her brothers tell her the same thing.  For now, I'm winning.  But there may come the day when I'll have to let her cut that hair of hers :(

My favorite talk of conference this weekend was Elder Eyring's talk.  I was touched by the tenderness he must feel for his mother and hoped that I could be as good of a mother to my own kids.  I hope my words are ones that they will feel come from God.  I hope I can have that kind of spirit.