... And the calling is....

...And the calling is... 1st Counselor in the Primary Presidency. Wow! It's a big one! I have a lot to learn, and I'm excited. I think I'll be good at this once I figure out what all of my responsibilities are. We have Stake Conference next week so I'll have an extra week to absorb and learn all the information that I will need to have to fulfill this calling. I will be over the Nursery, Sunbeams, baptisms and the music for nursery. I think this is going to be so much work, but *I hope* very fulfilling!

Here's what was in the basket

I had no idea there was so much stuff in the basket. It's going to be so much fun trying to figure out how to use these things.

Newsprint Uppercase iron-on transfers- jet fuzzy
Newsprint Lowercase iron-on transfers- jet fuzzy
Sugar Sweet Ribbon
Winter rub-on corners
Scrapbook Sandpaper
“She” chipboard alphabet in lime
Center of Attention chipboard alphabet in pumpkin
Floral Spray theme tapes
Pink & Brown solid tapes
Covered Spiral 9x9 album in cotton candy
Travel silhouette words
Pink & White large block alphabet
Rectangles chipboard kit in white
Bats Mask
Daisy Mask
Love fuzzy rub-ons in white
Family fuzzy rub-ons in white
Fat Cat Plastic Alphabet in sea
Family Chipboard themes
Travel Frame kit
Pink lowercase chipboard letters
Expressions Chipboard words
Dark Pink florals
Yellow florals
Reason lower ghost alphabet
Reason upper ghost alphabet
Sassy Sweet Photo corners
Watermelon Delight Photo corners
Cargo Photo corners
Born Free Photo corners
Sassy Sweet Index Tabs
Born Free Index Tabs
Icee Chipboard Shapes
Boy (Tough) rub-on corners
Martha Jewels
Pink Small Flower Jewels
Icee Large Flower Jewels
Raw Chipboard letters- lowercase

Wahoo!!!!

I had a great thing happen tonight! (I wish I could say that I was pain free, but I'm not there yet...) Anyway, I went to the local scrapbook store, and they had Heidi Swapp there demonstrating her product line. I used to be her visiting teacher, and Kent was their home teacher, so it was fun to see her again. She had her new baby there, and she was cute. (My left side was on fire, so I had my ice pack on my lower back during the entire presentation... I'm sure it looked lovely!)
Anyway, she demonstrated how to use her products, and when she was done they raffled off some prizes. They had 4 small books that she wrote, several lip glosses (the kind we had growing up that rolled on), and then 4 page carry-alls full of larger accessories. They had a rule where if you won something small you could trade it up to something big if your name was called again, but with as many people as were there, I didn't really expect to win anything. I thought that if I did, I thought it would be a lip gloss. Imagine my surprise when I won one of those carry-alls full of accessories. It was awesome. So after they drew my name, I went to look around for some accessories for my Christmas cards. I didn't want to trade up because I had already won the big prize, so I didn't really pay attention to what was going on. Apparently they drew and drew until everyone had something, so that was really nice. Then Heidi had the 4 of us who brought pictures choose a number so that she could scrapbook a 2 page layout for the winner. I didn't win, but the woman who did was SOOO excited. It was fun to see her win something that she was so excited about.
A little while later they had everyone put a new ticket into the basket to raffle off the grand prize... same thing... you could trade up if you wanted to. First they did a mini grand prize, and if I won that I was going to keep what I had so that someone else could have something big. Another lady won, and was totally excited. She had won a lip gloss, and she was more than happy to trade that in. So the next number they drew was mine. I didn't know that it was for the big grand prize, so I looked to see what it was, and lo and behold I was happy to trade it in! So here's a picture of the grand prize. How exciting!!!

P.S.

I met with the bishop tonight. I was released from the position of back-up Primary pianist. He extended me a new calling, which I will post on Sunday after I have been sustained by our ward. I am still going to remain the ward organist and a member of the Activities Committee for now. He is trying to find people to fill those spots. This new calling will require a lot of time and effort so I don't think it will take long before I am back down to one calling. I gained one, and lost one, so I still hold a personal best record of 3 callings at once. I think there are going to be some people who will fall out of their chairs when it's announced. Makes me laugh just thinking about it. Of course it could just be the time... I need to get to bed now. I just needed to make sure that I had everything taken care of before I went in for the procedure tomorrow. I don't know how long I'll be down, so I like to plan ahead.

My voice is back- sort of

I lost my voice again this week. It all started Sunday morning right after I played the prelude in Sacrament Meeting. For those of you who have asthma, you can probably relate... The tickle at the back of the throat followed by the constricting of the lungs... Followed soon after by the hacking coughs that cannot be controlled, merely stifled for a short time... Well, that's how it started. I thought I would do a breathing treatment when I got home, and then I thought maybe I should go to the ER after the sacrament hymn, and let someone else play the closing hymn. I managed to get thru it, but it wasn't easy. I was actually more worried about losing my place on the song or, worse yet, passing out...
That reminded me of a time, about 14 years ago, when I played the piano for opening exercises in the chapel immediately after sacrament meeting before dismissing to classes. I don't know who moved the grand piano or HOW they managed to move it, but it was right near the edge of the ledge. I pushed with all my might, and it did not budge even an inch for me. I quickly realized that I would have to make it work. How bad could it be? We only had one opening song followed by the prayer, and then a practice song. However, we had to run thru that song a few times before we went on to actually sing it, so maybe I should have asked for help in moving the piano.
There was no room for the piano bench, so I had to try to balance it. I was balancing on 3 legs the entire time, praying that I wouldn't lose my balance. I almost hoped that the bench would fall over so that my legs would stop burning! My mom assured me later that it would have been much worse, and much more embarrassing if that bench had actually fallen, but I wasn't entirely sure I agreed. I was sufficiently embarrassed, and dripping with sweat by the time we were done.
Back to the present... I was able to avoid going to the hospital, but I have had a heck of a time with the whole breathing thing. I finally got that under control, but I have been without a voice until this morning. My boys kept saying, "Mom, just go uh,uh,uh (clear my throat), and then your voice will be back." I did that several times to appease them, and they just couldn't understand why I still didn't have a voice after doing that several times. They were pleased today when they realized that my voice had returned to about 85%.
Drew is being a little stinker today, and is going down for a nap in a minute. He wouldn't get into my car for me earlier, but did it with no problem for Amy. Why do our kids do that to us? Is it to humble us? To make us question our abilities as a parent? Or is it something entirely different? I don't know that there is any right or wrong answer to that... it might just depend on the day.
Well, my time here is done for now. Mothering duties abound all day for me. Natalie wants me to hold her, and Drew needs me to put him down for his nap. I still have a full schedule for the rest of the day, but I won't have time to stop and think about it for a while. Such is life... I need to find one of those days where there is nothing to do...

Friday

I have decided that I need to add one more thing to my schedule! I have wanted to help out at the boys' school, so I finally went to the front desk a couple of weeks ago to see what they needed help with. They couldn't come up with anything, but my friend, Michelle, called me a few days later and asked if I wanted to help her. She wanted to volunteer, and she showed up on Fridays to help stuff the Friday Folders. (The school passes out announcements each Friday. Each child has their own folder, and we collect those folders then stuff them.) I started that last Friday and I plan on doing that every week. I can take Natalie and Drew with me so that solved my babysitting issue. I have a couple of other friends who also go in, so they all get to play together.

I went in for acupuncture this afternoon. I had a bad experience last week when I went, so I was a hesitant to try it again. I clearly responded to the treatment, but it was a bad response, so I was not really anxious to try it again. However, I got my MRI results back saying that I had 2 bulging discs, and because I am not anxious for surgery- but anxious for some pain relief- I decided to take another look. I did more research and found a new acupuncturist. I talked to him for about 20 minutes, and felt comfortable with him so I decided that I could try it again. If it helps my back pain it would be awesome. It's been several hours, and I have already experienced a tremendous amount of back pain relief. I can hardly wait to go next week to see if he can help me more.

My pretty baby girl!

Here is my beautiful baby girl, Natalie. Do you think she has attitude? Does it show? She has to have some moxie, though, to be the only girl with 3 brothers. I don't think I could have done it! When she is happy and gets her way she is a delightful little girl. When she's unhappy and/or doesn't get her way (which would then cause her to be unhappy) she's not so much that delightful little girl. She loves to have a younger brother to boss around. She loves to (s)mother him and get after him as much as she can. Come to think of it, she likes to do that with her older brothers as well! She loves to play with her cousins and friends, loves the girlie things that I didn't get with the boys, and loves to dress up and have her nails painted. She generally loves going to preschool and she loves do be very independent- most of the time. Right now she is sitting on my lap, looking into my eyes and trying to be my baby. I can't say that she's a baby anymore, though, because she is "not a baby! (She's) a big girl!"

My 3 Sons

My 3 sons. I love them all so much. If you would have told me when I was growing up that I would have 3 sons I think I would have croaked. I come from a family of 5 girls and 1 boy. I was the first child, and my brother was the fifth. I didn't really get to see what it was like to be around boys in the home, so when I found out that I was having a boy for my first baby, I bawled. What do boys do? Get dirty? Eat a ton of food? Fight and boss everyone around? How was I supposed to learn to do all of that?? And why would I want to learn how to do all of that?
Of course now I don't know what I would do without my 3 sons. Justin (on the left) is my oldest. He just turned 10 which means that I have fewer years with him at home than he has already lived. How did that happen? He's such a responsible, hard-working and caring person. He always helps me with the kids, helps with jobs, and does whatever he can to make sure that everyone is taken care of. I feel so grateful that he is a part of our family.
Drew is the baby of the family. He fully embraces that calling and loves to provide comic relief, funny faces, outbursts and general mayhem. He loves me, and we truly share a special bond. He does what we call "Poker Face." When he does this you will NOT get him to smile, laugh, talk or even acknowledge your existence. It is not until he is fully ready to look at you that you will get him to do anything. I think he could be a professional poker player as an adult if he keeps this up!
Trevor is the 2nd child, and he is a very special boy. He is very intelligent, and loves to let you know it. He can talk with just about anyone about almost anything for almost any length of time. He has also decided to be a missionary. He will talk to anyone about the Gospel and he will let you know if you are doing something that is no inline with Gospel teachings. One of his friends has a mother who smokes. Trevor gives her a lecture every time about smoking and how we're not supposed to do it, how bad it is for you, etc... She is a good sport about it, and laughs that he has no fear about letting her know how it is! 

I love the Denver Broncos!

This is Kent and I at the Broncos game in Glendale, AZ. We waited so long for the tickets to go on sale, and almost couldn't get any! There are a lot of newfound Cardinal fans now that they have their own stadium, so tickets were not easy to come by. We finally found some tickets, and we were lucky enough to get 4 seats together. My sister Amy and her husband Gavin went with us. It was a great game! (Because we- meaning the Broncos- won!)