The Pride Cycle

Beware of Pride...click here

This talk by Ezra T. Benson is a great reminder for us all. It's been on my mind lately. I recognize that I need to work on this and all of us do to some extent or another. Pride is the root of so many sins. I have been prideful in some things that didn't even realize, so today, I am making a more concerted effort to be humble and faithful. I have been such a catastrophic thinker lately and I think we would all do well to remember that God is actually in control and is humbling his people so we can be one step closer to Him. He is preparing us to build His Zion. We must repent. It doesn't matter if we lose our homes, our livelihood's, our things. It doesn't matter if we are right and they are wrong. It doesn't serve us to be defensive or questioning of God or his methods. What matters is what our hearts hold and what we are willing to give up for God. He has so many things in store for us! Glory in that! Glory that this is a cycle of love and of chastening....with a glorious and wondrous reward at the end.

The Newt

We have two creeks on our property. The sound is extremely soothing, especially in the spring when they are flowing full force. On one of the creek paths, there used to be a pond. Unfortunately, they last tenant bulldozed the damn and now we have more of a wetland area. At night, the sound of the frogs are deafening! These creeks are teaming with creatures. On my kids walk home, they discovered a few dead creatures along the road. Surprisingly, they found a live one next to these deceased family members. They hurried home and showed me this little salamander like thing. He was cute for sure. Next came the hundreds of questions that Mom's are supposed to somehow magically know. I had no clue what this thing was or if they could keep it or what it ate. So in desperation I told them to google the thing. Sure enough, they discovered what it was and what it ate and it's habitat. They set up a swimming pool for the guy and a tunnel and a little house in a plastic shoe box. Christian dug for earthworms and centipedes for this little newt to eat. My bathroom is trashed with mud. But I could care less. These kids just learned some very valuable lessons about the Internet, their habitat, used their problem solving skills and were extremely compassionate. It's moments like these that you overlook the mud, and look into their sweet faces filled with wonder and excitement and realize that this is what it is all about. My kids are learning....

My New Year's Goals, Revisited.

So the past two months have been nothing short of an upheaval for the Laing Family. They were filled with incredibly wonderful things and incredibly horrid things. But I am not going to list a play by play for you. No need to relive the gore...but I haven't looked at my goals in a while and am feeling like a huge slacker because I only worked out 4 days last week and ate to sooth my emotional horror last week too...double whammy!

So my goals...
1. Moved into a home...well we are one step closer. Now we have to be out for sure by May 1st. Before the beginning of this month, we were seriously considering staying all summer to plant our garden and get one more season out of this lush land...but our Landlord has to sell her house. She needs the money. I am not willing or able to stage her home with 5 kids and all my stuff. Granted, this is my profession. But it is like asking a Surgeon to put a band aid on a gaping wound!
2.Well, the kids ate in the car on our trip, but not fast food. I was careful. I packed food for the trip there and we got out and ate on the way back. They have had a total of 2 meals in the car since January 1st. That is like a record or something!
3.I didn't have anyone over in February. We were going to have a party, but that just didn't materialize. Patrick wanted a quiet affair for his 40th. January, we had a big Carter family dinner for Gayle's Birthday complete with Cherry Chocolate Cake.
4. I have started to build up our food storage with the money Patrick's Parents gave us for Christmas. Unfortunately, we are have to eat it just as quickly as we buy it. We still have a fair amount, but not the good stuff like veggies and fruit and canned goods like soup etc and we are woefully short on wheat and oats.
5.Getting rid of excess stuff is now a necessity. I have been purging since January. Trips to Goodwill are frequent. Bags of toys and clothes, towels, boxes of books, and just excess trash are all leaving my house. Patrick is getting on the band wagon too. When we move this time, we are not going to take 3 loads full!
6.Exercise every day, well I have averaged 6 days a week. I could do better, but since I never exercised consistently before, this is like a major miracle. This week I messed up and only exercised 4 days, but their were plenty of 7 day weeks to make up for it. I felt so lousy too. I will never do that again!
7.Hitting my goal weight...this will take until at least September to reach. I am actively trying to modify my lifestyle so I wont be so tempted to eat. I have discovered the elliptical as of last week. I never really liked it, but have discovered the power and gratification that I get when I look down and realize that in 45 min I have gone 4.5 miles and lost 550 calories. It is going to be far easier to shed this weight if I exercise smarter and not harder. Also I get to use my arms and no one likes to see Emily swing her fast walker arms on the treadmill! Truly scary! I save the treadmill for the last 15 min and walk like Beyonce. I am fierce !!
8.Writing a book...have done nothing with that. I have gained some experiences and had some pretty amazing dreams that might just end up in a book someday, but for now, no book writing. Although, I have looked into the process of publishing an article in the Ensign.
9.Open a studio...again, not an option at this point. I can't say that I would have the full support of my family behind this one right now. But I am looking into volunteering for a cheer squad of middle schoolers or helping with a local dance team. Does that count? An interesting side note, is that having thought about opening up a company has broadened my outlook and I am actively pursuing going back to school to get a degree in some service oriented job. Either Social Work, Counseling or Nursing...
10.My random acts of service everyday is going quite well actually. Sometimes I have to actively plan this and other times, they just happen. I have averaged about 6 days a week, but if I count the days that I do more than one thing, then I probably have extra. Obviously if I am planning, they aren't really random, but still service and still rewarding. I don't think I would have lived through the last 2 months without being able to give everyday. It's what keeps me from cracking!

So my challenge to you reader, go back to your list of "habit changes, goals, or plans" and see if you have done them. If not, then why. And begin again. I realized that I am still on my path and definitely one step closer to becoming who I really am meant to be. And isn't that why we are all here?

Here is my Super Hero...

The Crud...

It seems as if everyone in Oregon is sick. Church numbers are half what they normally are. Schools are missing a significant portion of the kids. We even had a few "hackers" in the temple last night. The Laing Household has been spared for the most part from this flu and cold season. For this, I am truly grateful. A few weeks ago, I had a stomach bug that lasted less than 24 hours and the girls got a touch of that, but nothing to send them running to the toilet. Alas...I must have my turn at least once this year. On Patrick's birthday, his 40th by the way, I took him to a great Thai place in Tigard called Pacific Breeze. I got there on time with Evan in tow. He wasn't feeling well all morning. I confess, I love it when some of my kids are sick...the cuddly ones, not the whiny ones. He was just a little lover all day. Well as I was waiting for Patrick to show up (he is always late) I got barfed on! Literally, all over my shirt. My nice pink wrap around. The little voice in my head told me to bring an extra shirt for the baby just in case he got sick...well I had no "voice" tell me to bring one for myself...not even a coat. Somehow I survived 3 hours wearing a vomit shirt...honestly it was just juice...nothing disgusting. Patrick arrived and gave me his coat and the baby sat in my lap while I fed him sticky rice and Coke. He didn't throw up again, but was just a cuddly happy boy. He slept the rest of the day and was fine by dinner time. So Crud, we dodged you! And even if I got vomited on, there were still fringe benefits from it. Way to look at the bright side of things!!! (For those of you who are interested in how to not have your kids get sick all the time, read "Last Child in The Woods". It explains that children exposed to the environment are actually less likely to get sick. There immune systems are bombarded by things that help it grow stronger. I was talking to the Jordans last night and they are all healthy...all 9 kids! They live in the boonies and there kids are outside with playing in the dirt everyday I suspect!! Here's to chicken poo and all the dirty mud puddles and dirty hands. Gotta love nature!)My sick baby and I at Pacific Breeze....

Cleaning the Kids Rooms...Girls addition

( I preface this post with the fact that I can no longer be embarrassed by anything my children do and someday I will show this to my children's future spouses so that they make an informed choice!)
I have been a little frustrated with my kids lately. They are a very independent bunch with a creative streak that will make them amazing inventors or artists. My kids are great, but.....they are messy and disorganized. I know, they had to get that trait from somewhere and I am sure that my own mother is saying I told you so inside my brain right now and I also know that this too shall pass. These are some before pics. My girls have too much stuff. This bedroom is plenty big. Polly Pockets, Littlest Pet Shops, Barbies, Baby Dolls, Build a Bears, Clothes, Art Supplies, Books, Papers, and CD's clutter their room. So for two days...yes two days with a total of 7 hours, I went through everything. At least 6 bags of trash and 2 bags of DI goodies and we have achieved Nirvana.

Before




A list of the creations I just happened to tumble upon is as follows:
1. A sprouting red potato (This one was probably a "ball" that Evan brought up)
2. A small ziploc bag of hard red wheat kernels (what did they want to do? Grow a wheat field in the mess?!)
3. A model of our house complete with paper furniture (Extremely creative, but very messy and lots of pieces)
4. Several homemade necklaces and bracelets (using my beads which were expensive)
5. A molding concoction that I don't want to know what it consisted of (complete with paint brush stuck in the middle)
6. Several sippy cups that were blackened (most were trashed)
7. Board game pieces and fake money ( I don't want any more monopoly games or Shopping Mall games either!)
8. glitter (Brighten is addicted to all things "Bling")
9. A very cute penguin made out of playdoh that was hard as a rock (This was cute and I would have kept it but the beak was broken off.)
10. Luckily, no mice droppings or dirty diapers or molding food...I guess I am doing something right?

After

Faking Spring Cleaning

There is SNOW on the ground outside my door. I am not a happy camper. Portland gets snow once a year for one day and that is it! Did I wake up in Portland Maine in December and this is all just a bad dream? The ice and frigid temperatures are starting to where me thin. Can you tell? Really, I am in a good mood, or have been until the snow. So yesterday, I was trying to motivate myself into doing some organization. I really am good at it although I don't let on. I can develop and implement amazing systems. They rock, but my follow through is lousy. There has to be some kind of incentive. So in my quest of an incentive, I decided to tackle the Laundry Room. You couldn't see the counter. It was filled with clothes that were too small or tools or old papers from school. The pile raneth over....but what is a girl to do? Who likes the laundry room? Not me. Well I decided that a little glue and paper might just inspire me to get a move on and sure enough...it did! I am a Martha Stewart wanna be am I not? Well to make a long story short, every cupboard was gone through, counter cleaned, baby in sink playing with water most of the time, brooms and mops hung up on walls, decor made for free, laundry washed and dried, curtains hand dyed from stained vintage runner from Grandma Laing, made a cleaning basket, and a soap bucket decoupaged. What I wont do for a craft project!

I'm a slacker mom....

Stickers, money, high fives, privileges; you name it, I've done it. Chores for five children can be an exhausting trial of patience and holding back. The charts and graphs and money banks and the "store" (that was actually fun) have all worked for a number of weeks but not a permanent solution for a mother that has a hard enough time being organized herself. I prefer a little chaos in my life. Walking through the forest, I love the clutter of leaves, branches, dead trees, ferns, critters, fungus...it just makes me incredibly happy how all this chaos actually creates such beauty. Don't get me wrong, I love the Japanese Gardens in Portland. They are majestic, but to me, a little uptight and constrained. Go figure...I am a free spirit. Unfortunately, my children haven't grasped the concept of restraint and to know when enough is enough. They don't care if there little friends come over and help them clean the bathroom. I have ceased caring and just drop a Clorox drop in into the toilet tank and call it good. They will eventually learn right? I pick my battles. But....
I spent $120 on this system a few years ago. It didn't work for more than a month. The kids get excited and then it fizzles. Why? Because if it's more work for me than the actual chores, their is no way in God's green earth that it makes sense to me to keep on keepin on! So for our Family night, I unburied these little treasures that were gathering dust and decided that if at first you don't succeed, then try try again! Here's to second chances.