The Best Motivation Video - MUST SEE for New Years...

I had this scheduled to post tomorrow... but I just can't wait to share it! ;O

Hi!  Happy New Year! :D

Now is the time of year that I start thinking heavily about all the things I would like to accomplish in life... things that really make living worth living.

Striving to make ourselves and our lives better can be so overwhelming, and sometimes we all need a little extra encouragement. One of the best sources of encouragement in my life has been to see others struggle to accomplish things, and then achieve them.

This video that I have to share with you today does just that. I shared it once before on this blog along with a big pile of words... But it really is one of the most fabulous videos I have ever seen, and I think it deserves a space of it's own. :)

I hope you really enjoy it.

I hope it inspires you to dream...

and I hope you work to make those dreams come true!  :D

Corine ;D





PS I decided to start posting some of my favorite videos on a couple of Mondays each month. If you know of any fabulous videos you think I might like to share, please share! thanks! ;) Corine

Parenting and Perfection... Lessons Learned

Hi. I have been doing a bit of reflecting this morning. I am surprised to realize that I still occasionally judge myself based on the behaviors of my children. Not like I did years ago, when I actually believed (gasp!) that my kids would simply behave however I taught them to. At that time I took credit for their successes, and blame for their failures. Not any more. NOT AT ALL. Some time ago, I stopped taking credit for their good, and blame for their bad. I believe there is more behavior than nurture... more to it than nature... there is also free-agency, and there are also individual challenges... issues that no one knows about or understands that play a part in how people of all ages behave; thus Christ is the only one who can rightfully judge.

AND YET- a small part of me still judges myself for that which my children still lack. I realized that I must (on some level) think it part of my life mission... not only to plant seeds of teachings in their minds... but also to watch the seeds sprout and grow strong... without forcing it to happen. :O

NO. It can Not be my mission to watch these seeds take root and grow. Whether or not my children nourish the seeds I plant within them is out of my control. I do not believe in following the example of Satan to force my children to behave as he wanted to force us. That can not be the answer, and I will not do it.

And then there is the hope I have to be perfectly calm, and totally in control of my tongue; to speak and act so perfectly that I never set a wrong example. :O...

And I used to pray to accomplish this "soon, while my children still live in my home; so they can see and grow from my example!" :O I would pray to be a better PERFECT example to these wonderful people! Perhaps this is just a bit unrealistic.

Thankfully for me, despite my many imperfections, mistakes, and flaws. I have often thought of something which comforts me. I have considered the fact that other people's "imperfections, mistakes and flaws" are exactly what I have needed to be around in order for me to learn and grow and become a better person. If I lived in a world of perfect people, I would never learn patience, unconditional love, to forgive, to not judge etc. In short, I would never improve, and become a better, happier person.

This is also true of my family and of those around me; thus, my imperfections and flaws are actually blessings to my family. :D Yeah! LOL ~ Just as their imperfections and flaws are blessings to me.

So, while I continue to strive for perfection (to follow Jesus Christ's command to "be ye therefore perfect") I am learning to do so without stressing about imperfections, and without worrying about how long it will get there (sometime after I leave this world, no doubt). I do my best, and have faith that under a loving Father in Heaven's watchful care... all will unfold as it should, when it should.

These principles help me to be patient and kind with myself and with my family. Imperfections, (be they mine, my children's, my husband's, or any one else's for that matter) no longer discourage me. I am at peace. Life is good. Heavenly Father has made it so. :D

PS I finally got ice skates. :D And, I went ice skating on a nearby pond... for the first time! And, I was AWESOME! He he.... for a first timer! :O But, I am a rollerblader, so I sort of do have some experience after all. I wasn't a smooth iceskater, like I am with rollerblading. But I was OK. :D I'm anxious to go again! :D

An ALMOST ~ Wordless Wednesday... ;)

This year, our Christmas celebrations started late in December.

...rather than just after Thanksgiving in November.

 

I was a bit concerned that we wouldn't have time to do enough...

and that by NOT doing all of the traditions which we normally do,

 

it wouldn't even feel like Christmas.

But of course, IT DID. :D

And we still got to walk down town Coeur d'Alene and look at the lights.

They were beautiful, as always.

I so enjoy this tradition...

even though my family won't slow down enough for me to get them into focus at night. :)

Aren't the lights beautiful? :D



I loved taking these photos...

We went to the mall on Sherman street.

I love the decorations in that mall!

and so I took lots of photos... :)

Lots of photos...

But still not enough, because we still did not get a family photo! :(

And there were things we did that we have no photos for ...

Like baking cute little plates of goodies to share with a couple of neighbors and friends at a nursing home.

But Christmas was still in the air... despite not having a family photo,
or photos of our Nursing Home visit or cookie plates.

The kids got up while it was still dark ~ just like they always had from the time they were little.

(Levi made sure of that! :)

(...watching Levi's bug crawl around on the floor ~ a gift from his bro!)

It was a really wonderful and peaceful day!

This year we actually had breakfast BEFORE opening gifts

(a sign that the kids are definitely getting  "have definitely gotten" BIG; don't ya think?).

So the sun was close to beginning to rise by the time we started opening gifts.

Levi announced in laughter...,

"Hurry! If the sun comes up before we open gifts,

we'll have to cancel gift opening until early tomorrow morning!"

I never realized until now that it was a tradition to open gifts before sunrise! Shows what I know! ;)

I love my family! :D

 We had a wonderful Christmas celebration!

Miles scored big points by getting me a jewelry box that hangs on the wall and has a photo collage on the front of it... two favorites in one, and I don't need a shelf for my jewelry box! ;)

Oh yeah! Great job baby! ;D 

 OK. Enough is enough. No more photos... I'm tired of loading! ;O Besides, I already told you the best part about our Christmas day in this blog.

Until next year!  :D

Yet Another Unexpected Christmas Surprise…

In the attitude of celebration and appreciation for simple joys that come from small random experiences in life... I have decided to share with you part of what I wrote in my journal last night. I have modified it some so you will know of relevant information, as well as to make it a bit more entertaining and imaginable. Enjoy! :D

Hi. :D Today has been a marvelous day! It is Christmas Day. I’m so thankful that it feels so good. I really wanted Christmas to truly feel like a celebration of Christ's life... and not just a day to open gifts and play. There were many traditions that my family and I didn't do this year, so I really hoped that Christmas would still feel like Christmas; and it did. :)

Despite the traditions we didn't participate in this year, there were still several simple traditional experiences that made the day feel like Christmas. The icing on the cake consisted of the family piling into our Suburban and taking a short trip to a local nursing home to visit Marjorie (who the kids have adopted as “Grandma Margy”); this visit proved to be the most magical experience of the day... and though we go to the nursing home every Christmas, this year presented another new experience which I know I will savor as magical Christmas moment for many years to come.

During this particular visit, our family met a new friend. Her name was Tuty, and though it is with Grandma Marjorie that our hearts have been so knitted with for the past few years, today I would like to take a few minutes to tell you about our introduction with Tudy. :)

But first I must back track to the last few moments that took place before we all piled into the suburban and left for the nursing home. As I headed out the door I felt inspired to quickly wrap a plate of goodies. I was going to take it to my neighbor Dianne. However, Dianne and her family weren’t home; and since I went straight from their house to the car, the plate was packed into the car along with the family.

Dianne’s wasn’t the only plate of Christmas goodies in the car. Upon reaching the nursing home, I took another plate in with me for Grandma Margy. Dianne’s plate was left in the car, but I had a feeling that it wouldn’t come home with us… that this plate really wasn’t intended for Diane in the first place. So, as we drove into the parking lot of the Nursing home, I told the kids that if they needed a plate of goodies, they would find it on my seat

As we walked down through the halls with Marjorie’s plate of goodies, an elderly lady who we didn't know would open her door and spy on us, repeatedly opening and closing her door every few seconds. As we stopped in the hall to take turns signing a Christmas card for Margy, this woman continued to open and close her door. We would say hello, or wish her a Merry Christmas each time. My heart strings were pulled, as saw this woman seem to long for us to visit her, and as I watched her eyes fall upon the plate. I knew we would have to come back to see her. I said nothing to the family and could only wonder if walking past this woman’s door was as hard for the rest of the family as it was for me.
I wondered, that is… until the night unfolded.

As it turned out, Margy wasn’t in her room. She was in a dining room celebrating Christmas with two of her children, a grandson and his wife, and their two daughters, Marjorie’s great grandchildren. We approached the dining room and looked in.

“Hello!” Marjorie’s daughter greeted us. “I’m so happy to see you here! Please come in and join us. There aren’t many extra chairs here, but you can pull some in from the room next to this one.”

I had visited with Margy’s daughter and husband many times over the past few years on such occasions when we would both show up to visit Marjorie at the same time, and felt very much welcomed by the whole family, so we brought chairs in from a nearby room and joined the family gathering. It was so comfortable to be there… for me. But not quite so for the 16 year old twins who are more comfortable in small gatherings of close friends. The rest of us were gathered round the table in a tight circle, but there wasn’t room for every chair in that circle; the twins stood on the outside of the circle, just a couple of feet away from the table, but still near the door. There were just too many people there that they didn’t know.

However, after a while of us visiting, Devry quietly asked for the keys, went out to the car to get the plate of Christmas goodies, and headed down the hall. There were so many people there visiting Marjorie, that Mindy informed me in a whisper that Devry was going to visit the mysterious woman we had seen earlier, and that she was going to join him. Soon, Mindy got the other boys to join in, and all four kids went off while Miles and I visited Marjorie and her family. I supposed they would be brief, but over an hour went by and the children never returned.

Occasionally, I would look over towards the door to see if the kids were back yet. I thought it strange that they hadn't yet returned from visiting their new friend. I finally had to go and get them myself. When I walked in the room, I saw my four children standing in a tiny little room with no chairs, in front of this elderly woman, who looked so exhausted, and yet so happy.

It was quite an interesting and cool experience for me to have my children introduce me to this dear lady, rather than us all meeting together at once as we usually do, and me doing the introducing for my quiet children as we had with others in the past. It was very cool. :D

The woman sat in her one and only chair and I couldn’t help but notice that in her lap was the plate of goodies Devry had brought in. I noticed that the woman touched the plate and looked at it off and on several times in the minute or two that I was there; I could she that cherished it. A simple plate of cookies… and yet she held it as if it were a treasure.

On the way home Devry informed me that they couldn’t leave until I came for them because each time they began to say goodbye the old lady would sadly exclaim, “What? You’re leaving, already?” He emphasized the “already”, and stated that Tuti really didn’t want them to go. He also stated that Tuti asked them if they would come back and visit her again; he couldn’t bear to say ‘no,’ so he told her he could come back and visit on a Sunday. This pleases me. It has been some time since our regular Sunday visits to the nursing home.

I was impressed. It came as no surprise to me that my daughter and youngest son went with Devry to visit, for they are somewhat outgoing and socially courageous, but the twins have grown socially so quickly that I am continually surprised to discover that they have become so much more than I see them as. And Devry, who I felt had acted rebelliously with his father and I the night before… was totally and completely wrapped around the finger of a wrinkled up old lady who looked like she was about to fall asleep; this surprised and delighted me.

These 16 year old boys, who barely talk to anyone… without being asked to, went and visited an elderly lady who they did not know, and took her a plate of Christmas goodies! These 16 year old boys, who as children never volunteered to socialize even with kids their own age who they really wanted to socialize with… cheerfully and willingly VOLUNTEERED to socialize with a couple of elderly women on Christmas day.

And these boys, who consented once persuaded... to leave their new Christmas games to visit an adopted grandma - went the extra mile and on their own, visited with and then adopted another...

As we got into the car the boys briefly moaned about how LONG we had been there. Now they were more like the boys I expected them to be. ;) However, I could not deny, that despite the every day normal moans and hesitations which they work through and rise above… There is so much more to each and every one of the youth of today than meet’s the eye, even to the eyes of a mother.

I am so thankful, for yet, another wonderful Christmas surprise, and perhaps a small Christmas miracle of sorts. For what these very quiet boys did - took more courage, more compassion, more love, and more commitment… than I knew they possessed. I am SO PROUD OF THEM! :D And I am so excited to continue to discover other bits of goodness and selflessness tucked away and hiding within these marvelous people! :D



How Many Men Does it Take to Start a Car?

I am SO happy to have found this photo - with 5 men! :)
(photo found on superstock.com)

The most wonderful thing happened tonight. My daughter and I went out together to finish our Christmas shopping, and right in the Target parking lot our Suburbans battery died. And when I say, "died" I mean, it didn't even hick up! A series of amazing events took place which are all so cool that I am totally anxious to relate them to you.

First of all, Mindy and I realized that the battery wasn't working before we even entered the store because the doors wouldn't lock. I then checked the light, and it too stopped working. We figured that the battery must have died just after we parked and decided to just go ahead and shop and just ask someone for a jump start when we were ready to go.

This we did. On our way out the door, I asked the first person I saw. A man who came out of the door just behind me. He was happy to help out, and interestingly, he was parked RIGHT NEXT TO US! Yeah, I know. God really loves us! :D How convenient for us all!

The next cool little miracle came when after a few minutes of this kind man trying to charge our battery, another man came by and asked if he, too could help out. Of cours I was happy to let him help out! I told him what was happening, and he drove his car over close to mine and placed a second set of jumper cables on top of the first... just to speed things up for us. :D Yeah... that's what I thought! Pretty cool, eh?

By the way, how many men might have walked past and seeing that someone was already helping, would have kept on going? I'm not sure how many did that, but I do know this... FIVE men, DIDN'T walk on by! That's right. A few minutes later THREE MORE MEN came by to help us out. They asked if they could help, and I explained to them that the battery just wouldn't charge, and if they had any ideas of what could be causing this, they were welcome to help out, too. And they cheerfully did so!

All five of these men tinkered with the Suburban and put their heads together to figure out what the problem was, and they weren't about to leave until that Suburban started! :D Can I just tell you how much I enjoyed that?

I was totally "wow"ed! And I must tell you, it absolutely drove me batty that I still have NOT purchased as small compact camera to put in my purse for such occasions! :O  I really wanted a photo of those wonderful men to place on my blog!!! And, just so you know... they would have let me do it, too. I asked if they minded if I blogged this, with a photo of them, and they all said "sure!" But alas, I had no camera.

If only I hadn't been so naughty this year, Santa may have brought me a camera for Christmas... but I"m sure to get coal instead! :O ~ Oh well! I won't let that stop me. ;) I've GOT to get a small camera to take places with me! :D

PS Anyone have any suggestions for a GOOD camera that fits into a purse? It has to take good clear photos. I've been spoiled by my Rebel XTI, so a crummy camera just won't do. It doesn't have to take long shots though... just close shots for moments like I had today for emergency photos which can be taken at no other time. Any suggestions would be appreciated. THANKS! :D

PPS I hope you all have awesome holiday miracles in your lives this year too! Let me know if you write about any; I would love to read about it! :D Thanks!

Corine

Gifts From Christ this Year at Christmas Time... :)

Hello, and Merry Christmas! :D

I'm experiencing somewhat, an overflow of emotions right now. I am more thankful than I ever have been, for the life that I have. I used to think myself such an optimist. I've still so much to learn.

I spent the day with an amazing woman yesterday, my new friend, Valerie. She is mother to 11, a woman who began learning to ski at the age of 40 (perhaps that will be me... provided I begin this winter, or before my birthday next winter ;), began triathlons only in the past 5 years, and has already won first place on one of them!! And most important, she is one of the SWEETEST, KINDEST, woman I have had the privilege of getting to know!!! I am so excited to get to become friends with her!!!! :D

We all had SO MUCH FUN! My youngest son made snow forts and went sledding with Valarie's youngest son... and later with we women after we got back from snow shoeing. We then soaked in a hot tub outside among the snow. :D It was AWESOME! (I had never been in a hot tub in the winter before. I LOVED it! :D


I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoy being around Valerie! And her family are wonderful, too. My children and their friends were also impressed. The older boys talked for some time on the way home about how kind this woman's young adult children (ages 18-21) were to them. These young women took my older boys and their friends (ages 14-16) under their wings and took them snow boarding for the first time.

These young women may have had more fun had they taken off on their own and skied on such an incredibly beautiful and sunny day, (with perfect snow, I might add) but instead they stayed with these young boys to teach and coach, and be there for them. One of the girls even traded snowboards with one of my sons who was frustrated. She never criticized him for being frustrated, but instead gave up her own personal snowboard so he could have a better experience. She did this for a boy she doesn't know, and may never see again (as she is off to college again in January). My sons went on and on about several very kind and selfless acts of service that these girls performed for them. It was SO COOL, to hear these boys praising these wonderful people for their kindness. I'm so happy and so thankful that they appreciate so the value of kindness!! :D

I am especially thankful right now for the changes of perspectives that have taken root inside of me. I am humbled greatly by my friend's example. I used to be more like her. More kind and mild mannered than I now consider myself (OK, I'm still kind, but I have another side I wish to dispose of now as well!). I was extremely patient, and immediately forgiving. (Wow... what a cool person I was! ;) LOL!
There were negative aspects of my being though. I was easily pushed around. I didn't know how to stand up for myself. I was a target for abuse in many ways and on many occasions.

But eventually, I learned to stand up for myself. I learned to stop allowing others to abuse me, or to rule over me in dominance. I learned to respect not only others, but also myself. In making these positive changes, however, I hope I did not go too far. I hope I did not lose the very kind sweetness I see in my new friend. I think that I have become so bold that I have also become overbearing at times.

But I am not discouraged. I have experienced not just the challenges, but also the best of two sides of a plank... and now I will learn to walk with balance from the best of both worlds.

I will be bold, but not overbearing. I will show total respect to others, as well as for myself. I will take the best of the best parts of me at various times in life, and I will create in me a new person, far better than I ever was and far better than I am now. And this will become the new me. :) (Yes, I am ambitious! But I have a life time to accomplish this! ;)  I am so excited!!! :D


I suppose this is the main gift that Christ gives to me this year at the season of His birth (in addition to the wonderful gift of having a new friend). He has given me the gift to see... even more than He has already in past blessed me to see ~ potential, and to believe in it. Potential in me, potential in my family, potential in EVERYONE.

Christ believes in us... so much that He suffered both body and soul for us. So much that He gave his life, each and every day and each and every moment of every day while living, and then again while dying... so that we can become all that He believes we can become. And then He gave the gift of resurrection.

He loves us. He treats us with kindness, love, and respect, even when we deserve it least. And now, He is helping me to continue believing in my family, and in myself to such a great extent that I am overwhelmed with awe and emotion. And with gratitude and joy. And with hope!  :)

Once again, it is His birth, and yet I receive the gifts. And once again, I desire to bless others, and I am blessed.

May you too, feel of His great love for you during this holiday season. This is my prayer for you. :)

Corine :D

Hayden Second Ward Christmas Party

Hi. :D For those of you who wanted pictures... Here's a link to the Picassa web album I created... Hayden Lake Second Ward Christmas Party. I know brother Scott Odell also made an album, but I'll let you get that URL from him. Sadly, I didn't get photos of the men in my family!!!! :( I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT HAPPENED! Miles had the camera for a few minutes, and he got me! Oh well. I'll do better next time; after all, it's all uphill from here! :D Enjoy. :)

Tim Hawkins - The Government Can

I decided to start blogging agian, and to share some of my favorite media. I LOVE THIS ONE (along with most everything Tim Hawkins does... :)  No negativity intended here... all in good clean an fun... Just for laughs...  
Enjoy! ;)

Spanking - Jewels of Wisdom Concerning...

Hi. :) I haven't had the time to write lately, but noticed that a link to an old post I wrote back in June wasn't working, so I reposted the link so it would work in my June post "Spanking, a Comical Remembranc." It is a compilation of quotes from some very wise people about spankings. For any who are interested...

 PS I am excited to say that now that company and my own travels are over with (temporarily, that is, - until I go stay with a brother to help his wife after a c-section / baby)... I am going to be able to start blogging again! :D Yeah!

PPS I hope you enjoy the quotes... :O  ;D


Bruce R. McConkie:

Amelia McConkie recalled that her father “never resorted to physical punishment for any misbehavior on our part, but would put his hands on our shoulders and say in a very hurt tone, 'I wish my kiddies would be good' That was the most effective punishment he could give us and was far worse than any spanking could have been, simply the thought that we had hurt him." (Gibbons, 1992)


Gordon B. Hinckley:

President Hinckley said about parenting children, “They get on your nerves now and again, I know. ...We understand because we have been through it.” For most of us, his empathy is much appreciated! Many of us as children were disciplined by spanking. The Bible even advocates not “sparing the rod.” Is spanking under controlled circumstances okay? President Hinckley follows up his statement about the difficulties of parenting with this: “You will be far more successful with love as your watchword than you will be with a whip or lash or anything of the kind.” (Spanking)

“I have never accepted the principle of ‘spare the rod and spoil the child.’ I am persuaded that violent fathers produce violent sons. Children don’t need beating. They need love and encouragement” (Conference Report, 1994)


Ezra Taft Benson:

“Above all else, children need to know and feel they are loved, wanted, and appreciated. They need to be assured often of that” (Benson, 1982)


Brigham Young:

“It is not by the whip or the rod that we can make obedient children; but it is by faith and by prayer, and by setting a good example before them” (Young, 1865)


Joseph Fielding Smith:

Joseph Fielding Smiths love of life and those he worked with was broader than his scholarship. When President Smith was ninety-three, Elder Gordon B. Hinckley said, "I have never heard him say a mean or evil or unkind thing…. He speaks generously of those he discusses." He repeatedly said, "I love my brethren," and with regard to the wayward, he urged giving "them the benefit of the doubt; there are two sides to the story." His counsel to bishops was similar: "If you make any mistakes in judgment, make them on the side of mercy." He frequently financed missions, paid the hospital bills of the sick, and sent groceries to the needy. He always disciplined his children with love, avoiding physical punishment, preferring to look them in the eyes and say, "I wish my children would be good." "No spanking or whipping," said one daughter, "could accomplish what this kindly father did with love" (McConkie)

“Use no lash and no violence, but . . . approach them with reason, with persuasion and love unfeigned. . . You can’t do it any other way. You can’t do it by unkindness; you cannot do it by driving. . . . You can’t force your boys, nor your girls into heaven. You may force them to hell, by using harsh means in the effort to make them good, when you yourselves are not as good as you should be. The man that will be angry at his boy, and try to correct him while he is in anger, is in the greatest fault. You can only correct your children by love, in kindness, by love unfeigned, by persuasion, and reason” (Smith, 1939, pp. 316-317)
BYU SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

Part of the problem with spanking is that it works. Why would anyone in her right mind give up something that helps a child behave better?

We understand more clearly now that even though spanking often works, it works only in the short term—and the price can be steep.

Because of the long-term problems spanking can create, researchers encourage us to avoid it, even in “controlled” circumstances.

Spanking is easy, quick and may work in the short term to change behavior. There is really nothing to it including no planning, no thought and it takes no time at all.

Spanking appears to work. Your child may stop the offensive actions. You may be surprised to know that spanking does not change behavior over the long run.

Spanking denotes anger, disapproval and concern on the part of the parent. All of these emotions are obvious to the child and add a sense of rejection or an interpretation that the child himself is the problem and not the behavior.

“Spare the rod and spoil the child.”

Rod can mean loving guidance. A shepherd’s crook is used to guide sheep—not hurt them
“Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
-Psalm 23:4

A child will often feel he has “’paid for his sin’ simply by enduring a brief discomfort” (Sorenson 19). Other parenting experts back this up: “Most kids would rather receive a spanking than to have to think about their poor choice” (Cline & Fay 221).

Spanking may also have negative emotional side effects in children, “such as anger, resentment, and the desire for revenge” (Cline & Fay 222; see also Latham 195-200).

The distance spanking can create between parent and child means more difficulty the next time discipline is needed.

Researchers no longer advocate spanking (David O McKay School of Education)


Works Cited

(n.d.). Retrieved from http://education.byu.edu/youcandothis/spanking.html
Benson, E. T. (1982). Ensign, 60.
Conference Report. (1994). Ensign.

David O McKay School of Education. (n.d.). Retrieved from Brigham Young University: http://education.byu.edu/youcandothis/spanking.html

Gibbons, F. M. (1992). David O Mckay School of Education. Retrieved from http://education.byu.edu/youcandothis/spanking.html.

McConkie. (n.d.). Joseph F. Smith., (pp. 71-90).

Smith, J. F. (1939). Gospel Doctrine 5th ed. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book.

Spanking. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://education.byu.edu/youcandothis/spanking.html

Young, B. (1865, August 9). Deseret News Weekley, p. 3.