Crying, hugs, and dinner

At one point today I was crying, well more of a sobbing, because of child's choices that seem to be happening every.single.day and it's very draining.

I thought I was crying fairly discreetly in the corner and had pulled myself together enough to make Sanders lunch. I should never forget how much little eyes and ears notice.

As I was standing by the fridge Sanders ran from the table and gave me the biggest hug and wouldn't let go until it seeped in my heart and forced out a smile.

He said, "I thought I should give you a hug. So I did." What a tender moment.

He told his sibling as they came home, "I thought I should give mom a hug! " He was so excited to share his good deed with his family. It was exactly what I had needed too.

Today was so trying that I didn't even want my mom over to help with laundry. I just wanted to be able to focus on that certain child's actions and really help them and that's hard to do any time, but especially when there are other people around.

Mom, didn't let that stop her from serving. She brought dinner over and it was just what I needed to help the night run smoothly.

I heard part of that child's prayer tonight, "Heavenly Father I really am trying." It was such a relief and a blessing to know they wanted the change as well. We can move forward as a team.

My visiting teachers also came over tonight. I cried about my day with them. Their visit was just perfect timing and they helped me remember I'm not failing because I am trying.

Everyone should have that reminder now and again.

Heavenly Father is so mindful of my little life. Look at how much goodness and love came out of a really hard day.

Catch up

Do we all feel a constant pull to catch up? Or is it just me?

Catch up on my work. Catch up on my designs. Catch up on my scripture reading. Catch up on my housework. Catch up on sleep. Catch up on friendships and family. Catch up on doing more service. Catch up on yard work. Catch up on exercise. Catch up on organizing my space and my time. And the ever dreaded...Catch up on laundry!

I feel like I do a lot of little things and never seem to catch up. Then I find myself feeling entitled and just take a day where I do what I want, not what is needed. Which feels nice in the moment, but really puts me behind in the overall plan of things.

I need 10 of me.

Nice mom and an About page

I've been doing fairly well on speaking softer and kinder. The trouble is, the kids do not listen to softer and kinder! So, I have started pointing out to them that I am speaking respectfully and peacefully and I expect them to react in the same manner.

Then, after the hundredth, billionth time of trying to be creative and fun and loving and get them to do something while they throw a tantrum or whatever I let them know I am done being nice. I tell them they have chosen to have a mean mom. I try not to be really mean, but I'm sure not as nice as I was! And by mean, I am just referring to the volume of my voice and how many privileges I will take away.

Funny thing is, they are learning. I noticed throughout the day that if I reminded them that they got to choose what kind of mom they interacted with by their choices they will stop and change. Whew! Hopefully, it will become habit for all of us sooner rather than later.

I worked on my website tonight. It's almost done!! Tonight I was writing my About page. I enjoy writing to people who know nothing about me yet. New friends are one of my favorite things.

Back to my roots

Close enough anyway. After being a semi blond for close to 2 years I decided I wanted to go back to being a brunette.

I went about a shade and a half darker than my natural color, but in the picture it looks more black than it really is.

Here are a few without the flash on. It shows the depth of the color better. Even if I took some of them at weird angles ;) Also, I took the non-flash pictures hours after the first picture AND after I'd fallen asleep on the couch for a half an hour :)

When I went blond it was such a gradual process that there was never a big deal made. I haven't cut more than an 11/2 inches off my hair at one time for years either. I was feeling like I needed a big change.

This will do ;)

I feel like Snow White. In fact, when my Young Women girls saw me that's what they said I looked her like too.

Have I've ever told you that I've always wanted to play Snow White at Disneyland? It's true. While that will most likely never happen, at least I can kind of look like her ;)

Restful

We had a relatively restful Sunday. Sanders was sick so I stayed home with him. We watched shows and napped until the rest of the family got home from church.

The afternoon was peaceful and we all just puttered around playing games and just being together. Beckham had a few spiritual questions and it was nice to be able to encourage and support him in finding his own answers without feeling rushed. It was a hard conversation, but the best things usually come from the hard parts.

Normally, on Sundays, we will go to someone's house for dinner. But it snowed a ton today and was still snowing as it grew closer to the evening that dinner was cancelled.

So, I tried my hand at making a healthy version of a monte cristo sandwich. Everyone except Tennyson loved them.

Then Kevin and they older two went out to shovel and the littler ones and I played a game, read a book, and then I tucked them in for the night.

I need actual restful Sunday like this more often. I feel much more prepared for the week.

Like father like son

Kevin's dad plays the saxophone. Kevin plays the saxophone as well.

One was playing tenor and one was playing alto. Don't ask me which is which, I keep forgetting.  

They serenaded us with the "Star Wars theme" (not sure if that's the true name, but you all know what I mean) and "Born Free".

Kevin decided the talent should be kept in the family so the lessons began.

 Beckham caught on right away and is able to read really simple music. Beckham and Kevin even played a simple duet tonight. I'm excited to see where Beckham's musical talents take him. It's so fun to have these Daly men share this common interest. Families are the best!   

Even if they are loud ;-)

School lunch

Because of the ice rain school delayed starting for two hours. They cancelled afternoon kindergarten and spread the word that morning kindergarten would be there during lunch time so please be sure to provide them with some money or pack a home lunch.

To watch him after he heard the news, you would have thought I had just told Tennyson it was Christmas morning again! He was so excited.

When I picked him up that's all he could talk about or remember about the day. He felt like such a big kid.

Kevin is a good, sweet, dad and that was the first thing he asked Tennyson about when he walked in the door.

I love the expression on both their faces and the fact that in some cases Tennyson is blurry.

Because he just could contain how amazing eating at the school made him feel.

What a wonderful moment to capture.

No longer a Cackin

My 3 year old is nearly 4.

That sentence could also read, my youngest baby is nearly 4.

That's just weird.

And a little sad.

But still very weird to think about.

The really sad thing is that Sanders' cute mispronunciations are slowly disappearing.  I discovered today that  instead of his usual, endearing, "Cackin"  as in, "Today I get to be cackin at pre-school!!!" Or, "I want to watch Cackin Hook please!" It's been replace with, "Catan" and even occasionally, gasp, "Captian"!

He still is holding strong to one of my other favorite of Sanders' words though:

Smarshmellows = Marshmellows

I also get the giggles when he tells me we, "Must do that!"

"Mom, so and so went to the zoo. We must do that!"

I love this little guy!

   PS does he look like Beckham in that 2nd picture or what?

Reading

I'm reading the first "Beyonders" book by Brandon Mull. It's very good and I'd rather do that than blog :)

Although I will mention that I was happy I could help a friend today. I feel I am often on the receiving end and it's very nice to pay it forward.

It's hard to be good when you feel yucky

I think I've figured out a bit of why Tennyson has been so quick to go to tantrum land lately. He's had a pretty good cold for a week or so and now his ears are hurting.

I know I have struggle to be pleasant I am not feeling well. It's understandable, although still not acceptable, that he would be very frustrated when I tell him it's time to stop doing something that has been distracting  him from how yucky he feels.  It helps with developing a game plan that will work for everyone. Poor Tennyson.

I'm always so grateful for tender mercies of insight like this.

Modern Yardage Media Launch

We launched today! Well, our soft launch/media launch. By we I mean Modern Yardage,

 the fabric manufacturing company I've been alluding to for months.

It still seems so unreal.  We will be selling fabric on Feb. 4. Oh, I hope it is a success. So many hours and dreams and hopes and prayers and hard work and big scary, crazy, exciting leaps are behind this company.

I feel like I should be feeling more. I do feel a little butterfly-ish. I'm excited and nervous and there is still so very much to do. Truthfully, I am just so humbled this is part of my little life that I don't quite dare to believe it.

Speaking of believing, thank you for believing in me and supporting me. Thank you for coming to this space day after day to check in and at time say, "Hi". I love it when you do. Thank you for cheering me on during the exciting bits and for keeping me standing and moving forward during the scenes that are never fun, but that keep the journey interesting. Dreams are never accomplished alone. It's a group effort.  It's better that way.

Thank you!

Oh and AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH people are going to be able to by my fabric and hopefully be inspired to create their own beautiful things that inspire others. It's a very cool cycle to be part of. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Sunday nap

It was more of a time out, for me. The nap I mean.

Sundays, with young kids, while you are on vacation, apparenty send me over the edge.

Tired

Kevin was totally weirded out by my Jeremy post. Perhaps it was just too random, even considering the source. Me.

That's what happens when it's late and you have to post and your brother in law,Jeremy, is in your line of sight. It makes sense to me.

Anyway. We've had a full day of eating junk food and sleding. That takes a lot out of a girl in the best of all possible ways.

Jeremy

I have a brother-in-law named Jeremy. Although, if you had asked Beckham when he was younger, and even now sometimes today, his name is, "Germy."

He is the only brother-in-law, that I have, that has red hair. Also, he grew up on a farm and is the oldest in his family. He is not a farmer, he is an Actuary. I can't explain that well enough to tell you what he does exactly. Thank goodness you have Google at your finger tips. You're welcome.

Jeremy is a good sport and is always willing to try things once.

Lucky me, I get to spend a a whole weekend with him, his cute family, and the rest of my in-laws.

Lucky YOU, you will probably get to read more random posts.

Sleep well, you lucky people, you.

I forgot to tell everyone I can read!

Tonight Sanders and I worked on his reading. He can't really "read", but he's been very interested in spelling.  It's also ironic because he is still working on recognizing all the letters. He probably only really knows about 5 of them.

Be that as it may, he is still very interested in spelling.

Super simple words. Actually only one word. "No".

Yes, I'm delighted that's the one word he knows.

"N- O, No".

"N - O, No".

"What does S O spell?"

"What does PRS spell?"

All. day. long.

Tonight I was reading one of the Bob Books to him. (His choice)

I pointed out the word, "Go" and the word "Bus". We talked about each letter.  Then whenever we came to one of those words, which was a lot because that's the whole point, I would ask him what that word said. Of course these are merely memorization skills but it's a start.

When we got to the end of the book he was soooooooo excited. He said, " I forgot to tell everyone I can read!!!!!"

"You can?"

"Yup. Go and Bus...even when it's different!" (meaning when their is a little b in front)

"That's awesome! I will tell everyone."

"OH! And I know other words!"

"You do? Which ones?"

"N - O, NO!!!"

I told him I was so proud of him for learning and that I thought he was pretty smart.

"Why?"

"Because you want to learn new things and that is what makes you smart."

"Right. You're welcome, Mom."

We ended with the best hug! What a fun night. 




* Sanders turns 4 March 2, 2013

Normal day

Got my workout in later than I planned.

I set my alarm for 5:55 am every morning. The plan is to hit snooze once, roll out of bed at 6:05am, stumble around waking up and getting my workout clothes on, and be out the door by 6:20 to get the the gym by 6:30.

Kevin makes fun of me because more often than not this week, despite setting my alarm faithfully each night, I just hit cancel, on purpose, instead of snooze and then go to the 9:30am class. Monday through Thursday all of the kids are gone during that time. But it also means my kidless time is taken with workouts.

ANYWAY. I got my workout in.

Stopped by to hug my friend Nicki on the way home. They cold weather has made me be semi reclusive and I was missing her. It was just a quick hug. One, because I was hurrying to my next item on the schedule and two because I had just come from my workout and I. was. gross. It's a good thing she loves me. 

Rushed to shower so I could volunteer in Beckham's class. Man, we miss Mrs. Pickett! Mrs. Carbine is fine, but she doesn't love, love, LOVE the kids like Mrs. Pickett did.

Picked up the littles and we went to lunch. They were divine and hilarious. We then went and bought Tennyson new snow boots because he somehow got a huge hole in one of his. They were so, so, soooooo good at the store. It gives me hope for the future.

Came home, had snacks, turned on a movie and I finally did some PYP work.

Karaia and Beckham and friends come over and then it was time for dinner and I was off to mutual.

A normal day. Notice there was no mention of laundry.And so the piles still remain. Sigh.

Indoor

I play indoor soccer. That's kind of weird for me to be able to say that. Until last year I had never officially played any kind of soccer. I know all the rules and I like to watch a good game, but I had just never played.

We aren't a very good team. In fact, we have never won. But I love the calories burn I get and we are improving every week. We almost won tonight.

Right now we are trying to choose a new team name. Here are some options we've thrown out:

Calories Chasers
Multiple Scoregasims (Hilarious, but I blush thinking about telling people our team name)
0fers (but we are going to win soon!)
Gonna Be's
Formally In Shape Allstate

And the list continues. I wonder if we will ever decided.

Thank goodness for moms!

I have commented, frequently, about my lack of organization. Not that I don't love organized things. I so very much do. But I lack the motivation/skills to get it going.

Stage right, my mom. She came over today to help take Christmas down. Thank goodness or else it would still be up. Not that I didn't have the time to do it today, I did, but it's getting myself to make that first step. Plus, two people putting it away is a lot faster.

Thank you so much, Mom!

I literally would not have done it without you :)

Time outs

Poor Tennyson spent the majority of his day in one time out or another. He has been super sneaky and doing things and getting things we have told him he is not supposed to do or have.

Sigh.

I'm not sure how to get through to him.

We often find hidden, forbidden items in his room with him.

Yesterday, under his pillow, we found a bag of candy, a bag of chocolates, and a bag of pretzels. I'm sure they were stockpiled for when we tell him it is WAY to early to get up and have breakfast.

We've decided a new approach for that subject. If he can be quiet and not get into things he knows he shouldn't we have told him he is welcome to have breakfast when ever he wakes up and then quietly turn on the T.V. He may then watch it until 7:00 am.

We are hoping this will let him feel more in control of his own life and therefore be more willing to follow our directions in other areas.

He's a good kid, I just want to see that good a little more ;)

Enerbank Dinner

Tonight we went to Kevin's end of year dinner for his work at The Gathering Place in Gardner Village. The food was well done and I am loving the chances I get to know his coworkers more.

I'm also including a picture of what I wore simply because in 20 years, or less, I think it will be funny to see what I thought was cute at the time.

And yes, yes we do still have Christmas up. Too much snow to play in :-)

3 feet of bliss

Snow Day! That doesn't happen too often in Utah, but when nearly 2 feet of snow falls in just a few hours, the stars align perfectly and school is canceled.

The thing about today was it was perfect weather. The snow kept a steady falling pace meaning there was always a fresh layer of fluff to play in. It was also pretty warm. Cold without a coat, but you could stay out for hours and hours if you were properly dress.

We had so much snow that I suggested to Karaia, half joking, that she should jump off the deck into it. She took me up on that and landed perfectly on her back with a snow explosion of powder floating back on top of her. So. much. fun!

Beckham wanted in on the fun after seeing that. He was more timid at first, but after he landed on his back once, and it didn't brake as he insisted it would, there was no stopping him ;)

I got to sled, walk through the snow in my back yard. That was an adventure all it's own because the snow came up over my knees! Sanders was following me and said, "You lead me (the snow was nearly to his arm pits). Hey! That's like a Church song!" And then Kevin and I dug out the drive way for the 3rd time today.

We are exhausted and tired, but very happy.

Sunshine and Snow

Today started really well. I even showered before the kids left for school!

I honestly can't remember the last time that happened.

I ALSO got my work email inbox down to zero! Hooray!

There was blue sky and sunshine this morning as well.

Now there is snow everywhere. And I still haven't done laundry. Don't judge.

The launch date for the fabric company is coming up. Lots of tweaks that kind of take up a good chunk of the day. It's a good problem to have.

If you haven't noticed I'm not super good at getting my plate cleared. I get super focused on one section and the rest goes unnoticed for too long...until it can no longer be ignored.

Still, it's been a good day. Despite having to remind Karaia and Beckham they cannot leave each other when they walk home from school. I spent quite a bit of time, on super snowy, slippery roads looking for Beckham in the storm because he left the place he said he would wait and Karaia took longer than she said she would take, which was his excuse for leaving. Either way, they both made choices that could have made for a very sad ending.

Luckily, we did not crash and we found Beckham. But I was pretty disappointed in their selfishness. I made them shovel. Even though, as they pointed out, there was no real point in shoveling since the snow covered everything just as quickly as you could clear it away. I did it for two reasons.

1: To give them time with no distractions to think about how the contributed to the situation and to realize how it could have ended really horribly on such a bad weather day.

2: Give them time to talk with each other and figure out WHY it happened the way it did. And understand the reasoning behind each other's  actions.

I believe it worked.  My mom was over when I was giving Beckham the what for. It wasn't pretty because he was feeling entitled. Oh well. I'm pretty sure she understands :)

Sanders is with my mom for a Nana Night. He couldn't be more thrilled! He loves spending time one on one with anyone, but especially Nana.

We are still waiting for Kevin to get home. It's taking longer because of the storm. I hope he walks in soon.

Routine

Nothing much to speak of today.

The two little boys woke up sometime when there was still a 5 at the beginning of the clock.

Ran kids to school in the morning.

Design and Pick Your Plum work.

Volunteered in Beckham's class.

Tried to have rational conversations with hungry boys who had woken up sometime when a 5 was still in the front.

We had conversations but they where neither rational not productive.

Tried to insist on naps.

More design and pyp.

They never slept.

But the alone time in their rooms helped.

Other two came home.

Homework and snacks and hugs and kisses managed.

More snacks.

A little more design and pyp.

And again, more snacks.

Must be growing, especially the two littles.

Dinner made for the 8th day in a row! Fish tacos...and everyone likes them!

Went to mutual.

Had a stake wide tug o war.

Came home.

Talked with Kevin.

Fell asleep on the couch.

Woke up and blogged.

Going to bed to be able to probably do the same thing tomorrow..minus anyone waking up with a 5 or anything less in the front and hopefully more laundry. Not because I enjoy laundry, but because I enjoy having something to wear.

Kindergarten ninja

I vaguely remember Tennyson holding something green as we were getting ready to leave for school. The next time I looked at him he had on his Angry Birds hat Nana made him and I forgot all about anything green.

When he came home from school he hung up his stuff as I busied myself with getting lunch ready. I turned to look at him just as he was taking off his hat to discover this underneath

Yup. I sent a ninja to school without knowing it.

I stopped in my tracks and said, "Did you wear that to school? "

"Yes."

"Did you wear it all day?"

"Yes."

"Huh. What did your teacher say? "

"Nothing. I don't think she saw me."

To which I sarcastically mumbled under my breath," I bet she didn't."

Kindergarteners have the best lives!

He wanted me to make sure I added his ninja pose picture :)

Just so you know...

...I am not perfect. What? You already knew? Yeah, me too.

That is not necessarily a bad thing. It leaves all sorts of room for improvement and new found awesomeness.

Today was a less than perfect mommy day. Some, most, days are better than others. This was the opposite of better. But only during the witching hour between 5pm and 6pm when at some point Kevin arrives home.

I lost it. Like really lost it on Karaia. Unkind tone, harsher than necessary words. She came to me later and said, "Mom, can I talk to you? I've rehearsed this but I don't want you to get mad."

"Make sure you don't say anything disrespectful/rude and I won't." (yes, I recognized the irony as I said then too)

In a very loving way she said, "You always tell me I can use kinder words and tone instead of just going straight to saying things angry and I feel like you could have used kinder words and tone."

And then she left.

I was left with my thoughts and my heart. What she said was not new to me. I'd been giving myself the same lecture since the words flew out of my mouth. But I was so, so proud of her. The bursting kind of proud. She had been listening.....AND learning. Learning enough to teach.

I was proud of her for loving me enough to teach me. I was proud of her for doing it in a loving way. And I was proud of her for understanding her role in what happened and while I definitely could have delivered my words better she knew the core of the message was true and she owned her part in that.

We both had a good cry and lots of sorrys and I love yous. I am grateful for the hard, real feelings and emotions we share around this home. It makes me excited for our future.

Now I remember

Wow. 6 days in and I almost forgot to post. Nice.

We switched to 9:00 am church today. My kids were so well behaved and obedient this morning. I hope it continues.

I also taught the Young Women lesson using the new method. What a neat experience to walk into a class room prepared but not really know what will be taught. Yet, in the end, it was exactly what was needed.

There is more that could be said, but I'd just closed my eyes when I remembered about the blog.

Hooray for me for remembering AND going to be before midnight!

Food is reeeeeeealy good

Last night was rough. It was even hard to sleep.

This morning I got up and went to work out. I'm not going to lie. I probably gave 25% of normal, but it was really all I had to give.

Then, THEN, 8:00am came and they gave us food. A banana, a power bar, and water. It was awesome.

I kept dreaming about sushi last night so today I grabbed some at Costco. It wasn't as amazing as Sushi Monster, but it's cheaper and I can see craving it. Good to know.

For dinner I made Cafe Rio chicken. Holy cow that was incredible! It was super easy too.

It was nice to be home as a family and not have anywhere we had to be. We played a few games, watched a movie and overall just hung out. We should have been taking Christmas down, but we didn't feel like it :)

It was a really good day.

For the Knowledge

I haven't eaten since 6:30 pm yesterday.

On purpose.

And I will continue to refrain from consuming any calories until tomorrow morning around 8:00 am. I have been drinking water like a camel though. 

Now, once a month I fast for religious reasons, but it's never for this long. AND today is following two days of very low caloric intake.

Why.....WHY would I do this to myself? For the knowledge. In the following weeks my trainer is going to issue a different challenge every week involving types of food. The only one I know for sure about, but know no details, is we will have a week with extra protein. He said that for some that week will involve headaches and for others they will have more energy than they are used to.

The reason is that everyone's genetic make-up is different and therefore one nutrition plan for everyone will never work. Depending on your lineage you might need more protein, or more veggies and fruits, or more carbs. It all comes down to what type of food was available to your ancestors in their region of the world.

It's the same reason the Atkins diet doesn't work for everyone, but for others it works amazingly well.

I'm excited to learn what works best for my body. It will be rough, but the knowledge will be invaluable.

That being said, this is stupid hard!

Oh, and I made my family dinner...again! It was a serious act of love and there may or may not have been a few tears that escaped my eyes when certain smells accosted my face.

Thank goodness everyone loved it or I may have lost it.  

Looooooong day

Today seemed extra long.

I made dinner three nights in a row. Oh yeah! I'm rockin' it.

Read lots, and lots, and lots of books with the two littles.

The house is still a complete disaster but I can't find the motivation to do anything about it. Don't come visit. It's ridiculous around here.

But I made dinner, even if the chicken was dry. Dinner was still made and it was healthy. Drop of awesome.

I'm doing a challenge at my gym. It's for 6 weeks and each week will be a different focus. Today is the second day of Burst Cycle Diet and then tomorrow I fast until Saturday. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to seem extra long too.

The Four Hour Lunch

These girls are staples in my life. Even if I only see some of them once a year on January 1st.

Sarah, Me, Catherine, Chrissy January 1, 2013 Little America

We didn't even realize we were in height order until after. We are just cool like that. Not in age order though....I'm actually the youngest of the bunch. Probably in more ways than one ;)

For those just joining us, first off, Hello! I'm so glad you are here. Second, these are my cousins. The Four Musketeers. We have a tradition of getting together every New Year's day. We change what we do every year, but we make sure we do it together.

We went to the Little America Coffee Shop. It was perfect. We had a great lunch and then because it wasn't busy they just let us sit, and sit, and sit there. Sarah brought games, but we ended up just chatting. We are all very different and all have different strengths and areas we can improve so it's wonderful to try and learn from someone else's strength while you share your strength. 

We ended up sitting around that table for nearly four hours! One of my favorite traditions ever!

Review and Goals

Here we are again, January 1st.

Looking back on last year there have been some super highs and some things I like to, and thankfully can, change. The number one thing is this blog.

The truth is as much of a pain in the rear it was to write something everyday in 2011, at the end of 2012 I am really sad how much I did not document the simple everyday, potentially boring, beyond exciting parts of my and my family's life.

So, every day is back! Are you excited? I hope so because this year I will be doing things I have never ever done. Lucky for me, and you (?), I'm an open book and I'll be sharing a bunch of things you probably don't care about and hopefully somethings that will make your day brighter and us better friends. I know. Don't pretend you didn't just do the happy dance. I felt it ;)

I reviewed my goals for last year. I only completed one.  It was a HUGE one that I thought I was going to have on my goal list for many, many more years. I am so grateful to be on this side of signing a contract. However, the other two were more important. Truthfully, I'd totally forgotten that I'd even made them.

The check your temperature one is better. I am actively working on it. There are slip ups, but I have found ways to disengage the emotion and just parent. It will be a life long goal, which is not a bad thing.

Reading the Book of Mormon as a family every day. Why is this SO hard?!?!?!?! I love reading that book. I am baffled why I have failed to integrate it into our family routine.

Taking everything into consideration here are my personal 2013 goals and my word for the year (my design web site is thiiiiiiiiiiis close to be up and running. I will do goals for my designs on that site)

1: Make more dinners for my family. While my family is soooooooo supportive of all my creative endeavors and actually cheer when I say we are having cold cereal for dinner (except Karaia) I know they will appreciate more.....well, just MORE...on that front. The goal is at least 4 dinners a week. I know some of you are wondering what we will eat the other days, frankly, I am too, but I am not perfect in this area and I want to give myself a chance at success. In the meantime, if this goal is making you hyperventilate, and you feel the need to save me and my family, I would be more than happy to entertain how you make making dinner work.

2: Get the family on a chore schedule. I have mentioned multiple times how NOT on a chore schedule we are. Our house is never truly dirty, but it is often....let's say "lived in". While I don't truly mind all of the clutter because we do have a lot of fun in our home and do play a lot of games and things other than chores, I think there is room to improve.

3: Laugh more. A WHOLE lot more. I really don't think my children will remember how many nights a week I make dinner or even how tightly run the house is, but they WILL remember how much we laughed. Maybe we will have a stand-up comedy night every month where we all write our own jokes. Who knows. I just know I'm making this one happen!

4: Integrate the Book of Mormon into my family's routine. I CAN do this! 

My word for the year is REACH

It means a lot of different things. Reach out to others, Reach deep down into who I am, Reach my children in a way they feel it the most, Reach just beyond my comfort zone, Reach to grow, Reach to be who I was meant to be.

And finally, because I really want to document more of the everyday that goes on around here, Sanders said today, "Mom, I like T-Rex dinosaurs.  But I really want to calm them down!"

Funny kid.