Fine Family Fun

"The Fine Five!"

We started a new thing a while back called the "Family Fun Jar". We had a FHE where all of us wrote down fun things we would like to do as a family. We had two stipulations: it had to be something closeby (because I knew the girls would write "go camping") and it had to cost little or no money (because I knew Roman would say, "Go to Disneyland!") Each family home evening we take turns picking one paper from the family fun jar and that is our activity that we do the following Saturday. Last Monday Leah drew Hali's idea to go to Berg Park and ride bikes. We had a crazy busy day on Saturday so we had to postpone until tonight (Monday) but we had a lot of fun!

Mel thought to pop popcorn and feed the ducks while we were there. It wouldn't be a trip to Berg Park if we didn't feed the ducks!

Leah was dissapointed I wouldn't let her strip down to her undies and wade in the water. My children do not understand the meaning of 'SEASONS!'

"Hey, there, little cutie! Want a ride?" We hope he won't be picking up any other girls!

This is our little leaf-eater. Isn't she pretty?

"Toss the Guilt and Catch the Joy"

So....I read a 'sneak preview' chapter from a book by one of my favorite authors awhile back but promised myself I would wait to buy it at Walmart when it finally arrived there. Guess what....I found it on Friday! It's called "Toss the Guilt and Catch the Joy" by Merrilee Boyack (author of my all-time most favorite parenting book, "The Parenting Breakthrough" (and believe me...I've read a bunch!) It is so full of information and yummy little quotes that make you feel so good...kinda like eating a hot fudge sundae only without the calories! Here is one of my favorites she put in by President Hinckley:

In a very large measure each of us holds the key to the blessings of the Almighty upon us. If we wish the blessing, we must pay the price. A part of that price lies in being faithful. Faithful to what? Faithful to ourselves, to the very best that is within us.

When I read that I was 'dinged', so to speak. (You know when something in your mind and your spirit collide and you feel excited...DING!) What a huge reality to face...we 'hold the key' to our own happiness. Once a friend asked me if I still wished on a star. I laughed and said I did not. I figured I'd get better luck petitioning their Keeper. This quote made me realize that not only do we have to do that, but we must 'pay the price' and DO SOMETHING to get what we want. Okay, one more plug for the book (you really should read this...it's great!) This is Merrilee quoting an anonymous author :

Our lives can be filled with happiness and joy, but the choice is up to us. Happiness is:
Courageously doing what you want to do, even if you are scared.
Experiencing your life as an exciting journey.
Stimulating your mind and caring for your body.
Realizing that you already have everything you need to make yourself happy.
Knowing that your are the only one who can decide what is right and wrong for you.
Accepting that you are okay even when you blunder and learn from your mistakes.
Knowing that what people say or do is a reflecion of them and not you.
Listening to your inner wisdom.
Giving and receiving love unconditionally.

I think it's time to 'catch the joy'!

Tagged again....

Here are the rules for the tag:Link the person who tagged you. Mention rules on your blog..Tell about 6 quirks of yours. Tag 6 fellow bloggers. Leave a comment to let them know.

Quirky Things About Trish: (which is ironic because I was just told on the phone by a friend that I had so many little quirky things about myself. Still not sure if that was a compliment or not...)

Quirky item #1: I am completely rigid about a schedule for my kids. (Breakfast at 6:30, snack at 10, no t.v. time after 9 a.m., Lunch at noon followed by mandatory quiet time, snack at 3, dinner at 6, scriptures and prayer promptly at 8.) Just ask my family how nice I am when The Schedule gets out of whack.

Quirky item #2: I will not touch food if I see a hair in it or someone else found a hair in their's, if I know the person who cooked it has animals in their house I will be VERY wary of eating it....I have a quirky hair thing. Funny I married a long-haired hooligan....

Quirky item #3: I cannot function properly if my bed is not made and my dishes are not done. The rest of house can be in shambles but those two things are a must.

Quirky item #4: I've been told I say 'quirky things' but, naturally, everything I say seems perfectly normal to me!

Quirky item #5: I hate to be late. I'd rather not show up at all if I am going to be late. (This is a killer for me on Sundays because Jimmy makes us late or almost late nearly every Sunday. I have had to compromise my own Late Standards due to 5 kids and a procrastinating husband.

Last quirky item: I am a dictionary fanatic. LOVE words, love to look up their meaning, their synonyms, their origins, slang terms of the same word, etc. By the way, looked up "quirky" in the online dictionary and it said, "quirky - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 : Quirky \Quirk"y\ (kw[~e]rk"[y^]), a. Full of quirks; tricky; as, a quirky lawyer. [1913 Webster]quirky - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) : quirky adj 1: informal terms; strikingly unconventional [syn: far- out , kinky, offbeat, quirky, way-out]quirky - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 : 56 Moby Thesaurus words for "quirky": abnormal, anomalous, arbitrary, capricious, crank, crankish, cranky, crotchety, deviant, deviative, different, divergent, dotty, eccentric, erratic, exceptional, fanciful, fantasied, fantastic, fey, flaky, freakish, funny, harebrained, humorsome, idiocratic, idiosyncratic, irregular, kinky, kooky, maggoty, moody, motiveless, notional, nutty, odd, oddball, peculiar, petulant, queer, screwball, screwy, singular, strange, temperamental, twisted, unconventional, unnatural, unreasonable, unrestrained, vagarious, vagrant, wacky, wanton, wayward, whimsical.

That's it for me...I tag: Shalene, Sarah, Tonya, Cydney, Rachel, and an Anonymous person who came to this blog from a link off of somebody else's.

Cabin Fever!!

The cabin we stayed at in Pagosa Springs.





We have a favorite place our family likes to go to every summer up in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. We didn't get to go this summer so we decided to make a weekend trip in the Fall. It was worth the wait. The scenery was gorgeous. It was fun to see a whole different view on our regular hiking trails and fishing spots. We lucked out and got to stay in our favorite cabin again. As a bonus, my sister, Mandee, and her family were there for one night, too. We can't wait to go back again next year...but we might nix the four-hour fishing expedition or else Mom's staying home!

"Sounds like a bullfrog!"

Jimmy and the kids were digging worms in the garden so they could go fishing up in the mountains...Melody dug up a little something more! She was so excited to find "Hopper" she had to come and show me. He was huge!

Tag! I'm It....

Okay Shalene...you asked for it, now you're going to find out how boring I really am!

8 T.V. Shows I Love To Watch

1. Today Show (lame, I know)
2. Fringe
3. Supernanny (makes my kids look really good)
4. Wifeswap (makes me look like an awesome wife...too bad Jimmy's at mutual when I watch it)
5. Glenn Beck
6. Dateline
7. 20/20
8. American Idol (when it's on)


8 Things that Happened Yesterday

1. Exercised
2. Taught Preschool
3. Made plum jam with my friend, Katie
4. Had visiting teachers over
5. Helped Hali with her homework
6. Made dinner
7. Cleaned up dinner
8. Helped kids "read and pray and hit the hay"

8 Favorite Places to Eat

1. At my mom's house (nothing like homemade cooking someone else cooks for you!)
2. Chili's
3. Si Senor
4. Subway
5. Outback
6. Quiznos
7. Golden Dragon
8. Spare-Rib

8 Things I Look Forward To:

1. Naptime
2. Going to the cabin with my family in Pagosa
3. Jimmy's week off next week
4. Our TENTH anniversary next week
5. Bedtime
6. Going to the temple next week
7. Girls' night out
8. Finding my "Soul Purpose"

8 Things on My Wish List

1. A live-in maid (hey--it's a wish list!)
2. A handy-man (good luck)
3. A massage with no strings attached :)
4. To fit back into the jeans I wore six pregnancies ago (dream on!)
5. To have zero debt (hey...that's gonna happen someday!)
6. To write a children's book
7. To go one day without children bickering
8. To go on a vacation with just Jimmy for an entire week...or maybe just three days!

8 People I tag (in case you don't know what "tagged" means it indicates that you will post a blog with your own list of all these '8 things':

1. Mandee
2. Heidee
3. Lisa
4. Mechelle
5. Holly
6. Katie
7. Chandell
8. Tori