Present: If you give Anna a cookie

If you give Anna a cookie, she'll probably want a glass of milk to go with it.
As she goes into the kitchen to get the milk, she'll probably notice the dishwasher didn't get run last night.
As she puts soap into the dishwasher, she may notice that there is a little room on the top shelf. She'll want to go find some dirty dishes to fill that spot.
She may may go into the bedroom to get the water glasses off the night stands.
As she gets the glasses, she'll remember that she wanted to wash the sheets today. She'll pull the sheets off the bed and carry them into the laundry room to put them in the washer.
While she is starting the washer, she'll wonder if there are any dirty clothes hiding in the kids' rooms.
As she walks down the hall, she'll notice that the linen closet is such a mess, the door won't close. She'll stop to straighten it up.
She'll notice the red curtains on the shelf - the ones she's been meaning to hang up in the kitchen.
She'll take them to the kitchen to hang them up before she forgets again.
While she's in the kitchen, she'll see the gallon of warm milk on the counter. And as she's putting it back in the fridge, she'll wonder where her cookie is.

This may or may not be a description of my morning.

My bed is unmade.
There is an empty glass on top of the dryer.
The dishwasher hasn't been run.

But, the curtains are hung. And the linen closet is straightened. That should count for something, right?

Our Artist

Megan had a painting displayed at the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Art Show. We are so proud of her and her hard work.

Present: What We've Done Today

I'm making an effort this year to say yes to the kids more. To do more with them. To be more involved. To be PRESENT in the activities they are interested in.

If you are still talking about what you did yesterday, 

you haven't done much today.  ~Author Unknown

Today, we have:

Played with a basket. Who know baskets could be so fun?

Created holiday decorations for Barbies with clay.

Started designing a Rube Goldberg machine.

What a fun afternoon. And the best part? My big kids cleaned up most of the messes from their projects without being asked. 

I am enjoying being PRESENT.

Travis's Latest Cake

Travis finished his cake decorating class on Monday. I am so impressed with everything he's learned and I'm looking forward to the upcoming holidays and birthdays, when he'll have a good excuse to decorate some fun cakes for us (any excuse for cake is a good thing, in my opinion!).

We Love Surprises

My father-in-law (who lives in Toucan) called this afternoon, asking what our plans were for dinner. Surprised, I said that we really didn't have any plans (I was planning to make cornbread from a box and pick up some chili from Wendy's. Cuz I'm an awesome cook like that. :D). He said that he was here in Houston for some meetings. He hadn't told us because he wasn't sure if he would even have time to see us, but his dinner hour was free and would we like to meet at a restaurant. Megan and Jared were bouncing in their seats the whole way to dinner, they were so excited. And Kate's face lit up when she saw him at the restaurant. It was a lot of fun to see him and a very pleasant surprise.

Present: An Epiphany

I had an epiphany today as I drove home through the rain.

If I am truly focusing on the PRESENT, 

I don't need to be kicking myself for the past - past mistakes, past shortcomings, 

they don't have a hold on me. 

A few nights ago, as I was laying in bed, some memories of mistakes I had made in the past came to mind. Things that I had thought I had fully repented of. Things that I thought I had moved past. As I was laying there, I started to doubt myself. To wonder if I was just imagining that I had been forgiven. An awful, overwhelming feeling of fear and depression filled me.

I thought, When we are forgiven, aren't we supposed to forget? When we repent, aren't things supposed to not bug us any more? Or weigh on us? Isn't forgiveness like a big pink eraser?

That night, I prayed. And I prayed. And I prayed. And I didn't feel any sort of resolution or hear any sort of answer. During the past few days, I've prayed. I've prayed to understand the process of repentance. I've prayed to feel that sense of peace that God will forgive me when I screw up, fall short, lose my temper. When my Natural Man side takes control.

And then today, as I was driving home, the thought hit me that these thoughts and feelings don't come from God. They come from Satan. They are full of self doubt and self pity and are the opposite of faith. Satan wants us to doubt ourselves, he wants us to doubt God.

Hebrews 8:12 says 

"Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more."  

Christ is speaking here.  The scriptures don't teach that WE will forget, but that Jesus and Heavenly Father will. 

In Alma 36, Alma is speaking to his son Corrianton, calling him to repentance. Alma speaks of his own past, his own mistakes:

"I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more." 

Harrow means to cause to suffer. Alma says his memories don't make him suffer any more because he has repented and been forgiven. He never says that he forgot them.

My heart filled with joy and peace. The past is in the past and I don't have to worry about it any more. I think that we are meant to remember our mistakes. They teach us. They help shape us into the people we are. They refine us. We aren't supposed to forget them, but we aren't supposed to dwell on them either.

Don't let yesterday use up too much of today. 

~Cherokee Proverb

Present: Enjoying the Moment

Oh, if life were made of moments,
Even now and then a bad one!
But if life were only moments,
Then you'd never know you had one.

(Moments in the Woods from Into the Woods, the Musical)

 Part of what I am trying to do this year with my word Present is to slow down and enjoy the little moments that just happen. Too often I find myself caught up worrying about "what's next" to focus on "what's now."

The kids had the day off from school, so we packed a picnic and went to have lunch with Travis at the Water Wall. The weather was perfect - warm and sunny, and everyone had a wonderful time running around, playing kickball (even Travis got into it in his nice dress clothes! That's something I love about him - he never hesitates to get in and play with the kids.)

It wasn't fancy or exotic or extravagant or anything. Just a beautiful moment, full of sunshine and laughter and family.

Travis's First Cake

For Christmas, I signed Travis up for a cake decorating course. He's been pretty excited. The first week, they just learned how to load and use the piping bags by piping onto plastic cards, they didn't do any actual decorating. But last night he got to frost and decorate his first cake.

I think it looks awesome and am looking forward to devouring it (have to take a big bite out of those Utes, right? ;) )

My Word for 2012 - Present

I picked my word for 2012.

PRESENT

I've never picked a word before, so I'm a little nervous. But I'm excited at the same time. This is something I've been thinking about a LOT and I am excited to make it a focus in 2012. 

(If you aren't familiar with One Little Word, basically you choose a word that you want to focus on for a year. You look for it all around you. You try to incorporate it in you writing and your reading and your art. You BECOME that word.)

Definitions:
existing or in progress right now
being in view or at hand 
existing in something mentioned or under consideration 
attentive, mindful, observant,
something given to someone without expectation of a return
to bring before the public in performance or exhibition
to make (one person) known (to another) socially

Synonyms and related words:
current
extant
immediate
instant
ongoing
present-day
here and now
moment
now
today
comp
bestowal
donation
carry
give
mount
offer
stage
focus

Ultimate Motivation

Christmas trees are the ultimate motivation for a little girl who is on the brink of crawling. She would dig her fingers into the carpet to drag herself a long. She would roll and scoot and throw herself face forward from a sitting position. She wanted the tree Sooooooo badly.

The Elf who-wouldn't-stay On The Shelf

Sugar Cookie joined our holiday traditions this year. She (Megan insists its a girl, Jared is sure its a boy. I'm going with Megan on this one) has had a lot of trouble just sitting on the mantle where she belongs. Every morning, she is someplace new and creative, doing something silly or holding little gifts for Megan and Jared. Sometimes she is naughty and mischievous. And I discovered, she is always high maintenance. Without fail, as soon as I snuggle down in bed, she discovers that she needs something. Something that requires me to get out of bed and trek into the living room.
Here are her antics this Christmas season.

Sugar Cookie, thanks for the fun and the memories. Try to be a little more well behaved next year, okay?

Kate's First Tooth

Kate got her first tooth on Saturday. She got her second tooth on Monday. We haven't gotten much sleep around here (cuz this tooth business is PAINFUL!) but we think she sure is cute.

If you click on the pictures, you can see her little teeth better.

I'm Baaaaaa-aack

After a month long bloggy sabbatical (with the occasional rant about our Elf and a temper tantrum or two), I am back and better than ever. The kids go back to school on Wednesday, and I am planning to spend some serious time catching up on blogs, photos, and scrapbooking. Prepare to be inundated.

New Years Eve 2011

People here in Katy love fireworks. I don't mean they like them. They LOVE them. Seriously. If I could think of a stronger word than love, I'd use it. Travis also LOVES fireworks. It's a match made in Heaven.....or Houston....or whatever. (I don't love them. In fact, they sorta kinda terrify me. Just a little. But when we were first married, I made Travis a deal - he could buy them and light them as long as they were legal. No driving across the border to buy the "good" fireworks. Legal. We were living in Utah at the time, and pretty much everything except sparklers were illegal, so I felt pretty comfortable with that deal. And then we moved to Texas....)

He was so excited for New Years Eve. We invited some friends over and had a fun time. The kids loved lighting the littler fireworks and they ohh'd and aaaw'd over the big ones. (And nothing caught on fire, so I was happy too.) It all lasted about half an hour, and then we cleaned up and went to bed.

I haven't ever gotten good pictures of fireworks, so I mostly just took pictures of people.

Here's Megan pretending to BE a firework.

Here's Kate, happy to be up an hour past bedtime.

Here's Jared, excited to help light fireworks (and then run like mad).

Here's Megan, writing her name with a sparkler.

Here is Megan and some of the Thomas boys. We're glad they came to celebrate with us!

We were done by about 8 pm, and had the kids in bed by 8:30. (Yes, we ARE super fun parents! How did you guess?) :D) At about 11:30 pm, Travis and our friend Paul went to another fireworks celebration. This one pulled out the serious fireworks. No namby-pamby sparklers for them.

While he was gone, the neighbors started THEIR fireworks show. It went on from 11:45 pm until about 1:45 am. My windows were literally rattling. Car alarms were going off up and down the street. It was SO loud. Jared slept right through it, but the noise woke Kate and Megan. Kate went back to sleep, but Megan stayed up and read until they were finished.