Book Review: The Peacegiver

I've mentioned that lately I've been having some hard times and while talking about it with some friends, one recommended that I read "The Peacegiver" by James L. Ferrell. I instantly went to my library website and put it on hold....I'm still on hold for it.
I mentioned this book to my mom, and she said, "Oh, I've got that one....you can read it. It's REALLY good."
I instantly went to find it. (Like I said, I've been having MEAN and hateful feelings....I don't like being a grump, so I've been struggling to let go of my hatred and angry attitude....but like I said, I've "struggled.") I found it and decided to read it as soon as I could.
Once I started, a change began inside of me. I instantly began to see the Atonement of Christ SO differently than I'd ever seen it before.
Let me share a few of the truths that I read in this MARVELOUS book:
The Atonement isn't just for me....Christ atoned for the sins of others. (How could this truth NOT be a "duh" moment?)
The Atonement covers completely any hurt, sin, situation of life that we may or will find ourselves in.
If we are willing to give up our grudges, hurts and pains to Christ, he will fill in the gap and make US whole. He will cover all the hurt and pain with his love and acceptance.
Loving others shouldn't be so hard. If we believe that we are all One in Christ, then we will treat those who hurt us with more care and patience than we naturally want to do.
Christ loves ALL of us completely and wholly.
This is SUCH a wonderful book. I now want this book for my own, so that I can read and re-read it over and over. I know I will fall and fail again, but knowing that the Atonement covers my every trip and fall is an amazing feeling.

Summertime Sickies?

Seems that the summertime sickies are here. (Good thing they came BEFORE school started...) It started last night with Jacob. The poor baby did NOT want to sleep. Since he's been cutting his teeth lately, I thought maybe he was still in pain from getting his eye-teeth (which are out now....so it was a LITTLE suspect, but if he's in pain, what do I know?) So I took the poor boy downstairs (in an attempt to let Cameron and Steve sleep. Poor Steve had to work at 5:00 in the morning, and Cam's just a grump if HE doesn't get sleep....) I tried to give Jake some ibuprofen, but he turned away.

'That was odd,' I thought to myself. He LOVES his ibuprofen. Usually he CRIES when the medicine is gone. Often, he'll grab the bottle and whine for more. But he did NOT want it at all last night.

I finally got him to take some, but he still acted weird. He cuddled with me (okay, so my 'weird-ometer' should have been going crazy with THIS...he NEVER cuddles....except when he's sick.) I sat awake with the boy until 2:30 in the morning, finally falling asleep. When I went to lay him in his crib, he woke up a little, cried, then fell back to sleep.

This morning Cameron came into my room and said, "Jake pooped EVERYWHERE."

'EW!' I thought again, what is going on with that poor baby...

I go in to check on him, and it's not what Cam thought. Instead I discover that Jake has thrown up.

NICE! :P

I clean up both boys and realize in the process that I'm not feeling so hot myself. NICE....whatever icky thing Jake had, I now have.

So Jake and I have spent the day alone (Cam went with my family to a family reunion I was going to go to.....thank you, family...) I'm feeling a BIT better, but Jake is feeling MUCH better. He's already gone into my kitchen several times and found food that he wants to eat.

Do you know how happy chocolate chips make a baby??

So I'm HOPING that the ickies will go away soon. I'm not going to cancel anything else, but I am HOPING that things turn around soon.

Happy Thoughts

I've been going through some rough times lately, and I've been in DESPERATE search of happy, uplifting thoughts. Here are three I've come across that I'm trying to internalize and take to heart...I hope they help someone else!

***

"On my way to visit the Jameses the other evening, I saw a wheat field that appeared to be greener and taller than the others. Thinking about it for a while, I concluded that occasionally some loving farmer drives over the field with his tractor and pumps manure all over it. I thought, 'My, it's just like life. Here we are minding our own business, growing our little hearts out. We're really quite green, somewhat productive and very sincere. When out of the blue, life deals us a dirty one, and we're up to our eyebrows in manure. We, of course, conclude that life as we have known it has just ended and will never be the same again. But one day, when the smell and the shock are gone, we find ourselves greener and more productive than we have been.'

"Unfortunately, no matter how often we go through these growing experiences, we are never able to appreciate the sound of the tractor or the smell of the manure."

--Harold W. Wood

***

"On those days when we're not ready to stop being offended, not ready to forgive, still determined to dish out the silent treatment, what we're actually saying is, 'Thanks, but I don't want to become more like the Savior today. Maybe tomorrow, but not today."

--Sheri Dew

***

"Life often feels like a great pile of obligations, frustrations, and disappointments. But the Lord is there, always the same, His arms still outstretched. When we feel overwhelmed, we have to remember the peace He has spoken to us on previous occasions. His peace brings comfort and strength; the world cannot give that to us."

--Kathleen H. Hughes

Splash Park and Pond Fun

We've had some fun times lately. I've had the pictures for a while, but I've been pretty lazy about posting.

Last Thursday we went to a local splash park. SO MUCH FUN!! Cam loved it, once he warmed up to it. Jake, however, did NOT like it. He loves baths, but he does NOT like cold water in his clothes. After the splash park we rode the carousel. Both boys loved it!

Today we went to a pond with some friends. Again, it was fun.

Scentsy Lovers

These scents will be discontinued as of August 31st. Contact your favorite Scentsy consultant and order while you can. (Everything is on sale this month too....) (SOTM=Scent of the Month)

Blueberry Cheesecake (BBC)
Cashmere (CAS)
Eucalyptus (EUC)
Exotic Vanilla (EXV)
Falling Leaves (FAL)
Fresh Cut Cantaloupe (FCC)
Grapefruit Blossom (GFB)
Grapefruit Pomegranate (GFP)
Havana Cabana (HVC)
Hearth & Home (SOTM) (HNH)
Herb Garden (HBG)
Irish Cream (IRC)
Juicy Peach (JCP)
Leather (Bars and Bricks) (LEA)
Lemon Lavender (LMV)
Lots of Lavender (LOL)
Luxe Vanilla (LUX)
Meadow Pear (MDP)
Mediterranean Spa (MTS)
Mulberry Bush (MBB)
Mysterious (MYS)
Nutmeg & Orange Zest (NOZ)
Pomegranate Orange (PGO)
Red Delicious (RED)
Sandalwood & Cranberries (SWC)
Sangria (SNG)
Sheer Saffron (SOTM) (SHE)
Silk (SLK)
Spiced Orange Harvest (SOH)
Spruceberry (SPR)
Strawberry Sweetie (SBS)
Sweet Indulgence (SWI)
Sugar (SGR)
Sweet Tea Magnolia (SWT)
Tarocco Mint (SOTM) (TRM)
Tea Blossom (TEA)
Toasted Apple Butter (TAB)
Tuscan Garden (TUS)
Verbena Berry (VBY)
Wasabi Ginger (WSG)
Watermelon Patch (WMP)

Warmers
Bombay (DSW-BBAY)
Brownstone (DSW-BSTN)
Dandy – Black (PSW-DBLK)
Dandy – Brown (PSW-DBRN)
Dandy – White (PSW-DWTE)
Dragonfly (DSW-DFLY)
Jakarta (DSW-JAKA)
Luminous (DSW-LUMI)
Patina (DSW-PATI)
Pressed Penny (DSW-PPEN)
Punched Tin (DSW-PTIN)
Raised Dot Black (DSW-DOTB)
Raised Dot Mocha (DSW-DOTM)
Raised Dot Turquoise (DSW-DOTT)
Retro Chic (DSW-RETR)
Scentsy Classic Chocolate (DSW-SCHO)
Shabby Chic (DSW-SHCH)
Weave – Black (PSW-WBLK)
Weave – Brown (PSW-WBRN)
Weave – White (PSW-WWTE)

My Motivation Seems To Have Left

Any motivation I may have had for cleaning my house....gone.

For doing outside activities.....gone.

For blogging.....gone.

I apologize, but I think the heat of summer has zapped my energy. I am constantly tired, falling asleep while sitting up. I'm too hot to do much of anything besides seek out the cool air.

Quick updates:

Steve is still working hard. I rarely see him sometimes because he's helping cover other people's shifts, or he's working toward a full weekend off. He's such a good guy! :)

Cameron has gotten quite ornery. He has learned that he can sleep past 7:00 in the morning, and since he has to be to the Learning Center at 9:00, he is having a hard time getting there on time. (Even though it's JUST around the corner from here....) He's also just been a pill. He doesn't want to do much and I'm not forcing him if he doesn't want to. Bad mommy-skills, I guess.

Jake is walking EVERYWHERE and getting into EVERYTHING. His favorite things to play with are probably the most dangerous things he could get. He loves ropes or strings. He likes to wrap them around the back of his neck (so he looks like he's wearing a tie). I'm thinking we need to find the boy a backpack or some sort of necklace to keep him from strangling himself. He also likes to play with the long and hard. Bats, brooms, mops, long-ish toys.... Then he pushes them around. If he had his choice, the broom is his ABSOLUTE favorite. Who knows why? Maybe once we figure THIS mystery out, we'll learn where my motivation went.

Computer Friends

So I've mentioned before that I have friends that live IN my computer. But this last weekend they came out of it for a GWO (Girls Weekend Out).

This GWO was in Provo, so it wasn't too far for me to travel to, so I came out of my computer too. ;)

It was filled with lots of laughs (LOTS of laughs), late nights, frustrations (when you get 50 women together there are BOUND to be SOME issues), but lots and lots of fun.

The first night we were laughing SO hard (and some of us were getting goosed). We started a lot of weird inside-jokes. I was SO glad to get Jake down for bed that night (he came with me because he's still nursing...) I stayed awake until 2 am.

The next day was filled with hanging out at the host-house laughing, telling stories, and just having fun. That night I DID have a bit of an encounter (not going to go into details, because I've gotten over it, thanks to those same online friends...) and stayed up talking until 4:30 am. That night Jake also was having problems. He did NOT want to sleep, and cried and cried as much as he could. I was frustrated and on my final straw. SERIOUSLY, it was NOT fun. He ended up sleeping in my bed with me (which I usually don't do, but the kid was teething and getting his eye teeth) and I popped a button off of my nightgown because I had some good pressure with my boob. (LOL)

The last day was busy, but lots of fun.

Lessons I learned this time that I will apply at the NEXT GWO:

• DO NOT take a baby to a function that is meant to be relaxing. You won't be very relaxed.
• Take more pictures. You will find yourself on the last day taking random pictures and not getting pictures of everyone you wanted.
• Don't take things too seriously. Everyone is just as stressed as you are and you KNOW that you still love them in spite of their frustrations.

All in all, a fun time. LOVE my online friends (MOFs) and I'm SO glad I got to see them!

Camping Highlights

• We left "early Friday morning," because both my dad and husband were working late Thursday night. Steve and I ended up doing a BUNCH of errands before we left. (Turning in rent, buying earthworms for fishing, getting Cam's meds refilled....we left around noon.)
• Met up at the campground with my aunts and eventually was joined by a couple of my uncles. TOTAL family get-together!!
• The first day was GORGEOUS!! It was comfortable enough that I could nap INSIDE my tent. After my nap, I noticed my inflatable mattress (which is 2 tiered, so is pretty high off the ground) was going flat. There was a leak somewhere that we couldn't find.
• That night we slowly sank to the ground on the mattress. By morning, we found rocks that our hips were laying on. NOT fun. All night long I dreamed of buying a new mattress.
• Saturday I took a trip, nearly ALL the way home, to buy a new mattress. I was NOT going to spend another night ON rocks.
• Watched Cam ride his bike over and over. He had a BALL, but by the end of the trip was covered in dust and dirt.
• Watched Jake eat rocks and other yucky things on the ground. A little dirt never hurt anyone, right?
• That night had a HUGE family dinner that was SO yummy (our family's traditional Dutch oven fried chicken, and stewed potatoes). In the middle of the meal got a surprise phone call (yeah, we still had cell service where we were camped!) from one of my online friends.
• Her innocent question sparked a friendly family fight. It wouldn't be a family camp out without one of those!
• Family fight was ended by my brother looking up the information on his iPhone. YAY for Internet intervention! :)
• Slept MUCH better that night on the new mattress....just had Jake waking up constantly.
• Jake was teething most of the time...he's STILL teething....
• Packed up quickly Sunday morning to come home before check-out time. (Noon is a LITTLE early in my opinion, but what do I know?!)
• Had fun! A few mosquito bites (but really, the bugs weren't TOO bad), we're all a little pink in the face, the tub was disgustingly dirty after our baths, house is a bit of a disaster area since we came home and dropped everything....but we had a GREAT weekend!!

Funny Moments

Just a few to share with you.....
Sunday I had to take Jake to the mothers' lounge to change his stinky bottom. I figured while I was in there by myself I'd nurse my chunky baby. While I'm nursing I hear the bathroom door open. (Our mothers' lounge is inside the bathroom, on your way TO the toilets...)
Then I hear someone struggling to open the door. I figure it was a mother with her arms FULL of baby/baby stuff....nope.
It was a cute little girl about 4 years old.
She STARES at me, and asks, "Whatcha doin'?"
Thankfully, I was covered somewhat with my shirt and Jake's head, but I told her I was feeding my baby, then I asked her if she needed to go to the bathroom. She just stared for a while longer and asked, "What's your baby's name?"
I told her his name was Jacob, and she got a BIG grin and said, "That's my DAD'S name!!"
The whole time, I'm nursing my little piggy.....and he's not pulled off, like he normally would have if he'd heard someone talking. Thank goodness....
Anyway, she just stood there and stared some more....finally I said, "Um, you should probably go to the bathroom now...." THEN she left.
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Since Sunday was the day after the 4th of July, we were singing the patriotic-ish songs. We were singing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" for the opening hymn....Jake was standing ON the bench, bouncing up and down and shaking his head back and forth.
He was ROCKING out to a church song. Everyone around us was laughing.
********************************************************************
The other day while chatting with my aunts and uncles at my mom's house my uncle Kent gets a ringtone forwarded from his daughter.
With sirens blaring in the background it says, "Warning! Warning!! The owner of this phone hast just farted! Please, evacuate the area immediately...." We all laughed over that and I said, "Ooh, send that to Steve...he'd LOVE it!!"
A few minutes later Steve comes over to me (I had NO idea where he'd been....) and says, "You need to hear the text I just got." I laughed and told him I had uncle Kent send it to him.
He laughs and says he just texted 3 people trying to figure out who sent it. He was IN the bathroom when he got it.

Family Time

This last weekend we've seen quite a few family members we don't normally see. It's been SO much fun to hang out and talk with them.

Last night was a final hurrah with some of my family members that came for a visit. My Uncle Scott and Aunt Jana are heading back to Minnesota tonight. (I'm really glad my Uncle Kent and Aunt Tanya are staying for a few more days before heading back to Arizona.) It was so much fun. My cousins have just GROWN up so much!! I love how they were very concerned about my kids and kept them happy and entertained while I was off talking with my aunts and uncles.

Today we had another fun family visit....Steve's Uncle David and Aunt Marilyn came for a visit. They came QUITE a way to see the family though....they live in England. I loved just listening to Aunt Marilyn's accent. :) And I loved noticing how Uncle David is SO much like his sisters (well, the two I've met...) The only bummer was the fact that we only had an hour with them. Someday we hope to visit them at THEIR home!

All in all, it's been a wonderful and FULL weekend! :)

Snapshots of a Fourth Of July Holiday

Yes, we went to a parade, had a picnic, and watched fireworks. It was fun...and only had a sippy-cup stolen. (Yeah, I think some thirsty toddler took it...no biggie....)

Jake with Grandpa at the parade.

Family, you can't choose them, but you've GOT to love them! ;)

Cameron watching the cool cars with Grandpa.

Jake was just facinated by everything in the parade.

Waiting for the firework show to begin....no rain, but umbrellas are good for impromtu shade.

Cameron was playing shy....so you get a nice profile of his hat. :P

Jake thought it was FUN to sit on the big chairs like a big person.

Jake with Jonathan. Cute little cousins.

Jake fell asleep during the fireworks, but enjoyed the few he DID get to see. What a great holiday!

Happy Independence Day!!

I have been, and will be spending LOTS of time with family and friends. I hope you enjoy your holiday as much as I plan to! :)

Happy Independence day! We are SO blessed to live in this land. SO blessed.

Today I am looking forward to feeling that surge of pride that I get every year when I hear and see people displaying their love for the United States. I am excited to hear my favorite patriotic songs that just get me feeling all patriotic and bring a tear to my eyes.

LOVE this holiday!! <3