I have been working hard and hardly working, just depends on the day. Have warm fuzzy thoughts about my book and how it is shaping up. I have to say that I never thought learning could be so interesting. I mean I try to make it interesting for the kids, but adult learning is boring right? Nope! it is fun too. :)
I have been reading in the good book a lot lately for it's ability to calm my nerves. Since it was suggested to me recently that maybe I need a 'little help'with my anxieties... yes well that is another story, for another day.
As I was saying before I distracted myself, I have been reading and found a few gems I enjoyed and wanted to spread around. :)
Hebrews 10:36
For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might recieve the promise.
Boy do I need patience. and the dangling of a promised reward is always helpful to keep focus :)My poor scriptures are starting to look like they have been attacked by spray paint. I mark them and write in them so much I will have to buy a new set soon just to give myself a chance to start all over. Seriously I dread the breaking in point more than anything. I finally know where everything is. lol
This one jumped out at me :)
Jeremiah 31: 22
How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.
So this one is a little less exciting at first but when I thought about it I knew what was being said. We as women have such a great spirit of love and strength within ourselves. When we forget our place or who we really are we regress and fall back, or in my case eat chocolate and watch to much television.... We are SO NESSESARY and we have no idea. the last few words say it all. A Woman shall compass a man. a compass is a guide right? We are strong and comapssionate in order to guide men, our men. our husbands our sons, brothers, and nephews. Sometimes we are guides to our own Fathers. Thinking about this more I am thrilled to have read the scripture now. After the first few seconds of well annoyance frankly, I have come to feel the truth of the words, our families and our marriages are stronger when we are the guide we were meant to be. We are not incharge, merely a compass, always pointing to the correct path... that is unless we are eating to much chocolate and watching to much television... then all bets are off. :)
I am determined to do better at being a compass. I can point north, maybe even leave a trail of chocolate behind me for when the men in my life get distracted :) They will always know where to find me right, Mom is heading north. lol I bet there is a story in that. lol s
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
story
i wanted to tell a story that came to me during the retreat. So many good stories were told, but one stuck out that i wanted to share.
I final speaker was talking about the loaves and fishes at the meeting with Christ,(sermon on the mount) you know the one with the multitude and all. She was telling us ways to find that with God's help we will have enough. enough for our family, for ourselves. What we don't have God makes up for the difference just like the loaves and fishes. she told several stories that i enjoyed and related to, i got warm fuzzies several times knowing that i had been through those things, and knowing that i was on the right track. (yippee right?)
She said that when her son was 3 he was diagnosed with diabetes. He had a very severe form, sticking and poking each day was required for him to live. one day she set him on the counter to check his levels and administer his shot and he looked her in the eyes and told her that he hated her. he hated her because she hurt him every day, that he was the only one in the family that she hurt, and poked and prodded. He pinched her cheeks in the rage and anger, and said didn't say anything. she finished what she had to do to keep her son on this earth, then let him go screaming and shouting that he hated her while he ran to his room.
Of course she sobbed on the floor, who wouldn't. She couldn't make a 3 year old boy understand that she did all this because she loved him, that she had to do all this if his body was going to allow him to live a normal life.
I could so relate to the hardships she was facing, the overwhelmed feelings and feeling so alone and isolated from everyone i knew. no one could understand my life or hardships either (when i had to watch my baby be wheeled off into surgery.)
anyway she went on to explain that if she had to describe that year (13 years later) in one word, it would be 'darkness'. Darkness because in her burdens she had pulled away from the spirit of God. she had not really understood why either, and she hurt inside. one night after everyone was asleep she cried, sobbed really. She thought of everyone in her life that she knew and didn't feel that she could call any of them, none of them were qualified to help her, to lift her out of the sadness and burdens that she found herself in.
that is when she had a thought that God would understand. So she got down on her knees and told him everything from the top. she poured out her agony and sadness, knowing he already knew but that she needed to purge it from her heart. she said that was the first night that she slept well in a year at the time.
When she woke up her problems were still there, they didn't change, but somehow they felt a little lighter. the days that followed were just as hard as the night she went to bed in tears, but she knew the moment her family was asleep she could call on God and pour her heart out to him.
she looked forward to the time when she could pray each night. over the years she has developed so much faith she wouldn't change a thing of her life. (not that she could)She knows that her trials made her who she has become and who she was intended to be all along.
prayer = peace. if we pray and exercise our faith god will make us enough to do what is needed of us. (just like the loaves and fishes :)
Pass it on... s
I final speaker was talking about the loaves and fishes at the meeting with Christ,(sermon on the mount) you know the one with the multitude and all. She was telling us ways to find that with God's help we will have enough. enough for our family, for ourselves. What we don't have God makes up for the difference just like the loaves and fishes. she told several stories that i enjoyed and related to, i got warm fuzzies several times knowing that i had been through those things, and knowing that i was on the right track. (yippee right?)
She said that when her son was 3 he was diagnosed with diabetes. He had a very severe form, sticking and poking each day was required for him to live. one day she set him on the counter to check his levels and administer his shot and he looked her in the eyes and told her that he hated her. he hated her because she hurt him every day, that he was the only one in the family that she hurt, and poked and prodded. He pinched her cheeks in the rage and anger, and said didn't say anything. she finished what she had to do to keep her son on this earth, then let him go screaming and shouting that he hated her while he ran to his room.
Of course she sobbed on the floor, who wouldn't. She couldn't make a 3 year old boy understand that she did all this because she loved him, that she had to do all this if his body was going to allow him to live a normal life.
I could so relate to the hardships she was facing, the overwhelmed feelings and feeling so alone and isolated from everyone i knew. no one could understand my life or hardships either (when i had to watch my baby be wheeled off into surgery.)
anyway she went on to explain that if she had to describe that year (13 years later) in one word, it would be 'darkness'. Darkness because in her burdens she had pulled away from the spirit of God. she had not really understood why either, and she hurt inside. one night after everyone was asleep she cried, sobbed really. She thought of everyone in her life that she knew and didn't feel that she could call any of them, none of them were qualified to help her, to lift her out of the sadness and burdens that she found herself in.
that is when she had a thought that God would understand. So she got down on her knees and told him everything from the top. she poured out her agony and sadness, knowing he already knew but that she needed to purge it from her heart. she said that was the first night that she slept well in a year at the time.
When she woke up her problems were still there, they didn't change, but somehow they felt a little lighter. the days that followed were just as hard as the night she went to bed in tears, but she knew the moment her family was asleep she could call on God and pour her heart out to him.
she looked forward to the time when she could pray each night. over the years she has developed so much faith she wouldn't change a thing of her life. (not that she could)She knows that her trials made her who she has become and who she was intended to be all along.
prayer = peace. if we pray and exercise our faith god will make us enough to do what is needed of us. (just like the loaves and fishes :)
Pass it on... s
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Night out for women
Well I just thought I would let everyone know that the work on my book is turing out very promising, and that I am having a great time with my sister Teri and Amelia and the women's retreat... more to come later, know that I am thinking about you. S
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Beginnings
Every year our family has a family meeting and blessings for the coming school year.
To say it was wonderful feels limiting, really I have no words to describe it, only the desire to tell you it was special for our family.
School is fully underway and I am so relieved to know that everything for our family is in God's hands. By the sounds of things our year will be full of adventures in learning and growth... just what our family needs.
This year is strange too, for me it is time for me to prepare to watch James leave home, and Rannon become a man. I can't tell those of you still changing diapers how firmly I remember those days with my two oldest. Jaden is another matter altogether but I know you understand :)
I remember much of my own beginnings as a child, the days of summer felt like they would never end, the sun on my back the embrace of my parents when I fell and scraped my knee. Even becoming a parent for the first time, to think of James as anything but a baby was unthinkable for the first couple years, slowly, steadily he crept up tall and strong.
All the others came one at a time (thanks for that) and each one distracted me from the fact that James got taller and older until one day he was taller than me, and it felt like it was over night. Looking back I know it wasn't. My beginnings with my children are nearly over, their discoveries are opening to the world around them and they are each beginning to explore and grow on their own, like great strong trees. I planted them, tended them and nurtured them and now they are all getting taller than me, their branches spread over all I see.
Soon my little orchard will be grown, but I will always walk among them and think of them as seedlings... that is my nature, and my joy.
I can't wait to see the world through their eyes, to explore the traditions they carry with them into their own families, and to watch over their seedlings on occasion. :)
Warm thoughts sent to you all, thanks for your time, and you friendship. Stacey
To say it was wonderful feels limiting, really I have no words to describe it, only the desire to tell you it was special for our family.
School is fully underway and I am so relieved to know that everything for our family is in God's hands. By the sounds of things our year will be full of adventures in learning and growth... just what our family needs.
This year is strange too, for me it is time for me to prepare to watch James leave home, and Rannon become a man. I can't tell those of you still changing diapers how firmly I remember those days with my two oldest. Jaden is another matter altogether but I know you understand :)
I remember much of my own beginnings as a child, the days of summer felt like they would never end, the sun on my back the embrace of my parents when I fell and scraped my knee. Even becoming a parent for the first time, to think of James as anything but a baby was unthinkable for the first couple years, slowly, steadily he crept up tall and strong.
All the others came one at a time (thanks for that) and each one distracted me from the fact that James got taller and older until one day he was taller than me, and it felt like it was over night. Looking back I know it wasn't. My beginnings with my children are nearly over, their discoveries are opening to the world around them and they are each beginning to explore and grow on their own, like great strong trees. I planted them, tended them and nurtured them and now they are all getting taller than me, their branches spread over all I see.
Soon my little orchard will be grown, but I will always walk among them and think of them as seedlings... that is my nature, and my joy.
I can't wait to see the world through their eyes, to explore the traditions they carry with them into their own families, and to watch over their seedlings on occasion. :)
Warm thoughts sent to you all, thanks for your time, and you friendship. Stacey
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
A moment on my soap box
I have realized recently the drab information on my blog leaves much to be desired… Needless to say I have come to rectify the situation.
Something has come to my attention recently. Thoughts often float into my mind at the oddest times, and for those that know me, let’s just say that this one was no different. But the thought stayed with me for several days and through editing of my next block buster (small plug). Out with it then right?
Screen Door’s.
When one thinks of screen doors they are thought of as handy and somewhat unattractive things but they remain attached to our doors for their usefulness.
Recently a child was tearing mine apart, and I scolded the child and left the problem be since it was not my child and the last thing I want to do is show my ‘dragon lady’ self to someone who doesn’t know me that well… lol.
I recall having a conversation with a parent about how things such as sliding screen doors are unimportant. Well yes I agreed, children are one of a kind and therefore far more important. Aside for the cost of replacing a screen door I agree (still I would rather not have to pay for a new one just because a short person found nothing better to do...)
Well here I am listening to someone complaining about the destructiveness of their child (weeks later) and the thought came to me… what about the screen door? After all how do we teach children to respect our property and their own for that matter? So often now in our society parents buy and re-buy broken toys, lost toys, toys that get run over by daddy’s car, you get the idea. I have been called mean more than once in my life that I am not on the same train headed for continual toy renewal. (That is usually the parents, kids tend to not complain to me)
Well the screen door explained it all to me.
Ready? We need to teach our children to take care of EVERYTHING! Paper, plastic, wood, metal why should it matter? Why should our children of any age be allowed to destroy something simply because it was given to them? Near them? For that matter why should we reward them when they have broken things? most often they are quite able to understand the consequences(after the age2-3, oh yes they can…) of their actions. (ie... if you leave your bike behind daddy's car likely one of two things will happen, it will get stolen or driven over in the morning... besides isn't it a rule to put your stuff away yet?)
You are going to love this, since, an example came to mind as well. Ancient artifacts, pyramids, cathedrals. What do they all have in common? Aside from age… and they were all handmade. They were all respected for years often times centuries without abuse. Why is that? Is it possible that children were raised to respect other people’s property at a young age? What if those children were raised by the parents of today? Instead of beautiful hieroglyphs we would have graffiti all over the pyramids, temples and walls. What if these children grew tired of them, or thought it would be fun to skateboard all over the hand laid tiles, carve their names in the backs of the old church benches, or shredded the lovely paintings that now adorn our museums. (oh wait that is already happening...)
These things, these possessions are not valuable simply because of the canvas or wood they were made with. Even the tools used to create them hold no particular meaning. It is the life that created them that we value, the life that is likely no longer with us, representing the ones that have gone before.
Now I know that screen doors and dollar tree finds hardly compare to Picasso, but how do we teach our next generation to honor the people before us? It is so simple, we teach them with the small and simple things that we brake, I mean, use everyday. We explain our regret over the loss of the item and live without it long enough for the person or persons involved to realize that life without a screen door equals flies on you sandwich.
It is my particular joy then, as I swat away the fly from my own plate to remind the entire family what a real blessing a screen door can be when the ofore mentioned item is, in fact, qualified for the job title given.
More granules of wisdom coming your way when I find another brain cell to share.(LOL)
Later all, s
Something has come to my attention recently. Thoughts often float into my mind at the oddest times, and for those that know me, let’s just say that this one was no different. But the thought stayed with me for several days and through editing of my next block buster (small plug). Out with it then right?
Screen Door’s.
When one thinks of screen doors they are thought of as handy and somewhat unattractive things but they remain attached to our doors for their usefulness.
Recently a child was tearing mine apart, and I scolded the child and left the problem be since it was not my child and the last thing I want to do is show my ‘dragon lady’ self to someone who doesn’t know me that well… lol.
I recall having a conversation with a parent about how things such as sliding screen doors are unimportant. Well yes I agreed, children are one of a kind and therefore far more important. Aside for the cost of replacing a screen door I agree (still I would rather not have to pay for a new one just because a short person found nothing better to do...)
Well here I am listening to someone complaining about the destructiveness of their child (weeks later) and the thought came to me… what about the screen door? After all how do we teach children to respect our property and their own for that matter? So often now in our society parents buy and re-buy broken toys, lost toys, toys that get run over by daddy’s car, you get the idea. I have been called mean more than once in my life that I am not on the same train headed for continual toy renewal. (That is usually the parents, kids tend to not complain to me)
Well the screen door explained it all to me.
Ready? We need to teach our children to take care of EVERYTHING! Paper, plastic, wood, metal why should it matter? Why should our children of any age be allowed to destroy something simply because it was given to them? Near them? For that matter why should we reward them when they have broken things? most often they are quite able to understand the consequences(after the age2-3, oh yes they can…) of their actions. (ie... if you leave your bike behind daddy's car likely one of two things will happen, it will get stolen or driven over in the morning... besides isn't it a rule to put your stuff away yet?)
You are going to love this, since, an example came to mind as well. Ancient artifacts, pyramids, cathedrals. What do they all have in common? Aside from age… and they were all handmade. They were all respected for years often times centuries without abuse. Why is that? Is it possible that children were raised to respect other people’s property at a young age? What if those children were raised by the parents of today? Instead of beautiful hieroglyphs we would have graffiti all over the pyramids, temples and walls. What if these children grew tired of them, or thought it would be fun to skateboard all over the hand laid tiles, carve their names in the backs of the old church benches, or shredded the lovely paintings that now adorn our museums. (oh wait that is already happening...)
These things, these possessions are not valuable simply because of the canvas or wood they were made with. Even the tools used to create them hold no particular meaning. It is the life that created them that we value, the life that is likely no longer with us, representing the ones that have gone before.
Now I know that screen doors and dollar tree finds hardly compare to Picasso, but how do we teach our next generation to honor the people before us? It is so simple, we teach them with the small and simple things that we brake, I mean, use everyday. We explain our regret over the loss of the item and live without it long enough for the person or persons involved to realize that life without a screen door equals flies on you sandwich.
It is my particular joy then, as I swat away the fly from my own plate to remind the entire family what a real blessing a screen door can be when the ofore mentioned item is, in fact, qualified for the job title given.
More granules of wisdom coming your way when I find another brain cell to share.(LOL)
Later all, s
Saturday, July 25, 2009
July
Kira and Sami
Jaden splashing mom in the river... she was in about a foot of water
Most of the boys
Jonah
Sicily, Kira, extra kid, Dalyn's head
This is after Eli was born, the kids enjoyed the sun and the sand as you can see.
Rannon
James has a way with the ladies of the family :)
Jaden and Grandma admiring Eli
Jaden giving Kira a lift, pretty cute :)
Sicily painting Uncle Jon's toes. Ya, they looked HOT, like Hot PINK! :) He was a good sport, that is for sure. :)
Jaden threw Natalia a B-day party
(Dad) Wayne and Quint talking shop :)
Note the sunburn, and keep in mind that "I don't need sunscreen, I'll be fine." :) This is after a day at the river.
Sicily
James
Rebecca and Eli
Alex
The Family
CaliJaden holding her cousin.
There are so many pictures to choose from and I will add more, I just wanted to share how much fun we had with all our family that has visited the last few weeks. We have gone to the lake, the river, parks, and bar-b-qued. The men have gone fishing and last night we made Catfish. It was really good stuff. We have laughed, and talked, and laughed some more until our eyes scream out at us in agony 'go to sleep already'. We are pretty tired this morning... :) But really we wouldn't have it anyother way.
This video is funny to me. We went to Lake Lowel for the ward picnic, the day was warm but odd. Now all three of the kids shown are waiting to ride the jet boat or go water skiing. Can you pick who is having the most fun waiting? Rannon, you still make me laugh so much :) S
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Family moments that make us who we are, are often the ones that go unnoticed at the time.
It was recently brought to my attention (again) that I have neglected to updatte my blog... I thought I would give a few moments of our crazy selves to you. Life is made up of moments, these are a few of ours. Stacey and family.
We have times that we feel like we have it made.
We learn about things we have in common.
We have days that we just want to give up.
And we have moments that seem to make it all worth while.
Sometimes we have the occasional moment caputered that says it all. :)
Sometimes we learn no matter how hard we try we just can't do it all.
Sometimes we enjoy the simple things that make us who we are.
Sometimes we look for the fast way to do things.
Only to find that the slowest ways are always more worthwhile.
We have had our happy moments
Our moments where we help others, in this case the ducks are in need of our bread...
We have laughed about silly things...
and attended the more serious things as well.
Most of all we all have our moments where we have to make that leap of faith (you know the onewhere you jumped already and just hope that the rocks under the surface are not razor blades of death... :)
We have times that we feel like we have it made.
We learn about things we have in common.
We have days that we just want to give up.
And we have moments that seem to make it all worth while.
Sometimes we have the occasional moment caputered that says it all. :)
Sometimes we learn no matter how hard we try we just can't do it all.
Sometimes we enjoy the simple things that make us who we are.
Sometimes we look for the fast way to do things.
Only to find that the slowest ways are always more worthwhile. We have had our happy moments Our moments where we help others, in this case the ducks are in need of our bread... We have laughed about silly things... and attended the more serious things as well.Most of all we all have our moments where we have to make that leap of faith (you know the onewhere you jumped already and just hope that the rocks under the surface are not razor blades of death... :)
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