I Am Full

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
-- Melody Beattie

This year I spent Thanksgiving with my favorite people: Sco, Chlo e, Jessica and Ashley. It was so fun to spend the whole day together. We started the morning off slowly. Sco made pancakes for breakfast (I love topping mine with pure maple syrup and cottage cheese). The girls let me do their hair like the hairdos I have seen online.

Blessing #1

By 1:00 pm we were all dressed and ready for the day. Sco and I took the girls to see Tangled. We all enjoyed the movie while snacking on Red Vines and popcorn. It was such a darling show with great songs and beautiful design (the floating lanterns scene was unbelievably spectacular). I think going to a movie will now be a Thanksgiving tradition.

Blessing #2

After the show we headed home to prepare our small Thanksgiving feast. I had found all the fixin's for a 5-star dining experience at my local Costco. Roasted turkey breast, cornbread stuffing with turkey sausage and cranberries, mashed Yukon Gold potatoes and Rhodes rolls were on the menu. We only had to cook the turkey for 90 minutes and then heat up all the side dishes.

While we waited for the bird, we took time to play our favorite family games: Magikus, a small game made by Lego; Chicken Cha Cha; and Quiddler. We finished up by putting a Care Bear puzzle together.

Blessing #3

When we sat down to eat, we toasted our good fortune with Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider. During dinner we listed what we were each thankful for and why we were thankful for each other and ourselves. A short 20 minutes later we rolled our full bellies over to the couch to snuggle up, watch another movie and enjoy Cheesecake Factory's variety pack of delights. Later we tucked the girlies in bed and read Percy Jackson while enjoying the effect of a good meal, a warm home and a family full of love.

Blessing #4

I'm thankful for all that is mine, especially my sweet family. We missed seeing cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles, but we enjoyed the time we could spend as a family. It was truly a unique Thanksgiving and it will be one of my favorite memories.

Chloe in the spotlight

Chloe's 9th birthday is this Thursday. This whole week she is the spotlight for her 3rd grade class. Today she took the challenge to describe herself with only objects she could fit in a shoebox. Both Sco and I are invited to come and share something with the class this week. Mrs. Kennan gave us a list of suggestions from having a mini career day to reading your favorite picture book to the class. I decided to create a crossword puzzle all about Chloe. I'm going to split the kids up into teams and have a race to see who can answer it the fastest. For those of you who know Chloe, take the "How Well Do You Know Chloe" crossword challenge.

http://www.variety-games.com/CW/Puzzles/20646429541742318970-puzzle.htm

Back in Focus

Ever since school started this year I have had a little identity crisis. The girlies have fallen into a great schedule and routine everyday. As for me, I have become somewhat of a blurry mess (aka, out of focus).

My children, being school-aged kids, don't need the kind of mothering that I have been used to for the last nine years. They don't need me to lay on the floor and play Mega-blocks. They don't need me to create a craft project and give them step by step directions. They are, thankfully, becoming more independent.

After school it has been a race to see if we can finish homework, chores, ballet, and music practice in time to play with friends or watch a show before dinner, showers and bedtime. It seemed to me that my mothering hours were limited from 3:30 until 8:00 p.m. Because my hours on duty had changed drastically, I lost my sense of self. I was starting to feel unneeded and retreated into my room to try and find something else to fill up my time.

And I'll tell you what: There are so many things that I can do to fill up my time. So much so, that I started to shirk my duties after school as well because I was involved in "my stuff." Many of these activities have blurred my vision of successful motherhood:

1. Reading celebrity gossip online.

2. Taking hours to design one scrapbook page.

3. Shopping bargains at Landsend.com (everyday).

4. Thinking non-stop about how happy I will be when I'm a size 8.

5. Wishing and listing all the upgrades I want my house to have.

Don't get me wrong, a little day-dreaming and shopping can be good for the soul. Reading about Lindsay Lohan's rehab and being ungrateful for what I have is not. I was starting to spend more and more time on these things and less and less time on studying my scriptures, exercising, talking to friends and family, and genuinely living (instead of always observing). I was choosing good things over the best things. And what was the consequence? I felt depressed, lonely and blurry. I felt unfulfilled.

About four weeks ago I saw the consequences of my choices. I was shirking my responsibilities as a mother. There was a lack of order in our family life. I needed to refocus. I started to remember that even though my kids weren't at home with me 24/7, I still needed to use most of my day fulfilling my role as the mom.

I was reminded of what my Church leaders have said about mothering. It's a divine and ETERNAL role. It doesn't end once my kids are potty-trained. I am excited to redefine motherhood and start this new chapter of our family's life. I restudied the Proclamation to the Family and the Gospel Principles Manual and have been reminded of the following ways to regain my focus:

1. Study scriptures and pray every morning.

2. Invite the Spirit into my home by choosing good media, keeping the home in order, and finding ways to serve.

3. Preparing myself and anything needed for the time when my kids get home from school. (ie. since I only have them from 3:30 until 8:00, why should I spend my time vacuuming instead of being available to my girlies?)

4. Show love and respect to each member of the family. (I have found that there are many ways to show my love through service while the family is absent during the day. Make dinner, write them a note, finish their laundry, etc.)

5. Read scriptures, pray and eat dinner as a family.

Isn't it amazing how these simple things are the keys to success? Through these small adjustments I have turned my lens a few degrees and quickly been put back into focus! "Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. . ." (Alma 37:6)

Please tell me what you do to be an ETERNAL mother. I'd love the advice!