Kids

Kids

Sunday, May 15, 2016

What I have learned from Abinidi

I am the Gospel Docterine teacher at my ward and today I taught a lesson on Abinidi's message to King Noah and his priests.  The story of Abinidi is one members of our church know well - he was commanded of The Lord to preach repentance unto the wicked King Noah. Noah didn't like that, so he wanted Abinidi killed, however The Lord blessed Abinidi to deliver his message without being harmed. After his message was delivered, he sealed his testimony with his life.
Abinidi preached of the 10 commandments and of the atonement of our Savior. He quoted many words of Isaiah and testified boldly of Noah's need for repentance, even in the face if death. 

Abinidi was a hero, in every facet of the word.

Now, I highly doubt that I will be bound, threatened with death and then burned at the stake for my beliefs as Abinidi was, however The Lord has, and will continue, to send me on difficult missions.  The Lord will command of me to do things that will seem impossible - I am sure Abinidi must have had moments where he felt that - however I have trust and faith that The Lord will protect and deliver me to accomplish what He has for me to do - just as He did for Abinidi.

I am on a difficult mission right now. Parenting.

I am sure every mother out there who has teenagers (even myself when I read back on this in 10 years) are rolling their eyes as they read this, but parenting a 6 year old has been really tough work.  All I have ever known is early childhood...it's what I studied in school, it's where all my experience lies and it is what I am passionate about, so 6 is a big change! Nola is changing. She is less dependant on me to actually do things for her, yet more dependant on my guidance. I am finding the balance of tenderness and a firm hand very unclear. Honestly....I just have no idea what I am doing!! I often feel lost and that this mission is impossible, yet through the tender mercies of God and through reading the scriptures, I am blessed with perspective. I can learn of Abinidi's story - of how he faced great adversity, yet completed his mission - and know that I will be blessed to do the same.  I can have courage and conviction that not only can I survive this, but that I can do and be who the Savior wants me to be. I can come out conqueror, knowing I fulfilled my mission. How sweet is the peace the gospel brings!!!

My thanks is to my Lord, as always. I see Thy hand in my life every single day. I know I will be able to figure this out, that I will be able to guide Nola and complete my motherly mission because I have faith and hope that Thou will bless me as Thou has blessed my brethren before me. The scriptures are nothing short of a gift. Pick them up and read them!!! I exhort you!! They will only bless an enhance your life. Write the word of God on your heart and allow Him to guide you.

Abinidi is a hero.
And I know I can be too.

Sparks sleepover

Last night, Nola and I went to her sparks sleepover at the community centre!

I'll be honest, I wasn't too excited to go. Not that I thought it was be bad, I was just so tired and not wanting to deal with a bunch of little girls. I am happy to say that I am SO glad I went! It was lots and lots of fun! 

We started out by drawing with sidewalk chalk outside. It was only Brown Owl, Jessica, Jade, Nola and I for the first hour or so. Jessica is a Brownie and Jade is a guide. That is one of the things I love most about Girl Guides here in Coalhurt - since we are such a small community, sparks, brownies and guides all meet together! It warms my hert to see Nola walk down the halls at school and have friends in different grades :) Just before we ate, Ruth, Aurora, Izzy and Gemma showed up.

After chalk we made supper - Taco in a bag. Yum!!! Brown owl did an amazing job teaching the girls how to make the dinner. Girl guides is all about teaching the girls life skills and it was great to see Brown Owl doing that. We then made some crafts, went to play at the park and then came back and crafted again! We decorated mugs and made feather masks. 

We got all of our beds set up and started watching The Arisocats around 8:30. We paused the show about an hour in and had some snacks - popcorn, chips and rice Krispy squares. Back to the movie, which the girls switched to Aladdin, and the down for bed. Nola was pretty wired and didn't go down until after 11, but she did it!!! I wasn't too sure if she would actually sleep there...I was anticipating heading home once all her friends had fallen asleep, but she did it!! So proud of my big girl :) We slept good and were up at out of there early this morning as Doug had morning meetings for church.

It was a lovely evening spent with my daughter and her friends.  I am so glad that she wants me around - what an absolute priveldge! These years are so special and I know will go by in the blink of an eye.

I love you Nola, with a ferocity you will only undertand once you too are a mother. I adore you and cherish the time we get together. As hard as it may be, it is an honour to watch you grow up. You will not always be 6, so I want to enjoy each and every moment I can now. I will always be yours, darling. Always.

Thursday, May 12, 2016

What we have been up to

Can I just tell you how much I hate the fact that I cannot post pictures on here? I am so frustrated!! 

I don't want to stop blogging, so I will just have to keep it updated sans photos. *sigh*

Life has been great and crazy! Not like it is anything new, but we have been running around like chickens with our heads cut off! Diana took me out on a wild goose chase to find the cheapest way to fill our garden beds. We got a tractor scoop of sheep compost and some straw for $30 and that filled both beds! Wahoo! We are going to plant after May Long :) 

Mother's Day was wonderful. We had a great morning at church and then spent the afternoon and evening in Magrath with my folks. We had my favourite meal - BBQ Italian chicken, ham &cheese salad and angle food cake. Doug and the kids spoiled me, as usual! I got a beautiful necklace from Doug earlier in the week, and then I also got a clothes line!!! I am SO excited!! Nola, Robbie and John made me my very own hiking stick. Now that I won't be working Saturdays anymore, I will be able to go hiking with Doug and the kids, so now I have my own massive, ridiculously painted, feathered and beaded hiking stick!

This last Wednesday my mother in law hosted a baby shower for Theo and Dori. It was a lovely afternoon!! Theo is absolutely adorable and so is Miss Lou. Sarah and Alice came too, which was perfect!! This auntie was in baby heaven.
Tonight we are off to clean the church and then tomorrow is my last Friday shift. It is so crazy to me to think I only have three shifts of work left!! One more Friday, one more Saturday and one more Monday. Ahh!! As nervous as I am about being done, I am so excited! I also have a lot of peace, as I know this is exactly what I am supposed to do.

Well, there you have it - the life of the Walton's :)

Friday, May 6, 2016

Garden beds

For FHE this week, we build our garden beds! We have been wanting to have a garden for the last couple years, so we are very excited!

We built two small beds, one 7x3 and one 6x3, just using left over wood we had kicking around the house. We then let the kids paint them :) They look super colourful and ridiculous, but we love them SO much! The kids are so proud of their art work. All of is for pretty painty, but John was literally covered! Haha!

We will be getting some soil for the garden this week and then figure out exactly what it is we want to plant! Yay!


Robbie's EEG

On Monday, May 2, Robbie had an EEG brain scan done at the hospital. His pediatrician thinks he may be suffering from absence siezures, so we went to get it tested.

 To be honest, we were feeling a little daunted by the appointment because we had to sleep deprive the poor boy. He was only allowed a total of 4 hours sleep!! The dr suggested we keep him up as late as possible and then wake him as early as possible. I think the sleep deprivation was harder on Doug and I, as Robbie did great!!! He stayed up until 2am last night! We had lots of fun - hung out at a friends house until 10, went on adventure walks outside with the flashlights, played ninja turtle race cars, did the recycling with daddy and watched a show. He was a little tricky to wake, but he did ok. Again, Doug and I took it harder than he did.

 The scan itself went very well. Robbie was very excited to 'fall asleep with the brain test.' The EEG tech was quite the character which was awesome!!! Rob loved her, which made everything easier. She really involved Robbie and us with set up - Rob got to plug all the little chords into the computer. She let him pick a movie to watch - Dora - and then gave him a hulk ring pop. He was in HEAVEN! They started the exam by having him breathe fast and deep by blowing a pinwheel windmill. After that, he went to sleep. He fought sleep for about 10 minutes and then passed right out. I was praying so hard he would sleep, as that's where I fear he may be having seizures, if we is having them at all. How grateful I am that The Lord blessed him with sleep! He fell into a deep sleep and we needed to wake him, which was tricky. The tech used the flashing lights to wake him, which was pretty cruel. Necessary, but cruel. Could you imagine being woke from a deep sleep by flashing lights for 10 minutes ?! Needless to say, he was not happy.  Then the test was over and the tech ripped the tape off his head. Again, not happy. Luckily, he left with a smile and high fives for everyone.

 Even though it's way out of character for us - Doug and I pretty much never buy our kids anything - we took Robbie to toys r us to pick out a you for being such a brave boy. He picked a airplane toy named Donnie and played with him all day!!

We won't get any results for about 4 weeks, but we are so relieved that the scan is done. We are one step closer to discovering what, if anything, may be troubling Rob.