{It's snowing!!!!}

I am rather annoyed! It has been beautiful that past few days and I thought "Punxsutawney Phil" was wrong in the fact that winter was still going to happen for 6 more weeks. Well, I guess he was right because when I stepped out this afternoon to pick up Sam from school I was met with frigged wind and a bluster of snowfall.

darn it! I didn't want more snow but spring to start and it to WARM up! *sigh*

Anyways, yesterday my dad and his wife came over and the kids just loved it! They wore him out and William and my dad had a battle of bowling. It was neck and neck all the way. Well it didn't start out that way but it ended up being very close. I think the bowling is my favorite.

They stayed for dinner, I even made brownies for dinner...yummy food that is easy to fix and everyone can enjoy.

As a side note I am not sure I am liking the behavior of my new ward (people in the ward not so much the ward). The primary does a program for those kids who are going to be turning 8 soon called "Great to be Eight" and it's geared towards letting them know what is all entailed in getting baptized. Not a bad thing, but here is where my annoyance comes in. Not only did several people tell me about it but they kept telling me about it and then mailed me 2 invitations to it. Well that's fine and dandy. I just let it slide - I hate being told things over and over and over again and having to repeat things over and over and over again. I really am trying to be civil.

Next thing I know, Aaron's teacher calls up, yesterday (Sunday, when my dad was here) to say she is sorry Aaron wasn't in church today. (very nice I know and I do appreciate the attentiveness, what I didn't appreciate is coming up next) Then she proceeded to ask "if Aaron would be going to the class?" I told her "No, because we had family over." Of course she didn't like that answer and said "well, I could just come by and pick him up so he can go by himself"

UH, HELLO, I just said NO. (of course, I didn't say that) instead I said, "No we have family over." and said goodbye and hung up.

I understand most who are in the church want EVERY eight year old to be baptized and I want Aaron to be baptized too, but he didn't want to go to the class he wanted to be with his grandpa, who by the way, doesn't come by that often. Plus Aaron said he isn't ready to be baptized right now. Can't people stop being so darn pushy? He will do things at his own pace and ONCE maybe TWICE is plenty to tell me something - NOT ten million and one times! I am not so far gone as to need constant reminders.

I DO like my ward, I really do but some of the members are so gosh darn pushy. Never taking NO as an answer.

I am also a bit frustrated that I have been asking and asking to find out what my visit teaching route is and who my companion is but have never been told or given a list. (they always forget it and say they will get it to me, but never do)

Imagine my surprise when I got a call at the end of the month asking if I had done my visit teaching for January. Seriously, how can I do any sort of visit teaching when NO ONE will let me know who I am supposed to be visiting or who my companion is?

Did I mention, I do like my ward? Well, I do. I just don't like the pushiness that I have been experiencing and it's beginning to be a real turn off for William too. We were sorta cornered in Wal-mart a few weeks back by a gentleman from our ward who, seriously hounded us to come to some dinner for the Couples in the ward. We told him we were not going to go and he just wouldn't let it go. Even when we gave him very good reason's - one main one being William hates social events since coming back from Iraq. He just hates crowds and wouldn't have enjoyed it at all. But this guy just wouldn't let it go and then the Sunday afterwards I got cornered again by another guy asking if we were going to go and how we SHOULD go.

Seriously, I do like my new ward, it's 100 times better then the ones we have had in the past, but the pushiness...*sigh*

{Sam's Friend}

Yesterday I brought home of of Sam's friends from school. They had a blast painting, watching "Ben 10" & "Spiderman" as well as running around the property pretending to be hero's! I captured a bit of their outside fun. Ruth wanted to play with them but they were a bit too quick so she played with Patten when he wasn't chasing the boys around.

We are going to have Sam's friend over again next week for a sleep over! Aaron was bummed be missed hanging out with Sam's friend but he is Sam's friend after all. Enjoy!

{Scrable Tile Pendant}

I ordered 4 tile pendants from Word Designs. I received them yesterday in my mail box and was happy to see them. I will have to remember the next time that I order that I will need to leave more room around the images so stuff doesn't get cut off (part of Sam & Aaron's head were chopped a bit).

They turned out rather nice. Now I am just going to have to get chains/cord for them so they can be worn. I do find the small bubbles in the resin they use to be a bit distracting but you only see them if you look really close. Which most people don't do. These are great for gift ideas for that special someone who has everything but a scrabble tile pendant!

{Pay it forward: it's a challenge}

I got this from April's Blog. Thanks for sharing such a fun idea!


The Rules:

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me - something crafty or yummy, who knows?!.

2. Winners must post this challenge on your blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift -anything!- for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your Three Friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!

4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate Linky Love!If you are not one of the Top Three Commenters on this post, you can still play along. Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!

SO, REMEMBER... it is good... :) Pass it forward.

{Jumpin' Spider}

We found a jumping spider hanging out on the dogs water dispenser. He was quite larger then some of the jumping spiders we have seen this winter. I don't have a problem with jumping spiders - other spiders I can't stand. (I know double standard...lol) Anywho, while Ruth and William were enjoying the spider and discussing the spider and what name he should have I whipped out my camera and snapped a few images before we let the spider go hang out in a window to catch other spiders and nasty bugs. They are better then a fly strip any day!

Besides that, I like that jumping spiders show alot of personality when you stare at them. They have excellent eye sight and they just make me giggle. not sure why, they just do.

Enjoy!!