Reckless Abandon

I admire how my kids give themselves over completely to their play. Avery's favorite pastime is pretending to be anything other than herself. For a while, she preferred to be a kitty ("Avery do you want this?" "No, Meow." She would never forget that she was a kitty either, never missing the "meow" addition. Now though, she prefers to be "Callie" her cousin who is 6. Again, she never forgets who she is, and refuses to answer to anything other than "Callie." What I love though, is how each day the world she lives in becomes more elaborate. A few days after she became "Callie" I was suddenly "Ashlee" (Callie's Mom). The next day, John became "Brett" (Callie's Dad). The day after that, Carston was "Jace" (Callie's brother). I really had to laugh though when I came in to find her talking and playing with Macy. "Hi Drakey Drakey! Are you so happy Drakey Drake?" Of course, Drake would be Callie's baby brother. I'm just glad that nothing so insignificant as gender would hold her back from creating the world she desires to live in. I'm just wondering who will be Bron (the only person in Callie's family who is without representation in Avery's world). If anyone has a spare person lying around who could stand in for Bron, I'm sure Avery would be very appreciative. Oops. I mean Callie would be very appreciative.

Follow the Prophet

For a few weeks, I was feeling like John and I were leading seperate lives. I'm very busy with the kids now, and he's busy with work, and then even when we were together, we were both just trying to unwind. So I was getting frustrated. I was praying that I would know what to do, because I wanted to be fair in my emotions, thoughts, attitudes, behaviors. Anyway, I was inspired with the thought that we needed to go on "dates" at least once a week (even if it was for an hour, or in our own house after the kids went to bed) and that John should be the one in charge of planning it. So I told John that, and he said okay. I kind of wondered if it would happen, but he is sweet, and two days later, he had arranged a babysitter and we went on a date. And I felt better. Such a simple (relatively speaking) solution to the most pressing matter in my life. So even though I'm old, I'll still sing with the primary children, "Follow the prophet, follow the prophet, follow the prophet, he knows the way"

"Perhaps it would also be appropriate to have a date with our wives each week, to remind us of the great blessing they are in our lives."

-L. Tom Perry, “Family Traditions,” Ensign, May 1990, 19

I think John and I need to take more pictures together, rather than only taking them of our kids. This picture was taken 3 1/2 years ago!

What Gift Can You Give

I've been struggling with Christmas. Especially with a certain person whose name starts with an "S". I hate the commercialism and how the "S" person really detracts from the celebration of the birth of Jesus. I feel like Christmas could be such a powerful time for our children (as well as ourselves) to feel the spirit, and be touched by the love of our Savior, and show our love for him. I've been racking my brain for how I could take him out of the picture, but John thinks I'd permanently damage our children's pysches if I did that. So don't worry, I have not become the grinch. But Carston said some things the other day that made me so happy because it meant that he was really understanding why we have Christmas. He got so excited talking about how in a few more days it would be Jesus' birthday. Then he was asking me how we could give him a present. I explained that since we don't see him, we give him a present by doing things that would make him happy. I asked him if he had any ideas about things that would make Jesus happy, and he said that he wanted to make him a card. He said we can send it in the mail. We were making a list later of all the people that he'd like to give gifts to, and he wanted to put Jesus and Heavenly Father on the list. That made me cry.
I'm grateful that we have this Christmas season to really think about the Savior: his birth, his life, and love, and his sacrifice. I'm glad that it gives me the opportunity to contemplate my life and the changes I can make as an emblem of gratitude and love for all that he has given.