Goals...

Lately, I have been so grateful for my quiet little life. Besides giving birth, things have been nice & relaxing for the past little while. Willow is a terrific baby, Trav has had a ton of time off, the kids have been mostly super, I've been able to organize closets, drawers, crafts shelves etc... , church started at 9:00 AM! I've been sewing, making, creating, I've felt insprired, on top of things (except for laundry & Grace's room. What is it about a 3 year old pulling out EVERYTHING from EVERY drawer in her room?!!)All I can say is, life has been good.I've been focusing on the postive, watching re runs of The Office & SNL (& laughing my butt off!)and spending more time with my kids. I've been allowing myself creative time and time away, but I've also been in tune to things/people around me and it's felt refreshing. (I'm still crazy though, don't get me wrong!)it's just been nice to reflect more on my blessings (like my VW that needs $ 3,000 dollars worth of work! Sigh. Scream. Wipe away tears. But, I'm grateful that my husband is letting me keep it AND put more $ into it, thanks God for making faster engines, that sold him!) With all that rambling, I do need to improve in a lot of areas:

*read my scriptures more! I'm seriuosly lacking here. And preparing for my lessons don't count!
*Spend more time playing with my babies. (Yes, that means pull out that horrid messy Play Doh and roll little pink snakes with them!)
*Talk nicer to my children/less nagging & yelling (yes, I get angry at my children).
*Have more study time or "school work" with Daisy.
* Loose 20 more pounds! Or stop eating 500 bags of Halloween candy!Either would do the trick!
*Get to the temple! Really, I'm always going to have an excuse... "but I'm pregnant, but I just had a baby, but I'm nursing, but it's hard to find a sitter for 4 kids, but, but but. I NEED the blessings!
*Cook. I HATE COOKING!Hate the time it takes. hate the mess. Hate the clean up. Love to eat. I have 6 mouthes to feed, so I better learn to enjoy it more.
*Fold laundry as soon as it comes out of the dryer instead of throwing in on the floor in a huge pile while walking away, saying"I'll get to you in 5 minutes." It just doesn't happen. (Thank goodness for a husband that helps me fold laundry at 11:00 PM!)

...the list could go on for a long time, but lastly... I need to love myself more. I need to value who I am, see the good, improve the not-so-good, but love who I see staring back at me. I need to remember I am a daughter of God who has value and who is loved. I cannot change the past, even if I wish I could 500 times a day. all I can do is accept this person I am, this body I live in and where I am in my life. I have the whole world, right here in this little house of mine, and yes, even with a broken Volkswagon,tons of laundry to do, clothes I still can't fit into... I am still blessed.

Willow turns 3 months old...

Our little pumpkin turned 3 months old yesterday! I love this age because she is so alert, smiling, starting to laugh, follows me with her eyes, totally recoginizes my voice & is literrally the worlds best baby!She is happy all the time and sleeps like an angel!

Chore Chart...

I made a chore chart for the kids today. I just bought the cute tree/squirl paper last week on clearance for .41(craft wherhouse) it was perfect!( I just cut parts out and glued it to green cardstock & then covered everything with contact paper. I added a brown ribbon at the top as well.) Every day they are in charge of 3 chores: cleaning their room, an easy chore(like organizing the movies) and 1 harder chore (like cleaning the bathroom or help folding laundry) Then each week, we will rotate the chores and if they do them with a happy attitude, they can also earn their points!

Pee & a block of cheese...

You know those moments when you're on the computer and it's super quiet, and apart of you actually thinks: Wow, my kids are being SO good? And then your older kids come into the room and say, "Mom, Grace peed on the kitchen floor!" And then you go to see the pool of pee on your recently cleaned floor, while your 3 year old is completely naked biting into a block of cheese??? Really?

New Year Goals & projects...

As a Mom, I am reminded 500 times a day of all my flaws, I don't need new Years to remind me of what needs changing, I have 4 kids and a type A personality that remind me constantly! I've needed to get better with a reward system, so when I stumbled across this idea this morning, I knew I needed to borrow/change/add to some of her idea's and implment it ASAP! I found it on www.theidearoom.blogspot.com, it's a great blog- you'll love it.
So, from now on when the kids do their chores without whinning, help each other, are kind to one another, do things without being asked- they will earn a point. At the end of the week, we'll add up points and then they can pick a treat out of the box, or as she calls it, the "store"! If they earn a super card, they'll get to pick a dinner idea, bakee a treat with Mom, stay up 10 minutes past bed time etc... If they earn a naughty card, it will cancell out one of their point cards. I loved the idea! (I was doing points with the kids and when they earned 10, they got to go to the dollar store and pick a treat- but this is nice because we can stay home and do it!)
I am working on a chore chart as well.

Sledding with friends...

Yesterday we woke up to a few inches of snow and it was the perfect day to go sledding! We took the kids to the "airplane" park, met Annikan & Angie there and let the kids go sledding for a hour. They had a lot of fun playing with each other.

Fun in the snow...

I read on line of a cute idea to do for your kids when it was snowing outside... simply fill spray bottles with water and food coloring and let them decorate the snow with fun colors. The kids enjoyed it and even tried to spray a few neighbor cats! (Shh, don't tell anyone!)

Nothing better than a sleeping baby...

In a few weeks I'll be teaching a lesson at church about Heavenly Father, and in it, it asked the question, what evidence is there that he exists?...

...this my freinds.

God is all around us- and I thank him for making himself evident in my life.

Christmans afternoon...

It was a perfect day to drive up to Idaho city. The roads were clear, the sun was out and the snow was beautiful. We had a great dinner with Ellen & Will, and the kids played all afternoon. Will & Trav took the girls sledding, while Tristin & Joshua played the Wii for hours. Ellen & I nursed baby's, ate and lounged on the couch talking. It was a nice day...

More fun...