Happiness is just a tear drop away

If you know what movie that line is from...good for you : )

Today was a pretty rough start to my Tuesday. Tomorrow will be better. But for now I am happy for:

-having a bishop who understands my frustrations and supports me

-matt, who did my dishes this week even though it's my week to do dishes

-matt, for bringing me lunch after we both had to miss it because we were in Lethbridge signing our bazillion page mortgage.

-tanner, for being such a patient and caring individual

-having the best boss EVER!!! he didn't even notice that i was like 10 minutes late because i couldn't find my work keys and had to call the other receptionist to borrow hers and when i apologized for being late he said he didn't even notice and he didn't even say anything about it! how awesome is that??? i don't make it a habit of being late for work so it's kind of a big deal for me (to me) if i am.

-being able to sort through my 6 tubs...yes SIX, of 18-24mth stuff to give away to 2 friends. i am so happy and liberated to be giving this stuff away.

-ohhhh...matt again for ignoring my crankiness at bedtime last night.

-having a washing machine.

-not having to wash tanners sheets every day. we tried for 6 weeks to get him night trained but he literally did not care. so we resorted back to pull ups. i've got a lot of mixed 'opinions' from others on the issue. we're going to try again in the summer one last time...getting him up every couple hours through the night to take him to the bathroom, but after that i feel helpless/clueless/frustrated as to what to do. some people say he still little, some say he's a boy...they take longer, some say they think he should be night trained by now. i feel like he's the only 7 year old that still wears pull ups and that is personally discouraging for me. i don't know what else to do....okay, back to happy thoughts

-the gospel and the importance of it in my life. for the lessons i've been taught on modesty and sunday dress and honesty (i've learned other things but those are the most dominant this week for me). for being punctual and understanding why/how it's important in ALL aspects of life.

-knowing that i am being relieved of a specific stressful thing because of family situations.

-love

A possible new job

Matt has been looking endlessly for a new job and giving out resumes and spreading the word that he's looking desperatley for a new job. His friends plumbing business just isn't cutting it for Matt. Once Matt get's a new job, I'll post more on that later. Anyways, one of the places he dropped his resume off was Greyhound. So yesterday the called here and asked if he was home and I told them he wasn't. Then they asked if Matt was still looking for work and I said deifnitely. So I gave them Matt's cell phone number. About 5 minutes later, Matt called and said that he was on his way to an interview for the job!!!!! I couldn't have been happier than if I had a bowl full of chocolate in front of me. They said that he's at the top of the list for getting the job, but they had a few more interviews in the next day or two. So we are praying very hard that he gets this job. It's garenteed 10 hours a day (7-5) and holidays off and unless they have a high volume of deliveries on the weekend, then he get's weekends off too. The pay isn't as great as plumbing, but it's not a huge decrease. It's a $3 decrease but it would be worth it, and we would make it work. Plus with me working, it wouldn't be that bad. But it would be work that he would always have the hours for. None of this sitting around all day not getting paid waiting for phone calls. So please pray that he get's this job if it is the Lord's will.
A couple of Tanner stories. On Saturday, we went into Lethbridge to go to Superstore for a few veggies and fruit (the local merc does NOT have good produce. It lasts about 2 days before it goes totally and completly bad). So I had to get some pictures developed of my Primary kids for the lesson the next day. I didn't know that I accidently chose the 1 hour service so instead of staying and browsing around Superstore, we headed over to Toys R Us just to look. We were almost there and this is the conversation:

Tanner:I'm really thirsty Mommy.

Me: I'm sorry, we don't have any water in the car. Maybe we can find some somewhere

Tanner: but I'm REALLY REALLY thirsty.

Me: Oh, I know...Toys R Us has a water fountain and you can get a drink there.

T: Like our Church?

Me: Yep

T: Like our Raymond church

Me: Yeah

T: Oh!

Me: Well, it's not OUR church, it's Heavenly Father's Church. We just go there.

T: In the Raymond Church where there's a water fountain?

Me: Yeah, but it's not our chuch. It's Heavenly Father's Church

T: Right, right, right, it's Heavenly Father's church in Raymond.

Me: Yes honey

Then about 20 seconds later we are sitting at a stop light and he sees the train that's close to where the Toys R Us is and this is how this one goes:

T: LOOK DADDY!!! It's the Polar express

Matt: Yeah, you're right, it does look like the Polar Express doesn't it

Me: Is it the Polar express?

T: NO Daddy, it doesn't look like the Polar Express, IT IS the Polar Express!

He hasn't even watched that movie since Christmas, but it's a favorite. It was so cute how determined he was to let his father know that it didn't look like the Polar Express but that it was in fact the Polar Express.

Here's a question: when you're 4 year old tells you he doesn't want to go to church, what do you say?

Tanner told us on Sunday that he didn't want to go to church. I think it was because he went to bed late and wanted to stay in bed, but I could be wrong. Matt and I both told him that he didn't really get a choice in the matter because he wasn't old enough to make that choice. We told him that Church is where Heavenly Father and Jesus want us to be and that going to church makes them happy and when we're happy, they're happy. We told him that we always go to church every Sunday and that we were all going to go.

What would your suggestions/ideas be? These are such crucial teaching moments and I would never tell Tanner "because I said so" because I really didn't like it when my Mom told me that. I always try to give a reason to things. I want to be able to give a reason so that he doesn't feel like...Okay, here's my reason for giving reasons. I think in most, NOT ALL, circumstances that there should be a reason. For example, if I asked my Mom (when I was a teenager/young adult) if I could go out and she just said "no" and I asked why and her reply was "because I said so", it made me feel like she was trying to control my life and choices. I need a reason, no matter how dumb it may be, just tell me why. Is it because you don't trust me? Is it because you just don't want me to go out? Is it because I've gone out too much? Is it because you don't trust my friends? Just tell me why.
So I have made it a point to try and do that for Tanner. Even when I want to say "because I said so", I stop myself and think of the reason why. For example, he asked for peanut butter and honey today at 3pm. It's not that he can't have that, but I wanted him to have something a little healthier and get him to eat some more veggies/fruits so I said "no, but you can have an apple, grapes, cucumber, yougurt or cheese". He picked the yogurt, but that's just an example of what I do. I always make sure that I can live and am willing to accept the choice that I give him. I wouldn't say "not, but you can have a cookie". I hope that makes sense.

I just want to be able to teach him the right things and help encourage him to do what's right. Maybe a different approach would be better in the situation like him not wanting to go to church. So I'm putting it out there to ask and get feedback.

Well, I think that's it for now. Until next time...