My Journal

 We had a very relaxing morning with Come Follow Me done by Benson and then we went to church where we had the Easter program. The primary sung Gethsemane and the other sung by two sister was beautiful Because He Lives. It was a short and simple program. They put candles around the chapel and handed everyone a tea light to hold while we sang. This Little Light of Mine. It was different. The music was beautiful and powerful. It made me stop to think about musical numbers and how it helps me grow threw them. My mom had a hard time with the Sacrament meeting.  Later in the afternoon I took my parents to the school to give them a tour. It was a beautiful day today.

 The temple will be closed all of April and into May so Michael and I decided to squeeze in another temple trip so we left at 5:30 am and did initiatory. We got home around 9am so I had almost an hour at home before I went over to the church at 10 to practice a song for tomorrow's sacrament meeting. Then the younger four and Michael and I went to Evan and Benson's first basketball practice and game. Roslyn, Maebryn and I went and got lunch at Rosa's Cafe...even though Maebryn didn't want any. After we got lunch we went to pick up Mom and Dad from the airport. We then went back to basketball with Evan and Benson. It sounded like Evan's game went well and we got to see Benson. They played well. Today was Roslyn's birthday celebration. In the morning while we were at the temple she had French Toast and then opened a couple of presents when we were home for a minute. Rosa's was her lunch and then when we got home we had pizza and chocolate cake. It was a beautif...

 Evan's birthday celebration. Michael made scones last night for him so I just had to warm them up in the morning. We ate scones and had Evan open a couple of presents then Alden, Calvin and I went to Friday school while the rest of the kids stayed home. Friday school went well. My second period is still really full but I have more of a plan and I just plan on it being that way and move forward with it. After school I went and got Olive Garden for lunch for Michael's work and got some food for our family with it as well which we plan on having for Evan's dinner.  After birthday lunch at Michael's work I came home and had time to snuggle my little Maebryn as she has been really sick with quite a fever. Michael worked on Evan's cheesecake. We watched a zoo show on BYU tv for Roslyn's game time...Evan was upstairs playing game time but he came down to watch the show with us and really enjoyed it.  We then had Evan's birthday celebration. He was excited about al...

 Maebryn threw up a number of times in the night so I left seminary early to get home to check on her and to get Calvin all set to stay home with her while I went to school. I had a meeting during my first block to go over my teaching with one of the teachers that was set to observe. I always worry about these types of meetings as I have had both good and bad mentors but she was great! She was so positive...one of the best things a mentor can do in my opinion...most of us know what we are doing wrong we just need to know that we are doing something right and what those things are. Also I loved her suggestions.  They all had to do with adding more of God and service into my teaching...even though she said I am doing more of that then many but I just loved that she knows what really is best. We all need to add more of God into all that we do. Today we were gearing up for Evan's birthday celebration tomorrow. (Evan and Roslyn decided to celebrate their birthdays early as their ac...

 Seminary started back today and was breakfast and combined lesson. We really only have about six more weeks after this. Michael and I made French toast and sausage and then had yougart and granola. After seminary it was time for me to go to the doctor. I hadn't been for a few years so I figured it was time. Everything looked good at the doctors the only thing was that my bloodwork showed that I am low on vitamin D. With summer and gardening I think that will be fixed naturally. Alden, Calvin and I started a new family on the piano today. They were a really good little family that had a great teacher prior who had taught them well as they were all very good. We are excited to start teaching them.

 We are studying Colombia. The kids loved the pictures for this one as they are people that have lots of volume they thought the pictures were so funny, they enjoyed laughing at the style. I am getting where school doesn't exhaust me as much and I can come home and get things done afterwards where prior I would be done for the day. I have energy to work a little in the yard or clean up. It has been really good.

 Seminary doesn't start until Wednesday which was really nice to have the day off to start into routine. I got everyone's lesson in early since I was able to get most of my kids lessons done before Lauren and her family came for lessons at 10am. After their lessons we had lunch and I got the kids math graded. They had lessons, choir and orchestra in the afternoon. Because of having the extra time I was able to get dinner made and have it ready before orchestra so that I could get everyone fed right after and then get everyone ready for bed. Michael and I then went to Civil Air Patrol right around 8:30 to be their for the awards ceremony as Calvin got his Wright Brother's award and advanced to sergeant. 

 It was a beautiful Sabbath day. It was a great low key Sunday with beautiful weather. The kids are practicing to sing Gethsemane next week and I have been practicing with a couple of sisters in the ward to sing Because He Lives. I think my favorite part of the day other than Sacrament meeting was going for a walk as a family.

 I got to the school around 6:00 am to be there when parents dropped their kids of to go to the golf fundraiser. I first brought some things in to organize my closet. By then people started coming so we did art, played at the Preschool house, a nature scavenger hunt, dress up/ theatre and then playdough and clean up. I got caught up on this my journal and worked on some things for school.  At a couple of moments I thought...maybe I should have had her pay me for this as it was a big chunk of the day but overall it was good and in the end when her husband came to get the kids he gave me $100 dollar bill as a thank you. It was nice of them. I did appreciate that. Came home and worked on planting my Iris's. It was really warm so I jumped into the pool. Over all a good day.  

 I woke up at 4am this morning so I read my scriptures and then started on some last minute projects that have been on my mind. I cleaned out the closet with the sewing things and sheets. I ended up having to finish it throughout the morning but I love it. It felt so good to get it done. I have been slowly working on my closet throughout the week and this was like the last piece of the puzzle. I fixed the drawer for the wrapping paper that has been broken forever and then went through all of the things in that closet. It looks so much better and feels good to have it functional. All of the sewing things were in a number of bags and things but I now have them all in this little sewing container. It's beautiful.  Morgan Forest from the ward needed a place for her girls to go so she brought them over in the morning at 8:00 and they stayed until 2pm. I left at ten to help Frances clean out her storage unit. When we got their she got a little overwhelmed so we just took out a coupl...

 Today was to be my one day to be home all day. I decided to start it off by working in the yard. The kids moved mulch and cleaned out the rocks by the pool so that I could lay down some good landscape fabric to keep the weeds from growing. They all did a great job and by around 10:30 they had done mostly all that I had asked them to do. It was good timing because Amanda called and asked if I could go start and interview for someone that might be the language arts teacher next year. The baby chicks had hatched so the kids came to see them but the barn was locked so they didn't actually get to see the chicks but they got to play for a bit while I gave a tour and visited with the possible new employee. Once back home I had promised them a movie for working in the yard. They watched Apollo 13 because it was on BYUTV so it was edited. It wasn't Maebryn and Roslyn's favorite so I ended up putting on Bernstien Bears for them. While the movie was going I helped Evan make dinner, h...

 I was a little concerned because I didn't get a confirmation email about our temple appointment. I went to check and realized that I had scheduled it for February 18th...so I didn't even have an appointment but I decided we were going to go anyways. I did call Martha and let her know. It ended up working out great! We got there just as a large group was leaving and we went right in and were in and out in perfect timing just as if we had an appointment. Frances was glad to go and Evan, Rolsyn and Maebryn had a wonderful time at Martha's. This lady comes and does language arts with them and an art project. It was fun to see all that they had done. We got home in perfect time to get Frances to institute just as they were starting.  We got home in time for me to teach afternoon lessons and do some work around the yard. I had some plants I had been wanting to plant and got everything watered as it is really starting to warm up.  Benson made pizza for the first time. He did a ...

 Yesterday we had brought down the Easter things and in them their was a few St. Patrick's Day items, one of them being little gold tokens. I decided to make a gold path in the morning that led to the freezer where I had little microwave cups of eggs and sausage...I told them they were their little pots of gold. I had them and it was something simple to try and show that it was a little of a special day. The younger four then got ready and we all headed out to the Abliene Zoo. I was super tired as we left but really enjoyed our time there and then did just fine driving home. On the way home I did stop and get Wendy's for the kids. I think they enjoyed their time at the zoo. I was amazed as we were there at how much Evan and Benson know about all of the animals. There were a couple of places where they told me about the animal and then when I read the information on the animal it said almost the exact same things. At home Roslyn and I made corn beef and cabbage for dinner and th...

 We were suppose to have some lessons in the morning but they canceled so really we had all morning to get things done. Monday's I teach almost everyone their lessons and then need to grade and go over math for everyone. It just ends up taking quite a bit of time. But since their wasn't seminary we got started early and I was able to get Evan's, Roslyn's and Maebryn's lesson done before 10am so we were able to go to the petting zoo at the library. We enjoyed our time there. We then went home, had lunch, I taught Calvin his lesson and had one student come and then I went to dress Pat Hunsaker in her temple clothes. I was so grateful to have the opportunity to do this. It was neat experience.  After I visited with Alicia for a while finding out more about Pat's life. I had visited her often at the nursing home but only got bits and pieces of her life so it was neat to have it all put together for me. I got home in the later afternoon in time to get Calvin started ...

 We all slept in quite a bit. Michael and I went together to pick up Frances. Alden took the kids to church. Michael wanted to check on Frances' hot water heater. When we were looking at it, it looked like it wasn't turned on so I turned it on and reset it and when we got back after church it was working just fine. (I guess it hadn't been working for months.) The other problem was that there was a leak, we weren't able to fix it but did help taking out some drawers to see if we could see where the leak was coming from. After that we went home, ate and enjoyed some of the beautiful weather. Then in the evening I went over to pick up Frances to go to the RS broadcast. It was really good. The one quote I remember the most is "you can do hard alone or you can do hard with Christ". I then came and home and went to bed. Excited for a week off with it being Spring break but also looking at it realizing that the week had filled up quickly.

 Today was a big work day in the yard, we started moving a lot of the mulch that we have had on our driveway. We also worked on weeding as all of the weeds are really starting to pop up. It is fun to see the yard taking shape. I should have gotten more pictures of everyone working but I did get one where you could see the couple of areas that we filled with mulch. In the afternoon we were all pretty exhausted. Maebryn watched a movie that I normally would work threw but I mostly just sat down and watched it.

 Sewing went well...still crazy especially during my second period but it was a good day. In the evening Michael and I went to Springtown nursery. We got two colorful pots for our front porch and a few plants. We got an apple that had apples already growing on it and a lemon tree that had lemons on it. We find we do better if they already have fruit growing...at least we get some fruit the first year. 😆 At night we watched a "God is Here" a movie that one of my student's sister was in. It was a good but sad movie. Maebryn gives me so many beautiful paintings that I can't keep them all, so I took a picture of a number of them.

 Today in my class we learned about Spanish nursery rhymes. The lesson went really well and just felt like a more relaxed day. I am were I can come home and still have energy to get other things done. In the evening I went with Alden to his end of the year robotics party. It was at a home of one of them in robotics, they had a beautiful yard...I'm excited to get working on my own yard this coming week with spring break. (Just before we left to Alden's robotics thing all of the kids were playing games on the trampoline together. I love to see them all playing together and realize that these moments are moments I love and want to remember and ones that won't be around much longer.)

 Today was a wonderful day. Seminary went really well, once home I taught Benson his lesson and then had Lauren and her family come over for their lessons. After lessons we went to Sister Johnson's and Lauren and her family came as well. The kids had fun playing with all of the dollhouses and then we came home where I did some weeding and then we went to an orthodontist appointment for Benson. I had another lesson and went to visit Frances but overall it was a very relaxed and good day.

 Today was good. School was simple and went well. Afterwards I got dinner in the oven and a salad made. Had time to water the plants and go for a walk with Michael when he got home. Then did homework with Roslyn and Maebryn. Evan got some homework done as well. Right now it is raining outside, everyone is tucked in bed and I have everything in the van to take to seminary tomorrow and I feel good about my lesson. I love being prepared. I also just feel good about the future even with problems all around I feel so optimistic. It's a beautiful life.

 Seminary went well and afterwards I was to take the Aston's while she went in for chemo. They weren't there until around 8:00...at first I started to be frustrated but then realized this was a time that I didn't need to go anywhere so it didn't matter and I didn't need to worry that it wasn't on my time table. I got to work on my slide show presentation for Chile that I will be doing at school tomorrow and I got home just before the groceries came. (Something that I was concerned about but then I realized...God always takes care of these things, I don't need to worry or be pushy, things will just work out.) And of course they did.  At home I was able to do Roslyn's and Evan's lesson right away. It was so nice I had all of my kids lessons done before 10. I then had a few extra minutes...I ate breakfast but it is different for me to have a few spare minutes. I did a couple of things and then started on lunch, Amanda called and needed me to start a tou...

 Today was suppose to have a number of things but many ended up cancelling and it was a low key Sunday. I was going to pick up a Spanish sister and Frances, but both fell through, so I didn't have anyone extra with me at church. I was also suppose to practice a song after church but the other person couldn't do it.  I ended up being able to come home, go for a walk with the girls, then planted my daffodils that my mom had sent for my birthday. It was a beautiful day and I just wanted to be outside in it. Michael and I also went over to set up for seminary and I was able to set everything up for my lesson which just felt nice to have it all set up and ready to go. The kids all got their poem written. It was just a wonderful and beautiful Sabbath.

 Up until this day I have been having an herbal cleanse pill. I have had a little runny nose but today it was terrible. It was a constant runny nose and sneezing, just like it was about a month ago when I think I might have had the flu...but now I wonder if that wasn't because of herbs as well, since it was a day after I had had lots of herbal teas.  I debated cancelling everything but went to the temple which was wonderful...even though was rough because of the runny nose. I then went with Michael grocery shopping, came home for a little bit and then went to art. In art we used grocery sacks to make flowers, it worked out really well and was a lot of fun. By this time the runny nose had slowed down a bit but was still really bad. Right after the girls and I went to a birthday party for one of my piano students. It was a Wizard of Oz theme and was done very well. I was super impressed.  We got home just in time for the missionaries to come over for dinner and then I went ...

 I love Thursdays, mostly because it marks the end of my more rigorous week. It is often the hardest day to get up for seminary as I am usually the most tired at this point, but today wasn't too bad...maybe from having such a low key day yesterday. In school we talked about taking care of the earth and practiced saying words of things out in nature. It was a good day at school and I had enough energy to do some yard work and get laundry in, dinner ready ect.

 Temple Day- Martha took everyone today and used our van since it had more seats and I took her van. It was a nice low key day. The girls and Evan played with their kids while I cleaned the garage, wrote my Mom's birthday card, fixed our broken garbage can and just lots of little odds and ends. In the afternoon I got a birthday breakfast made for seminary in the morning and our dinner for tomorrow. It was a nice day. Maebryn started reading I pushed her just the last couple of days and she is starting to figure it out. It has been neat to see it clicking. The other day she was near tears with frustration, I wondered if I was doing the right thing but decided to push through anyways, it worked out that was what did it. Things finally clicked. Motherhood has a lot of moments like this...knowing whether to push or let off. Mostly I think it is best to push but there are times when letting off can be best.

 Today at school we started learning about Bolivia. It was a nice low key day, learning about Bolivia and everyone putting the flag and pictures in their folder. After school my piano lessons canceled so I had time to prepare for my seminary lesson tomorrow morning. I've started trying not to eat past 5pm. We'll see how it goes.

 Monday's are full but good days. I taught Seminary on eternal marriage using the story of Isaac and Rebekah. It went well, I then went straight to get the car inspection done so that we can get the new registration. I got home in just enough time to eat breakfast and be here for Lauren and her family's piano lessons. Once they left I taught Roslyn, Evan and Alden their lessons, got dinner, graded Benson and Evan's math, helped Roslyn with her math and then my 2:00 lesson came. I didn't have a moment to spare but it all got fit into the day. Between that lesson and choir I always have a little bit of time in which I was able to call to get a doctor's appointment but then it was choir, beginner orchestra and advanced. Full but good days.

 Today was going to be a fairly full day but ended up being quite relaxing. I did prepare by making food for break the fast last night. In the morning slept in, then we had a short Come Follow Me as a family. Then Evan, Roslyn, Maebryn and I went to Lawson's baptism. It was probably one of the shortest baptism's I have been too but was all done so well. His sister gave the talk on baptism that I could tell she wrote, so good and cute and all of a minute or two.  His dad talked on the Holy Ghost and was also quite short. Him and his cousins sang the 4th article of faith. It was all done so well and I was glad that I got to be there. Miracle: They had forgotten to fill the fount and it usually takes 5 hours to do so, but their were some firefighters from Utah that happened to be at their ward because they were coming to fight some fires and they asked if they could help fill the fount and they were able to do so. We left the baptism in just the right amount of time to be able to...