Something interesting

Have you ever thought about how many other people have your name? My mother-in-law and I do. And I actually met another Elizabeth Potter a few weeks ago, kind of freaky! But I was lurking on my cousins website and found this:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 5 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

It was kind of freaky! But cool at the same time. Check it out. I found out that there are more people that have my sisters name than mine. Who would have thought! And that there are 6 people who have my husbands name. But my Grandma Potter is an original! Try it is addicting! I have been entering names for 15 minutes now just to see!

Poopy on the Potty!

Huge strides in the potty training department were made today! Abby went poopy on the potty for the first time!! She came up to me and said "I need to go poopy!" We have been through this several times before with no success and I have tried not to push the issue yet, but if she wants to, why not. So we went in and she did her business. We all clapped and she got stickers and M&M's. What more could you ask for? I am hoping that this is a trend and not a fluke. I am sure that it won't be that easy, but a mother can wish, right?

Mother's Day should not be on a Sunday!

Why is it that the most stressful day of the week is Mother's Day? Sunday is not a good day to relax and be pampered! Within 5 minutes of waking up I was yelled at, hit and told that I wasn't nice. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! Then their was breakfast, which is alway a battle and I never get any. The whole getting everyone dressed thing and then keeping them clean in their good clothes. AHHHHH! Sacrament meeting was nice until right after the sacrament was passed, then Abby had a fit. Dan took her into the hall and I went to check the Primary room. NONE of the chairs were set up. So I hurried and did that with the help of my friend Kathy which meant that I didn't hear any of the first talk. Then the children sang, beautifully of course. And then back to the Primary room to get everything ready. Which thanks to my wonderful counselor Jeni, went AWESOME!!! She rocks!!! I talked with the children about Elder Ballard's talk from conference and how he directly spoke to the children about how they should be to their mothers. I have to admit, I got a bit teary as I talked with them. Then they had a great time singing songs about mom's. And then we made bookmarks. FUN, FUN, FUN! Then the whole running around to check on everyone, collect cub scout camp forms! I went to the nursery to pickup Abby and she was asleep. I rushed home to see Dan before he had to work for a few minutes. Bless him, he made me soup on a rainy day! We settled down for a while and then the real Mother's Day fun started! Abby started to barf! I guess this was the Lord's way of telling me that it wasn't about me! So covered in barf and tired from the day I decided that we need to boycott Mother's Day on a Sunday. How does Tuesday sound? It works for me! Just a day that I am allowed to really get a break. Yeah RIGHT!

And that whole cut your arm off thing....

Yesterday Daniel was asking if he could walk home from the bus stop alone because he saw other kids doing it. I told him he was a bit too young and not yet. He said that the kids that walked home were his same age. I said, we live too far from the bus stop. It is literally a block and a half but he would have to cross the street 2 or 3 times. He wasn't buying it. So we were in the car with Dan a bit latter and I said, "Daddy, Daniel wants to walk home from the bus stop by himself, I think it isn't a good idea how about you?" Dan said, yeah that is not a good idea, do you know why Daniel? Daniel said, "I am too little, it is too dangerous, I could get hurt, some one could take me or that whole cut your arm off thing." I don't know how but Dan didn't laugh. I almost peed myself in the front seat trying not to laugh! I asked him what he was talking about and he said, you know if your aren't careful, you could get your arm cut off. WOW, I have never heard anything that random even from him. Dan played along and said, yeah that can happen!!! OH MY!!! What a mind this kid has!

PS

I didn't cheat that much while I was gone and I actually have lost 5 lbs so far!

Learning to have fun

I have just returned from the Midwest Pilgrims pilgrimage in Rockford , Illinois . It was the most amazing experience. One that I will continue to learn and grow from. I came away with a new sense of who I am and the ability to be my "authentic self".

The women that I met were amazing. And I don't think that I have ever felt so accepted, loved, encouraged, understood and wanted in my whole life. These LDS women were real LDS women as I define what an LDS woman is.

Sister Chieko Okazaki of the general Relief Society Presidency was the guest for the retreat. What an amazing woman!! She was awesome!! The thing that she spoke of were touching, funny, spiritual and relevant. It was incredable to sit and be in her presence for 3 days and feel of her spirit, but also to see that she is real and approachable. And the love that she has for us as sisters of the church was so overwhelming. I will never listen to her speak the same way again.

I learned so much about myself that I don't know that I could put it all into words. But the one thing that I learned was that we need to have FUN and PLAY! We get so busy with everything that we do that we don't have fun and we don't play. So I encourage you to think about what makes you laugh, what do you do for fun, what would you like to do for fun? GO DO IT! Stop doing what you are doing and make time for FUN!

It was also so great to spend time with my mom. Since she has moved it has been hard. We spend time together in the summer and during Christmas. And we go down to Florida every February. But it isn't the same. So it was great to be alone with her and just talk and connect and hang out. I needed that too.

I feel like I can be a better me after this weekend. I feel like I can be a better wife, mother, sister, friend.... the list could go on!