Since Valentine’s Day fell on Sunday, I thought it appropriate to make valentines for the little ones. Candy is dandy, but felt is, well, felt. One mom reported almost immediately how her daughter put her felt heart to her cheek. Aw! That’s exactly what I was going for. I put eyes on the hearts and stitched two pieces of felt together around the edges with embroidery thread. They reminded me of “heart power” on Super Paper Mario. You collect hearts in order to gain life power. So no matter what enemies attack and drain you of life power little-by-little, collecting hearts will restore your life and you can continue in the game.

So… moving on. I’m a big fan of cereal and milk. I like to eat crunchy cereal with a large spoon because the faster I can shovel it in, the least soggy it will get. Our cabinet is filled with bowls–mostly for eating cereal. We have the little plastic ones from Ikea, the ones with built-in straws, the ones with characters on them, and the deep ones made by Corelle. Those deep ones are my favorite. Zoe took out five of them at once when she was just a baby… I was holding her and got a little too close to the counter where they were stacked up, she exercised her new-found gripping reflex, I stepped away from the counter, and ka-blam-o! They fell on the hard ceramic tiles and scattered to the four corners of the house. She’s little, but the damage she can do is exponentially larger than her size. I have been slowly replacing the bowls since they’re not really a top priority in the spending budget. BUT I found some awesome deep bowls at Target the other day. Four plastic bowls (Zoe-proof!) for $2. That’s 50¢ per bowl. I got eight. They come in a bunch of colors, but I like red. There were matching cups and plate bowls, too, but these are not nearly as effective for enjoying cereal and milk.

Wow, it’s really dusty here. Glad I just picked up some Pledge to take care of the mess that has accumulated in my absence. (No really, this stuff works great and smells really good, too.) I just took care of 71 spam comments. People find me whenever I post something to Friendfeed or Facebook and then my poor blog is attacked. I still haven’t figured out how to disable comments on some of the pictures I have saved as their own entry. I don’t know how I did that. I don’t know why I did that. I just write here from time to time. Hopefully, now that things are straightened out a little, I’ll get back into more regular posting.

When I started homeschooling this school year, my blog turned into a weekly update for how things have been going. Our education goals have dropped off a little. You know how life happens… first it was the visit from Nana Koko that wreaked havoc on the daily grind and we played a lot and did a lot of field trips, then it was Thanksgiving when we fried a turkey, and then Christmas break came and I only let the kids take one week off while we were at Grandma’s house. Since the new year began, we have gotten back to the daily grind. And it’s fun! I still take a few days to get my work done during deadline week, but for the most part, things have been back on track.

The most exciting change that has happened in homeschooling is that the HEART homeschooling group and Juergen’s Gymnastics have finally cut a deal and the boys will be doing gymnastics once-a-month. I know the sessions are few and far between, but I’m hoping to keep the boys doing their stretches daily so to keep them progressing forward between sessions as much as possible. And they have the Wii Fit. And they play outside on their bikes/razor scooters/ripstick on nice days, like today.

So… other than homeschooling, I’ve been reading books. Even though I have less time now, there is always time for reading. Like when the football game is on, I sit next to my husband in the living room and read. While he is bouncing up and down and yelling about Brett Favre throwing an interception, I’m in another world altogether. These are moments that I truly enjoy. Especially when the laundry’s done and the kitchen sink is clean and everyone is fed and watered or put to bed.

Other things have happened, like Seth turned eight in December and got baptized in January. It was such a peaceful and smooth-going baptism. Everything and everyone was nice. During “intermission” we asked everyone to write a note to him and it was great to read what people wrote. Many of them referenced Grandpa Randy’s talk on baptism (Randy and Niki were both able to attend which was an incredible blessing and miracle considering their unique circumstances). Seth has a nice collection of encouraging words from those who attended. I like that it is also a record of all who attended because I know from experience that when you’re the reason for an event it’s nice to go back and see who was there cheering you on. Seth is currently awaiting his very own set of scriptures which we forgot to order until about a week ago. His set is going to be green. He’s excited to be getting his own pocket hymn book, too, which will also be green. We somehow forgot to get one for Zack, so he’s getting a black one to match his scriptures. These are traditional gifts that we give to them when our children turn eight and are baptized.

As is the custom in our church, Seth also became a new Cub Scout. He could hardly wait to get his uniform. He wears it so proudly. And the Wolf Handbook was devoured in the first hour of it reaching his hands. He had the Bobcat Badge taken care of in his first week of scouts. He has slowed down a little since, but he is still very excited to be a Cub Scout. His enthusiasm has brushed off on his older brother who is a Webelos. Zack has quite a bit to do in the next five months in order to get his badge and Arrow of Light award. It is part of our homeschooling goals to give more time to these scout goals. I have given them a project of learning about the Food Pyramid and presenting it to the family while also taking inventory of our own eating habits from a week of recording everything we ate. I haven’t seen any more action on this, so I’m making a mental note to get out my whip. What? Indiana Jones has one. It’s for cracking, not whipping.

Speaking of whipping… I made another yummy dessert topped with homemade whipped cream tonight. Ever since Zoe’s 2nd birthday (just about two weeks ago), I’ve been craving another yellow cake topped with vanilla pudding, whipped cream, and blueberries. It is so good and so light. You could eat the whole pan in one sitting and not hurt a thing. I’m guessing. I didn’t really do that, but I have a feeling that I could. Everyone just had one piece for dessert/refreshments for Family Home Evening. We played Uno tonight. The first game lasted about 30 minutes. It was so long that we only played two games. The second one was quick. And we were able to dig into our desserts at a decent hour.

Come to think of it, we had dinner at a decent hour, too. All thanks to Josh – he reminded me to put it in the oven around 2pm and also gave me the idea on how to cook the pork I defrosted. I rubbed a pork tenderloin with minced garlic, poultry seasoning, and celery salt, threw it in a foil bag, and roasted it in the oven for about three hours. It was falling apart when I took it out. It was the easiest thing ever. I threw some potatoes on the rack to complement the pork. I got the loin half price, so dinner tonight was about 10 bucks for our family of six. Zoe held her own, too, she ate everything. I kept looking at the floor to see if she was throwing it down there, but no… the times, they are a-changing when the toddler gets more food in her mouth than everywhere else. She even ate the rosemary-salted carrots. The rosemary was grown by Randy and Niki’s neighbor down in Port A. The neighbor mixes it with sea salt and puts the mix in little jars to give as Christmas gifts to the neighbors. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time and scored our own little jar since Randy and Niki still haven’t used up the one they got last year.

Health-wise, we are taking turns with the sore throat and headache cold. I believe it was Zoe who started it. Then I got it last week and now Sarah is really starting to feel it. So at church yesterday we barely got through singing Aloha ‘Oe to a dear friend who is moving to Indonesia. While sitting in church the week before, I felt inspired to sing to her despite my lack of singing voice. I recruited Sarah to sing it with me in the Young Women room after their opening exercises. Since the YW President served her mission in Hawaii, she knows all about this custom of singing “Farewell to Thee” to members who move out of the ward. We sing and then bring lei to give and show our love. Everyone cries. You tell yourself that you’re not going to, but the beauty of the music (even when I’m singing it) creates a portal to your heart and allows all that feeling to come up and out. While practicing the song, I even told the girls not to cry, but everyone was crying by the time we were done with our singing. Arwen, our friend and former YW President, was crying before we began. Instead of flower lei, we gave cookie and candy leis. It was a very nice day at church yesterday. We came home very uplifted.

Aloha `Oe by Lili`uokalani

Ha`aheo e ka ua i nâ pali

Ke nihi a`ela i ka nahele

E uhai ana paha i ka liko

Pua `âhihi lehua o uka

Hui:

Aloha `oe, aloha `oe

E ke onaona noho i ka lipo

One fond embrace, A ho`i a`e au

Until we meet again

Translation:

Proudly sweeps the rain cloud by the cliffs

As onward it glides through the trees

It seems to be following the liko

The `ahihi lehua of the vale.

Chorus:

Farewell to thee, farewell to thee

Thou charming one who dwells among the bowers

One fond embrace, before I now depart

Until we meet again.

I wanted to write after witnessing my first Eagle Scout Court of Honor and record my feelings before they flit away. My heart was full listening to the scout leaders, Congressman Poe, and the five young men receiving their Eagle Scout Award. A lot was said about the young men becoming the future leaders of our church, our city, our state, our nation… Words to describe them reflected the Scout Law—like courage and honor. Congressman Poe, who was a judge for many years, stated that in all 25,000 of the criminal cases he oversaw not one of the offenders was an Eagle Scout. He believed it to be a testament to the good of the Boy Scouts of America program. The boys are just too busy doing other things to get into any trouble. When he was done speaking, he presented each Eagle Scout with an American flag that had been flown over the White House along with a certificate of authenticity.

As each of the young men stepped up to the podium to say a few words—all of them were grateful to their parents, scout and church leaders, coaches or some particular person who pushed them to earn this award—I looked at my oldest son wearing his Webelos uniform and imagined him achieving Eagle Rank. I thought every boy in the room is dreaming about becoming an Eagle Scout and every mother in the room wants her son to live up to the Eagle Scout ideals. I couldn’t see my husband sitting in an “Eagle’s Nest” on the stand, but I thought of him and what it must have felt like for him when he got his Eagle. Both of his brothers are Eagle Scouts and his dad was their Scoutmaster for many years. The fathers of the five boys each had a chance to speak and a few got choked up while expressing their love for their sons. There were jokes about being tired, being literally pushed, and reference was made to Philmont Camp when someone lost the food on the last day. So much work went into getting those boys to set goals and then achieve them.

So much work went into the Court of Honor. One of the moms expressed to me how much like a wedding it felt in the way of preparing for it. The building was exquisitely decorated with pictures of the scouts, pictures of eagles, statues of eagles, banners reflecting the Boy Scout motto “Be Prepared”, American flags, little evergreen trees and other patriotic memorabilia. Afterwards, they served food catered by Chick-Fil-A. They added to the brownies and cheesecake with Blue Bell ice cream and cake. I got to help serve the cake. I was instructed to give one piece per person unless it was one of the five new Eagle Scouts. They could have seconds if they wanted. A lot of work went into setting up the event and lots of work went into cleaning up after the celebration. I took the kids home while Josh helped take stuff down and set up the building for church tomorrow. When he got home, Josh reported that it was awesome being a part of the clean up crew, too, because everyone helped. Scouts know and do their duty.

I know it’s going to be a lot of work getting my boys ready to go out into the world and lead successful lives. I’m glad that we have the Scout program to help them learn to set goals and then get that awesome feeling when they have achieved them. I’m glad that we were able to attend the Eagle Court of Honor so that my boys could catch the spirit of scouting and my Webelos could continue to work hard to get his awards. Seth will get his uniform next month and he is very excited to be a new Cub Scout—even more so now that he has attended an Eagle Scout Court of Honor.

That is not to say that we do not teach the children that it’s not about the candy or the egg hunt or the new clothes… but it’s about renewal. That’s the word that was preached over the pulpit today that stuck in my head. It’s Spring, the dead branches of winter are sprouting new green leaves and mimic how Jesus died for our sins and lives again. He led a perfect life and was therefore a perfect sacrifice. He was the unblemished and first of the flock given in sacrifice for us. We no longer have to offer burnt sacrifices, the old law is fulfilled in his sacrifice, but he only asks that we come with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And this we strive to do every week. If we are properly prepared — praying and reading our scriptures daily — partaking of the sacrament each week is an Easter celebration.

I was surprised by the comments made by my children earlier in the week… apparently, every year they get new Easter Sunday clothes. I was unaware that they had noticed this, and if it weren’t for a series of events, I would not have followed through this year. I had no intention of getting them new clothes until I was at the store on Saturday night (we had also gone to Walmart looking for plastic eggs and diet coke to appease the Daddy). We had paid our taxes earlier that day, and after months of stressing over it, it was a burden suddenly lifted. I was glad to be able to get them new clothes because the boys really need them anyway and Sarah has half my closet confiscated. I liked being able to get some of my clothes back and keep this family tradition.

We have another tradition that we started when we lived in Northern California and Sarah and Zack were the only little ones. No matter what the weather, the kids can count on an egg hunt inside as soon as they wake up. We do the Easter Bunny like Santa Claus… he comes after they are asleep. We use plastic eggs with candy inside. This year we got some creme eggs, marshmallow eggs, little wrapped chocolate eggs, Starburst Jelly Beans (because the old fashioned Jelly Beans are disgusting), and Peanut M&Ms. We also had a solid chocolate bunny and a chocolate smelling plush bunny in their empty baskets sitting on the table. This being Zoe’s first Easter as an active participant, we had a new basket for her as well. I used another basket to hold items that I had picked out from Tata and Nananita. She had called a few days before asking me to get something for them.

As a side note, my parents were planning a big egg hunt at their house this year and Nananita was sorry that we couldn’t be there. She said it would be the last party at their house, but I’ve heard her say that before, so who knows? Parties at my dad’s house are insane. Our family is huge, so it takes a lot of energy to throw a party. Lots of food prep, lots of parked cars line the street, and lots of cousins of all ages take over both the front and back yards. It’s one of the reasons I love being a Benavente. I have tons of memories as a child of eating, no, stuffing myself silly with my favorite Chamorro foods and running completely amuck.

For my children, their way of getting crazy was waking up at 4:00 am to hunt for eggs. It’s a good thing that I put a note next to the baskets asking the boys to wake up Sarah before they started (since she knew first hand what areas were off limits), reminding them to leave the eggs on the floor in plain sight for Zoe, and also not to let Zoe hunt until Mommy and Daddy were awake. They were generous enough to wake me at 7:00 am. I was in extra pain because I had been on the phone for an hour with my Mom and didn’t sleep until 3:30 am. I managed in my half-awake stupor to get some footage of Zoe hunting for eggs. The boys were really excited and Sarah didn’t make them go back to sleep when they woke her up. Plus, they said that Zoe was awake with them at 4:00 am. I saw her fall asleep in the middle of the boys’ beds (which are in the middle of the living room right now while their room gets a new ceiling and we get all repairs from Hurricane Ike done) and in the middle of all the commotion. It was sweet. She eventually woke up in time for a bath before church.

After church, we came home and changed (I regret that we didn’t take any pictures as a family wearing our Sunday best — and I even wore makeup today, dangit) so that we could go have Easter dinner with some friends at their house and die some eggs. I brought a pan of sugar-free Jello blocks, a pitcher of sugar-free fruit punch, hard boiled eggs for dying, and some sugar-free candy as a gift. It was out of respect for the diabetic father. What did she make? A ham, cauliflower done like mashed potatoes, jello salad with fresh pineapple, two-different kinds of rolls, and green beans. I felt like we could have contributed more, but she withheld information on how much food she was making. She’s the kind of person that finds joy in serving others, so I forgive her, but the next time she asks us to dinner, we’ve threatened to show up with a roast.

The food and company was very good, however, I had to bow out early because I was so tired and going through a box of Klenex like there was no tomorrow. I had spent the morning with a runny nose despite the Claritin I took. We didn’t get to play any board games like we planned, but it’s just as well. I went to bed when we got home and didn’t get up until 9:00 pm. It felt good to get some rest, but the draining just won’t stop. I went ahead and took a Claritin-D, even though the first one I took is supposed to work for 24-hours. It helped a little, but I ended up popping a Sudafed a few hours later. I’m not sure if this is just allergies at this point. I’m happy that it doesn’t feel like Strep Throat, either. Two or three more times of that this year, and I’ll have to get my tonsils out. My throat just hurts from the post nasal drip. Ugh. Doesn’t it make you swallow and gag just to read that? Ugh. It does me. Sorry, I’ll change the subject.

Right now I’m guessing that there are still about 20 hiding eggs. We hid 116 of them and they still had 40 to go when I counted this morning. The eggs will keep popping up unexpectedly as the year goes by. We recycle them every year, and I had thought we wouldn’t have enough plastic eggs for this year’s hunt. I didn’t buy any new ones because they were sold out. It’s probably better to keep the number around 100 anyway. A few more years of living in this house, and all the hiding places will be known.

“Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.” Jeremiah 23:24

What makes a Catholic a Catholic? Not even the Catholics know. Not really. I didn’t. I don’t even know what Catholic means, but when I was one I wore the label with pride because most of the world’s population belonged to this church and I was always one to stick with the crowd. As a Catholic, I got the distinct feeling that you could do whatever you wanted to all week long as long as you showed up to mass on Sunday. They made it easy for you to show up, too, by offering several services in the morning and at night. You could even go on Saturday night if you had plans on Sunday. Sunday was not the Holy Sabbath, but an extra Saturday and one more day that you could play before heading back to work.

I stopped going to the Catholic church when my lifestyle was in direct conflict with attending mass. I felt guilty. How could I show up on Sunday repentant after spending the night before partying with my friends with little thought of God and knowing I would be doing the same thing next Saturday. What was I doing in that pew? So I stopped going… that was in high school. When I did go to church it was to be with my family and we would usually go out to breakfast after mass.

In the years that followed, I would go to church with my mom and attend a non-denominational bible study that she got involved in. I stopped going to that eventually because I would fall asleep during the presentation. This was a popular program and they had a waiting list. I gave up my spot and took a nap at home. I could sense that mom was not really into being Catholic, too, but she kept going because she was taught that to step into another church meant you were going straight to hell. Today she is involved in a sect of the Catholic church that not all Catholics approve of (at least, my mom said that the Pope had to send a letter stating that they were an approved organization in the church). It’s called Neocatechumenate Way (I think… not sure of the spelling). I have no idea what that means either, but I’m sure she does. From what I gather, they have gone back to practicing as they would in the olden days… Saturday is her Sabbath Day. They use real bread and wine instead of manufactured wafers for their sacrament. They still wear crosses and believe that Jesus died for them and they have a slightly closer relationship as they are a smaller group and she refers to them as her community.

Now I’m LDS. A Latter-Day Saint. It doesn’t mean that I think I’m perfect or that I have angel status or that I’m on a pedestal of any kind and people should pray to me. A saint is simply a member of the Church. The “latter-day” distinguishes between a saint from the ancient Church that Jesus organized when he was on the earth and a member of the Church today. And I’m a Christian. The name of the Church bears the name of him who we follow… The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Sants. So how do you get Mormon out of that?

We have another testament of scripture called The Book of Mormon. Mormon was a prophet in Ancient America who was one of the last surviving prophets to keep the records of the Church in that part of the world. So his name is on the cover, but the contents are all about Jesus Christ. It’d be like taking out the Book of Matthew out of the Bible and putting a cover on it by itself… and then people would erroneously call those Christians Matthews. (uh… yeah.)

Zack has a friend at school that Zack suspected was a member of our church. I thought it was unlikely because if he were, we’d probably already know the family… they’d be in our ward (what we call our congregations) or our stake (what we call a bunch of wards in one area). Still, Zack said he saw him wearing a shirt that said “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints” on it.

Zack has been trying to set up a playdate with him so I called his friend’s house to speak with his mother. When we were done ironing out the details, I asked her if she was LDS. She asked me to repeat myself and by her reaction, I figured she wasn’t. So I said, “LDS or Mormon?” and she said, “No we’re Christian.” And the way she said it, as if with a laugh of relief, made me feel sorry I had brought it up. I said, “Oh.” She said, “Are you Mormon?” and I said that we were and then I said that Mormons were Christian also. She said, “Oh, I know, but you’re Mormon Christian and we’re Christian Christian. You know what I mean?” I said, “Oh, yes.” She said, “Is this going to be a problem?” I quickly stated that it wasn’t a problem, and explained how Zack thought we were from the same church and how I thought we would already know them. She said that they went to a church in Pearland (which is over an hour away) and how much they loved it. Then she said that one of her really good friends is a Mormon and named someone from our ward whom I absolutely adore. So the awkwardness of the call was forgotten and we found that we both love the same someone.

Only, it was not the same someone that you would think would unite us.

Today was fast and testimony meeting at church which is usually every first Sunday. Members of the ward are encouraged to stand and express their knowledge of the divinity of Jesus Christ, that he lives and guides our church, and having tested a principle of the gospel they have expanded their knowledge of the truthfulness of the doctrine. Lots of times, people cry. Sharing the deepest feelings of your heart will invite the Holy Spirit to the meeting, touching hearts, and being made manifest in tears. People may talk about being prompted by the Spirit to get up and share their testimony, but today that feeling did not come to me. I was happy to be sitting with my family listening to even the littlest of Primary children get up and say that the gospel is true and that they love their families. This in turn, creates an upward spiral of testimony bearing since even the youngest testimony has weight with the Spirit.

Like I said, I was sitting and listening when a wealth of hormones was released and I was practically bawling. One of the Primary teachers was the last to go up, and almost before she reached the podium, I could feel the tears behind my eyes. I knew that she had just lost her father on Christmas Day and I was feeling the emotion I knew she would feel when she spoke the words. Because I have a cold and decided not to take medication before church (by choice to avoid the yucky feeling I knew I would have), the tears caused my sinuses to open the floodgates so that when I inhaled, it was audible and several people looked over at me. I could not contain the swelling in my heart for this dear sister. My father dying is a familiar childhood nightmare that I cannot remember without feelings of terror and devastation. And yet, this sister said her tears were those of happiness knowing that she will see her father, her best friend, again someday.

I was almost too exhausted emotionally to continue with the rest of our church meetings (for me, that means Primary for two hours). But I was able to teach Sharing Time about how we are created in our Heavenly Father’s image. I just want to mention that our Music Leader is inspired and wonderful. She sings like an angel and loves to sing and teaches the children by example how tangible the Spirit can be after singing. She made my lesson go the extra mile and it was one of the most spiritual moments in Primary for me. I’m speaking mainly of the Senior Primary Sharing Time.

The Junior Primary Sharing Time was the exact same lesson, but having brand new Sunbeams (3 year olds) in Primary for the first time was like trying to contain a bunch of monkeys in a box. One in particular was outspoken and uninhibited and interrupted every chance she got. It made me smile and laugh a few times and remember why Primary is the best place to be in the church. You cannot get this level of entertainment in Relief Society. There are twins in the Sunbeam class, too, and they sang their hearts out today… I Am a Child of God was heard throughout the building. And I am happy that it is the theme for this year because it reminds me of when I first met the Sister Missionaries and was sent on this spiritual journey that has brought so much happiness into my life.

So today was a good day. I waddled around, got lots of well wishes for a safe delivery, lots of offers of babysitting and service. And I was glad that I went to church today. It never fails that if you do what is right, you’ll always feel good that you did it.

And finally, I want to wish my brother Steve a Happy Belated Birthday. He turned 26 on Friday. He’s the middle of the trio of children that were each born one year apart, all in the month of January. So my youngest brother Shawn is turning 25 on Thursday and then my sister will be 27 on the 26th. I am happy to be adding Zoe’s birthday to their birthday month (we usually stack things up in December… tax breaks, you know) and I could have chosen Shawn’s birthday for Zoe, but decided that everyone should have their own day.

What’s funny about my youngest three siblings is that my three children resemble their personalities so much. They are 2 1/2 years apart, but they follow the same gender order. My daughter is smart and slobby like my sister (sorry Chole, it’s just a side effect of your genius, I’m sure). Zack is the risk taker, therefore the most talented (and busted up), just like his Uncle Steve. Seth is the independent one who walks to the drum of his own beat and doesn’t really care to perform to anyone’s desires… and Shawn is just as easy going and carefree.

Now I will throw a Zoe into the midst, but being six years from Seth and eleven years from Sarah, there’s no predicting what she’ll be like or if she will resemble anyone in my family. I’m sure we’ll draw our own conclusions and Josh’s side will definitely come into play. I’m not really thinking that far ahead… I’m still grasping with the idea that come Friday I will exchange an awkward waddle to the bathroom in the middle of the night for a slow, standing, stomach-with-incision, drug induced walk every three hours of the day and night.

Speaking of which…. I gotta go. No really, when you gotta go, you gotta go.

Other than that bit of unpleasantness, today was a rather rewarding day. I was able to wake up on time and be at the church to set up for our first Primary Quarterly Activity of the year — Meet Your Teacher Breakfast. The newest members of the Primary presidency were there as promised and ready to rock. I just love these women already. Josh set up 9 round tables practically on his own, and we put tablecloths and chairs out. Sarah and Zack were helpful putting up table tents and Articles of Faith cards at each setting. Susie came a little later after having baked from scratch 80 sausage and cheese kolaches. She also brought orange wedges, pineapple rings, and grapes. We were fortunate enough to get leftover orange rolls that our former Nursery leader made because of a youth planning meeting that took place at the same time.

We had a pretty big turn out with 31 children showing up in pajamas. Our music leader did an excellent job introducing the theme for the year, and the teachers seemed to enjoy getting to know their new classes. I am especially grateful for dedicated teachers that come every Sunday prepared to teach and love the children.

We had plenty of help cleaning up, and then after the closing prayer, the children went home and the teachers stayed for a Teacher Improvement meeting. I thought it went very well. I feel like we will all mesh well this year and have success in our goals for Primary. Of course, I’m leaving everything in the capable hands of Susie and the new counselor and new secretary for this month, but I am feeling really excited about what the coming year has in store. I am passed being completely paralyzed with fear of being the president, and I feel like I’ll do better and make less mistakes.

There are still some issues to take care of, but I know that all the challenges I face are no surprise to Heavenly Father, and he would not have put me here if he didn’t think I could do some good and learn a lot along the way. He trusts me with the teaching of his little ones, so I have to trust that he knows what he’s doing and try not to mess up!

I took a good long nap when I got home and after Susie brought by some cinnamon rolls that she made from scratch. They were so good! And she was so good to think of us. I can’t say enough about how much she rocks. I’m so happy that she’s past her morning sickness and back to her normal self.

After my nap, I went through the coupons I bought. I haven’t bought newspapers since mid-December. There were a lot this week. So then I dragged Sarah to Kroger with me (since Susie wasn’t answering… must have hit the sack early after all her baking). I got $211 worth of stuff for $122. Not quite 50% off, but a good run all the same. I’m especially happy about getting a package of diapers for $5 and a thing of wipes for $1.

We start church at 2:30pm tomorrow. It will be weird, but nice that I have all day to prepare my Sharing Time lesson.

Now I have to go do some breathing exercises or get in a better position… Zoe is starting her aerobics/yoga session now.