I've made some mistakes.

As I was struggling to get out of bed the other morning I thought to myself why is this so hard? Here is the conclusion I have come up with.
MISTAKE 1: Shortly after Erin was born James and I decided it was time to upgrade our mattress from the handy-me down full I had in high school to a comfy queen. We decided it would be worth it to spend a bit more and get a nice mattress.
MISTAKE 2: Getting a new mattress meant getting a new bedspread, right? Well I fell in love with a duvet cover which meant getting a down comforter as well. Sleeping with a down comforter means sleeping within a cloud (if a cloud actually had enough mass to hold you that is.)
MISTAKE 3: When we moved into our home all the windows had those shade you pull down over the windows to make it nice and dark. I have removed them from all the windows but our bedroom window which means there is no mister sunshine to greet me in the morning.
MISTAKE 4: James and I stayed at a nice hotel one night about a year ago and their pillows were so fabulous I had to look at the tag. For our anniversary a few months later we decided to buy these pillows as our present to each other. These pillows are heaven and are not recommended by me because you will never want to leave its side.

Conclusion: If you like sleep, if your body is achy due to pregnancy and you have a hard time getting out of bed as it is, DO NOT make your bed that comfy. Now if you will excuse me I think I am going to take a nap.

Super Cute

So I decided to take on an insane learning and craft adventure. I want this little baby girl to have a smocked blessing dress. So that means I needed to learn to smock. I asked around if anyone knew and my cousin sent me a link to lady who posted a tutorial on her blog. So I followed it and came up with this.I was presently surprised with how it turned out. So I got the stuff to start the baby dress. This week ended up being a perfect week to sit and do it because I have been sick. (Being sick and 8 1/2 months pregnant you can't do much besides sit around.) While the dress is not made the smocking is done and I think I love it. The flowers were the hardest part for me so forgive them please.
I will post pics of the whole dress when it's done. I am also thinking of making Erin and Lily smocked Easter dresses. Am I crazy?!?!

Happiness

I like to think that in general I am a happy person. I must admit that for the past 7ish months I haven't been myself. Well the past few weeks I have been bombarded with "hints" from my Heavenly Father that I need to be happier. It started with a nursery lesson "I can be happy". It shares a story about a little girl who notices people aren't happy so her mom tells her to start smiling and people. The little girl quickly found out that sharing a smile can help others feel happy. What a simple lesson that seems so easily forgot. A smile is such an important thing. It even helps you feel better when you are feeling down.

My calling got changed from nursery teacher to nursery music leader (This made me happy). But as I was going through the children's song book and prayerfully thinking about children's song and what ones to focus on and teach the kids one of the ones that stood out to me the most was Smiles (If you chance to meet a frown do not let it stay, quickly turn it upside down and smile that frown away).

I must admit these little lesson didn't get the message though my head so it came again. High Council Sunday, and a wonderful talk about finding happiness and sharing happiness. And again the simple lesson of even when you are feeling down smile and it will make you feel better. just acting happy can help you be happy. He shared a poem that I can't remember exactly but it went something like this. "There are people who grumble when the sky is blue except for one tiny dark cloud and there are people who are joyous when the sky is dark but with one ray of light shining through. Who are you?" I really hope I can find that ray of light and hold onto it. That ray of light is the gospel and the Plan of Happiness.


Closing song in Sacrament meeting. Today While the Sun Shines. I have never paid to much attention to this song. I knew it, but I didn't know it. Well it hit me like a ton of bricks singing it Sunday. This is the way to hold onto that ray of light. Here are a few of the lines that really stuck out to me "Today while the sun shines work with a will.""Today all your duties with patience fulfill." "Call life a good gift; call the world fair." 'Today seek the treasures better than gold" "Today seek the gems that shine in the heart." "Today seek for goodness, virtue and truth, As crown of your life and the grace of your youth." 'Prepare for tomorrow by working today."

The final lesson has come through my personal scripture study. I have been reading about Ammon (I love this guy). I have on more than one occasion wished I could be as happy as him. He is so full of joy. When the men came to scatter the flocks all of the other kings servants were sorrowful and afraid, while Ammon rejoiced in the opportunity to turn to the Lord for help. When Ammon saw Alma after his mission he was so overcome with joy that he fell to the ground. After his life has been threatened numerous times and he has seen him, his brethren and those who have been converted go through much hardship, he rejoices in the many blessings the Lord have given unto them. He is defiantly a the glass is half full kind of guy. Each night as I read about him I then pray I can be more like him. I marvel at his joy, the joy that can only come through his knowledge of the Lord and His goodness.

In conclusion I would like to share with you some of Richard G. Scotts thoughts on happiness from his talk "Full Conversion brings happiness."
"Your happiness now and forever is conditioned on your degree of conversion and the transformation that it brings to your life."
"True conversion yields the fruit of enduring happiness that can be enjoyed even when the world is in turmoil and most are anything but happy."

Cooking with the Girls

If you read my last post you will already know that for Christmas the girls got some children's cookbooks and we all got matching aprons. I thought this was a perfect present for them for many reasons 1- I believe when children participate in cooking they eat better. 2- I see so many people who don't know how to cook any more, and I don't want my children to fall into that category (my dad just had to teach a 10 yr old how to make ramean noodles and I think that's a little sad). 3- Cooking dinner seems to be when my children want the most attention from me so this way I can give them the attention but still accomplish dinner. There are other reason as well, but these are some of the main ones.
We have made a few recipes since Christmas and the girls have loved it. Even James has pulled out their cookbooks and cooked with them. So the other night I decided to do the first dinner with them. So I went to their Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cookbook and picked something out. This is a fun cookbook that Erin loves (mostly because it's just like mommy's). The chosen recipe was "Totally Awesome Tortellini Alfredo" You just gotta love the name.

The girls patiently watched me do some prep work like cut the broccoli etc.

They then got to work. Erin was an awesome stirrer. This was hard for me because stoves are hot. I have taught her that and I reminded her again and told her how important it was that she didn't touch the stove etc. Than I had to hush up the paranoid parent in me and let her go.

Lily even took a turn at stirring while Erin ground some fresh pepper into the pot.

Lily topped it generously with Parmesan cheese

Lily was also in charge of setting the table. She loves to set the table and this is her job at nearly every meal. Of course she doesn't do it "properly" just yet, but she does a good job.

They were pretty pleased with themselves when all was said and done. Erin ate her whole dinner without complaint and Lily ate most of hers (I do believe I accidentally put to much on her plate so it was really my fault). The experience went over quit well if I do say so myself. Not to toot my own horn, but I think I nailed this Christmas present and the whole family agrees.

Christmas 2009

What a wonderful Christmas we have had. I do love the holidays and spending time with family. I can't help think back to last Christmas when my father was diagnosed with cancer and what a hard yet special Christmas that was. This year it makes me grateful for all we have and reminds me of the miracles that we have seen this year. Family means so much to me and I am grateful for them. I think my dad really wanted to make some good memories this Christmas to make up for last year so he dressed up and on Christmas eve the girls had a special visitor come by.
He sure was cute. Lily wasn't sure what to think of this. But Erin sure did. Erin was so excited she literally didn't stop bouncing. Santa showed up when Erin was cleaning up her room (because we all know Santa wont leave you presents if you room is messy right). So Erin had to show Santa that she was cleaning her room, and then she had to tell Santa about uncle Seth painting her room pink for her and show Santa her teddy bear Pinky that she sleeps with.

Erin didn't stop there she also told Santa that Mommy and Daddy's room wasn't clean. She invited Santa to her birthday party in Feb. She showed Santa her favorite toys and told Santa all about Rudolf (when Santa left she wanted to go outside with him to see Rudolf I told her reindeer were invisible during the day).

Erin didn't stop talking. Lily was never sure what to think, she wasn't afraid of him but she didn't really warm up to him either. At least Erin had Santa, Mommy and Daddy all in hysterical laughter by the end of the visit.

Of course Santa did visit us again later that night.

For how excited Erin was the night before her first Christmas reaction was funny. She crawled into bed with us about 6:30 and we told her good morning and Merry Christmas. I then asked her if she thought Santa had come last night. She grunted back at me. James asked if she wanted to run down stairs and peek, She replied she just wanted to go back to sleep. I then told her it was Christmas morning and I was sure Santa had come, didn't she want to go see. She replied, It's not morning, it's still dark outside. Oh that made me laugh. We finally convinced her to get up and then there was no stopping her for the rest of the day.

I am not sure what Santa was thinking but her gave Erin Sea Monkeys in her stocking ( I think he got it mixed up and they were really supposed to be in daddy's stocking.)

Lily got a big bouncy ball that was glittery in her stocking and I think she would have been happy and content with that the rest of the day.

Last year we started a new Christmas tradition. Christ was given 3 gifts at his birth so why do we need any more? So our girls get three presents and a stocking. 2 of the presents and the stocking are from Santa and one present from mom and dad.

Both girls got scooters from Santa. Lily is a toddler one and packaged a bit differently so it just had a big bow on it and not wrapped. Erin thought for sure it was hers, but when she realized it was Lily's she was sad and asked Lily if she would share. All along we were trying to convince Erin to open her present, but she just couldn't get over it. She finally opened her scooter though and forgot all about Lil's.

Erin also received a cup cake maker from Santa and Lily got a baby doll set.

From mom and dad the girls got some children's cook books and I made matching aprons for us all.

After this the day got to crazy and I didn't take any more pictures. But we first went to my parents for the traditional Christmas breakfast which is utterly delightful. We eat yummy food (omelets and all sorts of sweet breads and fruit). We play games and open some presents. It is good fun. Later we went to James' parents where we opened presents ate a yummy dinner and played games.

By the end of the day we were all stuffed and spoiled and had no complaints. I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas as well.

Oh and Happy New Year!