I am writing while I'm waiting for some cinnamon sugar breadsticks to bake. They smell tasty. Today was fast sunday. I love the gospel, I love its simplicity. I love coming to know my Saviour and my Heavenly Father. I love coming to know the version of me that they know, and the potential I have. That knowledge is really a slow process but so worth trying to get.

I think my mothering skills were lacking today. I don't know if it was hunger or PMS that made me grumpy and testy, but those were definite descriptive words of me today. Tonight Nathan and I talked about my interest in becoming a nurse practitioner. Is it worth the time and money...and effort? The knowledge interests me a lot, I know I love learning, but is it worth it? How much of my time with my kids would I be sacrificing? These are things I need to find out before making any decisions. Nathan is supportive of me going ahead with it if I really want to do it, he's fantastic.

Saturdays are often anticlimactic. I get up thinking of all the things to be done and things we could do as a family, and by about 3 in the afternoon I am annoyed because we are all still hanging around doing nothing! My high hopes have tanked again. The saying 'if you fail to plan, you plan to fail' goes through my head.

Today we had a birthday party in the evening, and so I took the little girls out for a short walk to the park for some fresh air. I love my time with my kids. I mean the time we aren't cleaning, or practising music, or doing the jobs of daily life. I love the kid time, hanging out and playing  without a schedule or place to be. I think I would have liked having children in the 40's. Less distraction from the outside world. I wonder if someone from the 40's would agree with that. Maybe I should create that as best as I can here. No tv, ipods, etc for a month. Just play games, read... I can just hear the weeping and wailing that would start off that little experiment!

at the park with my Alli pally

swings are much easier to get into with 2 ft of snow beneath you

at the party skating for the first time

Fun at school

Two days in a row at the school doing things with the kids. I think that is a record for me, I am typically not a school mom. I am the one who asks her kids when exactly they will be appearing in their Christmas concert so I don't have to watch everyone else's kid saying their line. If I thought my kids wouldn't notice, I don't think I would be showing up to much at school. No particular reason really, I just don't have that much interest. I would rather watch my kids at the park, of take them swimming. That maybe sounds bad, but it is what it is. For todays event,  I felt the advertising was misleading. I thought I was going to the school for literacy week, to read to my kids quietly in a corner of their classroom or something. It turned out to be 40 minutes of sitting on the gym floor, watching all the kids in school parade around the gym to show their costumes (grade by grade) and then reading a story with my kids for about ten minutes, then going home. I have to say 40 minutes on the gym floor does not a happy bum make. In the end though, the kids were happy I came to school for them.

I think if my expectations of myself were as low as my kids expectations of me, I would be a lot more content...but maybe an under-achiever. Imagine waking up every day and saying, "all I have to do is show up and act interested". Sometimes the act interested part is optional, show up and wave is more like it. Perhaps when the Savior said that we should become as little children it was council to appreciate the little things and find joy in those you love.

That being said, I have made a mental note to have something else to do on literacy day next year. At least until 2:50, then show up for the reading part. Old habits die hard.

Emma as 'Matilda"

Kate learning a backward role

playing airplane

giving up on backward roles and doing a front roll

Today was a busy day. I took Kate to gymnastics, brought lunch to my mom, went visiting teaching, dropped Kate at a friends to play, volunteered at the school, picked up Kate, did laundry, made supper, took the girls to piano,  fed kids, picked up the girls, took supper to my mom, put kids to bed and cleaned the kitchen. Although I did lots my house still looks like it threw up on itself. In Will's class, I taught kids about the trebuchet catapult. It is the one you see in most movies with catapults. The ones that launch those balls of fire at castles. I launched a red pom pom, I called it the flaming red pom pom of death, the kids appreciated that.

My little Kate is registered for preschool next year, which makes me pretty sad. I told her that I thought she should just always stay with me and be my buddy, she told me the dog would keep me company and protect me from monsters. In her world that means a lot.

I wonder sometimes what I would be like if I didn't get the opportunity to be a mother. Nothing is harder, nothing teaches me more about myself and others, nothing makes me strive to be a better person more than being the constant teacher and exemplar to the six little people who call me mom.

In the mountains with my besties 3 years ago

Two days in a row! Wow that is an accomplishment...for me. This morning we were woken by a ringing phone a 5 am. The thought of 'oh no something has happened' occurred to me and obviously Nathan to because he jumped up and answered the phone pretty fast. It was a telemarket scammer telling us there was something wrong with our computer! Nathan was so mad, I was trying to figure out how to block our number from those lists. Anyhow I should have just got up and started my day with a prayer and scriptures, I opted for my cozy bed. Will woke me up at 7:30 and the rush to get out for school began.

I am a better mother when I prepare myself for the day. I know that and yet too often I opt for my cozy bed, I opt for the 'rush kids out the door while barking orders' mother. I am grateful I get to spend my days with my Kate. She makes my heart smile.

Last weekend we went out to the foothills of the mountains and has a hot dog roast, went skating and sledding. It took a lot of convincing to get all the kids out of the house but once we got their they had a great time.

Family life

I have been avoiding looking at this blog because it is one more thing I have to do, but no more. My goal is 5 minutes a day...its the new year...we'll see how long this goal lasts. Our home teachers were over a couple of days ago and asked about our new years goals; Laurel said she didn't make any because she didn't want to set herself up for failure. I laughed and thought that I do that too, although I make the goals then wonder if they will really pan out.

We moved from Red Deer back to Okotoks in august. It is, as they say (who is they?), bitter sweet. We miss Red Deer and our friends and ward there. We miss the parks and the pools, the skating and sledding, and especially our family there. It is nice to be back though. It has been a great blessing to live in places we have really loved, and made such good friends everywhere we have lived.

We recently went to Florida for three weeks. We stayed at Joy and Phil's (aka Nathan's parents) Florida home, and we loved all of it. The weather...beautiful, the beach...wonderful, disney...so fun. I have to say my favourite was sitting by the pool, feeling the warm sun and watching the kids play in the water. They love to swim and it is such a great feeling being with your kids and watching them just enjoy being kids.

Okay that was longer than 5 minutes, but that is my penalty for almost a year of neglect! Here are some  Florida highlights.

Hawaii

On the morning of December 7, we woke the kids up early so that we could say family prayer before dad went on a work trip..or so we told the kids. After the prayer Nathan asked the kids who wanted to go with him to work, then he said, "I don't really want to go to work how about we go to Hawaii instead?". The kids agreed that sounded like a good idea, but I could tell no one really thought much of the suggestion. Then Nathan said well get dressed because we are going to Hawaii, our plane leaves at 8. By this time William lost interest in the conversation and went downstairs, Emma and Allison were jumping up and down, Katelynn and Michael were confused, and Laurel kept saying, "yeah right". It took some convincing and pulling out the itinerary but Laurel finally believed us and we were able to get our gang to the bathroom and out the door.

The Laie temple in the background

Hawaiian hikes are so beautiful

The kids loved being buried to their necks in sand

dancing lesson at the polynesian cultural center

We spent 10 days with our fantastic family in Hawaiian paradise. There were 40 of us there in total and we stayed in three houses all along the beach from each other. The kids are still asking to move there.