conference, oh how I love thee.

Today was day 1 of Conference weekend and I find myself filled with gratitude for the opportunity to listen our prophet and apostles. It was a little tricky making it all work, with 4 soccer players and 2 rather fidgety littles but WE DID IT. It included watching conference at a neighboring stake center so we could get each soccer player to watch one session and much of the thanks goes to our crock pot that cooked up a yummy stew while we were being fed spiritually. (and then lunch was waiting for our break between sessions.)

My notes are still a little scribbled as I wait for the transcripts to be released. (I just can't write fast enough, so I have lots to fill in here and there.) Here are some quotes/thoughts that I just loved:

Richard G. Scott:

scriptures are like packets of light that illuminate our life

to memorize a scripture is to forge a friendship

Barbara Thompson:

Remember to first inquire of the Lord (Nephi)

I didn't keep my testimony through those times-my testimony kept me! (pioneer)

the spirit of revelation will illuminate and enlarge your soul

Jose Alonso:

analogy of lost son (sheep): they didn't need a planning meeting to find him and the son didn't even know that he was lost

Christ's love is for all but he never loses sight of the one.

"The Lord expects our thinking. He expects our action. He expects our labors. He expects our testimonies. He expects our devotion." -Thomas S. Monson

Let us do the right thing, at the right time without delay.

Boyd K. Packer (so perfect for our youth!)

Young people are being raised in enemy territory

(His whole talk was wonderful, but full of long quotes that I didn't get completely enough to put on here.)

Dieter F. Uchtdorf (individual worth, in a nutshell)

Compared to God we are nothing, but to Him we are everything.

The Lord doesn't care if we spend our days working in Marble Halls or stabled stalls

The Lord uses a scale very different to the world's to measure the worth of souls

David Bednar:

All about family history for the youth

It is no coincidence that FamilySearch and other tools have come forth at a time when young people are so familiar with a wide range of information and communication technologies. Your fingers have been trained to text and tweet to accelerate and advance the work of the Lord — not just to communicate quickly with your friends. The skills and aptitude evident among many young people today are a preparation to contribute to the work of salvation.

(I just found it to be such an a-ha moment. Of course the youth have been prepared to do family history. Every time I attempt to get help at a family history center, I find myself frustrated that very well meaning and family history saavy workers can't help me because their technology skills are about 10 years behind. Of course the youth are the answer!)

Neil A. Anderson:

Where once the standards of the Church and the standards of society were mostly compatible, now there is a wide chasm between us, and it’s growing ever wider. (Thomas S. Monson)

Motherhood is not a hobby. It is a calling. It isn't something you make time for...It is what God gave you time for.

(LOVED this talk. It summed up my feelings on the matter pretty well. Amen, Elder Anderson....then again I felt that way with every single talk that was given today. Wow. Such a wonderful day.)

Ok...I'm too tired to go on. I've gotta get some shut eye before tomorrow as we are a little spoiled over here with our normal 1 pm church time. I will try to finish this tomorrow, but as the joke goes in our science class (in reference to experiments that involve me going to the store to purchase necessary items) that means never. The whole point of this post? I *love* conference. Hey. Did I tell you how much I love conference? (And that I saw Chloe write across the top of her notes "I love conference!"?? How cute is that?)

home sweet home

This morning I am trying to take some time to tackle a seriously long to do list. It seems that we've been awfully busy trying to enjoy each sunny day that hits and in the process, I've gathered a backlog of things that are begging to be done. So this morning is dedicated to my husband, who tends to be more responsible than I am when it comes to putting the "bleh" before the "yippee". So far? Toilets cleaned, laundry started, bed made and a long list of phone calls made. Ok...not a ton done yet, but I am working on it!

(Rachel started her choice and accountability project today. I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn't have it. She is attempting to tackle my craft room. Maybe it is because she sees it every time she walks out of her room. Or maybe it is because she wants me to hurry and turn it into a bedroom for girlies. Either way, I'm ecstatic.)

treats in my mailbox

I got a delicious package in the mail today. (delicious as you can get when one has sworn off sweets for the month.) I got a 5 year journal, which was new to me until a few weeks ago. It has questions on each day of the year for you to answer, but it has spots for you to answer it for 5 years. I anticipate it being fun watching my answers vary over the year...because hopefully I change at least a little bit over the years. Right? And the other treat? A well bound book (because I am a sucker for things like that.) that has simple but cute pages for me to record all of the adorable things that my kids say. When you have a memory (or lack of) like me, you need all of the help that you can get in remembering the hilarious things that your kids spout off. So far? All of the pages are filled with Lilly-isms. Do kids stop saying funny things after 3? I hope not because I was hoping for a book capturing all of their cute sayings.

hello.

I have been trying to slowly (extra emphasis on the word slowly) catch up on some scrapbooking over the past few weeks. It has made me a little more appreciative for my blog as the journaling from my blog saved my bacon quite a few times when my memory failed me. I also managed to lose our Halloween pictures from a couple of years ago, but was able to salvage a few of them from my blog. Does this mean my blog and I might start hanging out again? I don't know. I hope so. One of my best finds in my scrapbooking? This picture of all of us siblings together with our amazing parents. Yep, it had been hiding in my hard drive for the past almost 3 years.

hello, my long lost friends.

Ok. I am back. I don't know how often I will be getting on, but here I am. For updates on Becky and her adventures, you can go to a few different places. We have her facebook page, her family blog and last, but not least, the blog with information about the fundraiser that we're putting together. It has been a rather emotional summer that could easily be compared to your favorite roller coaster ride. I'll fill you in later, k? I guess it would suffice to say that I am glad I was inspired to clear my plate off before all of this started. It may sound silly to all of you non crafty people out there, but I seriously have a continuous struggle where I have to remind myself that creating things is *not* what it is all about. Strengthening my relationship with my Heavenly Father, creating moments, creating relationships, and serving. THAT is what it is about. Everything else....not so important. I am grateful for every day that I get to spend with my family, whether it is in slight chaos or not. (which it is, more often than not)

sarah, the nut

Welcome to a brief synopsis of Sarah, the nut. You aren't going to be seeing me as much on here as I am trying to overcome some of my nuttiness. You know, the side of me that says "Why buy a $3 pack of cards when I could spend an hour making them?" or....the real trouble maker: "I'm already sewing one _______, so I might as well make 20 of them!" I have always said that I plan projects like I have 1 child yet I finish them like I have 10 children.

There is a John Bytheway (did I tell you than I also met him while in SLC???) talk called "What's in Your Backpack?" that we listened to on our little car trip to SLC. Now, John was actually talking to teenagers and he was talking about things that they put in their backpack (teenage stuff like negative self talk, etc) that make their hike/earthly journey so much harder than they need it to be. And all I heard while listening to this was all of the junk that I throw in my pack. You know...mom stuff like sewing projects, a frivolous photography business, crafty crafty fluff, a Pottery Barn house, the perfect birthday party....you get the idea, right?

So I have been playing with this over the past month and these are hard habits to break! I am trying, but it is not easy. I was proud of myself because we had this fun little carnival party but instead of having a long list of things I had done for the party, I had a long list of things that I chose not to do for it. No super cute snacks. No pinwheels for the cupcakes. No handmade signs. (Quickly printed in a matter of minutes and just as cute.) Some things were already in motion and it was too late to eliminate, but I still did a pretty good job and eliminating the unnecessary. I am trying to catch all of these little things and am not doing it all the time (The girls and I started 4 quilts for Mother's Day, but I decided that they will be gifted later in the year after realizing the irony of me being a bad mother to give a good mother's day gift), but am trying to throw all of these stinky bricks out of my backpack. Too bunch junk in the trunk. (Ok, that could apply to my life in a few different ways, but I digress.) Ok, enough rambling. I just thought I would explain my sudden absence. I'll be here and there, but just not so much. I am just trying to refocus a bit and prioritize. Thank you, conference, for reminding me of the end goal here. I am a little dense, but I think I am starting to finally get it. (I know! It's about stinking time!)

may day failure

I feel like today was a slight failure. Yes, we made it to the soccer games, the birthday party and even had time to run into costco. (and I do mean run.) The two things that I really wanted to do today that didn't even get close to happening?

1. I SO wanted to deliver some May Day bouquets today with the girls. We didn't even get far enough to get the flowers.

2. I wanted to head over to our local cemetary to start photographing gravestones with the girls. I *did* carry my camera around all day, planning to go. Does that count?

And my question of the day: When did May Day turn into a day of protests instead of a day to deliver flowers and walk around a pole with ribbons? I say we go back to the cooler one.

A little announcement.

Since my blog has been a little neglected and will continue to be so in the future, I thought I would copy over my post from my photography site for you folks:

Two weeks ago my family and I packed up and headed down to Salt Lake City to hear our prophet and other church leaders speak to us. To keep us busy on the trip down, we listened to some inspiring talks. By the time the weekend was over, I felt like I had plenty of time to evaluate my life and decide on a few things to change. (Doesn't it help sometimes to just step back and look at the big picture?) The biggest change that I decided to make was to stop my photography business. And I guess all of the changes that I plan on making come back to this quote by Julie Beck.

"A good woman knows that she doesn't have time to do all that her heart yearns to do." {Julie Beck}

That pretty much sums it up. Ten years from now, will I care that I have photographed ____ families and ____ seniors? Nope. Will I care if I have neglected my role as mother or if I have done all that I can as a mother? You betcha.

Since Chris and I embarked on the journey of parenthood, we have always been blessed. He has always supported our family and with each additional kid (there have been a few, you know.) there have been blessings to help us make ends meet. I have started feeling a little ungrateful to Heavenly Father. Here he has made sure that I can be a stay at home mom and blessed us accordingly yet I am working for this extra money....just so I can have a little extra money. Quite silly now that I step back and reevaluate.

Now that this has turned into rambling...I will stop my jibber jabber. I am off to the tulip festival with my little herd of girlies to partake of this amazing sunshine that we have today.

just the cutest shoes EVER

disclaimer: not sure why the picture isn't showing up and I have to run. (figuratively, not literally) I will try to get a picture done tonight. You will have to trust me. Just imagine grey pumps with adorable ruffles.

Are these not the most beautiful shoes on earth? (Forgive the picture, but I am lazy and Amazon is helpful.) Can you believe those ruffles? Last night, after an inspiring YW broadcast with my new little young woman, we decided to do a little shopping a la the only store open, Fred Meyers. We ran across nice and....gasp....MODEST dresses for both of us. On a quick run through the clearance section, I fell in love with these ruffly scrumptious shoes but they didn't have my size! So I batted my eyelashes and the very helpful freddy's employee called nearby stores on a search for my dream shoe. Nobody had it. I was a big girl about it and didn't cry for too long. We ended up having to run to a different store to get the right size dress for my girly, getting there a few minutes before closing. While she grabbed her dress, I (being an eternal optimist and doubter of employees) double checked their clearance shoe section. I couldn't find any of these shoes, much less one in my size! Right as I was about to give up, I checked one last spot and there they were. One pair in 8.5. My size. Sweet. And I will now confess to a little bit of jumping up and down and giggling. Just a little, but can you believe my luck? They didn't completely match my new dress, but I had to give them a spin today.

Now, for a little laugh: When I tried on the dress I got, I asked what Rachie thought of it. The best she came up with? "What look are you going for?" Thanks, Rachel. And today at church, two women told me that they almost bought the same dress last night. It is a pretty bold dress, so I am glad the three of us didn't show up sporting it. (Yet they are super cute ladies, so I feel a little better about my purchase, considering the scathing review given by my daughter!)

a little mother help out there?

Not that our house is ever dirty or anything (winky, winky), but do you motherly folk out there have any suggestions for getting your kids to clean their rooms? I would love to hear the tricks that have worked over the years so I don't resort to anything drastic. My next step right now? Packing up all of their belongings. Back in the good ole' days when our house was on the market, keeping rooms clean was easy because just about everything was packed up. And since I would feel pretty mean doing that again, I would love some input here. Thanks, ladies.

ramblings of a crazy and slightly tricky mom

today? Its been a pretty crazy day. I think it was a combination of a cranky mom, kids that decided to ignore said cranky mom and a general feeling that I have no control or say in anything that happens in our government. Anywho....I started working on Elise and Lilly's birthday parties. Do you know what that means? I am planning the last party of our birthday season. Isn't that great? And this party is going to be quite the happening to do because the whole family is involved. We're all in charge of different booths at this mini carnival that will be made complete by the cotton candy alone. Doesn't that sounds great?

And now I will brag about some motherly trickery. Yep. Motherly trickery that worked! (It doesn't always happen that way so I need to brag it up when it does!) As a book addict, there are many books that I buy simply because I hope that having it close on hand will make one of the girls read it one day when they are feeling like reading something a little different. And it doesn't always work. So here is where the trickery comes in. Thanks to a suggestion from my wise older sister, I was putting some miscellaneous books on the nook right next to the girls' toilet. When choosing which books would win the coveted spot, I chose books that I have been dying for a certain daughter to read. (a certain daughter that isn't ambitious in her book choices and....a certain daughter that loves to read in the bathroom) Emma. Tom Sawyer. Vintage books about famous composers and authors. And the next morning Autumn was reading Emma. (and liking it, to boot.) What did I have to say about it? Mwahahaha......My evil plan was successful! I guess a real tricky mom wouldn't reveal her plan as soon as she saw that it worked. Oops.

mom tip #3672

Since there isn't a whole lot that I have to blog about right now, I will blog about what has been taking up my day. An ear infection. Luckily, it was with a daughter that is old enough to deal with it in reasonable fashion, but it has been very painful for her. Her "scale of pain" is a little off as she describes her pain at a 10 when I am pretty sure it is a 3 or 4. How do the Kangs deal with an ear infection? It is stinky, but it is on the cheap and works with amazing speed. We have a nice little bottle of garlic tablets that we've had around for eons. We poke a hole in it, squeeze the super stinky (this is coming from someone who has been known to love garlic) garlic oil in the ear and have them lay on their side while it drips into the ear. With past ear infections, it has only taken one treatment to clean it all up. We've done it three times today, but she is much better. No doctor visits. No antibiotics. Just a little odor. Rachel was on antibiotics all the time when she was a baby. Elise has been on them once for a tooth issue. 6 kids and one time on antibiotics in 10 years. I swear by garlic. If I see gunky noses, I up the garlic in our food and the noses clear up. So there you have it. Mom tip #3672.

Keys, wherefore art thou?

ok. it is really way past my bedtime, but I am going to post a super cute funny from my day to make up for the intense neglect that my blog has been suffering.

I am trying to leave to take Rachel to her first night of YW's and cannot find my keys anywhere. We searched high and low for a good 10 minutes when I finally went to the car (where kids were waiting, nicely buckled and all.) and asked if Hannah or Chloe had seen my keys. Elise pipes up from the backseat that she had and that I should look in the coloring drawer. Since most of you have probably not seen my coloring drawer, let's suffice it to say that this clue was only slightly helpful. (It is actually a cabinet and let's just say that its cup overfloweth.) After looking with little success, I had Elise unbuckle and come show me herself. She ran in the house, reached her arm back in the cabinet and immediately returned with the keys. (She is actually pretty lucky that something wasn't lurking in there, waiting to bite off her tasty fingers. Yes. The coloring drawer IS that bad.) While she was doing this, I was grabbing a handful of Hot Tamales and little Elise pipes up. "Can I have candy for finding the keys?" Why, yes, Elise. I always give out treats to kids who hide keys and subsequently find keys. No, really. I do. Or at least I did. If they are missing again tomorrow, I guess I will pull out the Hot Tamales to reinforce Bad Parenting Lesson #1543.

Side Note: This just reminded me of the time I lost my keys when Elise was barely 2. She was learning her body parts in Korean at the time and when I finally turned to her and said "Elise, have you seen my keys?????", she pointed to her ears and said "Keys here!" (Ears in Korean is more of a Gwey, but she did find those for me!) And we did find the keys...in the trash can. (which she was probably also responsible for.)

my favorite daughter of the day

disclaimer: we have a little running joke at our house that the favorite child status is something that can change at the drop of the hate, even because of something as out of their control as if they came into this world before their due date or not. My theory is that every kid thinks one of their siblings is the favorite at some time in their life, so why not make the whole favorite kid thing sound like nonsense?

That being said, Rachel is my favorite kid today. Why? Because tomorrow is her birthday party and I woke up today unaware of it. What kind of mother would do that? The kind who has a daughter awesome enough to choose a party that requires little or no effort on my part. We did cute little invites with silly knee socks for the girls to wear to her skating party but that is where the effort ended. At some point tomorrow I am going to throw in some cupcakes and buy some ice cream, but that is ALL! Isn't that great? So today is your day, Rachel. Enjoy it because it is the only thing keeping you from being adopted out on this cranky day of yours. (another thing we joke about rather openly in this little non-pc home of ours.)

ramblings of a country bumpkin wannabe

Ok. We did go to the park, I didn't get to exercise, I didn't get to take Chloe's pictures and we didn't make it to the wetlands. Yikes! That to do list was a complete failure. And to top it off, the house is still a mess. Maybe tomorrow will be better? Nah! We did play at the park for a good 2.5 hours, soaking in the rays. And I did get a lot done Smiling Eyes wise. And I fed the kids! Beyond that? Not so hot.

Oh! I found some fabulous houses in the country that are calling for me. I e-mailed them to Chris and his response was something like: WHY are you looking at houses again?!!??!? I'll tell you why! My neighborhood has something against chickens (what is that about, huh?) *and* I will forever hear the call of the country and the ability to let your kids wander around in nature. I would live in a shack if it meant living in the country. Chris, on the other hand, would have to live in a pretty sweet house to make it worth living in the sticks. Sigh. This house was probably the closest I'll get to a compromise. (you know, living in a neighborhood that is in the sticks.) city rules (no chickens) with country perks. (close access to all things country and a beautiful drive anywhere you are headed.)

Note: this desire for chickens was only slightly hampered after hearing discussions from my 3 lovely friends about the times their chickens have had an egg stuck...and what you have to do about it. My plan if that ever happens to me when I have my own little flock of chickens? (see that optimism?) Call my dad. Or my home teacher. And get the gloves and KY for them. Yuck.

thank you for waiting

I am glad I have you to remind me of projects that I never post as I have the memory of a rock! My mom was just pointing out to me that I really should blog about the things I do, showing just how little of my life I actually blog about. So here is my art wall. I love it. I would like to add the disclaimer that if I wasn't in a marriage that requires some levels of compromise, this frames would probably be painted in a much brighter hue. With that being said, I do think the white worked still. I am almost certain that I copied this idea from someone, but I can't give credit because I can't remember who the stink it was. Sorry, guys. Enjoy!

a riddle of sorts

On Sunday, our church now starts at 11:30, which means that Lilly is absolutely exhausted by the time church ends three hours later. Add in a 30 minute choir practice and she has had it. While checking my e-mail after laying her down, I glanced at the clock and thought "Oh, I guess the power went out a mere 56 minutes ago." Fast forward to Tuesday night. The clock still hasn't been changed (probably because I've been trying to hammer out a website or something) and I look at the clock again. This time I think "Cool. Since I haven't changed the clock, it says it is only 11:54. Sweet." What time did I *really* finally roll into bed last night?

better late than never

oh, dear sweet Anthropologie....I am sorry that it took me so long to visit. You see, normally when I pass you by, I have 6 girls on my arm. 4 of them would love you just as much as I do, but I am pretty sure the other 2 would rip you to shreds and then some.

I finally made it in your magical doors while my cool lil' sis was visiting and immediately fell in love. Yes, most of your wares were well about my price range. I have six little darlings and I am certain that I would get angry if they broke a $200 ____________. So I have a little rule about buying such things. But I can handle a few $4 mugs to help my peppermint tea look a little better. And your amazing measuring spoons? I don't think they can break those! All in all, a fabulous visit. Thanks for having us...and I will try to sneak over for a visit more often. I just have to find a babysitter so I can bring my regular babysitter with me. I am pretty sure she is going to fall head over heals in love with you. Now that is a crush I can handle!

because I said so!

Today:

•My children will wake up and play quietly while mommy sleeps in, even though they have cousins here to run about with.

•A certain 3 year old (and her partner in crime) will not draw on my fridge with permanent marker AGAIN.

•The magic eraser I go buy will take off all signs of previous art work on the fridge. (and the table.)

•We will be watching Elf at the Grand Lodge (and they won't cancel this time.)

•The UPS man will deliver my Christmas cards way before his normal delivery time of 5pm so I can stick the cards in their envelopes and drop them off at the post office before closing.

•I will stay up late working on jammies instead of surfing. (the net, of course)

•I will sip my peppermint tea in my splendid new mug (a la anthropologie) in the shadows of our Christmas tree, in absolute silence. (of course!)

How do I know all of this? Because I said so, of course. (And everything us moms wish for comes true, right? RIGHT?) And just because I am feeling especially upfront with all of you blog friends out there, I am not going to schedule this post to publish at a reasonable hour so you can see just how late I have stayed up tonight.

update: Erase all of that. Really, I would just like my hot water to work today.

to pj or not to pj

I am really struggling with this and I think mainly because I don't want to make jammies this year and my kids, of course, want me to.

Since it was just Rachel and Autumn, there have been handmade jammies made out of $1/ yd flannel that was bought on the day after Thanksgiving. This year, Lilly helped me only get 1 1/2 hours of sleep before the big sale. Joann's fabric wasn't quite as cheap. And now, laziness and enjoying a very slow December is taking over. I like the relaxed mode that is going on at the Kang abode.

Ok...now for the pro argument. I mentioned to Rachel the possibility of not doing pj's, thinking that with her teenageness she would be absolutely with me on this decision. And she wasn't. She was shocked that I would think of getting rid of a tradition that, in all honesty, was made when I didn't think we would ever have more than 4 kids. Six pairs of jammies are more of a time commitment than four! So do I hold on to the tradition seeing that there might be a time in the near future when my kids will not be keen on matching pj's for Christmas Eve?

Input?