Gratitude Day 8:
I'm so grateful for the nice people who read this blog. I was really frustrated and worried yesterday when I wrote that post (and not even 1/2 of what I was worried and sad about it made it into the post - some things are better kept to myself). I'm so grateful for everyone who took the time to share their ideas and their support in a comment and who wrote me emails. Thanks for caring. Thanks for helping me feel better. Thanks for offering fresh perspective.
Since my first blog post over 5 years ago, I've shared a lot here. This little spot in cyberspace has been great therapy for me and has helped many others. As I share my good stuff and bad stuff, I process what's going on, realize my blessings, and come up with solutions. Sometimes my blog is the way I pat myself on the back when my best efforts seem to go unnoticed or when my work feels invisible. And always, when I hit a hard spot and blog about it, there's at least one helpful comment that really strikes a chord and helps me see what I need to see.
And I guess I'll add one more related thing that I'm really grateful for today - technology. You and I wouldn't be here on this blog without it. And last night, the whole extended Eyre family did a technology-assisted Family Home Evening using Google+ Hangout (Ashton set it up - I'm still not totally sure how it works but once it was up and running it worked beautifully!). We had 8 screens showing each family in their homes all over the country plus we had my sister Charity on a speaker phone with my Dad (she was at work so that's what worked best for her). My dad gave a 2-minute lesson on Gratitude and challenged us to each come up with at least 300 things on our Thankful List this year so that when we put it all together, we'd have at least 2700 things we were collectively grateful for (to read about this tradition, click HERE). We got a tour of Tal and Anita's new apartment in NYC and Jo and Aja's new place in Hawaii. Everyone had a chance to make any announcement they liked - we heard about different kids' sports victories, trips planned, new pursuits. Kids got to share a talent. Baby Poem showed how she can stand up by herself. Claire showed one of her cheerleading cheers. Ashton played a guitar song. The twins showed the latest models they've built out of magnets. Kristi and Anita showed off their matching pregnant tummies (they're due in a month - due dates just a day apart) and everyone oohed and ahhed about their new cousins. Everyone was talking over each other and it was all pretty wild - but great. We ended up having a great virtual dance party at the end. It was almost like we were all back at Bear Lake together! How awesome is it that we can do stuff like this thanks to technology???
What are you grateful for today?
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Monday, November 07, 2011
It could be worse
Gratitude Day Seven:
Today I'm grateful that things aren't as bad as they could be.
I've put myself in the bad mom doghouse.
It started a couple weeks ago with emails from one child's math teacher and lots of extra work to get that child on track in math. Just when we thought we had the math issues under control, that child's report card came and it was BAD (math was OK with a B- but seriously, how do you get an F in music and in art? Or a D in Spanish when you speak it quite fluently?). We knew this child was a little lazy sometimes with turning in work and found most things to be so easy that challenges often led to quick frustration. But we didn't know it was this bad. In the last little while, this child has also had some issues with lack of judgement in a couple situations that have got us worried.
Then we got an email last week from the teacher of our child who's report card actually looked much better than usual and who seemed to be finally in a good routine of accomplishing homework more quickly and well after years of hard work. This email said that this teacher and other teachers at the school would like to meet with me and Jared because they've noticed a pattern of disruptive classroom behavior and sloppy work. So we're working on getting that meeting set up and debating about whether to accompany this child to all his classes to see first hand what is going on.
Then later in the week, the twins came home with a note from their teacher saying they were being disruptive and not following directions in class. They've always been model students and their teachers have raved about how "perfect" they are in school. So getting this note was pretty disheartening - especially after all the other issues. We had some good talks with the twins and I'm talking to the teacher today about whether they can read when they get done with their work quickly so they won't be disruptive (seems they get disruptive when they finish early and get bored).
Argggggg! What am I doing wrong? I have had to be gone once in a while for work and I'm probably distracted too much but I'm generally here every afternoon sitting right with the kids doing their homework and we do reading time and scripture time and have good structure and clear rules plus we try to make sure there's lots of unstructured time for fun and creativity. But wow, this parenting stuff can sure be humbling sometimes and I can definitely see places we need to improve. We've got one child who seems to be doing totally fine in school but I'm looking over my shoulder for a note from that child's teacher any day now! Please no!
So today I'm glad things aren't worse with our kids. We are so blessed. We've never had to deal with more than minimal behavior and academic problems with our children. Our kids are healthy and don't have any special needs (although I'm learning that there's a whole set of "special needs" that come along with a kid heading into puberty - their ability to focus and get things done seems to diminish drastically while their emotions ramp up considerably).
But I guess this disheartening and humbling string of events is what we need to get more serious about some things around here.
What are you grateful isn't worse than it is?
Today I'm grateful that things aren't as bad as they could be.
I've put myself in the bad mom doghouse.
It started a couple weeks ago with emails from one child's math teacher and lots of extra work to get that child on track in math. Just when we thought we had the math issues under control, that child's report card came and it was BAD (math was OK with a B- but seriously, how do you get an F in music and in art? Or a D in Spanish when you speak it quite fluently?). We knew this child was a little lazy sometimes with turning in work and found most things to be so easy that challenges often led to quick frustration. But we didn't know it was this bad. In the last little while, this child has also had some issues with lack of judgement in a couple situations that have got us worried.
Then we got an email last week from the teacher of our child who's report card actually looked much better than usual and who seemed to be finally in a good routine of accomplishing homework more quickly and well after years of hard work. This email said that this teacher and other teachers at the school would like to meet with me and Jared because they've noticed a pattern of disruptive classroom behavior and sloppy work. So we're working on getting that meeting set up and debating about whether to accompany this child to all his classes to see first hand what is going on.
Then later in the week, the twins came home with a note from their teacher saying they were being disruptive and not following directions in class. They've always been model students and their teachers have raved about how "perfect" they are in school. So getting this note was pretty disheartening - especially after all the other issues. We had some good talks with the twins and I'm talking to the teacher today about whether they can read when they get done with their work quickly so they won't be disruptive (seems they get disruptive when they finish early and get bored).
Argggggg! What am I doing wrong? I have had to be gone once in a while for work and I'm probably distracted too much but I'm generally here every afternoon sitting right with the kids doing their homework and we do reading time and scripture time and have good structure and clear rules plus we try to make sure there's lots of unstructured time for fun and creativity. But wow, this parenting stuff can sure be humbling sometimes and I can definitely see places we need to improve. We've got one child who seems to be doing totally fine in school but I'm looking over my shoulder for a note from that child's teacher any day now! Please no!
So today I'm glad things aren't worse with our kids. We are so blessed. We've never had to deal with more than minimal behavior and academic problems with our children. Our kids are healthy and don't have any special needs (although I'm learning that there's a whole set of "special needs" that come along with a kid heading into puberty - their ability to focus and get things done seems to diminish drastically while their emotions ramp up considerably).
But I guess this disheartening and humbling string of events is what we need to get more serious about some things around here.
What are you grateful isn't worse than it is?
Sunday, November 06, 2011
Sundays
Gratitude Day Six
Today I'm extra grateful for Sundays. I have no idea how I'd live without them.
We go to church on Sunday mornings and there's always something in a lesson or a talk that speaks to something that's on my mind (if I pray and search for a message, I always find one). Occasionally, it's a big message. But usually, it's just a little reminder of something or a thought that pops up later in the week based on something I heard on Sunday. I love hearing the good discussion in Relief Society from such a diverse group of good-hearted women. I love our Sunday School teachers well-thought-out lessons on the New Testament - her crisp British accent makes the lessons all the more enjoyable. I love sitting in Sacrament meeting with my kids snuggled up around me and my husband's arm around me. I love that I can actually listen in church now that my kids are old enough to behave pretty decently most of the time and that I don't need to bring coloring books and quiet toys to church for them anymore. I love that the kids know (after years of reminders) to pull out the hymn books and find the right page and sing along. We still have days when the kids regress and church is frustrating. But mostly, it seems like we've "paid our dues" and church is pleasant and good.
On Sunday afternoons, we relax together. Jared interviews each kid individually. I read stories from the Friend magazine with them. We write letters to relatives. We sometimes take naps. If it's a pretty day, we go for a walk around the neighborhood (no scooters or bikes allowed, just walking and talking and enjoying nature). I usually do a blog post or two. The kids play games together. We often make cookies (or Isaac or Eliza make cookies - they've become our primary cookie-makers around here). We always have a nice dinner together - I go for something quite easy but also really yummy. Sometimes we have friends or relatives over for dinner. At the dinner table, we all share what we learned in church. On Fast Sundays (like today), we have a family testimony meeting before eating - each person gets a chance to stand up and express their thoughts about the gospel and about each other and really say whatever comes to mind. When the kids are tucked in bed, Jared and I each take some individual time to make our lists and goals for the week then we get together and look at our calendars and talk about what we each need to do that week and how we can help each other. It just takes a few minutes and we're pretty good about doing it regularly - we've found that when we DON'T do this, the week just doesn't go so well.
I used to have quite a few meetings on Sundays and Jared has early morning Sunday meetings these days. I'm so grateful that we're all able to be home on Sunday afternoons now.
We try to make Sunday a day full of special things that are mostly reserved for Sundays - not a day full of "don't's." And for the most part, it works. Sure there are crazy Sundays when the peace and planning and togetherness we hope for just doesn't pan out. But in general, Sunday gives us such a great chance to recharge our batteries and have some solid family time.
Eliza just wandered in and I asked her what she likes about Sunday. Her response (no editing from me), "I like how on Sundays we don't have school or basketball games and we can just relax and stay home. I think it's fun to have interviews with Daddy. I like how it's usually so calm on Sundays and we don't have to be rushed. And I like to go to church on Sunday because it's fun to learn about Jesus and stuff and see my friends."
I just called Oliver to see what he likes about Sunday (again, unedited). "I do not like interviews because they are boring and it wastes some of my time when I want to play but I do like to go to church and I like to hang out at home." (good to know interviews aren't the favorite...)
Now I'm curious. Let's see what Silas says. "I like how after church we get to have a nice time doing stuff like reading the Friend - aren't you going to read to us now?' Guess I better get on that.
What are you grateful for about Sundays?
Today I'm extra grateful for Sundays. I have no idea how I'd live without them.
We go to church on Sunday mornings and there's always something in a lesson or a talk that speaks to something that's on my mind (if I pray and search for a message, I always find one). Occasionally, it's a big message. But usually, it's just a little reminder of something or a thought that pops up later in the week based on something I heard on Sunday. I love hearing the good discussion in Relief Society from such a diverse group of good-hearted women. I love our Sunday School teachers well-thought-out lessons on the New Testament - her crisp British accent makes the lessons all the more enjoyable. I love sitting in Sacrament meeting with my kids snuggled up around me and my husband's arm around me. I love that I can actually listen in church now that my kids are old enough to behave pretty decently most of the time and that I don't need to bring coloring books and quiet toys to church for them anymore. I love that the kids know (after years of reminders) to pull out the hymn books and find the right page and sing along. We still have days when the kids regress and church is frustrating. But mostly, it seems like we've "paid our dues" and church is pleasant and good.
On Sunday afternoons, we relax together. Jared interviews each kid individually. I read stories from the Friend magazine with them. We write letters to relatives. We sometimes take naps. If it's a pretty day, we go for a walk around the neighborhood (no scooters or bikes allowed, just walking and talking and enjoying nature). I usually do a blog post or two. The kids play games together. We often make cookies (or Isaac or Eliza make cookies - they've become our primary cookie-makers around here). We always have a nice dinner together - I go for something quite easy but also really yummy. Sometimes we have friends or relatives over for dinner. At the dinner table, we all share what we learned in church. On Fast Sundays (like today), we have a family testimony meeting before eating - each person gets a chance to stand up and express their thoughts about the gospel and about each other and really say whatever comes to mind. When the kids are tucked in bed, Jared and I each take some individual time to make our lists and goals for the week then we get together and look at our calendars and talk about what we each need to do that week and how we can help each other. It just takes a few minutes and we're pretty good about doing it regularly - we've found that when we DON'T do this, the week just doesn't go so well.
I used to have quite a few meetings on Sundays and Jared has early morning Sunday meetings these days. I'm so grateful that we're all able to be home on Sunday afternoons now.
We try to make Sunday a day full of special things that are mostly reserved for Sundays - not a day full of "don't's." And for the most part, it works. Sure there are crazy Sundays when the peace and planning and togetherness we hope for just doesn't pan out. But in general, Sunday gives us such a great chance to recharge our batteries and have some solid family time.
Eliza just wandered in and I asked her what she likes about Sunday. Her response (no editing from me), "I like how on Sundays we don't have school or basketball games and we can just relax and stay home. I think it's fun to have interviews with Daddy. I like how it's usually so calm on Sundays and we don't have to be rushed. And I like to go to church on Sunday because it's fun to learn about Jesus and stuff and see my friends."
I just called Oliver to see what he likes about Sunday (again, unedited). "I do not like interviews because they are boring and it wastes some of my time when I want to play but I do like to go to church and I like to hang out at home." (good to know interviews aren't the favorite...)
Now I'm curious. Let's see what Silas says. "I like how after church we get to have a nice time doing stuff like reading the Friend - aren't you going to read to us now?' Guess I better get on that.
What are you grateful for about Sundays?
Saturday, November 05, 2011
A Warm Kitchen
Gratitude Day Five
It snowed last night. The trees weren't ready. They're still sporting lots of gorgeous leaves and quite a few branches broke off under the weight of the snow. I'm not ready either. I need at least a couple more weeks of fall!
But today I'm really grateful that Jared put more insulation in every possible crack in our kitchen last week.
Last winter you had to brace yourself every time you went into the kitchen. We'd turn on the toaster oven and keep its little door open so that we could warm that room up a bit (there was no decent place in that small room for a space heater).
This morning, I went down to the kitchen and it felt just fine - no cool breezes, no bundling up to make breakfast, no freezing toes.
I'm so grateful for a warm house on a cold day.
What are you grateful for today?
It snowed last night. The trees weren't ready. They're still sporting lots of gorgeous leaves and quite a few branches broke off under the weight of the snow. I'm not ready either. I need at least a couple more weeks of fall!
But today I'm really grateful that Jared put more insulation in every possible crack in our kitchen last week.
Last winter you had to brace yourself every time you went into the kitchen. We'd turn on the toaster oven and keep its little door open so that we could warm that room up a bit (there was no decent place in that small room for a space heater).
This morning, I went down to the kitchen and it felt just fine - no cool breezes, no bundling up to make breakfast, no freezing toes.
I'm so grateful for a warm house on a cold day.
What are you grateful for today?
Friday, November 04, 2011
Couples Retreat Winner
We just picked the winner of the registration to the November 11th Date Night Couples Retreat in Bountiful Utah. Congratulations, Kristen! Here's her comment:
Kristen said...
Kristen said...
We would absolutely love to attend this retreat. Thank you for the wonderful opportunity and thank you for all that you do for families!
Kristen
Kristen
There are still a few places left at this "Date Night" Retreat and the price is great - just $35/couple - you'd likely spend that on an "ordinary" movie and dinner date night. But at this Retreat, you'll get a date night that will make a REAL difference in your family. If you have financial struggles but really want to attend, email Tiffany directly at tiffany@powerofmoms.com and she'll work with you.
Good Neighbors and a Great Halloween
Gratitude Day Four: I know I've said this before but today I'm super thankful for our neighborhood.
I just went through the photos I took on Halloween and started the process of setting up this year's Children for Children concert (It'll be the 5th Annual Concert!). We had a really fun neighborhood parade and dinner on Halloween before trick-or-treating and we've got this great couple down the street who are converting a beautiful old church into a community center that they said we could use for our Children for Children concert this year. Doing these two things made me so extra thankful for the wonderful people in this neighborhood - people from all over the country, people with different beliefs and lifestyles, people with kids and without, people with all sorts of interests and talents. But what brings everyone together is a belief in community and neighborliness and a love of diversity.
Eliza and I went down to the city council meeting a couple nights ago to support our neighbors in their efforts to convert the old unused church into a community center. I loved seeing so many neighbors get up and speak in support of this project and loved seeing the excitement and loyalty expressed. Permission was granted for the new use of the church and now we'll have a great community center where the strength of our neighborhood can be built-upon. Here's the little video that was put together about the church - easy to picture our Children for Children concert happening there and making it the biggest and best concert yet!
Here are a few shots of our neighborhood Halloween parade and dinner.
And here are our kids, ready to trick-or-treat around the block:
It was the perfect Halloween - super nice weather, lots of fun activities, and just enough candy to make it fun but not leave us with sugar highs for weeks.
I just went through the photos I took on Halloween and started the process of setting up this year's Children for Children concert (It'll be the 5th Annual Concert!). We had a really fun neighborhood parade and dinner on Halloween before trick-or-treating and we've got this great couple down the street who are converting a beautiful old church into a community center that they said we could use for our Children for Children concert this year. Doing these two things made me so extra thankful for the wonderful people in this neighborhood - people from all over the country, people with different beliefs and lifestyles, people with kids and without, people with all sorts of interests and talents. But what brings everyone together is a belief in community and neighborliness and a love of diversity.
Eliza and I went down to the city council meeting a couple nights ago to support our neighbors in their efforts to convert the old unused church into a community center. I loved seeing so many neighbors get up and speak in support of this project and loved seeing the excitement and loyalty expressed. Permission was granted for the new use of the church and now we'll have a great community center where the strength of our neighborhood can be built-upon. Here's the little video that was put together about the church - easy to picture our Children for Children concert happening there and making it the biggest and best concert yet!
Here are a few shots of our neighborhood Halloween parade and dinner.
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| Playing Duck Duck Goose |
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| Playing Red Rover |
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| Enjoying black bean soup (a.k.a. "witch's brew") |
And here are our kids, ready to trick-or-treat around the block:
It was the perfect Halloween - super nice weather, lots of fun activities, and just enough candy to make it fun but not leave us with sugar highs for weeks.
Thursday, November 03, 2011
Bulgaria
Almost 20 years ago, I spent a year and a half working as a missionary in Bulgaria (Don't feel bad if you're thinking "where's Bulgaria?" When I got the letter from my church saying where I'd been assigned to go as a missionary, that was my question as well. It's in Eastern Europe - between Greece and Romania on the Black Sea.
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| Typical Bulgarian cars, housing and haze of pollution in the air |
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| Me with missionaries at the Alexander Nevski Cathedral in the center of Sofia, Bulgaria |
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| Me and some other missionaries at one of the major communist monuments in Sofia, Bulgaria |
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| Me at an orphanage - cutest kids! |
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Me with other missionaries and my dear friend Milena at her baptism |
With missionaries and Bulgarian friends celebrating Georgiov Day
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| With dear Bulgarian friends in Plovdiv |
The reason all this is on my mind today is that I spent most of the afternoon with dear friends from Bulgaria. The occasion was a lecture at BYU by fine art photographer and my pseudo-adopted Bulgarian sister, Eva Koleva Timothy who flew out from Boston to do a series of lectures.
I met Eva as a 16-year-old girl in Bulgaria and was immediately drawn to her. She had this love of life and thirst for learning that was contagious - and she was always eager to help us missionaries with anything and everything. I convinced my family to sponsor Eva so that she could come to the States for college - her absolute dream. For several years, Eva lived off-and-on with my family and became like a sibling to all my siblings. She's now a wonderful wife and mother of three and has produced an amazing photography collection called "Lost in Learning" that celebrates the work of Columbus, Galileo, Newton, Da Vinci and other creative thinkers who weren't afraid to plow their own paths and pursue the dreams of their hearts. Eva did SUCH a great job and I came away all fired up about putting more joy and passion into what I do.
Check out this little snippet of Eva's work in a great YouTube video.
Here's Eva and me heading into the lecture hall (the pictures of the rest of the group ended up on my mom's camera...):
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| Here's Eva and me when we first met almost 20 years ago |
So I guess what I'm really thankful for today is not so much my mission to Bulgaria itself but for the learning that it represents and the learning Eva taught me to seek out and embrace more fully through her presentation today.
P.S. I'm going to draw the winner of the Retreat giveaway in my last post tomorrow at noon or so - if you haven't entered yet, there's still a bit of time! Go to yesterday's post for details.
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
Great Friends Doing Great Things (and a giveaway)
Day Two of my Thanksgiving Gratitude Journal: I'm grateful for good women who work hard and sacrifice to lift others
I've got two dear friends who've requested my help spreading the word about wonderful events they have coming up. These requests made me so grateful for these two good friends, all that they've brought to my life and all that they are bringing to so many others through their hard work and sacrifices. And that got me thinking about how grateful I am for all the women - those I know, those I admire, those who've gone before - whose efforts and influence have made such a difference in my life.
I love this quote by Margaret Mead: "Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, that is the only thing that ever has." I love how so many great women have coupled their beliefs and commitment with action and have created ripple effects that go on and on and on, influencing the lives of so many.
My dear friend, Neylan McBaine (I blogged about the interesting way we met here) is the founder and director of an amazing website called the Mormon Women Project. If you haven't checked it out, you really should. The website celebrates the rich diversity of Mormon women through interviews and portraits. If you can possibly make it, I highly recommend that you join me for the Mormon Women Project Salon being held in downtown Salt Lake this Saturday evening, November 5th. I'm so excited to hear from the excellent speakers Neylan has lined up and I'm honored to be leading a discussion as part of the evening. Click HERE to learn the details and register.
When I first met Tiffany Sowby, I was a teenager in England. We went to church together while my family lived there for 6 months. Little did I know that we'd reconnect over 20 years later when she stumbled upon The Power of Moms and volunteered to help. Tiffany is now my right-arm woman when it comes to running Power of Moms Retreats and managing our ever-expanding training program - plus she's written many great articles on our website, runs her own Learning Circle, and has been an excellent presenter and trainer at several of our Retreats (plus, of course, she's an amazing mom on top of all that). Tiffany is hosting a "Date Night" Couples Retreat on November 11th where she'll be presenting all our great Power of Moms stuff on setting up family systems that can help you build the family you really want. If you can possibly make it, be there on November 11th! And Tiffany has graciously offered the chance for someone to attend for free. Simply make a comment with your email address below and you'll be entered into a giveaway for a free registration for you and your husband to attend this event. I'll announce the couple that wins the free registration at the end of the day around noon on Friday, November 4th. Forward this post to friends that may also want to enter the giveaway!
And thinking about Tiffany makes me SO grateful for the 30 or so wonderful volunteer Power of Moms board members who run different parts of our website. Power of Moms would be this tiny little thing without all their work behind the scenes. It's amazing what talented, wonderful moms have jumped on board to help other moms without pay, without much recognition, with just the belief in the cause of deliberate mothering to fuel them. Thanks wonderful ladies!
OK - I'm getting carried away - there are probably 100 great women I could list and talk about here but we'll keep it to the ones above for today.
P.S. We've still got room at our Phoenix, Arizona Retreat on November 19th. To adjust the Margaret Mead quote above slightly, "Never doubt that a relatively small group of committed moms can change the world. In fact, great moms shape the future."
I've got two dear friends who've requested my help spreading the word about wonderful events they have coming up. These requests made me so grateful for these two good friends, all that they've brought to my life and all that they are bringing to so many others through their hard work and sacrifices. And that got me thinking about how grateful I am for all the women - those I know, those I admire, those who've gone before - whose efforts and influence have made such a difference in my life.
I love this quote by Margaret Mead: "Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, that is the only thing that ever has." I love how so many great women have coupled their beliefs and commitment with action and have created ripple effects that go on and on and on, influencing the lives of so many.
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| That's Tiffany on the left and another wonderful POM Board member and friend, Rebecca, on the right running a booth for us at the recent "Just for Her" event in Ogden |
And thinking about Tiffany makes me SO grateful for the 30 or so wonderful volunteer Power of Moms board members who run different parts of our website. Power of Moms would be this tiny little thing without all their work behind the scenes. It's amazing what talented, wonderful moms have jumped on board to help other moms without pay, without much recognition, with just the belief in the cause of deliberate mothering to fuel them. Thanks wonderful ladies!
OK - I'm getting carried away - there are probably 100 great women I could list and talk about here but we'll keep it to the ones above for today.
P.S. We've still got room at our Phoenix, Arizona Retreat on November 19th. To adjust the Margaret Mead quote above slightly, "Never doubt that a relatively small group of committed moms can change the world. In fact, great moms shape the future."
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Thanksgiving Season
As we get into the Thanksgiving Season (in my book it is NOT Christmas season until Thanksgiving Season has been thoroughly celebrated!), I've decided to blog every day about one thing I'm especially grateful for that day. I used to keep a gratitude journal and I was a happier, more optimistic person in those days. So I'm starting again (inspired by Thanksgiving and by the Power of Optimism that we just launched at The Power of Moms for this month).
At dinner, we're starting up our tradition of writing down some things we're grateful for on the paper leaves we put on our "Gratitude Tree" (just yellow, orange and red construction paper leaves that we tape onto a stick that we found and stuck into styrofoam in a flower pot - pretty darn easy). The kids love doing this and it keeps us all going with an "attitude of gratitude."
Here's my personal gratitude for today:
As I went for a run this morning with the smell of rain and wet leaves in the air, the view of snow-capped mountains in the distance, the brilliance of fall leaves heightened by overcast skies and the recent rain, the total "alive" feeling of the crisp air filling my lungs and making my legs and hands tingle, I felt so grateful for my five senses and my healthy body. Seeing loved ones go through health challenges makes me more aware than ever of what a blessing it is to be healthy. My body may not look just the way I'd like it to - stretch marks, hair that won't cooperate and needs to be cut, more padding here and there than is really necessary, wrinkles popping up. And it may not work quite as well as it once did (that c-section wasn't wonderful for my digestive system, my eyes aren't what they were, I've got a knee that doesn't love running that much...). But wow, I'm blessed to be able to do all that I need to do and more!
Monday, October 31, 2011
A Balanced Halloween Season
I think this year we've got the balance of Halloween/sugar/dress-up activities quite nicely balanced with fall/harvest/family fun activities. Finally!
We had a great time on Friday celebrating my dear dad's birthday with him. I don't think I've actually been with him for his birthday for about 20 years so this was extra fun. We did his birthday tradition of jumping in the leaves in the park right by our house (this has been a tradition all of us kids have honored wherever we've been throughout the world every October 28th - I've jumped in the leaves with orphans in Bulgaria, with roommates at Wellesley, with students when I used to teach, you name it).
Then we carved pumpkins with my parents and it brought back great memories of when all nine of us kids would carefully pick out and carve our pumpkins together growing up - only as a mom do I now realize how much work that was for my parents to oversee the choosing and carving of NINE pumpkins! It was awesome this year -all the kid are big enough to clean out, design and carve their own pumpkins with minimal adult help (love those little pumpkin saws that make the carving safe and easy). Hallelujah! My dad gave each pumpkin an award like he always did for us growing up - the most spikey (Oliver's), the happiest (Silas's), the most original (Isaac's), the most mythologically-based (Ashton's cyclops pumpkin), the cutest (Eliza's).
Then Jared, my parents and I finished celebrating the big day with gorgeous sushi (Tona's on 25th in Ogden is our new favorite) and a wonderful concert - the King's Singers at Symphony Hall in SLC.
Saturday we went for a gorgeous hike up to a waterfall near here and collected amazing leaves. I'm LOVING fall. I've sort of skipped it for a lot of years living in places where seasons don't change so much. As much as I LOVE New England in the fall, I've got to say the mountains of Utah can definitely hold their own as far as fall foliage goes.
Then yesterday (Sunday) we went with friends to explore the Spiral Jetty - did a separate post on this one HERE.
Today, Halloween, we had delicious pumpkin pancakes for breakfast (I'll post the recipe later) and this afternoon we're having a neighborhood Halloween costume parade, our traditional black bean soup (again, recipe next post - very "Halloweeny" when you get that yummy black soup combined with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of orange cheese for all the Halloween colors - plus it's nice to get something healthy in the kids' tummies before they head out for candy), our church trunk-or-treat, a little neighborhood trick-or-treating and then we'll come back home to sort and trade all our candy and watch a somewhat scary movie.
In past years, it's seemed like we've had to get the kids dressed up like 10 times for different Halloween activities that started to feel pretty redundant. This year is much more mellow and much more focused on enjoying the beauty of fall - but we're still doing up Halloween right today. This is feeling good.
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| We set off in search of great leaves |
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| We raked them up |
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| We buried Grandfather |
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| We jumped over Grandfather |
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We threw leaves over and at Grandfather |
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| We sure love that Grandfather |
After leaf-jumping, we did cake and ice cream.
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| The kids all gave him the special cards and poems they made for him |
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| since we had our cake before dinner, we had this amazing avacado, tuna, crab creation for "dessert" for dinner |
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| We found our first spot of snow and had our first snowball fight of the season at the base of the waterfall! |
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| Heading back down with the light turning golden |
Today, Halloween, we had delicious pumpkin pancakes for breakfast (I'll post the recipe later) and this afternoon we're having a neighborhood Halloween costume parade, our traditional black bean soup (again, recipe next post - very "Halloweeny" when you get that yummy black soup combined with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of orange cheese for all the Halloween colors - plus it's nice to get something healthy in the kids' tummies before they head out for candy), our church trunk-or-treat, a little neighborhood trick-or-treating and then we'll come back home to sort and trade all our candy and watch a somewhat scary movie.
In past years, it's seemed like we've had to get the kids dressed up like 10 times for different Halloween activities that started to feel pretty redundant. This year is much more mellow and much more focused on enjoying the beauty of fall - but we're still doing up Halloween right today. This is feeling good.
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