If We Had Built the Mayflower...

we would have never made it to Plymouth Rock. I'm pretty sure we would have died on our journey. Cause of death: drowning.

Aaron ran down the stairs to me and said," Mom, we forgot about my project!" I paused for a moment thinking of what project I was in charge of. Am I all of a sudden in the 5th grade? Did I have a project due that I forgot about? Nope.
I replied," What's this we stuff, Aaron? I didn't have a project." He cocked his head to the side and gave a little smile. Thinking I wasn't serious. I know why.

You see, in the past when one of my kids comes running to me in a hurry fretting about a project forgotten, I have always helped them. They do all they can until bedtime. Always, ALWAYS, I am left finishing it until the wee hours of morning. Bad habit, I know. So, this is why my son thought I was kidding, but I wasn't. I was tired, tired of their waiting til the last minute, tired of them telling me no when asked if they have any homework. Last I checked a project was homework.

"Aaron, you better get started," was all I said. He looked a little puzzled.

"But what do I make it out of?" he asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know. What do you want to make it out of?" He thought for a long while and went and found a box.

"What do I use to cover it?" he asked.

I replied," I don't know. What do you want to cover it with?" He was getting the idea that I wasn't going to help. He pulled out black construction paper.

The mom in me couldn't resist saying," I don't think the Mayflower was black." I suggested he make it look like wood. He found some Popsicle sticks from the craft basket and got to work. By 10:00 pm, way past bedtime he showed me this:





Not bad. I must say ship building is not in the genes. But he made it. All by himself. Learned a valuable lesson, I hope. And I stayed up late by choice.

It did make me wonder though. I wondered how long it took the pilgrims to build this ship and prepare for their voyage. Or did they wait til the last minute and ask their mothers to build it for them?

The Holy Ghost and Who I Have Always Been

One of the greatest challenges in this life is discovering who we are. How is this done? How do I learn about myself and my purpose on this earth?

I have been trying to focus on this more lately. I want to feel I have a purpose for being here. I think I would be a lot more productive.

A quote by Sheri Dew: (of course it is from, No Doubt About It)

"...how eager the Lord is to unveil the knowledge stored safely inside our spirits about who we are and what our mission is.

...It is the Spirit who reveals to us our identity-which isn't just who we are, but who we have always been. And when we know, our lives take on a purpose so stunning that we are changed forever."

I want a stunning purpose, I want to be changed forever. I'm so jealous right now of those who know about themselves!

I know that I have deep within me, SOMEWHERE, special talents to fulfill my purpose. The problem? I'm not quite sure of what they are. How grateful I am that I have been given the gift of the Holy Ghost. Because of him, I can know!! I just have to be willing to be tuned in to listen! (why is that the hard part?)

Favorite Book, Favorite Author

Some of you might be thinking you did not read that title correctly. Larae reading? Larae doesn't read. While this is normally true, there are a few books that I actually make time for. One is my scriptures, the other is anything written by Sheri Dew.

I just finished reading, No Doubt About It, again. Yes, I said again. There is a book in this world that I read all the way through and re-read it. And I just might read it for a third time! I love it that much!

If you have never read it, it must be put on your list of "Things to do Before I Die".

A little part I'd like to share:

"...we have always been women of God. We have repeatedly made righteous choices, on both sides of the veil, that demonstrate our faith and faithfulness. We have bound ourselves to the Lord with the most binding covenants of mortality. We have been and are so much more valiant than we think. We have so much more divine potential than we can comprehend."

Just one of the reasons I like it so much. If you want you can borrow my copy, but you will have to read through all the highlighted passages and my side notes. I think it is a book every woman should own!!

Boy Day vs. Girl Day

Boy Day:

Dustin woke up early today and took the boys on an ATV ride with his dad, Russ. I heard they had a really good time. Aaron told me that his brother and him had a peeing contest. I guess a must when all boys are around. Who won? Aaron. He told me that he and Grandpa almost rolled the quad THREE times. Something every mother loves to hear. Thank goodness for helmets! I heard that Ryan acts a lot like his mom when it comes to getting too close to the edge of a mountain. I admit it, I'm a scardy- cat, so is Ryan. We have to have a couple people in this family with enough common sense to stay away from the edge, something bad could happen.


Girl Day:

We girls slept in. I ended up missing Super Saturday. I was bummed. We all got ready and went to do some shopping. I wanted to go to the Distribution Center. I needed a DVD and I wanted to buy the Preach My Gospel manual. I heard it's a good tool for family night. While there I learned that they discontinued the Gospel Art Kits. I was sad, but I improvised. I bought a few pictures of the Savior's life with the stories on back. I will pick a scripture related to the picture for everyone to memorize and keep both on the fridge all week. I envied the new Temple dresses, I think I will be buying one soon. My girls sat and watched a video of Christ the whole time. I left with the song, Jesus was No Ordinary Man stuck in my head.

On the way home we stopped and got some lunch. McDonald's of course!

I decided I wanted to venture to Seagull Book. We bought some coloring books and each girl got to pick a little something. Grace picked a stuffed animal, Kate picked a HUGE Batman coloring book (typical, anything NOT girly), and Becca chose a Hello Kitty sticker book.

Pretty eventful day, but I think I enjoyed my day more!! I love spending girl time with my girls. Next time we should probably switch. I'm up for doing boy things, but peeing contests are out! I'd loose anyway.

Promises Not Forgotten

Dustin called me other day to inform me that he had been called into his Lieutenant's office. When he spoke these words my heart skipped a beat and butterflies swarmed in my belly. I feared what would come next.

He went on and informed me that in their visit he was praised tremendously for his work ethic. To use his Lieutenant's words, " they (his work achievements) are not going unnoticed." I was so excited for him! He leads in responses to calls, tickets, and a whole lot of other stuff that I don't quite remember. In some he more than leads, he blows the others out of water! His Lieutenant encouraged him to keep up the good work.

After we hung up the phone, I was reminded of all the apprehensions I had in coming to the conclusion that Dustin should make this drastic career change. Money being the #1 worry. I remember being told by the Spirit not to worry, that Dustin would move up quickly and we would be taken care of. It is a relief to see those promises being fulfilled. He has found favor with his Sargent, as well, who happens to be over all the overtime, part-time jobs. Coincidence? I don't think so. Dustin has been able to supplement a fair amount of the pay cut. He just got hired on for a permanent part-time position.

I feel very blessed and love. I am so grateful to know that Heavenly Father watches over us and keeps his promises. We just have to be willing to take that jump in the dark, trusting that His light will be there to guide us!

Mod Podge Projects

I have been trying to get all my kids' rooms done. They are slowly, but surely coming along. For Kate and Becca's room I have been working on some things to hang on the wall. I'm pretty happy with the ending product (however, that K will bug me to the end of time because I didn't get it centered very well).

I got the shelf from Roberts and had my husband paint it, he's bored and always needs something to do. The frames I got from Wood Connection. Had Dust paint those too. I know how to paint, I promise. The letters I got from Hobby Lobby. All the paper and embellishments were courtesy of Joann; they have the cutest paper!!

In the shelf I will be putting black and white pics of Kate and Bec. I just have a few more projects for their room and I will be able to check theirs off my to-do-list. I really enjoy actually accomplishing a goal!!

Here are a few pics!!