So kind of an extra hard weekend.
I have been meaning to post this for a while, but never have. I think after this weekend, I need it, though.
When I was young, I had a friend named Marion- she was German. One year, I think for Christmas, she drew this picture for me that had a poem that went with it. 
The poem is in German and I don't know much German anymore, 
but it basically says, " Have sun in your heart whether it's storming or snowing, whether the heavens are full of something and the earth is full of strife. Have sun in your heart and then come what may, it will light you on the darkest day.
I heard Rhianna's Umbrella song and I thought about this drawing. I know the song is a love song, and some say worse than that, but I always think of it as friends, especially with the chorus:
When the sun shines We’ll shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be your friend
Took an oath
She got some great pictures and we found out that Wal-mart and Costco had the worst bugs! Most of it was non-pathogenic, though!
I came home and told him what it said. It was a request for us to meet with the stake president on Sunday. Of course Rob didn't sleep the rest of the night. He was just called to be Elder's quorum president a year ago. He has had a few problems- if you missed the disappearing post, so sorry, but I won't drag that up again, but he felt like things had settled down, things were starting to go good and that now he could really get to work. We are hoping it is just a PPI, but we don't think that is possible since I am suppose to come, too. I really hope for his sake it is not some non descript stake calling. Let's face it. The stake doesn't do a whole lot. I remember a few years ago that I finally got called into the Young Women's and I was so excited. I got to teach my beehives for 2 months before they released me and called me to be a stake missionary. They wouldn't let me do anything (because we had no sister missionaries in the area) except teach a few new member discussions and teach Gospel Essentials every once in awhile. It was awful and I hated the whole 2 years of it. I have never been called back into Young Women's. I have a feeling that Rob will feel the same way if he is called to a stake calling. We are very nervous. Rob tried to "G2 it"- as he calls it- meaning get intelligence, since the G2 is the intelligence division in the Army. His best friend and first counselor in the Elder's quorum just laughed at him when he told him and our friend in the bishopbric denied any knowledge. It's the things that make you go hmmm....
I got him a build-your-own-solar-car for Easter. He read the whole book and finally started to put it together, but kept screaming for us, because the book said he had to have adult supervision.
Rob sat down with him finally and helped him finish it. Unfortunately, it hasn't been sunny enough, yet to run it.
The only down part is that my poor boys- Samuel, and sometimes Joseph- get left out or teased excessively, because the rest of the party are girls. Samuel takes this all in strides, as they haul him off in hand-cuffs and put baby powder all over him, but he is sensitive and sometimes snaps. Then he gets in trouble and he cries and it breaks my heart. The only thing I can do is pray for a family with boys to move in that loves us.
Just as we got in, The Jonas Brothers came out and performed 5 or 6 songs!
It was very cool. We were only a couple of rows of people back from the stage. It was definitely an *Egg*stra special weekend!
Have you heard of him? He was a confederate soldier. At Marye's Heights the Union soldiers were ordered up the middle of a valley and then up a hill- all on open ground as they were mowed down in entire ranks by the Confederates on the top of the hill. Through the night the Confederate army heard the cries of the dying men. This went on for several days. Most of them were just pleading for water. This man, whose name now escapes me, went to his commander and asked to be allowed to cross over and give the dying men water. He was told no. He went higher up and higher up, each time getting told no. Finally, the last commander told him no, but as he went through the tent flap, the commander changed his mind and came after him, saying "how can I refuse such a request?" The man got as many canteens as he could, filled them up and then went over the wall and proceeded to give water to the dying men. All the while he was being shot at by the Union soldiers, who thought he was trying to loot the dying men. 
When he ran out, he went and got more and then did it again. He took several trips. Eventually the Union soldiers figured out what he was doing and stopped firing at him. This man made it through Fredricksburg, and 2 other battles in the area. He made it through Gettysburg where the Confederates lost so many men, but he was eventually killed in a smaller battle later on. One day, I would like to have the kind of courage and compassion that that man had. My feet aren't taking me there quite yet. But until they do, they will keep taking me to these feet,
the people I love the most. 
I will try and practice a little compassion and courage with them first!
I am sure that it will join her soon in that big dump in the sky. I feel so bad that I didn't take a picture of her before she got hauled away, though. 15 years of hard work, without so much as a goodbye!
and then put up this sign. 
We had so much fun trying to sneak away. In the end we got caught way too many times and the others figured it out by our not so sneaky children's comments the next day!
One of them even Egged us back and another brought us cookies in the shape of eggs. Her husband told her that their home was egged and she was getting so upset- how vicious people were! Then he explained that it was a "mormon egging" and showed her the plastic eggs with candy in them!
This time we did it like the hospital lab told us 
and they actually grew this time! Hopefully we will go in and see what they grew today!
First of all I am not a perfectionist in any sense of the word, but when it comes to school type things, I just have to do well to be happy. I graduated 5 years of college with a 3.93- nursing school and all! The 3 B's that I did get were when the men in my life needed extra time. Second, I only work PRN (as needed) and have never worked anything other than that. I want to be able to stay home with my kids, so I only work 1/2 shifts when my husband is home. This has made it so that I have never gotten really good at ER nursing. I feel like the idiot at work all the time! I do not want to show everyone how much of an idiot I am during a class. I feel like I have to do as good or better than everyone else on the tests just so they won't look down on me at work. Does that make sense? So this has been my stress week- even my husband said he could no longer live with me. Unfortunately, I have another one of those classes the first week of May. Time to get studying!
David's house has a red door, but ours is blue. There is rarely anything on our door, because of objections from my DH. Obviously screwing something into the door is unthinkable and the over-the-door hangers scratch his wood. After 14 years of marriage, he finally agreed to put some lights outside one Christmas, but used tape instead of putting holes in his wood or scratching it with the hangers. This is what happened
and hence we haven't had lights outside since. I have found a plastic over-the-door hanger and use it occasionally, but all the things hanging on it have to be soft, too and that makes it a little harder to do. My DH has had all the kids practice the statement, "wood on wood always scratches, metal on wood always damages." You might also notice our door being shut several times in a row. This is from said DH teaching the children each time they slam the door how to shut it correctly. Shhh, no one tell him that I don't do it quite the right way!:)
come in! Welcome! 
We have a small entry way with a much loved and long sought after deacons bench with storage. That's where all the shoes go. It still needs something else, but decorating has never been my strong suit, especially being military. It's hard to get things just the way you like them to then move and try all over in a different house with a different layout.
, then played volleyball, 
pin the crown on the frog prince, 
red light, green light and had a cake walk. I made these frog and fly cupcakes
and these party favors. 
It was a great way to celebrate a whole extra day. I would have liked to write that I lightened somebodies load, but maybe a little celebration is what some of them needed, to help get them out of the funk of working an extra day and remember to celebrate the fact that they got a whole extra day this year in which to better themselves!
