find joy in the journey

shannon needs

I saw this done on another blog.  You go to google and perform a search inserting your name into the phrase "____ needs" and write down the 5 funniest results.  Here it goes

Shannon needs her mother

Shannon needs  a shower

Shannon needs to talk to someone

Shannon needs help

Shannon needs money

Or there's this one, "_____ has always"

Shannon has always said that having a child is her reason for living

Shannon has always been beautiful in a unique "other worldly" way

Shannon has always been a true hero to me

Shannon has always been on the education path

Shannon has always been able to work an audience

christmas play by play

Christmas Eve

Christmas 2005 Photo Album

- Wake up and get the wassail brewing.  This is the first time I've ever made wassail!  But I had a fantastic recipe from a friend.  Scott hates wassail, and I was pretty sure the boys wouldn't go near it either, so this was something just for me.  Although Scott did enjoy how it made the house smell.

- Make cookies for Santa while Scott plays muddy football with some friends.

- Bowling with 3 other families -- friends of ours from church.  We also did this last year on Christmas Eve, so we're hoping it becomes a tradition.  The boys love it and it's just a fun casual thing to do.

- Come home and find my new pottery barn bedding (purchased from ebay) sitting on my doorstep -- Merry Christmas to me!

- Get the roast in the crockpot.

- While Payton naps, Conner helps us bring some gifts out to put under the tree.  Up until this point we have not had a single present under the tree.  Everything was locked up in Anna's nursery.  It was pretty exciting for the boys to finally see some of the gifts and start building the anticipation for Christmas morning.

- Dinner:  roast, scalloped potatoes.  Nothing fancy.  But large enough portions that I won't have to cook again on Christmas day.

- Play christmas songs on the chimes (see photo album)

- Open up one present -- pajamas

- Make candy cane milkshakes

- Watch Mr. Krueger's Christmas

- Set out cookies & milk for Santa, and cheese for Santa Mouse (has to do with a favorite book from Scott's childhood) and go to bed!

Christmas Day

- Everyone is awake by 6:45am and the boys run out to see what Santa has brought them.  The unwrapped presents that were sitting out for the taking were two fun hops and a stroller.  The boys were so excited.

- Because church was going to be a 9:00am and we didn't want to rush through opening presents we decided that we would open our gifts after church.  We prepared the boys for this the night before, so they knew how it was going down.  They did get to go through their stockings -- a toy, a book, undies, socks, and candy.  Plenty to keep them occupied for the few hours before church.

- Our traditional breakfast -- Christmas morning rolls.

- Go to church.  We both agreed that it was so nice to have Christmas on a Sunday.  We loved having that reason to get up, get dressed, and get that spiritual message and reminder of what Christmas is really about before tearing open the gifts.  There were several really nice musical numbers and it was just so fun to see everyone so smiley and happy.

- That said, once church was over we raced home, put our pajamas back on and planted ourselves in the living room to open all the gifts.

- On the good list this year:  fun hop, Whac-a-mole, Hullaballoo, Transformers, and view-master.  Scott got a new golf club.  I got an iPod.  And both our parents went the preparedness route giving us 72-hour kits and fundage towards our food storage.  Very cool.

- We spent the entire rest of the day playing with the boys, putting toys together, playing games, watching The Wizard of Oz . . . all day in our pajamas.

It really was a great Christmas.  The boys had sooo much fun and they got many toys & games that they enjoy playing together which really makes us happy.  We just love our kids.  More and more I see how quickly time passes by and how much I crave to hold onto the little moments.  Especially through this Christmas season, and with Anna growing & changing so much, I find myself thinking (while playing with the kids, getting them breakfast, or whatever) "in just a moment this will be a memory -- am I paying attention enough to remember it?  Am I paying attention enough to fully enjoy it?"  I know it may sound weird, but I just try to remind myself all the time that I need to savor the here and now because it passes so quickly.  Tonight I read this quote on Ali Edwards' blog, and she quoted it from another blog, so I'm sure it's okay that I post it here.

Christmas is a strange season.  When you're a child, it is a season of presents.  When you're young, it's a season of parties.  When you get your own home, it's a season of preparations.  But when you get older, Christmas changes color drastically.  Suddenly, out from behind the advertisements and big dinners, through the haze of old carols and soft candles, past the dazzling altars and sumptuous crib scenes, we begin to see what Christmas is really all about.  Christmas is about finding life where we did not expect it to be. Every year of life waxes and wanes.  Every stage of life comes and goes. Every facet of life is born and then dies.  Every good moment is doomed to become only a memory.  Every perfect period of living slips through our fingers and disappears. Every hope dims and every possibility turns eventually to dry clay.  Until Christmas comes again.  Then we are called at the deepest, most subconscious, least cognizant level to begin to live again. Christmas brings us all back to the crib of life to start over:  aware of what has gone before, conscious than nothing can last, but full of hope that this time, finally, we can learn what it takes to live well, grow to full stature of soul and spirit, get it right. There is a child in each of us waiting to be born again.  It is to those looking for life that the figure of the Christ, a child, beckons.  Christmas is not for children.  It is for those who refuse to give up and grow old, for those to whom life comes newly and with purpose each and every day, for those who can let yesterday go so that life can be full of new possibility always, for those who are agitated with newness whatever their age.  Life is for the living, for those in whom Christmas is a feast without finish, a celebration of the constancy of change, a call to being once more the journey to human joy and holy meaning.

-Joan D. Chittister

A lot to take in -- I've re-read it several times.  One of my favorite lines, "Christmas brings us all back to the crib of life to start over:  aware of what has gone before, conscious than nothing can last, but full of hope that this time, finally, we can learn what it takes to live well."  I like how it talks about accepting change and moving forward to enjoy life as it comes. 

I love seeing my kids grow.  I'm not one of those moms who wishes that they were babies again (but, who knows, maybe that will hit me when they've all moved out).  Right now I'm enjoying seeing where they are today.  And I think that's the best thing I can do for them and for me.

tourists?

Finished this layout tonight and wanted to share -- the last from our trip to Vancouver last year. 

It's late . . . but thankfully Scott won't be in a hurry to get to work tomorrow.  It snowed (hard) for about 4-5 hours this afternoon and freezing rain is expected through the night and morning, making for an interesting commute.  When the boys first saw the snow they exclaimed, "it's Christmas!"  I'm hoping to get some fun pictures tomorrow -- the boys have been dying to play outside and touch the snow.

let your light so shine

As we began our relief society lesson today titled, "Let Your Light So Shine" I was reminded of a little quote that has been sitting in my scriptures for years.  I think I got it in a sunday lesson back in college.  Every once in a while I'll stumble upon it and it's words give me such a boost.  They help me remember that it is okay to be who I am and let my light shine.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.  We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?  Actually, who are you not to be?  You are a child of God.  Your playing small doesn't serve the world.  There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.  We are all meant to shine, as children do.  We were born to make manifest the glory of god that is within us.  It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.  And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. 

Marianne Williamson, "A Return to Love"

christmas baking

For the past couple days I promised the boys we would make some cookies, so today was the day.  They were sooo excited.  I love seeing Payton's dilapidated little stars piled on the cookie sheet.  It was just such a fun afternoon focusing on time with the boys. 

I made it to the post office and sent off the last of my holiday packages.  And this afternoon I re-decorated the Christmas tree.  We let the boys have their hand at it a few weeks ago, but it needed a mother's touch. 

Speaking of ornaments, this week I sent Scott to the Hallmark store to find a train ornament to commemorate our little trip on the Polar Express earlier this month.  He couldn't find a good train so instead he came home with Darth Vader.  And it talks.  I guess it's kind of been a Star Wars year in our family, so I'm actually okay with it.

It's been a great saturday.  Scott has been a great help -- getting chinese take-out for dinner and even cutting the boys' hair while I was out running errands.  He's a keeper!

sweet girl

our little girl laughed for the first time this morning!  We were playing pat-a-cake.  It was so much fun to hear that. 

Can I just say that I have the sweetest little baby in the whole world.  No joke.  She is so happy, and so perfect, and just so beautiful. 

I woke up at 3:00am to nurse her and once she was finished I ended up cuddling her in my arms while sitting up in bed for the next hour.  One of those perfect moments where you just didn't want to let go.  This morning as I was going about cleaning up the kitchen after breakfast I went into my bedroom to find her just lying peacefully awake in her bassinet.  And as soon as she sees me she lights up into a huge smile.  Now that is priceless.  The rest of the morning I carried her around with me as I did my little odds and ends (brush teeth, wipe the bathrooms, etc.) thinking that at any moment she'll start fussing and be hungry.  But no, she was just so happy and content.  That's when we had our laugh.  And now she's sitting next to me in her bouncy chair, drifting off to sleep, looking like a little angel. 

I'm so happy to have her. 

in the mood for christmas

The decorations are up, the shopping is done, Conner's holiday projects are hanging on the fridge, sparkling ice covers the rooftops and lawns each morning . . . . all this around me, but for some reason it doesn't feel like Christmas time until I listen to this album.  I finally popped it into my car and we'll listen to it everyday among all our comings and goings.  I just love it -- it totally puts me in the mood for Christmas.

10 weeks old

Anna had her 2 month well-baby check-up this last week.  She came in at a whopping 12 pounds 12 ounces, and is 23 1/8 inches long!  She appears to be following in her brothers' footsteps toward supreme chunkiness.  Right now she has a little cold, so that's why her eyes are a little red in the picture.

Some of her recent happenings:

- smiling at us all the time

- she has the most adorable dimples on each of her cheeks

- experimenting with her voice -- I love hearing her coos and squeals

- drooling all over the place -- I really hope this does not mean teeth are on their way!

- likes to suck/gnaw on her fists.

- grabs and kicks at the toys on her play gym

- still sleeping in a bassinet in our bedroom, but hoping that will change soon

- has slept through the night 3-4 times now