Her Legacy Lives On

I have to say that losing Willa was one of the hardest things I've ever experienced. It is STILL difficult for me. Even as I sit here typing this, I feel tears welling up in my eyes. 3 days from today would have been Willa's 39th Birthday. It still feels so wrong that she is gone. I want to share a very touching story about her that someone shared with me yesterday. I had made cupcakes on Saturday and the kids decorated them. We made them for Luke's baptism but then ran off and forgot them on the kitchen counter. Sunday morning I thought, "What are we gonna do with these 2 dozen cupcakes?!?" I decided to text my friend Melissa Nothum to see if they would like to come over for dinner after church and help us eat cupcakes too. She and her husband have 4 kids right around the same ages as ours. It was nice to see them and to catch up. Melissa said it was interesting that I would invite them that day because she had a sister get up in Relief Society to bear her testimony that afternoon. The sister stated that she wanted to bear her testimony of Visiting Teaching. A few years ago, her visiting teacher-- Willa Chapman, came up to her and said, "I'm your visiting teacher, and I'm sorry I have not come to see you yet, but I PROMISE that I will come from now on." The sister explained that Willa kept her promise and came every month. When Willa passed away, it was very hard on this sister. For other reasons, she became less-active in the Church. Some time passed and she came across a letter from Willa. It talked about temple blessings and eternal families. This sister had a change of heart and returned to church. Willa is still blessing people's lives even though she is not physically with us. As Melissa relayed the story to me I was moved to tears. Willa makes me want to do more to help others on their journey of life.

Happy Mudders Day

Greg took me out to dinner Saturday night for Mother's Day. My parents watched the kids. Greg and I went to Grad School. Not very romantic, but delicious food. Greg got their chicken tacos and kept going on and on about how good they were. I stuck to my diet and got the Thin Chic--Basmati rice with steamed vegetables, asparagus, and falafel. After dinner we walked over to Hurts Donuts and got some donuts for the kids. Sunday morning I got up and started writing my traditional Mother's Day letters to each of my kids and Greg. Greg and the kids made me breakfast: Eggs with cheese, Fried Potatoes and Gluten Free toast with Natural Peanut Butter. It was yummy and I ate WAY too much. After breakfast I gave everyone their letters and a donut. Noah made me some lego heart puzzles (It's hard to explain). Zane painted a picture of me and wrote about me: My mom is the best cook, Pretty as a flower, she knows almost everything and I like to make my mom smile by being funny." Olivia forgot to give me my gift so she gave it to me as I was dropping her off at school this morning. It was a necklace with her silhouette on it and a very sweet card: "Mommy! I already know that I'm too old to call you that, but just this once. You are beautiful, fun, creative and truly remarkable. I love you more than anything and would like to thank you for everything you do for me. From doing dishes and laundry, driving us to school, helping us when we fall down. I <3 MOM. From, Olivia". The kids also made me an apron with their hand prints in the shape of a flower. So Cute. Man I love those guys. Don't get me wrong, it was not a perfect day. The kids got in a huge fight on the way to church. It got pretty ugly. I was not impressed. But it turned out alright in the end. For my mom, we made stepping stones--one for each kid, with their name and footprint on it. That was kind of a nightmare. We also painted rocks for her: Ladybugs for the girls and bumblebees for the boys. And I bought her a book. It's a journal for her to write about her life and then give back to the kids when she's done. It gives lots of prompts about what to write too. We went to mom and dad's for lasagna after church. So that means I didn't have to cook at all and to me that is awesome.

Career Day and "Dress Like your Favorite Book Character", Easter, and just general cuteness

Sorry to bombard you with cuteness. I haven't blogged for a while. The kids had Career Day at school. Olivia was a Busy Mom who is clearly good at multi-tasking. Noah was a St. Louis Cardinal and Zane was the Ice Cream man. At WINGS Olivia had "Dress Like Your Favorite Book Character". The Cat in the Hat was an easy costume to throw together and it went along with a skit she was doing there that day. Adley is just...adorable.

Olivia

Last Sunday, Olivia received a phone call from the Stake President. She was asked to speak in our Stake Conference which took place yesterday, April 27. In our church, the members of the congregation are asked to speak (instead of the clergy preaching each week). But, this is generally reserved for members aged 12 and up. Olivia is 11 so this was a little different. Last month, she and I attended the General Women's Broadcast. For the first time, this broadcast was for all girls and women ages 8 and up. She re-read each of the broadcast addresses and carefully prepared her talk-with only a little help from Greg and me. She did a great job. There were about 1,000 people there I would guess. Her talk went as follows: "Good morning brothers and sisters. My name is Olivia, I am eleven years old, and I am going to give a talk about when my mom and I went to the General Women’s Broadcast. This is actually my first time giving a talk.... WOW. When my mom told me we were going, I thought “YAY! Cupcakes and mani-pedis! Isn’t that what women do at church meetings after all? But NOOO! After we got there, I was beginning to think “YAY! Old people talking on and on!” But it was amazing! And I really did enjoy it! I felt the spirit the entire time, and really liked listening to the talks. Sister Wixom is the Primary General President and she gave a talk at the very beginning. She states “There are girls among us tonight who are Primary age. Some of you have recently taken that first step on the path to eternal life with the ordinance of baptism. Look around you. The future is bright as you see women who have also made covenants and are ready to show you the way along the path ahead.” I was baptized when I was eight, and I just realized allot of women show me the way along the path. I know my mom has. I’m glad I got baptized, because now I can repent for my sins. Another talk was given by the Relief Society General President. She states: “I was thinking about a young Primary girl named Brynn who has only one hand, and yet she uses that hand to reach out to bless her family and her friends—Latter-day Saints and those of other faiths. We can offer hands to help and hearts to hasten Heavenly Father’s wonderful work. Brynn knows that she is a daughter of God. We too can know of our own divine heritage and the vital work He has for us to do.” When I was about seven, my dad made me a hand-crafted wooden box, saying “Princess, daughter of a King” in pink and black vinyl lettering. I know that I am God’s daughter, and all of us are God’s children I would like to bear my testimony, that I know my Savior lives, and this church is true, and I am God’s daughter. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

My Oldest....

I always tell Olivia that when she grows up, I hope she has a daughter that is Just. Like. Her. Is that mean of me? Let me start by saying how very much I adore that girl. She is clever, creative, funny, outgoing, talented, kind, friendly...I could go on and on. She is truly amazing. But man oh man! Sometimes I just want to grit my teeth. She called me this morning from WINGS (the school she goes to on Thursdays-which is across town): "Mom, I forgot my permission slip to go on our field trip today." I ask, "Where is it?" She replies, "I'm not sure...it might be in my desk at regular school." I respond, "And what good is that?!?!" She answers, "I don't know!" So I ask, "When do you leave for your field trip? Can I just come there and fill out another one?" She comes back with, "We leave at 9 and that's fine." It was 8:30 and I needed to get the boys to school before I could go sign her form. Grrrrrr. It would totally not be a big deal really, except she does stuff like this ALL THE TIME. Sometimes I just have to let her suffer the consequences, but I knew she really wanted to go on her field trip today. I really am not sure if she will ever learn. IQ: 139 Common Sense:...less than that.

My Four Little Loves

This is a random post about all four kiddos. Last week the kids had Crazy Hair Day at school. The boys both wore afro wigs (sorry no pics) and I put some pipe cleaners in Olivia's hair to get a sort of "Cindy LooWho" look. In the second pic, Noah is modeling his new glasses. He failed the vision test at school a while back and I just got around to getting him in to the eye doctor. His right eye is about the same, but his left eye is dramatically worse. He picked out a couple of pairs that look very similar. Zane has been reading Dr. Seuss books at school. He became "Thing 16" complete with blue "wig". And Adley...well, she's just a monkey. The child is in to EVERY-THING!!!! She is just Go Go Go from sun up to sun down. She hardly even slows down for a nap. She is excellent birth control (if anybody would like to borrow her, be my guest).

I'm on top of the world HEY!

I have lost my first ten pounds. I started my "plan" on January 15 and as of this morning, March 6, (that's 7 weeks) I am down exactly 10 pounds. I. Feel. Awesome!!! I am not starving myself because I knew that was NOT going to work for me. I am not busting my butt at a gym (in fact I haven't even really been exercising). I hope to become more active when the weather gets (and stays) warm. I also knew that the whole "I can eat whatever I want, I just have to set limits" would NOT work for me either. I don't eat whatever I want. I LOVE bread and I LOVE chocolate. I do not eat either of those things. No wheat, No sugar (aside from natural fruit sugars and honey, agave, etc.) My original goal was to reach 130. I am currently 11 pounds from reaching that goal. But since it has been relatively easy, I don't want to limit myself to just getting to 130. I plan to continue my healthy lifestyle AFTER I get there. I AM the incredible shrinking woman.