Yay!

I found our girl today on the mission's fb page. Zone conference.

Better Late than Never

She's only been out for five months. 😔 I know. I stink. But hey, I did get it done and before the halfway mark, right??

Throwback: Hannah Leaves the ATL

Hahaha, Bob uploaded all of the photos from his phone to my computer. I plan to entertain myself this way for several days. Here are some departing missionary pictures from October. Aren't we a cute little family!? I can't believe that half of my kids are as tall as I am. When did this happen? Also, some brothers are easier to hug than others. Just sayin'. We miss our Hannah's awesome facial communications.

Here is one of my happinesses in life...smiling at the man I love with the little people we love together.

Successful...ish

Yesterday was a brilliant homeschool day. We got some awesome stuff learned and accomplished. I was feeling pretty proud of myself.

Yeah, cue the call to humility. Today was supposed to be equally brilliant.

But first...here's my FB post from this morning.

It was just an almost traumatic day. After the dishwasher guy left, I opted to eat candy with the kids, nap while Madeline napped (except I finished a book instead), and basically waste time. Sometimes it's just too much, ya know?

The one really awesome thing was getting to talk to Hannah. She's so excited to go to California. My weather app said it was 79 degrees there today. I'm jealous. And I'm really thankful for the stranger who loaned their phone to her. That makes my heart smile.

Hannah with her mission president and his wife.

Fall Friday Happenings

Geronimo, the Sugar Goblin, made his belated reappearance at our house today. Tricks for treats. It's awesome for getting rid of all that Halloween candy, lol.

And then I brilliantly decided that the little ones needed to be on a chore schedule. I totally bribed them with a "reward" trip to the movie theater after a successful week. It was a long day.

We had family dinner tonight. With so many teenagers, that doesn't always work out. But we were all here tonight, and we had to resurrect the talking stick, so that I could ask my family dinner question (what did you do for someone else today?). Some people were more excited about the talking stick than others. But when it was Lizzi's turn, she became quite animated, which was entertaining.

Not only was Rex unenthusiastic, but Lizzi is creepy.

Yes, she put it up her nose.

And of course, Friday is Fun Day because it's Hannah's missionary p-day, which means...pictures!

Happy Sabbath Day!

I didn't get up as early as I wanted. With the overnight temperatures changing fairly drastically almost...well, overnight...here lately, we have a little girl who gets cold and then thinks she needs to sleep in Mommy and Daddy's bed. But she's not the best little bedfellow.

After I finally dragged myself up, it was a pretty good day. We had a family chat about social media this morning, and I prepared to sub in nursery again.

Caleb gave a pretty good talk at church. It was about missionary work, and he spoke about Hannah's mission. He gets more out of her emails than I expected. It's always nice to get a good surprise.

I didn't get to actually hear his talk, though I read it beforehand and heard good reviews from others at church. I missed sacrament meeting so that Madeline could take a nap, one that ended up being disastrously short. Dang it.

Young Women in Excellence was held after church as a "Linger Longer," so there were sandwiches and really yummy desserts and lots of amazing YW talents.

We came home, and I took a nap (I know, story of my life, right?), while Bob and the kids played outside and then made cookies.

We had Family Home Evening (so much family togetherness today!) where we played animal charades, which has always, always, always been a family favorite. Lizzi remains the undisputed champion since no one can top her purple polka-dotted cheetoh eater that no one was able to guess when she four.

We read and acted out Barnyard Dance, by Sandra Boynton, which is also a family tradition, and one that Madeline is finally getting into. She likes to twirl and spin and skitter. Caleb and Rex like to "stand with the donkey" (read: me Dad ummmmmm), and Caleb tonight dared to "bow to the cow" (read: me). Sometimes this doesn't go over very well.

While we were consuming our no-bake cookies--with milk, of course--we waited to hear where one of Hannah's close friends is going on her mission: California, yay!

And now? Now it's 8:55 pm, and all the little ones are asleep. That's pretty unusual. So I wanted to get my blog post up, so that I can go curl up with a good book. Really? What else did you think I would do with a spare hour (or four)???

A Little Thankfulness Goes a Long Way

Today was a really long day. Teenage antics and toddler antics and everyone-in-between antics. Sigh. Mommy was a grumpy bear at bedtime, and poor little people, Daddy was late getting home tonight to rescue them from the Mommy Monster.

But. My laundry pile is diminishing. My dish pile is shrinking. I successfully taught Sariah some math she has been struggling with. Sam is reading more words every day. I can actually see surfaces of my desk (I know, don't die). I fixed the ceiling fan chains in the little ones' room, which means they can't say they are scared of the dark in there anymore.

Caleb and Lizzi both made the high school swim team. Woohoo! I'm a double swim mom again (if I can handle it, lol).

Lizzi's FAFSA is done. Not that it does us any good. Now we only have eleventy-jillion colleges to apply to.

Rex helped me out with a bunch of chores without complaint. He also took Madeline outside to play. All you have to do is say the O word, and she's ready to go with whomever will take her.

I didn't have to leave my house today. That's a WIN. I'm such a homebody.

Tomorrow is P-day for Sister Haynes. That means we will hopefully see an email from her. Yay! She was away from home last year for school, but I was always able to call or (more likely) text her whenever I wanted. I've been missing that.

And there's a "cold front" coming in! That's good news, even for my always-chilly little self. This is my favorite season of the year!!

It was a long day, but I am blessed. There now. I'm glad we've had this little chat. :)

Aaand She's Off...

I'm gonna be honest here, today was a bit of a roller coaster.

We finally took some mission pics. They aren't fabulous because I'm not a photographer. But Hannah's a pretty good editor, especially with only a few little tools. These are a few of my favorites.

We called and talked to her dad and her little brother and sisters. Then we had a bit of time to kill, so we walked around the Provo temple, along with a bunch of other missionary families with some time to kill. :)

Her nerves were making me anxious, which in turn was notching up her nerves. So we hugged, drove over to the Missionary Training Center (or the MTC, which is across the street from the Provo temple), hugged again, and she was off with a wonderful host sister missionary who was bright and excited and wonderful! She will spend six weeks at the MTC learning to speak Samoan, and then look out, Anaheim, California; here she comes!

 

And then, in one of the universe's crazy turns of events that are so perfect and so fitting, I went to lunch with this guy and his beautiful wife. When I get home, I'll have to post our very first picture together, lol. No matter how old we get, he will always be the young man who shared what he valued most with a teenage girl he barely knew.

This is a beautiful friendship that started 24 years ago and halfway around the world in Russia of all places. Shawn has been one of the kindest and best friends I've ever had. He has loved me and encouraged me, and he valued me enough to share a Book of Mormon and his testimony of the gospel. His courage in doing so changed my life forever...and without him, I wouldn't have been here today with Hannah, as she, too, answers that call to serve and to share. Full circle. My heart is full.

Less than 24 Hours!

People! We are in the last 24 hours before she reports to the MTC. That is crazy!

It has really hit me hard today. Parting with her will be hard. I think the hardest part for me isn't that she is leaving for 18 months. That tears me up a bit, but I am so proud of her for answering the call to serve and for choosing to do hard things, and I am so excited for her to have this adventure. But it's those very hard things that make it difficult for me to send her off. As much as I know she needs to do them, and that they will be life-shaping experiences for her and that she needs to face challenges in order to grow and progress, it's still hard for a mama to watch. Does that make any sense? I know from personal experience that life isn't always all sunshine and daisies, and I know from personal experience that learning to deal with the not-sunshine-and-daisies builds confidence and self-reliance and teaches us to appreciate the sweet parts so much more...I just want it to be all sunshine and daisies for her.

So. Now.

I'm putting on my big girl panties, and my mama hat, and tomorrow will be a glorious day for me and for her! She is going to make wonderful new friends, and her testimony of the gospel will grow even more and be a strength and a safety to her. It's one of life's sweet moments to recognize that, too.

A Beautiful Day

I had a beautiful day with my sweet girl, Hannah. She starts her 18-month-mission for our church on Wednesday. So we spent our afternoon in Salt Lake City at the conference center and on Temple Square. I loved getting to go to conference with her, and I want to take all of the other kids in the future.

I love having this time alone with just her before she goes. I still can't believe she's old enough to have this new adventure, though I'm not surprised by it. She's been giving copies of the Book of Mormon away since kindergarten.

Also, General Conference was pretty cool. I enjoyed listening to the speakers in the afternoon session, but I think the most awesome experience was the rest hymn in the middle when 21,000 (or so) saints stood to sing praises. It brought tears to my eyes, and made me so grateful for these wonderful people who share my love for the Lord.

A good day that makes my heart smile.