skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Since there are 46 days left until the official start of spring I am going to attempt to list 46 reasons I am looking forward to spring.
1. colors!
2. perfectly symmetrical flowers
3. longer/more frequent walks
4. chatting at the park
5. watching Katherine rediscover grass
6. spending hours in the backyard
7. easier drives up the canyon
8. the gardens open (guess it's a good thing these are not in order)
9. no more diaper bills (well we can hope)
10. lunch on patios
11. resume our fun family nature walks
12. brighton boardwalk
13. not needing to remember coats
14. seeing new life at the gardens (baby geese etc)
15. hearing birds chirp in the mornings
16. talks on the porch with my dear husband
17. daytrips (I don't go out much when it's freezing)
18. seeing my tulips and daffodils come up
19. those tiny baby aspen leaves make me cry when I first see them in spring
20. Carter will be 9
21. spring break, I'll get my carter back
22. organized garage again (it gets in disarray during winter when it's too cold to put things in the right spot)
23. the chance my brother's family may visit in April
24. a late Easter!
25. rain occasionally
26. spring colors for clothes
27. my birthday
28. mother's day
29. walking to friends' houses
30. cats will go out!
31. bike rides
32. seeing carter skateboard
33. picnics
34. cascade springs
35. projects (I'm determined to paint my cabinets when it is warm enough)
36. feeling settled into a new routine
37. I'll be learning the "Bear Trail" in cubscouts with Carter
38. spring songs in primary
39. using the parachute for games with the kids
40. sundresses with little sweaters for Katherine
41. tax refund :)
42. visiting downtown without having to walk in the freezing cold
43. switching out the kids seasonal clothing
44. the winter box of gloves,boots,hats, etc goes back to the garage
45. putting my vacuum back where the winter box is taking its spot
46. seeing my friends' lovely flower baskets
And just to make sure no one feels like I'm not enjoying the moment here's a few things that I am loving about my life currently.
1. whenever I want an excuse to stay home I can say it's too cold for me to go out.
2. inside time with Katherine has allowed for plenty of game time
3. book time
4. kindermusik and music at home time
5. matt's working so hard (makes me thankful for him even more when I see him working till 3am.)
6. carter is happy and enjoying school
7. loving seeing Carter enjoy his Irish dancing and watching him
8. my temple trips
9. laughs with my husband (he is always surprising me or making a joke out of something ask him the history of death row record artists sometime)
10. seeing Katherine enjoy time with her little friends
11. seeing her learn so quickly and excitedly
12. hearing her sing melts my heart
13. reading the right books for me right now
14. feeling needed/appreciated
15. having cute cats who let me hold them when I want to
16. bedtime kisses on my cheek from my cute kids
17. sunshine
18. singing when I want to
19. seeing my friend Pat every Monday
20. my heated blanket. I need to see who gave us this for our wedding and send a 10 year follow up thank you note. One thank you note just doesn't seem adequate for this gem of a gift.
21. having great discussions with Carter
22. seeing in his face how he's growing up
23. hearing him answer questions
24. watching him teach Katherine
25. seeing him play hide and seek and "rabid dog" with Katherine
26. having a warm house
27. having a really good vacuum finally
28. enjoying den meetings each week because the boys are good and my den partner is a really great person
29. I finally understand the wolf trail (seriously I was so overwhelmed at first but now I actually enjoy it)
30. enjoying that my parents still don't complain (at least to me) that I call home every night.
31. family time
Christmas was so lovely! Today was perfectly restful and a time of reflection since last evening I was determined to get all decorations out and all Christmas wrappings away, and new toys in a place. This afternoon we sat down and recorded all our Christmas memories in my journal. There were funny quotes, a log of places we visited or things we did, favorite songs sung, silly things that happened, etc. We had fun reviewing it all and it just made me so thankful for all the time I've been able to spend with my family. I think about watching "The King Is Born" scripture video with the kids, seeing their little rocking chairs next to each other and watching Katherine as she put her head against her brother and said "I love you Carter Morrison." Matt and I were so struck by it. It's precious to see my children interact and for the most part they get along very well. I love that they have had countless games of hide and seek while Carter has been out of school and made up their own games as well. The most memorable is where Katherine is crawling on all fours barking and Carter says don't catch me rabid dog! When she catches him he get rabies and then starts chasing her. It's bizarre and hilarious and I have to laugh and be happy every time I see that they enjoy playing together. And it cracks me up that Katherine rarely calls Carter, Carter. She almost always calls him Carter Morrison. So cute!
We've had serious moments as we've read scriptures and researched doctrine. Carter spent a long time looking on lds.org searching scriptures for all references to where heaven is exactly. It was great to see him seeking answers. We've enjoyed listening to and singing along to Handel's Messiah, gone to a couple nativity open houses (one with a live nativity) and felt the spirit so strongly as we've talked about our Savior and his atoning sacrifice for us. We've also had lots of funny moments. For instance, Christmas Eve when it was time to open pajamas from grandma Matt was so excited to see his new pajamas. He ripped the tag off with such force the plastic tag flew straight into my eye! It was scary for a moment and then the absurdity of it all hit us and we had some good laughs (and I took an ibuprofen)! I guess now everyone knows how much Matt loves pajamas! Carter was so cute when he got his pajamas on he said "grandma always sends me the softest pajamas!" and made us touch how soft the fabric was. Katherine twirled in her very first nightgown (mickey and minnie on it so I think it won her over). Anyway, I won't bore you with more moments in our life but I do want to go on record giving thanks for the wonderful blessing of my family and being able to be with them. This month I didn't have to go to a BSA committee meeting, Cub committee meeting, 3 den meetings, pack meeting, updating info, or do any cub planning. I also didn't have to prepare Friday volunteer lessons for Carter's class or go give them nor did I have to schlep Carter to dance lessons once the performances were over for the month. There are probably other things I didn't have to do either that I just won't remember until I have to do them this upcoming month. It's overwhelming to think about how life is going to body slam me when we begin back to school/back to normal routines. I'm just feeling like I'm going in too many directions. I don't like that transition week at all and am hoping it goes as smoothly as possible and that I realize I can do it again.
I am really enjoying this Christmas season. We are only 7 days in but have already done several of our Christmas time traditions. We have our chocolate advent calendars, a velcro one, and a really cool scripture one from The Friend magazine that has a question and you look up the scripture to get the answer for each day's question. It's really cute. I've already made a couple batches of carmelitas though the big push will be this weekend I think, seen the holiday lights and reindeer at Thanksgiving Point where we each take turns reading the boards describing the story of the birth of Jesus, and seen The Nutcracker (I loved that we went to Carter's friend's performance in November think no snow to drive through and a great way to start the season). A new tradition this year was going to the free Messiah Sing In at the American Fork Tabernacle. It was lovely! I brought Carter and a friend who sings alto along and so it was great fun! There's just something about singing Handel's Messiah and hearing the voices around you all singin' praises that makes me just so happy. The two hours just flew by and I can't wait to go again next year. My only complaint is that it drives me crazy when soloists change the music. Yes you can add your own style, go ahead and do some runs, but if the music shows you ending on a C then for heaven's sake hit it and don't just end on a different note because it's more comfortable! Handel wrote it for crying out loud.
Carter did his Irish Dance performance at the Festival of Trees and that was nice and overwhelming. So much to see, so many colors and sounds, and soooo many people. We only stayed a couple hours. I love that so many people volunteer and support such a great cause (Primary Childrens' Hospital). I think I just need to go on a less crowded day. Carter's piano recital is this Sunday. He is playing Edelweiss (makes me cry every time I hear it) and The First Noel (one of my absolute favorite Christmas songs). He is such a sweet good boy. I am so proud of all that he does.
I don't like Christmas trees in the house but compromised so we have a smaller tree this year that we swapped with a neighbor. Carter has cried for his old one back. Maybe next year, as long as it is on the porch. I just don't like all the space being taken up and glass balls just don't mean anything to me. To compromise I cut out colored paper circles and we wrote things that we are thankful for on them and hung them on the tree with ornament hangers. Seeing how blessed we are makes me not mind the tree quite as much as most years but I still think it's coming down Christmas day like the others in the past have.
We feel very blessed. We are so thankful for the basics and have tried to live more simply. On impulse or guilt or I don't know what we ended up getting Carter something for Christmas that was more than we've ever spent on a present before. I feel a bit guilty for spending the money but there's that part of my mother's heart that wants to surprise her child with something she knows he would never ask for because he knows we are careful with money. And it will be fine, I know we are blessed when we look for ways to share what we have with others and am grateful for those opportunities. We've been able to be a small part of a few holiday service projects and that has made us happy as we try to teach our kids to part with games, toys, books, and clothes. We've gotten rid of a lot of stuff this year that we had had for too many years. I am enjoying things being more organized and knowing that other people can use the things we gave away better than we did.
In other news I am determined to get a job, any job, at the NSA data center which is being built in Camp Williams just 10 minutes or so from my house. I have dusted off my portfolio to remember what my degree is (bachelor's degree in Sociology from the University of California, Irvine, certification in Diversity, and Planning and Human Services) and a K-12 Multiple Subject Teaching Credential from California which I never transferred to Utah. Hm... Well, maybe they can hire me for transcription or data entry or whatever. Ugh. How is it that 10 years ago a 4 year degree meant something and now it doesn't mean anything? Since that is the case shouldn't our college loans get forgiven? I know, I know, wishful thinking.
I'm sorry this is such a long post! I just also want to include that we were able to visit my family for Thanksgiving and tell you how wonderful it was. Not to brag, but it was perfect. My brother and his wonderful family was able to stay pretty much the whole time we were there and it was so great being all together. I loved every minute of it. We had a great visit and I loved pestering my brother as much now as I ever did. The kids got along so well except for when Katherine was tired and then she wasn't very good at sharing. Overall though she did so well. I was able to go to Sprinkles for the first time which was fun and we got family pictures done which was eventful (my brother accused Katherine of acting like something out of the movie poltergeist but in his defense she was really crazy). I saw the ocean and showed it to Katherine, we ate oranges right off the tree, and went to the local little pond and park to feed the ducks. We had a lovely feast which I later threw up in my mom's purse as she was driving her corvette 90 mph down the coast so that we could visit my uncle who was in the hospital. He loved seeing that I was green with nausea. I think seeing me like that is what actually made him get better and get released shortly thereafter. My mom was such a hero and didn't make me feel bad for ruining her purse and making her park in a bad area of town so I could run into the mexican market to buy a hoodie so that the hospital would let me in. We also visited with our dear friends whose son is Carter's age. They are best buddies and when together act like they've never been apart. We got to hear Kevin play us a violin solo that was incredible. We also met up with another friend who was just recently baptized and that was a wonderful visit as well. It was all just what I needed to make me feel like I can survive winter.
Matt and I just celebrated our 10 year anniversary on the 11th. And I am so thrilled to be married to such a great guy. Today he was gone in trial prep and I'm not used to having him gone on Saturdays. I really really missed him a lot. I love that we laugh over silly stuff, that we act like old people reminiscing about when we were young and received cds for 60 free minutes of internet time, and that we enjoy being with our kids so much. I have loved watching him gain such a strong testimony and be such a great example of service and kindness. I love that we make time for each other to go to the temple and grow spiritually as we discuss the gospel. There are so many blessings the gospel has brought to our lives and I extremely thankful we have each other. Every once in awhile I'll see some of my friends' pictures and updates on facebook about the incredible places they are going and the nights out on the town. While I do hope to someday vacation and a night out sounds enticing I am perfectly content sitting here in my fleece pajamas and fuzzy slippers cutting up grapes and veggies for our toddler between typing sentences. I am thankful for the life I've chosen and the experiences I've been given. We have stood together to face the challenges that have come our way and I am thankful to have a strong partner with a sometimes exasperating sense of humor.
Today is the perfect day to catch up on Katherine's birthday post! I love that she is 2. I love that we can communicate better and I love that she is exhibiting signs of empathy and kindness. I love that she is following directions so much better and I love that she still is as fiery and determined as ever. Katherine has brought so much happiness to our family. She makes me cry sometimes because sometimes when I am watching her I just can't believe she is mine. Today we went to the gardens for a little bit and I am so bummed I forgot my camera. That being said, not having my camera allowed me to really enjoy the moments. Again she insisted on walking instead of riding in the stroller. We stopped at a little green hill under some nice tall trees and enjoyed the nice breeze. I was sitting on the grass watching her chase the leaves as they fell. She'd yell "uh-oh!" and take off running, grab the leaf when it was on the ground and hold it up high trying to give it back to the tree. It took some convincing to get her to know the tree wasn't hurt and that it was sharing its leaves with us. We lingered there awhile, counting leaves into a pile and putting them on our hair to be silly and then walked on. When we got to a bridge Katherine got on her tummy eye to eye with a big frog. It stayed still and she had a lot of fun admiring it and then said "Biya Frog!" and off we went. When we got to the rose garden we went from rose variety to rose variety saying the color and smelling the rose. It makes me thrilled that she could name some of the colors without prompting and I loved just knowing that when she is at the gardens she is really soaking it in too. I was thinking as I walked the path, tearing up occasionally because I am a big baby this week, that each day my body breathes but when I am at the gardens my soul breathes. It sounds cliche but it's really how I feel. When I am there I just get a better sense of myself and have some uninterrupted time to think things out.
Katherine had a fun birthday and had a small party with family and a couple family friends. We sang happy birthday to her and were eating cake when we realized that she was at the table plucking the carrots off of her carrot cake and eating them. It was adorable to see a row of green stems with the carrots missing. She is such an imp and so fun. Her temper tantrums are further apart and today in kindermusik when I thought she'd freak out when it was time to put the parachute away, she helped put it away! It was a neat moment as I realized how she is learning routine. I love that she is becoming more tender. She races to Matt when he gets home and throws her arms around Carter's legs when they come in the door from school pick up. Here's a funny story about my cute girl: She hates the vacuum. I was vacuuming the living room so she was screaming for matt. When she realized he wasn't home to rescue her she started screaming for boots who is a monkey character on a tv show called "Dora the Explorer." It cracked me up that she fully expected boots to come rescue her from being around the vacuum. Katherine loves to play with tiny toy cars and trains, loves shape sorting, pushing her baby in a stroller, and most of all reading books. She brings me book after book just like Carter did. It's been such an interesting experience to read her books that I read to Carter. She has already memorized some of them and sings Old MacDonald and Wheels on The Bus. Hear gibberish gibberish gibberish all to ta town! and gibberish E I E I O. I love being able to really have someone to talk now. At the gardens today she said "Whoa big rock mama wait!" It was so clear and I stopped right away so she could explore the big rock and thought about how nice it was that I had another level to communicate on with her now. I love that I am getting a second chance to experience this great age. I love that I have the perfect girl for me and the perfect boy for me. I am so thankful. I am so blessed.
I cannot believe I didn't have a single post in August! I know August came and went and it's sad that I don't have anything to document it. I didn't even do a birthday post for Katherine. I'm a pathetic mom. I promise to do a great birthday post, maybe next week. There is too much to write about her being an adorable 2 year old to write it today. Today. We are treading water as school has begun and I've struggled to maintain, adapt, and grow simultaneously. I'll have a day where I am lying on the floor playing calico critters with Katherine and I think life is perfect. Then I'll have a day where I am completely overwhelmed. I've heard this is normal so I'm not too worried. I think it's just the normal life of a mom. So here is the snapshot of me trying my best to be a normal mom. My morning routine often includes running to look at my calendar to see which obligations are on my plate for the day. I don't feel like I have too much to do at one time but it seems that days where things conflict are happening more than they should. Does that make any sense? I am juggling my traditional roles which I absolutely love. There is nothing better than being a wife, mother, daugther, and friend. I am also loving being a primary teacher. I don't mind the time it takes to prepare the lesson, find a handout activity, make copies on Wednesdays, and pass out them to the kids who miss church. The kids are so great and being in primary is the PERFECT place for me. I love the spirit there and that I can sing half of the church time away. I am a den leader which I am honestly still trying to figure out. I didn't realize that in addition to the den meetings, planning a month's worth of them every other month, committee meetings once a month, pack meetings once a month I am also supposed to be keeping track of each boy's progress and personally meeting the ones who don't attend often, and sending reminders. I'm trying to not be resentful that the meeting time can't be changed unless I host it (picture free babysitting, empty cupboards, broken furniture, scattered items, and coughing snotty kids running through my house and then ask me why I wouldn't want to host it). It conflicts with the local Irish dance classes (Carter has been begging for dance lessons) so I'll be driving to Riverton instead of going to the local ones. I'm also an Eagle Scout Counselor which doesn't entail a whole lot since I am failing at motivating any of them or their parents to do a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g. So I organize binders to give to them or make handouts, leave messages, facebook messages, get stood up for meetings if I ever get far enough to get one scheduled, make handouts or displays for courts of honor and try to keep my boss updated on the lack of progress I am making despite my attempts. I'm the school council secretary which means I have a meeting every couple of months and write the agenda and then type up the minutes. I am married to the soccer coach who still asks me for help when I didn't even sign up to be team mom. I teach Carter's class idioms every Friday at 2pm. I find myself volunteering for things and then getting stressed about self imposed deadlines. For example if I haven't seen my 3 vt sisters by the second week of the month I start to get frantic thinking we won't be able to visit. It's really silly of me. When I see it all written out I just think I'm either forgetting some other roles or I am just plain silly. It really isn't much. Gotta go it's time to pick up Carter from school and drop him off at his piano lesson. In fact, when I get feeling overwhelmed I should just be thankful I have less to do than Carter. He has homework, piano practice, soccer practice, choir practice, scout meeting, and now because he has begged, he'll have his dance lessons.
I love this picture my brother in law took of Matt and Carter. It's from this past weekend when they camped at Mirror Lake and hiked up a mountain. I think they called it Bald Mountain. Matt said they got 90% of the way there and he got a strong impression to turn back so they did. The pictures the rest of the family took from the summit show a sheer cliff and knowing my boys as well as I do I can definitely see why Matt was impressed to turn around. They are adorable and wonderful but klutzy. I am too. I am so blessed to have a spouse who is an incredible father. Matt got some pretty bad rope burns that cut the skin on the backs of his knees on Friday an hour before they left but he still was excited to take Carter camping and hiking. They rafted on the lake and I was told that they looked "so cute out there." I love that Carter has an excellent role model and a dad who loves spending time with him and who would do anything for him.
I love nature hikes and enjoying the beauty of the creations too but I like to be home in bed when it's time to sleep. I hate campground accommodations (or lack thereof) so I was completely fine to miss the Morrison extended camp out and stay home with my little princess. We set up her twin bed which was my twin bed when I was a child. It's a bit bizarre to snuggle with her and realize that 30 years ago I was that little sleeping with that same headboard and footboard. The mattress buying, schlepping, and setting up was a challenge and 3 trips to the furniture store but we got it done. She looks adorable sleeping in her bed, when she actually does sleep in her bed that is. She climbs out and opens her door and runs into our room all hours of the night but it's really cute in my sleeply deliriousness to see this cute little wild haired girl running and then climbing into our bed. So that is the latest news around here. I'm feeling that anxious fear that I haven't done everything that I've wanted to do with the kids this summer and the days are racing by faster than a melting otter pop. My calendar is full of ink along with a list at the top of August obligations to write on the calendar as soon as I print August. Today Carter is at cub scout camp which is all day and on a mountain somewhere. I'm sure he's having a blast while I sit here worrying about him.
Lastly, I am so excited that I now have a bike! I had a mountain bike when I was much younger but with my back problems I really needed a cruiser so a few years ago I gave away my bike since it hadn't been used in many many years. Saturday I found a cruiser at a local yard sale for $20! It's a mens cruiser but it is in great condition and the price made it irresistible. Normally, Matt and Carter ride bikes and I push the stroller. I bought the bike Saturday and when Carter and Matt came home from camping Saturday evening Carter and I took our first bike ride together. I hadn't been on a bike in years so I was a bit nervous but it was awesome. We rode over to the horses in a field not too far from our house and fed them and then just cruised around. He kept calling me dad and then had to correct himself since he wasn't used me riding alongside him. Sunday I rode my bike to drop off all the activity handouts to my primary children who had missed class. It was really fun especially down one of the steeper roads here. I hate how self conscious I am but I love that I can now have that experience. We just need to get Katherine riding a bike now. :)
