The truth

Here's the truth...

I told myself that I would get to the gym each day this week... the kids area home from school, but they are old enough Alex and Ashley can watch the younger girls and I can run to the gym for an hour each day right?

I haven't made it yet.  I get involved in other things, and I just haven't made that a priority... and then I complain that I'm tired and everything, when I really just need to exercise more.

Honestly... I don't see the gym happening in the next two days.  I'm in full blown Christmas mode and I would rather bake and eat the cookies than exercise and eat healthier foods.

So I'll continue to slack off until next week... but then I really will put forth the effort and get the habits back in place.  I'm not even focusing on the weight loss right now.  I just want to feel better, and I know when I'm exercising regularly I feel better.  The weight loss will happen on it's own after the exercise habits become more routine.

Monday

I find that Monday's come in two different packages for me. 

Some Monday's I wake up first thing, recharged and with a list of To Do's that fills half a paper.  I then spend the next few hours systematically going down the list and getting things checked off, until something happens to distract me (usually kid related) and nothing else get's accomplished on the list that day.

Other Monday's I have a harder time waking up.  I drag myself out of bed, and do the minimum to get the kids off to school, or whatever else is going on.  Today is one of those such days.  We are on our winter break so we could sleep in a bit.  I had intended to get up early when Rich took off to work and go get a workout in, but a little 5 year old climbed into our bed sometime in the wee hours of the morning and I spent a few hours with her head burried in my back, or her feet pressing against it, or her body hovering very close to my face.  Through this all I was semi-conscious.  Enough to be bothered and roll her over to the middle of the bed, but not enough to physically get up myself and take her back to her bed.

I think that is why I'm dragging this morning.  Luckily my to do list is short for the day.  The most time consuming item on it is the exercise, and I may just have to exercise at home since my babysitter has plans to go hang out with friends for the day.

Oh... have I mentioned how nice it is to have an in home babysitter?  He's not ready to take responsibility for bedtimes yet, so it's only during day time hours that I can leave the kids at home, but it's so nice to be able to run out for an hour or so and get errands done without having to take everyone with me!


To Do List for today:
Exercise
Laundry
Deliver Goodie buckets to friends
Drop off Alex at friends house
Ashley piano lesson
Quick trip to the store for a few items
Make FHE Dessert
Hopefully- clean some floors!
Dinner
FHE

Oh so sorry- I haven't made the time to update.

I read a blog today.  I read most of my blogs that I follow in Google Reader.  I like that it allows me to scroll through and see what people have posted without having to physically go to their blogs.

I like it, and dislike it all at the same time.  It's incredibly convenient, but I miss out on the special touches- the backgrounds and stuff that people spend a lot of time making their blogs and websights look neat with.

In the blog post that I read today she mentioned how people use the phrase "I don't have time for that" for things, and how she feels as if it's a judgement of her when she mentions something online and the person reply's with an "I don't have time for that" sentence.

I haven't had much time to keep my blogs updated, and it saddens me.  I really miss sharing with family and friends what is going on in our day to day lives.  The homework, the accomplishments, the upsets, and then disagreements. 

My life is not anywhere near perfect.  I find myself not posting at times because I don't know what to post, but I think that is what I need to post.  I need to post that I felt a sense of accomplishment when I got all the clothes in the laundry room folded, AND put away.  I need to post that I spent the entire day in the kitchen yesterday baking and making stuff and I LOVED it!  I even enjoyed doing the dishes of the 3 loads I did in the dishwasher.

I don't post on the days that I just can't talk myself into driving to the gym and getting a workout done... but I have plenty of those days. 

I want to make the time to post more.  I want to post about what we are doing day in and day out... and it might be boring to some people, but I think to others they will enjoy just hearing what is going on in our lives, and those people really are why I keep my blogs... because even though we live thousands of miles apart- we can still be involved in each others lives and cheer for each other in our victories and give prayers and sympathy to each other in our hard times.

Christmas is next week.  My prayer to all is that they will have a joyful happy and peaceful holiday.  That the stresses of the season will not overtake them and that they will take the time to do the things they treasure most about Christmas.

And I will make a better effort to make the time to post more often.

Gratitudes

I'm grateful today for A/C.

I'm grateful today that I have the ability to stay home and take care of our kids and home and I have the freedom to choose if I want to work outside of the home or not.

I'm grateful today that when an urgent email went out on the PTA email list- that the middle school's A/C was out and they needed ice, water, and fans to distribute around to classrooms, I was able to help out.

I'm grateful that I'm now sitting in my house with the A/C on... and I'll be meeting my 6th grader with a nice big ice cold drink when I pick him up from school in an hour.

September

How can it be the second weekend in September already??

I feel like I just want to put our life on pause and enjoy the time we are in now.  We have had a very full and fun August and begining of September.  Alyssa had her birthday, I was released from Young Womens and called into Primary as the Secretary, we went to Branson, we had a birthday party for Alyssa, we went and found out school class assignments, we had Grandparents come into town, Alex had his birthday, the kids had their first day of school, more grandparents came into town, Alex was ordained a Deacon, we found out about renting/vs/buying school instruments and hunted down a Cornet for Alex, Grandparents went home,  An Uncle, Aunt and Cousin came to visit and stay, Cub Scouts and Activity Days started back up from their summer break, Alex had his first scout camp-out, and we've had some friends spend the night a few nights.

Sigh.... I know that was a long run-on sentence... I feel like it was a long run-on month! lol! :)

Something I'm realizing is that life doesn't slow down, and it doesn't pause.  It only get's busier and busier as the kids get older.  I do have a few hours each day now while they are all at school, but that time get's filled up rather quickly with errands, exercise, appointments, and volunteering at the schools.

I do look towards next year when Angela will be at school all day long and wonder what I'll fill the time with then, but I have a year to figure that out, and I can take that time then to figure it out. :)

I've allowed my eating to pack on a few pounds again so I'm yet again going to be embarking the path of dieting...

My goal really is to just get to the point that I can comfortably maintain a healthy weight with my level of exercise, and still be able to enjoy treats on occasion.  Finding the happy medium has been my problem in the last few years, but I'm ready to try it again.

I find that I miss writing down my thoughts here... I need to try and get back to the blog more often. :)

I did put a whole slew of pictures up on the family blog yesterday.  Click on over to our Newton Family Blog to see pictures of some of the fun we had last month! :)

The summer has flown by

And I haven't posted much at all.  Angela and Ashley both had their birthday's and we had birthday parties.  We went to Tennessee for a week, and we have played with friends, swam at the pool, and watched lots of tv inside the house with the A/C cooling us off.  It has been hot this summer, and this week it is even hotter... we are supposed to be at or close to 100 + all week long.

Today is Alyssa's birthday.  She is seven years old!  We are just having a little family party for her today, and will have a "friend" party in a few weeks when friends are back from their vacations- right before school starts.

Later this week we'll head over to Branson for a few days to just get away and have some fun playing with the kids, swimming, watching some shows and just spending some good family time together without all the other distractions we have at home.

Procrastination...

I feel like that has been my achilles heel in my life.  I procrastinate doing things until the last minute.

I procrastinated sending out invitations to the girls birthday parties till almost too late...

I procrastinate cleaning the house until it is just a  mess and takes twice as long to clean...

I procrastinate gathering up library books and usually forget that they are due- until 11pm that night...

I've been procrastinating learning how to make crepes.  I have friends that make them, Ashley and Rich both love them and have been asking me to learn how to make them forever...

Ashley asked for a birthday dinner to have crepes.  And so I looked up the recipe, read up on the technique, and then made them... and was super suprised at how simple and easy they were to make...

I have leftover batter in the fridge and now I'm debating whether I should make some for breakfast... or since it's past 10am... brunch!

Time flies! Catching up and a jumble of thoughts.

I know I've used that title many times.  I find myself forgetting to just sit down and pull up this blog and update it.

So since I last wrote, Rich and I got to go on a cruise to Progresso and Cozumel in Mexico.  We loved the entire week.  It was fun to have time away from the kids, see new sights, eat food without having to prepare or clean it up, and travel with friends as well.

We've decided that we are ready for another cruise in the future, so if you have one you want to go on, and are looking for friends to take it with you give us a call. :)

School is over and the kids all passed.  Alex will be going into 6th grade next year and that's a transition that I think I'm more nervous about than he is.  He is excited.  Angela will be in Kindergarten.  I only have one more year to have her at home with me for part of the day.  It seems like she is so little, but she will be 5 next week.  Time really does fly.  I don't really have a baby, or toddler, or pre-schooler any more.

I've also realized that we have lived here in Oklahoma in one house for longer than almost any other place I've lived in my life.  The only time I've lived in one place for longer than the 5 1/2 years we've been in this house was when I was a kid growing up and we lived in Maryland from my 1st grade year through my 7th grade year at school.  6 years... that means 6 more months and I will have lived in Oklahoma for longer than any other place.  Even Utah when we lived there I was at home for 4 years, then I moved out and got married and then moved away.  I was there for 7 years, but lived in 5 different places during those 7 years.

I find myself looking around the house trying to figure out where I can move things and "change things up" around the house.  I think that's really because I'm just so used to change.  I'm used to packing up, and moving and having new places to live that I have to figure out how to arrange things in different spaces.  Our house is sufficient for our needs and while a little more space might be nice, we really do fit in it just fine.  We finally have figured out the configuration of who's room should be where and what the other rooms purposes should be.  After 5 1/2 years I'm finally getting a little tired of the same color throughout the entire house (except for 2 of the kids rooms- everything is the same color we had it painted when we built the house).  Next month while I take the kids to Nashville to visit my sister and her family, Rich will spend his evenings after work with a project of painting 3-4 rooms in the house.  I think that might satisfy my inate desire to change things up in the house. :)  I'll also be painting Alyssa and Angela's room upstairs and turning it into more of a "girly" room.

Now that the kids are all home for the summer I feel like each day is slipping past us.  We haven't done anything worthy of any great summer vacation stories.  I was able to go to Girls Camp for one night and two days and I had a great time there with the Young Women in our ward.  Other than that we've had days filled with friends playing, swimming at the pool, and lots of movies and tv and video games.  I think I'm getting past the "honeymoon" phase of summer vacation and I'm ready to start putting a little bit of structure into our days...  like requiring the kids to turn off all electronics once I'm up and we have breakfast and playing outside for a little while.  Also cleaning rooms... and maybe even sorting through toys and clothes and bagging up what we don't use/need anymore.  We can get stuff done in the mornings before the pool is open and then still have the whole afternoon left to swim and play.

But we shall see... I'll admit I LOVE that I'm able to sleep in and wake up and not worry about the messes I might wake up to- entire boxes of cereal dumped into the carpet like I have in past years. lol!

I guess I'm not doing too bad of a job...

So today Rich had to leave on an airplane on a buisness trip.  Alex was the only one of the kids up this morning before he left.  That meant I got to get all the girls up, fed, dressed, and ready for church along with myself. 

No biggie right?  Well the biggie is that I'm not used to doing that.  I usually get myself ready on sunday morning, Rich get's the little girls ready and I just have to remind them to brush their hair as we drive up to church. :)

I was pleased that we were all at church before the meeting started.  Everyone had eaten breakfast, had clean church clothes on and had their hair brushed. 

Then Alyssa leaned over and told me she didn't feel very good... and coughed... and it sounded very uncomfortable... She leaned over and spent all of Sacrament Meeting just leaning on me and reminding me that she didn't feel good.

So I figured I would be loading everyone back up into the car and taking everyone home after the first meeting.

And I told the kids this, and I thought they would be pleased.. they wouldn't "have to" stay at church for the rest of the meetings.

But they didn't want to go home.  They wanted to stay.  I asked each one individually, and they each made the decision that they wanted to go to their classes and have a ride home with someone else.  Even my little four year old that I lovingly refer to as my "velcro babe".

And so I got rides home arranged for my three kids, and I arranged for Rich's sunday school class to be combined with another class, and I brought my one little sick girl home.

I guess we are doing something right if the kids want to stay at church when given the option to go home early, and I guess that perhaps there is a lesson for me to learn in there too... they wanted to be there, they knew that was where they should be at that time, and they choose to be there.  Sometimes I loose sight of that in thinking of responsibilities and things that I have to be at church for and I don't particularly want to be at church for those things... I need to remember their simple decision and make that choice to "want" to be at those activities and meetings.

Memories

I just took a little walk down memory lane... and I pulled out a story from when the kids were little.

Yesterday was just the day from toddlerland! My daughter is 2 and Son is 3 and they did a chocolate powder stunt- dumping Quick powder all over the living room couch and carpet, and then while I was cleaning up the powder I had put them in the shower (I know... not the greatest choice, but I had to get them out of the immediate area while I got some of the mess cleaned up and they were covered head to toe in chocolate powder). I got the vacuum out and did a little bit of vacuuming up the powder. I then thought I'd check on the kids and went into the bathroom to find an inch of water covering the floor. So I get that cleaned up with towels and get them out of the shower and diapers/pull-ups put on. I drag out the gate which I haven't used in months and gate the hallway so they can go to their rooms but can't get to the rest of the house. The minute I turn around my little sweet 2yr old terror kicks the gate down. So I decide that I'll just put her in her crib with some toys and I can get my 3yr old to "help" clean up the mess that he made. Unfortunatly he was more interested in "helping" his sister because she was crying and went and pushed a large toy over to her crib and helped her climb out. At least while he did that I was able to get the bulk of the powder vacuumed up. Then amazingly he asked me if he could take a nap and I of course agreed immediatly and got them both in bed and had some time to work on the stains and calm down myself.


So two hours later I've got rags laying across the stain and weighed down by books trying to soak some of the stain up and my kids wake up. Immediately two year old helps me by moving the pile of books that "don't go there" then I try and get her to sit and color at the table here in the office and the minute I turn my back she is drawing a masterpiece on the file cabinet that is next to the table.

I take away the crayons and as I am putting them away she climbs on top of the table and empties Dh's and I's scripture cases (We keep our Bible and Book of Mormons in fabric cases to make it easier to carry them to church and protects them a little bit) all the papers that were just in them loosely all fell out all over the floor. So while I'm cleaning that up she walks over to the bookcase and starts emptying the shelves with a swipe of her hand. So as I'm attempting to get her to put the books back on the shelves she throws herself down in a screaming tantrum and starts yelling and kicking.

At that point I went and put her in her crib for a few minutes. That calmed her down and I got her back out and she helped me put the books back on the shelf. She never got lunch due to the chocolate powder incident and them asking to go to sleep after it, so I put her in her booster seat, strap her in and give her some crackers and some milk to eat. I turn around to go put some laundry in the washer and come back to find the cracker ground up into fine powder and being thrown all over the dining room and the milk dumped on the table. I clean that up and take her to her room and we were playing with her kitchen and her food and she starts picking up her plastic food and throwing them at my head! She thinks she is hilariously funny at this point. I'm thinking she is possesed!

So the rest of the afternoon went okay but the two year old continued to just be into everything. Hubby got home and I made dinner. Tuesday nights he gets to go play tennis with a friend so he left to do that. I needed to go to the bathroom and alex and ashley amazingly were playing quietly so I just went alone thinking this will only take a minute. I come out to the three year olds diaper having fallen apart and diaper "stuff" all over the room. He saw that his diaper was falling apart and went and "changed" it in the bathroom and left the door open so I went into the bathroom and found the two year old standing on the counter with a whole bottle of baby oil dumped all over the medicine cabinet and counter and a bottle of baby lotion squirted all over the mirror. So... I clean up yet another mess and get the kids changed and ready for bed. Hubby gets home and we have family prayer and he puts the kids in bed. I needed to go get some milk so I went to Wal-Mart and got some milk and a bathtub pillow and came home and went to go take a nice bath. I go to turn on the water and look in the tub and there is another masterpiece that sometime during the day my two year old terror for the day got into a marker and drew a "pretty picture" for me on my tub! lol!!!!!!! At least marker comes right off of the fake marble whatever that my tub is made of.

Digi Scrapbooking

So we were iced in this morning and couldn't get out to go to church... second day in a row of everyone at home, and I decided to pull out the scrapbooking program and have some fun.

Here are the pages I did:

Ancestry, and stories from our personal family history's

NBC and Ancestry.com have a new series they are doing on tv. They take a famous person and find out more about their ancestry. I haven't had the opportunity to watch the show yet, but I really would like to support it and I hope it does well.

I had the opportunity just this last week to learn more about one of my ancestors. I am not a direct descendant of, but she is the sister of a great, great grandfather of mine. We had our annual Relief Society Birthday Program and they asked some of the sisters to talk about pioneers in their own family history. I was honored to learn more about her and to share her story with the sisters in my ward.

Here is just a brief telling of her and her pioneer story. Some of it is from family records, other information was taken from church history websites. Much of the information is actually her own words, but I failed to write down the sources and in the process of writting her story in a first person voice, I forgot to quote what was direct quotes and what I changed to be in her voice.

My Name is Jane Synder Richards. I was born January 31st 1823 in Jefferson County New York. When I was 8 years old my family moved to Canada. When I was 15 years old my family was taught the gospel by Elder John Page. Many of my family members were baptized, but when asked if I was ready to be baptized I replied “What sins have I committed?” and I insisted that I did not need to be baptized. My family then moved to LaPorte, Indiana to be closer to Missouri where the saints were gathering.
I contracted a disease and became deathly ill. Doctor’s did not know how to help me. My brother Robert who had been baptized, came to see me. When he came and found me so ill, he felt very anxious and fasted and prayed for me without water or food for three or four days. He came into my room and laying his face beside mine on the pillow, said, “Oh sis, I wish you were baptized.”
The next morning I was paralyzed and apparently dying. I could not speak nor move, though I was able to understand everything and nod my head. My brother wept beside me and again said he wished I was baptized. Then he asked if he could administer oil and pray for me. While he was praying light came into my mind, and I saw as plainly as if a book was opened before me with it written in it my need of baptism. If Christ who was sinless needed to be baptized, should I hold myself as better than He?
At that moment, all pain left me. The paralysis was gone. I was only weak. As my brother rose from his knees, I … begged for baptism. He remonstrated for it was now midwinter and ice would have to be broken and the exposure might be fatal. But death I was not afraid of—only I must be baptized.


In consequence of my persistence I was carried to the lake the next day where ice a foot thick had been broken. The people had congregated in large numbers. Some had told us that my brother would be arrested if he should immerse me in the critical situation I was in. However it was done, and I was well from that time. … I told [the people] that all this was of my own free will, that I was not constrained to do it, … and that they must not do harm to my brother because he was doing God’s work and God would punish them if they interfered.
Soon after that I meet the man who would become my husband. Franklin D. Richards. We were married on the 18th of December 1842 in Hancock County, Illinois. Soon after that we moved to Nauvoo and our first daughter Wealthy Louise was born on the 2nd of November 1843. During our first year of marriage my husband was called on a mission to England. While he was gone I spent part of my time with his parents and part of my time with my mother.
My husband returned from England a week after the Prophet Joseph Smith’s death. As we attended a meeting to decide on a successor to Joseph Smith I bent down to retrieve a toy that my daughter had tossed to the floor- so many things are still the same- mothers still spend so much time keeping children occupied during our meetings- As my attention was diverted, Brigham Young took the stand. When he began to speak I heard the voice of Joseph Smith and when I looked up at the stand I saw Joseph’s image.
A few months previous to Joseph Smiths death he had recieved a revelation in regard to Polygamy and Hyram Smith had talked of it in confidence with my husband who mentioned it to me. Though I spoke of it to no one. It seems that Joseph Smith had taken some more wives during these months. But the revelation required that he should do it without publicity at this time, as the mob spirit was already so much excited without this having been thought of at all. It was not on this account he was persecuted as it was not known untill after his death.
The celestial marriage or sealing were not solemnized until it could be done in the temple although with Joseph Smith it necessarily was done elsewhere as the temple was not then ready for use. During this winter and previous to the company starting, Mr. Richards took his second wife, Elizabeth McFate. Polygamy was now made known to us for the first time and while the majority of the Church were made acquainted with the doctrine it was only practically entered into by few. In my case it came at first thought as a strange thing and I was uncertain as to the result. But I was satisfied that it was a sacred revelation and that my religion required its acceptance. This wife Elizabeth was young (about 17 and pretty) and amiable very considerate and kind to me. Never in our associating together was there an unkind word between us. I was in delicate health and from the time she first entered my home three or four days after her marriage she seemed only concerned to relieve me of trouble and labors. She was ready to take hold and do any-thing always asking me for direction. We lived in our two story brick home she occupying the upper portion.
Only three months after we moved into our home, we were forced to flee Nauvoo because of the intense persecution. We were one of the last to leave our home and the city. At the time I was very pregnant with our second child. At Sugar Creek my husband was again called to serve a mission in England. I was left alone to care for my daughter and my husband’s second wife Elizabeth. Life on the trail was difficult. As I pleaded for help from the communities we crossed through I was treated cruelly. One time a woman set her dogs after me, and another time I was robbed by the midwife which I had sought help from. My daughter Wealthy died on the trail. I delivered our second child Isaac Phinehas who died shortly after birth. Elizabeth was sick and died while we were on the trail as well. My sister in-law’s Amelia and Mary Richards nursed me through my trials. When we reached Winter Quarters I was deathly ill. My life was once again spared through the power of a priesthood blessing.
When we reached Salt Lake we used our wagon box as a home. At one point we made a roof out of hay which got destroyed when a poorly constructed chimney set it on fire. We did not have much. We had plenty of meat and dairy, but no vegetables and we rationed our food to make bread. We barely had any furniture. I bought a rocking chair by exchanging 3 pairs of woolen stockings which I had made from wool that I carded and spun into yarn. Our first house was made of three tents held down with rocks on the sides. In 1849 my mother, brother and sister came from council bluffs, at the same time though my husband having been called as an apostle was sent to England again. I saved straw and braided hats for men and boys and sold them for one dollar each. I took in boarders to make money. Occasionally a $5 gold piece would be given to me that I could purchase rice, sugar and other items with.
 
We had a house by 1853 and there raised cattle. I was able to have a garden and have vegetables. In 1869 we moved to Ogden and settled. In Ogden I became heavily involved in the Relief Society Organization and served as the first Relief Society President in the Weber stake organized on July 19th 1877. Later I served as a counselor to General Relief Society President Zina Young. I was asked to attend the National Council of Women in 1891 and had the opportunity to meet with Belva Lockwood and Susan B Anthony. I am the mother to six children. Four of which were born after we traveled to Salt Lake.

Tuned up

I just got our piano tuned. As in the piano tuner just left 15 minutes ago. As I was doing things around the house listening to him tinker and tighten the strings on the piano and tune it up, I got to thinking about stuff that can use tuning in my life.

Our piano had not been tuned in a very long time. The C key was more in tune with what a B key should be than a C key. And it was like that for the entire piano. In fact you could fool yourself into thinking it was only a little out of tune because the half and full notes between keys were still half and full notes basically...

So I'm setting out to see what other things in my life might be out of tune. They might seem to be not so out of tune because the whole keyboard is sadly out of tune, or they might be small things that just need a little tweaking and tightening to get tuned back up.

There's your challenge from me... figure out what might need some tuning in your life, and work on it. :)

Sick Day's

Angie is sick today. She's bundled up on the couch with her blankie, some crackers, a little bit of water and a pillow.

And so she is set, except she wants the puppy to sit next to her... and she wants mommy to stay in the same room as her... and any other list of her current wants while she is not feeling well.

As much as I don't like to see my little ones sick, I do enjoy the ability to take it easy for the day and tend to her and give her the love and attention she craves when she doesn't feel well.


Valentines day is coming up... I hope everyone has a good day and feels loved from family and friends.

I'll be taking care of some church responsibilities so we don't have any big date planned, but I hope to find time to do a few special things for my loved ones.

I find myself in a chatty mood, but really nothing specific to talk about. lol! So I'll spare everyone and stop this random post. :)

More Scrapbooking

The kids are finally back at school after 4 snow days and a weekend with no church...

I took some time this morning to work on a few more scrapbook pages they are from pictures in 2002.

Digi Scrapbooking

So I was talking over my new quest to digi scrap with a friend of mine who is very into scrapbooking and stuff. She does her's the good ole fashioned way and uses paper and glue and all that fun stuff. I asked her what she recommends to get caught up, and she said she likes to tell people to start at a beginning point and work forward from there.

So I decided to start in 2002 when we first got a digital camera and start working through the pictures I have on the computer making layouts as I can.

Here are two that I've worked on the past two day's.

Saturday's

So everyone asks me what I do during the day when the kids are at school??? I have 2 1/2 hours between dropping Angela off at school and when she comes home.

I try and do some cleaning, I almost always do some laundry.
I exercise.
I go grocery shopping and occasionally shopping for other stuff.
I volunteer at the school.
I occasionally take a nap, read a book, or play on the computer.
I try and visit with some friends once in a while.

Those hours just fly by, but the thing is I am doing much more cleaning during the day than I have in the past.

So why do I still find myself on Saturday morning cleaning the bathrooms, and doing laundry???


Sometimes I feel like the cleaner I keep my house, the more I "see" places to clean, and the more I feel compelled to clean.

Sometimes it seems like it was easier when I just gave in and embraced the messes of young children. lol!

Sisters...

I'm watching the girls play outside together. In the winter with the wind and cold temps they don't get the chance to play outside much. Today is pretty mild, so since they didn't have any homework after school, all three girls went straight outside with Jojo and have been playing and running around for the last 30 minutes. They are doing trains on the slide, running up the slide, swinging, running around the yard with Jojo...

It brings back lots of memories of playing outside behind out house in Maryland with my sisters and the "green machine" (big green utility box) and rope swing on the tree.

Having good clean (unless you count the dirt and mud from a wet backyard) fun...

and I love to watch them having it. Enough that I'm willing to overlook the pile of laundry in Ashley's room that she still has yet to fold and put away and she is supposed to be tackling right now. It'll still be wrinkled and waiting to be folded tonight, or tomorrow...

That's a mom's perogative right?

Talents and Gifts of the Spririt

Today when I was in Young Womens, the lesson was on the gifts of the spirit. I didn't teach, but during the lesson the teacher asked me to share with the girls my thoughts on what we were talking about.

I went through years of soul searching and wondering what gifts I might have in my life that I could develop. I had freinds that were very accomplished in musical and athletic things and I always felt that I fell short because I didn't have a true talent to share.

I was so happy today to be able to share with the girls my realizations a few years back that I don't have to have something extraordinary to share talent wise. Compassion and helping others is a talent, having faith is a gift of the spirit, and being receptive to learning is a gift of the spirit as well.

I was able to share with them that knowing that and realizing that allowed me to become less self conscious about other talents. I DON'T have an amazing singing voice, but I do have a pretty good one. Today sang a duet during sacrament meeting and by realizing that I don't have to be "the best" to develop and strengthen some of my natural talents I've been able to enjoy those talents more.

I'm grateful for that lesson I've learned and for the chance I had to share it with the great girls I get to work with.

Time flies! Happy New Year!

Well December just flew on past! We stayed busy with fun christmas traditions. We made gingerbread houses, baked all together as a family, and had fun christmas parties at school and church.

On Christmas Eve we had a blizzard and the kids had a great time going out and playing in the snow. We were so worn out from playing in it, that our traditional christmas eve stories didn't happen... the kids just went and climbed in their beds and went to sleep! lol!

We had a great christmas break from school, and I wasn't even ready for the kids to go back to school this week... they had been having such a great time at home.

I had the opportunity to fly back to Utah the sunday after christmas and attend my Grandma Johnson's funeral. I felt blessed to have that opportunity to go and spend time with my family and remember her and celebrate the wonderful full life that she had. It was great to see cousins and aunts and uncles that I just don't get to see very often.

Now I'm in the midst of figuring out what goals I might want to try and accomplish this year. I'm not looking for huge ones, just small ones.

I'd like to continue the weight loss that I started this fall. I kind of took a break over the holiday's so I could just enjoy them and not stress over my diet during that month and a half. I may have gained a pound of two, but I'm perfectly content with that. I'll be starting weight watchers again on Monday and I've already started back on the exercise routines.

I'm also wanting to do better at scripture study... and am setting aside some time to focus on that each day.

And... I want to try and keep our house cleaner. The new little puppy we have will actually help me with this- since I'll try and keep things picked up a little better so he doesn't try to chew on things. I mainly just need to get around to cleaning bathrooms more frequently, and I think the whole family will appreciate that. :)

Rich asked me the other day what my hobby was... I didn't have a good answer for him, so my other goal this year is to figure out what type of hobbies appeal to me, and take some time to work on it. Tonight I fiddled around with some photo's and digital paper and elements and put together some blog backgrounds... just simple, but a start!