Be The Light

While driving home after picking Grace up from school this afternoon, we passed a kid on the side of the road holding up this sign.  I loved it so much that I had to take a picture.  Grace, of course, was super embarrassed -- especially because she recognized him as someone who had been in one of her classes last semester -- but it made me smile and I think we need more of that in the world today!  :)

Love, Joy, Peace

(My Sunday evening scene.)

This month, our Scripture Time scripture has been Galatians 5:22-23:  "But the fruit of the Spirt is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."  Our January efforts to increase our joy were supposed to be focused on doing the things that would help to create an environment where the Spirit can dwell.  The irony of having such a lofty goal is that it always seems to bring out the most adversity, and I spent Friday night bemoaning our results to Scott, as I recapped a month that has seen more than its fair share of fighting and freak-outs and failure to achieve.

(I told them yesterday that February's focus to increase our joy was going to be on creating and compassionate service.  They  were super excited to get a jump start on the creating part.  Hahaha.)

Ethan keeps trying to convince me that February is America's least favorite month, but that can't possibly be true.  January is the worst.  And perhaps it's the cold and the housebound-ed-ness and the too-much-time-together-ness that has contributed to this month being so frustrating, but I can't even tell you how many times I've gotten on the kids' cases this month about not doing chores (or anything, really, to contribute to our family and household) and about the massive amounts of disrespect and disobedience that has been flying rampantly about.  

 (Sophie's artwork.)

 (Jane's and mine -- I drew the picture, she watercolored it in.)

(Ethan was doing his own creating by creating some beautiful background music for us.)

In fact, I was borderline crying while venting to Scott and reflecting on the fact that I didn't feel like ANY of those fruits of the Spirit were present in our house this month.  And if those fruits haven't be present, then -- by implication -- clearly the Spirit has been absent this month as well.  And I really, truly felt that way.  I've spent much of January feeling like I'm totally failing in implementing the Church's new "Come, Follow Me" curriculum in our family, and in addition to that I've felt like my efforts with our family's "Shout For Joy" theme has fallen completely short as well.  

 (They couldn't find paintbrushes so they improvised.  Hahaha.)

 (Grace hopped on board the creativity train as well.)

BUT.  That very night, I had a middle of the night moment, where I felt Heavenly Father's tender mercy reminding me of all the times that we HAVE felt the fruits of the Spirit this month.  When Jane came in our room at 4 in the morning (because she had fallen out of bed) she kindly let me tuck her back into her bed rather than insisting on climbing into ours.  After giving her her inhaler because she was sounding wheezy, I made my way back to bed, but not before stubbing my toe on the way out.  I yelped in brief pain, waking up Sophie who asked in concern if I was okay, and after assuring her I was fine, I stumbled back to my room and tried to fall back asleep.  Before that happened, though, I had memories flash to my mind of all of the love and joy and long-suffering and goodness I had witnessed just in the last few days!

 (Even Alex -- who typically hates all things art -- got in on the action as well.  AND, I think he really enjoyed himself!)

There was the love I felt for Jane as I helped the poor little lamb back to bed.  There was her goodness in going back to HER bed.  There was Sophie's goodness in her concern for me when I stubbed my toe, not to mention the love and comfort she tried to give to Alex when he had his bus stop incident the other day.  There's Ethan's long-suffering with how frustrating it can be to round everyone up at night for Book of Mormon and family prayers, and MY long-suffering as I've tried to stay patient and calm when the kids have had their meltdowns this month.   And there's been love and gentleness from everyone all around towards Maxwell this weekend as he's been recovering from whatever made him so sick.  In short, there have been MORE than enough moments this month to help us feel the Spirit and to experience times of joy.  I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who is patient with me even though I am so frequently impatient with myself.

 (Another Jessica and Jane creation.)

 (I've gotta brush up my art skills for that children's book I plan on illustrating for my 40 Before 40.  Hahahaha.)

(Sophie's finished product blew me away!)

I'm also grateful that January is almost over and my personal favorite month is on the horizon.  :)  Look out February, because I have a feeling it's going to be our most joyful month yet!  Hahaha.

 (Jane.)

(Today, Alex drew a 2nd draft of the same picture, and was SUPER happy with how much better it came out this time around.)

January Check In

(In happier times, playing dress up, at Puppy Training Class on Tuesday night.)

Today has been a doozy! Although, technically, I guess it's been building since Wednesday afternoon when Isaac threw up on the drive home from preschool.  Yesterday afternoon, however, had a double whammy hit.  FIRST, Alex came home from school distraught and crying over an incident that happened while waiting for the bus.  Apparently, a kid tried to choke him and then ran off and then ran BACK and jumped on him and knocked him into a wall.  Adding to the surreal-ness of the episode is that the kid who "attacked" him was not some burly 3rd or 4th grader, but a 1st grader.  I think Alex hit the nail on the head last night when I was talking to him at bedtime and asked him to explain again what exactly happened -- "It sounds kind of funny when I say it out loud," he said, "but it wasn't funny when it happened."  Hahahaha.  (And just as a side note, he was laughing while he was telling me this time.) He was understandably nervous about going to school today because he was afraid it would happen again, but I promised him that I'd emailed his teacher and talked to the school and they were going to take care of things.  That didn't stop him from locking himself in the bathroom this morning and refusing to go to school, but luckily something made him change his mind at the last minute.  And just what was that, you ask?  Well, I asked him, too, and his answer had me scratching my head in perplexity as to how bizarre my kids can be.  "It's Diverse Abilities Day," he told me, "and I don't want to miss it."

The SECOND whammy that hit yesterday afternoon (and that trickled into today) was that I ended up taking Grace in to see the doctor last night after Scott got home from work because she's been complaining about a sore throat and a swollen lump on one side of her neck for the last couple of days.  Well, it turns out she has an infected lymph node, and since we already know she's allergic to 3 different classes of antibiotics, the doctor had to prescribe something new.  And that new drug is making her throat burn whenever she takes it.  The jury is still out on whether or not we should be overly concerned about that, but it did influence me to check her in late this morning to school.

The other reason I was checking her in late this morning?  Well, apparently she was up with the dog two different times in the night because he had to use the bathroom, and even with that I still walked in this morning to find dog diarrhea in three different spots on the carpet in her room.  Fun times!  Not.  Well, Grace tried to clean it up, but the smell made her gag and puke.  Then she ran out of pet odor spray for the carpet and I had to run to the store to get more.  And finally, after checking her in and keeping an eye on the puppy throughout the day, things went from bad to worse with him not really eating or drinking, laying around/sleeping most of the day, and continuing to have diarrhea which now had blood in it as well.  Once he vomited this afternoon, I made a call to the vet and, of course, they wanted to see him.

Their first concern was that it could be Parvo (a potentially fatal virus for puppies if they don't get treatment right away), but thankfully he tested negative.  After talking with the vet, and taking some x rays to make sure he hadn't swallowed anything that was causing the problems, they gave him some fluids for his dehydration and sent me home with an antibiotic and a prescription for an extra bland diet for the next several days.  I'm still not exactly sure what is going on, but after talking to the doctor and telling her that I had just bought some freeze dried, raw meat mix ins this week for his food, she thought it could be possible that he got salmonella.  The x ray tech also saw something in the X-ray that looked like potential pancreatitis, though, so who knows?  Poor Maxwell!  I mean, I totally know how to take care of children -- but taking care of a puppy??  I feel like the newest of the newbies. Hopefully, he'll be feeling better soon and all will be well.

 Waiting in the car for the vet tech to come out and check him for Parvo.

Alright, that was quite a lead-in, wasn't it???  Hahahaha.  To finish off the post tonight, I'll get to the main point -- a quick check-in on what everyone's been up to in the last month!

Ethan --

Mainly stressing about school.  But the good thing is that I've seen an attitude shift from him over the course of the school year, and I think all my wonderful words of wisdom are finally sinking in.  Hahaha.  In all seriousness, though, I can see in him that he is no longer allowing the things that are hard to weigh him down and lay him low.  He is actively turning to the Savior for help and strength and he is no longer allowing himself to be a victim of circumstance.  As a mom, I couldn't be happier or more proud.

Grace --

Oh Grace.  She continues to be the child that I simultaneously sigh in exasperation over while also beam with pride.  For all her antics and craziness, she is (at core) a good girl.  I can always count on her to tell me exactly what's going on.  She can't lie and she doesn't want to.  And I appreciate that!  I always joke with Scott that I prefer her willful and outright rebellion to the alternative of sneaky and deceptive guile.  Thankfully, her tropical storms are becoming less and less frequent and when she's not in a mood she's a delightfully entertaining conversationalist.

 Her newly created photo display in her room.

Sophie --

This month, Sophie has taught herself how to play "Burn" on the piano from the Hamilton musical.  She's also taken to singing it rather earnestly while playing and her latest is request is for singing lessons for her birthday next month.  She's also already excitedly talking about the upcoming middle school talent show and is really enjoying the theater class she is taking at school.

(Unrelated, but I forgot to add this picture into the post about New Beginnings last night.)

Jane --

Asthma girl stayed home from school yesterday because her wheezing was so bad, but thankfully, she was sounding better today.  She made me laugh out loud this morning when I dropped them off and told Alex and Jane to say a little prayer on their own in their hearts since we had forgotten to say family prayers after scripture time.  "I always say a prayer to myself during Rise and Shine, " she said.  And I said, "Oh really?  Why is that?"  "Because they say you can," she replied in the most duh, matter-of-fact kind of way.  Hahahaha.  {"Rise and Shine" is their morning assembly every Friday at school.}

Alex --

Well, I think we've covered the highlights -- or rather the lowlights -- of his month already, but in other news, his latest obsession is beyblades.  After pestering me for an entire week with requests for "money chores," he "earned" enough money to buy one earlier this week.  To say that the sound of the spinning top hitting the floor over and over again is a nuisance is an understatement.  Hahaha.

Isaac --

Let's see.  We've given up potty training for the time being -- because he was 100% uninterested -- so instead of making things WAY harder for myself (and ultimately for him) by forcing fetch to happen, I decided to just chill for a few weeks and try again later.  He can't want to wear an easy-up forever, right????  Hahaha.  I figure even if we can't REALLY work on it until school is out and it's summer time, it doesn't really matter in the eternal scheme of things.

Me --

Alright!  Now I get to check in on my 40 Before 40 progress.  (See HERE for my list.)  Things I have started to tackle include:

• 5K training -- I have a 12 week program to ease me gently into running again since it's been over a year since I've been able to do anything thanks to a wicked case of plantar fasciitis in my right foot.  The program include strength training, running, yoga, and core work and week 1 is almost in the books.  It's been good to feel sore again. :)  {Also, my plantar fasciitis has made a complete turn around after using some essential oils on it for a couple of weeks.  I know, I know, it sounds kooky, but it was bothering me so much and I was in so much pain and desperately wanting to run again that I was willing to try anything.  My "miracle salve" as I jokingly call it is in a 10 ml roller bottle with 25 drops DoTERRA AromaTouch, 20 drops Lemongrass, 25 drops Deep Blue, 10-15 drops Copaiba, and then topped off with liquid coconut oil.  I rolled it on my foot every 2-3 hours for the first few days and from there I try to do it at least once or twice a day.} 

• Finish the Old Testament -- 4 or 5 years ago, I started reading the Old Testament with the goal to read it all the way through from start to finish.  But then, I got mired in Isaiah and never finished.  This year, I've picked back up with Isaiah and instead of reading, I've been listening to it for about 15-20 minutes each day while I'm cleaning or working on projects, etc. and it's been fantastic!  I am fully confident now that I'll be able to finish the Old Testament before I turn 40.   :)

• Painting -- the whole house isn't finished YET.  But I've certainly made some progress this month.  Two rooms down and a couple more to go before I turn it over to the professionals to finish off what I can't do.

The couch cushion plus paint chip color samples.  The Sea Serpent is in the library, the Dovetail is in the Piano Room, and the Mindful Gray is in the Dining Room.  I've decided to continue the Mindful Gray in the front entry way and halls, and I'm 90% sure I want to do the Morris Room Gray in the Family Room/Kitchen.

• Learn a new classical music piece -- I'm excited about this one!  I haven't learned it yet, but I've settled on WHICH classical music piece I'm going to play: Claire de Lune by Claude Debussy.  I've always loved this piece and I've always wished I could play it.  Here's to #goals.  Hahaha.

Scott --

This month, Scott has been up to the usual -- working hard and humoring my eccentricities.  Hahaha. J/K.  But not really.  He's really enjoyed his new calling in the Young Men's program, working with the deacons, and continues to be my hero every morning by waking up early and driving Ethan from seminary to school, before heading into work.

And that about does it!  Happy Friday, everyone!!  :)

New Beginnings

Last night was our ward's New Beginnings for the Young Women.  It was doubly exciting this year to have TWO of my three girls in attendance.  Sophie won't be 12 for another few weeks, but with the new changes this year to the way the program advances, she's been a full-fledged Beehive since the beginning of the month!

{There were hearts with all the Young Women's names on them, and for an activity during the program, everyone wrote things they admire or love about the other girls.  You know my Words of Affirmation loving self LOVED this idea.}

The youth theme for the year is, "If ye love me, keep my commandments," and the decorations reflected all the love.  I'm so grateful for the amazing leaders my girls have!  The love and attention they give them is a blessing.

I'm especially excited for Sophie this year.  Everywhere we've ever lived, Grace has tended to have a great, big group of girls her age to be friends with at church.  Sophie, on the other hand, seems to have always had a really small group.  This ward, however, has a TON of girls in Sophie's Beehive class and I am so thankful they are all so friendly and kind.  Sophie has really hit the jackpot with fun and spunky friends, who all get along really well.  :)

(There are at least another 2 or 3 Beehives.)

Grace was there, too, and even though she's not always super stoked to have to go to church activities, the fact that she has good friends to socialize with when she's there makes it slightly more tolerable.  ;)  The only real downfall of the evening was that we weren't able to linger longer very much after the program and I didn't get any pictures of her with her friends.  That, and the fact that all three little kids were still up and awake when we got home after the activity.  Doh!  Let's just say that we paid for that a bit this morning.   Dun dun dun.  Hahaha.

It's hard to believe that we're already almost a full month into the new year!  Stay tuned tomorrow night for a Last Friday of the Month check-in on my daunting 40 Before 40 list.   :)

Painting Progress

It's been a productive weekend!  After finishing up the dining room on Saturday, I kept going full steam ahead and finished painting the piano room yesterday afternoon.  And I'm not gonna lie -- as much as I really do love painting, by 5 o'clock yesterday evening I was completely DONE.  I don't know what the deal is with the texture of the walls in our house, but they were a pain in the you know what to fully cover.

The finished dining room.  Trim and Wainscoting -- Simply White by Benjamin Moore, Walls -- Mindful Gray by Sherwin Williams.

That being said, I couldn't be happier with the results.  I really, really love how the colors look on the wall, and an added bonus is that almost every kid has commented on how much they love the color in the piano room.  {It's Dovetail by Sherwin Williams and I'm in love, too.}  There's nothing like a fresh coat of paint to really spruce up the place.

 Ugh -- that trim color.

I haven't really put the rooms all back together yet, but I figured I'd post a little of the progress now and once everything is set up I can put up some really great before and after shots.  So, even though Grace reminds me continually that I'm not a professional, I've painted a room or two in my life and I'm happy to share all my secrets here on the blog.  {Disclaimer -- I am NOT a professional.}

 So much better!  Trim -- Simply White by Benjamin Moore, Walls -- Dovetail by Sherwin Williams.

First of all, I'm super lazy, so I do as little prep work as I possibly can.  Like seriously, as little as I can possibly get away with.  There were only a few things I bothered with taping -- the floor under the baseboards so I could go faster while painting the trim and a few wall edges that needed a sharp line dividing rooms because they were different paint colors.

I was so aggravated -- I literally ran out of paint with THIS much left to paint.  Thankfully, Scott came to my rescue and went back over to the paint store to get another gallon.

Second, I really do think that the paint used makes a big difference.  I've been going with the Sherwin Williams Emerald line in a Matte finish for the last few years.  I feel like I'm almost always able to get away with one coat of paint when using it, and I really think that if you're choosing Sherwin Williams colors, they'll come out much better with their paints and specific color formulas.

While painting, I go back and forth between rolling the walls and cutting in at the top and bottom with a brush.  In general, you want to keep a "wet edge" for blending in the cut parts and the rolled parts, but I noticed this time around that with this particular paint it didn't really matter -- there were no visible brush lines anywhere even though there were plenty of times when the paint had completely dried along the edge before I got to the next section.

It may have taken a bit longer than I would have liked, but I'm so happy with how it all turned out.  Now I just need to take a little break before I tackle the family room/kitchen.  I've already decided to hire out the front hall/entry way and upstairs hall to actual professionals, but before I do that, I have to figure out what color I definitely want to use.  I'm 98% sure I'm going to use the Mindful Gray for the entry way and halls, and I was PLANNING on using the same for the family room, but then I decided that the undertones in our couches clash a bit with the undertones in the paint color and I don't know if I should use it.  For now, I'm back to the drawing board, but I can't take TOO long, because now that I've got a couple of rooms done, I just want to do it all!  Hahaha.  :)

One Month Pup-iversary

Who have I become???  Hahahaha.  For anyone who knows me very well, it will come as quite a shock to learn that I have totally fallen for this little pupper we adopted a month ago.  Yes, I know, he's technically Grace's dog, but that hasn't stopped me from trying to overcompensate and win his affection.  Hahaha.  If you had ever told me that I would one day be cooking up steak on the side for my dog so that he wouldn't get sick from the onions in the sirloin tips and rice we were eating for dinner, I would have laughed in your face.  Hahahaha.  And yet here I am.  Haha.

{Grace sent me these pictures from her room the other day.  Apparently, Isaac wanted to get in the crate with Maxwell.  Which is ironic, because Isaac is the one who is constantly letting Maxwell out of his crate.  Haha.}

The last month has flown by, and honestly, it's been a much easier transition to having a dog than I thought it would be.  That's not to say that everything has been smooth sailing, but I think the kinks are starting to work themselves out and everyone (even Ethan) has adjusted to our newest little member of the family.  ;)

{Poor Maxwell -- he puts up with a lot from our little Baby Godzilla.}

Milestones of the past month include: sleeping through the night (I think -- Grace is the one who gets up with him, but I haven't heard her complain about disrupted sleep); getting potty trained (at least I can say that about ONE of my toddlers); learning "sit" and "lay" commands, along with walking on a leash; and discovering what it's like to frolic in the snow.  Hahaha.  Hopefully, the next month will bring an increased tolerance for crate time.

Brrrrrrr!

Fire Pit Fail

Earlier today, I came up with the perfect idea for how to spend our Friday night.  (Especially since tomorrow it's supposed to turn really cold again and possibly snow.)  So, even though Ethan put in his due protest that it was ridiculous to have a bonfire in January, I thought it would be really fun to finally put our fire pit to use!

After grabbing the rest of the fixings for hot dogs and s'mores at the grocery store, we got back home and tried to get that fire started.  Even though it was supposed to start raining this afternoon, the weather this evening was crisp and cool without a rain cloud in sight!  I set the younger kids to work gathering up a bunch of sticks and branches that were laying around the backyard and Ethan got to work helping me figure out how to start the fire.

By the time Scott got home from work, we had started to make SOME progress, but alas it was not to be.  To quote Ethan, "that was a complete waste of the last hour and a half of my life."  Hahaha.  Womp womp.  I'm pretty sure the problem was that the rain earlier this week had soaked the wood beyond burn-ability, but we gave it the old college try.  

(We never could get the bigger sticks to catch.)

Thankfully, no one else was too disappointed and the oven came through in the clutch.  ;)  A few minutes under the broiler and the hot dogs were good to go.  And once the main course was complete, a simple 30 seconds under the broiler was all it took to finish off with some s'mores.  All in all, I think the night was salvaged, even if the fire pit WAS a fail for the night.  Next time we'll just have to be a little more prepared.  Hahaha.