Stop and smell the orchids...

We had an awesome stay at my sister’s house in Madison last night. She always makes us feel at home and makes the transition from traveling to home easy. E even said from the driveway: “I love playing at Andi’s house”. I have always loved playing there!

We stopped at the Olbrich Botanical Gardens on our way out of Madison. They have a real cool railroad Christmas display and their indoor  garden is amazing. 

Sometimes you just need to stop and smell the orchids. 

Magic Ring

It may not seem that significant, it being silicone and not gold and diamonds, but this ring has magical powers. 

Maybe it isn’t even the ring so much as it is the faith of the boy who asked to wear it today. Sometimes he is afraid to go to a class all by himself, well maybe not all by himself, but to him it may feel that way. 

I don’t know where my inspiration to tell him the story came from. Well, at least to some it may seem crazy when I say that the inspiration came from a loving Heavenly Father who both knows me and knows Little Ellis. This diety knows both of us individually and wholly. He knows that sometimes I don’t have all the answers to calm His and my son and He knows  exactly what can and will calm His son, so he bridges that gap through still , calm inspiration. 

The story I came up with that day was inspired by Him. I told Little Ellis, while he was upset about going to his children’s class at our church, that I had a special ring that had special super powers. I said that this ring can make you do hard things. I told him I knew that if he wore it, he could be calm and that he would even have fun while doing that hard thing. 

We sat, on cold concrete steps just feet from his classroom and he thought about it for a few minutes finally asking: “can I wear it now, mommy?”

I put it on two of his tiny fingers and took him by the hand leading him back up the stairs and through the door. He let go and said in a loud voice, “I can do it, I can do hard things!” And he did and he did it again today. 

Sure it isn’t anything special and it could even be considered cheap, but that ring has some super magical powers. That ring reminds both Ellis and I that we have divine power to overcome anything that stands in our paths. We can do hard things because we have the help of a Heavenly Father who loves us enough to make the little, insignificant things important and even powerful!

What inspiration have you had lately?

Not a wrapper...

I didn’t get the gene that makes you a good present wrapper like my sister, Andi, did. Nope, not at all.
But it doesn’t seem to really matter.
Santa had Twinkie deliver some presents to E and Z a little early. Santa’s a cool dude and realizes some presents just won’t fit in luggage in the return flight back to Utah from Wisconsin so he made an exception for us and our presents. I’m sure he will still be a sucker and find some small things to deliver Christmas Day, and that’s okay.
Are you a good wrapper? What’s the secret?

It Is What It Is...

This has been the theme of the past few weeks. Things have almost gone wrong daily. From electricians being weirdos, to carpet almost not being able to be put in, to having a new landlord for a few weeks that seems to be pretty hardcore, to title companies that have poor customer service, to not having access to our new house until after our trip to Wisconsin, we have had our share of challenges.
The thing is though, that if you don’t have control of things, it is just better to be like Elsa and “Let it Go!”

It really is what it is.

Countdown Chains

I have always made little chains to count down school days until Christmas Break. This year(and the past few) I have been too tired to actually care and to be honest, time is actually flying by. There are only four days of school left.  

Having something to countdown to actually seems to make the time go faster and the wait less painful though. I am very excited for my trip to Wisconsin, even if it comes during a very busy time as we prepare to move. There are only seven wake ups until that day!!!

My sister’s family always counts time in wake-ups. I didn’t quite understand that concept until I had kids of my own. See, little kids have no concept of time. They are very good at living in the now! But they can get the concept of wake ups because they can measure time by how many sleeps are in between this day and that day. We are very excited for our adventures to Wisconsin around here. 

What are some things you are looking forward to right now, besides the holiday of course? 

I am also looking forward to moving into our new house, which will then become our home! Inbeteeen then and now , I am looking forward to the end of my day long training today(trainings aren’t my fav), signing day, the end of being just a tenant in the home we have owned for five years(it’s just weird), hugging my mom, my cousin’s Christmas get together, the Ficklin family Christmas party, my school’s Christmas party at Brick Oven, the White Elephant extravaganzas at both parties, and rest, I always could use a bit of that. 

But who’s counting?