October 2009

My nephew Gabe turned 3 this month and he had a dress up Birthday party. It was so much fun! They had a pinata and ice cream cake and delicious food! It was a blast! The kids had a great time!! I also went to a really fun Halloween party with some of my friends last weekend. I used last years costume, with a few small variations added. It was a blast!! My only regret is I didn't bring a camera with me to take pictures of my friends and I!

Joy in the Journey

A good friend of mine sent this to me. Please take time to listen to it!!! It's probably the best advice you will ever get. It's a conference talk by Present Monson of the LDS church during I believe 2009 April conference?

http://broadcast.lds.org/genconf/2008/10/40/GC_2008_10_411_MonsonTS__04903_eng_300k.wmv

Bedtime stories

Every night, before bedtime I have the girl's pick out a book to read. Tonight Lily picked a book called "Son of Man Miracles of Jesus" that their Great Grandma Clinger gave them for Christmas a few years ago. (Grandma passed away one year ago this November.) All of the Grandchildren received a copy of this book the same year. It had been in my bed room, on my book shelf & it hadn't been looked at in a few years. One of the kids took it out & added it to their little library of children's books sometime this week. Lily had the first page opened to a typed letter from Grandma. It was a written testimony of my sweet little Grandma. They wanted me to read it. This is what was written;

"Dear Grand kids,

I'm writing this note to you to let you know how much I love you.

My life has been so wonderful and you have all been a great part of it. You've all made me very happy and proud to be your Grandma.

I want you to know how much I love the Lord and how he has helped me in times of need. I pray for each of you and your families every night. I pray you'll do what He wants you to do, to be good to each other, love one another and know that Heavenly Father loves you. I love him more than you'll ever know. He is my light and the one thing that keeps me going. Have a very Merry Christmas!

Love, Grandma Clinger."

As I read this out loud to the kids, I felt my Grandma's spirit present in the room. The feel ing was so strong. I know she was with us as we were getting ready for bed, as a reminder that she is still there and loves us. She is one of the Guardian Angels that has blessed our home. I am thankful for the example she lead. She had Christ in her countenance.

We read the books & said our bedtime prayers and I laid the kids down for the night, as I'm doing this it hit me that today, September 21st would have been my Grandma's 83rd Birthday! I don't feel like it was a coincidence that Lily picked up that book that their Great Grandma had given them. I think she was reminding us how much she loves us & wants us to remember the Savior in our home. Being the cheesy person I am I told the kids that today would have been Great Grandma's 83rd Birthday & to wish her a Happy Birthday & tell he how much you love her! The kids got a kick out of it! With big smiles on their faces and plenty of enthusiasm they said "Happy Birthday Great Grandma Clinger!! I love you!!" It put a huge smile on my face. I miss that little woman so much. Tonight was a beautiful reminder that I will see her again someday & her spirit is still near.

Happy Birthday sweet Keira!!!

(I feel horrible this has taken a month to get posted!! I've been so busy.)

My little Keira turned 5 yesterday!!! We had a really fun day! Lily & I made her German pancakes and cut up fresh peaches. We got her the "Sleeping Beauty" movie & a book on Christ with beautiful pictures in it. Then we went to the mall looked in shops. The girl's especially loved the Disney shop. She found a cute jewelry box with some princess jewelry that she loved (Lily loved it too haha!) they were in love with all the princess costumes...gosh, who am I kidding I was too! Hahah! We ate some pizza. Then went and got her ears pierced. Hilarious story... Keira has been asking me for months to get her ears pierced & I thought it would be fun to save it for her 5th Birthday. She was excited all day long and totally looking forward to this! Once we got to the store she started to get a little scared about doing it and I knew it was just her nerves. To help her feel more comfortable I had her sit on my lap while they pierced her ears. Two girl's were going to pierced Keira's ears at the same time and they were counting down, 1-2-3 and just before they got to 3, I guess fight or flight kicked in with poor little Keira and machine gun Kelly went off... yes Keira was farting like crazy on my lap!!! It was super loud and the girls piercing her ears and I all looked at each other and died laughing!!! They had to wait for about 5 minutes because we were all laughing so hard!!! Keira was a little embarrassed but seemed relieved...hahah!! SOOO funny!!! They didn't have a large selection of earrings because they were out of so many but Keira chose some sweet white diamond earrings. They look so precious in her cute little ears. We picked up a cake and ice cream for Keira and had a little birthday party for her at our apartment. It wasn't anything big or fancy but she had a lot of fun! Today we are going over to Grandma Leesa's & Grandpa Bill's house to have a Birthday party for her cousins who have Birthday's the same Month as her.

I am so thankful for my sweet little Keira!!! We love her so much!!! She is a very special little girl. She brings so much life, love and joy to our lives!!! It's hard to believe she is 5 already. I remember the day she was born so vividly, seems like it was yesterday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Keira!!!!! I thought I would bump my post from her last Birthday. Lot's of fun pictures of her over the past 4 years...and I'm adding to her 5th year with this post! http://smklsavagefamily.blogspot.com/2008/09/my-baby-girl-is-4-years-old-today.html

"When life gets too hard to stand...Kneel."

In the last year and a half I have experienced life at a different level. There have been many dark and depressing days. Stress & exhaustion have overwhelmed me like I've never known before, from being a Single working Mom & still coping with the after math of a divorce. I have worn my knees out from praying & I still need to fall to them daily. My testimony of prayer has grown ten fold. My faith in our Savior Jesus Christ has grown and I know he hears and answers all my prayers, in his own time. I have been carried in his arms and have had guardian Angels sent to comfort me and carry me through darkness, when I couldn't walk alone. This is the only way I have made it through. At times I felt frustrated wondering why things didn't fall into my lap immediately after praying, only to find out Heavenly Father had something better in mind for me. I feel humbled knowing that the Lord really does hear my prayers. He is listening. I have learned the hard way to trust in the Lord. He will never lead me down the wrong path & if I follow the Spirit my children and I will be provided for & life will ultimately work out. One thing that keeps me going, is the promise I have received that my future is bright, to keep moving forward and rise above my situation. Life is discouraging at times. Being a single working Mom going back to school is very hard! I am taken back to remembering that this is only my current reality. Life will get better as long as I stay on the right path. Another favorite quote of mine is, "Let this make you a better person, not a bitter person." This is a demon that is human nature, and one I fight. I have had to make a conscious choice to view my past experiences in a different light... as a learning experience for my growth. I have a friend who has helped me a lot. She has been a beacon of light, she may not even know it! Her divorce situation, being a single working Mom have been eerily similar to mine. She has taught me more then I think anyone else. She has "risen above" and has made a beautiful life for she and her children! During her hard times she vowed to remain close to the Lord, and he helped pull her through. She has been richly blessed! Seeing her example gives me hope for my future. I wonder if she knows I'm talking about her? :) You are amazing Karli!!! Thank you for your good example. You are literally one of those angels sent forth to help me! I'm so thankful for the power of prayer! I am thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who loves me & is mindful of my unique situation. I am thankful for my personal Savior, Jesus Christ who knows the pain I have felt and for his healing touch in my life. I'm blessed with a wonderful family and friends. I am thankful for honor of raising my two amazing, sweet, precious little girl's...my earth angel's. They have been my rock, my grounding...my love :) Wow...I'm not sure how to wrap this up! Feels like testimony meeting at church! Haha! I'm up way to late doing this, not even sure why exactly I'm writing this...I felt like I needed to verbally express the appreciation I feel right now in my life! Hope you all know you are loved deeply by our Heavenly Father & Savior Jesus Christ!! You are not alone in this world. If your not already doing so, hit your knees more often!

An update...

I thought it was time to give an update on life in general. I don't even know if anyone reads my blog but for my own keeping it's nice to be able to remember these things later down the road.

Sweet little Keira has been sick this weekend. I worry about the fall and winter season coming up and them being in daycare, seeing that it's not even autumn yet and my kids have had several ear infections and now a cold. Last year was a nightmare, in many ways but especially when they got sick. It's difficult being a working Mother. If they are sick I obviously have to stay at home with them and take care of them, the bummer is that not only do they feel miserable (which is bad enough) but I miss work and they miss daycare which I still have to pay for. It's really crappy! If you could please say a prayer for my kids to be healthy this season!! I'm doing all I can do to get their little immune systems to be stronger! It's really frustrating!!

On a happier note both the girls are learning and growing so much! I took them in to their wellness check ups and other then ear infections are growing like weeds! Not that I'm surprised with their Father's tall genes ;) The are both very bright children!! Keira has learned to read very basic books. She's quite the little smarty pants and can write all her letters with great writing skill's. She's a very good artist & every day she draws pictures for me that are really detailed for her age! She has been saying some really funny things, very witty and hilarious!! They are both very creative and have big imaginations!

Lily is doing great too. She is doing really well with her ABC's also and writing very well. She is such a great little helper around the house! Most of the time she is willing to help me out & it's great! Keep it up Lil! She's been going through a stubborn stage. Hoping it passes soon. It can be frustrating! She is really into pretending to read books right now. She will open a book and follow with her finger and try to repeat books we read for bedtime. It's very cute & she does a good job! She is a very sweet child. Very tender hearted (both are but Lily seems like more of a nurturer.) and she is always putting her babies to bed or feeding them. I love my girl's :) I do have a bit of a problem with Lily...how do I get her to stop burping like a man? I'm NOT kidding!! She belches like a man & she can burp on demand! I didn't know kids could do this at such a young age! The other day she burped & I asked her why she burped so much and her reply was, "I yike to burp. It tickles me." then a few minutes later she had the back of my hand to her mouth & was burping on it? I asked her again "What are you doing?" (I was cracking up cause it was so weird and random!) and she said, "I tickles your hand with my burps." Weird weird child!! Hahaha!! They are very entertaining! :D I downloaded on iTunes the Disney Princess songs & they are in heaven! I need to video tape them singing!

I start College on Wednesday!! I'm very excited to be going back to school!! I feel really good about it but I'm nervous. It's been about 7 years sense I've been back and I know it will be an adjustment especially with kids, and that I'm still working part time, but I know somehow I can do it!! I haven't decided what career I will pursue but I have some idea's. I want to look into the career's more before I make a decision. For now I'm working on my generals. I'm taking Math, Health & French.

I'm training for a half marathon with my sister Jessica, coming up in October! I'm really excited for it! I run about 4-5 times a week & last week I ran 6 miles twice in under an hour! I was going to train for a 10K which is 6 miles but decided I didn't set my goal high enough! Hahah! So I'm going for a half marathon, 13.1 miles! I'm looking forward to it!

I have been working on a portrait of Keira & Lily, it's almost done! It's the largest size I've ever done, 20 x 16. Can't wait to finish it! I was really wanting to finish it for an Art show, however I didn't want to rush through it and risk it turning out even the least bit sloppy. I added one of my other pieces to the art show. It's nothing special but I just wanted to add it just to add it. I didn't win, which I knew I wouldn't because of how phenomenal some of the art was! I laughed when I saw where they placed my art...right next to one of the masters art work, like I had any chance hahah!! It was still fun & my Mom, two of my sisters Vanessa & Krissta, Caden (Nessa's husband), Tanya (my cousin) and Keira and Lily were there to support me :D Thanks you guys! It meant a lot to me having you there!!

I was called a few months ago to teach the CTR 5-6 class in my ward. Keira is in my class & it's a ton of fun teaching that age group, but especially having Keira in my class! Cute kids :)

Life has been interesting, you can never really predict what will be thrown at you from one day to the next. My car broke down about a month ago. I guess I had some foreshadowing...the car has had several problems sense I've had it, but I really didn't expect it to kill over like it did. The transmission and breaks were going out (again, just had them fixed in December.) I'm very fortunate that I have such a wonderful boss who let me borrow a spare car that they had for a few weeks other wise I have no idea how I would be getting around. I was able to find a sensible car. Hoping it will last me until school is over with? That's the hope anyhow.

The weather has been beautiful lately. The kids and I have been able to spend a lot of time up the Canyon. We've gone up three times to make S'mores & a few other times to the waterfall. I'm excited for Autumn (my favorite season) but not looking forward to the cold weather & being trapped in doors...blah! We are trying to enjoy our time outside! Because Keira was sick this weekend we didn't get out much BUT I've completely re-organized my apartment! Giving myself a pat on the back for that! It looks awesome and feels incredible! I thought now would be a great time, with school coming up and all. Well...I'm up way too late! I should be in bed! Good night!

The safety rules

I'm driving the kids to daycare the other day and Keira thought I didn't have a seat belt on so the conversation goes like this...

Keira: "Mom you have to put your seat belt on!"

Me: "I do have my seat belt on Keira."

Keira: "Ok Mom you have two choices....you can either fly through the window and be died, or wear your seat belt. What is your choice?"

Me: "Hum...I think I'll wear my seat belt."

Keira: "Good choice!"

Hahaha!! She's a little smarty pants!