Thoughts

*Kara gave the prayer at a Regional Fireside with a General Authority, Neil A. Anderson. It was held in the Tabernacle where there was standing room only and broadcast into an overflowing Stake Center. I wasn't there, but heard she did a great job. She was nervous. The next day at school some random guy (who by the way, she says was cute) came up to her and asked for her phone number. Apparently, he made a bet with a friend that he would ask out the girl who said the prayer at the fireside. Funny what happens when you pray!

*Ashlyn informed me that after Christmas she would become a big girl. She said she will stop sucking her thumb and wear panties. We'll see about that. It would truly be a Christmas miracle if it actually happened. Please let there be a Christmas miracle.

*Ethan is totally reading. He brings home those little beginner books and reads and re-reads them over and over again. He is very proud and so am I. He was, however, very upset after reading one of the books where a pet dog is left on a bus. He said, "that was the saddest book I ever read in my whole life!" Luckily, for Ethan, and the pet dog, he was reunited with his owner at the end of the book. Thank goodness for happy endings.

*Last week at church our family pew was pretty empty. I looked around the chapel and found my 14 year old sitting by the door, ushering and handing out programs, my 12 year old passing the sacrament and my 16 year old up on the stand playing the organ. I feel so blessed to belong to a church where we are taught to serve so early in our youth. I felt even more blessed that my kids were worthy and willing to do so.

*I got my hair done this week. Nothing new, just a cut and some highlights. Well, I have never received so many compliments. Everyone kept telling me how great my hair looked- family, friends, strangers (no, not really strangers, but they might as well have been). I came to the conclusion that it wasn't so much my new "do" that was so great, but that my old one was really bad. I kept telling everyone thanks, but I would look just the same as I did last week when I did my hair myself. I just don't have time to blow dry and flat iron my hair for hours each day like my hairdresser does. I just don't. So, sorry to everyone who thought I looked absolutely beautiful, but the ugly old fashioned "do" is just going to have to do! Like it or not, Mark, the claw is coming back!

*I am grateful for the Winco candy bins, and here is why. This last week alone, this is what I had to send to school with my kids: 25 candies for a Christmas countdown calendar. Candy corn for a Thanksgiving project (preferably brown candy corn). Birthday treats for my 6 year old. Treats for 2 separate Thanksgiving feasts, one in the second grade and one in kindergarten. And trinkets or treats to be traded at the 4th grade Mountain Man Rendezvous! That is a lot of treats for 1 week. Luckily, I can go to the bins and get exactly the number and color that I need. Winco, I am thankful for you this week!

*So there was this huge blizzard warning this week. It was huge- the warning, that is. They were cancelling schools. They were cancelling surgeries. They were cancelling concerts. They were urging everyone to leave work early and get home. They told everyone to stay home unless absolutely necessary, and if you had to go out to bring blankets, food, and water in your car. I was expecting to be snowed in my house for days. I went to the grocery store that day along with the rest of the state. In my defense, it was my regular shopping day. I felt a little panicked as I was pushing my cart through the crowded store, but was a little more relaxed after I got my shopping done and all of my little chickies were home in my nest. And then we waited. And waited. And waited. There was some wind, a skiff of snow, and some pretty cold temps, but that was it. It was the dumbest blizzard I have ever been in. But one thing it did do was again make me think "how ready am I? How is my food storage? Do I have enough medication to take care of my family?" When things like this happen (like the swine flu scare, earthquakes around the world, and dumb blizzards) it always makes me grateful I have followed the counsel of our leaders and have tried to be prepared. It also makes me even more determined to get even more ready. One of these days I am going to depend on that preparation. I just know it!

*I have a few thoughts about sickness, because we have had a lot of it in our house this week. We have had strep throat, a nasty cold, pink eye, and the vomiting flu all going around in our family. It was lovely. The worst part is, I got sick. It's never easy when mom is down. As I was saying my prayers on the night I was sick, I started to pray that nobody else would get sick...and then I stopped. A thought came to me that I really couldn't pray that nobody would get sick, because we were going to get sick. It is a part of life. Has anyone really gone through their whole life without being sick? And then I realized that being sick served several purposes. Being sick makes us stronger, by helping our bodies to form antibodies and to help us fight off things later, and most importantly, being sick makes us appreciate being well. As I laid in bed all day feeling sick to my stomach, I had to turn my head when food commercials came on TV, I thought about Christmas and how awful it would be if you couldn't eat or be up and around and I was grateful. I felt grateful that this sickness wouldn't last forever. I felt grateful that my body can fight sickness. I felt grateful that in a few days I would be back to normal and would be able to watch food commercials and eat Christmas treats. I just felt grateful. Truly there must needs be opposition in all things. I have a stronger testimony of that now. It all sounds kind of silly right now, but at the time as I was laying in bed hour after hour it had a profound impact on me and I needed to jot it down somewhere. And so here is where it was jotted.

*We had 2 family baby blessings this week. They were wonderful. I am so thankful for all of these sweet little nieces and nephews that are coming to our family. I love them and my kids adore them. It was a great weekend filled with family, family, and more family. We wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

*Christmas is practically here. I still haven't started my Christmas cards. Help me!