A New Calling

I tried to think of a zippy title for this post, but the best I could come up with was "I'm not cool enough for this" and that seemed too negative. I was given a new calling in church yesterday. (A calling is being asked to volunteer in a position in our church.) I am now the Young Women's President!

I have to admit I'm feeling humbled and more than a tad overwhelmed. I have a firm testimony that this is a VERY important calling. I remember being a Young Woman and idealizing my leaders. I loved them. They meant the world to me and I wanted to be like them when I grew up. I just can't imagine young women feeling that way about me. 

We only have 6 young women in our ward, five of which usually attend activities and church. I have two great counselors, Becky Bergevin and Leslie Fortier (who, on a side note, is the cause of major contention in my home right now. Emily cannot forgive me for taking her primary teacher away from her!) I'm excited to work with these women and to get to know the girls.

*** If you've been in a YW presidency, 

please give me some advice and ideas. ***

*** If you were a Young Woman once, 

please tell me what was memorable to you. ***

*** If your daughter is a Young Woman, 

please tell me about activities she's enjoyed. ***

*** Please pray for me 

because if you know me at all,
you know I'm freaking out a little right now! ***

Grateful Sunday

Tonight I am grateful for this:

And for those of you who are analog-challenged:

This is when "my" time begins. All of the kids are finally in bed!

I am also thankful for this:

I usually only  have a Squirt at the end of Fast Sunday (the first Sunday of the month where members of our church fast - abstain - from two meals), but today I really needed one.

I don't want to bore you all with my complaints for today, so I'll just post a conversation Laura and I had as I tried to get her into her pajamas tonight.

Laura: "Mom, you're ruining my life." (Something I think she heard from her sister as that has been Emily's complaint today as well.)

Windy: "No, I'm not. I'm just trying to make life bearable for everyone, and happy too."

Laura: "No, you're not. You're just making it worser."

And with that, I bid you goodnight as I go to drink my Squirt and to escape my life with a good book!

New Experiences

The kids got to meet one of their two new cousins yesterday. Shad's sister Camille came into town along with her husband Patrick and daughter Charly. Grandma Bernadette surprised us by coming along as well. It was great to see them and fun to see Camille being a mom - she's already a pro and Charly's just 2 months old. (Unfortunately, Shad didn't take pictures of our kids with Charly, so we'll have to get Grandma Bernadette to send us some when she gets back to LA.)

The kids went on mini-missions this morning at our Church Primary activity.

Introducing...  Irma Laura Solis!

Her mini-mission was to Brazil.

"I hope they call me on a mission!"

Elder Peter Solis served his mini-mission in Bristol, England.

"I'll have some more of that dirty rice, please!"

Sister Emily Solis served in the Louisiana mission and was one of the few brave souls to try some authentic New Orleans food.

Holli - I need your dirty rice recipe. Emily especially loved the sausage!

Kids' Choice Night

Tonight was Peter's Choice Night. Since he actually chose a real dinner meal last time, this time he got to choose breakfast food - FRENCH TOAST. 

I don't have a special recipe for French toast; I just use the recipe out of the Betty Crocker cookbook I got for my wedding. What makes French toast special at our house is the bread. Usually I just buy the fresh French bread at whatever grocery store I happen to be at, but the last time Peter picked French toast, I found cinnamon bread in the bakery section of Smith's (aka Kroger's in other parts of the country). It makes such delicious French toast! I would have taken a picture, but, alas, my camera is dead and I still haven't gotten the courage to try Shad's Nikon D50. 

Peter wanted to pick Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace for his movie, but our dvd is scratched beyond belief, so that was out. I convinced him to pick Star Wars IV, instead.

Star Wars came out when I was 3 years old, but it's a classic. My mom even joined us to watch the movie which was a real treat for me because Laura sat on her lap for half of the movie (instead of on me)!

Death at the Pool - Don't Worry! It's Not What You Think

I took the kids to a pool party this evening. It was a birthday party for Peter's best friend William and for another classmate. The kids had a blast.

Here's a picture of Laura and her best friend Wesley (who is William's brother).

Emily has just thrown a ring for her friends to swim off and catch.

Peter is loving the water, even though he's freezing because he doesn't have any fat on his bones to keep him warm.

Amidst all of this joy and fun, I came to the sad conclusion that my camera was dying. I had recharged it before we left for the party, but the camera went from 169 minutes of battery life to none in 20 pictures. Now that I've uploaded the pictures, I've noticed that the picture quality is pretty horrible. A month ago this would not have bothered me. I usually don't take pictures of the kids; Shad does. We got him a nice camera a few years ago. In fact, it's too nice for me to feel comfortable using it, so I don't. But now I have this blog and I want to do better about recording our life in photographs. And so I mourn the loss of my digital camera. We got it right before Peter was born, so it is 7 1/2 years old. (We got our mini-van at about the same time - I hope it doesn't follow my camera's tragic path!) I know all things have to come to an end, but I just wasn't expecting it to happen at the pool!

Thief

We have a cocker spaniel named Felicia. We've had her for 2 1/2 years. She is the best dog a family could have. She loves kids (and I mean loves them - when I take her for a walk past the school bus stop, she tugs on the leash to try and reach the kids) and she loves us. She is as gentle as can be, patiently letting toddlers pull on her ears. Felicia and I have a nightly ritual. I sit in the chair (pictured below) and she jumps up and sits in my lap while I read.  I love this dog! My family loves this dog! But she has one tragic flaw...

she is a THIEF!

You might not believe it, looking into those sweet cocker spaniel eyes, but it's the truth. She steals food out of children's hands and jumps up on tables to steal food off of unattended plates.

Case in point - Laura had a friend over today. They started to eat lunch, but decided to go off and play half way through their sandwiches. I made the mistake of taking a potty break (why does all heck break loose when I'm in the bathroom?!) and the next thing I hear is Laura screaming Felicia's name. I run to see what is the matter and Laura tearfully accuses the dog of stealing her sandwich.  I wish I could have believed Felicia was innocent, but I'm on to that dog. And so another meal landed in Felicia's belly and on her ears - it was a honey sandwich :o(

What's that phrase: love the sinner but hate the sin? I think that applies here.