My post today I thought I would take some time to do an update on my great Children and what they are doing with their lives....

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Alex is a Jr. in High School... he is on the honor roll and in the national honor society. He works hard at school and he loves to play soccer. He has always had great athletic ability. When he was two years old he wouldn't go to bed without making ten baskets in his mini basketball hoop. He has played football, basketball, baseball and soccer. A couple of years ago a soccer coach told him if he would devote himself to soccer he could help his get a scholarship....so he is totally soccer!! I have to admit that I always thought he would end up a basketball player but he is a great at soccer and he loves it. He plays indoor and is in conditioning for spring tryouts....

Alex has also discovered girls!~!~!~!~ I new this day would come but...............

This coming year Alex plans to continue to work towards his goal of graduating high school with honors and getting a scholarship to a University.

Alysa is a senior this year!!! When did that happen?~?~?~?~ She is a happy go lucky girl, who is a great friend to all those who come to know her. She loves high school life and does not seem in a great hurry for it to end.....She loves to drive and the independence it brings, she someday wants to own a mustang!! After she graduates she plans on attending a smaller collage and wants to pursue a career as a receptionist or a personal assistant. This seems to fit her personality of organization, and wanting to know every one's schedule and helping them get where they need to be ON TIME!~!~!~

She currently has job at the yogurt factory..... and is on the youth council for our Church planning youth conference this summer.

Kasey is serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints...... He sends us weekly updates and shares with us his life in TEXAS. Kasey has a gift of music and seems to be able to use these talents on his mission. I personally miss music in our home!!! For more on Kasey click on his picture on the right.

Brady is a student at Utah State University majoring in communications!! He is in his program this semester and seems to be enjoying it. He is learning video editing, how to run the sound board doing the weather and the news and so much more I would never guess to understand......... Over the Christmas Break he went to Mexico with a group of collage kids to build houses. He has a great time doing the collage life.... Brady is FUN and a little on the crazy side!! He will make a great news broadcaster one that will never be boring!!

He plans on taking the summer off to work and build up his cash reserves and to get some needed fat back on his bones with some home cookin!!

My friend Diane sent me this great email and I had to post it!!

WHY GOD MADE MOMS

Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?

1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.

2. Mostly to clean the house.

3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?

1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.

2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.

3. God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?

1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.

2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?

1. We're related.

2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's mom like me.

What kind of a little girl was your mom?

1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.

2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.

3. They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?

1. His last name.

2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?

3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?

1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my mom eats a lot.

2. She got too old to do anything else with him.

3. My grandma says that mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at yo ur house?

1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball.

2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.

3. I guess mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms and dads?

1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.

2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.

3. Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friends.

4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?

1. Mothers don't do spare time.

2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?

1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.

2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?

1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.

2. I'd make my mom smart er. Then she would know it was my sister who did it not me.

3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

WHEN YOU STOP LAUGHING -- SEND IT ON TO OTHER MOTHERS, GRANDMOTHERS, AND AUNTS....and anyone else who has anything to do with kids or just needs a good laugh!!!

OH, my goodness! It's FRIDAY already!! Where did the week go?????

Friday Meme!

Food 4 Thought Friday ~ This week's questions

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Breakfast

Are you a morning or night person? Defiantly a morning person!! I did have to train myself to be. Now I have a hard time staying up past 10!! But I love love morning time!!

Lunch What do you do when you are feeling lonely? Get up, Get out! Go do something or see someone!!! I feel like I have been alone a lot lately. I am not feeling especially lonely just needing alone time to get some long awaited things done that take just me time to do it!!

Dinner What made you smile today? I visited with a friend today! She is having a tough time in her life right now and it made me smile to help her smile today!! I appreciate soooo much all those who take time to make me SMILE everyday!!

Midnight Snack What did you do today that made you feel guilty? Nothing NOT a THING!~!~!~!

Recipe for the Week (instead of your recipe for life, what is it just for this week?) GET UP! GET OUT and do something for someone else!! Bake someone cookies. Take dinner into someone just for fun!! Send flowers to a stranger! Smile at an unsuspecting person at the grocery store !! have fun and let me know your results......

To play along go here!
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1. Enough with the talk of recession!!.

2. Contention causes me to be conflicted.

3. I've been craving time to read a good BOOK.

4. Going to Brady's facebook page makes me laugh.

5. I wish I could go to Oregon next week.

6. Going back to school has been on my mind lately.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a quiet evening, tomorrow my plans include cleaning , helping Alysa with a project, getting Alex to clean his room cooking and getting John to rub my feet!! and Sunday, I want to go to church teach my lesson, and pop popcorn and watch a movie!

to play along go here!

Monday Makeover! New Week a New You!

Whatever in your life gives you joy and happiness just for you, do it. Everyone around you will notice if you are happy, healthy, joyful, and positive." ~Cristen

I

received a wonderful email on self-care from Cristen that I wanted to share with you.

"Don't forget to make sure you are "feeding" yourself, first. Someone reminded me recently that we have to make sure our needs are being met before we can effectively give to others. In my industry, we are taught not to rush in to help someone in crisis until we make sure we are safe ourselves.

Here is the scenario for the analogy: one person is overcome by oxygen-deficiency. A coworker, seeing the person collapse, will rush to help them and become overcome themselves, thus requiring rescue efforts for two people versus the original one person. The training we receive tells us to stop and secure our own safety, i.e. put on a respirator, before attempting to go help and becoming another hazard to the rescue personnel, thereby putting them into greater danger also.

Please, everyone, take a moment to think about what you are doing to protect, feed, and nourish yourself while you are in the midst of helping everyone around you. If we collapse from mental/physical/emotional exhaustion, who will take care of them? Whatever in your life gives you joy and happiness just for you, do it. Everyone around you will notice if you are happy, healthy, joyful, and positive. Conversely, if you are depressed, anxious, nervous, or upset, that will also overflow onto everyone you come into contact with during your journey."

I like my friend, had to learn to be a little selfish in order to be happy. I was trained to sacrifice myself for the good of my family, but I got to the point that I wasn't happy and, as the old saying goes, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." That is truth!

Now, scheduled into my day are three things: 1) my Good Mornings and Nightly Reflection; 2) (most) every night I read for about twenty to thirty minutes. Something just for me. 3) workout time, and, once a week, I go to a class just for me or I get on the internet and just find a subject and learn. Out of a twenty-four-hour day, I spend maybe 1 and 1/2 hours total on ensuring my wellbeing (the biggest chunk goes to working out.) It was really hard to make it a priority at first, but I am seeing the benefits.

Because I schedule it, I am more likely to stick to it. Out of our abundance, we are able to give joyfully, not grudgingly.

Monday Makeover: What do you need to do to increase your self-care? Divide a piece of paper into two columns. On the left, list out all the ways you have not been caring for yourself in the past thirty days. Where are you coming up short? How are you helping others, without helping yourself? On the right column, list a positive action step you can take in each area. Then, schedule some time in your catch-all-notebook to do just that.

Friday meme!




1. It's January; a New Year a New Start.

2. Having some time to catch up is what I crave most right now.

3. Cork and wine go together like Fudge and Ice cream.

4. A warm bubble bath is so nourishing.

5. Let us dare to Clean the BATHROOM.

6. A good cleaning is what my home NEEDS!.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to dinner with some friends, tomorrow my plans include nothing! I can't believe we have nothing on the calendar!! and Sunday, I want to go to my nephews mission farewell, dinner with family!

to play along go HERE!


Food 4 Thought Friday ~ This week's questions

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Breakfast

What one word would you put on your gravestone? Mother!

Lunch What happened today that made you feel good? My husband brought me home an outfit! This is something that has never happened in the history of John and Karen!!! It's is really cute! Different from anything I would ever picked out!! Random out of the blue still in SHOCK!!

Dinner Is there something hanging over your head that you need to do right now? Yes, I need to organize my photos on the computer!! I have it started but I need to finish!!

Midnight Snack What are you most looking forward to at this moment? Going downstairs and doing a couple miles on the tred mill! Least looking forward to? Going downstairs and doing a couple miles on the tred mill!

Recipe for the Week (instead of your recipe for life, what is it just for this week?) Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes!!

To play along go HERE!

Make a Crazy List for 2009 - Part 2

Last week I challenged you to create "crazy lists" for each of your major life roles, an exercise that I completed early on in 2006. I challenged you to make these lists without knowing their purpose. So if you have your lists, keep reading. If not go back to my last Tuesday's post.

Where are you going?

Women often tell me that they have many areas vying for their attention. Part of creating a successful goal plan, and thus the first steps of a successful year, is to hone in on the areas that bring the most good to others, ourselves, and our core values. When we choose goals that align with our core values we are more apt to see them through. When we choose goals that conflict or don't encourage our core values 99% of the time we will abandon the goal.

So how do we figure out what we really want when we seem to need so much or have so much that needs us (or both)? That is where your Crazy Lists come in.

If you followed the instructions last week, you now have multiple lists that were written without any goal in mind. (If you are reading this before reading the last article, it won't have the same affect but you can still derive some benefit. Or stop now and go back to last Tuesday's post before reading further to gain full benefit.)

Last week you were challenged to create a list without limits, boundaries, or rules--just a list of seemingly crazy passions or callings.You were encouraged to make each list as long as possible.

Now this week, we need to go back and look at these lists like a detective hunting down clues. As random as your lists may seem, there will be parallels among some of the items. These parallels are what we are hunting for.

My original "Crazy Lists" contained about 30 items per list and I had 6 lists. The items were very scattered. I didn't make these lists with any goal in mind I just did it as a personal challenge. Then a few week's later I began to realize the value in them.

As women, we often have a hard time expressing what we want, often because we aren't even sure ourselves. What I saw when I evaluated my list of "Crazy Things" was a pattern of what I needed in my life underlying these seemingly haphazard, crazy lists.

.On a personal list of things I wanted to do was to watch the ball drop on New Year's Eve in Times Square.

On a parenting list I had listed some places I would like to take my family to visit.

When I re-read my lists and began looking for "connections" it was apparent that travel/adventure was something that I was really craving.

Another connection I found was in creativity. Many of my items included artistic endeavors, a need for knowledge and a need to connect with others.

Had I just sat down and said what is important to me and what do I want? I likely wouldn't have put these items on my list. Or if I did, I would have later removed them, thinking other things should take priority. (There is that dangerous word -- "should".) Yet by doing this exercise with my whole heart (not just slapping down some words and ideas) I was able to uncover the pieces that I needed to make my life "fit" .

Your Tuesday Tip:
Take a look at your list. What threads can you find? Next week we will look at fleshing out these ideas and how to weave them into your plan for 2009.

"And now let us welcome the New Year Full of things that have never been." ~Rainer Marie Rilke

As the holiday festivities come to an end and we begin taking down trees, packing decorations, and returning to our daily lives, pack carefully. While wrapping glass ornaments and memories of another year now past, hold onto the wonder of the holiday season and the gift of opportunity a New Year brings.

The New Year has always been one of my favorite holidays. Something about a fresh palette of days fills me with a childlike joy usually reserved for young children on Christmas Eve.

I have learned that even in the darkest times, life is always magical. Although my years, like yours, are a compilation of the good, the not-so-good, the magical, and the dark, I know each day holds gifts and opportunities. The New Year reminds me that each day can be a new beginning, each hour a fresh start.

Time does not stand in our way--we do. For ages we did not have clocks or calendars directing our actions. Today we find people hunt for time, need more of it, or excuse their inactions because of it. Yet humans created time. In 700 BC, the Romans introduced the first calendar. The calendar was not intended to trap and constrain, but to act as a tool for guiding our days. If humans created time, then humans can also manage it.

We can set a new resolution every midnight: we can decide to greet each day with hope and opportunity. Nothing stops us from experiencing childlike wonder every day except our own perceptions. We can change our perceptions and change our lives.


Spend a moment or two reflecting on these two questions: what could you possibly lose by treating each day as a gift with childlike wonder? What might you gain?

Monday Makeover:
This year I will not stand in my way. Today and every day I take control and realize true joy in my life.

Reflection Questions:
When in your life have you prevented progress by waiting for a better day or better time to move ahead?

How might this year be different if you accepted that each day is the better day and the perfect time for change?
Don't watch time in 2009!