A Necessary Evil

Every spring I mourn as I prune my raspberry stalks and my rose bushes. Even though I know I am doing the right thing and the best thing for them, I struggle to not feel sorrow as I cut of the growing parts of the plant.
It makes me think that Heavenly Father probably feels similar things when we are being "pruned". He knows we will be stronger, happier and more successful if we choose to grow through it. I'm sure he has moments of quiet encouragement talking us through the difficult patches and then takes a relieved breath when we begin to thrive again.

Ryan's Faith

Last summer I bought Ryan an Adidas exercise outfit (jacket and pants) from costco which he loved. Sometime in the fall he lost the jacket. I searched high and low, cleaned out closets and under beds, checked the school and church lost and found, etc.
I decided it was long gone and not to worry about it anymore.
Last Thursday something Ryan remembered that it was missing and started lamenting again. I told him it was gone but smiled that night as he prayed specifically that he would find his blue jacket with the three white stripes down the arms.
After that I'll admit I totally forgot about it.
Yesterday afternoon there was a knock on the door, Ryan answered it to find Sean and Warren holding his jacket.
I reminded Ryan of his prayer and thanked the boys for being an answer to that prayers.
Ryan is such an example of faith. He was not even surprised when the boys showed up at our door, pleased, but not surprised. He's such a good boy.

Karate Belt Promotion

This weekend Ryan and Isabelle each earned a new belt in karate. They were very excited especially because they earned a medal for doing chores at home. Grandpa Allen joined me in cheering them on. Good job, guys!

Cell phone anyone?

Hey, my husband is doing a sidejob in telecommunications (ACN). He's just working it part time but it's starting to really take off (he's excited).

He can get plans with any major cell phone company (often great deals on phones - right now he can get a free blackberry pearl), dish network, direct tv, adt home security, home phone service and a really cool video phone.

He can get you the same deals (generally - sometimes better, sometimes worse) that you can get in the phone stores (better deals on new plans than on renewals) but you'd get to work with us!

If you or your family have any needs please call, we'd be happy to help.

www.sunnyday.acnrep.com

Izzy's birthday party

Izzy was excited to celebrate her 5th birthday this year. She wanted to have a Scooby Doo party, so we played dog games, watched a Scooby Doo episode, followed clues to solve the mystery (of where the food was, of course), enjoyed pizza followed by eating a dog bone cake.

Of course she was delighted to receive presents and was just as happy to pass out the treasures we had for her guests. She was delighted to be the guest of honor and wanted to have everything just so. She decorated the door and the kitchen with Scooby Doo valentines while Ryan hung streamers and hid the clues. Ryan really wanted to be the adult in charge of the party. They were both very entertaining. It was a fun (and exhausting) evening.

Anatomy Lessons

I'll be honest, I grew up in a home where things were not always refered to in an anatomically correct way. I've been trying since Ryan got into school to help him know what his parts are really called so he doesn't get embarrassed by calling things by a "baby" name. The reality is that it is almost impossible for me to say penis (I'm even blushing discussing this here.) But what was worse this week was when Isabelle asked me very loudly (with no blush of course) "Do I have a penis?" It was even harder to say the word to her. Sigh, I'm trying to be a grown-up, but I'm not looking forward to the day we have to have "The talk".

Too young for a crush

As we watched a few minutes of High School Musical 3 tonight my kids wondered why everyone had crushes on each other. Then Izzy got a mischievous look on her face and asked, "Mom, why does Warren always follow me around?" I answered "He just likes to be with you." At the same time Ryan said, "He must have a crush on you!" I told them that they were to young to have crushes and Ryan notified me that lots of girls have crushes on him at school. How many you wonder? 10 or 12 he says. When Izzy asked the names of these girls he shrugged and said, "I don't know them all."

He also has dressed like "Troy" for the past two days and says he's like Troy was when he was seven. Boy are we in for it! Hopefully there is no "Sharpay" in his future!