Race for a Cure (Oct. 6th)

Aaron decided to run the Susan G. Komen Race for a Cure 5k. We did the family walk for Race for the Cure, when we first moved to the Houston area 4 years ago. We haven't done it since then but Aaron did the competitive 5k in 2009 and again this year. So, we decided to make it a family outing and cheer Dad on.

 

The kiddos waiting for Dad at the finish line.

Rebekah and I

Aubrey was so upset that she couldn't see Aaron while we were waiting for him to finish. So she started pouting.

Such a cute pouty face though. (She got dirt on her face from rubbing up against the fence.)

My view of Rebekah in her carrier. Such a cutie!

Aaron coming toward the finish line. (He's in the black shirt directly behind the guy in yellow.) We were cheering, shouting, and waving for him but he said later that he couldn't see us. Something about tunnel vision...

Aaron just about to cross the finish line.

 

Aaron finished 50th out of about 2,260 runners with a time of 20 minutes and 14 seconds. His goal was to get under 20 minutes. He said that he got stuck behind the pack at the starting line and so it took him a good 1/2 mile of weaving in and out until he could get to a place where he could run at his normal pace. He was a little bummed but still felt good about it.

After the race, we found him (which took awhile) and we all munched on bananas, apples, and granola bars. The kids all wanted to show Aaron the acorns they collected while we were waiting for him. Then, it was on to the fun stuff...

Bouncing in inflatable bounce houses

More bouncing...

And getting our faces painted.

Seth asked the girl if she could paint a picture of the character on the Pokemon card he was holding. She was such a good sport and offered to try.

Of course, Josh then had to have one too. I thanked her profusely. I was always that one person that was willing to take requests whenever I worked a face-painting booth. Word would spread and by the end I was so tired because everyone would come to me because they had a special request. So when it was my turn, I asked for a simple pink ribbon. You're welcome face-painting girl.

 

Aubrey decided on a pink and purple butterfly.

Aaron opted out of face painting and offered to hold Rebekah instead. This was pretty funny (looking) because Bekah kept licking sweat off of his shirt. Yeah, I know...gross.

Seth trying the Houston Texans football toss.

Josh trying the Houston Texans football toss.

Aubrey posing with the Houston Rocket's cheerleaders. (Let's just say this photo had to be cropped down for a reason and leave it at that.) :)

Aubrey and I

 

All and all, it was a lot of fun. It got me pumped for my 5k which is coming up in November. For days after, Aubrey kept asking if we were going to the race again. I think that meant that she enjoyed it too. Aaron and I have talked about it before that we would love to become a runner family, where we all participate in different races and spend weekends like this cheering each other on. What a great way to create memories as a family!

 

First order of business....I need to become a runner...

 



Which Way Does a Tree Fall?

(Image Source)

For family home evening tonight, we used the Lorax and Truffala trees to teach an important lesson. We watched the clip from the movie The Lorax, where the Once-ler's family joins him to start making Thneeds. The Lorax cautions Once-ler that he is making the wrong choice. He asks, "Which way does a tree fall?" The answer, "It falls the way it leans. Be careful which way you lean."  We related this to the prophet George Albert Smith's counsel. “There is a line of demarcation well defined between the Lord’s territory and the devil’s territory. If you will stay on the Lord’s side of the line you will be under his influence and will have no desire to do wrong; but if you cross to the devil’s side of that line one inch you are in the tempter’s power and if he is successful, you will not be able to think or even reason properly because you will have lost the Spirit of the Lord.”

I made a Truffala tree pencil for each person. (Simply a piece of feather boa glued to the top of pencil.) I used these trees to demonstrate President Smith's counsel. If we are on the Lord's side and striving to do good which way will we "fall?" On the Lord's side. If we are on Satan's side, which way will we fall? For Satan. If we are planted on the Lord's side but are thinking about doing wrong or even disobeying a few commandments, which way are we leaning? Which way will we fall? For Satan. However, if we have made bad choices in the past and we're stuck on Satan's side, but we want to repent and be on the Lord's side, we are leaning to the Lord's side and he will help us to come back to his side.

We closed with more of President Smith's counsel, “When I have been tempted sometimes to do a certain thing, I have asked myself, ‘Which side of the line am I on?’ If I determined to be on the safe side, the Lord’s side, I would do the right thing every time. So when temptation comes think prayerfully about your problem and the influence of the Lord will aid you to decide wisely. There is safety for us only on the Lord’s side of the line.” I reminded them the Lorax's warning. "Be careful which way you lean."

 

I'm hoping that we will be able to use this as a reminder later on. "Whose side are you on?'' or "Which way are you leaning?" As well as seeing the fuzzy Truffala tree pencils around the house. This should help the kid's to think about the choices they are making and which side it places them.

It was a great lesson and we finished up by eating Deep Dish Chocolate Pumpkin Pizookie. Thanks to Stephanie Ferrera for the R.S. lesson and Truffala tree that prompted this and to my sister Emily for suggesting the recipe. (Although next time I make it, I don't think I'll make it deep dish. It was really rich and very filling.)

What Matters Most...Right Now

Rebekah, 6 weeks old

Sunday in Relief Society at church, we had a lesson called "Advancing the Work of the Lord." It was about how it is necessary for us each of us to do the work of the Lord and carry forth the gospel. Our teacher noted that sometimes we feel that sharing the gospel can be one more thing on our checklist of things to do as members of the church. Our callings, missionary work, temple work, genealogy, so on and so on... Sometimes it can be overwhelming. So she posed the question, "What does advancing the work of the Lord mean for each of us?"

I've often thought about this. I was reminded of a time when I felt overwhelmed. About three and a half years ago, Aubrey was a baby and I had just started babysitting to help make ends meet when Aaron was unemployed. I was frustrated with how little time I had for myself during the day and the expectations placed on me as a Latter-day Saint mother. I'm suppose to teach my children the gospel, care for my family and home which should be beautifully decorated, make healthy beautiful meals made from scratch, grow a garden, build up my food storage, make my children's clothes, read the scriptures by myself and with my family, write in my journal, have family prayer and family home evening, do genealogy, share the gospel, go to the temple, as well as be crafty and blog about it all. All accompanied by beautiful photographs taken by me, arranged into neat little scrapbooks.. I can't remember where or when but I heard the scripture Ecclesiastes 3:1. "To every thing there is a ^aseason, and a ^btime to every purpose under the heaven."

This was an "aha" moment for me. I wasn't expected to do it all right now. To each thing, there was a time and a season. While I was expected to do these things (and some of them were just my own expectations), I wasn't expected to do them all at this moment in my life. There will be a time when I can do each thing or even many of them at once. It was important for me to do what matters most and at this time in my life that meant the things that revolved around my family.

Pondering this, I was reminded of a previous lesson about doing our part in the gospel, and remembered this quote by President George Albert Smith, "It is not only our mission to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and live it, but it is our mission to send into the world our sons and daughters as they are called upon from time to time to labor in the ministry of the Church. As they go they should have been so trained that they would be adamant against the temptations of the adversary; they should be as pure and virtuous and righteous in their lives as it is possible to be, and then the influence of their very presence will be felt by those whom they contact. The Spirit of God will not dwell in unclean tabernacles, but his Spirit will dwell with those who keep themselves clean and sweet. Therefore, let us [rear] our boys and girls under the influence of the Spirit of God."

This reminded me of another time in my life. When I was 19, all of my friends who were guys were preparing for or were currently serving as missionaries for two years. I wanted nothing more than to also serve a mission and share the gospel but girls are not allowed to do that until they are 21. I went to visit and attend the wedding of a friend in Oregon. I was at her reception talking to the mother of another friend. I mentioned to her that my plan was to go to college until I could leave on my mission. She acknowledged that it was a very worthy goal, but cautioned me to not get upset if the Lord had other plans for me. I still remember her saying, "If you end up getting married before you can serve a mission, your mission has just changed to raising missionaries." She was right. Little did either of us know that less than a year later I would be married. However, I did make Aaron promise me that when our children were grown we would serve a mission as senior missionaries.

To everything there is a time and season.This is a lesson that apparently the Lord keeps teaching me. I recently was feeling frustrated with how little I can get done in the day, because all my time is spent taking care of Rebekah. I was thinking about how nice it will be when Rebekah can just sit on the floor and play. Or that if Seth were a few years older, he could babysit so that I could go to the store by myself. Even that it will be nice when summer is over and the kids are back in school. Then we had this lesson on Sunday and the Lord reminded me that this is the season of my life. Rebekah and all my children will grow up and in hindsight it will have gone quickly. Seth only has a few more years before he's a teenager and is he ready to take on the teenage world. And sadly we only have two weeks of summer vacation before life gets busy again. Am I doing everything I can to teach my children and enjoy their childhood now before it's gone? Enjoy it while it lasts because tomorrow will be a different day with different challenges and requirements. Right now my responsibility is my family, to love them and teach them to follow Jesus Christ and be strong and faithful. By doing that, I'm advancing the work of the Lord and preparing my children to "arise and shine forth."

Whenever I start to feel overwhelmed, I love to watch the following video. It always inspires me to be thankful for what I have and share the gospel with those around me.

This is my life right now and it is good.



Pray, He is there...

Lately, Rebekah throws a fit at bedtime. She starts screaming and gets inconsolable. Nothing I do seems to calm her. Nothing except singing this one verse of a familiar church primary song. It gives me goose bumps every time.

"Pray, He is there. Speak, He is listening. You are his child. His love now surrounds you. He hears your prayers. He loves the children. Of such is the kingdom, the kingdom of Heaven."

It's almost as if her little spirit knows the truth of these words and it gives her comfort. These words, from the song "A Child's Prayer", represent a lesson that I've always tried to instill in my children. God hears your prayers and loves you. It's as simple as that. If they learn nothing else from me, they will still be okay. No matter what the trial, situation, problem, question, sadness, or sin, we can seek help, guidance, comfort, peace, and forgiveness from our Heavenly Father and he will bless us because he loves us. It's very comforting to know and truly believe that truth. So, today it made my heart glad to see one of my children truly believing that and putting it into action.

Seth asked me if he could ride his bike around a nearby subdivision's neighborhood. The subdivision is connected to ours and gets very little traffic during the day, so I knew it would probably be okay. After getting all the details of his plan and setting a few ground rules, I gave him my watch and a time limit. I explained that if he was not back in that time we would come looking for him. He has done this before in our own neighborhood and I was confident that he could manage it.

As he got ready to go, Josh began to panic. "No, Mom. Don't let him go. What if he gets lost? What if something happens to him? What if someone tries to take him?" I reassured him that Seth would be okay. Josh insisted on hugging his brother and telling him to be safe before he left. When he came inside, the worry resumed. "What if he doesn't get back in time?"

"I'm sure he'll be okay, Josh," I tried to reassure again.

"But what if he's not?" he pushed.

"If he's not back in time, then we'll go looking for him."

"But what if we can't find him?" he countered.

"Then we'll call the police and they'll look for him."

"But what if they can't find him either and someone kidnapped him and wants to cut him into pieces?"

"Then, we will fast and pray that he will be returned home to us safely. You know, Josh. If you are really  worried about him, you can always pray to Heavenly Father to keep him safe." He quickly left and went to his bedroom. About 5 minutes later, he came back.

"Wasn't that a long prayer? I just kept asking Heavenly Father to keep Seth safe and that he would be okay, over and over and over again," he informed me. He then went to the kitchen to finish one of his chores. A few minutes later, he shared, "You know, Mom. I just got this feeling that Seth will be okay. I think Heavenly Father and Jesus will protect him."

I helped him to understand that he was feeling the Holy Ghost giving him comfort and peace and letting him know that Heavenly Father would protect Seth. Soon after, Seth arrived home right as his time ended. You could see the relief on Josh's face. "Mom! Heavenly Father answered my prayer! Seth is safe and at home. It worked!" he beamed as he hugged Seth.

I encouraged him to say a quick prayer to thank Heavenly Father for keeping Seth safe and answering his prayer. Then, I related to Seth the story of his brother worrying for him. When Josh returned to the room, Seth thanked him. "It's a good thing you prayed for me. There was one part where I was confused. I wasn't sure if I was suppose to go left or right and then I just knew I was suppose to go right."

What a great faith building experience for all of us! Later in the day, I saw this quote on Facebook. It seems to sum up what I'm feeling today...

The Announcement

The baby is here! We'd like to make an introduction...check out our video.

Aubrey's ABC's

Aubrey has recently begun singing, ALL...the...time. She sings her favorite lullabies and primary songs at bed time. She sings the theme song to her favorite cartoon. She sings made-up songs when she's bored. Of course, since she is singing all the time, she wants us to sing too and we do. It reminds me of when I was a kid and loved making up songs to sing at the top of my lungs while I rode my bike up and down our street. I hope that she grows up to love music as much as I do. And hopefully, she'll be better at it than me. :)

Here is a quick video of her recently trying to sing her ABC's. So cute and pretty good, I might add, for a 2-year-old.