Whew!

I got through today. :) I made it through my talk in sacrament meeting and I think it went all right. I learned a lot, anyway. I hope someone else got something from it as well.

I finished all the scripture journals for the primary kids (63 of them) and I was so relieved! Sharing time was great and easy.

Then we ran home, make some frozen pizza and got everyone fed and everything cleaned up for the Great To Be 8 program we had here at our house tonight. It was pretty quick and painless as well.

I'm excited everything went off pretty much without a hitch. I only had a teeny tiny meltdown last night trying to make sure I was ready for everything going on today.

Now...I'm going to do nothing...for a few minutes anyway. ;) I have lots of pictures to post this week so hopefully I'll get caught up soon!

Today I am grateful:

1. That my talk is over
2. For yummy warm brownies (my fave!)
3. Sitting on the couch and relaxing for a few minutes

Day 14

Well, it has been 2 weeks. Tomorrow is the day I will speak in sacrament meeting on Gratitude. I will post how it goes--maybe. :)

Today I am thankful for:

1. Getting my project finished for sharing time! I made scripture journal for each fo the primary kids. I made 63 of them. Phew!
2. Having a successful birthdya party for Carli--simple and fun. The kids all had a blast.
3. I am just glad it is Saturday night! Monday I can finally pay attention to my house again. :)

Day 13

Today I am thankful for:

1. My talents--the fact that I actually picked up a paint brush to paint a picture, not a wall (even though it was just a butterfly for a party game)
2. Finding out my sister and her husband are going to have a healthy baby boy!
3. For the best husband in the world (who mopped the floors for me this morning)

Day 12

I'm a day late for yesterday's post, but here it is:

Today I am thankful for:

1. My sweet Brandon, who I have learned so much from
2. A nice soft, warm bed to sleep in when I am exhausted
3. Unexpected packages on my doorstep

Day 11

Today I am thankful for:

1. A living prophet
2. The internet (what a great resource when used correctly!)
3. Mexican food

Day 10

Today I am thankful for:

1. Warmth!
2. Late night chick flicks with friends
3. The talents my children have

Day 9

Today I am thankful for:

1. Afternoons at the park with friends
2. Hugs from my kids
3. The time I have with Brandon reading together before he goes to bed

Day 8

Today I am thankful for:

1. Warm weather!
2. that I love to sing
3. ice cream

Day 7

Today I am thankful for:

1. dedicated primary teachers and leaders
2. the smiling faces of primary children
3. the sweet truths of the gospel that we share

Day 6

I forgot to do this last night so here goes:

I am thankful for:

1. 5 healthy children (I have been reading way too many blogs about sick children--not good)
2. gray days (because they make the sunny ones so enjoyable)
3. photography

Cake and Candles

I LOVE the look on her face. Ha! Another good Carli face...hee hee. :)"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Carli! Happy Birthday to you!

BLOW!Dora joined the celebration again. Yummy cupcakes!Big biteBrandon had a huge bite in his mouth. Lovely... What a fun birthday Carli had! We had lunch with friends, played tea party all day, wore adorable clothes from NaNa (thank you!!! I will get pictures--they are adorable!), and had her favorite for dinner--spaghetti with white sauce (as we call it here at our house).

Tea Party Anyone?

After birthday breakfast we opened gifts while everyone was home. Carli first saw this fun Tinkerbell table! It's really cute and the best thing is she can draw all over it and wipe it off! Wahoo! Carli loves to draw...on everything...so this is a good thing for her. :)Here she is drawing a little person on her table. She loves to draw people!Then it was on to the unwrapping. Here is her first Barbie! It is a singing Barbie from The Three Musketeers, which she loves. She is a little singer as well as an artist so this was right up her ally. :)A bouncing ball! She was excited about this one--can you tell?Next...She concentrates very hard on unwrapping. :)It was a tea set!!! So cute! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!Brooke enjoying the new table...yum.The Birthday GirlBrooke and her spoon. She had fun playing tea party, too.Carli played tea party practically all day and was so excited when her sisters got home from school and couldn't wait to have a tea party with her! Even Dora joined the party.
Next post...cake!

Birthday Breakfast

Carli requested french toast for her birthday breakfast. Yum!

I love the looks I catch with my camera. :)

Aren't they adorable?!

Nice...

Next...on to the presents!

Carli is 4 today!

This is the face of pure joy on your birthday morning. :) I love this face.

This is my sweet Carli Hart. She is 4 today!

I will post more about her birthday tomorrow. What a fun day she had. We are watching Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs so I better pay attention. :) What a great way to end the day--with my family.

Day 5

Today I am thankful for:

1. Good friends!
2. Good neighbors!
3. Singing Happy Birthday to Carli and watching her blow out the candles.

Day 4

I'm a little grumpy tonight so I'm going to have to think about this:

Today I am thankful for:

1. Prayer
2. Blue Bell ice cream on sale
3. Birthday presents (I love giving them to my kids!)

Tomorrow Carli is 4! :) Fun day!

Day 3

Today I am thankful for:

1. good books
2. book clubs
3. patience with my children

Day 2

I'm a day late, but last night was a little rough. :)

I am thankful for:

1. free Redbox movie codes
2. warm cookies
3. my sweet baby Brooke

Experiment

Today Ben and I were asked to speak in sacrament meeting in 2 weeks. The bishopric member almost looked afraid to ask me to do this. :) He was probably noticing how crazy it was trying to get all the primary stuff put away, get all my kids in order (and get them to stop whining about being hungry), and talk to other people I needed to after church. He knows I have nothing else to do except prepare an awesome talk for sacrament meeting, right?

Ha. Of course I said...yes...because I don't ever say no to things like that unless I know I will not be in town. Goodness, what have I done? ;) It will be ok, I'm sure. I only have a primary activity (planned, but has to be done), a birthday party, 8 is Great program, and a sharing time to prepare in the next 2 weeks, too. Besides the fact that I have to continue to deal with 5 children, homework, a house, scouts, activity days, primary stuff, etc.

I am complaining...a little...but really, I'm not feeling too overwhelmed. Which brings me to my topic--Gratitude. I am excited about the topic! I am thankful to have the opportunity to speak on such a topic that will make me look at things I am grateful for in the next 2 weeks and beyond. My brain has already locked into this mode and I am thinking of everything that I give gratitude to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with.

I am grateful to have children and a husband who are wonderful and mine for eternity. It is a blessing to be able to do things for them and take care of them.

I am grateful for a calling that blesses me and makes me grow and learn.

I am grateful for people who help and teach my children through activity days and scouts. What great opportunities for them!

I am grateful that my children have homework (sometimes) because it means they are learning and that I can see the things they are learning and I am here to help them when they need me to.

I am grateful for housework because it means I have a home to live in and people to live in it who mess it up. :)

The Experiment: to blog every day for the next 2 weeks before my talk about the things I am grateful for that day. Basically it's going to be a gratitude journal, which I know is not a new idea, but I have never done one consistently. I am going to try for 3 things each day to be grateful for. They may turn out to be things like eternity or a warm house, but they may also be things like a TV to keep my kids busy for a little while--just keeping it real. :) So stay tuned to see what the next 2 weeks brings. I want to see how finding things I am grateful for every day will change my attitude and outlook in general about everything. I will share my results in my talk. Wish me luck!

Today I am grateful for:
1. People who are ready and willing to substitute in Primary
2. A husband who will cook
3. Hot chocolate