15 Minutes

In fifteen minutes, I can...

Pray and read my scriptures. Run a mile or two. Or take a shower and dress.

Clean the tub. Scrub the toilets. Or organize a closet.

Chop veggies for dinner. Cook up a stir-fry. Or mix a batch of cookies.

Load the dishwasher. Pick up the living room. Or fold a load of laundry.

Write a blog post. Make a journal entry. Or plan a Sunday lesson.

Read a story to my daughters. Do a puzzle with Maggie. Play a game with Kate. Or talk to Mike about how the day went.

So what's my problem? Activation energy. Staying motivated. Not getting overwhelmed or discouraged by all the fifteen minuteses I know I'm going to need. Learning to focus on one task at a time and not spend time dreading chores instead of doing them. Planning and choosing my activities wisely.

Because when I put my mind to it, just fifteen minutes can really change a lot. Know what I mean?

Post-edit: I should add, in less than fifteen minutes, my kids can also do a lot. Of damage usually. How come activation energy comes so easily to them? But you all know how that goes. :)

Winter Pastimes

Well, it's another cold and rainy day, so we are back to our bag of tricks. Here are some things we have been doing to fight the winter blues. (These pics range from January to present.)

1. Celebrating Mike's birthday a few weeks ago. Yay for a wonderful husband and father--we're pretty lucky! (Yep, that's 27 candles.)

2. Climbing. Who needs a jungle gym or playground when your home furniture can suit the same purpose. I am forever removing Kate from tables and desks. (And sometimes Maggie too.)

3. Forts, puzzles, and books. My girls LOVE to read and do puzzles and we have done a bunch this winter--at home, at the library, and in their fort.

4. Painting--the kitchen walls (finally!), in the bath, and on paper. My girls LOVE to paint.

My favorite is making bath paint by mixing shaving cream with a drop or two of food coloring. I mix a bunch of different colors in an old veggie tray and the girls paint with their fingers or a paint brush on the bathtub wall for ages. And it's so easy to clean up. Just rinse. (We've also tried and liked the soap, cornstarch, food dye solution, but it is more of a pain to rinse off because it bubbles so much. But equally fun.)

5. Playdough and the bean box. (I am learning to put a big tablecloth underneath them when they play with either. And Kate still has to be watched to make sure she doesn't pop any in her mouth, so they are not completely self-sufficient activities.)

6. Playing pretend. This was a backpack expedition started by Kate's enthusiasm for wearing a backpack and fueled by Maggie's desire to never be left out. We play a lot of things. Little Bear, Princesses, Kipper, Dora, going to the beach...obviously, we also watch TV. Maggie always assigns the roles. Kate hasn't told us if she minds.

7. Helping with chores. Cleaning the floor. Feeding Kate. Unloading the dishes. Making the bed. Brushing teeth (Maggie always takes initiative. She gets them both in there, doses out toothpaste for Kate first, and then does hers. It's adorable). And unpictured: Helping with laundry (they are especially cute at this, taking laundry from the pile, climbing on their stepstool and tossing over their heads to get it in the washer).

They really do it all. I'm thinking of hiring them out.

The End.