The Kitchen Table

This is what Christmas, kids, Cubscouts (I am a den mother), and having a crawling baby will do to the kitchen table. 2011 is definitely in full swing...the kitchen table is a good indicator of our busy lives (or my lack of order and cleanliness)...and what we've been up to in January.

Homework, Legos, Cubscouts and keeping everything up and away from Sadie. She is not only crawling, but she puts everything in her mouth including Legos. She has tackled going up the stairs, but definitely not down...she laughs as she dives head first down a few of them, laughing all the while as I catch her before she falls. Sadie is a tease. She has the cutest little toothless, (although a few are poking through), eyes-closed grin. She makes us laugh and keeps us busy, very busy.

I was called to be a Den Leader for the Bear Scouts in our ward/church...what a challenge, trying to teach and entertain 9, 9-year old boys. I get anxiety before every meeting...and there is a great sense of relief when the night is over. We all enjoy the last 15 minutes of gym time where we play indoor soccer or basketball or running games, they enjoy any time where they can run wild and beat each other up. Last week we made bird feeders out of 2-liter soda bottles and bagels covered in peanut butter and dipped in bird seed. Last night, they chose an animal and made posters about the animal along with three interesting facts. Although Cubscouts is a challenge for me, I have to appreciate the fact, that some Den mother will be doing this for Samuel in a couple of years and that some other mother does this for Maggie right now, as Activity Days, for her.

Sickness and Health

We had a lot of sickness in our family during the month of December and because of that, we missed out on seeing family during the holidays and taking part in a lot of the holiday festivities we normally enjoy. We didn't get up to see the lights at Temple Square, we didn't go skiing after all that snow, and we didn't have our traditional New Years finger food and celebrations. We did, however, manage to throw a few boxes of snaps with the kids and light a few sparklers to celebrate the coming of 2011, but that didn't last long with the freezing, below-zero temperatures. The fireworks were short-lived when we started to feel the tips of our fingers freeze. My point in relating all of this is not to bah-hum-bug the holidays, but to express an appreciation for the better health we have been blessed with in 2011. 

Being unhealthy, makes me more grateful and more appreciative of the times when we are healthy. We really take forgranted our health until we don't have it. So as much as I hate sickness, I am also grateful for it as it helps us step back and see our blessings more clearly. I look back at our time with Caleb in the hospital and can't help but see the miracles we experienced of healing while he was there, I also can't help but remember how we were lifted and supported and strengthened throughout the trials and how although there was a heavy burden weighted down with worry and waiting, we were able to carry on. I know that it is through the atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ, that we were carried through the trials and that because of Him, we have received healing in our hearts and in our minds and I know that it is through Him that we continue to receive healing in our lives.