It's all in the attitude....

Greetings all,
As I was lying in bed this morning at 4 a.m., my mind started running over things like a hamster on a wheel (how's that for figurative language skills my son!). I've been thinking a lot lately about obedience and how it impacts our lives. Last evening, we were told that our little ward would now be joined by pieces and parts of other wards to make an entirely new ward. This means that we will be going to different services than my parents and some friends, Mike will no longer see "his kids" every Sunday and the kids will have to get used to new teachers and classmates. We are going to be going to church at 12:30, and for those who know me, you all know that that's prime naptime. It's a bit disconcerting to say the least, especially since the only people the new ward has in place is a bishopric.

Anyway, at 4 a.m a light came on in my head-this is an obedience test! We all have them, sometimes it seems that life itself is an obedience test. This test is to see not only if we will listen and obey our leaders, but also the attitude in which we do it. As I watch the children as they grow, they are given more responsibility and yes, more things that they have to do. Jared has no problem doing chores (mostly), but absolutely hates doing his schoolwork. It's a fight every night and sometimes it gets to the point where I tell him "look, you're frustrated and I'm frustrated, go take your shower and we'll finish later." He obeys (of course, it's getting him away from the dreaded homework), and after the cooling off period we both have better attitudes. Kiersten on the other hand, doesn't mind schoolwork but absolutely hates doing chores. Her attitude is a little louder-a lot of deep sighs and eye rolling, occasionally some door banging, but she will eventually get it done. The point to all of this, I keep telling them that if they didn't complain it would not only get done quicker, but everyone would be much happier at the end of the day.

It's all in the attitude. Do I obey all the time? Don't tell the kids, but no. I'm working on it, but I keep telling myself that there's a reason for what is being asked of us. Do I know that reason? Sometimes, but that doesn't make it any easier. An example: When I was 15 I thought I loved a boy, and we were "going out". I knew the rules about dating at 16, I wasn't allowed until that magic day, don't even ask. Well, said boy and I were talking on the phone one night and he asked if I would go to the prom with him (WOO MEE!!!!!). I very calmly and rationally ran down the hall and begged my dad and mom-something along the lines of "he's asked me to go to the prom and if I don't go my life as I know it will end!" Permission was granted (prom was in May). The boy said great! How about going to the movies this weekend? Once again the run down the hall thing-permission DENIED!!!! You see, it was January/February timeframe, my birthday is in March-wasn't 16. I had to explain to boy that my parents were totally uncool and were going to make me wait until I was 16-how embarrassing! But, the point is, I obeyed-not happily mind you, but I did it. Am I happy now that I obeyed? Yes. Was I happy then? Not on your life, I thought for sure that I was destined for unhappiness. Was that boy even around for long? Nope, didn't make it to the summer.

What I keep thinking about with this new change is I'm thinking of it as an adventure of sorts. I don't have to cross the plains or leave my family or do something too awfully hard. I get to go to church at 12:30. That means sleeping late and extra naptime on Saturday.

For all of you in the new ward, and the old one, what are your thoughts?

Peace and love y'all!

A Picture Post

Hello all,

I have some time today (read I don't feel like doing anything), so I'm catching up sharing my pictures with you. I downloaded from my camera the other day and was amazed that I had so many pictures. Won't post all 376 of them, just the ones I like the best. I'll post where, when and who so you know what's going on. On with the show......

Savannah, GA April '09. Saw this little place while Mike and I were walking 3000 miles and thought "that's just the cutest little place!"

Forsyth Park, Savannah. I fell in love with the city of Savannah during our long weekend. The history, architecture, pralines....

Forsyth Park is really quite beautiful, lots of open space and huge trees. A lovely little oasis in the city. I think I wouldn't mind living in Savannah.

Just a little something we picked up at Bass Pro Shops. In Mike's fondest wish!

Tybee Island Lighthouse. Yes dear readers, Mike and I climbed to the top. I wouldn't mind vacationing for a few months on Tybee. Very peaceful and beautiful homes and lovely beaches.

The kids July '09. From left: Jared, Olivia, Kelsey, Kiersten and Connor.

For all of those just tuning in, Jared and Kiersten are my kids, they are 9 and 13. Olivia, Kelsey and Connor are my brother's children. They are 9, 5, and 1.

Aren't they all just the cutest?! I can't believe how grown up they all are getting.

The girls. Kelsey is such a poser! Gosh, Kiersten is just gorgeous! I'm her mother, I'm biased. It's amazing that I've watched her grow for these 13 years. How she has changed, from little baby who wouldn't sleep to this beautiful young woman ***sniff, sniff****.

The boys. Jared was so happy when Connor was born, he did a happy little booty shake that there was another boy. I don't think he realized that Connor wouldn't be ready to play for a few years. I'm sure Jared will set a great example for Connor, hunting, fishing, shooting fireworks, aggravating sisters. You know, boy stuff.

Part of the grand finale for 4th of July. Yes dear readers, those are 31 mortar tubes connected with fuse to all go off around the same time. The big boys also had 5 big boxes of stuff that went off before. Mike LOVES fireworks!

Tried to upload the video, but didn't work, I'll come back to it later.

Thanks for taking a look, I'll be posting more pictures hopefully ( I just have to get motivated and nothing motivates me more than trying to find a way out of housework).

Until next time

Peace and love y'all!

Normal? What's that?

Please excuse the recent absence of the writer of this blog. There was nothing to say that needed to be said online for fear of it coming back to haunt her. Now on to our regularly scheduled post.......

I was ruminating on the value of normality the other day and wondered what the heck is normal. What brought this up was a weeks long cruise on the good ship witchy for yours truly. I don't normally have great amounts of rage, temper tantrums, or shed lots of tears. It's just not in my general makeup. I'm normally a very even tempered person, a tad sarcastic but only to my nearest and dearest and stoic to a degree that sometimes worries my mother. After my cruise docked, I noted on facebook that I was back to normal after said cruise and a friend brought up that I am never normal. This was not said with malice and not taken with any offense because it's true. This led to my ponderings. What is normal? Is there a medical definition somewhere out there?

Let me tell you about normal in my house. Normal in my home is a 9 year old that thinks he's growing a mustache and insists on stroking his face in a rather villianish way. Normal is a 13 year old that has turned the floor of her closet into a "reading area" and has a deep and abiding love of vampire YA novels and sometimes might not be seen or heard from for hours. Normal is the 37 year old man who wakes me up talking about the number of spiders there are in the house, and although I know he's asleep it's a tad freaky because his eyes are open the whole time. I'm the epitome of sweetness and light with occasional tangents of meanness. Normal is our little family. Are we overly odd? Some might say so. Do we have slightly off-kilter senses of humor? Yep, every single one of us. Do we love to pick on each other and relish in finding something new to pick on a member of the family about? Heck yes, just ask Anita, she's such a good sport about the whole thing. That's normal for us. It might not be normal for you and your family.

I can only think of a few people that I would categorize as "normal" although I'm sure deep down they're really not.

Do you think in your heart of hearts that you're a "normal" person? What do you think of as normal? Share!

Until next time, peace and love y'all!