Thursday, November 20, 2008

"Come What May and Love it"

Today I went visiting teaching, and my wonderful visiting teaching partner, Celeste, gave an excellent message based on a talk given by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin at General Conference this past October. The talk was titled, "Come what may and love it". It was a really great talk. Little did I know at the time how it would help me throughout the day today. Kristalyn watched the kids while I went visiting teaching (what a lifesaver!) After I got home I watched Mason for a few hours so that she could finish up some things at her house. Before she left we were talking in the front room. The boys were running around playing. Things got a little quiet and that should have been my first clue that something was going on. I said goodbye to Kristalyn and went to go get the boys. I heard giggling in the laundry room in the kitchen. As I opened the door and walked in, this is what I saw:
Both of those red food containers were full, as was the water container.

Sorry if these pictures gross you out, but I had to include all of them so you can get the full visual. (In case you weren't sure, that is cat food in the litter box.)
The remaining cat food was poured out into the pantry.

Now after seeing this site, I admit I panicked a little. I immediately removed the boys, to asses the damage, only to have all three of them run straight into the front room and onto the carpet with the cat food/ water/ kitty litter all over their feet. As I could feel myself begin to freak out, the words of Elder Wirthlin's talk popped into my head. "Come what may, and love it". In his talk he said " Learn to laugh. The next time you’re tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead. It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable." So as horribly gross this mess was, I decided to just laugh, go get my camera and not stress about it. Now if you thought the drama ended there, you are wrong. Later on when Kristalyn came to pick up Mason, we once again were talking in the front room. (Maybe I should be doing less talking, and more supervising). Levi and Weston shut themselves in the bathroom, and when I went to get them out this is what I saw. (notice the opened toothpaste?)
Here is where it ended up:
What a day! I am grateful that I was able to hear that lesson this morning. It definitely helped me get through the crazy happenings of the day. I am sure if I didn't have Elder Wirthlin's words fresh in my head these boys would not be smiling in this picture. =)

6 comments:

Celeste said...

Oh my goodness- I will no longer complain about Xander's messes. What a pain to clean up but at least you kept your sense of humor. I'm so glad we VT together.

. said...

Wow! What a day. That talk truly is a life saver, huh? Love conference. Way to go you for not freaking out. I would have, I think!

Babzanne Barker said...

When I saw those smiling boys I burst out laughing! Way to go, Mom--you are learning lots of valuable things (laugh instead of scream, and don't forget to supervise!) haha I'm the one who lets little boys sneak out through the doggy door......

Kristalyn said...

I am so grateful that Mason can have so many fun memories and fun times at your house...I am REALLY sorry that you had to clean up after them all day. I love that last picture of them!

Linsi said...

I love this post--thanks for sharing!

Mars said...

Yikes! Boys will be boys I guess right? And they still had smiles on their faces :)Isn't it funny how we hear things just when we need them sometimes?