Signs

In the car, a day after reading about the Millenium:

Tyler: When is Jesus coming back?

Us: Nobody knows except Heavenly Father.

Tyler: Nobody knows?

Us: No, but we've been given signs to know that He's coming soon. We just need to make sure we're ready anytime.

Tyler: Well, we're ready right?

Us: Well, are we reading scriptures and saying prayers?

Tyler: Yes.

Us: Are we paying tithing? Are we obeying Heavenly Father?

Tyler: I am a very obedient boy.

Us: Yes you are. Obedience is important!

Tyler: Then I guess we're ready. We'll hold 'em up when Jesus comes, right?

Us: What?

Tyler: We'll hold em up.

Us: Hold what up?

Tyler: The signs!

Us: What signs?

Tyler: The signs when Jesus comes! We'll hold em up in our yard, right?

Us: (long pause) Oh, the signs! Well, we're given different kinds of signs to know that Jesus is coming, not actual signs that we hold up...

Who are you like?

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

You are thoughtful and care very deeply for your family. A loving home is of great
importance to you and you always try to make people feel welcome. Although you have a great capacity to love, you also have a great capacity to hurt, so at times you can be sensitive. You're firm when you need to be, but people trust your judgment and appreciate the kind way you always handle things.

I know, I didn't LOVE the Twilight series like everyone else. (I hate Bella and Edward's relationship. She should be with Jacob.) But my good friend TJ posted this and it picqued my curiosity to see who I'm most like. I'm glad it's Esme.

Who are you like?

Random

This pic was taken in Fort Worth at the Stockyards during a cattle drive. That blue car with the Go Cougs poster in the window is ours. We had NO IDEA when we parked there that cows with long, sharp horns would be traipsing by. There was a moment when I thought we might get horned!

I got gas for $2.22 today!! I'm sooooo happpppyyy!

I finally made up my mind and voted today (early voting--avoid the lines)! I love voting!

How do the primaries in your ward or stake excuse children? Do they wait for the parents to pick them up? Is there a big back up at the door? Is there a more efficient way to do this?

The Cake

It started around his second birthday. Ty was really into Elmo, and saw an Elmo cake at the store. Only I didn't want to pay 50,000 dollars for some cheap-o cake, so I decided to make one myself. He loved it! I enjoyed doing it. And so a tradition was born.

Birthday #3. Spiderman was all the rage. To this day he has never actually seen a spiderman cartoon or movie, but he loves him all the same. I was especially proud of this cake.

Birthday #4. Let's back up here a moment. Just a few weeks after his third birthday, he somehow decided that he wanted a Jesus cake for his fourth birthday. I thought that was cute, but didn't think too much about it, because I was sure he would change his mind before his birthday, which was almost a year away! Only he never changed his mind. All year he talked about his Jesus cake, and never wavered!

So here is where a mother gets confused. Is it disrespectful to put Him on a cake? How do you cut the cake? Who gets what part of His face? It doesn't seem right to just pick at the leftovers like our family tends to do (my sister-in-law calls this phenomenon the Domecake, because the cakes always end up as a circle as we pick at them one bite at a time). After worrying for awhile, I came to the conclusion that if my little boy looks to Jesus as his hero, then that's a great thing, and maybe He would be honored.

So...don't laugh, I did the best I could!






Ty loved it! I just hope that next year we're back to an earthly cake!

p.s. Please ignore the lame-o toothpicks that he's blowing out. I forgot the candles!

Interview with Ty

My friend Tonya interviewed her son and tagged anyone else to do the same. It was funny to hear what Ty had to say.

1. What is something that Mom always says to you? " Listen."

2. What makes Mom happy? "Me"

3. What makes Mom sad? "When I don't do the right things."

4. How does your Mom make you laugh? "By saying silly words."

5. What was you Mom like as a child? "Like me!"

6. How old is your Mom? "4."

7. How tall is your Mom? "The same as I was when I was Number Three."

8. What is her favorite thing to do with you? "Play Transformers!"

9. What does your Mom do when you're not around? "You just go somewhere."

10. If your Mom becomes famous what would it be for? "For everybody."

11. What is your Mom really good at? "At Transformers"

12. What is your Mom not very good at? "It's hard for you to play with Transformers."

13. What does your mom do for her job? "You be silly."

14. What is Mom's favorite food? "Daddy's Special Oatmeal"

15. What makes you proud of Mom? "When we get birthday cards and birthday presents."

16. If your Mom was a cartoon character who would she be? "I don't know."

17. What do you and your Mom do together? "Play with Transformers."

18. How are you and your Mom the same? "We both play."

19. How are you and your Mom different? "Cause we have different shirts on and different pants."

20. How do you know your Mom loves you? "Cause I love you."

Focusing on the Positive

OK. So our Dallas trip wasn't as joyful as we had hoped. So our mighty Cougars didn't even show up to play. So it was embarrassing to sit among the TCU fans (who really were very nice) trying to explain to them why we were ranked 8th in the country. So we're out of the running for a BCS bowl. So that's millions of dollars to the school that we won't get.

There were some positives:

Ty got to meet Cosmo face to face. We named our car after Cosmo, so this is a big deal for him.

Ty got to meet our other favorite Ty! He was so nice, even when we came back to get another picture since the first one on Brad's phone (we forgot our camera) didn't get saved. Here's our Ty saying how old he was when Ty Detmer asked him.

I'm just glad we got the pictures before TCU broke the longest winning streak in the nation. There weren't as many smiles after the game.

p.s. Isn't it so great that the last time the Cougars lost (16 games ago), we were there to see it in Tulsa? I'm thinking we're jinxed. Maybe the next time they come to our area of the country we should pass.

Spooky

This was our fun FHE project tonight. I found the idea online somewhere--I googled ModPodge projects, cause I was in the mood to decoupage. I love that word: decoupage.

Anyway, very simple to make, and tons of fun for a three (almost four!) year old.

I couldn't find the exact site where I got the idea, but there's pretty much the same thing on a site called Skip to My Lou.

Another tip: if you don't have the glassware lying around waiting to be decoupaged, go to a thrift store, they've got all sorts of funky shapes and sizes. I got mine for 49 cents each.

Fat Chance

Gas has finally fallen below $3/gallon, and we're back to where we were about a year ago!

Do you think the price of food and all the other things that went up due to "gas prices" will go back down, too?

And do you think that by Christmas, when we head to Oregon on United Airlines, they'll stop charging us $15 for the first checked bag, and $50 for the second?

I didn't think so either.

General Conference

What a great weekend this was, and not just because I got a break from Primary!

There were some excellent, poignant talks this conference weren't there? I loved several, but my favorite had to be Elder Holland. He is such a powerful speaker, and says things so succinctly. He spoke of angels, in both immortal and mortal form.

What a great thing to be reminded of, that angels are round about us. The Heavens do care about our journey here. I like to think of angels (perhaps including loved ones) ministering to us in our struggles, in our tough times, and in our everyday lives. I know there have been times in my life when I have definitely felt angels around me.

Elder Holland told us to take heart, be filled with faith, and remember our covenants. As we do this, Heavenly Father has promised that He will fight our battles for us. Who else better?

What did you like about Conference?