Things I'm Grateful For...this week

Life has been rather mundane at our house lately, so I haven't posted. But precisely because life has been mundane, merits a post. Here are some things specific to the past couple of weeks that I am grateful for:

01. Beautiful warm weather. Even better without wind.
02. Our first snow cones of the season...we are a black-raspberry- with -cream kind of family.
03. Steady income. Health insurance. Life insurance. Food storage in the basement.
04. Elder Bednar's CES fireside talk. If you haven't read it, do it immediately. It is the most direct talk of it's kind concerning the dangers of becoming distracted from "Things As They Really Are". It is truly an unprecedented talk. Read it for yourself and see what I mean! Wow. The Mr. and I snuggled one night in bed, read and discussed it. And re-read it and discussed it again. A friend of mine from the mission field taught an EQ lesson today from it using powerpoint images. Check it out on my FB page.
05. My kids are voracious readers. I love it. We read every night in bed, each of us in our own worlds...(Hardy Boys worlds, as it were:)
06. Cafe Rio food for lunch with good friends.
07. Emma's soccer games. They have been so fun! Mr. can't stay seated at these events. We are signing up the little power runner for fall soccer, too.
08. Growing things. We are planting a salsa garden in part of our garden. We have expanded the garden this year to include a sizeable square foot garden experiment as well. (It had better work--the soil alone cost us $100!) And, BTW, who ever heard of planting tomatoes in the window wells? Greenhalgh's gave us the idea, so here we go. Incubating the suckers. We enjoyed a family outing after the soccer game to the Farmer's Market on the greenbelt. We bought lots of flowers and veggies for the garden. Yum!
09. The RS lesson today was helpful for me. I'm going to try harder to find joy in the moment. All too often I choose to clean or cook instead of play with the kids. Lord, help me choose the better part!
10. Living in the shadow of a temple. Last night we did initiatory. I've never seen the temple so, well, sparse...It was so quiet and quick and spiritually intimate. I love LOVE LOVE doing initiatory. To me, it feels like a second baptism. Plus a whole lot more. The temple is literally where heaven and earth meet. I am so thankful for my temple covenants.
11. Meeting new friends from my sister blog "Apron Girls". It was a sweet gathering. I love making new friends. Never been a problem for me. I'm just kind of a people person I guess...
12. Funny prayers sans Kelly chitlins... Josh currently prays that his parent's hearts will soften and allow him to purchase a Venus Fly Trap. Caleb is grateful we went camping last summer with the neighbors.
13. Freedom. I have never lived anywhere else, so I truly don't know any different. However, if our country keeps flowing with the current political trend, we will lose many of these freedoms. It's already happening. At any rate, I am so thankful to live in this country. I am grateful for the service men and women who sacrifice so much to preserve our freedom and safety. Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

Ever Having One of Those Days?

Some days just merit the "Crappy Mom Award". Yesterday was one of those days, no less. I won't bore you with the details, but the highlight of my day was Book Club last night. We discussed the book "The Continuous Atonement" which I mentioned in the earlier post. A truly enlightening read. We discussed this concept (feelings of inadequacy, spinning our wheels trying to keep it all together...anybody know how that feels?)

"Don't worry about if you have done enough. Rather, ask if what you have done is acceptable to God. In those anxious moments, the greatest comfort I have found is in knowing any effort is pleasing to God even if He and I both know it's not my all or my best. Elder Gerald N. Lund wrote: "Remember that one of Satan's strategies, especially with good people, is to whisper in their ears: 'if you are not perfect, you are failing.' This is one of his most effective deceptions...We should recognize that God is pleased with every effort we make--no matter how faltering--to better ourselves."

And then I found this beautiful picture: My naughty little 3-year old is peacefully enjoying his slumber. He is clean, content and asleep. I am enough, at least for today.