The Gift of a Song

I have always been very affected by music.  It can ease stress, help me feel calm, and bring the Spirit.  Today was a good day and I had a lot of "favorite" moments but I decided to go with this one because it was first, and it set a good tone for the day.  This morning right before 8 Trisa texted me the link to this song by Casting Crowns who is one of the Christian singing groups we enjoy.  I decided to share the words with you.  I hope you will love them too.

Photo by Ryan Hutton on Unsplash

Somewhere In Your Silent Night 

All is calm and all is bright

Everywhere but in your heart tonight

They're singing carols of joy and peace

But you feel too far gone and too far out of reach

Somewhere in your silent night

Heaven hears the song your broken heart has cried

Hope is here, just lift your head

For love has come to find you

Somewhere in your silent night

From heaven's height to manger low

There is no distance the Prince of Peace won't go

From manger low to Calvary's hill

When your pain runs deep

His love runs deeper still

He has always loved you, child

And He always will

Somewhere in your silent night

Heaven hears the song your broken heart has cried

Hope is here, just lift your head

For love has come to find you

Somewhere in your silent night

Lift your head

Lift your heart

Emmanuel will meet you where you are

He knows your hurt

He knows your name

And you're the very reason that He came

Somewhere in your silent night

Heaven hears the song your broken heart has cried

Hope is here, just lift your head

For love has come to find you

Somewhere in your silent night

Love will find you

Ooh, love will find you

Love will find you

Written by:  Bernie Herms, Matthew West, and Mark Hall

The Best Way To Spread Christmas Cheer....

Pictures of cute puppies
might help Christmas cheer too!
Photo by Andrew Te on Unsplash

 ....is singing loud for all to hear! (Elf)  Today while cleaning the kitchen I had Christmas music playing and I was belting out all of the words I knew.  Dan was upstairs, Derek was downstairs, and Teddy didn't care if I was singing as long as I was also throwing his toy moose when he brought it to me, but it did raise my spirits and so I think that counts!

Deer, A Luxurious Shelf, Meditation, and Feeling Better

Today I wondered where the deer that have been regulars in our yard went.  As I walked Teddy I found a LOT of them.  The brave, bold mama deer who doesn't cower at all when Teddy lunges and growls and the other six deer run away.  The 4 point buck, and the 3 point buck along with a lot of other deer.  All seemed to be right there along the two blocks we walked.

Later I went into the laundry room where Derek and I put up a shelf on Saturday and put a couple of things on it.  It is the nicest laundry room I've ever had, and it's quite a luxury to have an entire shelf that I currently don't need.  All of the stuff is hidden away in the closet where it can have the door shut upon it.

Today I also tried out Sheng Zhen Meditation again.  It is kind of like a smiley Tai Chi with flowy movements.  Later I started listening to a book called Feel Better in 5 by Dr. Rangan Catterjee who is a Dr. from the UK.  It is an interesting book on its own, made better because he has a fun British accent.  I have read so many self help books at this point that I often hear the same ideas over and over (which is just fine).  This had some of those and some newer ones.  One thing he says is that health isn't a destination, it is something you do.  

He has 6 ideas to help.  I will just mention the first and the last.  The first is to start easy.  The easier the behavior the less motivation is needed (and motivation fluctuates).  His example was some guy who hated flossing his teeth so he decided he could floss one tooth after brushing his teeth.  Naturally eventually he has made the habit of flossing and does them all.

The last thing he mentioned in this particular area was to celebrate every time you make another step successfully.  If you exercise for 5 minutes congratulate yourself heartily:-).  The happier you feel after doing something healthy, the more likely you will want to do it again - so do lots of celebrating.

There were a lot of good things in this day and I am really thankful.  I know that I really need those days that I feel like I've managed to do a lot of good things!

To The Rescue!

 

Mike, Tia and Brigham
on the plane home from
Michigan

I'm sure that when Tia brought Brigham over to visit she didn't realize she was showing up just when I needed her to rescue me from my sad self.  (I discovered later that I forgot to take my pile of medicines this morning and so I'm now blaming the sads on that!) Anyhow, after I hugged Brigham and watched him play with the deer statues in our window, Derek took him out to play with Aunt Kayli. Tia hugged me and then stayed and talked to me for a while and it made a huge difference!  I am so glad she came.  

I was, of course, also super glad to see Brigham who really enjoyed playing with the Christmas decorations because those are more fun than toys!

Brigham is NOT sad here.  I pointed the camera at him.
He was frowning but saw the camera and gave me a smile.
Then the long lasting flash came on and so he hid his eyes
and that is what the camera caught.  He went right back to
playing with the nutcracker after that.

A Rest

We've had this chair for a very long time.  Derek got it for me when the girls were little.  Back then it didn't have a snake puppet along the back, or an electric blanket on it, but it was still a good chair!

Today I had a headache - again.  I'm rather tired of having headaches.  I haven't been as bothered by them lately, but the last week seems to be the exception.  Ugh.  I got up anyway and tried to make it go away.  I didn't notice that it worked much, but it's not like you can skip to the end of the day!  

I helped Derek put a shelf in the laundry room with a bar to hang clothes, and I went to my first gender reveal ever.  It was for Trevor and Mac (Amanda's brother and sister-in-law).  It's a boy!  Then I came home.  I had been kind of cold all day and so I left on my winter coat and hat and sat in my chair with the electric blanket on high and dozed off and on.  I was, and am, thankful that I finally did get warm, and I feel a bit better for having taken a rest.  Sometimes there just is no substitute for a good rest!

This really doesn't have much to do with my day.  This is what I am looking at as I get ready to turn out the light.  We had dinner and a movie at Connor and Amanda's tonight.  Their apartment is clean and festive and they are very welcoming.  It was a fun evening thanks, at least in part, to the fact that I got to fit a rest in!

A Day I'm Grateful For Included:

Christmas Decorations

Mike, Tia, and Brigham sending pictures and coming home

and

My Sister Tina's Birthday!

A picture in the dark -- but you can still see the ladder we haven't quite finished with!

The fireplace with all of the stockings except Brighams.  We put my nephew Bryce' stocking in his spot for now.

Another angle of the fireplace plus the entertainment center.

A gift from last year.  It's easier to see the picture in person I think.
I love it!

The entryway is ready to receive you if you come visit.
You can sign the guest book!

One of the piano room cabinets.

Don't look too closely at this one.  The tree is barely holding together
and I didn't work very hard at fixing the decorations that were still on from last year!

You can't have too many nativity scenes around the house!

Naturally I love this one.  This is Mike with Brigham.  They were getting ready to go out to find and cut down a Christmas tree.  They were in Michigan this morning.

This is Brigham at his Nana's house in Michigan.
He is feeding the dogs instead of himself in this picture.
I'm sure he's a favorite!

And last but not least my sister Tina!
Today is her birthday.
I stole this picture from Facebook because I don't take enough.
Tina is the best older sister ever.  I really enjoy spending time with her.
Lately when we are together people keep asking her if I'm her Mom!
That's what happens when you have short white hair and your sister has long not white hair.
Ha ha ha!  We just laugh and she calls me Mom occasionally just for fun.
I think Tina is pretty much good at everything and I love her.

People and Pie

I tried key lime pie for the first time today.  I believe that Leon made it.
This picture isn't the same pie, but the pie he made looked equally good!
Photo by Takuya Nagaoka on Unsplash

 Happy Thanksgiving!  This has been a most unusual Thanksgiving.  Tia, Mike and Brigham are in Michigan, Connor and Amanda were with some of her family, and Derek, Trisa, Kayli, Jake, Dan and I were here.  We didn't even have turkey!  We had roast beef instead.  Derek came up with a good thankful activity that I enjoyed and he helped a lot in the kitchen where I feel like I spent most of my day.

My favorite part of the day was when Derek's parents and various brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews came for pie.  We had so MUCH pie!!  It was all very good, but visiting with everyone was the best!  We have such terrific family members on both sides of the family and are thankful when we get a chance to visit with them.

Pie is good, but I love the people the most!

Quiet Moments

 

I need to take more pictures!
This is Brigham playing the piano
at his house.

Trisa was here today and we got a few minutes where it was just us home.  And the dogs.  She is a good listener and I love talking to her and listening to her.  

Then a friend called and had good news that eased some of my worry for her.  I was glad that she took the time to tell me how things were going.

Later a quiet, "Thank you Mama.  Thanks for taking care of me.", was one of those moments that make us Mamas really glad to be Mamas of really good kids.

A quiet moment with Derek eating too much sugar (on the day before we eat too much in general) and talking about places we'd like to go on vacation was good too.

And finally, as I boiled sweet potatoes, I heard Tia and Brigham in the background.  They had called Aunt Kayli and so I got to run over and say hello.  Apparently Brigham stood by himself today (without holding on to something).  Yay for our cute grandbaby and his parents!

Now for a good night's sleep and a day of giving thanks!

Something To Be Grateful For

Teddy on a snowier morning walk.

 This morning after going on a cold walk with Teddy I walked him into the backyard and let him off of his leash so he could run around and then I sat at the edge of the hill.  I was wearing snow pants because they are warm.  I was tired and not feeling particularly cheerful and Teddy, who would usually enjoy a jaunt around the hillside, just sat by me.  So I sat overlooking the canyon with my arm around my dog buddy and felt thankful for a peaceful moment.

I had strawberries, raspberries, syrup and whipped cream.  Yum!
Photo by Sheelah Brennan on Unsplash

Later, after a rough late morning, early afternoon (I was tired and therefore sad) I went to the temple to work in the office.  I was greeted with smiles and people who were happy to see me.  We were really busy and time went by quickly.  Afterwards I drove home and was met with a prepared dinner of bacon, eggs, and waffles with fruit.  It was really great and I was thankful for that too.

Always there is something to be grateful for!

Magical Monday Morning Mom

Me earlier this year.

Today was one of those Mondays where I got up early (for me) and quickly got dressed, made the bed, ate breakfast, made a grocery list, started the laundry, took Dan to seminary, went shopping, returned something at the UPS store, picked Dan up, and then had him drive me home.  After that I put away groceries, walked the dog, reviewed some notes, and contemplated my last three weeks while waiting for my counselor, and then had a chat with her.  By then I was hungry again and had lunch.  It felt like a really productive morning and I was able to pull out surprising amounts of energy.  It is nice to have a day now and then where I can feel like a super hero.  You know -- Magical Monday Morning Mom!

The afternoon was pretty good as I was with a friend and her children who love me.  That's good too.  Tonight I'm feeling a lot less magical and so I'd better get to bed to see if I can restore some of that energy.  I hope your Monday was Magical and you felt a bit like a super hero too!

Sunday. A Good Day

These pictures are probably more than a month old, but I don't have new ones and he's just so cute!

Our church starts at 8:30 a.m. and I am finding it really hard to stay awake for the whole first hour.  Even when the talks are interesting I struggle!  Thankfully it was Sunday School next and Derek and I teach a youth class that we really enjoy.  It's a LOT easier to stay awake when you are teaching!

At home I was working on a gift for a friend that is a creative project.  I really enjoyed doing that and as I was finishing Tia and Brigham came!  I was so  glad to see them.  I have wanted to see them all week.  I like to watch Aunt Kayli and Brigham.  He giggles a lot for her.  He also likes Grandpa who is always good with little people.  Teddy is a big favorite too.  Teddy doesn't quite know what to think of Brigham and usually ends up in his kennel, but then Brigham will go over and squeal with delight and reach in to beep Teddy's nose.  Teddy doesn't like it when Brigham crawls, or walks, or is flown around like an airplane, but somehow doesn't seem to be bothered by having his nose beeped!

There were other happy things in my day but I don't think you would enjoy reading about every little thing!  It is Thanksgiving week and I am feeling thankful for that.  A holiday that reminds us to notice how blessed we are and to be grateful is something to be thankful for! :-)

The Chosen

 

Picture from The Chosen Facebook page.
Those are the backs of the person who plays Matthew on the left,
and the one who plays Jesus on the right.

Last night before I wrote on my blog, I took a trip down a rabbit hole. A pretty deep one. By that I mean I lost myself for a bit in spiraling downward thoughts. I realized sometime today that I had forgotten to keep my focus on God, and had gotten stuck in my usual trap of focusing in the wrong direction - on me and what I could NOT do by myself, instead of what God can do with me and with all of those who love Him.

Not long after that Kayli texted to ask if I wanted to go to the theater and see the first couple of episodes of The Chosen Season 3 with her. YES! I really love The Chosen. We sometimes, at our house, refer to watching The Chosen as spending time with Jesus.  It is historical fiction that, in my opinion, shows very well the fact that Elder Holland mentioned in his talk "Lord, I Believe".  Elder Holland said,

Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with.

The Chosen portrays people who are real.  They have real problems, and real feelings, and are working very hard to have real faith in Jesus.  That describes me, and a lot of other people, really well.  We have real problems, and real feelings, and are working hard to believe Christ, and to have faith in Him.  Not just what He can do, but who He can help us to become.

Derek's patience and calm helped me out last night.  Watching The Chosen was good for my soul today.  I am thankful for the reminder to focus on Jesus, who saves.

A Moment By The Fire

You can kind of see Jake here with his sister's dog Chewy.
Jake is a dog whisperer according to his sisters.
They do love him.  He loves them back.

 I was sitting by the fire this evening and Jake came to sit by me.  He told me how he was driving home in the truck, checked his mirror, and then did a double take.  He then quickly opened the window and retrieved the note and money that his boss had left for him.  The note said, "Thanks for always being on time." It was a good amount of money and Jake said, "Maybe it's worth being on time after all even though I'm sometimes the only one there."

Jake works early in the morning and he works long hours.  He is thankful for his job and might enjoy some of it, but it isn't easy for him.  I like the moments like this when he sees that he is appreciated.  It is good to feel valued for the good things we do!

We are both thankful that the money didn't blow away before he noticed it too!

Staying Home

Teddy loves Jake, but Jake works all day and he spends a lot of time with me.
He loves me too.  Really he just loves the whole family:-)

Today was the last day of this section of driver's ed.  Hooray!! It was also seminary and so I only had to go back to bed once to get enough sleep.  Sort of.  I still was pretty sleepy.  I enjoyed the fact that I didn't have to go anywhere else today.  I stayed home all day long.  

One thing I thought was funny was that I was pretty much asleep on the couch after doing some Tai Chi and Dan came down to empty the dishwasher.  He stopped to talk to me and told me I should go take a nap.  Since I was practically asleep, I didn't want to go anywhere.  He kept talking but eventually stopped and went to empty the dishwasher.  He was wearing his noise cancelling headphones.  This means that he really was not quiet.  At first I was annoyed, but after a while I decided it was kind of funny.  After one particularly loud bang he apologized and I just laughed and got up.  Nothing like some banging cabinets to get me moving for the day!

I really enjoyed playing with Teddy.  I hid treats and played hide and seek.  That's my favorite but he gets tired of it fast and either cheats by peaking or just goes to get a toy, which is what he did this time.

Another good thing is that Derek and I were able to work on a budget, which wasn't exactly fun, but is something we've wanted to have done for a while and so it was a great accomplishment!

An Epiphany

This has nothing to do with my post, but it is the lowest full rainbow I've ever seen!

I got out of bed three times today!  Once at 5:00 a.m. to take Dan down to driver's ed.  It was a tad chilly in the house and I was thinking about how cold my bed would be when I got back to it. And then?  AHA!  I happen to have an electric blanket on my chair nearby.  It is small and is meant to be a lap blanket, but it reaches my bed and so I pulled the covers down, turned the electric blanket on hi, carefully placed it on my bed and covered it, and then I went to deliver Dan to the school.

I got home around 5:45 and shuffled things back to their spots and then I climbed into a warm bed!  So awesome after being in the cold!  The alarm went off again at 6:45 a.m. and I went and picked Dan up and brought him home.  He went right to bed.  I ate breakfast, walked the dog, and decided I was not going to be a happy person if I didn't get more sleep and so I wisely went back to bed.   I don't know exactly when I went to bed again, or when I got up, but I felt SO much better and was able to handle the day.

I am thankful that today had enough time in it to make going back to bed twice possible!  That definitely made the rest of the day better!

Bright Spots In My Day

A beautiful flower seems a good symbol for a "bright spot"!
Photo by Maria on Unsplash

I've been trying to get in touch with one of my friends for a few days.  I know she has some energetic little kids and that sometimes it is hard for her to find time to communicate.  Still, I was starting to get worried.  Today one of the brightest parts of my day was her answering her phone when I called.  They have all been quite sick but they had good news too.  So good that she didn't feel like even the word miracle was good enough to describe it.  I was so happy to talk to her.  She has been so good at loving me, and appreciating every little thing I do.  Their family has given me get well notes when I was sick and came up on my birthday to bring cards and sing happy birthday.  She and her husband work hard to teach their kids good things, including being very thoughtful.  Her kids love me too which is a bonus!  I was very glad to talk to this friend.

The next bright spot was coming out of my oncology appointment.  I was starting to drive out of the parking lot when I saw a friend that lives down the street from me.  I love how much energy she has to share with other people.  I think even if she was really exhausted she would find energy to make someone feel important.  We compared all of the different ways we are broken and yet it was not a sad conversation.  I love her too.

I loved getting home and having Teddy be so excited to see me that he got what we call "the zoomies".  I also liked my time in the office at the temple.  We were a little short on help today, and the next shift was too and so I stayed until the phones were turned off.  There are such nice people there who are doing their best to help each other and those who come in.

Now I am home again with my good family.  The fire is on (it sounds weird but it's a gas fire) and it is warm in here even with the cold outside.  I do love being warm and NOT cold!  

I hope your day had many bright spots too!

Deer Paparazzi and Fix it Woman

I was taking SO many pictures this morning of the deer, mostly because the four point buck showed up with 5 or 6 lady deer.  The deer below is standing maybe 5 feet from the house eating Dan's pumpkin that he allowed Kayli to throw off of the deck yesterday.

This fellow had his picture taken the most.

I don't know that I ever saw him eat anything.  His job seemed to be keeping guard while looking
as regal as possible:-)

This evening when I was folding laundry there were 12 deer outside my bedroom window snacking on the dry weeds.  Eventually a few took a break to lie down by the fence or under the trampoline frame.  We also saw a lot of turkeys and some lovely blue birds today!  Seeing the wildlife is one of my favorite things about living here.

As for being the "Fix it Woman", we have a big garage door that, once it gets cold, starts bouncing back up when we try to close it.  Last year I called our building supervisor who sent someone over.  But the garage door guy charged $75 and, from their sign I happen to know that prices have gone up.  Therefore, I tried YouTube.  It turns out that if you know what you are doing it really takes less than 5 minutes to fix.  I didn't know what I was doing and followed the video's "check this first, second, and third" list.  Next time I'll just skip to the end!  Now we don't have to try to stop our garage door as close to the bottom as possible and it stops and locks all on its own!  I felt pretty smart as long as I didn't think about last year!!

I am also feeling smart for writing this earlier today.  Maybe I'll get to sleep earlier!!

Partly Cloudy or Partly Sunny?

When Kayli asked our electronic friend Alexa what the weather was going to be today, Alexa said partly sunny.  It was actually quite cloudy at the time and Kayli wondered how it was decided that one day it would be partly cloudy and another partly sunny.  Isn't it the same?

Let's call this picture
"Mostly Winter"

Well, if I were describing my day today I would have to say that my mood and general feeling was mostly cloudy.  I was tired.  It was hard to stay awake at church and I kept going from cold to hot and back again.  However, there were definitely moments of sunshine in my day.  The first was literally sunshine.  I sat in the sun at our dining room table and had lunch with Derek.  Warmth, food, and companionship.  It was great.

Next was family coming over.  Tia and Brigham, Connor and Amanda.  It was so good to have them here!  Then my friend Teresa and her familly came over and I got a couple of good hugs and enjoyed watching everyone watching the deer, and the kids playing together and making the house feel happy.

There was also Christmas Choir.  I still felt exhausted and a bit sad (which is what happens when I'm exhausted), but I absolutely love singing Christmas Music.

Finally there was Dan's enthusiasm when I got home from choir and from dropping off a coat that had been left here.  I went to hug him and he was really happy to see me.  Everyone could use an enthusiastic greeting every now and then.  It was as if that hour and a half I was gone was the longest hour and a half ever!

So, even though a lot of my day felt cloudy, there was a lot of "sunny" in there too!

This one from a couple of weeks earlier we will call
"Mostly Fall"

This can be "Mostly Fall Perspective #2"

Long Time Friends

 

Here are my "feet fingers!"

Today we got to visit with a few long time friends.  We are very blessed in the people we know.  They have blessed our lives and the lives of our children.  It was so good of them to take the time out of their day to come say hello.  It made for a happy Saturday.

We also had stake conference this evening and three of the speakers were Spanish speakers first, and English speakers second.  It made for some fun moments.  When the last speaker asked us to pray for specific people for 14 days he said, "You can count the days on your fingers" and then he looked at his hands as he paused and then added "and on your feet fingers, you know the fingers on your feet".  Then, "Oh -- your toes!"

I am grateful for long time friends, and for people who share good messages about loving others and about Jesus' love for us.

Cheesy Movies are Good For a Smile

Today I watched a cheesy holiday romance movie while working on a puzzle.  Later this evening we watched a rather silly adventure / romance movie that had us laughing a bit.  Sometimes it is just good to watch a few happily ever after type movies, even if they are a little predictable or unlikely.  Now we have Adrea Bocelli singing Christmas songs that meld with Dan's voice talking to Derek about things he is interested in.  A few minutes ago I took Teddy outside.  I discovered that I can no longer whistle at all and so I just have to yell for him to come back when he runs off after a deer.  Thankfully, he proudly runs back and runs inside hoping that ping pong is on the agenda next.

This is last years pumpkin and deer.

Oh!  Also, for the first time in my life I got to throw a pumpkin off of a deck!  It broke, but not too dramatically.  It does look like the deer found it and started having a snack.  We've been seeing a LOT of deer in the last few days.  Mostly they happily are lying down by the trampoline frame where they like to sleep.  It's fun to try to pick them out when they are lying among the sage brush.  Usually their wiggling ears give them away!

Deer, Friends, and the Temple

 

This is not the deer I saw
but it was this size.
So fun!
Photo by Laura College on Unsplash

Hi all!  Today I drove Dan down the hill to drivers ed.  He was too tired to drive this time.  Then I came home and slept a little more.  When I woke up and looked out the window there were about six deer including a couple of bucks.  One was a four point buck just casually strolling by the office window.  I really, really like watching all of the animals up here!  

I was amused yesterday when I looked out my bedroom window at the hill across the way and thought, "Wow! Those turkeys are big!" and then they moved and they were obviously deer.  Those truly would have been giant turkeys!

My friend Shannon invited me to go to the temple with her today.  What could be better than a good friend and time spent in the house of the Lord? Well, seeing other friends at the temple and then having time afterwards to talk to Shannon while we ate.  All of that made for a very good morning.

The Most Awesome Clouds

 

This is not what I saw, but I sure think clouds are spectacular!
Photo by Torsten Dederichs on Unsplash

I'm writing this a little past bedtime and have been feeling a little down, even though my day was great.  As I was sitting here trying to look back at my terrific day and see if there was any moment when I kind of paused and thought, "WOW!  That is really awesome!" I remembered.  I was driving down to get Dan from seminary and the view on the drive down is almost always spectacular, even in the dark.  Today started out rainy, but the rain had stopped for the moment, and as I looked down at Utah Lake I could see the clouds dipping down from the mountains on either side of the lake like a giant smiley face.  I tried to get a picture after I got home but the clouds had moved and I couldn't get the view I wanted.  You therefore will have to trust me when I say it was awesome!

I did a lot of cleaning and organizing today, which I generally enjoy.  I have a blue wooden box that I got at D.I. over a year ago.  I haven't known what to use it for lately, but I came up with an idea today and love how it turned out.  I put my children's books in it and so I now have a portable children's library!  It looks better than the messy pile I had in my closet before.

Later I decided to switch out the picture above my bed again.  I wasn't loving the way the one I had up before looked, and we had a couple of paintings in the garage that were painted by relatives (or at least one of them was).  Anyhow, I brought one in, washed it up and fixed it so it would stay in the frame correctly and hung it on my wall.  I like how that turned out too.

Thinking of these good things has driven away the sad feelings and I am now ready to sleep happy.  Remembering the good things, and being thankful, can work a happy kind of magic!

Teddy Vs. Vacuums

Jake was at work so he couldn't snuggle Teddy while I vacuumed
and Dan was doing schoolwork, so I chose not to interrupt him.

 I think the funniest part of my day was when I was trying to use our little shop vac to vacuum up dust in the "wood room".  I know that Teddy attacks both of our regular vacuums, we assume to save us from that loud creature, but I was hoping he didn't have the same issue with the little shop vac.  He does.  Fortunately I find it funny that he is always so determined to bite the vacuum.  Mostly I just used a broom which he doesn't tackle, but when I used the little vacuum he diligently tried to bite the end while I tried to vacuum really fast while getting between him and the vacuum.  I didn't do a great vacuuming job, but the room is a LOT cleaner and Teddy had a little bit of fun in his day while giving me something to chuckle about.  

Teddy and I by the fire one morning.

Be Kind To Your Future Self!

 

Aren't they the cutest?
This is Brigham and Tia.
She was showing me his obsession with his tongue.

Some days, the more tired I get, the more I feel like I keep messing up and doing things wrong.  Thus, this helpful thinking, and writing at the end of the day to remind myself of the good things I did, and the good people I got to spend time with!

This morning I got to get a haircut from my daughter Tia.  She does such a great job and I enjoy visiting with her.  Today we talked a bit about self care since she is in charge of an activity on Wednesday on that topic.  She was telling me how it had helped her anxiety levels to make a point to move more, and to not put off things she didn't feel like doing.  She thinks of it as being kind to her future self, and she is right.  I do like that way of thinking and I love my Tia!

Smiles

I absolutely love Trisa's smile.  Both her smile and her laugh are contageous.
This was from her birthday party that we held the day before we held Brigham's.
He practiced for his by helping Aunt Trisa open her gifts:-)

Today I really enjoyed smiles.  I enjoyed Kayli smiling at the neighbor's baby she was holding and the baby smiling back.  I enjoyed smiling at the same baby and having him smile at me.  Tia and Brigham came over and I enjoyed their smiles.  We went to Derek's parent's house for dinner with the extended family.  There were a lot of smiles there, but I got a kick out of our nephew Brigham's smile as he said or did things he found particularly funny.  There really is just something great about a smile that helps lift one's spirits and brighten a day, and I am thankful for every smile I saw today!

Time With Our Grandbaby

 

Brigham and his ball.  He likes bouncing on it (with help) and rolling on it with his belly
and making ah ah ah noises.  Very fun.

Today Derek and I were able to watch our grandson Brigham for a while.  He is SO cute (of course) and was happy enough to see us.  We sat down and started playing with him, but he really wanted to follow his Dad around the house while he got ready for work.  He would crawl as fast as he could trying to catch up to Mike, and stand up using Mike's legs when he was close by.  When it was time to go I thought we would have Brigham watch Mike get in his police car and drive away.  So, Derek held him up and he sat on the back of the couch looking out the window as Mike walked out, climbed in the car and drove away.  And then?  Melt down.  Brigham did not want his Dad to leave.  Derek comforted him, which took a few minutes, and it was pretty close to time for his nap and so that's what he did next.

He didn't wake up until his Mom got home.  He was happy to play some more with Mom close by.  We enjoyed getting to see the whole family during our visit and I thought it was sweet that Brigham loves his Dad so much, and his Mom too, that he is sad when they leave (though thankfully he gets over it and plays).  I love what a good job Mike and Tia do taking care of and loving Brigham!