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!!!!

FUN blocks

I've been wanting to show my fun blocks for awhile (like since the beginning of May) but life is crazy!! But I love these blocks! They scream SUMMER to me and I adore summer!! I love picnics and since picnics are FUN, I put the two together with a littlw whimsy in the form of ants!! Be kind to my art! I don't have any fancy machines, just paint and brushes!! I love to create and do things for free!! Or at least as close to free as possible!!

Thank you for the followers who leave such lovely comments!! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the summer!!

Craft/ homeschool wall!!!

Part of my business latley has been the creation of my WALL!!! I didn't take a before pic and I wish I would have!!! See the yellow color?? The whole room was yellow!! I wasn't crazy about it!!! So I took some paint that my mom had from painting her house and some of the colors from around my house and painted rainbow stripes on my wall!!! Can I just say how much I love it!! I didn't do the whole room because that would be crazy....right??! Plus half of the room is our T.V. room/ family room. We are looking to make our basement our living area but that will wait until next year!!

My wonderful hubby made the white shelves and I made the book/ picture ledges. I wanted areas to hang jars from and my hubby did it wonderfully!!! LOVE THEM!!! And the book ledges were made from some scraps I found at my brother's house! I saw them somewhere for $10 a piece and thought, hey I can do that!! They are awesome and my kids love them!!

This weekend, we are receiving a kitchen table from the in-laws and so we are making a desk for this wall by cutting our old table in half and smacking it on the wall. Hope it works!! Will definitely have to post pics of that project!! =)

Have a lovely day!! Stop back and drop me a line!!

I'm Dreaming of Christmas....already!!

Yes...it is true. Christmas is on my mind the day after it's over!!!! I have been thinking of more personalized gifts to give my children and A LOT of ideas came flooding to my mind!! But first, I want to share a couple of photos of my family.

Here is my hubby and M watching some local "pilots" fly their planes. It was fun, as you can see by M's face!! Little A is behind them, not paying much attention!!

And here is Little A, in all his glory! This is what he did while I was loading our dishwasher!! He looked so funny that I had to take a pic! What mom wouldn't????

And below, is my latest creation: the checkerboard. M and I were a the library and they have this hand painted checkerboard there that he loves. I thought, I could do that!! I wanted something that he could grow into that didn't look too kiddish, and this is what I came up with!!! I love it!!! I hope I can keep it a secret until Christmas!!! Now, what will I do for checkers???? I'm so excited to figure it out!!!

It was an absolutely gorgeous day here in PA!!! I mean, GORGEOUS!!!! Hope you all had a lovely day! Thanks for stopping by!!!

Busy, busy, busy.....

Things around here have been, well BUSY!! We have TWO gardens to tend to, M just finished kindergarten ( tear) , been building shelves in our kitchen , and helping my brother with a remodel!! And when I say remodel, I mean he built an ENTIRE second story on his house!! My mom and older brother and his three kids will be living there. The second story is my brothers and his childrens and the bottom is my mom's. And the brother who built it is not the one living there!! He has a big heart and this is a tremendous undertaking!! He is giving up a house that he could be living in and helping his family out. He wanted to do it!! My mom was shocked!!

But that's whats happening around here!! I'm still alive, just barely, and hope to post pics of the house soon!!!

Thanks for stopping by!! Have a great day!!

Special Little Spirit

My Little A. I love this boy so very much! As I sit here, house quiet, kids sleeping, hubby workin', I wonder, "Did I get to do ANYTHING with Little A today?" And I realize that it didn't happen. When he asked me to read him a book, I said WAIT! I said wait because I was cleaning the living room. WOW! How lame is that! What would it have taken, 5 minutes of my time to pick him up, hold him and read. What could have been 5 precious, memory making minutes. I let them go to waste. It makes me sad.

I get to spend time with M, watching him grow and learn as we homeschool. I congratulate him and high-five him. Little A looks at us and joins the celebration! He is such a sweet boy. I need to make the time. I need to forget the things that will be there tomorrow and hold tight to the little boy who is growing up each day and will soon be leaving my protective arms. I want both of my boys to take with them wonderful memories of a mother who actually took the time to be with them and planned her day for them.

"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matthew 6:21) I read this scripture and my heart dropped. Was my treasure truly the cleaning of my livingroom? At that moment, it was. That's crazy for me to think about. It actually hurts.

I turned 29 about two weeks ago and I set some goals that I would like to achieve or at least work on over the next year. They are things like read my scriptures for more than 5 minutes, lose weight, more righteously fullfill my calling at church, etc. NO WHERE on that list does it say, spend quality time with my kids daily. Well, that it changing tonight. It has to. As the only member of the church in my family, I constantly look for someone to help me raise my kids the way we are taught through the scriptures to raise them. I often feel like I am beating a dead horse. I am the chosen mother of the two special spirits I have. The Lord bestowed this awesome responsibility to ME.

Thanks for reading this and stopping by. I know it's personal, but I feel that if I share it, I will have support. I am grateful to the few who stop by and read. You are very encouraging and I am grateful for all of you.

Hope you had a wonderful day! (Excuse the picture! We were dying Easter eggs and it was a great memory so I posted it; even with me in it!!)

Atonement 101

I am the first couselor in our branches Primary which allows me the privlege of teaching music every Sunday and sharing time every other Sunday. So this past Sunday I taught a lesson on the Atonement. I was trying to be creative and decided to do a little Atonement 101 lesson. First, I made a "clean slate" which represents being baptized. On the back of the "clean slate" it reads,"When we are baptized, we are given a 'clean slate'. We are sinless and need to obey Heavenly Father's commandments in order to stay clean."

Second, I made the same "slate" and put added rip marks and dark spots representing the sins in our life. On the back of the "dirty slate" it reads," When we sin, we allow our 'clean slate' to become spotted. We let our sins 'dirty' our clean slate and need to repent to 'erase' our sins." I then asked how we are able to clean our slate once it is dirty. Most of the kids said by repenting, and I asked who died for us so we can repent. They said Jesus and I asked what this service was called and they said the Atonement.

Then I showed this pencil and had the 4 steps of repentence on the front. It's hard to see in the pic but the steps are:

1. Feel sorry

2. Ask forgiveness

3. right the wrong

4. don't do it again!

Then on the back of the pencil it reads," Heavenly Father sent His Son to sacrifice Himself for our sins. By doing that, we can repent and our Heavenly Father can "erase" our sins."

It was an awesome lesson and the kids may have even learned something along the way! =)

I made each of the kids their very own Atonement 101 kits and they got to take them home and use them to teach FHE for their families. They were very excited!

When I teach, I always try to make something we can reuse for FHE. The kids like the idea of being in charge of a lesson and to be able to teach about what they are learning in church!

I am truly grateful for my calling in Primary. I didn't join the church until I was 18 so I missed all of the good fun that comes from Primary. I am blessed to be a part of these kids lives and I hope they learn as much from me as I learn from them!