I love Cemetaries!

We are visiting my parents on their LDS mission in Independence, Missouri.  We arrived late last night and it was pitch black.  We went in to their apartment and went to bed.  Early this morning I took my dog out to the bathroom and was so shocked to see that right across the street is a beautiful cemetery.  

This cemetery is very old and has graves from the early 1800's.  We took a wonderful walk through the cemetery on this beautiful Thanksgiving morning.  I was so touched to see the respect given to the deceased's grave.  Many families have added new headstones for the family area.  I also noticed that when the headstones break or tip over they leave them where they fall.

Hear is a picture of a old stone that is almost tipped over.

Here is one that has broken off.

Here is one that has been fallen for awhile.

I love and respect my ancestors and love to see a beautiful cemetery.

I am so thankful on this beautiful Thanksgiving day for my family.  I love them so much.  

 

 

 

Language of love!

This week my sister Judi and family came to visit.  I haven't seen her or her children for a year and a half.  That is a long time when dealing with small children.  Her oldest son William remembered me, but Thomas didn't and I have never met Nathan.  Judi's kids are very shy.  I tried to talk to Thomas but he would just cover his eyes and hide.  Should I just give up? NEVER!!!  Thomas is really into motorcycles.  He found a couple of Sam's old motorcycle and played with them the whole time.  I thought to myself what can I do to make this boy love me?  I said to William and Thomas lets make a really cool motorcycle track on the coffee table.  We talked about the things a great motorcycle course would have.  William's favorite thing is crafts so I was killing two birds with one stone. 

Above is William helping with the construction.

 

We made a rock pit of skittles (Thomas loves skittles so that one disappeared soon :)), we made a pit of stick with pretzels, we made hills and tunnels. 

 

We had speed bumps and pebble pits made of nerds. We had so much fun creating this course.  Thomas raced his motorcycles for hours. 

 

 He talked to me, looked at me and actually liked me.  I LOVED IT!!!

 

The youngest Nathan was easy.  He seemed to like me from the beginning.  But he loved my dog.  I let him have his own ice cream cone (which I think about gave Judi a nervous breakdown).  He walked around and my dog followed him everywhere.  He loved it and it was so cute.

 

 Nathan sharing his ice cream cone. :)

When you love someone you say it and show it! To show someone that you love them is by being interested in what they love.  Are you willing to do what they enjoy to make them happy? I try and use this with my husband and kids, but it is very useful in other situations.  I love my nephew's and was so grateful for the time I had to bond with them.  Thomas even gave me a big hug when they left (that is huge!).  Thanks Judi and Mike for taking the time and money to come and visit. We had so much fun! We love you guys.

Trying not to be the crazy aunt!!

I am sitting here waiting for my sister Judi and her family to arrive.  I have not seen them for a year and a half.  I have not even met her baby (who is one) yet.  Her kids do not know me, but I love them.  I want to grab them, kiss them and "pinch their cheeks".  I am trying to convince myself not to be the crazy aunt when they arrive, but lets be honest I can't promise anything. 

Look at those cute faces!  I might even have to pinch Mikes cheeks too. :)

 

Little boys and church clothes don't mix!

When my twins were in Kindergarten there was a little boy in their class that wore a suit to school everyday (including tie).  His parents couldn't get him to wear anything else.  As we got ready for church today and had the usual problems with my son, "my shirt is itchy"...."I don't want to wear a tie"...."I don't want to tuck my shirt in"..."I look stupid".  I wonder why we have to have this fight every week?  I try and be kind and even let him wear his new green Nike socks.  It always ends the same, him dressed, tie on and shirt tucked in.  Why does he have to disrupt every Sunday morning when he knows we will win? I have never given in.  I know I am not the only one with Sunday morning issues, but I always hope it won't happen.  Maybe it is just the adversary working on us, but I am tired of it.  If only Nike would make Church clothing!

Even though the morning was hard, we had a great day at church.  We had Stake Conference and it was very spiritual.  I loved hearing about our friend Linda's conversion to the church, she said she was searching for something and said a prayer.  Within one hour two sister missionaries knocked on her door.  That is so cool. If you are searching for something check out www.mormon.org.  Hope you all had a great Sabbath day.

Infertility!

I have been subbing lately and my favorite is High School.  Yesterday I showed up to sub health and discovered that we were learning the reproductive organs (no wonder the teacher called in sick).  It was easy and everything went fine, but it made me think.  I know all the parts and stuff, but my body is broken.  I have been married fifteen years and have never gotten pregnant on my own.  I have three beautiful children from IVF (which I am so thankful for).  Everyone knows I love babies.  I spent years wanting one of my own.  It was a sad time in my life, but also a great time as I spent years alone with my husband.  I am now thankful for that time I had with him (I sure love that guy).  It seems like infertility is running wild now and I don't know why.  I have multiple friends with my problem (PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome) which causes infertility and many other problems. 

 

We had so many people lecture us, from, you shouldn't put off a family for education, to, do I need to come over and show you how (seriously don't ever say that!).  So if you see a couple with no children or maybe only a few, be gentle, you never know their struggles. 

 

Here is a picture of one of my twins as a fertilized embryo, only days old and still in a petri dish (IVF).

 

 

My little twins (Sam 4 lbs. 11 oz. and Marlee 3 lbs. 13 oz.) that healed my heart.

 

I'm Making a List....

Sometimes I feel like Santa Claus (not because I like to eat cookiesJ) ….”I’m making a list, I’m checking it twice”.  I love to make list of things I need to do and I check it twice, 3x and more.  Both of my parents like to make list.  We are the type to get it all done.  I like to get everything done so that I can relax!  Happy list making....and yes I have already started making lists for Christmas.  I love the holidays and having it snow the other night makes it all feel close.  Bring on Thanksgiving and then Christmas.  HOHOHO!  What is on your list today?

 

I hate HEADACHES!

I have been missing from my blog for a few days due to a MASSIVE headache!  It made me think about how I use to suffer with a headache everyday and had multiple migraines every month.  This migraine was bad, but it has been months since I had one and I don't have a headache everyday anymore.  When they were really bad (six years ago), I prayed for help.  I had three small children and I couldn't call in sick.  One day I was at the gym on the treadmill when I noticed this guy on the TV talking about headaches.  I listened to him for the rest of the program.  I went straight out and bought his book.    I followed his plan (mostly made changes to my eating) exactly.  After a few months I was amazed with how few headaches I was having.  I still follow the his plan and am so thankful that I saw that show.  My sister Judi also follows it (better than me) and she is a believer.  So if you have headaches or migraines, I strongly recommend that you get this book and read it.  It has changed my life!

Heal Your Headache: The 1-2-3 Program for Taking Charge of Your Pain

• by David Buchholz

8 PM is the non-magical hour!

One of my greatest weaknesses is bed time.  Bed time is my NEMESIS! Something happens to me at 8PM.  It is like in the movie Shrek, when the sun goes down and the princess turns into an Ogre.  At 8pm my body is tired and I am "done working".  I just want to go to bed.  It is a constant battle for me to stay patient.  I want to be loving and calm all the time, but bed time gets the better of me.  I have never been a night person.  As a child I would fall asleep on the couch every night.  The fact that I don't get to go to bed until all my children are asleep sometimes makes me turn into an Ogre.  

 

My youngest daughter is a night owl and getting her to sleep is always a challenge.  Once she is asleep, she sleeps good all night.  My son is easy to put to bed, but an early riser.  My oldest daughter get frightened so I sit in the hall until she falls asleep.  She also comes into my room every night.  Each child has such a different sleep pattern that it drives me a little crazy.  Every night I get a new chance to stay a princess.  So as the clock strikes 8pm.....think is Katie an Ogre or a Princess?  Say a prayer that I can win the battle and stay a Princess!

How do you react when someone spills their milk?

In our house we have two different ways as parents that we handle “mistakes”.  When a glass of milk is spilled at dinner what is your gut reaction?  Do you feel frustrated with the person because of their clumsiness or do you rush to help?  I feel like we might need to come to the middle at our house.  One of us (who will not be namedJ) has the frustrated reaction and one of us is too patient.  I guess that is why we work well together.  I can calm him down, but he helps me not let the kids just be careless with no consequence.  I have learned over the last fifteen years of marriage to not react when “he who must not be named” over reacts after someone spills their milk.  That is just his gut reaction and I now know he doesn’t mean it.  He is doing better and tries really hard.  The other night after one of the children spilled their milk for the second time at dinner and I could see it was painful for him, but he held it together.  We laughed and I told the kids to call Grandma and see if he ever spilled milk as a boy.  He responded with “never I was a perfect boy!”  So next time someone “spills milk” think about what your reaction is.  If it is frustration, take a few deep breaths and remember everyone makes mistakes (even the perfect little boy).  Instead of getting mad, help solve the problem (your kids will thank you for it).  Hope everyone has a nice calm day.

Bullying is everywhere!

 

Last week we had a little episode where my son was bullied in our neighborhood.  Some bigger kids held him down and stole his shoes and it ended with my son crying and having a fat lip.  That was really hard as a mother to stay calm.  First, I comforted my son and took care of him and thought about how to handle the situation.  Luckily, I have a great neighbor and before I could even respond she had her son at my front porch to apologize.  The kid that really hurt him never did come and we have just decided we can't be around him.  My son was so sad because this was one of his best friends doing this.  I told this kid that he was being a bully and that was not ok with me.  I told him I would give him one more chance, but would not allow it.  Anytime you don't let someone do what they want (my son didn't want to play and wanted to leave) that is bullying.  We are back on good terms, but it made me think about it in our lives. 

When you think about people being bullied you think about kids at school.  But the more I think about it the more I realize it is all around us and can be hard to deal with as adult too.  Have you ever had someone at work who treats you bad?  It makes it hard especially if it is your boss.  It is hard to know how to stand up for yourself without jeopardizing your career.  I think "work bullies" might be the hardest kind to deal with.

 

I have also had experiences where people use "church" as a way to bully me.  It is hard to deal with a "church bully".  I love church and try really hard to choose the right and follow my leaders, but sometimes people want us to do things because that is what they want and they use the church to pressure people. That is not ok! 

 

When I was a child I was already much taller than everyone and I did not like bullies.  I took it upon myself to protect the weak. Sometimes this caused the bully to say mean things to me, but that was alright.  I have jumped in the middle of fights to protect kids. It is harder as a mother and wife to defend my family.  I can't be with them everywhere. So whether you are at work or playing outside, let us join together and stop the bullying.  Stand up to the people who are hurting, speaking mean, making fun of someone or trying to pressure people to do what they want.  Bullying isn't allowed in any form.