Job Description

A Little Lesson:
Sometimes I think of things
I hope my girls will understand
when they become moms.
When life becomes a little overwhelming. . .
and it will.

r e m e m b e r


Before we came here to earth...

we had one role

c h i l d o f G o d

and then we get here. . .

and with each passing year the job description gets longer and longer and longer.

Wife, mother, friend, sister, aunt, daughter, teacher, cousin, niece, cook, referee, gardener, scholar, beautician, financier, confident, chauffeur, fashion consultant, arbitrator, coach, executive assistant, leader, psychologist, crafter, house keeper, story teller, composer,
nurse, actor, carpenter, nutritionist, entrepreneur, receptionist, historian,
pharmacist, flower arranger, quick order chef, entertainer,
traveler, security guard, photographer,
counselor, artist
musician.

Go easy on yourself.

SummerTime

Summer started 4 days ago.
Every prayer Clara has given in our family, she has asked that when the kids go
back to school tomorrow, that they will go safely.

A Little Lesson:
Clara would like time to speed up so she can
return to blissful days of being practically an only child.

I want time to slow down so I can savor these finite
days of little fingers and little toes.

Emily would like time to stand still so that
her carefree summer could last forever.

Craig would like to find more time to balance
his work, his family and his church responsibilities and perhaps start a hobby.

Jordan would like to take a time-out from piano and chores and
play Wii, basketball and hockey until his hearts content.

Benjamin thinks he's having the time of his life
now that there is an endless supply of jumbo freezies waiting for him in the freezer.

We All Go

Some of us play with our shoes

some of us squawk and have to be taken out of the room
some of us slouch in our chair
some of us sit at the piano and accompany
some of us try to listen over the squawking

but we all go
to hear Emily play in her end-of-the-year violin concert.
It's just what we do.

A Little Lesson:
I always entertain the idea of just getting in the car and taking Emily to her concert on my own, there would be no arguing in the car, no asking to go out for lunch after wards, no trying to find a row with six empty seats, no asking when it's over or how much longer, no squawking from little people under three feet, just quiet concert going bliss.
But then I remember life is short...and off we go.

Going South

A Little Lesson:

Some temple trips we leave early in the morning,
drive for 3 hours
Craig goes into the temple for a session
kids play in the park
I go in for two hours
kids still play the park
we all get back in the car
drive for 3 more hours until we get home.

This temple trip
felt like the
Rolls Royce of temple trips.

There is nothing like hanging out with friends
who you've known for almost 2 decades
have kids the same ages as yours
and loves the gospel as much as you do.

Say Cheese

More often than not when I unload my pictures from my camera onto my computer in the early hours of the morning, waiting for me are a few pictures that were taken by my camera snatcher, otherwise known as Clara. I will say she is is pretty consistent. There is always a picture of her adorable brother . . .

She can't resist taking a picture of one of her body parts. . .

And of course the classic super zoom self portrait of the face . . .

No wait I can get even closer (she says to herself)


A Little Lesson:
It is one of the highlights of my morning.

One More Piece

Emily comes to me Wednesday night and asks if I could help her do a puzzle for

her buddy Jenna who LOVES deers and fawns.
I agreed to get her started.
The pieces were really small.
After an hour past Emily's bedtime, we called it a night and went to bed.

She looked at me with all the sincereity she could muster.
"Mom, while I'm at school today could you work on the puzzle.
If not, I don't think it will be done in enough time to give to Jenna on Friday!"

"Sweetheart, I'll see what I can do. . . I have so many things to get done today. . ."
I had several loads of laundry to do . . .

I'll just put in one more piece. . .
I have to mail 2 packages before noon . . .

I have to get the car insurance renewed . . .
Just a few more pieces . . .

I have to pack for our little weekend gettaway with the Looses. . .
I'll just finish the head . . .

The tree trunk is almost done . . .
I have 25 emails waiting for my response . . .

Home stretch just a little more bark . . .
Dishes, bathrooms, library books, phone Christine, pick up dry cleaning. . .

What' s this?
One more piece?
I'd better leave it for Emily to put in. . .


A Little Lesson:
If somehow the computer doesn't fully represent how small and similar the
pieces of this puzzle are in real life I am here to say - this 750 piece puzzle was no picnic.
This could be a post about procrastinating. But that would be looking at the glass as
half empty. Instead the moral of this lesson will be about the little projects our kids say "Mom can we . . ." and everything inside of you says "not today there just isn't time", but once and a while you surprise them and say "okay let's do it!"

Eleven

Last week I didn't do too much blogging.

Craig went out of town for business and I decided wouldn't it be fun if . . .

I turned my out of control messy basement from this to this.

Transform the side of my house from this to this.

Overhaul the lawn shed and take it from this to this.

Turn the kids playhouse into a groovin potting shed that has a place for everything!
(It was the girls idea, they like to plant things and pretend they are horticulturists)

These are the ones I remembered to take before and after pictures.
I also tackled. . .
my craft room
the carport
the garage
the sports closet
painted my bed
hung a picture rail full of pictures in the living room
all to make up 11 surprises for Craig to celebrate his 11 years of being a dad!


The kids greeted his taxi from the airport with cards and a blindfold

as he was taken to surprise after surprise after surprise


most of the time his face looked something like this. . .


Sometimes he gasped, sometimes he laughed and sometimes he tried not to cry.


It all finished with cards and stories of why we love dad so much.

A Little Lesson:
What little lesson did I learn in this marathon week?

I learned that cleanliness is next to Godliness.
When you bite off more than you can chew sometimes you just have to swallow.
When you serve the ones you love, your love for them grows exponentially.
Staining wood is harder than it looks.
Big and little surprises make life so much fun.
Things don't feel as expensive when you are buying them for a surprise.
Shovelling and carrying 1/2 a yard of river rock can give you tendinitis.
My kids can keep a secret.
Love isn't something we have but something we must share.

Cheap

A Little Lesson:
Perhaps it's time to consider buying my sunglasses
somewhere other than the dollar store.

On Vacation

Emily got a new dress from Grandma Murley on the weekend.
As we were getting ready for church, Emily, upon looking at her self in the mirror asks,
"Mom, could you put my hair up and leave one of those little straggly hairs down?"
I tried not to act too excited as I ran to get the brush before she changed her mind.

I think this is the first time in nine years she didn't ask for a pony tail.

A Little Lesson

I believe we become who we decide we are.
Emily has always described herself as a tom boy.
Essentially that is what she is.
But I also believe, we should always have the right to take a
vacation from our self proclaimed labels whenever we like.
Emily spent the Sabbath in Paris.

My Garden's Growing

Outside
I'm raising
easy-going-doing-great-potatoes
sweet-fast-growing-strawberries
slow-and-steady-stalwart-corn
delicious-needs-a-little-pruning-tomatoes

A Little Lesson:
Turns out...
I'm raising those same vegetables inside the house.

Out of the Blue

Sometimes I like to up my game and have something like
this waiting for them when they get home from school.
It keeps them guessing, wondering, dreaming,
what will she do next. . .

A Little Lesson:
I think one of the best parenting philosophies out there is to
simply look at how God set it all up here on earth. He gave us
commandments to keep out of trouble, blessings to show his perfect
love for us, consequences that always fit the crime, stories in a book that
show us how others did it, and the opportunity to say sorry no matter what
we've done. Some days, from my Heavenly parent, I receive a blessing I didn't
ask for, pray about, or even deserve. Just like getting an ice cold rich, frothy, smooth
chocolate milkshake with whip cream on top, when all you expected for an after school snack... was a cookie.