Before the Cute Guy and I head out of town for the weekend early tomorrow morning (18 years of wonderful marriage), I had to take Caleb to the mall to get some new jeans and a new suit (Solo Ensemble is this weekend and his choir likes them to dress nice - his was getting a little on the snug side). After getting the rest of his shopping done, we headed to get his new suit. I was sure that he'd be able to get one in the young men's section. He tried a 14, then a 16, then 18, then 20 - the max size in young men's. As I stood there looking at the little toddler and little boy tee shirts and realizing that I had to head to the Men's Suit Department to find something to fit him, I burst into tears. He's not a little boy anymore.

Then as he found a suit (and not the smallest men's suit either) that fit perfectly and didn't need any tailoring, I started to cry again at how he really looked like a (dare I say it) "Man" now. The sales clerk stared at me and my son showed how special he really was. He didn't try to hide from me or shush me, as most teenagers would, or die from embarrassment. He walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me and told me "It's okay. I'm still your little boy." So I cried some more. I'm still your little

The added bonus was the sales clerk must of thought I was out of my mind and decided to give me all kind of extra deals that weren't supposed to be available until Saturday and then gave me an extra 25% off everything - just because! Possibly just because she thought I was a lunatic!

But having a special son who loves his mum unconditionally and isn't embarrassed by her sobs - Priceless!

Special Guest at FHE

Tonight for Family Home Evening we had a lesson on Jesus Christ, Our Chosen Leader. The Cute Guy and I felt it important to end the lesson with sharing our testimony with the children, but wanted something extra special to end with. So, we invited Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to bear his testimony of Jesus Christ as our Savior to the kids. Which he did. We were all moved with his beautiful and powerful testimony and it was the perfect end to a special lesson.

Wait.... you don't believe me that Elder Holland really bore his testimony at FHE tonight? Well, he did! With the help of the videos available on Mormon



Did you watch it? It's incredibly powerful, isn't it?! We were all moved by the power and intensity of his words.

Next time you're looking for something extra to add to your Family Home Evening try one of the video's available on the website http://www.mormon.org/

Family Home Evening Help

The Cute Guy and I decided that this year we really needed to refocus on our Family Home Evenings. Be more consistent and not let busy schedules get in the way. We also wanted to go back and revisit the basics with the kids as we felt that there were some gaps in their gospel knowledge.

Steve had the idea of going through the Gospel Principles Study Guide that is currently being taught in Priesthood and Relief Society. Each week we take a chapter and have a small lesson with the kids. However, we have kids ranging from 14 to 5, so we have found it helpful to have an activity and story that helps the younger kids understand what we're talking about.

We've also found it helpful to have a bowl of M&M's on hand. For every question that the kids answer they get an M&M. It's amazing how effective this is. The ever wiggly EB is so still and focused. We look just like one of those pictures you see in the Friend and Ensign of a happy family smiling and listening eagerly to Family Home Evening. Well, we would, if it wasn't for the chocolate covered faces and the fact that we are a Pajama family. The instant we get home we all head to pajama's, with the exception of Steve who hits the shorts and t-shirts.

In our search for other materials though, I did find this awesome link for a year of Family Home Evenings based on the Primary theme for 2010. It's awesome. Ready made FHE lessons and activities and treats. It's helped us out a lot with ideas for the younger kids. So, if you're in need of some ideas this year, I'd suggest you take a look.

http://www.youpublish.com/files/27664/One-Year-of-FHE-Family-Home-Evening-Lessons

I should mention that after our FHE there is a lot of brushing, flossing and mouth washing that takes place. Can't have a dentist's family with a mouth full of cavities, can we?!

Old Love/New Love

Old Love - Never ending Love - The Cute Guy and Madison had a date on Saturday where they went to the Sweetheart Daddy/Daughter Dance and then headed out with friends to Coldstone Creamery for Ice Cream. Aren't they gorgeous????!!!


Sometimes a Heartbreaking Love - Having a daughter is a very different love than a son. You are more protective. You catch glimpses of what they will become in the future and the beautiful women they will become.

You then want to head out and purchase a shotgun so you can scare off any potential boys that may come lurking in the future.

The Daddy took a less drastic approach and went out shopping "on his own" (Shocking!) and selected a gift for Madison. He gave her a beautiful necklace that says Dream on one side and on the other side "Live your dreams". New Love - My Kindle - I am never without it. Yesterday while Declan was having some tests at the hospital I sat quite happily reading away on my Kindle. I am quite content to sit and wait for the kids while at activities while I sit happily with my Kindle. I can download books in less than one minute. I have my scriptures on it. I read super fast on it. I "heart" my Kindle.

Here's hoping that you all have someone or something to love this Valentine's Day!

Flying

Times flies when you're having fun....

Someone

turned five!

Saying goodbye to Winston before we took him to the Doggy Hotel. Yes, there were tears.

While Winston was playing at the Doggy Hotel, we were playing in the snow.

We did try to keep out of this part of Michigan.

Although it was tempting to throw a feisty child or two over the fence, we resisted.The Hummer Snow Run is held in Grayling, Michigan, where there is the largest military installation east of the Mississippi with 147,000 acres. We were playing on the Military Range and the kids loved seeing the enclosed areas where the military does bombing practice and other military maneuvers are practiced here. They picked up lots of gun shells. Declan was sad he didn't bring his gun to practice target shooting. Instead there was huge snowball fights at every stop. Mum even had her head buried in the snow by one of the other hummer owners. She may have taken a cheap shot with a huge snowball, but she won't admit to it for fear of more head dunking.

And you all thought sledding on a sled was fun. Try sledding down a deep snow and icy hill in a 6614 lb/3000 kg vehicle. Now that's fun!

The only downside to our trip was not having Winston with us. We called to check on him everyday (Steve thought we were rather lame, but his heart is three sizes too small). Because Madison is allergic to other dogs, we had arranged for Winston to be groomed before we picked him up. I spoke with the groomer personally and made sure she knew what we wanted. However, when we picked him up, he no longer looked like the long haired fluffball above.

Ethan thought he looked like a Chihuahua. I just cried. Do you think it's wrong to give a dog extensions????