Gratitude Day 9

Today I'm grateful for the holidays!! I'm loving the anticipation of the season and the lessons that are focused on at this time of year. I love spending time with my family and all the silly activities we do together to celebrate. I am so anxious for my Thanksgiving dinner! I LOVE that meal! And then to be able to decorate for Christmas and start listening to Christmas music the next day. :) I love being able to bribe my kids with the promise of Santa and seeing their excitement over every little thing. I love the goodies and treats and food and hot chocolate and soups and stews and breads and yumminess! And today it is beautiful and white outside with snow, reminding me of the pure love of our Savior and the true meaning of the holiday season.

Gratitude Day 8

Today my gratitude isn't so happy. I don't mean it to sound wrong, but it's the only thing I can think of right now. Today I'm grateful that my children are safe and protected. A little girl in my carpool (a good friend of Payson's) was molested at school. Today I am grateful that it wasn't my daughter. I hope that doesn't sound like I'm grateful that it was her and not us. That is nowhere near what I mean! I wish it never happened to anyone ever. But today I am simply grateful that my children are safe and that we are not dealing with something so ugly.

Gratitude Day 7

I'm grateful today for my Primary kids. They are incredible!! I should tell you about the awful behavior I have witnessed in our primary over the last year. It has been horrendous. I have never seen children behave that way in a primary before. I have seen rowdy and loud and wiggly kids. But I had never seen disrespect and irreverence like this before.

In the last several months, after MUCH prayer and counsel and fasting and more prayer and a LOT of changes in teachers and the way we do things, these kids have made strides that I can hardly believe.

Today I sat through one of the most reverent 2 hours of any primary I've ever attended. (And I've served in the primary for YEARS! On top of attending myself as a kid!) And that has been my experience the last several weeks with my primary kids. They have invited the Spirit and allowed us all to enjoy primary in a completely new way. They are giving themselves the opportunity to develop everlasting testimonies and allowing me to witness it.

And on top of that they are teaching me so much! I am learning to listen to the Lord and do as He asks, then to EXPECT miracles to happen. He needs me to have the faith to expect those miracles in order for them to work. And as we, as a Primary Presidency, have tried to do that, we have seen incredibles miracles in such a short time. Imagine what we will see in months and years!

And so today I am grateful for my primary kids. For the trials that we've been through together and for their efforts to make changes. They are giving me so much!!

Gratitude Day 6

Today I'm grateful for this one:

This girl is growing up so much faster than I ever would have thought. Now that she's in school all day and I don't get to spend as much time with her, I soak up my minutes with her. She's getting so smart!! She learns something every day.

I went to her first parent/teacher conference this week. Her teacher had nothing negative to say at all. Not one word. She is testing above average in every category. I don't say this because she's just a natural brain and I want to brag. But because she works hard! She studies the letters and sounds and practices everything she can. More often than not, her idea of "play" is writing and reading and learning.

She is also just good. She was given an award at school this week at a school assembly for being responsible. Apparently each quarter 3 kids from each class are given one of these awards. One is for responsibility, one for respect, and one for kindness. Payson has been a great helper to the other kids at school and is a wonderful friend to everyone. She doesn't care if someone is different. She loves them just the same and treats them as a friend.

She got another award at school for "demonstrating the ability to say no" which made me proud! I worry about my babies being out in the world and going along with the crown. But this girl knows how to stand up for what she believes in. She chooses the right no matter where she is or what someone else might think. THAT is something I am super proud of!

Payson's a great helper at home. To the point that sometimes I have to tell her to stop so that her brother will learn some responsibility too. :) She is a wonderful big sister and sensational daughter. We just can't get enough of her!

Oh! And one more brag: Last night during family scriptures Payson read an entire verse! She's READING! And not just little "the cat ran" type words. A scripture verse! She's such a little genius.

Every day I find myself thinking about how lucky I am to be her mother. She's taught me so many lessons over the last 5 (almost 6!) years. She has made me a better person in so many ways!! Oh how I love my girl!!

Gratitude Day 5

Tonight I'm grateful for new beginnings. That might sound cheesy to a lot of people. But it's true. I mess up. A lot. Shocking, I know. But I do. I promise. But every new day is a chance to learn and try to be a little better. To find new methods to make things work. To find ways to make myself a little better. To make up for the things I did wrong the day before. And to really learn to apply the atone of my Savior in my life daily. I could go into plenty of detail about all the things I want to do better when I wake up in the morning, but I won't bore you. I'm just super grateful that I have the chance to do it!!

Gratitude Day 4

Today I'm grateful for weekends. Payson had an early out day for school today and there will be no school tomorrow. Parent teacher conferences. And that means that I get to catch up on sleep, time with my babies, and some housework that was neglected due to some crafting and social time. :) It might seem like a silly thing to some, but I'm definitely grateful for the down time this weekend!! Now I'm off to catch up on that sleep!

Gratitude Day 3

I'm grateful today for all things crafty. :) I've been on a bit of a crafting kick this week. I'm not even sure why. Anyway...

We have a fun card group once a month where we meet to exchange cards and to make a few and learn fun, new techniques. It's fun to make something as well as to just get out and be social with fun girlfriends. I spent a few hours with a friend the other day making our cards, watching Oprah, and just having a good time.

Today I spent the day lazily browsing the internet for simple crafts to make to decorate my home using things I have here in my house. I found some adorable free printables (found here) and threw them in some old frames that weren't being used and hung them on the wall.

I've been using my Cricut to cut out bazillions of pieces to make a plethora of Thanksgiving cards, treats, labels, place cards, etc. It's been relaxing and fun and it just makes me happy. And after the kids are in bed some of my favorite people are coming over to make them with me while watching "Newsies" and eating yummy treats. :)

I even have my very own little craft space. It may not be the most expensive or elaborate. But it's my own humble space that I love. The drawers are filled with the things I use to just MAKE.

Do you like that I didn't take out the trash before taking a picture? Just keepin' it real.

I may not make expensive things or things that mean anything to anyone else. And that's okay. I'm not making them for anyone else. I just like to make things that make me happy. I'm grateful that I have the supplies, the friends, the resources (love the internet!), and the loving supportive husband to do it every now and then.