Doomed!

Well, I think I cursed our spring break by talking about it last week. Daven ended up with stitches on Monday night (great for pictures). He lost his balance and fell forward hitting his head (just above the eyebrow) on a banister. Crazy! My sister and her family came up for Monday, too. It was fun to see them. We got to see them again when we went down to Salt Lake. I think I have a pretty great family. I look at my sisters and where they are at in their lives and I am proud of them. We are all in different places than we probably thought we would be but I think they(and probably me) are doing well. Pam put herself through dental school and has had more than her share of heart break. She is one of the friendliest people I know, though and she is a fabulous missionary even though she never served a full-time mission. Kathy cleaned my mom house while she was here just because, she folds my laundry for me when she is at my house. She watched my kids for one whole week this summer and didn't think twice about taking 11 kids to McDonalds. She reminds me of my Mom that way. Susan is amazingly hard working and always has been. She is a supportive wife and always seems to do the impossible. Janna is always positive and is a better mother than I will ever be even though she has never had children of her own. I have an amazing network that surrounds me.

Bridger didn't end up going to Salt Lake with us because he had too much work to do. We still went but considerably shortened our trip. He was up and at work by at least 7am most days and didn't come home until then. It was crazy! He is very hard working. He had to come up with a word to describe him for this program he is in at work. His word was "conscientious." He said after this week he would maybe like to be less conscientious. His boss also very perceptively pointed out that maybe he is sick of deadlines as that is what his life basically is. My friend and I went out to eat but as we are both on diets, we both ate salads like good girls. The weather has been nasty! Not springy at all! We enjoyed the break though! As I was lamenting to Bridger that is was taking me all week to get the laundry done, he told me to relax, that I was on spring break. I love him! I hope we are done with illnesses. Bridger has not been feeling great but I think that is lack of sleep as much as anything. I didn't mind having my kids home. It is a little more work but, I enjoy their company ( as long as there isn't too much fighting). I have a list of activities that we could still do this week. Speaking of this week, Bridger's sister and her family are here to visit for their spring break. It is just starting. Too bad it didn't coincide better. That would be too convenient. Challenges make us stronger. Now it is back to the grindstone for 2 more months. I think I can, I think I can!

Spring Break!

It is spring break at our house. It started by snowing this morning. Is it really spring? You never know in Idaho. Corban isn't thrilled with the way his spring break is starting because he is still fighting a cold. I am going to try to take everyone in for a family photo this week. It takes so much coordination and work to have it at a time of the day that everyone will be pleasant (not nap time), not at a time when anyone has any kind of bruise of any kind, and everyone's hair is cut and looking nice (not to mention the coordinating outfits-my girls don't like me to tell them what they are wearing, they like to decide for themselves). Then you have to get them all to smile at the same time. What a joy! We will spend the end of the week in Salt Lake with friends and family. Bridger got some time off work to come with us! We all have been vying for his time lately as he has had extra school and work responsibilities lately (when it rains, it pours!). Kjerstin was even will to go to a study group with Bridger yesterday just so she could spend some personal time with him. I also have an eye appointment this week. I tried contacts last year because I thought I looked like an old lady with my glasses. The contacts made my eyes water too much. I am hoping for some new frames this year. We will see, after all it is still glasses. Bridger said he thinks old lady glasses are good for me. He said he has kept me thus far with old lady glasses and doesn't want me to be stolen away! So no, we aren't off to Mexico for Spring Break to be kidnapped by drug traffickers but we have all they same basic components. There will be travel involved, we are kidnapping Bridger away from work, there will be pictures taken, Mexican food eaten with friends (one of my friends we will visit in SLC loves Mexican as much as I do), I will wear glasses (maybe not sunglasses but I am not being technical),and (if my kids are still sick) there will be drugs involved!

Long, but good

I got this in an email, too. I love it!
* INVISIBLE MOTHER *
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while. I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store.
Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously, not.
No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.
**I'm invisible.** The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?
Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated sum a cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going; she's going; she is gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England ... Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:
**To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would iscover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:
No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.
These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam.. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place.
It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.
The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it there.'
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals.. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.
Great Job, MOM!
Share this with all the Invisible Moms you know...*I just did.*

Hope this encourages you when the going gets tough as it sometimes does.We never know what our finished products will turn out to be because of our perseverance.

Made you laugh!

I got this in an email recently and it made me laugh. Maybe it will brighten your day as well!

Come What May and Love It!

Well, I didn't get a post up last week. I started it and got interrupted I don't know how many times and got discouraged at my lack of time to think for myself. Part of that is due to illnesses. It has been 2 weeks and there haven't been 2 days that have gone by without someone getting sick and then getting better and getting it again or getting something else. I am sick of sickness.
Last night, Kjerstin came and told me she had to go to the bathroom. Corban came and told me that his eyes hurt. Brynna came and told me she had a bad dream. Corban came and told me that his stomach hurt. Daven woke up to eat. Brynna came in and told me to wake her up in the morning. It was an interrupted night of sleep to say the least.
I talked about the breath of time we will have in between sports. It has already been filled! Corban has been selected for a special musical number for his singing group that will perform in May and has 1 more practice a week to go to. There is an activity at the school on Thursday night and an assignment at the temple on Saturday. I am not complaining. Mind you, we could still have basketball in addition to all of this and I love going to the temple. It is just amazing to me how busy life is.
I guess the answer to all these problems is "Come what may and love it" (from Elder Wirthlin's last conference address. Smile, laugh and enjoy the present as sick, busy and sleep deprived it may be! It is time for me to put principle into practice!

March Between the Madness

Well, at our house we are officially done with basketball (after the ice cream party tonight). No more practice twice a week and a game on Saturday. We have a little reprieve from sports until April when Kjerstin's soccer will start practice twice a week and a game on Saturday. It is such a short amount of time but it is WONDERFUL for me to just have one less thing to do and place to be! It is reason to celebrate. I thought I would list some other things that I think are wonderful!


1. chocolate chip cookies that are still warm! I think they are irresistable and I love the way they make my house smell! ( Not in harmony with my weight loss goals but I feel like I'm a good mother if I have chocoate chip cookies.)

2. I love hearing my six year old read books to my 14 month old. I once filled out a questionaire that asked what my favorite thing to do with my kids was. I love to read to them but my time to do so has seemed to diminish. It is hard to read a book (by each child's choosing) to each child in each child's bed at bedtime and have it not be a 45 minute process (not including the arguing about who I read to first and what the trouble the others get into while waiting for their story). It was nice to hear someone else read this time.

3. Shopping by myself ( without kids)!

4. As much fun as it is to go out and do fun activities, a good day at home beats it all!

5. Friends! You all are helpers in making this life wonderful.

I Can't Live With or Without You

Bridger is going to be out of town this week. I have known about it for awhile. I am not looking forward to it. Even though I don't see him often, I will miss him. I was talking to someone recently whose husband was released as bishop. I asked her if she was glad to have her husband around more. She told me no. She liked it when he was gone and told me I just hadn't been married long enough. You also hear couples who raise their children and when they are empty nesters again, they feel like they don't know each other. I don't want that to happen either. I read an article last week that said that couples spend on average of 10 minutes talking to each other a day and it is usually the stuff of "Did you get the mail?" I have had days like that with Bridger but hopefully we still have those meaningful conversations that keep the connection we felt when we were dating. We have both been trying to lose weight and it has been fun to have that common goal in mind even when our daily activities are so very different. At least I'll know when Bridger is in Montana he will still be exercising and watching what he eats and trusting that I am, too. Even if we are apart, we can still have the same goal. I guess the fact that I miss him when he is gone shows I am on the path I want to be on. By the way, the kids are sick. Doesn't that seem to happen more times than not when your counterpart is gone?