MIA in Montana

Last week my husband and I traded in our flip-flops for snow boots. My husband was attending a conference in Montana, and as his airfare/lodging/food were paid for, I decided to accompany him.

Logic would argue that leaving a sick kid and a half potty-trained toddler to go on vacation would be an easy thing to do. It was surprisingly tear jerking. But, I knew I was leaving them in good hands, and a bajillion thank-yous to my parents who were willing to meet the task and allow us to go MIA for a bit.

We reversed our bad vacation karma... or at least we made it work in our favor. It snowed every day we were there. When my husband wasn't in class, we were enjoying surroundings such as this:

Or skiing and playing in the snow:

One night, we took a moonlight trip on top of a snow cat to dine in a yurt packed in snow. It felt a little bit like a scene out of Star Wars:

Trips into unfamiliar territory always expand our horizons, so here is a list of things I learned while in Montana:

• Cold weather requires a minimum of 5 layers of clothing (underwear, long underwear, base clothes, sweater, jacket/boots/hats/mittens). Allow 5-10 minutes to get dressed or undressed.
• While living a "Downton" life is enjoyable from the housekeeping point of view, multiple clothing changes a day are overrated (breakfast clothes, ski clothes, dinner clothes...).
• I am not as awesome looking while skiing as I had imagined myself, thanks to a photographer who took "action" shots of me.
• There are more people who resort-hop and ski all winter long than you might think. My experience is that they are either retired or transient. In either case, alone.
• It is very possible to find oneself on top of a snow cat, in the snowy forest, on a cold winter's night, with a bunch of drunk people. Kind of surreal.
• Drunk people laugh at anything. This can be to your advantage if you are sober.
• Hot chocolate at breakfast is a requirement when it is snowing outside.
• There is a meatloaf in existence that combines beef, bison, and elk meat and is then wrapped in bacon. As the waiter put it, that's 4 animals in one bite!
• I used to think that not having cable in our home was a sacrifice. I have learned that cable only gives you more options of nothing to watch.
• Cindy Crawford's skincare line uses a secret anti-aging ingredient only found in melons grown in southern France.
• For a limited time only this $170 skin care line is available for $39.95!

Lessons that were reinforced:

• Your hair dries faster and gets awesomely straight in the West.
• I hate hotel tubs that back up.
• Having time to discover the world as a couple is priceless.
• I love my husband and children dearly.

Guess What's in the Scripture Case!

And now it's time to play, "Guess What's In The Scripture Case"!!!

Today's scripture case is royal blue with black handles. It sports 1 exterior pocket, allowing an ideal spot to collect all sorts of treasures for a boy. 

If the scripture case's handles broke and a mother had to empty the contents of this pocket to fix them, what would she find?

If you guessed:

• Sunday socks that have been missing for weeks
• A golf tee
• A part for the Primary Program
• A bag of congealed Big League Chew bubble gum
• Artwork from Sunday school including- a somber group of children, a doubting Thomas?, and what appears to be an alien

...then you are a winner!

Perhaps I will someday treat you to a peek at the collection inside the pockets of MY scripture case. I am confident that some things date back to my college years. I suppose I could consider it a spiritual time capsule...

Battle Wounds

A couple of months ago, I was shopping in my local big box store. As I perused the frames and home decor, I overhead a young adult employee talking with her friend about whether or not she was going to have children. Paraphrasing her response, "No. I just don't want my body to go through those changes." And then, perhaps noticing me (and my not so svelte body) with my stroller  across the aisle, added "I have friends who have had babies, whose bodies look even better than before they had kids, but it scares me. ... I mean, it's my body." I smiled inwardly, but I pitied her at the same time.

It's not that I haven't been there. I remember the anxiety I felt when I was pregnant with my first baby and wondering what my body would look like during and after pregnancy. I remember looking in the mirror before I was showing and thinking in a sort of mournful way, "This is the last time I will see my body this way. From now on, it will be forever altered- completely different from how I have ever known it". Kind of melodramatic, yes, but true nonetheless.

Those are real and sincere anxieties that I assume most woman feel. Pregnancy is an experience like none other, and one in which you have little control. It is the unknown and it is not easy. And coming to terms with the changes your body undergoes is... an education to say the least.

But, two kids later I've tried to start viewing my altered body in a new way. Perhaps it's Stockholm Syndrome, but I have pride in knowing that my squidgy midsection and shapeless belly button are battle wounds that come from creating and bringing life into the world. They are evidence of sacrificing my body for another. A pretty noble act, if you ask me.

Yes, I still strive to fit into a certain dress size, appreciate control top panty hose, and worry about future incontinence. And it's great to want to maintain a healthy and fit body. But, if you are avoiding having children in order to avoid those changes, then you are truly missing out on something greater than yourself. The changes my body has gone through have brought me two of the greatest joys in my life. Something far more significant than flat abs. And let's face it, if childbearing doesn't get you, there's no escaping aging.

I hope that my big box friend will wise up. I hope she will realize the beauty and honor in motherhood. I hope that she will realize that bearing children is a beautiful thing (more figuratively than literally...). I hope she will realize that the things in life that bring us the greatest joy always require sacrifice. And, most importantly, I hope she will consider that if she is choosing one over the other, that her abs won't be able to visit her or take care of her in her old age.

Life's a Potty

Here are enough potty stories to last a lifetime. This is my life...

• My daughter is currently potty training, so I am especially hypersensitive to the word 'potty'. A delayed reaction to that word is life or death. I was especially jumpy one weekend afternoon when my daughter kept talking about her brother being at a "birthday potty". It was like living with the Wiggles singing "it's a dinosaur birthday potty!" in their Australian accents (which truly did have my son confused when he was a toddler, until I explained what they were really singing). As fortune would have it, later that day my son created a song whose only lyrics were, "Disco party!" My daughters enthusiastic version of the song put a smile on my face (yes, I know I need to grow up).
• My daughter has just recently been introduced to "Despicable Me", and thanks to the dedicated tutorship of her uncle she has been taught to yell, "Oh yeah!"-- Vector style. This is normally cute, unless it is while I am carrying her to the bathroom after she has had an accident. 
• The other night, my son moved my daughter's step stool into the bathroom for her, a job that she was already undertaking. This resulted in my highly independent daughter crying and yelling at my son in protest and anger. My son claimed innocent intentions (which is questionable), but I advised him to just leave her alone and let her do it. My son was miffed by her ingratitude. In an effort to help him empathize with his sister I asked, "You like to do the things that you can do, right?" To which my son honestly responded, "Not always". Touche.
• And lastly, I think my daughter may be employing defense techniques of pythons when in distress. Twice now, she has had an accident while crying. Once on me.

The Party of the Century

At school, my son's class was practicing writing invitations. When he handed me the guest list, I knew we weren't talking about a birthday party at Burger King.

Note that the time runs from 1:00 am-12:00 pm, and that it appears our activities will include a baseball game and football Super Bowl. Not sure how our neighbors will like this... and we will need a bigger house.

Albert Pujols is honored with his top choice at #1. Looks like the list is heavy on athletes with several baseball and football teams invited. I was relieved to see I came in at #6, Dad came in at #14, sister is #26.

Personal favorites include: 
25. Author of Boxcar Children books
34. Crispey Cream people
35. Vance Law (former BYU baseball coach)
36. Andrew Law (played for BYU baseball)
37. Adam Law (played for BYU baseball)
38. Their other brother (played for BYU baseball)
43. Pizza place
44. Other pizza place
46. Duncan Donuts

And what I can only suppose is a bipartisan effort:
47. Obama
48. His wife
49. the children
51. their dog

Christmas 2012 Recap

Christmas break ended last week and we are officially back into the routine of "real" life. Now that my daughter is older, I was happy to find the break much more relaxing. It was so fun to reintroduce our Christmas traditions to her more mature self. She loved the music, was curiously disturbed by hanging ornaments on the tree, loved all the lights ("ites!") on the houses, and she was especially fun to watch Christmas morning as she learned all about opening presents. My son eminated Christmas joy all month long. He just soaks it all up. He especially enjoyed his annual visit from Joey (Santa's elf), who brought a friend for my daughter this year.

I found myself busier than I had hoped during the first week of my son's break. As I stood in line in a store one day with my kids (who were wearied by errand running) I made a mental note to myself to have my preparations done before my son's school break- and hey, here's a novel idea, maybe even start preparing for Christmas during November! If I can do that, I am hoping it will leave more time to just relax and enjoy the season together.

One night, at the end of my son's first week of break, I began to feel some real mommy guilt for having not even broken out a single craft or treat to do with my kids yet. It was truly unbearable, so I hurried and scoured Pinterest for ideas, then emptied my craft bin onto the table. With a few official projects in mind, the next morning we crafted. I was happy to give my kids some time with "fun mom", and my son cutely declared how much he loves crafts. A smile and a pat-on-the back for me, with a tinge of guilt that we had not done crafts earlier. Here are is a sampling of their work:

Our new Christmas presents have slowly been absorbed from our family room into our home, and Friday night we officially un-Christmased our house. The tree is on the curb (which sight always makes me feel like a thief who has stripped it of it's rainment, wounded it, and departed leaving it half dead) and the decorations are back in the garage. It's been sad to see the season come to an end. 

But, not to worry! That void in my life has been filled with something equally as magical and anxiety laden. Potty training! To be continued...

Merry Christmas!

"At this Christmas time of year, we rejoice in the birth of Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, who has invited us all to come unto Him and into the light. We can read in the scriptures of the men and women who were blessed to literally come to Him at the time of the Nativity. Some came from afar, while others were closer by. Some received angelic visitations, and others acted on personal revelation. But each accepted the invitation to come to Him.”

 

“Our journey to Him isn’t physical; it is spiritual and behavioral. It involves accepting and embracing the fact that His Atonement is infinite and covers every aspect of our lives—our sin, weakness, pain, sickness, and infirmity. It means that we can let go of those things that hold us down in the gloomy fog … and live instead in the warmth and love of the Light of the World. As President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, has taught: ‘The words ‘come unto Christ’ are an invitation. It is the most important invitation you could ever offer to another person. It is the most important invitation anyone could accept.’” 
-Elder Patrick Kearon

Thank you to my enablers past and present!

Moving Forward

As news broke about last Friday's elementary school shooting in Connecticut, I experienced a range of emotions- disbelief, sorrow, fear, and anger. As a mother, news stories like this are especially unsettling, because it is instantly personalized. I asked myself, what kind of society am I raising my precious children in? Truly, I realized, we are living in a time when "men's hearts wax cold" (Matthew 24:12). I can only have faith that our children are born strong enough to meet the challenges they will be faced with.

I find great comfort in John 16:33, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of  good cheer; I have overcome the world," as well as Sister Burton's teaching that "All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ." The Atonement will heal our wounds.

In the meantime, I believe that these events are a symptom of a deepening infection in our country- a disregard for human life and glamorization of death/darkness. I hope that our nation can honestly, boldly, and shamelessly pinpoint the causes of this sickness (and I have my opinions about what those are, but that's another post for another day) and take the necessary steps to eliminate it for the welfare of our children and our country.

Children's Christmas Books

Every year, I try to pick up a Christmas book to read with my children (and because I like picture books). Last year, I picked up "The Story of Christmas" on a gamble and was pleasantly surprised. It tells the story of Jesus' birth using text from the King James Bible, and the accompanying Scherenschnitte (bless you!) illustrations by Pamela Dalton are beautiful.

This year I got "Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree" by Robert Barry. I was unintentionally being very responsible in my selection, because all of the reviewers raved about it's green message of recycling (which is what Christmas is all about, right?). I just thought it's seemingly infinite storyline was clever- like a Fibbonacci spiral... kind of. My son, on the other hand, declared the story "annoying" when we finished. Ahhh, the christmas memories I'm creating with my little ones.

I have a handful of other books. Do you have any recommendations?

"I Det"...

... or, "I do it," for those who don't speak my daughter's language. 
These three words can strike fear in the heart of any within hearing distance... or at least those involved with said toddler. When those three words are spoken, I know 3 things: 

1. My daughter has had a sudden stroke of independence, 
2. A task that normally takes 30 seconds will now take 7 minutes.
3. Any form of "help" (even the smallest gesture) will result in my daughter protesting, undoing what I did, and doing it herself from the beginning- increasing a 7 minute process to 15 minutes. Crying can commonly accompany this process.

I then have 4 choices:

1. Choose my battle- If we have all the time in the world, I can indulge my daughter in her desire to learn to be independent.
2. Bribe/Reward- If we are short on time, this will sometimes speed up the process.
3. Rasslin' Time- If option 1 & 2 are not working or not an option, it can get ugly. She is surprisingly strong and determined for such a little thing.
4. Curl up in the fetal position until the moment has passed- If options 1,2, 3 have failed, this is the only choice left. I have not yet made it to this level, but I have been close.

I suppose history has proved that the road to independence is never easy. Especially, when you have tyrant that insists on buckling your car seat or helping you with your jacket.

The Service Challenge

For the next 28 days our family is taking a Service Challenge. Our goal is to perform an act of service (simple or great) each day through Christmas day. At dinner each night, we will share with each other how each of us served that day. Tonight was our first night to report. Here is a sampling of that conversation:

My Son: "For my service I offered to help Derek with a job at school."
Me: "That's great!"
My Son: "Yea, but I didn't actually end up doing it."
Me: "Why?"
My Son: "I got busy doing something else."
Me: "That was a good try... Next time you should try to do what you said you would do."
My Son: "Ohhhh, okay. I also talked to someone I don't normally talk to."
Me: "That's great."

Me: "For my service, I drove my son to school."
My Son: "Yea, I wrote about that in persuasive writing."
Me: "Really?"
My Son: "Yeah, cause you know, I had to kind of whine to get you to take me? That's what persuasive writing is. Persuading someone to do something."

[Pause- My thoughts at this point: 1.) That rascal KNOWS what he's doing! 2.) Good thing he isn't playing his cards too close to the chest... I don't think I'll alert him to that fact. 3. What am I up against?] 

Me: "I drove you to school because I wanted to. Not because you whined." (Which whining, for the record, was minimal and a huge improvement in attitude from the past couple of weeks.)
My Son: "Oh. It was your service?"
Me: "Yes."

Happy Thanksgiving!

- By My Son