After Hours

If you've been wondering what Trevor has been doing after hours, you might be interested in this little clip. Trevor helped out our friend James who entered this in a film competition. When James wins, he'll get a bit of funding to work on his next big film. Trevor was going to help out with the film and they ended up throwing him in as the actor at the last minute, and I think he had fun with it.



After Hours from James Barlow on Vimeo.

Have Miracles Ceased?

Sleeping Soundly at Two Months

Today is a red letter day! A red letter day is a day SO SIGNIFANT... SO IMPORTANT--- that you write about it in your journal using red ink. Grandma Winward used to send us the "Red Letter Letter" yearly. It gave us a list of all of the big family events of the year -- new babies, marriages, baptisms, ordinations, and so on. Consider the fact that she had twelve children, sixty five grandchildren, and as a result, oodles of great-grandchildren and posterity in general and you start to understand what an undertaking the "Red Letter Letter" might have been. I miss the Red Letter Letter and my Grandma for that matter, but back to the point.

Why the red letter day today? Today, my children, went into the same bedroom, at the same time, laid down in their beds and, without any noise, or crying, or complaining, they eased themselves off to dreamland... simultaneously.

ISN'T THAT JUST AMAZING!!

Now maybe my red letter day wouldn't have made it to Grandma's cut, okay it definitely wouldn't have made it. After all, she did have oodles of posterity and had to keep red letter days to a minimum - otherwise everything would have been written in red ink. But considering my limited posterity - Katelin and Seth - I think I can include this. Let me explain why.

Today's red letter day comes after weeks of begging, pleading and crying in attempts to keep my sweet three year old in her bed after bed-time. It comes after months of trying to "teach" my baby how to sleep through the night, self-soothe, and usually, waking up with him several times through the night as a result.

It comes after experiencing sibling rivalry, jealousy, and outright meanness at bedtime.

And it comes after a lot of prayers for the health of our children, and for my sanity as a mother.

To some this may be insignificant, and I don't expect all days to go so smoothly, but it seems to me that someone is listening to my prayers. He answers on the small things. He answers on the big things. And there is nothing insignificant about that.

Note: See Moroni 7 for more on miracles.

A few questions

Dear Seth,

Oh how I wish you could speak to me and reveal all of your mysteries. Why must you smear baby food all over your hair each evening at dinner time? Is there any particular reason that you reach for your poop each time I try to change your diaper? And what makes you insert every item the size of a marble into your little mouth?

Love,

Mom

Searching for Balance

This morning while I attempted tree pose with Seth pulling on one leg, and Katelin hammering me with questions about her Lucky Charm marshmellows, I wondered if Rodney Yee had this in mind when he designed this little workout video. Probably not, but thinking about what I must look attempting yoga with both kids crawling all over me did make me laugh out loud.

This I do know - finding your "center" both in yoga and figuratively of course, is much, much, much more challenging when you add kids to the mix. Still, I think it's worth trying.

Choosing The Good Part.

Getting outside with the kids always fits into the BEST category.

Excuse my absence over the past, ummmmm.... month. My goal for 2009 is to choose not just the good, not just the better, only the best when it comes to the way I spend my time and talents (See Elder Oaks talk here for more info). Until this morning, blogging just didn't make it to the best category. I see room for blogging in my life soon, but right now I am trying to work on weeding out some of the less than best things that are cluttering up my life (figuratively). Dejunking your life is even more challenging than dejunking your junk drawer so I might be a bit sparse for a few weeks. I hope you all can survive until I become a bit more consistent...