Birthday Goals

We reached the last day of school. I remembered to get last day of school pictures of the boys.

Last month I got a picture of Nichole while she was taking her last final. So I got her last day of picture, too.

When I told Jeremy that I got last day of school pictures of the boys, he sent me a "last few minutes of break" picture so I could add that to the collection. I love my husband.

I also celebrated my birthday.

When Jeremy asked me how birding had gone, he asked me if I'd spotted anything rare. I told him, "Nothing rare. Juvenile robins and starlings." It gave him the impression that those were the only things I'd seen. I had to quickly mention that I had seen a lot of other birds but those were the ones I don't see as often. I did see Western Tanagers for the first time this year. It was relaxing going birding that day.

Helpful Oreos

The kids and I sat down with a plate of Oreo cookies this evening.  March 6 is the birthday of the Oreo Cookie after all.  For each Oreo we ate, we told one thing that we were going to do this coming week to help our home and family.
Here's what we'll do:
Jr. will be nice to Mom and Dad and help clean up the kitchen.
Jr. Jr. will clean up everything he takes out of his room and eat everything that Mom gives him.
Nichole will clean up after herself and clean up the living room.
I will read my scriptures and say my prayers and I will listen to my children.
Jeremy came home later and added to the list.
He will not yell and he will give a compliment each day to someone he loves.

It's kind of a fun way of goal setting- rewarding ourselves for setting realistic goals in the first place (I did have to point out what realistic goals are when one of the children said he would clean up every room in our home- not realistic).  I figure after the week is up (or during the week), we'll sit down with another plate of Oreos and report on how we did (or are doing).

Evaluate Your Life Day

At this most recent General Conference, President Monson said the following during the Saturday morning session:
"...take an inventory of your life and look specifically for the blessings, large and small, you have received."
Evaluate Your Life Day, October 19, I thought was the perfect opportunity to do this.  I won't go into too many details as it is a very personal thing.  I will let you know that as I sat down with my husband to do this and to talk about some of our goals for the future, I shed plenty of tears.  There are plenty of things I want to be better at, and there are some goals, both temporal and spiritual, that we want to work for, but we also have been blessed in so many ways.  I can't ignore God's hand in my life.  As President Monson reminded us, "The Lord is in the details of our lives."  It is so true.

I am grateful for my blessings, even some that I don't realize are blessings until later.  I am so grateful for my family, for the experiences we get to go through together, and for the reasons and ways we find to celebrate.  My life is a gift and I can do so much good with it.  I am a daughter of God who loves me and I am of great worth.  I am not perfect, but I am improving.  I feel blessed.