Daughter of God

What a weekend! I can honestly say that I've never had quite as full of a weekend, but so uplifting and spiritual.
Friday was our temple day. For the first time, I took the whole day off and went to the temple. I got there about 10 in the morning and left after the 6:00 session.
Truly an amazing day. I now have every single one of my current temple cards done except for one. Richard now has an assignment! Next we need to schedule a day to go and do a bunch of sealings. One of the nicest parts of the day was being at the temple with so many people from our ward. (The prime rib dinner was good too!) I sure appreciate all the people who took one of my family cards and helped me get their work done.

Saturday night was the Relief Society General Broadcast. I always take something specific away from these broadcasts and this was no different. I can remember exactly when it happened. I could FEEL the words penetrate my heart. I am a beloved daughter of God. I could almost feel Heavenly Father's arms around me--that same feeling as being hugged by my daddy. I've always known, in an intellectual sense, that I am a daughter of God. We sing the song, "I Am a Child of God." I believe it. But I don't think I ever felt it like I did last night. And it's stayed with me throughout today.

As I get ready to get back into the swing of the week, I hope to keep this feeling with me. Or at least to remember the feeling as I teach the children of my school. They are beloved children of God as well. We all are. He loves each of us. He knows each of us. He is aware of each of us. It's easy for me to believe that. It's easy for me to understand that. But last night I finally felt it personally. I loves ME. He knows ME. He is aware of ME. What a comforting thought.

Random Thought Tuesday

Ok...I give up. I'm giving in to the idea of Random Tuesday Thoughts. Actually, I just had some various and sundry things to blog about and realized it was Tuesday. Don't bet on this happening on a Tuesday again. ;-)

First random thought...new bras are amazing. Getting fitted by a sweet young thing who doesn't laugh at how old and stretched-out your current bra is (did you really think I was going to say *I* was?) and who is smart enough to bring you the $78 bra but also bring the $30 and $40 bras is also amazing. I measured up a full size around and technically 2 cup sizes although I'm wearing one size up. That's what fit me best. It's been an amazing few days. As someone said--keep the girls happy! Well, the girls are *much* happier! LOL And I don't even know what to say to my friend who actually *noticed* on Sunday! She said she saw me and thought, "Oh! Stacy got fitted!" Hmmm...I guess that's a good thing? (Ok, so she was the one who told me where to go and what to do, so she had an idea that it was happening.) I'd never been fitted before. I'll never go back!

Man...that was a long random thought, wasn't it? Ok, here's the next one. I've joined Weight Watchers. I'm doing the online POINTS system and so far (4 days in) I'm doing pretty well. I'm not staying within my daily points, but I've still got plenty of weekly "extra" points to use through Thursday. Ooh...just thought. Friday is my weigh-in day AND it's our stake temple day. I'm supposed to eat a rib dinner that night at the temple. Hmmm...that will take care of my POINTS before I even get the week started! Maybe I need to change my weigh-in day.

Friday is our stake temple day. This is the first time I've gone to one and I'm pretty excited! My plan is to go and stay all day. And it's on a Friday so my father-in-law will be there in the morning. Yay!

When there's cloudy/rainy days for a week in a row, we should be allowed to take naps during class. All of us--even the teachers!

I'm currently waiting for the boys to finish their hot spots and showers--but I'm really waiting for them to go to bed so I can go watch the season premiere of NCIS that is recording as I type. Ooooooohhhhh...I can't wait.

I really need to get out the box of fall stuff. Maybe I should go do that now. It would give me an excuse to go upstairs and see just how "cleaned up" the upstairs is. Seriously...I avoid the upstairs if possible. Only problem with that is that I have to go upstairs at 5:30 in the morning to wake up Chris for seminary. He insists that he sleeps through his alarm and phone these days. Ugh. It was so much easier last year when I could text him from my bed and he would hear it and get up. Not happening this year. But...when I don't check the upstairs at night, walking to Chris's room at dark:30 can be rather hazardous.

So what do you think? Were those enough random thoughts? Too many? Not random enough? Eh...whatever. ;-)

Rain, Rain Go Away and Other Random Thoughts

Over a week. That's how long it's been raining. There was some sun last Thursday afternoon, then it rained again yesterday. But...I'm seeing sun today along with some clouds--so hopefully we're about done with this. I love a rainy day as much as the next person, but a week straight? That's crazy. It made me want to sleep and my kids and students want to run around screaming like the stir-crazy children they are. Not a good combination!

Yesterday, the younger boys and I drove down to Venus to see Richard's school and go to the football game. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy high school football. There's always so much excitement among the crowd--especially at a small town game. It was the Venus Bulldogs vs. the Millsap Bulldogs. Yep...bulldogs vs. bulldogs. How small town can you get? We left at half-time so that we could get home before midnight. The score was 7-6 Millsap at the half. The boys had fun for a while and then they were *so* done. LOL I think I'll have to take better advantage of my LISD employment and go to some TCHS games--if I can find someone to either go with me or to sit with.

Richard's sick. He has a stuffy head and a headache. He's been in bed all day. 'Nuff said.

Chewing Things Over

I heard the kiddos come running and yelling down the hall toward the RS room today. It was primary program day and then visiting teaching conference in RS, so the priesthood was taking over primary for the day. Yeah. All you moms--you know what that means. CHAOS!!! PANDEMONIUM!!!

We weren't quite finished in RS when I heard the yelling, so I got up and stepped out to try and calm things down. Isn't it amazing how the spirit works sometimes? I got out there just in time to see John walking up the hall and crying. Truthfully, this is not totally unexpected. When things don't go his way, he often shows up in this particular mood. But this was different.

He said that as he was leaving the primary room, someone ruffled his hair and then grabbed his hand and bent three of his fingers backward and it really, really hurt. He didn't know who had done it. I asked James, but he hadn't seen either. None of their friends knew.

One of the primary leaders was in the hall by then and asked what happened. I was telling her when someone came up and said, "It was me."
It. was. an. adult. A man who is called to be in primary. He apologized. Said that John was messing with people and that he was just trying to do the same to him. Seriously?!?

Now, we've all done stupid stuff like that. Ok, not all of us--but dads do. ;-) They grab and horseplay and then have to apologize for going too far sometimes. At least that's what I've heard. But this was different somehow. I can't put my finger on it, but my mommy radar is going off. Of course I told this brother that John was fine (and he is), but I can't get rid of this knot in my stomach. I'm really, really bothered by this.

I'll definitely be taking this to Heavenly Father for some help. I spoke to the primary leader who heard it all and told her of my concerns in general terms--because that's all I have. General terms. It's just a feeling. Things similar to this have happened before - someone scares your child unintentionally or something like that. They apologize. You can tell that they're truly sorry and they certainly didn't mean to scare the child or whatever. That doesn't bother me. I comfort my child *and* the adult--letting them know that it's okay, I understand--and I do.

I don't feel that this time. It feels wrong. And I have learned over the years to listen to those feelings because they're usually right. They're usually the Holy Ghost trying to tell me something. So I'll be pondering. And listening.

Women's Health

Warning! TMI Alert! If you don't want to read anymore about women's personal health issues, STOP READING NOW!!!

Ok...you've been warned.

It's official. Well, not "official" official--as in I haven't seen my ob/gyn yet--but symptom-wise it's official. It's been a year since my last period. I'm menopausal. Or is it post-menopausal? Whatever. I'm done.

The hot flashes that I've had off and on over the last year and a half or so are mostly gone. The weight gain is definitely here. I'm not sure what else I have to look forward to. Overall, it hasn't been that bad.

But...what's next? I need to see my gyn anyway--time for the lovely yearly exam. Blech. What's he going to want to do? Estrogen? Will I feel better? Is it worth the risk? No cancer background in my family. What are my other options? Or should I do like my mom and let nature take its course? Maybe I'll start by just remembering to call the doctor and make an appointment.

Survived Another Week

It's amazing to me how 4-day weeks can seem so LONG! Why is that? I shouldn't complain too much though because it's been a really good start to the school year. My classes are going well--the curriculum I began last February is beginning to really pay off. The kids are singing much better and they'll be reading simple rhythms quickly if the pattern holds.

The boys are keeping up so far. We've got a basic routine going in the afternoon: 5:00 homework (that gives them about an hour at home to grab a snack and take a break). They're certainly welcome to do their homework at school while they're waiting the 45 minutes for me to be able to leave, but that doesn't always give them enough time to finish it--especially James. He has to read 20 minutes every night, then write a summary of what he read. It's not that it's hard; it's just time-consuming.

At 7:30 it's time for showers and pick up (although I think we missed the pick up part tonight), then snack and in bed by 8:30. The boys sometimes complain because some of their friends can stay up until 9:00. But then, when I let them, they're whiny and tired. So...back to 8:30 it went. Besides, I'm tired after getting up at 5:30 every morning. I want to go to bed!

So...that's us in a nutshell. Richard's enjoying his job, I'm enjoying mine, the boys are just doing what they're supposed to and really stepping up to help out. And the weekends are made for fun! Life is good.

Two Weeks

We're two weeks into the new school year and it's going pretty good. Richard's spending the week down in Midlothian and getting all of his work done while there. When he comes home on the weekends, he's all ours! He's played more games of Monopoly and Sorry Card Revenge the last two weekends than he did all last year!

He's really enjoying his job. The administration has high hopes for him and is sharing those hopes with both the students and the higher-up administration. Ack! Nothing like a little pressure! But he's holding up and sounds really happy.

My school year has started off pretty easy. I'm so much more relaxed this year. Richard's stress is my stress and now that he's less stressed, so am I. (How many times can you use the word "stress" in one sentence?) The boys are happy to be back in school though they don't really realize it. But there is a lot less arguing while at home now. It was time for them to be apart for most of the day.

I'm really hopeful that this trend can continue. I think it can. I know that every day or every week won't be perfect. There will be hard days (yesterday--full moon anyone?) but in the long run, I think the good days will outweigh the bad. It's going to be a good year.