Anxious For More Snow......

....can you tell?

More on the morrow.

KKS

Paint In My Hair, Paint Under My Nails

I told you about the mini remodeling job that I did in the bathroom last week. Well, a couple of times I leaned over and got paint in my hair. I did manage to get it even, though. It look natural, like I am going gray....a little on this side, a little on that. Anyway, after several washings, it's still hanging around. Any suggestions of how to get latex paint out of hair would be welcomed.

On Thursday evening we kept with the tradition and set up the nativity. It is so beautiful and apparently very attractive to ten little hands in this house. So yesterday I asked the kids if they wanted to make their own nativity out of paper. Once the creative juices started flowing, we had great fun.

The artists (from top to bottom) are:Lundi, Caleb, Harrison, Kim, and Lauren (with a little help from her biggest brother).

Today we felt artistic, too. We get this urge quite a bit during this time of year. So today we made marble magnets. They were so much fun and really hard to mess up (even for non-artsy people like me). They are each unique and everyone had great ideas!

Our love to you all!
KKS

This Boy of Mine.....

Caleb. I certainly appreciate him and am honored to be his Mommy. He said to me today..."Mommy, have I ever told you how much I really love you?" I said "Well, not in a while." He said "Well, it's more than Googleplex!" Then I said "I hope you someday love a wife as much as you love me." He said, "I probably will, Mom."

I love this boy so very much! He is a great little person and has blessed many lives with his talents and knowledge and I know he will continue to do so throughout his life.

KKS

Our Tree of Thanks

It consists of a Mason jar, a branch from our oak tree, some hazel nuts, a sign that says "Our Tree of Thanks" and many, many, many blessings written on our leaves tied on with string. I put it on the kitchen table Tuesday before Thanksgiving, added a few leaves with my blessings written on them and invited the kids to do the same. It just keeps growing. We are so very blessed and we thanked the Lord whole heartily on Thursday. The kids asked me how long we would keep it up and I said "until we run out of blessings, I guess." To which came the reply "That will never happen, Mom!"

Indeed, that will never happen. For the Lord is continuously giving to us and blessing us for our efforts. It's like we give him and old copper penny (meaning put forth an effort to be better) and he blesses us with gold (meaning he gives us so much more than we expected). We have much to be thankful for this season. When I take the tree down, I will post what everyone contributed to the tree.

KKS

Turkey Soup

Is there a better way to get rid of all the left over turkey? We have been eating it in all of it's varieties the last couple days so tonight I decided to go all out and make a big pot of turkey soup.
It was yummy...according to my family and the weather begged for some nice warm soup cooking on the stove. Of course the windows got all foggy so the kids made them their canvas, as usual. Now you know why I don't clean them very often in the winter time.
The bathroom.....I just couldn't stand it any more. I peeled that ugly wall paper off about a year ago, thinking that I was ambitious enough to do something about the UG at that time. But I like to take my time in making these decisions. Either that or I am a really good procrastinator. Anyway, I got it done. I finished the stripping, sanded the walls, painted and put up the cute border. It's looks fantastic if I do say so myself. Not exactly a remodeling job, but it looks much better than it did.
The kiddo's are sick. They have colds....surprise, surprise. It is that time of year, after all. Nothing too major, just coughs, runny noses and headaches. Caleb is not sick, however, so he will be the only one going to church tomorrow. He is leaving really early because Mike has bishop ric meeting and ward council. I really hope the others sleep in....they need it.
KKS

Eternal Families Don't Just Happen

It takes being vigilant against opposition. It takes being in tune with the spirit. It takes being diligent about scripture study and family prayer. It takes patience and long suffering. It takes bridling our tongues. It takes individual and collective effort. It takes putting the gospel in the foreground of our lives, instead of just living it on Sunday. It takes connecting with, understanding, empathizing and validating each of my children individually.....on their level. It takes guiding them to build their own personal relationship with the Savior and Heavenly father. It takes work.....and much more, every day.
There is so much to accomplish, so we are starting with these things.......

We want to increase the spirituality in our home.
To do this we will…….

1. Have family prayer morning (9:00am) and night.
2. Try really hard to show respect to Heavenly father by being reverent during SS, S&P.
3. Try not to yell at each other.
4. Try to be peacemakers……”Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9
5. Remember that every day is part of eternity and right now is when we are learning to be obedient.
6. Be worthy of one another’s trust.
7. Look for the good in each other.
8. Build each other up.
9. First seek to understand……then act.
10. Keep our own spiritual cup filled so we can help one another from a position of strength.

This is what I came up with after hearing every one's concerns at family council. Tonight we read this all together and everyone agreed that this was a good place to start. So we all signed it and hung it on the fridge for a constant reminder.

I read in a conference talk "Whatever level of spiritual development each of us may presently have, there always exists a higher level within our reach." Elder Keith K. Hilbig Conference Oct. 2007

That just really struck me. Even the youngest member of my family can spiritually grow.Through a trial that one of my children just happen to be facing right now, I have had a heightened awareness of the need to make the gospel more real and personal to them. It is one thing to learn the gospel, attend church, answer all the questions correctly and say we want to return to live with Heavenly Father. But it is quite another thing to internalize it and apply it to everyday life. Maybe others have this challenge, but there seems to be a gap between what we know (the gospel) and how we apply what we know. I understand that part of this comes with spiritual progression and maturity. But it's not like we are just going to wake up one day with this big strong ability to resist all evil. We are taught.....line upon line, precept on precept. For each one of us, there is a higher level within reach. I am still growing. We all are. I sense this illusion in my children that...."I'll do that or be this when I am there." Or "Not now....later." I remember thinking this way when I was a kid. This is the gap that I speak of. And you know what? It is a lie. Satan wants us to put off our progression until later.....later......until it is too late and we have missed out on an opportunity to grow.


Application means.........

1. Have family prayer morning (9:00am) and night.
2. Try really hard to show respect to Heavenly Father by being reverent during SS, S&P.
3. Try not to yell at each other.
4. Try to be peacemakers……”Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9
5. Remember that every day is part of eternity and right now is when we are learning to be obedient.
6. Be worthy of one another’s trust.
7. Look for the good in each other.
8. Build each other up.
9. First seek to understand……then act.
10. Keep our own spiritual cup filled so we can help one another from a position of strength.


I am so grateful for my children and my husband. I love them with all my heart. I will do....whatever it takes. Because I know that we are given the Gospel to help us get from here...to there. We love the Lord.


Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin said.....
"The scriptures tell us that “if any man love God, the same is known of him.”8 What a wonderful promise—to be known of Him. It makes the spirit soar to think that the Creator of heaven and earth could know us and love us with a pure, eternal love.
Do you love the Lord?
Spend time with Him. Meditate on His words. Take His yoke upon you. Seek to understand and obey, because “this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.”16 When we love the Lord, obedience ceases to be a burden. Obedience becomes a delight. When we love the Lord, we seek less for things that benefit us and turn our hearts toward things that will bless and uplift others.
As our love for the Lord deepens, our minds and hearts become purified. We experience a “mighty change in . . . our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.”17
Brethren and sisters, as you prayerfully consider what you can do to increase harmony, spirituality, and build up the kingdom of God, consider your sacred duty to teach others to love the Lord and their fellowman. This is the central object of our existence. Without charity—or the pure love of Christ—whatever else we accomplish matters little. With it, all else becomes vibrant and alive." Conference Oct. 2007


Eternal families don't just happen.
KKS

First Snow

Well, this is actually our second but I don't count it if there is no accumulation. We got about two inches today and the kids were so exited. So was I, since the foliage is all gone we needed something to beautify those bare trees.

I baked pies for the scout fund raiser that will be held at WalMart tomorrow. It is their biggest fund raiser of the year. I committed to four pies and two dozen cookies, all of which are ready.

A Few Cute Pictures....

The first one of Lauren making a whistle out of a piece of macaroni and cheese....funny girl! The second one is of Lundi with the two watering cans. She was watering the plants and was pretending to water her nose. She has a thing with cross eyes lately.....isn't she so good at it? I tell her they might stay that way. The last one is of Harrison sharing his ice cream with Liam. KKS

There is a shower and then there is a SHOWER!

I read a comment made by a friend of mine about her "weekly shower" and thought that a post about this is very important for my posterity. Who knows, maybe 100 years from now there will be no such thing as body odor or oily hair. I feel it important to record how valuable a weekly shower really is. Now....I am not talking about the quick, I don't want to lock the door just in case they need me and I can't shave because the kids are out there killing each other, someone is at the door, the phone is ringing and the kids bring it to me, baby fell down the stairs so I can't rinse my hair, there is a kid looking in at me saying "What are you doing, Mommy?" kind of shower. I am talking about a full service shower complete with shaving, washing AND conditioning my hair, exfoliating my dry skin and even bathing my whole body. THESE are the kind that I only get once a week, usually on Saturday. I get out relaxed, calm and clean. Then I proceed to blow dry and style my hair. UNINTERRUPTED. And oh....how great it is.
KKS

Jesus Drives a Mustang!

We had a family council tonight. We needed to discuss and be made aware of some fiery darts that the adversary is currently shooting our way. We discussed these specifically and what we could do to increase the spirituality in our home.
We have always struggled with family prayer in the morning. I can list many reasons, but there are no excuses. We just don't make it a priority...bottom line. But we all want to repent and move forward with faith. We discussed a few options.....everyone waking up at 4:00am so we could have FP before Mike leaves for school (nobody wanted to do that), having FP minus Mike after everyone gets up (nobody wanted to do that, either). So....the solution that we came up with is this: Mike will call every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 9:00am and we will put the phone on speaker and hold family prayer. The time on Thursday on Friday will vary because he is at the hospital on these days and can't always break away from a patient. The weekend he is here, so that will be easy.....after we get in the habit, of course. We have set this goal, put a reminder on the fridge and hope to be as good about this as we are about evening scripture study and family prayer; 21 days from today!
During the meeting, we talked about the constant battle against Satan and how he works on destroying our family. His ways are very subtle, but still there none the less. The Holy Ghost helps us to recognize these "darts." Harrison absolutely loves vehicles of all kinds and can almost always be found playing with cars. He often refers to his struggle to make good choices as "a race" and when he makes a good choice he says "I am winning with Jesus, Mommy and Satan is losing. I am NOT going to let him win!!" So tonight he says "You know what Mom, Jesus will always win because he drives a Mustang and I am with him! Satan drives a old, slow car." Caleb says, "Ya Harrison, he drives an old, rusty, broken tow truck that doesn't even work."
Yes....everyone can find some way to personally apply the gospel principles. Just when you think they aren't "getting it" they say something really profound like...."Jesus drives a Mustang!"
KKS

Untitled

Well, It feels great to be back into the swing of things. Everyone just does so much better when the routine is predictable. There is once again peace in the land and I am grateful.
I have attempted to make curtains before and failed that time, too. You think that I would be able to simply HEM a pair of curtains. But oh no.....I had to ruin those, too. I bought these really nice (Pottery Barn) curtains this summer at that sale that I volunteered at. They were really cheap and I thought I could hang them in front of the patio door. they are really thick, and I thought they would help keep the heat in. The cold is setting in, so yesterday I thought I would undertake the simple task of hemming them. There were three panels. So I measured the first panel, it was like 16" too long. So I cut and hemmed that one and it was still dragging on the floor and looked tacky. So I thought....OK, next panel cut off a little more. So, I cut 17" both of the other two panels. Then I brought one of them to the patio door to measure it so I could know how much of a seem it needed.........HUH???? It was a foot from the floor!!!!! What the heck? Turns out all three panels were not the same length. The second two were the perfect length BEFORE I cut them. Needless to say, I was very bummed about the whole thing. I will never again attempt to make curtains.
My children are delightful and I love them to pieces. Everything in the world can go wrong and I can make the ugliest curtains in all the world and I still have my sweet little Harrison who says to me..."Well.....they're just a little bit short Mommy, it's OK." That wild and crazy little monster has the biggest, softest heart of anybody I have ever met. He always makes me feel better.
KKS

I Am Back!!

I just wanted to post that I have NOT dropped put of the blogging world, I just took a break. I was just so busy when my sister and her kids were here, that it just fell off the "Things to do" list. But now we are getting back into our routine and things are feeling so much less chaotic now.
We certainly had a great with Robyn, Megan, Natalee and Gentry. It was a joy to have them here, even with all the chaos. The kids really got close in that two and a half weeks and the Smith children were very sad to see them go, especially Lundi.
I am anxious for my husband to have a job so that we can afford things like a trip to Utah, at least once a year. We really miss our family.
This isn't a long post. Just one to say that I'll be posting regularly again. I miss it.
KKS