Saturday Jobs

So this may sound crazy and I'm quite sure my kids wouldn't agree with me, but lately one of my favorite times has been doing Saturday jobs as a family.  There is something about working together as a family, and teaching your kids how to work that is really fun and exciting.  Lately I've started looking forward to Saturday morning jobs.  Its so fun to see how both of the kids are getting better at doing jobs and it definitely seems to make them a little more responsible during the week as well.

Happy Cleaning!

Be Happy

Last night I was reading some thoughts on reacting.  On how sometimes we get stuck in this trap of thinking that the things that happen to us are what determines if we're happy or sad. When really we need to be happy and strong and at peace with ourselves no matter what is going on in our lives.  This is hard for me to understand.  My mom has been telling me this for years and I kept thinking it was just some crazy psychologist talk.  But when I was reading last night it struck me how right this is.  In the past year as I've had repeated miscarriages, I've kept thinking that I should be upset and sad and depressed because this is so hard.  When really I can be happy and strong and at peace no matter what is going on.  When I let myself think that I can only be happy when things are going well I'm trapping myself into an unhappy life.  When I let my emotions be reactions to things that happen I'm giving away my control to circumstances.  Now this is where I always get confused, "So I am supposed to have this hard thing happen in my life and not react to it or let it upset me, that doesn't make any sense." And this is what I think, I can feel sad that I had another miscarriage and still BE happy.  So I'm going to work on this and also realizing that my mom is way smarter than I give her credit for.  Also this is the really cool blog I was reading that lead to my train of thoughts. So be happy!

Valuing Motherhood

With Mother's Day just past, I've been thinking a lot about motherhood. How grateful I am for the great mothers in my life, especially my mom and mother-in-law, but most expecially how grateful I am to be a mother. When Reid and I talked about starting a family (6 years ago, wow thats gone fast), in a way it just felt like the next logical step, we'd been married a couple years, we were finishing up school, it seemed like the thing to do. So I got pregnant and we had Brooke and it was amazing and I was so happy to be a mom. But it wasn't until later when it was so hard to have a successful second pregnancy and now when it is hard to have a successful third pregnancy, that I've started to understand the great privilege of being a mother. It isn't just something you do because everyone else is, or so you can check it off your list, or get it done. Being a mother is an amazing privilege I am so grateful to have these funny little people in my life. I am so thankful to be a mother, I know that it is the most important thing I will do.