Not-so-Lazy Summer Days

To me, the list of things to do is never ending, but I seem to be better able to handle it for the moment. I think mostly it is due to a renewed effort in reading scriptures twice a day and praying vocally on my knees also at least twice a day. I always (well, nearly always) read scriptures and pray, but sometimes the fervency and intensity is lacking and it is more perfunctory. That is something I constantly battle, but hopefully I can do better and better and be more frequently consistent.

I have also been reading a nifty book called The Total Mom Makeover that has some really good ideas. A couple of things that I have been striving to implement are...to ask "why not?" when the kids want to do something before "why?" or "not right now," etc. This means K and I painted nails when we only had five minutes before we had to leave and they ate snack only a short time before dinner...but it seems to be more enjoyable for the kids and I feel like a better mom, too. I also have been working on acting like I was the person I dream of being, like asking myself would the healthy me really want to eat ice cream at 9:00 at night? Of course not, the healthy me would be brushing and flossing her teeth...so that is what I did!

We have a relatively new system at our house called "Wow" sticks. The kids earn them by doing good things and lose them by whining, complaining, fighting, etc. They can then "spend" them for things that they love. Yesterday, they decided that they wanted to eat lunch at McD's. That's 30 "wow" sticks. They worked the hardest I have ever seen them work. Every moment I was turning around to find them working hard at something else. It was so cool. You see, they get 2 wow sticks if they do a service without being asked, but only 1 if I ask them. Little Dan also had a blast, since entertaining him from 15 minutes earned them 2 wow sticks.

Today was a busy day from the beginning, but when I got out to my car.. the tire was flat. Thank goodness for roadside assistance. I let them change it for me (I pay for it...why not?) . With the right tools, changing the tire was so fast. It always takes me a lot longer and the service guy said that the jacks in the vans are really dangerous...and that it would be a lot safer to call him every time. Sounds good to me! So, we ate lunch at the tire place where they fixed the flat so I wouldn't be on a donut any longer. Then we interviewed someone for the clinic job.

Then we got to go swimming at TXMommy's pool. Yea! It was so fun. I love her and our friend A was there, too. I love her too. It is so relaxing to swim with friends...physically in the water, and emotionally with the companionship. K swam better today than I'd ever seen her. I was so proud of her! C was almost back to being a fish. I was proud of him, too. He and TXMommy's son look so much alike, particularly in the water, that we just have to make sure two little brown heads come up!

I guess it is majorly obvious when I haven't posted for awhile...the words just keep spilling out! :)