Things kids say

I have a friend who is constantly blogging about the funny things her kids say. The misuse words, come up with new meanings to words, come up with just crazy ideas, and it all gets a good laugh. Well, my kids don't typically misuse words or say crazy things (at least not around me) but I did catch a super sweet thing the other day that I never want to forget.

Here's the conversation:

Me: "Zech, Gabe, get your clothes on, its time to get ready for school."
Gabe: I don't WANT to go to school!
Me: "Gabriel I'm sorry you don't want to but you are going, those are the rules, get your cothes on. You have 5 mins or you go to school in your PJ's." (I walk out to tend to the younger 2 kids who cannot dress themselves)
Gabriel-under his breath: No I'm not going to school and you can't make me, (even softer) stupid mommy."
Me (reentering the room b/c OF COURSE I heard this!): "Gabriel, that was very disrespectful and you do NOT talk to me that way. DO you understand? I want an apology."
Gabriel: Sorry Mommy
(I leave the room to finish getting the others dressed)
Zechariah: "Yeah, Gabe you can't talk to Mom like that because you might make her cry and I don't like it when she cries."

My heart melted and I got a tiny tear in my eye. But don't worry, I didn't show Zech! :)

Happy Thoughts: Gratitude Journal?

I figured I should blog about happy things since the last post was a bit of a downer and sometimes I don't feel the desire to post unless my head is so full of turmoil I need a place to spew it out. (sigh) I honestly need to keep a gratitude journal b/c there are so many wonderful things that are happening and DO happen everyday in my life. Here's just a few I've been thinking about:

• I am SO pleased about the growth of my oldest son, Zechariah. I am grateful the Lord saw fit to press upon my heart and mind after I did all that I could do, to seek medicinal help. I could give a rat's butt what people think of that decision now. (I didn't used too-it used to hurt me deeply) I know that it was the right choice. He is sooo much happier. He is able to be the person he wanted to be but somehow just couldn't. I am grateful I could help him in this way at such a young age so that he does not have to go through the same struggles that some of my family members went through because of the same chemical imbalances.
• Gabriel's laughter lights up my life. I have worried about my Gabe. He is the 2nd son. He has always been in Zech's shadow. Zech is such a strong personality I feared for Gabriel's ability to make his own way in the world without following the crowd due to low self esteem. What a blessing he is! His personality is SO fun! It is exactly perfect for the dynamics b/w him and Zech. Gabriel takes pride in telling jokes and being funny and he is SO cute about it! His laughter is truly contagious! I am so grateful for his fun loving spirit!
  
• Ammon is precious! He is also precocious! I enjoy spending my days with him by my side. What a handsome little guy he is too! Be still my soul!!! His smile melts my heart! He comes up with the greatest stories, he talks to me like a little person-asking me about things, my feelings, telling me about his dreams and his feelings. It is pretty cool! Ammon and Elijah seem to be a perfect pair. They get into stuff and make messes and drive me crazy sometimes but the joy they have in the process is truly inspiring. I hope they always stay close.
• Elijah is a blissful mess. He is not speaking as clearly as my others did at this point but he understands EVERYTHING!!! Be careful what you say around him. He detests fighting and will yell at the top of his lungs if the other boys are yelling at each other. Will he be our little peacemaker or is he just waiting to get big enough to throw down with the others? Either way, it will be fun to watch.
  
• My Premier Designs jewelry business is taking off! It seems that the Lord is blessing me even despite my lack of faith. (He tends to do that with me a lot) I am talking to more and more people who are interested in becoming a jeweler as a way to help with their family's finances. My SIL, Sarah has turned out to be my biggest cheerleader. I desperately needed one too! She has talked with many of her friends and family who are now taking a look at the business! Who knows what will happen?!
• My husband loves and adores me. I am SOOO grateful for this. He is my best friend! Our 10 year anniversary was last year, we are now approaching our 11th. Our 10 yr cruise never happened. I am debating headed somewhere just the 2 of us whether we have the $ or not. (I know, that is so bad huh?) Hmmmm, maybe I'll have to pray for some more weekends like this last one: I had 2 jewelry shows retailing over $2,000. My profit is 50%. Sweet huh?!?
• I have amazing family and friends! I typically do not get on the phone and call them all and keep in touch like I should. I do not leave my house and go out with my friends like I should. But I am surrounded by the most amazing people in my life. Let me just name a few: Sarah Griesmyer, who knew we would get so close and enjoy living next to each other? I love it! :), Kelsie Carrington, you are the most caring person I know with the biggest heart too! I am SO grateful to have you as my BFF., Aunt Nancy-what would I do without you? You are always there in time of need and willing to lend a hand, Salena Thomas- I wish I spent more time with you. You are cooler than you even know. The list goes on and on and on. These are just a few of the loved ones I have that touch my life every day for good.

I promise to post pics on my next blog post and to pimp out my page. Supposedly I can do way more stuff than I do. Who has time for all that really? I'm doing good to type this out and send it into cyber space! Oh well! Now you know that I am blessed and everything is not doom and gloom. In fact, most of the time I am a happy person! Sure, I've got problems and trials but I try to remember that it is how we deal with those trials that really matter. That is our test. I hope I pass! Sometimes I feel like I'm just barely making it through the day much less this life! But then I think about how quickly this life passes and I get all sad and teary b/c my babies are growing up and I wish I could just stop time or slow it down so I can get all that I want to instill in them there. What if I don't? -----holy crap I'm getting on a whole new subject/tangent/rant. I should stop here!

Sometimes I have to laugh at myself! :)

My husband, the super hero...ammended

CW3 Gary Griesmyer

W01 Gary Griesmyer in Flight school

Gary Griesmyer, UGA police officer

Disclaimer: I hate blogger: it won't let you load your pics in the order you want them. UGH!!!

My husband has a very demanding job. I'm sure many people's husbands do but this is my blog so I'm gonna whine if I want to. Unfortunately, he never gets a sense of accomplishment. For those who do not know, Gary is the Special Agent in charge at the Fort Myer, VA CID office. That's Criminal investigation folks. Think CSI. OK, now that that's covered I'll back up. When Gary and I got married he was a police officer at UGA. Pretty cool gig but he had to put in a lot of overtimes (without pay!) and be at the beckon call of the unit. Then he/we decide to go fly helicopters for the Army-which led us to CID. It's a loooong story that I may blog about later but who really cares but me and him anyways? :) After CID school, we got stationed in Fort Hood, TX and were able to stay there 4 years. Gary was a case agent with over 25 cases on his desk at one time, got deployed to Iraq where he was lead investigator on one of the most HEINOUS crimes that were committed over there by one of our sworn, came back and went into EC-economic crimes, then CCC-computer crimes where he was able to get TONS of awesome training! He climbed quickly up the "ranks" in the 7 years that we've been in the Army. But with added rank comes added responsibility.

A year ago at this time, I was in my bishop's office crying my eyes out b/c I felt like Gary could not handle the stress of work, school, family, church, scouts, etc, etc. And honestly, I couldn't handle Gary not being able to cope and deal. I can handle all my stuff most of the time but when his stress starts creeping upon me---forget it!
I SWORE to Gary I would not have anymore children b/c he never helps and I end up empty. It's not because I felt overwhelmed as a mom, the kids were fine! Great! I felt that by the time I gave to everyone else, I was empty and needed a bit of refill myself and was looking to him to give that to me. He was empty too! So now what?!? Gary never makes it home for dinner. He barely makes it home in time to kiss the children before they have to go to bed. He wants to be home. He is a home body. If I gave him the choice of spending a week on the beach or at home, he'd pick home! (Ummm, not me!) Anyways, my bishop then gave me a book to read, one for Gary to read, gave me some nice advice and sent me on my way. The books helped us both and we were doing pretty good. Gary was managing his stress.

Here we are one year later. Guess what? I'm pregnant. It's already hard for me to carry my 20 month old in and out of stores as well as my ittybitty 14 week belly. (Can you imagine when I am 38 weeks?!) I'm not as young as I used to be. My house is not as clean, I am not as Wonderwomany-I know that's not a word but my friends will totally get what I'm saying. I'm starting to feel the emptiness again and the need for him to fill it. Do you think he has anything left when he gets home from a long day of meetings at the Pentagon, meetings with the US Attorney, meeting with people from all these stupid boards he has to sit in on and listen to cases about husbands and wives who smack each other around and lie and cheat and steal. Does he have anything left after comforting the mother of a young man who hung himself in his barracks room, or after gettting a confession from a P.O.S. that sexually assaulted his 14 yr old cousin?

It's a vicious cycle. Satan knows us every bit as well as Jesus does. He spent countless eternities with us too. He is real. He knows how to get us with guilt or pity-parties or the "I needs" or whatever the case may be. So, I guess I can handle carrying around my pregnant self and my 20 month old. I guess I can handle the enormous mess my 3 year ALWAYS seems to make everywhere he goes. I guess I can handle homework and piano practice and chores and teaching and training my children in the gospel. I guess I can cook a decent meal for us every now and then (I mean, let's not go crazy!) I guess I can handle my job as a Premier Designs Jewelry Lady, the finances, and anything else that may come up. My husband protects me, my children, and all of you from the nasty in the world. Well, he's trying-he's fighting the good fight. He puts the bad guys away. But his job never ends, he rarely gets to see the verdict come in, before he gets one out, 5 more cases come in.

He is the love of my life and my super hero.

What do I need to learn? The thing I have blogged about for about 3 years now and still don't seem to get it. Trust in the Lord. He will bring me strength. He is the only one who can fill my cup. He's waiting for me. He wants to help me. So why do I not run to Him? Because for some reason I think I am WonderWoman and can conquer the world-so not true. So my one and only goal this year: Trust in the Lord more fully. Come to Him. Reach out to Him.

I bet my life will be easier. What do you think?

I should...

Blog.

The house is quiet, the snow is falling, and I am bored. I should blog. Unfortunately, I have nothing to say. :(

Zechariah's baptism

Zechariah was baptized on Sunday after Christmas Day, December 26th, 2010 by his Daddy, Gary Griesmyer

Our beautiful family on this very special day!

Can you see the tears in my eyes? He's my baby! I was SO pleased and choked up that I couldn't even smile right!

We had a lot of family and friends there to support him on this big decision to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His program was beautiful. His uncle Ken Griesmyer played the piano. Nanner Griesmyer gave the opening prayer. Grandma Hardin (Johnson) conducted the music, Uncle Scott Johnson gave a talk on baptism. His cousin Hannah Griesmyer and I sang a duet, "A Child's Prayer", his 2 grandfathers were the witnesses as he was baptized by his dad, his uncle Will Griesmyer gave a talk on the Holy Ghost, and his PaPaw Johnson gave the closing prayer. All the present family members who carried the priesthood plus our bishop, Farrel Martin, stood in the circle to confirm him a member of the church. The spirit was so strong. The outpouring of love from our friends and family members was amazing to behold. The shear volume of our family there on both sides and their participation in the baptismal program was truly a blessing. I was amazed and overwhelmed by the power that our 2 families possessed. We are a united force! We are one in purpose, goals, dreams, aspirations. We were there to help bring another soul unto Christ and into His kingdom. Isn't that amazing? I was in awe the whole time. I felt the love of Christ, of family, of friends, and of community stronger that day than I have in a very long time. I am so happy for my little man. I know this may sound funny and you may not believe it but he is different. He is calmer. He is more patient. He is more responsible. (I'll blog more about that later)

The Holy Ghost is real. Jesus is the Christ, our Savior and Redeemer.

Merry Christmas

I will post more soon but let me just say:
God is good.
Families are Forever.
Faith is real and can bring immense strength.
Angels are everywhere.
And Life is Good!


Merry Christmas!


My eldest is being baptized today. :)
My heart is so full!

Thoughts, thoughts, and more thoughts

• I have had a great time getting ready for Christmas and doing all my shopping, until I ran out of money. CRAP!
• I'm going to have 29 people in and through my house b/w Christmas Eve and Zech's baptism on Sunday. That's alot of people. Do I have enough food? Do I have enough room/ Do I have enough energy? graciousness? patience? (insert prayer here)
• I have contacted all 29 of these people with plans for the weekend which included food assignments, room assignments, festivities and their times. Do you think they have contacted me to let me know Yay or Nay? Thank you Cortnie Johnson for being the ONLY one!!! Ever. To be on top of your game!
• I love Corntie JOhnson. She is OCD like me :) Thank goodness she decided to give Scott a 20th chance (it was about that many right?)
• My house is not ready to house these people yet. It usually is by now. But I have been cleaning my SIL's house, helping watch her kids, working my job, keeping up with my laundry and house and kids, taking meals to people, decorating, entertaining, etc, etc.
• I am in the ugly stage of pregnancy. You know the is-that-a-FLUB-hanging-over-her-pants- or-is-she-preggo? stage. UGH! I am now wearing my "fat" pants. The ones I wear after I have the baby. My belly isn't nice and round yet but I am too big to fit into my nice size 2's I just babrely bought since I was so dang tiny. (Sigh)
• I hate the Wii. Seriously, I HATE the Wii!!! "Why Rebekah? Why do you hate the Wii?" Because even as I type, the darling children are downstairs playing it. After hours of begging to play it on this snow day (the rule is Friday night and Sat only) and having their mean mom say no, I finally broke down and said OK. Now? They are yelling at each other. It never fails. It doesn't matter what game it is. Zech and Gabe yell, Audrey and William whine. I don't know which is worse. Of course the whining gets more on my nerves b/c I'm not used to it and the shear high pitchness of whining drives me insane!!! But no, yelling and whining are both equally as bad. Now I get to be the bad guy and turn it off due to their behavior. See why I hate it now? There will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. There might even be a Wii controller thrown by my dear eldest son who has a terrible difficulty controlling his temper. In the which, I will get to ground him from the Wii for the whole weekend which will bring more weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. If it were up to me, I'd throw it in the trash!
• There are about a million other things rolling through my head. The most important of them though is the fact that my dear sweet husband is at work puking his guts out. He can't get home and due to the snow and road conditions, I can't go get him. I have to go figure out what to do. Until I decide to blog again....

Merry Christmas!!!