Blogging

I installed a counter on my blog. I share this little tidbit, not in case you missed it but, because I am so freakin' proud of myself for figuring out how to install it with only one phone call to my brother in law Rob via Amy, to find out my IP address. I just knew this blog would help me become less of a computer idiot. Thanks to all of you who stop by and visit an extra huge thanks to all who leave comments.

I love the self-discovery process this blogging thing has become; my sister Jenny who lives across the street and is, thus, here quite often, tells me I appear very Zen like and unflappable on my blog...she wants to assure you, that is not always or even often the case. I have noticed, however, that I am more aware of the joyful, funny aspects of my families day-to-day adventures and I find it easier to focus on the fun rather then the irritations as I view my life from the point of view of my blog readers.

I wonder if I viewed God as the reader of every blog entry I write by my daily reactions to life, my children and my spouse, would I get as frustrated, would I judge myself as harshly, would I turn on my children or spouse with anger and irritation or would I look towards heaven and laugh asking the great Father of us all, help me see the humor and growth in this event so that you'll love reading it and I can be glad you do.

I have come to know myself so much better over the past few months, I am Zen like and unflappable on the outside most of the time; it's on the inside that I struggle. Today as I attempted to do yoga the instructor cautioned us, in her most Zen like voice, not to be hard on ourselves because we couldn't do certain poses, "Be nice to yourself then you can be nice to others" she said. I am so hard on myself...I tell myself how fat I am and how unorganized my life is, how if I just had a little discipline I wouldn't let myself down all the time I even hold a nasty secret belief that there are women who's laundry is actually done. I hold up an ideal which is a combination of my perception of the very best strengths of everyone I know and then I beat myself up because I am less then that Ideal. Reading your blogs helps me know I am normal and that I am wonderful because I don't have perfect discipline and I'm not the perfect size and my life is chaotic yet I still manage to live and love and serve and bless others. Your blogs let me know that you are struggling with the same things and that we really are all here to learn from experience and that God judges none of us.

Enough of that, I am just learning to love me which, according to the yoga instructor on channel 11, will help me love you and you are wonderful :) you deserve to be loved.

Eat Your Hearts Out Ladies

What woman doesn't dream of spending her day surrounded by handsome, adoring men? Ellen DeGeneres you say? well you've got me there. OK, so for the many women in this world who would love to spend their days being loved on by eight wonderful, albeit short(some of them) men; welcome to my life. Click on the picture to read Adams shirt.









This morning Adam climbs up to stand on the bar, "Mom I'm tall" he proudly tells me.
"Yes you are" I reply.
"Mom, I'm smart" he declares.
"Thats for sure" I nod.
"Mom, I'm naked" He yells.
"Tall, Smart and Naked, you're the man of my dreams".
"Mom, come closer and I can catch you" as he prepares to jump to me.

Eat you heart out ladies he's tall, smart and naked and he's all mine. Until he discovers real girls that is.

A while later Joseph walks in with a pair of son glasses on top of his head and asks,
"Mom, how do I look?"
"Like a handsome cool movie star!" I answer.
"Yep!" he says.

Thats my Joseph, strong, handsome, silent type. I'm a lucky women.

Sleddin' Baby!

Grandma and Grandpa Smith invited us all to come sledding at Jolleys' Ranch up Hobble Creek Canyon today. Grandma brought awesome chili and Grandpa brought a can of WD40 because... umm, thirteen kids and seven adults on a sledding hill can never have enough speed?

We had a blast, Benjamin, Amanda and Hayden were about 6 feet from the top of the very steep hill behind us before we yelled at them to come down. Benjamin was really bummed about not making it to the top, he'd rather climb then sled.

Once Isaac figured out how fun it was he never stopped even for food. Josh and Miah were kings of the hill, Josh got in trouble for trying to go up and over the embankment at the bottom. Jacob was the official push off guy. Joseph and Adam were fearless snow warriors and by the end of the trip Adam had all the little girls on the hill carrying him and his sled back to the top, charming little devil.

Susan had fun taking pictures and took a couple of runs down the hill. Richard took a couple turns on the sled can't get shown up by the teenagers.

After an hour on the hill we gathered at the pavilion, ate chili and drank hot chocolate, oh, next time you make a mug of hot cocoa try dropping a handful of butter mints in it, very Good!

Baby Dorothy was the cutest part of the day. She was completely covered by a pink snow suit except for her chubby little cheeks and gorgeous face. (Of course I didn't get a picture)

We missed Jamey she was doing laundry...come on girlfriend, snow melts and laundry is never done, never, never done! Brian brought the fastest coolest sleds so we were glad he was there.
Grandma and Cori Ann hung out by the fire and Emmy and Amanda hung out in the truck, smart women, dry and warm.

Fun times!

Following Instructions

This morning Joseph came in to my bedroom where I lay in bed not willing to face the day quite yet. He asked me to get him some milk, I sighed and said, "Sure buddy, will you get me my bath robe?"
"What's a funeral?" he asks.
"My BATHROBE!" I enunciate.
"Your blue rope?" he questions, with a confused look.
"Joseph, you know, my blue thing I wear, that is in the bathroom, that has a string to tie around my waist."
His Face lights up, "Oh I know he says" he runs to the bathroom.
A couple minutes later he returns with an embarrassed, proud, slightly freaked out look on his face. He stands in front of me for a second then holds up his fist and opens his hand to offer me a tampon. "Is this what you want Mom?" He asks?
Well, it was in the bathroom, it is mine, and it does have a blue string. I was proud of myself!
I didn't start laughing until I had got my robe, put it on, poured his milk and sent him in to watch Nick Jr.
Poor little guy.

Mistakes

One of my favorite blogs is listed as HollywoodFlakes on my Blogs I Love list. Hollywood is a skilled writer who writes amusing and thought provoking(albeit, often silly thoughts)
essays about life and experiences. Today Hollywood invited her readers to share in the misery she has experienced as she tried to complete a writing assignment on her 'worst mistake'.

After reading 44 anonymous comments some funny and silly but many filled with terrible pain I left my comment. Richard asked me to include it on my blog today.

My biggest mistake ever!!! Is that I let GUILT cloud the memories of the life experiences that are teaching me who I am.

God gives us repentance so we can live our lives learning from the experiences which we, in our self-judgmental, guilt ridden pain, call mistakes.

Regret is a tool for realizing that our actions and choices, in any given experience, may not have represented who we are. All these experiences we call life, are teaching us what we are, or what we are not. If we waste our lives feeling guilty over the experiences that taught us what we are not, then we miss out on fully living the experiences that teach us who we are.

Love yourself enough to stop doing what you are not and start being who you are.

Go find that lost love and get your closure; or accept that you will always love that individual and that that love adds to, not detracts from, your current relationship.

Quit that meaningless job that doesn't provide for you and makes you miserable, go do what you love. College and degrees are meaningless, experience and love qualify you to be what you are passionate about, go be it.

Let go of the pain, it is not you. You are a creation of God, he is not punishing any of us, he is a loving forgiving father, His only pain is how cruelly we punish ourselves.

Why do we let the past destroy the present and predict our future?

Every religion offers as it's highest reward a paradise in the presence of God free from pain, worry, guilt, and regret. Ironic that all of those feelings are experienced in the present but come from the past or are from our prediction's of the future based on the past.

Each moment fully experienced is paradise!

Fully experiencing each moment is the presence of God. It's not a location it's a way of life.

I love me, I am my greatest success.

Guilt Sucks, and never the right things.

Joseph and Adam Sing

I Am trying to figure out how to get Videos right side up.



Tiffany help! How do I get this my videos right side up?

Isaac

Isaac has been saying some funny things lately, thought I'd share a few. My unspoken answers are in green.

The night before Valentines Day, I'm buying a half-dozen roses so Jacob can take flowers to a few of his girl friends at school. Isaac asks me, "Mom, who are those flowers for? Are you buying those flowers for Dad to give you for Valentines Day."
Hmmm, that's not a bad idea Isaac.

At the grocery store one night I ran into a young girl from our ward whom I haven't seen for a while. I notice she is pregnant, congratulate her and ask her how she's feeling, she says, "Good other then I have Bronchitis". Isaac, who has been listening in, interrupts the conversation and asks, "Mom, What's frogchitis?"
That's when you mistake kissing frogs for doing... other things with frogs and end up with two children before you're eighteen. (sigh)

One morning I was taking Isaac to school when he says, "Mom, I don't want to go to school today because they're just going to read boring books to us".
"Isaac you love when I read you books"
"I know Mom, but they are going to just have some random person read us some random book and it's just going to be so boring".
Random, thought, I have to put up with your random excuses to stay home from random school, every random day, so if on a random day some random person is boring you with a random book I don't random care.

A couple months ago a neighbor boy, with some challenges, was over visiting me. He was complaining that he is always bored at home, I suggested that he read some books. He told me he can't get interested in reading. Isaac pipes up and says, "Tyler, you have to be interested in things or you'll always be bored, if you read lots of different books you'll find out the things you're interested in and then you'll never be bored".

Wow, Isaac thats incredible advice for a 6 year old, I guess all that random book reading at school is turning out OK after all.