Relief Society Broadcast

Saturday night Jason watched the girls so I could go to Granbury to watch the General Relief Society Broadcast. I can't thank him enough because it was the lift that I needed. Our Stake had a dinner before serving baked potatoes which I have been craving, Hooray. We started with a song. I have to say that a men's choir is my favorite to listen to, but listening to the sounds of the different women's voices in the room truly invited the Spirit. I couldn't help but think how wonderful it was to be a woman and have the blessings(and yes, sometimes trials) that come with that. I had to control the tears in the opening song(I was in for a long night of tears). The Stake President spoke shortly thanking the women for sacrificing much of this world to be mothers and serve others. We ate(I sat with Sadie), chatted, and giggled. Then we went into the chapel to watch the broadcast. I loved it. The music(did anyone else notice how much younger that choir sounded than the Mormon Tabernacle Choir?) was beautiful, and the speakers were inspired. I was so blessed to have Sadie sitting next to me because during Sister Beck's talk she shared an experience of her mother moving from her next door neighbor to somewhere across the country. She shared her anguish of 'losing' her mother. She said that she sat with her mother prior to her move and said, "Who will be my mom?" I like to believe that I have a reasonable amount of control of my tears in public, however I didn't have time to stop it. It came so quickly. I didn't have a tissue and was having a hard time keeping my sobs quiet. Sadie came quickly to my rescue(Thanks a million!!!!!). She, in her loving manner, wrapped her arms around me, handed me a tissue, and comforted me as I cried. Sister Beck's mother told her she will always have a mother if she turns to the Relief Society. There will always be someone to help her with children, talk with, cry with, and laugh with. I would not say that I am extremely close to members of my Relief Society but I will have to do a lot of relying in days to come. All of the talks were amazing, but that first talk of the evening touched me the way I needed it. Shortly after the meeting a sister in the Ward that we were just split from came to me and said with tears in her eyes, "I would like to be your Relief Society Mother." I take great comfort in knowing that there are beautiful daughters of God watching and caring for others. I know it is something that my Mother did constantly and I pray that I can follow her example.

Finally

This past Saturday our Stake FINALLY had the ground breaking for our new Stake Center. It has been a little over a year and a half since our building burned down. Needless to say, we are all extremely excited to see the work actually started. The ceremony started around 9:00 am and the weather was perfect for it. The choir sang, there were several speakers, and of course the traditional ground breaking performed by leaders of the church. It was really nice to see Sadie and Bryan and their kids there. Cailyn had a great time playing with them.

The leaders getting ready to start.

The Talbots

Aren't they precious? They were trying to catch a cricket.

Jessica examining her breakfast.

The choir

Daddy and Jessica.

Our dear friends the Hicks. We miss them terribly, they are not in our Branch, YET.

The Stake Presidency.

And it begins.

Last nerve is almost gone!

I am not sure what is going on. Is the weather about to change and my kids are in tune with that and I am not, or is it me and I am doing the latest thing and blaming someone else? Today is one of those days that if someone asked me why they should have kids I am not sure I could give them a good answer without a tinge of frustration in my voice. It seems that all day Jessica needs to be right next to me pulling on my clothes, and Cailyn NEEDS to play with whatever toy Jessica has in her hand. Then we get into a screaming match. All of this forces me into this rage of anger and loss of control. I literally had to shut myself into my room to escape the "Mad House".
OK here is your part. How do I get Jessica to stop screeching? I have tried ignoring the scream. I have tried to pat her lips immediately while calmly(and sometimes not) saying NO. Neither has worked. Of course we have a very possessive and bossy 3, almost 4, year old provoking her almost non-stop. HELP! I am losing control of my house to the point of insanity. Please tell me there is something to be done to render this craziness.

Shoes, hair, and re-arranging

These are today's hairdos. Cailyn's is just an outside braid with newly made bows. I am sorry the picture is so terrible. And please don't mind the messy house.

I have done a few dos in the past week that I have absolutely loved and Cailyn did too. However, for some reason I didn't take any pictures. I will show you the next time I try it.

Jessica's is called 4 piggies in a row. I love it.

It looks almost like a headband of bows on her head.

The other morning Jason came in to change and found an angel hidden among his shoes. What a special treat before work!

Yesterday I woke with the conviction to re-arrange my room. I have these plans to change our 3rd bedroom into Cailyn's room(instead of our computer room) when the baby is born. Well, as it sometimes happens when you are pregnant, it feels like it all needs to be done today. So, I have been cleaning and preparing to make these changes. We are having to move our computer into our room so I moved everything around(within reason, trust me I am being careful). I moved the bed and nightstand. I cleaned out our closet so I could put the dresser in there. That meant that I needed to move Jason's clothes into the other closet in our bedroom(the smaller one of course). That also meant that I needed to clean out that closet. Because I am in the nesting period, all of this was done before noon(even with 2 little girls "helping" me). I was so proud. I love to just walk in and see all the progress. Today I am not nearly as productive. In fact, as I was getting ready today(yeah it happened today), I was putting my make-up on using the mirror hanging on Jason's new closet. Then all of a sudden there was this huge bang. Cailyn and I jumped, confused because we couldn't see what had happened. I carefully opened the closet door and this is what I found:

I realize that it is probably my fault, because I was the one to move all of his clothes over there, but it does make me feel better knowing that it was Jason's clothes that broke the closet. Actually, I am blaming my cousin Brittnee for this one. This has apparently happened to her twice, and I have read about it just recently. She jinxed us! We still love you though.

Rice Crispy Disaster

I don't know why, but I don't have the ability to make Rice Crispy Treats. I have had some successes, but not nearly as many as my failures. Something must be wrong with that part of my "mommy brain". I know what most of you are thinking, "how can you mess up rice crispy treats?" But, it is a lot easier to mess up than you might think. Mine are either too gooey or too hard. However this time this is what happened.

First I used the microwave method to heat the mallows and butter, that didn't work. Next(with the remaining mallows in the bag I cooked them on the stove top. The result is what you see in the picture above. Jason, in his attempt to comfort, tells me they must have been bum marshmallows. Needless to say, we haven't enjoyed this tasty treat lately.

Strange Letter

I received a letter in the mail the other day that I thought was really strange. You guys tell me what you think. It was a hand written letter from a lady in Waco. She told me she read of my mother's passing in the newspaper and wanted to share her beliefs for comfort. She shared her testimony of life after death and the resurrection promised through Christ, and sent me a pamphlet about it from her church. I think the weirdest part is that I have no idea who this woman is and she just read my name in the obituary in the paper. She then must have searched for my address. Am I the only one who thinks this is weird? It would be different if I knew her or someone in my family knew her, but we don't. I think I am going to send her a Book of Mormon thanking her for her words of comfort. What do you think?

Blog Purpose

For several weeks now I have been pondering my purpose for my blog. There are many things I would like it to be or do.


#1 Keep everyone up to date on my family. Especially those that live far away.

#2 A documentation of my family. A family journal if you will.

#3 An outlet for me. Somewhere to write down my thoughts and struggles of everyday life.

#4 A way for people to get to know me(because "me" is always changing).



Last, but certainly not least.



#5 A place for others to hear my testimony.

There have been so many times when I write something or share an experience and I receive little to no feedback from my fellow bloggers. Most of the time it doesn't matter, but there are those days when I NEED to connect with others and I don't get to. Those days are hard for me. I guess one solution to feeling the need to connect would be to make a friend here and have play dates. I am just really uncomfortable introducing myself to new people. For those of you who know me it probably sounds weird, but I am pretty shy. OH to live closer to family!