Emma's Funnies

Emma has been Full Of It lately. Her moods have been happy, and her personality silly. There are some things I want to remember. First, she is obsessed with wearing my robes around the house. Why? I have NO idea. But she loves to throw them on over whatever she may be wearing at the time. Here is my proof. This is from this morning. I think when you have a daughter, she needs to come with a disclaimer, like this one
WARNING: Now that another female has entered your life, nothing you own will ever be JUST yours again. She will feel that everything that belongs to you, by extension belongs to her as well. When you find every one of your lip glosses in her top drawer, do not over react, because this is typical girl behavior. When your favorite heels go missing, check her closet first. Those sun glasses you just bought do not belong to you, they are hers, and will go missing any time you take them off your head. Don't fret when the necklace you wore on your wedding day gets broken and all the beads are throughout your kitchen, and mostly under the dishwasher, because this is to be expected. When she came into your life anything pretty, or girly, or silky, any make-up, jewelry, clothing, or shoes you own, now belong to her also. This means she will not ask, she will just take. Good luck, and don't buy anything costing over $20 for yourself for the next 20 years!
Okay, so that is so beyond the point of this post, but it is how I feel on a daily basis having a little girl in my life!

This is the sign that is hanging on Emma's door right now.

When you ask her what it says, this is what she will tell you: "Do not come in Boys. Only Girls and Dad and Stockton." Quickly followed by "I couldn't keep Stockton out because it's his room too." Considering the fact that Preston is the only one left, I think this must have been a nice way of saying: Preston, stay out of my room!

And last but certainly no least, last week Emma and I were just hanging out, when she says to me:
"Mom, sometimes when I'm at school and I need to toot, I try to hold it in, but I can't so I just let it out."
Heather: "So, do your friends laugh when you toot in school?"
Emma: "Yeah, and so do I!"
Oh, my sweet Emma, as tooty as you are, you better learn now to have a sense of humor about it! Someday you will hate me for documenting this moment of your life, but your Dad and I agreed, it made us laugh to hard to forget about it!

We love Emma, and life is more beautiful and full with her in it! I can't wait to add to her list of funnies!

Story of Service

My friend Janet has an awesome blog that keeps me laughing and crying and feeling like I'm not alone. She is having her first ever giveaway, and in honor of it I'm going to participate in my first ever giveaway. She has great prizes, so if you are interested go here.

I've spent some time thinking over the past week. I really wanted to remember an experience that touched me, changed me even. I've been given a lot of service, and as I spend time thinking about it, I realized how blessed I am, and how grateful I am that so many people have chosen to give to me when I really needed it. My prayers have been answered through others too many times to count.

Rewind three years. We've just moved back to Nevada, working construction again, three kids in tow-ages 4, 3, and 3 months. As is always the case when you move, you have to get your vehicle licensed and registered, which means that dreaded trip to the DMV. I kept putting it off hoping that Stuart would have a slow afternoon when he could stay with the kids and make the trip a little easier, (or go himself making it so I wouldn't have to) but that day never came. So here I was, the last day of the month, headed to the DMV with my three kids in tow. Just the thought of taking three kids to the DMV makes my skin crawl. We got there, and were flying through the snacks I'd brought to keep the kids happy and quiet, I'd nursed the baby, changed his diaper and luckily he was content to chill in his seat. Things were going fairly well, and the numbers just kept ticking by. We were getting close to my number when the kids started to lose it! I had no choice, I had to stick it out and get it licensed that day or pay extra fees. Finally they call my number. I'm in the middle of all the paper work and documents when the lady informs me that I'll have to go out to my car, remove the plates, turn them in to them, and then put my new ones on before I'll be able to get out of DMV hell. Okay, I didn't know that-the last time I registered my car that wasn't the procedure. Here I am with three little kids at the end of April-it was probably 90 degrees outside and all I can think is how I don't want to have to drag my semi-stable crew out into the heat and find a way to keep them happy and cool while I do the back and forth. Even as I type it, it doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but I know on that day it felt huge. I'm in public-my first real public outing with three kids-its not going great already-they've been climbing up and down the rows of chairs for the past 20 minutes, and I've been letting them because at least they aren't screaming, or crying, or fighting. I beg the lady "please just let me have my new plates and let me get out of here". She couldn't care less about my situation-probably because she'd get in trouble if she did. There is no way around it, I have to go get the plates. Just then, a kind man shows up to save my day. "I would be happy to go out and get your plates off for you, if you'll show me which one is your vehicle."

"Really? You would do that for me?"

"Yeah sure-lead the way."

And he did. I walked out with him, showed him my van, and went right back in to the DMV to finish up. When he was done, he brought me the plates, and then waited with me while they issued the new ones, ran out to my van, put on the new plates and sent me on my way. I must have said thank you 1000 times during that 10 minutes of my life. I'm sure it was an easy thing for him to do, but for me that day, it was a mountain that needed to be moved, and he was there to move it for me. I remember praying and thanking Heavenly Father for sending a kind man my way when I needed one. That one small event changed me. I've thought of it countless times in the past 3 years. It was a small act. It didn't cost him anything but a few minutes in the heat, and being in his 40's and alone at the DMV, it was probably no skin off his nose either. I'm guessing he hasn't thought about what he did for me since he did it that day, but I'll never forget how his simple act changed me forever. Since that day I've tried to look for the opportunity to give small acts of service when I can. I can't tell you how many grocery store clerks I've caught off guard just by saying "Thank you, Have a wonderful day!", and the times when I've tried to smile at a stranger, or given a small common courtesy to someone. We can do so many small acts of service through a day, and that day I realized that you have NO idea what a small act will do to for another.

Thanks Janet for the opportunity you gave me to share my small experience, but more than that for causing me to spend so much time thinking about how blessed I've been!