10 Things I Love About Christmas

1.  Lights.  I love Christmas lights.  Our circle is aglow this year!  We even put a few lights on the vacant house next door.  There is something warm and magical about a home decorated with lights.

2. Cards.  I love opening the mailbox to a stack of Christmas cards!  I love to see pictures of old friends.  I love family letters.  I love to hear about the wonderful things your kids are doing.  I ran out of time and didn't get a card out this year but I appreciate the cards we have received, we treasure each one.

3.  Recitals.  I love hearing the twins and the other kids in the neighborhood play.  They are all fantastic!

4.  Christmas music.  Especially our ward choir, they really should put out a cd.

5.  Decorating the Christmas tree and then watching my favorite two year old re-decorate it.

6. Traditions.  I love making gingerbread houses with all the cousins.  I love the rule that for each candy you put on the house, you get to eat one!

 

 

7.  Treats.  I love the ding dong of the doorbell.  The cookies and candy, chocolate milk, fudge, popcorn balls, caramel apples.  So what if we're eating 6,364 calories a day.  We'll figure that out in January.

8.  Love at home Thursdays.  Love. This.

 

9.  Family.  Our greatest gift.  Gathering around the Christmas tree.  Talking, laughing, playing games, watching Christmas movies, going to plays.  Just being together.  Wishing I could keep them little, yet loving the people the are growing up to be.  Gratitude for health and happiness.

10.  The Baby whose birth we celebrate.  The life He lived, the sacrifice He made. The ability to repent, to change to be forgiven, to know Him, to become like Him and then to return to Him.

I love Christmas.

Merry Crazi-ness

As previously mentioned on this blog, 

I come from a family of nuts.

I say that in the most loving sense of the word.

There is an up-side to coming from a crazy family......

They know how to have fun.

Christmas time brings family parties

and family parties bring gifts

and gifts in my family bring things like....

Travel Supplies including a little something for irregularity.

Holiday-style nursing pads.

A camping Snuggie, stocked matches, marshmallows, first aid kit, water, newspaper, roasting sticks, toilet paper, toothbrush, tissue

and all other necessities for the trip.

A lovely holiday sweater to wear on Christmas Eve.

And an all-occasion wreath (Valentine's Day, July 4, Easter, Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Mardi Gras and balloons to blow up for birthdays) complete with a 

portrait of the decorator.

But the grand prize,

one of a kind,

Mac Daddy of all presents.....

The golden throne.

Custom painted and adorned with jewels.

 

Merry Crazi-ness and a Happy New Year.

It's Beginning to Feel a lot Like Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Our halls are decked, four parties and one play in the same week, Christmas cards are trickling in, and treats are showing up on our doorstep.  I love these parts of Christmas!

Yes, it does look like Christmas but the real question is, does it feel like Christmas?
I regret to say that there have been years when the humble and quiet tenderness of the season has been in the background.

Some years on Christmas night, we collapse on the couch and reflect on the December that was.  We look around at the remnants of wrapping paper, boxes, bags.  Sometimes there is a pang of guilt for spending too much on the kids.  Excess they really didn't need.  Things that will become forgotten, lost, broken or outgrown over time. 

Then our thoughts turn to a meek and submissive mother who gave birth to the Savior of the world in a barn. 
A barn- surrounded by animals.
Her gentle husband, imagine the worry and  heavy responsibility he must have felt.  Mostly, we reflect on the Baby.  The man He grew to be.  The love and kindness He taught in His every word and action.  The uncomprehendable price He paid for us.

As we pondered these things a couple of years ago, a sadness crept over us.  We knew that in the busy-ness of the season, we had missed the true essence of Christmas.  The Savior was a part of our Christmas, but not the focus of each day.  We promised to never let that happen again.

We remembered the words of King Benjamin, "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God." (Mosiah 2;17)
We had a deep desire to be more fully, even daily, in the service of our God.
This inspired a new family tradition we call The 25 Days of Service.

The last Monday in November we hold a special Family Home Evening.  We each come prepared with ideas of ways we can serve others.

After some brainstorming and voting, Mark constructs a calendar.  We post it on the fridge and in the bedrooms.  Some of the things we do are simple and don't cost anything like "Random acts of kindness Tuesdays" and "Love at Home Thursdays".  Other ideas we have done this year include sending packages to the missionaries serving from the Spanish ward in our stake and delivering a Christmas Tree to a needy family.  We volunteer at the food bank, the homeless shelter and make stockings for the animals at the Humane Society.  We also do something special for our grandparents and church leaders.
We give simple gifts to each other so that we can use our funds to make a top secret delivery to a special family on Christmas Eve.

This tradition has changed they way we feel about Christmas. In early November the twins started asking about our service.  They have been so excited to check the calendar and carry out the daily task.  Neither one of them have asked for anything for themselves yet.

An extra special feeling has settled over our house.  It is the spirit of love and giving, it is the Spirit of Christ.   We feel Him closer.  We talk about Him more often.  We try harder to be like Him.  We are more conscious of our mistakes and shortcomings and are trying to do better.

This really is the most wonderful time of the year, when Christmas becomes a feeling.

Dear Darling Part 2

Dear Darling,

Well, after ten exhausting, back breaking, mind numbing days of work, the rooms are done.

Yes, I know I qualify as a thoughtful and considerate wife in that I managed to pull most of this off while you spent the week eating out at fancy Italian restaurants, snoozing on airplanes, hanging out with your work buddies, working hard on a business trip.

I spared you the headache of assembling a desk, dresser and three IKEA night stands.  I mean seriously, IKEA does not write out directions.  They use PICTURES and only PICTURES for CRYING. OUT. LOUD. You can only imagine how long it took me to get the legs on that desk!

Then there was the fact that I found a discounted Pottery Barn hutch to go on top of that darn cute desk.  

The problem?  It was navy blue and I needed it to be a lovely cream color.  

So I sanded, painted, sanded, painted, sanded, painted.  But look Sweetheart:  It turned out great!

Then there was the never ending paint jobs.  Three rooms in three days.  The taping, spackling, corners, baseboards, closet doors, CEILINGS.   Oh, I saved you a bundle with my free labor.

Please note the beautiful canopy bed in Samantha's room.  I had one picked out from Pottery Barn Kids.  But since 800.00 for a canopy and frame was not exactly in my budget I hit the classifieds.  I could not believe my good fortune when I found one for sale by a nice woman in Springville.  Rachel and I drove an hour each way in a snow storm but for  147.00 it was money well spent!

I hope you won't mind if I mention how difficult it is getting new carpet installed.  All the furniture out, closets emptied, stuff everywhere.  Nothing in its home could send a mildly OCD girl like me over the edge.  But I maintained my composure until the very last hours before you were scheduled to come home from Boston.  

In those final hours, discouragement started to overtake me.  You see, I really did not want you to have to come home to a mess, boxes of furniture to assemble, stuff to move, curtains to hang, beds to put together.  I'm just nice like that.    

I was pondering the sad predicament I had gotten myself into when the doorbell rang....

In walked some of my favorite people ever.  Grandma and Grandpa tackled the dresser and night stands  while Amy and Danny started putting the rooms back together.  It was awesome!  Like an episode of Trading Spaces.  In three hours, we had the rooms done!

You got to come home to a reasonably clean house and a very happy and relieved wife!

So  Darling, the fact that I went $603.36  slightly over budget should really be a non-factor here.  If you had to pay a designer, painter, mover, cleaner, professional shopper, vinyl lettering installer and furniture assembler, you would be nearly broke.

I know how grateful you are.  You've thanked me.  You've hugged me.  You've told me the rooms look great.  But if you wanted to take me out for a steak dinner, sinful dessert and then rub my feet and back for an hour or two, I'll let you.

Sincerely yours,

Kimberly

Dear Darling

Dear Darling,

It's me.  Your loving wife of eighteen years.
 
Have I told you lately how much I love being married to you?

Have I thanked you for your easy going nature and virtual inability to get mad at me?

Remember that time I drove your car into a pole?  I was so upset, I rushed in the house, ran right past you and called my dad.  After a deep breath, you  were so kind and understanding and completely agreed with me that it was the pole's fault.  You weren't even offended that I told my dad first.

You are amazing that way.

How about the time we were traveling to Las Vegas.  You were asleep while I took a turn driving.  I thought about stopping in St. George for gas but I really thought we could make it.  Oh the discomfort I felt at having to wake you up at 2:00 am in the middle of the desert to tell you that we had run out of gas.

Your response?  A very deep breath, that's all.

At this point in our lives, you are trying very diligently to get our house paid off.  You're doing great!!  I appreciate your "saver" mentality.  I do, really.  That is why I came to you with a strict budget of what I would spend when re-doing the kids' bedrooms.

One thousand dollars per kid, that's what I said.
You happily and willingly agreed and that was that until...

I ordered new carpet,
New paint for all three rooms,
Three new memory foam mattresses,
A new bed for Samantha, dresser for Rach, desks and nightstands for all three,
shelving, curtains, accessories and some very amazing Pottery Barn bedding.

I know.
Never look at Pottery Barn first.
Never. Never. Never.

Yes.  I did go a bit over budget.
But Darling, Love of my Life, Amazingly handsome, Brilliant, Sexy Husband---
their rooms are going to look spectacular!

I am telling  you this now so that you can breathe deeply all the way back from Boston.
With all those deep breaths, you are going to feel great!
You won't have to go running for at least two weeks!

Now, aren't you glad you married me?
You could never get this kind of cardiovascular workout with a Suzie Orman type woman.
See what a great team we make?

Sincerely--
Your loving and devoted wife,
Kimberly

See Sam Chapter 6

See Sam.

Sam just turned two.

That means Sam is getting big.  

Sam can put on her own shoes now.

Sometimes Sam likes to wear other people's shoes too.

One time Mom found Daddy's Sunday shoes outside in the garden with Sam's toys.

"Oh Sam," said Mom.

Mom washed Dad's shoes off and put them back in his closet.

Sam has two new sets of shoes for fall.

One pair is pink, one pair is brown.

Shoes are fun, shoes are neat!

Sam loves her new shoes.

Today Mom and Sam have a lot of leaves to rake.

"Hurry and get your shoes on Sam," says Mom.

Sam runs to her room.  

She searches for a matching set but she can only find one pink shoe and one brown shoe.

"Oh dear," sighs Mom.

"Let's go find your lost shoes."

Mom and Sam look for the lost shoes.

They look upstairs, they look downstairs.

They look outside and in the car and at Grandma's house.

Mom and Sam can't find the lost shoes anywhere.

Suddenly Sam has an idea!

"Wook Mommy!"  Sam cheers.

"Wook at my's feet!"

"Oh Sam, you're a smart kid!"  smiles Mom.

Happy Mom.

Happy Sam.

Happy Halloween!

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Confessions of a Germ Freak

It's not easy being the son or daughter(s) of a germ freak.
Oh the things you have to endure.

Constant handwashing, the habit of not touching public handrails, door knobs or elevator buttons.

Only using a public restroom in case of emergency, sanitizing the grocery cart and above all else, NEVER walking barefoot in a hotel room or lying around on the bedspread.

I know.
They'll need therapy later.

For the most part, they go along with me.  In their world, this type of thing is normal.
So they really shouldn't have been too surprised when I abrubptly checked them out of school last week and hauled them to the Health Department for an H1N1 vaccine.

Since it was the first day it was being offered, there were about 362, 987 other moms with the same idea.
We filled out the paperwork and waited, and waited, and waited.

I started to get a little edgy with the crowds of people in such close quarters.  Then I made a keen and wonderful observation.  Almost all the moms around me were feeling the same way.  They had their personal hand sanitizer, used their own pens, kept their babies covered, and brought books and other things to keep the little ones occupied instead of letting them play with the Health Department's toys.

We are among friends!  I happily proclaimed.

Samantha took a wipe out of my purse and started washing the chairs.  "Yes, she's mine," I said to the nice and very impressed lady next to me.

Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.  Crossing our fingers that we don't get that nasty swine flu and that the twins don't have to miss school due to illness.  They need all the education they can get. 

After all, education = good jobs = ability to afford their own therapy bills.

Trying to be Like Jesus

Monday night the kids and I were enjoying a nice dad-out-of-town dinner together. (aka grilled cheese sandwiches and a can of soup)

We were going over the events of the day. The twins told me about a friend of theirs. Someone they have known for many years. They talked about how this friend is changing. Angry, mean, aggressive and bad temper are the words they used to describe him.

Rachel had asked the friend what he was going to be for Halloween and he answered with a rude and sarcastic comment. Linc asked the friend why he had missed a day of school and the boy told him to shut up _____.

I listened and nodded and asked a few questions. They commented that he wouldn't have friends for long if he continued to be so angry and that they didn't really want to play with him anymore.

I started on the dishes while they left to get ready for bed.

I felt bad for their friend. I felt bad for them.

Later that evening we sat down for Family Home Evening. We decided to watch Elder Holland's April 2009 conference address. It was about last days of the Savior's life.

We listened carefully and reverently as Elder Holland took us through Jesus' Messianic arrival in Jerusalem on the Sunday before passover. There were many who wanted to follow the Savior, many who walked with Him. But in Elder Holland's words, " Eagerness to continue walking with Him would quickly begin to wane."

We sat captivated, rewinding parts here and there. We learned that from one event to another, Jesus felt more and more alone. Elder Holland taught that even the Savior's closest friends could not stay awake while He was in the garden, Peter denied knowing Him and how Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot.

He talked of the unjust trial, the scourging, mocking, the humiliation and the incomprehensible agony. How in the Savior's deepest, darkest hour He felt alone as He cried out. "My God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

Elder Holland then testified that the Father had to briefly withdraw His presence from His beloved Son. This was a critical and necessary part of the atonement. Jesus had to gain a perfect knowledge of what it feels like to be completely and consummately alone so that He could better understand us. Because of this, He knows of our pains, our disappointments, our heart aches, our darkest hours. He empathizes with compassion and extends His perfect love to us.

Elder Holland concluded by reminding us that "because Jesus walked a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so" and that we can show our gratitude and humility by committing our lives to serving Him and knowing Him, trying to become like Him. In this we stand beside the Savior.

When it was over, we sat there quietly. We discussed what it means to truly follow the Savior. To stand by Him, to follow Him, to do and say the things that He would. I shared my testimony with the twins and then we knelt together to pray.

Rachel went first. Completely unprompted by me, she began to pray for her friend. She asked Heavenly Father to soften his heart so that he wouldn't be angry. She asked for help in being more kind and patient with him. Finally she asked Heavenly Father to make better whatever is happening in his life that is causing anger.

When she finished, Lincoln prayed for the same things. My heart was very full of love for them. My heart was also very full of love for the Savior of the World.

I know that He does understand us, He knows us, He can be our truest friend if we will let Him. It makes me want to do more, try harder and be better. In these types of moments, my own weaknesses are so magnified and at the same time I feel His love.

Sooooo far to go.... but today I am feeling a little bit closer.

Turning Two Checklist

By Samantha


Pink Princess Potty with sparkly purple jewels purchased.   CHECK


Princess panties washed and waiting in drawer for the big day.   CHECK


Ability to open the childproof door knob to big sister's room.   CHECK


High chair gone.  CHECK


Figuring out that The Little Einsteins and Caillou are just a click away.  CHECK


Big girl bed picked out.  CHECK


Discovery Gateway on Tuesdays. CHECK


Girlfriend play group on Wednesdays.  CHECK


The Zoo on Thursdays.  CHECK


Grandpa's special hiding place for treats found.  CHECK


Singing "I Am A Child of God"  will get me anything, anytime, anywhere.  CHECK


Tantrums will work when strategically thrown in a public setting  CHECK


Knowledge of how to use the words:  Me, Mine, I, My, and No.  CHECK


Still have Mom, Daddy, Brother and Sister COMPLETELY wrapped around my 1.5" finger.
CHECK and CHECK and CHECK.

Here comes two!!

What If...

I'm feeling a little down today.

Do you mind if I tell you why?

First, maybe I should put a disclaimer out there so as not to offend anyone who may read this.

This is one of those topics that I don't usually write about. I mostly blog about family and events that are happening in our lives. I like keeping a record with my future grandchildren in mind. When I am long gone, I want them to have a small glimpse of what life was like for me, what I thought and felt.

Political, opinionated and judgmental, I don't want to be.

That said, once in a while it is our obligation to be bold in speaking about right and wrong.

Sometimes you just feel compelled to stand up and say it, with the hope that those who hear you will understand without offense and will not label you as self righteous.

Lately, something has been bothering me like a sliver in a finger. No, make that a deeply embedded shard of glass that has been festering a few days.

I am sad for the little people in this country of ours.

I am troubled about the way many of them are being disregarded by the very people who love them the most.... their parents.

I was in the grocery store check out line recently, when I noticed some magazine headlines.

There they were in big, bold, commanding letters:

"SEPARATED"

"SPLIT"

"OVER"

Pictures of the beautiful, the famous and the reality show claim-to-famers accompanied those words.

One cover was a photo of an angry mother lashing out at her former husband. You could see the fury in her eyes and in the lines on her face.

The next magazine on the rack featured the husband. His furrowed brow frozen in time. An invitation next to his picture invited you inside the pages of the magazine to read about how much he despises his former wife.

I wondered about the eight little souls behind those ugly words.

How heartbreaking.

How tragic.

It made me want to cry.

Too many families are getting it all wrong.

Whatever happened to falling in love, getting married, having a family, and then sticking it out through thick and thin---

in that exact order.

It's not just celebrities. Good people, no make that great people are allowing themselves to be deceived into thinking that the process of shattering a family will somehow lead to happiness. Some of those are people near and dear to me. Mothers and Fathers bitterly divided, leaving

anguish-filled children in their wake.

Of course there are times when divorce is the only option such as physical, verbal or emotional maltreatment. I am the first one to raise my hand in support of getting out of those types of situations. But generally speaking, there is too much "me" and not nearly enough "we" going on in our marriages.

Marriage isn't easy all the time.

There are times of frustration and disagreement, even disappointment.

It takes effort, tender care and perhaps most importantly- commitment to making it work.

President Hinckley reminded us many times that "The greatest factor in a happy marriage is anxious concern for the comfort and well being of one's companion. In most cases, selfishness is the leading factor that causes argument, separation, divorce and broken hearts."

What if starting today, every single husband and wife became eagerly and anxiously concerned for the well being of their spouse?

What if we were so busy trying to improve ourselves that we didn't have any time left to be critical of our husbands or wives?

What if selfishness became extinct?

How different things would be.

How joyful life would be for the littlest, most innocent among us.

Maybe when our children and grandchildren are all grown up and standing in line at the grocery store the headlines might say:

Unity Abounds!

Couple Celebrates 50 Happy Years!

Security, Safety and Love Fills Homes Everywhere

That's the kind of world I want for them, I'm sure you do too.

If you are feeling conflict in your marriage, will you consider the "what if" questions above?

If someone you care about is thinking of calling it quits, will you do everything you can to help keep a family together?

It's time to stand up in defense of families. Our kids deserve that much.

I have probably said more than enough.

Just wanted to go on the record, you know, for the sake of posterity.

Thanks for reading.

See Sam Chapter 5

See Sam.

Sam is growing up.

Sam is learning manners.

Sam is very good at saying "thank you".

"Aink you, Issy" Sam squeals when Sister gives her a big push on the swing.

"Oh, ainks Daddy!" Sam says when Dad gives her a kiss.

"Aink you Budda" Sam sighs when Brother snuggles with her on the swing.

Sam even remembers to thank Mr. Lion for the drink every time she goes to the zoo.

"Aink you Yion" says Sam as she pats his mane.

Sometimes Sam says "No ainks".

This usually happens when mom puts vegetables on Sam's plate.

"No ainks, Mommy" says Sam.

"NO AINKS, MOM" says Sam.

PEEEZ, NO AINKS, MOM!" says Sam.

However, there is one vegetable that Sam loves.

Carrots!

Sam loves Carrots!

Carrots and Sam are good friends.

Sam is very good a making carrots disappear....

"Aink you, Mom!!" says Sam.

"MMMM, ainks a wot!!" says Sam again.

"You're welcome, Sam" says Mom.

Happy Sam.

Happy Mom.

18 Years, 18 Things He's learned

1. Clean house = happy wife.

2. Scrubbing toilets, floors and dishes is very, very sexy.

3. A phone call home at lunch just to say hello is sweet and appreciated.

4. Text a love note now and then, it will really make her day.

5. On your honeymoon, show her charts and graphs of your retirement plan. Gently ease her into the idea of saving instead of spending. Be patient. Be patient and then be patient.

6. When she burns dinner or cooks something you're not crazy about, eat it anyway.

Smile and tell her how great it tasted. This will give her confidence to keep trying.

7. If you come home from work and sense that she has been up to her elbows in diapers, housework and chauffeur services, send her quickly out the door for a pedicure.

8. While you are still newlyweds, be willing to work all the over-time you can so that she can quit her job and finish school. At her college graduation she will look at you with tears in her eyes, and thank you from the bottom of her heart.

9. When she is pregnant, support her by gaining weight, experiencing leg cramps, heart burn and nausea.

10. When the newborn(s) wake up hungry at 2:00 am, run to their rooms. Scoop them up and take care of them so that she can sleep.

11. Take her to Disneyland every six months or so.

Take her to the temple once a week.

Take her in your arms each day when you get home from work

and at night when you're falling asleep.

These are essentials and cannot be over looked.

12. Say kind things to her. Make her feel pretty and smart and amazing. This is especially important during times when she feels like she can't do anything right.

13. Thank her for the little things.

14. Agree to only raise your voices if the house happens to catch on fire.

Also, don't hesitate to apologize.

There is great power in the words, "I'm sorry".

15. Support her in crazy ideas like painting door knobs and learning to play piano in her 30's.

16. Celebrate her accomplishments and cry at her disappointments. Be a good listener, even when she rambles. Overlook her many weaknesses and focus on the goodness of her heart.

17. Bring home flowers for no reason,

go on a late night walk

and once in a while, talk until the sun comes up.

18. Kneel together in prayer each night. Thank Heaven for 18 wonderful years and humbly ask for about 48 more.

Happy Anniversary to the best friend I'll ever have.

I love you.