Easter

Okay, I have to mention Easter since I failed to do so. We took no pictures, I know shame on us. It was really awful that we didn't, but it was so hard to think of it because out computer has been having issues- our new one- so we have to send parts back. GRRR!!! So it wasn't accepting pictures and our memory card is full. Not to mention I detest my camera and recently have not wanted to take any pictures because of how much I hate it. I know, bad excuse, but I really hate it. Suffice it to say, we had a good holiday. We had two easter egg hunts and one over with my brother-in-law Arch's family where I gave the 12 eggs of resurrection story about the Savior and the last egg being empty and symbolizing the empty tomb.

I just want to add a testimony of Jesus Christ, His Divinity and His resurrection. I know He lived, He died and was risen again on the third day. That because of His sacrifice we are forgiven of our sins and freed from death and that we will rise again and be resurrected just as He is. I believe in my Savior and I am so grateful for this gift from my Heavenly Father and just as the prophet said last Easter "There would be no Christmas, if there were no Easter." I know this is true and leave it in His name. Amen

Dr. Laura

I have been reading this from the library. I love some of the examples she has in here and how she talks about the fact that way too many wives, and I find myself included in this, are mean to their spouses without even realizing they are doing it. We tend to pick and belittle and I really try to never do this, though I absolutely have my faults and I have in the past been caught up in it- speaking about their husbands negatively behind their backs. It betrays trust and most wives would never put up with it from their husbands, yet we do it a lot. She talks about how the feminist movement in many ways hurts the foundations of what husbands want from their wives. Not a maid, not someone in the kitchen, but someone who makes them feel like a provider- a man. And a wife that makes them feel like they are their hero, their knight in shining armor. She says she believes that women should be treated equally as far as in the work place in regards to feminism, but what it has done to both men and women in the home is put them at odds. Women are clearly not men and men are clearly not women and when either one tries to make them one or the other it puts a strain on the relationship. Anyway, it has a lot of good things, those were just some of what stood out to me. Check it out. I think you will be surprised at some of the eye opening points she makes after listening to marriage problems for years. I was so surprised that I told Robert about some of it and found that I am guilty of quite a few of those things that put couples as enemies instead of partners. I actually felt so bad for treating my spouse in a way that I didn't know I was even doing it. I apologized and we were able to talk about a few things to help our marriage grow. I love reading and learning anything can help me, my marriage or my family be better and stronger and this is definitely one of those kind of books.

Emily Is 4!

Emily had a birthday! She turned 4 and we had a princess party for her. Her cousins came and a few of her friends. We played some games and I made her a pink cake because that is her favorite color and that is what she asked for. We had a lot of fun and I am so happy we were able to have a party for her.

Now, some things you didn't know about Emily:
- Her favorite color is pink and her next favorite is purple- of course.
- She LOVES to sing. She sings all day long at the top of her lungs. Singing is the ultimate fun for her.
- Her favorite primary song is Families Can Be Together Forever
- She says the most random and interesting prayers even though we have had many a Family Home Evening trying to explain how one should pray, we still end up with things like "Bless that Lindsey won't touch the cords and Mommy will do the things she can and that we will have what we do."
- Emily is a fantastic eater! She eats 2 bowls of cereal for breakfast and then by lunch time her lunch can consist of ALL of this: 1 yogurt, raisin bread, cereal bar, grapes, peaches, cheese and crackers. Sometimes after all that she STILL asks for more. She really likes food and a lot of different kinds too. She loves peas and as a 2 year old asked for broccoli all the time. She also is a regular kid who likes mac n' cheese on occasion- we don't make it that often.
- She likes to clean. She randomly goes into her room during the day- without being asked- to clean her room spotless and comes out to have me see it.
- She loves baths. No fighting her to get into the tub.
- She loves to dress up.


Those are some things you didn't know about our sweet Emily. She really is a great kid! And we love her so much!

Magnify and Serve in My Calling

We have lived in our ward for 3 1/2 years now. I was first put in the CTR class, then the sunbeams, then into nursery with my husband. We were told that it was only a 6 month calling since our ward has many little kids, two nurseries and 10 kids each. In the middle of the calling, I got really sick. It lasted for 5 months and I was tucked away in the nursery and no one knew. One of the hard parts about it was very little energy and tons of fatigue. It was hard to be wrestling kids at that time. We served in that calling for 14 months!

I was then thankful to be in the Relief Society, which I had never been in for longer than 3 months since leaving Young Womens- since I had been called back into Young Womens in a different ward when we were first married. Recently we have been the Family History teachers in the ward.

Well, our Bishopric got released and there is a new Bishop who doesn't know a soul in the ward since he doesn't live here- it's a student ward- and he released us and put me- BACK in nursery. My husband, knowing I would never have mentioned this, said that we did the calling instead of 6 months, for 14 months months about a year ago. The Counselor who called me said he was sorry to do this, but would I be willing to accept. I said yes of course and he said he would inform the Bishop about it and that it may be temporary- a large number of families are moving soon and they have no one to fill the calling.

I agreed and felt I needed to say yes, but my heart wasn't willing. I was sad when we left his office and I wanted to cry. This will be my 3rd time being a nursery teacher since leaving Young Womens. I was feeling really sorry for myself and moping around. Robert kept telling me to be cheerful and serve.

In Sacrament meeting I started to feel bad about my attitude and prayed for comfort, for forgiveness for murmuring, to serve willingly and to soften my heart. One talk was on having personal spirituality with God and this Brother spoke about magnifying our callings and being willing to serve. My heart definitely softened and I felt a love and desire to serve. This ward needs me here, in this calling, right now and the Lord needs willing servants in His kingdom. I have always said that I would do whatever the Lord asks of me, so I said yes, even though, in my heard, I didn't really. The Lord truly humbles me with messages like this talk.

Then the Bishop stood up and wanted to say a few word. He spoke of his testimony of personal revelation and of how touched he is by the willingness of the members in the ward to serve. And he said this looking directly at me. I thank the Lord that He sent me answers to prayers that I didn't expect and am very grateful for. I will serve as long as I am needed and try to do it willingly and with love. That could mean for the remainder of the time we live in this ward, but I know that this is where I need to be.

Home Design

I have really been getting into Interior Design. I don't know, maybe it is the artist in me or something. Maybe it is also that I have a brother and sister in law who have awesome design taste. They always have great ideas. I also watch way too much HGTV. When I first got married I didn't think about it much. I think it was because I came from such a poor family that we were just happy to have what we had. Not that my mom didn't try to make our house a home, she did, but there needed to be a little more flow.

Now, if you came to my house now you would never guess that this is an interest of mine because I have a lot of hodge-podge decor right now. I live in a shoe box and it is hard to do much inside a shoe box. I have a coffee table that was given to us by my great in laws, but with kids it has become very scratched and with limited space it takes up a lot of room. I can't get rid of it because I am an artist and I don't have space for an art table, so viola- this is my art table for now. I have an ugly couch- given to me of course- and I can't afford to buy a new one. So until then, a red couch cover serves its purpose. I bought yellowish tan pillows to add to it. I have added a rug under the couch to give a little life into the room.

I have an interesting vase that I painted black and gold and I have added tall white flowers to it. I found a great find on an awesome table. It is warn and rickety, but the table and chairs I wanted was $600, this one was used, can seat 10, came with 4 chairs and is really pretty for $160. For now it is perfect. I found an awesome side table at a thrift store for $20. Solid wood and pretty cute. I think I am getting more of an idea of finding cheap things that can go with what I want. Its amazing how cheap you can decorate. Like my bathroom. I spent $60 on a shower curtain I love, a brown cupboard and a decorative mirror.

My biggest issue I have is I have all of my paintings on the wall in cheap junky frames. That is a goal of mine, to professionally frame all of my paintings. I have mentioned that to Robert that any time he needs an idea of something for birthday, Christmas or anniversary, that would be a great gift idea. Anyway, I love looking at photos of rooms and finding what I love about them. I don't always like everything, but I can usually find the things I love.

Like this room. I love the accent colors of that light blue you can see on the back of the chairs and the table or vase next to the chairs. The color on the wall brings out the fireplace so nicely. The shapes of the round plates about the fireplace really bring out the awesome square mantle. Just an example of why I love design. Course with kids it is hard to have something this pleasing to the eye, but I just love all the ideas. We are in the process of getting pre-approved to see what we can afford in a home or condo. Every time I look at a house or whatever I get disappointed if it is too new. I want to do some work on it. I don't want to have to overhaul it, but I want great architectural detailing and potential to really make it awesome. Hope I will find it someday.

Waiting for the Order

Ah, tax refund time! I have wanted a few things on Amazon.com. I love that place. Their books are great prices. So I am sitting here waiting on my order. Here is just a few things I am waiting on:



These are great resource books for homeschoolers and non-homeschoolers. They are usually filled with things that most parents and teachers miss that can give a very rounded education to children. Things like literature, art, science, math. They are kind of advanced, but I really liked them growing up so I could see where I was concerning my own education. I want to get the whole set and so far I have "What Your Fifth Grader Needs to Know". I found that at a thrift store for $4.



This is a book by Jon Taylor Gatto. He was a public school teacher for 25 years, winning 3 times the National Teacher of the Year award for great teaching. At one of the acceptance speeches he spoke about the many things he didn't like about the public school system, titled Dumbing us Down. I have read the speech before and in college I had a political science class where the professor had us write a paper all on his speech. Already knowing the subject well I got the highest grade in the class on the paper and the professor then asked me if I would talk to his 7 year old daughter who was currently being homeschooled. Jon Gatto later went on to write a book about his experiences and two years after his speech he announced he was quitting because he didn't agree with the system. He travels all over the globe to homeschooling conventions, speaking about education. Last year he was in Australia and then came here to speak at our homeschool convention. He was a wonderful speaker and I was really excited to hear him speak live and that Robert was able to attend that year as well. I can't wait to read this book!


This last one is something to get myself in shape a little. I am not severely overweight, but I am a little bit. My biggest factor is more that my clothes don't fit very well. I am still the same size as I was after being pregnant with Lindsey, but the clothes are feeling snug. I want a workout that doesn't feel so workout like. I don't like to exercise. I like to trick myself into exercising. Like taking walks, dancing, roller blading, etc. And I have to work out to music. I have read many online reviews about the latest videos and this one has a positive review every time. I really am excited to try it.