Through a childs eyes part 2

I titled this as one of my previous posts but it fit right along with it. This was a lesson to me once again that kids are so sweet and innocent they usually just see the good around us. Here is the story: We were driving in the car the other day and we were in a less affluent part of town. As we were driving I was looking at the houses with windows boarded up and lawns overgrown and I thought, how sad that people are in these situations. Well, just as I was thinking that Brielle pointed out a particular house that was really run down and said, "Mom! Look how lucky they are! They have a pool and a slip and slide! I wish I lived there." Okay, Wow! I was just thinking the opposite, but she saw the good in something really bad. This was a lesson to me that we shouldn't always focus on what is wrong with something, or how bad it is. We should be trying to find the good. I think my life would get a whole lot simpler if I started to think like her.

A prayer of comfort

A terrible shooting took place at a church in Knoxville on Sunday. We can all help out by saying a prayer for the victims, their families, and the patrons.

Who needs a binky?

I don't know how many of you know this, but Parker was born with webbed fingers. His ring finger and middle finger on his left hand are partially webbed together. When he is a little older we will have them cut apart, but for now it is his trademark. That is what makes this picture so great. He has started sucking on those two fingers instead of his Binky, and it is great for him because it is like one big finger! I think it is too cute, and the best part about it is that when Doug was a baby he sucked the exact same fingers all the time. I guess you could say like father like son. It is also nice for me because when the Binky falls out of his mouth, he now knows how to pacify himself!

Fruits of our Labors!

Doug went out the other night and this is what he picked out of our garden. It is amazing that you plant a tiny seed and within a few weeks you have grown your own vegetables! Aren't the colors so beautiful? Having a garden is so much fun!

Song Writing

Brielle loves to sing and dance. Pretty much half of her conversation she does throughout the day is in song. It is like living in a movie! Any way the other day she was singing and making up words to the tune of " I am a child of God." I had to write the words down because I thought it was so cute! She really is our own little entertainer. Here are the words, you can sing the tune in your head.

"When you love your mom and dad, if you have a bad dream,
just call them and then they will help you go back to sleep.

When you love your family you run to your dad. He will help you when you are sick.
You know your family is good and nice to you, if they want to play.
Play with them because it is more special. I love my family because they are nice and sweet. I love to go outside with my family and watch the stars go by."

Maybe I should get a copyright on this! What do you think?

Memories!

My dear friend Ashley started this game and I love it. Here are the rules:


1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Happy Memories to You!

Our new project!

I wanted to post a picture of our new project. We decided the house needed a splash of color, so Saturday we stayed up til 12:30 painting our wall Brick Dust Red. We love it! Who can't use a little color in their life?

The Shadow

Our little Benson has become a shadow. By this I mean that he follows us everywhere and wants to do what we are doing. The picture explains it well. He is walking around the house wearing my sandals, and he thinks he is so cool. He is a big kid in a little kids body. The best example of this happened the other morning while Doug was getting ready for work. Bens loves to follow Doug around and just watch what he is doing. Well, Doug went and got in the shower and Benson followed him into the bathroom and next thing he knew Benson was standing in the shower fully clothed, just smiling. They got out of the shower and Doug was getting dressed and Benson was pretending to get dressed too. He did the same pretending while Doug was putting on deodorant, shoes, socks, everything. Benson would watch so intently and try to do it just like Doug. It was so cute. He loves his daddy so much and I can't think of a better role model for him. He loves to wake up in the morning and spend his one on one time with daddy, and I think Doug likes more than he does!

A Hidden Treasure

When we first moved into our home back in March our yard was lacking in beauty. Not that it is a home show yard now, but it looks much better thanks to Doug. One thing that really bothered us in the yard were all these trees that looked like they were dead, and they were just plain ugly. We have talked about so many time just pulling them out and replacing them with something else, but we are so glad we didn't. They are what I call our hidden treasure. Just over the past few weeks these beautiful trees called Crape Myrtles have started blooming and I love them! Who would have guessed? They are just late bloomers. It taught me a great lesson that sometimes you have to be patient to see real beauty!

The Miracle of Cabbage

About a week ago I had to stop nursing because we discovered that Parker has a milk allergy and could not tolerate breast milk. So we had to put him on what I call my liquid gold, Nutramigen. It is a hypo-allergenic formula that is not milk base, and costs a whoppin 25.00-27.00 at your local grocery store. But that is besides the point. For all of you mothers out there whether nursing or not, I am sure you have felt the pain of engorgement. Well, needless to say since I have stopped nursing cold turkey I have been in some major pain. On Sunday I discovered that I had all the symptoms of Mastitis. It is soo painful. My friend Nadelie told me to try cabbage leaves to help with the pain. Then I called the Dr. to get on some antibiotics and they told me "off the medical record" to try cabbage leaves too. What?? I was sure that was not going to work, but I was desperate. On Monday night I hauled all three of my kids to the store just to buy a head of cabbage. (Crazy huh?) I came home and put some leaves on and waited. At first I didn't notice much of a difference, but after sleeping with cabbage leaves on me all night I woke up a new woman!! Why have I never heard of this before?? It really works. My symptoms are gone! I read online that cabbage has amino acids in it that help with inflammation, and it is soo true. I was thrilled and just wanted to share the miracle of a cabbage
with you!

Happy fourth of July!!

So our family had one of the best weekends ever! What did we do you ask? Basically nothing, except that we were together the whole time. It was wonderful. Doug had the fourth off work, so he came home on Thursday night and he was mine all weekend! (Except for Sunday, because when you are the Bishop you never get Sundays off :) Anyway, this weekend really made me realize how much I love my little family. We played in the backyard, took the kids to TGI Fridays for lunch,(which they loved because they never get to go to what Brielle calls REAL restaurants) and just had fun being together. On Friday we cooked hamburgers and corn on the grill and went with a couple from our ward to see the fireworks. They started an hour later than they were supposed to so the kids were really tired, but they enjoyed it anyway. Then on Saturday we went shopping at Sams Club. Who doesn't love Sams on Saturdays when they have tons of samples? Then we came home took naps and then took a trip to Target where Doug bought me a beautiful dress! Can you believe it? I haven't had new clothes forever. Then Doug made us Supreme Nachos and smoothies for dinner, and after the kids went to bed we watched the Spiderwick Chronicles. That was pretty much it, but I loved every minute of it. I love having Doug home. There is probably not much more I would have liked to do to celebrate our freedom than to be with my family. Thanks sweetie for a great weekend!

Two months old!

My mom called the other day and said she needed an updated picture of Parker! I loved this one, I really think I could look at him all day! He is so smiley, and he jabbers all the time. I can't believe that he is already two months old. They get big so fast.

Nashville

Last weekend we went out to Nashville to visit our sweet friends Ben and Kendra. She has lived there for almost a year and it is the first time we have got together, pretty pathetic huh? We had such a great time though. They took us to downtown Franklin, which is so cute, and we ate at a little Mercantile Deli. Then we drove around and saw some Civil War sites. We ended the trip with a look at Alan Jackson's home, Pictured above. It was incredible. I don't think I have ever seen a home this big before. Thanks again Rabe's, we had a blast!

Girls Camp

Doug and I recently went to our Churches Girls Camp. All the Bishops and their wives were invited to come up one night so the girls could make us dinner. It was so sweet and our three cute young women and their great leaders made us hickory chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls and brownies! It was so fun. After dinner we got to stay and watch their skits. Each skit was based on the themes in the For the Strength of youth pamphlet and the girls in our ward were so funny! All the bishops were also invited that night to participate in a skit. Each Bishop was given a few lines to sing in whatever genre he chose. They were all really funny. One guy did Elvis, another guy had a guitar and did the blues, but I have to say Doug's was the best! He did a white boy rap version of his lines and it was so funny! Everyone was laughing so hard. He has such a great sense of humor. It is one of the things that attracted me to him when I first met him. Here is a picture, but I guess it is one of those things where you really had to be there to get the full effect.

Super Cute!

I had to put a link to a friend of mine. She is probably one of the most creative people I have ever met in my life. Her blog is full or her amazing creations. Her most recent ones are these bags and I wanted to share them because they are so adorable! Way to go Cally!