I'm Not Perfect--Yet

I had a thought just the other day about the fact that my children, so far, were not growing up in an immaculate home. Don’t get me wrong, we are not living in squalor, it’s just that even though we clean, the entire house is NEVER clean at the same time. I may have five loads of laundry on the homeschool table, but the toilet is squeaky clean; fresh oatmeal may be on the wall, but the bills are all paid, annotated and filed in the appropriate place; Toys strewn all around my feet, but experience an overwhelming sense of peace having just finished the fifth interview with my father about his life.

It doesn’t always look pretty.

My friend Wendy has perfectly white teeth.
My friend Roseann has a perfectly clean house.
My friend Diane is the perfect homeschool mom.
My friend Shelley lives in the house of her dreams.
My friend Aimee is a super-frugal savvy shopper.
My friend Isabelle has a perfect marriage.
My friend Nina is a good saver.
My sister Sharon has the faith to move mountains and courage to match.

Although I have experienced flashes of these things, perfect moments here and there, I am not and do not do all them all. BUT let me tell you what I realized today while studying about hope in the Preach My Gospel manual. I learned that being an example of diligence and hope and patience, even in all of my imperfection is as important as doing the right thing all the time.
Do you know what that means?!

It means that I don’t have to obsess about that fact that I’m not perfect all the time.
It means that I can take a breath, scan the room (or the mirror, whatever the case may be), soak up my own reality, and move forward doing the best that I can.
But more important than anything, it means that my children get to see how to move ahead in life and not get discouraged or paralyzed even when everything doesn’t go their way.

Because my home is not clean all the time, my children get to learn from me how to clean it and actually get the satisfaction of seeing a corner of it change from chaos to order.
Because my body is not perfect yet, my children get to see me go from struggling to jog for one minute to running a 5K.
Because my husband and I fight sometimes, my children get to see how we always make up and truly enjoy each other.
Because I am not a perfectly patient homeschool mom, my children get to learn that even adults need to apologize to kids sometimes.
Because my teeth are a little yellow, we get to see if Crest Whitening Strips really work.

It’s direction, not speed! Stephen Covey said something about successful families that rings very true to me. He said that successful families are off track about 90% of the time, but the difference is that they know what the track looks like and they keep going back to it.

Today, I am going to feel GREAT about looking completely derailed, because I know what the track looks like and I’m going back to it every time. Wanna come?

Rasmussen 2007 Yearbook

Joshua's Book is Published

Joshua's book finally came. Star Wars, Episode 13, More Sith Appear. This book is SO funny. He really has the knack for creating humorous stories. It has been so fun using Heritage Makers for homeschool! We write and rewrite and when it is perfect, we publish. Many people have already enjoyed Joshua's book and we hope you enjoy it, too.

I actually did it. I finally ran a 5K and ran every step of the way. I started running only a few months ago and had trouble running for even one minute. I increased my time gradually under the tutelage of Jennifer Bair (left) and worked up to about 30 minutes running three times a week. We decided to do this race in American Fork close to Halloween (hence the costumes) and was happy that Shauna Dunn (right) was also running in the race. She supplied me with some fairy wings (not pictured). Shauna also beat my time by about 12 minutes--of course.

How was the race you ask? Yeah, that. Well, let's just say I had never run up a hill before in my life and the race was basically through the foothills of American Fork and through the cemetary. Let's just say I am aware of muscles now that I never thought I had. I was hoping to finish in about 36 minutes, but the race took me almost 49 minutes, by far the longest, most gruelling run I've ever done.

When we could see the lights at the finish, Jennifer started yelling at me to not give up and run even faster. At that point, my whole body hurt and I thought I was dying, but was somehow able to kick it in and was running at what I thought was a pretty good clip when Lars saw us. He came and cheered me on and took pictures. He was especially pleased to see that I was really sweating. He got even more pictures of my armpits. Fascinating. The only thing that bothered me, now that I think about it, was how easily Lars was able to run ahead of me and take picture of me in motion. I thought I was really bookin' it! How did he catch me?

Will I ever do it again, you ask? Last weekend I would have answered no. This week is a maybe. And as long as Jennifer Bair is my neighbor, there is probably no way around it. I'm a runner now.

Samantha and Noah

My two miracles. Who would have guessed that this beautiful girl, Samantha would grow to be the amazing nine-year-old that she is. She is like a second Mom to "Bubby" (Noah) and he often goes to her for comfort and love. I remember praying for her life as she lay there in an incubator weighing less than two pounds. It was so long ago and yet so fresh in my memory. All the things we worried about--her sight, hearing, learning disabilities, etc. never a problem. Not only was she the tallest girl in her kindergarten class, but they clocked her reading speed in third grade at three times faster than the second fastest reader in her class. AND she retains it all. The girl has a mind like a steel trap.

More recently, Samantha prayed for my life and for the life of our last little miracle as we embarked into the unknown with the surprise blessing we named Noah. How blessed I am to have witnessed not one, but two miracles.

My Boys

This is one of my favorite pictures. All of my boys together taken at Christmastime last year. Aren't they handsome?

Debbie's Favorite Store, May 2007

Opening day at IKEA finally arrives. No more last minute trips to California for scrabook bedding for the ladies or drooling over the catalog only to be discouraged by shipping costs. Any time we've been near an IKEA since we moved from Washington we've had to choose between bringing the kids back home with us or picking up some furniture. Needless to say, the kids won out and we brought them back every time. So, what did we buy, you might ask? Would you believe absolutely nothing?! How could I possibly decided on anything when I want to furnish my entire house with IKEA. Where does one begin? If anyone knows please call me.

Sidenotes:
Noah in Snugli (8 months old)
Ran into Tanya Fisher from Fukuoka Mission
Lars spent the morning with sister Lara and I was second string (long story)
Very nice lady took our picture in front

First Sushi--August 22,2007

Is there nothing more adorable than a child's very first taste of sushi? Noah officially has culture now. He would probably be embarrassed by me telling you that even though it was "te-maki-zushi", he didn't roll his own and Mom had to help him. We're not concerned though. He'll learn soon enough.

Another phenomenon we've noticed is humming while eating. The more Noah approves of the menu, the more he hums. It makes his mom work really hard making the food good, so that we can all enjoy the hums of delight. His first sushi was accompanied with LOTS of humming.