The smell of citrus blossoms every time I walk out the door.
The way Eli likes to wrap his little arms around my neck to hug and kiss me.
Long, full, breezy skirts.
Simon asking for a cup of “Yummy-lade” when he wants lemonade.
My front porch swing.
Hearing Rebecca play the guitar and sing along.
Jonah’s silly dancing.
The pink hydrangeas on my counter. If only I could figure out how to keep them alive!!
Something I’m not really loving: waking up 3 times a night.
In honor of Valentine’s Day, we had a special family home evening the first week in February. We talked about the Love of God, and ways to show our love for each other in our family. It was one of those lessons that seems to have stuck! All month long the kids have been remembering to pray that we will be able to love one another.
We also did a “heart attack.” We all made valentines for each person in the family, and stuck them up on our big empty wall in the living room. Happily, there were no repeats of the last time we did this , with people struggling to find nice things to say to each other.
One of my favorites was from Jonah to Josh. It said something like… “I love Josh because you eat stinky cheese and you hand out succers.”
It was so fun to wander by that wall all month and pause to read the things that we love about each other!
When the day finally came, I felt pretty special. I got a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my dad. I don’t remember a single Valentine’s day without flowers from my dad. He never forgets!
I also got flowers from my sweet hubby. I love that he knows me well enough to know that I would be thrilled with these:
It may not look like much yet… but those are yellow climbing roses! I planted them in the perfect spot, and I’m already smiling about how beautiful they are going to be!
Jeff also gave me a new porch swing, to go on my “new” porch! (More about that coming up soon!)
The weather has been perfect, and I have already spent hours out front on my swing!
For dinner I made individual heart shaped pizzas, and everyone “decorated” their own. It was a bit stressful with everything else going on, (piano lessons, crying baby, etc.) and Jeff suggested that maybe heart shaped pizzas were not an absolute necessity this year.
They may not be a necessity for anyone else, but they were really important to me.
I wanted to do something special for the people that I love. Making those pizzas was my way of telling my family that they are special to me.
You can see that my standard is not unreasonably high! Maybe some year I will be able to make darling crafts and set a beautiful table and write personal love notes in lunches.
For now it’s homemade pizzas.
I have had a little bit of guilt about having given birth to Caleb so close to Thanksgiving. I worried that he would somehow feel less special with his birthday festivities crammed in between all the other holiday hoopla.
This year as fall was approaching he said “I love this time of year! Halloween, Thanksgiving, my birthday, Christmas…” That set my fears to rest. His birthday helps to make the holiday season even better!
Still, it seems that my birthday post for him always comes very late, and this year is no exception.
It was a simple celebration. Friend parties are only for even years, and Caleb turned 11. He really feels like he’s growing up right now. I can’t believe that next year he’ll be passing the sacrament!
Some things I love about Caleb:
He loves adventure. He’s so excited to be in 11 year old scouts because that means overnight campouts!
He says he doesn’t like school, but his test scores reveal that he can’t help it… he’s really smart!
He’s independent. He likes to do things his way, and generally feels like he knows best. Right now that creates an occasional power struggle at home, but as he learns to tame that independence with a little bit of teachable-ness, I think it’s a quality that will help him to be really successful.
He tells me he loves me whenever he’s leaving or going to bed.
He’s a good helper. I find myself relying on him more and more as he gets older and more capable. He reminds me a lot of his dad in that way.
He’s good with baby Eli. It’s so heartwarming to see my “big boy” taking care of my little boy.
He’s handsome! I may be a biased mom, but I think he is one good looking kid!
Happy late birthday Caleb! I sure love you!
I had a thought today. (This is where my dad would make a joke about how proud he is that I actually had a thought. Good one, Dad!)
Anyway… my thought came as a sort of addendum to my resolution.
This morning I was praying that Heavenly Father would help me as I try to prioritize all of the things that needed to be done today. The thought came to me that I should also pray that I would be happy with my choices, so I did.
All day that idea was on my mind. I realized that usually, I pick what I consider to be the most important, but then I beat myself up over all of the things that didn’t make it on to my priority list. There are always so many things left undone that I have plenty to feel bad about.
But today, as I made conscious decisions based on priorities, I chose to just be happy with my choices.
This morning I spent my few free minutes talking to my sister on the phone instead of putting on make-up.
I chose to go grocery shopping instead of taking Simon to the park for the neighborhood play date. And honestly, I think he had just as much fun riding on the end of the shopping cart as he would have had at the park.
I spent an hour finishing the book club book (a day late, I might add) instead of cleaning a pretty messy house.
I watered my new cherry trees and pushed Simon on the swing when I should have been making dinner. Josh said “I actually like the nights when we get to eat whatever we want.”
Yes, there were some good things that got put off. They’ll make it onto the list eventually. But I feel good about the things that I chose. And that always makes for a good day!
Have you ever heard of the “birthday party syndrome?” That’s what my mom calls it when a kid has too much fun in one day, and ends up cranky and miserable.
I’m afraid that’s how Simon’s birthday was this year. He woke up cheerful enough, and everyone was making a big deal of his special day. Spoiling him by being super accommodating and helpful. Apparently it was more than he could take. After a couple hours of special treatment he was ruined!
He threw fits about every single thing that happened, and kept changing his mind about what he wanted. He dumped a pack of graham crackers on the floor and ground them up with his feet. He stuck his foot (with shoes) in Eli’s car seat and kicked him in the head. I’m not saying that he is an angel on a regular day, but this much naughtiness was not normal for him!
His presents were some balloons, Toy Story figurines, also known as “guys,” and a Cars Playdough set.
Here are some things I want to remember about Simon at this age:
He LOVES to give (or blow, if needs be) hugs and kisses to anyone leaving the house. It’s so cute and sweet, until a sibling leaves without saying the proper good-byes, and Simon throws a screaming fit for 10 minutes!
Favorite movies: All three Toy Stories, Cars, Goofy, Bugs Life
He’s been potty trained for a year, but he still can’t get on or off of the toilet by himself. I usually just have him go outside, which he can do by himself. When he’s done, he almost always puts his “big boys” on backwards and/or inside out.
He’s my little buddy. He likes to go everywhere with me and stays close to my side. The only place he’s really willing to go without me is Kate Housley’s house.
Whenever he’s going to play with a friend, he likes to take fruit snacks to share.
He’s not afraid to try any new food. If he doesn’t like it, he’ll just spit it out and try something else.
He’s good about cleaning up after himself. If he needs a bribe for an especially hard job, a sticker is great motivation.
I sure do love having him around!
Happy Birthday Simon!
