Thanksgiving Advent

Remember this little girl?

She turned one.  In August.  And she still doesn't sleep "through the night."  I use the term "sleep through the night" quite loosely, but this babe still wakes up every three hours.  After the first round of sleep training, I spent 5 months with a baby who would not be put down, nor let anyone else hold her.  We've tried sleep training her a couple times, and the last time was working until she got a bunch of ear infections, and then started teething.  So we're trying again.  I just have to say that if I could go back to my first-time-mother self, I would tell myself to not worry about "sleeping through the night."  lol.

Isn't she just a sweetie though?  Love this blue-eyed darling!

 Blogging has just been on the back burner.  It still is, but I wanted to share this idea, even if it is a tad tardy.

Thanksgiving Advent:

Nov 1. Make advent activity chain and introduce gratitude to kids (hopefully they already get it!)
Nov 2. Write a list of people we can thank (brainstorm, all the people who help us in our lives)
Nov 3. Service project: Make a few sack lunches and hand them out to people standing outside parking lots of stores.  There are always people in our area.
Nov 4.  Tell the story of the 10 Lepers. Memorize Alma 7:23
Nov 5 F.H.E. (Family Home Evening) about gratitude, begin gratitude journal with each child.  Each night after stories we will talk about what we are grateful for that day and write it down, draw a pic, etc.)
Nov 6. Visit retirement center and sing songs, or do Thanksgiving art project. (think Pinterest)
Nov 7. Read Thanksgiving books and sing Thanksgiving songs. (I'll give suggestions soon!)
Nov 8. Bake bread (or some treat) to take with thank-you notes the next day.
Nov 9. Write & deliver anon 5 thank you notes w/ bread
Nov 10. Service project: make a baby blanket (or several) for people in need (local hospital, women's shelter, etc)  This should be fun to get my kids started with some basic sewing!
Nov 11. Memorize Alma 37:37, write a thank you note to some one in the military.
Nov 12. F.H.E. Do thy alms in secret. 3 Ne 13:2-4
Nov 13. Art Project with our playgroup friends.
Nov 14. Write and illustrate our own thanksgiving book (I'll let the girls guide this one, they can retell the first thanksgiving, tell a story about gratitude, etc.  It will be a shared writing experience.  :)
Nov 15. Make caramel popcorn to take with thank-you notes the next day.
Nov 16. Write and deliver 5 anon thank you notes. (Emphasize "doing alms in secret" with the kids.
Nov 17. Service project.  I plan on calling a local shelter to see what we can do, maybe we'll try and collect coats and shoes, or something simple my preschoolers can help with.
Nov 18. Memorize Psalms 100:1-5
Nov 19. F.H.E. Love our enemies 3 Ne 12:44
Nov 20. Act out the first Thanksgiving with costumes we made.
Nov 21. Art Project: dinner table centerpiece and decorations.
Nov 22. Thanksgiving day 5k as a family!!

For the last 2 Thanksgivings (is that a word?) I've wanted to do something purposeful to help my little ones really understand the Holiday!  Hopefully we will stick to our fun schedule.  And if not, well, I guess I won't blog about it. :)

What God gave me time for.

Before I had children, I promised myself I'd never be the mother who asked "Why did I ever want children?" but sometimes I find myself thinking "I don't want to do this anymore." It's kind of like the feeling I had toward the end of labor with my last two children. I was exhausted. Mentally, physically, and emotionally spent. That time in labor is called "transition." I also sometimes experience that feeling during a run. I just. Don't. Want. To. Keep. Going.

But with labor, there was only one alternative: have the baby. What a glorious reward for my pain and struggle! And I know that I always feel great after a run. I feel strong. I feel like I can do anything.

Motherhood is a little different. Frequently I find myself struggling along, wondering how I'm supposed to do a good job at all the necessary tasks, and I feel like I'm drowning in a sea of laundry. I used to think all the laundry jokes were exaggerated. They are not. When things get hard, when I feel like throwing in the towel, it's hard to see the silver lining. When, oh when will this end? When will my four-year-old stop whining? When will my 2-year-old stop screaming? And when will my baby start sleeping through the night?

I've had a lot of days recently where I'm changing 4 diapers an hour, staying up all night with one child or another, and dealing with tantrums, meltdowns, kids not sharing, not to mention trying to keep up with housework (which is just not happening right now!)

This morning, after changing yet another diaper, when I found myself thinking "I don't want to do this anymore," the next thought I had was "but what would I do instead?"

And then I realized that I wouldn't trade all the hugs and kisses, all the smiles and giggles, or even all the mundane or frustrating tasks, for anything else in the world. After all, this is what God gave me time for.
My three sweet children:

Spring is coming!

DEAR March, come in!
How glad I am!
I looked for you before.
Put down your hat—
You must have walked—
How out of breath you are!
Dear March, how are you?
And the rest?
Did you leave Nature well?
Oh, March, come right upstairs with me,
I have so much to tell!

I got your letter, and the bird’s;
The maples never knew
That you were coming,—I declare,
How red their faces grew!
But, March, forgive me—
And all those hills
You left for me to hue;
There was no purple suitable,
You took it all with you.

Who knocks? That April!
Lock the door!
I will not be pursued!
He stayed away a year, to call
When I am occupied.
But trifles look so trivial
As soon as you have come,
That blame is just as dear as praise
And praise as mere as blame.

I LOVE Emily Dickinson's poetry! Today, when I remembered it was March 1, this was the first thing that came to my mind! I don't want to wish time away, but I am so glad spring is coming. Although, here in Utah, we've probably got at least a few snow storms left before summer. (We often have freak snow storms in April, May, or sometimes even June!! Gotta love this Rocky Mountain weather!) Here I am with my kiddos last spring!

Anyway, I first came accross this poem in the Emily Dickinson: Poetry for Young People. I bought the entire series of Poetry for Young People while I was teaching school, and I have never regretted it! Shakespeare, Frost, Poe, Whitman, and even Lewis Carrol. And each poem has definitions of some of the more difficult or archaic words. Let's face it, one of the reasons poetry can be difficult to comprehend is because we don't use many of the same words!

Thinking about poetry reminds me of an activity I did with my 5th graders to help improve their reading fluency and expression. One of their reading assignments during guided reading rotations was for them to pick a poem (from The Highwayman to Shel Silverstein. They could pick ANYTHING!) Every Friday, we held a "Poetry Off." Everyone performed by reading their poem (they were NOT allowed to memorize) and I graded them on fluency (how fast they read), annunciation, volume (being loud enough to be heard) and expression. My students LOVED this!

Poetry is a great genre to read to your kids from a young age! Start with Mother Goose. The Girl loves my Emily Dickinson poems, especially "I'm Nobody." I adore Scranimals and Zoo Doings by Jack Prelutsky (who, in my opinion, is a better kid poet than Silverstein.) "Don't ever make the sad mistake of stepping on a sleeping snake. Because, his jaws might be awake!" (from Zoo Doings)

So, this post about spring has turned into a post about poetry. Ah, spring is so poetic! I guess that is fitting!

My favorite Christmas Carol

I'm not sure why this song touches me so deeply. Perhaps, having given birth and looking into the eyes of my newborn, it is powerful to contemplate who's presence that little one came from, and what their earthly mission will be?

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has come to make you new?
This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will calm the storm with His hand?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little Baby you kissed the face of God?

Mary did you know.. Ooo Ooo Ooo

The blind will see.
The deaf will hear.
The dead will live again.
The lame will leap.
The dumb will speak
The praises of The Lamb.

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would one day rule the nations?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
The sleeping Child you're holding is the Great, I Am.

GratiTUDES-Day

I know I know, it's a cheesy title. But THIS article from the March Ensign had me wanting to do something to improve my attitude for gratitude. So, I invite you to join me in Gratitude today. You can leave the link to you blog post, I'd love to see what you are grateful for in your life. (Feel free to copy my outline, or come up with your own!)

1. Today I am thankful that I have two arms to carry my little ones.
2. This week I noticed the Lord's hand in my life when despite my fatigue, I was able to joyfully care for my children without being grumpy with them!
3. Three specific blessings I am grateful for are The Atonement of Jesus Christ, my children, and the Temple.

Leave your blog address as a comment and I'll be sure to check you out! :)