General Conference

WOW!

Is there any doubt that there is a prophet on the earth today who is lead by the Savior in moving His glorious work forward? Is there any doubt that there are men called by God to help in spreading the gospel across the world? Is there any doubt that Heavenly Father loves each and every one of His children and knows them so personally that He can speak through His prophets to each one of them bringing them answers and understanding and PEACE during their troubled times?

If there IS doubt then go HERE and watch General Conference again - you must have missed something.

Prayerfully listening to the words spoken by the prophet and his counselors has helped me to receive direct - and I mean DIRECT - answers to questions that have filled my heart since last October (which was the last General Conference). I know that anyone who listens to, watches, or reads the proceedings from this conference with an open mind and a prayer in their heart, seeking guidance, can have the exact same experience. It has never failed for me. There have been some conferences where I didn't put the preparation into it that I should have. I let it sneak up on me. And although I stopped to watch, and was significantly uplifted, it didn't have the same result as prayerfully preparing to be instructed by the Lord's servants.

I hope everyone else had the chance to partake of the wisdom and inspiration that flowed from General Conference this weekend. And if you didn't IT'S OKAY! Because you can watch it again on LDS.ORG. And if you have noisy kids like I do you can watch it one 10 minute talk at a time! You can read all the talks next month in the Ensign - and you can even download the whole thing to your ipod! HOW COOL IS THAT!?!

Here is a clip of President Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the First Presidency from the conference proceedings (the Relief Society session) from last October.

Amazing.

So I'm going to take the counsel I received and get to work.

I'm going to start by creating - creating a smile. And go forward from there.

The Good Job Jar

Last year I was having trouble disciplining my 3 year old. Time outs were less effective, and tantrums were predictable at certain times of the day - breakfast time, nap time, clean-up time, dinner time, bath time, bed time - pretty much all day long there was a battle in progress. I remembered a book called "The Power of Positive Parenting". I haven't read it but my mom, the author/editor, had and told me about the concept. Children need attention. At this age they don't understand the difference between good attention and bad attention - they just want attention and they will do anything they need to do to get it. I realized that I wasn't giving Rachel enough positive attention through the day. I wasn't recognizing her for the good things she was doing - I was only recognizing the tantrums (which are hard not to recognize). As I lay in bed thinking one night (a regular activity of mine) I had an idea. I don't know if the idea is original - I'm sure it's not - but I don't know who made it up. I envisioned a big glass jar with a pretty bow filled up with colorful shiny glass rocks. What kid DOESN'T like a shiny, smooth, colorful rock? So the next day I put my vision into action. I retrieved a large canning jar from the depths of my cupboard and bought a couple of sacks of glass rocks from the store and a bucket full of prizes (small books and other assorted dollar store toys - reminiscent of the dentist office prize box). Then I made my jar with a pretty bow and lines on the jar. I explained to Rachel that every time she did something good, or performed a task without fussing about it, she would be able to put a rock in the jar. She caught on immediately and the thing was a MIRACLE! I had three different sizes of rocks - small ones for tasks like washing hands after using the toilet and brushing teeth before bed without crying; medium ones for sharing with her brother and eating all her dinner; and big ones for going to nursery without crying and cleaning her room. The change in my little girl was amazing, and maybe it was because there was a change in me too. All of a sudden I was more conscientious of the good things she was doing and I was excited to reward her for it. She was more interested in putting a "cooly rock" in the good job jar than she was in pitching a fit. The jar became a GREAT bargaining chip - - "Rachel if you will be reverent during sacrament meeting then when we get home you may put a great big cooly rock in the good job jar!" She really responded to that and would even stop tantrums in their tracks if I threatened to take away a cooly rock. I'm telling you - this thing WORKS!! As she would fill up the jar to a certain line she would receive a prize from the prize bucket. When the good job jar is filled up to the top she will get a BIG prize (which we have yet to determine).

Here we sit approximately 6 months after the beginning of the good job jar. Our sweet girl finished the year in nursery with no trouble and now she is the brave one in Sunbeams as most of the other 3 year olds around her are crying. She has no trouble with babysitters, or teeth brushing, or other things that were a constant battle. We've stopped awarding cooly rocks for things like hand washing but we still remember to give her props verbally. The jar is almost full and still stands as an excellent bargaining chip. Even Ben likes to contribute rocks to the jar although he doesn't understand the concept quite yet. Rachel has really blossomed and we as her parents have too!

Now if any of you have ideas on how to tame my 1 1/2 year old please share!

Why are moms the bad guys part 2

Yesterday I was giving the kids a bath. Rachel was playing with a rubber fish and shouting, "Flounder, Flounder come back!"

Me: "Rachel is your fishy's name Flounder?"

Rachel: "Yes and I'm Ariel. And Ben's Prince Eric!"

Me: "Oh cool!"

Rachel: "And you're the wicked Ursula, Mom."

Me: "Oh nice...thanks."

A little while ago Paul and Rachel were dancing in the livingroom. Rachel was wearing one of her assorted princess dresses and my high heels. She twirled and said, "Daddy I'm Cinderella and YOU are the handsome Prince Charming!"

Paul: "Okay! And who is Mommy?"

Rachel: "Mommy is the wicked Stepmother!"

Paul: "Alright!" snicker snicker giggle giggle

Me: "Can't I be the fairy godmother?"

Rachel: "No Mom! You have to be the wicked Stepmother! Quick Ben - it's the wicked Stepmother let's run away!"

Ben (running away with Rachel): AAHHHHH!

Am I doomed to be typecast as the wicked counterpart forever?!!!

WE DID IT!!! ...and then...

We didn't.

A few months ago I posted about a fitness challenge that my husband and I had embarked on - which really WAS a challenge -and...drumroll....WE DID IT!! We went 2 MONTHS without sugar, and we exercised 5 days a week. It was so awesome. It was so fulfilling. We did it and we did it together. I felt so energized physically and mentally. I felt like I had overcome some HUGE hurdle and it was empowering.

And then we tanked.

Yep. As soon as the calendar read MARCH we let the sugar flow. Now that it's not "against the rules" to eat sugar - we have let it back into our lives FULL FORCE! While on the sugar fast we would say things like, "I don't even miss it!" Now we are saying things like "OHHH look at those Krispy Kream Donuts! Remember when we couldn't eat those?! It's been so long - let's get double!

This is exactly why contestants on "Biggest Loser" gain it all back and more once the show is over and the prize money is dealt out. Game's over. It's no longer a contest. It's no longer against the "rules" to live that way.

That's when I realized that changing your life is a daily process. You can't "try it for a month" and hope to be changed. It takes a lot more. The trial process taught me that it's worth it, but now I need to change mentally and realize that a healthy body AND SPIRIT isn't just something you can choose once. You have to keep choosing it every day. I think that's the difference between having a TESTIMONY and being CONVERTED. I have a testimony that going without sugar makes my body feel really good. But I'm obviously not converted. So that got me to thinking...what ELSE in my life do I ONLY have a testimony of? It's a scary thing to think about. Upon introspection I have found there are a lot of areas of my life lacking TRUE CONVERSION. So I'm going to make a list of those things for myself and during General Conference this weekend I am going to pray and search for help in becoming converted to life - every single day.

April Fool's Cupcakes

My good friend Maralee brought these festive April Fool's treats to us. It was so cute I had to take a picture. They are "T.V. dinner cupcakes". As you can see there are 3 Chicken drumsticks, 1 serving of mashed potatoes, 1 serving of peas and carrots, and a chocolate dessert. SO CUTE!





Here's what Ben thought about all of this chocolate goodness...

If only all of us could find this kind of joy in the simple things in life!

YYYYEAH...ABOUT THAT...

Did I say (back in January) that I had picked up those 52 cards? Oh yeah...about that...I meant to say that I would get back to picking up those cards in April. Except that now evil viruses (not the computer kind) have attacked my family once again and I am plagued with Gatorade vomit, fevers of 104.9, ear infections, and finally (thank the pediatrician) plenty of ammoxacillin. Need drugs (of the pediatric fever reducing sort)? Come to the Gardners!

note: actually I would advise you stay away for a while unless you want to share the virus wealth.

52 Card Pickup

Have you ever played the game "52 Card Pickup"? It's the silly joke-of-a-game where the shuffler takes the entire deck of cards and flips them into the air and all the little kids pick the cards up as fast as they can. Fun right? NOT.

So we've been on a 2 month "52 card pickup" blogging hiatus. Between laundry, holidays, dishes, weddings, birthdays, shopping, traveling over the river and through the woods to Grandma's house and back, church calling craziness, being sick ALL STINKIN' WINTER, and everything else - the proverbial "cards" of our life here in Vernal have all been flipped in the air and we're trying to pick them up. Excuse us for our absence. Work with us as we play catch up. Scroll down the blog page as we try to document things in chronological order. And stay tuned for a boat load of posts and pics. We're back.

Health Challenge

Our insurance company is AWESOME. They have a fitness program that issues challenges every 2 months. If you and your spouse complete each challenge for the entire year then they will SEND YOU A CHECK FOR $400!!! Okay I'm not a very good new years resolution keeper - being fit has never been something I'm motivated to do - I love to sleep! But if FITNESS isn't enough of a motivator, $400 IS!! BUT this first challenge has been a DOOZY. EXERCISE 30 MIN A DAY FOR 5 DAYS A WEEK - AND - NO SUGAR. PERIOD. We can eat things like jam and honey - but we can't have dessert things. We have to replace soda with water and we have to replace things like candy, cookies, and other sweet things with fruit and vegetables. I can't believe how ADDICTED to sugar I had become - especially over the holidays! The first week nearly did me in - but now 1 month into the challenge - I really don't crave the sweet stuff anymore. Oh sure there is a night here and there when we've put the kids to bed and would LOVE to reach for a bowl of chocolate ice cream or cookies and milk. But instead we've had fresh fruit smoothies or a small bowl of wheat chex. Amazingly enough neither Paul nor I have missed sugar as much as we thought we would and we both feel SO MUCH BETTER!!

The second part of the challenge - exercise - really HAS been a challenge for me. Unfortunately running after a 3 yr. old and a 1 yr. old doesn't count as exercise (I beg to differ). I really thought I didn't have enough energy to workout after taking care of the kids and the house - but I was wrong. Working out has helped me to feel SO MUCH BETTER. I'm less sore and stiff at the end of the day. I feel better about myself. I really hated working out before. I hate going to the gym. I can't run on our elyptical when the kids are awake because of little fingers, but when they sleep (which is rarely at the same time) I want to sleep too!

I found that by breaking up the routine and doing new things each day - it's doable. I started recording aerobics and yoga on TV and doing them with the kids. THEY LOVE IT! Rachel jumps up and down in jumping jacks with me when I'm doing aerobics and Ben climbs on me when I'm trying to fold myself into a pretzel during yoga - not much of a help but hilariously funny. Every day Rachel wakes up and says, "C'mon Mom time to exercise!"

What more motivation could you ask for? ($400 helps too.)

cousins Cousins COUSINS!!

Welcome to the world BABY TYLER!! Trevor and Rachel welcomed their little bundle of joy, Tyler Clay Watts, into their family Jan. 23 - Uncle B's birthday! He weighed in at a grand 8 lbs. 9 oz. and was 21 in. long. Here are a couple pirated photos - thanks Trev.

We talked on the web cam with them on Sunday and my Rachel has been talking about her new cousin ever since. "Mom TOMORROW we can talk to Trev and Rachel and Baby Tyler on the compooter again K?!"

Welcome to the world little guy. We can't wait to see you in the spring! Oh and Happy Birthday Trev!

PRIMARY!!

My baby is a BIG GIRL!! I can't believe I have a child old enough to be in primary! It feels like yesterday when we FINALLY got her used to going to nursery...wait I think it WAS yesterday...

Rachel is the youngest in her class, just making the Jan. 1 deadline with a Dec. 22 birthday. Most of the kids her age that she plays with won't be in primary till next year. But Rachel was ready. She has a hard time with chaos, and 15 little kids running around the nursery screaming and grabbing and crying = chaos. She likes adult supervision. She like constructive activities. She's good at sitting still and listening to stories (for a certain amount of time - she IS 3 ya know). She likes being around kids in smaller numbers and having a little more adult interaction. She LOVES to sing and has been able to hear pitch and carry a tune since she was 1. Sunbeams is TOTALLY her cup o' tea. And as you can tell she loved every minute of it.

I sat at the back of the chapel for a few minutes as she sat on the front pew with her new sunbeam class and her new sunbeam teacher; with her arms folded tightly and her legs dangling above the floor. Once she looked back and saw me and put her little hand up by her face making a little waving motion. It's okay Mom, I'm a big girl now. You don't have to watch through the door in the nursery to see if I'm the one crying. You can go to your Sunday school class. I'm going to go learn about Jesus and about being a child of God and about how to choose the right. I love you. I wanted desperately to go with her. I wanted to watch her sing. I wanted to watch her learn and grow. Are there times you DESPERATELY wish you could just shrink down to be a fly on a wall and watch your kids in their assorted activities - school, soccer, dance, primary, playing with their little brother in their room and giggling their hearts out?

I wish.