My Little Painters

Every once in a while I'm feeling brave and decide to let the kids paint, which reminds me it's about time to do it again. The results vary but this time we got some good painting in.

The baby missed the paper a bit but he sure looked good.

The pictures are hanging up on our wall and I don't think I'll take them down anytime soon.

Shelf That

So, when we moved into our house we set a goal to update the closets. For a year we lived without much place to put things as my husband dutifully worked away at them when he had time. The past two months he's been making frequent trips to the hardware store to purchase shelving and here's the finnished product. Well, we still have four sets of doors to paint and two still need to be hung. Anyway, I love having the shelving in. So much useful space!

As with most projects there is a downside. The boys love to climb on the closet shelves and when we had the pre-school group here last Tuesday the kids pulled every box of toys out of the shelves and dumped most of them out. They even managed to climb up and get the ones off the upper shelves. Oh well, you can't win them all.

I Don't Believe In The Easter Bunny

I know some people are big on holiday fun and look forward to doing all the fun, silly holday stuff with their kids, I am not one of those. As I try to figure out what I want to accomplish through holiday traditions. I've read several articles and parts of books that discuss the importance of having traditions and all the benefits that come with them. Traditions build good family relationships and on and on. Yes, I believe that it is important to have holiday traditions but I do not beileve in the Easter Bunny.

I struggle the most with finding appropriate tradition at Easter and Christmas. I do really love both of these holidays (I love food and these holidays have great treats that I really enjoy making and eating). The part I struggle with is keeping things in the right perspective. These holidays are really about the Birth and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. As we approach these holidays I feel my attempts to emphasize the importance of the Savior's mission are inadequate, to put it mildly.

My three year old came up to me about a month ago and said, "Jesus died so we can live again." Wow, he sure got it right. As I continue my mission to find meaningful traditions I pray that the Savior can be a more prominant part of my everyday life and that these holidays can be an opportunity to celebrate what I have in my life because of the sacrifices He made for me.

Pre-School Fun

Okay, this wasn't pre-school but we popped popcorn without the lid for Family Night. This was the first, but not the last time we've done this. Last night we were putting the popped kernels back in so the air from the popper would make them fly.

The next two are our caterpillars we painted and decorated at pre-school. These caterpillars are still hangin' around our house as they're too cute to put away.

This is my "big boy pirate." In this picture I asked him to make his hand into a crook (like Captain Hook) and say, "Aargh."
This picture was taken at our pre-school Valentine activity. We made hats out of paper plates and decorated sugar cookies.

Kid-isms

The other day I found a bumble bee dead in the yard. Knowing what and interesting specimen it was I saved it to show the boys. The following conversation ensued: Me-It's a bumble bee. You can touch it. Jacob reaches out still unsure if it's a good idea.

Me-It's dead so it won't move.

Jacob- When is it giong to be done being dead?

Me-It will always be dead.

Jacob-Oh (with a very puzzles look).

A few week ago we had the following conversation:

Me-I'm Daddy's wife.

Jacob-Who's my wife?

Me-Who do you think is your wife?

Jacob-Daddy.

I went on to explain that he doesn't have one but will pick one out when he gets old enough.

Jacob-When I get big will you be my wife?

Jacob has really been a charactor lately. He is always making up songs that somehow end up being bout Jesus and ending with a prayer. I'm amazed at the things he's picking up on, altough he still hasn't figured out how to keep brother from biting him when he's upset.

Daniel loves books. His favorites right now are those that have animals as he's been working on animal sounds. He also love to throw things and we're working on getting him to throw balls and not everything else.

Both of the boys are having a bit of a digression right now as Jacob wants to be carried and Daniel wants to be spoon fed. I can't complain too much as they both still go to bed without complaint which is a huge blessing. He gets more vocal everyday and can say "ba" (ball) "day-doo" (thank you) "eese" (please) "day-tub" (Jacob). He still relys alot putting up a fuss when we guess wrong as to what he wants. He is very snuggly right now and loves to be held and give kisses.

Jacob is excited to be in the primary program this year and we just got the song list to help him learn them. Daniel is excited about nursery or he would be if he knew it was coming. I caught up with Daddy and Daniel in the hall way between Sunday School and Priesthood and Daddy had Daniel running laps out in the hallway to get him settled down before going into Priesthood meeting.

Both the boys love to talk on the phone and the computer to the grandparents and we're looking forward to seeing all of you in a couple months.

Answers to My Questions

Well, to put it mildly it's been a roller coaster lately. I've never liked February this may have initially had something to do with Valentine's Day (or single awareness day as it was known to me at times) but probably has more to do with the terrible cabin fever that infects those who live in places where the snow doesn't melt until far into Spring or places where it rains 9 months out of the year (except last year when it rained for 10 months instead). I hate to admit that I'm having a hard time and have really spent much of my gloomy days in denial that I was grumpy. There are several things I've been pondering alot lately. First was how to bring the Spirit into a class of 12-13 year old Sunday School students who aren't always paying attention. Second, how to I treat my family in a way they deserve with love and kindness and serve them on a daily basis witout complaint. Third, how can I find more peace and joy in my life when there are days I feel like a slave. Fourth, when will my injury stop holding my back from getting things done. In High School I had a seminary teacher who challenged us to prepare for general conference by coming up with a list of questions we would like to find answers to and then listening for those answers during conference. I've done that several times and began forming the above list about a month before conference. I also set a goal to read the November Ensign before the next conference came. I was unprepared to find the answers as quickly as I did. I'm always amazed at reading through these messages that seem to keep everything so simple. I've decided that women in general seem to overcomplicate their lives and the gospel helps us to prioritize and let some things go. So I'm giong to share a few of the things that changed my perspective. Part of my trouble is caused by wasting away my time on useless things. For example I enjoy watching TV which is a great way to relax at the end of the day but there are days I spend 4-5 hours in the afternoon watching. I've struggled with this and many other little things and thought, "why can't I just tell myself no?" "Why is it so hard to do the right thing?" "Will this ever get any easier?" I am happy to say that I did find an answer. "A consistent, righteous life produces an inner power and strength that can be permanently reisistant to the eroding influence of sin and transgression." This was a talk by Elder Richard G. Scott ("The Transforming Power of Faith and Character," Ensign Nov 2010, 43-46.). He talks about the cycle of developing faith and character and how developing one will lead to strengthening the other. Anther thought that got me was, "the central problem (of mortality) is character building-which is not a product of logic, but of faith in ideals and sacrificial devotion to them." Hmmm, I think that will change the attitude with which I face my next hardship. Okay, one more, "Your happiness on earth as well as your eternal salvation require many correct descisions, none of which is difficult to make." I'm always impressed at how a man inspired by God can take my problems and make them seem more managable and help my fight the discouragement of my simple life. I'm so very grateful for the blessing that being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been in my life. I'm starting to understand how it really does affect all facets of my life. One final thought from Elder Scott, "If you have determined to live righteously, don't become discouraged. Life may seem difficult now... You are making better progress than you realize." It is my testimony that I can be righteous. I can make good decisions everyday and as I make those decisions the power of the adversary is deminished. We are fighting a war everyday to overcome Satan and WE ARE WINNING. To my fellow warriors, keep the faith, fight the good fight and remember we're all in this together.