Cleaning and Scrubbing Can Wait 'Til Tomorrow

The other night I was showing my kids pictures from my childhood Christmases.  Something about this photo caught my eye:

As sweet as it was to see my grandpa building Legos with my oldest brother, what caught my eye was the hanging on the wall.  My mom had this on display in our home for many years.  I think I have the words memorized:

Cleaning and scrubbing can wait 'til tomorrow
For babies grow up we've learned to our sorrow
So quiet down cobwebs and dust go to sleep
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

This has been a good reminder for me this Christmas season when it seems the to do lists are endless.  So if you are coming to visit us in the next few weeks, I will promise clean sheets on your bed and a roll of toilet paper in the bathroom, but don't be disappointed if you find dust on the shelves and dirty floors.

Water

I am grateful for WATER!! I don't know why Sarah and I have our grateful moments in the shower, but as I was showering I couldn't help but be grateful for water.  It blesses my life throughout each and every day.  There is something so calm and peaceful about water.  And who doesn't love a hot shower.  I love rain, again it is peaceful and cleansing.  Some of my most favorite memories have been watching my kids play in the rain.  There is nothing like hearing kids giggle, dance and splash in the rain.

(I know I am wasting water having the sprinklers running while its raining, I promise I did turn them off after I took this picture).  

I also love the beauty of lakes and rivers. How beautiful are Gods creations!  

(included is the creation of that sweet little boy)

I love the recreation that water provides. I have great memories of growing up playing in pools and lakes with my parents and siblings.  These are also some of my kids favorite times.

As it starts to snow sometimes we are inclined to complain.  It is not fun to drive in, I get that, but it is so pretty.  I also am grateful for the water the snow provides.  I love being able to water my lawn in the summer and have it nice and green. Hopefully you wont hear me complain once this winter about the snow because I really am grateful for water and all the blessings it brings into my life.  

More Gratitude!

After reading Sarah’s blog post I decided to accept her invitation to blog about what I am grateful for. So many different things came to my mind and I didn't know where to start. Should I be humorous, or do a more obvious but serious one? I decided that I would state the obvious! I am grateful for my wonderful parents! They are my greatest advocates, my teachers, my examples, my rock, and some of my best friends. I am so grateful for the things they have taught me in my life. My mother taught me how to serve others, she was always doing something for someone and I hope that I can continue on like her! My father thought me how to work hard! There were many mornings when my dad would wake us up around 6:30 to go out in the yard and work, I might have complained way too much but I hope that I have learned the lesson of hard work that he tried to teach me, otherwise there were a lot of early mornings wasted. Lastly they both have taught me the gospel of Jesus Christ!  I am so grateful for this most of all. Because of this I have been able to gain my own testimony. I am also grateful for their example of serving a mission. I don’t know where I would be without my parents. I only listed a few of the things they have taught me. The list goes on and on, as I am sure all of my siblings would agree!

Gratitude

This morning I was in a bad mood, the kind where life seems hard, and you don't know how you're going to deal with the pressures, and stresses of the day ahead of you.  I just wanted to climb back in bed and ignore the sink full of dirty dishes, the 10 loads of laundry waiting to be washed, the appointments and commitments I had made.  As I was in the shower mentally thinking of all I needed to do and not wanting to do any of it I thought of this quote I had recently seen from Dieter F. Uchtdorf, a leader of our church.

This was a day changer for me.  I started to think of the many things I had to be grateful for.  By the time I got out of the shower, I was feeling "true joy and great happiness".  Life didn't seem as overwhelming, in fact I realized how easy my life really is.  During this month of November, the month we celebrate Thanksgiving, I'm going to consciously look for things to be grateful for.  I'm hoping all of my siblings (I consider my in-laws siblings too) will join me and post something on this blog that they're grateful for this month.  Some might be obvious, humorous, lengthy, short or take a little more thought and be quite profound.  

I'm going to start with an obvious one:

I am grateful for these three, who fill my sink with dirty dishes, throw their muddy, grass stained clothes on my laundry piles, fill my calendar with appointments and commitments, and who fill my home with laughter, and happiness.  Life is wonderful, especially when we take the time to stop and recognize all that we have been blessed with.

Happy Birthday, Anna!

I longed for a little sister and was so excited when you joined our family. You have always been so easy going, happy, and fun to be around.  When you were little, I loved doing your hair, getting you dressed up and pretty much having a live doll. 

 As you have grown up, it has been fun to have our relationship change from you just being my little kid sister to you being a true friend.  You are such a good, kind person and I love spending time with you.  I love you Anna Banana!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Look out Richard Simmons

I love this fall weather!! My kids could play outside for hours, they aren't too hot or too cold.  The other day the kids all came home from school and ran to the backyard for a game of soccer.  This actually makes me wonder why we even register for Rec sports, we have a team at home.  At first Sam did not join them, he was holding his favorite spot on the couch.  I said, "come on Sam, lets go get some exercise."

A few minutes later he came running out with his headband and said "I am ready to exercise!"

I haven't even pulled out "sweatin to the oldies" for quite some time so I am trying to figure out how he associated exercise with headbands.  Gotta love kids and the funny things they say and do.

Happy Halloween!

Here are the top three reasons why I love Halloween...

 

1. Costumes. I love dressing up for Halloween. When I was 11 or 12 my mom bought me a cat mask and even though I hate cats, I liked it because it was such an easy costume. So naturally, I was a cat for Halloween that year and the next, and the next, and the next. To make up for my years of lacking creativity I've tried to stop costume repeating.

 

 

2. Trick or Treating. The only day of the year that it's socially acceptable

 to knock on someone's door and demand candy.  Maybe I'm a little to old for that now....

 

 

but I'm not to old to run around the neighborhood in a costume right? A couple years ago we ran a Harry Potter 5k and if all goes as planned we are doing one this year too!

 

Don't worry, we didn't trick or treat. Okay, maybe just at one house.

 

3. My aunt's annual family Halloween party. Every year she sends out invitations and throws the BEST Halloween party. She decorates her entire house, feeds us lunch and there are always lots of games and yummy treats. I hadn't lived close enough to go until the last few years, but it's now one of my favorite traditions.

 

Last year...

 

 

 

 

and this year...

 

 

 

Check out their awesome family costume. The cat in the hat and things 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.

If there had been a costume contest I'm sure they would have won.

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!