Funk is right Leann!

I don't know what it is, maybe the wind, let's blame it on the nasty wind, but I am in a funk.  This was not in the brochure. At the Motherhood store and Babies 'R' Us and babycenter.com they sell you the idea of the beautiful mother (no body fat, perfect make-up, hair always done, super cute clothes, etc.) and her lovely well dressed, well behaved, impeccably groomed offspring on wonderful day trips to the museum/ library/ craft class/ dance class/ science clubs/ advanced private schools you get the picture.  Then they head home for the tiny tot gourmet meal they so happily and lovingly prepare together in the sparkling gorgeous kitchen (that mom just remodeled herself by the way).  They never show you when the kids dump a box of whales on the carpet and then proceed to crush them down into said carpet and pour the contents of their sippy cups onto said ground crackers to make "indoor mud" :) (ok so that's kind of funny) or how hard it is to get out of your pajamas some days let alone dress the kids in their super cute clean never stained with grape juice outfits. :) And forget leaving the house! Museum/ schmooseum I am just grateful Ethan can ride the bus so I can even get him to and from school from the safety and comfort of my pajamas at home! :D We have had some crazy bad wind here lately and our swingset was one of the casualties.  now it looks like this:

Which makes it really hard to send the kids outside to play even when it isn't 60 mph winds.  So they have been cooped up inside and bored.  And the only things you get when you have two bored 3 year olds and one bored 5 year old are fights and messes!  And that makes for a mom who doesn't get anything accomplished.  Which starts the vicious cycle of too much to do so you don't want to do ANYTHING.  So I am looking to all of you, how do YOU break this cycle and keep from feeling overwhelmed by this "adventure" (wink wink) we call motherhood?  Or if I am the only one living in this CHAOS how do you all avoid it and keep it all so together?

Thinking Funny

So I know I am late but it has been a busy week.  I have been trying to think about things that have been funny in my life this week, nothing on quite as grand a scale as last week but the little funnies help too, right?  There were the 3 times we couldn't find the twins this week and then we looked in the bathroom.  There they were, butt naked, one in each sink, taking a bath!  Then there was Friday when we walked into Best Buy and Emma saw the "Twilight" poster.  Emma gasped excitedly and exclaimed, "Mom look it is Bella and her Vampire!"  Also there was the really great one this week when Greg asked me to look on my calendar and let him know what day of the week "Thursday, July 9th" will be.   He is a busy guy, I really should cut him some slack. :)  Well that is it for this week, I will try and do better about being on time next Friday! Think Funny!

HELP!!!

So I need some help.  In Young Women's we are making time capsules and this month we want to work on "planning" the girls' weddings.  You know, cakes, dresses, rings, colors, flowers, etc., etc., and I need pictures for this, so here is the favor I am asking:

Does anyone have any Bride/ Wedding magazines of any kind that they would be willing to donate to our project?

If you do please leave me a comment with a way to get in touch with you so we can set up the pick up.  Thanks in advance everyone!!

Thinking Funny

So we have this dog, Cole.  He is an adorable, sweet black Cocker Spaniel that none of us wanted. :)  He was my Grandma's  and we more or less inheirited him.  Don't get me wrong we love him but we didn't want a dog (with four little kids we had enough animals to take care of).  Well poor Cole hasn't been groomed in forever so his fur had gotten so many mats in it and last night I researched online the best way to get them out.  I went out armed with scissors and dogbrush to cut them out.  Greg stayed inside with the kids while I worked away.  When it came time to trim Cole's face I needed help holding him still so I asked Greg to come help.  A few minutes later Rory walks to the back door and she is drenched.  Greg and I thought "oh no they were playing in the shower," so he hop up and run in.  They HAD been playing shower, except it was in the kitchen and living room with the sprayer from the kitchen sink!!  My kitchen was flooded (I'm talking an inch deep), there was water in the cupboards, all over the counters, all over BOTH computers, everywhere.  I started drying the counter and noticed it kept getting drops on it so I looked up and the entire ceiling was dripping with water too!  Imagine me standing in my kitchen sink reaching up with towel in hand to dry the ceiling off, I was laughing so hard I kept slipping, I don't know how I didn't fall and break my neck standing barefoot on those slippery wet counters.  :) To make it all better they had taken the Sam's Club sized can of Country Time Lemonade mix and filled up my brand new Miche bag purse with the powder, my Scentsy warmer was full of lemonade powder and the rest was dissolved into the water all over the room, so it wasn't just wet but sticky too.  It took so many towels to clean up the mess that I had to run to my mom's and borrow some of her towels to finish the job.  But it is true, crisis + time = humor because now all I can imagine is how they must have looked standing there spraying the water into the air and playing in it.  Come on who hasn't thought that would be fun at some point, right?  Nothing was permanently damaged and I needed to mop anyway so all's well that ends well right?  :)

Think funny!

Choose Happiness

Last Saturday our stake and the Holbrook stake had a combined women's conference with Sister Barbara Barrington Jones.  I learned so much and it has entirely changed my attitudes and outlook on life.  She was outstanding, smart, and really funny.  I thought I might share a little bit about what I learned. First there are three rules for living a better life;

#1 Choose Happiness

She said that our number one mistake is trying to live in the future.  That we are always "getting ready to get ready" instead of living the life we are in.  She told us that the only thing we are really lacking today is gratitude.  To fix this mistake she told us to choose happiness, start by thanking, everyone for everything.  Be thankful you have a dishwasher to load, be thankful your kids love you enough to want you to read to them, and don't just feel thankful, thank.  We need to stop thinking about the future so much and quit the ideas that "when I (fill in blank here) I will be happy."  And finally, smile when you talk.  It is that simple, but you will get back what you put out.  If you are smiling and friendly those around you will be drawn to do the same.

#2 Get Back To Basics

This is very simple, learn the difference between wants and needs.  Take care of your needs and stop focusing on our wants.  Learn what things we can do without and learn to love that which we have been blessed with.  Learn to be satisfied.

#3 Take Time For Yourself

She pointed out how on an airplane the flight attendants tell you to put your oxygen mask on first and THEN help your child with his.  This is because if you don't have oxygen you won't be able to help others even your own children.  This applies so nicely to life if you are struggling emotionally and physically what good are you to those you are trying to help.  Some ideas she gave for how to do this are: Plan your meals ahead of time, create and implement an exercise program, simplify your life, and inspire yourself.  She told the story about how a woman was being sent to earth and Heavenly Father gave her piles and piles of gifts to take with her.  She lives her life and it is good and then when she returns and sits down with Heavenly Father he pulls out two scrapbooks, opens the first one and says "this is your life and it was lovely."  She looks at her children and husband and grandchildren and basks in their glory until Heavenly Father opens the second scrapbook and tells her, "this is a book of all of the things I had planned for you to accomplish and experience with all of those gifts I gave you, why didn't you develop and use the gifts I sent you with?"  So start looking for those gifts God gave you and try to use them to your fullest potential.

Finally she talked about thinking funny.  That men are that we might have joy, not just endure.  She gave a formula for humor; Crisis + Time = Humor.  She challenged us to start thinking funny, instead of taking everything so seriously, try to find the joy and humor in every situation especially the bad ones.  So I am going to start a weekly post every Friday titled "Thinking Funny" where I am going to look at the funny side of the things that have happened to us throughout the week.  I hope that you can take anything from this post and use it to better your experience here on Earth, I know it has helped me.

Crisis + Time = Humor

I am trying to remember that at this very moment.  A much more explanatory post is on it's way later.  Oh and be glad you don't have my kitchen right about now! :)