One Fine Day

This morning Danielle woke up at 6:01 am. After I fed her Nathan started to get up to take her out of our room, so I could sleep in. But this was one of those mornings when I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway, and I felt bad because Nathan let me get more sleep the last couple of mornings. I told him to go back to sleep, and I went out to the quiet of the morning. I was treated to quite a view.


This was the very first Saturday since Danielle was born that I didn't have a single commitment (if you don't count General Women's Broadcast). It was such a rare and fresh experience to wake up in a morning not knowing what I would do that day.

The past couple of months have been a whirlwind of busyness, including:

embarking on yet another cub scout journey...

throwing a baby shower for my friend:


a trip to Colorado Springs to celebrate memorizing The Living Christ as a family:


my first girl's Birthday party....wow girls are so much more fun to host a party for....I'm glad I didn't know what I was missing before....


teaching my nearly 7 month old to sit up by herself....(she still doesn't roll over)...

not to mention throwing a dinner party for all the City Department Heads to celebrate building a new City Hall/Library Complex, and starting an Orthodontia adventure.

Phewwwwww.........................................

It was a delight, this morning, to make french toast for a leisurely breakfast. I went back to bed when Danielle took her first nap and then later threw in a load of laundry. After lunch, I spontaneously sent Nathan and the boys off to the Adam's State football game, and Nicole and I surprised them by cleaning the bathrooms for them on their day.

Then during Danielle's nap I got to work on her baby scrapbook while the kids watched a movie. Brandon got home early from her overnight scout trip, full of stories and anecdotes to share. Finally, I was privileged to listen to President Monson tonight.


What a perfect ending to my day.

The Ticking Clock

It is Wednesday night.

Wednesday night is our City Council night.

This means that I won't see my husband until late. I never know what time. Sometimes as early at 9:00 and sometimes after 11:00.

I have learned that when a meeting should be really quick, that it will instead go at least until 10:30.

Even if a meeting goes quick, Nathan usually comes home wound up and he never sleeps well.

I have also found that the house makes a lot of noises that I never hear during the day...clocks ticking, the refrigerator running, creaks from kids walking to the bathroom.

This is the part of his job that I don't always like.

When we were still in our poor years he agonized over what to choose as his major. He was pre-med for a while, but his fifth Chemistry class killed any desire to continue. He tried out Computer Science but knew that he couldn't do that the rest of his life. He was going to settle on Political Science and then go on to law school, and then a miracle happened. A new program was started called Public Policy that had a Masters option. They accepted 12 students. Nathan read about it and knew that he was interested.

I'm glad that 90% of the time he is doing interesting things and feeling like he is making a difference in our community. The other 10% of the time I hope I can be a support and buoy him up.

I also am glad that he isn't a doctor or a lawyer, because I have a feeling that I would listen to the clock ticking a whole lot more.

It's About Time

One thing that we share rich or poor is that we all have 24 hours in the day. How we use those hours is up to us. I've been reading the Little House books to the kids in the evening and love hearing stories from an earlier era. Things were so much simpler back then. But then again, they had so much work each day just to exist. In our society we don't have to replant the corn 4 times after the prairie dogs eat the first few plantings and we don't have to grind the wheat to make our daily bread.

We have more choices of how we want to spend our time. Still, there is only so much time and not enough to do everything that I want to do. I look at my life as having different seasons. Whenever I feel bad that I don't have time to do something I would like to do...such as going out to lunch with a friend or practicing the piano more, or fitting regular workouts into my day, I have to tell myself that I have had that season in the past, and I will have that season in the future. This season is for raising my children. There are challenges along the way, but oh, such rich rewards as well.


I think the best reward will be looking back and having no regrets.

There are a few things that I have learned along the way about managing my time:

1. Multitasking is essential. If I can kill 3 or 4 birds with one stone I am thrilled.

2. I can't do everything so I have to choose carefully what matters to me. Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize.

3. Each week I need to do something that is just for me, so that I don't lose myself. I have to keep my own separate interests. For me that includes music, books, and time alone.

4. Plan ahead. This applies to planning out our meal calendar, making school assignments in advance, making time for my church calling as well as setting goals for each week and deciding the night before what I want to accomplish the next day. I don't get everything done that I intend to do, but I get the most important things done when I make a plan and stick to it. This does require discipline.

5. I can't be so rigid with my schedule that I lose sight of opportunities to build relationships whether with my children, neighbors or friends and family. I think that Elastagirl is the perfect superhero for a mother, because we must be flexible.

6. Each season is wonderful. I think it's important to savor the time we have at each stage of life.


7 Finally, it's important to have a healthy sense of humor. As long as we can laugh each day I am happy.