Today

I have never really been a resolutions type of person. But for this new year, I have been feeling like I needed something to keep me grounded as a mother - something to work towards. I guess I can't help it. I think it just comes with this time of year. Everyone seems to be reflecting on their life and chosing things to change or improve.

I love to make lists. I especially love when I can cross things off my list and feel like I have accomplished something. But I don't think that making a long list of things that I need to work on will help me. That type of a list sets a person up for disappointment and would only serve to make me feel guilty all year for the things I didn't do or change.

Lots of women out in the blogging world have the tradition of designating one word to be a sort of motto for the year. This idea has got me motivated for 2011. I have been really thinking about how this could help me, and I really like the idea of chosing one thing that I can appy to all areas of my life.

So, I have decided to pick out my own word. I have been racking my brain about what I wanted my word to be. I wanted it to be a sort of theme for my life and something that I can strive to live for throughout the year. I didn't want to be influenced by what other people have chosen for their word. They were good: simplify, focus, contentment, but they didn't fit into what I wanted or needed.

Then I came across a story about a man who had recently started a diet. He was feeling overwhelmed by the task until he realized that all he had to do was eat right that day. He didn't need to worry about tomorrow or next week. If he had the same determination to eat right today, everyday, then eventually he would meet his goal.

This simple story struck me in a profound way. It all clicked and made perfect sense. I had my word. All I need to do is live the best I can today, and take it one day at a time. Why hadn't I thought of that before? I tend to get overwhelmed so easliy, but if I can just remember this motto of "Today," then I know can make it through anything.

In the words of Bill Keane, "Yesterday's the past and tomorrow's the future. Today is a gift - which is why they call it the present."

Christmas Card Conundrum

Receiving Christmas cards is lots of fun. I especially love the ones that include photos. However, if I am being completely honest, sending cards out is not my favorite thing to do. I enjoy being done with it, but I don’t really enjoy the process of doing it. I get caught up in trying to find that perfect picture to use with the card, and trying to decide what else to include in the cards, how many cards to send, when to send them out, and now, wondering if it is too late to send them out and still get there by Christmas! And not that our friends and family are not worth it, but the cost of the cards and postage quickly add up too. I also wonder how many will be returned with a now outdated address.

This year as I contemplated this Christmas card conundrum, I had an epiphany. Since I always seem to be a day late and a dollar short, I would send out a Christmas card, but it would be one that would work double duty for me. I had already ordered baby announcements for Joshua that never got sent in the busy months following his birth, so why not just use those cards and include an updated family photo for everyone to see how much he has already grown and changed.

I am excited that I will only be sending out one set of cards with this idea and yet will be able to cross two more things off of my ever growing to do list. Merry Chistmas and happy birthday!

Winter Wonderland - Arizona Style

I love being an Arizona native. As I read about horrible weather conditions with blizzards and freezing rain, it makes me even happier that I live where I do and get to enjoy some of the greatest weather in the world.

Palm trees wave, are you listening?
In the pool, water's glistening.
A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight,
Living in a Phoenix Wonderland.

Gone away is the blizzard,
Here to stay is the lizard.
A warm sunny day, we like it that way,
Living in a Phoenix Wonderland.

In the desert we will have a picnic,
Cactus, sand, rattlesnakes and sun.
Christmas dinner is an old tradition,
It's pinto beans and tacos by the ton.

Later on, we'll perspire,
As the temperature rises higher.
A warm sunny day, we like it that way,
Living in a Phoenix Wonderland.

In the desert we don't shovel snow, man.
There's no ice to make us slip and slide.
All the houses here are air conditioned,
So we can all get cold when we're inside.

Later on, if we're wishing,
We can golf or go fishing.
A warm sunny day, we like it that way,
Living in a Phoenix Wonderland.

I'm off to enjoy some sunshine!

Goals for this Christmas

Juliette is finally old enough that she really understands about celebrating holidays and having traditions. Unfortunately, a few days ago when I asked her who we celebrate at Christmas, she replied, "Santa Claus!" I thought long and hard about this and decided that obviously we need to do things a little differently around here.

In spite of what every retailer in America would have you believe, for me, the Christmas season doesn't start until the weekend following Thanksgiving. And this year we are starting the traditon of only four gifts: something you want, something you need, something to wear and something to read. We still might do a large family shared gift, but that is to be determined.

With that as my goal, the good news is that I am pretty much ready for Christmas. I have realized that if I really want to enjoy the TRUE MEANING of the Christmas season, I must not be standing in line, buying, listing, stressed, annoyed, snappy, away from my family or dragging my family to some crazy busy store, buying, buying, buying! I tried to use the entire year to plan ahead and avoid the crowds, shop in peace and actually find some good deals without having to get up at 3am to go to Walmart. This December will hopefully bring silent nights with peace and joy.

I really would love to have an old fashioned Christmas since I am not in love with the new-fangled kind. I think back to stories my parents told about Christmas when one gift was enough and the focus was more about spending time together as a family, having a holiday meal and enjoying a crackling fire together. It would be nice to have a time filled with sweet moments and anticipation of things to come and less about holiday parties, black Friday sales, loads of meaningless gifts, fancy trees and a million meaningless traditions instead of a few really good ones.

Sometimes I just need a reminder to bring things back to what life is all about. what it SHOULD be about. I have to make little adjustments so that I don't get caught up in all the craziness that I have allowed into my life - distracting and overwhelming me.

I hope this season to stay centered and focused. It is easy to let myself get caught up in the millions of super cute craft ideas, pages of yummy looking recipes, and beautiful decorating ideas that make me want more. There is NO way I can try everything, have my house look like a magazine and stay focused on how I really want my heart to feel this Christmas.

This year I let Juliette help with the decorating. It isn't organized perfectly, but for us it is perfectly beautiful. I know I won't have many years where she will want to help mom do things. The time will come soon enough when I will be wishing I had some little hands to try and hang all the ornaments on one branch of the tree, instead of having the picture perfect Christmas tree.

I love how she set up all our nativity sceans - everyone grouped close together with Mary and Joseph snuggled up next to baby Jesus.

I am excited to create traditions that my children love, like gingerbread house decorating with daddy. But I also need to remember that if we add too many new traditions every year, we will end up with so many they all lose their importance.

Hopefully my efforts will help us concentrate on the real meaning behind this wonderful holiday. With enough little reminders we should be able to have lots of fun and still sweetly celebrate the birth of our Savior.

Insanity

As a stay at home mom, I have recognized lately that a lot of time is devoted to picking up after other people. I think anyone who has children understands this. We all have so much stuff! And if you are not a super organized, OCD person, things don't like to get put away. Every two weeks I start with a fresh slate after the cleaning lady comes, and I have the best intentions of keeping everything clean and organized. But then somehow life gets in the way, toys get scattered and dishes start to pile up. I often wonder how a large kitchen table can become covered in paper and junk in just one afternoon.

So for the past few months I have been reading magazines and blogs about organizing and decluttering your house and life. I always come away filled with a fervor to simplify my surroundings and get rid of half of the stuff in our house.

What I don't understand is my desire to purge the junk in our house and then continue to buy more junk to replace it!

Today I got a catalog in the mail filled with everthing you never knew you couldn't live without. And this month I am afraid to open up these same magazines that I have been reading that tell me how to organize and manage my surroundings, because of their gift guides and lists of things to get for everyone in your life. I always find about 52 new things I want. Of couse I don't NEED any of them, but I feel like I must get a few of them - it is Christmas after all! And at least half of them are for Juliette who doesn't put anything away without my help!

If I could just remember Einstein's definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Oh well, come December 26, I will be complaining about putting stuff away. But as for today, I'm making a great Christmas list!

Catch Up

I'm not talking about the condiment that you put on a hot dog, but rather how I don't know how I am going to catch up on everything that has been going on while I neglected this blog! I know that sometimes it is just better to cut your losses and move on, but there are too many good things that I need to share.

Am I going crazy? I don't know who exactly I need to share them with since nobody but me reads this wonderfully fantastic blog! Maybe that is a good thing, because then people will never realize just how weird I am and just how often I talk to myself.

Anyway, I hope to catch up on all the good stuff by the end of the month. I know I only have two kiddos, but seriously, sometimes I just can't keep up. But it sure is fun trying to.

Primary Program

This is the Sunday that I look forward to all year. Especially this year, since Juliette is now a Sunbeam and was able to participate and have her own part.

As a mother, I have come to realize that there is nothing in this world that is more precious than my children. I feel a great responsibility to love, and teach and guide these special spirits back to our Father in Heaven. And thankfully I have the church and the wonderful members of my ward to help me do this.

Like this lovely woman. This is Juliette and her fantastic sunbeam teacher Sister Portnova. She truly loves these children, so they can't help but love her back.



I am especially thankful for priamry. It is such a special time for kids to learn and grow. It is where they really start to learn about Jesus, but they also begin to learn about other gospel principles and concepts too. They learn about commandments and covenants and what they must do to return to live with Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.



This is especially true in the children’s music that they learn and sing. And I didn’t realize this until this year when my daughter became a sunbeam in primary. Not many years ago the primary songs were about manners and being kind and giving. In my Primary days, we sang songs like Give, Said the Little Stream —and it is certainly sweet and motivating but not exactly theologically heavy. But that is not the case anymore. Now children are taught songs that teach gospel principles, songs that remind them of the things they should be dong. Today’s children sing wonderful songs that are more spiritually focused. And what a wonderful thing this is. Because as Pres. J Reuben Clark said, “We get nearer to the Lord through music than perhaps through any other thing except prayer.”

This year as the primary children presented their program I was surprised at the beautiful things they taught us through their music. These children learn a hymn from the hymn book each year, and this year it was “Come Follow Me.” They learn songs about knowing that their Savior loves them, about the Holy Ghost as a comforter, and about the plan of Salvation. Elder Boyd K Packer said, “If we will listen, they are teaching the gospel, for the hymns of the Restoration are in fact a course in doctrine.”

I love that my four year old daughter can understand and know about the entire plan of salvation because she learned a song called He sent His Son. I know that these gospel principles she is learning about will stay with her through her entire life. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” I truly believe this. I think that the things we learn in our childhood stay with us. We may not remember specific lessons we were taught in Primary. But I am sure that all of us can remember countless primary songs and the gospel principles they teach. These messages they teach are remembered for years.

I love that Juliette loves to share and sing what she has learned in primary. One of her favorite cd's to listen to is the primary songs. We sing as we work, and play, and travel together. I know that every time we sing the primary songs together it strengthens her understanding and testimony of the gospel.



This year the primary theme is I know my Savior lives. The children have the opportunity to feel and understand the great love that our Savior, Jesus Christ has for them.

One of my favorite primary songs that the children learned this year is I’m trying to Be like Jesus. I can’t help but stop at the primary room door and listen when I hear them singing this wonderful song.

All of the song they sang this year were wonderful. And as I watched the children performing on Sunday, I was truly amazed. It seemed to me that they were not just singing; they were declaring their determination. Jesus Christ was their example. To be like Him was their fixed goal. And their eager looks and their shining eyes convinced me that they have no doubts. They expect to succeed. And they will.



Juliette was amazing. She knew all the words to every song and sang with joy. She didn't hesitate to get up and say her part. She said, "Moses was called by God to lead the people out of Egypt." She also got to sing the Noah verse of Follow the Prophet as a solo with a few other girls in the ward. I am so proud of her.

I hope that she will always remember the simple yet profound principles she learned as a child in primary. The words and melodies of Primary songs may be simple, but the message and the power of each one are clear.