Friday, November 26, 2010
{this moment}
(this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor, and remember. -- inspired by Jill and SouleMama
Thursday, November 25, 2010
A Turkey for Me, A Turkey for You
If you are reading this it means that you are someone wonderful in my life.
I am a better mother because of your examples.
I am a more thoughtful friend because of your service to me.
I create more because of your ideas.
My testimony is stronger because you have shared a piece of yours with me.
I laugh more, I smile more, I love more because of you.
Thanks to each one of you for enriching my life. A popular song, although a bit cliche, says it so well:
I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn and we are led to those
Who help us most to grow if we let them
And we help them in return
Now I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today because I knew
you...
So much of me is what I have learned from you
You'll be with me, like a handprint on my heart
Now whatever way our stories may end
I know you have rewritten mine by being my friend.
This Thanksgiving I am grateful for each and every handprint that has been left on my heart.
May each of you be equally blessed this holiday season.
I am a better mother because of your examples.
I am a more thoughtful friend because of your service to me.
I create more because of your ideas.
My testimony is stronger because you have shared a piece of yours with me.
I laugh more, I smile more, I love more because of you.
Thanks to each one of you for enriching my life. A popular song, although a bit cliche, says it so well:
I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn and we are led to those
Who help us most to grow if we let them
And we help them in return
Now I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today because I knew
you...
So much of me is what I have learned from you
You'll be with me, like a handprint on my heart
Now whatever way our stories may end
I know you have rewritten mine by being my friend.
This Thanksgiving I am grateful for each and every handprint that has been left on my heart.
May each of you be equally blessed this holiday season.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Got My Hairs Did
I had an appointment with the hair stylist today. It has been almost two years since I have put any color in my hair and I was ready for a change.
By way of inspiration, I found one of those virtual hairstyle sites and played around with it.
By way of inspiration, I found one of those virtual hairstyle sites and played around with it.
BEFORE
 |
| Forgive the hand, I was holding my overgrown bangs back. And the make-up less face? Well, God gave that to me, I make no apologies for that. |
 |
| Just think, I would only have to apply make-up on one eye. A time saver! |
 |
| After looking at them several times, William made a solid decision that this was his favorite. |
 |
| Perhaps I could have sold Brandon on this one if the color was different? |
 |
| Toupe? |
Alas, nothing quite spoke to me like I wanted it to. I decided to go in with these stipulations, 1)I want "swoopy" bangs and 2)I want it short enough that it doesn't flip out on my shoulders. By way of color, I wanted red or copper highlights.
AFTER
 |
success
{this moment}
this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor, and remember.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Words of Wisdom
The past few weeks I have tried to turn on a conference talk (I love DVR!) in the grumpy early morning hours when I am wishing I bore children that knew how to sleep past 6:30am. Conference talks are so much better than the news, let me tell you and we won't even begin to compare them to PBS/Disney.
I have been blessed each time as the words of the apostles and general authorities have answered specific concerns that were swirling in my mind that day.
On a morning when I was sweeping the floor for the hundred-thousandth time that week and wishing the chore away I heard from Elder Christofferson,
"By work we sustain and enrich life. It enables us to survive the disappointments and tragedies of the mortal experience. Hard-earned achievement brings a sense of self-worth. Work builds and refines character, creates beauty, and is the instrument of our service to one another and to God. A consecrated life is filled with work, sometimes repetitive, sometimes menial, sometimes unappreciated but always work that improves, orders, sustains, lifts, ministers, aspires."
Another morning, after a particularly hard night with Anne, I was exhausted and worn down. I was overwhelmed as I wondered what I might do to help her to sleep better and in the meantime manage to maintain my energy for my other two children. Walking through my house reminded me of all the tasks that were being neglected and the many events of the upcoming week were weighing down on me. President Uchtdorf's words comforted me as he said,
"Brothers and sisters, indeed we have great reason to rejoice. If life and its rushed pace and many stresses have made it difficult for you to feel like rejoicing, then perhaps now is a good time to refocus on what matters most.
Strength comes not from frantic activity but from being settled on a firm foundation of truth and light. It comes from placing our attention and efforts on the basics of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. It comes from paying attention to the divine things that matter most.
Let us simplify our lives a little. Let us make the changes necessary to refocus our lives on the sublime beauty of the simple, humble path of Christian discipleship—the path that leads always toward a life of meaning, gladness, and peace. For this I pray, as I leave you my blessing, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen."
And yet again, the other night after having a conversation with two friends about the dangers of the world and its affect on our children, my constant concern of how best to arm my children against all that will inevitably come their way was answered through Elder Ballard's reassuring words.
"When we follow the prophets’ counsel to hold family home evening, family prayer, and family scripture study, our homes become an incubator for our children’s spiritual growth. There we teach them the gospel, bear our testimonies, express our love, and listen as they share their feelings and experiences. By our righteous choices and actions, we liberate them from darkness by increasing their ability to walk in the light."
The Lord speaks through his apostles and prophets, of that I have no doubt. That my daily prayers could be answered through their words strengthens my faith and my testimony hundred fold. I constantly pray that I may always embrace their guidance and counsel.
I have been blessed each time as the words of the apostles and general authorities have answered specific concerns that were swirling in my mind that day.
On a morning when I was sweeping the floor for the hundred-thousandth time that week and wishing the chore away I heard from Elder Christofferson,
"By work we sustain and enrich life. It enables us to survive the disappointments and tragedies of the mortal experience. Hard-earned achievement brings a sense of self-worth. Work builds and refines character, creates beauty, and is the instrument of our service to one another and to God. A consecrated life is filled with work, sometimes repetitive, sometimes menial, sometimes unappreciated but always work that improves, orders, sustains, lifts, ministers, aspires."
Another morning, after a particularly hard night with Anne, I was exhausted and worn down. I was overwhelmed as I wondered what I might do to help her to sleep better and in the meantime manage to maintain my energy for my other two children. Walking through my house reminded me of all the tasks that were being neglected and the many events of the upcoming week were weighing down on me. President Uchtdorf's words comforted me as he said,
"Brothers and sisters, indeed we have great reason to rejoice. If life and its rushed pace and many stresses have made it difficult for you to feel like rejoicing, then perhaps now is a good time to refocus on what matters most.
Strength comes not from frantic activity but from being settled on a firm foundation of truth and light. It comes from placing our attention and efforts on the basics of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. It comes from paying attention to the divine things that matter most.
Let us simplify our lives a little. Let us make the changes necessary to refocus our lives on the sublime beauty of the simple, humble path of Christian discipleship—the path that leads always toward a life of meaning, gladness, and peace. For this I pray, as I leave you my blessing, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen."
And yet again, the other night after having a conversation with two friends about the dangers of the world and its affect on our children, my constant concern of how best to arm my children against all that will inevitably come their way was answered through Elder Ballard's reassuring words.
"When we follow the prophets’ counsel to hold family home evening, family prayer, and family scripture study, our homes become an incubator for our children’s spiritual growth. There we teach them the gospel, bear our testimonies, express our love, and listen as they share their feelings and experiences. By our righteous choices and actions, we liberate them from darkness by increasing their ability to walk in the light."
The Lord speaks through his apostles and prophets, of that I have no doubt. That my daily prayers could be answered through their words strengthens my faith and my testimony hundred fold. I constantly pray that I may always embrace their guidance and counsel.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Our Anne: Four Months
I've said it before, Anne is a very particular baby. If conditions are perfect she is adorably happy. Heaven forbid conditions aren't perfect, though. This girl has a serious set of lungs.
But I'd take a thousand piercing cries if it means I get to look at this darling smile every day.My favorite is when the smile takes over her entire face and it turns into a wide open mouth. Seriously, it melts me on a daily basis.
I'm so glad we've made it to four months. I admit that I am anxious to get the first 6 months over with, but certainly savoring the precious moments.
Our family is even more complete with you in it, Anne-girl!
We love you!
Monday, November 15, 2010
I'm Hooked
When I was in college I was taught how to crochet a beanie. I finished a 1 inch band of it, was displeased with the results so I unraveled the yarn and said, "Crocheting is not for me."
I changed my mind this week when I saw this post from luvinthemommyhood. "There are way to many cute projects for me to ignore crocheting a moment longer", I decided. So I pulled up the headband with a bow pattern, took a look at it and realized I don't speak/read crochet-ese. Not one bit.
Next stop, youtube. A little piece of advice, if you want to learn to crochet, youtube is your best friend. Or a best friend that knows how to crochet. Either one works. Anyway, youtube led me to this blog post http://momof5daughters.blogspot.com/2010/07/crocheting-again.html. I found it Sunday evening and couldn't wait to give it a try so I called my ever-reliable friend to round up some crocheting hooks (which I called needles that night, silly ignorant me) and a couple hours later had two new headbands for my girls.
And now I am completely hooked. Pun intended. I have a queue of patterns I want to try and a list of Christmas gifts to make. I promised myself I wouldn't sew much this Christmas, but should have known better than to think I could completely ignore my crafting itch that comes with the holiday season.
Note: In my experimenting I have found that the pattern for headband with a bow gets a bit lost in translation. I have tried three of her patterns and not a single one has given the expected results. Her ideas are wonderful, though, and if you know how to adjust accordingly a bit than she is a good resource.
I changed my mind this week when I saw this post from luvinthemommyhood. "There are way to many cute projects for me to ignore crocheting a moment longer", I decided. So I pulled up the headband with a bow pattern, took a look at it and realized I don't speak/read crochet-ese. Not one bit.
Next stop, youtube. A little piece of advice, if you want to learn to crochet, youtube is your best friend. Or a best friend that knows how to crochet. Either one works. Anyway, youtube led me to this blog post http://momof5daughters.blogspot.com/2010/07/crocheting-again.html. I found it Sunday evening and couldn't wait to give it a try so I called my ever-reliable friend to round up some crocheting hooks (which I called needles that night, silly ignorant me) and a couple hours later had two new headbands for my girls.
Note: In my experimenting I have found that the pattern for headband with a bow gets a bit lost in translation. I have tried three of her patterns and not a single one has given the expected results. Her ideas are wonderful, though, and if you know how to adjust accordingly a bit than she is a good resource.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Huh.
It's been a crazy two weeks. Fevers, throw up, diarrhea, hosting Joy School, bad sleep, time change, piano lessons, meetings, ward choir, crafts, crocheting ... C.R.A.Z.Y.
My mind is in a million places and doesn't know where to land. For now, here are three of the million topics that continually circle around my brain.
WEIGHT LOSS
The upside of a crazy couple of weeks is that apparently I forget to eat. I lost 3.8 pounds in the past 11 days. To put that in perspective, I lost 3.4 pounds throughout the entire month of October. One would think I would be celebrating (15 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight!), but now I'm worried that my sudden rapid weight loss is the reason for an ornerier than normal baby. Everything I read says that even in times of famine a woman's body can produce the milk needed to keep a baby healthy and strong. Nobody ever guarantees that the baby will continue to be happy. Figures.
SICKNESSES
William had a little famine of his own last week, in the form of a stomach bug. The poor kid has such a weak stomach. A 24-hour bug for most usually sticks around for about a week in his little system. We discovered that the hard way when he puked in the middle of the night more than a day after we thought he was recovered (he also continued to have the big 'D' for the rest of the week). What a moment that was. One o'clock in the morning I heard the mommy-I-just-threw-up cry coming from William. I hurdled out of bed and ran to his room. I could hear the stuff dripping like rain from his loft bed. Once my eyes focused in the dark I realized it was dripping right onto Marie, whose bed is underneath his. For the next hour Brandon and I cleaned up vomit covered sheets, beds, clothes, walls, and children. We couldn't help but just laugh. There are moments in life that one never forgets, that for sure makes the top ten for us. Actually, it's kind of scary that we could probably make a list of top ten moments, all of which involve both puke and William.
FOOD
William can't really afford to lose much weight, skinny boy that he is, so we love that he is making up for his last weeks lost calories this week. An hour doesn't go by when he doesn't ask me for something to eat. I will never get tired of watching this boy eat.
Tonight was especially wonderful because he ate salad. Yes people, salad. It wasn't anything fancy, just classic iceberg lettuce drenched in ranch. Brandon and I talked him into trying it by encouraging him to pretend to be a giraffe. After eating one serving he then proceeded to ask for more, and ate that serving before he even touched his pizza. Pizza is William's favorite food. He repeatedly asks me to serve it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And tonight a salad took precedence.
Miracles do happen.
My mind is in a million places and doesn't know where to land. For now, here are three of the million topics that continually circle around my brain.
WEIGHT LOSS
The upside of a crazy couple of weeks is that apparently I forget to eat. I lost 3.8 pounds in the past 11 days. To put that in perspective, I lost 3.4 pounds throughout the entire month of October. One would think I would be celebrating (15 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight!), but now I'm worried that my sudden rapid weight loss is the reason for an ornerier than normal baby. Everything I read says that even in times of famine a woman's body can produce the milk needed to keep a baby healthy and strong. Nobody ever guarantees that the baby will continue to be happy. Figures.
SICKNESSES
William had a little famine of his own last week, in the form of a stomach bug. The poor kid has such a weak stomach. A 24-hour bug for most usually sticks around for about a week in his little system. We discovered that the hard way when he puked in the middle of the night more than a day after we thought he was recovered (he also continued to have the big 'D' for the rest of the week). What a moment that was. One o'clock in the morning I heard the mommy-I-just-threw-up cry coming from William. I hurdled out of bed and ran to his room. I could hear the stuff dripping like rain from his loft bed. Once my eyes focused in the dark I realized it was dripping right onto Marie, whose bed is underneath his. For the next hour Brandon and I cleaned up vomit covered sheets, beds, clothes, walls, and children. We couldn't help but just laugh. There are moments in life that one never forgets, that for sure makes the top ten for us. Actually, it's kind of scary that we could probably make a list of top ten moments, all of which involve both puke and William.
FOOD
William can't really afford to lose much weight, skinny boy that he is, so we love that he is making up for his last weeks lost calories this week. An hour doesn't go by when he doesn't ask me for something to eat. I will never get tired of watching this boy eat.
Tonight was especially wonderful because he ate salad. Yes people, salad. It wasn't anything fancy, just classic iceberg lettuce drenched in ranch. Brandon and I talked him into trying it by encouraging him to pretend to be a giraffe. After eating one serving he then proceeded to ask for more, and ate that serving before he even touched his pizza. Pizza is William's favorite food. He repeatedly asks me to serve it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And tonight a salad took precedence.
Miracles do happen.
Friday, November 12, 2010
{this moment}
{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor, and remember.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Dinner Tonight
Roasted Pear-Butternut Squash Soup
- one large leek
+ one small yellow onion
- two tomatoes
+ one can of drained diced tomatoes
- one blender
+ one food processor
- stilton cheese
+ grilled cheese sandwiches
-----------------------------------------------------
infinitely delicious
Good thing, too. If one more thing went badly today I think I might have just up ran home to my mommy.
- one large leek
+ one small yellow onion
- two tomatoes
+ one can of drained diced tomatoes
- one blender
+ one food processor
- stilton cheese
+ grilled cheese sandwiches
-----------------------------------------------------
infinitely delicious
Good thing, too. If one more thing went badly today I think I might have just up ran home to my mommy.
{this moment}
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Speaking of Pumpkins
Our jack-o-lantern pumpkins this year came from Wal Mart. Hey, you win some, you lose some, right?
The kids thought that "the Buds"(aka Brandon and William) should make a scary pumpking and "the BFFs" (aka Marie and me) needed to make a cute pumpkin.
Sure why not.
Holidays are so much more magical with kids around, don't you think?
The kids thought that "the Buds"(aka Brandon and William) should make a scary pumpking and "the BFFs" (aka Marie and me) needed to make a cute pumpkin.
Holidays are so much more magical with kids around, don't you think?
From Field to Family
Have you heard of Jamie Oliver and Food Revolution? In a trailer for the show he asks a class of first graders to identify fruits and vegetables and they can't. Even a potato is foreign to them. His vision is to get America eating healthy and we can't eat healthy unless we are eating our fruits and veggies and know where the come from.
Enter the importance of pumpkin patch visits! Never mind that it is a fall tradition and it is just super fun, it is also essential to our kids healthy eating habits. How about that?!
Anyway, waaaaayyyy back in September William's Joy School group took a trip to Black Island Farms. William and Marie both got to pick out a sugar pumpkin to bring home. After the pumpkins did their duty of decorating our porch for the month of October I decided that Halloween night was their time to really shine.
Using this recipe (minus the mushrooms) from Taste of Home, we had a fantastic dinner-in-a-pumpkin. Brandon and I loved it. William tolerated it. Marie was a fan, but didn't want to be because she thinks she needs to be just like her big brother.
And when all was said and done, I was feeling good that I made something savory and healthy out of that pumpkin, instead of succumbing to my pumpkin pie craving.
Anyway, waaaaayyyy back in September William's Joy School group took a trip to Black Island Farms. William and Marie both got to pick out a sugar pumpkin to bring home. After the pumpkins did their duty of decorating our porch for the month of October I decided that Halloween night was their time to really shine.
Using this recipe (minus the mushrooms) from Taste of Home, we had a fantastic dinner-in-a-pumpkin. Brandon and I loved it. William tolerated it. Marie was a fan, but didn't want to be because she thinks she needs to be just like her big brother.
And when all was said and done, I was feeling good that I made something savory and healthy out of that pumpkin, instead of succumbing to my pumpkin pie craving.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Marie-esque
6:03 pm
Marie: Mommy, I'm tired.
Mommy: I know, Honey. Just finish your dinner and we can get ready for bed.
6:05 pm
This was a couple of Sundays ago. The kids don't get naps on Sundays because church is 1-4. Apparently, not even her favorite dinner could keep her eyes open, or so we thought. After failed attempts to rouse her I decided just to take her up to bed. The instant I laid her down her eyes popped open and she said, "Mommy! I need to finish my sandwich!" Silly girl.
Marie: Mommy, I'm tired.
Mommy: I know, Honey. Just finish your dinner and we can get ready for bed.
6:05 pm
This was a couple of Sundays ago. The kids don't get naps on Sundays because church is 1-4. Apparently, not even her favorite dinner could keep her eyes open, or so we thought. After failed attempts to rouse her I decided just to take her up to bed. The instant I laid her down her eyes popped open and she said, "Mommy! I need to finish my sandwich!" Silly girl.
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