Tag: ryan

Ryan’s talk

It was Ryan’s turn to give a talk. He did a great job.

Discerning Truth

Last week in Priests Quorum, I told them I was speaking this week and told them my topic, and asked them what I should talk about.  The suggestions ranged from – you should start with an interesting or funny story or I’ll probably lose interest, to a suggestion of talking about fake news stories about how much ice cream Donald Trump eats after his meals.  I thought that was kinda funny and I looked into the story and it probably isn’t appropriate to talk about that particular story here, but I did think it was insightful that in today’s world we are bombarded by fake news, not just about political items, but far more importantly about spiritual things.

In reality, while fake news is a somewhat recently coined term, the pursuit of truth isn’t something new.  Sometimes I wonder why truth isn’t always easier to find for people.  The answer is actually probably simple – because the adversary doesn’t want us to know the truth.

Elder Ballard talks about the adversary’s deception in a recent conference talk, he says…Like the fly fisherman who knows that trout are driven by hunger, Lucifer knows our “hunger,” or weaknesses, and tempts us with counterfeit lures which, if taken, can cause us to be yanked from the stream of life into his unmerciful influence. And unlike a fly fisherman who catches and releases the fish unharmed back into the water, Lucifer will not voluntarily let go. His goal is to make his victims as miserable as he is

Lucifer is a clever and cunning intelligence. One of the main methods he uses against us is his ability to lie and deceive to convince us that evil is good and good is evil. Satan and his minions have their lures all around us, hoping that we will falter and take his flies so he can reel us in with counterfeit means.

In he kingdom of God, the search for truth is appreciated, encouraged, and in no way repressed or feared. Church members are strongly counseled by the Lord Himself to seek for knowledge.2 He said, “Seek ye diligently … ; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.”3However, how can we recognize truth in a world that is increasingly blunt in its attacks on the things pertaining to God?

And our Heavenly Father has given us agency to grow and to learn.  But he also has given us several ways to discern truth in our lives – and I’d like to talk about a few of them.

The first way we can learn truth is through personal revelation.

The question of truth is really what spurred the restoration of the gospel and our church.  In the early 1800’s, Joseph Smith wanted to know the truth.  He struggled with the worthy question of what church to attend – in his words he described that time as “an unusual excitement on the subject of religion” in the area he lived.  He said

Joseph Smith History:  10 In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself: What is to be done? Who of all these parties are right; or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be right, which is it, and how shall I know it?

11 While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

12 Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.

13 At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to “ask of God,” concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom, and would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture.

So Joseph Smith, before he had the First Vision, was taught by personal revelation.  Not all of us will have miraculous experiences and see visions, but we all learn truth, as Joseph did, through the personal revelation through the Holy Ghost.

2Nephi2:6-8  Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.

7 Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.

8 Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah

I had an experience when I was a missionary in South America.  Many communities in South America have open markets… he told a story here in his own words about a lady that asked about the church. His companion started talking with her, he was a new missionary and thought they would never get anywhere talking with her in a crowded loud market. They basically gave her the first discussion (thats how missionaries taught at the time) and there was no doubt the spirit was there and confirmed the truth to her of Joseph Smith praying and having God appear and answer his question.

The second way we can discern truth is by observing it’s fruits, and experimenting on the word. During the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord said:

“Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. …

“Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”4

In Alma 32, Alma is teaching those that had been kicked out of their places of worship because they were poor as to the things of the world.  He said…

28 Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.

29 Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say unto you, Yea; nevertheless it hath not grown up to a perfect knowledge.

30 But behold, as the seed swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, then you must needs say that the seed is good; for behold it swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow. And now, behold, will not this strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen your faith: for ye will say I know that this is a good seed; for behold it sprouteth and beginneth to grow.

31 And now, behold, are ye sure that this is a good seed? I say unto you, Yea; for every seed bringeth forth unto its own likeness.

Thus the scriptures teach us that we can know the truth by observing its fruits or by experimenting with it personally, giving place for the word in our hearts and cultivating it like unto a seed.

The last way to discern truth is through the Gift of the Holy Ghost.

Elder Eyring, in speaking of the Holy Ghost said

During our confirmation we heard these words: “Receive the Holy Ghost.”1 From that moment, our lives changed forever.

We can, if we live worthy of it, have the blessing of the Spirit to be with us, not only now and then…but always. You know from the words of the sacrament prayer how that promise is fulfilled: “O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them.”

And then comes the glorious promise: “That they may always have his Spirit to be with them” (D&C 20:77; emphasis added).

To always have the Spirit with us is to have the guidance and direction of the Holy Ghost in our daily lives. We can, for instance, be warned by the Spirit to resist the temptation to do evil.

For that reason alone, it is easy to see why the Lord’s servants have tried to increase our desire to worship God in our sacrament meetings. If we partake of the sacrament in faith, the Holy Ghost will then be able to protect us and those we love from the temptations that come with increasing intensity and frequency.

The companionship of the Holy Ghost makes what is good more attractive and temptation less compelling. That alone should be enough to make us determined to qualify for the Spirit to be with us always.

Just as the Holy Ghost strengthens us against evil, He also gives us the power to discern truth from falsehood. The truth that matters most is verified only by revelation from God. Our human reason and the use of our physical senses will not be enough. We live in a time when even the wisest will be hard-pressed to distinguish truth from clever deception.

The truths that mark the way home to God are verified by the Holy Ghost. We cannot go to the grove and see the Father and the Son speak to the young Joseph Smith. No physical evidence or any logical argument can establish that Elijah came as promised to confer the priesthood keys, now held and exercised by a living prophet.

Confirmation of truth comes to a son or daughter of God who has claimed the right to receive the Holy Ghost. Since falsehoods and lies may be presented to us at any time, we need a constant influence of the Spirit of Truth to spare us moments of doubt.

Boyd K Packer:  Tolerance is a virtue, but like all virtues, when exaggerated, it transforms itself into a vice. We need to be careful of the “tolerance trap” so that we are not swallowed up in it.

 

The Terry’s start some new fashion trends…

Dad had to go straight from work to the baseball game this week. He takes his clothes with him when he has to do this so he can change at work. He forgot his tennis shoes. I could not stop laughing. I called him over like I had to tell him something and took the picture. When he realized what I was doing he turned around and walked off so I took the next picture. Still giggle when I think about it. Seriously, look at those pictures and try not to laugh. He said I was embarassed of him, which I was not. I wouldn’t have told everyone about it if I was embarassed. Hehehe! He lucked out though, one of the other coaches asked him if he needed some tennis shoes he had an extra pair or if he wanted to sport his current look that was cool too. Ryan took him up on his offer to borrow the extra pair of shoes he had. He isn’t the first coach on the team to have that happen either. We are lucky to have such good Dads to support their kids in their activities.

 

At our next game the fashion statements continued. Emilee came up to ask for a drink and I took stock of what she had chosen to wear and had to get a picture of it. Those are socks with water shoes. Yep, nice cozy socks with rubber water shoes, in 100+ temperatures. She thought it was a great idea. Cute little stinker. Again, I still giggle when I think about it. It isn’t her first interesting shoe choice though, Emilee is notorious for wearing inappropriate shoes for the occasion, mismatching shoes, or forgetting her shoes altogether. Lucky for her (an annoyance for me) her sister thinks the car is her personal shoe closet so there is usually a few pairs to choose from if Emilee forgets. Also as a side note. I tell my girls all the time that when they see pictures of themselves in 20 years and wonder what they are wearing I am going to remind them that I always offered ‘how to match your clothes’ advice but it was usually ignored or most likely completely scoffed at like I don’t have the slightest clue what I’m talking about. Unless it is church or family picture day or something like that, it is all them and their styling.

I haven’t mentioned Father’s Day or Ryan’s birthday yet. I have a picture that fits in great with the above pictures too. Both of his special days are usually close together if not the same day. We try to make it separate celebrations for him but this year we were leaving on our RV-cation on his birthday so there wasn’t a whole lot of time to celebrate. We did his cake on the road though. For Father’s Day the kids argued and fought and I about locked them outside for the day, but then we pulled it together and made him a nice steak dinner and played a game together. We gave him a power washer for his Father’s Day and birthday present. He has wanted one for a long time and I have been told for years how amazed I will be at how useful it will be. We also usually get him a cool new pair of pajama pants for Father’s Day. This year we decided to go with a shirt instead. I told him he was going to laugh and I had never seen this shirt before. He said he had found a shirt for his dad the other day but they didn’t have the right size so he didn’t get it but he almost bought it for himself. He told me what it said and it was the same shirt we had gotten him! I kept my game face on and didn’t give it away though.  The kids could hardly contain themselves when he started opening it. I guess potty humor never gets old.

Christmas was worth the wait.

You might have picked up on it by now that Matthew and Ryan share the love of baseball. They spend as much time as possible playing, watching, practicing and enjoying it together. They have had some pretty awesome experiences together too-all their own baseball stuff they do together playing and coaching and practicing and then the Royals Wild Card game, Royals Spring Training, and family Royals games we go to. Matthew’s Christmas present last Christmas was Crown Seat Tickets to a Royals game, which are the 4 rows directly behind home plate. Front and center, best seats in the house to watch the game. So close you can keep the Ump honest.  The tickets for the game he got were for a game this month so Matthew and Ryan went last Saturday. Watching the game, seeing the players up close, sometimes getting an autograph (Matthew almost got Salvador Perez’s autograph but wasn’t quite bold enough) is pretty fun. They also have a private all you can eat buffet available to them throughout the game. This isn’t hot dogs and nachos either. They have that if you want but it is real restaurant food, like all kinds of meats, appetizers, and treats. Matthew stuffed himself on shrimp, shirley temples, ice cream bars, his own personal ice cream sundae, which according to him, “had so many toppings on it I forgot there was ice cream on the bottom!” The seats are in the line of the TV camera’s too so everytime they showed the batter you could see Matthew and Ryan. We recorded the game at home so they could see themselves on TV afterwards. We texted them and told them we could see them and to have Matthew wave at us. Luckily the camera was on the batter when he waved so we saw him. The girls thought it was pretty awesome that someone had just waved at them on TV. They had a pretty fun time. Matthew said it was worth the wait, even though the Royals are not very good right now (almost the worst team in MLB) and didn’t win. Still lots of great memories.

He got a bonus game too. Not crown seats again, but the Monday night after the game Ryan took a client from work to the Royals game and her grandson happens to be a friend of Matthew’s from his previous school so he took Matthew and her grandson too. They lost again but Matthew had fun seeing his buddy.

Sweet Baby James

Ryan is a big James Taylor fan. He has been since high school.  When we were dating I was ‘tested’ to see if I was cool enough to appreciate a little JT music. I knew a few of his songs and liked them but wouldn’t call myself an avid fan or anything. Later on when our kids were born Ryan and I both sang them several different lullaby’s. I stuck with mostly a variety of primary songs. Ryan’s favorites to sing them were the Spanish ‘Aye, Aye, Aye, Aye’ song (which is actually a Spanish drinking song but the way he sings it sounds like a sweet lullaby and none of us understand what he is saying) and ‘Sweet Baby James’ by James Taylor. He is still one of our family favorites to sing to on our spontaneous road trip karaoke break outs.

A couple years ago, James Taylor did a one night concert at the Star Light Theater… we totally missed it, and didn’t even know about it until about a week after it happened. Ryan was more than a little disappointed. Chances of another opportunity seem pretty slim. Well, a few weeks ago when the girls and I went to the Sprint Center for Disney on Ice, I was looking at their upcoming events and noticed there was a one night concert for James Taylor in May! Yeah!! We got tickets and are going next week. Ryan is pretty excited. James Taylor probably won’t be doing concerts to much longer so he is glad we got another chance to see him. He is even missing Matthew’s baseball game to go, which is a very rare occurrence (Matthew isn’t missing it 🙂 ).

Sticking with the James Taylor theme I am going to post a video I have had on my phone for years. A little blast from the past. It is pretty stinking cute. We had to drop one of our cars off to get something fixed so the kids and I took Ryan to work. We were about halfway home and ‘Sweet Baby James’ came on and Matthew and Alli were singing it pretty good, so I pulled over in a parking lot and started it over to get a video of them.  Matthew is about 7, Allison is 3, and Emilee who unfortunately is never shown in this video (I was focused on my singers and she wasn’t singing) is sitting next to Matthew is 1.u

After the concert…

We saw James Taylor last night. We had a great time, it was a good concert. I recorded him when he talked and then sang ‘Sweet Baby James’

Sixteen years!!

Ryan and I celebrated our 16th anniversary on May 4th this year. I can’t believe it has been 16 years!! We went to a movie and dinner and talked a lot about what we have done and how are lives have been since we got married. We reminiced about our first one bedroom apartment, finishing school, then our first home, our kids, jobs, life events. Some of them seem like just yesterday, some of them I didn’t even remember. Some things I wish we could do again, others I am glad they have come and gone.

I am glad that I have been through all of them with Ryan though. He is a perfect match for me. I am glad we are happy and have built a good life together. I am glad we get to have each other forever.

Goodbye February! Part two.

Since I’m talking about being sick I will give a little summary of sickness tolerance of our family. I don’t like my kids to be sick obviously but I do have a little extra nurturing mom side that comes out when they are sick. I love that I can take care of them and I know all of the little things to make them feel better. When Ryan reads the last few sentences he is going to…react…so I will start with the reason for that and get it cleared up.

Ryan and I didn’t really have to many big adjustments to each other when we got married but being sick and the expectations of the other person was one of them that we bumped through a few times. So here are our pre-marriage expectations.

Me 2002- Life needs to continue whether you are sick or not so suck it up and keep going. Colds don’t even count as being sick, they are just a nuisance. If you are sick you are a wimp. Take care of yourself if you are sick.

Ryan 2002- When you are sick, you get in bed and rest and get over it. You don’t go to work, or church or anything because no one wants to be around you anyways and get sick.  Your wife takes care of you and sympathizes with your sickness.

With those expectations in mind…

Many, many, many years ago Ryan was sick. At the time I think I was working every Monday at an office. We had someone that watched Matthew for us.  I came down the stairs to go to work and Ryan was on the couch and said he didn’t feel good so he was going to stay home from work. Unbeknownst to me,  not only was he sick but he had been throwing up or coughing all night or something so he was extremely tired on top of his illness. I asked him if he was going to keep Matthew home with him or if he still wanted me to take him to the sitter. He said, “No, I’m sick” I said, “Ok” and for the next ten plus years I have been labeled as the ‘cold, unsympathetic, heartless wife’ that was  ‘disgusted that her poor sick husband  wouldn’t watch their son when he was sick’ basically almost dying.  That is Ryan’s version. My version is,the first time I had to work when Ryan had a man cold  I asked if he was still taking Matthew or not so I could let our sitter know. He said he was still taking him and I went to work.

Ryan, right about now I sense your desire to come tell me your version of the story AGAIN. Keep reading.

Fast forward a few years of practice and you now have our adjusted expectations. These are of course ideal situations and sometimes adjustments have to be made but this is the general idea.

Ryan 2018- When Ryan is sick he wants to be left alone to sleep or play a video game, but he likes to be checked in on occasionally so see if he needs company or a refill or medicine. The longer he is sick the more he likes to be checked on because he gets lonely. He likes to be in his room with the door closed so it is quiet and the blinds closed so it is dark. He likes ice water with a little ice, and lemon lime Gatorade. If he has an appetite he prefers some kind of chicken soup. He will not be doing any other tasks until he is feeling better.  After years of proving my nursing abilities I have almost redeemed myself from my original blunder.

Me 2018- When I am sick, I get to be sick.  Many times Ryan has stayed home from work to take care of the kids so I can rest. I get to have the door closed and be in my bed and sleep. He will check on me and see if I need anything. It is almost like a little vacation-except I feel like crap. I will still probably go to work if I am scheduled but I do realize that people don’t want to be exposed to whatever I have when I am sick so I am getting better at staying home. Colds still don’t count as being sick (for adults), however, they are a reasonable excuse to go to bed early if you’re a wimp. 🙂

Where our kids are concerned we also made a lifetime arrangement due to each others stronger than usual aversion to vomit or poop. When possible and reasonable Ryan is in charge of clean up and assisting in areas of vomiting. I have the same agreement when poop is involved.  I think I got a pretty good deal because vomit has the potential to appear for years to come, hopefully poop doesn’t.

Ok, I veered a little off topic. I may sound like I am joking describing some of our sick traits, and it can be overwhelming sometimes, especially when there are multiple people sick but I love my family and I love nursing them back to health when they are sick. As long as they don’t throw up on me.

Emilee-  She stays true to her typical snuggly, mommy loving self but kicks it up a notch. When Emilee is sick she feels best when I am physically touching her and devoting all my attention to watching her be sick. Sitting by her reading a book, or watching a show, or doing anything else is not good enough. She wants me to make her a sick bed on the couch with her fridge cold water in a sippy cup so I can help her drink it without her having to lift her head. Then lay next to her and look at her and say that I am sorry she is sick while stroking her hair. She will take medicine if it is bubble gum flavored.

Matthew- He is changing to more of the sit in front of the tv/play video games until he is better but he has some things he likes too. Matthew likes to be waited on hand and foot when he is sick. He likes to be checked on regularly and have the option of having a sick bed on the couch or staying in his room. He wants a sprite and water to drink. He also loves orange jello that is stirred just before it is all the way set so it is like a soup not a solid jello.  He is the best at taking medicines (even if they are disgusting) and will ask for medicines for specific things-like a throat spray or cough or headache. He used to have night terrors at random times when he was little. Now they are just when he is sick, and his asthma always gets worse towards the end of his sickness, which means he usually takes the longest to get better.

Allison- Alli is our lock it down don’t mess with me sick person. She is by far sick the least amount of anyone. She has only had to take antibiotics twice in her life. The first time was Penicillin and we discovered she was allergic to it.  She has never even had an ear infection. She is usually sick the shortest amount of time too.  When she is sick she wants a sick bed on the couch with her blanket. She wants a throw up bowl and ice water within arms reach. Then she pretty much lays there and sleeps until she is better. She will get up and go to the bathroom when she needs and she likes to be carried up to her bed at night and then carried back down in the morning but otherwise she wants to be left alone. She will not take any medicine. She is just now starting to occasionally take Tylenol but most of the time she will have nothing to do with it-not even a cough drop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daddy-Daughter Dance

Tonight was the Girl Scouts Daddy-daughter dance. Alli was pretty excited. You can make it as fancy as you want so she wanted Ryan to wear his suit and she got a new fancy dress. She loves it when she braids her hair and then takes it out and it is kinky so we braided it last night and she wore it all day  until it was time to get ready for the dance. It was really fun helping her get ready and finding her dress. Especially since I know she is on a date with a pretty awesome daddy, instead of some dumb boyfriend. She will know the girls from her school that are there including her bestie Carlee and her friends Aliya and Cambrie she has known since birth. They are having it in a hotel ballroom so it is pretty official.  I told Ryan to get lots of pictures of her dancing and having a good time. She looked very pretty tonight. He asked her if she wanted to go to dinner first. She of course was all for it and said Pizza Street was her choice (bottom of the barrel pizza buffet). Ryan said for a fancy date he had to take her to a little fancier place and convinced her to do Pie Five instead (made to order, fresh ingredients pizza place).  Then it was off to dance the night away and when dad is all danced out he plans to end the evening with an extra big ice cream dessert.

I am really glad she wanted to do girl scouts. They have had a lot of fun activities together that help fill her social needs. Last weekend and this weekend she is helping with a cookie booth. Who knew standing in front of a grocery store selling girl scout cookies for 1-2 hours is a fun time!?

This is a bit of a tangent but  I really love that we have been here in the same area since Matthew was two.  It is fun to be somewhere so long that you start to have connections and people you see as you are just out walking around.  Whether it is running into someone from the gym at the grocery store or Matthew’s school teacher buying cookies from Alli’s cookie booth, or knowing someone that used to be in your ward at church when you take your kids to their gymnastic class. I just like that I feel connected and so familiar with where I live, roots I guess is a good way to sum it up.  Moving around a lot growing up I never really felt that. I like that my kids point out places as we drive by that they remember going to so and so’s birthday party years ago, or going to play at the park and seeing a friend you used to go to dance class with. Matthew runs into a lot of his friends from his old school when he is playing sports too.  Its fun.

Pre-Spring Break Break.

Today was the third day in a row I have received a call before six in the morning saying school is canceled due to inclement weather.  This is a picture of the ‘inclement weather.’ When did we get so wimpy Kansas! It is cold, and we have had some ice, but the roads are dandy. My kids have been out of school for a week now (parent teacher conferences…President Day…three snow days).  My kids have been loving the bonus spring break. Ryan and I have both worked this week so it has been a little tricky figuring out who can watch our kids last minute. Luckily we have awesome Aunt Lauren to help us out in a pinch. It is looking like there should be no reason to cancel tomorrow but I thought that the last two days. Fingers crossed!

Last weekend was the final basketball tournament games for Matthew’s season. We wanted to keep him busy through the off season for baseball so we just signed him up through the city of Olathe sports. His friend Finn ended up on the same team. The first practice looked a little rough but they had a great coach and they did really good. Their end of season record was 7-1. They were the winners for their division, and were bumped up to the next division for the tournament.  The trophies they are holding are for winning their division. They won the first game but lost the second game of the tournament. Matthew played pretty good. He is great at the steal and break away for a layup because he is so fast. He made a few threes too. He needs to work on his dribbling so he is more comfortable with his left dribble but he had a good, fun season.

Emilee is finished with her three basketball practices and has had her first two games. The first game she would run down and shoot the ball if she got it on offense, but when it was time for defense her and Reese went and SAT against the wall until it was time to run down the court again. Game two was better. She stayed on the court and held her hands up wherever she was whether she was standing by someone or not. We have been working on dribbling this week for her last game.  I love watching little kids play sports. It is so ridiculous if you sit back and take in the whole scene but it is a lot of fun for them. She is so proud of herself when she is done.

Alli's famous

A few years ago Ryan had Allison come to his work and take some pictures for some brochures they were making and other advertising stuff. They just redid some of it and added a video on their Facebook page. The last part ends with this picture. We showed Alli the video and I said, “Look Alli, you’re famous!” to which she replied in her best ‘mom you just don’t get it voice’, “Ya, I’ve been famous for years.” I hope she holds on to that confidence.

Ryan and I went on a group date with some of our friends to an Escape Room this last weekend.  We have done it once before a while ago. It is a fun time. The room had a 34% pass pass rate and we were able to figure it out before our time ran out. That made us all feel smart. Then we all went to KC Joe’s BBQ and had some delicious BBQ. I am becoming a BBQ snob, which is easy to do in  a city known for its BBQ. It is probably my favorite type of food too now.

Valentine’s is coming…

Aaahhh Valentine’s Day… I have mixed emotions about this holiday. Sometimes I get into it and it is fun, other years it is more of a hassle. This year I have been a little more into it.

For the kids I usually get them a little stuffed animal or something. My kids LOVE stuffed animals. They are going to take over our house someday. It really is something all three of them like though so it works well.

This year I am doing something fun that they have really liked. Each day I leave a little note with a treat or gift for them to find in the morning. I started on the 1st and the last one will be the 14th. Some of the favorites have been a balloon that says pop me on it with a note inside, or ones that have a cheesy note, like ‘I love you smartie pants’ with some Smarties.

This is the last weekend before Valentine’s Day so it has been full of Valentine festivities for the kids getting ready for the party coming up this week for school. They can make a box for their valentine cards and bring it if they want and then of course making the Valentine’s for each person. It made me chuckle how each kiddo did their stuff.

Emilee got an appropriate size bag to color and decorate with stickers and had fun sticking the candy on each card for her preschool friends. Took about half an hour.

Alli made a robot that opens it mouth to receive her cards. It is made from three cereal boxes, four 2 liter bottles, all covered with tin foil then colored to look like different colors of slime because it says “I love slime” all over it. She has been working on it for three days and still has some finishing touches. She also spent a few hours making her valentines and organizing them and checking and rechecking her list.

Matthew asked to have little individual bags of Skittles which he wrote ‘from Matthew’ on each one then put them in a plastic grocery sack which he said can also be his ‘box’. Took him a total of maybe five minutes.

Side note. In fifth grade I remember spending lots of time wondering and thinking about the perfect card for each boy. I stressed about the ‘meaning behind’ each one and wanted it to be very clear that I didn’t like them, or if I did like them then I had to make it obvious but not to obvious. Then after everyone handed them out at school I would come home and poor over the Valentine’s from the boys and try and figure out which ones were sending me a hidden message that they liked me. Haha! I now know that these boys (if they were anything like my boy) spent about two seconds doing their cards and had no idea that this was serious business and I would be agonizing over them wondering what they meant by giving me the one that said “you are the best!’ on it.

Ryan and I usually  keep it simple and plan a date somewhere close to the 14th and have a nice evening together. The last few years I have also given  him a homemade thoughtful, sweet, but slightly cheesy gift.  For example one year I made a little book with a picture of us from each year we had been married and decorated it over the top with hearts and glitter and flowers. One year I hooked a deck of cards together with an o-ring and mod podged a different reason I love him on each card. Another year I made a picture collage with pictures from the last 15 years we have been married.  He is getting a nice little collection for his dresser. 🙂 Ryan always makes sure I get a yummy supply of dark chocolate too, which I am already looking forward to.