Ward Choir

When we moved into our home, I decided it was time to start attending ward choir again. I was a dedicated attendee in my teenage years (when Brandon was the choir pianist), but having kids put my love of choir on hold for a while.

Then, when our Bishop wisely called Brother Martin to be the choir director, I resolved to start attending again. In the two years since he has been the director, we have sung so many wonderful songs. I love the peaceful feeling that comes into my heart when I attend ward choir.

This past Sunday we preformed this lovely rendition of A Child's Prayer. We had only been practicing it for a few weeks, yet the performance turned out perfect (although we had our doubts just 30 minutes before Sacrament meeting).

Part of the words in this song say:

He is there
He is listening
His love surrounds you

I haven't been able to get these words out of my head. They are such a tender reminder to me that God and Jesus Christ love me. At times, I feel like nobody loves me (ridiculous, I know) and these words confirm to my soul that I am loved.

A week or so ago my Mother-in-law shared this quote by President Benson with me. He said;

“Nothing will surprise us more than when we get to heaven and see the Father and realize how well we know Him and how familiar His face is to us".

I think we will feel the same way when we meet Christ again. I am anxious for that day.

V day at our house

At the beginning of February I received a coupon in the mail for JCPenny. I decided we should use it to buy Brandon's v-day present. That way we could get something a little more expensive, and it would still be within our budget for the holiday ($25 this year). So a week or so ago we went and managed to find him some measuring cups. He has wanted the kind that you can see the measurement just by looking straight down into the cup. Anyway, it's a bit confusing, but he was so excited to get them. I'm excited to have him start using them.

We hand delivered his present to him at work the morning of Valentine's day. He had no idea we were coming, so it was quite a surprise. It was fun to spend some time with him at work. It was also nice to visit his wonderful co-workers and wish them a wonderful day too.

The day before I and my good friend Alicia, spent the morning together making homemade snickers for our husbands. We had so much fun while our three kiddos played happily together. We only had one major disaster, and it didn't take too long for the smoke to clear out of the kitchen. We decided that we make a great team in the kitchen.

Every year for V-day dinner Brandon wants to get KFC chicken. We did it once when Peter was a baby, but we haven't done it since (it makes me feel like a slacker if I don't have a fancy homemade meal on this night). Well, this year I conceded and we bought a bunch of KFC food and came home and ate it. Brandon loved the chicken, Peter loved to mashed potatoes, I loved the biscuits, and Luke loved it all. I think this meal will be our annual tradition from now on.

Being the sweetie that he is, Brandon bought me a box of chocolates and this very soft teddy bear. This is Mr. Teddy #3. He gave me Teddy #1 on the night we were engaged and Teddy #2 when the first one got nasty and old. Anyway, both the boys and I love him. I was especially greatful that Brandon was able to stay within budget for my presents this year. We (I) am really trying hard to cut back on frivolous expenditures this year.

This last picture is just a funny one that happens because I have a house full of boys. Luke did this and it amazes me that he was even able to reach this shelf in the fridge. What a silly boy.

Going on a date

Brandon and I got to go on a "real" double date today with our favorite people to hang out with. We went bowling at BYU, ate lunch at Chick-fil-A, and finished of the date with icecream at Macey's. We had a glorious time, and our kids had a delightful time at their friend Connor's house. Thank you Steve and Vashti for the amazing day. Thank you Alicia for watching our picky eater, Luke, and video game fanatic, Peter.

Doing homeschool

Some of you may know that I'm planning on homeschooling my kiddos. In order to start Peter preparing for kindergarten, I bought a cheap workbook from a local store and we've been doing sheets out of it every day. Today was a delightful day with him. He loves to do "homeschool" and today he even wanted to do two pages.

Every day when he decides he is ready, we go and get the book and cozy up on my bed. Then he sorts through the pages and decides which one he wants to do. Since I'm not worried about structure at this point, I let him pick whatever he wants. Today he picked this one. I proceeded to tell him what the instructions wanted us to do. However, I could see that it was beyond his level. So, I told him that we would work together to find out what number was and then we would have him underline it. After that, we would copy the letters exactly as they were written. He loved doing it!

If it was a letter he was unfamiliar with he would ask me to draw dots that he could trace over. After doing that for a while he decided that he wanted to figure out how to draw the letter v. As you can see, he did quite a bit of practicing. It was thrilling as a mother to see him so excited about writing. I loved it so much. While he was at it, he also learned how to draw the letter A, h, and n. I hope that he will continue to enjoy it. It's days like today that make me so thankful I was homeschooled. I'm also getting so excited to homeschool Peter. I know we are going to have so much fun.

A lot of fun with Burlap

Back in October I bought a few yards of burlap from the fabric store to make a bag for onions. Well, the other day I decided to use it to make some fun V-Day decorations. I've had a blast making these things and I hope they will be sturdy enough to use for a few years, at least.

To those I admire most

My cousin posted this thought earlier this week on Facebook:  

Sometimes the people we respect the most, turn out to be the people that have gone through the hottest fires.

I've been thinking a lot about this quote and I've come to the realization that Heavenly Father loves me a whole lot since he has allowed me to admire so many amazing people. The top of my list starts with Christ and then I could fill pages and pages of the people whom I admire. It just reminds me that God knows who I can best learn from, and he guides me to become a part of life when I need them the most.

So, if you are reading this post, know that you are included on that list because you are on my "hero" list. I salute you for all the fires you've had to endure and for the example you are to me.

Luke turns 3

This past week Luke turned three and we were all so thrilled. Brandon was able to take the day off work (I'm so thankful he has a job where he can do that), and we all have a marvelous day. Luke opened his presents first thing in the morning and he was thrilled with all of them. I was thankful because we really struggled with what to get him for his birthday this year.

Later that night Grandpa and Grandma Thomas came over to give him their presents and all he wanted to do was show Grandpa how awesome a Superman he was. This is a picture of him trying to show Grandpa what Superman does.

In my journal I wrote down some of his favorite things:

Breakfast every morning is 2 Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwitches (with the crust cut off)
His favorite dinner is Pizza or Chicken Tetrazzini
Loves piggy back rides
Learning how to use sizzors
Gettering better at coloring
Loves to play with kids - especially Connor and Blake
Loves to ride his tigger airplane
Enjoys super heros
Talks, talks, talks, all the time
Getting better at the potty every day
Eats pepporoni as a snack
Double dips when eating peanut butter out of the jar
Loves to drink water and often wakes in the middle of the night wanting more
Loves to wrestle Peter
Still sleeps with Mickey Mouse blankie every night
Loves to eat chips
Is obsessed with dinosours and animals
Loves to take a bath
Stopped taking consistent naps in September

I look forward to a fun filled year with this mischievous little kid. I hope that he will gain more dexterity with a crayon and that he'll be better at recognizing his colors. I am also nervous/excited to see how he responds once I start our homeschooling adventures with Peter. I hope he'll be just as excited as Peter to jump in and learn....but in reality I don't know if he will be able to sit that long. He is an energetic little cutie.

It's amazing to remember what a scared and nervous mommy I was the days following his birth. He had to be in the NICU for two days and I was a wreck about it. He has been such a trooper ever since that day and I'm very grateful that we haven't had any more medical problems.