Following the Light of God

Yesterday Mr. Right gave this awesome talk in church. He does such a great job from the pulpit. I commented on it as we drove home. He shrugged it off like he normally does and I was insistent he take the compliment. I noted how he paused to help things sink in and how slow he spoke which normally people don't do. Especially teenagers. He told me, "I just try to think of myself as Thomas S. Monson." Awesome!

A few years ago my quorum had a lesson in which everyone had to hold on to a thin string and walk through an obstacle course while we were blind folded. The string represented the light of God. By holding on to it we could move securely through the unseen path. However, as more and more people walked through the path, the path seemed clearer to those watching that haven’t gone through. We learned by watching those in front of us what steps to take. This lesson was very symbolic, to not only the light of God but also how we can help others in following the light. Those around us can grow closer to God because of how we exercise our faith.

There are many challenges in life, most of them are trying to pull us away from our God, but if we stay by his side he will lead us out of the darkness and in to the light.

When Joseph Smith went into the grove to pray he witnessed a pillar of light which seemed to descend from heaven, he saw a figure call him by name and answered his prayer. This was the first time Joseph saw God and the first step in the restoration of the gospel. Like Joseph, we also have challenges in our lives, although we might not be translating the entire book of Mormon for the first time, but we can still follow our Father in Heaven and have amazing affects on those around us, most of the time we bringing others to follow the word of God.

In John Chapter 12 verse 35 Jesus said,”Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.”
When Jesus said this he was explaining that there are only two paths to take one way leads to darkness and the other leads to the light and we need to avoid the darkness in order to follow light.

When Moroni was preaching about the difference between the truth in the words of God and the lies used to deceive men, he compared them to light and darkness making the difference more obvious.

In Moroni Chapter 7 it reads “For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.
For behold, the aSpirit of Christ is given to every bman, that he may cknow good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.
Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ.”
We have to choose between good and evil and that choosing good will bring you closer to Christ.
In Matthew 5:14-16
”Ye are the alight of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a acandle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your alight so shine before men, that they may see your good bworks, and cglorify your Father which is in heaven.”
This is a quote from Jesus saying we should not hide our faith, instead we need to show others our light if we want them to have light.
This weekend the youth visited the sacred grove; this is where Joseph Smith had the first vision, which was a very important part in the restoration. And it helped me to understand how to follow in the light. Before we went in the Stake President bore his testimony of what happened in the first vision and why, as he spoke I heard the spirit telling me to listen to what he said and think about what his words mean to me.
I have a testimony that I know this church is true, that Joseph Smith did see God and Jesus Christ and that through that vision many people have been brought to the truth about who God is and what He wants us to do. If we do follow the teachings of our Father in Heaven we can be blessed not only in this life but throughout the rest of eternity, if we follow in the light.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Mr Right steppin' up!

Last night my hubby and I went to Right's middle school promotion. We got shocked with two of the awards he won. The first one was for the "Bronze Honor Roll" Whahoo!!! Great way to start High School! The other was for perfect attendance. Only he and one girl were at school every day this year! (which we messed up by taking our boys out for the last day, oh well)
We asked him if he wanted to go out to dinner with us after and he said no. So we left and told him to walk home when he was done with his friends. Gosh it's like having an adult around!

Taller than Mom

It is official. Check out the dot on the level... He passed me up. The first of many!

The New Toy

So for his birthday Mr. Right wanted Kinect for our x-box. What a great toy for the whole family! Mr. Perfect suggested we NEED to use it every day because it's great exercise. I've wanted one for a long time, now we need some games I would like... maybe for MY birthday.;)

Muffins in the morning

Mr. Music doesn't eat. Okay that might be a slight exaggeration. But he certainly doesn't eat as much as I would like. Recently we noticed he stopped eating breakfast. One morning when we made muffins he ate! So, Dad asked me to buy a lot of muffin mix so I did and then we showed Music how to follow the instructions and every morning since he actually eats breakfast! Not only that but the other boys love the muffins and I love the way our house smells every morning! This morning he made pumpkin quick bread and everyone got their own personal mini loaf. What a great treat for Mr. Rights birthday!

In Celebration

Right's birthday is this week and so we celebrated with dinner with the Crimsons. Check out that awesome Chocolate Candy Volcano cake. Whahoo! Thanks Grandma Crimson. As you can tell he was showered with love, and though he won't acknowledge it (especially on camera) we know he loves it!!!

Shocked

Amazing things happen sometimes. Like today when this guy came and actually put his arms around me. At first I didn't know what he was doing. He DOES NOT hug! But he gave me one today. Voluntarily! Wow!

The Haircut

I've heard about bets of how long it would be from the time Dad got home until we gave a certain major haircut. If it hadn't been for the play it would have been much earlier, and not because Dad wanted it, because HE wanted it. He actually asked for a military cut but his mother was too attached to the long hair. Keeping it this long was my idea, not his.

A letter from Mr. Right.

Dear Mom,
This is what I want to do this weekend:
Play vid games
Open presents
Play with presents
Go to sleep
Sleep some more
Rest in bed with eyes closed
Dream of sleeping
Sleep
Grow while sleeping
Falcon sleep
Run... in a dream
Wake up
Check time
Sleep
zzzzzzzzzzzz huh wha?
Listen to rock
Play games
Watch vids
Act LAZAW
Annoy Mom with rock
No not that rock
THAT rock
From,
zzzzzzzzzz...... hu oh um Me

I am all of me

I love this pic. One day when we went to the store the little kids got out of the cart to go potty, so Mr. Right got in. He doesn't QUITE fit! Mr. Right had to write a poem about himself for English class this week. I thought it was a pretty good perspective on him and asked if I could share it. Surprisingly he said yes. Here it is.

I am all of me
I wonder when wars will stop
I hear awesome songs in my head
I see great video games
I want people to be kind
I am all of me

I pretend to be an ultimate being
I feel like sleeping
I love
I worry about death
I deplore mean people
I cry when my brothers annoy me
I am all of me

I understand most games
I say humans will one day live eternally
I dream of sceince
I try to concentrate
I hope to get a good job
I am all of me

Spirit Week

This week was spirit week for my boys in middle school. They had a lot of fun dressing up each day. The first day was just miss-match day. The second day was look alike day. I was glad I had matching shirts from our Disney trip last year. The third day was Dress for Success day. Mr. Right actually wore one of Dad's shirts. It was a bit long on him, but only a bit. Scary. And Mr. Music wore his Sunday clothes. He told me everyone loved his dress for success look. Thursday was their favorite. It was Decade Day. Mr. Right chose the 70's and Mr. Music chose the 50's. I think they looked great. Friday was sports day. They both wore sports clothing and they will be having field day type activities. They have had a great week. YEA Spirit Week.

A crazy busy day in the Kingdom

Mr. Music lost another tooth. He only has one more baby tooth to lose. He is VERY aware of this and is looking forward to having all of his baby teeth gone. He knows the next step for him is braces, he isn't sure how he feels about those. But he is excited to be growing up. Mr. D.A. for the first time had a friend come over for a sleep over last night. I let him stay up a bit later than usual, but not a ton later. It didn't matter though, he slept most of the afternoon today and even went to sleep on my bed before evening prayers were even said. He LOVED having a friend over and can't wait until the next time we can do it, but it was exhausting!

Mr. Right shaved for the first time today. He has been growing some hair on his lip and asked me a while ago to teach him. So we've been planning and decided today was the day. He was a bit apprehensive, but did a great job. I told him he probably only needs to do it maybe once a week or so for now. But before bed he was already talking about "next week when I shave..." I loved teaching him and he even gave me a voluntary hug and kiss when he was done. YEA!

Today at martial arts class Mr. Perfect was informed that next week he would be promoted from yellow belt to green belt. Whahoo! He is really excited. He also got his hair cut today. He wanted to grow out his hair, but hated having to comb it every day. So, short it is. He looks great either way. Mr. Prince loves the United States. Today while we were doing all of our taxi driving from lessons and such he was listing all of the States in alphabetical order saying what each state was. "Florida- the sunshine state. Missouri-the show me state. etc. etc." I don't know them all and I definitely can't say all of the states in order but he can. Last week during conference this was one of his things. He is making a map of the US state by state. When he found he didn't have room for them all he drew an outline first. See next pic...He discovered it was much easier if he had the outline first and then drew the states in. Boy this kid is good! He loves to play this game with me where he draws half a state and I have to guess what it is. If I get it right he draws the rest, if I don't he gives me hints like..."This was the 12th state." or "This state is one of the eight smallest states. (WHO KNOWS THAT?) Mr. Prince knows it. He loves his United States. And finally my sweet Mr. Super. We dragged him along with us as we taxied kids here and there. This is a pic of him waiting in the van while some of the boys were still in their classes. Boy he is a cutie!

Spontaneous Combustion

We had Mr Right's birthday party last weekend. Yes, I know, way late, but it's fun to stretch it out. Right?

Anyway, one of the gifts he got were CD's of Bill Cosby. He loves them. He has a personal CD player with earphones and has been listening to them. So, as the day has past, periodically all of a sudden he breaks into laughter. It happens every 30 seconds or so. You would think I would get used to it quickly, but it was always a shock to hear this laughter come out of nowhere, for seemingly no reason. I loved hearing him laugh so much. The spontaneous combustion of laughter has just been fun!

In the still of the night

Sometimes I don't sleep. I don't know why. I go to sleep just fine, but staying asleep...now that is a different story.
So tonight I am laying here awake and listening to my boys. About an hour ago Mr. D.A. got up and when the kids get up I don't do well if they crawl into bed with me. True my hubby and I have a huge bed. But it's still mine! Mine mine mine. I don't sleep well with little boys. So, he promptly got put on the couch. I have a couple of blankets stashed away by the couch for this very purpose. It happens a lot, the boys know that is where I will put them. And sometimes they skip coming to see me altogether and in the morning I will just find little boys out on the couch. I love those nights. But tonight, no, D.A. needed to come and tell me that he wasn't sleeping well and needed me to put him on the couch. ANYWAY!
It's kind of funny. In one room I have Mr Right talking. He has always been a sleep talker. Especially when he is really tired. And he went to bed a bit later than usual last night due to Scouts. So I wasn't surprised to hear him. But I had to laugh as he yelled, "Mr. Music wait. Mr. Music wait. Mr. Music WAIT!"
About thirty minutes later his room mate, who was by then sleeping soundly on the couch, started yelling (and those of you who know him know D.A. knows how to yell) "I can hear you!" As if someone were whispering things about him behind his back.
So, here I sit waiting for the next voice...who will it be? Wouldn't it be nice if I weren't to hear it because I was sleeping....?

Mr Right gets cake and ice-cream

I asked Mr. Right on Saturday if he would like me to make him a cake or if he wanted to pick one out from the store. He wanted to pick one out. We had thirteen candles on it and he blew them all out in about two seconds. I've never seen that many candles go out that fast. Did he make a wish? I have no idea...it all happened way too fast. But he did enjoy liking the candles as we took them out of the cake.He chose a strawberry shortcake. Boy this kid has good taste. I sure liked it.We shared the cake along with the two kinds of ice-cream he picked out (mint chocolate chip, and Andies mint pieces) with the Crimson's. YEA!

It's official!

I now have a teenager! Like for real.
Thirteen years ago is when Star Wars Episode One came out. I remember, because it was the first time we left our new little baby with a sitter (other than my mom). And I find it quite funny that the thing he really wanted for his birthday was to watch Episode Three. It's PG13, and he has been very good about keeping our rule of no PG13 movies before you turn 13. (He has read the books of course, but he has ALWAYS wanted to watch it. ) So, last night we borrowed the three movies from a friend and watched the first two with all of the boys. Then Mr. Right and I stayed up to watch the third one after everyone else was in bed. I finally made him go to bed when it was only half over. I was falling to sleep on the couch and figured he could wait eight more hours to watch the rest. He was good and went to bed, but as soon as he got up I didn't even let him ask I just handed him my laptop and typed in the password and told him to watch it in his room where the other boys wouldn't bug him. He happily went and did as I asked. What a good kid. He went to the dentist this morning, (I know, I know, what kind of mother schedules medical stuff for their kids on their birthday?) he asked for donuts and Subway so we did that for lunch. We also ate french toast for dinner. One of his favorites. We are having a lazertag party for him in a couple of weeks with all of his friends. I think he enjoyed his day. Happy birthday Mr. Right...my teenager! Aaahhhhh!!

He may be a teen, but he's a good one.

What a weirdo! This pic is actually from way back when the youth were making gingerbread houses. He decorated himself. (Tee hee.)This kids makes me happy. Yes, he is showing his teen-ness more every day, but every once in a while he does something that makes me so proud of him.
Tonight was a youth ward Temple trip. We were asked by a nearby member if we could drive his daughter to the church because the rest of his kids were sick. Not a problem. Mr. Right and this girl are a year apart, she being the elder of the two, so they don't really know each other. But, when we pulled up to her house Mr. Right jumped out of the car to go and get her before I could even suggest it. Then he waited patiently at the door for her. He walked her back to our van and opened the passenger seat door and put out his hand to show her she should sit there. And then he sat in the back without a word.
WOW! I was so impressed. It makes me happy that he would remember the little gentleman like things I have tried to teach him over the years.

Learning about the homeless

Mr Right is in the middle of a social studies project, they are raising consciousness in the community of the plight of the homeless. The kids have been collecting for the local food bank and today were asked to write a poem. I was touched by the one Mr. Right wrote and thought I would share it.

They are People Too

They sleep on a park bench or in a shelter home
They eat what they can find or what others give them
Some might call them crazy
Some might give them pain
But deep down inside you know that
they are people too.
They sometimes bathe in rivers or just not at all
Their water might be dirty

and their skin might be rotting away
Although they might look inside out
They are people too.
Now when you are about to eat
Stop
And try to think
The thing that we might take for granted
They don’t have at all
So, before you eat that meat
Know
They are people too.

Fun in weird ice-snow-stuff

I wanted to give a little glimpse of some of the fun we had today in the stuff that fell from the sky last night. It wasn't snow, it wasn't rain, it wasn't sleet, it wasn't hail. Maybe it was slush. That sounds right about right. We didn't go out into it until it was slush anyway. We were all sopping wet by the time we came in. But it was fun. (And the boys did like getting an extra day off school for it.)
Here is Mr. Perfect trying to do a snow board type thing on the sled. Nice wipe-out. But he sure loved the adventure of doing it.

Mr. Right and Mr. Prince walking back up the hill. That's the hard part of sledding. But I didn't hear one word of complaint. YEA!

Mr. Perfect. One happy camper.

Mr Music even joined us outside. WITHOUT being asked to come . That's almost a miracle! Mr Right, on the other hand, was one of the first ones out and the last ones in.

Mr Right was also so helpful with all of the other boys. They all would ask him to push them, and he obliged them quite a bit. I was really glad to see how much he was willing to do. Mr. Prince is such a cutie.
Mr. Super kept telling me where to go. I wasn't ever in the right place. Mr. Right got the snowboarding thing down pretty well.

Mr Right keeps asking for a snowboard. After watchin him today I am starting to think it's probably a good idea. One of the neighbor boys came to play for a while. He just hopped on with a couple of the boys. Our neighborhood is full of boys. It's great!

And my sweet Mr D.A. is so adorable. Look at that face. Who could possibly resist it?

New Blog for the New Year

With the New Year comes new nick-names. I actually quite look forward to this each year. So, to fill you in on the names for the new year here is some help.

This is Mr. Perfect, he will be 10 this summer. He says his favorite thing is drawing. (I thought for sure he would say Pokemon...but what do I know.) My Mr. Perfect is a perfectionist. He is sensitive to the feelings of others, and always tries to help when someone is in crisis. This is Mr. Prince, he will be turning 8 this year (YEA we have a baptism to look forward to.) and his favorite thing is maps, especially maps of the States, but world maps are almost as cool. This kid is royalty. He is a perfect gentleman and wonderful when everything is going his way, and if it isn't...well let's just say he likes to get his way. This is Mr. D.A. he will be turning 6 this year. His favorite thing is Baby Dog. But really anything soft will do just fine. We have been through a few Baby Dogs, as long as it feels soft to the touch chances are he will love it. We're not sure if the D is for Destroying or Delightful but the A is certainly for Angel. My D.A. is my best helper, and has a larger than life personality.

This is Mr. Music. He will turn 12 years old this year. (Oh my goodness, is that possible?!) His favorite thing....MUSIC! He spends any spare time he has browsing Pandora, ITunes, or Amazon.com's music department. Music is this boys whole life. If he isn't designing his latest CD cover he is listening to, singing, playing, or in some other way performing his music.This is Mr. Super, he will be 4 years old in a few days. His favorite thing is Super-Heroes. But he also loves to jump, loves to play, loves to sing, loves to dance, and loves to laugh. Mr Super is my own personal Super-hero! He loves Super-Heroes and even when he isn't dressed up like one he is a Super Great Kid. This is Mr. Right, he will be 13 in a couple of months. (AAAHHHH I am going to officially have a teenager!! He already eats like one.) He says his favorite thing is video-games. See he's acting like a teenager already. I would rather have him focus on video-games than girls though. This guy is not only my right arm, he is also (very much like his Dad) always right. He loves to make people laugh and is a great example! Me and Dad are part of the family too, but we're not nearly as cute.

So here is your official welcome to 2011