I love looking at the pictures of my kids, and reminiscing about days gone by.
I am a bit of a perfectionist though. You wouldn't know it by looking at my house or my life, but if I can't do something as well as I would like to do it, then I give up.
With my blog I get frustrated that my pictures aren't as good as so and so's, or that I don't write as clever and witty as someone else, or even as well as I would like. I also, get frustrated that I don't have enough time to devote to it as I would like. I set standards for myself that I can't keep.
Then I get frustrated and give up on it for a time. I go completely cold turkey. I think that is part of my perfectionism. I'm either all in, or all out. I can't find a balance.
So then I hate my blog.
Until...
I begin to miss it. Then, I look back through it, and I remember that it isn't about being perfect or as good as so and so, it's about telling my story, our story.
My blog is my journal and it's about recording our memories and having a story of our family.
My kids are growing up way too fast. .
I always think I will remember the cute things they said and did, and the funny faces they made and the little things that are part of our lives for a time, but I don't.
Not unless I write it down.
Sunday afternoon treat, compliments of Tabetha
When I am blogging, I make a conscious effort to take note, write down and document those little things that I would not normally take the time to record.
And, life is just a little sweeter when I am looking for and taking time to recognize those special little moments that are part of our family's story.
Small fire that occurred while making above treat
So, all this to say I want to start blogging again. I know I do this all the time, start, stop, and start and stop again. I won't promise it won't happen again. It might, but at least I will have recorded a few more memories in the process.
Today: *I wore my new royal blue shirt for the first time, and I love it. *God answered my prayers about finding KateLynn's Sunday shoes. Am I the only one that prays we can find Sunday shoes, because I do it a lot? After a fiasco with KateLynn not being dressed on time, she was sitting on the couch when she was supposed to be getting dressed and I didn't know until it was time to leave, she couldn't find her shoes. I looked in the two places we keep her shoes, her closet, and the shoe box by the front door. They weren't in either place. I ran back to her room to search there again, but to no avail. I whispered a quick prayer in my mind as I was searching, but I still couldn't find them. I decided to kneel and pray. No sooner had I stood up when Tabetha hollered that she had found the shoes. Yes, prayer answered! *I was shocked when I went out to the car to go to church, and it was warm outside, like 40 degrees warm. That's an 80 degree difference from what it was a week ago. It felt wonderful. *I had two heads fighting over my lap all through sacrament meeting. (Hannah's, and KateLynn's) It's nice to know that you are loved sooooo much that 2 people will fight over who get's to put their head on your lap. *I bore my testimony about prayer, partly because of said earlier experience. *I visited Hannah's class for a while, because she was having a bit of a hard time letting me go. Then she later visited me in Relief Society. *I thoroughly enjoyed Relief Society. 1st, because I wasn't teaching, and 2nd because the lesson was on President Uchtdorf's talk entitled "Forget Me Not". You can read it here. It's wonderful. There are so many good things in that talk that I need to remember and to work on. *I gave Shawn a neck rub when I got home from church, hoping it would make his headache better. *We had the privilege of feeding the missionaries, and then hearing a message from them. *We watched the church's Christmas devotional online. All the way through, I kept thinking, "I have heard this all before," and sure enough, I had heard it before. We clicked on the wrong link and watched last years devotional again. Oh well. We can watch the new one for FHE soon. *I read scriptures and had family prayer with my family. Sunday is Shawn's day to pray, and I always enjoy hearing him pray. *when I tucked KateLynn in bed she asked me to tell her stories about when I was little. I did, and then I told her the story from the Bible of Jesus and the little children. *I took pictures of myself for this post. I took some pretty funny ones that made me laugh, but this is the only one you get to see. *I listened to the wind hooowwwwllll outside the window, and I worried about what we had outside that could blow away. Boy, am I glad I have a nice warm house. *I got Mya some M and Ms, because she caught saw me eating some. When I handed them to her she said, "Thanks mom, you best hero in world." Oh, It's easy to be a hero when you're a mom. *I'm typing from Mya's bed, and hoping she'll go to sleep soon so I can get to bed. I am however, really enjoying having her cuddled up next to me, and listening to her chatter on and on about different things. *I'm still thinking about my favorite quote from today's Relief Society lesson:
" The happiest people I know are not those who find their golden ticket; they are those who, while in pursuit of worthy goals, discover and treasure the beauty and sweetness of the everyday moments. They are the ones who, thread by daily thread, weave a tapestry of gratitude and wonder throughout their lives. These are they who are truly happy." --Pres. Uchtdorf, Forget Me Not, Ensign, November 2011.
Don't forget to post your own moments of joy on your blog tomorrow,
and then link them up here to share them with others.
To read more about what my 1000 moments of joy isclick here.
Once upon a time in Holland, actually it was in the 1930's, in Holland, there lived an old, clock repair man and his two grown daughters. He was a very kind and gentle man who saw the good in everyone, and because of this, the old man was loved and respected by all who knew him. One day a young German lad came into the shop seeking to be the old clock repair man's apprentice. The old man had several employees, including an older, Jewish gentleman, named Christoffel, but the young German was given the job, and was treated like part of the family, as were all of the other employees.
Everyone was invited to join the family for prayer and bible study each morning and evening. After learning that they were reading the Old Testament, Otto, the young German refused to join the others for bible study saying that the Old Testament was the Jews' "Book of Lies."
The old clock repairman was sad, and told his daughter Corrie, that Otto had been taught wrong and that, "By watching us, seeing that we love this Book and are truthful people, he will realize his error."
Otto was proud to be German, in fact, he proudly proclaimed that he was a member of Hitler's Youth Group. Otto, didn't seem to be adjusting to the new country well. In fact, Corrie wondered why he was even in Holland. He wasn't learning the language and he was constantly criticizing the Dutch people and all of their products.
Corrie, who also worked in the shop with her father, Otto, and Christoffel, started feeling something was wrong with the way Otto was treating Christoffel. He was very brusque with the older gentleman, but it wasn't what he did exactly, that made her uneasy, but what he didn't do. "No standing back to let the older man go first, not helping on with a coat, no picking up a dropped tool." It was hard to pin down exactly what it was about Otto. At first she thought it was just simple thoughtlessness.
It wasn't until the day that Christoffel came into the office with a bloody cheek and a torn coat, that they all learned what had really been happening between Otto and Christoffel. Corrie went down to the street to retrieve the old man's hat, and there, she found Otto surrounded by a group of people, who had seen Otto push Christoffel into an alleyway, and grind his face into a brick building. She also learned, that for quite some time, Otto had been making the old man's walk to and from work a time of terror. All of which, Christoffel had been too proud to talk about.
Otto was fired from the clock shop. He was the first employee in over 60 years to be let go.
"Father tried to reason with Otto as he let him go, to show him why such behavior was wrong. Otto did not answer. In silence he collected the few tools he had brought with him and in silence left the shop. It was only at the door that he turned to look at us, a look of the most utter contempt I had ever seen."--Corrie Ten Boom The Hiding Place
Now, I'm going to clam chowder it. (Clam chowder is when you completely change subjects for no apparent reason. Don't ask me why it's called "clam chowder, it just is. I don't make the rules.)
On Memorial Day, it is a tradition that the President of the United States spends the day at Arlington National Cemetery to honor of those that have given their lives for the freedom of our country. It is customary for the President to give a speech, place a wreath at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and to have breakfast with the families of fallen soldiers. According to an article in the Washington Post, this year, President Obama will be breaking with this time honored tradition. Instead, he is "finally addressing one of the great broken promises of his administration: his early pledge to return home to Chicago every six weeks or so."
During his 16 months in office this will only be his second time returning to Chicago, the last time being February of 2009. He and his family will be arrive in Chicago on Thursday and will return on Monday. (Apparently not in time to participate in any of the traditional Presidential activities that honor the men and women that he, as The Commander and Chief, has asked to give their lives for our country.)
"Where will they dine? What will they do for fun? With the Sox on the road and the Blackhawks skating into the Stanley Cup finals, might the first family ditch its predictable pastimes -- basketball, golf and tennis -- and go to the United Center for hockey?"
Hmmm, it's leaving me guessing too, not about what he is doing in Chicago, but what he isn't doing in Washington.
I have been wanting to make the little girls some dolls for a while now and when I saw these cute dolls Dahlia made I decided to get off my duff and make some. I used part of the pattern from here and I used the instructions from another pattern here.
Meet Gracie Poo, Selina, and Tabetha.
This is Hannah's doll Selina. She changes her name every other day. Hannah insisted her doll have blue button eyes. I tried to talk her out of it, but she was insistant. Now, she doesn't like them. She says her doll has "evil eyes", and she wishes she had chosen black eyes, "like Katie's doll."
Katie named her doll Tabetha. Real Tabetha felt very honored to have a doll named after her and so she named her doll Tatie Tot, is honor of Katie. (Maybe Tabetha will post pictures of her dolls on her blog. Her's turned out very cute.)
We named Mya's doll Gracie Poo. One night we were having dinner and we were having Katie say every one's names. It is so cute to hear her say her name is KateYin Yizbiff Yowry. Anyway, She was going around the table saying everyone's names including last name and, then we asked her to say May's name. She said her name is Mya Gracie Poo. It was so cute.
I think this doll looks like Cindy Lou Who from the Grinch. Maybe it should be called Gracie Poo Who.
I had so much fun making these, and I have been making other things too. I will post more soon.
Because we have a door knob on the back door that you can open from the inside while it is still locked, my kids lock themselves out of the house about 19,818,391,983,413,489 times a day. So, this morning when I heard the typical knock, knock, knock again at the back door indicating that once again someone was stuck outside, I thought to myself, "that must be Logan again, and I am going to scare his pants off this time when I open the door." As I grabbed the door knob and quickly swung the door open, I let out my best, and biggest mother grizzly bear groawl. RRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrr!!!!!! AAaaahhh!!! OOHHHhh!! Imagine my surprise when standing there in front of me, was an older woman completely unknown to me! She was clutching her chest, while retreating backward and letting out a sort of scared whimper. What! No one ever comes to the back door! As you can imagine, I was extremely embarrassed. I apologized profusely and then she invited me to Easter Sunday services at her church. I didn't have the heart to tell her we wouldn't be there, I wasn't sure her nerves could handle it. So, I just thanked her kindly for the invitation.
Perhaps under less scary circumstances, I would have explained to her that this Easter, we will be home enjoying General Conference as a family. It is an opportunity for us to hear a prophet of the Lord give us counsel, direction, and encouragement to do, and be better. He reminds us of our Savior Jesus Christ's love for us, and our purpose here on Earth. We enjoy four, two hour sessions starting Saturday morning. That's 8 hours of uplifting encouragement and love, and not only from the prophet, but from his apostles and other leaders of our church as well. We have General Conference every 6 months, and I look forward to it every time. How wonderful that this year it falls on Easter!
Now, in tribute to the brave woman who came to my door, pretend that I'm knocking on your door and inviting you to attend Easter Sunday, and Saturday, conference with us from the comfort of your own home, or even mine if you prefer. If you come to my house, I promise not to growl at you if you come to the front door.
To listen to General Conference go toLDS.org and listen live. Sessions are Saturday @10 and 2, and Sunday @10 and 2 MST.
Last month when Shawn and I were in Anchorage picking up the kids from the airport, we stopped into a book store and we saw this picture. We both fell in love with it and we purchased a print of it right away.
It's titled One Nation Under God and was painted by artist Jon McNaughton.
Our print came with a paper that names each person on the painting, but I wanted to see if I could find out more about the painting. When we got home I looked up the artist on the net, and I found his websitehere. On his site he tells about each person and why he included them in the painting. It is very neat. He also has another painting that I like called Peace is Coming. You can see ithere.
I can't wait to get mine framed and hung in my living room. I will post a picture of it when I do.
Today, I got up at 5:30 and went to the gym. Now that my back is feeling better, my goal is to go at least 3 times a week. One day down, two more to go.
After I got home I watched as the new health care bill was signed into law. I remember mumbling under my breath something about a pack of lies as I listened to the speeches proclaiming what the new bill was supposed to do for us.
After school, the boys played outside while Tabetha did her latch hook, and the little girls rode bikes around and around the kitchen table.
Next, I had a nap with Mya and then I spent the afternoon reading and dreaming of warm weather, warm tropical weather.
Later, I talked to BFF Amy on the phone. It seemed like ages since we talked last. I'm sure it had been at least a week. (sigh) I really miss that girl.
On my way home from dropping the kids off at Scouts and Young Women's activities, I listened to a talk entitled Be of Good Cheer by Thomas S. Monson, president of the LDS church, and I was reminded of all the wonderful things God has blessed me with. He gave the talk at the April 2009 conference, and every time I hear the story he tells it makes me cry, and I mean really cry. So, have a tissue ready if you listen to it. (Listen here, he is the last speaker in the Sunday morning session, orread it here.) Who could help but feel greatful for all they have after listening to that.
I've started on a journey. A journey to get an education, or to become educated. It's exciting, intimidating, and a little scary. I've always loved to learn, it's just part of me, but now I've taken it to a whole new level. I'm reading, listening, discussing and writing(a bit). I feel like there are a million things to know and I want to know it all right now. But, I just need to be patient and enjoy the journey.
I know I have a mission in this life and I know I need an education to fulfill that mission. I don't know what my whole mission in life is, but I do know that the most important part of it is to be a good wife and mother. I want for my children what I think most people want. I want them to love God and their fellow man. I want them to fulfill their dreams and live happy successful lives. I want them to stand for truth and right, and to be leaders and statesman. I also know I need to be what I expect them to be. I am the example that they look to the most. As Emerson said, "What you are shouts so loudly in my ears I cannot hear what you say." On my education journey I have been increasingly aware of how important having an education is to our freedom, our way of life, and the things I want for my children.
"Raising children and mentoring the next generation is the most important thing we can do to change the world. It is the primary role of all women and all men, married or single. It is who we are. It is why we were born. We must train up the leaders of the future with confidence, power and grace." -Rachel DeMille, Steel to Gold
Thomas Jefferson said, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." An education is important to freedom, because we must know what brings freedom. We need an education to see the cycles in history, and how to avoid making the mistakes that have been made in the past, and an education lets us see the real issues and then come up with real solutions. Until recently I had been intimidated by politics and current events. It was very overwhelming to me. I didn't understand the issues that were being talked about on t.v. I would listen to one person and think they had a great solution and then listen to the opposition and think that their solution was just as good. At election time I didn't understand the issues that were being voted upon or what the candidates stood for. I think I was like a lot of Americans. It all seemed so complicated I just wanted to bury my head in the sand and let everyone else worry about it. But a strange thing started to happen, as I began reading and studying the classics I began to have a desire to learn more about our government, our founding fathers, our nations history and about what freedom really is and the principles our nation was founded on.
"...[some] assume that we can leave all intellectual activity, and all political responsibility, to somebody else and live our lives as vegetable beneficiaries of the moral and intellectual virtue of other men. the trouble with this assumption is that, whereas it was once possible, and even compulsory, for the bulk of mankind, such indulgence now, on the part of anybody, endangers the whole community. It is now necessary for everybody to try to live, as Ortega says, 'at the height of his times.' The democratic enterprise is in perile if any one of us says, 'I do not have to try to think for myself, or make the most of myself, or become a citizen of the world republic of learning.' The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment." --Robert Hutchins Introduction to Great Books of the Western World
Now that I'm on the road to getting an education and understanding what freedom is I know how important it is, not only for me and my children but for my grandchildren and their children. I know I have a long way to go, but I feel like I am on my way. I am by no means an expert, but I am understanding more, and as I read more I am better able to form my own opinions about issues in the news. I am better able to vote for a candidate based on what they stand for and not just what party they belong to. Right now, in our country, a lot of people are upset and angry about what is occurring in our government, but as Stephen Palmer said in an article titled Education Must Precede Activism, " It's not enough to just be mad--we must also be wise." Wisdom comes from education.
I'm so excited! I'm starting school tomorrow. Amazing BFF Amy and her amazing sister Tami have started an online school called Orchard House Academy. (click here to see what I'm studying) I was wanting to take an online class from George Wythe Universitythis fall, but was worried about the work load. So, when Amy told me about Orchard House Academy I jumped at the chance. It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm ready. I'll keep you posted.
On a side note, in keeping with my first day of school tradition, I grew a giant zit on my chin. (was that too much information) Thank heaven for online classes.
Need a few good reasons to continue with your own education click HERE and HERE!
And Oh, how I have missed you all! I know you have all been dying to know what the Lowry's have been up to since my last post ions ago. Well, you don't have to wait much longer, prepare yourself for days, upon days, upon days of back posts. Well there may be 3 or 4, unless I can condense it to 2 or 3. "What is she going to share with us", is what you are wondering. Here are a few hints about what will be covered soon, very soon, people: Award winning cars made out of wood (huh?) You'll see. fireworks in May (really? Why?) You'll see, be patient! a black eye, (What the?) I know, sounds bad, looks worse. we may even cover new teeth, a trap, and a new kite. We'll see. Exciting, right? Is there anything else that you would like me to blog about that I didn't mention. Maybe I could come up with a post about the 902823498570298435029847098572057 mosquito's that live in my house. I know you all can't wait. I can just see you glued to your computers for the next 3-4 but maybe 2-3 days just pushing the refresh button over and over, just hoping that this time something new will pop up on my blog. Well, get ready people the fun is just beginning around here!
P.S. To see my guest appearance on BFF Amy's blog click here, and to see a picture that I took of her oh, so cute, I want to steal her, but I won't cuz she's waited so long for her, baby,click here.
I've come up with a new idea for a weight loss center. For incentive to work out and eat less, every week, women (this won't work with men) come into the office and instead of weighing in, all they do is try on bathing suits in front of a 3 way mirror. Once they feel comfortable enough to actually wear a bathing suit out of the dressing room, they have graduated from the program. I'm actually starting my own little version of this from here on out. On a side note we went out of town for the weekend and I left my bathing suit home. We also left Hannah's, Katies's and Mya's clothes all packed up and sitting in a bag by the door. GGGGrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
AAAAAAAAAAggggggghhhhhhh! I hate computer problems, but we are finally up and running now. I haven't been able to get on the internet with my laptop for a while, that was okay, annoying, but still okay, because I could still get online with my desktop. Well, Sunday when I went to upload some pictures to my photography blog my desktop wouldn't let me log on to any of my blogs, something about the cookies, that also meant that I couldn't leave anyone any comments on their blog. How annoying. So I had Shawn drop the laptop off to get fixed on Monday and I just got it back last night. I have enjoyed every one's new posts, I just couldn't tell you so. So here goes, Ohhhhhh, that was cute, hahahaha so funny, I know how you feel, very cute and mmmmmmmmm. I think that should cover everyone. And as you can see my blog is still under construction. The change is what brought on the cookie thing with the desktop and since I couldn't log on, I couldn't fix anything.
I read a newspaper article the other day that said we are getting a Target here. Yahwho! They are supposed to start building this spring and open in October, but wait. They are postponing it because of the economy. What? Nooooooooooooo! This can't be happening. For a brief second I pictured myself strolling down the isles with my red cart checking out all of the great prices on the cute clothes, cute shoes, cute furniture, cute decorations. Cute, cute, cute. (On a side note, Logan asked me today why girls always say everything is cute and then he said why did I have to have so many girls, and I said "I couldn't choose what I got," and then he said "you should have 5 more boys" and I said, "no".) But apparently my dream is not to be just now.
But wait, there is hope on the horizon, Barack was just sworn in as President and he is going to fix everything. Yes! He will fix this! Barack will make my dream of a Target here a reality! I won't have to wait long I just know it.
Tonight, when I walked into the kitchen, I came to the realization that even though we have lived in this house for almost 3 years now, I am the only one that knows where the trash can is located.
These flowers are for you. I'm sorry you're sick. If I was there I would make you some chicken noodle soup and bring it to you on a tray with some gingerale or 7up like you used to do for me. And If I was there, I would bring you a hot water bottle for your feet when you are cold and a cold wash cloth for your head when you are hot. I hope you get feeling better soon. It's no fun being sick. I love you.
Dear Dad,
I was sorry to hear about your accident this morning. I'm so glad you weren't hurt. You can drive this while your car is in the shop. I hope you like red. I also hope you don't get what mom has. It sounds miserable. I miss you.
She's really gone this time, for good, I think. I said she could go on the condition she found a replacement for herself, but she didn't so I guess I am left to find a new BFF on my own. Here goes:
Wanted: New BFF. Must be willing to workout 3-5 days a week at 6:00 a.m., walking in summer and working out at your house in the winter. Must have enough workout equipment for the both of us to use at the same time. Must have house clean each morning when I arrive(it is okay to fold clothes while we talk after we work out) and a fire blazing in the wood burning stove so that your house is nice and toasty warm when I arrive. Must be willing to get out of bed and get dressed and wait for me to come workout even when I don't feel like working out. You must not get mad that I usually won't call you and say I'm not coming because I am cozy in bed and too tired to call. While working out you must discuss homeschooling, religion, children, husbands, housework, cooking, dieting, literature, world news and problems, crafts, the weather and anything else I want to talk about. You must give me encouragement and make me feel like I am not a failure as a mother, but that I am actually doing okay. On mornings when I am just to wimpy to workout, you must say that is okay and then just sit and chat with me. Sometimes your husband will be required to offer me some of his breakfast, i.e. scrambled eggs, toast and juice or offer to make me breakfast.
You must be willing to get super involved with Leadership Education. You will be required to host seminars in Anchorage that will require you to put in endless hours on the phone, and computer. You will even have to make up the pay difference if you don't have enough people sign up for the seminar. You will be required to host many, many, book clubs at your house. This requires reading each book, coming up with discussion questions, having a clean house, and providing delightful refreshments all this while being extremely cheerful and fun to be with. You must be willing to build a tjed community by talking to all your friends and neighbors about tjed and get them and all of your family members to start using tjed in their homes. Because you are super excited about tjed you will host a math club for your child and 3 of your child's friends 3 days a week. You must make math seem fun and exciting and like everyone can not only do math but also enjoy doing math.
You must have boys around my son's ages, at least one needs to be obsessed with Star Wars so that they can play light sabers and star wars stuff together. At least one of your children will need to participate in the same sport as my daughter so that we can car pool. I am getting so sick of driving both ways.
Your husband needs to be super handy at doing household projects. He will be required to come to my house to do various projects and to teach my husband how to do all of the projects that I want done, specifically how to tear out walls and how to put in new french doors.
You must have relatively the same taste in movies and books as me, and let me borrow your books and keep them for extremely long periods of time (that reminds me, Amy I still have your How to Read a Book pamphlet) . You must be willing to receive phone calls from me at all hours of the day and possibly night, whenever I just want to chat. Be warned that if you don't answer your phone I may leave weird messages on your answering machine. You must hug and kiss my baby and tell me how cute my other girls are. You must be ready to babysit at a moments notice, and babysit at my house even though you have allergies and the house is filling up with smoke and you can't breath. You must host Halloween parties and park outings, make cookies and mini cupcakes, share a blog with me, look cute all of the time, be friendly to everyone, teach my daughter to make necklaces like you make, and never complain about my messy house. Above all you will need to be a good example to me in all that you say and do just like my last BFF.
Please reply to this message soon. I am missing my BFF already.
Here's to you Amy. I think you are irreplaceable. Thanks for being my BFF.
