Katrina's birthday "Mystery"

Seven years ago, (last Friday) our sweet little princess Katrina was born. As the only girl in our family, we are ever grateful for her "feminine influence." (I was certain she was going to be a boy. After she was born I kept saying, "are you sure it's a girl?") I can still remember the amazing feelings I had when she was born. Just something amazing and powerful. She has such an incredible spirit. So full of love and a desire to do what is right. I feel so blessed to be her mother. She teaches me SO much.

This year she gets a "friend party," but it hasn't happened yet. (I'm not good at planning parties anyway, and the whole "girl thing" is just WAY beyond my comfort zone!) Now that people are finally getting over this flu-like bug, I'll have to plan something.

So, she got to pick her birthday meal (she chose cheese stuffed pasta shells, with garlic bread, and salad + strawberry cake for dessert.)



The greatest part of the day was her present. She has been wanting a kitten for a LONG time. I considered it for her last birthday, but Tim wasn't ready for it. I tried again for Christmas, but again... NO. I asked again this birthday and my dear, sweet, PATIENT husband said I could get one! I found this sweet little baby girl online and went and picked her up on Friday morning. Her mom was a mix of Ocicat and Egyptian Mau. I had never heard of the Ocicat breed, but reading online that they are often considered a "dog personality" in a cat's body, I thought this might be the perfect cat for us. She is just the sweetest little thing, and Katrina was SO thrilled when she saw her. I just told Katrina that her present was in on her bed. She walked in the room got the BIGGEST grin on her face.

"A real ALIVE kitten!"

(Tim took a video of it, but I don't know how to find that so I can't post it here. maybe later)


She named her kitten "Mystery Joy Mellor" She is just a little ball of energy and fun. Katrina came in yesterday morning and said she was awake "all night" because Mystery kept trying to groom her. Mystery was holding Katrina's hand in her paws and kept licking.

Mystery and Jasmine are starting to come to terms with each other, but they are not all the way there yet.

Here is Mystery exploring the doll house. she was running up and down the stairs...
it was fun to watch

Katrina and Caleb by the "cat tree" that Katrina got with the kitten and other kitten supplies. It goes from floor to ceiling with 3 "shelves" or tiers that the cat can sit on. I thought it would be a while before Mystery figured it out, but nope, she just climbs (runs) to the top and back down like it's nothing...

playing with her new toy.
I went in that first night and Mystery was just curled up, sleeping by Katrina. SO sweet! (wish we could figure out how to stop that thumb sucking...)

She loves to sit and sleep on the windowsills.

the fruits of my labors...

So - last night I didn't think I had it in me, but I guess somewhere - deep down... it was there. (barely) It doesn't look like much when you consider it took me from 6 am - 5pm, but here it is. 12 quarts of peaches, 23 quarts of pears, 4 pints of peach jam, and 4 pints of peach/pear butter.


Aaron took the picture of my jars, then he wanted to be in one, so here is my happy little photographer... (unfortunately, not a "canning helper" - this was a SOLO project, but the kids did help by keeping themselves mostly entertained throughout the day, and it only looks like a Severe Tropical Storm blew through, not a category 5 hurricane. I suppose "post storm clean-up efforts" will begin tomorrow. Wonder if the Red Cross or "federal disaster Relief funds" cover this type of "disaster."


Good night! I sure hope all the kids sleep through the night. I really need another good nights rest - and 5am walking comes awfully EARLY! There's a good question for you... why can't 5 am be LATER in the day???


Here's hoping Katrina can go back to school tomorrow...

just FYI

one day into this "new week"... it's not calming down much. After volunteering at school today, cleaning carpets, running carpools, FHE, homework, some other random house cleaning (most of which has already been UN-done), and other miscellaneous stuff... I believe I am more tired tonight than I was last night... if that is even humanly possible!



I am dreading waking up in the morning - as I have a big box of pears and a smaller box of peaches, all waiting in the kitchen to be bottled.

I honestly don't know if I have it in me... I'll let you know how it goes.

glad it's a new week...

It was a LONG, EXHAUSTING weekend! Friday was Katrina's birthday. I will devote a separate post to that, since who wants their "birthday post" to have rumblings of THROW-UP it it???

ya, that's what I thought! NO ONE...

Just FYI... this is a long, not really interesting to anyone but me, "journal" post - so here is the abridged version: I was running around like crazy all weekend and we have sick people at my house... There you go. Now you can click on your way and skip everything else... you are of course welcome to read on... but if you get bored it is your own fault.)


As a precursor, I will add in here that Thursday night was not a good one for sleeping - Caleb was up and down multiple times and I just didn't get a good nights sleep, so what I am saying, is that I was already pretty sleep deprived before this story begin. so... without further ado -

Friday was crazy busy- driving Bryan to preschool, driving over to AF to pick up Katrina's birthday present, then back to pick up Bryan, then to the store to buy some other birthday items and ingredients for Katrina's requested birthday meal. Then home to drop everything off, then off to pick up the kids from school. (plus two extra boys who needed to come to my house that afternoon while their mom worked. bake Katrina's cake and put the dinner together, then off to drop off the boys and take Aaron to learning technics. home at 5:30, get rest of dinner put together. Finally, sitting down to eat, Trina only picked at her food, and in the back of my mind I wondered why. It tasted fine to me... (I found out why, later that night) I had Bountiful Baskets on Saturday morning and it was my week to be in charge, so at 10:00 I started printing out all the reports and paperwork I would need. I was IN bed ready to crash by 11:00, and was excited that I'd be able to get 7 hours of sleep! It was not meant to be. by 11:30 Katrina was throwing up. she was up and down all night. Caleb also woke up 2 or 3 times, for drinks, tummy hurting, wanting mommy to sleep with him, you name it... it was NOT FUN!
I got up at 6 and finished getting my stuff ready to go. Got to BB (late, I might add) and found that I had not been firing on all cylinders when getting things ready - - I had forgotten several things... but nothing we couldn't handle, thank heavens. Got home from baskets at 10, to find Caleb now throwing up too.

On Friday, a neighbor had given us a turtle, but we needed to get a good home fro him. he was just in a big plastic bin... I found a great deal on an aquarium online, and the guy called back Saturday morning and said we could come get it - right then... so Aaron and I went out and bought a new aquarium, then went to the pet store to buy the special UVB bulb and water filter we needed, then hauled everything back home. We then spent the next hour + setting the tank up. I think it looks cool and Aaron loves it - so that's all good I guess. (Tim is ready to disown me for allowing yet another animal into the menagerie.)

So there I was... 2:30 in the afternoon, house of sick people and messy messy MESS everywhere... No nap for me! I listened to the BYU football game while I cleaned the kitchen. (Total bummer of a game, but I did get my kitchen clean, all the way to mopping the floor... so it's not ALL bad!) By this point in the afternoon, Tim was feeling sick too...

I then went out to rent a carpet cleaner, cause Trina has gotten horribly stinky vomit all over her carpet and the room just REEKED! It was so NASTY! I got her room done (smells MUCH better today, and I'll do an second run tomorrow before I return the machine) and the downstairs family room done. (it is the room where we finally put in the new carpet... and the very next week jasmine peed on it. dumb dog! It will need a second run tomorrow too...) I'm also hoping to do a once over on the carpet in the front room before taking it back... but we'll see how much I can actually get done!

SO - I collapsed into bed last night at 10:30 and was instantly OUT! I don't think anyone woke up during the night. If they did - I slept through it!

Today I had to be at church early to practice with the ward choir as we were singing today, then 3 hours of church (Tim was still not feeling well, so he stayed home with the sick kids) After church it was a quick lunch, then off to choir practice. I ran home, grabbed my music, then drove around to pick up all the kids in my children's choir. (9 of them) no, I didn't have quite that many seat belts... shhhh! don't tell! We practiced at the church so that they were already there at 4:30 when we had a primary training meeting. My sweet little choir sang the opening song. They did "Teacher, Do You Love Me?", with a handful of teachers singing the teachers part. I thought they did a great job and really invited the spirit into the meeting. Then the children went home and I stayed for the rest of the meeting. Home at 4:45, and luckily for me, my friend Holly brought us over some dinner so I wouldn't have to cook. I just feel bad - with so many sick people, only and Aaron and I ate much. I should have just told her not to worry about it and Aaron and I could have eaten leftovers. Oh well - her soup was way more yummy than leftovers!

Now the dishwashers is running, table is wiped off, Aaron's done his learning technic exercises, kids (except Caleb, who is still wandering around) are tucked in bed and I am almost done writing in my "journal... aka blog. Then I am going to BED! Although I did get a pretty good nights sleep last night, I figure two in a row would be sheer bliss!!! so that's what I'm going for.

If you made it this far - thanks for lending an empathetic ear.

Here's hoping the bug quickly passes from our house and we can go back to normal life. (still crazy, but without the BARF!)

Ok - I lied. Apparently all those kids that were tucked in, un-tucked themselves and are still awake. I've now sent them off to bed again - and now I think it is safe to say that this day (and this weekend) is DONE!

an inspirational conference: part 4 (last one)

So - the final speaker was President Boyd K. Packer. He kind of jumped around a lot, but here are a few things that stood out...

in questioning when he had done "enough" and could give up on a particularly disruptive boy in his seminary class, "What if that boy was YOUR son?"

The Lord's voting for you, Satan's voting against you, you have the deciding vote...

The devil can't make you do anything. can only entice, he has his limits and can only do what we let him do - only has the power we let him have.

We should pattern our lives in a way that Satan can't be in it. develop self-control and eliminate negative influences.

"Are you so touchy that you don't like to be corrected?"

"The easy times are in the past" - he mentioned this several times, recalled the pioneer stories already shared and said that it was harder now. that we must be strong and faithful.

I think it is interesting when we compare the pioneer hardships with our current challenges. they are both hard. but very different. I think the biggest difference is that they battled constantly with PHYSICAL things. Today we are battling more against spiritual and moral issues. (I always thing of the scripture about putting on the armor of God, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.")

In those days it was a daily battle to stay alive. Now it is a daily battle to keep your head straight about what is right and wrong. To somehow see through all of Satan's lies and deceptions. We are bombarded on all sides with "political correctness," and "tolerance" (which turns rapidly into failure to stand up for anything on any sort of moral basis). I watched how torn apart many people (in the church) became over the prop 8 thing in California. People, GOOD people, seriously didn't know which way was "right" -
* defending the moral position that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that Procreation (sexual relations) is sacred and must only take place between a married man and woman. (the family:a proclamation to the world)
or
* defending people's right to exercise their "agency" to live in a manner that is in opposition to this moral position.

Talk about the lines between black and white, right and wrong, becoming so blurred that it is difficult to know which side to be on. I was on the debate team in High school (love it!) and I actually really enjoyed the challenge of defending a point of view that I (personally) didn't actually agree with. I can honestly understand how good, faithful, temple recommend holding members, could be on BOTH sides of this issue and feel that they were "right" and the other side is "Wrong."

In Isaiah chapter 5 we read:
20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

21Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

22Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:

23Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

I believe that THIS is why we are living in more difficult times... back then, right and wrong were more defined. Roles were more defined. moral boundaries (even among the varied religions) were defined and expected. In our day, are absolutely fulfilling the prophesy of Isaiah - that people call good evil and evil good.

I believe President's Packer's message of warning is that we MUST know the difference between right and wrong and we MUST chose the right. This is not something can be done sporadically or haphazardly. It requires faith, diligence, Study and prayer, obedience, and perseverance. We can't give up on one another either.

Wow - I'm really going after this tonight... Just for the record, the one liners up at the top are the notes - everything else is just kinda what came rolling out of my brain tonight. I think perhaps I should calm down and go to bed.

G'nite!

an inspiring conference: part 3

Before I jot down my impressions from Elder Holland's talk, here is one more quote from Sister Beck's talk - related to the computer thing from part one. I didn't actually write this one down, but another of my friends did, and since Harmony - you were wishing you could have taken notes, I thought I'd pass this along just in case it would have been a writer-downer for you. "The computer is just a tool, no more important than the dishwasher or washing machine." (if only I were so addicted to the dishwasher and washing machine. my life would be much "cleaner.")


OK - now on to Elder Holland's talk.


He shared some pioneer stories, one about a family (the smith's maybe) who were in that first group who went through the hole in the rock... and then another family called to leave their comfortable home in Nephi to settle the "muddy." (don't remember their names, it obviously wasn't important enough for me to write the name down...)

Anyway - after sharing these stories, he said, "There are still waste places to settled." I don't remember the exact next words, but in essence, the barren waste places of our hearts. We must be committed to the Lord and when he calls - we answer int he affirmative. he said we must:

1st - Nurture your own physical and spiritual strength, THEN

2) build your family and 3) serve the church.

He said that "the world is getting more and more wicked and will try the very best of us." when those troubled and trying times come, we will have to reach deep down to find the faith and strength to endure. When those times come we need to know that we have something "deep down" that we can draw upon.

"it is more important to be simple and deep, than complex and superficial."

Ok - those are my basic notes, now my impressions:

I talk BIG. I "do," not so big...

I think how awesome it would be to be "called" to pack up and move to Jackson county... but I find it hard to answer the "call" to read my scriptures daily.

I imagine in my minds eye how quickly I would obey if the time ever came that the leaders of the church issue the call to leave the cities and establish "tent cities"in the hills. yet I can't seem to find the will to attend the temple (15 minutes away) on a regular basis.

I profess to be SO glad to have a living prophet and apostles to guide me in my life, yet when is last time I read their words from the last conference? (I'm guessing May, right after the Ensign came out.)

You get the idea... My heart will simply become more and more of a wasteland, unless I heed the call of the prophet and apostles. It is not enough to "act" the part. I need to BE the part. I need to exercise the faith and the discipline to truly be a disciple of Christ. I need to start with ME. and I need to start NOW!

an inspiring conference part 2

Here I am, it's 10:30 at night and I am SO ready for bed! Where did my day go???? (i can only tell you that it did NOT all go into mindless computer drivel. :)

I was planning to report on my feelings and prompting from the next talk, the one by Elder Holland, but as I pulled out my notes (yes, I went downstairs to get them...) I saw another note that I jotted down from Sister Beck's talk and I think I'll talk briefly about it. It will be faster - so I can get to bed sooner, and it will serve to record it (aka journal) so I can review when needed.

She quoted some scriptures from 3 Nephi 20, about the Lord saying he will make his people, and he will consecrate His people, (and more stuff along those lines that I didn't write down). Then she said that we can choose to align ourselves with the Lord's house and the Lord's people. This we can do through "prioritization and precision" - NOT "perfection."

It is so easy to get caught up in perfectionism. People who come into my house may never guess that I struggle with this most depressing and paralyzing P word... I certainly don't have a "perfect" house (quite the opposite in fact, pretty much a constant state of CHAOS)... what they may not recognize is that I fall into the category of perfectionism where if I think I don't have the "time," "skills," "means," "desire"...(pick your term) to do it RIGHT, (and PERFECT) I just don't bother doing anything at all. Trust me when I tell you that this is not really a good way to make progress - in anything! The Lord's message to me was to prioritize and put HIM first. Just taking small, imperfect, baby steps... doing those small and simply baby steps with precision - not seeking to be perfect, but seeking instead to be constant and steadfast.

I did pretty well with the computer thing today. Still challenging.

an inspiring conference: part 1

Yesterday our stake took part in a regional (or maybe it was an "area") conference. I heard many things that I NEEDED to hear. My notes from the conference are downstairs, and quite frankly, I am too tired to trek down to get them, so I am just going to go from memory.

I really enjoy listening to Sister Julie B Beck speak. She has given some super - powerhouse talks in recent years, that have truly spoken to my soul. The talk she gave on Sunday was another to add to my heart's collection.

She began by telling us that while she has been studying and praying in preparation for her talk, she hadn't been able to "write" one; so she was going to just share the thoughts and feelings she has been going over in her mind.
First off, she felt inspired to say , "you are doing better than you think you are." (boy, I sat up and listened to this one. I needed to hear that, since I often feel that I am doing so "not great.") Then she took a deep breathe and said, "even as I say that you are doing better than you think you are... we CAN do and be better."
This really resonated with me. I have a tendency to beat myself up about a whole lot of stuff, when in reality, the Savior loves me and has atoned for me, and HE accepts me JUST AS I AM. However, He is not well pleased when I spent time wallowing in self-doubt instead of humbly acknowledging shortcomings and working to move forward.

She then went on to mention people who are allowing the distractions of life to get in the way of what is really important. She mentioned specifically young mothers... and while I am not a "young mother," (I'm pushing 40, for crying out loud!) I am the mother of YOUNG children, and I am CERTAIN she was speaking to me, since it cut right to my heart...) She specifically mentioned time spent on the computer - wasting your time and taking time away from those young children and families.

I decided that this was something I needed to change in my life. Here at my house, the computer is on ALL day long. I check it in the morning, then I piddle around the house a little, always coming back at regular and frequent intervals to see if any emails have come through, or any facebook chatter I just HAVE to get in on, or any comments on my own facebook status, or play a few (hundred) games of bejeweled blitz, or...or...or (you get the idea)

SO - I made a new goal for myself. I can be on the computer for (roughly) 30 minutes in the morning and roughly) 30 minutes again in the evening after the kids are in bed. The time in between... the computer goes OFF and stays OFF. I went through some withdrawal pains today, but I did pretty well. One slight "fall off the wagon" moment when I had to get on the computer to print out some stuff for Aaron's homework, and while I was ON, I could hardly NOT check my email... right??? but over all I cut my computer time WAY WAY down today... and I believe it was a step in the right direction.

more conference notes to follow... but I am EXHAUSTED and need to go to bed!