Fare Thee Well, Dear Friend . . .

Goodbye, Dear Friend!
Thank you for your willing service through
so many hours of trial and tears.
Thank you for being there to console my baby through
months of growth and change.
Thank you for your gentle comfort
when nothing else could sooth.
You've been with us through endless hours
of car rides, church meetings,
and every night for nearly 140 days.
You have been well loved
and much appreciated,
but the time has come, my little friend,
to find a better way. . .

Today we are, once again, saying farewell to the precious BINK. Previous "adieus" have been said by both Hazel and Lilie - who have both lived through it and been better for it. It is now Elsie's turn. I know a lot of parents love the pacifier. I am just fine with it and, in truth, find it quite a blessing while my babies are little, but there has reached a point in each of my children's development where it's time to give it the BOOT.

That day usually comes right around the time that they start needing it to STAY asleep. When they scream if it falls out in the car or when, in their need to be constantly moving their hands, they keep pulling it out while they're sleeping and then are too little and uncoordinated to get it back in. --- I'm sure a lot of you would tell me, just wait it out and they'll learn to get it back in themselves, but why not just bypass the next 8-20 months of toting a dirty binky around and make the break now?

Again, I LOVE the binky when my children are newborns, but it's time. I've found that once abandoning this crutch, my children sleep better through the night and are MUCH BETTER in the car. They are still little enough to learn to console themselves in a relatively short period of time. Elsie took quite a while to fall asleep for her nap this morning, while I rocked her, but for her afternoon nap, she fussed for only about 30 seconds and then calmed right down and fell asleep. Hallelujah! I'm sure we'll have a couple of bumps in the course of the next few days, but I, for one, am happy to say, "Sayonara!"

Thoughts

Hey all! My sister sent me some information about food storage earlier today and it's just been on my mind since. There were a few quotes from President Packer; one in particular stood out to me. It said that in an adult session of a Stake Conference in Holladay, UT Pres. Packer had been asked a question about why we haven't heard any talks lately in General Conference about preparedness. Pres. Packer basically said that they had been counseled to not give talks about it anymore. They've counseled about it for more than 100 years. "Now the Lord will preach His own sermons."

Now, who knows how accurate any of the statements made in some random e-mail are? But these words really stood out to me because this is something I've been thinking about. I don't know how many of you agree, but for me personally, I've felt this strong urge lately to work on our food storage and emergency preparedness --- And I've noticed a lot of friends and family doing the same. I have definitely felt the Lord teaching me, urging me, about the importance of being prepared.

Granted, I have no idea as to what is in store for our country and our world, but I'd like to also urge all of my friends and family to take some serious thought about being prepared for any kind of emergency.

These words from President Hinckley have also been on my mind.

"I am suggesting that the time has come to get our houses in order. So many of our people are living on the very edge of their incomes. In fact, some are living on borrowings. . . . There is a portent of stormy weather ahead to which we had better give heed."

"I recognize that it may be necessary to borrow to get a home, of course. But let us buy a home that we can afford and thus ease the payments which will constantly hang over our heads without mercy or respite for as long as 30 years. . . . I urge you to be modest in your expenditures; discipline yourselves in your purchases to avoid debt to the extent possible. Pay off debt as quickly as you can. . . . That's all I have to say about it, but I wish to say it with all the emphasis of which I am capable."

This morning I was reading scriptures with the girls, Mosiah 8, in particular. In this chapter it talks about what a prophet, seer, and revelator is. "But a seer can know of things which are past, and also of things which are to come, and by them shall all things be revealed, or, rather, shall secret things be made manifest, and hidden things shall come to light, and things which are not known shall be made known by them, and also things shall be made known by them which otherwise could not be known. Thus God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles; therefore he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings."

As I talked to my little girls today about prophets, it was reiterated to me, how wonderful it is to have a living prophet on the earth today. I cannot think of stronger words a prophet could give us than to say, "I wish to say it with all the emphasis of which I am capable." I hope the I am able to meet all of the counsel that the Lord has given us through these appointed men.

A Tribute to my METAL MAN!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY (Friday) to my wonderful husband! My sweet hubby turned 28 this weekend! He's SO old! ha ha ha! Well, he'll always be older than me! :)

The second week in February is always a fun time for me. I get to celebrate Valentine's Day with my HONEY and then I get to celebrate one the most absolutely BEST days of the year (it compares only with my children's birthdays), NELS' BIRTHDAY!

I love this man SO MUCH! I am so thankful that my Heavenly Father sent him to me. He is such a good man! He teaches me daily how to be more like my Father in Heaven. One of my favorite things about him, and indeed probably one of the main things that first attracted me to Nels (second only to his dashing good looks and sparkling personality), was his innate sense of integrity. I've never known anyone who has such a driving desire to do the right thing, for the right reason. He used to tell me that it's because he's METAL! LOL!

As funny as it sounds (Nels would say it's 'hardcore') I've thought a lot about that statement over the years and how it is actually true. (Prepare yourself for a little English History lesson) Aside from his obvious reference to Rock 'n' Roll, metal is judged by it's integrity. The words metal and mettle are (rightly) related. Definition of mettle: Inherent quality of character and temperament. I actually did a little research on this word today and found that in the 16th century before they had made a differentiation between the spelling of the two words, metal also meant "the stuff one is made of, one's character". Similar to the definition of Integrity: the quality or state of being complete or undivided: Completeness, Soundness, Incorruptibility. Now granted, sometimes this quality can be a bit irritating in the fact that Nels has a difficult time doing something that he isn't entirely 'converted' to - things like . . . well . . . like things I tell him to do (LOL!). But truthfully, I am so overwhelmingly grateful to have a husband and best friend that I can say is METAL.

He is SO handsome!

So Smart!

Such a GOOD FATHER!

He makes me laugh - SO hard - everyday!

He is my best friend, my support, my companion.
He fulfills my every need and is my match in every way!
I love you, Nels!

What a LOVEly Weekend!

The days surrounding Valentine's Day are always a bit of a challenge for me. First of all, Valentine's is pretty much a made up holiday to spoil women and trap men. And second, Nels's birthday falls the day AFTER Valentine's. So I always feel a bit uncomfortable making a big deal about Valentine's. I don't like feeling like it's overshadowing one of the most wonderful days of the year.
Solution: just make Valentine's Day a fun day for the whole family to celebrate how much we love one another. - How many of you agree? Why is it that Valentine's is pretty much a day for women? (Granted, I'm pretty sure that most men end the night pretty happy, but still . . .) I've talked to so many women who act like Valentine's is the most important day of the year for their husband to show them that they love them. In their minds, they think of what they want to happen and then, if their husband doesn't follow through with their fantasy, well, he must not love them. "If he loves me, then he'll . . . " Is probably one of the most dangerous things for a woman to ever think. For me, personally, I'm happy to kind of keep V-Day on the down-low. My husband shows me that he loves me every day. I love him SO MUCH for all he does for me, For all he is, For all that he helps me to be.
Nels and I had a wonderful Valentine's. Nels bought me a lovely plant and pretty balloons for each of the girls. Then he got home from work before I was finished grocery shopping. We gave the girls macaroni and cheese, put them in bed, and then Nels helped me make a nice candlelight dinner for just the two of us, which we ate at our lovely kitchen table. It was a fabulous night!

Cute Blogs!

Hey I found this really fun website (Thanks, Clancy!) that has some great blog backgrounds and it's super easy to change! If you're interested here is the address:

http://cutestblogontheblock.blogspot.com/

Something is Wrong with ME

Something is seriously wrong with me. Do you see the time on this post???? I'm SO tired! So tired! I spent most of the night looking for new blog templates, then after hours of looking for just the right one, I decide, "Hey, why don't I just download this digital scrapbooking stuff and just make my own?" Then I spend the next several hours doing that. When all I really wanted to do tonight was blog about Nels's birthday. I'm an idiot. And now if I spend time going through pictures and writing something worthwhile, I'll be awake till morning. It'll have to wait. I'm retarded.

She's on the move!

So Elsie has started pulling herself ALL OVER! She is 4 months old for crying out loud! As predicted, she is not crawling yet, but she is way beyond rolling to get to what she wants. Yesterday she pulled herself all the way across the room to get to a magazine about 6 feet away and rip it to shreds! Thank goodness. Now that it's destroyed I won't be tempted to go to that store and buy anything, because I can't remember what was in it! :) I'll post some video as soon as I get Nels to show me how. As for now, I'm signing off with only this brief post because Lilie has been upstairs for too long, all by herself!

Update

Just so you know, Brother Blow is fine. -- I think. And he was named by Hazel - after the puffer fish in Finding Nemo. HIS name is actually Bloat. Gill (the Angel fish) calls him Brother Bloat in the movie at one point. However, the girls always think its BLOW.

My Great and TERRIBLE

Let me begin this post with a firm declaration that I LOVE my Lilie! She is truly GREAT! No child has ever been loved more than she . . .

but I do NOT know what has gotten into her lately!

This child has been royally trying my patience. So you all saw the lovely pictures of what she did with my lipstick last week . . . yesterday as I was getting Hazel ready for ballet upstairs, Lilie was downstairs "playing in her bedroom". As I was taking some pictures of Hazel, Lilie comes upstairs entirely soaked! I take her by the shoulder and ask her how she got wet. She eventually tells me in a little voice, "The fishtank . . . " I come downstairs and there is aquarium gravel thrown all over the couch and the carpet and the carpet is wet all around the tank! I walk over to assess the actual damage to Brother Blow (the betta fish) and see an empty bottle of OxiClean sitting on the floor.

I run upstairs and grab a glass of water and fish Bro. Blow out. There are little bubbles floating around the top of the tank.

I turn around and see the television, the entertainment center, the X-Box . . . the girls' rocking chair, and Lilie's stuffed Nemo . . .

All smeared with OxiClean . . .


with the exception of Nemo . . . who is saturated with it!

It's in all the crevices, all over the carpet . . .

And then today, I find her upstairs, running out of my living room saying, "I'm sorry, Mom!" I go in and there is ORANGE marker all over my ottoman that I just recovered. Apparently she was "painting" her nails, on the ottoman.

Oh, my Lilie . . . I love you . . . but . . . AAAAAAUUUGGGGggggggggg!!!!!

The Plumper!

This is the girls' new favorite toy! :) ha ha! We took them with us to Home Depot and this is what they wanted. A "plumper" - as Hazel calls it. They love to stick it to the floor - as long as they don't hit themselves in the face pulling it up.


Ironically, the one place they are not allowed to play with it is in the bathroom!

Sweet Little Hazel Ballerina

Isn't she beautiful!? Hazel started Ballet lessons last week. She absolutely loves it and I think she is just the cutest little ballerina that I've ever seen! She's so funny to watch! She tries to watch and do what the teacher does, but sometimes she just can't control herself and has to go dancing off by herself. She's so funny. I'll have to post some video of her dancing! Four-year-olds are funny!

Snow, Snow, Snow

I feel like it has been snowing non-stop since Christmastime. Granted, that's only about a month and a half, and it's Idaho Falls, but regardless, when Springtime comes, it will be a welcome sight! It warmed up a bit last week and melted a bit, but I think we've still got a good foot or more in yard (and on the roads - Eastern Idaho does a hideous job at snow removal). 

We got some cute pictures of the girls playing in the snow today while I was out cleaning off the driveway. (And YES, I DO own snow pants for the girls,  :) they were just in too big a hurry to put them on.)

The pile of snow on the right is what the girls are playing on top of in the rest of the pictures. It's about 4 1/2 ft. high.

I just liked this cute little picture of Elsie. This is a look that she's been doing a lot lately. - Like she's just taking everything in and figuring it out. 

She has really started taking off lately, LITERALLY! She has become a VERY proficient roller and loves to just rolly-polly all around. She also likes to get her knees up under her lately while she's pushing up with her arms. I have a feeling that she's going to be just like her sisters and start REALLY taking off here within the next month or two . . . (sigh) 

This is a picture of Lilie when she was just a little over a week older than Elsie is right now. She wasn't CRAWLING for a few more weeks after this picture was taken, but I think we'll see Elsie start doing this same thing within the month.

This is Hazel when she was close to the same age. They look similar, don't they?

No Use Crying Over Spilled . . . Water?

    Today Nels gave Hazel a cup of water. Later when he came back, she'd spilled the water all over the counter.

    Nels asked her why she had spilled her water. She sat for a second and then said, "I don't know. . . Well, I wanted to go swimming, but then I was too big."

     Sometimes it's important to keep things in perspective when dealing with children. She didn't really want to make a mess . . . she just thought it would be fun to go swimming . . . in a cup of water.