a Saturday well spent

Today was an awesome day. Two times a year our church has a huge conference in Salt Lake City that is broadcast all over the world. We have the privilege of watching it in my studio/(s)crap room upstairs on the computer. Please don't stare at all of my junk in the background. In fact I will thank you kindly for just pretending it isn't there. Thank you. So we have a few traditions associated with conference. And since I am not very organized I am sometimes hit or miss with these traditions.....but today I pulled it together and made my kids very happy. Since there are 2 sessions each day for 2 days and each session is 2 hours, it can get a little (gross understatement) long for little kids (and their mom who just wants obedient, silent children (HA!)). So anyway I printed off some bingo cards (with M&M's for markers) and other General Conference activities and we all settled in to watch/listen. Here is what happened:

*Kami ate ALL of her M&M's before the first talk even started. So that means in the time it took President Uchtdorf to announce the opening song/prayer and first speaker, sing the song and hear the prayer, she was done!!!

*During the first 10 minutes Dani and Kami got into a major fight with both of them sent downstairs screaming and crying. The result of 30 M&M's in 4.7 minutes no doubt.

*Miranda finished her chess set that she started during the October conference out of Sculpey clay.

*All 4 girls lasted through almost the entire 2 hours of the first session. Dani and Kami did come back up and play quietly together.

*Madi cheated (well tried to anyway) at bingo, but Dani the bingo Nazi wasn't having any of that.

*We sustained a new prophet and president of our church, Thomas S. Monson. It was an incredible experience.....very cool!

*We were spiritually fed, strengthened and edified.

*During the break we ate lunch, went to DL for ice cream treats and played outside.

*When the concluding session for the day was almost over Dani took Kami out to play with strict instructions to supervise her closely. So much for that! I had to go out to rescue Kami and her "angel" dress (which she had slipped inside to put on and back out again while Dani was in the bathroom!) from the chain of her bicycle. I had to remove her dress from her body and have her run in the house in her undies and then cut her dress loose from the chain. During this procedure I exclaimed "YOU ARE GROUNDED!" She knows what "grounded" is because she has big sisters, but she of course has never been grounded before. Her reaction was so totally dramatic and over the top that it was HILARIOUS. She flung herself on her bed wailing "I'm g-g-g-grounded" over and over between sobs. After a few minutes she came upstairs still crying and proceeded to tell me (not ask me) all the privileges she had lost from being "grounded". "I am grounded from riding my bike, and I am grounded from playing outside, and I am grounded from wearing dress up and......AM I GROUNDED FROM EATING CANDY?" Miranda and I were trying hard to keep it together, but she was too darn funny!!!

*And we ended the day with dinner at my dad's.....yummy spaghetti with clam sauce. Thanks dad.

And to think, we'll do it all again tomorrow.....and I can't wait.

*edited to add that my favorite talk today was about Legacy and Traditions by Sister Cheryl C. Lant. It was a beautiful and inspiring talk.