Matagorda Bay and Kaylee's Birthday!

 

What a morning.  We have already been to the doctors this morning and TWO pool stores, made two orthodontic appointments, one ophthalmology appointment and am on my way to getting kiddos busy with projects.  I’m tired already which is never a good sign at 10:30am, hahaha.

 

We just returned from a weekend trip to Matagorda Bay with the Ford Family.  It was a lot of fun and we really had some fun moments.   Shane’s coworker (a surgeon) owns a river front home near the beach in southern Texas and he offered it to him for a weekend…so we got to tag along as well!  The first day there we got in the river, fished and canoed.  The river was, um, seriously gross.  It brought out the shrieking crazy woman l may have inside of me as my feet sunk into the mud at the bottom of the river all the way up to my KNEES!  I think the neighbors actually came out of their home to make sure no one was dying, hahaha.  Yes it was that bad.  I nearly died (okay not really, but seriously it give me the willies just thinking about it).   We also spent a good half day at the beach which was MUCH better than I anticipated.  We boogie boarded, cast nets for fish among the other normal beach stuff.  Good times that is for sure; although I think Cami was exhausted most of the time.

 

The big news of last week was I got released from being YW’s president.   I have been in YW’s for almost 4 years this time and I have truly LOVED the girls…it has been one of the best callings I have ever had.  I found out Sat afternoon and boo hoo-ed all weekend long…when they actually released me in sacrament meeting it turned into the ugly cry (that was slightly embarrassing in hindsight), but I just couldn’t help it!!  I just love those girls like my own.  I really do.  Fortunately that Tuesday night we still had the activity we had planned which was a end of summer pool party at my house.  It turned into a “goodbye” party instead and I was quite taken back with all the gifts and cards that were given to me.  The cards especially meant a lot.  One of the girls that I have worked particularly hard with wrote some very meaningful words to me that I will cherish forever.  It made it all worth it.  

 

The timing of everything I found to be very interesting.  Two day prior to being told I was getting released I had been in the temple with TWO of my older YW (from the last time I was YW Pres in Humble).  The older one (I was closer to as she helped me when I was on bed-rest with Audrie) talked to me quite a bit and in the celestial room she said, “I just have to thank you.  I didn’t know how much of an influence you would have on my life, but you YW leaders really do have great influence.”  It was so nice to hear those kind words and upon hearing about my release those were the words that kept running through my mind over and over again.  It was a great comfort hearing that and I know the Lord was watching over me as he knew this was coming.  Several LTM’s have happened since then (Little Tender Mercies) and I can’t help but recognize the Lord in the details of my life. 

 

I made all the YW a cute little jar of cookie mix as my good bye gift to them.  I think they turned out pretty cute (see pic), as I turned them into a value experience that they could pass off for Personal Progress.  Fun fun!

 

Today we celebrate THIRTEEN YEARS of marriage.  Um.  I am seriously starting to think I should be feeling old.  I cannot believe we have been married that long.  Time sure flies when you’re having fun!!  And we do have fun.  Andy is such a comedian and I love that about him.  He is always lightening the mood and doing everything he can to make sure we always have a smile on our faces.  Even with that humor he is also a VERY hard worker.  He really keeps us comfortable.  The affect of our electronic cleanse has continued in our home.  Andy has particularly tried VERY hard to follow through with his own personal goals regarding electronics and I have really seen what an amazing man he really is.  He has yet to turn on the TV…I think it has been 4 or 5 weeks for him now.  He started doing his own version of cutting out before we did as a family and I am amazed by his willpower.  He has always been amazing, but man he is MUCH more amazing than I ever realized.  Love you babe.  You have always been a great companion!!  Can’t wait for eternity!

 

For the last three weeks we have had lessons on marriage, which  is interesting.  I taught a lesson on eternal marriage, then last Sunday Andy had a lesson on Marriage in EQ and then this week while in Matagorda we had yet ANOTHER lesson on Marriage.  It is very interesting and I don’t think it was coincidence.  I have seen several marriages fall apart recently.  One friend is right in the thick of it and I can see what hardships a failing marriage can have on a family, not to mention the rippling affects on everyone else around them.  I think the Lord is trying to tell us that we need to make sure our marriage is always a priority  (which honestly I have always tried really hard to keep in balance with my callings and other duties) and to keep trying to better and better what we have.  I haven’t even told Andy this yet, but I got a distinct impression last night while talking with Heavenly Father that there is going to be a new responsibility that will challenge us and we need to be prepared.  I don’t know what that means, if Andy is going to get a time consuming calling or what, but right after that I felt quite the outpouring of love directly from my Father in Heaven, like a direct infusion of pure love to my heart.  I felt truly connected to Him in a way that I have never felt before, like I was feeling His love directly into my spirit.  It was amazing and wonderful all at the same time.  We shall see what the Lord has in store. 

 

We celebrated Kaylee’s birthday last week.  It was great!! I think most of you have heard about Kaylee and her weird obsession with eyeballs….if you haven’t, just ask her.  She will explain the “eyeball game” in great detail.  It usually involves you “taking out” your eyeball and rolling it to another person as she takes it and puts it into her eye socket….then she does the same.  Like I said, very strange.  We have no idea where this eyeball obsession came, but for the most part everyone she comes in contact with knows about it.  So about 6 months ago Andy jokingly suggested that she should have an eyeball cake for her birthday.   So we made that a reality and gave her just that!  See attached.  Pretty dang cute and made by yours truly, HA!

 

Well I better end this eternal note and get moving on my household duties.  I ignorantly shocked the pool this morning unknowingly causing the inability to swim today, so we may actually have to go somewhere today (heaven forbid) and use one of the community pools. 

School Begins!

We are doing well just getting back into the groove of school J  Today is day two and we are plugging right along.  Tyler still isn’t feeling super great (I think he has a cold) but he is being a trooper!  But really there is more homework for the parents the first week than anything, hahaha…I spend hours filling out paperwork.  I wish they would do all of it online, but for whatever reason they don’t (Wait until Sam is in school, then it will be paperwork X four, ha!).  Kaylee was EXHAUSTED after school yesterday and actually really, really struggled to get up this morning.  I think we are going to have to push bedtime back to 7:30pm for her, she just doesn’t have the endurance for a 7am-4pm “workday”.  Sam has napped several days  in a row as well, so maybe we are just fighting something; although Kaylee has always been my tired girl.  Speaking of Kaylee we are heading to a ophthalmologist today at Texas Children’s.  She started complaining again of that one eye going blurry and her unusual eye movement is as present as ever.  This was the earliest appointment they could get me (I made it weeks ago- and actually yesterday was the earliest, but I thought the first day of school would be bad to miss!).  So hopefully they will be able to shed some light on her  J

 

Other than that I have had a very good week.  I have been particularly sensitive to the spirit lately and slightly weepy because of it.  I received a new calling on Sunday (didn’t think that would happen!) to be a RS teacher, which I couldn’t be more excited about.  I just LOVE, love, love that calling as well as being apart of RS.  I just love being with women, I know it is part of my calling here on earth!  After talking with the education counselor yesterday she sent met the schedule of lessons and my first lesson that I am to teach is on sealing power and temple blessings….I could NOT believe it.  In addition to that Andy had his EQ lesson on Eternal Marriage this past Sunday and I am absolutely certain that we are being prepared for something.  I can FEEL it.  I hope we are doing what we need to be to learn whatever it is the Lord is trying to teach us.  We try to keep things light and are continuously joking with each other (being very dramatic), “I love you if this is the last time I see you.”  Or “do you  have mistresses that I don’t know about?”  Or “when does that life insurance kick in?” J  (BTW he assures me otherwise and I have complete trust in that man, he’s a good one and a keeper.  It’s only funny because I know he would never do anything of that nature J  Love you Babe!)

 

Andy and I were able to go to the temple on Saturday and as we were walking into the chapel we were advised that the session was in SPANISH ;)  So I  got to use headphones (of course Andy didn’t)….let me tell you, headphones in the temple during an endowment is actually quite difficult.  I was banging it around, twisting it up in my attire and truly struggling!  I had a moment when I realized I had something on completely inside out and backwards because I was so disheveled when dressing, hahaha, it was quite hilarious; although I’m sure everyone thought something was very wrong with me.  Nice to change things up though! 

 

Yesterday I listened to a podcast on the Mormon Channel that is part of a series called “Endure it Well” (thank you Ali for the recommendation!).  It is a series about enduring trials with faith and hope through real life experiences of people within the church.  It was fantastic!  Throughout the entire radio show I couldn’t stop thinking about a friend who carpooled with us last year to Audrie’s school.  Her son has Muscular dystrophy and they have had many health struggles in addition to that.  The podcast was about a family with 4 children that had MD and talked about how the dealt with their trials and ultimately the death of 2 of them.  Anyway, I felt I should send to this lady the link to the podcast.  So I did.  Then later that evening around 9pm I saw that she had posted on facebook that her mother had passed away that very afternoon.  I couldn’t believe it.  I sent her that podcast just a few minutes before her mom died.  It hit me like a ton of bricks!  The spirit was talking to me…I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it.  I’m not sure she will even notice the time the email was sent, but either way it affected me greatly and I will remember this experience for a long time. 

 

We had back to school blessings on Sunday and I just bawled throughout all of them (what is wrong with me? And no I’m not pregnant), but I particularly felt the spirit strongly during Kaylee’s blessing.  Andy said some very interesting things that caught me by surprise.  One of the things he said was that he blessed her with safety, that she would be careful, cautious and safe throughout the year.  It was totally unrelated and kind of random within the blessing, so I asked him afterwards what that was all about and he said he didn’t know what that meant.  He also said he felt the spirit really strongly during her blessing as well.  My maternal worrying has kicked in high gear, but we are being very cautious. 

 

Anyway needless to say I am kind of on edge with whatever is coming…I am reading into everything, wondering and worrying.  But I do feel that the Lord wants me to have faith in the unknown and His plan, so I really need to be more faithful and less fearful! 

 

Yesterday was the kids first day back at school and everyone reported positive things, so it should be good. I am trying to get the ball rolling with Audrie’s 504 plan, so hopefully we can get that going as soon as possible.  They want to retest her dyslexia diagnosis (schools diagnosis, they don’t have to accept outsides sources and like to do their own testing) because it’s been 3 years since they did their last one.  So the district has to do that.  I hate all the testing they have to do with her, but it will be good get her re-evaluated with updated information.  She will be thrilled to have to have more testing (NOT!).  Maybe if I offer her Psychoeducational eval from 2013 (that we paid big bucks to have done) they can use that instead?  I will see what they say.

 

The Summer Life

I have sat here for 5 minutes trying to figure out where to begin.  Haha, I just haven’t written for a while and sooo very much has gone on I’m at a loss as to what to say. 

 

We have had a very busy summer, cram packed with many birthdays, fun filled trips and lots of family fun. First we went to Hawaii with the Padres and Lyndsey and Katie.  It was great!!  We had so much fun and enjoyed all that Hawaii had to offer.  Then we had a break for a couple of weeks and then everyone began arriving in Houston (Mom, Dad, Lynds, Katie, and the Kusilek clan) for Tyler’s ordination.  It was awesome.  We played hard and really enjoyed having everyone around.  The cousins absolutely LOVED being around each other and I think little Wade was so pleased to have playmates 24/7 that going home was difficult J

 

I have attached several pictures of our visit with the Family.  We played several games that were a HIT, some classics such as “Poor kitty kitty” and some new ones like the “sitting uno game” and “minute to win it.” (I will put more pics on my blog because I just can’t fit them all on here).

 

The main reason for the gathering of all of our family was to celebrate Tyler’s ordination.  I can’t believe my son is old enough to hold the Aaronic priesthood!  It has been quite the emotional and spiritual experience for me!  He is growing up in so many ways and I am so proud of him being the kid he is.  Yesterday was his first time passing the sacrament due to traveling, and he did such a wonderful job!  Andy and I were watching him the whole time with HUGE grins on our faces.  He mentioned when he sat back down with us that he was so nervous the tray was shaking as he handed it to the first few pews of people.  But he also said it wasn’t as hard as he thought it would be.  All around a really neat experience. 

 

Then a few days after everyone left our home we traveled to Florida to visit the Hart family.  It was great!!  We went to Sanibel Island and stayed there for a couple of days and then simply enjoyed being with Grandma, Grandpa, Cousin’s Eli and Annika, and especially fun Aunt Sarah.  Good times all around. 

 

I am glad to be home and am trying to get back into a routine of sorts, struggling in some regard but having great success in others. 

 

We decided to do an electronic cleanse when we got home…meaning no tv, no computer, no wii, ipods, kindles, ipads, etc…NOTHING.  I was so surprised the kids didn’t even protest a bit, not ONE BIT.  I haven’t had to lock doors or threaten punishments because they have actually followed through without any hesitation.  It’s like they all knew it was time.  I have seen Tyler come alive in ways he hasn’t for a while and all of the kids seem to be rediscovering their true relationships with one another.   It actually has been an incredible spiritual experience for me!  I can FEEL the spirit in our home more and when there is contention the feelings of contention seem to leave faster.  It’s as if everyone has been set free in a way and the spirit speaks louder and more often.  Tyler, Audrie and Kaylee each on their own (without knowing each other have mentioned this) have said they haven’t had any nightmares or bad dreams while the electronics have been off…which I thought was fascinating (and we are VERY particular about what our kids watch because they have always been so sensitive to anything…I mean we are talking Scooby doo scares them).  Andy said how he has been sleeping better as well.  I found out yesterday after I went to a church meeting that Tyler voluntarily fasted over lunch to Thank Heavenly Father for the good times he has had this past week!  I DON’T WANT TO GO BACK…I feel like we are living a higher law of sorts and cringe knowing that this is going to end. 

We are going to set up new parameters around everything before we give back electronics, but I know it won’t be the same.  There will be a limit to times on electronics….2 hours a day including TV and that is it.  Maybe one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening and when that time is up there is no more.  I am anxious to do this “cleanse” again and am wondering how we can keep the peace we have had in our home despite the need for electronics during the school year.  Using electronics for pleasure is controllable but using electronics for school is a whole ‘nother matter. 

 

We went to the temple on Saturday and I had many promptings while there in conjunction with our little 7 day experiment.  I kept having the words “our home is our Temple” and thoughts about how we should only invite WORTHY things, games, electronics and especially TV shows and movies into our home.  If our home TRULY is like a temple we need to treat it as such and never give evil the opportunity to lurk inside our walls.  Simple, yet profound, as are all of my personal revelations J  I am excited at the possibility of being better and having the distractions of the world not be so distracting in our home.

 

While traveling to and from Florida Andy and I read a book called “Visions of Glory” (thanks to Dad’s recommendation).  It was a VERY interesting and though provoking book…I simply could not put it down.  I had never really contemplated the reality of people being so “visionary” in our day, but after reading that book and then picking up the scriptures and reading I realized how similar his experiences were to MANY of the Book of Mormon prophets and (non prophets).  It really has rocked my thinking and perspective on things…which is partially why I wanted to do the electronic cleanse, among other things.

Hawaii