Late Night

I found myself at 9:30 PM (approximately 15 minutes ago) sitting alone in my living room, with Bailey (the dog) tooting like nothing I have ever experienced before, and watching Breaking Dawn Part 2. 

I felt like I could hear Nancy Grace yelling at me (or really talking in the normal level of her voice)

"Have you lost your mind?"

I didn't have to put up with any of that- the tooting or the horrible acting going on in front of me!!!!

Unfortunately, back when I was crazy, I read all 4 Twilight books. I was Team Edward. Until book three- then I was Team Jacob. And then once Jacob imprinted, I was Team- 

HOW DID I JUST WASTE THREE YEARS OF MY LIFE ON THIS!!!!

Unfortunately since I read the books I had this feeling I had to watch the movies. But that feeling ended tonight, around the point where Renesme was first shown and she was halfway a computer generation.

A computer generation.

Gah.

Fortunately! I had just spent the evening working on a wonderful recipe- which can be found here:

The Diva-Dish

While waiting for it to bake I had red boxed that uncomfortable movie and was trying to pass the time till I could taste it! Despite the movie, the bread was well worth the wait :)

So here is my cute little pic-by-pic of the process

All the ingredients- The Diva-Dish used coconut sugar, but my pantry was out of that kind...

I also imagine she didn't use the tacky packages of applesauce...

And she probably had real maple. I'm slightly embarrassed by this.

"Wet" & "Dry" Ingredients

As if admitting to spending $1.28 to red box Breaking Dawn isn't embarrassing enough, the story behind this picture is a little silly.... Since I was a child, I have never- like ever- remembered to grease any pan that I have used to bake with. My family and I have had countless muffins & brownies without bottoms. Poor guys. Anyway. I placed the bread mixture into a pan and then remembered I hadn't greased it. Now, there was no specific instruction saying to grease the pan... but I decided it was probably because that is a no-brainer and I needed to be an adult and do the smart thing. So I emptied out the pan, and dirtied another one (and sprayed the pan beforehand).

So pretty in the oven!!

 And VOILA! Yes that is a cheesy yellow hand towel that I set under the bread to try and make it look pretty. 

I was up at 5:30 AM this morning. 

It is late. 

Give me a break.

Well the bread tastes great. And now I get to fall asleep with the smell of orange and cranberries on my hands- unlike Sunday night, where all I could smell was the aroma of my sons' dirty diapers...

he had 5 on Sunday.

I love being a Mom. I really, truly do.

CES Devotional

Sometimes you just feel like talks were prepared with you in mind.

CES Devotional, Elder Bednar

March 3rd, 2013

I Love To See

Last night I had the opportunity to attend the Temple, and subsequently sit for an hour in the chapel and catch up on some scripture reading while waiting to participate- it was so busy!! Hurrah for Israel!

I came across this scripture:

6 And I was ^aled by the Spirit, not ^bknowing beforehand the things which I should do.

I think the last time I had life figured out was when I was 12, and planning my marriage to Prince William. He ended up meeting Kate in school, and we parted as friends. I'm grateful for the Gospel, the 'Iron Rod' in my life, that helps me know where to go.

And I'm grateful for the peace that the Temple brings :)

Act in Doctrine

Finished this gem recently:

I had started the first book in this collection of works by Elder Bednar- Increase In Learning- about a year ago. About half way through it I accidentally locked it in my work drawer and lost the key. So while waiting for that one to be freed, I requested this book for Christmas!

What I love about this book most is that it is fashioned as a sort of 'work booklet'. Large margins to write thoughts, questions and extra pages to record feelings regarding the material Elder Bednar is teaching. Any time I read a book it becomes a journey- and this one just makes it easier to record that journey!

A favorite excerpt- "Please notice... the important sequence of first acting in faith, before receiving a promised blessing. Interestingly, many of us routinely seek for preceisely the opposite; we pray and ask for the blessing so we can act in faith... Faith precedes the miracle, and "ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith" (Ether 12:6).

It was a lovely experience reading this book, and I highly recommend it!

Just a little review of dinner with Rafe last night....

I had already given the child a bath earlier that day, and decided I wouldn't be giving him a bath before bed.

That is what I thought of course, until I walked back into the kitchen after running to grab his sippy cup, and found this....

Yes. Peanut Butter. All.Over.His.Face.

and his hair.

So we ended up doing this

 Needless to say, I still smell like peanut butter 12 hours later.

love you, peanut- you're the cutest boy in plaid :)

Goal

So far, 2013 has been a lot of wonderful, a little bit of hurt, and a ton of learning. Rafe is growing up healthy and happy, learning lots, and surprising me with something new every day! He can open up doors, flush a toilet, brush his teeth like a pro, point out a cookie a mile away, fold his arms for prayer (when he wants to) and get into absolutely everything!

One morning we were running a bit behind to get Rafe to his nanny, and I had to run back into the house about 5 times before we left the driveway... and then, at the end of the neighborhood, I realized I had forgotten to include his bottle with his bag!

Now, as soon as I realized this, I became super frustrated- like, how could this morning get even worse? And while I turned the car around to head back for the bottle, I started to ponder. Rafe really loves having a bottle before nap time, and I hadn't remembered to bring the bottle today, most likely I would have forgotten the next day too. Was I really going to let this ruin our morning car ride with each other? Then I looked back at my smiling baby boy. Whenever something frustrates him, he cries or throws a tantrum for a bit- but after a few minutes, he's distracted by something else, and can be happy the rest of the day. I decided that instead of getting angry with myself for forgetting something, I should see it as a blessing that I remembered his bottle before it was too late. (Nanny texting me around nap time asking if the bottle was in his bag anywhere)

It is really easy to get frustrated, and let something small ruin your day. After waking up with Rafe early in the morning, getting him dressed, putting myself together for work, driving to the nanny, driving to work, being on a headset for 8 hours, getting off work, picking up Rafe, going home, dinner, bath, bottle.... It's easy to not even remember all the tender mercies that happened during the day! My goal this year is to look for the tender mercies. With Rafe, at work, with my family, and in my personal life. 

I am so blessed to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. I am blessed to have the love and support of a family, especially the love of my sweet son. We are hit with speed bumps all over the place, but as long as we keep our eyes forward, and endure- all will be well in the end.

paige

New Year

Spent an afternoon discovering Scheels!!

Solo project again! Guacamole Salsa!

Dinosaur Museum with the future Missionary (little brother)- Thank you parents for the pass!

Year End Review '12

Year End Review of 2012:

 Chasing Rafe ALL over the church building on Sunday's...

 Finding Rafe half clothed around the house... (those are his pants he had thrown out of his play crib)

 My own solo attempt to bake- Sweet Potato Casserole which I brought to work to try and impress the coworkers :)

Thanksgiving Day!! Rafe spent it with the other side of his family, but we had a great morning together :)






















Aunt Maddie's Birthday! The big 2-0!

My attempts to give Rafe a Santa beard with bubbles....

Rafe officially started walking about a week after his 1st Birthday... and hasn't stopped moving since!!

 Opening Christmas Presents!! Christmas is better with a child :)

 The super cute pajamas Grandma Tami made- which he grew out of about a month later!!

 We are going through more toilet paper than a family of 12....

Favorite Activity?? Brushing Teeth! (hoping this lasts...)

My attempts to get a 'Rudolph' photo of Rafe... not even going to give a full blog description of that disaster.

All together, the end of 2012 was fast, exciting, full of hugs & kisses and love! This little man is the greatest blessing in my life.