A nice quiet Sabbath afternoon

After enjoying meetings this morning, being uplifted, and realizing that my peaceful church meetings will be less so after the baby comes, I am relishing it. My 3 kids are old enough that during Sacrament Meeting, I can pretty much sit back and listen. The boys thumb through their scriptures and read or look at maps or find things to highlight. They think highlighting is pretty cool. Alyssa seems to hop back and forth from Michael's lap to my lap, but I no longer bring treats or quiet books--they just seemed to get out of hand. I decided that when Alyssa went to Primary, she didn't need all that. Sometimes just a small pad of paper and a pen. Michael will draw them things sometimes.

All 3 kids are in Primary now. No diapers to change, no tears to worry about. I go to my classes and really my only worry is that someone in the Primary Presidency will pull me in to teach a class (that keeps me from lingering in the halls). Not that I don't mind teaching, but I really like to go to Relief Society. The class with women sharing their insights and knowledge with each other. In the past 6 years that I've been here, I haven't been able to go to Relief Society a whole lot.

The one person I was trying to avoid after church caught up with me. I have had some frustrations regarding my cub scouts calling. Not about being there itelf (that was so 3 months ago) but about some scheduling conflicts where we don't see eye to eye. I feel I've been losing battles all along and this one I want to win. Not for the sake of winning (maybe a tad) but because I feel its best for the boys, whereas the other individual does not see it the same way. There is no way around it--will be hard to resolve. It made me a bit emotional as I left church (thats not hard to come by these days) and as I drove home alone in my quiet clean van (just got it detailed and it soooo needed it--the kids like to go home with Daddy when he actually comes home) I got even more frustrated about it.

Michael made everyone lunch while I just stewed in our recliner. Then I start to feel bad because I don't want to be the person that is difficult or have others think that I always have to have it my way. Then I get into a vicous thought pattern of..."I do nice things for people, why does this, this, and this person think I'm so awful?" When I don't really KNOW that they think I'm awful, I just expect the worst after fighting for a battle to win against someone who wants something so different.

At lunch, I was putting on my most special thigh high moderate compression support hose, $50 a pair. I only wear it on one leg, which is nice, but as I am yanking it up....I get a run in it and start to cry just a bit as I let out a shriek of frustration. Everyone stops...concerned....and I just lay my head in my hands. The boys were so cute to offer their sincere apologies at my dismay. The run is ok because I always have my legs covered anyway, but I need this pair to last me the next 3 months.
I kinda got over it and through my half tears remind the kids that we are going to have to tidy up a bit because we have a guest come over for dinner. "But mom, its Sunday, remember we don't WORK on Sunday?" My retort..."Well, you didn't do it yesterday and this person has never been to our house before and it can't look like this....its tidying, not working."

Time passes, I figure I don't have to push it now--the guest is still a few hours away. Matthew and Alyssa disappear to the back of the house where I hear them playing with each other. This makes me happy because this is how it used to be. With Tyler at school, Alyssa and Matthew were best buds. Now that Matthew is in school, he and Tyler come home and play together and Alyssa becomes the nuisance to them. I hear them playing house and dollies and they will walk in and out with Matthew pushing "the babies" in the stroller. I love that he does this. Isn't too tough or too cool to play with his sister.
After hearing Michael make some phone calls, I realize he is absent from the scene. I go in to find him sprawled on our bed in a deep sleep. I smile and laugh that the day he doesn't have an after church meeting is the day he plops down for a nap. I think to myself that maybe I should be bothered by this, but I'm just happy that he has carved out time for himself to do this, because he always does so much for us, for me. As I am trying to check up on blogs of friends, Tyler is laying just a few feet away from me...continuing the highlighting. He has my scriptures and his scriptures and is looking to see what I have highlighted and finds it in his set to highlight. Every few minutes he'll tell me what he has discovered or ask my why I highlighted this scripture this way and another another way. Part of me thinks I should discourage this, to have him find his own, but then I realize that to have him WANT to do this is enough for me. I just try to encourage him to read each one and try to see why I have it highlighted as important.

I stop my blog checking to make the lasagna for dinner. I make enough noise that Micheal should hear (he took an hour nap) and sure enough he comes out and helps the kids pick up their things in the family room...without me asking. I knew he would:)

Michael has turned on the classical music, and I've gotta go plop the lasagna in the oven and do my part in tidying. I really do enjoy Sunday afternoons.