Day 454: Partay Day

Today was one long craaaaazy day.

We started things off with Sweet P and HH running another 1-mile race.  She ran the whole way and they did it in a little over 10 minutes!  I was so proud!  Joyful Moment, for sure.

How cute are they?

Then chaos broke out as we carted Sweet P around to a few other obligations and frantically tried to prepare our house for a rockin' party.

We had over 50 friends in our home to celebrate Baby B's first birthday, along with that of another friend's little boy.  So fun!  And chock full of fabulous Joyful Moments.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again, we are so blessed to have so many wonderful wonderful friends out here in the North Pole!  Thank you to everyone who came and helped and made the day so wonderful!

And, alright, receiving ample compliments on the 66 cupcakes I baked and decorated was a Joyful Moment as well!  I made a big ol' cake, too, but since it has both birthday boys' names displayed in large letters across, I'm going to save that photo for myself.

Wishing you all Joyful Moments with pretty frosting on top!

Day 453: Changing Table Fun

I bet you never imagined that title would come.

But for some reason, Baby B is always more giggly when he's not fully clothed.  He is at that super squirmy stage, but if I get him dressed on his changing table it's not quite as maddening a process.

While I was putting his pajamas on this evening I started tickling him and he was giggling up a storm!  It was delightful.  My favorite is to tickle under his chin because he scrunches up his shoulders and his whole upper body and it's just really adorable.  It made me laugh which, in turn, made him giggle even more enthusiastically.  He was so cute and smiley and it was my Joyful Moment.

Wishing you all Joyful Moments far far away from stinky diapers!

Day 452: I Should Have Taken A Picture

I think that a lot when I get down here to post.  I know that pictures make a post infinitely more interesting. I'll try to be better.

Tonight there's nothing to be done about it, though.  The object of my desired photo is sleeping peacefully in her bed.

Today she was honored by being awarded "The Student of The Month Award".  I am so proud of her.  Only two other students in her class have received this same award.  She got a nice certificate and a t-shirt, accompanied by a sweet note from her teacher detailing the specifics of why Sweet P was chosen for this award.  For being responsible, for helping, for being a friend, and more.

She was so so so excited and proud to show me.  And it was seriously an awesome Joyful Moment to see her excitement and joy.  She had a rough day yesterday and didn't sleep well last night, so it made me all the more grateful for her to experience this today.

I love my baby girl.

Wishing you all Joyful Moments in being recognized for how awesome you are, at least once in a while!

Day 451: My Awesome Friends

My awesome friends are all very crafty and creative.  They make beautiful things.  Usually, I just admire them and, okay, maybe covet a bit.  But every now and then they make something that seems simple enough for me to give it a try.  With a ton of help from them, of course.

So, tonight I invited everyone over for a craft night at my house.  In reality, I just needed to have them all here to help me do my projects, but shhh!, don't tell them that!

While I did find great joy in the creating process, I'm not finished with the projects I started, so I don't think I can truly claim them as my Joyful Moment yet.  And since they are all three gifts (two for Mother's Day,  one for a friend's new baby girl), I won't be posting pictures of them here.  Sorry!  But they're turning out super cute and I'm very excited about them.

So, I'm going to have to go with hanging out with my friends, again, for my Joyful Moment.  And for having friends who are truly like sisters to me.  Sisters that I love.  I thoroughly enjoyed visiting with them, getting their various opinions and help, and having them compliment my cookies and bread.  One even stayed until almost midnight to help me with the baby gift.  How lucky am I?

I love my girl friends.

Wishing you all Joyful Moments with wonderfully fabulous friends!

Day 450: It's Nice to Be Important

But it's more important to be nice.

That saying hung on the wall in our home when I was growing up.  It's true, too.

Tonight we fed the missionaries.  That's always a Joyful Moment.  HH requested that I make one of his favorite meals--Beef and Mushroom Stew.  Since we were adding two hungry young men, I doubled the recipe.  This always alters a meal, in my opinion.  Ever so slightly.

As he was reaching for a second helping, one of the missionaries said, "This meal makes me feel like an important person.  It's just so nice."

It made me laugh a bit, but it was said so sincerely, it was quite sweet.  And it really warmed my heart.  And just as it was beginning to be a Joyful Moment, HH broke in with, "It's not as good as it usually is, though."

He meant well with this.  He really did.  And he apologized as soon as he thought about what he'd just said.  And again after they'd left.  But it was kind of funny, so I just had to share it here.

Wishing you all Joyful Moments that are just as good as they usually are!

Day 449: Rain, Rain Go Away

So, I know rain is needed round these parts and all, but I could really go for at least a three day stretch without any.  The main reason being that my little seedling starts are really outgrowing their tiny container homes and need to get planted in the garden, but the garden needs one more tilling with added fertilizer and whatnot before that can happen, and we can't do that unless the dirt is relatively dry!  Ack!

Today has been seriously rainy.  And cold.

Usually, when Sweet P gets off the bus in the afternoons, I just stand in the driveway and let her run to me.  It's not far and I'm often in the middle of something in the kitchen and need to get back to it quickly.  But given the downpour this afternoon, Little M, Z, and I (thankfully, Baby B was sleeping) pulled out the umbrella and walked down to the corner so we could protect her from the rain as soon as she got off the bus.

We have one of those very large, over-sized umbrellas, so it was big enough to cover all of us.  But the the kids and the dog lacked the coordination to keep all of us under the umbrella and walking forward.  We must have made a ridiculous site.  The three of them kept shuffling from side to side in front of me, with the individual directly in front of me invariably stopping in their tracks and tripping me up as I tried to balance our large umbrella against the wind.

Oddly enough, this was my Joyful Moment.  Some days this sort of thing would drive me nuts.  But today, I was able to have the clarity to appreciate the experience for what it was--a precious, laughable moment with my darling babies.

Wishing you all Joyful Moments dancing in the rain (hopefully, with a little more coordination than we possessed!)

Day 448: Happy Easter!

Today was, of course, full of Joyful Moments.

But one of my favorites was teaching the kids about the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ this morning through a little Easter baking activity we do.  They seem to "get it" a little more each year.  It was a really great experience sharing my testimony with them of my faith and gratitude in my Savior.

I know that He lives!  And that because of His atoning sacrifice, I can be an eternal family with my beautiful children and wonderful HH forever and ever.

And I really couldn't ask for a greater Joyful Moment.  Aren't they sweet?

Wishing you all Joyful Moments of the utmost sweetness!

Day 447: Gone Fishin'

After all the festivities were over last night, HH left for a little overnight fishing trip with some buddies.  I was happy for him to have some "man time", but missed him, of course.

And then this morning was one of those in which everything kind of goes wrong.  But I gave myself a little pep talk and was determined to still be cheerful and able to laugh it off when HH arrived home in the afternoon.

When the kids and I got home from the gym shortly before noon, we were all too distracted to notice HH's car in the garage.  It wasn't until I walked in and saw his phone and wallet setting on the counter that I realized it and what it all meant.

And that was my Joyful Moment.  Having my HH home several hours earlier than expected was a wonderful surprise.  And it probably helped me to remain positive in light of the day's events.  And then the rest of the day went better, as it always does when we're together.

I love my HH.

Wishing you all Joyful Moments of unexpected early arrivals!

Day 446: Earth Day, Baby

That's what I have.  An Earth Day baby.  A baby who thinks he can just grow up.  It's sad.  But really it's not.  But a little bit it is.

Baby B turned a year old today.  And the day was full of Joyful Moments.  Seeing him smile over the various little things I did to make the day extra special for him.  Making this cake for him.

(The hand was not quite so freakishly pink in real life).  He is a thumb sucker through and through, so that is what he got for his cake.  I was kind of really proud of the rest of it, too.  This was my first time covering an entire cake in fondant.  It's not perfectly smooth as I rolled it a bit too thin, but I'm still pleased with the results.

Back to the Joyful Moments:

HH arriving home from work early in honor of his birthday.  Laughing at the monkeys at the zoo with him.  Snuggling him.  Having him devour three pieces of French Toast (I always make the kids' favorite meal for their birthday.  But for the first one I have to guess.  It looks like I guessed correctly!).  Watching him make a mess of his piece of cake.  The multitude of gifts and cards Sweet P made for him.  Snuggling him after his bath.

And as a final, bittersweet Joyful Moment--reminiscing while looking at a bunch of these:

Okay, now my heart is breaking just a little bit.  I need a newborn to hold!  With a fuzzy head to rub!

Wishing you all Joyful Moments that are so perfect, your heart breaks, just a little bit in the remembering of them!

Day 445: Cake Bakery

Did I tell you about the odd taste shift I experienced a month or so ago?  I lost my adoration for brownies completely and now find myself craving cake.  All the time.  I've never really been a cake fan.  This is weird.

But I've been anticipating excuses to bake cakes ever since.  A sad excuse is coming up tomorrow.  I'll tell you what it is tomorrow.  But I've been really excited about the cake.  So I searched and researched and found a recipe that looked good and made a cake from scratch.  This is not the first time I've done this, but this is the most technical I've ever been about it and I'm really excited to taste the results!  The batter had the most amazing consistency!  It was perfectly elegant.  As elegant as cake batter can be, at any rate.

And it was my Joyful Moment.

Wishing you all Joyful Moments elegant in their consistency!

Day 444: Marshmallow Fondant

Fun stuff.

Tonight I made my first solo batch of the stuff.  Although, I can't really claim complete solo-ness, I suppose.  My Visiting Teachers were here giving me moral support and advice.

And tearing off pieces of plastic wrap to wrap the fondant in as I finished the various colors.

Kneading the marshmallow fondant was today's Joyful Moment.  What an incredibly fun experience!  It has the most fabulous texture and consistency!  It was just fun fun fun.

Wishing you all Joyful Moments with fabulous texture and consistency!

Day 443: Cruisin'

So, last night I declared HH and I unfit for adulthood.  Ever since we met, we've been saying that we need to go to bed earlier.  We are tired ALL.  THE.  TIME.  But 9 PM rolls around and we want to watch a show, or we get super chatty, or HH has to show me the latest game app on his phone, or....

So, I told him we needed parents to tell us when it's time for bed.  He just laughed.

I kept thinking about it today, though.  And I thought about how we help our kids with the things they struggle with the most.  We provide added incentive.  *Definitely not bribery!*  And then my genius plan popped out.

HH has been wanting to take me on a cruise for almost as long as we been keeping each other up late.  But I have a hard time justifying the cost and the timing is usually all wrong (difficult when I've been pregnant or breastfeeding for so much of our marriage!).  So, today I told him that we will pick a cruise, determine the cost, and then begin a rewards system.  We'll determine the reward amount and the appropriate bedtime.  Every night that we are in bed by the set time (lights out, no talking!), we'll deposit the set amount into an account and once we reach our total, we'll go on our cruise!  And hopefully, by then, going to bed at a reasonable time will be a habit and we'll live healthier, happier lives.  You really can't put a price on that, so I can totally justify the cruise cost based on that logic.

Some might argue that it really doesn't make any sense, but it does to me.  And sharing my genius plan with HH was my Joyful Moment.  And, of course, he's totally on board (pun intended!).

Wishing you all Joyful Moments that involve a plethora of exclamation points inside parentheses (like this!)!

Day 442: If I Could Sing This Post

You know how in a musical they break into song when things are really fantastically fabulous?  Well, that's what this post truly deserves.

I ran today!!!!  Not 26.2 miles like my friend who totally rocked the Boston Marathon this morning.  More like a tiny 1/2 mile.  But after not running since early February that is HUGE!!!!!!!  I'm so deliriously happy and giddy over it.  I ran completely barefoot, so I could pay strict attention to where my foot was hitting the ground.  I'm going to adapt to my Five Fingers the right way finally.  And then I'm going to be happy and blissful the rest of my running life!

The most important part of all of that is easing into it.  That's a challenge for me.  But I am going to do it!  I want to have more days like today and fewer (or no) days like when I tried to run three weeks ago and couldn't even do 2 tenths of a mile.  So, I'm going to take it slow.

Hooray for barefoot running!

Wishing you all Joyful Moments that inspire spontaneous musical outbursts!

Day 441: Passing Time

Sometimes that makes me Joyful; sometimes it just makes me want to cry.

But either way, it just keeps happening.

Today's Joyful Moment was calling my parents to wish them a happy 36th Anniversary!  I have awesome parents and I am so grateful for the love and bond that they've worked hard to perpetuate these past 36 (more if you count their engagement) years.  I appreciate the example they've set for me and HH.

I love my parents.

Wishing you all Joyful Moments that last for eternity!

Day 440: Weeds and Chocolate Milk

Today was just an all around good day.

Although, it had a rotten start.  We had a really cranky mama here in the morning.  But HH helped me be better, as he is so good at.  And then the rest of the day went well.  We got in a lot of fun, family time, relaxation, and work.  It was perfect, really.

And had two Joyful Moments.  One was when I finished weeding the rocks in the back.  I've been working on it for a couple weeks now and it looks sooooooo much better!  You can tell where our lawn ends and where our rock bed begins!  Woohoo!  Definitely a proud Joyful Moment.

The second is one I'm not at all proud of.  Baby B's dietary preferences have been stressful for at least 6 months now.  I'm constantly paranoid that he is not getting enough to drink.  I know I posted a while back that he was finally taking a sippy cup.  It turned out that I was jumping the gun a bit.  He will sip from a sippy cup, but he won't really take enough liquid to count for anything.  And he'll only nurse twice a day.  And my milk supply is dying.  And I really don't want to re-build it at this point.  I need to wean him and be healthy again.

So, it's all very stressful to me.  Today I finally caved and made him some chocolate milk.  Wouldn't you know?  He chugged his sippy in great haste.

That wasn't my Joyful Moment.

My Joyful Moment was when he started playing with me tonight after dinner.  And giggling.  He's been increasingly crabby and cranky over the past month or so.  But my former, sweet baby was back tonight.  I'm thinking it could be a connection of finally not being at all dehydrated.  I don't know.  Maybe it was a fluke.  I'm hoping not.  Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed this Joyful Moment and I'm optimistic that I can have my sweet little guy back after all!  I cannot express what joy that fills my whole being with!!!!!

Wishing you all Joyful Moments that fill you from your head to your tippy toes!

Day 439: Two Thumbs Up!

I have been fretting over Baby B's birthday cake for weeks now.  I always do a cake of whatever they are really into at the time.  For Sweet P's first birthday it was the Baby Einstein caterpillar.  For Little M it was a cake of Sweet P's face--he has always adored her!  But for Baby B I really couldn't think of what to do besides one very inappropriate idea.  I am his favorite thing and Sweet P suggested another face cake, but I just didn't really feel like doing that.

So, I've been all over the internet and I borrowed 4 or 5 books from the library, but nothing felt right!  I know, way too much effort and thought over a cake that the recipient won't remember and the rest of us will just gobble up anyway.  But for whatever reason, it's a big deal to me.

Today's Joyful Moment came when I was sharing my woes with some friends and one suggested a "Thumb Cake".  And I just knew that that was it.  You know when everything just clicks and feels totally right?  That's what I'd been waiting for, and now I had it.  I still can't believe I never thought of that since his thumb is always in his mouth, but I am so glad my friend did!  Now, I have to figure out how to make it without making a cake that's too freaky to eat!

Wishing you all Joyful Moments that deserve two thumbs up!

Day 438: More Mama

That's what my friend's son calls me.  He used to call me "Baby Mama" because he calls Baby B "Baby" and I'm the Mama.  But now he calls me "More Mama" because I'm not his mama, but I am another mama.  He is one of the most precious and adorable children.  And SO sweet.

One of his older brothers is one of Little M's best buddies.  The two of them came over today while my friend went to an appointment with her oldest son.

Having them over today was my Joyful Moment.  The youngest loves Z, but is also positively terrified of her.  He gets so excited when he sees her, but then clings to me when she turns her attention to him.  I kept her upstairs, so he could play with the older two boys in the toy room.  But then he gathered the courage to come upstairs and join me.  He helped me make the sauce for the pizza we'd be eating that night.  So cute!

Wishing you all Joyful Moments full of more of whatever you love in your life!

Day 437: Music To My Ears

At violin lessons on Monday we finally discovered the cause of Sweet P's recent regression in posture--she's outgrown her violin.  Initially, I was not pleased about this.  I'm not happy to hear that she's still growing and we just bought her current violin back in December (she's been using it since she began lessons, we just rented up until then).

But today we met her instructor at the violin shop to shop for a new instrument.  We didn't have her with us the last time.  This time, she had Sweet P try a couple of instruments and then they chose the better sounding of the two.  It sounds better than her current instrument as well.  Much.  Not so screechy and squeaky.

Since I will be listening to this instrument for probably (hopefully) a couple years at least, this was today's Joyful Moment.  I'm excited to hear her play it for real tomorrow!

Wishing you all Joyful Moments that are less screechy and squeaky!

Day 436: My Head Hurts

Not very joyful, but true.  And the reason why I struggled to think of a good title tonight.  Sorry.

Today was completely nuts.  I was just running from one thing to the next, often not finishing the one thing before I had to move on to the next.  A little sad.  But I know the rest of the week will be better, so we're okay.

Except that I'm sick again.  Fun fun fun.

But the good news is, I did find time for Joyful Moments throughout the day.  One was when HH pointed out the beautiful flowers blossoming on one of our fruit trees!  When we planted them last spring, that was one of the things I was most looking forward to.  The funny thing is, I mowed all around that tree this morning without ever glancing up to notice the blossoms.  We have a push mower, so I'm frequently looking down to make sure it doesn't run over anything that will snag in the blades.  Thank goodness for HH in pointing out the flowers to me tonight!

And the other exciting news is that our little seedling have begun to sprout.  As of last night, all of the peas were coming up (we hadn't intended to plant these indoors, but there were some minor hiccups in getting our garden soil ready) and one tomato were beginning to peak out above the soil.  This evening I discovered a few more tomatoes.  Lovely!  They look so cute!  It's amazing how fast they grow!  I found myself wishing I could just sit and watch them.  But maybe that really because I really needed to just sit and do anything that required little to no effort.

Ah, at least it's bed time!

Wishing you all sprouting little Joyful Moments that blossom into something fabulous!

Day 435: Where The Sidewalk Ends

Remember that I told you a house is being built next door?  Well, they appear to be nearly finished.  On Friday they began framing the sidewalk.  Little M was so excited and begged if he could watch.  I knew I'd be a few minutes getting lunch ready, so I set up his little camping chair in the driveway and handed him a bowl of sliced apples.  And he sat there and watched them work and loved every minute of it.

Today, shortly after he woke from his nap, he looked out the window and saw a CEMENT TRUCK!!!  That's how he felt about it anyway.

I knew he had to go watch again as they poured the cement.  So, he headed outside, this time getting his camping chair all by himself.  He came back in a minute later declaring, "You've got to come see this!"  So, I went out with him and watched for a bit.  They were done with the pouring and the man was cleaning  the thing the cement slides down and putting it away.  Little M and I both learned a bit about cement trucks (something I've been longing for my whole life), but mostly I just enjoyed being there and sharing in Little M's joy and exhilaration.  He was SO excited!  And that was SO my Joyful Moment!

Wishing you all Joyful Moments that are just SO!

Day 434: Cheek To Cheek

HH and I have been discussing how we want to improve upon the landscaping around our home.  Today we got kind of serious about it, so I broke out our one and only book on the topic.  As I was showing him the flowers that I thought would be best suited for one side of our house, he came up behind me, put his arms around me, and rested his face next to mine.

I can't say precisely why, but feeling his face against mine is one of my favorite things in the world.  It calms me and makes me feel very much in love with him.  I guess breathing the same air can have that effect?  I don't know, but it was today's Joyful Moment.

I love my HH.  And his sweet cheeks.

Wishing you all Joyful Moments and sweet cheeks!

Day 433: Popcorn

Today was rough.  I'm fairly unwell.  The best I've felt all day was when I took a nap.  Until it was interrupted by a screaming Baby B waking up only halfway through his nap.  Fabulous.

But before that, we headed to our favorite gardening center for some dirt and whatnot for the garden.  And popcorn.  They have super yummy popcorn.  And they give it away for free.  And it totally earns my business.  I'm like a four-year old sometimes.  I know.  And the salt felt good on my diseased throat.  And munching away on the buttery goodness was today's Joyful Moment.

Wishing you all Joyful Moments full of crunchy, buttery goodness!

Day 432: Worship

Tonight we were able to visit the temple again.  With some great friends.  It was a wonderful evening full of Joyful Moments.  We even got to eat at Five Guys Burgers and Fries!  I am satisfied and full both spiritually and physically!

Wishing you Joyful Moments that satisfy!

Day 431: Like A Fish

That's me.  I pretty much grew up in the pool.  I was on swim team.  I haven't really been swimming swimming since I trained for my triathlon a few years ago.  But I miss it.  And my arms could really use some shaping up.  So, I've decided to take it up again.

For some reason, it takes a lot for me to find the motivation to swim laps at the gym.  I think it's partly because then I know I will absolutely have to wash and style my hair.  Even though this only takes a few minutes, it bothers me.  It's also because I hate sharing a lane.  I'm no good at it.  I've seriously injured people by smacking hands/arms as I pass by them going opposite directions and I've had some awkward moments of accidentally bumping into people as I swim up behind them.  I keep my head down, so I can't really see when someone is right in front of me until my hand makes contact and I come up.  And trust me, that is always an awkward situation.

But, today I mustered the courage and did it.  And it felt sooooooo good to be back in the water!  Even though my upper body is ridiculously out of shape for swimming.  It just was fabulous to be back.  Definitely my Joyful Moment today.  And fortunately, I only had to share a lane for a brief couple of minutes and the other guy was walking (yeah, you read that right.  He was NOT swimming in the water, he was walking in it), so it was fairly easy to steer clear.

Wishing you all Joyful Moments without any awkward contact!

Day 430: WHAT is THAT?!

Tonight after dinner (a scrumptious meal of grilled pork steaks with a peachy sauce that seriously looked professional, if I do say so myself), we headed out to do a little yard work.  Mainly, for HH to till up the dirt in the garden.

Sweet P and Little M busied themselves with locating as many worms as possible, while Baby B and I headed over to the rocks to begin the annual summer battle with the weeds.  I set BB in the grass beside me while I worked.  This was his first encounter with grass and it was positively Joyful to watch.  One foot was kind of tucked inside his pants, but the other was fully exposed to the grass.  He kept holding it aloft while staring at the grass in great puzzlement.  I love watching babies discover grass.  SO CUTE!!  Totally my Joyful Moment.  And funny.  I laughed out loud several times.  Which helped him to decide that the grass was okay.

And then he noticed the rocks and the grass became forever forgotten.  Boy + Rocks = Good Times.

He was in the process of patting the rain gutter.  He was pretty pleased about the sound it made.  Especially, when he hit it with a rock.  I love how it looks like he's waving at me, though.  And see how much grass is left in the rocks?  This was after I weeded for about 30 minutes!  Whoever landscaped this house put in the most worthless ground covering ever.  It is no deterrent for anything desiring to grow through it.

This was, of course, inevitable.  I'm pretty sure this sight horrified me when it was Sweet P as a baby.  Now I just took photo after photo.  Yummy rocks!  I seriously took 40 pictures.  The lighting was great and the subject was perfect.  I would happily share them all here, but I've got to go make another effort at finding a baby sitter for Friday night!

Wishing you all Joyful Moments that taste better than rocks!

Day 429: Springing

I don't know that I dare say it out loud for fear of jinxing it, but it appears that Spring *might* be here.  Yay!

Today started out cold, but quickly became beautiful.  And it was just a lovely day all around.  The pace of things was relaxed, yet somehow very productive.  Sweet P even did her violin practice before school.  Nothing short of a miracle since it's usually all we can do to get her ready on time without anything extra.  But that freed up the afternoon so we were able to have friends over.  And it was so nice out that the kids played outside.  Even Baby B got to sit out on the deck and enjoy the sunshine for a bit.

And then this evening we planted our garden starts in our little seed box.  I'm so excited!  We've learned a lot since last year and I'm optimistic.  At least things should go a little better than last year.  Hopefully, even more than a little.

Anyway, it's hard for me to pick just one of those a Joyful Moment.  Lovely days have a tendency to be that way.

Wishing you all Joyful Moments on lovely days!

Day 428: My Favorite Book

That would be the Book of Mormon.

It was written anciently, but was inspired of God.  And thus, it contains answers and solutions for pretty much all of my problems.  I just have to read it with a prayer in my heart and the guidance of the Holy Ghost to discern them.  And it's amazing.  So, I try to read from it every day.

And today, I was able to share a copy of it with a friend.  She seemed really excited when I gave it to her and promptly declared, "I'm going to read this!"

Sharing something I love with a friend was today's Joyful Moment.

I'd be more than happy to share it with any of you, as well.  If you're interested, leave me a comment here or email me at abidingjoyblog@gmail.com.

Wishing you all Joyful Moments that a company a source of great wisdom and truth!

Day 427: Come, Listen To A Prophet's Voice

And hear the word of God.

That's a beautiful hymn I love to sing.

And it was very applicable this weekend, as we listened to General Conference.  It happens twice a year.  Several church leaders speak during four two-hour sessions.  The men get an extra two-hour session just for them on Saturday evening.  So, it's 8-10 hours of guidance, instruction, and manifestations of God's love.

I love it!

Sometimes it's frustrating because it's hard to keep the kids busy and focused for the entire time.  And sometimes I get distracted as well.  Thankfully, we get it printed in The Ensign magazine.  It's such a blessing to be able to read and review all that we've been taught.

The talks that I was able to listen to today and yesterday were wonderful.  As I mentioned yesterday, some felt very much directed to me and my needs.  There were several talks focusing on giving and serving abundantly.  I found that interesting since my theme for 2011 is Service.  It was all quite inspiring.

And spending the day at home with my family was a lovely Joyful Moment in and of itself.  Today was a really good day.

Wishing you all Joyful Moments on a really good day!

Day 426: Timely Answers

Last night, HH and I got into a serious discussion about all the scary things facing our children as they grow and how we can best prepare them.

Today was the first of our two day General Conference (more on this tomorrow).  My Joyful Moment was listening to a talk that gave me just the answer and reassurance I really need as a mother.  I'm so grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who is so aware of my worries and fears.  And just what I need to resolve them.

Wishing you all timely Joyful Moments!

Day 425: April Fool's!

I made a version of this for dinner, only using my meatloaf recipe.  And this for dessert.

Little M helped me bake the cakes and I told him we were eating cake for dinner.  He was beside himself with excitement.  Then he said that we'd better eat really healthy veggies and fruit with it, to make up for the lack of nutrition in the cake.

We told Sweet P about the cake for dinner when she got home from school and she made a similar comment and was equally excited.

And I began to feel a little guilty.  And worried that it could end up quite disastrous.  But they took the hoax quite well.  They actually ate it better than they've ever eaten meatloaf before.  And they don't typically like mashed potatoes either!  Maybe I should begin making dinner in the form of dessert more often?

The looks on their faces (pleasant surprise) when we cut into the "cake" was my Joyful Moment.  And we all got a good laugh out of the Kitty Litter dessert.  Little M summed it up quite well when he exclaimed, "Delicious poop!" after the first bite.

While I do try to keep things in check, we are not above crude humor in our home.

Wishing you all Joyful Moments that are not above a little crude humor!