Being Happy

This picture is for my nephew, Landon, who was telling his mom that Porter and Maya's beds were green, and Sarah swore they were brown. Landon-1 Sarah-0

*Ok, ok, so we actually photoshoped the beds green. Sarah was right, they are brown. As soon as Casey heard Sarah's phone message, requesting a photo to prove to Landon she was right, he decided to play a trick on her. It worked too. She called and said "I would have bet MONEY those beds were brown!"

To back track a little, we had a pretty exciting day Friday. Porter had a doctors appointment where he was declared "healthy-as-a-horse" (minus the excess sugar cubes in his diet). The doctor suggested Porter and Maya get eye exams, and she ordered blood work on all the kids. I was also supposed to have brought Miles in for another shot, but forgot. She said I could bring him back in later and she would fit me in, so I ran home grabbed Casey and the kids and took Miles in for his shot. Prior to injecting him she said "Look at those legs, He probably won't even feel this", he didn't. Then we went to the Lab down the street to have their blood drawn. Porter went first and was so brave. He sat in the chair and just held Casey's hand. He's such a nervous little guy. He was so brave, he had a few nervous tears, but he sat still and was a great patient. Then Maya went next. She was a little more resistant, Casey had to hold her, but they got the job done. Bennett had been watching what was going on with mild alarm. He kept saying things like "Porter getting owie", "Maya getting owie", then I think it dawned on him that he was next, and he hoped out of his chair grabbed his jacket, and said "I go, I dont' want owie". He had to get blood drawn also, so Casey held him on his lap, and he did remarkably well. I was so glad Casey was there to help. It would have been really difficult by myself.

Porter also lost another tooth, and decided the tooth fairy couldn't have it, cause he was keeping it. That lasted one night, then he decided money would be more handy than some dinky ol' tooth. Only I guess the tooth fairy wanted to make him sweat (or forgot) because she didn't come get it. Maybe tonight.

Casey's cousin came and babysat for us Saturday night (the kids loved it and asked if she could come every time Casey and I go out). We decided to go to the Temple for our night out. I hadn't been since Miles was born, so it was nice to be able to go and feel so peaceful. The Boston temple is really beautiful. After the Temple, I was really wanting Mexican (the kind of place where they bring those delicious chips and salsa to your table). In our efforts to find a Mexican place, we stumbled upon a restaurant called Tango, that served Argentine food. Casey really liked it, but it was a little too rich for my blood (plus there were no chips or salsa). I got a salad that consisted of (I'm not exaggerating) 3 slices of tomato, 3 slices of mozzarella cheese, a small pile of leaf lettuce and a drizzle of vinaigrette dressing. It cost more than 8 bucks! So Casey is making plans for next time we go and I'm researching where we can find a Don Pablo's.

So we had a case of the sniffles in the Elmer house today, but due to the fact that I was scheduled to speak I attended church alone (and I LOVED it!-not the speaking part). I've been doing a lot of thinking about goal setting and making changes in our lives. Casey is great because he lets me just ramble out my ideas, and always adds pertinent insights. Today in Relief Society, I felt like we discussed a lot of the things I've been pondering on my own. The topic of the lesson was on Becoming Perfect. And we talked a lot about how the important part is the STRIVING. One of the topics that impressed me the most was when someone mentioned that the scriptures read "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." and she went on to point out that it says "as your Father in heaven is perfect" not "as your neighbor is perfect". I feel like I've really fallen into a rut of comparing myself to other people, and sometimes this is a good thing ("I'm going to try to be a better missionary to my friends like so and so") and sometimes it is really destructive ("I wish I was thin and organized and perfect like so and so"). It took a while but I think I've discovered why there is a difference to these two ways of thinking. One comes from a desire to be a better, in order to glorify God, and one comes from a desire to gain the acceptance, or admiration of other people. Yes, I know it's a simple thing (and you are all thinking "DUH"), but this has been a big deal for me. I feel like I take a lot of the important things for granted and let myself drift along unhappily trying to obtain worldly perfection, when the only thing that matters is the pursuit of Godly perfection, and If I'm working towards that I should feel pretty darn good about myself.