New Experience

I've never had a tire blow out before. Um, thank goodness because in all the movies it causes some serious wreckage! But this past week I had the opportunity to experience that first hand. Although it was frustrating to have to spend money on two new tires (the other one was worn as well on the sides) and an alignment, I could have fared much worse from the incident. Heavenly Father was looking out for this little lady.

Amazingly, I had been on the freeway previously that morning to run errands. I was on my way from home to pick up Jacob and his friend from preschool, which would have involved the freeway, when the tire blew. I had just been stopped at a stop light and so was just accelerating and not going very fast. I hear the noise and felt the van shift and immediately thought the tire blew. I pulled over to the side of the road and sure enough, I had a blown tire. I had a sweet sister from our ward stop to try and help me blow it back up with an air pump in the hopes that we could at least get it back to my house. No go.

She left and I waited for Marshall (who was on break) to arrive and help me change the tire. While I waited, I had a very kind gentleman, who had the same model of van as myself, stop and offer help. He knew exactly how to get the spare tire out, which was good since I had no idea. Soon another stopped and together they had the old tire off and spare just about on when Marshall arrived. Seeing Marshall and his friend who came to help in their white shirts, these kind men offered to finish the job to avoid Marshall and friend getting dirty. They changed the tire and were on their way.

I am so grateful for their kindness and calmness. I am so grateful that my tire blew while I was kid-free and not on the freeway. I am so grateful no damage was done to the van and that we could have a new tire on by the end of the day. Sometimes lame things happen in life, but we can always find some positive no matter how much chaos goes on around us. I am so grateful to the Lord for helping me keep calm and enabling me to see the blessings in what could have been a very stressful situation.

The real reason behind victory

I am busy reading the "war chapters" in Alma in my scripture study. I love how one can draw so many parallels from that section of the Book of Mormon to real life. It never ceases to amaze me how each time I read the BOM, I learn lots of new things.

As I read about Captain Moroni and how he had prepared his people for battle, I was struck with a new thought. I always find the part amusing where the Lamanites try to mimic Moroni's army with similar battle dress, thinking it will make them just as successful and powerful as the Nephites. They believe all it takes is the right equipment to win.  Right...

Of course, the Lamanites do not prevail, which amazes them. D'uh. It takes a little bit more than armor to win. Maybe having the Lord on your side and fighting for a good cause has something to do with winning, but what do I know?!

Besides amusing me, I realized while reading this account how much the Lamanites are like the world in this situation. They believe they can "have it all" just based on appearances. If they dress for battle like the army of Cpt. Moroni, then they will succeed and come out victor. The world tells us that we can have everything we want and be happy. We can feed our natural wants and desires and still come out satisfied with life. We can dress immodestly and still feel self worth. We can have sex before marriage and still develop into a functioning emotionally stable adult who then leads a successful marriage. We don't have to save our money, but rather spend it on everything we want now and still be financially okay. After all, we deserve what we want right now! We can expose ourselves to any kind of music, movies, drugs, alcohol, and activities and still be happy and unscathed. We can! Right? We can have it all!

However, it is amazing to see how many people are unhappy despite this attitude. Marriages broken, children neglected, addictions formed, bankruptcy declared, and misery unleashed. Why isn't this idea of having it all not working? How can we possibly be unhappy if we have everything?

Just like the Lamanites in their armor, the world is missing one key element, the substance behind the armor. The Lamanites failed because, although they put on shields and breastplates, they didn't prepare spiritually. They didn't have the Lord on their side and they weren't fighting for a righteous cause. The world wants to feed us on appearance. Satan would have us gratify our every desire, all the while telling us it will make us happy, but fails to feed our souls. While the pleasure of gratifying our needs can come close to happiness, it is fleeting and never satisfying. We are always left wanting more and searching for something new to fulfill our desires. We are never happy because our souls are not given the nourishment they need to truly find joy. The world cannot give us "everything", only God can. It's sad to see so many wander in misery, trying to mimic the true happiness living the Gospel can bring, but always falling short.

While I amused by the account of the clueless Lamanites in Alma, I am saddened by the misery of those around us in the world. What a blessing it is to have the Gospel in our lives. What a great responsibility we have as parents to teach our children that true happiness can only be found in living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Nothing can ever compare to it. What a great privilege we have to share that wonderful message with those around us to help them truly succeed in this life.

October Already?!

This Sunday we had our Primary Program. The kids did a great job singing along. I need to remember to bring tissues to Primary Programs because I always get so choked up watching the children bear testimony of the Gospel through song and talks. You can feel their spirit and belief. Watching Anna on the stand reminded me that she really is going to be a Young Woman this next birthday. Eeeek! Rachel is at the age where she will let me do her hair, which is a huge accomplishment. Jimmy wanted to make sure his eyes were open for his picture and I think he succeeded. And Jacob insisted on having "spiky hair" and then spent most of the program playing with his "hard hair". They are so adorable and bring me so much joy.

And a little drama at times too. Since I last wrote Rachel fractured her foot and Jimmy had a trip to the ER. Both are fine now, thank goodness. Rachel hurt a growth plate on her foot by jumping off the stairs at her cousin's house. She had to wear a special shoe on her foot for a few weeks and got out of PE during that time. She is now healed and fracture free.

Jimmy made a trip to the Emergency Room this past Thursday after waking up with severe stomach and back pain and a fever. Once I saw Tylenol wasn't helping and he was miserable, I took him to InstaCare. After examining him there, the doctor decided to send him to the ER for fear the boy had appendicitis. He was in so much pain and curled up in a ball from his fever, freezing, but hot to the touch. We spent six hours in the ER getting blood work, x-rays, and a urine test. Poor Jimmy hated having an IV in his arm and I hated watching him suffer. Not to mention his being hungry, but not being able to feed him in case of surgery. Marshall and our bishop, who works at the hospital, came to give Jimmy a blessing. Surprisingly enough, the pain subsided and the doctors couldn't find anything wrong with Jimmy. All the tests came back normal. Jimmy told me it was because of the blessing because "Heavenly Father is better than any medicine". I love the faith of children.

 Marshall did have an autistic Seminary student bring a snake to class. It was just a little snake he had found on his way to class, but, if you know Marshall, you know he is not a fan of snakes. Poor "Indiana Jones" finally convinced the student to take the snake out before class. Never dull for him!

It has been an adventure since I last wrote, but we are happy. Let's hope the next month involves less doctor visits and snakes and a little bit more blogging!

School

The first day of school has come and gone. I would have posted pictures the day of, but somehow with three out of the four kids in school, my life is super busy. It may  have something to do with life just being more crazy as the kids have gotten older. Trips to the orthodontist, doctor, etc. for various children. It may be having to drive lunch to Marshall a few times since school started since he keeps forgetting to take it. It may be having Jimmy coming home early from school twice now because his tummy feels funky (anxiety?). It may be the little man who is now all alone with me and wants to play with me all the time. It may be working my little job at the school every day again. Who knows?! But it is busy.

Despite Jimmy's stomach churning oddities, the kids have enjoyed school without any big problems. Anna loves intermediate school. She was sold on it when she discovered that pizza was a daily option for lunch. I don't think she will ever pack lunch again! She loves switching in between classes, but is not a big fan of the whole having-to-change-in-the-locker-room-for-PE phase. Ah, puberty, everyone's bodies seem to be mutating and doing odd things at different times and emotions run high. You could not pay me enough to go through that phase of life again.

Rachel is enjoying 4th grade. She has told me school is boring, but that is nothing new for her. Hopefully once the gifted programs start up she will be less bored. She did injure her foot a month ago and is wearing a bandage to school every day, which is obnoxious, but gets her out of PE and that makes her happy. PE is boring, you know. It is safe to say that unless it involves Legos or cats, it will be deemed boring.

Jimmy is in his second year of the dual-immersion program and is enjoying 2nd grade. Mrs. Goodman's class store program actually has motivated him to read (cue clouds parting, sun rays shining down from heaven, and heavenly choirs.) It is truly a miracle. He WANTS to read. This requires sitting still. Those two things combined are amazing.

Jacob was like some evil little demon, dancing around the house a few days before school started and expressing his excitement over the fate of his siblings. He now has me all to himself. Bwhahahaha! His master plan has worked! Sadly, Mom still does boring things like chores and reading and what not. Jacob has become very helpful with feeding the cats, doing dishes, and spraying laundry. Preschool starts in two weeks and I am taking the time to enjoy the last year I have with him at home.

Marshall is having fun in Seminary. He teaches six classes total, over two days. He has awesome classes for the most part, but two in which the kids are either too cool to comment or just don't care. Ah, teenagers. Our future. Pretty scary sometimes when you see what kids are out there. But for the most part they are decent. He is enjoying firing them up about the Gospel and kicking their rears into gear.

Me? Well, I am loving being back at my job and seeing the cute kids at school. I am a hero to many and not powerful enough for some. I had one child show me that his sandwich had gotten smashed in his lunch and he wanted me to fix it somehow. Sorry, but I am not that powerful. I am also busy working on getting certified to become a Notary Public. Paperwork and fees galore, but it will be worth it to be able to notarize the wills and such Marshall still does on the side. I still walk 5 miles a day with Darci. Yes, my walking partner is over 70 and I pray that when I am that age I can be so active and speedy. And I have fun being Cub Master. Day camp is coming up soon! I feel so awesome that my calling has "master" in the title. I need a wand or crown or cloak or something to go with my uniform. Preferably a magic wand to either whack boys with or cast spells on them when they are turkeys.

Here are the first day pictures....