Breakin my own Rule

Okay. I am breaking my own rule. I dearly love listening to President Uchtdorf speak. If you have not heard his talk entitiled "forget me not." Here are a few of my favorite quotes from his talk (Womens Conference September 2011):

"Dear sisters, many of you are endlessly compassionate and patient with the weaknesses of others. Please remember also to be compassionate and patient with yourself. In the meantime, be thankful for all the small successes in your home, your family relationships, your education, and livelihood, your church participation and personal improvement....God notices them and they are not small to him."

"An acceptable sacrifice is when we give up something good for something of far greater worth."

"The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not an obligation; it is a pathway, marked by our loving Father in Heaven, leading to happiness and peace in this life and glory and inexpressible fulfillment in the life to come."

And now my FAVORITE:

"As a child, when I would look at the little forget-me-nots, I sometimes felt a little like that flower -- small and insignificant. I wondered if I would be forgotten by my family or by my Heavenly Father. Years later I can look back on the young boy with tenderness and compassion. And I do know now--I was never forgotten. And I know something else: as an Apostle of our Master, Jesus Christ, I proclaim with all the certainty and conviction of my heart-- neither are you!

My dear sisters, you are closer to heaven than you suppose. You are destined for more than you can possibly imagine. 

How wonderful!

http://www.lds.org/ensign/2011/11/forget-me-not?lang=eng
For the full article, you can click on the link above. Enjoy! The message is simple and pure.
 

Ben's Preschool Graduation

Ben graduated from 3-year-old preschool this week. He was quite cute up there singing songs. He had a terrible head cold/allergies and wasn't his smiley self. Oh well. At least I got some pictures. Need to post them so we can remember this celebration of mediocrity!

 

Ever the Gentleman

Ben is a gentleman. Either that or he's lazy and doesn't want his little girlfriend Courtnee to know it. As I was tackling the weeds in my flower beds a month ago, I looked over and saw Ben getting two camp chairs out and two otter pops. One for him and one for Courtnee. They just sat and enjoyed their afternoon sundry. Ahh, the simple life!

First Day At Lagoon 2012

After several months of debate, Marty and I took the plunge. We bought Lagoon season passports. We woke up one Saturday morning and said "let's take the boys to Lagoon." We got the house clean and off we went.

It was a rather cold Saturday. Sweatshirts and jackets needed. The boys had a blast. Poor Ben is just about "this" too short to ride the super fun roller coasters. Fine by me. I chose to go on the kiddy rides with him while Mart rode the big kid rides.

We finally met up at Bom Bora where we could all ride. Big mistake. I am not the 12 year old I used to be. Even that relatively mild coaster sent my and Marty's tummys tumbling. We called it quits after that. I have yet to bring back the nerve to return. Maybe tomorrow or Monday? We'll see.

 

Cheap Thrills

I am not going for mother of the year here. I have never aspired to that title. I only want to be cherished in the eyes of Marty and our children. Therefore, I gave the boys 2 little hammers, some scrap wood, and took it to the curb. they had a blast hitting the old oak shelves. Such cheap thrills. As long as those are the only cheap thrills they enjoy!

 

Ben's PreK Field Trip to the Park

My sweet Ben went to the park with his preschool class for a field trip. They took picnic lunches of foods starting with P. Ben had a Lunchable Pizza, pudding, peaches, popcorn, punch, and circus peanuts. He loved it. He loved playing with all his little friends. I loved being there and watching him. Being his mom is a joy!

 

Catch Up

I'm trying to catch up in our boring lives. Nothing much goes on. I don't want to bore the occasional reader with my church stuff; that's private for others who are closer to me. No offense. I am not one to say "look at me and what I do." Bleh.

Aunt Jane had her annual Easter egg hunt in true democratic fashion. Uncle Richard called out a color of an egg, after which each child went to find that egg, turn it in, and redeem it for a prize. There were exactly the same number of each colored egg as there were children. Socialism at its finest!

The kids enjoyed it and I did too. It's my chance every year to compare our current federal government to Aunt Jane's Easter egg hunt.