Blessings of Service

I found out about an hour before the Webelos Den Meeting that they needed another person to have the two deep leadership.  I haven't had to go for the last month or so and I even forgot for sure what time it was at.  I am grateful for the opportunity that I had to help out and that they thought of asking me to do so.  Asking for service is harder than giving service I think and I appreciate it when I am asked to help.  I need to be better at recognizing opportunities to help though too.

We will also have the opportunity to feed the missionaries tomorrow night.  I am excited to do so.  It is always nice to have missionaries in the home and we don't get that very often because they cover such a large area.

My husband has been working on getting in better shape for his PT test and he's been really great about working out more often.  It helps that his semester isn't as busy as the last one was.  So funny story that relates to working out.  It was a Sunday and we were home from church and had just finished dinner or were in the process of preparing it when my husband mentions something about doing squats.  I made a feeble attempt and so he decided to show me how to do so.  As he gets all lined up and ready he bends down and there is a loud tearing sound.  He is one to normally have lots of stuff in his pockets like his knife and pen and other assortment of things.  His leatherman he had been sticking in his back pocket which had actually started a little hole.  When he went down for the squat with the knife in his back pocket it made a much larger hole and made my husband freeze and give a look of utter embarrassment.  It made for a very good laugh.

Family Home Evening

For Family Home Evening tonight we were able to figure out some mother's day gifts, which is always a hard thing to decide on.  Then when we got home we worked in the yard getting rid of dandelions.  When my husband suggested that we clear out the dandelions my initial response was that I didn't want to, that there were plenty of other things I would rather do.  But I agreed and it was actually really enjoyable.  I enjoy working in the yard and especially when I get to work with family.

Then my husband was able to start indexing for the first time which he seemed to really enjoy.  There is a special feeling that comes when working on any form of temple work.  We have been challenged to index 100 names each in the next couple weeks and I hope that we will be able to make it.

Ella has a diaper rash that wasn't there yesterday but is pretty bad today.  I wish I new what caused it because it caused her a bit of pain.  She also fell down the stairs today.  She knows to go down stairs backwards but when it comes to our stairs at the front of our house she tries to go down them facing forward and stepping down them.  I home that she will learn from that and will be a bit more cautious around the stairs but we'll see if it works for her or not.  She is quite the little explorer and so it might not even phase her.

I'm grateful for the nights that my husband doesn't have to work and that we can have some family time together.  That has made a big difference these last couple weeks and I'm grateful for it.

Temple and Yard Sales

I didn't start to appreciate yard sales until I got married and they are now something I can't wait for.  Last weekend my hopes for yard sales were dashed because it was raining but today I was able to go and I had some great success.  My goal was to get pants and pj's for Ella because that's what we've been short on and I was able to get plenty of each and they were all about 50 cents.  Can't beat that.  I was really disappointed though because there was a really cute hat for Ella that I thought I had purchased and when I got home I realized that it wasn't there.  I was sad about that and wanted to go back to the yard sale to check but thought that would be really silly.  The more I thought about it though the more I wanted to go back and check.  Finally I decided I would go back which is a big deal because that means putting Ella back in her car seat and all that jazz.

When I got there they were cleaning everything up and I felt pretty silly because I had purchased so much stuff from them the first time they probably thought that I was a pack rat.  I was disappointed once more but on my way home is when I saw a yard sale I hadn't seen yet and that is where I was able to find the pants and pj's that I hadn't been able to find earlier.  It was a blessing to be able to find that last yard sale after I thought I was all done because that is where I got what I was truly looking for.

My husband and I try to make it to the temple every week and that has gotten harder with a child but we have been able to keep it up for the most part and it is such a blessing for us in our lives.  My husband is such a wonderful example to me.  He will always sneak away at some point in the process of getting ready for the day and will say his morning prayers.  Every day he does so, and it's even to the point sometimes that I will need to get him because we will be late for something.  He takes his time and he offers a prayer unto God.  I do too generally but I'm one that will say a quick one as I am driving because I forgot in the morning and things like that but he's so much better about kneeling down and praying at the beginning of the day.  It sure makes a difference for us in our family.  He is always striving to do what is right and is one to seek Heavenly Father's guidance.  As he does so he blesses our family immensely. I need to be better at following his example of prayer.  I am very blessed.  

Outside

I had another ultrasound today and they are still wanting to do regular checkups and more ultra sounds because one side of my placenta is thicker and the baby is not at the weight that it should be.  It's hard to hear things like that but the ultrasound tech said that they will continue to keep an eye on it because if the baby doesn't gain the weight that it should than they would have to take the baby out because it would be better out where they could monitor what the baby is eating.  That could be a scary thing but at the same time it was a calming thing for me.  They will continue to check on the baby and if she's not gaining the appropriate weight then they can just help her gain the weight in another way.  It was a calming idea to me because it helped to realize that the baby could still be okay either way.

After the ultrasound and little Ella's nap we went to the park which was such a wonderful thing.  I love being outside and don't get much time to be outside because of work and things but it was a beautiful day and I decided that the dishes and mess in the house could wait because Ella and I needed to spend some time outside.  Ella walked around all over trying to get a ball that all the different groups of college students were playing with.  She was able to interact with a cute little puppy and help push the stroller around.  She is definitely a little girl with a mind of her own.  She will just wander anywhere and doesn't even worry about whether or not I am following her.

The blessings of today where the understanding that what ever happens with the baby will be all right and being able to spend some time outside.  It was a good day.

Family Support

My Husband came to the school today to teach a science lesson and it was a wonderful part of my day and something I always look forward to.  It makes me wish that we could always teach together.  It is enjoyable working together and I enjoy watching him work with the kids and answering their many questions.  He definitely knows his stuff and enjoys sharing what he knows.

Time

Today's blessing was that of time.  We have early release on Wednesdays and the kids go home an hour earlier and the teachers meet together for meetings, which can generally be pretty long.  Today, though, we met quickly and then had time to work on school stuff or even go home if we wanted to.  I was able to get a lot of grades entered and was still able to leave a few minutes earlier than normal.  That was nice because I had set up an appointment to go visiting teaching after school.

I love visiting the sisters that I get to visit with. There is just so much to learn from the women that I have had the opportunity to teach.  The sister that we visited with today has a husband that is stuck in another country for at least another year, if not more, because of visa issues and such.  She has two kids at home and has to do it all without her husband.  I can't even imagine.  Yet she is so bubbly and fun to be around.

The other blessing of time today was time with family.  Normally my husband works most evenings and I work during the day which allows us to take care of our little girl but doesn't allow us to see each other much.  Because of a change in his class schedule this semester, he actually is home more evenings which has been a huge blessing.  Today we were able to spend about an hour together cleaning out the garage which only made a small dent in the garage but it was time together and it was productive.  Our daughter had the best time exploring around some more outside too because it's now warm enough to let her do so.

"Family, isn't it all about time."

Blessing #1

I shouldn't say blessing #1 because I can list tons of things that I have been blessed with but it will be the first blessing that I post here.  Overall the biggest blessing of late has been the change of attitude that I've been able to experience over the last couple days or weeks even.  I teach third grade and have a daughter that just turned one.  It has been a challenge for me to teach this year and to try to figure out how to best manage my time between work, family, church and church assignments.  I haven't done very well with dividing my time correctly and haven't felt like I've been doing all that I need to at school or in any of my responsibilities.

The last week or so I have felt a little better about things and have been able to improve in a few areas. This has helped me have a better attitude at school which makes a huge difference for the kids.  Looking back I think the turning point or the thing that helped me make this change was when I was listening to a General Conference talk and I just had the thought or inspiration that I needed to spend more time serving others, less time thinking about myself.  Even though I have callings in the church where I'm asked to serve others and I spend my day serving a large group of kids and then serving my family at home I think I was just too focused on myself and not being able to get everything done that I needed to do.  I talked to my husband when he got back from class and told him that I felt like we should be serving others more.  After talking about it for a while we decided that we would take some treats and our daughter to an elderly lady that lives just done the street from us in hopes to brighten her day.  The funny thing is is that she was the one that brightened ours.

 We had a chance to visit with her and she mentioned a broken fence. My husband got a group of guys together and planned a day when they will go over and fix her fence.  This sweet sister gave us some bread and potatoes that she said she had picked up just to see if someone else needed them.  She gave us so much more that we gave her.  Since then I've had a changed attitude and have focused more on stepping out of myself and helping those around me.  I haven't done anything to big but I sure hope that having a more positive attitude will help those around me and that I can continue to look for opportunities to serve.