Trust Me, I Know!

Christmas Eve is a special night. A time for gathering with family and friends to focus on what really matters. A time to sit back, eat some great food, with great people and think about the Savior, Jesus Christ and the real reason for the season. It seems that this time of reflection on the important things, this time to be officially done stressing, causes a stillness in our house that prepares the way for the magic of Christmas to really begin. It is like the balance of Spirit and Santa come together to make Christmas the magical holiday that it was intended to be. I really like Christmas Eve. This year, after dinner was cleaned up and friends went home, new PJs opened and put on, the time had come to remember that tonight a very special someone would be on his way. It was decided that Santa would need some nourishment. I was down the hall in Piper’s room when I heard this conversation taking place in the kitchen. It made me giggle.

Crayton: I am leaving Santa a plate of cookies and candy.

Piper: I think that Santa needs something a little bit more nutritious, Crayton. He needs healthy food. I don’t want him to be unhealthy. He is already a little bit chubby and maybe he needs to eat something healthier.

Crayton: What, Piper, you think we should put Santa on a diet?

Ryan, while sweeping (I have to add that because it’s sexy when he sweeps): NO!! Santa doesn’t need to go on a diet. Leave him cookies and chocolates. Santa doesn’t appreciate being put on a diet. Trust me, I know! He’s a little bit overweight. Big deal. No diet!
(maybe this one hits a little close to home, you think?)

Crayton: I bet after going to every house and eating all those cookies he has really high cholesterol.

Piper: Yah and I just don’t think that we should give him all of this junk.

Ryan: He’ll be fine. Trust me, I know. Santa isn’t affected by these things. That is part of what makes him Santa. Just leave him chocolate.

By now, Crayton’s plate of delights was carefully assembled. He was pretty impressed with the selection he was offering his round, jolly friend. It consisted of Snicker’s, 3 musketeers, and of course, cookies.

Piper had assembled her own ensemble. Hers consisted of a piece of whole grain bread and a Clementine. Carefully placed by a festive red vase filled with fresh cut lantana. A staple around here for spontaneous beauty. See here.

Crayton was feeling a little bit concerned with his goody plate and decided it appropriate to add a note. I don’t know if it was a note intended purely for education, information, or warning but it read ‘High Cholesterol’. At least now, when Santa finds out that he has a little problem with cholesterol, it won’t be on Crayton’s head that he wasn’t appropriately warned. Piper would also be free from guilt because, after all, she saw to it that Mr. Claus was offered a healthier choice. Win, win.



For the record, Santa came and he partook a little from both offerings. Note: if you leave Santa whole grain bread, cut off the crust. Apparently he doesn’t like it and he will make a crumby mess on the counter.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!!!

They Say It Takes 21 Days...

~"Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of.” Anonymous~

I don’t make my bed. At least, that’s how it used to be. I considered it unnecessary. I haven’t always felt this way. As a child I delighted in a made bed. It calmed me and made me feel really happy. As a teenager, it still made me feel really good but it didn’t happen too often (my parents will vouch for that). As an adult I have been less than diligent about making my bed. In the beginning of our marriage, Ryan informed me that it was a waste of time. We would get out of it only to go to work, school, etc and come home just in time to get back in it. Why make it? I fought it for awhile but soon joined with him in his juvenile philosophy. It became my own and I embraced it wholeheartedly. Shortly after the birth of our first child I became a stay-at-home mom. ‘I am home all day so I should make the bed’ I thought, so I did. But then I kept on hearing ‘you must sleep when the baby sleeps’ so of course I embraced that WHOLEHEARTEDLY and my stint of making the bed was quickly over. By the time baby #2 came to be (15 short months later) I would climb out of bed after being up all night long with her and longingly look at my bed and decidedly not make it in hopes that I could at some point in the day climb back in it and sleep. Perhaps if she would have slept at all during the first 2 years of her life, that philosophy would have been a good one. So now, almost 10 years of marriage have passed and I officially have been in the habit of NOT making my bed. Well about 3 weeks ago in church, that all changed. We were given a lesson on habits. (Thank you, Ali!) During the lesson I kept on having the impression that I should start making my bed. Dumb, huh? I thought about this some and realized (for the 5 millionth time) that I am an all-or-nothing person. To a fault. If I can’t clean my house perfectly, I won’t clean it at all until I can do it EXACTLY how I want it done. If I can’t devote a minimum of 30 minutes to scripture study, I won’t study at all. If I can’t exercise perfectly- you got it, no exercise. The list could go on. Well ever since three Sundays ago, I have heeded that prompting to make my bed and for the past 3 weeks I have been being quietly taught some lessons that I would not have otherwise learned, had it stayed unmade.

1st- Line upon line, precept upon precept. That is how we grow. “The Lord’s pattern for spiritual development is “line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little” (David A. Bednar).
2nd- My bedroom and my bathroom stay cleaner when my bed is made.
3rd- I am not a hypocrite. When I ask my kids if their beds are made, I can feel like a decent human being because I am having the same expectation of myself. Hypocrisy is bad.
4th- When my bed is made, I am in a better mood and more patient with my kids. Who would have thought that something so simple could clear a little space in my head to be more aware of my tone, words and actions?
5th- HUMILITY. How humbling for me that this is where my starting point for progression is. Making my bed. Not charity, not more quality time with my kids, not volunteering 10 hours a week at an orphanage. No it’s here, “Make your bed, Natalie. Sweet child, we’ve got to start somewhere!”

Like I said, it’s been three weeks and I have had a great experience. They say that it takes 21 days to form a habit but just to be on the safe side I am giving myself 28 until I consider my habit formed. I am excited to add to this habit at the end of this week with yet another habit. We’ll see what I am prompted to add to my repertoire of habits. Maybe it will be to shower before 3:00 pm…ooohhh, this could be life changing. Seriously though, I have felt so strongly that I can become a better person just by doing some simple things. I have also been prompted many times to share this exercise on my blog. This isn’t something I would normally share. So, take it for what it is worth to you. When I have tried to ‘plan’ what my next habit prompting will be I am gently reminded that I just need to make my bed for now. We’ll add to it when I have that one down. What a gently, joyful way to learn. Stay tuned for the end of this week for good habit #2…As Charles Dickens said, I really am being refined one subject at a time.

Life With A Germaphobe

I started writing this post (and actually finished) quite some time ago and it was deleted (accidentally) by a little boy. I won’t name names but he lives in this house, he sprung from my womb approximately 7 years ago, he has big beautiful greenish eyes, he is olive complected, and has 1 BIG adult tooth. Any guesses?

So…here goes attempt number 2. My 2nd child, Piper VonRyan, has some issues that we think will land her a career as a Dr. or a Nurse, or they may land her on the other side of the hospital in the asylum, as a patient. The issues stem from a keen comprehension of pathogens (GERMS). What they are, from whence they came and where they end up. Yikes. Let’s just say that cleanliness is something she is very passionate about. With that said, I would like to share some recent experiences that exhibit this, ahem, “passion”.

Case study…I mean Experience) #1

A couple of weeks ago we got off to a bit of a late start. I woke up late and Piper was still in bed, fast asleep. Crayton and I went in to wake her up. She popped open her big baby blues, sat up with her blonde locks pointing every which way but down, and immediately started chatting with Crayton and I about her dreams from the night before (guessing from her hairdo, they were CRaZy), her experiences from the day before, you know, playground drama, and her hopes for the day to come. All the while, she is hurriedly dressing for school. Suddenly, she stopped chatting. At this point her shirt was almost on all the way, but not quite. With one arm above her head, her head almost through the neck hole and one arm wrestling with her shirt, she shouted “CRayTOn-a!!! GET OFF OF MY BED!!!” Crayton, wide eyed, looked at me and then said to Piper, “I am not even on your bed, Piper. I am just leaning on it. That is way different than sitting.” To which Piper replied, while pulling on a sock, “That is disgusting Crayton. You have germs!” Crayton retorted, “Um…Piper, I went to bed last night right after I showered, I slept in my clean bed, under my clean sheets, with my clean body.” Piper’s reply was the kicker for me. “Crayton. Get. Off. Of. My. Bed. Uggh. Disgusting!!!” Briskly walking out of her room, hair every which way, she made her final statement while shaking her head. “Gosh, Crayton, who knows where you’ve been!” I guess that Piper figures he sleeps on the street amongst the homeless at night, under a trash can, all the while snuggling with the roaches. Who knew?

Case Study…Experience #2

This study provides clarification for the previous study. So a very similar thing happened just this week only I didn’t wake up a little bit late. I woke up a lot late. In fact when Ryan and Crayton went in to wake up sleeping beauty (Piper, not me), I was still sleeping and Ryan got to experience a very similar scenario. Right down to Crayton leaning on the bed. Only this time the conversation went like this:
Piper- “Crayton. Get. Off. Of. My. Bed. Uggh. Disgusting!!!”
Crayton- “um…Piper, I went to bed last night right after I showered, I slept in my clean bed, under my clean sheets, with my clean body.”

Piper- “Crayton-a, your body still produces oils while you sleep. Gross.”

Crayton- Eye roll. “You have oils too, Piper.”

My question…What 6 year old is overly concerned with the production of oils in one’s skin?

Case Study…Experience #3

Last week the kids came home from school and we did the usual emptying of the backpack routine. I was going through Piper’s folder and lo and behold I pull out a paper that has been ever present lately. It is the “your child has been exposed to _____________ (fill in the blank with something dreadful)” paper. My personal favorite, conjunctivitis. That one makes my stomach flip flop and my anxiety level raise slightly. EEEEWWWWW!!!!! However, on this particular day I believe the ____________was streptococcus. Another favorite. When Piper saw that paper come out of the folder she got incredibly agitated. Did “Jazz Hands” and began a dissertation on three basic things everyone should know. With cold and flu season beginning, I feel it appropriate to share these ever important three things. (told Piper style)

“AHHHH!!! (jazz hands near ears) Again. Another illness. Great. Just great. I wish these kids would realize three things.” (hands go to hips. One hand goes up and index finger is raised to signify we are beginning.)

“First, these kids need to quit getting sick!” (second finger goes up and on we go). “Second, these kids need to pay attention to who and what they are touching. I mean, really, there are germs everywhere!” (third finger up for the grand finale) “Third, these kids need to STAY HOME FROM SCHOOL IF THEY THINK THAT THEY ARE SICK OR IF THEY THINK THAT THEY ARE EVEN GETTING SICK!!!!” I give her an AMEN for that one and tell her to calm down. She is scaring her sister. She shakes out her hands and does a shiver to signify disgust. “Gross, I am getting in the shower. A long, hot one. Germs hate hot water.” Stomping off to the shower, another shiver and mutters the whole way "I am not going to school anymore. Disgusting. It's too gross. I can't even believe these people....."

I know, you are thinking that we should be worried, right? Not yet. I’ll give her until she can no longer, with good conscious, play in the balls at IKEA. Until then, I think she's funny.

BAbY cRuE-WoO hoO!!!

*Photo taken by the one and only Brandi Erickson

I love this picture of my littlest Monkey! He is such a little ray of sunshine. I figured that it couldn't hurt to pass on a little bit of joy on this BeAuTIfuLlY ClOudY FRIDAY!!!! I am off to clean my humble abode whilst listening to a bounty of Christmas tunes. Fa la la la la la la la la.

Catherine and Isaiah- Respectively

I hate to write solely about one child over and over, however, my Piper is just funny right now. And Crayton’s reactions to her are priceless. I have had a couple of moments these past couple of days that are worth writing down…

1st- To begin, let me first explain. My female posterity has passed down a gene that landed on the dominant side of my DNA strand. It is the bargain hunting gene. I thrill at a good bargain. Nothing delights me more. I think it is the difference between happiness and joy. So last year we went to Utah and visited a store. I can’t remember the name. (Brandi, help a sista out) They had BRAND NEW Pottery Barn lunch boxes for a mere $5.00! In perfect condition. The only draw back was the names custom embroidered on them for some children that, for whatever reason, did not have the fine opportunity of receiving these first-rate boxes for food of the lunchy kind. So Ryan and I discussed (because it is always fun to discuss when one is about embark on a real bargain) and decided that the names could be removed with the aid of a seam ripper, and we would indeed purchase the lunch boxes. Well we get home start using the lunch boxes and I never removed the names on them. “Catherine” and “Isiah”, respectively. My kids have never mentioned it and don’t seem to care that the names on the pails are not their own. However, day before yesterday, Piper sees me loading her ever sturdy lunch box and the following conversation ensues:

Piper: “Mom, could you please put my lunch in another lunch box?”

Mom: “Why, what is wrong with this one?”

Piper: “Oh, nothing is wrong with it, it is just that a girl in my class has the exact same one and the lunch aids keep getting them confused. Except that hers says Kinsy and that is REALLY HER NAME!!!" (her eyes widened during that statement). She giggled at the irony of such an occurrence. "Isn’t that funny? Her mom found a backpack with her own name on it too.”

She shook her head in dismay that 2 such ironies could possibly take place in the life of one lucky girl. A girl named Kinsy.

Mom: “Catherine…er…Piper, lets just use this one. It seems to be holding up just fine.”

Oh to live with a bargain hunter.