Decoration Distractions

The kids have continued to get out Christmas decorations. Abi recently put a big sconce thing on the dining table that has a lot of plastic ornaments in it. Daniel and Owen love to get the ornaments off the tree and throw them around like bouncy balls, so the big sconce is just a big temptation. Owen was getting on the table this morning to get ornaments and throw them. "No, Owen..." and he'd look at me and smile and reach for another one. So, I took it off the table up high where he couldn't get it, and he started to fuss for it. I then thought a good distraction for him and his little friend. One that I wouldn't mind as much as ornatments all over the floor: easter eggs! So now instead of a sconce with ornaments, we have trick or treat pails full of easter eggs for Owen and Daniel to play with.

Natalie is liking it too. We're having a big holiday mix-up around here!

A neighbor recently gave these to us. She was getting rid of them and remembered how much Natalie was admiring her daughters pink pumpkin bucket this past Halloween. Very thoughtful of her. So that's what the kids have been playing with today. Eggs all over in every room.

The house is a mess, but that's okay. December is a beast all it's own and I'm not fretting about being on top of the housework until the tree and all it's clutter is put back away. I'll probably put it away on December 26 or 27th. Does that make me a scrooge? I need to try a little harder to get into the Christmas spirit.

What else? One more thing - last night Corey shared this 60 minutes video with me and the kids, about a man from South Africa named Brett Archibald who fell overboard during the night when he was sea sick and he was lost at sea for 28 hours before being rescued. Corey's story for the kids was about how he faced the things that were obstacles to him. First a reef shark showed up and was checking him out. His first reaction was one of fear, but then he thought - "A reef shark! It's going to swim back toward a reef! I'm gonna grab him and ride him back to the reef where I will be able to stand up and wave for help!" As it was though, he was just a small head bobbing in the ocean that no one could see. As he was floating on his back later, some seagulls came upon him and started going after his eyes. At first he was just trying to fend them off, then he decided to go on the attack - I'm gonna catch one and I can drink it's blood for food. So, Corey's story for the kids was - when problems come at attack us, don't hide from them, but try to be like Brett and think of how you can use those problems to survive. (Though not sure how to face jelly fish?) Great interview here - Part 1 and Part 2 - "We all worry about the wrong things. Friends, family and faith - that's all that matters." Incredible story.

It goes along nicely with some things I learned during the courage challenge about fear. Holly had a little acronym that I liked - Fear can mean two things: Forget Everything And Run! ...or... Face Everything And Rise. And one more talk about fear was this BYU devotional talk given by BYU President Worthen in September titled "Fear Not". It was excellent! I especially liked the story about Sheri Dew and trying out for the basketball team - under point #3.

Of course, might not be the best analogy for us (business wise) cause neither of those plans worked out for Brett anyway, doh! And he was like an hour from death (from salt water and swollen tongue). It really was a miracle he survived. It will be a miracle when we get out from under the weight of this business burden. Though it was very appropriate that last night we were talking about seagulls and it was just one year, again on December 6, after we discovered the BLR Yoda Seagulls video. Now when I think of Seagulls poking at yoda's head, I'll think of this guy.  Darn seagulls, stop it!