Random Stuff

Kids are downstairs watching “The Aristocats”. I love that movie! No super scary villain and those kittens are so cute …

Tom’s gone to the Priesthood Session of General Conference (want to know more? Go here.)   Sadly, we all kindof forgot this was conference weekend and Spencer didn’t ask for it off, so he’s at work.  I realized that next year at this time, Andrew will be going to his first Priesthood Session with Tom, and Spencer will be going to his last.  It’s hard to believe that he is getting so close to being on his own.

My cat is staring pensively out the window at the dark – she can probably see stuff down in the yard or out in the park, but still, it’s kindof funny how intently she peers out there.

I finished the Doctrine and Covenants at the end of March (yea! for sticking to my schedule) and I’ve set a fairly ambitious plan for reading the Book of Mormon four times throughout the rest of the year.  I’m doing a 30 day challenge for the month of April, a 60 day challenge for May and June, and then reading the book one time each in the last two quarters of the year.  Not sure exactly what I’m hoping to accomplish, other than after reading a New Era article about someone reading the book four times in one year I got inspired to see what it might do in my life.

Andrew has been markedly easier to be around since we got him back on his “missing” med and it got back in his system.  More importantly, he is doing better in school.  Last year at this time I was homeschooling (and not really enjoying it either) and the only way we could keep him from hurting others or stealing was to keep him with us at ALL TIMES.  Oh, that makes me exhausted just thinking about it.  Nice to be able to look back and see that things are better.

Haley keeps bugging me to cut her hair.  It is so beautiful long (and I secretly covet it because I have never been able to have long, beautiful hair) but I told her I would cut it when summer came.  In theory I’m all about letting kids make these kinds of choices for themselves – but in practice some of them are harder to let go of than others (Tom still covets a high school football career for his boys).

The weather was beautiful today – but I never went outside.  What does that say about me??  I’m such a hermit by nature.  I didn’t get dressed until conference was starting this morning, and then in between sessions I watched BYU TV and had lunch and then after the afternoon session it was practically evening.  I’m pathetic!  I’d better start scheduling yard work into my to-do list so I make myself go outside.

I’ve been playing around with making a food storage binder – something that helps me keep track of what we want to store for our family and maybe some price lists for comparison shopping and heck, why not include coupons too, since once in awhile I like to think I might save a little money.  All this overlooks the fact that I don’t cook.  I don’t plan meals.  I have a storage room downstairs that is full of foods that we don’t cook because no one wants to cook.  So obviously, my first step should be to plan a menu and actually start cooking again.  Then there would actually be a NEED for food storage!  It’s a problem …

Another thing I’ve been thinking about is regret – things I wish I hadn’t neglected in the crisis of post adoption.  I look at Andrew and Haley and am reminded that Spencer was just their age when we adopted them.  And for a couple of years or so I just took my eye off Spencer.  He was responsible and understanding and I just assumed he was doing fine.  You should never assume that your kids are doing fine.  They might be – they might not be.  The point is, they need you to keep your eye on them – they need that parental attention.  I still read to my little kids at night – I can’t really picture stopping at this point because it is a time to share some positive experiences.  It’s the time of day when we’re together and I listen to their prayers and even if it has been a hideous day, I can give them a hug and tell them I love them.  I quit reading to Spencer at about ten and a half.  We quit right in the middle of a book.  I didn’t listen to his prayers anymore.  It makes me so sad… He’s too old now and he will never be little enough to read to again.  Spencer’s a great kid and I think we have a pretty good relationship – but I let my personal crisis get in the way of our relationship.  I’m not sure how I would have done things differently, but I wish I had found a way.

Lastly, I’m really grateful that there are living prophets on the earth today.  I listen to conference and I can feel the Spirit confirming that God lives and loves me.  He knows me and He wants me to be successful at this life – to learn to be obedient, to learn to fully trust Him and have faith in Him, to learn to rely on Him.  It’s good to be reminded – it’s good to be taught the things that I need to focus on.  And I’m grateful that there are men and women who are willing to sacrifice their own wants and desires in order to serve Him and His children.

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