french toast for dinner

LOVE IT.

Artwork by, Savannah

I accepted a calling looking like this...

This post is out of order because I forgot about it until today. This picture of me in my awesomeness was taken at 7:00 PM one day a few weeks ago. I had been painting the laundry room, packing up boxes, cleaning the house, and obviously not attending to my physical needs. I hadn't showered, I wasn't wearing a bra, hadn't brushed my teeth, I was growing a nasty cold sore on my lips, and I had paint all over my hands, arms, and feet. I mean, the picture speaks for itself right? As if all that wasn't bad enough, I was listening to Celine Dion on a ridiculously loud volume with the windows open when there was a knock at the door. Of course I sent Tom to get it not thinking that it would be for me. I turned down the music and overheard him making small talk with a man whose voice I didn't recognize and before I knew it Tom was summoning me to the front door. ME. Looking like THIS. Did I mention I was holding a bottle of chocolate syrup in preparation to make myself a nice cold glass of chocolate milk? There I met for the first time a member of our new Bishopric who extended the calling of Relief Society pianist to me. Of course I accepted but it wasn't until several minutes later that I took a good look at myself in the mirror. That's when I knew I had a blog worthy moment on my hands.

my little stinker

This is my little stinker. His name is Benjamin. Benjamin isn't the happiest boy lately but for some odd reason I still love him more than anything in the world. Maybe it's 'cause I'm his mom. Maybe it's 'cause he's so darn cute. I guess we'll never know but it's a good thing I love him or else I might just sell him to the gypsies (I can thank my mother for that expression).

Today Benjamin decided to use a red crayola marker and color a good portion of our beige couch. I now wish I had taken a picture because with the destruction that was caused you would think I would have lost my temper more than I did. The couch still looks pink in parts but I guess we'll continue to work on that.

Benjamin is also a stinker in a very literal sense because ever since giving up his favorite drink, chocolate milk, he has been A LOT more regular if you know what I mean. This means more poop for me, and what mother doesn't want more poop? So after another day of a lot of whining, crying, tantrum throwing, oh and poop, I wanted to rest on the couch with Savannah. I was really enjoying my snuggle time with Savannah and before I knew it my eyes were closed. Not a moment later Benjamin was nose to nose with me yelling, "Wake up Mommy! No sleep!" Did he think he was gonna tell me what to do? Apparently he did because every time I tried to close my eyes he would be there in my face yelling. He didn't need anything. The house was not on fire. His diaper was clean and the Wiggles were on. From what I could tell the only reason he did not want me to sleep was to torture me. So after a few minutes of trying to sneak in a little shut eye and being immediately woken by Benj he says to me with a sly grin on his face, "Mommy! Go to sleep!!" I made it clear that I was unable to go back to sleep as I watched him sneak away into the office while trying to hide something in his hands. Of course I wasn't gonna have another marker incident so I jumped up only to find him with an open juice box getting ready to squeeze its contents all over the floor. Lovely.

The moral of the story is, if you find yourself with a stinker in your home try not to sell him or her to the gypsies because one day, maybe not for several more years that stinker is gonna bring you WAY more happiness than heartburn. I love you, Benj.

mission completion

Isn't it ironic that in preparation to sell your home you finish all of the projects that you should have finished when you bought your home in the first place but procrastinated because of time, money, or lack of motivation? Well, this laundry room is one of those projects. We now have a beautiful half bath/laundry room thanks to Jeremy (framing), Tom (trim, framing, tiling, odds and ends), Bill (tiling), Anne (tiling), Devon (dry wall), Rod (electrical), and me (painting). It only took us three and half years to get the motivation to do it. Now I have one more room that I can leave the door open and not be embarrassed about. Yipeee!!!

good place

If we never pass through trials, how will we ever be grateful for moments of peace? This past month we've experienced some ups and downs. Roots canals, cysts, fungal infections (on Savannah not me!) ward boundary changes (this makes 3 wards in 3 years), putting our house on the market and all that entails, and the devastating news of a family stillbirth. These are some of the events that filled the month of July for us.

In contrast to that, towards the end of July we received news that a family was interested in buying our home (sale pending), we're getting the fungus somewhat under control, I received an awesome calling as Relief Society pianist which I'm really enjoying, my cyst disappeared, and my sister Holly gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. I still need major dental work but you can't win 'em all right?

It was a month of deep emotional sadness and stress coupled with joy and gratitude. I'm thankful for trials. I'm thankful for hard times. These things just help me realize my blessings more fully. And I have many blessings.