One of my goals for this "season" of my life is to nurture my faith. I was raised LDS, have relatives who crossed the plains, and share a polygamous several greats-grandfather with every white person from my hometown, so many of my beliefs are grounded in and shaped by that religion. So much of it makes sense and resonates with me, but I am also open to other ideas. There are so many good people and so many good religious ideas out there. Try as I might, I can't bring myself to actually believe in my heart that my religion is the ONLY true and correct religion out there, that my way of life is the ONLY one that brings happiness. I just can't do it. But I am comfortable with my religion, so I stay. I like the rules. I like the structure. I like knowing that whether I am in Commerce, TX, Reading, PA, Laie, HI, or Zihuatenejo, Morelos, Mexico my church-going experience will be the same. Same prayers, same rituals, same hymns, same poofy-haired-skin-tight-modest-layered-shirt-wearing women, same got-this-suit-on-my-mission-so-I'll-wear-it-'til-I'm-40 men. I like the Word of Wisdom (basically a health code- no alcohol, coffee, tea, etc). I like the fact that we have a lay ministry. I love the emphasis on families. But as much as I love and enjoy it, I also know that the sum on my spiritual existence is not defined by the religion I choose. I also must nurture my personal relationship with Jesus Christ and with God.

This is where my latest and greatest and most original new idea ever (Read: Lots of people do this and I think it's cool) comes into play. We are officially a memory verse learning family. We chose our first verse on Monday, and practiced it and practiced it, and practiced it some more. I think we all have it down pat. My idea is to learn a new verse every week. Over the years, I've noticed that I remember and recall songs and memory verses when the going gets tough, so I'm hoping to help my children have a jump start on their memorization. Perhaps all this memorization will help them in their schooling as well. That would be a great bonus, but if it just helps them become better people, that's ok, too :)

Since we're LDS and raising our children in that religion, we have 4 books of scripture to choose from (Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price). I hope to utilize verses from each book. Here's to diving back into the scriptures!

I really am a good mom. Seriously. I promise!!

Tonight is one of those nights. I am tired, but my mind is going a hundred miles a minute. Today was a good day. A really good day. I went to the gym. I cooked a nice dinner. I spent some good quality time with Caleigh in the morning. The kids all came home in a good mood. Someone called the cops on us. Wait! Hold up. Really?! Seriously?!? Yup, it's true.

Cameron and Caitlyn were outside jumping on the trampoline. Collin was working on homework. Or reading. Caleigh was watching a show, and I had just taken the garlic bread out of the oven and sat down to rest for a bit when I heard Caitlyn scream. I went outside, and found her and Cameron fighting and pulling each others' hair. I told them to quit fighting, and they did. I stayed outside and watched their tricks. Collin soon joined us, and I watched all of their tricks for a while. Cameron went inside to grab an orange to munch on, and after he returned and we ate the orange, I went back inside to check on Caleigh. As I was heading back outside, I grabbed another orange, opened the door, and almost ran smack dab into Mr. Police Officer. His hand was poised and ready to knock on my door and everything. Awesome. Freakin' AWESOME. He told me one of the neighbors called because they heard a little girl screaming in my yard, so he needed to check on her. I told him that my son and daughter had previously been fighting on the trampoline, but that they were done, and led him to the back yard to talk to them.

Satisfied that nobody was in danger, he soon left and the kids and I had a nice little talk about why we don't scream bloody murder while playing in the yard.

Something tells me I won't be getting Mother of the Year this year either. Darn.

Battle of the Bath

Baths are a part of life. Nobody will dispute this. In the winter, I've noticed my children require less frequent bathing. Every other day or even every third day seems to do the trick for most of my children. I have one who needs a shower every day. One could probably get away with twice a week. One sneaks off and starts the bath regularly. But then there's one, the one, who loudly, splashingly, and violently opposes any form of bathing. When I tell this child to wake up and get into the bath, the child snuggles deeper and deeper into the bed covers. When I take them off, a wild roar "NO!!!!!" is my answer. I drag the child out of bed, and a wrestling match ensues. "No, No, NO!!!!" the child yells, getting more hysterical the closer we get to the tub. Upon entering the bathroom, the child turns into a wild cat. The noise level goes through the roof, and the claws come out. Getting the child into the tub reminds me of trying to bathe my childhood pet cat. I manage to put the child into the tub, and the REAL fun begins. "You're killing me!! I'm drowning!! AGH!!! I'm dying!!!! You're choking me!!! I'm dying!!! Stop killing me!!" This continues until hair is washed and the child is removed from the tub.

Do anyone else's kids fight baths like this? Or is mine just a weirdo?

Fat Tuesday

Wow, I cannot believe it is already fat Tuesday. This year is going by FAST! A couple of days ago, I was thinking the upcoming Lent season, and tried to decide what I want to give up for Lent. I think I will give up junk food/ refined sugar/ overly processed stuff and focus, really focus, on fueling my body well for the next 40(ish) days until Easter.

I don't participate in services for Ash Wednesday or any of the other services for the Easter season, but I try to be mindful of the crucifixion and subsequent resurrection of Jesus Christ during this time of year. I guess I cherry pick different beliefs from different churches or religious traditions and implement them into my life as I see fit.

Do you celebrate Lent? What are you being mindful of this season?

A day in the Life

Because I know one of these days my children will be grown, I thought it would be fun to chronicle a day in the life of ME. Today went something like this:

Sometime in the middle of the night- woke up to Caleigh climbing into bed with me to snuggle. Her little feet and hands were cold, so I bet she wiggled out of her blanket during the night.

Sometime later in the middle of the night- woke up to Caitlyn crying because she wanted to crawl into bed with me, but Caleigh and Cameron were already in bed, so there was no more room. She had to settle for sleeping on the couch.

Just before 6- woke up to Caleigh poking my eyes and nose with her little finger, then giggling when I tried to avoid her poking, prying little finger.

6:00 up and at 'em- set out the older children's clothes for school, switched over and folded a load of laundry, unloaded the dishwasher and reloaded the dishes that didn't fit the night before, checked e-mail, facebook, blogs, and bank account while waking up.

6:30 start waking the kids up. Collin got up first and got ready quickly. Got Cameron up, showered, and dressed. He's my kid who needs a daily shower. Caitlyn struggled to wake up because I let her stay up WAY too late last night. We stayed up playing Mario and eating hot cheetos and Ben and Jerry's strawberry cheesecake ice cream. Yum :)

Just before 7:00- John gets home early and brings ice cream sandwiches. That's a healthy breakfast, right? The morning routine goes especially smoothly this morning because of his bribery. Thanks, hon, you're the best! The kids eat breakfast at their schools, so I rarely cook breakfast. Total slacker.

7:20ish-7:30ish- got Collin on his bus and Cameron and Caitlyn on theirs. Collin attends one elementary school and Caitlyn and Cameron attend another. Caleigh and I hang out together. She eats breakfast and I start another load of laundry. After breakfast and morning routine (about 8:30), we lay down by John for a couple of hours.

10:30- Up and at 'em again. Caleigh watches her show on Netflix and I fold and put away laundry. I clean the bathroom and keep the laundry going. Also, sweep the front room, dining area and kitchen. We have hardwoods and "indoor/outdoor, no pile crap carpet", so I sweep everything. The vacuum cleaner is worthless in this house.

We spend most of the day alternating between watching shows, laundry and other household chores. Nothing too strenous, but we keep relatively busy.

A little before 4:00- the big kids come home, and we play outside for about an hour/ hour and a half.

When they come inside, I warm up corn dogs for dinner, and they think I'm the most awesome mom ever! We usually don't buy corn dogs, much less serve them as dinner, so they were REALLY excited!

Now it's 6:15. We're all gathered around the front room. Cameron is reading, I am blogging, Collin is yo-yo-ing, Caleigh is playing with her babies and doll house, and Caitlyn is playing Mario on Wii. In a few minutes we'll have family home evening (A Monday night Mormon thing). Homework is done, so after FHE, the kids will bathe and hit the hay.

Cameron has a field trip for school tomorrow. He is really excited for it.

Maybe I'll do this again, but with pictures. That might be a little bit more interesting :)

Book 3 "The Pilot's Wife" by Anita Shreve

The Pilot's Wife was a quick read, and was full of surprises. I wouldn't read it again, but it provided a good distraction while riding the bike at the gym every morning. This book isn't particularly well-written, but it did hold my interest.

I give it a solid "C" because I know I won't read it again and some of the events in the book require an excessive amount of suspension of disbelief.