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B's First Day of Preschool

Here's my cute B all ready for her

first day of school! She has had a great

time and we are so pleased that she's
done so well!

Some Things I Love...About My Family

• I love my family. :) First, foremost, and perhaps very basic, but so very true that I must put it first on my list.
• I love watching my husband from a distance. He's seriously adorable.
• I love listening to B play. I love her imagination, her ability to go for hours with random, delightful stories, where no one dies or is mean or gets hurt....:) It's wonderful.
• I love that my girls love me to sing to them before bed. I don't consider myself a "singer," but I love that they enjoy my voice enough that they don't like to go to bed without a song from me.
• I love coloring with my girls. It's so soothing and relaxing (when there is no fighting over crayon colors. lol)
• I love my girls' faces. Every mother feels this way about her children, no doubt. But I love how T's eyes are so expressive, so deep, so lovely. And B's smile! LOL! She has the most engaging smile. She changes the course of a person's day with one of them.
• I love to cuddle with T. She is the best cuddler.
• I love that T loves to clean her room. I mean, not to start with; she whines about it like any other kid. But once she gets going...that girl can CLEAN!!
• I love how resourceful my husband is. He truly astonishes me sometimes.
• I love how much my family can get accomplished in a short time when we all work together.
• I love that people always comment on how affectionate my husband and I are with each other.
• I love how people always comment on how amazing our daughters are. ;)
• I love how my girls are usually the best behaved any given event or location. :D
• I love how I can brag all I want here, because it's MY blog!!
• I love B's spontaneous rock concerts. Girl's got skillz!
• I love what a great big sister T is.
• I love when B comes to T's defense.
• I love how everyone runs to Daddy when he comes home.
• I love that B is potty-trained!! (That joy won't be growing old any time soon.)
• I love how my husband lets me warm my frigid feet on him.
• I love how my husband will give me back/shoulder rubs (and this is no small feat, trust me; I need it deep) even when he's tired, because he knows it helps relieve my pain.
• I love my husband for his generosity.
• I love to watch my girls play with their daddy.
• I love the laughter in my home. There is a lot of it! :)
• I love that T understands a lot of why we make the choices we do, the importance of choosing the right, of taking care of our bodies, and being kind to others, etc.
• I love that my girls are such wonderful helpers.
• I love to hear T's excitement when someone calls her on the phone. It's sooooo cute.
• I love listening to B talk about marrying a boy from her Sunbeam class in a blase manner.
• I love that the entire family can fit on the couch together and share the same blanket.
• I love that we do that. :)
• I love that I can write a list like this, and all these things I love just spilled forth, without having to think about it. I love that I could go on and on. I love that I am so very blessed in my family that I have so many things to love about them.
• I love that my family is made of up strong individuals who love and desire the best for one another. I love that people can feel the spirit when they are around my family. I love that we are different, and that we preach that different is special. I love that my family is guided by the goodness of the gospel, and we know we can weather any storm, if we link ourselves to our Father in Heaven.

I love y'all for reading this! :) I'm truly, truly blessed.

Review of a Discriminating Palate

While at the store yesterday, surveying the yogurts, B announced, with no lack of conviction, "Don't get the chocolate kind. It is like poop."

There you go, folks. I take that as a firm two-thumbs-down on this product.

Consider yourselves warned.

(P.S. I'm still quietly laughing about this.)

Back to School

Wow, is this year flying!! T headed back to school last Wednesday. It's been an exhausting experience for her. Bless her heart! She keeps saying, "Second grade is soooo much longer than first grade!" :( Poor baby. It will take some getting used to. But, at least she loves her teacher!! Yea!!

B starts school on the 30th. That's going to be an adventure. I can't wait to see how she loves it. :)

Just a quick update, to let you know a bit of the craziness we are up to lately. I hope you all are having a great end of summer!

Conversation with B

B and I were cuddling in my bed this morning and she retold me a story.

"Last night, T came in my room when she woke up and she told me to sink [think] about good sings [things]. Not bad sings."

I said, "She did, huh? That was sweet of her."

She nodded solemnly. "But now, I want to draw bad sings."

I drew my eyebrows together, confused. "You want to draw bad things?"

She nodded again. "Yeah!" she chirped. "Monsters biting me and bugs biting me."

"How come?" I asked.

"Cuz I'm not scared! Now where are the crayons? And, Mom, I need lots and lots of pink paper."

Evidently the formula for curing 'fraidyness is a sisterly pep talk and lots of pink paper.

LOL. I love my kids.

Swagger Wagon

My friend Suzie sent this to me. I thought it was so cute and funny and I love how it celebrates the familial condition. :) Enjoy.

(It cuts off some of it, so for a better view, click here.)

A Little Something for My Girls Out There

Last Sunday I had the honor of teaching Relief Society. With the pending Mother's Day holiday, I felt impressed (after changing my topic many times) to share the ideas from Sheri Dew's "Are We Not All Mothers?" This is such a wonderful, empowering article, one I hope you will take the time to read.

I also wanted to share, in conjunction with Sister Dew's wisdom, some definitions of a mother. Keep in mind, these are not my definitions, but definitions from an online dicitonary.

1. A woman who raises (and by this I like to think "edifies, or lifts up") a child (or any person).
2. A woman who holds a position of authority or responsibility.
3. Used as a title for a woman respected for her wisdom and age.
4. A woman who creates, originates, or founds something.
5. A woman who nourishes, produces, watches over, or protects.

What strikes me, and is Sister Dew's point, is actually giving birth is not necessary to be a mother. What is essential? Being a woman. This power to create, this is ours, and always has been. The awe-inspiring ability to mother lies within each and every woman. So, next week, May 9th, rejoice in the wonder that is the feminine. We are blessed. We are treasured. We are mighty.

Happy Mother's Day, to each and every beautiful, talented, inspiring woman. You are not perfect, no. But no matter what, you are still destined for something great, capable of something uniquely special, just by virtue of being a girl. :) I love you and know you each effect your world for good.

Storms, Rainbows, and Flowers

I hope you'll forgive me the coarseness of this post. My musings are very crude, and I doubt I'll be able to express this well, but I feel impressed to publish this, even in its unpolished form. I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about life's storms. We all have them. While sitting in the middle of the downpour with the lashing of the figurative wind in our faces, we may often wonder, "Why?"

Fair question, right? Isn't easier to bear something if you know the purpose behind it?

The other day, my B, after giving some flowers their drink, said contentedly, "There, Mommy. Now they are happy."

This perfect little moment, in my opinion, this is the answer to the "why."

Granted, being buffeted by our storms of life is not fun. But it is essential in order to reach that state of "happy." Sometimes there is no other way to get that life-giving "rain" we need in our lives. Sometimes there is no other way to strengthen our roots, to build up our character, to make us stronger vessels. These life storms, like the real days and days of rain we experience this time of year, help us, like all the breathtaking flowers bursting from the ground following all those gray and soggy days, GROW.

This is not always an easy perspective to keep. A goal I've been working toward is, when I'm stuck in the middle of the something hard, to remember that it's for my betterment and good. I work with each new storm to turn my face into the rain, not away from it, because that is the direction of heaven, and heaven is trying to teach and bless me with and through the storm.

And, it's only then, when looking up, that we see those tender mercies, or (following the storm analogy) rainbows, those awe-filled occurrences we get to help us through the storms, those beautiful reminders of good things while we are waiting for the flowers and the happy to arrive.

I've never known a person who doesn't pause, struck by the appearance of a rainbow. There is a beautiful correlation between the appearance of a rainbow in a stormy sky and the tender mercies in our lives. I have never had a dark moment in my life where, if I paused to look, I couldn't find something bright and beautiful in the midst of the bleak. Like T randomly writing me a note telling me how much she loves me, or B running up and hugging me tight and giving me a kiss out of the blue. These moments bolster our souls, make us pause and be grateful, and make the dark clouds fade to the background, even if just for a moment.

I know with certainty as strong as I've ever had it the heaven is aware of us. God loves us, Christ was born, lived, suffered, and died for us. His entire recorded existence He was our champion and provider. We are not alone here. Each life is precious beyond measure, and each life is marked for happiness.

I'm working to learn to dance in my rain and delight in my rainbows a little more everyday. Because I don't know about you, but I want my "happy."

30

My sweet husband,

Today is your thirtieth birthday.

This milestone is an exciting one, and I'm so grateful I get to experience it with you. Your life hasn't been an easy one, and in spite of that, you willingly jump in where you feel you ought, following me often into the unknown, bringing along your delicious enthusiasm and energy. You have taught me so much about NOT standing outside the fire. It's so fitting that the idea you brought to me when you proposed is one that has followed us throughout our life together.

You are such a good daddy to our girls and husband to me. You are relied on so much by this little family; I don't think you could ever understand how much. Thank you for how you continue to push this family forward into good things.

I love you so much, sweetie.
Happy Birthday.

They Grow Up So Fast...

My oldest daughter is really into asserting her independence these days. It's so wonderful. Basically this consists of telling me I'm wrong about pretty much everything. Additionally, I get the big bonus of her deliberately disobeying because she doesn't like the rules. Case in point:

The other day, T woke up, and dressed herself in a way too-short skirt. I told her,

6:45 a.m.
"Honey, you aren't wearing that to school today. Go put on some pants."
7:00 a.m.
"T, it's wintertime. That skirt is too short. You aren't wearing it to school. Go change."
7:15 a.m.
"T! Pants!"
7:30 a.m.
"No, it's not okay if you wear it with leggings. Your leggings are too short. No, it's not okay if you wear it with tights. The tights don't make the skirt any longer. Go change."
7:45 a.m.
"T! Are you kidding me that you haven't changed yet? Your pants are downstairs in the laundry basket. Go get them on now!"
7:50 a.m.
I walk into the laundry room. T, at last, is wearing pants, but she's looking sheepish and clutching at her sides funny. I stop her as she tries to sneak past me and pull out the skirt that she was poorly concealing under her shirt. "So, what was the plan? To take your pants off once you get to school?"

She nods.

Seven, folks.

I may just have a meltdown.

Is anyone else COLD?!?

Wow! I know it's winter, and I know I'm an Idaho-born girl, but MAN! This cold snap....QQ!!! It's gotta break sometime, right? At our house, mornings and evenings look a lot like this:

I'm the short, squatty one in purple and pink. I hate to admit it, but going out to do chores right now is HARD! Poor goats, having to have my frigid fingers on their teats. :( I love that we have snow, and I do love the seasons, but thinking about going outside sometimes just flat-out makes me cringe. I know, I know, I'm opening this wide up for you all to call my pansy, but just in case anyone else is feeling this chill and trying to not cry about it for fear of the tears freezing to their face, I feel ya, and you are welcome to come over for hot chocolate any time.

Way Behind

Alright, folks, back to reality and finally finding time to blog. Yes! Wow, just got on and realized I still had an autumnal background. Can we say slacker?!? Where my head has been these past two months....whew! But, I'm hoping to get caught up a bit and move smoothly into this new year. Excited for what will come in 2010!