Is Gatsby Great?

um YES! Especially with a little help from sister1. We had the funnest book club ever tonight! What a fun, talented, amazing, creative, dedicated sister I have. (OK actually I have like 6 or more of that kind of sister. I'm so lucky!)

Pictures of the Great event coming soon....like hopefully tomorrow. But you might need to look at the other blog for them.

Other Great things from my day:

1. I sewed. 
2. I went visiting teaching
3. No puppy accidents in the house (until this evening when I wasn't home)
4. Happy children that didn't fight ALL day
5. The boy randomly fell asleep on the family room floor

Oh- and this is what I made-
1 dress
2 ties
2 t-shirts
We are ready for Easter...at least in the clothing department.

It was a Great day!

Little-er

Today I pulled on a pair of pants. I had to go to my closet and get a belt. The belt could stand to have another hole put in it. I am noticing a trend lately- my clothes are a {little} bigger. I think it's cause I am a little littler.

If that's not something to be happy about I don't know what is.

I knew it'd be OK

"We got one consolation honey, in the whole history of the world there's never been a child brought up right."

~Roger Hobbs
Jimmy Stewart's character in Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation

pricesless is...........

the confidence in the girl's face when she came out of testing today.
"So, how was it?"
"Good."
"Did you do the reading part?"
"Yes."
"Did you have to read yourself, or did the teacher read it to you?"
"I read it. In my head not out loud!"
"You did!? That's awesome!"
"Did you understand all the words?"
"Yep!!"
"I knew you could do it!"

AND

the boy being on his best behavior all afternoon while the girl was at her testing. We went to a couple stores while she was testing and the boy stayed right with me, folding his arms (because that's how we show we are behaving in our family), and not touching EVERYTHING in sight. At one point I got out of the car and was about to shut my door, only to discover that he was still sitting in his seat, seat belt still buckled. I asked if he was coming and he said, "I'm just folding my arms mom!" I guess he wanted me to notice how good he was being before he got out too.

Yep-Priceless parenting moments. LOVE it!

and also the husband got the taxes mailed in today. WOOHOO! I am chomping at the bit for that return.....got a few plans for it.

God is EVERYWHERE

Put on your big girl pants

• Courtesy of Sister7's FB status this morning:

"if you get mad......get glad in the same dang ol pants you got mad in!! and that is a final! and i'm not being smart with you, i'm being serious"

This just made me laugh when I read it. And also, just so you understand a little where this could POSSIBLY have come from- she takes calls and schedules appointments for a moving company. 

She typed this as some person said it to her on the phone this morning. 

A direct {and original} quote and good thought as it was said. 

Now how often do you get that kind of opportunity!??!

• This was on another friend's FB status this morning and I really liked it:

even on my weakest days i get a little bit stronger

• And last but not least (for today)  

I have to say thank you to my friend Charity for making me feel SO loved today. Her sweet comments on a couple of my blog posts had me weeping a bit. Thank heaven for good friends who make you feel so very loved and appreciated!!

Alone Time= Quiet Time= Heavenly

Today I was able to spend 2 FULL HOURS alone.

At my house.

No children.

No husband.

Just me. 

(and the dogs & bunnies)

I cleaned.

And I loved it.

A gift from above

I wasn't feeling so great today.
So I stayed in bed a little bit later than usual.
And enjoyed the rest.
Finally I got up and took the puppy outside.
I was greeted with the most glorious surprise!
A beautiful gray sky above my head.
And lower tempuratures than we have been having.
And though it STILL has not rained, we did enjoy a few sprinkles.
And I hear it's supposed to be a cloudy, gloomy, rainy weekend.
WOOT!

When in the service......

 

I spent some time doing service today. 

And it made me happy. 

I was able to go with 2 of my good friends and serve in the cafeteria at the Mesa Temple.

It was great- 4 hours of non stop standing on my feet, washing dishes. 

OK. So maybe that was a lot of hard work and my back was killing me by the end. 

But I was happy to be in the service of my fellow men. 

And my God.

One hour?

I sewed today. That is always fun. On my new machine. I forgot I had it. So when I started to think about getting out all of my stuff to start sewing I was so happy to remember that I had the new {quiet} machine. Instead of the old {loud} one. YAY!

I am sewing a 1920's style dress. It is called a dress in an hour. You are supposed to be able to sew it in an hour. It is instructions, not a pattern, and based totally on your body measurements. SO it should work for anyone. I decided to make one for the girl first, with fabric I already had, just in case I didn't do it right.

But guess what!? I TOTALLY got it! UNTIL I started sewing. Then once I got to the plaits and hip dart. Totally clueless as to how to sew that part. I worked on it for, you guessed it- over an hour. Still no luck.

However- I am not defeated! I will get this!

What a GLORIOUS weekend!

I spent a good part of my weekend watching this

It was wonderful.
Some of my favorite parts:

• My children sat and listened better than ever
• The boy getting a tissue and wiping away my tears
• The girl REALLY listening
• The family testimony meeting at my sister's house this evening
• Snuggling with the husband on the couch
• The boy behaving himself so the rest of us could listen
• Hearing a prophet's voice
• Making bread and tortillas for my family while listening to the talks yesterday
• Having the spirit in my home instead of the contention we usually experience trying to get people to sit and listen

 The girl spent the majority of the time sitting like this, paying attention, and listening for the words on the cards so that she could put a sticker on the card with that word on it. The boy came and went, but did it sometimes. The husband suggested that maybe next time we do words for the girl and pictures (that represent the words) for the boy. Good idea. And after Conference was all over, they both got a prize. They LOVED it. And so did I! It was the best conference so far....since the kids came along. I hope it just gets better from here.

Smiling through the heat.......

There were a few things that made me smile today:



The children being excited about the new t-shirts they got from the girl's school. (I got one too) The girl had to have a vision and hearing screening today, on the way there the boy asked, "Mom, will she get a sucker after?" I said, "Probably not." I was right. They got the shirts instead. Who knew.



Going shopping with my sister. Sorry you had to miss going to the gym today sister. But thanks for letting me use your Costco card!





Puppies with bows. (and watching her struggle to get it off! haha)







Fresh produce all cut up and ready for quick snacks and quick salads. YUM!







Trying to take a nap in the afternoon...... even if it was with a puppy on my head. That's the norm lately.





And the nap was unsuccessful anyway. One guess why.






Something that didn't make me smile:
The 100 degree weather!
My grandma in the hospital.
(but that's not for this happy blog. ☺)