I had a fairly good week, especially if I'm allowed to just throw Thursday out of the equation.
Monday and Tuesday were great school days. The kind where everything just flows, Jonzy's brain clicks on everything-even the things he's been struggling on, and we breeze through multiple lessons in each subject and get ahead of schedule.
Wes and I were pretty sick on Monday, but after everyone slept until 8:25!!!! on Tuesday morning we were all happy. Tuesday was the best day this week. The house was clean. School went well. The boys screamed at each other so much less than they have been lately; smiles and sunshine all around while it stormed outside.
Wednesday we started to falter a bit. And yesterday...it's a good thing we got ahead during the week because I had zilch in the patience department.
Today is looking good so far except that there's already too much on the schedule that I'm afraid won't get done in time. And we're off!
Hope you all had a fulfilling week!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thankful Thursday
"I'm not happy, Bob. Not happy."
Movie, anyone?
It's time to focus on some gratitude! Once again presented in list form.
-Eyes. My boys' eyes. All eight of them:)
-hot apple cider with cinnamon
-a working furnace
-blankets
-snow
-cold air...outside
-my totally awesome van
-homeschooling
-cute Halloween and fall decorations
-clouds that hang low on the mountains so you can see the peaks over the top of them. Gorgeous!
-spots of bright blue sky among puffy black, gray, and purple storm clouds
-marriage covenants
-a deep conviction about marriage no matter what I hear about divorce
-nieces and nephews
-SF Giants baseball loving family
-pumpkins
-apple dumplings...time to make some more
-co-op awesomeness
-friends
-being privileged to know so many amazing people
-sleeeeeeeeeeeep
-quiet nights with Bret
-hymns
What are you thankful for today?????????????????????????????
Movie, anyone?
It's time to focus on some gratitude! Once again presented in list form.
-Eyes. My boys' eyes. All eight of them:)
-hot apple cider with cinnamon
-a working furnace
-blankets
-snow
-cold air...outside
-my totally awesome van
-homeschooling
-cute Halloween and fall decorations
-clouds that hang low on the mountains so you can see the peaks over the top of them. Gorgeous!
-spots of bright blue sky among puffy black, gray, and purple storm clouds
-marriage covenants
-a deep conviction about marriage no matter what I hear about divorce
-nieces and nephews
-SF Giants baseball loving family
-pumpkins
-apple dumplings...time to make some more
-co-op awesomeness
-friends
-being privileged to know so many amazing people
-sleeeeeeeeeeeep
-quiet nights with Bret
-hymns
What are you thankful for today?????????????????????????????
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Thankful Thursday
Soap and I are good friends. My hands are dry to prove it.
It gets my hands clean after changing diapers or cooking food (not at the same time!).
It cleans up my dirt-loving-constantly-sweaty boys.
It cleans the hands of my little fellow who played with the dirt clods by the pond the ducks and geese frequent. And you know what follows wherever birds are...With a good, soapy scrubbing I don't have to cringe when he puts his fingers in his mouth. Unless of course he puts his fingers in his mouth before I can wash them, as happened today. Yuck.
Soap cleans my dishes so we can eat off them again and again.
It makes me feel refreshed and clean after a shower.
Soap is pretty darn awesome and I don't think it gets its fair share of praise.
I love you, Soap! Thanks for all you do for me!
I am thankful for soap today. And frozen lasagna; which is currently in the oven soon to be eaten as part of an easy delicious dinner after a busy day.
What are you thankful for?
It gets my hands clean after changing diapers or cooking food (not at the same time!).
It cleans up my dirt-loving-constantly-sweaty boys.
It cleans the hands of my little fellow who played with the dirt clods by the pond the ducks and geese frequent. And you know what follows wherever birds are...With a good, soapy scrubbing I don't have to cringe when he puts his fingers in his mouth. Unless of course he puts his fingers in his mouth before I can wash them, as happened today. Yuck.
Soap cleans my dishes so we can eat off them again and again.
It makes me feel refreshed and clean after a shower.
Soap is pretty darn awesome and I don't think it gets its fair share of praise.
I love you, Soap! Thanks for all you do for me!
I am thankful for soap today. And frozen lasagna; which is currently in the oven soon to be eaten as part of an easy delicious dinner after a busy day.
What are you thankful for?
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Bad timing
Last month I opened the mailbox and found a couple magazines that I had not subscribed to. I thought perhaps the postwoman had put them in the wrong box, but nope- there was my name on the front sticker.
It was two issues of a womens mag; a how to be a Barbie kind of thing. One proclaimed the secret to sexy thighs was inside and the other how to get sexy abs. I joked to Bret that they probably had a goal to work the word sexy into every cover. He said it was probably true.
I am not a fan of magazines, they're usually full of mindless garble that I just don't have time to read. I hoped it was just a one time publicity stunt to try to get me hooked on the magazine and pay for a subscription.
Today I opened the mailbox to find another issue. Great.
Bad timing.
I have been struggling lately in trying to overcome my personal temptations and be happy. Today was a huge internal war. The last thing I wanted was one more thing to fall on my plate that I didn't ask for but now had to deal with. This was definitely not something I wanted to deal with ever, let alone today. I was upset with the magazine company before I even pulled the thing out of my mailbox.
And when I did pull it out- what should one of the large teasers on the front be but "sexual confessions!" Now it was also a trashy magazine that they wanted me to bring into my house:/
I was so upset that I sent the boys outside to play so I could immediately figure out how I could cancel this stupid business. I opened up the issue to try to find a customer service number. Didn't see anything in the first few pages, so I flipped to the middle where the subscription cards were to see if there was any info there...Only to be distracted by big red words reading "55% watch porn every week."
Filthin' foul filth! Are they kidding me?!?!
I read half a paragraph underneath for some sort of explanation, only to read, "So don't sweat it [if your man is into porn]. Glimpsing at porn a couple times a week is normal."
Gah!
That's when my eye was caught by the picture in the middle of the page.
GAH!
I slammed the thing shut, wondering how to find a number without having to open it again, and started yelling at the magazine for containing trash. That's when curious Jonz came back inside to ask what I was yelling about. I told him that I was upset that someone had sent me a magazine that had bad things in it and he went back outside.
I finally was brave enough to try again and found a teeny tiny customer service number to call and also a "tell us what you think" email address. While I was on hold, the "tell us" thing had me wanting to tell them what poor taste it was to write about porn being an okay thing and there were probably women who would read that and think, "oh...okay." I decided not to because I didn't want them to have my email address and end up getting more publicity stunts. As I was hanging up the phone after a successful cancellation (turns out the subscription was a "gift" from a website I shopped at), Jonz came back inside and said, "It's not good to put bad things in magazines, huh?"
"No, it certainly isn't," I replied. And then he said, "You should tell them," and walked back outside leaving me stunned. Yes. I should tell them. So I did. Thanks for giving me the guts, Jonzy boy:)
And so I opened up my email and sat there for a long time trying to come up with a way to word things professionally and to the point. I started out just being matter of fact and pointing out that it was not okay to conclude that just because lots of people do something that it's normal and okay; and that they shouldn't print false conclusions like that. But by the end of my 10-15 sentence email, I was tired of beating about the bush, sick of wasting time, and beyond fed up with the situation. So I told them that- printing such things in a magazine sought after by weak-minded women is shameful, to say the least.
My only excuse...bad timing.
Maybe I would have been nicer about it on a different day.
Maybe.
It was two issues of a womens mag; a how to be a Barbie kind of thing. One proclaimed the secret to sexy thighs was inside and the other how to get sexy abs. I joked to Bret that they probably had a goal to work the word sexy into every cover. He said it was probably true.
I am not a fan of magazines, they're usually full of mindless garble that I just don't have time to read. I hoped it was just a one time publicity stunt to try to get me hooked on the magazine and pay for a subscription.
Today I opened the mailbox to find another issue. Great.
Bad timing.
I have been struggling lately in trying to overcome my personal temptations and be happy. Today was a huge internal war. The last thing I wanted was one more thing to fall on my plate that I didn't ask for but now had to deal with. This was definitely not something I wanted to deal with ever, let alone today. I was upset with the magazine company before I even pulled the thing out of my mailbox.
And when I did pull it out- what should one of the large teasers on the front be but "sexual confessions!" Now it was also a trashy magazine that they wanted me to bring into my house:/
I was so upset that I sent the boys outside to play so I could immediately figure out how I could cancel this stupid business. I opened up the issue to try to find a customer service number. Didn't see anything in the first few pages, so I flipped to the middle where the subscription cards were to see if there was any info there...Only to be distracted by big red words reading "55% watch porn every week."
Filthin' foul filth! Are they kidding me?!?!
I read half a paragraph underneath for some sort of explanation, only to read, "So don't sweat it [if your man is into porn]. Glimpsing at porn a couple times a week is normal."
Gah!
That's when my eye was caught by the picture in the middle of the page.
GAH!
I slammed the thing shut, wondering how to find a number without having to open it again, and started yelling at the magazine for containing trash. That's when curious Jonz came back inside to ask what I was yelling about. I told him that I was upset that someone had sent me a magazine that had bad things in it and he went back outside.
I finally was brave enough to try again and found a teeny tiny customer service number to call and also a "tell us what you think" email address. While I was on hold, the "tell us" thing had me wanting to tell them what poor taste it was to write about porn being an okay thing and there were probably women who would read that and think, "oh...okay." I decided not to because I didn't want them to have my email address and end up getting more publicity stunts. As I was hanging up the phone after a successful cancellation (turns out the subscription was a "gift" from a website I shopped at), Jonz came back inside and said, "It's not good to put bad things in magazines, huh?"
"No, it certainly isn't," I replied. And then he said, "You should tell them," and walked back outside leaving me stunned. Yes. I should tell them. So I did. Thanks for giving me the guts, Jonzy boy:)
And so I opened up my email and sat there for a long time trying to come up with a way to word things professionally and to the point. I started out just being matter of fact and pointing out that it was not okay to conclude that just because lots of people do something that it's normal and okay; and that they shouldn't print false conclusions like that. But by the end of my 10-15 sentence email, I was tired of beating about the bush, sick of wasting time, and beyond fed up with the situation. So I told them that- printing such things in a magazine sought after by weak-minded women is shameful, to say the least.
My only excuse...bad timing.
Maybe I would have been nicer about it on a different day.
Maybe.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Feeling Fulfilled
It's Friday again. And you know what that means around here:)
I didn't accomplish all that much from my list every day this week. But I did make extra efforts in the patience department. The results were not as great as I would have liked, but I put that down to my boys combining their three drives for independence into one formidable foe. So it's been a fair week;)
As it stands right now, my nearly-three-year-old-twins are really doing their nearly-three-year-old duty to test every boundary over and over and over and over and over again. It's grating on my nerves. I can handle this kind of business remarkably well (that's my horn- toot toot!) until about 5 pm. Five to 8 pm are trying hours. And darn it, if I can make it to bedtime without wanting to throw someone out the window then we've survived the day alright.
But.
Bedtime has become an issue around these parts.
Jonz does fairly well. He's usually good about falling asleep when it's bedtime. Al and Goose on the other hand...currently those boys are toeing the how-much-you-wanna-bet-til-Mom-flips-out line. They think they're hilarious. Jonzy's giggles don't help the matter. Currently, Jonz is sawing logs and the twinners are "whispering" (classic two year old whispering is SO loud!) and jumping off beds. Lights out was 90 minutes ago. It's driving me bananas; as it has every other night in recent history.
Why, boys? Why must you test my patience so on the very week I've determined to be more patient??? Haven't you discovered yet that no matter what you do the bedtime boundary is 20 feet thick and you just can't get through it?
I didn't accomplish all that much from my list every day this week. But I did make extra efforts in the patience department. The results were not as great as I would have liked, but I put that down to my boys combining their three drives for independence into one formidable foe. So it's been a fair week;)
As it stands right now, my nearly-three-year-old-twins are really doing their nearly-three-year-old duty to test every boundary over and over and over and over and over again. It's grating on my nerves. I can handle this kind of business remarkably well (that's my horn- toot toot!) until about 5 pm. Five to 8 pm are trying hours. And darn it, if I can make it to bedtime without wanting to throw someone out the window then we've survived the day alright.
But.
Bedtime has become an issue around these parts.
Jonz does fairly well. He's usually good about falling asleep when it's bedtime. Al and Goose on the other hand...currently those boys are toeing the how-much-you-wanna-bet-til-Mom-flips-out line. They think they're hilarious. Jonzy's giggles don't help the matter. Currently, Jonz is sawing logs and the twinners are "whispering" (classic two year old whispering is SO loud!) and jumping off beds. Lights out was 90 minutes ago. It's driving me bananas; as it has every other night in recent history.
Why, boys? Why must you test my patience so on the very week I've determined to be more patient??? Haven't you discovered yet that no matter what you do the bedtime boundary is 20 feet thick and you just can't get through it?
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Thankful Thursday
Today I am thankful for peace.
I don't always feel it, but it comes if I ask for it and I cultivate the environment for it.
That punk Satan tries to drive it away. Shamefully, I sometimes follow. The past few days I've tried to better recognize his efforts and I've been shocked at how often he tries...and even more shocked at how often he succeeds, not always in driving away peace, but in leading me to think about going down paths that will not end peacefully.
Jerk.
He is out there. He is actively pursuing me and my family.
I am so thankful to have access to peace during this war that I am determined to win.
What are you thankful for today?
I don't always feel it, but it comes if I ask for it and I cultivate the environment for it.
That punk Satan tries to drive it away. Shamefully, I sometimes follow. The past few days I've tried to better recognize his efforts and I've been shocked at how often he tries...and even more shocked at how often he succeeds, not always in driving away peace, but in leading me to think about going down paths that will not end peacefully.
Jerk.
He is out there. He is actively pursuing me and my family.
I am so thankful to have access to peace during this war that I am determined to win.
What are you thankful for today?
Friday, October 8, 2010
It's time for FFF
Feeling Fulfilled Friday has arrived again!
And this week...hmmmm...
I've come to the conclusion that patience is my most fulfilling attribute.
When I'm on top of the patience game, boy do I feel fulfilled and like I can do this thing called motherhood with some degree of success.
When I struggle with patience, it seems that the fulfillment found by doing other things found on my list is fleeting at best.
I have discovered that patience is the hinge on which all this fulfillment business swings for me.
I knocked all sorts of things off my list this week. And it felt great to get those things done and experienced. But at the end of the day, I am still left feeling like hitting my head against the wall while chanting failure, failure, failure with each smack. My patience fuse has been so short this week...pretty much for two weeks.
I'll keep working toward fulfillment by doing the things I feel fulfilled doing, but I think to get that lasting feeling I'm going to have to focus mostly on patience.
And as my son screams behind me, I'm not quite sure I can do this...but if I couldn't, I wouldn't be here would I?;)
Don't forget to check out MamaBlogga for more FFF fun.
And this week...hmmmm...
I've come to the conclusion that patience is my most fulfilling attribute.
When I'm on top of the patience game, boy do I feel fulfilled and like I can do this thing called motherhood with some degree of success.
When I struggle with patience, it seems that the fulfillment found by doing other things found on my list is fleeting at best.
I have discovered that patience is the hinge on which all this fulfillment business swings for me.
I knocked all sorts of things off my list this week. And it felt great to get those things done and experienced. But at the end of the day, I am still left feeling like hitting my head against the wall while chanting failure, failure, failure with each smack. My patience fuse has been so short this week...pretty much for two weeks.
I'll keep working toward fulfillment by doing the things I feel fulfilled doing, but I think to get that lasting feeling I'm going to have to focus mostly on patience.
And as my son screams behind me, I'm not quite sure I can do this...but if I couldn't, I wouldn't be here would I?;)
Don't forget to check out MamaBlogga for more FFF fun.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Thankful Thursday
I'm going to keep it simple today.
I'm thankful for my dvd player, one speaker television, and vast collection of movies.
Bret's going to be gone on business trips this month. I get particularly lonely at night. Once the kids are in bed and I've gone through my email inbox, I really enjoy putting on a movie on those nights he's gone. I hardly turn up the volume and turn on the subtitles. When I'm lord of the fort, I like to be able to hear my kids breathing. Not sure why, but I get scared if I don't hear them peacefully breathing and rolling around. The layout of our house lets me watch a quiet movie downstairs while still being able to hear them upstairs in their bedroom. When Bret's gone, all I want to do at night is watch a movie (after we've caught up on the phone, of course:)).
So, thank you dvd player, one speaker television, and vast collection of movies. You've provided me a nice way to relax at the end of a busy day and face a lonesome night.
What are you thankful for?
I'm thankful for my dvd player, one speaker television, and vast collection of movies.
Bret's going to be gone on business trips this month. I get particularly lonely at night. Once the kids are in bed and I've gone through my email inbox, I really enjoy putting on a movie on those nights he's gone. I hardly turn up the volume and turn on the subtitles. When I'm lord of the fort, I like to be able to hear my kids breathing. Not sure why, but I get scared if I don't hear them peacefully breathing and rolling around. The layout of our house lets me watch a quiet movie downstairs while still being able to hear them upstairs in their bedroom. When Bret's gone, all I want to do at night is watch a movie (after we've caught up on the phone, of course:)).
So, thank you dvd player, one speaker television, and vast collection of movies. You've provided me a nice way to relax at the end of a busy day and face a lonesome night.
What are you thankful for?
Monday, October 4, 2010
What is it with moms and lists?
Why does making a list make me feel like I'm better organized? What is it about seeing things in list form that helps goals seem more attainable? Hmmmm....
It's not the full list, but here are some things that make me tick; that really make me feel fulfilled:
Lindsey's ToDo Fulfill List
-Swallow the desire to yell and successfully use a quiet voice
-A clean kitchen (whether I was the one who cleaned or not;))
-Clean laundry folded neatly in drawers
-Prepare and enjoy a healthy meal with my family
-Read for fun at the end of a productive day
-Shower and girl up;)
-Wake up before boys, study scriptures and pray, pray, pray!
-Help Jonzy learn about someone/something in the scriptures and figuratively jump for joy when he mentions it at another time
-Choose to do/not do something that results in kicking Satan and his minions further from our home and family
-Not just teach, but enjoy school time
-Mop
-Get everyone out of pajamas by 10 am
-Memorize a verse from a hymn
-Continue in consistency; they'll learn to say please eventually!
I don't cross everything off my list everyday, but it's a grand start I think:)
Check out MamaBlogga's list, too.
It's not the full list, but here are some things that make me tick; that really make me feel fulfilled:
Lindsey's To
-Swallow the desire to yell and successfully use a quiet voice
-A clean kitchen (whether I was the one who cleaned or not;))
-Clean laundry folded neatly in drawers
-Prepare and enjoy a healthy meal with my family
-Read for fun at the end of a productive day
-Shower and girl up;)
-Wake up before boys, study scriptures and pray, pray, pray!
-Help Jonzy learn about someone/something in the scriptures and figuratively jump for joy when he mentions it at another time
-Choose to do/not do something that results in kicking Satan and his minions further from our home and family
-Not just teach, but enjoy school time
-Mop
-Get everyone out of pajamas by 10 am
-Memorize a verse from a hymn
-Continue in consistency; they'll learn to say please eventually!
I don't cross everything off my list everyday, but it's a grand start I think:)
Check out MamaBlogga's list, too.
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