Blessings

This is an ode to my five girls.

In my patriachal blessing it says that my children will bless my name and be a comfort to me.

I have been thinking about my girls alot lately, as I usually do. I think about the struggles and joys from when they were young children. They endured and conquered their struggles and had many joys as well. (2 Nephi 2:25) Now that they are adults, except Kellie who is well on her way to becoming an adult, I pray for them more, much more then I ever have. I know my Heavenly Father hears my prayers. I am reminded that their struggles will strenghten them and prepare them for what is to come. I marvel at their strength and endurance. I am proud of the kind of wives and friends they are. I am pleased beyond words that they know their value and aren't afraid to speak their minds when they feel the need. I am amazed at how smart they are and that they will all get a college degree. I am grateful that they all have testimonies of the savior and that they attend church and all have temple recommends. I greatly appreciate how they call me, ask me questions about life, talk with me about their day and bouye (sp) me up when I feel broken. There are no words to describe how lucky I am that I get to be their mother. I am shocked that because I am their mother that they turned out so well.

My children are a great comfort to me.
I am blessed beyond words.
Thank you to my 5 great ones!

Bees

I was looking out ate my kitchen window while I was washing dishes. It is something I do it often because I like to watch the woodpeckers fly in and out of their homes. I noticed something different on the tree. I couldn't figure out what it was so I went into my neighbors yard and saw a bunch of bees flying near the tree. When I got closer I could see that it was a huge beehive. My neighbors didn't know it was there. I have learned so much since that day. I wanted to share the information with you.

It took about 4 months to build the hive. There are about 20,000 bees living in the hive. There is one queen bee per hive. In this hive there are only about 100 male bees and the the rest are female. The males don't sting, they have a different job. So when you get stung by a bee it is a female. A hive will create a new queen bee about every 6 months. A worker bee lives for about a month. An active queen will live about 6 months. A lazy queen lives for about a year. When bees are moved their new home has to be 5 miles away. Bees fly about a 2 mile radius around their homes. Hives hold babies (magets) and honey. It is best to extract bees on a cool night. The keeper vacuumes them up into a box. Once the queen is in the box all the worker bees will happily follow their queen into the box. Once bees are removed any that were left will try and build a new hive in the same place for up to 6 months.

If you need to get bees extracted from your home it will cost you about $150.00.


Another thing I have learned is that girls and boys are different. How you ask? '

Girls will see the hive and and give a little shriek and not want to look at it for very long.

Boys will ask for a rock so they can throw it at the hive to see what they will do.

This has been the coolest 'backyard science' thing ever.
We all need bees in our lives. The end.

Perspective

Mom's - It's early morning and an unexpected rain comes during my 3 mile walk. It is great fun getting wet in the rain knowing I have the luxury of going right home and taking a shower. I get back to the car in the church parking lot as seminary is just ending. So Kellie doesn't have to get wet because she has to go to school, I move the car closer. I park in a place where she may not see me so I move the car again so I can be within her view. As I move the car I see a YM I know who is sitting in his car and wave a friendly hello. Then I wait happily listening to country music and reflect on the exilerating walk in the rain. Kellie comes to the car a bit earlier then I expected. So I asked, "why so early?"

Kellie's - Kellie gets out of seminary and is enjoying standing in the rain chatting with friends. Sees that I have moved the car and continues to chat with friends. Sees me move the car again and wave, she hurries to the car. Her answer to my question, "Why so early?" You moved the car close to me and waved me over so I hurried.

The moral of the story; try to remember there is ALWAYS more then your side of the story. Before we rush to conclusions, try to look at things in a different way. It may elemenate so much 'stuff'.

Have a great day everyone!!

Grateful for Service

So yesterday was one of those cleansing days...not that my house got super clean but my soul. I cried at every little thing and cried at nothing. By the end of the day my eyes were super swollen and I was exhausted. I was productive during parts of the day however, I caulked and painted door frames in my house that was started over 2 years ago. So basically I caulked, cried and was productive. Today with all the tears gone something great happened...opprotunities to do service. The Elders called and needed dinner. After dinner a great friend called and needed a ride home from work because her car was in the shop. These were simple things that allowed me to serve. What a great blessing after feeling so yucky yesterday to feeling so grateful today. A good cleansing helps put things in perspective and opens the way for a grateful heart.

That kind of day.

Today should be a Pride and Prejudice day. All my girls should be home and we should hang out in our sweats, make cookie dough, close all the blinds, giggle about silly things and then watch Mr. Darcy...well do his thing. I'm not talking about the 90 minute version. I am talking about the only good version, the 6 hour one. We could remind Paul there are sports in this version too. You know the hunting and fishing part, those are sports and then watch him roll his eyes and get out of the room as quickly as possible. After the movie we could have some Orange Chicken and go to Kellie's concert and watch her blow her horn. Sounds like a perfect way to spend the day. Girls, are you ready???

The Girls

Today was one of those days that reminds me I'm a mom of 5 girls. I was blessed to talk with each of them today. Each daughter is full of life, lots a good stuff and a bit of yucky stuff. That is to make sure they don't get bored with their lives. All live outside of the home now except one, the youngest. Each daughter is great. Each has unique talents and gifts that make them wonderful and so different from the other. People would ask me if it was easy raising 5 girls because they must be all the same. I think my girls have a few things that are similiar but have LOTS of things that are so different. And that can make things kind of spicey around here for all of us. But today I was reminded, that even though we are different there is one very important thing that we all have in common. We are a family, an eternal family. And even though we may not always agree with eachother or like some of the stuff eachother does....we all love eachother. What an amazing gift. And in the end we all support eachother. That too is a gift. So thank you to my girls for reminding me that this life is filled with challenges and things that make us stretch and grow but that we will ALWAYS have eachother to help us through the stuff.

This mornings walk

Almost every seminary morning I drive with Kellie to seminary and meet Aunt Janie and we walk for 3 miles AND talk for 3 miles. After we walk I go another mile to my house with my shuffle(music). It is great fun and I love that my excercise is over before 7AM. The "subject of the day" was medical stuff because my nephew Brent just had some teeth implants put in because he is missing 2 permanent teeth. It has been a long process for him, a few surgeries, and they only have one more thing to do and it will ALL be done. Janie asked me some questions about when Julie was having her 5surgeries, what the tons of Doctor appointments were like, what the family went through, etc. I started to tell her one story about Julie's experience and began to cry...I couldn't even talk for a bit....silly me. I shared with her the time we all went to pick Julie up from the hospital to take her home after she had been there for a week when she was 8 years old. The doctor wanted to take one more x-ray before we left. We wheeled Julie down the hall to the day-room. The whole way there Kellie, who was 3 at the time, had her hand on top of Julie's being very gentle and rubbing her hand which was on the wheel chair arm rest. To me it really shows the big heart these 2 girls had and still have. Julie was willing to let her sister hold her hand and Kellie wanted to show her sister the whole ride down the hall that she loved her. If that moment could get any better, it was Easter time. The local firemen and policemen (dressed in uniform) came to the hospital that day to give the children stuffed animals and high fives. All of them were lining the hall when we were wheeling Julie to get her final x-ray. They all had smiles on their faces and were sending Julie good wishes. She couldn't smile because her face was swollen... she did wave to them and show her appreciation....Julie in her pretty pink nightgown. These 2 mental pictures will stay with me always. And now..typing it....tears. Tears that our family is so blessed with a Julie, Kellie, Holly, Shelley and Carlie.