Monday, March 30, 2009

FriEnDs

I love my friends...that's right, It's all about you today. I have shared so many good times and bad times with so many friends. I have shared tears, and laughter that has brought me to tears as well! I have been motivated, taught, encouraged, and moved by many of my friends. I have been supported at times when I truly needed it. I have had a listening ear when in desperate need of one. I have had so many great examples to follow. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You for being my friend! I hope someday I can return all of the love and friendship to you:)

(In case you were wondering, it is not just now that I have realized this...you all made it into my gratitude journal within the first few days of January...I just forgot to tell YOU!)

Monday, March 23, 2009

Attitude

So, my New Years Resolution that I thought was impossible NOT to accomplish has become harder than I imagined. For those new readers, or those who may have forgotten, I decided in January that I was tired of making New Years Resolutions that never came to be...So, I made one that was fail proof. I took it from a General Authorities conference talk. I decided that each night before I went to bed, I would think of one thing that day that made me feel that I was blessed. One thing to be grateful for. Actually recognizing the many gifts I am blessed with each day.

We are now into about our 100th day, and it is getting harder than I thought. Not that there are millions of things to be grateful for, like trees, mountains, food, clothes, home, you get the picture...I was trying to personalize it more...trying to look at each day and think of something particular that day that I was grateful for.
As I was struggling, I read my cousins blog (thanks Angie:). On that particular day, she was talking about Optimism, and how it really makes for a Happier life.

I have always been a skeptical person, not really positive, but thinking about all of the "what ifs", and all of the possible things that could "go wrong". I am so grateful for our attitude! We have control over it. We can make the outcomes in our life positive, or negative depending on the attitude we take on. Let us all be positive in our thinking and our actions, and be grateful we have the choice to do so!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Too much Idol??

Of course not!! I will say I had to question if we had been watching too much idol with our little Ava when I was fixing dinner the other night and she started singing into her hand with her eyes closed...of course once she saw me taping, the show was over, so make sure your volume is up for the first few seconds. I think its just tooooo cute!!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Blankets, Binkies, and Backpacks


Every morning when Jordan and Lexi get on the bus, it is a sad time for Ava. Not that mommy and Ava don't have a lot of fun, she just loves her big brother and sister a lot. Each morning, she too gets ready for school and puts on one of Lexi's old princess backpacks, which she then carries for a few hours before being willing to take it off. I am just not sure if the other two necessities go with the backpack?!

Monday, March 16, 2009

Tagged!


I was tagged by a friend, and the rules are: Go to your fourth folder, and open the fourth picture and blog about it! Then tag four of your friends. I tag Janice, Shari, Mandi, and Jade!!
This was the family before our latest edition, Ava. We were at the Hogle Zoo!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

2009 Jump Club Spectacular




Lexi has been taking jump club after school for the past two months. They
just finished, and had their final performance for the parents at the
Spectacular! She did amazing, had lots of fun with her friends, and
got lots of exercise too! Just imagine hundreds of kids ages
kindergarten through sixth grade jump roping all over the gym...one hour of
fun for the whole family!!

Monday, March 9, 2009

Blue and Gold

Jordan had his first blue and gold banquet this year. The scouts were all assigned to decorate a cake in the theme of "American ABC's" for the dessert. Knowing how difficult it can be to decorate a cake, having taken two cake decorating classes myself, and still finding it hard, I was trying to come up with a way for Jordan to decorate his own cake, without me doing it, and without really decorating it?! That doesn't make sense does it?? I just had visions of icing and my eight year old all over the kitchen, and an undesirable cake for the families to eat at the banquet. So....I decided to let him frost the cake with cool whip (very easy to clean up) and place the fruit on the top to make a flag. He was excited until we got there and his cake was among seven others that were just like it!! I learned three things from this experience:
1. I can be a very uptight mother, wanting things to be just right, and look perfect.
2. The mess, no matter how large, could have been cleaned up.
3. I should have let him decorate the cake however he wanted, even if it wouldn't look good, or edible.
Most importantly, I hope I learned to let my kids do some of the creative things they are capable of, even if it may not be perfect!