Dare to Stand Alone

Last week, my son Michael, who is at a very curious age, asked what 9/11 was about. I thought about it all day and decided to show him a picture, like the one below, and explain what happened on that very tragic day.

(image source) http://www.freeallimages.com/911-pictures/

He was completely saddened and mortified. You could see it on his face.

He asked why things like this happen and why would anyone want to do something like that. 

I explained to him that there are people who don't believe in what we believe and that they have agency to choose what they want to do in their own lives.

He apparently didn't think that was an acceptable answer!!! He then asked,"Are we the only ones who believe in God?" I assured him that we are not the only ones!!

But it made me think of the counsel given to us by our beloved Prophet Thomas S. Monson. 

"As we go about living from day to day, it is almost inevitable that our faith will be challenged. We may at times find ourselves surrounded by others and yet standing in the minority or even standing alone concerning what is acceptable and what is not. Do we have the moral courage to stand firm for our beliefs, even if by so doing we must stand alone? "

I explained this to my nine year old in the very best way that I knew how, wondering how much he understood. But I already know that he DOES understand. He has the courage to tell a man older than his mother that he doesn't like when he swears because it makes him feel bad. He has the courage to tell his peers that what they are watching is not what he should be watching. 

We have great influence over how our kids act and react to different situations. We as their parents have the courage, they know that, and in turn they demonstrate the same courage!! 

"As parents we can be examples of the positive effects of living with honesty and integrity in all we do. Even in the face of disappointment or betrayal by others - especially in those cases - we can look to gospel truths for hope. It is by holding to eternal truths that we can be an example of hope for a brighter future." -Margaret D. Nadauld

Saddle up!

I guess it's time to buck up and get ready because I have an entire herd to reign in!!! (Wow, that was a whole lot of twang there!! At least in my head there was!!)

Yesterday I was officially called as the primary president in our branch. (Primary president is "in charge" of the children in my church . Check out www.lds.org). Woah. I always wondered what it would feel like if this ever happened. Once again I say....woah. I know most people probably feel the same way but there is no way to describe it. Scary, overwhelming(in a good way), exhausting (once again in a good way!), but fun!! I love the kiddos in our Primary. They are amazing. The knowledge they have and their love for the gospel overwhlems me!! I tear up pretty much every time they speak.
I love this gospel!! I especially love the children. 

Everyone wonders why there is so much excitement for me. I didn't grow up in the gospel. I joined when I was 18. I missed Primary and Young womens and jumped straight into Relief Society. Not that it's a bad thing, but I like experiencing it. Especially with my kiddos.

Anyone out there have any advice, PLEASE don't hesitate!! I am very open to any advice. I love all of you that follow this little ol' blog! You are all inspirational to me!!!!

SCARY!!

Well, Sunday evening was scary. Little A fell off a stool and hit the back of his head and was rushed to the emergency room. They had to do a CAT scan and found that where he hit his head was fine. But the scan showed that he has a posterior fossa midline arachnoid cyst on his brain. I froze. I was scared out of my mind. The doctor at our local hospital says that it's fine and that he was born with it. I thought, OK. Now what? So they sent us to Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh today to have a neurologist look over his scans. Let's just say that I didn't sleep last night. When we arrived, I was frantic. I felt foolish but I didn't know what to do. I met the doctor and he said that it's fine. Little A can be himself but he won't be allowed to play ANY contact sports like football or hockey. They want us to make sure he doesn't take too many hard hits to the head because it could cause bleeding that would be bad. I feel better knowing whats going on. The doctor says that most people live their lives not knowing they have anything like this because they've never had a CT scan. I feel blessed as a mom to know how to try to protect my son. I feel blessed for my husband having the priesthood and for my friends who helped comfort us and let us stay at their house and keep their kids up late just so my husband could be assisted in giving our son a blessing.

Thanks for reading and stopping by. Take a look around and count your blessings!

On a side note: we had a series of tornadoes that happened all around us today. Please pray for those who lost their homes and possesions in these storms. So far no lives were lost and that is something to be grateful for!

Loves of my Life!

Well, at least some of the loves in my life! As an early Mother's Day gift to my mom, my brothers and I got together and got all our kids pictures taken together. My mom has been asking for a while, so we figured why not! WOW was it hard to get all the kids to smile and look at the camera at the same time! At first it was just the kids and it wasn't working out! We spent an hour and a half trying to get a half-decent picture! Then my mom decided to sit with the kids and look what we got: AN AMAZING PICTURE!!


We put all the kids in rainbow colors and my mom just happened to have on black and white which I thought was perfect! In order of age it goes: in the yellow is Big B, in the red is Big K, in the blue is my M, in the green is Little B, in the purple is Big A, in the orange is my Little A and in the pink are my twin nieces Little K is on the right and S is on the left! I love these kids and I especially love my mom! She is such a strong lady and I'm glad that she is mine!

I'm grateful to a perfect plan put in place by our Heavenly Father that allows families to be together forever! I love the gospel and am so grateful for a prophet that leads and guides us today! To learn more visit : www.lds.org

When I started this blog, I wanted to have a way of expressing my feelings about the church and to share experiences with my family or anyone else who decided to stop by! I'm a nervous lady and this helps me to share what I love without having to verbally say anything!!

I appreicate anyone who stops by and value your friendships!

I feel so weird not being at church right now! The boys and I are SICK!!! The hubby went along without us! This is my way to have a little Sunday with me!!

Have a great day everyone!! =)

General Conference Match-up!

I LOVE conference weekend! I love the time we get to spend as a family watching all the speakers! So I was trying to find something fun for the kids to do while watching and something for the to do to start recognizing who all the apostles were. So I made a Spring themed matching game. I KNOW I have two boys and the flowers are a wee bit feminine, but I though it was cute! I made them funky colors so they look a little retro and not so girlie!

Below is a picture of one of the flowers that has Presidents Monson on it! I found a set of all the apostles and the prophet in this months issue of the Friend. I just printed a duplicate copy at www.lds.org.


The next picture shows how they go together. I think it's pretty cute! I just used a scrapbooking stencil for the flower and the circle. It worked out pretty well, I think!

This is the whole group, minus one because Little A took it, all matched together! I love them and can't wait to do some for the fall session!

We had a lovely warm day here in PA! I enjoyed it even though my WHOLE household is sick! We still got outside a bit for a sluggish game of hopscotch!

Beautiful day...

Just a quick little post tonight! I helped paint my brothers house this evening and I'm exhausted!! Good feeling to do some service though!!

Before my hubby and I painted, we attended a baptism. It was truly remarkable! The Spirit was so strong there and the young man that was baptized will make an awesome addition to our branch! =) I remember being baptized a little over ten years ago. I was a timid, shy 18 year old girl, scared to death of what I was getting myself into! The gospel absolutely changed my life for the better! I am stronger knowing who I am, and knowing my worth to a loving Father in Heaven! Being the only member in my family was the HARDEST part. They didn't understand and some of them still don't. When I got sealed in the temple, I devistated my whole family. Leaving my mom to go to the Washington, D.C. temple just about cracked me. I am glad I did what I knew was the right thing for me. Now my mom understands. She supports me and I love her for that!

I love the gospel of Jesus Christ! To learn more visit www.lds.org.

Thanks for visiting!! Have a great night!!

My New Life

My New Life

You HAVE to watch this video! Amazing!!!