Schooling

Do you know how hard it is do your schoolwork and housework and be a mom?  WHY oh WHY didn't I finish school before we had kids??  AHHHH, hindsight.

I'm a month into the semester, 10 weeks left and I have 2 A's and 1 B.  Guess what, one of the A's is in my math class.  (Snicker, Snicker)

My goal was to pass math, but with Ben's help, I will more than pass!  I'm a lucky gal.

my new mantra

Teenagers

For his 13 b-day we went to Spaghetti Words downtown.  We took his friend Ethan with us.  They are just a week apart in age.  I can't believe he's 13.  Seems like yesterday I was holding his little jaundice body in my arms and dreaming of what kind of person he would be.

Turns out he's pretty great.

Warm January days

I love a winter day that you can play outside.  I thought we'd left those behind us in Vegas, but for a few days it followed us here.  We loved it.

dog bowls

Savannah and I painted some dishes for Tucker's food and water.  Betcha can't guess which is which and who made each one.  

chairs

 I've wanted some old, cool chairs to go in my staircase so I could display stuff on them.  I posted that I was searching for them and someone offered me these for $15.  They are cool and just what I was looking for.  Now I can change out my pretty stuff!!

so naughty

I forgot that despite being 9 months old, Tucker is still very much a puppy.  And that means he chews on anything, and everything.  Our floors have to picked up all the time or we are fishing it out of his mouth.

 victim number 1- my plant that has followed us from every single address we have had since Savannah was born.

Naughty dog was hiding under my bed to avoid getting in trouble.  

My dining room table leg.  Stinkin dog. 

Families

We know families have been important since Adam and Eve, so why is it that only in the past 50 years or so does it seem that society had deemed them no longer of value? Is that Satan at work? Are more and more people finding less joy in family life and thus deciding it no longer appeals to them? How can people say they "don't believe in marriage"? How has marriage stood the test of time and then all of a sudden become unpopular? Thousands and thousands of years of it being the norm and important and then poof? Did it take Satan that long to realize its significance? I know its a lot of questions. My mind is racing.

I am taking two classes on families this semester and I am sure that I will have lots of times when I don't understand.  This is just after my first week's reading assignments.  I love this!!

a fresh start

"There is something incredibly hopeful about a fresh start.  I suppose at one time or another we have all wanted to start again with a clean slate."

"I love getting a new computer with a clean hard drive.  For a time it works perfectly.  But as the days and weeks pass by and more and more programs get installed (some intentional, some not so intentional), eventually the computer begins to stall, and things it used to do quickly and efficiently become sluggish. Sometimes it doesn't work at all.  There are times when the only recourse is to reformat the computer and start over."

"Human beings can likewise become cluttered with fears, doubts, and burdensome guilt.  The mistakes we have made (both intentionally and unintentionally) can weight upon us until it may seem hard to do what we know we should."

"In the case of sin, there is a wonderful reformatting process called repentance that allows us to clear our internal hard drives of the clutter that burdens our hearts.  The gospel, through the miraculous and compassionate Atonement of Jesus Christ, shows us the way to cleanse our souls of the strain of sin and once again become new, pure, and as innocent as a child."

"An old proverb says, 'The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago.  The second best time is now'.  There is something wonderful and hopeful about the word now.  There is something empowering about the fact that if we choose to decide now, we can move forward at this very moment. Now is the best time to start becoming the person we eventually want to be-not only 20 years from now but also for all eternity"                  President  Dieter F. Uchtdorf

excerpts from www.lds.org/ensign/2014/01/the-best-time-to-plant-a-tree?lang=eng