Organize Yourselves...

As the new year approached I contemplated what resolutions I would make for 2010, but the thought "Organize yourselves. Prepare every needful thing," continued to pop into my mind. I don't know how many times I would say that in my head during that week between Christmas and New Year's, but it was A LOT! Well, I concluded that everything I would attempt to change or make better for this year would follow this scripture found in Doctrine and Covenants 109: 8. "Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God." I have some personal things that I will be working on, but I've decided that this is my theme for the year and the theme for our family. For our first family home evening lesson I had us start to memorize the scripture, and we will continue to recite it during each home evening. I have felt really good about getting different aspects of our home in order. I plan to cover each of the different parts of this scripture in different lessons throughout the year, but I really am trying to keep this thought in my mind as I make choices throughout each day. It is helping more than I can adequately express! Seriously! With every fiber of my being (is that a strong enough phrase?) I believe that when we put the important things first, everything else works out. I fall in and out of making and sticking to schedules and planning menus for the week, but I see that using a little time to plan ahead for even these little things opens up so much time and gives me so much more energy it's hard to believe I would ever NOT do them! I hope I still remember this and feel as strongly a few months down the road! So here's to spending more time doing important things, more time reading important things, more time writing down and helping my children write down important things, more time organizing and preparing, and establishing the kind of house our Heavenly Father wants us to have!

That being said (and thank you for letting me just express myself for a minute there!), it's time this little house of ours got into shape! No more pink bathroom in the basement!!! Hallelujah! We gutted it over the holidays and we're starting from scratch! With Jeff's busy schedule as a medical assistant at the U and doing construction on the side, this may take a while, but it will be so worth it! Just ask my parents who have endured this horrible bathroom many a times staying with us! I'll do some before and after once it gets finished! Oh yeah, AND, no more mismatched carpet in every room of the basement! Yay for wealthy clients who didn't want their brand new carpet and let Jeff take it for our own home! Having fresh paint on the walls and new carpet down has inspired me to ACTUALLY hang pictures and such on the walls of the basement rooms! Sad I know! Chad and Kyle have lived down there for two years without ANYTHING being up on their walls! But, things are becoming a little more orderly, so we're happy!

No more BAGS and BAGS of children's clothing shoved into our guest room closet either! Thanks to a "mother's club" I belong to, these clothes are now in other's homes, at the Deseret Industries, ready to be given to a friend that works at a teen mom's clinic, and a few choice things stored in just a few tupperwares! In our club we choose a project that we just need a little help with and our friends come make it happen! No stressing about how our house looks when they come or how horrible the project is. We just help each other finish things that are taking us too long! It's fantastic! Everyone should have a club like this! They also helped me get water into the water jugs that I bought in the Fall for our food storage! Empty containers weren't going to do us any good! Thank you Camilla, Christina, and Kristen! I'm inspired by each of you!

During the Christmas break I contemplated quitting the preschool I was doing with Kyle and Austin. I was stressing way too much about it. I didn't like the way the lessons were going and I didn't know how to fix it. Well, I didn't quit...I prayed! Preschool has been a lot better since we've started up again! I've taken a new direction with it, using literature to guide our lessons, and I love it! I think Kyle and Austin can tell a difference, too. Well at least they haven't been arguing or asking me when preschool is going to be over! Don't they look happy making their little mittens?


As two side notes (and mostly because I don't know how to blog without sharing a TON of pictures), my sister Kristina brought four of her cute kids up for a visit on New Year's day! Nothing better than playing with family! It was a great start to our year!

And my other side note, I was outdone by Jeff and the boys and the snowman they built a couple weeks ago! The one I made earlier in the season with Kyle was like two feet tall! Well, you can see who the better builder in the family is! I love when Jeff has time to play with the kids! They were all so happy sledding, building the snowman, building snow forts, and then having a huge snowball fight! My boys and my parents who are far, far away will love to see these pictures posted on here, so thanks for putting up with my randomness!