chaos

So my goal to write down my experiences with my daily challenge isn't happening every day, but I'll check back in now.

Our house in OK was supposed to close today so it has been a little busy with signing and notarizing paperwork and then overnighting it there so that everything can be ready. Yesterday we found out that it will be delayed again until March 5th. We have spent $70.00 unnecessarily in overnighting paperwork to them that #1 never needed to be sent in the first place and then "rushing" it to them so it could sit in the office for a week. That is frustrating to me as I count every penny.

We found a house that we want to buy, I can't remember if I had mentioned that before? It's a step down from our house in OK but the best we can find here in Craig. There is plenty about it that is nice. But this week as we were running around with paperwork on the OK house, we got a phone call that Georges house had flooded over the weekend. Literally, water everywhere. A pipe in the toilet had somehow malfunctioned and water went all over the kitchen floor which then seeped down into the basement annihilating everything in the basement. Is this good or bad for us? I can't decide. It seems god, but could be a bad omen.

Zachary has been loosing teeth and reading better and writing a little better. His smile is so cute. The other day he said to me, "Mom, I think I'll sell this on ebay." I looked down and he was holding his old paperback dog-eared Book of Mormon. To him it surely is worth a lot so it must be valuable on ebay, right?

As far as my personal challenge, I pray every day to be shown someone who needs help. I can't say I have a specific experience every day. But I can say that the effort has caused me slow down a little and take extra time with some people. The other day I felt like I needed to take extra time with David explaining the Kingrey anxiety disorder. I think that lots of his stomach problems are probably nothing more than him experiencing anxiety. Micajah too actually. Yesterday he woke up in a terrible mood and was making everyone pay for it. After everyone was gone, I just held him for a little in the rocking chair. A funny sight, I'm sure, but it was good and calmed him down.
Yesterday I also had a FABULOUS discussion with Jacob and Micajah regarding being people of the covenant. I had them research how the "fathers" got their wives, who they married and why they went to such lengths to find the "right" wife. A woman of the covenant. They couldn't marry just anyone. She had to be of the covenant to keep the Abrahamic Covenant going and in tact. The significance of it, the supreme importance of it.
We are children of the covenant. Abraham is our father. The "father of many nations." We cannot break that covenant by marrying outside of it. This goes much further than "we don't date members who are not members of our church." This is keeping the Abrahamic Covenant, which must be continued from one generation to the next. It was amazing and I love having these discussions with them. They listened and I hope the message went to their heart. David was there too but it was a little over his head.

Other than those things, the other things I have done which I hope fall into the category of helping others who need it is that I listened and talked with Kate during homeschool group and took more time than normal with her.

Yesterday I had the impression that really needed to do something for Annie and I really think that I will give her one of the Liz Lemon Swindle pictures of Christ. I've gotta figure out the timing of that one. I'd like to frame it really nice but I want her to be able to read the back first??

Tomorrow Keith and I leave for a long weekend alone. Cameron and Alice will stay here with the kids. I don't know how to feel about it. Keith and I haven't been alone in such a long time. I haven't left all my responsibilities for a weekend and I want to enjoy it! I hope that I will.

snow, snow snow, we keep getting it and it has been plenty cold!
I turn 40 on Monday but yesterday I listened to President Packer give a devotional and read a poem he wrote about being old and how he wouldn't trade being young again for all the experiences he has had! Perfect that I heard it right before my 40th birthday. I will not be sad to be turning 40.
I'll try to post that poem here.

Presidents' Day weekend

2/15/2013
Thursday was a whirlwind day.  Hey! I'm sensing a theme here!
We packed and got ready for our long weekend in Utah. When Zac and michael got out of school, we hit the road immediately. It was a perfectly normal drive. Except that Jacob was driving Keith's truck and was so nervous. He did a great job, however and we decided that's the best way to learn and drive on an interstate, just follow someone else. He followed me.
Keith has the weekend off and the kids have Monday off so we decided to take advantage of it and come to Utah. Keith was able to take Kia and David snowboarding yesterday and I wanted to report that the person I helped yesterday was Clara Fisher. My 2nd G Grandfather's daughter. I was priveledged to be proxy for her yesterday. Then last night Ben and Caroline were sealed. It was a profound experience for me and even for the sealer. I wish I could write more but that will have to be reserved for a more private journal.

Anxiously Engaged

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/be-anxiously-engaged?lang=eng

We studied this talk the other night and I set a goal to apply it to my daily life. I have been documenting how each day goes in the notes on my scriptures app. I don't think that'll last long as I'm assuming there is not unlimited space for notes in my scriptures app. I decided to keep the notes here, on my blog as I'm not updating it very frequently anyway.
So, here you go. For all the world to see...
Will I succeed?

Do a good deed!

My goal is that every day for the rest of my life, I'll do this and record the results every day!

1/5/13

Yesterday morning I prayed asking to be lead to Someone who needed help. I went through my day...registering JJ for EFY, that was stressful. Taking Kia to the orthodontist, volunteering at the school, had a serious talk with JJ and Kia about non member girls and not being so nieeve to think they have the same standards so avoid the situation all together. Etc. 

homeschool, planning Davids Bday, took michael to the bike shop, play date with the Atkins, 11year old scouts, dinner (tacos), and then it occurred to me that I hadn't felt any particular promoting to help anyone :(. I don't know if I missed it or I kept myself so busy doing for others that it counted? At any rate I felt a little like a failure. 

So, starting over today. I prayed this morning and thought of a new family we need to welcome. I'm going to make banana bread for them today. 

2/7/13

Micajah's Birthday

Today I didn't have a specific experience come to me. I dropped an invitation by April's house (an inactive I VT). I suppose that was something. I also took Michael to the bike shop and in-and-out sports. 

Tomorrow 

Kia and I go skiing. 

2/10/13

So, I haven't been doing a great job these last couple of days. But I will try to think of examples of what I did even though I didn't pray specifically. Today was church, I helped out in primary when they were short on teachers for Zac's class. 

David and I made cupcakes for homeschool group to celebrate his birthday. I spent most of my day in the kitchen. Yesterday I should have prayed because I had a terrible day and I noticed that when I'm having a bad day it's like I cause more bad things and constant negativity. I can't explain it properly here but once things start going wrong and I get a bad attitude - nothing goes right. It just gets worse! I took the kids swimming in meeker yesterday. 

2/11/13

I did not do such a good job again today. I ignored a prompting to stop and give someone a ride who was walking in the snow. I had a good talk with michael tonight and Jacob. We had a good FHE, talked about the influence of media. 

2/13/2013

Today I . . .

Rolled out of bed exhausted from a sleepless night because Zac had been coughing and run a fever throughout the night. He got in bed with us at 4 AM. He was febrile but finally fell into a nice deep sleep. I got up and did some yoga because I was so stiff and miserable! I got davids birthday gift ready so he could have it as soon as he woke up. He needed extra cheering cuz he had spent the last 2 days having tests run on him because of his digestive problems. He was facing more torture at the hospital ON HIS BIRTHDAY! I showered, took Kia to school. Stopped at Safeway to get a donut for David. No donuts! Are you kidding me? I bought a box if assorted! Oh we'll, took them home and Zac had finally awoken, put him in the tub and prepared a netty pot. Started making davids Bday cake. Good thing too because I never would have been able to do it. Picked JJ up at the school, brought him home. Picked Kia up from middle school got Zac set up in front of the TV with his snuggle he got from uncle Dickie a few Christmases ago, his pillow and dream light! Took David to the hospital for more blood draw and an x ray. Talked to Danaka who WILL be in Utah at the same time as me!!!!! I haven't seen her in a year and a half! Got the pleasantries for collecting 24 hour samples!! Yippee! 

Came home, studied math and history. Stripped the sheets and started washing them. Fed the boys lunch, held Zac for a quick min. while finishing a book we're reading together. So much for being sick. He got a total if 30 min. of my time today. Took Kia to e and while he was there, dropped by Pam Horns office to discuss the contract on the house we want to buy. Picked Kia up from PE, on the way, got a phone call...the x ray is no good some foreign object showing up. " did he swallow something he shouldn't?" He's not 2. Dropped Kia off at home, picked up David. Another x ray. Looks like he had tootsie rolls in the front pocket if his hoodie! They had messed up the first x ray. The staff thought it was hilarious! This is Prescotts kid, right? Of course. 

Went home. Made stir fry for Davids B Day dinner, finished the cake. We ate and opened some gifts and then they left for mutual. His first mutual - on his birthday. I looked around and it looked like a tornado had hit the house. I started to clean. I asked Zac if he'd help. He suddenly felt sick and had to lay down! Hmmm

I finally finished cleaning the kitchen and the floor of the dining room. Now I'm watching Zac pretending he's HeMan! 

Sometimes you don't even have to ask who you can help that day. You simply have to let your feet hit the floor. The day will take care of the rest, leaving you barely coming up for air and eventually falling into bed. 

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Michael

The story:

At the end of September, Keith received a phone call from our friend in Oklahoma, Michael Halsey. Our first encounter with Mike had been at a cub scout pack meeting. His son Jared was there and was throwing spit wads at people. We had never met Jared. Keith walked up to Jared and started really give him a piece of his mind. I remember he told Jared to go and pick up all the spit-wads he had been throwing. Mike Halsey, Jared's Dad, came up to Keith with a vengeance and said, "He's got problems, OK?" Keith said, "it doesn't look like he has problems to me."
It turns out that Jared has multiple problems. He has turrets among many other problems. The first encounter with the Halsey's was a heated one. Fortunately, it didn't take long for us to respect each other. Micajah became quite an advocate for Jared at church. They are the same age. Jared would sometimes listen to Micajah when he wouldn't listen to anyone else. Micajah was amazing with Jared. That same year as the pack meeting, Micajah had the idea that we do the 12 days of Christmas for the Halsey family. The Halsey's have 3 children, all adopted because they were never able to have children on their own. The oldest is Ashley, then Jared and their youngest child is Michael (like the Dad).

The rest of the time we lived in Oklahoma, our associations with them were typical associations of ward friends. Little Michael is David's age, so he came over to play once in a while. I was the scout leader for Michael and David when they were wolves. I always liked Michael and he liked me. He loved talking anesthetic agents with Keith because he loves trying to understand complicated things.

Because of my calling as Relief Society Presdient during our last year in OK, I became privy to information that I may have otherwise never known. Little Michael had been adopted when he was 3 years old. His birth mother's parents had tried to take care of him after he was born but it became too much for them so another lady, Wendy, adopted him and raised him until he was 3. When her husband died, she wanted Michael to be raised in a family with a mother and father. The Halsey's adopted him when he was 3. He never bonded with Debbie Halsey. Their relationship was a struggle from day 1.

So, back to current day, Mike Halsey called Keith one night and explained that now that Michael is getting older and closer to the teenager years, the relationship is getting worse and worse and a change was needed. He asked us if we would take Michael. Our initial reaction was one without hesitation. Of course I would take him. I've always wanted to "rescue" a child. Love a child who hadn't been shown love. For the next week we labored a little more furiously with the decision. One minute it would be "yes, of course" the next "NO WAY."
There were too many unanswered questions. Too many uncertainties. Too many fears. We were told he has an attachment disorder. So we read up on that...not necessarily a good idea. The literature we read portrayed the worst possible scenarios of children with attachment disorder. I was terrified.
After wrestling with the decision we finally decided to just do it. It just so happened that Keith would be going to Oklahoma anyway for a conference held the first weekend of October. While he was down there, he picked Michael up, along with a few of his things and brought him back here.

That was a difficult trip. Michael was dealing with a whole range of emotions. He has been here now for 7 weeks and it has been difficult. Some days have been much harder than others. Some days seem quite easy. But we still have a long way to go.
Mostly, he is so happy to be here because life with 4 boys and constant motion and we live right next to some incredible trails that they love to ride their bikes along. His life here, compared to his life there is so much better, so he's quite happy. It's the rest of us who are having to change, adjust, put our comforts aside. Keith explained it well the other day. He said that before Michael came we (all of us) were running along on the same frequency. Along comes Michael who is running on a different frequency. We are trying to get tuned in again and it's hard. He's not used to us, the way we do things, the unsaid but understood that go on in a family who have just always been together.

David has the hardest road of all. He is with Michael 24/7 and no one can fully appreciate exactly what that means or how hard that actually is on him.

So, because of lack of time, I'll wrap this up quicker than I wanted.
We went from 4 boys to 5 boys, just like that. I have been shown things about myself, especially weaknesses that I never realized I had. That is both painful and empowering. It's not easy to see yourself opened up like that. Crack me wide opened!! At the same time, how could I ever grow? How else could my rough places be made smooth?

There is more to tell, but no more time. Tomorrow is the day before Thanksgiving. Cameron and Alice arrive tomorrow and all 5 boys and I are going to get up and clean like MAD - attempting to get the house in order. Karl and Kiersten will arrive on Thursday and we will enjoy Thanksgiving with their 2 families. The weather has been phenomenal!!