The everyday

"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, savor you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may,for it will not always be so." 

-Mary Jean Irion

Right now our our family life is pretty normal. No major illnesses, financial disasters, or marital problems. But we do have the occasional cold or flu and wish we had just a little more money and occasionally get annoyed with each other - normal right? Well, someday we may have some big trial come our way, and I'll wish for these normal days back. So, I'm trying to be more grateful for the everyday.

"Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation." Robert Schuller

The day-to-day process of raising our children is quite unspectacular and I would say even downright dirty work sometimes. But those few perfect moments when you wish you could freeze time and make that memory hold fast in your family's mind forever; those moments are spectacular. And I'm sure when twenty years have passed and I see what truly amazing women our three girls have become (because I'm sure they will be absolutely amazing), it will be spectacular! 

At the same time, even though life isn't always spectacular, there are always moments to enjoy and I love this quote:

So often we get caught up in the illusion that there is something just beyond our reach that would bring us happiness: a better family situation, a better financial situation, or the end of a challenging trial.

We shouldn’t wait to be happy until we reach some future point, only to discover that happiness was already available—all the time! Life is not meant to be appreciated only in retrospect. “This is the day which the Lord hath made … ,” the Psalmist wrote. “Rejoice and be glad in it.”

President Uchtdorf

I just love Pres. Uchdorf! (General Conference is in just 4 weeks - yay!)

Style

So, as many of you know (from my New Year's Resolution post), I am trying to not spend any money on clothing this year. And guess what? I've held to it so far - amazing huh?! I did get some birthday money that I hope to find some great deals for shorts and/or casual skirts for the summer (which is so hot and humid here). I do occasionally check a few fashion blogs, which makes it really hard to hold to my resolution, but they also give me great ideas and get me to be creative with what I already have in my closet. So, in an attempt to show my creativity .... 

please excuse the reflection in my glasses

And look at these two girls ..... STYLISH!

Aubree turned 4

Aubree the new 4-year old and big sister Carly

How did this happen?! She's still my baby.... and unfortunately I still treat her like one. I'm not sure if we'll have anymore kids and I just can't let go of that baby stage yet. (I do get extremely baby hungry.) 

 She got this adorable outfit and tea set from Nanny Nette and Grandpa.

 So, she had her first tea party with her friend, Hannah.

 They reminded me of Anne and Diana when they had their cherry cordial. They were so excited and proper to start out, but as the tea party continued they got a little sloppy with the pouring.

 Ellie helped Aubree rig up this baby carrier.

One afternoon as I was in the kitchen, Aubree was in the parlor rocking and singing. After a few minutes of quiet I went to see what she was up to. This is what I found. :)

The Blizzard of 2013

This past weekend we experienced one of the biggest blizzards to come to New England in the past century! It. was. BIG. We woke up to at least two feet of snow on Saturday morning. We also woke up to a very cold house because our power went out after dinner on Friday night. We spent the day in our 48 degree home with double layers and robes on. The girls had a wonderful time playing outside - it reminded me of my childhood winters in Idaho. The piles of snow along the sidewalks were taller than the girls.

(I totally remember walking up the sidewalk to my home through piles of snow on either side that were taller than me. I also loved when the snowplow would come by and make a nice little snow hill in the middle of our col-de-sac where we could sled and play to our hearts content. Love those memories!)

Luckily we kept our hot water during the power outage and have a gas stove to prepare food. Also, one benefit of losing power when it's so stinkin' cold outside is that you don't have to worry about losing the food in your fridge and freezer. On Saturday night the temperature got down to about 10 degrees outside so we spent the night at our friend's, the Abston's, house (they didn't lose power). After church on Sunday we came home to 37 degrees inside!!! So, we went outside to warm up (yesterday's weather report says it was a 33 degree high yesterday, but it was pretty sunny, so it felt really nice)! We planned to spend the night at Abston's house again last night, but just as we were getting ready to go to bed we found out that our power was back on. Hooray!!!! We are so grateful for our friends for letting us crash at their house, but it is always so nice to be in your own home (although the girls don't think so - they were very disappointed to leave).

I'm so sad because I looked and looked for my camera to take pictures of the beautiful snow and the girls playing and Aaron shoveling, but I just barely found it today and now it's raining and the snow is disappearing! So, these are artistic renderings of the blizzard of 2013. (I'm not sure why they are so blurry.)

by Ellise Parson

by Carly Parson

bummer birthdays and other stuff

So, last Monday was Ellie's 7th Birthday. Unfortunately our family had the flu. I did not get out the camera on this day as our family neither showered or brushed our hair. We still did all her favorite meals and a cake, but it was hard to actually enjoy it. Ellie's big present was an easel with a white board and chalk board - the girls have LOVED it! I think we've finally got a gift they won't get sick of.

My birthday was last Wednesday, and although I did take a shower, I didn't brush my hair or do anything to get ready, so again no pictures. It was an even bigger bummer than Ellie's birthday because we did absolutely nothing to celebrate (seriously nothing) and the girls were still not well enough to go to school, but well enough to fight most of the day (despite my requests that the only present I wanted from them was no fighting). Or maybe it was a bummer because I still had a sore throat and was stuffed up and had a headache. Or maybe the fact that a bunch of my friends here went out to watch Les Mis, but I couldn't go because of scheduling conflicts (they didn't know it was my birthday). Or maybe the fact that Aaron didn't get me anything for my birthday (either he thought it unnecessary, or he took me seriously when I told him the Kitchenaid I bought clear back in December could be my birthday present. Why does he always have to take me so seriously?!)

So, I'm going to celebrate my birthday tomorrow now that I'm feeling better. Aaron and I are going out to lunch, and after school the girls and I will watch Anne of Green Gables since we don't have any after-school commitments. Then I'll make my favorite Chocolate Sundae Cake with ice cream!

Okay, on to other stuff.

 Just cute Carly

 This is called a house centipede and it's HUGE (about 2 1/2 inches long)! Apparently they're good though because they eat other bugs and spiders. Even so, I am going to let it live outside.

 Carly reading to her sisters - makes my heart feel good! 

Also, this is a great book with beautiful illustrations.

 A work of art by Carly.

 Santa brought us the game Sorry and these girls love to play it.

 Carly's working on a story on the old computer. She is such an amazing writer!

 Just us and the flu!

 Ellie with a headache. :(

Last night when I got home from mutual this whiteboard had "Wirst day ever" written all over it.  I asked her about it this morning and when I came in to the family room she had "This will be the best day ever" written on the white board. A good night's rest can always make a difference. I hope the positive self-talk works for her! (The letters and artwork on the bottom are Aubree's)

According to Aubree

The girls were getting all suited up to play in the snow and Ellie had a huge meltdown. Aubree comes over to me and says quietly, "Ellie has a bad attitude once a yeow [year]. She's having one again. I think she has a weally sowe [really sore] bum. It must be weally itchy."
I guess we need to get Ellie's bum checked, cuz she has been having meltdowns a lot lately!

(Just so you know, the way she talks is even cuter in person! I don't want her to have a speech impediment, but I really really don't want her to grow up and learn how to pronounce her R's - it's just too cute!)

The biggest insult according to Aubree:
"Liar, liar pants on fire, hanging on a telephone wire!"

When someone is not sharing with her she angrily sings/shouts:
"Sharing, sharing, that's the thing to do!"

Aubree's "homework" (one of Ellie's extra spelling sheets) - she loves to write letters

I've told Aubree she's not allowed to grow up anymore. I know it's because she's the baby (and she may always be the baby), but I don't want to be done with this stage of life! She told me she has to grow up and go to school, but she'll come home when it's dark outside.

Happy New Year! and Resolutions

This year we had our own little New Year's Eve party with just us. We decorated the house with balloons and surprised Daddy when he got home from work. Then we watched "While You Were Sleeping" for tradition's sake. We've watched that movie the previous three years with my parents (and anyone else who happened to join us) to bring in the new year. Carly was so into it - she was getting pretty stressed out about Lucy's counterfeit life and how the movie would end. We had hors d'oeuvres and sparkling cider during the movie and then made a new years treat to deliver to neighbors the following day (because we didn't do Christmas gifts/ goodies for neighbors).  

I love New Year's Resolutions. I tried to get my family all excited about it ... didn't happen! Even Aaron isn't really into goal setting. He's a super self-disciplined person so if he sees something he wants to change about himself, he just changes it - no fancy goal setting, vision boarding, etc. I, on the other hand, am not very self-disciplined, but I love to set goals and try to improve myself (even if I'm not always successful). I get a little anxiety whenever I think about goal-setting because there are so many things I want to improve in my life and so many roles I have - wife, mother, homemaker, church calling, physical, spiritual, and financial well-being.... it's a lot. So, I try to keep New Year's Resolutions pretty simple and always specify HOW I'm going to achieve them. I don't even know if these are really considered goals or not, but anyway, here's a few of them:

Better time management - I decided that one of my biggest time wasters is internet, so I have this little stick-it note on my computer:

Spending - again, this goes back to the self-control issue. I am a super frugal person - I would say that 98% of my clothing is either hand-me-down, consignment, or seriously discounted. But, I also love to have new things to wear and love new styles and trends, and all those consignment dollars add up. So, I am thinking about maybe, possibly (insert any other non-commital words you can think of) going to try to not buy any new clothes this year (unless it is gift money) - do you think that's even possible?! I don't know if it is, because right this very moment I'm thinking of how I really need some new capris or shorts for summer and how my black boots are starting to get a hole in them. But wouldn't that be totally awesome if I went a whole year without spending money on any clothes?! It would. I'm still trying to figure out how exactly to carry out this goal. (If either of my two faithful followers have any ideas, please share.)

Wife goal - It's pretty simple, but I really need to improve on this one: Treat Aaron as I want to be treated. I often hold higher expectations for Aaron than I do for myself. For example: it's totally legitimate if I'm frustrated or having a bad day to sulk around and be short tempered with everyone. But if Aaron's had a crappy day he better just pull it together and be cheerful ... or else! I'm not very patient with him and he is usually very patient with me.  So, I'm going to improve in this area by just reminding myself of how I want to be treated and give Aaron that same respect. (Sometimes the best way for me to change a bad habit is to just write it down and then let others know so I feel more accountable. It also just helps to keep it in the back of my mind so I don't forget about it.)

Mom goal - Be ready when the kids come home from school. Have the table cleared off so they can do homework, have a snack ready, be ready mentally to greet them (don't you have to prep yourself emotionally and mentally for your kids to come home?), have dinner started (or at least planned). 

Speaking of kids coming home from school .... gotta' go!