My job

This weekend the message came to me for the thousandth time.
It was a clear as a bell, like it always is when I stop to listen.
It was an answer to my two pages of questions to God.

It came from Bruce D. Porter and was entitled Beautiful Mornings.

I do this every 6 months. I write down all the life struggles that I am having in form of questions to God and then I spend a whole weekend listening to living prophets, and I listen for the answers. They always come through the gift of the Holy Ghost. God whispers them directly to my soul. This time there were 18 specific answers all small parts to my journey back to Him, and all connected to one another.

My questions varied from how can I afford to go back to college to should we move to a cheaper place to save money. How can I strengthen my marriage? What is my life mission and how do I accomplish it? How can I be happy in my calling? (I meant my job at church but had no idea until I listened intently that I also needed this answer for my calling in life)

All the answers pointed to my most important title: mom

Pleasing God needs to be my first priority. When I make pleasing God the top priority in my heart, my husband and children rightfully earn their places at the top of my to-do lists. If pleasing God means that I have to quit my job and live on rice and beans, so be it. If it means that I don't get to go back to school for another year or two, it's o.k. I need to live my life on God's timetable and with his rules because He is where I will find the greatest happiness. If I never get the dream house or the coveted vacation because I limped through hubby's law school and supported him through the aftermath (and beyond - for the next 40 years of student loan payments) and encourage my children's extra-curriculars it will be to my glory: eventually.

For me the answer is always that MY JOB is to nurture my children and support my husband. My job is to let go of my need for approval in the eyes of others. I have to let go of the Western culture of acquiring wealth. I even have to let go of my need to achieve certain things because if I am doing it for me and not for Him, it's wrong. It'll never be right no matter how wonderful.

It's so ironic that after recommitting myself and finding inner peace,
my beautiful morning looks like this:

"Mom, do you know what this is?

It's my job to do."

"Mom, move out of my way!

.....

I'm looking for something important.

Can you help me find it?"

Who knew inner peace would be so loud?

or rainy?

and disguised 

as one mess after another

for me to clean?

Once again I am brought to my knees.

Please God, help me to understand.

Help me be humble.

Help me love my job.

Help it to make me happy.

And I just found this on facebook and must include it

for my Mormon friends.

I guess things could always be worse.

Daddy's Baby

I guess LG had been trying 

to grow his hair out again.

I hadn't noticed

until a few days ago he

lamented to me,

"Alice, I forget how far back

my hair has receded

until I grow it out."

Bad for LG.

Good for me.

I love his hair buzzed.

Imagine my surprise

today

when Caroline

brought this photo to me

and said,

"Mom this is so strange.

Dad doesn't have pokey hair."

LG I guess

you are going to have to 

keep

your

hokey pokey

style.

We're you trying

to grow it out

at hopes of

revisiting

those newlywed days?

Better luck next time.

Newga

This little lion has been with Caroline from birth.

It was a baby shower gift.

Thanks Aimee!!

Caroline named her

sometime in her first year.

Her name is 

New-Gu

or Newga.

Every night before this sleeping angel goes to sleep

we have a routine.

We go potty, change into clean panties and p.j.'s, and read three books.

We then give each other big kisses

and I say,

"I love you the mostest."

She then repeats it back to me

anywhere between 5 and 10 times.

Then I pull out Newga

(the last step til sleep)

and proceed to shower Caroline

with kisses from her favorite lion pal.

Caroline always tells Newga to "Stop it Newga"

while trying to hide under her covers.

Newga promises to behave,

Caroline comes out

and gives her a kiss

and then shares with lioness

her favorite pink blankie.

As I walk out of the room

I say

"Goodnight Caroline.
Goodnight Newga."

Thank you to

Ms. Sunshine

(the pre-school teacher)

for a very permanent reminder

of how powerfully

this nightly ritual

speaks love

into Caroline's heart.

Caroline brought this home on Valentine's Day.

I am so glad Ms. Sunshine

wrote down exactly what

Caroline told her

even if she had no idea

what she was talking about.

We all knew

exactly who Caroline

loves.

I am so grateful to God

for giving me Caroline.

She is spoiled rotten.

We all love her so much.

Thank you God for Caroline

and for Newga

as a nightly reminder of

how blessed I am

to love and be loved.

I need a mom.

I am sure you have all noticed my lack of posts this week
because I know you all come here every day with super high hopes
because I am the world's most amazing blogger.

O.k. o.k. I'm not, I know.
I may not be the world's best blogger
and I am most certainly not the world's best mom,
but guess what I am all they've got.
They'll get over it eventually,
after some good therapy
that I will hold off on as long as possible
so they have to pay for it themselves.
I mean really
if the choice is between therapy
and cold cereal,
I am pretty sure the shredded mini wheats
or the more appreciated at the moment.

What am I good for anyway?
I'll tell you what.

I always throw away the empty bottles in the shower.
I always make sure that everyone is fed.
I always make sure everyone has clean clothes.
I am always the first one to hand over the trashcan when someone is sick.
I buy all the food.
I buy all the toiletries.
O.k LG buys it, but I purchase it,
and you all know that it's not the easiest task
to keep household items in stock.

We never (I mean NEVER) run out of toilet paper.
(O.k. we do all the time in our bathroom where
at least a roll a day escapes through the floor vent
and can never seem to replace itself. This always seems to happen
when I am done with my after-run #2. I always get a little mournful when I notice that once again I am up sheeshcreek - and my husband has absolutely nothing to do with the disappearing TP or the empty dispenser and it really isn't his fault that he's at work when I am the most in need. I love bargaining with a three year old ever so carefully to bring me a roll of the most necessary item in the hygienist's closet that is missing from MY bathroom!)
But it is never missing from the house all together,
and that is totally because I am awesome.

Caroline came home from pre-school today highly disappointed. She has been talking about kangaroo zoo for a month and they finally got to go today but after playing on the blow-up bouncy toys for the hour with her class, she turned to her teacher, and said, "This isn't a kangaroo zoo. There aren't any kangaroos." She was so totally bummed.

I brought her home and gave her cheetos and an orange and then bought her some bubble gum.

I got dinner ready, cleaned the house, showered off my running filfth, and even had two minutes to spare to write this post before running off to work for the fourth night in a row. When I come home tonight too tired to even check my facebook, I will realize for the hundreth time

that I need my own mom.
Every mom needs a mom.
It's too bad mine lives in kangaroo zoo.

Utah style Sugar Cookies

Here is my Valentine's gift

to the rest of you

that I don't sleep with.

I wish I could send you a warm cookie

through my Ethernet cable,

but since we haven't figured that one out yet,

I'll give you my recipe.

I call these 

Loralee's Sugar Cookies

(I got the recipe from my boss

twenty years ago

Her name was Loralee.

Go figure.)

This recipe makes about 60 medium size cookies

so be sure you have some plates ready to share

with neighbors

or make them on the day you are running a marathon.

1 1/3 cup shortening

1 1/2 cup sugar

4 eggs

1/2 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla

5 cups flour

3/4 tsp salt

6 tsp. baking powder

Cream together the shortening and sugar.

Add eggs, milk, and vanilla.

Sift in the flour, salt, and baking powder at the same time

Mix.

The real trick with these is to let them be a little sticky.

Don't think you need to add more flour.

Refrigerate the dough for about an hour.

Then the next trick is to roll them out thin.

No more than 1/4" thick,

like pie dough.

They will puff up a bit

in the oven.

Bake at 350 degrees

on the middle rack.

for 8-10 minutes.

In my current oven 9 minutes 

was the magic number.

Let cool.

Frost with 

Buttercream Frosting

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter - partially melted

4 - 5 cups powdered sugar

2.5 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2-3 Tablespoons of milk or cream

(for you cheapos out there

like my mom,

you have to buy the real vanilla

and the real butter

it makes all the difference

I get mine at Costco)

Enjoy.

The Monster

Our baby monster is growing up way too fast.
This seems like a lifetime ago.

Mustache you about those beards

While having cream of wheat in the kitchen Thursday morning, 

here was the conversation.

Caroline (in her alarmed voice): "Mom, we have beards again."

Me: (referring to the photos on the wall) "Who did that?"

Caroline: "Abigail."

Me (laughing): "Why would she do that?"

Caroline (in all seriousness): "Because she's a brat!"

I have loved these photos in our dining room.

They have given us a whole lot of entertainment.

One of my favorite times was when I noticed

that the kids had switched the order of the photos

so that they read

Ice-cream is better than your love.

I guess that would be an honest statement

depending on whether or not

you have an available bowl of ice-cream.

Funniest part is that by the time

this busy mom noticed

the kids swear they had been rearranged for

at least a month.

Maybe ice-cream is better than my love.

Sometimes I am too busy serving my family

that I forgot to stop and make sure they know

that I love them dearly.

Caroline Temple

In 2011 I posted a picture of Sophia's clay monsters.

Today in my draft box I came across 

this video of Caroline's destruction of it.

How time flies.

And how this little Caroline (Shirley Temple) got all grown up

is beyond my comprehension.

I miss the baby stage.

I really do.

How entertaining toddlers are.

How she has grown.

Funny quick story about Caroline

and her Shirley Temple like talent.

When we were at Abigail's choir concert back in December,

the choir director assisted the choir

with their accapella number

with their three start notes on the piano.

Three year old Caroline

took her cue

and loudly

very loudly

sang

each note

in succession

in perfect pitch

with the lyrics

la la la.

We all chuckled

which egged her on more.

Which was a really bad thing

considering the choir

was about to sing

Angels we have heard on high

and Caroline took our

laughter as a cue

that she was invited to

a sing-along

with every round of

Gloria.

Proud parenting moment.

I need to get this girl in pre-Broadway classes.

Instead I bought her a pair of tap shoes

at the thrift-store.

We will have a perfectly happy picture!

My mother-in-law requested family photos for Christmas.

In an effort to keep the Christmas budget,

we opted for my mad raw camera skills.

Yeah, I took one photography class

so that makes me qualified right?

Wrong.

So very wrong.

Add in
a dog on a leash,

a crappy crappy tri-pod

some cold weather

and a

"as stubborn as I'll get out"

nine-year-old

and

wa-la

eventually

you have me screaming:

"We will get a perfectly happy picture.

Gosh danget."

That got some smiles.

We can always count on laughter

to see us through.

And laugh, we did.

Like always.

Here are some good outtakes.

I was trying to test the shot
and I had already set the timer
so they entertained themselves
through the 10 sequential shots.

We got a bunch of great shots
and in about 10 of them
Caroline was sticking out her tongue.

I like to call this one
"Don't drop the dog."

The funniest part was that
I had no idea this was even happening.

When we got home, 

Sophia came into my room and said,

"Mom I learned something important today.

You can't put a dog in the simba pose for a picture

like you can a cat."

It wasn't until I went in to edit the photos that

I understood what she was talking about.

Please, don't eat my head.

 These are the best that we got.

I really like how the scarf pose

turned out

minus Abigail's expression

and the random blanket

on the grass.

Don't even worry about the discarded

old fashioned sled.

Geez.

I really don't know what I am doing.

We got our perfectly happy pictures.

Merry Christmas Faye.
These will be on their way to you
in your Christmas package
as I know you won't be able to figure
out how to print them from here.

Oh and sorry,
I forgot to do a pose
with LG.

Maybe next year.

"Caroline"

Caroline wants to share a picture of herself.

"Make it bigger mom."

"Perfect."

How old are you Caroline?

"4" (she's three)

What's your favorite color?

"pink"

Who's your favorite person?

"I just love you and dad."

(now she is climbing the treadmill singing

what doesn't kills you makes you stronger)

"Look mom, this ball of playdoh is dry.

We can't play with it any more."

(chucks it at the monitor)

Luckily she missed because it's harder than a rock.

What else do you want to say?

"I want to say 'no' mom."

No about what?

"No, about nothing."

"Do you wanna see how you do jumping?"

(She has taken off a piece of the printer

and is catapulting the hard piece of playdoh.)

Have I mentioned this girl

never EVER runs out of energy.

What's your favorite song?

"I don't know.

I really want to get back in your lap,

I'm getting so tired."

(I made her get down shortly before the climb

of the treadmill. She can't keep her hands off the keyboard.)

"Mommy, I want to see more pictures."

"Do you want to match this with dad?"

 What do you mean?

She points at the text on the monitor.

"Right here, do you want to match this with dad."

What do you want for your birthday?

"A stone -ger."

What's that?

"It means you freeze and play tag."

(grabs the mouse and clicks on something

that luckily just opens some random window

and doesn't erase this whole post.)

Caroline.

You are going to ruin the typing.

"I wanna go away from the computer."

The end.

Oh, the point of the post.

To tell you

Caroline really really really

loves her bigwheel

that I made LG buy her for her

3rd birthday.

It was nostalgic for me

and it has been more than fun

watching her tear through 

our neighborhood, the park,

the soccer field,

and anywhere else we let her

tag it along.

Even though I run 

approximately 15 miles a week

I can't even keep up with her

when she's on that little bike.

We are in trouble

with this one.

She didn't come with a manual.

The Art Fart

I really hope Sophia doesn't decide to read the blog today.

I do believe she'd die of embarrassment.

I must write though

because it's stories like this that I don't want to forget.

And I do forget.

I forget as early as next week if I don't write it down.

LG's been playing with new camera more than me. I love it.

We finally got Sophia into an art class.

She has shown a real propensity for art since she was a toddler,

and I am so grateful we finally have the means to help her along.

Check out her very first project.

I dare you to say she's anything less than a prodigy.

And now, here's a little art fart funny from Friday.
I went into the studio to tell Sophia that I was there to take her home.
She was happily working on a picture of SpongeBobSquarePants in colored pencil.
Next to her was the cutest boy about the same exact age
working on what looked like a tribal tattoo.
They were both having a blast doing the art thing while bantering back and forth.
It made this mom very happy to see Sophia in her element.
When you know something about your kid, you just know.
And I have always known that Sophia has the soul of an artist.

Minutes later Sophia bounds out to the car and we head home.
I zone out thinking about all I have to do
to get out the door that evening in time for
a friend's birthday party and a choral concert of my nephew at BYU.
All of the sudden Bella and Sophia are cracking up.
I ask them what was so funny.
Through fits of laughter they tell me.

Sophia - Nooooooo, don't tell her.
Bella - I have to. Sophia likes __________!! (I can't remember his name)
Me - (Not surprised in the least.) What' so funny about that?
Sophia - Nothing. Nothing.
Bella - Well, Sophia and _______ were messing around hitting each other and being silly.
Sophia - STOP! Bella don't tell her.
Bella - And then Sophia...
Sophia - (butting in because if the story is going to be told, she's going to tell it) We were just playing around, and all of the sudden I farted. It just came out. I couldn't help it.
Me - Oh my gosh, how embarrassing. Did you just die?
Bella - It gets worse mom.
Sophia - So then the teacher comes in and asks us if we need anything.
Bella - And _____________ says, "Do you have a clothespin?"
Me - Did it stink?
Sophia as red as a beat - "I guess so."

This may not seem funny to any of you, but it's moments like this when I just love being a mom. It is so fun to watch your kids grow up and become adults who are embarrassed by bodily functions.

Now, here is something to make it up to Sophia whenever she reads this story.
Sophia brought this home last year from school after the class all wrote down anonymous compliments.
She is one cool kid, even with the gassy gas.

And me, you ask?

How's the photography going?

Well, it's going when I squeeze in the time.

Here is one of my practice shots

while I was outside the art studio waiting on Sophia.

We are learning about aperture.

Photography is art.

Maybe I should leave it up to Sophia.

It's a lot more complicated then I expected.

(That's why I've dragged LG into the hobby,

he's my scientific go-to man.)

Check out my the website of my super cool teacher.

Here's a photo of another one of my cool kids.

She's taking a cooking class right now.

I've always known that Bella would grow up to be a beautiful cook.

Shooting action is more difficult

especially without the right lens

but here is our Abigail.

I always knew she'd grow up to be a soccer star.

Caroline.

Notice that she's reading dad a bed-time story.

At 6 pm.

That's how it goes around here.

Isn't he cute?

I do believe my car is in need of a wash.

And here is LG's latest project.

An expose about the life of a housewife.

Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.

All the time.

Even on Sunday.

Singing in the rain

When it rains, it pours.

I am sitting in the hospital with my dad right now.

He's been here for 5 days.

He's on the upswing and I am so grateful.

I am extremely grateful for my wonderful husband

who tells me

"Go, I'll take care of everything."

A few weeks ago,

our family lost

my nephew Braxton.

He's dancing in heaven now,

where I imagine 

he can choose the weather.

Sitting down to my laptop this morning

I am happy to find these old photos.

What a great reminder that

sometimes

the best time to dance and sing

is when it rains.