All That She Wants Is Another Baby

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Loving, humorous, nice-looking family of four seeking a baby girl or boy to join our crew. Must love milk, snuggling and lullabies. Adorableness a must. Meals, boarding, education, and health care benefits included. Inquiries can be made at above link or email us at apwoolner@yahoo.com.

And the Plot Thickens

I'll end with this: Sunday I called one of my Laurels to ask if she would be willing to play the piano for me. While I had her on the phone I asked her if she was offended by my lesson and asking them to try and bring their scriptures. I told her she wouldn't hurt my feelings, she could be totally honest. Her response: "I totally loved your lesson and I think the scriptures are really important and I thought it was weird that Sister X called me to ask me if I was offended." Am I wrong, or is that crossing the line? Calling them? Stirring up something? What do expect teenage girls to say? I taught my lesson yesterday the EXACT same as last time--scriptures, quotes, the whole gambit. Her response to me, "Much better" (Seriously? Like she won or something. Am I in high school?). Then she asked me if I had any handouts. I said I only had the posters and game I made but I just threw those out. She then proceeded to tell me that handouts are REALLY IMPORTANT and be sure to have one next time. Where does it say in the handbook that handouts are so vital? I've come to the conclusion (after a lot of prayer and thought) that she is probably not firing on all four cylinders or has lost the real purpose for YW in the effort to make it fun/entertaining for the girls. If she's going for fun, there's no competition. The world is going to win every time. I'm just going to let the Spirit dictate my lessons as best I can and not her. And that means scriptures and quotes and only a handout when I feel it's important. I'm not trying to be difficult or stir up contention. I'm just trying to fulfill my calling the way the Lord would have me do and also in a way that I can handle--being a mom and starting a practice and taking care of the day-to-day and begining the adoption process again. . . handouts are not in the picture. Sorry Sister X.

What the What?

OK, so I have to blog and get this off my chest. Tonight I went to a YW board meeting (since I teach the 16-18 year old girls at Church). After the meeting, the YW President came to talk to me (my friend was with me too) about a lesson I gave a month ago. I have taught YW for nearly 6 years now. In the beginning of the lesson, I gave the girls a run-down of my teaching style. I don't do fluff. I don't do handouts. I rarely do treats or bribes. I love to use the scriptures and quotes from general authorities. Then, I read them quotes from a couple Apostles how the youth need the Gospel undiluted and that we need to steer away from feeding them spiritual "fried froth". I then asked them very kindly to try to bring their scriptures every Sunday as they are powerful and important and used often in my lessons. The girls said they don't bring their scriptures because they leave them in Seminary (which tells me they are not reading them except when at Seminary). To which I reiterated that I would like them to at least try.

The YW President said several of the girls were very offended by this and threatened not to come back to YW. She asked me not to get on a soap box about the scriptures. Honestly, I did not say more or less than the run down I just gave you. I'm frustrated because I totally disagree. I mean, hey, I can be sensitive that the girls may not have testimony of the scriptures yet, but I don't think skirting away from them or letting the girls dictate how the Gospel should be presented is the way to go. Especially after Elder Holland's talk last conference on the Book of Mormon. Another reason I'm frustrated is because that was a MONTH AGO! I totally called her on it and asked her why she didn't bring it up sooner. She wanted to see how things played out. Huh? I could have been praying about this and seeking direction. What's the point of leaving me in the dark? The girls have been attending both Wednesdays and Sundays since my lesson which brings me to my last frustration--I don't think the YW President is being totally honest with me. I think the girls are the excuse, you know? I have a feeling that she doesn't like my boldness, but can't come out and just say, "Hey, don't be so bold." But I can't be sure. What do you think? Is this a weird scenario to anyone else?

Sassy Halloween

Swiper the fox--you can't see his tail, but it was pretty awesome.

She's a maniac on the floor. Actually, she's an 80's aerobics instructor.

The Farmstead--Preschool Style

Sam's preschool group went to the pumpkin patch for a field trip. It was, by far, the best patch I've found for kids under the age of 5. For $4 per child (adults free), they get: a hayride to the patch and a pumpkin, duck races, corn box (like a sand box), jumping tarp thingy, hay maze, musicians, petting zoo, bike races, cow train, etc.

Sam's preschool group.

Noelle's pumpkin.

The cow train. Noelle chose "Duke" and Sam chose "Daisy".

They had these cart races and a track made with tires. Sam couldn't wait his turn.

Birth Mom Letter

In an effort to conserve space for our birth mother letter, I have decided to write it in text message format, let me know what you think:

Dear BM,
OMG! We r so glad 2 have u read this ltr. We hope urt1 and hope that uraqt. LOL! We'd luv nothA bb. Let's have a 121. We will b so ktu.

L8r,
Chad and Amber

Bluestep, Why Are You So Gay?

Dear Everybody. I have been tirelessly working on our darn adoption paperwork. It has taken me almost 6 months. The VERY LAST piece of paperwork we have left is the birth parent letter. What is Bluestep and why do I hate it so much? I'll tell you. Bluestep is the new and apparently "improved" system to do your paperwork online. Hmm. Let's see. I used to be able to complete said paperwork in 3 months. You do the math. Then, there's the restrictions. I'm sorry, you're only allowed pictures that are 450 pixels X 450 pixels. I'm sorry, you are limited to an introductory paragraph of 255 characters (including spaces). And the coup de gras, the birth mother letter. Limit: 6000 characters (yep, including spaces). I have 6,617. I can't, I can't eliminate more. The earlier, unimproved system, no limits. Just keep it around a page or two. I just want to be done! Please, let me be done!