Honey Bear Explosion

We had the missionaries over for dinner last night and made some honey mustard chicken.  It was really yummy but not without some casualties.

I was making the sauce when there was a knock at the door.  It was my wonderful visiting teachers dropping off a plate of Halloween sugar cookies.  I asked Clayton to finish the sauce while I talked with them for a few minutes.  A key ingriedient to honey mustard chicken is honey.  Clayton thought it would incorporate better into the sauce if it was warm so he place the honey bear into the microwave for 15 seconds, thinking that was safe amount of time.  When the 15 seconds was up, he opened the door and grabbed the honey bear filled with boiling honey.  The small amount of pressure from his fingertips caused the plastic container to BURST.   Luckily Clayton has quick reflexes and was able to move his hand out of the way before too much boiling  honey got on him, but he did get burned, and it was beginning to blister a little bit.

So, the moral of the story is: be very careful when putting honey in the microwave.

Priorties and To-Do lists

Every once in  a while, I get to a point in my life where I feel I need to re-evaluate my priorities.  Some of the symptoms that warn me that it's that time again are feelings of inadequacy, lack of interest in daily life activities, and moodiness.  Well this hit me for the first half of the week and gave me cause to stop and reflect.  After some prayer and contemplation, I realized that I need to re-focus on the important things: God and Family.  To help me keep my focus, I make a To-Do list at the beginning of the day.  I make sure to include things like reading my scriptures and reading books with Ryan.  I also put items that I do every day like showering and getting ready to make me feel like I've accomplished a lot.  I have noticed that when I do this I feel more accountable to myself and am more likely to get things done.  Another benefit is that the TV doesn't come on as often.

Another realization that I made this week is that I do a lot, and I shouldn't feel inadequate.  I don't say this to brag, but just to reassure myself that my day is filled with worthwhile activities.  I am a full-time mom, I work part time, I am actively involved with my church, I cook and bake, and I keep a reasonably clean home.  I think is a common thing for women to belittle the activities that fill their days, but we have a very important and divine role.  I think our biggest fault is that we forget this too often.

Hay Maze

We took Ryan to the maze on Mainstreet in Parker.  We got some really cute pictures and had some fun.  I wasn't sure how he would respond to the hay, but he didn't seem to mind.  He, especially, enjoyed watching the other kids running around.

It's getting to be really pretty in Parker.  You can see some of the leaved starting to change in these pictures.  From now to the end of the year is my favorite time of the year.  I love the holidays, the smells, the food, the family, the nip the air, hot chocolate...Welcome to the Fall!

In other news, Ryan cut two more teeth this week, bringing the grand total to four teeth.

New Hobby

So I've picked up a new hobby: Jewelry making.  I'm having a lot of fun learning about it.  I checked out a really good DVD from the library.  It teaches a lot of the basics, which is nice, but then it gives a variety of projects and ideas with each basic technique.  I'm getting really excited and beginning to form some of my own ideas in my head.  So far I've made two necklaces and one bracelet.  They are still very basic, but I will hopefully have some more intricate designs to post soon :)

Scentsy

I hosted a Scentsy party the other night. It was a lot of fun. For those of you who don't know what Scentsy is, it's a company that sells "wickless" candles. It's a system that consists of really cute warmers and super yummy smelling wax.


I've heard really good things about them and thought it would be fun to host a party. It was a fun filled night of food, girlfriends, and smelling wax samples. Some of my favorite scents were Winder Wonderland(a minty scent), White Sand( a mild flowery scent), and Baked Apple Pie(yes it's as yummy as it sounds). Here's a picture of the warmer that I got. I think it will look really nice in our home.

Cookie Monster

The other day I was eating a yummy chocolate chip cookie and set it down for a few seconds so that I could do something that required both hands. I turn around to find that Ryan has slobbered all over my cookie. I decided to let him finish it off. Apparently he likes cookies:)

General Conference

This weekend we had the chance to listen to to the leaders of our church give us council and direction. More accurately, we were able to get instructions from Heavenly Father, through the promptings of the Holy Ghost. It was a wonderfully uplifting weekend. I felt the spirit bare testimony to me of the truthfulness of the words. I know that these men are called by God to lead us on the earth today.

One of my favorite talks was by President Monson in the Sunday morning session. He spoke on gratitude. It was a good reminder to me to be grateful for what I have, instead of focusing on what I lack. At this stage in my life, I feel like I am lacking a lot of things. Money is tight and I am not able to work much, so it seems that sometimes we go without the frivolous things in life. We do however, have everything we need: food, shelter and clothing. I need to show my gratitude to the Lord for everything that He has given me. Each day I need to thank him for the bounteous blessings that I have. There are so many people in this world that have less than I have.

I also liked President Eyring’s talk on putting our trust in the Lord and his servants. Sometimes I find it difficult to do everything that I’m supposed to: Go to church, read my scriptures, pray, family history, write in my journal, spend time with my family, keep my house clean….You get the idea. But the Lord gives us commandments, and he will give us the help and strength to accomplish them.

I really enjoyed President Packer’s talk on the family, but what I enjoyed most was the church’s very clear stance on homosexuality. I had a conversation with a member recently about homosexuality. She felt that in some cases, you are born gay. She had known a few men in her life that had struggled with homosexuality, and she felt that it was innate and that they were born that way. I was so happy that President Packer clearly stated that no one is born gay. Heavenly Father loves his children too much to do that to them. Clayton and I were talking and I think that some men have more feminine-like tendencies, but that doesn’t make them gay. They always have a choice.

I’m pretty sure Elder Bednar gave a really good talk too on the Holy Ghost, but I only got bits and pieces of it since Ryan was running around wreaking havoc:) But I will definitely go back and read that one.