Every New Year it comes around like clockwork.
There is something about January 1st that makes me reflect on EVERYTHING in my life that needs improvement or that has needed improvement since I was in the 8th grade rather...
My body. My sleep. My spirit. My mind. My attitude. My words. It all needs work.
It's very overwhelming how inadequate the assessment can leave me feeling about the job I do. I could work until I am blue in the face and it seems that I am NEVER happy with how I do it.
But this year I was resolved to look at things differently.
Do I want to be skinny and fit? Yes I do. Very much. Do I want to get more sleep and wake up singing happy tunes and whistling while I work? You bet.
I want it all. I want happiness and health and wealth and the whole kit n' kaboodle. I could drown in it, I want it so bad.
But 2012 has me wanting one thing more than anything else. I want to be a patient mom.
I want to really dial it up in the motherly-patience skills department.
To do this, I realized I needed one very specific presence--GOD.
So this year I am going to make a concious effort to invite him into my life every single day.
And that is it.
Pray daily to ask for help. Read the Book of Mormon daily.
It seems like I should have already been doing this, I know. But I wasn't doing it at all.
And now I am excited at the prospect of having the additional comfort I believe it will provide me. I haven't read the Book of Mormon in over ten years and I really thought I didn't need to...I thought that it wasn't a necessary thing for me to do.
I am pretty certain I was wrong.
It is simple. It is satisfying. And I believe at next years assessment I will have some smiling to do.
Here are some recent favorite pictures of mine. Hope you like them too.
I have been waiting for the day when they could finally get in the tub together--makes life a little easier.
"Look Mom--S, like SENNAH JOY POWELL"--she loves to say her full name.
He loves his Clifford dog...especially when Sen is not tearing it out of his hands and saying its hers.
Playing with my camera in Dutch's room-I got this shot and loved the lighting....her chappy lips and too-long bangs make me smile.
Kris took this picture of Dutch and I love it. The remnants of yogurt still on his face and the longing little look in his eye....when he is 25 years old and I think of him as a baby...this is exactly how I will remember him, I think.
She's got loads of love....boat loads and loads of love for him. He just needs it in smaller doses most of the time.
Here's a good one...
This last one is a real favorite of mine. Sen loves to line everything up. From the food she eats to every last junk toy she has...they all end up in a line at some point.
For Christmas she got two more monkeys to complete her happy family. I will find them lined up like this ALL OVER THE HOUSE...in the funniest places.
And just in case you were wondering??? Spaceman is their Dad....and sometimes their Grand-Dad.
Always makes me laugh.
Love this quote too.
"If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered around the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will - to your surprise - miss them profoundly."
- President Thomas S. Monson
More kids please!! Have more kids please! Yours are sooooooo adorable!!
Posted by: Stephanie | January 05, 2012 at 04:33 PM
I have confidence in your ability to be a more patient mom in 2012. You've got the perfect recipe for making it work! You are super in so many ways, even if you can't see it.
Posted by: JaNae | January 07, 2012 at 10:28 PM
I have the same goal... BOM in 2012. I haven't started yet though, is that a bad sign? I think maybe so. Also, I LOVE your kids. I want to kiss Dutch's little cheeks and I feel like having a conversation with Sennah would be so much fun. I can just picture her as a great conversationalist, like her mamma. Any chance I'll see you in the year 2012? We're coming to Utah the beginning of June. PLEASE can we plan our trips around each other?
Posted by: Britt | January 08, 2012 at 10:02 PM
Right there with ya, I am a super impatient mom. I saw this on twitter and I burst into tears, aside from the BOM I also think praying a lot will help.
“God is eagerly waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as he always has. But he can't if you don't pray, and he can't if you don't dream. In short, he can't if you don't believe.” ― Jeffrey R. Holland
Posted by: summer | January 11, 2012 at 09:20 PM