Just had to share!

I was reading a conference talk today by Julie B Beck called "And upon the Handmaids in Those Days Will I Pour Out My Spirit" and I came across this quote by Eliza R Snow that I just had to share!

“We want to be ladies in very deed, not according to the term of the word as the world judges, but fit companions of the Gods and Holy Ones. In an organized capacity we can assist each other in not only doing good but in refining ourselves, and whether few or many come forward and help to prosecute this great work, they will be those that will fill honorable positions in the Kingdom of God. … Women should be women and not babies that need petting and correction all the time. I know we like to be appreciated but if we do not get all the appreciation which we think is our due, what matters? We know the Lord has laid high responsibility upon us, and there is not a wish or desire that the Lord has implanted in our hearts in righteousness but will be realized, and the greatest good we can do to ourselves and each other is to refine and cultivate ourselves in everything that is good and ennobling to qualify us for those responsibilities.”

I underlined the parts that I loved. I think being a woman in today's society is very difficult. Being a mother, even more so. I've had a really rough couple of weeks so reading this talk was just what I needed to get back where I needed to be. If you have time you should definitely read it!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

We decided to throw Jared a 'surprise' party this year, Melody's idea! She was a huge helper getting everything together. She helped decorate the cake, which was much more fun than I thought it would be! She helped keep her sister entertained while we picked out presents, I waited until the day of because Mellie has a big mouth :) And she helped make the decorations. I have this problem that I would much rather make it than buy it. I just hate to waste the money if I don't need to, so with that we mixed a few projects and came up with these flowers.

We took coffee filters and colored them with crayola markers then sprayed them with water to mix the colors. It ended up having a water color affect. Very cool. Then I took a bunch and cut them into random sized circles, Melody balled them up and smoothed them back out. Then she wound up the pipe cleaners for me and we stuck them through. I think the thing I liked best about this project is Melody was able to do almost all of it on her own. I just sat back and let her work. She's very studious when she has something to concentrate on, the trick is finding things that she thinks are interesting.

After we finished those I gave the kids the streamers, tape and flowers and sent them to work. I should've taken pictures, but I forgot. They did fantastic work! Melody had the streamers wound through every chair a million times. It's a good thing they're just made of paper!

When Jared got home I informed him he was to take a very long shower (he rides his bike home) since we were no where near ready. Melody was very funny the whole time he was showering. She kept running around whisper-yelling hurry up hurry up! Dad's gonna be here any minute! When we were finally ready she and Katie hid behind the couch while I went to get dad. He did a great job pretending he didn't see any decorations while he waited for the kids to jump out and surprise him. Unfortunately they got tangled in the blanket they were hiding in so it took a minute! We were both trying not to laugh. When they finally freed themselves Melody started yelling 'surprise daddy, surprise! Happy birthday!!' Katie trailed along behind her attempting to say the same thing, at least I think that's what she was doing. She's still in the indecipherable phase.

Melody and Katelynn got him the typical daddy presents a tie and a wallet. Can I just say that the stuff you can find at Marshals is incredible considering how inexpensive it is! After dinner Melody helped me light the candles, which was a feat in itself, I made the mistake of actually putting 26 candles on there! Half of them were almost burned out by the time I got the last one lit! We all sang happy birthday, Katie even did a pretty good job. She kept saying 'happy birday daddy' over and over lol! Then of course the kids got to blow out the candles!

I think birthday's take on a whole new meaning once you have kids. You no longer open your own presents, blow out your own candles or have any say over what you get to do. I've seen a few birthday videos of Jared when he was younger so lets just say that him accepting this is a huge accomplishment on his part! Love you honey!!

We told Katie to lick off the frosting and she took it a bit too far! She ate the candle! At least she spit it out when we asked her to!

They had both been asking me ALL DAY if they could have a piece of cake. They thought I was the meanest because I kept telling them no!

Doesn't he look so happy? 

Yep. That's the man I married!

Puddles!

Spring time here in North Texas is usually filled with fantastic thunder storms and torrential rain, but this year we haven't had too many. We finally got a really good one today so I thought we'd put this adorable umbrella by brother bought the girls for Christmas to good use. We found some fantastic puddles! I love just setting the kids free to play and following along behind them snapping pictures as fast as I can. I end up with a ton of pictures, but I also get a few that turn out pretty good. I think today was no exception. I'm pretty much in love with at least half of them!

She couldn't figure out how to hold the umbrella over her head, Melody had to teach her.

How can you not love that mischievous face?

These two may be my very favorite! Nothing I love more than capturing their friendship on camera.

She got mad at me because I made her head back toward the house so she stomped off on her own. She has such an independent personality!

I love how everything gets all sparkly and beautiful when it rains. All the colors seems more bright and clear. I always think of that primary song 'I like to look for rainbows whenever there is rain'.

Melody's Purse

My girls have a plethera of purses to choose from, but the one Melody uses the most often is the sparkley clutch my Grandma Carter gave me years ago. I grew up playing dress up with my cousins. We used to raid Grandma's closet for shoes and matching purses, my Grandma was a real lady that way having a purse to match ever pair of shoes! Since I have so many memories playing with her purses it's kind of fun to see Melody doing the same thing with the same purse!

We went out to run a few errands today and she insisted on bringing her purse along. She's pretty good about keeping track of it so I don't ever mind. I don't, however, ever bother to look inside. Today she showed me what she was equipped with 'just in case' lol!

This is her 'puff' so she can put on her powder in case her face gets sweaty. It's actually a juice lid that I put fabric on for a texture matching game. I love how little kids can make random things be anything they want it to be!

This is her dinosaur and race car to play with in case she gets bored. She told me the dinosaur was also to scare off any bad guys we may encounter. Very serious business.

This is her 'makeup' and her extra pony tails. The makeup is to keep her lips pretty and shinny. She's quite funny about it, she refuses to kiss her dad if she has recently applied makeup, she also eats very carefully so as not to mess up the makeup! The pony tails seemed pretty self explanatory. She was complaining once when we were at the park on a windy day that her hair was in her face. I told her that she should always keep an extra ponytail in her pocket for just in case. I figured that was why she had all of these and as I was telling Jared about it over dinner she was quick to correct me. They aren't actually for her hair. They're to be used to shoot me while I'm driving... at least they're useful :)

I had to share this glimpse into my little girls mind. She cracks me up with some of the things she does and says. Everyday she has something new that leaves me wondering where on Earth she learned it!

Daddy Daughter Camp out

This last Friday our ward had their annual daddy/daughter camp out. Jared wasn't planning on going since we really don't have any of the things required for camping, but I guilt tripped him into it! I'm good like that :)

I think Jared's viewing it as a growing experience. Melody had a rough time not having mom there, but I think it was good for both of us to have some away time. She's going to start Kindergarten and never have had to be away from me! That might equal disaster! Anyway, I just wanted to post some pictures of the camp out for your viewing pleasure.

That's my girl, straight for the mud!

Every body brought big fancy grills! I had it in my mind that they would be cooking over the camp fire, but maybe I'm just old fashioned!

Finally found a camp fire to roast a stinkin' marshmallow!

 

Quite honestly I'm surprised she slept at all!

Grapevine lake is so beautiful! Jared said the sunrise was amazing.

How cute are these girls?

Melody helping put the tent up.