Pain is inevitable-suffering is optional :)

This quote reminds me of my dad. He would have been 65 yrs old yesterday. He was one of those people that was just always happy and ready to help anyone that needed help. He died 4 days before his 39th birthday of cancer. Last night i was at the cemetery(doesnt everyone hangout at the graveyard? lol) and i was thinking how peaceful and beautiful it was and i realised how blessed i am.None of the small stuff matters (although i have, at times been known to be OCD about everything and anything that is possible to worry over ).
A couple of days ago i was getting the kids ready for their upcoming seminary yr with new scripture mastery cards,red pencils etc etc.Here i was imagining a lovely evening spent marking and discussing scripture......mmmmm yeah,heres what happened:
Upon leaving my bedroom with the supplies in hand i ran into Stephen who has stolen Michaelas bright pink purse and has it slung over his wrist,i turn to dh for backup only to hear 'hey,look at me ive got a yamaka! I turn to see dh with a coconut on his head*sigh*(at this point my superspiritual family bonding time is going down the toilet fast) Finally i look to Adam,quiet,level headed Adam.....who declares LOOK!I HAVE A DOG ON MY HAND!!,as he proudly displays his hand stuck up a puppet :)
We finally get outside to the patio and start going through their seminary scriptures only to be interrupted by the two oldest arguing who was 'woe' and who was 'contention' :)
Dh was no help,as he provided additional scriptures about the first food fight in the bible etc,at which point i realised any thoughts of spiritual home evenings were gone lol,but at least i have the funnest family ever :)
Its less than a month til school starts again(not that im counting),we went this last week and bought Michaela's school uniform for sixth grade.The other kids will be in middle and high school and our back to school shopping will be up north next week when we head to Cherry Hill for our end of summer annual camp out. This yr it has to be combined with dh's trip into the office so im wondering what to do with them all for five days.The thought of camping for almost a week with woe and contention is a little daunting :)
So far the votes are for the zoo,ice skating and the water park which still leaves one day to fill.Since the budget doesnt allow for Lagoon this yr the younger kids are launching their ever popular soda and candy store so they can each pay for their own ticket.Adam has a job and in turn pays Stephen to do his chores :)
As i sit here typing i can hear the kids fighting over washing the van,complaining over the lack of snacks(they ate a Costco size box of goghurt in under 10 mins),one child wondering why he has to go outside in direct sunlight and one dog snoring(its a pug)--How many days til school starts?!!???!!!