CTR Hero Primary Activity

Busy weekend again.  Will life ever slow down?  Our day started off with dad working on the shed...again.  He didn't get terribly far because Lily, Allie, and I had to be at a Primary activity by 10:00.  WE barely made it on time but we were there!  The Primary was divided into three groups, and I was quite happy to see Allie and Lily get separated. Allie is not very independent, so I knew this would be a good safe environment for her to work on that.  I was assigned to travel with one of the groups.  It had quite a few of my sunbeams in it.

We spent 15 minutes at three different stations, that would train the kids to be "CTR Heroes".  The first station was writing letters to soldiers {aka real heroes}  My group was heavy on little kids so they drew a ton of pictures and the big kids decided to draw right along with them.  We then spent time in the nursery.  We cleaned all the nursery toys with Clorox wipes.  I surprised how much fun the kids had doing this.  They were able to talk while cleaning so maybe that is why.  Lastly we went in and played CTR Jeopardy.  Some of those questions were hard!  The kids really enjoyed being able to answer the questions.  When time was up they begged to play it again sometime at church.

The whole primary came back together in the gym.  In there Sister Ward did some strength training with the kids.  It was so fun to watch them run around after her and do all sorts of fun stretches.  

Allie and Nate-Nate are really good friends. 

 I was happy I got some pictures of them together.

 

 I had to include this even though it is blurry.  

Poor Lily wanted to touch her toes so badly.  

She has super long legs and it was a bit painful for her to reach her toes.

And of course she has been taught at ballet to point her toes when stretching!

After the kids finished up their exercises they were rewarded with their CTR Hero capes.  Unfortunately, some of the decals on the capes didn't get printed right so they fell.  I only got this one picture of Allie in hers before both girls decals fell off.  I have plans to fix them for the girls because they were quite devastated they broke.

We were running late to get Lily to dance practice so we took our snack to go.  It was tons of fruits and veggies.  I was super surprised when my girls ate their celery and peanut butter.  Both requested it for snack in the future.  Super!  I'm so glad the Primary presidency put this little activity together for the kids.  Its great for them to have some bonding time with other kid members outside of our Sunday block!

Don't Eat the Prophet

My sister-in-law is always on top of things.  She found a great little activity at Latter-day Chatter called Don't Eat the Prophet.  

 Like Leslie I am going to add the names of each apostle/prophet.  Lily is really getting into reading right now so she will enjoy reading their names.  We are going to use this game sometime this weekend.  Maybe in between sessions?  Who knows, but we thought it would be fun to play the game with the rules of Don't Eat Pete.  Hopefully some of you will enjoy making this game for yourselves too! 

Christmas Devotional

Growing up my I never really watched the 1st Presidency Christmas Devotional.  I “think” my mom and dad watched it, but they never had me watch it. I was too wrapped up in my dealings to really notice that I was missing it either.

College was much the same.  I remember on a few occasions friends going and asking if I wanted to go and I would always turn them down.  As Russ and I got married and had children we didn’t go because it was difficult to take young children to an activity like this.

A few weeks ago Russ had me find out the date of this years devotional so that he could relay it to someone he was visiting.  This got me thinking about how I’ve really never seen one before and wanted to.  Time drew near and Russ and I decided that we would watch the devotional online this year.  That would work well for us because the girls could watch with us until they lose interest and then go do their thing.

We had a few tears setting up a place for everyone on the couch but once everyone calmed down we were all able to enjoy about 20 mins of the devotional together as a family.  The girls enjoyed listening to the music.

I personally enjoyed all three talks.  Each member of the presidency have a wonderful way of relating beautiful messages about the Savior that penetrate my heart.  Elder Uchtdorf’s message of Christmas being a time to look within ourselves really hit home.  This time of year truly is a time to look inward see how we can change and be more like our Savior. 

I’m excited that this devotional has given me much to think about particularly how our little family can focus more on the Savior at this time of year.  How grateful I am that we took the time to make this devotional a priority in our lives allowing us to learn and grow!

New calling

Last night I was out shopping when I got a phone call from one of the counselors in the bishopric.  He asked me to come in tomorrow so that someone in the bishopric could talk with me.  Immediately I realized I was getting released.  A lot of changes have been going on in our ward when a couple moved out of the ward.  They were both presidents in an auxiliary.  Also the primary president I have been working under has been in her calling for over three years.  That is a pretty long time.

After realizing I was getting released I then realized I was getting a new calling.  Since our ward is fairly small there is rarely a time anyone goes without a calling.  I then started fretting what it could be.  I fretted until today when me and the girls met with Bro. Whipple.  He laid out my calling and I breathed a sigh of relief. 15 minutes later I was released as the Primary secretary and sustained as the Primary 2nd counselor.

I felt relieved that I hadn't been called to many other more time consuming calling.  At the same time I feel completely overwhelmed with this new calling  It has been awhile since I have taught children.  I feel rusty with my teaching skills.  Then there is the gospel aspect.  The last primary president really emphasized to us that children learn the foundation of the gospel and their testimonies in primary.  I worry that I won't be able to teach these eager children the principles that I need.

BUT......I'm so grateful that I received this calling.  I have always loved working with children, and I feel comfortable there.  I'm sure if I just do my very best the Lord will help with the rest.  I'm being thrown into my new position fairly quickly, as next week I get to teach sharing time!  Gratefully it is going to be a combined sharing time and singing time.  Our chorister is a wonderfully strong teacher and a good friend.  I'm sure teaming up with her will ease me into this new {and wonderful} calling.

Gratitude and Patience

I know this blog has become a boring place for me to write my thoughts, and not much of a place to show off my family, but I think I am enjoying this transition.  I do hope to get back into a routine of sharing more photos of the fam, but for now this will suffice.

This weekend we moved.  All week I had been stressed that no one or very few would show up to help Russ.  I simply would not be able to help Russ lift those heavy furniture pieces down the apartment stairs.  I was quite humbled when no less than 10 men from our ward showed up to help us move.  What could have taken all day took a mere 3 hours {if even that long}.  I was so grateful to have one more stress taken off my shoulders.  All I could do was say thank you over, and over, and over again hoping that the elders would know how truly thankful I was for their help.  We have been blessed with a wonderful ward, and I am learning the meaning of what a "ward family" is.

One experience that truly impacted me through this move was when I went back into the girls room at the house to deposit a box in there.  I was quite surprised when I walked in and found an elder we know particularly well putting together Allie's crib.  I quickly tried to discourage him from putting it together.  He turned to me with his mild manner and replied that he had hurt his back earlier in the week, but had wanted to be of help anyways.  He said he couldn't lift the boxes for us, but he certainly could put together Allie's bed so that when she was ready for a nap, her bed would be also.

I left the room with a smile on my face and tears in my eye.  What he had said was true, Allie would need a bed to take a nap.  But what struck me is that this guy had an excuse NOT to come and help out that morning, but he came anyway.  How grateful I was when after running around all morning we were able to lie Allie down in her crib because this man had made the decision to come and serve us.

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On a completely different note is patience.  Apparently, I'm not a patient person.  I want things done NOW and I want them done the way I want them done.  Lately, I've been giving many gentle reminders from the Lord that things are on his time scale, not mine.  Every time I get this gentle reminder I vow to do better, but then again the reminder comes and I realize I have been anything but patient.  So for this month of reaching composure in my life I hope to gain some patience.  Don't think me a fool when I say this.  I know perfectly well I won't gain patience in a month.  However, in the first two months of my striving to find composure I have discovered a trend in the goals I set each month.  NONE of these goals are really achieved by the end of the month, but each month I lay solid foundations of habits that will help me continue on toward achieving the smaller goals, and in the end composure.  I hope that this month I can lay some solid patience groundwork so that I can continually strive to be a more patient person.

At this time in your life what are you grateful for?  What goal are you laying groundwork for?

December 26th and 27th, 2008

I honestly can't remember the 26th. I am sure we just played with all our new toys.

The 27th was a fun day. We played in the morning, then we got ready to go have a party with Russ's family. His mom and dad had came to Utah for Christmas this year. Before going I had to snap a few pictures of my girls in their "matching" Christmas sweaters. I say matching because they are the same type of sweater but in the end Russ and I decided to get different colors so that Lily could get a matching purse with hers. They didn't have the matching purse in the light pink color.

I was soooooo sad when I went to edit this and found out it was blurry! Allie had such a cute expression on her face. :o(

Gosh girl! Allie is ALWAYS sticking her tongue out in pictures lately!

I love how Lily's hair turned out. We call it "fancy" hair. Allie spent a week pulling this face as well. She kept sucking on her bottom lip. I couldn't figure out why....until Tuesday!

For the party we did a white elephant game exchange. It was so fun. We got a game called "in a pickle" I have never played it but it looks fun. We also had some great snacky food to eat. Did I mention the kids all went into Tawni's basement and watched a movie?! How great is that? The adults actually got to talk to each other! The only bad spot of the party was when Lily had a HUGE accident on Tawni's floor! I KNEW she needed to go but didn't force her because she was having so much fun with her cousin's. Tawni was already doing laundry so she through Lily's pants in and gave her a pair of her girls to wear! Thanks Tawni!

After chit-chatting for awhile we bundled the kids up to get ready to go to Temple Square and look at the lights. My mom and dad were supposed to come with us, but at the last minute decided not to. Mom had been having problems with her shoulder, and when it got cold it hurt worse. It was REALLY cold that night so it was a good thing she didn't come.

This is how Allie started out the night. Isn't her knew hat adorable?!

Lily started out the night like this!

I LOVED this picture I took of the temple. I think it is a little blurry too, but you can't really tell....okay you can tell, but it looks like I was doing some special effect with the camera.

This turned out pretty don't you think?!

Allie started to fuss because it was WAY past bedtime. She might have been getting a little cold too, who knows? So Daddy graciously held her. Aren't they so cute snuggling together?

Lily started to complain that her legs hurt so we put her in the stroller. We later realized that her thighs were hurting because they were cold.

Lily wanted this picture of her by the pretty water.

Brrrr!!! Someone's nose is red!

I haven't been to Temple Square since high school, so I was surprised to see this new addition on the reflecting pool. Isn't it gorgeous?!

I like this picture too...just wish I had gotten more of the spires in it.

To warm up we went into the Visitors Center and went up to see the Christus. Lily LOVED seeing the "Big Jesus". That is exactly what she called it. She saw other people taking pictures by it, and BEGGED to have her picture taken. I couldn't say no. Doug took a picture of the whole family by the Christus too, but I don't think he realized that we wanted the Whole statue in it. Oh well! We will just have to go again sometime.

After this we decided to head home. Our kids were done. It was such a great day. We hardly ever get to spend time with Russ's family. I am glad we got to do this special family event with them.

Ward Christmas Party

On December 11th our ward had its annual Christmas party. It had only been about a week since Lily had her surgery. I wasn't sure how she was going to handle. She had been feeling better, but she still was getting tired if she walked around to much.

We got there early so that we could get a seat. Sister Smith (Bishop's wife) invited us to sit down by them. This turned out to be such a blessing. Those in charge of the party asked that two people from each table come and serve thier table. Well, two of the Smith kids did this. It was so nice not to have to juggle our food while holding/dragging two kids through the food line. The kids were so wonderful. They served us first. Lily only picked at her food, but I didn't expect much more from her. She sat on my lap most of the time. However, she was on her best behavior.

After dinner the ward had a sing-a-long. The kids were supposed to go up and get some jingle bells to sing the song. Lily was too late to get one which really upset her but she cheered up when they started singing. She clapped along and had a great time. On the last song Santa Clause came out. Lily was so excited to see him. When we got in line we were one of the last people. She waited so patiently. I know part of this was because she was tired but also I have seen her acting more her age since she got her tonsils out.

Lily walked up to the Santa and tried to shake his hand. The Santa misunderstood and handed her the candy bag that he was handing out to each child. Poor Lily! Her face melted in disappointment. She had really wanted to shake his hand. When she noticed the candy in the bag she cheered up a little. Russ snapped a good picture of her getting her candy. Lily also wanted me to take a few pictures of her with her candy. Can YOU tell how tired she was in the pics? I sure can!