Gratitude: A positive attitude

This afternoon Rebecca accidentally knocked over a ceramic bowl while she herself was falling off the unstable kitchen stool. The bowl shattered and pieces went everywhere. But Rebecca's sincere comment after the accident was: "At least I didn't die!"

Tonight we went to the interfaith Thanksgiving concert. We went, but...well...we missed the concert. We walked in as they were saying the closing prayer. We were standing at the back and as people were exiting we were receiving full credit for seemingly having been there. One elderly lady came up to us, and commenting on Theo in Warren's arms said: "What a good boy, to have sat through that whole thing!" Warren just smiled and responded to her: "He's amazing!" Well, we might not have sat through the concert, but we did sit through 3 hours of church today, so Theo does get some credit for being amazing!

Gratitude: T

I'm grateful for this little guy. In some ways it's been a tough year. In other ways I haven't noticed it much of the time because little Theo brings me so much joy. I've been much too busy enjoying every smile, every dimple, every cuddle, every little thing he has learned how to do. He is an incredibly happy baby. His cheeks are simply kissable. He claps at things that make him happy. He laughs at and adores his siblings. He is bonded to his family. I'm so grateful to be a mother and am grateful that Theo joined our family this year.

Gratitude-deep stuff and sweet hugs

Remember how I mentioned that I was memorizing something? Well, I finished it and recited it to the Young Women at Church, since it was for a YW goal on Faith so now I can tell you.

I memorized "The Living Christ."

I began working on it in August I think.

It was hard. Really hard. But one of the most worthwhile things I have ever done. That was truly an inspired project.

When you memorize something you have to pay close attention to every word. You have to think about every line so that you'll make sense of it in your head and be able to remember the order of the sentences. Every time I worked on this piece it touched my heart, or taught me something or just made me feel like I knew Christ just a little bit better.

I had read it before, but never internalized it like I did through the process of memorization. It was amazing. I highly recommend it.

I don't feel like elaborating too much right here, right now, but I want to say I am grateful for my Savior. I know he is real. I know he cares. I'm grateful I could memorize the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets about Him.

*******************

I was having a hard morning today. My back was in terrible pain. I could hardly lift my baby. Other things were getting me down, too. I sat down at the kitchen table to have a snack and the tears just started coming. I covered my eyes with my hands, but my 3 year old saw me and asked: "Why are you crying, mommy?"

"Because my back hurts." I answered, wanting to stick with the one thing he would understand.

And then, the sweetest gesture of all, he walked all the way across the room to me and gave me a hug without saying another word. Just like that.

And I was grateful as I hugged him back.



(picture from a year ago)

Just Monitoring

Had a little bit of a scare this morning. Not in the bad sense of the word, but still an anxiety producing morning. I woke up because I was having a bunch of Braxton-Hicks contractions and it got to the point where I thought I better start timing them. They were coming frequently enough that Warren decided to stay home from church and take care of me. Three hours later after contractions that came every few minutes and lasted about 35 seconds I finally was able to get some sleep. When I woke up I felt better and they had calmed down somewhat. I'm still 3 1/2 weeks away from my due date, so I'm not quite ready for Baby to come yet, but you never know what will happen. Every story is different. Granted, due to Joseph's emergency home birth I'm a little hyper sensitive about getting to the hospital on time, so I want to be careful without being paranoid. But it's a sticky spot to be in. My main goal is to make it till my mom gets here at the end of the month. So I'll be taking life very easy for awhile and hope that things stay the way they are for now.

Children's Literature

Today's homework assignment from Travelin'Oma is too good to pass up. The topic is Children's Books.

~1. Do you have recommendations for books that haven't been mentioned yet? Who would enjoy them: a little girl, a 10-year-old boy, the whole family? Is it a read-it-yourself, or a read-it-to-me type book?

~2. If you were giving just one book to an infant grandchild, what would it be? A friend suggested Clotilda by Jack Kent. I like A You're Adorable by Martha Alexander. What's your favorite?

~3. Do you remember a special book from your childhood? Who read it to you?

I think I want to answer all three questions.

1. Last year I was part of a children's literature book club. At first we did thematic evenings, but then we just ended up each bring one or more children's books (usually illustrated) to the book club and shared them with each other. Sometimes we read them out loud, sometimes we just summarized them. We laughed and we cried. We relaxed and enjoyed. It was the most stress free book club you could imagine.

During one of the evenings with a theme I came up with this list of books. I'm sure there are countless others, but these are ones I either owned or had found at the library at that time. These are read-to-me/with me books for girls 3-10.

Topic: Girls With Spunk -or- NOT your Damsel in Distress
Illustrated books (I think I've always listed the illustrator second):

'The Paper Bag Princess' by Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenka
'The Princess and the Pizza' Mary Jane and Herm Auch
'The Princess Knight' by Cornelia Funke and Kerstin Meyer
'The Trouble with Mom,' 'Princess Smartypants,' and 'Princess Smartypants Rules' by Babette Cole
'Seven Brave Women' by Betsy Hearne and Bethanne Andersen
'Falling for Rapunzel' by Leah Wilcox and Lydia Monks
'A is for Abigail' by Lynne Cheney and Robin Preiss Glasser
'Eloise' by Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight
'Do Princesses Really Kiss Frogs?' by Carmela LaVigna Coyle and Mike Gordon
'The Royal Broomstick' by Heather Amery and Stephen Cartwright
'Madeline' by Ludwig Bemelmans
'Linnea in Monet's Garden' by Christina Bjork and Lena Anderson

and some novels:

'Dealing With Dragons' Patricia C. Wrede (and the sequels)
'From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler' E.L. Konigsburg
'The Ordinary Princess' M. M. Kaye
'The Witch of Blackbird Pond' Elizabeth Speare

I want to mention that 'Seven Brave Women' was a library find that particularly touched me. It is about the author and the six generations of women who have gone before her. It makes you feel proud to be a woman and to live up to the potential within you.

2. It's tough to pick just one, but since that is the assignment I'm going to pick 'Goodnight Gorilla' by Peggy Rathman. There are so many little details to talk about with a young toddler and they love the story line. There are a variety of themes you can follow from page to page. We add our own special surprised sound effects for the page where all you see is black and one pair of eyes. It makes the little ones giggle.

3. When my grandma was little there were two books I remember her reading over and over to us. So as a grownup I tried hard to get ahold of them. Luckily, my grandma still had one of them and I found the other one at a used bookstore. The books are 'Caroline in Europe' and 'Mop Top' by Don Freeman. 'Caroline' is a charming book about a girl and her pets who travel throughout Europe and get into all sorts of scrapes. 'Mop Top' is about a boy who doesn't want to get his hair cut. Both of the books bring back the warm fuzzies of childhood and the memories of my grandma reading them to me.





I could go on and on, but this will have to suffice for now. Thanks for the assignment!

Clean house vs. happy kids

I've been wanting to share this story for some time now.
This is a story about my mom and a friend of hers. My mom was living in Germany at the time. There was a lady at church who was concerned (as we all are) about her housekeeping and trying to stay on top of things. She had a couple of young children and was frustrated with trying to keep things in perfect order. My mom felt inspired to tell her to relax about her perfect housekeeping and just enjoy her children more and the time she had with them.

Not long thereafter that woman was diagnosed with cancer and died within a short period of time. But before her passing she thanked my mother for the counsel she had given her. What a blessing that this lady could at least look back on the last part of her life with gratitude that she had spent more time with her children.

I think the frustration of housework is something that can really get us moms down. Some personalities more than others, but it's probably a common theme. I'm not a perfect housekeeper, but I've been trying hard to do the basics amid still trying to move into our new house. The thing is, if your happiness is based on having a clean house you'll never be happy, because it will NEVER be done. It can't be done unless you're not actually LIVING in your home.

So...I've been trying to acknowledge that fact and do my best to keep the house running and clean here and there, while not getting frustrated that it is never clean everywhere at once.
And at the same time I've been working hard (as any of my readers know by now) at enjoying these precious childhood years more. It's not that I've discovered the secret, but I have been more successful than in the past-of letting the present mess go, and just enjoying the here and now. And it's good. Really, really good. I like feeling this way and hope I can keep it up.

Tonight was a good example. My personality is to be very focused on the task at hand. Consequently I get frustrated if I'm being "thwarted" at what I NEED to do. It's a weakness and a strength. It means I can be very efficient and productive and disciplined (and a high achiever), but can lack some spontaneity and flexibility and get frustrated more easily by kids who are completely spontaneous.

I was hand watering some patches of grass that needed personalized attention. It was almost bedtime for the kids and I just wanted to get this done before it got any later. Of course water+kids=play and get soaked. They started by just putting their feet in my stream of water (which was annoying enough because it kept the water from going where it was SUPPOSED to be going). Then they tried to take more control over the hose as the water covered more and more of their clothing and the squeals of laughter escalated. The "natural woman" me wanted to be frustrated and say: "Just let me get my job done!!!!" but as I started feeling that way I remembered what was more important. Kids. Yes, kids, not grass. The results are below. Have you ever seen more joy in that little guy's face?

Those are the memories I want to keep in my head and heart.

Finding joy in the moment

Last week I felt strong. Warren was out of town for four days for his Grandmother's funeral in Provo. I was working hard on my gratitude, my love of life, my charity for my children (translation: extra amounts of patience) and just doing everything at home that needed to be done.
I kept the house running, I fed my kids, I even had a nice long playdate with feeding the gang dinner at the end since neither of our husbands were home. I accompanied a French Horn concerto at the High Priest Group dinner Saturday night. My kids were the only kids at this event and were running around the church building like crazy. That was about the worst thing that happened the whole time Warren was gone (which really isn't bad at all). I was in control and I felt good.
Then Warren came home and I tanked. Pathetic, I know, four days by myself and I'm exhausted.
I woke up this morning not feeling so strong anymore, feeling overwhelmed by the chores of daily life, all the things I want to do, etc etc. The usual. Housework is never ending.

But in stead of cleaning the kitchen I played with my son this morning. Literally played. Normally I cheat. I start the game with my kids and then with some stealth work on cleaning up something in their room or elsewhere if I can sneak out. But today I just sat there and played blocks. Stacked them, let him knock them over, praise him as he stacked them himself. It brought me joy.

The themes running through my head lately are simplification, focusing on what really matters, enjoying the moment, loving the time I have with my kids, gratitude, gratitude, gratitude.

Oh and btw, I'm really enjoying my "parenting approach" to the Book of Mormon. I'm excited to share some of my thoughts but I'll get there eventually.

Well, now that I've taken some time for myself, while the little guy is still sleeping, maybe I should go do some cleaning because although it's not the most important thing, it still needs to be done....
But the final words today from a woman much wiser than myself:

"We women have a lot to learn about simplifying our lives. We have to decide what is important and then move along at a pace that is comfortable for us. We have to develop the maturity to stop trying to prove something. We have to learn to be content with what we are."
- Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Children

3 Nephi 14:24-27
I have a note under these scriptures that says "replace house with 'child' " from some talk I heard sometime, somewhere... But it's oh so relevant.

"Therefore, whoso heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his [child] upon a rock-
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that [child]; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his [child] upon the sand-
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that [child]; and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

The rock of course is the Savior, but you could extend the metaphor to include other important things your child should be built upon. And our sweet children do get blown around by the winds of the world and beat upon by the storms and we might worry about them. But they can be safe if we build them upon the "rock."

I also love how it speaks about how Jesus takes the little children "one by one" and blesses them and prays for them. It shows how he feels about us as individuals and also gives us an example to spend time with our children one on one and to make sure they know we love them and pray for them.

Angel Lucy

Just a week ago a friend of Warren's and mine found us on facebook. Warren went to law school with Vic and he also joined us on the semester abroad program to London that we participated in. The last time we saw Vic was at his engagement/farewell party before he moved to Utah. Vic is an great guy, kind, friendly, generous, thoughtful and caring. We only met his wife Molly at their party, but she has to be a wonderful person, too, since Vic chose her as his eternal companion.

The reunion via email with Vic was bittersweet. He shared with us the tragedy that occured in their life. Less than a year ago their almost 2 year old daughter, Lucy, choked on a piece of apple the size of the pea and subsequently passed away a few days later. With permission I share their story and a link to their blog.

The day I read Vic's email I cried. When Warren came home we read various parts of their blog and cried together. We watched the video tribute for Lucy while listening to her mommy sing lullabies to her. We held each other and spoke with gratitude of our own sweet children.

I want to shout out to the world about the Plan of Salvation. This life is just a chapter. Life goes on. We will be together as families for ever. Vic and Molly know this. My dear friends Charity and Brian, Rozanne, David and Lindy know this. I'm sure many more of you know this. It doesn't take away the hurt though. It doesn't even take away the whys and the trying to make sense of it all. But it does give us hope and brings us a step closer to heaven.

Life is precious. I'm not always the mother I want to be, but I'm working hard at it. I try even harder when I'm reminded at the grief some of my friends have had to deal with. It doesn't make me a perfect parent, but learning from their experiences has given me that extra measure of strength to be more patient, kinder and enjoy the moments more.

I hope that as you read Vic and Molly's story you will learn from their testimonies, share in their grief and resolve once more to appreciate life and each glorious moment we have here on earth together a little more.

Gratitude

People who are grateful are happier. I believe this to be true. As an exercise for myself I want to spend time this month of November to write down some of the things I am grateful for.

I'm grateful for my children who keep my grounded. Who remind me to find joy in the little things in life. They give me opportunities to grow as I practice patience, charity, love, and courage. They bring me such joy. They have taught me a deeper meaning of the word love, especially what it must mean for our Heavenly Father to love us. They keep me laughing (and crying), but above all, they make me feel grateful to be alive- to have the opportunity to be a mother.