homage to 2015

The new year is upon us.

2015 was quite the year.

Here are the happy highlights:

January: Our little Charlie was born. I can't imagine life without him.

February: We stayed home, sanitized our hands, and snuggled our baby boy.

March/April: California trip to see our amazing friends.

May: Dave and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary! And I turned 31, which was a big deal for me because it was my golden birthday and I had looked forward to it ever since I was a little girl and heard about Golden Birthdays. (It's when you turn the age of your birth date.)

June: Jack had his golden birthday and finished up baseball.

July: We spent the entire month in Idaho.

August: We tried to squeeze in as much summer stuff as we could.

September: An amazing visit from our awesome Vermont family.

October: Amazing trip to Arches National Park. Also, Star Wars Halloween!

November: Hosting my first ever Thanksgiving with my lovely sisters. (Also, I read the last 3 Harry Potter books in 1 week. Don't judge.)

December: Awesome Christmas celebrations.

These are the happy things. Sandwiched in all of that was Dave working like crazy,  the big kids' constant bickering, a lot of raised voices, and  Charlie getting 3 ear infections and learning how to get into everything.  And I went through a grumpy phase. (I think it was caused by, among other things, all the turmoil and angst I saw on social media that somehow seeped into my soul. ) (2015 was messed up on social media, amiright?)

I tried to stay focused on my goal to Reach Out. One thing I incorporated this year was reading that theme in my scripture study as well. It was so enlightening to me. There were times when I was really diligent about serving others and times when I wasn't. I will say this, it saved my sanity this year. The times when I focused on service were the much happier times in my year. I felt good. I felt productive and proactive. I felt like I was making a difference. In the busy-ness of the end of the year it seemed to fall by the wayside and I felt a difference.

And now I look forward. My love for New Year's resolutions is well-documented. It feels like a clean slate and fresh start. And I feel really good about my theme this year. But that will have to be for another day. Because it's midnight and tomorrow is back to the grind.

Here's to a New Year!

christmas

Sometimes I fall into the trap that if I don't take a picture then I can't document it. Because who wants to trudge through my wordiness without the reward of my cute kids' faces.

But I don't take too many pictures lately and Christmas was no different. I took, like, 2 pictures. And you are about to see them.

But it was a fabulous week. First of all, my youngest sister invited me to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert and it was fabulous. It made me happy being there and I was glad her 3 other friends couldn't make it.

Dave had 4 days off and it was lovely.  There were lots of tickle fights and laughs and cuddles and movies and treats and much more. Ana got a kindle, which she was not expecting at all. Jack got a Lego set he's been eyeing for MONTHS. (The Lego City Space port) Katie got new additions to her dress up collection and a bike basket and Charlie got overwhelmed by everything. (And a ball.)

This was the only picture I took of the day. This is Katie with her new blanket from Grandma. She loves it.

Dave got me some paints and Ana and I have been having fun!

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While the holidays are always filled with laughter and fun, I tried to focus our family on the reason we celebrate Christmas, Jesus Christ's birth and life. We read scriptures and stories often to remind us of that reason. There was one night during family prayer when Jack asked that we remember Jesus during Christmas. I felt the Spirit during that moment and was so grateful that perhaps a little bit was sinking in.

It was a happy Christmas.

old emails and happy thoughts

If my email inbox is indicative of my life, then I am a giant mess. I just spent an hour deleting almost 1500 emails. Most of them were old newsletters, coupons, or book/play/planning-group stuff.  I really need a better organization system I guess.


But there were a few worth saving:

Words of encouragement from a sister.

A note of love from a friend (or 2).

A poem I had written in 2003 that my mom found.

An invitation Ana had made a few years ago to invite friends to a church activity.

Photos of my kids people had emailed me.

Through all the mess there was interspersed happy thoughts and memories. (And a few tears too.)

Such is life I guess. We trudge through the mundane and check off to-do lists and sometimes get bogged down by the ordinariness of life. But the extraordinary is in there. It may be hidden or tucked away. And maybe sometimes we throw it out with the rest without realizing. But it is there. If we take time to remember those moments of extraordinary beauty, we can see it. The more we give of ourselves, the more we see it reflected back to us. In our children, our friends, our families, even in ourselves.

So maybe Sacrament Meeting today included kids sprawling on the chairs or crawling up the aisles. And maybe dinner tonight consisted of ramen noodles and scrambled eggs. And maybe a certain kid refused to go to bed because the sheets were too cold and there was NO WAY they would warm up and I had to bribe said kid with a quarter to get into bed with the promise to report back to me in the morning on the sheet temperature. And maybe Charlie won't sleep well tonight and a million other little things. I will keep wading through it all. The joy, the extraordinary, the thing worth saving and remembering, is in here somewhere.

don't worry, be happy

Isn't December a sneaky month. It always seems to show up on my doorstep and yell "surprise." Time seems to inch forward some days, but I blink and the weather is cold and Christmas lights go up. I just want to sit around a read books. Sometimes I think I don't read hardly at all, but I actually sat down and made a list of books I have actually finished  this year and it was more than I expected. The first part of the year it seemed many of the books I read were about race in one way or another. I reread the Harry Potter series. I read books for book club that I really enjoyed and I also read a couple of parenting books. I particularly liked one I read called Simplicity Parenting.  It was while reading this one that I realized something about myself that I didn't notice before.

I worry a lot.

I never really thought of myself as a worry-er. I am generally a go-with-the-flow, up-for-anything type. But as a parent, I worry.

Are they doing good enough in school?
Am I teaching them what they need to?
What is the deal with this bad attitude?
I don't know what I am doing.
If I let them get away with this then they will be spoiled for life.
I need to do ______ better or they will never ______.
If I do that then other parents will judge me.
If they do that then they won't have any friends.
Am I doing all I can so my kids can be extraordinary? so that they can be happy?

My worry defines my parenting.

I don't want it to. It is exhausting and it saps me of joy and happiness. It is driven by fear and doubt and ingratitude. I've always considered myself a person with strong faith, yet my actions and attitudes towards my kids portray a lack of faith - in myself, in them and in God.

But I want JOY to define my parenting. Real deep meaningful joy. And Joy only comes when we allow ourselves to fully commit to the moment we are in. I forget sometimes that the way to teach my children to have faith is by having faith IN THIS MOMENT that God will guide me each step of the way and that he can guide them too.  The way to teach them happiness and kindness is by being happy and kind even IN THE MOMENT when they are acting in unloving ways.

I've had some interesting experiences with Gratitude lately and I feel like that is the key to unlocking the Joy now.  And I don't mean gratitude in a "count your blessings" way, but gratitude in the moment. What does this moment show me about God's love?

I hear a Charlie waking up from his nap and Jack and Katie playing the Mario Brothers. Ana is at a friend's house. It isn't a perfect moment. Jack is annoyed that Katie keeps dying. Charlie is sick and hasn't slept much the last few days. But I can choose to see God's love in it.

Time to step into the moment, worry free.

thoughts on parenting and God

*Both of my kids have nightly homework. My 4th grader, who has to work a little bit harder to understand certain concepts and to read fluently, is required to sit and finish her homework. Then I go over it for mistakes and she redoes the problem until she gets it right. I often will read the instructions to her out loud because it helps her understand what is being asked. I also have her read aloud to me several times per week. This isn't because she has made bad choices and I am punishing her (though sometimes she views it as such). It is simply because her circumstances require it. My 2nd grader, on the other hand, is different. The academic portion of school comes very easily for him, but as a little introvert that he is, I recognize the need for him to have more down time. I set the timer for 20 minutes and as long as he is working diligently, he can be done with his homework when it goes off. He reads every night too, but mostly to himself after he goes to bed. It may seem that I am partial to one child. It may seem that I am punishing one child for something that isn't her fault. But as the parent, I have a deeper understanding of the needs of my children, and I require different things because of it. That being said, the standard is the same: they must learn reading, writing and arithmetic. That won't change, even if my homework policy seems inconsistent.

*Charlie, after being a fabulous sleeper from day 1 and sleeping through the night for the first 6 months of his life, starting waking up 2-3 times a night and I had to nurse him back to sleep. So, we are having him cry-it-out at bedtime. Every few minutes we go in and check on him and comfort him. The first night it was torture. The 2nd was slightly better. But by last night (night #4) he fell asleep after only 15 minutes and slept all night long. Despite having 4 kids, this was a new experience for me. I let Ana cry in the night once and after that she slept all night. When I tried it with Jack he would scream so hard he threw up and I couldn't do it anymore. Katie was such a snuggly nurser that I got a lot of joy and satisfaction of nursing her to sleep and I brought her to my bed if she woke up in the night. It wasn't a big deal. Our particular circumstances allowed for that, so it worked. But with 4 kids and Dave gone a lot at bedtime, I simply can't spend 40 minutes nursing Charlie to sleep and anyway a lot of times he doesn't fall asleep nursing. Of course, I love all of my children the same. I don't love Katie more because I rocked her to sleep or love Charlie less because I don't. Different circumstances call for different actions. I love all my children.

*My kids love to watch this one channel on TV that has some ridiculous "as seen on TV" commercials. It is a kids' station, so all of the things are geared towards kids. They are always asking for the stuff. In fact, I think 95% of my interactions with my kids is them asking me to buy them junk. Of course, I don't just give in. They are harmless things, perhaps, but certainly giving them everything they want when they want it isn't the best way to raise them. Sometimes I will give them a treat at the store or let them earn a toy from the dollar store. But I certainly don't let them eat candy for breakfast or spend all day watching TV or let them hit each other, even if they say I'm mean and unfair and I must not love them.

*Being a parent has taught me so much about the way God works in our lives. He is, after all, our Heavenly Father. He is a father, first and foremost. He knows us. He knows our needs, as individuals and collectively. I don't pretend to be a perfect parent. I don't always act in the most Godlike ways and many times I question my own methods. But I do love my children in a way that is perhaps a shadow of the way God loves us. We don't always understand his methods. We may think his standards are too high. We may not think it is fair that we have to work so hard when others seem to have it easy. We probably cry in our beds and wonder where he is, when what he is doing is teaching us an essential lesson that will help us eternally. Are 95% of my interactions with God asking for things? Maybe even things that the world has packaged to look enticing or harmless or fun or even good, but that are not eternally good for us.

*These 3 scriptures have come to my mind a lot lately:

*Ephesians 4 :14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

*1 Nephi 11: 17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.

*Proverbs 3:  5 ¶Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

i love candy

I have a love-hate relationship with Halloween. I love dressing up. I love making my kids costumes. And I love, love candy. But I don't really love scary things. And I don't love having candy in the house. Well, I do, but I know I shouldn't eat Butterfingers for breakfast and that's what I end up doing. 

My favorite part is making the costumes. I honestly get a lot of creative satisfaction out of it. Late September, Ana came home declaring that she wanted to be Darth Vader for Halloween. Up until this point, Jack had wanted to be Mario, but we convinced him to instead be Luke Skywalker and all we had to do was tell Katie she was a princess and she was sold.

A few weeks ago we watched Star Wars: the original trilogy with the kids. They loved it! The entire movie, every time Princess Leia came on Katie said "There I am." Or whenever a storm trooper got shot she said, "You died, Mom." It was kind of hilarious.

Truthfully, Charlie wasn't thrilled about wearing a hat. Usually he pulled it off right away. But if I gave me a cracker or something right after I put it on, he sometimes forgot about it long enough to take a picture.

He also got to eat a sucker for the first time and this made him happy. (Remember how Ana didn't have a sucker until she was 18 months old and I didn't let anyone give her candy? I guess that's the difference between your first and your 4th kid.)

Star Wars was a popular theme at the elementary school parade this year. Jack's friend in his class was also Princess Leia.

Dave and I decided to join in the costumes too. Ana really wanted someone else on that dark side, so I went with a storm trooper and  Dave went as Obi-Wan Kenobi

I spent most of the day on Halloween finishing up costumes. Jack wanted to carve pumpkins. He finally got impatient enough that he did his all on his own. Then when Dave got home he helped the girls with theirs. And then I couldn't find our tea lights so I used birthday candles and they smelled funny. But, hey, at least we carved pumpkins. And I sort of love that Jack did his by himself. He traced his pattern, cut off the top, scooped out the guts and everything.

The kids made out like bandits. We have so much candy in our house. Seriously, its ridiculous. Ana keeps asking me if I will buy all hers for $50 so she can buy a Kindle. (Um... no.) She did save her Reese's Pieces and Almond Joys for me and her Reese's PB cups and other good stuff for Dave. Gotta love that generosity.

So another Halloween is in the books. Next year Jack says he will be Mario for sure and he wants Charlie to be Luigi. We'll see if he stays with it.

arches

Our computer has been broken. We have Dave's laptop, but I don't really love using it, so I only go on it when absolutely necessary. But Dave fixed the Mac for only 20 bucks and a couple hours of time so hooray for not having to get a new one! And it means I can get back to writing.

It has been a long few months. Dave had an easy rotation in July, which allowed us to be in Idaho for almost 4 whole weeks. But since we got back it has been one long week after another. 70-80 hour work weeks really wear on you. And the wife at home for that matter.

But last week was his vacation week and it happened to coincide with the kids having a 5 day weekend from school. So we took a trip down to Arches National Park. We have been wanting to go since we moved to Utah and it did not disappoint.

This picture was actually taken on our way out of the park. But its one of the few that has us all in it.

We camped in the park, but we got their after dark, so we had no idea what was surrounding us. We were not disappointed.

Our campsite at sunrise

We started off up at Devil's garden, where we hike for about 3 hours and saw and played around several arches. Ana was our photographer for our big camera.

Landscape arch

On the trail

The trail got a little steep but our kids rocked it and I was only terrified a couple of times.

Our kids' favorite part of the entire park was the sand. Oh the sand. It was awesome and annoying at the same time.

After Devil's garden we went back to our camp and ate lunch. Then we headed up to the Delicate Arch. The kids (Jack especially) couldn't wait to see "the" Arch. It's a 3-mile (round trip) hike up the side of a mountain. A lot of open slick rock. I was a little unsure of how the hike would go. There are viewpoints where you can see it, but we decided to try the hike.  I wouldn't exactly call it a kid-friendly hike. There were other kids, but not as young as Katie. There are steep drop-offs along the trail, particularly at the end. The arch itself is on the rim of a steep bowl. I was shaking I was so nervous. Not for myself, but for the kids. I was sure Jack would just start playing around and slide right down the mountain.

But man, was the arch stunning. I have seen hundreds of pictures of it, but I didn't realize how big and majestic it is.  It was amazing. It was definitely worth the terror.

See how tiny Dave and the kids are?

Are we taking a selfie under the arch, Dad?

I think of all the beautiful vistas and magnificent things we saw, my favorite thing about this day was watching the kids. They didn't complain. They didn't stop. They just kept going. We hiked a total of 6 miles that day and they walked it all. Katie, too. She didn't get carried for a minute (she did ask a few times near the end.) They played "freeze-unfreeze" down the mountain. Katie sang "the farmer in the dell" for a while.  Ana did about 89,784 handstands (give or take). Jack laid in the sand every opportunity he could. They all took turns carrying the water. We ate a ridiculous amount of dum-dums (which is how we get our kids to hike). And they did it! It was awesome to watch. Katie kept right up with the big kids the whole time. I was so proud of them. And they all slept soundly that night. Dave and I got to sit up by the campfire and look at the amazing stars.

Katie was the "freeze" captain. She always tried to freeze while Ana was in the air.

The next day we left the park, but not before exploring some more arches with much shorter and easier walks to them.

Sand Dune arch was one of our favorites. Tucked away between high vertical walls, and tons and tons of sand.

 

We went into Moab for lunch, and then went to Canyonlands National Park for the afternoon. (By the way, did you know 4th graders get into National Parks for free? Thanks, Ana!)

By this point, Charlie was kind of done. He was done not being able to get down and crawl around. He was done having irregular naps and meals. Canyonlands was amazing, though. it was perfect to go for just a couple hours.

Mesa Arch in Canyonlands

So. many. handstands.

 

And I think to myself: What a wonderful world.