Resolution Revolution

I've decided to start a resolution revolution. The revolution will come in the fact that I did not resolve to do anything for the New Year, but now I feel fired up, and so I'm resolving to make some changes for February 1st. That still counts, right? Whatever. I'm all about making it unique. Or maybe it's because the month of January has been the month of sick, and I'm ready for some change...and since life isn't changing on it's own, I'm going to make the changes.
I know that January is peak season for colds and flu, and my children are at the age where they're bringing everything home and spreading it through the family, but we have been sick for about 5 weeks straight. Literally. NO exaggeration. Time for a change. So I've been looking into some holistic approaches to healing but mostly, I've been looking at our diet. I try really hard as the meal provider in our family, to make healthy choices, but I know we could definitely do better. Way better. I've excused a lot of things, that I really shouldn't, and our being sick for so long has really motivated me to do better.
In study the Book of Mormon over the last few months, a number of different things have stood out to me. One of those is the 'health' of the Nephites and Lamanites. There isn't a lot of mention of disease or illness in the book of mormon. And I've also been thinking about the Word of Wisdom in the last while and thinking about the fruits and vegetables and grains of every kind, and 'meat sparingly'. I think meat at every dinner, is not sparingly. There's a reason we've been counseled that way, and I want to live more in line with those teachings. I know there's wisdom in it. "Health in the navel, marrow to their bones, and shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; and shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint." Those are pretty awesome promises, and things that I would like to cash in on for myself and for my kids.
I certainly don't know a lot. I feel like I could spend 4 years getting a degree in biology, chemistry, and nutrition before I'd be satisfied with my knowledge, but I'm going to start tomorrow, with what little knowledge I do have.
I also know that if the food doesn't taste good, no matter how good it is for us, we won't eat it. So that's part of the trick of it all too. Because eating is supposed to be fun.
I have begun reading a lot, but I've kind of opened a bag of worms here, because there is obviously a lot to know. And I live with the science guy, so I need to know my stuff to convince him.
I'm tired of feeling tired at 30. I can get 9 hours of sleep and still feel like I need a nap by 3:00.
I was reading in the book of Mormon and came across Alma 46:40 where it says:
And there were some who died with fevers, which at some seasons of the year were very frequent in the land - but not so much with fevers because of the excellent quality of the many plants and roots which God had prepared to remove the cause of diseases....
I jokingly said i needed to get some of those plants and roots!
We don't struggle with weight (at this point) in our family which has been a blessing, except that we have been able to 'get away' with eating almost anything and not having it show on our waist line, but our health over the past few months is evidence to me that there are a lot of factors to good nutrition.
It seems to me that there was a time when people understood food far better than we do now. That they knew what foods to eat when, and what they did to their bodies. But now food is just so mass produced, and it's just given to us that we eat almost anything, without a knowledge of what it is doing to our bodies, until it is too late. So here is my revolution. I'm going to learn it. I know it will take me a while, but health is worth it to me. And my kids deserve it.

Family Photos

Since everyone was here for Christmas, we took the opportunity to get family photos done. It was a crazy hectic night, and even crazier and more hectic to get everyone organized and in coordinating-ish clothing, but I think the end results were worth it. Look how great this family looks.

O Ye Fair Ones

As I was sitting in my van during Ward Conference, letting my little one take I nap, I turned to my scripture studies, as I usually do and found myself immersed in Mormon. He talks about the wickedness and struggles of his people and their unwillingness to acknowledge the Lord's hand in their lives. Their pride leads them to believe that their triumphs are their own, and their struggles are their own, and they refuse to call upon him for help. The destruction is quick (a matter of a few verses, although it spans a 20 year time frame) and there is not much else to be said about those people. I was heart-broken. I thought to myself, how sad. How sad that they just could not see. How sad that they chose to stomp their feet and dig in their heels and grunt and groan, rather than weep, and plead, and rejoice, knowing there was someone out there who just waiting to help them. Seek, ask, knock.
And then I read this:
Mormon 6:17-20
"O ye fair ones, how could ye have departed from the ways of the Lord! O ye fair ones, how could ye have rejected that Jesus who stood with open arms to receive you!
Behold, if ye had not done this, ye would not have fallen. But behold, ye are fallen, and I mourn your loss.
O ye fair sons and daughters, ye fathers and mothers, ye husbands and wives, ye fair ones, how is it that ye could have fallen!
But behold, ye are gone, and my sorrows cannot bring your return."
And I felt it. I felt Mormon's pleadings and heartache. They weren't just wicked people. They were his people. Fathers, Mothers, Sons, Daughters, Husbands, Wives.
I've also been preparing a Relief Society Lesson these past few weeks and I came across this scripture:
Moses 7:29 And Enoch said unto the Lord: How is it that thou canst weep, seeing thou art holy, and from all eternity to all eternity?
30-And were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations; and thy curtains are stretched out still; and yet thou art there, and thy bosom is there; and also thou art just; thou art merciful and kind forever;
31-...how is it that thou canst weep?
32-The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency;
33-And unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood."
How terrible. And from all this, I take to myself that I must always remember to be grateful. To turn to the Lord in all things. I see his hand in my life daily and I'm glad it is there. He has made millions of creations, and yet he is there for me. And His arms are stretched out to me.
Some days I feel burdened, but I can't imagine the weight of my burden if I was alone. And I'm glad I don't have to. In the end, I want the Lord to say of me, "O ye fair one - well done, and welcome home."

Shave and a Haircut

Max has been having a bit of a hard time lately. It seems like we've been reverting back to the tantrum of twos. I'm not sure where it's coming from, but it's got me a bit frustrated, and unsure of what to do to correct it. A lot of angry screaming and stomping of feet if he doesn't get his way. And there is no build up, it's straight from calm to melt-down with little or no warning. I've been unsure if it was because he's just extra tired or bored from being sick for so long, or if he's having a hard time with the attention Lucy has been getting because of her cast, and that Logan gets because he's a baby, or if he is struggling with how busy we all are lately. I'm jut not sure.
So this morning I thought I'd devote a little extra time to Max to see if that helped. After his breakfast, I wanted to give him a haircut, but to make it more fun, I let him help me choose the guards to use on the razor, as well as breaking out the Transformer's Shaving kit he got for Christmas. He got to put some shaving cream on his face and then 'shave' it off with his plastic razor.He quite enjoyed it and loved his smooth skin after hew as done. The kit came with cream, a razor, a mirror, a comb and one of those barber brushes that gets rid of all the hair after you're done. So we brushed his body off, shaved, and I let him style his hair with his comb when we were all done. It meant Logan got to bed for his morning nap, but I tried to be stress-free and just give Max time. It worked out good for both of us, because I was getting a little tired of the Mohawk hairstyle he had been sporting lately anyway. Look how handsome . (The only way I can get him to do a good smile for a photo is if I get him to tell me a joke. Usually a knock-knock one. Otherwise he's got some sort of weird robot smile.) Once Logan was asleep, we spent time doing puzzles, one of Max's favorite activities, and playing cards.
The day has still been full of melt-downs and tantrums, but I'm determined to not give up and see this through. Tonight is going to be a quiet evening at home where hopefully both parents can give their kids undivided attention for a bit and we can all get to bed on time. I'm sure if we just keep moving in the right direction, things will return back to normal...I hope!

That's Bologna

A few weeks ago, when Lucy was at a doctor's appointment for her broken leg, she was obviously trying very hard to pay attention to what the doctor was telling dad, but not quite following the conversation exactly. As we sat in her room that night and discussing what the doctor had said, I told her that in a few weeks she would get a new cast that she could walk with. She finished my sentence by saying, "Yeah, mom, the doctor said something about a bologna cast." I looked at her a bit funny and said, 'Do you mean below-knee?" She thought for a moment and then burst out laughing, realizing her mistake. Obviously the doctor had been speaking short-hand, as that's what they do, making everything as quick and efficient as possible, even if it means it's super confusing to the rest of the world who doesn't speak doctor. Since then, we've been teasing Lucy a bit about her bologna cast. Today was the day to get it, and she was super excited. She was also excited because the Alberta Children's Hospital has way more cast colors than what they had in Pincher Creek. She decided on pink, which didn't surprise me at all. It was a bit of a worry for her to get the old one cut off, because she didn't want to loose any of the cool signatures she had gotten, especially Santa's. Hugh, our ortho tech, was so great about cutting her cast like a jig-saw puzzle practically to avoid all signatures. She had a quick sponge bath for her leg and then it was time for the new cast. She was happy to have the cast off for a few minutes though and be able to let her leg move a bit and breath. It was a bit painful to get the new cast on, just with the moving and bending she had to do, but all is well now, and the hot pink leg has been christened by signatures already. This is supposed to be a walking cast, so we'll see how long it takes her to work up the courage to take a few steps. The doctor said no running, but he doesn't really know Lucy. I'm sure she'd be too nervous to run anyway!