Little Tidbits

Why do little boys take a whole bag of lunch meat and scatter little pieces all of the house; Break eggs all over the kitchen floor; dump out the entire toy box daily; run away from the yard; hide under the table to do naughty things; take a butcher knife to the mattress only to pour maples syrup in the holes later; sit in the fridge; unwind a ball of yarn all over the house-all 3 stories, Say mommy your beautiful- don't be grumpy because I think your beautiful and I handsome.


Long days- To break up the monotony of our long days with out transportation and no one close enough to visit, we try to schedule the day. We get up, eat breakfast, read scriptures- while the boys watch a movie. After the movie is over, we clean the house. Pick up all of the toys, sweep the floor, load the laundry basket, due the dishes and make the beds. Then I let the boys play for about 2 hours while I pay bills, check blogs, check email, look at facebook, etc. Then at about 12- we eat lunch and2 little boys go down for a rest. Depending on how I am feeling I either tackle an odd job or take a nap. However if I take a nap I am useless for the rest of the day. About the time the boys wake up, we go get Seth at the bus stop. When we get home, depending on what I have heard from Seths teacher, we go play outside on our new "park" or we go in the house and the little boys watch a movie, while I put Seth to work. At about 5 we all pitch in and make dinner. Then we read scriptures, do the dishes brush our teeth and the boys all are in bed by 7. The only problem with this schedule is that Tom gets home anywhere from about 8:30- 11 so I am left with about 4.5-7 hours of completely alone time. I do not have enough friends to help me fill those alone hours of the day. I talk with my mom for quite a while depending on the day, and then I have my wonderful sister in law Sheri, my bf Christen and then all of the other people that I try to get to help me pass the days. I realize more and more how much time I have on my hands, when I check all 30 blogs, and no one has reposted.

Then I realize there most be more things I should or could be doing. So What are they? anyone full of ideas?
Where is Christen when I need her?

Seth at school- Seth started school, and he seems to be having a hard time. There are few things working against him. First- When he was just old enough to understand us, we did not want to spank him for naughty things, so we used a method called the 1-2-3 method. This is where you give the child three chances to do what is right. But, this has back fired. Not only do all 3 of our kids wait until 2 to listen to us, but Seths teacher disciplines on one.
Second- he is the only kid in his class who has never been to preschool. I thought this was doing him a service, but he is the only one who dosn't seem to be understanding the rules of a classroom.

Lastly- Caucasians are in the minority at his school. They only make up about 5% of the school. He is dealing with so much, that I never had to. He is the only white boy in his class. So he follows the lead of his friends. One of his friends was scaring these little girls in the hall, and they were giggling at him. So, Seth started doing it, and the little girl said- with all the diva attitude she could muster- I 'onna'kick yo' butt. With the side to side head shake thing and all.

I feel sorry for him. He has only had 3 good days since school started 3 weeks ago, and 2 of those days were with a sub. I just hope everyone learns for real what a sweet little boy they have on their hands.
He gets himself up every morning with an alarm, and then he follows a 2 hour schedule to the T all by himself- where he showers, makes his lunch, eats breakfast, brushes his teeth, gets dressed, cleans his room, and meets me at the door to walk him the five minutes to the bus stop. He is an incredibly responsible little guy. Also, he can read. He loves learning. Yet he just can't seem to catch a break. Certainly we should be able to figure this out!


New callings- Tom and I recieved our new callings yesterday. They asked us if we would come to meeting with the bishop before church. About 10 minutes before the meeting started, we met with the bishop. He said, " Well I am sorry it has taken so long to get you guys a calling (just over 2 months) but, (looking at me) all of the auxillaries asked for you. We really wanted to put Tom in the missionary program, but with how busy you are going to be, we didn't want to over burden your family. Tom is terrific with the missionary program and would have been great, but I am glad that they didn't give him that calling as well, because we already don't see him enough. So the bishop went on to say- Sister Berrigan would like you as her first counselor. I was thinking- Sister Berrigan-not sure if I have met her. Then he said- This will be the education counselor- Ohh the relief society president. And then all the wind rushed out of my lungs. I thought I could handle any calling, but not so sure about this one. The rest of the day was a blur. I didn't even hear what calling they gave Tom. Later in the day I asked him what he was supposed to do as the Sunday School first counselor and he said that wasn't his calling. I heard it like three times, just never processed. He is the Sunday School Sec'y I am happy for this calling. It is a Sunday only calling. That we can handle.
So after we were sustained. I went and met the Relief Society president for the first time, and we made plans for our first meeting. She seems really sweet. Whew! and I was sad that I didn't have enough things to do during the day. Heavenly Father took care of that one!

Grocery Shopping- I went to Costco on Saturday. I bought just about a months worth of food, for the price of what I would normally spend in 2 weeks. I will have to go back for bread, milk and LUNCH MEAT :( but, I shouldn't have to buy anything else for the month, wahoo, love bargain shopping!

Doctors Appointments- When Tom was in school, we had all 3 kids with the benefit of medicaid. At times Tom and I were even covered by medicaid- Tom got some dental work done and I got some hardware put in my ankle and a gallbladder removed. I don't think we were ever grateful enough for it though. Now, we have had work insurance since April. Gabriel had to get staples in his head, Tom had to get new glasses, Seth had to have a check up and get shots, and I got my foot x-rayed for no apparent reason at all.
Total we have paid almost $3,000 for medical bills. And now, I am going to get an ultrasound this week that will be about $700. The frustration is mounting. But, Gabriels head has healed, Toms glasses are not falling apart, my foot grrrr, and We get to find out what we are having and we can pay for it!

The Book of Mormon, OK final tidbit. I remember when I was younger one of my friends told me that I would be suprised when I got to heaven and I was a member of the wrong "true church". At the time I was a little worried that maybe she would be right. I did not have enough experience with feeling the holy ghost. Now, I can say with unwaivering faith. If you read the book of mormon every day, there will be absolutely no doubt in your mind. There is a spirit that resides in reading the Book of Mormon. It is the same spirit of love that you feel when you hold a new baby. I wish I knew how to describe it, but it is there. I felt the same spirit when we all got to stand and sustain the prophet during the solemn assembly. Its the same way I feel when I am being comforted by the Lord during the time of trials. There is nothing empty about reading the Book of Mormon. When the Lord said come unto me and hunger and thirst no more, this must have been the feeling he was describing. If you haven't made the commitment for personal scripture study I challenge you to. If you think you don't have time to read it make the time, it will change your life and perhaps your eternity. Make the time!
Love you all.