2016: Be Thankful

So it's nearly March, but I thought I'd write about my year's theme. For the past couple of years, I've taken a page out of my sister-in-law Emily's book and have had a yearly theme or mantra. 2014 was "Be Present," and I worked on being more in the moment. 2015 was "Be of Good Courage," which was helpful for me as I prepared to have Henry and make the jump to three children. I decided at the end of 2015 that 2016 would be "Be Thankful." I felt that I was complaining and not looking for the good enough. I am also reading Pollyanna with Clara at bedtime, and I love the "glad game." In theory it is awesome; in execution it is challenging. The Apostle Paul "In every thing give thanks" (1 Thes 5:18). I want to keep that commandment better.

Tied into gratitude, I am trying to be more content. I am throwing away the catalogs (well, most--I got sucked into Lands End today) I get in the mail and trying to avoid Target, which tries to convince me that I need those new pencils in the $3 section and new socks for the kids, that cute shirt, more school supplies or more home decor. Even not looking as much for new recipes online is helpful because I already have a ton at home but for some reason get itches to get new recipes sometimes. Not that that's bad, but just that searching for more and more feeds into a sense of unfulfillment. A huge help in this effort was a few years ago when I stopped reading Better Homes and Gardens and Southern Living magazines from the office, which always made me feel like I needed more--more recipes, more style, more cool house stuff, etc.

So here are a few random bedtime selfies with Clara in honor of being thankful, grateful, glad, and just looking for the good, both this year and always!

Robbie tidbits

Robbie is just growing and learning so much these days.

Last Monday, Robbie prepared the living room for FHE, putting scriptures on each chair and spacing them evenly on the couch, along with the mini-hymnbooks. He said happily, "I'm orgazining!"

Robbie is quite good at making things symmetrical. These Smartmax magnets are really fun and he gets very creative with them, telling us stories about what the magnets and cars are doing.

A couple of Sundays ago, Michael got ready for his early bishopric meetings. Robbie saw him and said indignantly, "I want to be a Sunday man!" after which Michael helped him get ready. He likes "being handsome" by going into the bathroom and wetting down his hair and brushing it.

A few weeks ago when I went in to wake Robbie up from a late nap, I was surprised to see him cuddled up with the backhoe. Mmmm, comfy!

Robbie is really great at being grateful and positive. He'll say, "Thanks for playing with me outside, Mom," or "What a beautiful day!" He gives nice compliments, like, "I like your shoes, Mom." He can be very good at sharing (not so much with Henry yet :-)) and will often spontaneously share his food. Today I was sleepy and was lying on the couch in the playroom taking a "nap" for about fifteen minutes while he played with his Duplos nearby. He ran and got me a blanket so I could be warm. Such a thoughtful guy!

He is also great at checking me for consistency. I have been reading a great book called Setting Limits for Your Strong-Willed Child. Robbie is more of a fence-sitter, according to the book's definition, in that he is sometimes a "tester" (or, as the author calls it, an "aggressive researcher") and other times he is compliant and cooperative the first time I ask. Daily quiet time--an hour in his room playing (or sleeping) with the door cracked and without coming out--is often a testing opportunity. If he comes out, the door is locked. He will sometimes kick his door for the entire hour, which pretty much drives me nuts. But as I trying to be more consistent, he is learning that I will follow through. At the moment he is in his quiet time and asleep. :-) He likes to keep me on my toes.

On Sunday, his Sunbeam teacher told me that she is so grateful for him and that he does a good job following instructions and is a good example for the other kids. Several weeks ago she emailed me and said that she had asked the class, "How do we get back to Heavenly Father?" Robbie responded, "We could drive a car!"

He is at such a fun age. We love him so much!!

Valentine's 2016

I enjoy Valentine's Day more now than I did when we were first married. Maybe it's because I am more specific about what I want and don't feel guilty asking. Maybe it's because we have kids, which makes our celebration more fun and more about familial love. Maybe it's because Michael and I just continue to enjoy each other's company more as the years go by and we have less time together than we used to.

Be that as it may, I told Michael that I did want flowers and chocolates this year. Stereotypical? Absolutely. But I loved them. In the past, especially for the first decade of our marriage, I told Michael not to get me flowers because they were so expensive and would just die, not to mention we were just feeding into the forced, Hallmark holiday concept. But now I told him that I do want them. I should have taken a picture of the delicious See's candy box of assorted chocolates he had selected and ordered himself. Super yum, and I was even generous enough to share with my family. The roses were beautiful, too. Gifts are not my first love language, but I enjoy the tradition and most especially, the thought that went into the gifts. That's what I appreciate most.

 We enjoyed our traditional amazing pizza courtesy of Michael along with chocolate milk, broccoli, and a really awesome trifle I made (which was supposed to have been chocolate cupcakes but they messed up somehow, so it turned into a trifle with pudding and Cool Whip and Oreos). 

Michael took Clara to the Daddy-daughter Valentine's dance at Cub Run, her last one, sniff! They had a fun time together, which was nice. I also had fun making valentines for each of the family (except Henry) and putting them on their plates along with some candy at breakfast. That weekend we enjoyed Tabitha and Tommy's company for a brief visit as well as Hyrum, so they got some candy as well! That night we hosted a youth fireside which Michael gave--he presented a great PowerPoint presentation on standards.

Good times. Happy Valentine's!

A homemade bow and a single stick

I love how I can learn new things each time I read the Book of Mormon. Last week, I was again struck by Nephi's faith in making a new bow after his "fine steel" bow broke (1 Nephi 16). The fact that he made "out of a straight stick, an arrow" as opposed to "many arrows, because they were made of sticks and looked pretty lousy and useless" impressed me. A single arrow? Wow.

But what further impressed me this go-around was reading in chapter 17 about them living upon raw meat and becoming strong and complaining less. Unless Nephi found some ore and made a new steel bow, it's quite possible that he was still using the homemade bow to hunt. Unless Laman and Lemuel somehow fixed the springs on their bows, perhaps they had made their own weapons as well. With such limited resources, the Lord blessed their small, seemingly hopeless efforts and prospered them. As Nephi says in chapter 17 verse 3: "And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness." Maybe the means He provided was that they found game that was really slow with soft hides so that the stick/arrow could penetrate. Maybe the Lord made Nephi's aim truer. The Lord didn't give him a new bow like He gave them the Liahona. He didn't say, "Go back to Jerusalem and get another bow from your old house." The Lord took what Nephi offered and made it enough.

I liken this to my circumstances. My resources in terms of my abilities and talents are limited. The resources for my children are somewhat limited in terms of our location, the strength of the church, schools, etc. My efforts at mothering/homekeeping/wifeing/teaching Sunday School/visiting teaching/exercising/you name it sometimes feel like I'm using a dull straight stick and a homemade bow. Mercifully, with the enabling power of the Atonement, my puny efforts combined with faith in the Savior will make what I offer sufficient. And that gives me hope.

Henry at eight months

Oh Henry! What a happy, fun baby boy you are! He just lights up the room whenever he's around.

He is now army crawling all around and is getting quite speedy. He likes chasing the vacuum when I'm vacuuming the carpet. He will also lean on one side and elbow and look around, which is pretty funny to see. He is getting to be a good eater and will now tolerate the green beans that he used to gag on. He really wants to eat whatever we are and will try to grab whatever we have.

Henry loves his siblings and Clara is very sweet with him. Robbie likes to mess with him sometimes but Henry thinks he is hilarious and laughs at his antics all the time. Henry has a ready smile even for strangers. Just recently he has become quite vocal and can trill his tongue and yell loudly. He doesn't yell because he's crying, just because he likes it and wants attention.

Henry can sleep until around 5am sometimes without a feeding, which is very nice. He still takes two or three (typically three) naps a day, sometimes 45-minuters, sometimes longer (like right now :-)). He's a great car-rider and likes his pacifier, although he'll spit it out if he sees something he's rather snack/suck on.

We just love this guy so much and are so glad he is in our family!