summer goals

This summer my goals are....

1) Get to the temple more often = every other week 

*Lucky for us it's basically in our backyard for the next 3 weeks.  

*Un-lucky for us, I found out it's closed for maintenance from July 4th - 18th.....basically most of the time we are here. 

*Lucky for me there are 2 days until it closes....and I now have back-up to help watch the kids while I steal away. 

*And lucky for me - there are 5 temples in the greater Salt Lake area that I can get to in the same amount of time it would take for me to subway over to our temple in the city.  And in Salt Lake....family which will watch the kiddos.    

What a blessing.  All of it.  

2) Enjoy family time 

As we were leaving school on our last day, a teacher stopped by to say good-bye for the summer.  She made the comment, "I'm so excited for a break, but then I think of all you parents and feel a little bad that you have your kids for the entire summer". 

I looked straight at her and came back with the quick reply, "Oh, don't feel bad...this is the time I look forward to!  I finally get my children all the time, without a schedule that we have to keep up with and time to just do what we want to do.  I love this time!"  

                                                     

And I really do.  Summer time equals magic time.  Yes there are still chores to do, piano practicing, teeth brushing, scripture reading, and bedtimes to do....but everything is at a slower summer pace.  It gets done because there isn't a need to rush to the next planned event.  We plan things because we want to - not because we have to. 

And enjoying that with family is amazing.  I absolutely love having my children around me for the summer.  

And we get to fill in with other family as well - Bryson's parents are here with us right now in Hawaii for the 4th of July weekend.  My mom will come out for the final days of our vacation here, and help me fly home with the kiddos, as Bryson will fly in next week and spend about a week here and then fly back to the city for work.  However, the kiddos and I will go to Salt Lake for another few weeks so that we can finally get family time - and lots of it!  We miss it the rest of the year in these amounts as we live out of state....but in the summer, we like to get as much family in as possible!  Cousins, aunts & uncles, close family and distant family...it's all family to us, and we love it!  

3) Live in the moment 

The phrase 'Stop and smell the flowers' is always meaningful - but in the summertime I love to remember that there is not the rush of things we have to get to.  Even today I caught myself this morning saying to the children a few times, "We need to hurry up and get going!"  I finally caught myself after the 3rd time and laughed a bit on the inside....WHY?  I didn't want to hurry.  They obviously did not want to hurry as they were enjoying playing with the dog, jumping on the trampoline, playing with toys, playing on the piano - anything at all....but NOT to hurry! 

We eventually did need to leave by a certain time so we could drive into Honolulu and run some errands and pick up Nana and Papa at the airport.  But there wasn't a need to hurry.  We got everything done, and we had a lovely time about it....by not rushing.

I want to slow down. 

Embrace each moment.  

And really enjoy living in that moment.  The sights.  The sounds.  The smells.  Realizing how fast it all goes....so to just enjoy.  

4)  Hit the beach every day! 

I suppose this is only applicable to while we are here in Hawaii - but I realized there is no reason why we can't have a beach moment every day while we are here.  We are staying in a place where there are dozens of beaches within 5-10 minutes of us....and then even more as we drive out 10-15 more minutes.  I'm fairly certain it would be at least dozens upon dozens of beaches we could visit.

Even if we don't swim, like today and on Sundays we won't, we can still take a walk and enjoy the awesomeness (has that been defined as a word yet?!) of the beach, the beauty of this island and where we are.  Whether it's a short trip or a long one....we will work to get to the beach each day we are here.

5)  Hang Loose 

Speaks for itself & my little add-in....I want to roll with the punches more.  Plan but be flexible.  And not get so uptight if things don't go as I thought or planned.  And above all else - be easy going and watch my temper.

6)  Be a builder 

I want to be sure I'm building and not wrecking or destroying anything around me.  Anything.

Another way to look at it - be sure I am positive and working towards the big picture at all times.  

Building :) 

I have another summer bucket list of things we want to do during our break from the regular routine of school and schedules.  I'll share that soon - for now, it feels good to remember that goals help us progress and become better.  And even though my goals aren't monumental, it gives some added purpose to these summer months.

And lastly - here are some pictures of the temple as we walked home from Temple Beach.  It was a beautiful evening - we had unpacked the groceries that we picked up at Costco after the airport run to get Nana & Papa....and we needed a chance to stretch our legs and to take the dog out for a walk.  We decided to walk down to the beach, and I'm so glad we did.....it was a gorgeous evening!  Only to be added to with seeing the temple lit up on this magnificent drive down this main avenue (?) here in Laie.

I love this place.

attitude of gratitude

At the beginning of the year, one of my goals was to have a nightly catch-up with the children where we would each share at least one 'Attitude of Gratitude' Moment from our day. Following last October's General Conference where President Monson spoke on the topic of gratitude, it has been on my mind and I thought it would add to our family being able to see more easily our blessings. And to be sure that we then are giving thanks for these blessings - big and small.

The nightly habit went very well for about the first week...in fact I have a saved post where I was doing a recap of the things each person was grateful for that first week. Then the next week came, and schedules got in the way of trying to form a new habit - and so I didn't write down what we were grateful for....and I'm sure I missed a day or two of even asking the children what they were grateful for.

It's been on and off since then....mostly off which I am sad to say - as I still do believe it's a very important part of a daily reflection to talk about what we can be grateful for. And this past Sunday I was reminded why I should start it up again.

Nana and Papa Lord were visiting us, and we all went into Primary to hear Jacob give the scripture and Bryson Jr. give the talk. I slipped out after his talk to go to Sunday School, however Nana & Papa stayed behind to enjoy the remainder of Jr. Primary.

That evening when the little ones were tucked into bed, and we were in the Living Room talking as adults - Leslie (aka Nana) told us that we would have been very proud of our little Bryson during the Sharing Time of Primary. The teacher had been doing a lesson on Prophets and held up a picture of the Prophet that was called to tell the Nephites that the Savior Christ would soon be born. When she asked the children to identify the Prophet in the picture, no one responded....except Bryson. His hand came up to share that it was Samuel the Lamanite. She said he then opened up his Book of Mormon to find the same picture and showed it to the girl in his class (there are 3 children in his class....2 girls and Bryson - and the other girl was away that Sunday. They have such a small class!).

Sister Whiting continued with the lesson, and at one point held up a picture of President Monson and asked the children what he had asked us to do at the last General Conference.

Our little guy put his hand up and responded with, "Have an 'Attitude of Gratitude'!"

I can't remember if that was the specific answer that she was looking for....but he was right. The Prophet had asked us to have an Attitude of Gratitude among other things we are asked to do - and I am so grateful for his little reminder to our family that I need to work hard to make and continue this as a family tradition to share our gratitude one-liners each night. They are so simple. It shouldn't be hard....and who knows, it could just be the thing that opens up a discussion we will always remember and be thankful for later on. I want us as a family to always stop and share things that we are grateful for, to focus on the positive and to remind ourselves to give thanks for all things.

As so often - I was taught by my child.

And....better late than not at all - here are the 'Attitude of Gratitudes' that were shared in our family & written down....and now they are finally here. I am committed once again and can say with assurance - there will be more :)

Jan. 18th

* Bryson..... I'm thankful for wonderful books to read (we went to the library)

* Madeleine..... I'm thankful for the library to pick out books & movies

* Jacob..... thankful for pizza

* Mommy..... I'm thankful to organize and clean and the wonderful feeling with having things in a place, and that we have these things in our life.

Jan. 20th

* Jacob..... playing Magnetix and making robots

* Bryson..... I'm thankful for books, so I can read

* Madeleine..... I'm thankful that Mommy goes grocery shopping for us

* Mommy..... I'm thankful for good reports on my children - that they are doing what they are supposed to do (Ms. Alvarez, Madeleine's science teacher, had stopped me after school and had praised Madeleine saying that she was always doing what she was supposed to & absolutely a delight in class, with a bright mind and always doing what is right. If only every student were like her she commented, and I was super proud of her and all my kiddos and their good reports!)

Jan. 22

* Bryson Jr...... I'm thankful for basketball (his winter community class had just started)

* Daddy..... I'm thankful for healthy bodies to run and play basketball (he enjoyed 'parent coaching' and running around with basketball almost as much as Bugaboo!)

* Jacob..... My castle

* Madeleine.... Roasted peanuts from the street vendors (yummy!)

* Mommy.... Staying inside and being cozy

Jan. 24

* Bryson.... instruments to play

* Madeleine.... friends like Aoi

* Jacob.... to go to sleep

*Mommy.... to see Madeleine and Bryson dancing (tap & ballet class night where they had a Parent Open House. Bryson was having so much fun, and Madeleine was so graceful)

Jan. 25 (big snow day in the city)

* Madeleine.... snow that we can play in and have snow fights with each other

* Bryson..... for plants that give us food. Like broccoli and apples, which I don't even like but they do make applesauce which I like! (funny kid!)

* Jacob..... that I built a snowman!

* Mommy..... big fluffy snowfalls

Jan. 30 {Sunday}

* Jacob.... for snow

* Bryson.... I'm thankful for Mom and Dad so that I'm not homeless

* Madeleine.... my teachers that can teach me about the gospel, a car to drive us home safely

and mommy to teach us in music because she's funny

* Mommy..... I'm thankful for music - to feel the spirit and lead the Primary children again :)

* Daddy..... No cavities (ironically as he was munching on the carmel corn we had made for a FHE treat!)

We are truly blessed. We are truly grateful.

We will strive to be a family that says more often the things we feel as our
Attitude of Gratitude.

This Week...

It's a start to a brand new week, and on this lovely Monday morning.....

*I emailed my first first "appointment" while slowly waking up and canceled where I was supposed to be this morning. I realized life was going to move on without me being there. It was an unnecessary stress - so why rush and start Monday already feeling like I'm in a race?

*I'm still sitting here in my PJ's doing Christmas present things online. A big check for orders from American Girl (that place is slightly addicting!). Poor Bryson doesn't understand why we are spending money on dolls and accessories when our little girl isn't so little and while some girls her age have outgrown the doll phase, we seem to be getting right into the thick of it. I told him it's like boys and legos - some things you just never outgrow! Personally, I'm so happy that Madeleine's holding on to this part of childhood - I was into dolls for years and years, so this brings back many wonderful memories.

*In working on another project for Christmas, I ran into pictures from Monday about 4 weeks ago (time is going too fast - where is that pause button?!) ---- I haven't been great at keeping up any blog or posts on life, so here is at least a little rewind (pretending that button exists in life).

Monday (10/25) was the first day of Spirit Week at the children's school and the theme was 'Dress for Success'. Madeleine was also highlighted as Student of the Month for her class - so off we went to the assembly to honor Madeleine and see her dressed up as a teacher, or like her teacher whom she adores....

Madeleine our 'Student of the Month' dressed up as Ms. Rubenstein

The boys looking extremely handsome and dressed up for success, as:

Bryson Jr. - Investment Banker (he even had business cards that said 'Bryson Lord - Bank of America' in his pocket.....sometimes it is very cool to be a Jr.!)

and

Jacob - the little Professor

*Jacob is munching on a bagel and watching his 2nd movie for the day. It's one of those Mondays - and I'm embracing it. My goal is to be guilt free for December (and life...but I thought it would be better to start one month at a time!).

*It's going to be a harsh reality doing everything on my own this week. We were blessed to have my mom here for 6 days - I think the last time she stayed with us that long was when Jacob was born. I was completely spoiled as she took the kids to their activities for me so that I could run errands and do things at home. She cooked. She cleaned. She did our laundry. I realized that if we had room and if we wouldn't completely drive each other nuts - I'd have her live with me. I admire people that live with their family....they must be less of an OCD personality than I am :)

*We put our tree up last night and decorated the house for Christmas. It didn't take as long as I'm used to....combination of not as many decorations as we used to have and giving away all our Christmas lights last year (they were partially broken and partially I couldn't handle trying to tie them up....so I just donated them to the Thrift Store). Although we don't have a lot of decorations - what we did put up put a merry smile on all our faces and I realized that we have the most important decorations we have. I'll try to do a post during the holidays and showcase the items we have....they all have a story and I love pulling out each item and remembering why and where we got it.

*This week, my goals are:

*** Call the hair salon that chopped off my hair last week, and work to get a refund. I think I can now talk to them without crying that my 6 months of hard work in growing out my hair was cut off within minutes. I wish people wouldn't say they can cut curly hair when they can't! In case any one ever reads this with curly hair - remember, your hair is NOT like every other person that goes into a salon. If someone doesn't cut curly hair - save yourself the aggravation and just wait until you find the perfect solution. Really. the PERFECT solution. It is out there and you will be so much happier to just wait and get what you really want.

I was told about the perfect solution by someone at the Temple on Friday night - it's amazing all the answers we get when we go there...spiritual and secular. I know this sounds trite - but whatever, I'm already sounding superficial by going on and on about my hair (if I didn't have to deal with it EVERY day than it wouldn't be such a big deal!) - however, really it's another way that I realize that Heavenly Father loves us, and if he can put someone in our path that can share some information about a place to get your hair cut that specializes in curly hair....than I know I have a Father in Heaven who loves us all very much. If you had a child - wouldn't you want to tell them where to get their hair cut? Yes. So - it does all work out. Amazing.

*** I have other goals this week besides my hair, but I need to actually get up to leave the computer to make everything possible....so updates will have to made later. :)