Get the facts straight!!!

http://www.mormon.org/ and www.lds.org , people. Get the facts straight :) You'll never be the same!

Getting Older....

India and I celebrated our birthdays yesterday. I can't believe I now have a teenager. I remember when I was her age - 13! More and more often I see this certain beauty in her, this glimpse of her adult self shining through. A different beauty. She is growing up to be a good and righteous girl. She knows what is right and stands up for it on her own. What a wonderful birthday present it was to have her sent to me 13 years ago. A present I'll never forget.

When my father was still alive, he dreamed I would have a baby girl on my birthday while I was pregnant with her.

I have the best husband. He takes such good care of me and our children. He took the day off yesterday to spend with us. I love having him here. I have enjoyed him with us this weekend. The kids love him here, too. The boys really look up to him, and he is a great example for them. India adores him. He is a good man.

Well, we are buying those 33 acres of land. We close in a couple of weeks. We're so excited and are drawing up plans for what we will build there. The kids are so excited to live there and explore.

Things are slowing down for me, and I'm so glad. I'm gradually learning to say, "no", and not over-commit myself. My family and home come first right now. I'm not going to turn down church callings. So, everything else has got to go. I need to have my toe dipped in, rather than fully immerse myself in other things. A delicate balancing act I'm learning as I get older...

Happy Easter!

Well, Happy Easter! We had a great weekend. It was busy - August had a Friday night sleepover/campout. Saturday morning was a Primary activity. India went to a party Saturday afternoon and August had baseball practice. When all of that was over, we drove out to some property we are thinking about buying. We spent a few hours out there hiking it and trying to get a good feel for the land there, which is over 33 acres. Some of it is wooded and some open land. Some of it is rolling hills and some of it is flat. There is a huge spring-fed pond, and a little brook. It was in the 60s and sunny and gorgeous. We all got some great exercise and enjoyed beautiful creations.

This morning it was off to church. This afternoon, we drove back out to the property to check it out after heavy raining last night and today. We wanted to see what the water situation was like and make sure there was no flooding with the brook and other run off. It was just fine! Then, we came home and dyed eggs and made Easter dinner while listening to some Mo-Tab. After dinner, we did our Resurrection Eggs activity to tell the Easter story. Now, we are relaxing, which our family really needs.

We're so grateful for Christ and his sacrifice for us. We know he knows us individually by name and suffered for us so that we could live with our Father in Heaven again some day. I'm so happy that when we die this isn't the end. When our loved ones die it isn't the end. We will get to see one another again.

Overhaul

About once a year or so (sometimes twice), I feel the need to overhaul our schedule and priorities in my and my kids' lives. Usually when I feel like we aren't accomplishing much and the house is a wreck and we're running around too much! When we came back to NWA a year ago, I tested the waters with my toe trying to figure out what to get back into. Now, I feel like I've jumped in feet first and sometimes feel like I'm drowning. So.

My dear friend, Keli, has been so kind as to suggest we do science and history together once per week and that has been a blessing because it MAKES us get that organized, whether convenient or not, one day out of the week. This also MAKES me tidy up the house because I know they are coming :) At least the main rooms....

I organized "Culture Club" within our homeschool group, also. We meet once per month and share what we learned about whatever assigned country we decide on each month. The food is always superb. This is super fun, and also MAKES me do some culture study and geography each month.

I say MAKE because when we are so busy, these subjects tend to be overlooked and having to be accountable forces us to make time and not slack. I need that sometimes. Slacker that I am. Also, history and culture and geography are my favorite subjects. Science, not so much, but Keli loves it, so I let her teach that.

Spring break got us all out of whack on our time schedule. Chris is waking up so early to go to work that he isn't waking us before he leaves to read scriptures. This causes us to sleep in and then it is rush, rush, rush all day to get things done. We try to squeeze in scripture time somewhere in there. I think that not starting the day reading together causes our day to be out of sync. I need to just do it with or without Chris when he can't be here. Can't wait for this season to be over for him at work! The added stress isn't great for him, either. I love him for working so hard for our family.

Did I mention we got a puppy on top of everything? A sweet little toy poodle puppy named Scooter. He is India's doggie and was born January 23, so he is tiny. We've had him for about a month, and we're still trying to house train. It is driving us nuts, but he is cute and fat and will be spoiled.

So, we need to get back on track! I need to make up a loose schedule for each day of the week to follow, as well as "to-do" lists for the kids. That really helps them know what to do when I'm not available. I need to manage my time better so I'm not glued to my laptop working or out of the house most of the day! I need to allot time for that and not let it consume me, which it is quickly doing. When that happens, our home sort of starts to fall apart. The kids get off track and the house becomes a wreck and bills don't get paid.... Moms really are the glue keeping families together!

Off to overhaul our days.....

Guilty

Yes, I'm feelin' guilty for NOT blogging for over a month! I'm so busy, though. Sigh. I have the regular homeschool co-op and activities work, but August played basketball for 2 different leagues this year so we were running around to do that. I got a new calling AND a stake calling thrown into the mix. Oh, and Chris works late just about everyday with new job responsibilities he has going on. Whine, whine, whine... did I mention we also have school work to do everyday??

Basketball is now over - and August was a rock star, by the way - but, now baseball is getting underway, as well as soccer. India is playing soccer and all three boys are playing baseball. India has also started a violin class in addition to what she's doing at our co-op.

Keeping up with the house work is just about impossible.

I see burnout in my future, but am trying to hang on! If I could just get through until July. At that point sports will be over and Girl's Camp and Cub Scout day camp, but I'll have to focus on getting the co-op up and going by August. We'd like to take a trip west in July....

I'm learning to say "no" to activities and people when we just have too much going on and need to just be home. I need at least one full week day at home to take care of things here. Or else, we'll be living in a pig stye.

Like a 2 year old?

Today in sacrament meeting Roman was wiggly during the passing of the sacrament. I picked him up and put him in my lap and told him to be still for just a bit longer. He frowned at me and told me I was treating him like a 2 year old. This was pretty dramatic since he is now 6 years old and all! Hmmm..... Apparantly he was embarrassed to sit in my lap in front of his female peers sitting in front of us, who turned around to look at him in my lap.

Roman has his 6th birthday on February 6. The night before we took him to Chuck E. Cheese and Meme and Grandad met us there. On the day of, we went to a Valentine's Party at a friend's house. Some of the kids sang to him, and he got tons of presents earlier that morning. Things were low-key this year. It has been hard to bounce back from Granny's illness and funeral. I couldn't pull off a big party for him.

Chris celebrated 36 on February 8. What an old man! hehehe He is getting silver in his goatee :) He just looks more handsome to me. I continue to look more like a hag as I age. Scary.

Anyway, we're settling back into normal life, whatever that is. Still trying to organize and clean up the house. It is a disaster from the last month!

We got back to doing school work this week. I tend to sit at the dining room table on my laptop working while the kids gather around me at the table to do their work. "Working" for me this week was doing family history, scanning pictures, making to-do lists, and getting my personal life organized. This happened well this week. On Thursdays we're now meeting with two families who live nearby to do history and science. This will be great and will keep us on track.

India has been growing crystals in various ways this week for her science project for next month. Fun stuff.

August did well yesterday - he had two basketball games back to back and scored high for his team in each game. He was invited to play in a competitive tournament this week, and he is excited!

Back

We're back from Texas. Our family escaped the ice storm last week to go to Granny's funeral.

After I left TX last time, she went to a nursing home for 1 day and got sent back to the ER barely breathing, low blood pressure, low heart rate. They sent her to Houston Methodist to ICU. She had a ventilator breathing for her and she had double pneumonia. It was bad. They did a scan of her abdomen and chest and found that she was eaten up with cancer. The doctor said this may have been what caused the strokes. There was nothing they could do.

She passed about 2:30 am last Tuesday, January 27. My aunt, mother, and cousin were with her.

I was in Arkansas in an ice storm, but OK with that. I knew when I came home that she didn't have long on this earth. I had grieved and made peace with that. I kept thinking I needed to get back down there, but something would pull my reins and say, "Not yet. Not now. Just wait."

Everything happens for a reason, and the spirit does guide us in ways we do not always understand right away, or ever. I think that if I had been there maybe my aunt and mother would not have been there. That would have been upsetting to my grandmother's soul, I think, to know her daughters weren't there. Even though I know she loved me and always counted on me, it hurt her when her daughters couldn't be counted on.

These are the facts and I have no problem stating them on this blog - they know that. The whole family knows that.

So, Chris said if he had to chisel our way out of the neighborhood, he would so we could leave Wednesday morning for TX. He didn't have to chisel us out, thankfully. Instead, we drove carefully. Lots of slipping and sliding went on, but I knew were being watched over so it didn't really stress me out.

We stayed with our great friends, the Waddells, down in Dayton. They are always great hosts. Things were busy while we were there getting everything in order, and we didn't get to hang out much, but when we did, it was fun and took my mind off of things.

I had Granny's funeral requests that she mailed to me about 4 1/2 years ago. We played the music she wanted, Chris conducted and gave the eulogy like she wanted, and we used the funeral home that she wanted. She got pink and blue flowers - her favorite colors. We played Elvis - Gospel Hits during her viewing :) My friend, Alma, and I sang during her services. Everything went over well. The other speakers were great. I learned several things about my grandparents and taught others what I knew. So much interesting history.

More than ever, I am happy to know who my ancestors were and how they lived their lives. What a rich inheritance I have. They were amazing people.

I don't think I shed a tear the day of the funeral. I was so happy for Granny. I missed her, deeply, and still do, but the joy overcame that. She was a widow for 35 years, and now she gets to be with her eternal companion. She isn't in pain and suffering. Her legs are strong and without polio, which she had as a teen. She is also with her parents, whom she loved. I had some intense spiritual experiences during the days I was in TX, and I know she was there watching us and loving us.

I did get a little weepy last night. A birthday card came for Roman from my other Granny. I realized no more birthday cards would come for our family from Granny Bevell, and that was sad. No more weekly phone calls. There is truly a void in my life, and that cannot be filled. A little part of me will always be empty. I know I'll get to see her again, someday, though. This isn't the end.

Patricia Ann Martin-Bevell

October 11, 1934 - January 27, 2009