Overview of One-Little-Word 2009

After reviewing my initial post on my 2009 word PRIORITIES, I chuckled.

I wrote:

"The inspiration for my one little word comes from the need in my life to end the survival mode I've been in from all the CHANGE last year and head into LIVE mode. I need to ORGANIZE all the nooks and crannies in my house. I need to do better at family chores and schedule."

I think I was hoping to settle into a nice cozy life where I could focus a little on my photocard business, clean out the closets, and spend time with the tots... well... i suppose Priorities change.

I ended up spending 2009 a little differently.

a few months of nausea...
a few months of tiredness from pregnancy...
a few months with a newborn...
a few months of fun summer play outside with kids...
a few months trying to work on a mealplan that worked...

My house still needs to be organized.
I still feel like I'm in survival mode (I may feel this way forever).
We had lots of change in this fam adding a new little one.
We did okay with family chores and schedule for a few weeks.

But I think overall we had fun. It wasn't the tidy-up year I hoped for, but we had oodles of fun family adventures.

The point of my choosing a single word to focus on wasn't to become perfect at it, I suppose. I tried to focus on what was important in my life ... and that's what counts (I hope!).

Perhaps Heavenly Father realigned my PRIORITIES for me...
and that is just fine....
for 2009 turned out great!

Doing More vs Doing Different

I'm all about trying to simplify, breathe and smile, take time to enjoy, etc. But then I think about my choices on a daily basis and wonder if I really live that way.

I've just been thinking about choices as a mom and sometimes wonder if I'm DOing MORE (not so good!) or just DOing different or smarter. If that makes any sense at all?!?

We basically are DOing all day long... something or other... and I just hope that what I DO fits into my PRIORITIES (the DOing Different part)

For example - '115 things to do this Summer' list... I seriously love it. It has helped me focus my DOing on things I otherwise may not have - and has made for some fun summer memories with the tots. I hope it's not DOing more.. but rather changing what I'm spending my time DOing.

Another example - TV. Bleh... For a week or so now I've been so bugged by tv and movies that my kids are watching. It's NOISE! and it's buggy. Plus, the kids had a few instances where they didn't quickly obey because they were entranced by their current movie (a.k.a... Mickey Mouse and the 3 Musketeers).

For a few days now I've been haunted, plagued, or more likely Prompted to turn off the boob-tube for a while. We need a break - I need a break. It helped that Max broke our downstairs DVD player (grrr!).

This quote by Julie Beck keeps ringing in my mind:

"Mothers who know do less. They permit less of what will not bear good fruit eternally. They allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from their home.

"Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world's goods in order to spend more time with their children—more time eating together, more time working together, more time reading together, more time talking, laughing, singing, and exemplifying.

"These mothers choose carefully and do not try to choose it all. Their goal is to prepare a rising generation of children who will take the gospel of Jesus Christ into the entire world. Their goal is to prepare future fathers and mothers who will be builders of the Lord's kingdom for the next 50 years. That is influence; that is power." Julie Beck, October 2007

That quote got me thinking about the DOing Different idea.. kindof like DOing less... not that you do less by letting your kids watch mountains of tv and ignoring them... but DOing different by creating more meaningful activities.

And I'll tell ya... it's hard for me. Today we had our first no-tv day. We had oodles of random whining this morning about who knows what. The kids seemed to fight all day (like about what color grass really is, who did what sign-language letter, etc). And Max - he wasn't sure what to do with himself without Wall*e. I don't know if our day was hard because of the no-tv or just the moods of the kids. Maybe they need to detox from electronic media.

So - even though it requires more energy and patience to spend more quality time with my tots, I've felt the need to make it happen this summer ... to work together, read together, talk more, sing more, etc. before my two oldest head off to a long day of school in the fall.

I always love this article about President Eyring's wife (under the Family First Heading) and how she broke the tv so her boys wouldn't waste nights watching it.

It reminds me that as a mother, if I feel strongly about something, I need to make it happen.

But I also go in phases. Some days I'm not as bugged by the kids watching a show or two. But doesn't summertime seem like the time to enjoy outdoors... at least when it's not 100 degrees outside? I'll save tv/movie viewing for long winter days when we're all at home with me recovering from having a baby.

Lots o' babbling goin' on 'round here... but just working through my thoughts on DOing Smarter and Different instead of just Doing more and more and more. Less wasted time - more quality time! Go!

Golden Light of Summer

I know it's not officially summertime, but with school out, temperatures rising, snowshacks opening, I feel like summer is upon us.

And hence a new 'Priorities' goal for me to:
SEE the light and goodness in life ...
FOCUS not on my burdens but on the good things ...
BE lifted up in the light of Christ ...
NOTICE the light shine in my kid's eyes ...
APPRECIATE the warmth and outdoors for we don't have it all year long.

A poem for the occasion:

The Golden Light of Summer

The golden light of summer dawns
And rising takes me by surprise
By dancing lightly on the lawns
To lift my heavy winter eyes
Which barely looked up through the spring
Time turns as each year lives and dies
But summer conquers everything
Now as this golden light I see
Looks very much like hope to me

May golden light of summer bring
Us home to simpler kinder ways
And may we lose our suffering
Within those brighter better days
Which summer was and is always

Remember who you are and were
As you unfold as you will be
Remember him remember her
All of those friends and family
On whom this golden light now dawns
Shining within the memory
And dancing lightly on the lawns
Who rising take us by surprise
To lift our heavy winter eyes

~Steven Curtis Lance

And one of my favorite sunflower quotes by Patricia Pinegar:

Priorities - April

Review & Summary - March: I was sticking to the basics dealing with meal plans, chore charts, basic survival at home.

Meal plan is going well. I'm on week 5 and I'm actually amazed how well it's going - for me the lady who despises a schedule.

Chore Chart - eh, well... Abe does really well with it, Hannah is old enough to work the system a little. I'm not as big a stickler as I ought to be. I'm gearing up the energy for that. But we'll keep forging ahead on the basics.

April's Priority - ENJOY...
enjoy my family,
enjoy the simple things,
enjoy the good things that surround me,
enjoy General Conference,
enjoy the gospel and scriptures,
enjoy some good books,
enjoy some uplifting tunes,
enjoy this stage of life.

You'd think it'd be easy to do all that - for we all want to ENJOY don't we. But sometimes I forget...

Like the other night I looked in the mirror and I not only had a crease in between my eyes - I had a deep RED intense crease!

Time to raise those eyebrows in delight.
Time to smile.
Time to laugh more.
Time to destress.
Time to relax (if that's possible as a mum).
Time to enjoy those who surround me.
Time to Enjoy life.

One book I'm going to read this month is Celebration: Ten Principles of more Joyous Living by Jaroldeen Edwards. Her theme for the book is this:

"Celebration is the conscious decision to live our lives with joy. In the midst of turmoil, pain, and adversity, in bad times and good, joy is the great companion our Heavenly Father intended us to have. To feel joy requires a decision on our part - it is a chosen approach to life, a chosen attitude, a chosen awareness."

So here's to my goal to Enjoy life more!!

p.s.  I wrote this post last night after the kids went to bed.  And our night's sleep wasn't extremely successful.  I was feeling lousy.  Max woke up once.  Hannah had a fever and threw up and was crying for half the night.  And I thought about my goal to ENJOY.  Life wasn't meant to be completely pleasant so I'll try to ENJOY what I can along the way.  Perhaps tonight I'll enjoy a good night's sleep.

As I was writing this p.s., the construction guys cut the live power line to our house.  Luckily they were not shocked, but it left us without power.  I realized my life revolves around electricity... laundry, making jello for sickie hannah, warming soup for lunch, making phone calls, etc.  Wow - I'm starting out my ENJOY goal with an odd and crazy day.

Stickin' to the Basics

This month my Priorities focus is just working on the Basics of LIFE.

I realize we HAVE to do these things every day, but I want to realistically improve even in small ways to do the basics. Things like meals, cleaning, organizing, scripture reading, etc.

I'm not talkin' a complete overhaul here as that wouldn't be possible in one month... just realistic daily improvements that are possible with 3 tots.

I'm feeling the hint of spring. I keep hearing birds, and it gives me hope that warmth is coming soon. And it makes me want to clean out the corners and make my LIFE and home fresh and tidy.

This week I'm working on a 6-week meal plan. I'm horrible at planning meals ahead of time. I love when I do plan it all and shop for everything, but that's rare - very rare indeed!

But I see how my life would be more organized and less hectic come 4 o'clock, if I did this better.  I had a friend in Florida who made dinner in the morning while her kids were at school and before she got too tired and busy with family stuff. Great idea! ... only my kids aren't in school in the morn. Plan B.

A few weeks ago I was talking to my friend Kristin who showed me her system for meal planning and it got me all excited. Then I got sickie and forgot about it. Oops! But then I remembered. Oh joy!

So I made my own template for this one she found on BetterBudgeting. My version is super simple but I think I like the landscape layout and the grocery list.


Here is the link to the pdf of my 6-week version if anyone is interested in taking this new journey with me.

Today I interviewed everyone in the fam over the age of 2. I asked Abe and Hannah their top 5 favorite meals.

Abe's were the funniest with Quesadillas, Peanut Butter Sandwich, Chicken Nuggets, Noodles, and Fajitas.

Hannah's were Tacos, Chicken Fajitas, Homemade Macaroni and Cheese, Chicken Noodle Soup, and Pizza.

I tried to plan some favorites of everyone's in each week. And all the other basic meals (like SPAGHETTI) we'll substitute if the day isn't going as planned and we need a super quickie meal. It was easier to come up with all the meals than I thought. We didn't even have much repeating.

So, I'm curious to see how this goes. I need to do some tweeking on my grocery lists, but it's mostly done.

And I'll tell ya - it was grueling for me. I'm not a huge fan of food or deciding on meals so it took me a while to put it all together. But now it's done and I don't have to figure it out every week. Yay!

So here's to Stickin' to the Basics and Refreshening my LIFE and home.

President Monson's quote up there on the header is my inspiration.

“We are responsible for the homes we build. There will be calm and wind, sunlight and shadows, joy and sorrow. But if we really try, our home can be a bit of heaven here on earth.” President Thomas S. Monson

By doing the basics well, I think it will help our home be a bit more like heaven. We can always HOPE!

Stitched Felt can be cute - who knew?!

I had seen Stephanie's cute stitched felt words but just knew if I attempted to cut-out letters on my own, it wouldn't be as cute. Give me a font, and I'm fine ... but free-hand? Not my thing.

But the very night she posted her Letter Pattern Download, I decided I could give it a go. I happened to have some stamped/embossed swirled felt for another project, so after the tots were in bed, and in between folding batches of laundry and Enchanted, I cut and stitched away.

This was the result. I love the swirly felt.

I had emailed Stephanie from Homegrown Hospitality to merely thank her for sharing her talents, inspiration, and the cute letter download.  I feel a little silly, but today she spotlighted my design on her {Make-it-Mondays Blog Spot}. She got a little confused on all my details (like having it for years)... but anyhoo... I love all the inspiration she shares.

So, now I just need to figure out how to display my one little word for 2009. I thought it would be cute to stitch 'family' and 'home' which are my PRIORITIES right now and then put them all in a frame. I guess we'll see what happens with that. But it sure was a fun quickie project.

Home Depot has a rebate sale on paint this weekend so we're doing some painting projects to celebrate Martin Luther King Day. Today I'm painting our dining room wall a darker shade of blue/teal/whatever it is. Oh - it's Behr's 'Hallowed Hush'. And then I'm painting one wall in my room Bavarian Chocolate. Hurray for home and COLOR!

It's not always easy

I'm having a hard time with my 'PRIORITIES' goal today.

1 - The weather and roads kept me from running all my errands this morn so I felt stuck at home. It's one thing if I just choose to stay home, but when I feel stuck because I don't want to brave the roads with 3 tots, it's another thing.  It makes me feel bleh!

2 - I have a splendid idea for a new simple business and I just want to get that rollin', rollin', rollin'.  It's fun but we'll see if it ever happens. I'm running out of hours in the day.

3 - I came across {this fabulous website} when doing research for my new business that brightened my wintery day. Is this not the cheeriest of fabric?

4 - These {darling boxes} on {Sandi Henderson's blog} are distracting me too. Seriously!!!  The gal is from South East Idaho and so she's already dear to my heart - plus she's a creative genius with her fun designs.

5 - Plus, see her {darling patterns}.

6 - SimplyFreshDesigns.com is gearing up for an overhaul ... the website design ... and the photo card designs. I'm most excited about the new mini valentine's kids cards coming up soon.

BUT - my first priority has to be the tots.

The smallest fry has been whining all day (he's finally asleep - phew!). He's a complete tornado and needs constant supervision.  But then I rocked him and sang to him while he sucked on his blankie and I remembered why I'm home and why he needs me.

The other tater tot couldn't contain himself any longer when he was listening to the Wall*e soundtrack. Why do they always wait until the very last second to relieve themselves? Or beyond the very last second?  But after a good cleansing bath, I now hear him having a total blast in his room in quiet time and I'm grateful for his enthusiasm for life.  Just send me more patience please!

The girly tot spent all morn tidying her room. I went in to help her and it was beyond my patience level so she had to make it semi presentable before I would even enter to assist.  But then I remember last night and how she was the perfect and joyful helper when I really needed it and I know I really need her in my life.

So, living in our PRIORITIES and maintaining FOCUS isn't always easy, is it?  Not for me anyways.

Today I came across these photos from last winter

And I was reminded once again why I'm needed at HOME with the tots.  Some days I'd like a wee short break to gallivant around town gathering goods for my new fun home business adventure, but that will have to wait until another day ... month ... season of life ... year.

Home ... love ... family ... tots ... singing ... hugs ... laughter ... that is my needful priority right now.  Whew - I'm geared up to deal with it this afternoon and evening.  Hopefully...

One Little Word - 2009

"A single word can be a powerful thing.

It can be the ripple in the pond that changes everything.

It can be sharp and biting or rich and soft and slow."

Ali Edwards

"Can you identify a single word that sums up what you want for yourself in 2009?

"It can be something tangible or intangible. It could be a thought or a feeling or an emotion. It can be singular or plural. The key is to find something that has personal meaning for you. This is not your mother's word or your spouse's word or your child's word - this is YOUR word.

"One little word can have big meaning in your life if you allow yourself to be open to the possibilities. And here's one thing that is totally interesting: sometimes a word will pop into your brain and it will not make any sense to you right now. Give it some time. Let it percolate a bit. I have often found that our hearts speak to us in very unique ways. Maybe this is a word you need to hear but just aren't ready for it yet. Again, be open to the possibilities." Ali Edwards

for 2009 my one little word (that encompasses alot) is PRIORITIES:


The inspiration for my one little word comes from the need in my life to end the survival mode I've been in from all the CHANGE last year and head into LIVE mode. I need to ORGANIZE all the nooks and crannies in my house.  I need to do better at family chores and schedule.

I sense CHANGE coming for our generation and our society (and not in a good way like Obama promises) and I want to be prepared - Spiritually, Temporally, Mentally, and Physically. Being prepared requires setting and following priorities ... which is not always easy for me since I like to do the easier and more fun option ... like playing.

The scripture I chose to focus on for 2009 to support all of this:


Here are a few great talks I found to inspire me in 2009.

One-liners from {Focus & Priorities} by Dallin H. Oaks:

"Our priorities determine what we seek in life."

"Our priorities are most visible in how we use our time."

"Priorities should govern us in the precious time we give to our family relationships."

"In all such choices we need to have inspired priorities and apply them in ways that will bring eternal blessings to us and to our family members."

"Growth happens best in a “house of order." {Mothers who know} by Julie Beck

"We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen our families."  {Good, Better, Best} by Dallin H. Oaks

Wanna jump onboard with the One Little Word for 2009 idea?

Here's a list of {2008 inspiring words} AND {2009 Inspiring words}

to get those ideas flowing.