I decided to take advantage of some quiet around my house, which doesn't happen very often. Here are the reasons for the quiet:





I haven't decided yet if I should be jealous or just really glad to have a few quiet moments to myself. I just have to mention though that this is the first time Anna has ever fallen asleep on her own outside her bed EVER (except in the car on road trips, but that doesn't count). So of course I had to document. She has always been a fighter when it comes to sleep and it hasn't been any different lately.

The past little while we have put her to bed between 8 and 8:30 as usual and she often plays in her bed until 10, sometimes later. She shares a room with Caleb and has woken him up on several occasions, so this staying up thing has been bothering me. So I decided to try having her not take naps again. I tried a few months ago because she fights them so much, but she was way too ornery all the time so we started making her take them again. She hasn't had a nap since Friday or Sat last week, so I guess it caught up to her this afternoon. I'm just so glad that she went to sleep on her own!

The past few weeks have been a little crazy and kindof rough for me and I'm not entirely sure why. Part of it has been having sick, whiny kids, which is always a huge drain on me (hence the children still in pajamas). Another part is not getting sleep. Caleb is sleeping way better at night, thank goodness. Sunday night he slept 11 hours straight!! That was nothing short of a miracle! Unfortunately I didn't sleep well, so I couldn't even enjoy it. But the biggest part of not sleeping well is that once the kids are in bed I want to do so many things that Barrett and I have not been going to bed early enough. I knew I needed to work on this and then I read Elder Jairo Mazzagard's conference talk in October about avoiding the trap of sin and was a little chastised. He says:

We must be alert because small choices can bring great consequences, just as going to bed early and waking up early have great consequences. Doctrine and Covenants 88:124 teaches us, “Arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated.” Those who go to bed early wake up rested, with the body and mind invigorated and blessed by the Lord because of obedience.

What may appear to be of little importance, such as going to bed late, not praying for a day, skipping fasting, or breaking the Sabbath—such little slips—will make us lose sensitivity little by little, allowing us to do worse things.

I had never considered that my going to bed late would cause me to lose sensitivity to the Spirit and be easier to tempt. But the more I think about it the more it makes sense. When I go to bed late I am tired the next day and less patient with my children, less motivated to keep my house in order, and less willing to serve others. It ends up becoming a vicious cycle or downward spiral. I am really trying to work on this and being closer to the Spirit of the Lord.

On a different note, here is my new hobby:

Last week Barrett surprised me and bought me this bass guitar off of Craigslist. I had mentioned sometime that I thought it would be fun to learn to play and he happened to find a really good deal. I really wanted to learn to play the bass so I could play along with Barrett instead of just watching him play. I've learned a couple of songs already and it is really fun to play together! I love that I only have 4 strings to worry about instead of 6 and I usually only have to play one at a time. We are already talking about having Jam sessions once we get back to Rexburg, so anyone is welcome to join! We could always use some maraca players too :)