Product

My children are the "product" of me and Kent.  (Duh-what else would you expect?) But this truth was re-affirmed to me by two observations over the Thanksgiving Holiday.

 1- I was continually tripping over children (young and old) doing homework and various laptops and textbooks.  (I wish I would have taken a pic of the living room floor scattered with laptops, calculators, and the following text books: Physics, Differential Equations, Dynamics and Statics, Pre-calculus, and Algebra.  But...alas I didn't- you'll just have to take my word for it.)  Yes, these home-work doing offspring are definitely MY children. See this post.  (Homework was not a top priority for Kent until after we got married :) 

2-Additionally, my children went shooting after Thanksgiving dinner as is the tradition with the Barlow family. (My family sings songs after Thanksgiving dinner-guess which after-dinner activity my children prefer?)  Offspring that find pleasure and enjoyment in firing weapons did NOT inherit this trait from me.  (I am a "closet gun-control advocate"  Shhhh...don't tell my in-laws.  Guns scare me.  And I always hold my breath until they all come home alive after a "shooting" outing.)*  So ya, this boy (Trent) who seems to find great joy in firing a semi-automatic weapon is definitely KENT'S offspring.  (Where did he learn to fire a weapon like that?!  Maybe I need to limit his week-end Black-Op games with his friends.)

 

 

 

* I think I may have inherited my "worry" gene from Aunt Elaine, but I can take comfort in the fact that both of her sons were/are "gun fans," and neither were harmed by this hobby.   (Of course, my gun/shooting phobia was not helped when Dallin and Kent were gone deer hunting (ie: gun-carrying/shooting) and a police officer showed up at my door at 10:30 p.m. asking if I was the mother of Dallin Barlow....but that is at story for another post-just know that I have never fully recovered from the near heart attack I suffered in the moments it took the police officer to explain that he was trying to track down someone who had run from him on a yellow 4-wheeler, and he was told Dallin had a yellow one.  Of course, it WASN'T Dallin he was after, since Dallin was gone deer-hunting, but the police officer almost got some excitement anyway because I came very close to passing out. Because, come on, why on earth would a policeman come to my door at 10:30 p.m. asking if I'm Dallin Barlow's mother?  There is only one logical answer, and I'm starting to get a little faint just writing about and remembering that feeling, so I'm closing this post RIGHT NOW!  No wonder I dislike guns!)

Cliche

I've resisted posting a "thankful" post this entire month, because it seems....well....cliche.  I mean shouldn't we be thankful ALL the time (not just in November.)  However, I have spent a lot of this month trying to notice the little things that I have to be thankful for.  I mean, isn't everybody thankful for the "big" things:  health, family, food, clothing, shelter, and freedom?  And not that we SHOULDN'T be thankful for those things, because we should and I am. (These items top my list when I count my blessings.) But sometimes I think we fail to feel gratitude for or even notice the little things, the coincidences or "tender mercies" that bless our lives.  In a fairly recent conference talk, President Eyring suggested recording those items on a daily basis.  I haven't done that.  However, I have tried to THINK about what "tender mercies" or "little blessings" I receive each day.  During this month, each morning when I run, I try to think about the previous day:  the things that "went right"; the things I enjoyed; the personal interactions and exchanges that were fun and uplifting; those items that might be classified as a "happiest thing."**    Last Friday, as I sat in my "explicit phonics" training class (part of my job as "instructional coach" at the elementary school), I jotted down several items from the previous day.  So since I actually have a record of one-day's worth of these "little blessings," I thought I would record some of them here.  Enjoy.

•  I texted to set up visiting teaching and was able to coordinate with my partner and the two sisters I visit, setting up appointments on the first try for later that SAME DAY!  (Do you know the odds of that working out, when you are trying to work around 4 busy ladies' schedules?  I might have just as easily won the lottery-However, I don't gamble.)

• I got not one, but TWO "fun" things in the mail:  A wedding announcement and an order form for our Hardy Party family reunion Christmas shirts. Both were pleasant little "surprises" as I flipped through the mail-pile consisting mostly of bills, catalogues, and other "junk" mail.

• I smothered my 14-year-old son with kisses and called him "my baby bumblebee," and he "allowed" it.

• I stayed within my weight-watchers point limit without even consciously trying.

• All the kids in the family got up without TOO much trouble for a.m. family prayer, scriptures, and breakfast.

• I woke up to a clean house.

• I called to schedule an appointment for a haircut before family pictures and there was an opening that worked with my schedule for the next day.

• The article I submitted to the paper for the elementary school was published.

• I had NO interruptions at school and was able to get all my work done AND all the work from the previous day which had "stockpiled" when I had an unexpected meeting.

• Luke was cooperative during his piano practice time.

• I made PB and J's for dinner and no one complained. 

I'm sure there were more "happy things," but these are all I recorded:  It was a "Happy Day!" (as probably is every day, if I will just take the time to notice and appreciate "happy things.")

So there you have it, my cliche "Thanksgiving Post."

**When I was little and my mom tucked me into bed each night, she would always ask, "What was the happiest thing about your day?"  She recorded my answers in a small notebook.  It is now one of my prized possessions.  I have asked my children the same question each night when I tuck them in.  However, I'm not as awesome as my mother-I have not recorded their answers.

RIP football season

Tonight all three of my children (who still live at home) were HOME!  Football is over for Lynae, Trent, and Luke as of Saturday.  Basketball starts tomorrow, but we had ONE night where NOBODY had to go ANYWHERE.  (Cheerleaders even had a "break" with no practice today)  Everyone did their evening chores, put away their clean clothes, and we ALL ate dinner together.  Lynae and Trent both spent time playing the piano, and our clean home was filled with beautiful music.  Our house is "technology-free" on weekdays (no TV, movies, video games, etc.) so after dinner, the kids were all lounging in the living room reading, and it was soooo AWESOME!  We had family home evening, and everyone went to bed early.  RIP football season.