Happiness

I have been so happy this month. You know, that deep-inside-contentment. So much so that I even had a friend comment about it.

Hmm. Let's see, my house is one the market... good times. It's always fun to keep the house spotless and plan outtings for my kids when we have showings. My husband is gone almost always, working on his PhD. We are selling our house and actually don't even know where we will go after it is sold, and while Rob is working part-time at a company, they have postponed his full-time start date twice. So, although we are pretty sure that he has a job, you really can't be sure nowadays. And there have been several fires to put out as Primary President. Sounds like I should be stressed out, huh.

I am amazed that I am not. Not at all. I just feel so much peace. My happiness has even pushed me to start exercising regularly again. That makes me even happier.

Why? Maybe it is because my house is clean. Or possibly the exercise. Mmm-no. Really, it followed a wonderful vacation that pushed me to become closer to God. Since then, I have been reading scriptures every day and praying more. This goodness has pushed me, forced me really, to try and be even better so I keep feeling this way. I have been making better decisions about what I watch on tv. And in my downtime... you know those mindless moments as you drive or wash dishes, I have even spent that time pondering or praying.

Gosh, I know this sounds so preachy and please don't take this as self-righteous. I am still as impatient as ever, and my neighbors can probably attest that I still yell. There are times I wonder how long I can keep it up. I have been wanting to write about this for weeks, write about my change of heart, but I have been afraid to sound holier-than-thou.

Yet I can't deny that I have been feeling so much peace, especially at a time when I could be feeling the opposite, and this is why. So take it or leave it, that's fine. I just hope you feel the happiness, too.

Always a party apparently

So after our camping trip, Jons and Celeste came over to play games and talk late Saturday night. Let's see... Sunday, we decided to rest (seeing as it is that kind of day). Then Monday, the party began again. Literally. The kids had a friend's party at the park and that night we had cousins Bobby and Ashleigh over for dinner (Rob was home for that:). Then Tuesday we attended a big fiesta downtown hosted by Radio Disney. Free again... gosh, all this FREE is seriously awesome! My kids got to do crafts, dance, bounce in the bounce house (definitely their favorite), and even get free popsicles. They loved it... although it is hard to tell just how much by their joyful expressions. I thought the milk thing was hilarious. Apparently, I was the only one.

And am I done? Oh, no! The kids came home from that (on Trax, mind you... does that sound like a kid's dream, or what?), took naps, and then they were off again. This time, to Cherry Hill for their special date with Gamma and Gamps. I got to run to the temple while they were gone. What a day!

Then the rest of the week, there was Bekah's dance class, playing outside with neighbor kids, another afternoon at Gamma and Gamps while I taught our mutual friend (also our hairdresser) some computer stuff (it is amazing... I am actually considered to be computer savvy by some... not many, but some). Then my niece came over Friday until I went to work, and then Saturday we had a really fun ward party. We shot off homemade bottle rockets, participated in the pie-eating contest (which I will NEVER do again), and won a bunch of prizes. Out of the 6 or 7 candy jars, our family guessed 2 of them right and won the candy!

Then Sunday, we enjoyed the temple dedication and had Blaine and Kristi Bassett come over for dinner with their family. Okay, really, doesn't it sound like we have just been partying up a storm?

Side note: As we were talking about the temple with our kids, we explained that someday, if they listen and obey Jesus, they can get married to someone in the temple. I told Kyle that he will marry a wonderful girl there someday. He very vehemently told me that, no, he was going to marry Bekah. I explained that Bekah was his sister and would always be his sister because Mom and Dad got married in the temple. "And someday, you can also marry someone wonderful in the temple!" At this point, my sweet little boy started crying. He only wanted to marry Bekah. I thought how wonderful that he loves his sister so much!

Anyway, it just reminded me of my younger brother, who grew up my best friend. Josh, if you are reading this (and I don't blame you if you aren't!), thank you. I sure love you!

Events

What a party this August has turned out to be! The worst is the fact that it takes me almost a month to download my camera. I've seen friends post about these events weeks ago. How do you do it?

Anyway, the first week of August, we had the International Festival here in Bountiful. Groups came from South Korea, Spain, Poland, Hungary, and China and did dances. One night there was a big street dance, where we even got to join the dancers, all dancing together in the street. Fun fun. Another day, me and the kids went and watched the dancers for a couple hours. Then Friday night, Rob and I biked up there with the kids (who remained in the trailer/jogger the whole time... mostly because one of them had a fever and we are only sometimes good parents). Needless to say, I LOVE that kind of stuff! International, music, dancing, and free. Really!

So more free activities that we did... well, I met my parents one night for a concert in the park by temple square. That was great. I also went to the good ol' Davis County Fair. Now this is why I love Davis County. It still has community fairs with contests like "fastest crawler" and "cutest baby." Such a small town feel so close to the city. Plus there were free pony rides, a petting zoo, and the kids could do little carnival rides for a buck. My kids love the county fair. The night before, they stayed up and talked about what color pony they were going to ride... Bekah wanted the "girl" white pony, and Kyle the "boy" brown one. Then at 6:30 am, they were in my bedroom, announcing that they were ready to all ready to go. Mother was not. Well, good things happen to them that wait. They were each able to ride on the horse they wanted, we had lots of fun with our friends there, and they kids had fun spending their own money on the bounce house and train.

So after being wiped out the fair, the kids slept while I quickly packed for a family camping trip. It was kind of a big event, seeing as it is the first time the Dodenbier family (my mom's side) has ever done something like this. It was a great spot, and we had lots of fun. Not much sleep, especially being right in the middle of a HUGE lightning/thunder storm. It all worked out, though. Especially since the next morning, we drove back to my parents for a nice breakfast (where it was warm and dry). Then we headed BACK to the camping site for a little bit more family fun. I think the best part was hanging out with my brother and his wife. Oh, and it was great to bump into an old mission companion, too. What are the chances?


Oh, a couple other events: we had dinner with Aunt Dee, which was great to see her. We went swimming one night with Grandma & Grandpa Franklin, and Richie and Carolyn & fam. I swear, Grandma Franklin can get any kid to start swimming. Kyle hated getting his face wet, even after swimming lessons. Yet, after an hour with Grandma Franklin, he was going several feet under the water. And Bekah can now swim all over the pool. It was awesome! I think it helped having baby Jack going under and loving it. With that kind of competition, Alex and Kyle had to prove themselves.

Anyway, I better stop here. We had a lot more stuff last week, but I'll get to that in another blog. Oh, and somewhere in the middle of all this fun, my kids were sick with fevers on and off for about 6 days. It was actually quite nice... Bekah just wanted to snuggle and read books with me. How nice is that?

Well, we have been living it up. Poor Rob continues to be gone most of the time... I did most of these events with just me and the kids. Gosh, it will be so nice when he's done with his PhD!!!!!!!!

Question

I'm thinking of changing my blog to eliminate my kids names. Does anyone know why or why not I should do this?

It's Christmas!

We are pulling out some old toys and packing away our current ones. How exciting. Also gives me a chance to sneakily throw away those dearly beloveds that have been dearly loved. Like Bekah's one-armed-anatomically correct doll. Hurrah, Katie's gone!

Perfect moments

#1 As you know, for the past year, Rob works almost every weeknight until around midnight. Only, last night Rob called to see if I could get a sitter last minute when the kids were asleep. I was :) and so Rob took a little time off to join me at an outdoor concert of Peter Brienholt by the institute. It was so fun to be surrounded by so many college kids... even more fun to bump into Christina (my brother's sister-in-law). If there is any stage of life I could relive, it would be my college years. I remember walking home from class feeling like I could just burst with happiness. Anyway, I digress... back to my perfect moment. As we lay on a quilt in the night air, listening to good music, I leaned back onto Rob's legs and he quietly just stroked my hair. That was a perfect moment.

#2 My kids have been sick since Saturday, and Bekah can't seem to shake it. So we have been laying low and hanging out today. This afternoon, I lay on the floor, with Bekah snuggled up against me, giggling because I was tickling her. Feeling her soft hair against my face, her warm body snuggled against me, and hearing her giggle with joy was beautiful. Peter Brienholt's "Heartland" was playing in the background, and I suddenly realized what I was hearing... "This heartland is where I belong"... Yes, my home is my heartland, and I am exactly where I belong. Another perfect moment.

It's not about making everything in life right. Life can still be stressful, chaotic, or frustrating. This is about feeling the pleasure of the moment. The moment when everything sings. I call them a "perfect moment" and when they happen, like a butterfly's touch, they always remind me to thank the Heavens that I really do have it so good.

my ode to patience

The other day, a grandma cut me off (practically raced to get in front of me) at the local grocery store. I smiled sweetly and let her go ahead (My kids were playing at the playland. Yes, the grocery store has a playland for kids! Really, who cares how cheap the food is... they have a playland!). As we spent the next 10 min. waiting in line, we ended up talking, and she went on to talk about how she has so much more patience now that she is older.

I hear that all the time from old people... that they have so much more patience now than they did when they had little kids. Yadeeyadaayadda.

Really? Of course you are so patient: you are dealing with kids (that are not yours) for maybe 3 hours! You don't really care so much what they do, because you know that they will be gone and will take all of those bad behaviors they are learning back home with them. Even I am SOO patient with other people's kids.

It's true that I am not the most patient person. And I'm working on that with everything that is in me (and so are my kids). I guess I just wanted to point out that mothers, even those of us counting to 3 (expecting our children to be RUNNING by 3), are still pretty patient people, mostly because our patience is being challenged more than anyone else. It's like a marathon runner who is passed by a sprinter. Come on... you're running a marathon!

So I just wanted to shout out to all those mothers like myself, riddled with the guilt of not being patient enough with our children. I figure that we are facing the Mount Everest of patience. Potty training, temper tantrums, no sleep, bickering, sickness, breaking curfews, etc. When we get to the top and our kids have grown up and left home, it will be all downhill. And then we will feel soo patient.

Hot Date

It's been awhile since we were able to get out on our date alone, so we were looking forward to seeing the new Harry Potter movie. After leaving kids with our sitter, we headed to the theater. Unfortunately, the fates were against us. About 3 blocks from the theater (by the homeless shelter... nice), our car completely died. Couldn't even turn on the hazard lights. Long story short, we spent the next hour driving around (thanks to a sweet neighbor who came and picked us up!) getting the car fixed. My favorite memories of the date: the homeless guy who yelled at us to pay him to watch our car. 2nd favorite: sitting in the backseat while my husband and my neighbor, Chris, were in the front together. Hmm... Chris, you can be the second wife. Gosh, I shouldn't even joke about that seeing as I just had to explain to my neighbor that NO, Mormons are not allowed to have more than one wife.

Anyway, it was great to spend the next hour talking with my neighbor while Rob got things worked out. We don't get a whole lot of time to just chat and I sure love her.

So tonight, we are dating at home, watching a movie while our sick kids sleep. Rob is in front of the tv and I'm back on the couch. Hmm.. maybe I'll do something steamy to get his attention... just keeping it real.