Puddle Jumping

This was a great reminder that I don't need museums or other cool places to take Ginny (though I do appreciate them). Ginny had such fun putting on her rain boots, grabbing the umbrella, and jumping in puddles just in our neighborhood.

Discovering Thanksgiving Point

My friend and I (we've been friends since 2nd grade) like to go on outings with our children, especially now that the weather is nice. The last two weeks we have had fun at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi. For all you big city folks out there who have access to museums and parks galore, this may not seem a big thing, but it's been fun to get a little culture and variety in our lives.

Last week we went to the Children's Discovery Garden. My daughter is still talking about the bear cave. You can walk through a dark cave which has the sounds of a bear growling in it. If you are brave enough to enter (it took Ginny a few tries), you will discover the growling gets louder until you see a life-size statue of a bear. Here's a picture of my friend's 6-year old by the bear.

There were beautiful flowers everywhere and little statues of animals all over.

The kids also enjoyed the little lighthouse to play in, the viewing window in the fish pond, the bug amphitheater just right for singing and performing and running and climbing all over.

Today we went to the Dinosaur museum. Another great success and good rainy day activity. Ginny liked playing in the sand and water pool. Somehow she managed to get up and stand in the pool, which I still can't quite figure out how she did it. But here she is playing in the water, happily making messes.

Her other favorite part was the "quarry"- giant sandboxes where the kids could pretend to be archeologist and unearth dinosaur bones that were hidden in the sand. Ginny really liked the "paintbrush" part, as she called it. ( Sorry, no picture of her in there). But here is a picture of the giant shark who all the kids called "Bruce" after "Finding Nemo".

I am looking forward to a fun summer exploring all the fun things to do in our area. With gas prices being so high, we're just going to get to know Utah this summer (and a bit of Idaho for a family reunion).

For those of you who live in Utah or Salt Lake Valley, what are some of your favorite kid-friendly places to go? I'd like to discover more.

Enjoying the Moments

I have been thinking about Elder Ballard's talk to young mothers at our last General Conference. One thing that stood out to me is to enjoy the moments as a mother. I like that he acknowledges that being a mother is not easy:

"We need to remember that the full commitment of motherhood and of putting children first can be difficult. Through my own four-generation experience in our family, and through discussions with mothers of young children throughout the Church, I know something of a mother’s emotions that accompany her commitment to be at home with young children. There are moments of great joy and incredible fulfillment, but there are also moments of a sense of inadequacy, monotony, and frustration. Mothers may feel they receive little or no appreciation for the choice they have made. Sometimes even husbands seem to have no idea of the demands upon their wives. As a Church, we have enormous respect and gratitude to you. "

He goes on to ask some questions and give some answers. The first one is what I have been thinking of:

"So today, let me ask and briefly answer four questions. While my answers may seem extremely simple, if the simple things are being tended to, a mother’s life can be most rewarding.
The first question: What can you do, as a young mother, to reduce the pressure and enjoy your family more?
First, recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction.
Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: “The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less”(Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11)."

Here are some of my moments that bring me so much joy in being a mother:

• "Goodnight, Mom, I love you" or just the random "Mommy, I love you".
• Watching Ginny dance whenever any music is played- could be a brief song on the radio, a CD we listen to, or even at church, dancing to the Hymns or Primary songs.
• Just a chance to truly be my silly self as we preted together to be dogs, cats or tying up Nephi on the boat.
• Listening to her made up silly songs and seeing her developing sense of humor.
• Holding her hand on walks to the park
• Seeing her run with such joy and enthsusiasm
• A dandelion bouquet whenever we go outside (she always picks the white ones whose seeds happily blow everywhere as soon as she picks it up)
• Being with her all day and having our inside jokes that we have to explain to others
• Reading stories (sometimes the same ones) and watching her laugh.

This is all I can think of right now, but I'm sure I'll add more. If you're a mom, I'd love to hear your "moments". I am so thankful to be a mother. I love it. It's not easy and requires a lot of sacrifice. But I'm trying to be better at putting down my book or my project that I'm working on and enjoy being with her.