A Whole Lot of Random Pictures

I found a whole lot of pictures that I have wanted to post on my blog. They're not in order by date -- there's just a whole lot of random pictures.


Yup. That is Luke. Sitting in the mud in the garden drinking from the sprinkler.
Yup, that's him doing it again . . . the very next day.

I found this poor man tied up on the chair like this one day after the kids went to bed. If I remember right, he was Captain Hook from "Peter Pan".

I giggle everytime I see this picture. This was taken at a homeschool meeting. The kids were pouring rose petals on him and he made this face just as his picture was being taken each time. What a funny kid!

Jim and Violatte were bored one morning. . .so they decided to take pictures.

Hee hee. I love these two!!

This is Luke helping to water the chickens. He loves to help and he loves the chickens!!


Luke and his daddy.

Annalee and I had fun playing with my camera one day.

Annalee with Charlotte the chicken. This sweet chicken was given to us by some of our friends. She is soft like a kitten and actually likes to cuddle.

She even likes to cuddle up to your neck if you put her on your shoulder.

Jim really loves this motorcycle that we got recently. Luke loves it too! (Don't worry. I don't let Jim ride it with Luke on it.)

. . .and this is why I dread doing the girls' hair in the morning.

This is Luke and I. He loves to sit with me when I play the piano. He's such a sweet little guy.

Halloween 2010 . . . finally

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. We had a ward trunk-or-treat as usual. It was freezing!!! But, we still had a good time. Violatte was a witch (the cutest one ever, I might add!), Annalee was a sweet little princess, Luke was tigger, and Jim was a cowboy. (I love how he looks in his hat!!!!!) I did dress up as a pirate as well.

Unfortuantely, we were having too much fun and I forgot to take pictures for most of the time, but here are the few I did take.

It was getting dark by the time I took this picture, but here is my fun family!



A candy in each hand! What could be better?



Luke had the time of his life! (Notice the chocolate in his teeth?)

Thankful for the Hard Things

English author, Aldous Huxley wrote, “Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.” I've seen that to be very true. I am truly glad we have this time of year to remind us to be thankful.

Having gratitude isn't always easy, though. It can be sometimes hard to find things to be thankful for when we are facing difficulties. Thomas S. Monson said, “When we encounter challenges and problems in our lives, it is often difficult for us to focus on our blessings. However, if we reach deep enough and look hard enough, we will be able to feel and recognize just how much we have been given.” I decided to give it a try, and throughout my day I looked for things to be thankful for – especially at the moments when I wasn't feeling thankful. This is the list I came up with.

I am thankful for socks on the floor. It means my children have clothes.

I am thankful for dirty dishes in the sink. It means my family has food to eat.

I am grateful for sticky floors and walls with fingerprints on them. It means my family has somewhere to live.

I am thankful that I had to replace lightbulbs today. It means my family has electricity.

I am thankful that I have to clean dust off of all the furniture. It means we have couches, tables, and chairs.

I am thankful that I could carry around my son when he was crying. It meant that I had the strength to take care of him.

I am grateful that money has been tight. It has made us realize the importance of paying off debts and of saving.

I am grateful for dirty footprints on the carpet because it means my children were able to play in the beautiful weather without fear of violence, riots, or warfare.

I am thankful for a ring around the tub because it means that my children were able to take a nice warm bath after playing outside.

I am grateful for junk mail. It is great fire-starting material for the fireplace.

I am grateful to work. It helps us balance our budget.

I am grateful for the toys that I stepped on in the middle of the night because it means my children have things to play with.

I am thankful that I had to vacuum piles of sand out of my van. It means we were able to go somewhere fun and spend some time together as a family.

I'm grateful when it is hot because then I have an excuse to go swimming.

I'm grateful when it is cold because then I have an excuse to drink hot chocolate.

I am thankful for the piles of laundry that are ready to fold. It means that we have a washing machine to wash our clothes.

I am grateful that I have to mow the lawn because it means we have a lawn for our kids to play on.

I am grateful I have to pay bills. It means we have hot water, a heater, and indoor plumbing.

I am thankful that I am so exhausted each night. It means that I worked hard, and was able to have the health and energy to care for my family.

Last, but not least, I am grateful to live in a land that provides me with the freedom to write my thoughts and the feelings of my heart and to be able to share them with others.

Mom, The Referee

I'm not a mom – I'm a referee. I decided this today after breaking up the fourth or fifth fight between my daughters. It wasn't about anything big – just which doll had the wrong shoes on. Some of the earlier fights included the disagreement over who had the stick first, and the very common argument over who gets the yellow bowl at breakfast.

It is exhausting to stop the fighting all day long. I have tried letting them work out their problems for themselves, but it hasn't gone well so far. This morning I tried to let them discuss a better way to share a toy, but it ended up with two little girls screaming, and then a very long time out. The crazy thing is that ten minutes later they were laying with both of their heads on the same pillow talking and laughing together.

I do know that this is normal for siblings, but does it have to be normal for my kids? Can't they just be miracle children who never fight? I really would love that. In fact, I told them that's all I wanted for Christmas. They just stared at me. So, I'm guessing that would be a no.

Since I need to remember the good in each day, I decided to find the positive side of sibling disagreements. I am the newest “Pollyanna” of our house, because, believe it or not, I found a happy thing. Each fight or disagreement between the kids offers me an opportunity to teach them how to better manage frustrations. It also provides me a lot of time to talk with them about compromising. (Did I mention that it's a lot of time?)

I have decided that refereeing has got to be the hardest job. There's a lot of stress to always make the right call. The thing that makes it worse for moms is that we aren't always there to witness the play. When both sides claim to be right, it's hard to know what call is really fair. I've also learned that I have to stand up for the decision that is made when I know it is right. On the other hand, I have to learn to say “I'm sorry” when I'm wrong. It's a hard job!

Referees for sporting events don't always get paid very well, but I would definitely take their pay over my . . . no pay. From my experience, I think anybody who does that kind of job should get paid well – very well, in fact.

My favorite parts of it all are the time outs. . . for me. I love those. Sometimes I'm selfish and walk out to the mailbox all by myself! I'm also known to take time outs in the bathroom. I've decided that these are important to a referee's sanity. (At least for referees of three-year-olds.)

However, since I can't turn in a two-weeks' notice, and since I can't ask for a pay increase, would it be too much to ask for a pan of brownies? Come to think of it, I'd even just settle for a chocolate kiss . . . from a one-year-old.

Wall Climbing

Last week Jim took me rock climbing/wall climbing for a date. I've always wanted to go and never had a chance. One of the times we went for an Elders' Quorum activity I was in labor so I just had to watch.

So, Jim took me to a place here on the base. We had a great time!

Jim climbing. He made it look so easy!



Me climbing. It was a lot more work than I thought! My arms hurt for days!



I made it to the top each time! Amazing.



Jim at the top

So you know . . .

Annalee (very seriously) had this conversation with me:

A: Mom, if you smell fish . . .
Me: Uh huh
A: . . . and you see grey . . .
Me: ok
A: . . .and you hear a growl . . .
Me: A growl?
A: Yah! And if you see teeth all over . . .
Me: Yes?
A: Then you're in a shark!

Hmm, good to know.

Crowing

I don't like to write about my accomplishments, but this one means so much to me.

As many of you know, I have been writing for our local newspaper (The Daily Independent) for the past year. I have struggled to feel like I'm good enough or that people like my articles. Lately I have had more and more comments on my articles and more people reading them.

And then today this Letter to the Editor came out. I wish I know who the woman was so I can thank her. It means so much to me!

I tried to scan it in, but it wouldn't work, so I have just copied and pasted what she wrote below.

Letter to the editor: Thanks for excellent writing Celese
By Suzanne Seibel

Celese Sanders’ article in the “Columnist’s Corner” on Aug. 21 was thoroughly delightful! What a talented writer!
The article was entitled, “When life gives you trouble, just laugh.” Her premise is that laughing is a lot more fun than crying and hat finding humor in the stressful situations that we face everyday can make us a healthier, happier person.
She awakened the memories of mothers and grandmothers to the experiences we also had with our young children. I especially enjoyed the line where she declared that her children were “three steps past board and a mile past restless.” Also, that “a moment of silence is the first indication of trouble.” I too found that to be the case when my son was two years old, but I didn’t have the good sense to look at those incidents with a humorous outlook.
Celese’s next article was on Sept. 2 and was titles “Id flying worth the hassle of the airport?” Again she writes with the wonderful ability to catch your attention from the first line and holds your attention until the last line.
Her sentence structure is excellent and her articles are grammatically correct. She expresses what we all encounter at some time in our lives with such humor and common sense that we find ourselves laughing out loud.
In this particular article about flying and airports I really enjoyed the line describing he landing when a little elderly lady asks the pilot, “...if they had just landed or had they been shot down.”
I just recently discovered Celese’s articles and I am so sorry that I missed those in the past but I will be looking forward to those in the future.

Suzanne Seibel
Ridgecrest

http://www.ridgecrestca.com/opinions/letters_to_the_editor/x1305345396/Letter-to-the-editor-Thanks-for-excellent-writing-Celese