Gratitude Challenge days: 11, 12, 13,

I've been a slacker lately, so this is an update on my Gratitude Challenge along with some pictures ( because what's a post without pics!)

This is a picture of my boys to my joy and rapture, playing very nicely one day. They have kind of a love hate relationship. They packed a sack lunch og granola bars and apples and pretended to go on a hike in our backyard. It makes me wonder if they really see some other world

like on that kids show the Backyardigans.

1-See the world through the eyes of a child-
The tail end of last week was a bit crazy. On Wednesday my niece BryLee came to stay with us. We got to keep her until Sunday. My sister's husband had Hockey games in Las Vegas so they decided to make a little get away out of it. We were happy to have her. Sophie was very excited to have a girl around to play with.
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I had my friends 2 kids over before and after afternoon Kindergarten. On Friday there was a funeral in my old church ward, so I had My 4 kids, BryLee. My friends 2 kids and my cousin in law's 2 little boys. Count them up that's 9 kids! The afternoon got really quiet when everyone left. But then a few hours later I took my Sister in Law's 2 boys so they could go out. So everyone can imagine how much house work I got done. Luckily all of the kids I had were all really great. Poor BryLee is the only kid in her family so I think if anything she was grateful to go back to her quiet house. As far as the challenge goes I think I was given plenty of chances to see things through the eyes of a child. I think it helps me the most when it comes to discipline. I've been able to be more understanding when they misbehave because I stop to think about whats going on in their little heads. Or why they handled a situation a certain way. This has helped keep me from acting out of frustration when all I see is the mess I have to clean up. It's also helped keep me from taking the things they do personally. When I'm in a negative mindset I find myself feeling un-loved. After all if my kids really loved me they wouldn't make messes, or do that thing I've told them not to do 80 bazillion times. Right? Wrong, kids don't think like that. They have a really hard time thinking past what they want right that second. Or if they're like my 2nd boy on more than one occasion when I've re-explained a rule to him he's innocently said, " oh, that's today too? I thought that rule was only for yesterday." When I first read about this challenge I thought it wanted me look at the world with, uhhmm...Rose colored glasses? And maybe that's what it does for some people. But for me it really helped me get to a different level with the way that I discipline my kids. Not that everything will go perfect, hopefully I can always try and see the situation through their perspective, take a few breaths - - - and then act.

I snapped this picture of Todd one day when he was ridding around in his own little world.

2- Dare to see the glass half full
I'm naturally a happy person. Ever since I was little I've just always thought everyone was pleased as punch just to be my friend. When my mom first explained about kid nappers, I told her if a bad guy ever tried to take me I'd kick him in the shins. I've now been blessed with 2 boys that think they could also karate chop a bad guy and get away. It wasn't until later in life That negative thought started creeping in. Honestly, I couldn't have picked a better time to do this challenge. With construction work being so slow and Layla's hospital bills piling up I've been a little cynical lately. I've needed a reminder of the kind of person I want to be for myself, my husband, and most of all my kids. Besides a bad attitude won't fix things. There's this awesome website I found when I was preparing my lesson for Relief Society.

http://www.abundance-and-happiness.com/

Check it out there's some great material here for any lessons or talks on Gratitude. It's also a great place for personal growth.

Me and my girls
3-Assume the goodness in people-
I've always been able to assume the goodness in people. I truly believe everyone deserves a chance. It's sort of like I have an unofficial creed to trust everyone until given a reason not to.
I do however have a really hard time once someone has proven themselves un-trustworthy to not be a bit judgemental.I think this is something I need to work on.

Thanks for checking in on my Gratitude Challenge progress. Have any of you started the challenge? Leave me a comment so I can read your thoughts too.