This blog post is for me...and the rest of you are welcome to come along for the ride.

I have been thinking a lot about traditions. Today is December 2. One week and one day after the first major holiday since Dad died. Every tradition he shared with our family has taken a whole new meaning for me. I think I am clinging to traditions more than I ever did before.

What makes a happy family? It is one little memory stacked on top of another. Every memory has a feeling attached to it. Each of these feelings and memories tie me to the family that shared those experiences with me.

My memory isn't perfect. I can't remember every holiday or every gift. I can't remember the conversations we had around the Thanksgiving table. But when I share the traditions from growing up with my family I get little glimmers of memories that I forgot. Every little tradition reminds me of the happiest holiday memories. All those little memories, remind me how blessed I am. Every little tradition ties my families together.

With each of the traditions that I share with my children, I find myself sharing those sweet memories with them.

It has been six months since Dad's death. Every tradition brings me a little closer to healing. I put my snow flakes up a little early this year, I wanted to remember.

Ever wonder what stay at home moms do with their time?

My friends often have similar traits. They always love children. They are almost always crafty, which I am not. And strangely enough their favorite color is usually pink. I know, strange, I don't even like pink.

I guess there is some logic. If you don't like children you will enter my house, do a 180 and escape. I want to do that some days and I love children! Whenever there is a craft project that needs done I always call someone creative because I lack the imagination to succeed on my own. As for the pink, I can't even make any excuses for them. It is just the way they are.

Over the years, I can't even count how many times Sylvia has come to save the day. She has cut my children's names into snowflakes with exacto knives. She has made some crazy cub grub art, including reindeer cookies and a cake train, both were eaten in thirty seconds or less. She painted a scarecrow on cardboard so that children could throw wet sponges at it. She has made costumes, clay Zelda figurines, mended leather footballs, and made stockings. My children have spent many hours painting, beading, creating at her kitchen table.

My sister Paula is the manager at the Olympia Olive Garden. Last week, Paula was here and we had a wonderful idea. What if I carved an Olive Garden pumpkin? I say that like I thought I could pull it off on my own. I called Sylvia. The top two pictures are her amazing pumpkin and the last is mine.



Ever wonder what stay at home moms do all day? We have a really wonderful time!

Spiders and happy memories of my dad!

I can't have Halloween without spiders or Christmas without snowflakes.

For as long as I can remember there were some things that told me the holiday season was coming. Kids head off to school. We start waking up when it is still dark outside and someone would throw dad some pipe cleaners and he would make a mound of spiders. And when the spiders got put away it was time to start making snowflakes!!!!

The best memories of my dad?
Making snowflakes and spiders definitely make the top of the list! In case anyone was wondering, snowflakes without 6 points are an abomination. (See I was paying attention!)

I love my Tally!

Tally makes me happy! I love that every day is the best day ever. I love that she likes to draw and write poetry. She sings with sheer joy for the whole world to hear. I love that whenever there is a camera, it is fun to pose. I love that she likes anything that sparkles.

Tally and I are polar opposites! But not really. We are both messy. We both get lost in the day. We also love to read.

Reading makes my heart happy. I love books. If I find a book laying around the house that is calling my name it is very dangerous. If I happen to pick it up, and it grabs me from the beginning, my day is lost. Laundry, dishes, eating, and sleeping (along with all my other responsibilities) are promptly forgotten and I live in the beauty in the book I am reading for the rest of the day. Tally is the same. I might pull her body away from the book but her mind is still there. There is no need to ask Tally why she was reading her novel in Science class, I already know. I love Tally and sometimes I see too much of me in her and sometimes I could learn a lot from her.

There really is a point that I plan to make. I read an article that reminded me of Tally yesterday and I just can't help thinking about it today.

Tally is the Disney grasshopper. Don't get me wrong. I am not saying that we are all ants or grasshoppers. Thankfully most of us live somewhere in the middle. I spend most of my life trying to become an ant. I would love to be prepared for everything, have dinner ready every night a 5:15, and always go to bed each night with everything done. I know some ants and I honestly try to acquire as many of their traits as possible. But I am also more Aesop Fable grasshopper than I would like to admit. But what about the Disney Grasshopper? What about all those wonderful Tally traits? Oh how I love those Tally traits, and no they aren't any less important than the traits of the ant. I would love to learn to be artistic, spontaneous, fun, silly, and creative. It seems like all children were born with some wonderful grasshopper traits. Somewhere along the way I got the idea that the ant traits were the important ones. How grateful for my Tally and my friends that haven't forgotten how to be grasshoppers.

I love the part when the ant asks the grasshopper how does she you get all of her ideas? and the grasshopper answers that they just come to her while she is taking long hot baths. That is Tally! It isn't that she doesn't work, it is just that she works differently that the rest of us.

I guess some days I just need a reminder! And some days I need to remember developing Tally/ grasshopper traits is important too!

Maybe we should write a parenting book...

but I am sure that no one would agree or read it!

I remember when Damon and I started dating. I am pretty sure that we knew within a week we would end up married. Not to sound unromantic, it wasn't fireworks or love at first sight. It was because he was a little odd, so was I, and we made sense to each other. We talked about everything. So for the last 21 years Damon and I have been talking about what kind of parents we would like to be. I would love to say that we have it figured out and that it is a fine art now so any of you who would like to follow our blogs and become perfect parents just like us, here you go!

It just doesn't work that way.

There seem to be a lot of parenting ideas and methods that are constantly circulating. I remember when a good friend of mine took me to the Washington Center and we watched a parenting class by Barbra Coloroso. She gave some wonderful advice, which I will try to remember accurately. She said that whenever we listened to parenting advice or marriage advice we should pull out what we thought fit and throw out the rest. To me that meant don't take anyone's advice as truth, think about it, and pray about it. Take what you need, and know is true, and throw out the rest.

I listen to a lot of parenting theories. I take a piece and leave the rest.

Here is what I believe-

Smile, praise, love often. Send them to kindergarten knowing they are the most brilliant, most beautiful, most talented in the world. Teach them that they are children of God and they have infinite potential. Then they go into the world that will constantly tell them that they are not the most beautiful, the most talented, or the most brilliant, remind them they are a child of God and they have infinite potential.

You can discipline in a loving patient way that will not "break" your children.

Teach respect and responsibility. Yes I think, those go hand in hand. You love those you serve. Working is crucial to the development of our children. It teaches them to serve their families. Respect comes from that love. I teach my daughters they are mothers in training. From the time they are born I teach them to serve their family selflessly, love them unconditionally, without expectation of reward.

I teach my children to be obedient. I know that there is some controversy about that. I think there is so much happiness that comes from living within the boundaries of the law and living the laws of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Besides if you can do those things, I am pretty sure that you will get along with your parents flawlessly.

Everything you do has consequences. Making good choices brings positive consequences. Making poor choices makes negative consequences. Teaching children about consequences of age appropriate choices teaches self discipline and responsibility. It also gives a child self esteem to know they can make age appropriate choices well. I feel sadness that so many people have to learn these things as adults, young adults, teenagers, eight year olds, it is so much easier at 2.

It is okay to tell your children "It is not okay to talk to me that way." "It is not okay to treat me that way" I remember once I had said something comparable to a child in front of an adult, she told me that my two year old had no idea what I was talking about. I was surprised. I wondered how my child would break the habit of speaking or acting unkindly if I let the habit develop. Four children later, I can proudly say, they do get it! Of course I have the most brilliant children in the world (see parenting tip number 1).

If all of these things are taught in a loving, forgiving, kind atmosphere, if no matter what parenting style we choose, it will turn out okay. (Thankfully children have an infinite capacity to forgive and I am learning.)

I reserve the right to edit this list anytime I realize that I am wrong. Especially since this last parenting tip is not fully tested.


By the way, when I have this parenting thing perfect, I will let you know. Then you can follow my blog!