This is me challenge #6

If you could write a letter and send it to yourself when you were younger, what would you say?

I have to admit that this is a hard challenge for me.  I really had to think about my life when I was younger, and what I would have liked to know back then.  I also wrote this with my boys in mind and added a few things in there that I want them to remember as they grow. 

Dear younger me,
There is way more to life than high school.  It is OK to have confidence in yourself.  Don't be too hard on yourself.  You shouldn't assume that everyone else is better than you, prettier than you or more popular than you.  Popularity is not what it is all about anyway.  All you really need are a few good friends who will care about you and inspire and encourage you to live a good life.  Learn to recognize and appreciate your talents and develop them.  Life won't always go the way that you think it should, but if you trust in the Lord, He will guide in the ways that are best for you.  Keep the commandments, pray and read your scriptures.  These are the things that will bring true happiness.  Be happy and enjoy life, don't worry so much about dating, an awesome husband is waiting for you and you will be so happy when you meet him.  Together you will have 4 boys to raise and they will bring you more joy than you could ever imagine.    Each stage of life is a blessing and an opportunity to learn and grow.  Always remember that you are a daughter of God, and He loves you, and He is there for you.  You can always turn to Him for strength and guidance, He will never let you down.  Looking back, I can see His hand in my life and I can see the ways that He has guided me, and continues to guide me today.  You have divine worth, so don't let anybody try to take that away from you. 
Love,
Me @ 39

This is me challenge #5

I have taken a very long hiatus from blogging.  Too long.  I recently sat down with a few of my boys and we went back through my blog and we laughed about so many of the stories and memories that I had recorded.  I realized that this little history that I have created for us really is important, and it is something that I need to make time for.  Life is busy.  There will always be something else that I could be doing, but for now, I hope to take a few minutes each week to record the little things in our lives. 

I decided that I also needed to be better at keeping a record of my life, so that my children can get to know me better.  So here I go.  My first post back will be the ABC's of me from the "This is me challenge" that I started so long ago.

A- Anxiety.  I struggle with this.  I tend to be a worrier.
B-  Brett, my wonderful, awesome husband!
C-  Chocolate.  My favorite treat.  I could eat it every day!
Create.  I love to create and I love to encourage my children to be creative as well.
D-  Don Pericos.  My favorite Mexican food restaurant. Love Mexican food!
E-  Education.  I am currently going back to school to receive my BS in Marriage and Family Studies @ BYU-Idaho.  This is a great blessing in my life, and I truly believe that an education is worth all the effort!
F-  Fall.  My favorite season.
G- Green.  My favorite color, and the color of my eyes.
H- Hugs.  My son Austin gives the best hugs aka Austin hugs.
I-  Ice-cream.  I love mint chocolate chip ice-cream, and it always tastes better in a sugar cone.
J-  Job.  My first job was at Mac's Hobbies and Crafts in Utah. 
K- Kind.  I try to be kind to everyone.
L-  Laugh.  I love to laugh, but I don't like to be tickled.
M- Mother.  Best job ever!
Movies.  I love movies.  One of my favorite activities is family movie night!
N-  Notes.  I love the little notes that my boys write to me, and I keep every one!
O-  Oceans or mountains?  Definitely mountains!
P- Preschool.  I love teaching preschool to my son Ethan.
Q-  Quiet.  I am generally pretty quiet around people I don't know really well.  It takes me some time to warm up.
R-  Road trips.  I love to take road trips with my family. 
S-  Sons.  I have 4 of them.  I am a lucky Mom!
T- Temple. I am thankful for the blessings of the temple and the knowledge that I have that families can be eternal.
Teacher. It's what I want to be when I "grow up".
U-  Utah.  The place where I was born and raised. 
V-  Vegetables.  Don't love them. 
W- Warm.  I love warm blankets in the winter time. 
X-  Example.  I try to pattern my life after the example of my Savior Jesus Christ.
Y-  Yes.  I try to say yes to my children as often as I can.
Z-  Zinnia.  I love flowers.  I used to be a florist before I had children.

Going back to school...

It's official I am attending BYU-Idaho (online degree program) and I have jumped in with both feet. I am very excited to finally be going back to school to get that degree that I started years ago. While my major has changed from Elementary Ed. to Marriage and Family Studies, I feel really good about this decision and I feel like I am on the right path. Anyway, I started a new blog for my religion class that I am taking this semester. I am studying the New Testament Acts to Revelations. If you want to follow along you can find it here:

My Scripture Journal

You can also find it on my sidebar under friends and family links.

This is me #4

When you have a few minutes or a few days, what do you like to do in your “play” time?

This is a fun question even though I don't feel like I have a lot of "play" time these days, but when I do this is how I like to spend it...

1. craft
2. watch movies
3. go out on dates with Brett (hmmm...maybe that should have been #1 on my list.)
4. read
5. find fun crafts to make on the internet
6. go shopping (preferably without 4 boys in tow)
7. do crafts with my kids
8. decorate my home
9. make and eat yummy treats (chocolate!)
10. vacation with my family
11. exercise (almost didn't make the list, depends on the day)

I thought that it would be fun to answer this question in 2 parts.  Part 1 is play time now, and part 2 is playtime when I was a kid

1. Play house or school
2. arts and crafts
3. barbies
4. ride my bike, roller skate
5. gymnastics on the front lawn
6. shopping with mom
7. doodle (I used to draw on everything)
8. watch Saturday morning cartoons; my favorites were Smurfs and Alvin and the Chipmunks
9. vacations...the whole family crammed into the mini van, good times!
10. sleepovers with my friends

This is me #3

This weeks challenge was a fill in the blank.

Whenever I________ , I ___________.

Whenever I sit down to eat my lunch I have to have something to read. I usually read the Ensign. I get excited when a new one comes each month.

Whenever I watch movies, I eat a yummy treat.

Whenever I watch movies (after I've had my treat), I curl up next to Brett and fall asleep. Drives Brett crazy that I can't stay awake.

Whenever I make cookies, I always eat too much cookie dough.

Whenever I feel stressed out, I like to play the piano. The music calms and relaxes me.

Whenever I hear or sing the song "We Thank Thee Oh God For A Prophet", I think about the time that Brett and I heard President Gordon B. Hinckley speak at a conference in Madison Square Garden in New York City. We sang that song at the end and as I sang, an overwhelming feeling came over me and tears came to my eyes as the spirit bore witness to me that he truly was a prophet of God. This was one of those special moments that helped shape my testimony.

Whenever I go to Utah, I love to see the mountains. There is nothing more beautiful than the mountains that surround the Salt Lake Valley. I miss them (and my family too of course).

Whenever I take my kids to target, I have to buy them ICEEs and popcorn.

Whenever I see my kids, I smile.

This is me question 2

Today is my birthday and I do plan to record all the fun that I've had in the past 2 days, but tonight I thought that I should take on question 2 of the "This is me challenge". Question 1 was pretty easy and simple to tackle, but question 2 really gave me something to think about. The question is

What are some choices in your life that affected where you are now?

I have often thought about this question. I know that I have made many decisions that have affected where I am now in my life, but for this challenge, I will list a few major, influential decisions. Let me start by recording a bit of my personal history. Many years ago as a Senior in high school, I had a decision to make about where I wanted to go to college. I always knew that I would go to college because for as long as I can remember, I desired to become a Kindergarten teacher. I had planned to go to Utah State as I knew they had a great program for my major. I had been accepted, an apartment had been reserved, and I had a good friend who was going with me and was also going to be my roommate. This was probably one of my first major decisions. Just as it was coming time to go, my friend came to me and told me that she just didn't feel right about her decision to attend Utah State, so she was backing out. I felt scared at the thought of going alone, but my plan was to go ahead and continue on, but as the time drew near, I too felt that this was not the right path for me. So, I switched gears and decided that I would stay home and begin my college education at Salt Lake Community College until I could decide what to do. That felt right and that's what I did. Shortly after that, I felt like I needed to go to Brigham Young University. This was a strange thought for me. I had never considered BYU before and believe me, my grades in High School were not good enough to get into BYU (they were good, but not straight A's by any means), but at SLCC I took school very seriously and worked hard and did really well there (It's funny how much more important your grades become to you when you are paying for your education.) I fought the feeling that I had to apply to BYU, but eventually I decided that if this was meant to be it would work out and all I really had to do was get my application in. I did what I needed to do and the day that it was due I drove it to Provo and turned it in. A short time later I received an acceptance letter. This decision has affected my life tremendously! After moving to Provo, I felt like I needed to apply for a job as a teller at a local bank. I had been a teller before and had sworn that I was done with that job for reasons that require a blog post of their own, but suffice it to say that my prior job in banking left me the awful memories of being robbed at gunpoint 2 times in 6 months and that, so I thought, was end of my career as a teller. So, when that feeling came, I thought that I had lost my mind. But, the job was in a bank in a grocery store and I felt much safer in that setting. So I applied, got the job and through that decision, I met Brett's cousin who set the stage for Brett and I to meet. Brett and I met, dated, fell in love and look at us now going on 15 years of marriage and raising 4 fabulous boys! The decision that I made to marry Brett truly was the best decision that I have ever made. It was a major decision and has affected my life in a very positive but life changing way. Shortly after we married we began our life together back east in Connecticut. I gave up for a time, the decision to become a Kindergarten teacher as I put my schooling on hold to become a wife and to support my husband in his new career with IBM in New York. Never in my life would I have thought that I would ever leave UT and there I was young and newly married navigating life in what seemed like a foreign country. But it was one of the best times of my life. I met so many wonderful friends, I had a job in a flower shop that I loved and Brett and I were very happy. The decision to become a mother was a no brainer for me. It was something that I always aspired to and during the course of our time in CT, we were blessed with the births of two of our boys. Then another decision moved our family to CA yet another place that I would never have imagined myself living. But here we are and while I've had ups and downs with adjusting to life in CA, it is home and we are happy. And during the course of our time here we have had 2 more children. It truly is amazing how our decisions really affect our lives. One little (or perhaps big) decision to attend BYU was the best decision that I could have ever made. It led me to becoming a wife and a mother and provided many opportunities for growth and joy in my life. One thing that I know for sure is that my Heavenly Father has had a hand in my life. He has guided me and blessed me in more ways than I can count.

This is me

My sister started recording this challenge on her blog and I thought that it looked like fun! What a creative way to record a little bit about myself for my family and friends. So Challenge 1:

If you were forced to go back in time to the olden days, but were allowed to take 10 modern conveniences with you, what would you take?

1. Modern medicine
2. Washing machine
3. Dishwasher
4. Computer with the internet
5. Telephone
6. Air conditioning
7. Kitchen Aid mixer with electricity of course
8. Shower with running hot water
9. Refrigerator
10. Camera

Thoughts...

When you've been gone from the blog for as long as I have been, the question is where do I begin to catch up and do I even try to catch up? Blogging has always been a fun way for me to preserve my family's memories, but I've struggled with finding the time and motivation to do it. I wondered if I should even continue on with the task if it felt like a task. So the question I had to ask myself was should I continue on with the blog and I feel like the answer is yes. My blog is my family journal. It is a place to record the goings on in our lives. It is a place to record the accomplishments of my boys. It is a place to record all the little things that my boys do that I hope to never forget. Time really zips by in the blink of an eye and my boys are growing bigger each day and someday they'll head off on missions and venture out on their own and I hope that before that time comes, that I will have done a good job recording the everyday events in our lives for us to look back on. The boys really enjoy looking back through old posts and laughing at all the cute and funny things they have done. Even as I sit here typing this, Ethan is climbing all over me, pushing the keys on the laptop, giving me snuggles and showing me a sore on his finger that NEEDS a kiss right now in order to feel better. The boys are asking me to come snuggle up with them and watch movie before they have to head off to bed. So yes, while it is difficult to find the time, energy and motivation to continue this blog, I want to. It is worth the effort.

I did it!!!

Not once but twice! I ran a full 5k (3.1 miles) on my treadmill in 32 minutes! I ran my first full 5k on April 22 and I was so proud of myself. Now I know that 3 miles isn't like a marathon or anything, but it kind of felt that way to me. So I decided today to try it again and I ran the full 3.1 miles in 32 minutes! I ran/walked my first 5k in Nov. 2010 with my family in Utah in 0 degree weather (this CA girl is not used to the cold or the altitude anymore). So of course the fun part of the race was running it with my siblings and their spouses, however at the time I had been training for several weeks and I had gotten to the point where I could run 2.5 miles before needing to take a little walk break. And then prior to the race I hurt my knee...bad, so I had to stop running the couple of weeks leading up to the race. Found out that I may have had runners knee and that I wasn't running with the proper shoes. Anyway, my knee was killing me before the race even began, but off we went and at about the 2 mile mark, my knee got worse, but I just kept going, pushing through the pain walking and running at a very slow jog and finally there was the finish line with my family cheering me on! I finished the race and I was so proud of myself for doing it, but at the same time I was a little frustrated that I couldn't run it as well as I had wanted to. Fast forward, now I have the appropriate shoes and I have been running once a week along with exercising 4 times a week for 45 minutes and I am amazed at how much stronger I am. The fact that I ran that 5k the other day just shows me how far I've come and it feels good! Now I need to sign up for another 5k and this time around, I think that it will be a little better experience for me. Now who wants to join me?!!!

Turkey Trot 2010

Melanie week....

comes to an end. Brett asked me if I have the birthday blues (you know kind of like the Christmas blues that come on the day after Christmas). My answer....YES! Now I have to wait a whole year before I get to celebrate me again! (Ok, so I am exaggerating and I sound a little self centered, but I must admit that I LOVE my birthday!) So, how did I celebrate Melanie week? The first half of my week was actually busy, busy! I had three indian costumes to sew and put together for Cameron's upcoming play (pics will soon be coming), then I found out that one of the Indians dropped out, so I really only needed to make 2 (that would have been useful information to have been given on Monday!) Thursday Brett called to wish me happy birthday eve (isn't he the cutest?!) Then the big day arrived and Brett took the day off to hang out with me, doing whatever my little hear desired, which of course was SHOPPING! which would have been fun, but after 10 minutes in Old Navy, and 10 minutes in Kohl's with Ethan my nerves were frazzled! So, to the car we went and then we were trying to decide if we should eat lunch at In-N-Out, or just take it home (remember we had Ethan with us) We decided to attempt lunch there. We ordered, sat down to eat and 5 minutes into lunch, Ethan was done with his Bruger King nuggets and decided to chuck them over the side of the booth at unsuspecting In-N-Out patrons because he was mad that I wouldn't let him down. So we wolfed down our food and went home to pack for our weekend trip to Napa. Yeah! After the boys got home from school, we were off! Napa was great! Brett and I went to my favorite Mexican restaurant there...ALONE! It was great and then we went back to Kohl's to finish the shopping that we had attempted earlier...I got some cute clothes! Then back to Jed and Kathy's where the boys (with some help from Kathy and Jed) had a little surprise party waiting for me! Yummy cake, party hats and crazy glasses...what more could you ask for! More presents (thank you Jed and Kathy)! Day 2 fun breakfast at our favorite pink bakery, fun at the park, the library $5 book sale (as many books as you can stuff into a paper grocery bag for $5), more shopping with Cam and then a second night out, just Brett and I, to see Unkown (2 dates in one weekend?! Crazy! And to top it all off a 30 minute run through beautiful Napa with my father-in-law and his running friends! Aaaah! It was a great birthday weekend! Now I am exhausted and ready for 4 little boys to go to bed so that I can wrap up this weekend vegging out in front of the TV with Brett....Sounds great doesn't it! Happy 36th to me! (I'm getting old)





I will post again in a few days to show you what Brett bought me. We are waiting for it to arrive and I must say that I am pretty excited to get it!

Mom and Dad, I will post a pic of my new purse soon! Thanks to everyone for making me feel special! It was a great birthday!

Happy Valentines (belated)...

The tradition:



The dinner:



The Family night activity:

Since Family Home Evening fell on Valentines Day, we had a lesson on love. I hid hearts all over the family room and the boys had to go on a heart hunt. Then for each heart that they found, they had to list a way that they could show love for others or list a way that the Savior shows love or showed love to those he served throughout his life.

Then, Brett and I played 20 questions with the boys and they had to guess where their Valentines were hidden. They guessed it with only 4 questions left and each boy received a Lego set from Mom and Dad.

The flowers for the girl:
The first bunch you can see in the pictures above, however, they died the next day so they were returned for a new bunch!

Notice Austin's Lego set on display next to my flowers...CuTe!

The GIANT Hershey's kiss for the man:

Brett has often said that he always wanted one of these when he was a kid and never got one, so I couldn't resist!

The Valentine's thief:

I heard a little voice saying mmmmm... and I came around the corner to find Ethan on the floor raiding his brother's Valentine bag of goodies. Doesn't he look happy?!

The Valentines decor that I managed to complete prior to one of my favorite holidays:





Did I mention just how much I LOVE the month of FEBRUARY! Who doesn't love a pink month? Not to mention I kind of feel like it's my month...let the countdown begin to Melanie day (or Melanie week as Brett likes to call it)! I love my birthday!

Seriously?!!!

Now a fat, furry little creature is squatting in our house. Last night I walked into the computer room and turned on the light and the little critter darted under the computer desk, and I ran straight to the car @ 9:30pm to buy mouse traps.... What was I thinking moving across the street from a nature preserve?!!! This morning I think that I heard him rustling around the laundry room, so I don't care if there are no clean clothes to wear, I am not doing laundry until the fuzzy one is gone! Oh, and I am writing this blog post with my legs and feet tucked up under me on the computer chair, because with my luck the fuzzy one would scramble across my feet and bite me or something....he's probably rabid! Just sayin'!

Scared...

the living daylights right out of me......

So, last night was the annual Trunk or Treat out in the church parking lot. We had a great time chatting with friends, eating too much candy, seeing all the kids in their awesome Halloween costumes and then it was time to go home. We got home just as it started sprinkling little rain drops (Thank you rain for holding off for the Trunk or Treat). We ushered the kids upstairs to get ready for bed, then we spent a few minutes playing with the boys until Mom (that's me) got a shiner, yep a little black eye thanks to my sweet little Ethan. My eye met his head while we were bouncing on my bed and then that pretty much ended playtime for me so off to bed they went. After I hugged and kissed and tucked them in, I retired to my room and flopped down on my bed to rest, but oh no, that was not to be, because my kitchen was a disaster and I just couldn't face waking up to that nightmare bright and early in the morning (that thought is scary in and of itself). So, while Brett is finishing up with the tucking kids in bed ritual, I drag myself up off my cozy bed and head down to tackle the mess. First things first, I bag up the over-flowing garbage and tie it up all nice and neat and then I head out into the dark, drizzly night to throw it into the garbage can. I take about 5 steps and out of the dark shadows of my back yard, I see some large animal walking towards me.....I think what is that a cat?! (Yeah, like a cat on all 4 legs comes up to my hips, a tiger maybe) Then it dawns on me that is a BIG, BLACK DOG and I don't own a BIG, BLACK DOG! At that point I screamed a loud, blood curdling scream (like in the movies) and then I turn around with garbage bag in hand and do exactly what you're not supposed to do when you encounter a large animal that can run way faster than you, I run like a crazy lunatic back to the house screaming Brett's name and carrying the garbage bag with me (You'd have thought that I could've dropped the bag, or even thrown it at the BIG, BLACK DOG to distract him), but you'll be happy to know that me and my garbage bag made it back into the house in just the nick of time (must be all my training for my upcoming 5k..but most likely it was pure adrenaline). I slammed that door in the dogs face and screamed for Brett to come and save me. At this point my heart is racing, my body is shaking and my mind is trying to process what the heck just happened and I slowly start to realize that the BIG, BLACK DOG belongs to my neighbors. This BIG, BLACK DOG is always escaping his yard by digging holes under the fence, then chewing his way out and that is how he must have gotten into MY yard. Now the crazy mutt is scratching at our new back door and trying to get into our house, so Brett goes out to return him to his home and I leave the garbage bag by the back door where it will remain until morning and head upstairs to calm down my crying child who is now too scared to go to sleep because he heard my crazy yelling fit from downstairs . (Yep, I scared him...AGAIN!) After all was said and done, I was too traumatized to clean the kitchen, so I plopped down on the couch and watched T.V. until bed time. And you know what, the kitchen waited for me! Just one more thing...what is it with me and animals?!!!

Came across this quote today...

"Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says "oh crap, she's up".

At first it made me laugh, then I thought wow, there is a very good message in that. It made me question, Am I this kind of woman? A woman who is steadfast and immovable always abounding in good works? For surely this is the kind of woman who can withstand the mighty storms of the adversary. I like to think that I try, but there is always room for improvement.

Then I remembered this quote by Sister Hinckley and I am reminded that this is the kind of woman I want to be because most certainly this is the kind of woman that will make the devil say "oh crap, she's up".

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.


I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.


I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children.


I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someones garden.


I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.


I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."
— Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Speechless....

(insert high pitched, girl scream mixed with giggling here)

And you'll have to go here to figure out why. (Hint, I won something....Big!)

Ladies, I am feeling a craft night coming on....who's game? :)

Pidgeon Moment 5-19 - Modern Family

This hit a little too close to home....I may have looked a little like this when the bird flew through my house and I am sure that it my Dad hadn't been there to remove the little guy from my home, my house may not have fared much better. I LOVE this show by the way and I was laughing hysterically at this part. I am sure that it was written just for me...ENJOY!

Time for another confession...

I know, you're probably thinking what is wrong with her now....right?! Well here it is, I confess I am scared of birds! Yep, I am! I didn't really realize this until today though and here is how I found out.

So we moved. (what does this have to do with birds you ask?) Well, we moved across from a nature preserve and there are LOTS of birds. At first I thought, ahhh how wonderful, listen to the little birdies chirping, and I would look out my window and see them in the trees and flying around the flowers and again I thought, how wonderful.

Well... today, they're not so wonderful.

So, my Mom and Dad have been here visiting/working/un-packing/cleaning/crafting and so on this past week and today was the day that they had decided that they had had enough of us (just kidding mom and dad) and they were ready to head back home. So, Dad was going in and out of the house loading up the car for their road trip back home when suddenly Dad says "Hey, there's a bird in here!" Ha Ha, very funny dad...good joke and then I look up and low and behold there is this little bird flying like a mad animal around my living room/ dining room area! My first thought was Oh no, he's going to poop in my house! Then my second thought was "Oh no, birds carry diseases and now we're all going to get bird flu! (I know it's sad, I wasn't concerned at that moment the poor little bird might be scared or that he might get hurt...hmmm) Anyway, so then I believe my Dad said something like "Well, we'll see you Melanie, good luck with the bird" To which I replied, "Don't even think about leaving until you get this bird out of here" Then my dad gets a broom and gently tries to guide the bird out the front door. This of course is scaring the poor little thing to death and now he is darting from living room window to dining room window frantically looking for a way to escape the crazed mad man with a broom. (All the while Mom is laughing hysterically and I am nervously giggling while really worrying about all the bird poop that I am going to have clean up). Well now the bird decides that it's going to try a new escape route and off he heads UPSTAIRS! At this point I may have been hyperventilating at the thought of the bird pooping on my bed and I retired outside for a bit of fresh air. Austin kept going up stairs and then back down to me with updates on the bird. Thank you Austin. Finally Mom comes down and informs me that the bird might be a little hurt (I know what you're thinking....those mean, bird hating people....)Well Dad scoops the scared/possibly hurt little bird into a blanket and brings him outside to what we think may be his final resting place and my heart hurts for the poor little bird...if only he hadn't made the bad decision to fly in my house, he would be off flying over the creek eating worms or something. I can't bring myself to look at the little fella, so I say "Mom, what's the bird doing?" to which she replies "just laying there" I say "We can't just leave him there, maybe Dad should take him across the street to a nice shady spot so that he can die in peace" So we convince Dad to do just that. Dad puts on his gloves and prepares to scoop up the poor, hurt, dying little bird and at that moment, the bird must have seen the crazed, broom wielding madman coming for him so he gets up and flies away into the trees (unscathed) to tell his other little birdie friends about the worst day of his life when his whole life flashed before his eyes and I was left to go inside and clean bird poop off of my wall and couches....I am thinking it may be time to get a new couch for the living room, what do you think? Brett.......

So there you have it! I am now officially afraid of birds!

A new year....

With a new year, comes time for reflection. Reflection about the past year, reflection about my life, reflection about my family and with that I can always find things that need to be improved. Thus we set New Years Resolutions! As I have been reflecting on my life and things that I want to improve, there are always the usual:

Better health/ fitness
Clear clutter
Become More organized
and so on.
But as I was thinking about what I really want to accomplish this year, I wanted to think of a word that would encompass all my goals. As I was thinking on this, this particular talk by President Monson came to mind and rather than choose one single word, I thought these 3 quotes from his talk could sum up my goals for 2010:

"Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now."

"If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly."

"may we fill our days—as much as we can—with those things which matter most. May we cherish those we hold dear and express our love to them in word and in deed."

This talk spoke to me in so many ways. I was thinking about how important it is to not get distracted by things of little importance. I was also thinking about how grateful I am to be able to stay home and raise my children. I was thinking that it is so important to enjoy motherhood (and I thoroughly do), but sometimes I get bogged down with the mundane tasks that are part of my days. Somedays I feel busier than I should. Somedays I feel pulled in a million different directions and yes, the laundry piles up faster than I can tackle it. And the kids don't always get along and sometimes they drive me crazy, but in the midst of all that I have these 4 amazing BOYS to raise and a fabulous husband to walk through life with and I realize how blessed I am! So while I am not going to list each individual goal that I want to set here, they will all have to do with the word or rather the phrase

Find JOY in the journey!
Happy 2010!

Another book finished

With 2 sick kids and a baby to care for, I've had more time than usual to sit and read. But of course, nothing else is getting done, and that's OK, because cuddling my kids is where I need to be right now. Last week we went on a little family vacation to Lake Tahoe and we had a fabulous time. My mom and dad met us there and spent the week with us. My mom and I hit just about every thrift store in the Tahoe area and I picked up a bunch of books for the kids to read (one of my favorite things to look for at thrift stores). So because this book was $.25 and because it won the Newbery award and because the title was Maniac Magee, I figured this had to be a great book...and I was right. Here is my Goodreads review.

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A great story about love and acceptance. Maniac Magee has lived a hard life, but he's a boy who believes in himself and finds love and acceptance in the most unexpected of places. I love the end of this book! You'll have to read it for yourself to find out why.

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The Wednesday Wars...

Finished another fabulous book! I found this book through Erik's book order at school and thought that it looked good....I am so glad that I bought this book as I will definitely read this again at some point. Now I need to hand it over to Erik and let him read it as well. Here is my review for Goodreads.

The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Fabulous story! If you liked Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko, then you will love The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt too. This is a great coming of age story about a boy who learns a lot of life lessons by reading Shakespeare with a teacher who changes his life. You'll fall in love with Holling Hoodhood. This book is funny and tender at the same time. I highly recommend it!

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