A is for Apple

The first Saturday in October we headed up to an apple orchard about and hour and a half away. It was the closest thing to a mountain we have seen here in Virgina, and it was appropriately named Carter Mountain. It was a U-Pick farm and we ended up picking 64 lbs of apples. There were several different varieties of apples and one particular variety had been quite picked over. There weren’t any apples left at picking level. Sometimes it is really handy to have daddy who is 6’7”.  

 We headed home and started in on our applesauce project. The kids were so excited to help. 

 I have a flat top stove that I can't can on so we had to get creative. We found a camping stove on craigslist and Chris was in charge of getting that up and running. Unfortunately there must have been some water in the gas line and in trying to get things started the flame exploded and engulfed Chris's arm in flames. We are SO blessed that all he walked away with was singed arm hairs. I am not sure how he got away with so little damage but I am very very grateful he dud. 

We ended with 22 quarts of apple sauce. It was a long day but I was so happy to see my shelfs filled with an apple sauce supply again. :) 

A Choice

All of conference was amazing, as it always is.  But perhaps my favorite line was this, "God will not act to make us something we do not choose by our actions to become." -Elder Todd D. Christofferson

We were in the car driving home from picking apples at the orchard we had conference playing on my phone through the car speakers (hashtag: so thankful for technology) and this simple line was spoken. It wasn't a a specific point that was being made, it wasn't emphasized or repeated but it burned itself onto my heart.

I have thought on this line many times since conference. I feel like many times in my life I have asked Heavenly Father to act to make me into something but have taken no action myself. Example, each morning I fervently pray to be the kind of mom my kids need me to be, more patient, intuitive, empathetic. But then as I go throughout my day I do not choose to do things any differently than I did the day prior. It is not that I don't want the things I prayed for. I do, oh how I do. It is just I do not choose to take the actions that will help me become that way. I think the same goes for any prayer uttered with pleas of help. We must choose by our own actions to accomplish whatever it is we want so desperately. We can not become more selfless if we do not choose selfless acts. We can not be better missionaries if we do not seek out missionary opportunities. Heavenly father will help us, I have no doubt. He will open the doors and soften hearts but we must first take action.

It isn't a novel concept to me, but one that I needed to be reminded of.

So today and hopefully every day I will choose by my actions to become what I wish God to help me become.

You should too.

xoxo- me

Da Bump

Sunday mornings are by far the hardest at our house. Chris is at the church early for meetings before the rest of us are up. Which leaves me to get the remaining 5 of us ready with church bag, snacks and quiet activities packed and out the door by 8:30 to be to church on time. Last Sunday morning was no exception. After getting dinner in the crockpot dressing 4 bodies (thank heavens Kaden dresses himself)  braids, pig tales bows, tights, and searching for the missing shoes. We scrambled to the car only 5 minutes behind schedule I buckled the baby on one side Addi was climbing into her car seat on the other and then.....smack, she dove out of the car onto the garage floor. I heard the screams and ran to the other side to assess the damage. When I picked her up she had her hands covering her mouth and was saying "owie, owie" I checked for blood but didn't see any and she was starting to calm down I gave her some love, buckled her into her seat and off we went to church. Twenty minutes later we pulled into the church parking lot and I herded the crew into the chapel only 7 minutes late. Chris was peacefully sitting in a bench waiting for us to arrive. ( Where is the justice... I mean really.) I plopped Addi on his lap and immediately started rummaging through the quite bag for my latest tricks to keep two toddlers reverent and quite for the next hour. That is when Chris tapped me on shoulder, I turned around and his eyes were about double their normal size. He was brushing Addi's bangs to the side and mouthing... "WHAT IS THIS?" And then I saw it. The real owie from the dive onto the cement floor. Addison had a black and blue bump on her head the size of a golf ball. I stared in stunned silence before I told Chris she fell out of the car. "Um.. have you put ice on it?" I thought, Well, no because I am an awesome mom and didn't even see it there. But I just shook my head "no" Chris immediately left to go find ice. I tried to stay calm and collected, but it lasted about 10 minutes before I picked up the baby told the kids to be reverent and left to track them down. When I found them I started blubbering about how I hadn't even seen it there, her bags were covering her forehead, she was pointing to her mouth and saying "owie" not her head, I was in a hurry, we were already late for church, I would have gotten ice had I know... it took all of 6 seconds before a was crying and Chris was convincing me I wasn't going to hauled away for child neglect.

We kept a close eye on her and the lump significantly decreased after the ice was put on it. Although she was a little docile for the rest of the day (I can't imagine the headache she had) she was her usual self by morning. We were very blessed that nothing worse happened. It has been over a week and she still has a slight yellowish green bump on her head. I have never been a big fan of 1:00 church but right now it is sounding like a welcome change. 

A week later...

Steps

On 9/29/2014  Brielle took her very first steps. 15 months and 2 days old.

And so it begins...

Brielle's first steps from Jill Clayton on Vimeo.