My heart is so full

I listened to this song on the way home from the RS General Broadcast tonight. I love this version because of the children singing with Josh. This song has always touched my heart and in many ways. In the last stake I lived in I attended a Visiting Teaching conference at the stake center. In one of the classes the sister showed us a video that her son had put together with this song and images of Christ. I have never forgotten that. How true this song it when we think about how Christ holds us up and supports us and loves us, no matter what.



Tonight, while I watched this video, I was also moved by the fact that my sweet children lift me up and have made me a better person than I ever could have been without them. I know what it is to love unconditionally, to be forgiven with a hug, and to be given praise just because I made chocolate chip cookies. They are so sweet to me. I have been given the greatest blessings in the world with them.

Here's my sweet Brandon trying to pin my mothere's pin on. He was so excited to get his Bobcat badge last week! I am so proud of him.

Kate is such a joy. She has a beautiful toothless smile right now! Megan is my beautiful doll. She always wants to be with me.Here's another little doll, who lately is a monkey and a half. What a sweetheart Carli is. :)
Also, my dear sweet husband, who keeps me going and looks beyond all my shortcomings and loves me anyway.

I feel tonight as if heaven is just showering these beautiful blessings on me and I feel so peaceful and content. It is another testimony to me of how our dear Father in Heaven and our Savior, Jesus Christ, knows each of us and knows of our daily needs. Heavenly Father knows how I have struggled this week. He knows I am not perfect, but He loves me anyway. He has filled my soul tonight and it is overflowing. He knows I need to rely on Him for strength and I know I have a Comforter whenever I need it.

I hope you love this song as much as I do. Music is such an important part of my life. I love to sing and am grateful that I was given that talent. I know how powerful music can be and I hope this song touches you as it does me.

I can just feel the weight pushing down on me

Brandon is most certainly ADHD. The pediatrician (who specializes in this field) had no doubt in her mind by the end of our appointment on Wednesday morning. We were in for a well check, but I also wanted to talk to her about this. He showed her exactly what she needed to see. He was on his best "worst" behaviour. I am glad to finally have someone tell me that this is why he is the way he is. Problem is, I'm pretty sure it came through me--not that I am blaming myself, but am feeling a little low that I have a little and I see it affect my daily life. That's what is really weighing me. I'm definitely not the extreme, as he is, but I can see many of the symptoms in myself. I don't really even want to think about it.

Also, we need to decide on a treatment of some kind. This is something we will be on our knees about to know what is best for him. We can't get back in to see the doctor again for our full evaluation until December. So until them we will just deal as we have been...

Hubby's Birthday!

Friday we celebrated Ben's birthday. We had a family night in with pizza and cake, games, and a movie. He's 4 years older than I am, but what does that matter, right? :) When we got married he was almost robbing the cradle. Hee, hee. Anyway, it was a fun evening. He had requested carrot cake so the kids wouldn't even touch it. Yesterday they finally tried it and loved it. Too funny how the name of something (especially when it has a vegetable in the title) can totally turn the kids off from even trying it. Brandon picked out the electronic Deal or No Deal game to give to Daddy so we had fun playing that after dinner. It's actually a pretty fun game. I think I've got the record so far of winning $618,000! Too bad it's not real! We also gave him the movie We Are Marshall so after the kids were in bed Ben and I watched it. It's a good flick, but the story is sad. It ends up pretty positive, though. So here are some fun pictures from our party.

Kate waiting for the pizza!Hug from Kate.Ben loves cracking up the kids with his funny faces. He was all over it while he was opening his gifts. Too cute!Playing Deal or No Deal. Dad, you need some more pizza! Blowing out the candles.
Me and Ben.

Three Little Kittens Lost Their Mittens...

Friday the kindergarten classes put on a Nursery Rhyme parade! It was very cute. Megan went as a kitten who lost her mittens.

Three little kittens,

They lost their mittens,

And they began to cry,

Oh, mother, dear,

We sadly fear,

Our mittens we have lost.

What! Lost your mittens,

You naughty kittens,

Then you shall have no pie.

Meow, meow,

Then you shall have no pie.

The three little kittens,

They found their mittens,

And they began to cry,

Oh, mother, dear,

See here, see here,

Our mittens we have found.

What, found your mittens,

Then you're good kittens,

And you shall have some pie.

Purr-rr, purr-rr,

Then you shall have some pie.

This is not the entire rhyme. I found it in its entirety here. Here's our little kitten in the parade!

Friendly Frog

We had a visitor in our house last night! Friendly Frog came to stay the night from Megan's kindergarten class. She and Kate took such good care of him. He came over prepared for an evening of fun! He had his pjs, toothbrush, bedtime story, sleeping bag, and his map, compass, and backpack for adventures. He even got to go to the pool with us! We took his picture with Megan for his journal and then he stayed nice and dry in the pool bag. He was a very nice visitor!

When Megan got in the car yesterday after school her teacher handed me Friendly's backpack and said Megan was so excited when she heard she was taking Freindly home that she thought she would jump out of her skin because she jumped up off the carpet so fast. :) Cute! She's been waiting for her turn. I love that her teacher does this. What a great thing for the kids to do and look forward to!

New Fan!

Yippee! We finally have a ceiling fan in our family room! I'm very excited. :) Ben put it up today. Of course, I had to mark the occasion with a couple pics.


Getting the wiring right.

Getting the fan blades on. (I'm sure this is so exciting to you all...)Manly man finish the job!The finished product. I love it, but I want new light covers. These are too yellow for my taste. However, it was the only one with the right color wood and metal.

Tagged! I'm it!

1.) What I was doing ten years ago: Let's see. September '97 Ben and I were newleyweds! We were living in our first apt. in Provo. I was attending UVSC and I think I was working at Wal-Mart. Yeah, I know... It didn't last too long!

2.) Five years ago: September 2002--We were living in Noblesville, IN. We had moved there that previous spring. Had a new baby, Megan, in June, so I had a 3 yr old, 2 yr old, and newborn. I was a busy SAHM!

3.) One year ago: September 2006--Oh my. Memories...I was getting ready to move to Ft. Worth from Cedar Park! Ben was working in Dallas already so I was running the household by myself.

4.) Yesterday: September 13, 2007. Hmmm. I really have to think to remember yesterday. Sad, huh?! I watched my friend's girls in the morning while she went to volunteer at the school, then we took the older girls to kindergarten, went to Kohl's and had lunch at Pei Wei! It was so yummy. :) Kate came home from school with a fever, fought with Brandon to do his homework, and I think that's about it.

5.) 5 snacks I enjoy: Anything chocolate, popcorn, veggies and dip, crackers and cheese, fruit.

6.) 5 Things I would do if I suddenly had $100 million: Buy a cabin in southern Utah, travel, save, invest, pay everything off!

7.) 5 locations I would like to run away to: Hawaii, Europe, southern Utah (see a pattern?)

8.) 5 bad habits I have: procrastination, not finishing things, forgetting things easily

9.) 5 things I like doing:Being with my family, blogging, photography, shopping (online), reading

10.) 5 TV shows I like: Grey's Anatomy, Martha Stewart, Heroes, Extreme Makeover:Home Edition

11.) 5 things I hate doing: dishes, paying bills, cleaning bathrooms

12.) 5 Biggest joys of the moment: A good friend is coming to visit!!! :) Just paid off a couple bills. I get to do some painting and decorating! Yippee! I can't wait for fall, either. I love the cool weather.

Now im gonna tag 5 people and you better make sure you do it!

1. Michelle
2. Erin
3. Jenni
4. Megan
5. Katrina

Playground time!

Ben and I took the little girls to our neighborhood playground this morning. The weather was so nice I just had to get them out of the house! Here are some cutes pics from our outing.

Remembering September 11

Michelle had this on her blog and I hope she doesn't mind my posting it, too. It really touched me. I remember the morning well. I had not turned on the TV that morning and I was heading to Ann Arbor (we were living in Michigan at the time) to attend an Institute class at the church. On the way I called my mother-in-law for directions to the church (it was not our local one) and she got crying. I had no idea why, of course. She thought I was calling to talk about what was happening so she had to tell me. It did not hit me what was really happening. I turned on the radio and listened for the rest of the drive (about 1/2 hour). It was hard to concentrate on Isaiah when I was wondering what was happening. There were whispers that one of the towers had fallen. When I got home I was glued to the TV for the next couple days. I was so sad, frustrated, confused. I pray that we all still remember. We still need to pray for those who were so affected on that day. We need to pray for our country. We need to pray for our government. We need to pray for the men and women fighting for our freedom and for freedom of people all over the world. Keep our flags flying!

On another note, today is my parents' wedding anniversary. I hope you guys have a wonderful day!

Nice Matters Award

Thanks, Michelle, for nimating me for this really sweet award! I love all my blogging friends and feel so blessed to have them. Their blogs bring a smile to my day.

As the receiver of this award I get to now nominate 7 bloggers.

"This award will be awarded to those that are just nice people , good blog friends and those that inspire good feelings and inspiration! Those that care about others that are there to lend support or those that are just a positive influence in our blogging world!"

1. Erin

2. Jenni

3. Katri

4. Lanae

5. Lyndsee

6. Rebecca

7. Rochelle
and I have to add another!
8. Laurie

Now you guys get to nominate 7 (or as many as you want, I think)! Pass along the smile. :)

Birthday Pics

Today was fun. My daughter was invited to a birthday party of one of her good friends. Her mom asked me to come and take pictures during the party. I thought this was a great idea! I always hate trying to juggle getting everything going for the party while trying to capture the cute moments at the same time. I was excited to help her out. It was a cute party. They did a little pedicure session and soaked their feet, got them painted, and even got little flower stickers on their big toenails. They loved it! Then they had lunch and opened presents and decorated cupcakes with the birthday girl. Here are a few of the good pictures I captured:

The loss of Pavarotti

Here's what my Dad said on our MyFamily website:


"The second-greatest tenor of all time (along with Caruso) died today. Of course, my Dad was the greatest."





Yes, my Grandpa was an amazing singer, but as a man he was more amazing. My eyes are full of tears remembering him. He's been gone for 2 years now and waves of sadness realizing he is gone still wash over me now and then. I haven't had to deal with death much in my life. He was the closest person to me that I have had pass away. He's the one who sealed Ben and I ten years ago. He's the one whose face would light up and break into a hug smile whenever we walked in the room. He was always happy to see us. He always told me what a great mom I was. Man, I don't know why this is hitting me so hard this morning. I'm standing at the computer balling as if he died last night. What a great man he was.

This picture says it all in Grandpa's face. He was always full of joy when he was around his family. This picture was taken November '01 at my parents' house in Ohio.

Ant Bites

Wow, everyone, you set a record for the most comments on my blog on that last post. I really appreciate and love hearing from you all! :)

Last night I took Brandon to soccer practice. I set Carli down in the grass right at my feet while I was talking to another parent about soccer and boy scouts. Several minutes later Carli started whimpering so I looked down and her right arm was covered with ants! I felt horrible! I quickly picked her up and knocked the ants off of her, ripped her clothes off to get off the ones that were under her shirt. Sure enough, I turn around and there is the ant bed about a foot and a half behind where I was standing. I'm usually so careful about watching for these areas, but I guess I'm out of practice. I haven't been to a park around her for quite a while since I was in Utah all summer and then it being too hot here for playing at a park. We jumped in the car and brought her home. She doesn't seem to mind them. She probably has 20 bites on her little arm, but that's the only place she got bit. Poor baby!

My Project Today!

After I take Megan to kindergarten, Carli goes down for her nap and I am free to do whatever! It's a little weird, but I'm enjoying it. Today I made these for the girls' rooms. I sanded the letter, painted them, and then distressed them with sandpaper. The ribbon is the final touch to hang them with. They aren't quite finished yet, but close! Megan's letters don't have the ribbon on yet and I want to get some wide ribbon for Carli's. I'm excited I am actually getting something done for their rooms! I'll post pics when I get that far.

This is the cutest video

Click here. This is my nephew, Harper, and the video is just too adorable!

Bowling Fun

Today we took the kids for an afternoon of bowling. It was really fun and, thanks to the bumpers, :) I won. Ha, ha. :) Sad that I won with a score of 114. Anyway, I was afraid Carli would just be running crazy all over the place, but she was quite fascinated with the whole game and just stayed put right there at our lane watching everyone bowl. We had a really good time together. Here are some pics from the occasion.

Megan after knocking down some pins. Love the hair, Megan!

Ben helping Kate throw the ball correctly, sort of. :)

Brandon tried to duck away from pictures, so every time I would take one he would turn his head, watch it flash and then turn back around with a smile because he thought he tricked me. I got him, though!Carli sporting Daddy's sunglasses. It was already pretty dark in there so I'm sure this made it pretty interesting to look around.My little poser, as usual. Kate, you are os cute!