Proper Perspective

Life has a way of ebbing and flowing. It is always moving and changing. My life has certainly had its fair share of changes, both large, and small. Some of the changes I have experienced have completely altered my life, while other changes have just kind of shimmied things up a little.

One thing I try to remember is that I need to take in the happenings of life, with a proper perspective. Sometimes when things are happening, and they are right in my face, I find it best to take a step back, breathe, and put the event, or problem, in its proper place. I am not saying I am good at it, I am just saying I try to remember, because I can sometimes make small things seem big, if I am not careful.

Small things, when held right up to the eye, can block vision entirely.

I know, that is all very interesting, but let's move on from the vague philosophical stuff, to more realtime reality.

Sometimes being a mom is funny. I love it, almost all of the time. But there is one aspect of motherhood that I actually do not like.

Do you want to know what it is? 

I do not like being responsible for my children's teeth.

Ugh.

Today I took Daniel to the Orthodontist, and we found out he has some trouble with a tooth, that might need some pretty major (expensive) dental work. The Orthodontist was not particularly kind about it, in fact he was a little rude, and he is not normally that way. I will just assume he was having a bad day, and I will let it slide. But what I really do not like, is that as a mom, I feel responsible for all the teeth that dwell inside of the mouths of my children, and that's a lot of teeth!

I can help them remember to brush, but I simply cannot control the outcome at the dentist for each tooth. I just find it frustrating when one tooth can cause such a headache, in so many way. Oh well, proper perspective... right? We will get it fixed, pay the bill, and move on. I will try to remember to be grateful we have such advanced dental technology to fix our troubled mouths.

Besides that, I have been enjoying this time of year, with the changes in schedules, and the weather is finally enjoyable and beautiful! When I go out running in the morning, I can actually breathe fresh air, and it is amazing!

I have been able to go to the temple way more often, so that has been really nice. I have started shopping at Costco again, now that I have time to get out there. I do love Costco.

I have a few things I really want to accomplish with my time, and one of those things is getting my blog printed into a book for my family. I have SO many years documented though, and I have never turned blog-to-book before, so I think I have my work cut out for me BIG TIME! But I would love to have a hardcopy printed for my records. I am just not sure I would want to sit at the computer for that long of a project... I will have to find a way to pace myself over a long amount of time. Unless someone knows of a super easy way to just press "print," and it would be done?

I do eventually want to write a book, but I am still seeking inspiration on that subject. You might think this is crazy, but I actually watch and study Hallmark movies as kind of book-writing research. So many Hallmark movies have a widow/er as a main subject, because widowed-love is pretty interesting. My mom says I should just write about my real life, or use old blog posts as a guide, but my dad says I should step outside of my comfort zone into another world of writing. So, I continue my search for inspiration. This is something I have been counseled in a blessing that I am supposed to do, but it is up to me, to do the work. No pressure!

For now, let's move onto the pictures...

School is in session, and sometimes I find my kids totally exhausted at the end of the day.

 We all took turns reading short books out loud to Henry. He loved it.

 Here is a good example of perspective... a beautiful flower.

 

If you zoom in closer, you can see tiny little dew drops, and very fine intricate beauty. There are glorious things all around us, that we often do not take the time to look close enough to see.

I had to try and keep proper perspective when Sammi dropped her phone and it shattered. She does not use her phone a ton, but it is nice for her to have it, especially now that she is driving.

 Henry decided to change his perspective by building a train track outside.

I decided to order myself some fun shirts. My children get personalized shirts off of Amazon, and I thought it would be fun to join the party. I will also have it be known that this is me right after getting out of the shower, no make-up, or anything. I do try to share real stuff, and not just edited pictures to make us look better than we really are.

 Katie brought me more Pumpkin bread! It was Heavenly! :)

The youth had a fireside about President Nelson's 5 challenges, and it was awesome. Daniel was one of the speakers, and the young man who was conducting forgot to announce his name. Then at the very end, after all the other speakers had gone, a member of the Stake Presidency asked Daniel to come up and share his thoughts.

Daniel spoke without notes, and he did a great job. My favorite part was when he just stopped and testified, with power, that Jesus is the Christ. He was asked to talk about his 7 day social media fast, and he said that was easy for him, because he doesn't even have social media! He talked a little about the people-comparison problem, and he also encouraged everyone to look in the mirror and tell themselves they are beautiful, because they are! He also shared a story about a lost boy scout at Scout camp, and how it felt when Daniel and another guy found him. He made my mother heart very happy.

Sammi played the piano for the event, and she did a beautiful job. The pianist is so often overlooked when they are sitting in the background playing, but she did a glorious job, and my heart was filled with joy watching her play.

I love my teenagers. People keep saying how awful teenagers are, but I love the teenage years. Sure these years are filled with emotional craziness, but it is the stuff of life, and I really like that they can communicate like adults. I love their deep questions, and I enjoy hearing all about the stuff going on in their lives.

I listened to the song, "Slipping Through my Fingers" the other day, and I just cried. Sammi said they were discussing in Young Women's how our parents are also our siblings, in the eternal perspective. She said some of the girls thought that was a kind of strange concept, but it was not weird for her. Sometimes it does feel like Sammi is more of a sister than a daughter to me, because she is wise, and we also just talk about crazy things, like how we are both trying to date. (It is SO weird talking to my daughter about MY dating!) I do not know how things worked before we came to earth, but I do know that Sammi was meant to be my daughter, and meant to be with me on this strange journey of life. She said the same thing to me -- that we were meant to be together -- and she feels like she has always known me. So, I guess, technically Sammi does have a sister after all! We are the van Ormer sisters. :)

 I adore her.

 Oh the beauty of the world! I love to stop and look deeply into a flower.

 I was out running when I almost stepped on this little guy. I am glad I didn't! I decided to slow down, and take a picture.

 My pumpkins, are growing! Hooray!

 Another one of my shirts. :) If the shirt fits... wear it. This is SO true of me.

 The sky is clear and not smoke-filled! It feels like living in a different more joyful world!

 A little heart-shaped leaf, just for me.

 Nature calls to me.

 Ummmm... as if I could resist! These are new to me, and now a new addiction. If you put them in the fridge, they taste so much better cold. I was thinking if you got a can of the chocolate kind, and ate the chocolate and pumpkin ones together, then the earth might explode from the perfect combination of chocolate and pumpkin particles.

 I just love dew drops on spider webs. They create such magic, and rainbows.

 This shirt is SO true... especially when it comes to dating!

The other night Daniel and his Barbershop Quartet came and sang for me, and Sammi. They wanted to show what they had accomplished. They are so good! I sure love having so much music in our home and in our lives. It makes me happy.

This shirt is possibly my favorite, so far. I am mostly Scottish, with some Swedish, and English mixed in there, too. (And lots of other things, of course.) One of these days I want to do the DNA test to find out.

Maybe I will find I am part pumpkin. ;)