The Big One

Yay for Thanksgiving! Yay for everything we have to be grateful for!

So I started this post on Wednesday, and I've been so busy enjoying my blessings that I never finished it. So I will skip the long, long list, and just mention briefly my biggest blessing so that I can promptly get back to being with them.

Adam. I'm grateful he's sitting up now. He hated lying down! My arms & back are appreciating the break. I'm grateful we're one tooth down (two now! See what happens in two days?)--cutting teeth stinks. What a sweet little boy. He loves being a part of everything, and always wants to be in on the action. I love his little froggy voice. I love the way he watches his brother. I love his ear-to-ear grin.

Isaac. Hooray for potty training! I so dreaded it, but the Bug is a champ! I am super impressed with him, and I'm glad we waited awhile to start. Isaac is my little energizer bunny. He's always causing mischief, but not because he's naughty; he's just curious. He says the funniest things, and he's always making me laugh. He asks me 'how was your run?' And tells me to 'be careful' when I "jump" in the shower. He says "Cute, Mom!" When I get ready for church. He has an incredible memory.

Ed. What a blessing in my life to be married to such a rock. He is the perfect antithesis to all of my weaknesses. He is so willing to help me and support me and love me. He doesn't roll his eyes when I say I want to work on a certain aspect of our marriage; he is on board. He wants our relationship to be strong, and he is willing to work for it. He is my better three-quarters. I hope that I can progress to the point someday that I can be the strength to him that he is to me.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for God and His plan for all of us. All of my blessings descend from this one. When I really open my eyes and realize how much aid I receive from heaven on a daily basis, it is difficult to comprehend. I will never be grateful enough.

Happy (Belated) Thanksgiving!

SBB

Wisdom

I am grateful for women, insight, and knowledge of an identity that transcends mortal purposes.

Earlier this week I read an article about plastic surgery, saying that a lot of women in Utah (as compared to other states) have some sort of procedure done. That surprised me. It was also timely, because the Mr. and I had actually had a conversation about cosmetic surgery that morning.

I've been thinking a lot the past few months about my identity, feelings of self worth, etc., and trying to find a way to improve the way I feel about myself. The article, along with my recent musings, caused me to post the following on Facebook:

"At some point in my life I unconsciously decided that my value lies in exterior factors. Physique, for example, or my ability to keep the house clean. Others' opinions of me, the clothes I wear...it's quite an extensive list. Do I realize that is is a false belief? Absolutely. Do I know how to discard it? Absolutely not. Discuss."

I was surprised by how many people responded, and I appreciated the insight offered by many of my friends. I thought I would share some bits and pieces of what was said:

"I think our culture trains us to feel the way you have described. From birth we are praised for being pretty, for an amazing piano performance, or for getting good grades, so of course those are the things we aspire to and place value on. I'm not saying our parents and teachers were superficial, its just natural, but as we raise the next generation, I think we should look carefully at how we praise children. Notice hard work, kind acts, good attitudes, effort, character and praise and reward those things every bit as much as the easier to notice but more superficial things. I wonder if that could make a difference."

All of those are our ego, what we perceive to define ourselves ourselves, but those things are not us. We have to realize we are not the pounds on the scale, the sad past, the cute hair, the funny laugh...etc....we just are. We have to find that inner self, our divine nature, I call it, and worry less about the ego and more about the divine.

"I think that it goes back to our motivation--or WHY we do things. Keeping a clean house can be a very good thing ( a house of order is a house of God). Having a healthy body is important too. We just need to make sure that our motivation comes from having our thoughts and desires be one with God's."

"I've come to the conclusion recently that the only one who can help me with it is Christ, so I have to put more trust in him to help me see the good in me and help perfect me as well."

"I've started to realize all that matters is how I remember others and serve in the ways Heavenly Father asks of me and that I'm kind to others regardless of how I think they view me. I think Elder Uchtdorf put it best when he said: "Just think of it: You are known and remembered by the most majestic, powerful, and glorious Being in the universe! You are loved by the King of infinite space and everlasting time!"

"I've found that the way to overcome it is to study the scriptures consistently. That is where the source if True self esteem lies. The more we familiarize ourselves with the word of God, the more we familiarize ourselves with what is truly important and the more innate positive feelings of self worth are...When we're familiar with the scriptures our default feeling of self worth is positive, without having to give ourselves pep talks to love ourselves. We just already do. The scriptures are powerful."

Thank you for the reminders!

SBB

Gobble Gobble

Today I'm grateful for:

Good friends. Taking the Bug to play at someone else's house for a morning is like eating a Fenton's black & tan sundae. No, wait, it's better.

Batman (This would be Adam--don't ask me where I got that nickname) taking a two-hour nap because big brother wasn't home to cut it short.

A happy, smiley baby who just woke up from a two-hour nap.

Craft time with the Bug. I'm not the cool, fun, involved mom I envisioned myself to be at 16. I'm working on it, though. Who knows--maybe if I dabble in 'cool mom-ness' enough, I'll earn the title one day.

The temple.

Free Agency.

The Mr. And the dishes he washed last night.

Okay, now it's your turn!

What are you thankful for?


I want your thankfuls on my tree.


SBB

Moments

Today I am grateful for

A Moment


(August 2011)

A moment when I chose to slow down and forget the to-do list

A moment of sitting on the floor with my boy and really seeing him.

It is so easy for me to forget what a special boy I have. Nothing is more important--there is no task to accomplish that could overshadow the value of a drop of time and attention in the bucket that becomes him.

This is my boy. And for all the little things that put me at my wit's end, there is love and laughter and sweetness ten times more if I will just see it.


SBB

I am thankful for



My Thankful Tree

I have decided to go back through the year and put all of my 'Thankful Thursday' blessings on this year's tree. It has been a great opportunity to look back and remember all that I have been grateful for. It seems like so much has happened this year. It has gone so quickly and yet, when I look back on my blog posts from last fall, it seems like so long ago. Life was different with only one child. It is so much fuller and richer now. I have felt grateful all over again as I realize my many, many blessings.


I noticed that certain 'blessings' repeated themselves often. Good thing you can be grateful for things more than once :)

Here are some that showed up quite a bit:

This one

and this one

I'm also grateful for fall and all of the holidays and activities that come with it, The Mr's job (a year this week--I can't believe it!), and a great week full of good days

SBB

P.S. Are you getting your water down? If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out my Monday post. I'm doing a health challenge and I want YOU to do it with me.

Tell me how you're suppose to discipline with a straight face when your kid turns around and he's got a mustache drawn on his face.

The funny thing is, this was all done under "adult supervision". I'll give you two guesses as to which adult was supervising.
And a clue: it wasn't me.

Giving a 'thumbs up'. You'll notice those aren't his thumbs.

Cleanup

It's been an interesting week. I'm starting to think that the baby blues are a little more than the baby blues. I have found several ways to fight it, or at least get a little reprieve, and those are the things I am grateful for:

Music. Oldies especially, or anything clean and upbeat. Uplifting works to.

A project. I started on a crochet project that has kept me busy off and on. At least it keeps me from pulling my hair while I am sitting. I like to crochet and listen to conference talks.


Listening to conference talks.

Forgetting about the housework I don't feel like doing, and just being with the boys.

Getting outside/the sun.

Getting exercise.

Being around other people.

NOT going to Walmart :)

I'm also grateful that it comes and goes. I woke up from a nap this afternoon with a burst of energy, and was finally able to create some semblance of order out of my wreck-of-a-house.

This is how most of my house has looked for most of t he last two weeks. Let's be honest; this is a cleaner portion of the house. Much cleaner. Thank you, Isaac, for documenting. Thank you, also, for the 79 pictures you took with your fingers in front of the camera lens.

No worries, though. It could be a lot worse, there are still good days, and I can still count my blessings. I'm grateful for a supportive husband who works hard to help out. We're just keepin' it real. Next week I'll show you my Thankful Tree. It's coming along!

SBB

A Week's Worth

Today I am grateful for an awesome long weekend.

I've been fighting off some baby/cold weather/daily grind blues lately, and it was just what I needed.

Saturday morning the boys and I got to watch Ed do a triathlon. He did great! Second place in his age group, fourth place for the men, and fifth place overall. We were so proud! His brother raced, too, and did awesome! Later that day we went to a family birthday party, and topped the night off with a BYU win. It was a good day at the P. household.


I'm thankful for an ambitious and fit husband and for family.
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Church was particularly uplifting on Sunday, there was a great turnout for choir, and we had delicious stew with our upstairs neighbor-friends.

I'm thankful for the Gospel, people who sustain me in my calling, good food that I don't have to prepare, and friends.
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Monday the Mr. took a day off work and we all played. It was wonderful. He let me sleep in, and we had omelets for breakfast. We took the Bug to a little kid center called Jungle Jim's with a playground and a bunch of rides. It was great because 1. He could ride the rides as often as he wanted. 2. Parents were free, and they let us ride all the rides with him. 3. The employees were super nice and accommodating. 4. It was fun to let him dictate his own activities for once. I feel like I'm always telling him what not to do, and cutting off his play time. There weren't even any screaming fits when we had to leave.

"Momma, you ride Maximus"

"I gonna get you"

It was nice to fall in love with my kid again. Does that sound weird? Some days I forget to slow down and enjoy him, and he is such a fun, sweet, amazing little person.





I'm grateful for rest and relaxation, a happy Bug, cheap, family-friendly entertainment, and especially for a husband who is considerate and mindful of my needs.

Happy living!

SBB

Fall is in the air! I celebrated today by wearing a scarf and long sleeves, putting the Bug in a sweater, and making soup.

I love this picture.

This week I am thankful for:

Adam's happy screeches.

The Bug. That kid is killing me. He's got more personality than any one person should be allowed. It seems like he has grown up a ton just in the last week.


Repentance.

Cooler days that are still warm and sunny.

General Conference. It didn't disappoint--now I have to go back and re-read all the talks fifteen times.

Fall. I think I love Fall. I'm just always so preoccupied with winter's looming imminence that I forget to enjoy it. Seriously, how is it October? Didn't Christmas just happen?

Our umbrella stroller. So, crazy story: two weeks ago I accidentally left a stroller outside a friend's apartment a few blocks away. I didn't even remember until a few days later. I called my friend, but she hadn't seen it. I walked the grounds of the apartment complex and it was gone. I was disappointed, but it's just a stroller--there are worse things to lose. Today I was walking home from another friend's house, and saw a stroller that looked an awful lot like the one I had lost. The owners of the house were outside, and I asked them about it. They didn't speak english, but their son interpreted (I don't know how to say stroller in spanish), and one of the ladies walked over, picked up the stroller, and handed it to me. I could not believe we had found it, especially nowhere near where it had been lost! So I'm really not so grateful for my stroller as I am for answers to prayer. I feel like I list that one a lot, but I am. In the scheme of things it wasn't a big deal--we had the money to replace it, and it wasn't very expensive to begin with. We had other strollers we could use. That's what is so cool to me. It may sound silly, but I know that I was led to find the stroller; it wasn't just dumb luck. It's a testimony to me that God cares about us--big things and little, too.

So we're coming up on Thanksgiving, which usually means I bring out the old Thankful Tree. I'm not exactly feeling the urge to drive down to Payson, pull it out of storage, smash it into my car, and find a place for it here. But believe me, we WILL have a thankful tree. So start feeling grateful. Any comments left about what you're thankful for will go on the tree and I'll send you a dollar for your contribution.

Okay, that last part isn't true. Come on, people! It's a thankful tree, not a money tree! Isn't being grateful enough?

SBB

This Weekend

Today I am Grateful for...

General Conference!

Watch it. You will be so glad you did.