Journals, Grandparents, and Bounty!!

So, I was going through a box from Hyrums closet today. Books. And, one was my journal from High school. I have four Journals from before we were married and 3 and a blog from after. My life from the Gulf War on is documented. This particular Journal was full of my life when I was a Senior in High School. This was a life changing year for me. This was the year I had my first boyfriend, first challenge of my testimony, first time to live away from home. I loved my Senior year. I realize that that year was a real starting off point for the way that I have lived for the following 9 years. Wow! what a pivotal year. I am so grateful for the Lords guidance in my life.
Grandparents. My parents-my kids grandparents have taught me so much. Similar to Nephi, I have been born of goodly parents. They taught me how to understand right from wrong and then they let me make my own decisions. This let me succeed and fail when the stakes were low enough that the rebound was small. I relied on my Dads calm steady pace. His Wisdom and his quiet. I loved to go home teaching with him, to work in the yard with him, and I hated to go fishing with him :) because I had to be quiet. And I loved to talk with him, so fishing was not my favorite. I remember when my Dad to Levi and I hiking one time. We learned about wild spearmint, eating the baby bright green shoots on an evergreen, not drinking from a stream in the middle of the mountain, how to make a shelter from pine bows in the rain, and how beautiful and quiet a mountain lake can be. I seem to remember every turn of that hike. I sure would love to do that again!
My Mom is so different from my Dad, but yet so similar. If I were to wax philosophical I would say my parents are like a river. My Dad the slow swelling river rolling quietly around the bend and my Mom rushing, bubbly, and sometimes as exciting and thrilling as a white water ride. They are the same...but different. I really enjoyed talking to my Mom to. These conversations usually happened on a trip to Twin. When the Radio was turned up a conversation would usually comfortably begin. I could often get a lot of things sorted out in my mind by talking them through with my Mom.
I remember that my Mom would always tell us...If we ever needed an excuse to leave someones house we could always say our parents wanted us home. One time I wasn't strong enough to use that excuse on my own, so I called my Mom to ask permission to stay at a friends house. She almost always let me stay. Rarely would she say no, in fact this may have been the first time. I was praying so hard that she would say no, and I can remember her clearly saying... No, not tonight, I think you better come home tonight. I acted put out, but I was really so grateful.
So, recently as I have prayed for my parents I have thought about how grateful I am for them and all they have taught me. I just had to get it in writing so that I could remember it forever. Thanks Mom and Dad!
Now, onto the bounty. I must have moved to the Garden of Eden. I have Corn, strawberries, Strawberry Jam, Raspberries, Raspberry Jam, and Zucchinis put up for the winter. In the Garden waiting to be harvested I have more zucchini, lettuce, peppers, rhubarb, green beans, eggplant, tomatoes, chives, cilantro, mint, oregano more raspberries, and apples on the trees. Most of this was free to me, due to the generosity of my neighbors. Now I just need to buy a freezer to store my bounty for the winter. But this summer we are eating like kings...or maybe pioneers either way it is yummy!!

How do I keep up?

The Lady who used to own our house still lives close and drops by every once in a while. She caught me home for the first time last week. She also caught me in the middle of life. We had morning dishes in the sink, lunch dishes on the table. Clothes and toys strewn on the floor. And laundry in the hall waiting to be carried to the basement. Outside the Lawn had not been mowed in 2 weeks and the garden had yet to be weeded-at all. Hyrum was running around in a diaper, Gabe was in his underwear, and Seth was in a bad mood. I had spit up on my shirt and pants- hair up in a sweaty pony tail and no makeup.
In contrast...This woman had 10 kids. She was house cleaner by proffesion and all the neighbors talk about how she would scrub the garage floor every 3 days. She had a garden full of flowers that she kept, so she could take a vase to anyone in need. She scrubbed the rafters in the basement every night and she said she was always right behind her kids if there was ever a mess. She brought toys, cookies, and a vase of flowers for me. She also had a dog bone in the car for our neighbor across the street and a banana bread for my next door neighbor. Granted this women is 80 with no children at home, but she wasn't always. So, is there something I am missing. How do I keep up? How do I keep the house clean and be the Mom I want to be? That day that she came we had gotten up early, I had gone for my run, when I got home we read scriptures, then we all rushed through breakfast and went to the zoo. When we got home from the Zoo, the boys were exhausted and I was exshausted. I was giving them some scrambled eggs for lunch and clearing the table of breakfast. We have no airconditioning so the boys were stripping to try and cool off. After I made their lunch I sat down to blog my run. That is when she showed up. I felt so embarassed at the condition I had let "her" house get in. I just can't figure out how she did it. Maybe I spend to much time blogging? This week several times I have thought about calling a lady in our ward and asking if I could come and observe her. I just am not sure how to become that super mom I am sure our Mother in Heaven is. Any Ideas?