Dancing with Daffodils

 Where has the time gone? These past two weeks have flown by. We've been doing all the normal things like seminary, school, cross country, baseball, dance and church activities. It was my dad's 86th birthday, Josh had the day off last Friday but the roof guy came and we're finally getting a new roof after years of trying to make it work, Curtis went on a camp out with the boys from church, Brandon has had a couple of baseball games, lots of dancing for our girls and Nutcracker auditions are this weekend so Lily is nervous, we all got our flu/COVID shots one night for family night, we had the sister missionaries over for dinner, I taught Relief Society on Sunday and that was fun and I got a mammogram, which wasn't fun.  Our ward is doing a food drive as part of the stake Bag Hunger event this weekend. We decided to fulfill Josh's dream and do a pizza pop up restaurant. He can't sell the pizza without making it in a commercial kitchen but we traded it for food ite...

It has been so busy. But I had a profound experience where I pondered what brings me joy and I'm really trying to focus my life on those things and recognize that they bring me joy. For example, I really feel joy in being healthy and strong so that translates me to going to the gym more often. When I was there Friday doing spin for the first time in a few months, my natural reaction was to think it was hard and I have so much to do I should have stayed home but then I remembered, this brings me joy so just do it! It has helped me feel much better about our seminary schedule and getting up early and even cooking for my family because those things all connect back into core principles that bring me joy.  Last week everything started so we had a very chill Labor day and then it was up at 5;45 for seminary and Lily and Emma both started dance that afternoon and I had my first piano lessons. I was extremely tired on Wednesday after going to the gym and grocery shopping and I barely made...

 Then Saturday was Lily's 16th birthday! She spent the morning at her dance studio helping out with their open house (her choice; she loves helping the little kids) but I got up early and made her cottage cakes for breakfast. I had an awesome playlist of all sorts of songs about turning 16 and she "loved" me singing to her. Curtis had baseball practice and Josh was supposed to go to a wedding but was too sick so he spent the morning at urgent care.  That afternoon we played Skip Bo and Uno (Lily's request) and then we watched some videos from when she was little. Then I ended up taking her and a few friends from dance out to a fancy seafood dinner on the water. I just dropped them off and then sat on the river walk for an hour and a half while they ate and it was so weird. She is grown up enough to go out with her friends but I still have to drive her and pay. It was also weird to not eat dinner with my daughter on her birthday. Everyone else stayed home and had lefto...

Whoops, typed this up awhile ago and never posted! What a week. Tuesday was my birthday and it was one of the best I have had in a long time. I woke up and read for awhile because my kids had told me I couldn’t come out until 9:30. I came downstairs and they were dancing to our birthday song and had a beautiful breakfast on the table. They had decorated my chair and had all my presents on the table, just like I do for them. It was so sweet. After a nice breakfast (Josh had a very busy day at work but he left me flowers) Lily told me it she had some entertainment for me. I had no idea what she was talking about but we went downstairs and she showed me a video she had made of some of my friends wishing me a happy birthday and sharing a favorite memory of me. She had the idea all on her own and contacted my friends without me having a clue and it was incredibly thoughtful and totally made the day so special.  Then I got ready and we went to Elms beach for a little while. We didn’t swi...

 August used to be my favorite month of the year. When I was a kid that is when we would go on vacation to either North Carolina or out to Utah to visit family. It was also girls camp and my birthday and of course it is summer so no school. In more recent years Lily was born in August and it was such a joy to become a mother and to celebrate her each year.  However, now August is when school starts. It is when I have to think about school supplies and fall baseball schedules. Josh is super busy at work and has been very stressed so that also means we don't travel in August. He has basically been working non stop for the past three weeks and we have hardly had a chance to talk. Curtis wants to do cross country and try outs are a week before school starts. Baseball also starts next week during our last week of summer. I need to figure out my piano schedule. Lily wants us to drop her off with some friends for a fancy dinner out on her birthday. Our vacation is just about over and...