You Can't Do It All, But I Can Do My Best

Oh really?  I Can't Do It All?  This is where I put my hands on my hips, and stomp my feet, and say "Oh Ya, watch me!" 

You know I am sure that I can do it all.  At least I give it a really good shot.  I have the hardest time telling someone NO, I can't do it.  I have all of my life, just found a way to make things happen.  If something needs to be done, I just get it done.  If someone asks for help, I say sure.

Well, I have been learning lately that I can't do everything.  I really can't do it all.  I am the kind of person that when I commit to doing something, I don't just do a job half way, I go full out and give it my all.  When I have more than a few projects on the go, it can be really frustrating because it is hard to give it your all to so many things.

found at blogher.com

My point in this, I really am learning to set some priorities.  I love this quote, because lately I feel that my life is out of balance.  I need some course correction.  You know, we as women are not superwomen, we simply don't have enough of it in us to do everything, all the time.  Something will always be neglected, left behind, or pushed to the bottom of that "to do" list.  What are the most important things, and are you keeping them at the top of the list? 

I have to be honest with myself too.  I often set unrealistic expectations that, when I set them, they were very real and I really thought that I could accomplish them.  Then, slowly reality sets in and I realize that perhaps, I can't do it like I wanted to.  You know what?  That is okay.  That is a good thing.  It isn't defeat, or losing, or failing.  It is helping us to realize that we too, have limits.  We can't do it all.  We can be honest with ourselves right from the start and really think about what we can do, and what we are willing to sacrifice, to do it. 

found at www.godisheart.blogspot.com

Let me give you an example.  I love writing.  I have realized that I love writing on blogs, and have had several great ideas for blogs, that some maybe, I think I might even turn into books at some point.  So I started writing and before long I have nine blogs that I am writing on.  Well even though they are each great things, and I am passionate about each subject, I have realized that I just don't have time to keep them all active and going.  I have to let some of them go, at least for a time.  I have other commitments in life too, and maintaining this many blogs, is too much for me right now.  Frustrating, but being honest with myself I have to change some things.  What is it that maybe you have to let go of for a time, to help bring some balance back into your life?  I sure won't quit writing, I have made that commitment to myself to write every day on at least two of my blogs that I am keeping active.  And I have to be satisfied with that.  I have other church responsibilities that take up much time, plus am a mother, wife, grandma, and I have a job. 

I have to learn to say NO, and to just do my best at what I can.  It is okay!  I don't have to do it all, I just have to do the best I can at what I choose to do!  I can be the best ME that I can and that is good enough!

I Thought You Were Rich If.....

I used to think differently about what it meant to be rich.  When I was little it was all about money.  The more money you had the richer you were.  The more things you had, the bigger house you had, the nicer car you drove, the nicer clothes you wore, and well, you get the idea!

Through the years I have realized that MONEY is not at all about being rich.  I guess for some people, it still is about the money, but for me, there are things that are of far greater worth than the money.  Sure it would be nice if I was out of debt completely, and I am working hard towards that goal.  Sure it would be

Christmas of 2012

nice to have a bigger home, that would fit my six children, two inlaws(a son and a daughter) and three grandchildren, a little more comfortably.  No they don't all live at home, but a good chunk of them do!  Sure it would be nice to have a vehicle that didn't break down all the time.  Reality is, what would I change for any of these things - NOTHING!

Since this pic, a year ago we have added this little man to our family!

Jax

I have riches beyond what many people have.  I have realized this many times lately, when I visit people who have money, but have no FAMILY.  I have several friends who are in this situation, and they have the nice things that money can buy, but they are very lonely!  I can't imagine how lonely life would be for me without my family.  They are my priceless possessions!  I wouldn't have it any other way.

Some people just have priorities that are different than mine, I guess.  I wouldn't trade anything that I did to have this family for anything that someone else has.  Would I do it again?  You bet! 

There are days when I feel like my house is in perpetual chaos!  And I joke about it often being that way, and I know that someday, it will quite down, and they will all move away, and I don't look forward to that.

I now know that being rich is having family around you, all of the time.  Being rich is having a knowledge of the purpose of life and what it is really all about.  Being rich is having enough, and know when that enough is.  Being rich is having good friends that are always there for you.  Being rich is being able to

cousins at a family reunion

love the life you have.  Being rich is being able to help others when they have needs.  Being rich is understanding that there is way more to being rich than money.  Being rich is having awesome family reunions.  Being rich is having cousins to play with.  Being rich is having someone close that you can call anytime, who will laugh or cry with you, and not judge you.  Being rich is having someone know you so well that your birthday present every year is a pair of socks that match, and you can laugh at the inside joke and love that person more because of it. 

Family Reunion

I am rich!  Someday the actual possessions part of being rich may come along as well, but I don't really care about that anymore.  Money can come and go.  Money can't buy what I have in my life, and that to me is more valuable than anything. 

Now there are some of you who probably are thinking that this attitude is how broke people justify not having money.  Nope!  It is real! I have been broke, and I have had money, and the attitude of being rich is still the same with either. 

Why are you rich?  I would love to hear what you think!

Take Long Walks

I love to take long walks.  I could take them alone, or with others.  I especially love taking nice long walks on a warm summer night.  There is just a real peace about it all.  I find that walking, especially alone, gives me time to ponder life.  I think that it is the best type of therapy that there is. 

I love walking on a forest path

I find that when I am walking and thinking about things, that is usually when I come up with the best solutions to any problems that I might be facing.  It is also the time when I feel the most inspired from someone much greater than I.

For years I walked with friends every day.  We would meet up with our little kids and push them in the strollers and walk for at least an hour.  This was also a great form of therapy.  There is just something good about being able to walk with a friend, get in a little exercise, and exercise the mind as well. 

Then as my kids grew and we moved from place to place, I would still find good walking partners.  Now life just seems to be too busy to be able to get together with a friend.  We all have such busy lives.

I went for a nice walk today with my husband and our little two year old grandson, Xander.  It is still winter, but the snow is melting, and there are puddles everywhere.  It was nice just to walk a slow pace, watch him with his little sticks playing in all of the puddles and breaking ice. 

nothing much sweeter than this

There is nothing much more peaceful.  We still like to take walks together.  As a family, as a couple, and as individuals we walk.

There are lots of physical health benefits of walking too.  It is good for your heart.  It is good for your lungs.  It is just good for the whole body.  But the most benefits of walking come internally.  It helps you to focus and to be able to relax your mind.  I helps you to learn to appreciate the little things in nature that are around you.  It helps you to be able to master your mind, to set goals, and to find ways to achieve those goals.

This is my someday walk

Taking a nice long walk is different than walking for to get physically fit.  It isn't about this at all.  For me it is about the peace, the opportunity to be able to be one with nature and try to just relax.

Someday I really want to be able to take this walk, on a nice warm summer evening, walking along the beach with my husband.  I don't know if it will ever happen, but I keep thinking somewhere in the back of my mind that it might.  It just brings such a perfect image into my mind.  Ahhh, those somedays!

Smiles

Smile - it is contagious!  Have you ever heard that?  I love to watch people's smiles.  Some smiles are just so contagious that you cannot help but smile back.

I did some research into the muscles that it takes to smile compared to the muscles that it takes to frown, and there are differences of opinions on this one.  But pretty much everything that I found shows that it takes twice as many muscles to frown as it does to smile.  So smiling is actually less work, using less facial muscles.  It therefore makes sense, to all of us who choose to get away with the least amount of work as possible, we should always be smiling.
Right?

I personally love to smile.  Even when I don't feel like it, if I can find something to smile about, even a memory, smiling will always make me feel a bit better.  If I keep smiling, then I eventually can feel much better.  

Now I know that sometimes it is really hard to smile, especially when you feel like crying.  Sometimes there might be a smile there, that is masking what is really behind it.  And that's okay.  I am going to talk about this more in my next post - Behind The Smile - but, today I just want to talk about why you should keep smiling, even when you don't want to.

"When we laugh, our bodies respond positively. There is a decrease in stress hormones (cortisol, adrenaline and dopac) and an increase in beta-endorphins (which lower feelings of depression) and human growth hormone (which helps protect us against disease and infection)."  From how stuff works.  They also say that even if you fake laugh, your brain responds to it.  In fact some people say that if you laugh a lot, you can actually be healthier and live longer. 

Now here are a few tips on burning calories - the health lesson for today - reading for 15 minutes can actually burn 22 calories,  and here are a few more from How Stuff Works, doing the activity for 15 minutes:

• Biking over 20 mph (32 kph): 273
• Jogging: 171
• Stationary bike: 170
• Downhill skiing: 102
• Ballroom dancing: 77
• Drinking eight glasses of water a day 70
• Gardening: 68
• Shooting pool: 42
• Shopping: 40
• Driving: 34
• Typing: 25
• Laughing 10 - 40 calories

 Laughing for 15 minutes a day isn't a huge calorie burner, but it has many other side effects as well as burning calories, it is good for the soul.  Nobody likes to be sad and depressed.  Life does however, through at us things that sometimes are hard to handle.  How we choose to deal with these things, will decide whether we are happy with life, or sad.

I can't imagine that each one of these ladies has had an easy, trial free life.  In fact, I am sure that many of those creases and wrinkles on their faces are full of stories of challenges and heartache, along with much laughter and happiness.  But honestly, can you say that you can't look at their awesome smiles, and not smile back.  I can't.  Every time I look at them, I just have to smile and laugh and think that I hope I can still have a bright smile when I get to be at this stage of life!  They are just too priceless.

If a child smiles at you, could you ever not smile back?  I just couldn't do that.  A child's smile means so much to me. 

Children are natural Zen masters; their world is brand new in each and every moment. -- John Bradshaw

I read a quote that said:  I want to be remembered as the girl that always smiles even when her heart is broken, and the one that could always brighten up your day, even when she couldn't brighten up her own. 

I am not certain who said this, but this is how I feel.  That would be a great legacy to leave behind.  That would be a great thing for someone to read at your funeral, at my funeral, someday.
It is not always easy to smile.  In fact sometimes it is darn hard.  And on those days when it is too hard, that is when I choose to go spend a bit of time alone, until I feel like I can send smiles out again.  Sometimes when I feel like that,  I have to get away from myself and go serve someone else who needs help, and then most definitely it always puts my own self pity back into perspective.  There is always someone else out there who has bigger challenges than yourself.  I never have to look very hard to find them. 

I read a quote by Oprah Winfrey:  Only surround yourself with people who will lift you higher.  Now I don't mean to say don't be friends with someone who is sad, or lonely, or depressed.  What I am saying with this one, is choose your friends wisely.  This is something that I have always told my kids to do.  Choose your friends wisely.  Your friends will make or break who you are.  They will feed your positive energy, or they will zap any energy right out of your body.  I call negative friends fun suckers, because they suck all the fun and happiness out of you.  It is okay to be friendly with these kind of people, and offer help when you can, but don't spend too much time with them, because instead of you turning them to the bright side, they will inevitably turn you to the "dark side".  A little Star Wars pun intended!  :)

Another quote I found, that goes with this picture:  A good friend is like a four leaf clover, hard to find and lucky to have.
CHOOSE YOUR FRIENDS WISELY!

I guess all in all - smiling is healthy both physically and emotionally.  Smiles are contagious.  Smiles can make you feel better even if they are fake.  Fake your way through it, until it becomes real.  There are no challenges that we cannot overcome with a little help from on high.  Keep smiling, you never know when you will save someones life with your little smile.  True story!

My Grandson

My meandering thoughts this morning, are wandering through the awe of this thing that we call the creation.    It never ceases to amaze me, that the power behind creation is so perfect and beautiful. 

I had my third little grandson born at midnight last night and can`t help but give thanks to a loving Heavenly Father who offers us such fabulous miracles as creation.  I am sorry, but I just can`t buy into the fact that some believe that we, and all of this world, we are just because of chance, or evolution.  It is too perfect to not be created by someone.

Hold a brand new baby in your arms and tell him he isn`t part of a grander scheme of things, and see how it feels.  It doesn`t work for me.  They are too perfect to not believe in something bigger than us.

I believe that there is a reason for it all and that someone created it for us to enjoy.

And when I ponder the Heavens and the Universe that we have.... it makes me think that it is so much bigger than us, how can we even begin to make assumptions and guesses at how it all came about.  We are just a tiny speck in the grand scheme of things.  But it is a beautiful and wondrous grand scheme of things.  And there is a greater purpose.  It includes all of us.  It is for all of us.  It is there for us to discover and find out.

How did it all come about, where did we come from, why are we here, and where are we going, are all questions we should ask ourselves.  The answers are out there for us to find.

What a great world we live in!

Be Kind

We live in a world that is full of pretty selfish people.  In fact I am shocked often at just how much time people spend thinking only of themselves, and what is in it for them.  If there is no benefit to them of doing or saying something, they just won't do it.  I wonder if people realize the benefits of being kind and of serving others.

 
On the other hand I am pleasantly surprised at the "random acts of kindness" that I see in the lives of those around me and some that reach far and wide, that I do not know.

You see, several months ago, I made a decision that I wanted to do one small act of kindness everyday, for someone other than for my family.  My lofty goal actually started out really great.  I had made a list of ideas that I could do, and had set a plan to put it into place.  And it worked for about a week!  Then life kind of got in the way.


I realized a few things.  I could plan and make some things happen, which was good, but even more important than that, was I should be watching for opportunities every day, and every where I go.  You know the little things like leaving a quarter in the Safeway shopping cart, so the next person doesn't have to dig for one.  Or seeing someone struggling with a bunch of things to carry, and offering to help. 

I began to see, that my "random acts of kindness" didn't need to be planned out.  They could and should also be RANDOM.   Well of course they should!  That was one of those DUH moments for me!  I would sit down at the beginning of the week, and think about who needed my services, or a little extra attention that week, and schedule in when I would do what.  There was no RANDOM in it, and it quickly faded for me, because it became another thing on my list of things to do.

So I decided that I will still plan out the things that I think some people need me to do, and label it "service opportunities", and try to create my "random acts of kindness",

at random!  It might be as little as making sure that I make eye contact with everyone that I can, and then even taking it a step further, and smiling at them.  Or even saying hello.  It is surprising how many people can go through a whole day without someone smiling at them.  Really!  When you stand in a line at the store, do you chat with the person behind or in front of you?  Why not try it?    At Christmas this year, we had put together a bunch of dollar store goodie bags, and arranged for a Santa to go on Christmas Eve and deliver them to a few places.  While we were in the dollar store, buying about 15 little teddy bears, some lady in the line up mentioned the fact of how full our cart was, and all the little bears.  So I took the opportunity to tell her what we were doing, and before long everyone in the line was listening, even the clerk, and smiling and talking about what a wonderful thing it was.  And for us, you know it was a little thing, really, but for the kids receiving, it was big, and for the people in the line that we laughed and talked with, it was big.

It doesn't take much to just be aware of your surroundings each day, and watch for small little opportunities to be kind.

You will be amazed once you start at just how many opportunities there are to be kind to other people.

And if you really are one of those people like me, who just can't seem to think of things to do, or needs to go by a schedule, or who just can't see those random things at first, then here is a list of things that might get you inspired and going.

Greeting Card Ideas

• for any special occasions
• for appreciation
• when they are missing
• to say thanks
• reminders of events
• reminders of things we did together
• to share a joke
• to say I love you
• for a job well done
• to share wonderful news
• tell them what they mean to you
• for fun memories
• encourage with scripture

  

Ideas

• make and deliver cookies
• take treats to a daycare
• donate diapers, etc to teen moms
• leave a gift card for someone
• take dinner to someone
• become email pals
• make pillowcase dresses for girls in Africa
• I love you because.... cards
• coloring books and crayons to ER
• fortune cookies – fortunate to have a friend like you
• leave chalk messages for a friend on their sidewalk
• leave smiley faces on the mirrors wherever we go
• always have treats baked and ready to go
• take a flower to someone
• take a friendly balloon to someone
• just because, thinking of you today, wanted you to know, simply just because
• a bottle of refreshment – enjoy your day with a little refreshment
• small gift basket full of treats from....
• welcome to the neighborhood gift
• thank someone
• follow inspiration immediately
• compliment someone
• do something for a cause or group
• give a book to a friend
• hand written notes
• pick a book – put $5 inside with a note to use the 5 to purchase the book
• hand out lollipops at a store
• hand out coloring books and crayons at a store full of kids with a note attached about the importance of sharing kindness
• hand out small mirrors to people with the note attached – you are beautiful just the way you are
• care pkgs for someone who is sick – herb tea & mug, chocolates, tissues, noodle soup
• little boxes or bags with candy hearts and note saying you are loved
• buy someone tickets to something at the esplanade
• place sidewalk chalk at a playground for kids to use

  
• take a large cake to food bank for supper
• take stuffies to kids in hospital
• take small hats to babies in hospital
• take a bag of do food to the SPCA
• add money to a parking meter
• knit booties for kids at hospital
• buy a magazine for a friend
• leave kind notes in library books
• take flowers to hospital patients
• leave positive comments online
• tape loonies to toys at dollar store with note saying buy a toy on me
• take fun balloons to the kids floor at the hospital
• take crayons and coloring books to hospital
• make cookies and take to staff room at school
• take flowers to a care center
• donate clothes
• leave coins at a car wash
• leave stick on eyes in random places to make people smile
• write a kind note and sent it to a random address
• put hearts on random wind shields in a parking lot
• leave a sidewalk chalk message
• post happy quotes in random places
• stop complaining – speak positive
• give hot chocolate & a mug
• buy a Costco cake and a large jug of milk and take to the fire station
• leave a basket full of goodies at the missionaries home
• make and give headbands for the new babies and moms at the maternity unit
• smiley faces – someone is happy because of you today
• support a young persons dream
• have an ...... appreciation day for who needs it
• compliment everyone
• make little gift baskets for kids in the neighborhood – just because
• learn to just listen
• learn to use peoples names
• buy a small gift for someone just because
• leave a pretty bag of hugs and kisses with a note on a door

It really doesn't matter what it is, how you do it, or when you do it.  It really only matters that you DO IT!!!

Eyes

Kind of feeling a little on the blah side today!  I am sure you have never felt that - right??  Okay, so really we have all felt that.  My meanderings today go to eyes.  Yes you heard that right!  Eyes.

I love to look at eyes.  Eyes can tell so much about a person, their mood, their true feelings, whether or not you can trust them, are they wise, are they harsh, and so much more.

You hold a soft spot in my heart!

Look at these eyes.  Can't you just see the love in their eyes.  I see a story that maybe tells about the simple yet happy life they have grown up with.  I see that they are good friends and love each other.  I can see that they want you to love them and that they are innocent.  Oh man, if I could just wrap my arms around their little bodies and give them a big hug.  That is what their eyes make me want to do.


I can also see that there can be a bit of every thing that a little by holds, mischief and energy.

The color in their eyes is stunning, to say the least.  They pierce you.  If I had the chance to look deep into their eyes, for real, I am positive that I would have a really hard time to pull away.  I really believe that eyes looking deep into another's eyes, can communicate spirit to spirit in a way that words never will.

My grandson 2 weeks old

One of my all time favorite thing to do is to look into the little eyes of my two year old grandson.  His eyes are so intense and full of wonder and wisdom.  Almost like he has much wisdom beyond his years that he wants to share, but the time is not yet.  Someday Grandma he seems to tell me, Someday I will share with you.

My son when he was two years

 I always loved my youngest sons eyes.  He is here on the right.  His eyes were so intense, and still are even though he is 16 today.  He is one that is really easy to read by looking into his eyes.  He is a very serious boy, always has been, whether or not he was playing, working, doing school or getting into trouble, it was serious business and still is.


 Here is another of my soft spots.  Elderly ladies.  I have had the opportunity to get to know ladies of all ages and all walks of life.  I must admit that the most sincere, wisest, and sweetest of all ladies are without a doubt, the ladies that have eyes such as this sweet one here.  Their hearts are without a doubt just as sweet and sincere as their eyes.

Can you see the sincerity in her eyes?  The wisdom of age and many trials?  The love that she has for people?  I bet that she works hard every day to feed her family.  She probably cooks meals for many people with very little to work with.  Yet she holds her head high and looks like she still loves life.  I do see a hint of sadness and pain there too.  Wishing perhaps that she could offer more, do more, or perhaps even have a little more.

But really don't you just want to give her a big hug and say "I understand"  and "I love you for who you are, it is enough!"  

Take some time to look deep into someones eyes.  I dare you!  You will find that our spirits communicate feelings, emotions and thoughts that words just can't do.  It is a wonderful thing to do.

Mom's

My meandering thoughts today are all over the place.  Do you ever have those times when you just can't seem to focus your thoughts, but just seem to be wandering?  I have had one of those days.  I had very little sleep last night, so that, doubled with today being Sunday, my day of reflection and pondering life, has got me meandering.

I have such a respect for mothers today.  Not just today, but the mothers of today, who fight so hard to keep families together.  Who work, stay at home, go to school, and often more than just one of these.  It isn't easy being a mom today.  It isn't easy being a grandmother either.  I know that it is very hard for mom's to find that happy balance, that place where they can feel fulfilled, and they can help their children and husband also feel fulfilled.

I admire mothers who stay home to be there for their children.  Sometimes it is a sacrifice for them, to give up their careers, put their education on hold, and to basically put life on hold for those short years while their children are little.  They spend the time to teach their children the values of life.  They take time to play with their children.  And even sometimes, more and more, we find them home schooling their children too.

I admire mothers who juggle the schedules of working and raising a family.  They still understand the value of teaching children and being a part of their lives, but often don't have the luxury of staying home.  Sometimes these mom's need to have that work part of their lives to help them feel fulfilled, and that's okay too.  Unless of course that work part, takes priority and takes place of what is important.  And unfortunately, sometimes that happens.

I admire mothers who juggle education and raising a family.  It is so important for women to have a good education.  It just is not possible to make it on a minimum wage job, especially if you happen to be a single mom.

I admire the single moms who give their everything to put their children first.  These children just are not with us for very long, and then they are grown and gone.  Often single moms struggle day to day just to make ends meet and to keep smiling.  If you know one, or several, give them a hug.  They deserve it.

I admire the moms who for whatever the reasons, don't have a great support team from your husbands.  Sometimes you feel like you are a single mom and have to do it all yourself.  Believe me when they are older, they will remember the sacrifices you have made, and love you all the more for the dedication that you have shown them to be there for them.

I admire mothers who put their children's well being first.  There are mothers out there who don't do this, and it breaks my heart.  There will come a time, when you can put yourself first, when the kids are grown and gone, but when they are little, there is no room in our hearts for selfishness.  It only hurts our children.

I admire mothers.  I applaud you who make it through another day,  and wake up to face the next one.  It is not easy.  Find your support team and cling to them, whoever that might be.  There are moms out there going through things too, we all do, so let's help each other out and lift each other up.  We can be the support that each other need.

Yay for moms!

A Family Built Upon a Rock

I wouldn't trade my family for anything in the world!  But that doesn't mean that we don't have our fair share of challenges.  I have six children, two (almost three) grandson's, a daughter in law and a son in law.  And I must say we are all very opinionated, to say the least. 

There is a cute little song called "The Wise Man Built His House Upon A Rock".  It talks about how the wise man built his house upon a rock and when the wind and rains, and storms came, the house stood still.  Then the next verse talks about how the foolish man built his house upon the sand, and when the rains, winds and storms came, his house washed away.  It is an analogy for life, because if we have a solid foundation under us, when the storms of life hit, we will be able to hold on strong and weather the storm.

I want to liken it to families.  I think the storms that attack our families today are pretty fierce, and if our families don't have a solid foundation, they will not weather the storm.

You know the famous saying "A Family That Plays Together, Stays Together"?  This is one way we can build a strong foundation under our families.  We really need to take time to play together.  Do you like to play with your family?  It is proven that a great thing happens when families take time to play together.  They laugh.  They lighten up.  They communicate.  They bond.  And my favorite - family memories are built.  You know those little memories that years from now, as these memories cross your mind, you will smile, and even chuckle. 

Creating fun family traditions are very important and can carry on for generations.  My son in-law's family has the fun tradition.  When they get together for Christmas every year, the entire family, all ages, goes to their local church gymnasium and has a super crazy nerf gun war.  What a cool tradition everyone looks forward to each year and will for generations to come.  One thing that our family loves to do is have wiener roasts and bon fires.  If the weather is nice outside, and there are a few of us that are free, then it is often that someone will say, "wiener roast at Kin Coulee?" and the next thing you know we are all having fun creating the memories and traditions.  Sometimes the fire is right in our own fire pit in the back yard and sometimes at one of the local parks, it really doesn't matter where it is, it only matters that we do it.

Family vacations, holidays, birthdays, reunions, and anything else that brings families together, is worth the efforts.  We are so busy in this world, that many families don't have time, or should I say don't take time to play together.  That is one of the "Achilles heal" of our modern day families.  It will eventually bring down the family. 

"Create meaningful family bonds that give your children an identity stronger than what they can find with their peer group or at school or anyplace else. This can be done through family traditions for birthdays, for holidays, for dinnertime, and for Sundays."  M. Russell Ballard

"Wholesome recreation is part of our religion, and a change of pace is necessary, and even its anticipation can lift the spirit."  Ezra Taft Benson

Give the family something to look forward to.  Something to anticipate.  Something to fight for.  Play together on a regular basis.  Make the time for the things that matter most of all.  Make memories.

Don't know how to play together?  Ask your kids for suggestions, they will probably have a ton.  If not think about these.......

• go to a park and swing together
• roll in the grass
• count the stars
• watch the clouds
• go for a walk
• go to a lake
• go swimming at the pool
• go bowling
• go camping
• play a game
• eat supper together
• build a snowman
• go on a picnic
• have a nerf gun war
• have a water fight
• build a puzzle

Reality the sky is the limit.  Use your imagination and play together.