Breaking Dawn

So I finished Breaking Dawn yesterday morning, ya I started after dinner on wed. I was not disappointed! I love me a happy ending and everything got neatly tied in a bow which might bother some but not me. I am so glad that I waited to read them until they were all out, it would have tormented me. I loved all the books the same because to me they each supported the other so I think of them as one big story instead of four books. I enjoyed that they were able to have a baby and everything that ensued because of that choice. I am being a little sketchy because I know not everyone has finished yet. I am still going over the story in my head and still feel connected to it. So i am in need of discussing it with others. Please people write me your thoughts I am not wanting to let it out of my system yet. I still want to dwell on Bella and Edward and "their lives". So please share your thoughts!

Team Edward!

I had my ten year high school reunion this weekend. It is always strange to remember my previous life. I won three awards which was slightly embarrassing, longest married, most kids and high school sweethearts. We did get some great gifts though! on to more important matters on Friday evening I broke down and began the Twilight serious and even though i read none on Sunday and only a little Saturday i am ready for the fourth book! I have been sucked in or bitten as I heard someone mention. I don't get Breaking Dawn until tomorrow so that is why I have free time right now. I won't discuss to much until I finish the last one. But just for the record of where I stand there is no team Jacob to me. I have heard arguments to the contrary but I do not think that Bella truly loves Jacob more then a brotherly love and if they had more time before Edward I do not think they would of ended up together. I think she only confused her "love " and concern for him with love love:) when I was young I thought i loved others but ended up realizing that it was just infatuation with them especially after experiencing the real thing. Well i have to wait till later to say more.

Pearls of wisdom

I had this sent to me and wanted to pass it along.

The cheerful little girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting
with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them, a circle of glistening
white pearls in a pink foil box.

"Oh mommy please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please?"

Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked
back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl's upturned face.

"A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00. If you really want them, I'll
think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money
to buy them for yourself. Your birthday's only a week away and you might
get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma."

As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17
pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went
to the neighbor and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick dandelions for ten
cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at
last she had enough money to buy the necklace.

Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She
wore them everywhere, Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only
time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath.
Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.

Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed,
he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story.
One night as he finished the story, he asked Jenny, "Do you love me?"

"Oh yes, daddy. You know that I love you."

"Then give me your pearls."

"Oh, daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess, the white horse from
my collection, the one with the pink tail. Remember, daddy? The one you
gave me. She's my very favorite."

"That's okay, Honey, daddy loves you. Good night." And he brushed her cheek
with a kiss.

About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's daddy asked again, "Do
you love me?"

"Daddy, you know I love you."

"Then give me your pearls."

"Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new one
I got for my birthday. She is beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket
that matches her sleeper."

"That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you."

And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.

A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed
with her legs crossed Indian style.

As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear
rolled down her cheek.

"What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?"

Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And
when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little
quiver, she finally said, "Here, daddy; this is for you."

With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's daddy reached out with one
hand to take the dime store necklace, and with the other hand he reached
into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine
pearls and gave them to Jenny.

He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the
dime-store stuff so he could give her the genuine treasure. So it is, with
our Heavenly Father. He is waiting for us to give up the cheap things in
our lives so that he can give us beautiful treasures.

Are you holding onto things that Heavenly Father wants you to let go
of? Are you holding on to harmful relationships, habits and activities that you have come so attached to that it seems impossible to let go? Sometimes it is so hard to see what is in the other
hand but do believe this one thing

Our Heavenly Father will never take away something without giving you something better in
its place.

We get blessings for this right?

so today was like any typical Sunday when Jason works. we watched church videos and got ready then headed to church at 12:30 which for some reason I always try to do but normally I always get there with like 5 minutes to spare, not today. we actually got there 25 minutes early. Once I got everyone to sit and gave them there coloring supplies I was feeling pretty good. Then Harrison wanted Brooklyn's crayon so he took her toy so she climbed on him. I broke that up but Harrison was still being a turkey. Brooklyn then grabbed her coloring book which hit Payten in the eye. Jackson was starving and laid sprawled out on the bench, When I was dealing with the baby Harrison decided the top of the hymn book needed some pink highlights,ugh! After that we had the sacrament which is normally fine but today Harrison grabbed a handful of bread, I swatted his hand away and decided to give him none after that which of course meant that he would cry about getting none. The YM lined up by us to take the bread back and what do you know, but a a piece of bread drops on the ground. I took that as some kind of sign so i let Harrison clean it up. Some how while sitting between my four kids( I was nursing the baby on my lap) I took a breath and was able to enjoy the spirit for a fleeting moment. Afterwards I had a few people come up and tell me how well behaved my kids are! The newly called 2nd counselor even came up and wanted advice on how I managed because his wife was trying to adjust to him being on the stand, and they only have 3. I told him the truth I spend the next two hours after sacrament unwinding from the last hour. I then went and visited with his wife in the mother's room ,AKA my reprieve, we laughed about who's kids were worst in church , I told her what Harrison had done she said her son once ripped the hymn book up right in front of the chorister! She then said that last week her son had a pen and drew on an old man's suit who sat in front of them, the poor man had know idea and she debated where she should even tap him on the shoulder and tell him! I love talking to other moms it always makes you realize that we are all in this madness called parenting together. I ended up teaching Jackson's class when his teacher didn't show. I'll have to save the description of that class for later let me just say one girl is so hyper she practically seizes.. oh well at least I made it through another Sunday and got to take the sacrament I promise you that becomes such an accomplishment on days like today. However insane my Sundays can be I make it through because I truly know that there is no better place I can be with my kids. They won't remember the insanity they'll just know that they went to church every week and to me that is makes it all worth it.

The meaning of "things"

I have been trying to find something to blog about this week. Every time I went to post my mind literally was blank. So I just decided to start typing and see where it leads me. We have been cleaning and organizing this week which I am so happy about. It is amazing how organizing can make life feel so good. I have started working on my kids Christmas list. This year will be TIGHT so I am trying to get a good head start on sales. Each child will get a big gift(around $30) and a couple small gifts. My friend does three gifts total for each of her kids(she is having her 8 and her oldest is 12) they represent that Jesus only got three . I am wanting to instill more of the true meaning of holidays into each of them. It can get tough when they know some kids that the toy store for each holiday, even St. Patricks day. Luckily most of my kids cousins are going to be having a similar Christmas. It is amazing how as a society we ingrain in our kids that receiving is of more value then all else. It kills me to he that the tooth fairy gave a child a few presents or more then some change. Sometimes I think parents get caught in the trap that gifts equate their love for their child. It is a trap that even I gets caught in. I do think that giving things shows affection but I don't think that the monetary value is what shows the affection. I have always been big on meaning in gifts although just getting what you want can be nice too. I love when my mom or grandma used to make us gifts. i can nearly recall every gift they made us from dolls to, decorations, clothes, photo albums and many other ones. I can remember how special they were just because of the time and loved put into them. I want to give more gifts like those and less "things" that are forgotten within the month. I of course am realistic enough to realize that kids love getting and playing with those"things" but I just want to take into account that because they're just things anyway why spend a lot on them. plus once you start spending a lot on gifts where do you go from there, especially with five kids. alright I'm done ranting on this one. Jason's working a double today and it's finally raining so we're taken it easy today. Oh ya Comcast finally picked up the cable box today. We have been receiving free cable for 3 weeks! My kids cried as they took it away. So now the true test goes into play. I was hoping to see Monk and Psych tonight, oh well we'll have to start using the computer. I promised my kids that now we'll play more games instead of watching tv and they quickly forgot about the loss of our channels which couldn't have made me feel any more prouder.

New and improved

How cute and professional am I! Jenell and I did it together on the phone and were going to keep it all a secret. She blabbed so if you also want fun new blog theme's and other fun stuff go to her blog she just posted about it. Today we went to our stake pioneer day activity. Other then it being hotter then I expected it was fun. I'll post more later and put pics on about it but am being rushed out the door by my fam.

odds and ends

I can hardly believe that summer is more than half way over. We still need to take our kids camping we have been promising them for like a year. We have been battling a nasty virus so we have been taken it easy this week. Just in case you are wondering I got an A on Jason's
paper! I was so elated, which I could tell made my husband happy since he still has two papers left! Dee moved in a week ago for those who didn't know Dee is my sister-in-law's best friend from BYU who has been living in OR for the last year, she's from TN, anyway she needed a place to stay for a few months. Long story short she's helping us out and we're helping her out for a while. this last weekend all the girls on my mom's side of the fam went to the beach for the annual girls beach trip. It was a lot of fun and was only the second time I have ever left Jason and the kids, last year I went to Raleigh with friends to Time out for Women. The kids had a blast going to the Battle Ground parade and carnival and to the park. Daddy even camped out downstairs with them both nights , which his hips paid for, sorry babe you're getting old! I even came home to dinner and a clean house! Maybe I will write some more of his papers. Anyway if you click on my sis Michelle's blog you can see pics since I left my camera there:( Life is good right now but I am starting to get antsy about the trials yet to come. I am trying to get back on a good schedule to better prepare myself for this next year. Which might be the greatest test of my tolerance yet. Hopefully my past lessons learned will help me through, who am I kidding I am counting on that!