Picture our Sunday

This morning I woke up mindful that I'd be writing a post this evening, so I whipped out my camera! I've mentioned before that Sunday mornings aren't my thing, but with my camera in hand I was eager to make this Sunday morning a peaceful one. 

We started out by making pancakes. Mormons have a dedicated fast each month, which usually falls on the first Sunday of each month. We are commanded to fast for two meals (or 24 hours), and then donate the money we would have spent on food and beverages to those in need in our local congregations. I share this only to demonstrate how peaceful I really wanted this Sunday morning to be. I knew I wasn't going to be eating breakfast, but I still made a hot one for my kids. That's love, right? I added blueberries to each pancake as a simple way to fight the temptation to eat them. I am not a fan of fruit in my yogurt, ice cream, or breakfast foods.  Fruit flavoring, yum; fresh fruit on the side, double yum; chunks of fruit mixed right inside, no thanks.

 

Reid helped me prep both the mix I use and the actual pancake batter. He was in heaven.

Nell was not in heaven. She stood below us whining for some attention. 

 All was made well once she got her hands on some warm blueberry pancakes.

Once breakfast was over and it was time for me to shower, I put the kids in the tent and started an episode of Wild Kratts. Ben leaves each Sunday morning by 6:55 for 7:00 am church meetings so he isn't around to help (one of the reasons Sunday morning and I aren't best friends ... but I'm working on that). Wait, I know what you are thinking, but why would I wake up earlier than I have to in order to get ready when the TV is perfectly capable of watching my kids for me while I shower? (I should work on that too, huh?) 

Nell was much too squirmy for the tent, so I put her in her little rocking chair instead. This was actually the first morning I haven't put her in her baby cage (the play pen) during my shower. She's growing up and I'm trusting her with more responsibility -- like to not eat any electrical cords while I'm out of sight. She proved herself ready (thank goodness).

Reid was very happy with the tent arrangement. He stayed in there while I showered, got dressed, did my hair, and put Nell down for a quick pre-Church snooze (she was awake at 5:30 this morning).

He was not so happy about his first day in Primary (an hour and a half long Sunday School class for LDS children). But I still managed to get a goofy and handsome picture out of him before we went to Church. 

And though my cute little lamby wasn't hitting any LDS milestones (two more months until she can go to Nursery!!!), I still had to snatch a picture of her. 

We tried all week to spark Reid's enthusiasm for Primary, but he has had such a great experience in Nursery that he didn't want to leave. From what I hear he did great during the age divided class time (he and the only other three-year-old ... a cute blond haired boy named Reed ... comprise the Sunbeam class). His teacher is fabulous and there was still snack time, like Nursery. But when all the kids age 3 through 11 were together for some singing and sharing time he started to cry for mommy. One of the leaders took him for a walk around the building (inside, of course, it is deathly cold outside) and then he got to be her little helper once he calmed down and returned. He told her (and later us) that it was "scary in there" with all the other kids. I'm hoping he'll adjust soon. I really thought he'd like the fact that Primary has a lot more kids than Nursery, obviously I was wrong. More friends does not make up for lack of toys, I suppose.

Reid and I took a nap together this afternoon. I had plans to make a big ham dinner, but I was so hungry all I wanted to do was sleep until I could break my fast (what a great way to sacrifice, right?) Ben was a great help and took care of Nell for most the afternoon (she slept for almost three hours though, so it wasn't a huge chore). 

Instead of ham we just had a simple soup my mom taught me to make. Then we played lots of silly games, like ogre dancing and lego tower tipping.

We did our usual night time routine, only Ben read stories this time instead of me. And instead of Reid crawling in his bed after family prayers he got to stay up an extra half hour to play board games! I joke (with some truth in it) that the only reason I had kids was so I could have my own little board and card game playing crew. That, and little hands to play with my hair. Obviously I wanted a family for more complex reasons that are nearly impossible to explain, but when you simply boil things down, I wanted a family because I grew up knowing that family equaled happiness. And my happiest childhood family memories are of playing games with my dad and brothers and brushing my moms hair (and she mine) while watching TV.

Sometimes huge life choices are really that simple.

And sometimes simple choices have huge impacts. 

I'm grateful I chose to make this Sunday morning a less stressful one.