Gratitude Journal

Today I am grateful for:

• a husband who stayed home today to take care of the kids while I rested
• Elijah and Josh who did the grocery shopping and errands today
• Elijah knocking on the door and surprising me with flowers behind his back. He was so proud of himself.
• my laminater! It is the coolest thing to do it at home in minutes

Gratitude Journal

Today I am grateful for:

• Josh who watches sappy chick flicks with me and cries with me
• Zicam that makes my sore throat feel better
• Ice cream that makes me and my sore throat feel better

Where do you start?

My mother alerted me to a sugardoodle link to the handouts from this year's Women's Conference at BYU. There are a ton of wonderful handouts availible on many different topics.

One handout that really stood out to me (being a family historian) was one on starting your family history. They list a number of places where you can start and then go into more detail in each area. Their suggested starting spots include:

• Start with the "New Family Search" database
• Start by talking to family members
• Start by attending a class
• Start with a relative who lived in 1930
• Start by organizing your files
• Start by creating a family blog
• Start by creating a family website
• Start by attending or organizing a family reunion
• Start with yourself

I was excited to see this list because sometimes family history can seem so intimidating or we can be under the false impression that it has all been done by someone else. There is always something you can do. I promise if you get started you are in danger of getting the "bug". Family history is addicting but don't be afraid to dive in and have fun!

**I also like the handout on finding "U" in MUTHERHOOD

Gratitude Journal

Today I am grateful for:

• the opprotunity to sing Primary songs to my boys at bedtime. Specifically tonight My Heavenly Father Loves Me. I love that song; I love the spirit that touches me when I sing it and teaches me and my boys that everything can remind us of our Heavenly Father's love.
• a warm beautiful day that we were able to enjoy at the park with friends
• that Elijah only pooped in his pants once today :) (someday we will be through this, right?)

Sam's current favorite book

Goodnight Gorilla is currently Sam's favorite book. His favorite part is when the pages are completely black except for the animals saying "Goodnight" and he always laughs at the next page which is just of the open eyes of the zookeepers wife. He has been getting into books a lot more lately and it is fun to sit and read with him and see him get excited.

(I have a video of him reading the book but I couldn't get it to load for me. It kept getting stuck.)

Gratitude Journal

Today I am grateful for:

• the rain that wasn't snow! I think Spring has finally made it
• Missionaries who sacrafice two years of their life to serve the Lord and share the gospel
• the opprotunity to have the missionaries in my home and feed them, the spirit they brought into my home, the message they taught through their words and song (Joseph Smith's First Prayer), and the challenge they gave us to seek out those who might like to hear about the gospel
• the Holy Ghost that testifies of truth, specifically today of the truth of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ

Gratitude Journal

Last night Josh and I watched the first part of Cranford (which I greatly enjoyed though it ended on a sad note. I'm anxious to see what happens in part two) and I went to bed forgetting to write in my gratitude journal for the night.

So yesterday I was grateful for:

• my boys greeting me in the morning with big grins and Elijah asking me "did you have a good sleep?"
• two healthy, happy children who behaved very well at the doctors office
• a doctor that I like and who goes out of her way to make my children comfortable and happy despite being at the doctor
• a husband who is more than willing, already out the door, to go to the grocery store when I realize I don't have every ingredient I needed for dinner halfway through making it

Booty Bag

Here is my thrown together, fudged version of the Booty Bag from the blog My Longest Year. I got the pants from a garage sale on Saturday for pennies as well as the lining fabric. It is far from perfect and I'm not sure I will ever use it, but it was fun to make!

Sam's 18 month check-up

We went to the doctor for Sam this morning. He weighed in at 26 pounds and is 2 foot 9 inches tall. He's in the 50th for weight and just under 75th for height. Overall he was very good for the doctor and nurse and was deemed a healthy little boy. He is such a little flirt once he warms up a bit and such a big boy-he only cried a little bit when they gave him three shots. We are clear for another six months!

Mother's Day

My boys gave me homemade gifts yesterday for Mother's Day.

Sam made his in nursery. It's a darling flower made from his handprint. His nursery leaders are amazing!

Elijah drew a picture of me complete with brown curly hair, green dot eyes, large nose and a smile.

Gratitude Journal

Today I am grateful for:

• the sacrament hymns that fill me with the spirit and get my mind and heart in the right place before I partake of the sacrament
• my mother. Oh, what would I be without her? I can't express how much she means to me. She is the dearest of friends and my example of who I want to be. I love her so much.
• being a mother. Lately it has been a challenge, but it truly is a great blessing to have my two little boys in my life.
• blogging which prompts me to pick up my camera and shot pictures instead of my children when they do crazy messes like this-- (Elijah was in on the action, he was just too fast to get caught by the camera.)

Funny Story

I was reminded of a funny story today that happened on Thursday when we were hanging out with Laura and her kids after the zoo.

We were at Raber Park where Naomi has soccer practice. I figured Josh was working late (he didn't get home until midnight that night) and what was I going to do with the kids at home other than go nuts, so why not run them around a bit more so they would be sure to go to bed easily that night (which thankfully worked).

Anyway, we did the whole run around thing and then it came time to leave. Elijah has been struggling with listening and obeying lately, and decided that he wasn't ready to go. I pulled the whole "I'm leaving you, goodbye!" trick which got a response albeit a slow walking response. Getting a little impatient I then yelled over my shoulder to my competitive son- all the way across the park, echoing off the houses and school surrounding the park- "I'm going to beat you!!".

It wasn't until after I had yelled it that I realized that didn't sound good.

Opps!

In the end I didn't end up beating him after all-

He got to the car first.

Gratitude Journal

Today I am grateful for:

• Danica's hugs. They are kind, warm and sincere. You can't help but be lifted by them.
• that my children love music and are not afraid to break out and dance in public. Sam's little bum bob is adorable and Elijah goes full out-spinning and waving. It makes me smile!

Garage Sales

Today I came home with mostly odds and ends. There were a couple community garage sales today. I love that you can drive to a neighborhood, park your car and walk around to all the houses finding your treasures. I came away with a bag full of clothes, a bunch of books, lots of random fabric, and a few random duplo blocks.


Three of the books I bought are old and two of them are even red, my favorite color. They aren't actually books that I will ever sit down and read but they are on interesting topics-- surveying, which could be nice to have around with family history land records; Gregg Speed Practice is just a cool book on shorthand. I've read books where the characters know shorthand but I have never actually seen what shorhand looks like. It's pretty random, I'm curious how it works; and A Cumulative History, I just love old history books. It's the family historian in me. I love learning about the historeography of history and how people viewed the past, in the past.



I also love reading through cookbooks and I'm excited to read and try out the recipes in Short-Cut cooking. I'm all for easy cooking and take many shortcuts in my own cooking.









I also bought Mr. Popper's Penguins. I absolutly loved this book when I was in grade school! I am so excited to read it to Elijah someday. I think he will love it too. It is truly just the cutest book.








I found a box set of the Wallace and Gromet short films. These shows are hilarious and I think my boys will love them (Sam will especially like the dog in the movies. Sam is so into dogs right now. He call them "uuff")








With all the crafting blogs I've been reading lately my hands have been itching to try all the patterns and ideas I have been filing away in my favorites folder. Today I found a stash of fabric to feed the urge. Some of it is vintage funky. I have a whole bunch of the orange one (any ideas on what to make with it??) and also got some furry fabric to make animals out of. I'm excited!