Practice makes perfect

Kate showed off her walking skills for the Primary kids today. She still prefers to crawl, but she practices her steps more and more each day.

When we got home from church this afternoon, I made pancakes for the kids & myself. As I was about to flip Eleanor's pancakes, she instructed, "Flip it hard!" with much enthusiasm.

We had our Family Home Evening tonight so my Mom & I can attend the viewing for Aimee's mother tomorrow night (and have a girls' night out with Donna (my sister) as well). The kids were understanding about this change in our normal routine, which was nice. It worked out well that yesterday I had Matt pick up the cupcakes that Emily had requested for the treat, so we were prepared for all of FHE today without knowing we needed to be.

Zoe hasn't been feeling all that great today. She complained of a headache, sore throat, and stomach ache during church today. She fell asleep on the way home and rested for a bit before eating. She was feeling much better this evening. We all have one or more cold symptoms. It has been going on for about a week now and we seem to be getting worse as the days go by. I keep reminding myself that I would much rather deal with colds than the flu!

Zoe has been thinking a lot about what she wants for her birthday. She has reached the age of wanting expensive gifts. She would like an mp3 player, a nintendo, a palm pilot, a Lands' End gift card, a $92 suitcase for her American Girl dolls, and "Coconut" (a stuffed dog for her American Girl doll, which is $19 and looking very affordable!). The good thing about this expensive list is that I told Zoe we couldn't afford a big party with friends AND an expensive gift, so she has chosen the gifts instead of the party. :-) She did name a couple of friends that she would like to invite over for cake and ice cream which is doable.

I listened to the CES broadcast this evening featuring Julie B. Beck as the speaker. She is one of my favorite speakers to listen to and one of Matt's as well. Even though it was a talk for young single adults, I got a lot out of it. I find that to be true as I read articles in the church magazines that I think I won't get much out of because they are written for a group of people (such as singles, divorced parents, elderly, etc...) that I am not a part of. I actually get more out of those articles sometimes than other ones. It was fun to listen to Sister Beck's talk as a mother to gain knowledge and advice to pass on to my own children as they become single adults. I liked the point made that a temple recommend = obedience to the gospel. A young woman or man that knows that their date holds a temple recommend also knows that their date keeps the word of wisdom, attends meetings, lives the law of chastity, supports leaders, etc... What a great tip for a mother to pass on to her children!