behind on the blogging train again

I've totally come to grips with the fact that our blog updates may come only on a weekly or bi-monthly basis for the next little while.  I think admitting this fact to myself has made it easier to be okay with it. (:  As a mom/woman/LDS person/friend/business owner, etc., I often expect WAY too much of myself.  My recently baptized friend Austie once told me she'd never be able to get baptized because she wasn't like all those other Mormon girls who "could do everything." All I have to say to that is amen sistah...seriously. So for now I'm working on being the best me I can with the things that are most important to me right now...and sometimes blogging takes a back seat to those things.  For now, here's what happened in our lives the past 2 weeks & when I went to download my pics from those two weeks I realized I had only taken 4 pictures.  Seriously.  That is so not okay.  I've got to be better about that! Thankfully Zac takes a ton of pics/video with his phone and Mom usually documents a little when she has the boys.  So this is a major journal post-I won't feel bad if no one reads it!

-Tuesday (7th), Doll came over to watch the boys after school and Zac and I and Zac's mom, Wendy, went to the temple.  It was nice to get back there after a month of not going and I had missed it.  We had a great session and then all went to a meeting for TSFL.  Great meeting with great people and a thoroughly good night.

-Wednesday (8th) morning I had my root canal.  Totally wasn't as bad as I'd expected.  By far the worst part was being numb for so long and having my mouth open for an hour.  It's doing well though and hasn't slowed me down any.  Two more appointments and that thing will be through.   And, we are so grateful for the extremely generous tooth fairy who visited us and took the financial pressure off the tooth.(Thanks Mom & Dad!)

-Thursday (9th) I left Grayson with Kelsey (he was so excited!) and took Bex with me to run errands.  We spent a little time visiting and meeting with Jen and going over business & fun stuff and then he went to Costco with me.  He is seriously such a good baby!  So easy to take places-love that kid.  Love Costco.  Could go there daily.  It's a definite happy place for me.  When I got home, we ran the other direction and the boys had a fun time playing at Amber's while I got my hair trimmed.  So grateful for her willingness to watch them on such short notice!  They had a great time and we finally made it home that evening to relax a bit. 

-Friday (10th) morning I had several girls I graduated with come over for a class reunion planning meeting.   We did a Skype call with our gorgeous friend Athena who is the woman mostly in charge-she's doing an awesome job and it was fun to chat with her and the other girls.  I loved high school and I'm excited about our upcoming reunion!

That evening my Primary presidency met here and we all rode over to Middleton for an awesome regional training.  Sister Esplin, the 2nd counselor in the General primary presidency, came to speak and it was just a great training.  Elder Walker spoke too and I felt the spirit prompting me strongly on several points throughout the night and just felt so convicted during and afterward of some things I need to change.  So grateful for spiritual uplifts and for Julie, Annette & Erin for making the effort to go.  They are an amazing group of women and take care of so much for me with our callings.  I am loving the primary more and more and told my mom I want to stay there forever. (:

-Saturday (11th) we spent the day doing things at home.  We did take a little break to run to town and get Gray a much needed hair cut.  Rick is so patient with him (even though he cried the whole time...what the?!) and afterward I didn't have any cash to pay him.  I told him Grayson gets a donut at M&W after he gets his haircut so I'd get some cash and drop it off (have I mentioned how much I love living in a small town?!) and he was fine with that.  Of course Grayson was totally recovered by then and when we got to the store he said, "We better buy Rick the barber a donut too, huh Mom."  Yeah bubba, we better.  So we did.  And I dropped the donut & the cash off and he laughed.  After we got home Bex was having a ball bouncing in the jumperoo.  Soon I looked over and realized he had bounced himself to sleep.  Not only that, but if he startled, he'd wake up, bounce five or so times, and fall back asleep!  Loved it!  Thankfully Zac got it on video.  So cute!  Later that night we (me & z) watched a documentary about the tragedies of 9 years ago and then closed out our night by watching "Killers."  totally didn't finish it because we weren't too enthralled and Grayson woke up coughing like crazy.  Spent a long night on our bed with him (Zac took Bex & the couch in the living room). 

-Sunday (12th) was a good day.  Zac kept Gray home because he (Z) was up during the night with stomach cramps & Grayson coughed all night, so we decided that was a better option.  Beckham was a doll as usual during church and slept great with Uncle Lance during Sacrament meeting.  My mom and Kim Wagstaff spoke in Sacrament and did amazing.  I loved both their talks so much.  They both had the topic of teaching our children to become close to our Savior, but Mom focused more on teens & Kim focused on younger kids.  So good!  I'd like to just insert mom's entire talk here, but will just quote a few things I especially loved,

-In my studying, I came upon a talk that gave some great insight into the concept of teaching our children the principle of faith.  The speaker related the following, ''A friend of mine made a wise observation and discovery recently.  With a daughter and a son in their teenage years she admitted she felt fear.  When thinking of all the traps, temptations, and pitfalls that Satan has dropped in their paths she said, 'I fear for them and what can happen.'  She expressed perfectly what we all feel...fear!  With our insight, we know what happens when you step on one of these spiritual landmines.  We've seen our friends do it and we've stepped on some ourselves.  For those teenage years you wish they were as easily corralled as an infant.  You want to tell them, 'step only where I tell you' and then have them do it!  So you spend the next seven years telling them 'don't do this,' 'you shouldn't do that,' and 'stay away from this person or that temptation.'

'But by doing that,' his friend continued, 'I realized I was only filling them with my fear, not my faith.'  His friend then said:
'I need to tell them about what I believe, not just what I fear.'  She went on to say that she needed to tell her children what she loved about the gospel and why.  That she needed to focus on the beauty and importance of temple marriage, not just nag at them about the sin of premarital intimate relations.  That she needed to tell them of the wisdom and strength found int he Lord's Word of Wisdom, not just denounce the problems of drugs and alcohol.  That she needed to let them see the peace, beauty, wisdom and inspiration of the Lord's way. She said: 'I need to not only live the Gospel, I need to talk about it with my children every day.  I need to tell them of the joy and happiness it brings.'"

-In 2 Nephi 25:26, we find one of the most powerful parenting scriptures available to us.  Nephi wrote, "We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophecy of Christ and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."

-Years ago, my friend's children asked her, "why do you have a different voice at church than at home?"  That question stopped her cold and she realized she did have a different 'voice' and demeanor at church each Sunday than she did during the rest of the week. She vowed at that time to try to make her 'Sunday voice' her daily voice and that meant bringing Sunday joy home with her.  We would do well to make that vow, too. Seven days a week we should be grateful for His patience, thankful for our opportunity to serve Him-even if it does take time and effort-and humble at His sacrifice for us.  Our lives should be filled with joy and rejoicing in Christ every day.  Our children should see our joy, hear it and believe it is a daily joy for us!

-While we should tell our children of Satan's snares, fear should not be our focus.  By focusing on faith, our children will come to truly know who they can turn to for a remission of their sins.  And, if we live more by faith than fear, they will know and understand the depth of our love for the Savior and why.  They will come to believe the gospel principles of repentance and redemption and they will, if they step on a landmine, know Whom will heal them.

-I also take comfort in this promise when Elder Neal A. Maxwell gave our stake an apostolic blessing.  He said, "I bless you with the blessing of gentleness and the spirit of reconciliation.  This would be so imprinted on the souls of your sons and daughters that even years from now, the tug & pull of memories of being raised in the homes of the Nyssa stake will beckon those who have strayed, to come back."

Isn't that so powerful?  I loved her whole talk and Kim's, too, but I didn't take great notes because I was too enthralled and only asked mom for a copy of hers. (:  I was so convicted about the Sunday voice versus the daily home voice.  I definitely need to work on this. 

Mom Cleaver took Beckham for the other two hours and said he did great.  I had sharing time again (we take a month at a time in our presidency) and it went so well.  My cousin Mandy has it this month in her ward in Utah and shared an idea she was doing with me.  I copied it and it was a huge hit!  They all loved it and participated, but the Senior primary (8-11) especially loved it.  Thanks Mandy!  The topic was, "I show love for Jesus Christ when I keep the commandments."  I had ingredients there for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies & had Julie read me the recipe one thing at a time, slowly.  A couple times I would just start talking and pour in a bunch of salt and the kids would say, "stop pouring!"  I'd act totally surprised and realize what I'd done, but keep going.  I conveniently didn't have several ingredients, so I improvised.  Instead of eggs, I put fruit snacks, and instead of baking soda, I used baking powder, telling the kids that because they both have "baking" in the name, it's probably okay. (: Lastly, I "forgot" chocolate chips, so I just put a can of V8 juice in.  The kids were astounded!

I asked why the dough had not turned out right.  They said it was because I hadn't followed the recipe.  I told them that I had made the recipe the right way over a hundred times and every single time I got the exact same result.  Just like when we follow the commandments, we get the same result...blessings.  When we don't follow the recipe or the commandments, we get a different result every time & don't know where we'll end up.  I also explained that following the commandments doesn't insure an always sunny and easy existence, or that our blessings will come right away and just how we want them.  More than anything, we don't keep the commandments because we'll get blessings.  We keep them because we love Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father and we want to do good for them.  It went over so well and I love love love the kids & the primary.

-Monday (13th) was a "get things done" kinda day.  We worked on organizing, cleaning, accounting, etc.  Grandpa Alan took Grayson to work at the shop for several hours and of course he had a great time.  Uncle Bob was there too and he is famous for always having tootsie rolls in his pocket.  Grayson has come to expect this and because I knew Bob wasn't prepared to see Grayson I thought maybe he wouldn't have his supply handy and didn't want him to feel bad.  So instead, I sent three tootsie rolls with Grayson.  One for him, Uncle Bob and Grandpa Alan.  He had a great time and I am constantly amazed at what an involved grandpa my dad is-though it's no wonder-he was & is that way as a dad too.  I took dinner to a neighbor woman who is on bed rest & to a dear lifetime friend & her family who recently had a miscarriage.  So nice to see her and love her.  We ate dinner at my folks and had a family home evening of sorts while there.

-Tuesday (14th) Grayson rode on the loader tractor with Grandpa Alan while I ran to Ontario with Beckham for a few groceries.  I'm slowly learning couponing (thanks to Julie) but still haven't delved into it on my own, so I paid full price for my stuff and kept trying not to think about what I could have saved if I'd just bite the bullet and learn what I need to know! (:  Got home and all of us got a nap which was nice.  We headed to my mom's so I could exercise after that and then she and I had a nice long talk which I needed. Zac worked on maintenance stuff at the stores really late with Layne and after I got the boys to bed pretty early, I read for a while and then went to bed early myself.  Felt so nice!

-Wednesday (15th) my cousin Elizabeth watched the boys so I could record a radio show with my TSFL coach, Tony, to air in McCall later this week.  Gray acted shy when I dropped him off, but afterward he couldn't stop talking about what a great time he had.  It was so nice of Elizabeth to be so willing and I'm grateful for her help & friendship.  The show went well and after I picked up the boys we headed to Winco and I knew I was pushing it since they were both in need of a nap.  They did great in the store, but as soon as we got in the car heading home, Beckham realized he was an hour past eating time and I wasn't stopping.  He cried from Nampa to the house (about 45 minutes) and I felt so awful.  He wouldn't take his binky and just wanted to be held, so I just kept driving.  Grayson kept saying, "be quiet baby brother!  It's okay baby Beckham!"  Totally wasn't helping, but kinda funny.  As soon as we got home and I held him he was his usual chipper self.  Silly kid!

-Thursday (16th) I was home all day with the flu. Woke up not feeling good and had thrown up in the night a couple times.  Zac dropped the boys at my mom's on his way to the stores and I seriously slept almost the entire day.  It was the first day in a long time I can remember not having anything pressing on the calendar so it couldn't have come at a better time, but I did have a thousand little things I wished I could have been getting done.  Oh well, we can't choose when we're sick, huh?  I am so grateful for mom taking the kids.  I know they had a great time and it just helped not to have to worry about them all day.

-Friday (17th) Mom Peterson went with me to take both boys to the doctor.  I had an appointment at 2:15, but we didn't get to see the doctor till a little after 3-very frustrating-but that's kinda beside the point.  We saw Dr. D and she looked at Beckham's ear to make sure it had closed up like it was supposed to after bursting and said he looked great.  Then on to Grayson... I've been worried & annoyed with Grayson's constant cough.  He's had it since he turned a year or so.  Hacking, consistent, never goes away, etc.  We treated it as if it was allergies and it seemed to make it worse!  So, we were back at square one.  Dr. D said he definitely has asthma.  Yay, a diagnosis!  He got a cool book, a nebulizer, a yucky steroid, and we'll see how it all goes this week once we start.  So far, he loves his dinosaur mask (we don't start treatments till tomorrow).  Both boys did awesome at the doctor-Grayson flirted and talked the nurse & doctor's ears off, and Beckham charmed everyone.  When asked how old he was Grayson said, "I will be 3 on January 13."  Totally matter of fact-love it.  He sang his ABC's completely through and just did great at being checked out.  I loved that Dr. D was totally thorough and didn't rush through with us (probably why it took so long to get back to see her in the first place!) and I'm just happy to be proactively doing something to help him feel better.  She thinks he'll most likely grow out of it, but if not, soon-to-be Uncle Talon can teach him about grown up asthma. (: Both boys fell asleep on the way home (yes Grayson has a sucker in his mouth-don't turn me in!). 

-Saturday (18th) was a busy day.  Zac took Grayson to work with him and Doll watched Bex so I could go to a training for TSFL.  It was so amazing and I'm glad I was able to go.  Got home in the afternoon and we all got ready and went back over to a TSFL barbecue.  It was fun to get to introduce all three of my boys to some of the great people I've met & worked with.  We weren't in that great of moods going over there honestly, (me & Z), but after visiting and relaxing for a little while, the ride home was much more pleasant and we chatted the whole way about our goals and dreams and I was so grateful.  We headed over to his folks and caught most of the BSU game.

-Today (19th) has been a good one too.  I had an early morning meeting so Zac got the boys all ready for church and that was so nice.  My sharing time lesson was on prayer & it went well.  I love being in the primary more each week.  The kids are so much better than we are & I totally want to be like them. Zac's parents came with us to my parents for lunch and it was yummy and nice to visit for a while and then we came home to our Home teacher's visiting us and a nap for the boys while I catch up our darn blog! (:

Wow...Now that the daily things are caught up, here are a few random facts:

*We are having serious sleeping issues at our house.  Something has got to change.  None of us are getting great sleep-mostly me! (:  Both boys come into our bed at least once a night and around 5:30 am, our bed is a community bed and then I'll bring the boys out to the uncomfortable (to sleep on) couch and it just continues going downhill.  I'm not sure what happened to exacerbate all this except that Zac and I have become more lazy about it, I guess.  We were much more strict with Grayson than we are with Beckham in the schedule department, so I know that has something to do with it.  Beckham's bedroom right now is the living room so that's not the most convenient for teaching him to cry himself to sleep either.  We've gotta figure something out soon though because I am grumpy without enough sleep! (:
(Edited To Add: so it's been 3 days since I posted the sleeping issues part of this post and the past 2 nights have been blissful!  Both boys have slept great all night and Bex hasn't even woken up at all until 7:30 am!  Zac has been sleeping great and I've been still waking up to use the bathroom once a night-effects of drinking 150 ounces of water a day!-but otherwise sleeping great!  Yay-hope it keeps up and isn't a fluke...maybe I need to post about it more often!)

*My health coach and I went in together to buy a radio station spot in the McCall market, so I'm excited about that.  I'll have a 15 minute show each week on a country station up there.  Cool, huh?  I'm excited about it and it's nice because I can record all four shows for a month in one day and choose when & where I want them aired.

*My cousin Mandy sent me this link to an article her friend Nollie did with the author of the blog, "Seriously So Blessed," so if you are a reader of that blog, it's a great article to read & get a glimpse at the girl behind the blog.  Glad to know she's not really as dense as she reads. (:

So there is an incredibly long update for now.  I have several other highlight posts in the works & they may or may not make their blogging debut within the next few days.  Hope you are all doing well!