making potions.

Trinity and Natalie love making "potions." They will often spend hours at a time cutting up little pieces of paper and throwing them into the "pot." They also add whatever they can find lying around the house: i.e. twist-ties, bits of plastic, small toys, etc. I'm not sure where they got this idea, but it is one of their favorite pastimes. That is, until last week, when Trinity decided that she needed to cut a piece of her bathing suit up and add it to her potion. I was livid! The suit was new and Natalie has one that is just like it, so they referred to them as their "Aquamarine" mermaid swimsuits. They just HAD to have them, and convinced us to buy them a month or so ago. Well, their days of using scissors have ended, and thus they can no longer make their beloved potions. (I later found out that Trinity had also cut a square out of her sheet, which only confirmed to me that taking the scissors away was the best decision.) Uggg! I was so mad.

Needless to say, the girls found a way to make their potions without scissors. Today while they were playing outside, they made one. Sure, you may think that it sounds ok, since no scissors were involved AND they were outside. WRONG!

THIS is what happens when you leave your children alone outside for too long!



Alas, a mud potion was made, holes were dug in the middle of the yard, and the girls were covered from head to toe.



I would have posted a picture of Trinity, but she is getting very wise beyond her five years-she managed to tip-toe into the bathroom and get into the tub before I even knew what was going on! The only evidence she left were black footprints down the hall. (I know you can barely see it, but it really was enough to make me get out the mop, and we all know how often I do that!)

can't you see?

I have been going out with the sister missionaries alot lately. Going on exchanges is something that I have been doing since I moved back to Florida, and am so grateful for the opportunity to go. I did not serve a mission myself, though I really wish I had. Terry and I plan to go on a couple's mission when we are old and the nest is empty, but for now, I see this as a way to serve. I have fallen in love with these wonderful women who have given up everything so that they can be representatives of Jesus Christ. Their testimonies are so sure, so strong. Unwavering. When they come across a non-believer, someone who starts to persecute them and try to tell them that they are wrong, they stand up for what they believe in. I have seen them in action. I would have caved. Completely crumbled. I have a testimony too, but for whatever reason I find it hard to profess my love of the gospel the way that they do.

But the last few times that I have gone out with them, I have met some amazing people. First, there was Kathy. She was so sweet the first time I met her. It was a super hot day and she gave us ice pops! I was so grateful and taken back by her willingness to share with someone she didn't even know. Since then she has been baptized, just three weeks ago. Then there is Lizzie. This woman was searching for the truth and had been everywhere looking for it. When the sisters knocked on her door, she knew the truth had found her. I loved visiting with her and went to her baptism two weeks ago! Now, I have been out twice to the house of Michelette, a wonderful man from Haiti. He has invited the sisters to come back a third time, and I am hoping that he will want to be baptized as well.

Of course, there are times when I have been out with the sisters when the investigator does not understand what they are telling them. It drives me crazy. Not crazy like they are making me mad, but crazy like I can't believe that they don't see what I see. We try to spell it out for them, in plain English, and they still just don't get it. The proof is there in front of them. The Bible is used so much to back up the Book of Mormon. It's true! I KNOW IT IS! I just want to scream it from the top of my lungs! I had a testimony before, I always have. But it has grown even stronger since I have started going out with the sisters. And I have been blessed that I would derive such strength from serving a mission. Maybe I am not a "full-time missionary," but I am definitely a "member missionary," who is gaining strength, truth, charity, and much, much more from doing this. I have known of the gospel's truth from a very early age. My father is not a member and my mother is inactive, but I remained faithful. Why? Why did I go to church all alone? Why, as a teenager, did I not participate in things that my friends were doing? I wanted to participate, but I didn't. I COULDN'T. I knew. It was always there, in the back of my mind. For four years I went to early morning seminary at 6:00 am. I had to get up at 5:00 am, then go to seminary, then go to school. It was hard and made for a long day, after dance classes and drama practices. But I did it. People thought I was crazy. But I wasn't. I had the vision. (No, I didn't have a "vision.") I got the message. I had been told it was true and I just knew.

I don't know why this has hit me so hard, so many years later. It was like an "Aha!" moment. It was missionaries that got my mother into the church. Because she joined, I was there, learning in Primary. She may have faltered, may not have been strong enough. But I am. And I thank God for that everyday.

I want to hereby declare that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the one and only true church on the face of the earth today. And I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

P.S. If you happen to stumble onto my blog one day and read this, great. But please, if your opinions are negative, derogatory, or hateful, keep them to yourself. You will not change my mind.

potty time!

So, it has taken me two years, but Natalie is FINALLY willing to use the potty!!!! Hooray! It's potty time!!! I am so excited. It started a couple weeks ago, when I was changing her diaper and she was having a fit. She was crying and screaming and just throwing a tantrum (I can't remember why) and when I went to put on her new diaper, she screamed "I want panties!" And that was it! I got her some, told her she HAD to use the potty if she was going to wear them, and she said ok. She had a couple accidents, but did really well the first day. I wondered if it would last. Day 2 turned out to be the same, and then Day 3. She was DOING IT! I couldn't believe it. She was really proud of herself, too. We went to the dollar store a month or so before, and tried to bribe her to use the bathroom with about $20 worth of toys. Each time she used the potty, she got to pick out a new toy from our closet. It made her so excited to use the potty! And when she had an accident, she knew that she would not get a toy that time. Well, it has now been about two weeks, and while she is still having an accident here and there, she is SO much better than she was. We are out of dollar store toys, but her enthusiasm continues, as does ours. She really wants to be a big girl, and knows that she has to be for Pre-K, which starts in just a couple weeks. I was so worried that she would not be able to go, and that I would have to keep her home one more year. But she is coming through. Pictured below is Natalie, with one of her dollar store toys. Trinity was jealous and wanted one too.

even the kids want one!

...a little brother, that is! No, I'm not pregnant. No, I'm not trying to get pregnant. But Terry and I have discussed having another baby in a few years, when I have finished nursing school, and the girls have told us many times that they want a little brother. I often wonder if they are receiving promptings from the Spirit that I have chosen to ignore. I have plenty of excuses to not do it: money, still needing to lose those extra pounds from my last baby (which was four years ago!), school, money, oh, and did I mention money? Yes, we are too broke to invest in another child. It wouldn't be fair to the rest of the family and adding more weight to myself wouldn't be fair to my poor body. So in my opinion, those are VERY good reasons to ignore any prompting that I may or may not have. BUT...

Tonight, as I was putting Natalie to bed, she said something to me that made me laugh and made me think. It goes something like this:

Me: Did you know Jesus is your brother?

Natty: Yes, but he's my older brudder and I want a younger brudder.

Me: (laughing) Really?

Natty: Yes, and mommy? Can you and daddy get married again so that you can have a baby in your belly? I really want a little brudder.

Me: (laughing hysterically now) No, mommy and daddy don't need to get married again, because we already did. Getting married doesn't put a baby in your belly.

Apparently, I need to figure out a way to discuss the birds and the bees to a four year old. My five year old could use the talk too. We have told them that they can not have babies until they are married (in fact, they have been told that they can't kiss boys or see boys naked and vice-versa until they are married), and we have told Trinity that she is our miracle baby and that we prayed for her and that Heavenly Father sent her to us. So now Trinity thinks we only need to pray for a baby to appear in my belly, though I have told her that it takes a little more than that. And Natalie thinks that we just have to get married to get a baby in my belly. Oi! I am in for one heck of a ride!

elliott museum and the house of refuge.

On July 24th, which happens to be Pioneer Day in Utah, we made another long, boring trip to the VA. Terry's appointment was first thing in the morning, and it was a short one, so we had the whole day left. I was antsy to do something fun, but we didn't want to spend alot of money, and Terry nixed my beach idea right away. Then I remembered this place that my mom took me to when I was little. I made a quick call to my parents, and my dad told me how to get there. The place was called The House of Refuge, and just down the street from that was the Elliott Museum, so you could tour both places at a two-for-one price. We were delighted!

We went to The House of Refuge first, located right on a strip of land that falls right between the beach AND the river on Hutchinson Island. The beach there is rocky, so the waves look so cool crashing into the rocks. And there was a movie being filmed there! It was neat. We took the tour, and learned that there were several "houses of refuge" located up and down the Treasure Coast of Florida. Back in the day, there was one person who stayed there, called a "keeper," and it was their job to look up and down the coast after a storm for shipwrecks and sailors who were lucky enough to survive and make it to the beach. They would then take the sailors in, feed them, clothe them, and nurse any wounds. It was a difficult and lonely job, but if not for them, the shipwrecked men would have had no hope. Today the house that we toured is the only one that is still standing, and I feel lucky to have seen it once more. And while I sort of forgot that it was Pioneer Day, I was happy later on to realize that I had taught my children a little something about some of the pioneers in Florida.

We next made our way to the Elliott Museum, where the learning of more pioneers continued! Named after the man who I presume started the museum, he contributed greatly to its contents, as many of the items inside were his. The special display was all about the circus, and there were tons of miniature circus events placed throughout the first room. As we traveled through the rest of the museum, we saw an old general store, an old-fashioned kitchen, and even a whole collection of old baseball cards and a baseball, complete with autographs from people such as Joe Dimaggio. Then at the end of the tour, there is a garage filled with cars, ranging from the first early models right through 1975. It was amazing to look at how vehicles have changed! There were even electric cars, which I hadn't realized had been invented so long ago.

All in all it turned out to be a very educational, fun-filled day. I am so happy that we thought of something fun to do as a family, and the fact that it all ended up happening on Pioneer Day made it even better.

the fourth of july.

The fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. I love America and everything it stands for, and I love the spirit that this holiday brings out in people. Terry is especially fond of it too, seeing as how he served our country in the United States Air Force.

Last year we were a little disappointed with the way the day turned out, because we had been spoiled by all the festivities that occur in Utah, whereas Florida doesn't seem to do much of anything. So we went to Aunt Hilary and Uncle Rob's house in Hobe Sound, because they have a huge party that half the town comes to, and Rob puts on a display of fireworks that is so big, you'd think it was put on by the town in their own back yard! Patriotic music blares as the fireworks are lit from the backyard, while the spectators sit in the front yard and watch them burst high in the sky. It really was awesome and we had a great time there, but when we left we got about a mile down the road and realized that someone had made a HUGE crack in our windshield, the size of a #10 can, completely circular! I have no idea how it was done, but since the whole town was present, there was no way of knowing who did it. Well, we got the windshield replaced, but it wasn't the same after because it would leak water and the job just wasn't done right, even though the company came twice to repair it. Lucky for us, we ended up selling that van to my parents (hehehe). Sorry mom and dad!

This year we didn't want to risk that one again! Our ward was having a BBQ on the beach, so we went. It was a BLAST! So fun! The beach was perfect that day. The water was clear and calm-flat, but not too flat. Beautiful. The food was great and the girls had a ball digging in the sand, splashing in the water, and throwing water balloons at people. We stayed for a few hours and then decided to leave, since most of the members had already left and Terry was getting hot. But then on our way home we remembered that one of Terry's old high school buddies was going to be in town, and he and his family usually throw a big party at Riverside Park, where the town does fireworks. We found him, and had yet more food and fun. The girls played with another little girl that was there and went swimming in her little pool. Terry and I talk to all who stopped by, and when the fireworks finally went off, it was gorgeous. Nothing like good old "Stadium of Fire" of course, but it was a nice show for this small town.

Now, this may seem like the perfect day, especially when hearing about last year's events, but it didn't start that way. Let me give you some background information. Sometime last year (I can't remember exactly when), Trinity was playing in her room and then came to us, saying she had something in her nose and needed help getting it out. We thought it was just a big booger, but no, it turned out to be a bead! She is a very smart little girl, so we couldn't understand why she would have done such a thing, but she did. Needless to say, we couldn't get it out, so we had to go to the emergency room. We took her to a small hospital that is in the town just next to us, because frankly, the one here stinks. So it was a bit of a drive, but we were glad we went there. The staff was quick to get us in and everyone was very nice. And it turned out that a member of our ward was there and he was the one who worked on Trinity! He couldn't work the bead out either, so he made up this little vacuum, out of some tubing and I don't know what, and stuck it up her nose. Soon after the bead emerged! Hooray for happy endings. Back to the present--wouldn't you know, our youngest daughter Natalie did the EXACT same thing on the 4th of July?! She came to me and said she had something in her nose, right when we were about to walk out of the house and head down to the ward party. I thought "Oh boy. Here we go again." Thankfully, I WAS able to maneuver the bead out of her nose this time. I swear, there is really NEVER a dull moment at the Mann house.

butterfly birthday.

On July 18, 2005, my unplanned blessing whom we call Natalie Elise was born. At the time I had no idea what I was going to do with two children. I was still getting used to my first child when I found out I was pregnant with my second. I had a very hard time adjusting, but after a couple months I was so in love that it didn't matter anymore. Today I know that Natalie was sent to me from my Heavenly Father for a purpose. She was meant to come to our family, I am sure of it. I love her so much and she will forever be my baby.

Flash-forward four years and here we are, celebrating Natalie's fourth birthday! I can't believe how fast time has gone. She loves mermaids and princesses, Hello Kitty and butterflies, and she decided that she wanted to have a "butterfly birthday." So we had our family and neighbors over and had a yummy meal of sloppy joes (courtesy of grammy Tina, who makes the best sloppy joes ever!), potato salad, and of course, a butterfly cake, made by me. I tried my best, but it really didn't come out as good as I had envisioned it. But the party was a success and most importantly, the birthday girl had "the best birthday ever!", so she said.



Gifts included a butterfly drawn by Great-gramma Hildy, a Disney Princess lunchbox, a Barbie that allows you to "cut" and style her hair, and her favorite, her very own Leapster 2! Trinity has had one for a couple years now, but they always fight over it, so we decided it was time to buy Natalie her own, and we got a great deal on e-bay. This kid also cleaned up in the cash department, getting a total of $15 for her birthday! She knew just what to do with it--buy her Barbie doll a prince charming, of course! So a couple days after her birthday we went to Target and purchased a very handsome "wedding" Ken doll, who looks like the perfect prince charming.

I love this little girl so much and am so happy she came to our family. Happy fourth birthday, Natalie! Thank you for being my baby girl.