Take her to nursery, Part II

I thought last week was fun, but yesterday was even better.  I took Samantha out into the hall to she if she would fall asleep at the beginning of sunday school.  After about 5-10 minutes it was apparent that she was not going to sleep, so we headed back to class.  The door was open and who was sitting right there, the same sister as mentioned in the last post. The minute she saw us she replied, "take her down the hall to nursery, I can't take it anymore."

I scooped Sam up, promptly shut the door and went outside.

Luckily our lesson in relief society was on President Uchtdorf's talk from conference about not taking offense and not holding grudges.  Here is a piece from it:

This topic of judging others could actually be taught in a two-word sermon. When it comes to hating, gossiping, ignoring, ridiculing, holding grudges, or wanting to cause harm, please apply the following:

Stop it!

It’s that simple. We simply have to stop judging others and replace judgmental thoughts and feelings with a heart full of love for God and His children. God is our Father. We are His children. We are all brothers and sisters. I don’t know exactly how to articulate this point of not judging others with sufficient eloquence, passion, and persuasion to make it stick. I can quote scripture, I can try to expound doctrine, and I will even quote a bumper sticker I recently saw. It was attached to the back of a car whose driver appeared to be a little rough around the edges, but the words on the sticker taught an insightful lesson. It read, “Don’t judge me because I sin differently than you.”

We must recognize that we are all imperfect—that we are beggars before God. Haven’t we all, at one time or another, meekly approached the mercy seat and pleaded for grace? Haven’t we wished with all the energy of our souls for mercy—to be forgiven for the mistakes we have made and the sins we have committed?

To watch it, go here http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/04/the-merciful-obtain-mercy?lang=eng

I slowly felt my anger slipping away.  I think the Lord works like that.  He knows what we need to hear and let's the spirit touch our hearts.

A sweet friend pulled me aside between classes and assured me this is not her first offence and that a similar thing happened with her son before he went to nursery.  She also said, "at least she has a personality and isn't just a bump on a log".  I started thinking about that and I agree. I love that she is social and funny and that she makes people smile.  Several other people also assured me that I should just ignore the comments made.

I was starting to feel like Sunday's were monotonous, now I just never know what might happen.

Take her to nursery.....

So I wanted to share a moment from church on Sunday that I can laugh about now, but had me in tears.

I will be the first to admit that Samantha is not reverent.  She is only 13 months.  I don't expect her to be.  On top of her age, she is really mobile and has been for sometime and she is a social butterfly. She will go up to anyone, anywhere and she thinks they are her new best friend. She isn't really loud (unless you try to stop her from doing something) but she likes to wander quietly during Sunday School and Relief Society. At the beginning of Sunday School, we were sitting in the back row (for a quick escape when necessary) when Sister Minch walked by with her walker and said to me, "Take her to nursery."  I laughed and said, "I wish I could, but they won't let me, she isn't old enough."  She then repeated, "take her to nursery".  Wow.  Slap in the face.

I don't know why it made me so mad and hurt.  I mean, this dear sister has told me that the headbands I let Samantha wear cut off her brain circulation and that I need to put her in socks and I need to make sure I burp her properly so why did this get to me?

I guess it is because I do church alone about 75% of the time and I do the best I can.  I really try to attend as much of class as I can because I don't go to church to spend 3 hours in the hall.  I never stay in class if she is really disrupting things, but of course there are occasional squeals and piano playing and chair clanging....

At the end of every Sunday I just say to myself, 5 more months, only 5 more months.....

Summer? Vacation?

 Chris had last week off and we decided to do a "stay-cation" so he could finish off the backyard.  No one vacations like Chris Brown.  He loves nothing more than working and sweating in the 107 degree Arizona May heat.  I swear, I had to bribe him to take a nap!  

Samantha was of course there lending a hand as she dipped in the pool.

This is a bad picture, but he finished the retaining wall, leveled the dirt, spread yet more rock, and built this little beauty:

 Isn't it cute?  We saw the idea on Pinterest and decided it would be a great addition.

 Samantha loves it, although she is already disobeying the 2 major rules: the sand stays in the sandbox and no climbing on it when it's closed (we have a wondering neighborhood cat who would love nothing more than a new litter box so it has to stay closed when not in use)

I have a feeling this one will be a rule breaker for life!

The food dilemma.....

So Samantha LOVES to climb into the fridge.  This might lead some to believe that she loves food.  However, as the below proof illustrates, most of the food ends up on my newly mopped floor.

 Does anyone else's floor look like this after lunch time?  My daughter is a flinger.  If she decides she doesn't want something, she flings it to the side and can usually get pretty good distance.  

Well, at least one of us enjoyed their lunch.

Who's a Warrior.......

So my friend Lyndsie and her husband John talked me into signing up for the Warrior Dash.  It is a 5K with 14 obstacles that you have to perform during the run.  You know, your basic stuff like crawling through a mud pit under barbed wire, jumping over fire, climbing walls with ropes, and crossing over water on a tight rope.  I would have never done something like this otherwise, but it turned out to be really fun.  

Here are the kiddos sporting their new warrior hats....I am sure they will come in useful as costumes one day.

 I guess there is a prize for best costume...this was our favorite.  You gotta be a confident man to wear something like this!

 Samantha and Chris were such good sports.  They came to cheer us on in 90 degree weather and all.  Chris wasn't sure if he was going to have the day off, so he didn't sign up.  Boy was he sorry he didn't. 

As you can see, I was really excited to start.... 

 We got a bit muddy, and in case you are wondering, yes, we do indeed have shorts on!

In our age group there was 1152 girls and we came in 201 and 202.  We'll take it.  Thanks Lyndsie, this is a memory that I will never forget!

Pima County Fair.....

Who doesn't love a good fair.  You get a petting zoo, pig races, and fried food all in one place.  You also get really great people watching.  We just kept looking around and thinking, "Where do all these people live because you never see them in the real world!"

 She was begging us to get a cow after this

 Cheering for the pigs during the race

 She LOVED the petting zoo.  I had to put my "paranoid mommy germ meter" on hold to allow it to happen, but I am so glad I did because it was her favorite part.

 And what's a trip to the fair without trying something that has been deep fried, like a snickers.  Are you kidding me?  Yumm.

I'm so glad when daddy comes home....

These are a few of my favorite pictures lately.  These two don't get to spend much time together, but they sure do have a good time when they do!

Samantha gets so excited when he pulls into the driveway that she can't wait to jump into his car with him to help him drive.

I took this one after I had been sitting downstairs waiting for Chris to come down to eat dinner.  I waited and waited, thinking she must have been taking forever to drink her bottle, but then I went to investigate and found them like this.  Keep in mind this was at like 7:30.  Poor guy was all tuckered out.