2015 is off to a good start. Life doesn't slow down, and as was said today in Stake Conference, we learn and grow the most when we are stretched and tried. I feel so abundantly blessed and also feel overwhelmed many days; I think learning to work through those feelings of being overwhelmed is part of what life is about. My thoughts lately have been on working to truly make our home a place of refuge from the "storms" of life. There were definitely ups and downs this month in this goal, with both happy and sad tears shed. For posterity's sake, below are a few of the "happy" moments of January.
I finally painted the bonus room. After lots of color swatches, 12 paint samples, and painting the room totally the wrong color, I finally found the right one! I really wanted a yellow, "happy" room and several people warned me how hard it is to find the "right" yellow, but I didn't give up. I painted what I thought was a nice yellow one Saturday and realized quickly it was much too bright and looked "greenish" in the artificial light. So a few days later, I tried three more samples, chose one, and repainted. This time I love it! I am so excited to finally be able get some pictures on the wall. (The bottom picture is with one wall the "wrong" yellow; the top shows the finished color. I like how soft it is.) (Thanks to my "artist" friend, Ashley, for her expert color advice.)
My actual birthday (Wednesday, January 14) was a great day with lots of love and calls from family and friends. I had a delicious birthday luncheon with some wonderful ladies whom I greatly look up to. (Thank you for hosting, Whitney! And thank you for coming, Misty, Ashley, Megan, and Tina), and the kids had a great time playing while we chatted. That evening we had Spencer's basketball practice, then came home and had a family party. Kyle made dinner and bought me an ice cream cake and the kids did their best to spoil me.
Here are some of Skyler and Andon's creations with a magnetic mosaic board we got for Christmas (thanks, Susan!). Skyler wants me to take a picture of each of his creations. Kylene and Spencer also have had fun with it, they just don't ask me to take a picture every time they finish one:).
The kids all had their dental appointments. (I forgot to get Kylene's picture.) They were all part of the "no cavity" club; woo hoo! I think Andon is so cute in the huge chair.
Andon "graduated" from his five-point harness car seat to a booster seat. He feels so grown up being able to sit next to the window and is always trying to unroll it despite freezing temperatures:).
We finished "The Nativity" puzzle the beginning of January, then completed two more 1,000 piece puzzles this month. We are now doing a very difficult 500 piece puzzle. Skyler continues to be the puzzle champ, with Kylene also spending lots of time on them. The rest of us help out with a piece here or there when we can. I just love Skyler's stamina on how long he can work on these. (I wouldn't mind if he had that much stamina in practicing his reading for school!)
