Learning to say No.

Why is it that one of our first words becomes harder for us to say the older we get? As toddlers we say no to everything, even when we don't mean it. When we become adult women we realize that more is expected of us than we can possibly give but guilt and pressure bend us to agree to do the things that we really can't. There are never enough hours in the day and we aren't SuperWoman. And I've decided I'm okay with that.

I wish I could be at every Daisy Girl Scout meeting, helping. I wish I could be at every Tiger Cub meeting. I wish I could be a volunteer in the Tank's classroom. But there's only one me.

This year I have taken on finishing my bachelor's degree, homeschooling my children, and two week cross-country trip and accepted the calling as Primary President. What makes me think I can do all of it on top of my everyday duties as a wife and mother? Something has got to give and I've realized that it has to be the one thing I never prayed about.

Homeschooling? Prayed for months. Primary president? I received a confirmation that I would receive the call before I was asked into the bishop's office and already knew who my counselors were supposed to be. My children? Each one of them is a blessing from the Lord and have been greatly wanted before they arrived in our house. The family trip is already over.

That leaves my schoolwork. I never prayed if now was the right time for me to finish my degree. Why do I think I know better than the Lord? Why do I think that I can do more than what He has asked of me? We are never given more than we can handle with His help, but that only applies to the things that He asks us to take on. Not all the extras that we think we can squeeze in.

So for now I'm slowing down so that I can find more joy in my journey. This stage will not last forever and before I know it I will be searching for projects to fill my time.

I'm also hiring a cleaning lady so my house isn't a complete disaster all the time.

Happy Moments in Mommyhood

Tonight at the dinner table the Bug was standing up in her seat singing nursery rhymes and church songs. The other kids were applauding her and she would then take a bow while saying, "Thank you, thank you." She is now dancing around the house singing, "I love you, I love you, I love you."

Sweet moments like this that counterbalance the bickering and screaming.

P.S. My account of our big trip across the country is coming.

The sky is falling!

Or not. Maybe the roof will just cave in around me as I finally get to cross "Blogging" off my mental to-do list. And I can't think of anything else witty to say so here are just the facts Ma'am.

Tom is working like crazy these days. We are gearing up for our two-week trip to NM, stopping at several Church history sites, Arches Nat'l park and the Grand Canyon along the way.

I got to go visit my mom to help her recover from her hysterectomy (another future event for me to look forward to?) and got to indulge in chile rellenos and sopaipillas.

Tweedledum is super-excited to start homeschool and Tweedledee is not. She keeps telling me she wants to go to regular school now that all her friends are not around to play with during the day.

The Tank is going to be going to pre-K. I had filled out paperwork last year for him to be put in one of the "over-income slots" in Head Start. There was never any room and he had a great year at Mom's Day Out. I had been getting nervous, wondering how I was going to keep him and Tweedledee separated so they could each get their work done this year when I got a random phone call from the HS director and that they had a spot open for him this year. Priority is given to a 4 year-old who falls in the over-income area over a 3 year-old who is under the income limit. So I called Tom and we felt it would be a good experience for him. I think he was starting to feel a little left out of all the "school experiences". After all, he watched the twins ride the school bus for a year and then go off to the big school last year. I think some structure away from home will give him the boost we both need to have a successful homeschool next year.

The Bug is officially in her terrible twos. Her language developed in leaps and bounds while I was out of town and now has no problem telling me exactly what she wants. She is starting to pick up some back talk from the big kids that needs to be nipped in the bud all the way around.

As I write, Tweedledum is at his first Cub Scout campout with Daddy. Of course, it's pouring rain so he is getting the full experience. In the morning they will be going for a hike and the "big boys" are cooking and doing some afternoon activities with them. I cannot describe the look of pure joy and pride when Daddy finally got home from work and they got the car packed up to leave. I hope Cub Scouts is everything he expects it to be, he is so excited. My heart is just bursting for him to have, maybe, found his niche.

Who wants some Shabby Apples?

Jana over at The Meanest Mom is teaming up with the Shabby Apple to give away one of their super-cute, super-modest dresses. Go on over for your chance to win! Or not, cause I *really* want one of these dresses.

MIA for NGR

That's No Good Reason. I wish I had a fabulous family vacation to regale you with or could say that I've been slaving over my schoolwork or the kids' quilts or some home improvement project. Alas, I have only my sluggish laziness to blame. I have lots of post ideas bouncing around in my head and will hopefully be getting to them soon. After all, I know how much my public needs me....

Is that even legal?!

I apologize for being MIA. I'm taking summer classes and they are very intense. Particularly History of Sacred Places. Here's a quick catch-up on what's been going on here. And as soon as I find my cord to hook my camera to the computer I will upload all the pictures I have actually been taking.

The twins finished kindergarten and we are all very glad to be done with public school. No more fighting against biorhythms or remembering who has gym/music/library/art which day. Tweedledum and Tweedledee are now 6 years old and we had a great visit from my mom. She got to come for their birthday and got to experience the Strawberry Festival while she was here.

We learned that a Fireman's Parade is a bad idea, no matter how much the kids say they want to go and that there is not too much of a good thing when it comes to strawberry shortcake. Or chocolate-dipped strawberries. Or strawberry pancakes. Or anything else you can imagine to put strawberries on. It's also a really good time to stock up on strawberries for making jam.

I went to an LDS homeschool conference in Virginia a couple of weeks ago and am so ready and energized to begin this new journey with my family. The Spirit spoke to me again so strongly that this is the right thing to be doing with me kids. I'm not anti-public school now. I just know that this is what's right for our family and I have to follow that prompting. I heard some really great talks that can even apply to those that do not homeschool. But they deserve their own posts so remind me to write about them later, okay?

Finally, a month ago I had a brilliant idea. Let's get some chickens! See, a good friend of mine lives outside city limits and has several chickens for laying eggs and also got some meat chickens when they went on sale this spring. I really wanted to have some meat chickens of my own to raise and so I can feed my family some hormone-free meat for once. So, I asked my dear friend if I could keep some chickens at her house. Yes, but the first couple of weeks it was still too cold for them to be outside at night because they were still cute and fluffy and didn't have their protective feathers yet. So I had to keep them at my house. We made a cozy home out of two plastic totes and put a baby gate on top to keep the dog away and them from jumping out. They had a light to keep them warm even after we could move them to the back porch. Oh yeah, I didn't talk to Tom about the chickens before I bought them and wasn't home when he got home from work that night so he saw them unexplained. How many you ask? 18. Tom then pointed out that we live inside city limits and that it's not legal for us to have farm animals! Oops. They now have a home out in the country and will soon be making their way to my freezer. After all, they are ready to be "processed" when they are 8-12 weeks old.

Yeah, they grow that fast.

New title?

I know I've been MIA for awhile now. I promise I'm going to be posting about everything we've been up to very, very soon. I'm trying out a new title (one that fell out of my mouth earlier this afternoon) and taking votes for the new one or my oldie but goodie. What do you think?