wow my life is good!

So i got a new computer yesterday (more info to come) and this means transferring data. lots of data.  I just imported a folder of pictures from Dan's hard drive (hardly has any pictures from the last two years) and it was 33GB! More than 18,000 items!!!  So as I sat at the computer watching my life literally flash before my eyes; thousands upon thousands of pictures of my children, it dawned on me: my life is good!  Actually it is great!  I just taught a lesson in Relief Society about enjoying "the moment" as a young mother.  I have had so many great moments I should be exploding with joy!  I think i will spend more time looking through those snapshots when i feel a little joy-less because there is no way those images won't make me feel happy/alive/grateful/joyful!

Snapshots to follow!  They are still importing...

oh Crap!

So while I was at my stake Relief Society meeting today, Dan took the kids to Home Depot. His mission: to get supplies to build a gate to keep Elsie out of our bathroom. (You see Dan is not one of those guys who goes to Babies'R Us and buys a pre-made, ready to install gate. Oh no, he has to build it. Oh but this is a topic for another post....:) So back to my point. Levi runs ahead of Dan to the bathroom supply section. You know the place where they have all the pretty bathrooms on display. I'm sure at this point Dan was thinking there probably wasn't much he could break in that area of the store. Well before Dan can think twice about this poor assumption, Levi is standing in front of a display toilet with his shorts and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse undies down around his knees!!! According to Dan, he ran down the isles to the display section as fast as he could and got to him just before he peed. I'm still shaking my head in disapproval even as I type this! Actually, i just wish we had a camera on that boy at all times! For two reasons: first so we have evidence that we tried to stop whatever delinquent behavior gets us arrested for being poor parents and secondly because I think we might have a real shot at the $100,000 prize on America's Funniest Home Videos!

So while we are talking about Levi's pants being down, I can't help but reminisce about a few other times behavior like this has occurred.

There is of course the backyard. The second he gets out there all his clothing comes off. Whatever. So this summer, he was out in the backyard, naked, playing around a little wading pool when he comes crying, pulling on his you-know-what. It didn't take long to find the black ants! Ouch! Within 10 minutes he had this cherry sized blisters in all the wrong places. Ouch!

And then there was the time we went to WalMart and told Levi we weren't going to the toy section. Oh man did he pitch a fit! When he saw we didn't care and were walking away, what do you think he did? You guessed it! He pulled is pants down! I told Dan we were going to get kicked out of WalMart, and I'm pretty sure it takes a lot to get kicked out of WalMart.

So as I sit here on my bed typing this, my sweet Levi who was dozing on the couch and watching Power Rangers, has just walked in here NAKED! I suppose this means I should stop typing and look for the wet spot. :(

Deceptacons versus Transformers

Since Levi is firmly in the middle of boy super hero fascination, we spend a lot of time discussing transformers at our house. So the other day when I was really struggling with the desire to give up on my school work (with only 2 classes left to earn my master’s degree), Dan reminded me that the Deceptacons were working hard to convince me to give up, that I couldn’t do it. He was right, as usual. My mind took it a little further and as I sat at the computer to write a paper, I thought: ‘Autobots, transform and roll out!’ So all week, when I needed to talk myself into getting to work, I told myself to “roll out”. I know it sounds corny, but we all know the “Deceptacon” is real. And he works hard to discourage me (and all of us) from doing things that need to be done. It isn’t always about good or bad but it is about dragging me down with deception. Making me feel like I can’t do what I need to do, like I don’t have the right weapons or tools to do what life requires of me. Well, the Deceptacon is wrong! I have the strength within me if I Transform my thoughts and “roll out!”