Today is one of those "get er done" type of days. I'm going to:


*Give all three boys a bath
*Fold and put away all the washed bedding and blankets from Morgan being sick
*Fold baby laundry that was dumped on the couch
*Make brownies in my Perfect Brownie Maker (it rocks)
*Make dinner to take to a nice family in our ward who recently had a baby. (I love to do this type of service. It always puts a spring in my step.)
*Clean out the fridge
*Watch a movie I DVRed while I rock one (but possibly two) of the babies.
*Play with the Morgster who is feeling much better today
*Try to be patient and kind through it all!


(Morgan in all of his army gear from Christmas. He's currently killing all the bad guys.)

On the Radio

Last night as I was driving home from the Pine Wood Derby, I heard a commercial on the radio that caught my attention. Now usually I'm either:

A.) Listening to talk radio

B.) Listening to my iPod through my car adapter
or

C.)Listening to the radio, but will channel hop when commercials come on. I can't stand commercials on the radio.

So as I went to push another channel button, I heard this commercial and I stopped to listen to what it was about. I think it was from Catholic Family Services or something similar to that. Anywho - What caught my attention was a man talking and saying how he made the bed for his wife and even put the pillows how she wanted them. He really wanted to make her happy.

"That would be nice", I thought to myself. The commercial went on to ask:

"What have you done for your marriage today?"

Wow - if I would have been walking I think that would have stopped me in my tracks. I thought about if I had done anything nice for Riley that day and all I could come up with was that I let him order a pizza because I had to be at the church by five o'clock to help set up.

This year the church wide theme for primary is "My Eternal Family" and I do not think it is coincidence that as the world and society try to break down and tear apart the family unit and come up with new definitions for it, that our church is choosing to emphasize this important topic this year. The significance of a mother and father who love each other, and are working together to raise their children is more important than ever before.

I think most couples experience rough spots and have their grouchy days/weeks/months depending on your situation or relationship (maybe you don't which is fantastic), but I think most couples do and I'm speaking from personal experience. But it seems like the couples who serve each other (most likely on a daily basis) are the happiest, and I think that was the point that the commercial was trying to drive home. Little acts of service.

So many times we get wrapped up in trying to do service for those outside of our home - which is great and we must do it- but does the thought cross our mind to do it for our spouses and children? I know that usually I feel like I'm doing enough already by keeping the house clean, cooking meals, doing laundry -that those are my acts of service and sometimes I even get really selfish and wonder "Where are my acts of service, who's serving me?"

But honestly, that question from the commercial "What have you done for your marriage today?" stayed with me all night, and I woke up this morning with a different attitude.

*Sometimes we are sent a message that we really need to hear.*

*photo via

Maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more

This quote from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" always runs through my head as I'm fighting throughout the war zone-like atmosphere of most stores this time of year:

(confused as to why the Who's down in Whoville were still celebrating Christmas with gusto)
Grinch: It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages boxes, or bags!

Narrator: And he puzzled and puzzled, till his puzzler was sore.Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! "Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more."

I grew up in an area where there were a lot of less fortunate people, probably 80 percent of my school were on free or reduced lunches and there were just a lot of families with hardships. I remember one year (I was probably a freshman in high school), for a mutual activity we took Christmas baskets around to some needy families, some in our ward and others just in the community. As we were riding around in one of our leaders suburbans, it was really loud and we were making jokes, and that sort of thing. Everyone was having a pretty good time. We didn't have many combined activities like this so the guys were pretty squirreley and trying to act cool to impress us girls (why I couldn't have had at least one normal, cute guy in my ward is beyond me, but that's not important right now) and so there really wasn't a very giving spirit in the air. As the night wore on though, the reality of some of these people's situations started to really set in and make us selfish teenagers look outside of our own wants and desires for once. A lot of the families were living in pretty humble circumstances, but I remember the last house we came to wasn't even a house. We pulled up to a little camp trailer on a lonely stretch of road and the noise in the car vanished. We had many things that people had donated for this family, and not just holiday goodies or toys for the children, but what you and I would look at as every day necessities like toilet paper, laundry detergent, and new bars of soap. When I saw the little children who lived under these circumstances my heart was changed right there and then. These children were more excited about getting cereal to eat than a new doll; a new blanket was more appealing than the coloring books. I stood there in my nice warm coat in clothes that were my own that were new from the store, and felt all the selfish Christmas gimmes disappear. My heart probably swelled up just like the Grinch's did in the movie. The people were so thankful and humble and all of us had tears in our eyes as we silently walked back to the suburban. On the ride back to the church I was very aware of my blessings and that I had much to be thankful for. I will never forget that experience as long as I live. Now, my family was by no means rich when I was growing up (by worldly standards anyways), but compared to most folks around us we had a lot. My dad is the hardest working man I've ever met, and has never let our family down. My mother is amazing and always made sure we had everything we needed and made life totally fun for all of us. Christmases at our house were always special and exciting and my parents always tried really hard to make it a happy day. Anyway, I just felt impressed to share that story at the moment. Maybe because I know that later today I will be fighting through the throngs of sale-hungry shoppers and I needed some perspective. :)

As the quote goes "He who has no Christmas in his heart, will never find Christmas under a tree".

Put a little love in your heart

Lately I've been discussing with my daughter the importance of doing nice things for other's without expecting something in return, just for the sake of doing it. We are having struggles around our house of "wheeling and dealing" for every little task to be done. Are we raising a generation of children that demand rewards for every little task or chore? I admit I do resort to bribery on a regular basis, and so in a sense it's partly my fault.

So, I thought to myself, am I any better at doing thing's for others? Do I expect something in return? This month I have challenged myself (and you can do the same if you like) to try and do at least one kind thing every day. Now I'm not talking about baking a huge batch of cookies, or buying someone an expensive present. It could be something as small as taking the time to visit with a neighbor, sending a happy e-mail, or giving a friendly wave (even to that grouchy person who never waves back). I know when I am the recipient of a kind gesture it brightens my whole day and I feel like passing that feeling on. Happiness is so contagious, I've always been drawn to happy up-beat people. By the end of December I hope that I will have made someones day, made someone feel less lonely, or let them know they have a friend in me. I know it is so "Miss America" to say you want peace on earth, but really this time of year, it doesn't sound so cheesy. So if you want, you can join me and put a little love in someones heart today!