A Good Day

Today was a good day. It wasn't without its' struggles. But it was a good day because I was able to be at home with all my kids all day. It was a bit of a battle trying to keep the kids away from the TV and video games and "Marios" (as Selman calls it) but we did a lot of house work and had a lot of time together. Caeleb vacuumed and help me put away the laundry and Elva helped Mary clean her room and they all played with Selman while I puttered around and tidied the house. Selman helped me sweep the floor (such a big helper - te he he). We all made cookies together. We all went outside and the kids jumped on the Trampoline while I played with Laddy. It was beautiful out, Wet, Mucky, but beautiful - and no wind. And we had a movie night together and watched Goofy Movie 2 while we ate chicken nuggets and popcorn in the living room. And Selman thought it was a fun idea to have a popcorn fight.

I want to be a better Mom. I have had some good talks with Caeleb and Elva in the last couple of days. I want to be there for them and I don't feel like I have been there for them lately. Almost for the last year really, as I have worked quite a bit out of the home and the work/mom balance has always been hard for me. Even when I am not working, I feel like I am recovering from shift work or anticipating another shift. It is hard to work evening shifts as I feel guilty when I am not around them and I am not so sure Chris has the same standards as we when it comes to structure and spiritual care in the kids lives. It is hard to work Sundays as I love my Sundays to go to church with my family and be with them all day. I gave a talk in church last Sunday about putting important things first and it is causing me to think about how I can help my children grow spiritually, mentally, emotionally, socially and with all their many talents. I want them to feel of the hope that the gospel can bring. I want the Spirit with me and in our home. I want for all of us to develop a personal relationship with our Savior. I have been anxious lately - mostly about the pregnancy as per usual - but also about being the Mom that my children need. I want to be there for them at the crossroads in their lives (it was so good to be waiting for them at home after school yesterday, it seems like that does not happen enough), to be a friend, a confident, and a Mother that they can rely on and come too about any issue they may have. I am grateful that my mother was at the crossroads in my life. I am far from perfect but I love my children very much. I hope they know that.

I hope that Chris and I can make the right decisions with work and finances and that Chris can be provided with the right opportunities so that we can have a simple but good, balanced life, centered in the gospel.

Fall and Christmas 2019

Well, I really need to record our Watters family Fall and Christmas before I forget everything that happened. As is, this will just be a quickish overview of the last several Months. September is birthday Month in our house. Caeleb and Chris had their birthdays on September 14 which fell on a Saturday. We had about 8 boys from Caelebs class at school to celebrate with us. Caeleb's birthday was "Gravity Falls" themed and the boys played pin the something on something? from the Gravity Falls series and they had a piñata in the attic. The kids brought a toonie instead of gifts and we got Caeleb a couple of Gravity Falls books and items. It was a bit windy and chilly but we roasted Hot dogs outside at Nana and Papas and we had cake there as well. The boys took turns playing Lazer tag as we borrowed some from Lazer guns from Camellia and Doug. I picked up and dropped off many of the boys in Champion and after the drop off I had to continue on to Claresholm to work an evening shift. Mary's birthday was on September 19th and it was a beautiful day for a hotdog roast and Watermelon Barbie cake. She got a Barbie house - lucky girl. We wheeled it out from where it had been in the Quonset and she was excited for that.

Halloween was fun as usual. We had a Primary Autumm party on the Tuesday October 29th. It wasn't so much Halloween related but was focused on Old Fashioned Autumm activities - a Harvest Hoedown. The kids did wear there costumes. The games included bobbing for apples (sanitary version), shadow puppets, marble games, pumpkin carving. We had a pretty good turn out of kids from the community and this was great since our primary is so small and our community is so small. I would say it was a success and we hope to have another primary event that we can invite kids from the community in the Spring. Thursday was Halloween and the school had a carnival and then we went trick or treating from 6:00 to almost 9:00 hitting about 13 houses on and around the Alston road. We have to talk with all our neighbors and that is why it takes so long. Such is life in the Alston country community and I don't mind one bit. Caeleb and Elva dressed up as characters from Gravity Falls, Mary was violet from the Incredibles.

Chris and I celebrated our 10th anniversary on Friday October 25th (we were married on the 24th). Wow, we have been married for 10 years. I feel blessed to have such a great man who puts up with me when I struggle. I want to have an eternity more of years with him by my side. After Chris was done at work, we headed to Camellia and Dougs to drop the kids off so we could spent the night at Glacier Suites in Waterton. We had a small delay as Mary had an allergic reaction and broke out in hives all over her face and so we took her to Emerg in Fort Mecleod. But she was okay and we made it to our Hotel by about 6:00. We had a lovely supper and breakfast at the posh little restaurant in the hotel. We walked around Waterton to the Waterfall (It was cold and rainy/flurries) and we enjoyed our fireplace and little hot tub in our hotel room. The next day we went to the Remmington Carraige Museum in Cardston. We were about the only ones there and it was our first time back since we had our family dinner and wedding pictures there 10 years ago. We did a session at the Temple and then ate a a quaint buffet in Cardston before going back to Camellia and Dougs. We got up early Sunday morning and travelled back to Champion for church. It was the perfect way to celebrate our anniversary.

Elva turned 7 on December 3rd. Crazy to think she will be baptized in a year. We had a Frozen 2 themed birthday. She got a watermelon type game and a spy kit and we went and saw Frozen 2 in theaters the day after her birthday. I thought it was a great movie with wonderful music and a good message. Santa also sent us a dog the day before her birthday as an early Christmas gift. The kids call him Dasher but us adults mostly call him Laddy as we always have had and always need a Laddy on the farm.

We were spoiled this Christmas. The kids wanted and got a Nintendo Switch ($400) and the Mario Kart game and Zelda for it. I wanted and got a TV for Christmas as we have not had one since being married (We have always used our computer) and I want to have movie nights as a family and Chris spent a lot of money making sure it was high quality stuff (I would have got a cheap TV on kijiji myself). But Chris is an all or nothing type of guy and that is okay. We balance each other out. We got the Disney + streaming system and have been having a lot of family movie nights this snowy winter. I picked up several shifts over the holidays and worked New Years Eve (I made it home just in time to count down but Selman was crying so I lied down with him instead - then got up and watched part of a movie if I remember correctly).

I have been working 12-14 shifts a month on average lately which isn't too bad but I do need to stop working my 2-4 shifts a month at the Rockyview soon as the drive is getting to be too much. My goal is to work 8-10 shifts a month until my youngest is a teenager and then work more (maybe someday I can work as a Nurse Clinician as it is Monday to Friday day shifts) until Chris retires or until I am about 60 years old. Yah, I have pretty exact goals and I know situations arise that call for adaptations (like last summer when I worked almost full time and Chris was a stay at home Dad). But, I do know the value of a Mom in the home and it has always been a struggle for me to balance Mom and Work life so it would be better if I work a bit less right now in my life. I pray that we can budget and make it work.

We are expecting again! When we were at the Temple for our Anniversary, we both felt that we may not be done yet and low and behold, about a week later I started feeling sick and I knew exactly what that meant. I told Chris, "I bet you I am pregnant" and I was. We are excited to add one more to our family and we are due June 26. I have been sick as usual but the sickness mostly subsided around 15 weeks and although I am still feeling really tired (low Iron levels causing that) and very emotional, I am doing well and have been feeling baby kick. I had my 18 week ultrasound but we decided not to find out what the baby is. It will be a surprise but I think it will be a girl. We feel so blessed that we can raise these kids out on the farm surrounded by wide open spaces and a little town school to go to.