Quote of the Week

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I saw this quote and thought, “This will be my 2013 theme.”

For the past couple of years, my “theme” or my “mantra” has been “Be there“.

Just a reminder to be present for my life, enjoy every minute, focus on what’s important now. Don’t wish away the present for the next exciting moment. Don’t be too nostalgic about the past (and how fast everyone is growing  * insert tear here (for real)*). Just savour the beauty of the here and now and love every moment and life stage I’m in.

And that theme has served me well, but I think I have integrated it into my life now that it doesn’t need to be center stage (but it still needs to be on stage).

This quote however is really one about faith, acceptance, and gratitude for all that is. Acceptance of past things that I do not quite understand, a celebration and appreciation of things now that seem a little off my path, and a hope, faith and positive anticipation of the things that are in store.

Do you have a theme or mantra to live by for the coming year?

"The Best Day"

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The other day Rob signed up for doing some volunteer work at at our local Bishop’s Storehouse.
(A Bishop’s storehouse is a place that houses food and necessities for those in need and is run by our church. It’s basically a food bank).

He decided it would be a good idea if the two older boys went with him.

Of course, they were thrilled as it meant missing some school (only the morning though).

I think they were also excited as it was a chance to serve – something that we talk a lot about so this was their chance to put in some action.

They were up really early – and Zach convinced Rob is was a good idea to go to McDonald’s before hand for breakfast. They did that, then arrived bright and early at the Storehouse ready to go.

I had some clients that I couldn’t cancel so I wasn’t able to join them. I just got everyone else off to school and then headed out for my day. Just as I was leaving, I got an email. My client cancelled. Funny, my other client had just cancelled late the night before too.

How much paper work I could get done! I have been so short on paperwork time in the past few months – often working later at night and on Saturdays to get things done. I could catch up!

Or I could join them to do some service.

A quick 10-10-10 made the decision really easy, and off I went to the Storehouse too.

I arrived to see my little bees working, and smiling and laughing.

They were happy to see me (yah!), and showed me what they had done, and what they were doing. I joined in.

Rob told me that they had worked solid for a couple of hours before asking what time it was. They guessed it was around 11:30, but it was only 9:15!! Apparently they were shocked. Time doesn’t go as quickly when you are working hard I guess. Or, that’s what happens when you get to work early!

But they kept working and continued having fun. However,  as soon as I got there they started on me about why they didn’t need to go to school in the afternoon. They felt they should stay home and watch movies all afternoon. They were actually quite relentless! Well, Zach was. That wasn’t going to happen though:)

I did agree, after their work was complete to take them to lunch, and run a couple of Christmas errands. Rob had to head home to a meeting.

We went to the mall and checked out a few stores. I took them into Pottery Barn to show them our new dining room table and get some opinions on some stuff. They were hilarious in the store! Boys that age don’t get decorating stuff. Although they were on me about buying a $30 bar of soap carved into a dog (not going to happen either).

They stopped off in the Apple store of course while I ran to some other stores.

They also helped me search for some gifts, which I didn’t end up finding, which was disappointing. We ended up getting goggles (because some had been lost) and chocolate.

We also had lunch. I was surprised out of all the choices they had, they chose Subway. They had had McDonald’s in the morning so wanted something “relatively healthy” for lunch then. They never cease to surprise me.

While at lunch, they talked about how awesome this day was . It was the “best day” they both said. They got to do some cool work (Gabe even said he was actually looking forward to the volunteer service trip we hope  to take them on in a few years). They certainly want to do it again.

They also got to see the reality of service – where the money goes when we – and they –  donate it, how large an operation like this is and how organized they must be to run it, and how many people benefit from it. They also asked a lot of questions about who needs this help and why, as they saw people coming in to fill their orders. I hope that they learned to be a bit more filled with compassion, and desire to serve, as well as feel more gratitude for the blessings and good fortune in their lives.

Then they got to have a little bit of spontaneous, unexpected fun. It was so cool for them to be playing hooky from school for another hour and be the only tween and teen in the mall!

But it was the best day for me too. A little unexpected gift in the middle of the week. To have it all aligned that I was able to join them, watch them serve, and spend a little time with them. It was the kind of day I will certainly remember forever.

It was the best day.

Who’s with us?

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I remember writing a post a while ago about motherhood, and how it changes everything!

It even changes the way you tell time.

Noon is no longer just noon; it’s, “I wonder if the kids have eaten yet and are outside playing.”

Three o’clock really means, “They must be getting their stuff ready for the end of day.”

It occurred to me today, that being a divorced-remarried-mother-and-stepmother also has some unique changes too.

It never occurred to me before, but as soon as I wake up in the morning, I  squint (because my eyes are really bad) and see what time it is (praying that is is really early and I still  have another hour to go). The next thing I do is think, “Who is with us?”

Then I go through my head and think about which child is upstairs sleeping. I do a quick “day ” check to align my brain with the schedule – and quickly try to sort out if there were any changes in the schedule. Once I have the day sorted, I quickly think to myself whether we need to do anything (e.g. go unlock the door because the kids are arriving soon, or push Rob out of bed because he has to go pick the kids up). Those are the dreaded days because we have to move.

The best days are the ones when we don’t have to do anything, everyone is still snug as a bug in bed, and I can roll over and cuddle my husband, that I am so grateful to have on the other side of my bed.

 People often ask if it hard to deal with such a schedule and truthfully, we are so used to it – as are the kids – that it doesn’t really bother anyone anymore (I don’t think – although the early mornings for the kids with Rob’s schedule is still kinda kooky). BUT  it does obviously consume a lot of energy and mind space – so much so that I wake up thinking about it!

This may make for a boring post, but this morning I had a good chuckle about how funny it is that my first thought is to think “Who’s with us?” I thought it might just be a little crazy detail that I will want to remember forever when the day arrives that I wake up and it doesn’t matter the day, my children are all snug as a bug in their own homes:(

Gratitude for Emails.

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One of the many downfalls of losing a parent early on in your adult life (sadly, losing a parent at any stage in life has great downfalls)… is that as you get older, and a bit more appreciative (hopefully), and gain a bit more life experience, there are many things you wish you could ask your parent, or say to your parent, or thank your parent for, but they are gone.

I think about my Dad a lot and think of so many questions I would ask him. He was a big talker, and as much as I listened, I know I would be listening a lot closer now. How I wish I had those stories recorded. But, I don’t, and I can just be grateful that that unfulfilled wish of mine is one of my biggest motivators for writing this blog: so my children will have all my stories (because, truthfully, I’m a big talker too and I’m not sure they are listening in the way they SHOULD be listening)!!

However, I am blessed to have a mother still with me, who is the best example to me. I can ask her questions, hear her stories, and learn form her wisdom.

I can also express my appreciation and gratitude for her too. I don’t have to wait until she’s gone (sorry Mom, I know that freaks you out) to say thank you to her for being an amazing Mom and Grandmother.

Yesterday morning, in my email in box was yet another email from my mother. She had forwarded me yet another article from an online magazine that she read and thought I would enjoy . She added a cute, uplifting, loving, inspirational note with it. She does this at least 2-3 times a week. In my inbox pops a great article with a “Thought you’d like this one” or “This reminds me of you”, or “How grateful I am for my family”. The articles are always relevant to what is going on in my life – since my Mom knows every detail since she always cares to ask and always listens and remembers. The articles are usually short enough that I can read quickly on the road or before bed, and they give me a little spiritual or inspirational, or educational boost.

How I love those articles and those notes. Yesterday morning, walking home from dropping the kids off at school, one of those emails popped up and I (morbidly – sorry Mom ) thought to myself, “When the time comes that my mother will no longer be around, this is one thing that I will seriously miss. I better let her know how much they mean to me. How I appreciate her example of constantly learning and educating herself. How I appreciate her generosity in sharing this sweet spirit. How I appreciate that she is in her seventies and is so Internet savvy. How I love everything that she sends. And how I appreciate these emails more than I can ever say”.

So, thanks Mom. For your example, for your love and especially for your emails and links to great articles:)) Keep reading and keeping sending. You are changing my life and the lives of your family forever.

Love you!
xoxoxx

Chris Mas and Josh

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Sometimes there are moments in life that I wish I could just freeze and never leave.

So often those moments have to do with one of my kids.

Often they are moments that I see one of my kids do something, that I know soon enough they will be “too old” to enjoy, or have lost their “childhood innocence and wonder”.

I had one of those moments this past weekend with Josh.

It wasn’t our weekend to have the kids and that normally means we have a Friday night to ourselves because Zach and Josh are with their Dad every Friday night. But this week, he had to be away, which meant we had Zach and Josh.

Zach wanted to spend the night with his best buddy; so he did. Which meant we had some one on one time with Josh.

I had wanted to go to the big annual one of a kind show to look for some things for our living room (we are redecorating). So, I convinced Josh that it would be fun if we went on Friday night.

At first he wasn’t so keen. Then I convinced him that there would be some yummy food, so he was good to go.

We went just as the snow was starting to fall.

We started walking around and checking out all the amazing things people make.

Josh was seriously into it. Within a few moments he had bought Zach some really cool pins, and was scouting out paintings that he thought I would like (and he did find me some good ones!). He also found a great little Christmas ornament for our family (7 little penguins that they personalized with our names), and a nice gift for our little cousin.

Then, he saw the cutest little puppet.

I think it was love at first sight.

He went running over to him, picked him up, asked how much he was and decided immediately that he was so worth spending his own money on.

He named him Chris Mas. (First and last name).

All night, and actually the entire weekend, he held Chris. He slept with him, carried him around the house, played indoor soccer with him, had him beside him at dinner… I mean did everything with him. He talked to him, groomed him, and kissed him.

It was so cute.

So cute but it made me sad. We are soon heading into a time where he won’t fall madly in love with a hand puppet monster. He won’t name an inanimate object, and cuddle and kiss him soon enough. He will lose that childhood innocence. So I wish I could bottle it all up and keep him like this forever.

For now, I will just engrave this memory in my heart and encourage and love Chris along with him to keep the imagination and the innocence alive for as long as I can.

Welcome to the family Chris.

Quote of the Week

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10-10-10-10

Last week during FHE, I introduced the concept of 10-10-10  that I talked about here.

I thought that it was a simple concept that even the kids could use and it can help guide them in their decision making process too.

They understood it and we talked about different decisions it can help them make.

At first however, I obviously had to explain it to them – what each ten meant.

10 minutes.

10 months.

10 years.

“Oh”, Josh said, “I thought the last 10 would be 10 decades”.

Everyone sort of chuckled as THAT would be a really long time.

But then Zandra said, “Shouldn’t we be thinking that far, you know into the eternities”?

Smart girl.

In our faith, we talk a lot about the “Eternal Perspective” of things. Here was a perfect opportunity to think about the eternal perspective in our decision making too. And sometimes, that is the most important ones and can seriously guide our values and choices that we make.

So, we renamed it:

10-10-10-10.

That should cover every time frame now.

Science Center

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The kids (Zach in particular) have been begging us to go to the Science Center.

It is actually really hard to find the time to go between all the activities, and time when we are all together.

This Saturday, Zach and Josh’s Dad had to work, which meant they were with us. So, we took advantage of the luxury of some extra time all together and went to the Science Center.

Everyone had a great time. Here’s some snaps:

Recipe: Zandra’s Chef Boyardee

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Zandra made dinner this past Sunday night and it was so yummy. It was a real hit and everyone wants to have it again. It was also super easy – so it’s a keeper.
It’s like a Lasagna soup: we will call it Zandra’s Chef Boyarded because Rob said it reminded him of Chef Boyardee but wayyyyyyy better (obviously).
INGREDIENTS
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
6 Italian turkey sausages, casings removed
1 box chicken broth (900 ml)
1 cup beef broth
1 large jar tomato sauce
1 jar tomato paste
salt to taste
red pepper flakes to taste
14-16 lasagna noodles, broken into pieces
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
4 tbsp parmesan
grated cheese (1/2 cup plus some for topping)
Toasted sliced baguette (with cheese optional)
Instructions:

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large non-stick saucepan. Add the onion, garlic and sausage. Cook over med high heat, stirring until sausage is crumbled and cooked through. Add the broths, tomato sauce and paste, salt and crushed red pepper. Boil and then reduce to simmer for 20 minutes.

Add lasagna noodles and bring to boil again, and then simmer for another 10 minutes until noodles are cooked.

Add parmesan and 1/2 cup grated cheese. Stir.

Toast bread slices, with cheese if preferred.

Serve in bowls, top with grated cheese and toasts.

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

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I love our Christmas traditions!

I talked about our favorite ones here last year.

We always start the season off with watching “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Since we don’t have all the kids next weekend (first weekend in December), we decided to watch it this past weekend.

They also convinced me that they should get their new PJ’s in time for the movie, rather than waiting for hot chocolate and lights car ride. They will get more use out of them is how Josh rationalized it to me.

So, the new PJ’s arrived, and bowls were filled with tons of sweets for the movie, and we brought in the Christmas season!

Getting the PJ’s



Changing on the spot!

New jammies

Goofy kids

Traditional “It’s a Wonderful Life” Spread

Lining up for the goods…