The advent calendar. Each year I look forward to getting them for the girls. For the past few years Grandma Mower - who is no relation to us (she's my brother-in-law's mother) has bought my girls their advent calendar. This year the 5th of December rolled around and I realized that I didn't have my calendars! I thought about Grandma Mower and realized that she had recently been in the hospital and I was probably not getting calendars this year. My crafty little brain started turning and I started searching for ideas to count down the days until Christmas. Luckily, my crafty little brain got side tracked and Rachel (Grandma Mower's actual granddaughter) showed up with our calendars that very night! We were all super excited to get the calendars. Rachel helped get them all caught up.
The next morning I noticed Macie was in the "don't look at me I'm doing something really bad over here" corner. So I went to investigate and found that she had taken her calendar over to the "Don't look at me I'm doing something really bad corner" and eaten the entire thing. She got in huge trouble. So, each night now when her sisters eat theirs, she gets to watch them and I remind her of how naughty she was for eating all of hers.
A few days ago I got out of the shower and opened the bathroom door and found Macie sitting on the floor - with her "Oh crap, I've been caught again" look on her face, surrounded by advent calendars.
"Macie, what's in your mouth?"
"Noshing" (As she's trying to keep her mouth closed over the chocolate).
"Macie, did you eat from Lindsay and Maddie's calendars?"
She finally nodded.
She got yelled at by me and by Lindsay (Maddie's wrath was later unfolded upon her when she got home from school).
"You shouldn't eat someone else's calendar, that's naughty."
Tears.
"Well, you shouldn't leave them where I can reach them, Mom!" (I had to do a double take, she sounded just like Maddie when she said it).
She did have a point, right?
Another morning Maddie popped out of bed and asked right away if she could have her chocolate. I said no, you need to have breakfast first. She said,
"Humph....then I'm not telling you what I want for breakfast."
"Fine" I say and I go downstairs and pour her a bowl of cocoa puffs instead of her usual breakfast sandwich or waffle. I thought I was punishing her. Jeramy looked in her bowl and said, "So, you wouldn't let her have her chocolate candy before breakfast, but you just gave her a large bowl of chocolate cereal?"
Yup.
I did.
That'll teach her to ask for chocolate in the morning.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Curlers, schmurlers.
Yesterday I had an early morning meeting at church. When I got home, I thought, "There is 4 hours before church, I should put curlers in the girls hair."
So I pulled out the dusty curlers. Macie was amazed by them. "Mom, what do you do with those?" That's when I realized she had never had them in her hair.
You'll notice in the 3 pictures above, Maddie was quite familiar with curlers. They were just a part of her every day life for the first few years of her life. (Maybe that's why she now refuses to let me even curl the ends of her hair).
Well, Macie left the curlers in her hair for a total of 20 minutes before she yanked them all out.
Lindsay's hair looked absolutely beautiful curled! (and yet, I forgot to take a picture). As we sat there in sacrament meeting, I noticed the curl slowly going away, and by then time she went to primary it was just wavy.
Maddie actually asked for curlers also. I had to use my hot curlers on her hair because I was all out of the foam kind. I didn't get to leave them in long enough because she had to go be Jeramy's home teaching companion. Hers didn't curl at all.
Later that night, we had tithing settlement. As we sat waiting for our turn, I looked at each of my girls and thought, "When did I stop caring?"
Macie had somehow got in the car and to the church without shoes. Did we drive the 30 seconds home to get them? Nope. She also had a big glob of what I think was glittery chap stick in the back of her hair. Maddie's hair was a wreck. Lindsay was passable, but in no way really appropriate to be out in public.
A friend of mine blogged about this a few months ago, and as I read it, realized how true it was for me, too! When Madddie was little, we never left the house without her hair done, curled and with a bow. Lindsay was pretty much the same. Macie...well, not so much. Some mornings I'll look at her and think, "Eh, still looks good enough." And I just don't do her hair. (Now you all know what a horrible mother I am). In my defense, she's terrible when I try to do her hair and some days, you just have to pick your battles, right?
I guess I'll blame my lack of caring on the mullet post of 2009
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Santa
Last night I took the girls to see Santa. We had tried this on the day after Thanksgiving and after waiting about a half hour and not being anywhere near the front of the line, we all agreed to leave. They have been begging me to go back ever since. Jeramy was at the church again last night, so I decided it was time to go back and face the line again. (And hit Bath and Body works, last day of $6 Wallflowers).
As we walked in the mall, I saw a family dressed in their Sunday best. I knew they were on their way to see Santa. I quickly pulled my three girls around their 3 girls and passed them up. We beat them. I heard some whisperings about "She totally went around us to get here first" behind me. Made for an awkward wait, but totally worth it. (We were not anywhere near Santa when I did it).
We waited for 30 minutes. 30 LONG minutes. The entire time Macie kept saying, "I will not sit on Santa." And the whole time I coached her on what she was to ask for...a camera, not a pillow pet.
The moment finally arrived. Macie latched onto my leg. Sweet Santa stood up, lined my 3 girls up and grabbed Macie's hands (before she could bolt). He stroked her cheek, he played with her hair, he whispered in her ear. He laughed with her. The look of utter amazement on her face brought tears to my eyes. Santa wasn't scary. Santa was a kind, old man who wasn't rushing my children through the line just to get to the next kid. (like the Santa on "The Christmas Story"). He did the same with each of my girls, and each one had that same amazed look. And this is when it gets a little sappy - for me - at least...we have a Christmas book that compares Santa to Christ. As my girls stood there with Santa, I couldn't help but think of how totally Christ-like this Santa really was. He loved my girls, and they felt loved. I can only imagine waiting in line to see Christ, then having him hold my child's hand, stroke their cheek and laugh with them. Wow. Kind of a powerful moment standing there in the mall with Santa.
So, thank you Santa, for being so kind! You rock. (If only you weren't charging $22 for a 5x7 and 2 3x5's, we'd be best friends for life).
Side story...after seeing Santa, we went to Bath and Body. I got what I was there for, then my kids saw the little tiny bottles of hand sanitizer. They all begged me to buy them each one, so I did. (It's the least I could do since they won't have a picture with Santa to remember our night by). They each stood and sniffed and switched about a million times until they all found a scent to their liking. On the way home, they each smelled and sanitized, smelled and sanitized, and then I finally had to put my foot down and only let them smell - before the alcohol ate through their hands. We stopped off to see Jer at the church and they ran in and told him all about...their hand sanitizer. He finally said, "What about Santa??" Then they remembered Santa. First thing this morning when they woke up, they each found their little bottle of sanitizer and had a good smell. Who knew how cool sanitizer could be??
As we walked in the mall, I saw a family dressed in their Sunday best. I knew they were on their way to see Santa. I quickly pulled my three girls around their 3 girls and passed them up. We beat them. I heard some whisperings about "She totally went around us to get here first" behind me. Made for an awkward wait, but totally worth it. (We were not anywhere near Santa when I did it).
We waited for 30 minutes. 30 LONG minutes. The entire time Macie kept saying, "I will not sit on Santa." And the whole time I coached her on what she was to ask for...a camera, not a pillow pet.
The moment finally arrived. Macie latched onto my leg. Sweet Santa stood up, lined my 3 girls up and grabbed Macie's hands (before she could bolt). He stroked her cheek, he played with her hair, he whispered in her ear. He laughed with her. The look of utter amazement on her face brought tears to my eyes. Santa wasn't scary. Santa was a kind, old man who wasn't rushing my children through the line just to get to the next kid. (like the Santa on "The Christmas Story"). He did the same with each of my girls, and each one had that same amazed look. And this is when it gets a little sappy - for me - at least...we have a Christmas book that compares Santa to Christ. As my girls stood there with Santa, I couldn't help but think of how totally Christ-like this Santa really was. He loved my girls, and they felt loved. I can only imagine waiting in line to see Christ, then having him hold my child's hand, stroke their cheek and laugh with them. Wow. Kind of a powerful moment standing there in the mall with Santa.
So, thank you Santa, for being so kind! You rock. (If only you weren't charging $22 for a 5x7 and 2 3x5's, we'd be best friends for life).
Side story...after seeing Santa, we went to Bath and Body. I got what I was there for, then my kids saw the little tiny bottles of hand sanitizer. They all begged me to buy them each one, so I did. (It's the least I could do since they won't have a picture with Santa to remember our night by). They each stood and sniffed and switched about a million times until they all found a scent to their liking. On the way home, they each smelled and sanitized, smelled and sanitized, and then I finally had to put my foot down and only let them smell - before the alcohol ate through their hands. We stopped off to see Jer at the church and they ran in and told him all about...their hand sanitizer. He finally said, "What about Santa??" Then they remembered Santa. First thing this morning when they woke up, they each found their little bottle of sanitizer and had a good smell. Who knew how cool sanitizer could be??
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Can I get a large heath bar shake, and a good cry?
Yesterday was just one of those days. I couldn't really pinpoint the source of my stress/anxiety/anger/tension. I tried many times throughout my busy day to figure out why I was feeling so... not like myself. I could never find the source. My post is not really for me to whine about my awful day, but about my sweet daughter. My day was drawing to a close. It was 8:00 and we were driving home from the library. Macie asked if I would read her new books to her when we got home. I sighed and said, "Mommy is too tired to read tonight." Just then we got stopped at the light right by my favorite place to buy really good shakes.
Shakes large enough to feed a small country.
Shakes filled with enough calories to add a few pounds to my ever-growing body.
I wanted one. Bad. I needed one.
BUT
1) if I got one, I'd have to share with the kids.
2) then they'd be up even longer than necessary eating instead of sleeping
3) then I'd eat all those calories that I didn't need.
4) then I'd feel guilty.
Light changed. I went past. That's when I realized that I didn't need ice cream, I just needed a good cry.
Do you ever need a good cry?
Jeramy thinks that is the dumbest thing ever. "Why are you crying? It's not going to help anything?"
Ahh, but a good cry does help, right ladies?
As we pulled into the driveway, Maddie said to me, "Mom, give us our vitamins and then you go have a bath. I will get the girls ready for bed and read to them."
And she did.
And I did.
And I had my good cry. (Jer was at the church for bishopric, so he wasn't even home to tell me how stupid it is to cry for no reason).
Then I felt better.
I got out and went in and thanked Maddie.
She scratched my back.
That's when I had this thought, "This can't possibly be the same girl that stomped her feet at me this morning for not letting her wear her snow pants to school. The girl that said to me, "Fine. I'm just not going to get off the bus and I'm never coming home!" And I yelled back, FINE. Goodbye!"and shut the door."
Yet another taste of all the fun years ahead of me with 3 girls. The best friend/worst enemy moments. I can hardly wait.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Black Friday
K, I know this month is all about what I'm grateful for, but today's post just couldn't wait until December. (And I just re-read this and it's really long, sorry!)
I am NOT grateful for Black Friday. I am a sucker for a good deal. It's like waiting for Christmas morning for me waiting to get my ads on Thursday.
For some reason that I'm not really sure about, I decided to go to Toys R Us Thursday night. I had been told that "it's not too bad at Toys R Us." And I needed to stop at my mom's anyway to get my Kohl's coupons, so why not run up quick and get all my Christmas shopping done in one stop? Good plan...bad idea. My mom decided to come with me for fun. We got there and couldn't find the end of the line. I kid you not. It was 10:10 and the line was totally wrapped around the building. I was ready to go home, but my mom said that we should wait it out.
In the freezing cold 14 degree weather.
For an hour and a half.
We made some friends with the people in line with us.
My sweet nieces came and checked on us at 11 and cheered us.
My mom tried joking with the police officers guarding the door.
They didn't approve.
She muttered under he breath not nice things as only she could.
We were in!
The first thing I saw was something my neighbor had asked me to get. SCORE!
Grabbed it...victory!
Then we saw the line.
The line to check out.
The line that went up and down every aisle in the store and would take another 2 hours to get through.
That's when I gave up.
We left the store empty-handed.
Defeat.
I felt like such a failure.
I started to take my mom home when she said, "I'll go to Wal-mart with you." By then it was 11:45 - way past my mother's bedtime. But we went. We found the piles of things we were there for and waited for the countdown over the pa system. The store was silent, then people got antsy, 10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1..utter chaos broke out. I held my ground in front on the PS3 game display. Me and about 60 other really confused Mommies buying games for our kids - by kids I mean husbands. I had found a guy who looked like a gamer and showed him the picture on my iphone of the game I was sent to get. He helped me find it and we waited for the lucky man in blue to come unlock the cases.
He came.
He started helping people on at a time.
Unlock case. Grab game. Lock case. Move to next case. Try 6 keys. Unlock case. Grab game.
SLOW.
Getting frustrated at all the other deals I was missing.
Lady in blue comes over and says, "these are not the promo games, they are located over in the frozen foods section."
Nice man next to me lets out a string of profanity.
We all run to the frozen food section.
Games are gone.
Defeat.
I call my mom and hope she's doing better.
She is. Just like her to find the bargains.
We get in line. 2 people with a million things butt in front of us.
I stare them down every chance I get.
Then their credit card is declined.
I had not nice thoughts.
We had to wait for about 10 minutes while 3 ladies in blue tried to figure out what to do.
Finally pay.
Drop Mom off.
Get home at 2 a.m.
Set alarm for 5 a.m.
Wake up at 8 a.m. (forgot to turn alarm on once I set it).
Dang it.
Go to Kohl's.
Do you remember when I got that amazing deal at Kohl's a while back? Well, today I got the Kohl's Nazi for my cashier.
I sweetly say, "Can I have these rang up in separate transactions so I can use my coupons?"
She glares at me "That's fraud."
I kind of laugh. K. " Then I just want this one thing and I'll go through the line again".
"That's fraud. Only one coupon per day."
I read my coupon.
"No, it says per transaction, not per day. I bought 3 of these coupons and should be able to use them."
She wouldn't budge.
My total was 50.90 AFTER tax.
Kohl's cash is for a purchase over $50. She would not give me Kohl's cash because it wasn't before tax. Ew. (After all that, she did compliment me on my ring. Trying to save the sale, I guess).
I took my bags to my car.
Went back in.
Went to a different cashier.
Used my $10 coupon. Showed her my last receipt and she gave me my Kohl's cash.
On to Target. They had nothing I wanted left.
Defeat.
Dang alarm.
And then I saw it.
I have wanted a Greatest Hits Queen CD for YEARS, but have never bought one.
It was calling my name.
It's happy little sales tag smiled at me.
"I'm only $6.50. Buy me." It said.
So I did.
I got to my car, ripped it open, and cranked it all the way up.
Ahhhh...Success! I got something on sale!
I drove to my next store blaring Bohemian Rhapsody and head-banging in my best Wayne's World manner.
I even sat in the car and finished the song before I went in.
While I waited in line at Cabela's I sang in my head and I was in a happy place.
I jammed out all the way home (did you notice me singing and jamming out when I passed you, Adhis?)
Got home. Showered. Took at 2 hour nap. Listened to Queen until Jeramy said it had to be turned off.
So, today was a total success! Thanks to Queen for saving the day.
Will I go shopping again next year? You know it.
I am NOT grateful for Black Friday. I am a sucker for a good deal. It's like waiting for Christmas morning for me waiting to get my ads on Thursday.
For some reason that I'm not really sure about, I decided to go to Toys R Us Thursday night. I had been told that "it's not too bad at Toys R Us." And I needed to stop at my mom's anyway to get my Kohl's coupons, so why not run up quick and get all my Christmas shopping done in one stop? Good plan...bad idea. My mom decided to come with me for fun. We got there and couldn't find the end of the line. I kid you not. It was 10:10 and the line was totally wrapped around the building. I was ready to go home, but my mom said that we should wait it out.
In the freezing cold 14 degree weather.
For an hour and a half.
We made some friends with the people in line with us.
My sweet nieces came and checked on us at 11 and cheered us.
My mom tried joking with the police officers guarding the door.
They didn't approve.
She muttered under he breath not nice things as only she could.
We were in!
The first thing I saw was something my neighbor had asked me to get. SCORE!
Grabbed it...victory!
Then we saw the line.
The line to check out.
The line that went up and down every aisle in the store and would take another 2 hours to get through.
That's when I gave up.
We left the store empty-handed.
Defeat.
I felt like such a failure.
I started to take my mom home when she said, "I'll go to Wal-mart with you." By then it was 11:45 - way past my mother's bedtime. But we went. We found the piles of things we were there for and waited for the countdown over the pa system. The store was silent, then people got antsy, 10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1..utter chaos broke out. I held my ground in front on the PS3 game display. Me and about 60 other really confused Mommies buying games for our kids - by kids I mean husbands. I had found a guy who looked like a gamer and showed him the picture on my iphone of the game I was sent to get. He helped me find it and we waited for the lucky man in blue to come unlock the cases.
He came.
He started helping people on at a time.
Unlock case. Grab game. Lock case. Move to next case. Try 6 keys. Unlock case. Grab game.
SLOW.
Getting frustrated at all the other deals I was missing.
Lady in blue comes over and says, "these are not the promo games, they are located over in the frozen foods section."
Nice man next to me lets out a string of profanity.
We all run to the frozen food section.
Games are gone.
Defeat.
I call my mom and hope she's doing better.
She is. Just like her to find the bargains.
We get in line. 2 people with a million things butt in front of us.
I stare them down every chance I get.
Then their credit card is declined.
I had not nice thoughts.
We had to wait for about 10 minutes while 3 ladies in blue tried to figure out what to do.
Finally pay.
Drop Mom off.
Get home at 2 a.m.
Set alarm for 5 a.m.
Wake up at 8 a.m. (forgot to turn alarm on once I set it).
Dang it.
Go to Kohl's.
Do you remember when I got that amazing deal at Kohl's a while back? Well, today I got the Kohl's Nazi for my cashier.
I sweetly say, "Can I have these rang up in separate transactions so I can use my coupons?"
She glares at me "That's fraud."
I kind of laugh. K. " Then I just want this one thing and I'll go through the line again".
"That's fraud. Only one coupon per day."
I read my coupon.
"No, it says per transaction, not per day. I bought 3 of these coupons and should be able to use them."
She wouldn't budge.
My total was 50.90 AFTER tax.
Kohl's cash is for a purchase over $50. She would not give me Kohl's cash because it wasn't before tax. Ew. (After all that, she did compliment me on my ring. Trying to save the sale, I guess).
I took my bags to my car.
Went back in.
Went to a different cashier.
Used my $10 coupon. Showed her my last receipt and she gave me my Kohl's cash.
On to Target. They had nothing I wanted left.
Defeat.
Dang alarm.
And then I saw it.
I have wanted a Greatest Hits Queen CD for YEARS, but have never bought one.
It was calling my name.
It's happy little sales tag smiled at me.
"I'm only $6.50. Buy me." It said.
So I did.
I got to my car, ripped it open, and cranked it all the way up.
Ahhhh...Success! I got something on sale!
I drove to my next store blaring Bohemian Rhapsody and head-banging in my best Wayne's World manner.
I even sat in the car and finished the song before I went in.
While I waited in line at Cabela's I sang in my head and I was in a happy place.
I jammed out all the way home (did you notice me singing and jamming out when I passed you, Adhis?)
Got home. Showered. Took at 2 hour nap. Listened to Queen until Jeramy said it had to be turned off.
So, today was a total success! Thanks to Queen for saving the day.
Will I go shopping again next year? You know it.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Snow
I am grateful for snow. Sunday morning (while I was so sick) Maddie let me sleep in until about 10. When I got up, I looked out my window and she was out there shoveling my driveway. I love her. I then bundled up the other 2 kids (whoever created gloved for small children has a sick sense of humor) and sent them out. I made hot chocolate and cuddled up on the couch and watched my kids play outside for an hour in the snow.
I used to think there was nothing prettier than perfect snow that hadn't been walked on, but as I looked out my window and saw my trampled snow and little attempts at snowmen, I decided that was way better to look at because now I can remember how much fun my kids had!
I used to think there was nothing prettier than perfect snow that hadn't been walked on, but as I looked out my window and saw my trampled snow and little attempts at snowmen, I decided that was way better to look at because now I can remember how much fun my kids had!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Primary
I am grateful for Primary.
Did I forget to mention that Saturday I woke up with a terrible cold? Sunday when I woke up, I was pretty sure I was going to die. I sent Jer to church with the girls while I rested and tried to prepare myself to do my sharing time lesson. I had prayed that I would be able to go and teach these children my lesson. When the time came, I got up and dragged myself to the church. As I sat and waited, my nose cleared out (yuck, I know). My throat didn't tickle anymore, and my eyes weren't watering. I felt just about normal. I was able to do my sharing time and teach well over 100 children about serving in their homes. (I tried my best not to touch any of your sweet little kids, so hopefully I only shared my message of service with them and not my germs).
I know I was blessed to be able to go to church and teach. My cold was back full force right after church!
Did I forget to mention that Saturday I woke up with a terrible cold? Sunday when I woke up, I was pretty sure I was going to die. I sent Jer to church with the girls while I rested and tried to prepare myself to do my sharing time lesson. I had prayed that I would be able to go and teach these children my lesson. When the time came, I got up and dragged myself to the church. As I sat and waited, my nose cleared out (yuck, I know). My throat didn't tickle anymore, and my eyes weren't watering. I felt just about normal. I was able to do my sharing time and teach well over 100 children about serving in their homes. (I tried my best not to touch any of your sweet little kids, so hopefully I only shared my message of service with them and not my germs).
I know I was blessed to be able to go to church and teach. My cold was back full force right after church!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Maddox
I am grateful for dinner with my in-laws.
You may have noticed on my "to-do list" for Jeramy it said, "5:30 head to Brigham."
After my weekend with my sisters, we got to go to Brigham City to have a birthday dinner for my father in law at Maddox. I hear they have amazing steak. I'm just there for the rolls and salad. :) If you are ever in Brigham City and don't know where to eat, try it out!
We had a great time...with 8 adults and 9 kids under the age of 7.
Even our 2 hour drive home in the snow wasn't all that bad. The kids fell asleep and I got to talk Jeramy's ear off for 2 hours about all the amazing talks I head during the day.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Weekend away
I am grateful that I got to have a weekend away with my mom, some of my sisters, and 2 married nieces. We went to Time Out For Women in Salt Lake. We started our weekend off on Friday. My darling husband took Friday off. Wednesday night as I was getting ready to go to Bunco, he started the whining..."Everyone at work got this new game today. I really want it. You're going to be gone all weekend. What am I supposed to do?" He proceeded to "show me the money" and convince me that he needed this new game to get through the weekend without me. I finally caved and he went and bought his new game.
I also realized that I had ordered a Bountiful Basket and was going to need him to pick it up. We then played the "what's it going to take" game to get him to commit. Do you guys ever do that game at your house?
me: What's it going to take for you to go pick up my basket Saturday morning?
Jer: Um....new game - oh wait, already got that...a 12 pack of Mountain Dew...and a 12 pack of Pepsi, NOT coke.
me: SOLD! Did I mention it's no longer right here by our house and it's 2 hours earlier?
So here began my weekend. Not that I don't trust my husband, but I did plan out his weekend for him:
Friday was so fun! We went shopping ALL day. It was great to giggle and have fun with my sisters. Grandma made sure we fit some service into our day and it was good to go visit an old family friend who just lost her sister. We ate dinner at my (used to be) favorite restaurant Morelia's. Then headed up to Salt Lake to start our big event. It was great! Virginia Pearce (Pres. Hinckley's daughter) spoke, and Heidi Swinton (just wrote Pres. Monson's biography).
I decided to really make it a weekend away and I stayed the night at my parent's house and stayed up way too late chatting with Robin.
We headed downtown again bright and early at 8. Our speakers for the day were also wonderful! Linda & Shawni Eyre, Amanda Dickson, Brad Wilcox, Mariama Kallon, and Emily Freeman. The music for Sat was Hilary Weeks, now I know I'm a little biased since our best friends happen to be related to her, but she was FANTASTIC! It was so great to get away for the weekend and come home feeling spiritually recharged.
And it doesn't end there, when we got home at 11 Saturday night, I was dreading seeing the absolute chaos my home was going to be in...I walked in and had to smile. He had cleaned the whole house - and even done the dishes! My weekend away was soooo worth a PS3 game and 24 cans of pop!
p.s. I'm pretty sure my Mom took about 700 pictures, and I only took one. My dad didn't put any up on his blog, so you only get one picture. You have to understand that my mother takes about a million pictures. We were walking through the construction area downtown and she was stopping to take pictures of our "behinds" because she walks slower than us, and we were making fun of her for doing so, a very friendly construction worker said, "You can take a picture of my behind." Wow. Then my mom just couldn't even walk because she was laughing so hard!
I also realized that I had ordered a Bountiful Basket and was going to need him to pick it up. We then played the "what's it going to take" game to get him to commit. Do you guys ever do that game at your house?
me: What's it going to take for you to go pick up my basket Saturday morning?
Jer: Um....new game - oh wait, already got that...a 12 pack of Mountain Dew...and a 12 pack of Pepsi, NOT coke.
me: SOLD! Did I mention it's no longer right here by our house and it's 2 hours earlier?
So here began my weekend. Not that I don't trust my husband, but I did plan out his weekend for him:
Friday was so fun! We went shopping ALL day. It was great to giggle and have fun with my sisters. Grandma made sure we fit some service into our day and it was good to go visit an old family friend who just lost her sister. We ate dinner at my (used to be) favorite restaurant Morelia's. Then headed up to Salt Lake to start our big event. It was great! Virginia Pearce (Pres. Hinckley's daughter) spoke, and Heidi Swinton (just wrote Pres. Monson's biography). I decided to really make it a weekend away and I stayed the night at my parent's house and stayed up way too late chatting with Robin.
We headed downtown again bright and early at 8. Our speakers for the day were also wonderful! Linda & Shawni Eyre, Amanda Dickson, Brad Wilcox, Mariama Kallon, and Emily Freeman. The music for Sat was Hilary Weeks, now I know I'm a little biased since our best friends happen to be related to her, but she was FANTASTIC! It was so great to get away for the weekend and come home feeling spiritually recharged. Remember that husband of mine I was so worried about? 10:20 Saturday morning I get this text :
Got 3 kids ready...picked up your basket...picked up my new glasses...bought the V8 juice your kids wanted...got a haircut...I'm on a roll!
Us ladies really got a kick out of that one.
And it doesn't end there, when we got home at 11 Saturday night, I was dreading seeing the absolute chaos my home was going to be in...I walked in and had to smile. He had cleaned the whole house - and even done the dishes! My weekend away was soooo worth a PS3 game and 24 cans of pop!
p.s. I'm pretty sure my Mom took about 700 pictures, and I only took one. My dad didn't put any up on his blog, so you only get one picture. You have to understand that my mother takes about a million pictures. We were walking through the construction area downtown and she was stopping to take pictures of our "behinds" because she walks slower than us, and we were making fun of her for doing so, a very friendly construction worker said, "You can take a picture of my behind." Wow. Then my mom just couldn't even walk because she was laughing so hard!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Family Home Evening
I am grateful for this:
I am grateful to have all of these talks and games to use for family home evenings!
Last year I inherited my mom's stash of talks for Primary. I spent a few days going through them all and re-labeling them. Some were a little too outdated for even me to use, but most made it to my file boxes. Jennica was so jealous of my "vintage" primary talks. She has come and borrowed a few, which makes me happy. If you ever need a last minute FHE lesson, give me a call. I'm not even kidding! I would love someone else to enjoy them. I have oodles of old ones, and oodles of new ones that I have made.
(This is Macie's talk for tonight. It's a talk about being grateful for all the things we can do, like hear, smell, etc. These pictures are older than me, drawn by my mom).
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Grateful for...
Well, I told you not to hold me to my daily posts. I had scheduled out the entire week ahead of time last week, but never sat down and did it for this week.
Here's a run-down of what I'm grateful for so far this week
Sunday: Grateful for a wonderful Stake Conference. My kids were actually pretty good, so I got to pay attention!
Monday:Grateful that I can play the piano. As the youngest of 6 kids, I am the only one who was spoiled enough to get to take lessons. I am grateful to have a piano in my home so that I can practice and fill our home with the peaceful spirit that music can bring. Grateful that Maddie is taking lessons from someone besides me and she's really enjoying it!
Tuesday: Grateful for my calling and the amazing women I am serving with. I am enjoying learning more about each of them.
Wednesday: Grateful for lunches with my parents and sisters. Grateful for a new Christmas craft to work on.
Thursday: Grateful for nothing to do today. :) (Except for a few primary things, but those are just fun for me to do, so they don't count).
Here's a run-down of what I'm grateful for so far this week
Sunday: Grateful for a wonderful Stake Conference. My kids were actually pretty good, so I got to pay attention!
Monday:Grateful that I can play the piano. As the youngest of 6 kids, I am the only one who was spoiled enough to get to take lessons. I am grateful to have a piano in my home so that I can practice and fill our home with the peaceful spirit that music can bring. Grateful that Maddie is taking lessons from someone besides me and she's really enjoying it!
Tuesday: Grateful for my calling and the amazing women I am serving with. I am enjoying learning more about each of them.
Wednesday: Grateful for lunches with my parents and sisters. Grateful for a new Christmas craft to work on.
Thursday: Grateful for nothing to do today. :) (Except for a few primary things, but those are just fun for me to do, so they don't count).
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Big hills and time to play
Remember when I said I didn't take any pictures of Halloween? This is seriously all that I got. Not a single one of all of them all lined up all cute and wearing their entire costumes. Maddie the pirate would not wear an eye patch because "They said no masks, Mom, and that's a mask."
Lindsay was an adorable ladybug. I made her skirt. :) She should be wearing her black leotard and her red wings, but wearing our costumes to the school was a last-minute kind of thing.
Macie was a ballerina fairy. What's that, you may ask? She wanted to have wings, a wand and a crown. All of which I had for her, none of which she wanted to wear. Aunt Tera made her skirt, I just added blue to it so it would match her wings.
These pictures were taken at Maddie's school. There is a huge hill out front and I let the girls play on it. They were in heaven. I had no where to be. I had my fancy shmancy phone, so I sat and checked my email and such while they played. It was a good moment. I'm grateful for good moments.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Skating and Buster Burger
Monday night was family skate night for Maddie's school. Not our favorite activity, but the girls love it and had a blast. Maddie did great on the skates...thanks to aunt Kerry for taking her ice skating this summer. (I'm grateful for that).
Jeramy and I couldn't decide what to do about dinner. Us girls just wanted to get a pizza while we skated, he wanted to leave. We finally all agreed to leave and Jer took us to one of his favorite lunch places called Buster Burger. Monday nights, their mini burgers (which are really mini, but perfect for Macie and Lindsay) are .99 cents. Maddie ate 2! Lindsay had a bite of Jeramy's and for the first time in her life, requested a burger. We immediately went and bought her one and she ate the whole thing. (grateful for that).
When we were finished, the manager came over and asked us if we'd like some free ice cream...heck ya! He gave us 3 large cups of ice cream. The girls were so excited and now have a favorite new restaurant.
So, today I'm grateful for a good family night, with free roller skating and free ice cream.
(On a not so grateful side note...just pulled up my checking account, and the poor girl who rang us up couldn't get the transaction to work, or so we thought. We got charged 4 times for our meal! Hopefully I can get it taken care of, otherwise, that free ice cream was more like $40 ice cream!)
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Acorns
This was actually from last week, AND I actually wrote it in my gratitude journal.
"Grateful for a relaxing afternoon at Mom's. The girls picked up acorns at the Ledford's. Made pumpkin cookies with Mom and Tracy. The girls brought their acorns home and colored on them for HOURS outside with the neighbor kids."
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Preschool
I am so grateful that I was able to pull together another co-op preschool this year. I was so stressing having to pay $60-$100 a month in a preschool when I knew that I could teach her the same things at home. I'm grateful I found some families feeling the same way and we were able to group up and save some $$! I am working with some amazing Moms (and Dads) and so far it has been perfect! Lindsay is learning so much, and I enjoy the 4 hours a week that she's gone. :) She has made new friends, and really loves going to each different house.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Bountiful Baskets
I am grateful for my Bountiful Basket this week. (You sign up on line, pay $15 and go Saturday morning and pick up a basket full of fresh fruits and veggies. You don't know what you are going to get in your basket until you get there- which kind of makes it fun to try out new things). I haven't done it for a while, but this week I actually remembered to sign up on time. It was like Christmas morning going to get my basket and seeing all of the healthy fruits and vegetables. I also tried out their bread this time and I LOVE it! 5 loaves for $10. We've already had our green beans, salad, tomatoes, and cucumber. Trying to get brave enough to try the sweet potatoes tonight.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Happy...November
Can you believe that it's November? I can't! For the past few years, we've made a "gratitude tree" for the month of November. Every night when we have family prayer, the person praying gets to tell us what they are grateful for and then we write it on a leaf and put it on our tree. This year, I never took our tree down - but the tree itself fell down and never got put back up. It's been a nice reminder to see all year long the things (mostly people) we are grateful for.
So tonight we will start a new gratitude tree.
I have high hopes for the month of posting daily one thing I'm grateful for...don't hold me to it, k? Last year for Thanksgiving my mom gave us each a Gratitude journal. I've really tried to write things in it, but I forget most a lot of the time. It is so fun to go back and read those things that I was grateful for.
So tonight we will start a new gratitude tree. 
I have high hopes for the month of posting daily one thing I'm grateful for...don't hold me to it, k? Last year for Thanksgiving my mom gave us each a Gratitude journal. I've really tried to write things in it, but I forget most a lot of the time. It is so fun to go back and read those things that I was grateful for. So day one...I'm grateful for my cricut! Last night when I remembered it was time to make my gratitude tree, I just had to go downstairs, put a paper in the machine and tell it to cut 30 leaves for me. 5 minutes later, I was ready to go. Sigh, my cricut makes me happy! (Even when I realized I didn't need 30 in each color, I actually made 90 leaves. Whoops!)
What are you grateful for today?
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Happy Halloween
Another Halloween has come and gone.
Jeramy took this picture of the girls at Wal-mart a few weeks ago and it still makes me smile every time I see it.
You all know that I am a blog-writing, camera-packing momma...I don't have any pictures of my kids from trick or treating tonight! I'll explain in a later post.
Just wanted to send a quick Happy Halloween your way!
Friday, October 22, 2010
Pirates and Pumpkins
I absolutely love teaching preschool. Right now I am doing a co-op with 5 amazing moms, so I end up teaching every 6 weeks. I so look forward to my week! I hope someday to be able to teach preschool full-time, crazy, I know! This past week I taught the letter "P." We learned about pirates...
And pumpkins...
We took a field trip to Hee Haws after my "pumkpin" day. It was so much fun! The kids each got to pick their own pumpkins and I thought we were never going to be able to leave - they had the hardest time finding the perfect pumpkin.
And pumpkins...
We took a field trip to Hee Haws after my "pumkpin" day. It was so much fun! The kids each got to pick their own pumpkins and I thought we were never going to be able to leave - they had the hardest time finding the perfect pumpkin.I was going to hide our snack on Pirate day and call it our "Pirate Booty." Jeramy nicely suggested I just call it a treasure. Good idea. My girls would have loved shaking their "pirate booty". Snicker, snicker.
Provo River Halloween Cruise
Last Friday night we went on the Provo River Halloween Cruise. Us Mommas had really wanted to give it a try, even though we'd been told it was lame. So, we put the address in my nifty GPS on my phone (yup, there's an app for that), and found our way in the big city of Provo. Here's my review for you:
1). It was definitely overpriced. My family of 5 was $28 - WITH a coupon. The boat ride itself is only a half hour long.
2) They were super organized, considering the massive amounts of people they were dealing with.
3). The kids LOVED it! Macie is still talking about the pirate that jumped onto our boat!
4). Decorated fun for Halloween, not too scary, so it was great. They had jack-o-lanterns lining the river and the reflections from them into the river was cool to see. It was dark and just creepy enough for us chickens.
I'd do it again, if it were half price. It was fun to be able to do something Halloween-ish with our little girls that wasn't scary.
The best comic moments of the night brought to us by Maddie:
1). Maddie trying to "jump rope" her jacket and face-planting it in the dirt.
2). Maddie thinking Jeramy was hiding in the bushes and her yelling, "Dad, knock it off, I want to get in the van!" I told her it wasn't her Dad rustling around, so we had to investigate and we found a HORSE! A real one...behind a fence. She was a little freaked out, and embarrassed.
3). When I told Maddie what we were doing, she said, "Should I go get our life jackets?" I said that we wouldn't need them, and she huffed and puffed about boat safety. When we got there and bought our tickets, they said, "Children under 12 need to go over and get a life jacket out of the bin." Maddie immediately said, "See, I told you." Rules, schmules.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Never a dull moment at the gym
(I just typed "Never a dill moment at the gym"...should have left it and made everyone think it was another pickle post).
Funny things keep happening. At least funny to me. I thought I'd share so maybe you'd like to come to the gym and burn calories laughing with me.
Funny#1
Jer wanted to go to the gym the other night around 7, the daycare couldn't fit the girls in until 7:30, so I took them to the store and waited for my time slot. I dropped them off, then went to the cardio room and found Jeramy. I got on the treadmill next to him and said, "Hi." We had a casual conversation for a few seconds, then I started my run. It was then that I noticed the guy next to me. He kept looking at me and I was all "dude, what the heck?" after about 10 minutes of him glancing over at me, I realized that he was waiting for me to talk to him. He obviously thought that I didn't know my husband on the treadmill next to me and thought that I was just being nice to a stranger and you could see the little wheels spinning in his head wondering why I chose the man on my left to be nice to, but not the man on my right. (neither of us were wearing our wedding rings, either). I was chuckling to myself about it, when the man on my left (Jeramy) laughed out loud and said, "Charles Barkley is funny." (He was watching basketball). So we had a good laugh about basketball as the poor man on my right watched us...and wondered again why he was not included in our conversation.
I'll admit, I enjoyed thinking about what he was thinking about. And it made it all even funnier when we got to the car and Jer said, "What was up with that guy next to you? He totally kept looking at you!" So I explained my theory and we had a good laugh.
Embarrassing story #2
We had our VIP orientation and it included a 20 minute session with a trainer. Cute kid was getting us all pumped to get a trainer, and I think it did the total opposite for me. He started me off with 15 pounds on each side and said, "let's do 12 of these" I got to 6 and my little weakling arms were shaking so bad that he said, "6 is fine." And he had me go on to something else. When I got back to that machine, he nicely said, "I just went ahead and took all the weight off, give it a try now." I made it through all 12...barely. Then he said, "I want you to do 12 girl push ups." My arms were rubber and I couldn't even hold myself up. I could tell he really wanted to laugh at me. We survived our 20 minutes with the trainer, and we were both incredibly sore for about a week after.
Embarrassing story #3
My "yogalates" (half yoga half pilates) teacher is freaking 7 months pregnant. 7 months. She doesn't even break a sweat! She said the other night, "Your invited to join me in the splits if you feel like you can..." I laughed and then looked up and saw her doing the splits! So not cool.
Embarrassing story #4
I LOVE the cinema room. For those of you who haven't been, they have a room full of treadmills and such that has a huge screen and all day they show movies on it. AND the keep it pretty much pitch black dark. We've learned to take our cell phones and use the light off of them to find a treadmill.
I tried to get on a treadmill that already had someone wearing black on it. Whoops.
Embarrassing story #5
Cinema room again...went up to a man who I thought was my husband and got on the treadmill next to him and said "Hi" It wasn't Jeramy. (this time I was the strange lady talking to the stranger)
Story #6
30 seconds after I said "Hi" to that man, my own husband grabbed me from behind and I "yelped" and about fell off my moving treadmill.
Aren't you motivated to go to the gym now? I can hardly wait to go and see what I do next!
(I actually wrote this post way back in May, but I was thinking about it this morning and realized I never posted it).
Funny things keep happening. At least funny to me. I thought I'd share so maybe you'd like to come to the gym and burn calories laughing with me.
Funny#1
Jer wanted to go to the gym the other night around 7, the daycare couldn't fit the girls in until 7:30, so I took them to the store and waited for my time slot. I dropped them off, then went to the cardio room and found Jeramy. I got on the treadmill next to him and said, "Hi." We had a casual conversation for a few seconds, then I started my run. It was then that I noticed the guy next to me. He kept looking at me and I was all "dude, what the heck?" after about 10 minutes of him glancing over at me, I realized that he was waiting for me to talk to him. He obviously thought that I didn't know my husband on the treadmill next to me and thought that I was just being nice to a stranger and you could see the little wheels spinning in his head wondering why I chose the man on my left to be nice to, but not the man on my right. (neither of us were wearing our wedding rings, either). I was chuckling to myself about it, when the man on my left (Jeramy) laughed out loud and said, "Charles Barkley is funny." (He was watching basketball). So we had a good laugh about basketball as the poor man on my right watched us...and wondered again why he was not included in our conversation.
I'll admit, I enjoyed thinking about what he was thinking about. And it made it all even funnier when we got to the car and Jer said, "What was up with that guy next to you? He totally kept looking at you!" So I explained my theory and we had a good laugh.
Embarrassing story #2
We had our VIP orientation and it included a 20 minute session with a trainer. Cute kid was getting us all pumped to get a trainer, and I think it did the total opposite for me. He started me off with 15 pounds on each side and said, "let's do 12 of these" I got to 6 and my little weakling arms were shaking so bad that he said, "6 is fine." And he had me go on to something else. When I got back to that machine, he nicely said, "I just went ahead and took all the weight off, give it a try now." I made it through all 12...barely. Then he said, "I want you to do 12 girl push ups." My arms were rubber and I couldn't even hold myself up. I could tell he really wanted to laugh at me. We survived our 20 minutes with the trainer, and we were both incredibly sore for about a week after.
Embarrassing story #3
My "yogalates" (half yoga half pilates) teacher is freaking 7 months pregnant. 7 months. She doesn't even break a sweat! She said the other night, "Your invited to join me in the splits if you feel like you can..." I laughed and then looked up and saw her doing the splits! So not cool.
Embarrassing story #4
I LOVE the cinema room. For those of you who haven't been, they have a room full of treadmills and such that has a huge screen and all day they show movies on it. AND the keep it pretty much pitch black dark. We've learned to take our cell phones and use the light off of them to find a treadmill.
I tried to get on a treadmill that already had someone wearing black on it. Whoops.
Embarrassing story #5
Cinema room again...went up to a man who I thought was my husband and got on the treadmill next to him and said "Hi" It wasn't Jeramy. (this time I was the strange lady talking to the stranger)
Story #6
30 seconds after I said "Hi" to that man, my own husband grabbed me from behind and I "yelped" and about fell off my moving treadmill.
Aren't you motivated to go to the gym now? I can hardly wait to go and see what I do next!
(I actually wrote this post way back in May, but I was thinking about it this morning and realized I never posted it).
Friday, October 15, 2010
A riddle for ya...
What has 440 feet, 440 eyes, 2200 wiggly little hands, and 220 chatty little mouths?
Give up?
Our Primary.
Our primary has 220 children from the ages of 18 months to 12 years.
I love our primary.
Really, I do.
I've been in Primary for many, many years in many, many callings.
About 4 months ago I got released from Primary and for the first time in over 5 years, I went to Relief Society. I went to Sunday School and sat by my husband. I loved it.
Then 3 weeks ago, I was asked to sub for the pianist in Primary. As I sat in there and played and watched all these kids and all of the amazing leaders, my heart ached. I missed Primary.
Apparently the Lord knew I needed to go back to Primary. I am now the 1st counselor in the Primary Presidency. I am so excited to be back serving the children in our ward!
My brother sent me this youtube video/song in honor of my new calling. Couldn't figure out how to get it to just play here, but if you have 3 minutes and want to jam out to the Primary Jamboree, go for it!
Give up?
Our Primary.
Our primary has 220 children from the ages of 18 months to 12 years.
I love our primary.
Really, I do.
I've been in Primary for many, many years in many, many callings.
About 4 months ago I got released from Primary and for the first time in over 5 years, I went to Relief Society. I went to Sunday School and sat by my husband. I loved it.
Then 3 weeks ago, I was asked to sub for the pianist in Primary. As I sat in there and played and watched all these kids and all of the amazing leaders, my heart ached. I missed Primary.
Apparently the Lord knew I needed to go back to Primary. I am now the 1st counselor in the Primary Presidency. I am so excited to be back serving the children in our ward!
My brother sent me this youtube video/song in honor of my new calling. Couldn't figure out how to get it to just play here, but if you have 3 minutes and want to jam out to the Primary Jamboree, go for it!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Fishers of men
Sunday morning Maddie came in and said, "Mom what do the scriptures mean when they say 'fishers of men'?" We were running late and I told her we'd talk after church.
Monday morning, she lugged her scriptures into me and said, "Look mom, I found that fishers of men scripture." I said "Good job! Now go brush your teeth." And made a mental note to plan FHE around that scripture. Then I forgot.
I just went in to clean up Maddie's room and found this hanging on her wall:
Monday morning, she lugged her scriptures into me and said, "Look mom, I found that fishers of men scripture." I said "Good job! Now go brush your teeth." And made a mental note to plan FHE around that scripture. Then I forgot.
I just went in to clean up Maddie's room and found this hanging on her wall:
Here's what it says:
Jesus did lots of miracles like five loaves and two little fish, 10 lepers, waves "peace, be still", blind man see and more. Learn about them and thank Heavenly Father and Jesus. What miracles did he do for you? Do miracle to others and Jesus did in St Matthew 4:19 it says, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
Saturday, October 9, 2010
The what-ifs
We went up to the Mower cabin for conference weekend again this year. We tried it a little different this time, since we had such an adventure last time when the men-folk went to the Priesthood session, we decided we would go up Friday night and be home for the priesthood session.
For the first time in the history of the Wakewii family I - and I alone - made us - and everyone else - late. Good thing Grandpa had gone up the day before and got the dish set up for the BYU/Utah state game. Once we got there, the men watched the game in the cabin and us ladies cooked foil dinners on the fire outside.
My 18 year old nieces wanted to sleep in my van because "We are adults now and can handle it". I said that was fine, so we took all the seats out and they got real cozy and slept out there. As I was laying in the cabin, I couldn't fall asleep. That's when the "What-if's" crawled inside my head"
I remembered that I was the last one to ride the 4-wheeler and had parked it on a hill right by my van. What if the parking break came off and it rolled into my van and freaked the girls out. What if it wrecked my van? Should I go check? No, I'd wake up the other 16 people sleeping in the cabin.
The girls cracked all the windows and I had food in there. What if a bear smelled it and tried to break in ?
What if they get too cold? What if they are too hot? Do they have a flashlight if they need to go to the bathroom?
And on and on. It was ridiculous. I finally dozed off and was startled out of my sleep by a BEAR outside and screaming...then I calmed down and realized it was someone snoring and someone else wheezing. I was a wreck by then and stayed awake until dawn.
We had a great Saturday! The girls had a blast going for rides with their cousins. Maddie played with Tank, the dog and she was very pleased that her stick was still there. (Thanks, Todd for getting there before us and finding a stick for her and putting it right where she left it). Jeramy and I took Lindsay out for a ride and Jer let her drive...that would be her little thumb in the picture trying to hold down the throttle. She lasted about 1 minute before her hand was too tired. We drove home during the last session and then I took a 3 hour nap to recover.
For the first time in the history of the Wakewii family I - and I alone - made us - and everyone else - late. Good thing Grandpa had gone up the day before and got the dish set up for the BYU/Utah state game. Once we got there, the men watched the game in the cabin and us ladies cooked foil dinners on the fire outside.
My 18 year old nieces wanted to sleep in my van because "We are adults now and can handle it". I said that was fine, so we took all the seats out and they got real cozy and slept out there. As I was laying in the cabin, I couldn't fall asleep. That's when the "What-if's" crawled inside my head"
I remembered that I was the last one to ride the 4-wheeler and had parked it on a hill right by my van. What if the parking break came off and it rolled into my van and freaked the girls out. What if it wrecked my van? Should I go check? No, I'd wake up the other 16 people sleeping in the cabin.
The girls cracked all the windows and I had food in there. What if a bear smelled it and tried to break in ?
What if they get too cold? What if they are too hot? Do they have a flashlight if they need to go to the bathroom?
And on and on. It was ridiculous. I finally dozed off and was startled out of my sleep by a BEAR outside and screaming...then I calmed down and realized it was someone snoring and someone else wheezing. I was a wreck by then and stayed awake until dawn.
We had a great Saturday! The girls had a blast going for rides with their cousins. Maddie played with Tank, the dog and she was very pleased that her stick was still there. (Thanks, Todd for getting there before us and finding a stick for her and putting it right where she left it). Jeramy and I took Lindsay out for a ride and Jer let her drive...that would be her little thumb in the picture trying to hold down the throttle. She lasted about 1 minute before her hand was too tired. We drove home during the last session and then I took a 3 hour nap to recover.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Bargains!
How much would you pay for 2 new Christmas dresses, new jeans for Maddie, new skirt for me, 4 new big bath towels, and 2 pairs of earrings?
I paid $23 at Kohls today. I just added it all up and my regular price total would have been $235.
Here's how:
Yesterday's newspaper in Salt Lake county had a coupon for $10 off your $10 purchase. My mom went out and bought a million papers to get the coupon for us. I ended up with 5 of them. Plus, I had 30% off my entire purchase for using my Kohl's card, plus I had a $10 gift card. My sweet cashier saw how many coupons I had and let me do 5 separate transactions to get the best deal. And she gave me $10 Kohl's cash for next week. :)
It's been a LONG time since I've got a good deal shopping. I haven't been all that great with the coupons since Albertson's changed hands. Felt good to get a good deal on a few things we needed/wanted. (earrings, you may say are not a necessity, but they are a birthday present). A big thanks to my mom for getting papers for me, and for walking my cranky kids around the store while I shopped. And a big sorry to the lady that got stuck in line behind me for my 5 transactions, and I even had the nerve to pay off my Kohl's card right then and there and took even longer.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Through the eyes of a 3 year old
Macie has been obsessed with my camera lately. She'll get it out of my purse and say, "Mom, can I look at the pictures?" She knows how to turn it on and look at the pictures. Apparently, she figured out how to take pictures, also. Here's what I found on my camera today...
Can you guess what they are?
Looking out my back door.
This next one took me a while...
It's an elephant foot on a music toy.
Can you guess what they are?
That would be Macie's special blanket.
And this...
Looking out my back door.This next one took me a while...
It's an elephant foot on a music toy.And this next one, I'll give you a hint, it's NOT an alligator...
It's my purse - up close and personal.
This next one should be easy...
My piano.
It's my purse - up close and personal.
This next one should be easy...
My piano.And this last one isn't one she took, I took it. I can't tell you how many times a day I find her right in this spot, coloring, cutting and gluing things together.
For FHE on Monday night, we talked about emergencies and re-stocked our 72 hour kits. I talked to the girls about why we would need a 72 hour kit, like the Herriman fire that happened last week. I think I kind of freaked Macie out by it. She kept interrupting me and saying, "Mom, if we had a horse, we could get away from the fire faster." And so on and so on. Tuesday morning, she sat on the couch looking out the window and said, "Mom, when is the fire going to start?" And I also found her shoving little things into her 72 hour kit all day...I figured I'd leave them in there for her to have some "comfort items" if we ever did need to use it.
For FHE on Monday night, we talked about emergencies and re-stocked our 72 hour kits. I talked to the girls about why we would need a 72 hour kit, like the Herriman fire that happened last week. I think I kind of freaked Macie out by it. She kept interrupting me and saying, "Mom, if we had a horse, we could get away from the fire faster." And so on and so on. Tuesday morning, she sat on the couch looking out the window and said, "Mom, when is the fire going to start?" And I also found her shoving little things into her 72 hour kit all day...I figured I'd leave them in there for her to have some "comfort items" if we ever did need to use it.She was in charge of the opening prayer for FHE and she kept saying, "Mom, when can I open the prayer?" Gosh, I love her!
When was the last time you updated your 72 hour kits?? It's that time of year again... GO DO IT!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Lindsay's Birthday
Lindsay had a great birthday weekend. We started it off on Friday when Grandma Jean took her to Toys R Us and she got to pick out her birthday present. She wanted some little princesses. My mom and I talked her into **Veterinarian Barbie.
Sunday we had her party with my family after church. She wanted a "Pony Cake." Every store in the valley was out of Ponies. Finally found some to put on her cake. We had sandwiches - her least favorite food - but easy for an after church party. Grandma Mary gave all the girls a pack of chap stick. They were sooo excited. Macie's was M&M flavored and for 2 days straight, she smelled/reeked of chocolate chap stick. Then on the 3rd day she said to me, "Mom, this smells like poo, I'm throwing them away." And she did.
On Lindsay's actual birthday Monday, she chose to go to Texas Roadhouse and talked all day about sitting on the saddle. When they brought the saddle out, she did the "stiff board" routine and wouldn't get on! We then came home and opened her presents and she got exactly what she wanted - a dog that barks and eats and has a bag that it sits in. Keep in mind this is my child that is terrified of dogs.
**My mom and I saw the vet Barbie and thought it would go well with the other dog that she was getting for her birthday, that's why we talked her into it. After she opened it and started playing with it, we then realized that it wasn't Vet Barbie, it was Potty Trainer Barbie. The dogs PEE. My mother was mortified and said to take it back, but the kids got such a kick out of it that we're keeping the peeing dogs. You even have to lift one of their legs up to make it pee! Who on earth buys that for their kid?? Apparently me.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Stupid dumb hate
Most of you know my Lindsay as the quiet, sweet, Mamma's girl. Not many get to see her true colors. She has quite the little temper on her, with quite the little potty mouth. Whenever she gets really mad, you'll get a "You're stupid dumb hate!" It's all the bad words she knows rolled into one mean insult. When she uses this one, you know you're in trouble. Last night she was outside riding her bike, Maddie got in her way somehow...she was like 20 feet away...and Lindsay fell. She got off her bike, balled up her fists, and yelled, "You're stupid dumb hate!" As her little body shook with rage, Jer and I couldn't help but giggle.
She really is the sweetest, most thoughtful kid I know, until you cross her. I recommend you always stay on her good side, and if you do happen to get a "stupid dumb hate," don't laugh at her, that will just make her cry.
The pictures are of Lindsay modeling her new Halloween skirt I made while Jer was working crazy hours. Macie won't even put hers on, and Maddie said I messed hers up. Can't win, can I? At least Lindsay loves hers.
I really do love my little Lindsay. Tomorrow is her 5th birthday! We had a family party today and she had a great time. Tonight, she couldn't sleep. I went up and laid with her and talked to her about her birthday and when she was born. She was just beaming!
She and Maddie had a rough day - they just couldn't seem to get along at all. I was so surprised when she told me as we were laying there, "Mom, I'm going to wait until Maddie gets home to watch my new movie and do crafts with her. She's so fun to do crafts with."
That's what having a sister is all about.
She really is the sweetest, most thoughtful kid I know, until you cross her. I recommend you always stay on her good side, and if you do happen to get a "stupid dumb hate," don't laugh at her, that will just make her cry.
The pictures are of Lindsay modeling her new Halloween skirt I made while Jer was working crazy hours. Macie won't even put hers on, and Maddie said I messed hers up. Can't win, can I? At least Lindsay loves hers.
I really do love my little Lindsay. Tomorrow is her 5th birthday! We had a family party today and she had a great time. Tonight, she couldn't sleep. I went up and laid with her and talked to her about her birthday and when she was born. She was just beaming! She and Maddie had a rough day - they just couldn't seem to get along at all. I was so surprised when she told me as we were laying there, "Mom, I'm going to wait until Maddie gets home to watch my new movie and do crafts with her. She's so fun to do crafts with."
That's what having a sister is all about.
Friday, September 17, 2010
All grown up...
My baby is 3.
She is fully potty-trained and accident free for over a month.
She threw away all of her sippy cups.
She goes to gymnastics with her big sister now.
She turns the TV on by herself.
She says adorable things like "Mom, are you serious?" But it sounds like "Sewious"
Her dad said at dinner the other night that there was a crap load of something. She looks at him with those big blue eyes and says, "Dad, what's a cwap load?" We all laughed and laughed.
She gets herself dressed.
She finally can peddle on her big girl bike.
She can write "A"
She can count to 20.
She kills all the spiders for her big sisters.
She' not my baby anymore. :(
And now this post had to end because she's demanding that it's her turn to play on the computer.
Friday, September 10, 2010
My blahhh - og
I'm sure you've noticed that I haven't been my usual 2 posts a week kind of gal lately. I've been in a rut emotionally, physically, mentally, etc. Blogging just didn't sound like fun. Still doesn't, but I'm going to give it a try. I know this will be a whiny, long post, so be prepared.
We've had a hard 4 weeks around here. Jeramy has worked from 8:30a.m. to 9 p.m. for 4 weeks. (Or even longer some nights). My kids miss their Daddy. I miss him, too. We have only got to eat dinner as a family on Sundays and I miss our family time every night. He always reads the scriptures at night before bed to the kids, not me, so the kids haven't been read to for 4 weeks because by bedtime, I am soo done being the mom.
We are all tired. BUT, tomorrow is the last of the long/late days! 4Life Convention will be over (at least for another 18 months). My mom keeps saying, "just be thankful he has a job" and I am thankful...but I'd be even more thankful if he weren't salaried, so we would actually be getting paid for all this overtime.
I know that I am a very independent person. I don't mind doing things on my own for the most part, but even I reached my limit yesterday. Here's the story.
You know that warm, loving feeling you have for your kids? That was so not what I was feeling while I was trying to help Lindsay pee into a cup yesterday. It was warm, all right, but not in a good way. Let me back up...
Wednesday night I let the kids stay up late to see their Dad for a few minutes when he got home. While we were all sitting on the couch chatting, Lindsay kept saying, "Mom, my lip hurts...it feels funny...mom look..." and on and on and I was too excited to be talking to someone older than 7 to even care. When I finally looked down, her lip was totally swollen!
I put the other 2 to bed, but let her lay with me and watch Toy Story to see if the swelling continued. It spread to her eyes, and soon she looked like Quasimodo...
We've had a hard 4 weeks around here. Jeramy has worked from 8:30a.m. to 9 p.m. for 4 weeks. (Or even longer some nights). My kids miss their Daddy. I miss him, too. We have only got to eat dinner as a family on Sundays and I miss our family time every night. He always reads the scriptures at night before bed to the kids, not me, so the kids haven't been read to for 4 weeks because by bedtime, I am soo done being the mom.
We are all tired. BUT, tomorrow is the last of the long/late days! 4Life Convention will be over (at least for another 18 months). My mom keeps saying, "just be thankful he has a job" and I am thankful...but I'd be even more thankful if he weren't salaried, so we would actually be getting paid for all this overtime.
I know that I am a very independent person. I don't mind doing things on my own for the most part, but even I reached my limit yesterday. Here's the story.
You know that warm, loving feeling you have for your kids? That was so not what I was feeling while I was trying to help Lindsay pee into a cup yesterday. It was warm, all right, but not in a good way. Let me back up...
Wednesday night I let the kids stay up late to see their Dad for a few minutes when he got home. While we were all sitting on the couch chatting, Lindsay kept saying, "Mom, my lip hurts...it feels funny...mom look..." and on and on and I was too excited to be talking to someone older than 7 to even care. When I finally looked down, her lip was totally swollen!
I put the other 2 to bed, but let her lay with me and watch Toy Story to see if the swelling continued. It spread to her eyes, and soon she looked like Quasimodo...
By then all the instacares were closed, and Jeramy was alseep as were the other kids. I didn't know what to do, so I put it up on facebook for advice. Pretty much everyone told me to take her to the ER, so I didn't. Yup. I kept her home. I have an epi pen, so I knew if her breathing got bad, I could give her that, but she really was fine other than the swollen face. I laid with her all night and kept her medicated with Motrin and Benadryl. I kept one hand on her at all times to make sure she was breathing. It was a long night.
In the morning, she was still very Quasimodo-like, so I called the doctor and took her in. By the time we got there, the swelling had gone down a lot. I told him that she must be allergic to something, he proceeded to tell me that it probably wasn't an allergy. What does he know? He checked her for strep and then asked for a urine sample. I thought Lindsay was going to DIE when I explained what she had to do. She and I sat in the bathroom and fought for a good 10 minutes, I yelled, I laughed, I bribed, I thought of all the people out in the hall listening to our battle. After a magical glass of water from the nurse, and a dollar, she finally said she was ready. I held the cup, she got more on my hand than in the cup, but it was enough. Once she did it and I screwed the lid on, she said, "K mom, now flush it down." "No, sweetie, we have to go give it to the nurse." She was mortified and started to cry. Pee stays in the bathroom in the toilet, not in a cup in the hallway!
The test showed that her protein levels were high and he thought that was causing the swelling and he told me that she might have Nephrotic Syndrome. As he sat and explained it all to me, I started that internal panic. I kept the smile on my face, nodded when I was supposed to, but the panic was creeping up. Lindsay...sick...kidneys...protien...steriods...prednisone(ahh, that's the stuff that Rachel has to take and makes her face swell...can't handle that...wait, isn't Lindsay's face already swollen?)...may grow out of it... I'm not feeling so calm. The doctor sent us to the hospital for more tests.
I got in the car and called Jeramy. I knew he wouldn't answer because he was teaching web classes, so I left him a message that ended with me in tears telling him we were going to the hospital. I needed my husband.
I kept it together while we checked in at the hospital. Got a little shaky while waiting for our turn. Got a LOT shaky when they couldn't find a vein on my sweet little Lindsay who was being so brave sitting on my lap. Had to wipe a tear from my eye when they had to switch arms and try again and she still didn't make a sound or wiggle an inch. We got in the car and I lost it. Sobs. Silent, scared kids in the car - that's a first.
Jeramy finally called. I couldn't really talk with all that crying. He said he could leave if I needed him to. I calmed down and said that we were done and not to worry about it. Even though I so needed some support and someone to talk to. That support came in a lot of different ways after that. I think I had about 10 phone calls, 5 emails, 4 texts, and neighbors coming over to check on is. I felt loved. I felt peace. Thank you - you know who you are!
The doctor called back pretty quick and said that the blood tests came back fine, which is good, but still no answers. We get to go back in 2 weeks to do it all again. I can hardly wait to hold the cup. Maybe I'll send Jeramy this time. :)
The end. Maybe next week I'll be up for blogging all the projects I did to keep myself busy for the past 4 weeks!
(I'm sure some of you are wondering where the picture of Quasimodo-like Lindsay is. Well, she refused to let me take a picture. Believe me, I tried. I know a blog-able face when I see one).
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Sunday sweets...
I'm sure most of you will be disappointed to know that my "Sunday sweets" post does not involve any candy or chocolate.
I follow another blog called Cake Wrecks and on Sunday, they show pictures of awesome cakes rather than cake wrecks and they call it Sunday Sweets. When I was thinking about writing this post, that title kept coming to my mind.
Last Sunday for the 5th Sunday meeting at church, our bishop gave us a quiz. I tried to remember the last time I had to take a quiz. It's been about a million years. The good thing was, I knew all the answers to this quiz! He asked us 88 questions about where we were spiritually, etc. Some of the questions, I had the right answer for. Others, not so much. I found myself thinking a lot about these questions this past week, so I thought I would share them with you. I think it's a good idea every once in a while to really take inventory of where you are at! It's been great to see where my weaknesses were and now be able to set some goals of things to work on...I encourage you to copy and paste the list, and take inventory for youself! You don't even have to let me know if you pass or fail! I just hope you are inspired to work on at least one question that you didn't have the right answer for!
Ward Survey
Page 1 of 4
INSTRUCTIONS:
DO NOT WRITE YOUR NAME ON THIS SURVEY. IT IS ANONYMOUS.
THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG ANSWERS—JUST HONEST ANSWERS. ONLY HONEST ANSWERS WILL BE OF BENEFIT IN THIS EXERCISE.
#
Questions
Circle one answer for each question below…
1
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, did you personally pray at least once a day?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, did you personally pray at least twice a day?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
3
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, did you personally study scriptures/conference talks?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
4
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, did you pray at least once a day as a family?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 N/A
5
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, did you pray at least twice a day as a family?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 N/A
6
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, did you study scriptures as a family?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 N/A
7
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, did you personally study specifically from the Book of Mormon?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8
In the past month, how many times did you hold Family Home Evening?
0 1 2 3 4 5
9
Of those Family Home Evenings, how many times did you open and close with a song and prayer and have a gospel-centered lesson?
0 1 2 3 4 5
10
In the past month, how many times did you attend Sacrament Meeting on time?
0 1 2 3 4 5
11
In the past month, how many times did you attend Sunday School and Priesthood or Relief Society (serving in Primary, Nursery, YM and YW counts)?
0 1 2 3 4 5
12
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, did you eat at least one meal together as a family?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
13
Do you have a set schedule for eating meals together each day? (i.e. Does everyone in your family know when they're expected to be present at a daily family meal?)
Yes No
14
In the past year, was there ever a point when you did NOT feel confident you were a full tithe payer?
Yes No
15
When was the last time you watched a rated-R movie or TV-MA show?
This Week This Month This Year Last Year >1 Year Ago Never
16
How many rated-R movies and/or TV-MA shows have you seen in the past month? (One episode of a TV-MA rated show counts as 1.)
0 1 2 3 4 5+
17
When was the last time you played a rated-M video game?
This Week This Month This Year Last Year >1 Year Ago Never
18
In the past week, have you acted out in anger with a member of your family? (Raised voice, mean words, profanity, throwing/hitting/breaking things, hang up, etc)?
0 1 2 3 4 5+
19
On average, how many hours per day did you spend watching TV this week?
0 1 2 3 4 5+
20
On average, how many hours per day this past week did you spend on the Internet on leisure activities (non-work, non-church, etc)?
0 1 2 3 4 5+
Page 2 of 4
#
Questions
Circle one answer for each question below…
21
Which of the two choices to the right is more offensive to you?
Hearing the Lord’s name in vain. Certain other 4-letter words.
22
When was the last time you used profanity while losing your temper?
This Week This Month This Year Last Year >1 Year Ago Never
23
When was the last time you used profanity while your temper was contained?
This Week This Month This Year Last Year >1 Year Ago Never
24
Do you ever use profanity in social settings (e.g. at work, on the golf course, with your friends, etc)?
Yes No
25
In the past month, have you ever been dishonest with your boss/supervisor/professor/friend/other non-family member?
Yes No
26
Did you bear testimony to someone in your family this month?
Yes No
27
Did you bear testimony to someone not in your family this month?
Yes No
28
Did you bear testimony to someone not of your faith this month?
Yes No
29
In the past year, have you partaken of any tobacco?
Yes No
30
In the past year, have you partaken of any alcohol?
Yes No
31
In the past year, have you considered using prescription drugs contrary to the prescribing doctor’s instructions and/or intent?
Yes No
32
Do you consider caffeinated beverages to be a healthy part of your diet?
Yes No
33
How many days can you go without consuming a caffeinated beverage?
0 1 2 3 4 5+ Easy…no limit
34
Do you and/or any of your children have a TV in their bedroom?
Yes No
35
Do you and/or any of your children have a computer with Internet access in their bedroom?
Yes No
36
Do you and/or any of your children have a game console in their bedroom?
Yes No
37
Do you have credit card debt?
Yes No
38
Is your combined credit card debt higher than $5,000.
Yes No
39
Do you have more than one mortgage?
Yes No
40
Do you have more than one car loan/payment?
Yes No
41
In the past month, did you purposely not tell your spouse about a purchase (other than for a gift or surprise that would be known later)?
Yes No N/A
42
How often do you (and your spouse, if married) review finances (together)?
Weekly Bi-weekly Monthly Yearly Never
43
Do you use a budget?
Yes No
44
Do you know exactly how many dollars come in each month, and how many dollars you spend (i.e. Are you tracking it)? *NOTE: This is NOT the same as a budget.
Yes No
Page 3 of 4
#
Questions
Circle one answer for each question below…
45
In the past year, have you put money away in savings or retirement?
Yes No N/A (I'm retired)
46
In the past year, have you pulled money out of savings for any reason other than major-medical or job-loss emergency?
Yes No N/A (I'm retired)
47
In the past year, how many months have you added at least one item to your food storage?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
48
Does each member of your household have a current 72-hour kit?
Yes No
49
Do you have any CDs or digital music files that are considered to have explicit content or lyrics?
Yes No
50
In the past year, have you confided in a non-family member of the opposite sex about your marriage?
Yes No N/A (I'm not married)
51
In the past year, (if married) have you spent any time alone (unchaperoned) with a non-family member of the opposite sex?
Yes No N/A (I'm not married)
52
Can you think of anyone for whom you have harsh, unkind, hurtful or vengeful feelings?
Yes No
53
In the past year, have you learned a new skill?
Yes No
54
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, have you spent time on a constructive hobby?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
55
In the past month, how many times have you done chore/household work with a member of your immediate family?
0 1 2 3 4 5+ N/A
56
In the past month, how many times have you spent one-on-one time with your spouse?
0 1 2 3 4 5+ N/A
57
In the past month, how many times have you spent one-on-one time with your children?
0 1 2 3 4 5+ N/A
58
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, did you exercise for at least 20 minutes?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
59
In the past week, have you complemented each member of your family at least once?
Yes No
60
In the past month, have you shared a secret of someone else’s with a third party, without their permission--even if they did not ask you not to tell?
Yes No
61
Have you said something nice about your spouse to someone else this week?
Yes No N/A
62
Do you subscribe to the Ensign or Liahona?
Yes No
63
Do you fast on Fast Sundays?
Yes No
64
Do you feel like you pay a generous fast offering?
Yes No
65
Do you typically go to bed early or late?
Early Late
66
Do you typically wake up early or late?
Early Late
67
Do you have a testimony of the truthfulness of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ?
Yes No
68
In the past month, how many times have you felt the Holy Ghost at church?
0 1 2 3 4 5
Page 3 of 4
#
Questions
Circle one answer for each question below…
45
In the past year, have you put money away in savings or retirement?
Yes No N/A (I'm retired)
46
In the past year, have you pulled money out of savings for any reason other than major-medical or job-loss emergency?
Yes No N/A (I'm retired)
47
In the past year, how many months have you added at least one item to your food storage?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
48
Does each member of your household have a current 72-hour kit?
Yes No
49
Do you have any CDs or digital music files that are considered to have explicit content or lyrics?
Yes No
50
In the past year, have you confided in a non-family member of the opposite sex about your marriage?
Yes No N/A (I'm not married)
51
In the past year, (if married) have you spent any time alone (unchaperoned) with a non-family member of the opposite sex?
Yes No N/A (I'm not married)
52
Can you think of anyone for whom you have harsh, unkind, hurtful or vengeful feelings?
Yes No
53
In the past year, have you learned a new skill?
Yes No
54
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, have you spent time on a constructive hobby?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
55
In the past month, how many times have you done chore/household work with a member of your immediate family?
0 1 2 3 4 5+ N/A
56
In the past month, how many times have you spent one-on-one time with your spouse?
0 1 2 3 4 5+ N/A
57
In the past month, how many times have you spent one-on-one time with your children?
0 1 2 3 4 5+ N/A
58
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, did you exercise for at least 20 minutes?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
59
In the past week, have you complemented each member of your family at least once?
Yes No
60
In the past month, have you shared a secret of someone else’s with a third party, without their permission--even if they did not ask you not to tell?
Yes No
61
Have you said something nice about your spouse to someone else this week?
Yes No N/A
62
Do you subscribe to the Ensign or Liahona?
Yes No
63
Do you fast on Fast Sundays?
Yes No
64
Do you feel like you pay a generous fast offering?
Yes No
65
Do you typically go to bed early or late?
Early Late
66
Do you typically wake up early or late?
Early Late
67
Do you have a testimony of the truthfulness of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ?
Yes No
68
In the past month, how many times have you felt the Holy Ghost at church?
0 1 2 3 4 5
Page 4 of 4
#
Questions
Circle one answer for each question below…
69
In the past month, how many times have you felt the Holy Ghost at home?
0 1 2 3 4 5+
70
Did you know about the stake president’s challenge to read the book of John?
Yes No
71
Have you been reading the book of John, in response to the stake president's challenge?
Yes No
72
Did you participate in our Ward Temple Day in July?
Yes No
73
In the past year, how many times have you worshipped in the temple?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12+
74
In the past 3 months, how many times have you worshipped in the temple?
0 1 2 3 4 5+
75
If you do not currently have a temple recommend, do you desire to have one?
Yes No N/A (I have a current recommend)
76
Do you know what it feels like to repent and to be forgiven?
Yes No
77
Do you feel guilty when you go against any of the teachings of the Church?
Yes No
78
Do you believe we are led by a true prophet of God?
Yes No
79
Do you trust your local priesthood leaders?
Yes No
80
Is there anything in your life that is more important than your relationship with Jesus Christ?
Yes No
81
Do you feel welcomed in this ward?
Yes No
82
Do you feel like you fit in this ward?
Yes No
83
How long have you lived in this ward?
<1 mo. 1-6 mos. 6-12 mos. 1 yr 2 yrs 3+ yrs
84
In the past 6 months, how many of those months did you go home- or visiting-teaching?
1 2 3 4 5 6
85
Do you have a calling in this ward?
Yes No
86
Do you feel like your calling is important?
Yes No
87
Do you feel like you’ve done any good in your calling?
Yes No
88
How do you feel about this survey?
Motivated Overwhelmed Surprised Depressed Inspired Confused Peaceful Upset Ambivalent
I follow another blog called Cake Wrecks and on Sunday, they show pictures of awesome cakes rather than cake wrecks and they call it Sunday Sweets. When I was thinking about writing this post, that title kept coming to my mind.
Last Sunday for the 5th Sunday meeting at church, our bishop gave us a quiz. I tried to remember the last time I had to take a quiz. It's been about a million years. The good thing was, I knew all the answers to this quiz! He asked us 88 questions about where we were spiritually, etc. Some of the questions, I had the right answer for. Others, not so much. I found myself thinking a lot about these questions this past week, so I thought I would share them with you. I think it's a good idea every once in a while to really take inventory of where you are at! It's been great to see where my weaknesses were and now be able to set some goals of things to work on...I encourage you to copy and paste the list, and take inventory for youself! You don't even have to let me know if you pass or fail! I just hope you are inspired to work on at least one question that you didn't have the right answer for!
Ward Survey
Page 1 of 4
INSTRUCTIONS:
DO NOT WRITE YOUR NAME ON THIS SURVEY. IT IS ANONYMOUS.
THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG ANSWERS—JUST HONEST ANSWERS. ONLY HONEST ANSWERS WILL BE OF BENEFIT IN THIS EXERCISE.
#
Questions
Circle one answer for each question below…
1
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, did you personally pray at least once a day?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, did you personally pray at least twice a day?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
3
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, did you personally study scriptures/conference talks?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
4
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, did you pray at least once a day as a family?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 N/A
5
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, did you pray at least twice a day as a family?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 N/A
6
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, did you study scriptures as a family?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 N/A
7
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, did you personally study specifically from the Book of Mormon?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8
In the past month, how many times did you hold Family Home Evening?
0 1 2 3 4 5
9
Of those Family Home Evenings, how many times did you open and close with a song and prayer and have a gospel-centered lesson?
0 1 2 3 4 5
10
In the past month, how many times did you attend Sacrament Meeting on time?
0 1 2 3 4 5
11
In the past month, how many times did you attend Sunday School and Priesthood or Relief Society (serving in Primary, Nursery, YM and YW counts)?
0 1 2 3 4 5
12
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, did you eat at least one meal together as a family?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
13
Do you have a set schedule for eating meals together each day? (i.e. Does everyone in your family know when they're expected to be present at a daily family meal?)
Yes No
14
In the past year, was there ever a point when you did NOT feel confident you were a full tithe payer?
Yes No
15
When was the last time you watched a rated-R movie or TV-MA show?
This Week This Month This Year Last Year >1 Year Ago Never
16
How many rated-R movies and/or TV-MA shows have you seen in the past month? (One episode of a TV-MA rated show counts as 1.)
0 1 2 3 4 5+
17
When was the last time you played a rated-M video game?
This Week This Month This Year Last Year >1 Year Ago Never
18
In the past week, have you acted out in anger with a member of your family? (Raised voice, mean words, profanity, throwing/hitting/breaking things, hang up, etc)?
0 1 2 3 4 5+
19
On average, how many hours per day did you spend watching TV this week?
0 1 2 3 4 5+
20
On average, how many hours per day this past week did you spend on the Internet on leisure activities (non-work, non-church, etc)?
0 1 2 3 4 5+
Page 2 of 4
#
Questions
Circle one answer for each question below…
21
Which of the two choices to the right is more offensive to you?
Hearing the Lord’s name in vain. Certain other 4-letter words.
22
When was the last time you used profanity while losing your temper?
This Week This Month This Year Last Year >1 Year Ago Never
23
When was the last time you used profanity while your temper was contained?
This Week This Month This Year Last Year >1 Year Ago Never
24
Do you ever use profanity in social settings (e.g. at work, on the golf course, with your friends, etc)?
Yes No
25
In the past month, have you ever been dishonest with your boss/supervisor/professor/friend/other non-family member?
Yes No
26
Did you bear testimony to someone in your family this month?
Yes No
27
Did you bear testimony to someone not in your family this month?
Yes No
28
Did you bear testimony to someone not of your faith this month?
Yes No
29
In the past year, have you partaken of any tobacco?
Yes No
30
In the past year, have you partaken of any alcohol?
Yes No
31
In the past year, have you considered using prescription drugs contrary to the prescribing doctor’s instructions and/or intent?
Yes No
32
Do you consider caffeinated beverages to be a healthy part of your diet?
Yes No
33
How many days can you go without consuming a caffeinated beverage?
0 1 2 3 4 5+ Easy…no limit
34
Do you and/or any of your children have a TV in their bedroom?
Yes No
35
Do you and/or any of your children have a computer with Internet access in their bedroom?
Yes No
36
Do you and/or any of your children have a game console in their bedroom?
Yes No
37
Do you have credit card debt?
Yes No
38
Is your combined credit card debt higher than $5,000.
Yes No
39
Do you have more than one mortgage?
Yes No
40
Do you have more than one car loan/payment?
Yes No
41
In the past month, did you purposely not tell your spouse about a purchase (other than for a gift or surprise that would be known later)?
Yes No N/A
42
How often do you (and your spouse, if married) review finances (together)?
Weekly Bi-weekly Monthly Yearly Never
43
Do you use a budget?
Yes No
44
Do you know exactly how many dollars come in each month, and how many dollars you spend (i.e. Are you tracking it)? *NOTE: This is NOT the same as a budget.
Yes No
Page 3 of 4
#
Questions
Circle one answer for each question below…
45
In the past year, have you put money away in savings or retirement?
Yes No N/A (I'm retired)
46
In the past year, have you pulled money out of savings for any reason other than major-medical or job-loss emergency?
Yes No N/A (I'm retired)
47
In the past year, how many months have you added at least one item to your food storage?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
48
Does each member of your household have a current 72-hour kit?
Yes No
49
Do you have any CDs or digital music files that are considered to have explicit content or lyrics?
Yes No
50
In the past year, have you confided in a non-family member of the opposite sex about your marriage?
Yes No N/A (I'm not married)
51
In the past year, (if married) have you spent any time alone (unchaperoned) with a non-family member of the opposite sex?
Yes No N/A (I'm not married)
52
Can you think of anyone for whom you have harsh, unkind, hurtful or vengeful feelings?
Yes No
53
In the past year, have you learned a new skill?
Yes No
54
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, have you spent time on a constructive hobby?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
55
In the past month, how many times have you done chore/household work with a member of your immediate family?
0 1 2 3 4 5+ N/A
56
In the past month, how many times have you spent one-on-one time with your spouse?
0 1 2 3 4 5+ N/A
57
In the past month, how many times have you spent one-on-one time with your children?
0 1 2 3 4 5+ N/A
58
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, did you exercise for at least 20 minutes?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
59
In the past week, have you complemented each member of your family at least once?
Yes No
60
In the past month, have you shared a secret of someone else’s with a third party, without their permission--even if they did not ask you not to tell?
Yes No
61
Have you said something nice about your spouse to someone else this week?
Yes No N/A
62
Do you subscribe to the Ensign or Liahona?
Yes No
63
Do you fast on Fast Sundays?
Yes No
64
Do you feel like you pay a generous fast offering?
Yes No
65
Do you typically go to bed early or late?
Early Late
66
Do you typically wake up early or late?
Early Late
67
Do you have a testimony of the truthfulness of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ?
Yes No
68
In the past month, how many times have you felt the Holy Ghost at church?
0 1 2 3 4 5
Page 3 of 4
#
Questions
Circle one answer for each question below…
45
In the past year, have you put money away in savings or retirement?
Yes No N/A (I'm retired)
46
In the past year, have you pulled money out of savings for any reason other than major-medical or job-loss emergency?
Yes No N/A (I'm retired)
47
In the past year, how many months have you added at least one item to your food storage?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
48
Does each member of your household have a current 72-hour kit?
Yes No
49
Do you have any CDs or digital music files that are considered to have explicit content or lyrics?
Yes No
50
In the past year, have you confided in a non-family member of the opposite sex about your marriage?
Yes No N/A (I'm not married)
51
In the past year, (if married) have you spent any time alone (unchaperoned) with a non-family member of the opposite sex?
Yes No N/A (I'm not married)
52
Can you think of anyone for whom you have harsh, unkind, hurtful or vengeful feelings?
Yes No
53
In the past year, have you learned a new skill?
Yes No
54
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, have you spent time on a constructive hobby?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
55
In the past month, how many times have you done chore/household work with a member of your immediate family?
0 1 2 3 4 5+ N/A
56
In the past month, how many times have you spent one-on-one time with your spouse?
0 1 2 3 4 5+ N/A
57
In the past month, how many times have you spent one-on-one time with your children?
0 1 2 3 4 5+ N/A
58
In the past month, how many days per week, on average, did you exercise for at least 20 minutes?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
59
In the past week, have you complemented each member of your family at least once?
Yes No
60
In the past month, have you shared a secret of someone else’s with a third party, without their permission--even if they did not ask you not to tell?
Yes No
61
Have you said something nice about your spouse to someone else this week?
Yes No N/A
62
Do you subscribe to the Ensign or Liahona?
Yes No
63
Do you fast on Fast Sundays?
Yes No
64
Do you feel like you pay a generous fast offering?
Yes No
65
Do you typically go to bed early or late?
Early Late
66
Do you typically wake up early or late?
Early Late
67
Do you have a testimony of the truthfulness of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ?
Yes No
68
In the past month, how many times have you felt the Holy Ghost at church?
0 1 2 3 4 5
Page 4 of 4
#
Questions
Circle one answer for each question below…
69
In the past month, how many times have you felt the Holy Ghost at home?
0 1 2 3 4 5+
70
Did you know about the stake president’s challenge to read the book of John?
Yes No
71
Have you been reading the book of John, in response to the stake president's challenge?
Yes No
72
Did you participate in our Ward Temple Day in July?
Yes No
73
In the past year, how many times have you worshipped in the temple?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12+
74
In the past 3 months, how many times have you worshipped in the temple?
0 1 2 3 4 5+
75
If you do not currently have a temple recommend, do you desire to have one?
Yes No N/A (I have a current recommend)
76
Do you know what it feels like to repent and to be forgiven?
Yes No
77
Do you feel guilty when you go against any of the teachings of the Church?
Yes No
78
Do you believe we are led by a true prophet of God?
Yes No
79
Do you trust your local priesthood leaders?
Yes No
80
Is there anything in your life that is more important than your relationship with Jesus Christ?
Yes No
81
Do you feel welcomed in this ward?
Yes No
82
Do you feel like you fit in this ward?
Yes No
83
How long have you lived in this ward?
<1 mo. 1-6 mos. 6-12 mos. 1 yr 2 yrs 3+ yrs
84
In the past 6 months, how many of those months did you go home- or visiting-teaching?
1 2 3 4 5 6
85
Do you have a calling in this ward?
Yes No
86
Do you feel like your calling is important?
Yes No
87
Do you feel like you’ve done any good in your calling?
Yes No
88
How do you feel about this survey?
Motivated Overwhelmed Surprised Depressed Inspired Confused Peaceful Upset Ambivalent
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