The Prophet said to plant a garden...part 1

Today Owen and I decided it was time to get started on our garden.

I know I should have gotten these started awhile ago but all the lousy weather we've had made me forget just how close summer was.

Owen was most excited about the pumpkins...he's already asked me "When is Halloween?"
We've never had much luck with pumpkins but hopefully this is the year!

We never get to creative with our garden...mostly because we don't have a clue what we are doing but also because we have a house full of picking eaters. We basically have a "salsa" garden with some corn.

I'm glad that I did this part without the other kids. Owen was messy enough and I figure they can help me plant them outside and help me weed!!

When did this happen?

Since when are 11 year-olds suppose to be taller than their mom? So technically he's 11 and 1/2 but still, where did my little baby go? Wasn't it only yesterday I was changing diapers and chasing him around the house? Why do they have to grow so fast? Well, at least I have a little while before this one passes me up!

Come what may, and love it

Have you seen these "mormon messages" on YouTube? There are quite a few of them out there and they are fabulous. This one pretty much fell into my lap this morning and I believe it was because of divine inspiration. I love Elder Wirthlin and I especially love this message. Adam and I had been discussing this very topic this weekend. I had been very discouraged with my recent trials when Adam bascially told me "you can't changes things that have happened. You can either mope around or get busy" Elder Wirthlin might have counseled me with words he learned from his mother, "Come what may, and love it" How can we love days that are filled with sorrow? Elder Wirthlin answers this question with this, "We can’t—at least not in the moment. I don’t think my mother was suggesting that we suppress discouragement or deny the reality of pain. I don’t think she was suggesting that we smother unpleasant truths beneath a cloak of pretended happiness. But I do believe that the way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life." I believe that our hardest times can truly be our greatest times of growth. Elder Wirthlin gives us four things we can do to help through times of testing and trial.

1. Learn to laugh

Ever heard the quote "laughter is the best medicine"? It's not always easy to laugh when you are feeling pain but I believe it can do wonders for the soul. Elder Wirthlin tells us "The next time you’re tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead. It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable."

2. Seek for the Eternal

Elder Wirthlin said it best when he said "Learning to endure times of disappointment, suffering, and sorrow is part of our on-the-job training. These experiences, while often difficult to bear at the time, are precisely the kinds of experiences that stretch our understanding, build our character, and increase our compassion for others." It helps me when I look at my trials in an eternal perspective as part of an eternal journey to perfection. They will last but a small moment...

3. The principle of compensation

Elder Wirthlin tells us "The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss. That which is taken away from those who love the Lord will be added unto them in His own way. While it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude." This knowledge has brought me an immense amount of comfort. Heavenly Father loves me and knows of my pain and someday I will be blessed because of it!

4. Trust in the Father and the Son

Once again from Elder Wirthlin, "“God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.” (John 3:16) The Lord Jesus Christ is our partner, helper, and advocate. He wants us to be happy. He wants us to be successful. If we do our part, He will step in. He who descended below all things will come to our aid. He will comfort and uphold us. He will strengthen us in our weakness and fortify us in our distress. He will make weak things become strong.(See Ether 12:27) I love that... He will make weak things become strong...What a glorious promise!! Who doesn't need aid, comfort and stregnth? Heavenly Father has promised us that when we do our part, he will step in and help where we can't.

There will always be adversity, there will always be a trial."For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things" 2 Nephi 2:11. Some will be harder than others but how we handle them will be a factor in how happy our lives are. They can be a blessing to us if we can learn to love them. Or at the very least, love what we gain from them.

"Come what may, and love it".

Ever been "caught"?

It's common sense that if you have kids you should probably lock the bedroom door...better start saving up for therapy....

Happy Earth Day!

I remember how I first celebrated Earth day. I was sixteen and I decided to walk home from school and pick up trash along the way. It felt good to know that I was making a difference, no matter how small it was. Earth Day is really about taking personal responsibility for our planet. I truely believe that we will one day be held accountable for the actions we take regarding this beautiful earth that Heavenly Father created for us! That being said...I have to admit that I am not the most eco-friendly person. But, we can all try to do our part!

Ten Easy Ways to Protect the Planet (courtesy of Jolly Mom):

1-Purchase products with less packaging.
2-Use kitchen towels and napkins rather than paper towels.
3-Skip lunch baggies, tin foil, plastic wrap and others and use BPA free plastic containers, stainless steel containers, reusable snack bags or sandwich wraps.
4-Conserve water and energy by unplugging electronic devices, taking shorter showers, and turning the water off while you brush your teeth.
5-Recycle!
6-Drive less. Walk, ride a bike, or carpool when you can.
7-Adjust your thermostat 2 degrees down in the winter and 2 degrees up in the summer.
8-Support ecofriendly companies by purchasing from them when you can and telling friends and family about them. This sends a message to other companies to follow suit if they want our business.
9-Plant a tree. A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime!
10-Spread the word about going green!

So, what are you going to do to celebrate earthday?

Frustration

Ian is wetting his pants several times a day. Owen, not wanting to be left out, is following suit. The laundry is piling. The "to-do" list is growing. There are situations in my life I feel the urgency to resolve but I am waiting on the other party. There are situations in my life I choose to ignore because I don't have the time. Owen thinks that the only way to communicate with me is to yell. At least one of my kids complain about dinner everynight I'm having a hard time sleeping. I'm hungry but determined to lose 30lbs. I can only run 2 miles right now. I have no patience. My kids are destructive; I can't have anything nice. I need a girls night out, NOW. My hair won't cooperate. I need clothes that fit. Our van is falling apart. I will not have a job come June. The family room needs to be painted. I need to catch up on housecleaning. The kids found my hiding place for the yogurt and ate it all in an hour. I have to take Owen in for a shot each day for three days. I am frustrated about all of this and more. I know that frustration is part of the human experience but I've had enough. Something needs to give.

Spring Break 2009 (long post, and more pics to come!)

Day 1- I decide to head up to Primary Childrens's since it's the only place I can get Ian's emergency medication. I spend most of the morning trying to plan something fun to do with the kids while we are up there so we get off to a late start. We eventually settle on The museum of Natural history on the U of U campus but after Primary's and lunch at McDonalds, I'm too wiped out and promise the kids a museum on tuesday.

Day 2- I've promised the kids a museum so we head down to BYU and check out the Walter Wick exhibit at the museum of art. I would have loved to look at every picture but the kids were pretty much unimpressed so we didn't stay long. They were actually more interested in teh Dan Steinhilber exhibit which was pretty cool. After, we head over to the Bean museum just in time to catch a reptile show. We had fun but Owen mostly wanted to run all over the place so we didn't stay long. Later that afternoon Shannon dropped off Connor, Gavin, Jordan and Brock for a sleep over. That's right, 7 boys! Millie was very outnumbered but her and Connor played lots of UNO so she wasn't left out.

Day 3- I wake up and discover that my lawn is now a swimming pool. It rained all night and the storm drain was plugged with debris. I wade out in the knee high water and get it all cleared out so my lawn can drain. Later, I went downstairs to start laundry when I realize the carpet is soaked. That's right...it's flooded again. This time is was only because the pump was pumping water that wasn't draining properly. I pull up carpet and pad and let it dry out. The boys are bugging me to take them to laser tag so I finally relent only to find out the server is working. Oh, well. I take them all home. Then the snow starts. The house was a mess and I had so much to do but I had no cooperation. Adam was late home from work and I had to call him in tears! I had had it! Good thing we were leaving the next morning!

Day 4-This is what we woke up to...

And luckily this is what we were leaving! We took our time heading down to St. George, stopping a few times but it was nice. The weather was about 60 degrees but no snow! We spent the evening climbing all over the rocks at Pioneer park.


Day 5- We head out to Sand Hollow to do a little fishing and play in the sand. Owen is determined to catch a fish and doesn't leave his daddy's side.

We climbed on the rocks for awhile and then head over to the sand.

The wind kicks in and so we decide to head back to the motel. Our friend Jamie calls and tells us they are headed to a park so we decide to meet them. It was a pretty cool park with very different "toys".


After dinner we decide to try our luck fishing at Quail Creek. Owen was asleep so I sat in the van while everyone else fished. Not long after we had been there Matthais comes running up to the van looking for the camara.

It was the biggest bass Adam had ever caught and it was pretty exciting. Teh wind kicked up again so I took the 3 littles up to the van and let Adam and Matthais fish some more. Pretty soon, there is Matthais again, looking for the camera.

This is Adam's baby! 24" long and 6 lbs. He was so excited! It made his day! We ended our day at the temple, walking around the grounds.

Day 6-Time to head home but not until we make one more stop. We decided to head up to Snow Canyon and we had a lot of fun! First we went to the Sand Dunes.

Then over to the Pioneer names trail. It's a short little hike where you can see pioneer names written in axle grease.
It's pretty cool and there were people rock climbing so it was fun to watch them. Speaking of rock climbing, I think we have a little rock climber on our hands! Owen wouldn't stay off them, always wanting to go higher!


Too bad he was wearing flip flops. Not exactly climbing gear! We had a blast and it's just what I needed, a little break from reality! In fact, I coulda used another day!

We're back from St.George

And I can't wait to share our adventures! But for now...I have lots to catch up on! Stay tuned!

My poor camara...

...went throught the washing machine...twice. It some how was put through a load of laundry that I left in overnight and washed again the next day. It's unhappy, very, very unhappy. With spring break and St. George and just daily pictures for blogging I was feeling very distraught. Luckily my very unsypathetic husband gave in and bought me a new one. Meet my new camera.

I promise to take better care of this one! There will be no replacements if I don't...

Easter 2009

Years ago Adam and I decided that we would celebrate Easter without the Easter Bunny. At first it was a hard decision for me because growing up Easter was akin to Christmas; it was almost just as exciting. Over the years we have developed our own holiday traditions. This year we were invited to a neighborhood brunch and egg hunt. The weather was a little rainy but the kids still had a lot of fun. Saturday was also "Harris Day" This is usually a day set aside to spend the day with all of Adam's brother's and sister's and their families. We usually do something really fun and have a great time spending time together. This year didn't really feel like Harris Day because so many people chose to not come. Even *I* took off to do my grocery shopping in the middle of it! I think it was because we met at the legacy center for swimming and then went to Shannon's for lunch. This is something we do quite often as a family so it wasn't all that exciting...and with so many people missing...it just wasn't the same. That night Adam and Matthais went to a REAL game and so we weren't able to color our eggs until the next morning.

On Sunday, we started with the morning with our Resurrection rolls for breakfast. My kids think this is really great and they love eating them. Here is the recipe and the story if you're interested:

Ingredients & Symbolism

Large Marshmallows - body of Jesus
Melted Butter - oils of embalming
Cinnamon & Sugar Mix- spices used to anoint the body.
Crescent Roll - the wrapping of Jesus’ body or the tomb.
Oven – the tomb
Cavity in bun – the empty tomb or the empty cloths
Directions:

Take a marshmallow. This represents Jesus.
Dip the marshmallow in melted butter. This represents the oils of embalming.
Now dip the buttered marshmallow in the cinnamon and sugar which represents the spices used to anoint the body.
Then wrap up the coated marshmallow tightly in the crescent roll (not like a typical crescent roll up but bring the sides up and seal the marshmallow inside.) This can either represent the wrapping of Jesus’ body after death or the Tomb. Matt. 27:57–61; John 19:38–42
Place in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes or as directed on the package of the crescent rolls. (The oven can represent the tomb if the roll is representing the wrapping—pretend like it was three days!) Take the role of the guards at Jesus’ tomb. Stand guard at the oven.
Let the rolls cool slightly. Open your crescent rolls and discover that Jesus is no longer there, HE IS RISEN!!!! (The marshmallow melts and the crescent roll is puffed up, but empty.)
Jesus is Risen! Now read Matthew 28:5-8; Mark 16:4-8; Luke 24:1-6; John 20:1-18; Isaiah 25:8

After breakfast we colored our eggs and got ready for church. We don't do Easter baskets but I always get the kids something new for church. They all looked so nice in there new clothes and when I told Owen he looked handsome he said "I know, I have a cool tie!"

After church we headed over to my mom's house for Easter dinner and an egg hunt. Ian was off the whole afternoon and just before we were ready to leave he came in and said he needed to throw up. I grabbed the garbage can and he threw up some mucousy stuff. I called Adam in to help him while I washed my hands and when I looked back I could tell he was having a seizure. Adam took him in and layed him down and I checked the clock. It was 6:08. He continued to seize and threw up again. He improved a bit but never fully snapped out of it and I didn't have is medication so we headed for home. By time we got home, gave him the medicine and the seizure stopped it was 6:37, 29 minutes. We are not suppose to let him seize for more than 5 minutes and I was feeling major guilt. It's been so long since he's had a major seizure that I've become relaxed in carrying his medicine. Won't do that again! I have yet to speak to the neurologist but the psychiatrist said that the new medication he's on for his behavior can cause his seizure medication to metabolize different so we'll need to adjust it until we figure it all out.

Despite that, Easter was really good this year. I am so grateful for the Savior and I have been learning a lot about the Atonement and how it applies to my life lately. He paid such an enormous price for us! I know that every sin, every heartache can be redeemed by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ! I know that he died that we may live again! I am so grateful of my knowledge of this these eternal principles this Easter season.

Happy Easter

"Easter is the celebration of the free gift of immortality given to all men, restoring life and healing all wounds. Though all will die as part of the eternal plan of growth and development, nevertheless we can all find comfort in the Psalmist’s statement, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” (Ps. 30:5.)."

--Howard W. Hunter, "An Apostle’s Witness of the Resurrection", Ensign, May 1986, 15

Easter Egg hunt

When the oldest boys were little we always attended a community Easter Egg hunt. Those things are fierce and I decided a long time ago that I would never go back! Since it is the only Easter Bunny-ish thing we do for Easter, the last few years I've held my own. Last year was really low key with just one of my friends but this year I invited over 50 people! We ended up with about 30 kids and and about 15 adults. My camera came up missing that mornigng, (later found in the washing machine, UGH!) I had to use a disposible and the pictures aren't very good. Making bunny ears before the hunt

Coloring pictures while the eggs are hidden

Gettting ready to go

We had a ton of eggs

And lots of yummy treats!
Thanks to everyone for their help! I think everyone had fun and I plan on doing it again next year.

Picky Eaters

Every family has them right? Those kids who will only eat certain foods and would rather die than eat others. I have two. Well, three if you count me. Maybe that is why I'm so sympathetic to my picky eaters; because I am one myself. Today I get a call from a sobbing Emilia. There is not one thing she'll eat for lunch at she needs me to bring her a lunch. What time is lunch? I ask. RIGHT NOW! Well, that's not gonna work for me so I try to explain why I can't bring her a lunch right now and she cries even harder and louder. So I cave in. I pack a lunch and make arrangements to bring it too her. I found her in the lunch room with a whole pack of lunch ladies around her trying to find something for her to eat. She's sobbing and I'm trying my hard to put on my "I really am a good mom" face and trying not to laugh about the fact that she caused such a stir. Poor girl! Next time she'll be better about checking the lunch menu for sure!

Choosing Happiness

I have to admit I've been feeling a little "under the weather" lately. I've been choosing for the most part to wallow in self-pity and grief. It hit me today that in fact the reason I have been feeling so lousy is that I have been CHOOSING to feel lousy. Why?!?! Life is good!!! I really am leading the life I've always dreamed of. No, it's not perfect but it's not so un-perfect either. I really do have it all. So why is it so hard to just be happy? For one thing, you can't just decided to be happy and fulfilled and then live happily ever after. Happiness doesn't work that way...it's something that needs to be recaptured everyday. And it's completely up to me...no one else can make me happy! As President Harold B. Lee once said: “Happiness does not depend on what happens outside of you but on what happens inside of you. It is measured by the spirit with which you meet the problems of life.”

So today I am deciding to be happy, with what I am and what I have and yes, even with what is yet to come.

Mc Donald's has the best bathrooms

I don't think any of my kids have had me wrapped around their little finger as much as Owen. Ok, maybe they all did but there is just something about my baby that makes my heart melt.

Today as I was leaving the store he loudly exclaimed he needed to potty. I didn't want to drive back so I asked if he could wait and we'd go to grandpa's store to potty. He looked at me very seriously and said, "no, I can only go peepee at McDonalds". And of course, we had to have lunch while we were there! I can't say no to that kid!

Happy Autism Awareness Day