A Little Blessing

As many know the bane of any women's shopping experience are bras, jeans, and swimsuits!  I needed a new swimsuit but was trying to make mine last one more year.  Last week I went into Marshalls to kill some time until it was time to pick up Charlie from Preschool.  I saw a bathing suit that was on an end cap that caught my eye.  I thought what the heck, I'll try on a couple of suits.  I picked 4 suits to try on.  The original suit that I liked was horrible once I put it on.  Surprise, surprise. The second one was just weird and meant for a women that must be all torso.  The third one was super cute and I would have considered it if they had had it in a bigger size.  So I put on this stripped suit.  Usually I'm attracted to flower or tropical pattern suits.  So imagine my complete astonishment when I put the suit on to discover that it fit and it looked good!  I don't normally just go out and buy stuff without talking to Tony about to first, but I just had to buy it.  I know it'll probably sound silly but I totally feel like it was a blessing from my Heavenly Father that I even found a super cute and flattering bathing suit when I wasn't even looking for one and in a matter of 30 minutes no less!  There a times in our lives when little blessings are sent our way that may not even be spiritual in matter at all, but are just for our pure enjoyment and happiness.  Thankfully last week I was the recipient of one such blessing.

Piano lessons for the Kids

Tony and I have always regretted that we quit piano lessons as kids.  Both of our moms play the piano and we had ample opportunity that we just didn't take advantage of.  I always said that I wanted my kids to be able to play the piano.  If nothing else than be able to play the hymns in church if need be.  Then came the realization came of how expensive music lessons are, especially when you have multiple children.  About a year ago we discovered a piano curriculum online.  All the videos are free we just pay for the accompanying materials.  Last week be bought the program and put together notebooks for each of the kids.  I'm really excited for the kids and am quite impressed on how quickly the they are picking up on it, even Charlie!  

Mother's Day

Growing up I never understood why my Mom really didn't like Mother's Day.  Why wouldn't she like a day dedicated to her?  When I became a mother myself I understood a little better how she felt.  There have been years where "Mother's Day" didn't feel so different from any other day of the year.  I would "see" mom's posting on social media about getting breakfast in bed.  Homemade gifts from their kids.  Elaborate gifts from their husbands.  Being waited on hand and foot and not having to lift a single finger all day.  Not to say that I didn't get some of those things myself each year on Mother's Day, I did.  But many times I would feel a bit of disappointment at the end of the "special" day.  This year I decided to take a different approach to Mother's Day.  Instead of comparing my family's outpouring of love toward me to other families, I gladly accepted each little show of affection directed toward me.  I tried to graciously accept each compliment and mention of mother's personally.  I tried to spend my day doing Motherly things maybe even better than I do on a normal day to day basis.  I spent my afternoon playing games with my kids instead of busing myself with my own projects or another futile attempt at a nap.  Yes, I was still the first one up on a Sunday morning to get myself and my family ready for church.  Yes, I still did the dishes.  Yes, I still changed dirty diapers.  Yes, I still played referee among the kids.  Yes, I received sweet hugs and kisses for my family.  Yes, I got little homemade gifts from my kids.  Yes, I got lots of "I Love You's".  Yes, my husband picked me some flowers.  Yes, I got a little treat at church.  Yes, my family cooked dinner.  Yes, my 11 year old son did a sweet family home evening lesson on motherhood.  Yes, I got to pick out some flowers for our yard.  So I'd say it turned out to be a pretty awesome day and I'm thankful to be a mother and enjoyed the day celebrating my role.          

Working on the Yard

Yesterday evening we got started working on our patch of dirt in the front.  It has been unusually warm lately and although it was 6:00 in the evening Tony and I managed to work up quite a sweat.  We cut out the beds and raked out the weeds Tony had sprayed last week.  We threw out some seed and are anxiously waiting for our grass to come up.  Tonight I think we'll need to spread some straw over the top to keep the birds from eating the seed.  I've caught them in the yard already.  We had no intention of getting so much done last night, but it went faster than we had expected.  We might bring in some top soil for the beds and maybe this fall we'll get some good deals on some trees, shrubs, and flowers for the beds.  Needless to say we were exhausted when we fell into bed last night.  The kids and I ended up sleeping in this morning until 8:00!  This was a total shock to me because that never happens.  The kids usually are up around 6:30.  Our family is coming into the busy time of year with scout camp outs, family reunions, end of school activities, and Tony is putting in two sprinkler systems for some families in the ward.  So we're trying to fit in our home projects where we can.  We still have to finish painting all our ceilings white.  Figure out how to finish our back yard since our source for free sod has flaked out on us.  Paint the exterior of our house, and of course all the other "little" projects we have planned for our home.  I know I've said it before; fixing up a home is a lot of work, but it is so gratifying to see the results of your labor.