scenes of christmas

This has been a magical Christmas season so far.  I have loved having a revolving door of family around. I have loved happening upon little Christmas scenes around the house.  The children can hardly keep their hands off of the nativity puppets my mother made nearly 25 years ago.  I've had to chase down the little sheep more times than I can count.

On Sunday I drifted off to sleep while mom and Michael and John talked in the living room while the children ran and jumped about the living room.  At one point I heard Evaleigh bounding through the hallway singing "Jingle Bells" and I woke with a smile clear across my face.

Our joy school Christmas program didn't exactly go off without a hitch. Evaleigh wouldn't do her angel part because she was feeling shy and Avett wouldn't put on his shepard costume. But it still filled my heart with joy.

I love making memories with my babies and husband.  

just some time

Several times tonight before we went upstairs to bed Evaleigh told me, "Mom, I just want to spend some time with you."  It was the sweetest request that I couldn't wait to fulfill. 

So we went upstairs after family prayer, which was the usual struggle of Avett whining that he wanted to pray as soon as Evie started to pray.  I am glad they love to pray so I suppose it's a good problem to have.  John put Avett to bed while and Evie and I laughed and snuggled and played and read books for a good 45 minutes.  I sat her on my lap and told her NOT to laugh, which of course was impossible.  She would say it to me and then we would bust out laughing.  

I loved every second of it.  It's easy to hurry through the last parts of the day, especially on the days when bed time is a welcomed time.  I know I tend to do that often but tonight was different and I loved it.  

She loves to say, "Mom can I tell you a whisper?" Then she leans up close and whispers in my ear, "I love you, you are the best mom ever you silly pot."  There's just nothing in the world like having a daughter.

the garage

I've been trying to get myself and this home organized.  My mother comes home from her mission in exactly 6 weeks! She will be home Christmas Eve and we are all starting to get pretty excited over here! 

There is so much to be done and I am trying to catch up on some of the outside work since we've finally had a few days without rain.  Yesterday I spent over an hour blowing leaves off of the driveway.  With all of the rain and the lack of maintenance we had developed a pretty thick coat of packed wet leaves.  It was oddly satisfying to work to get them all cleared away and to see the concrete freshly unveiled.  The kids played in the camper completely keeping to themselves the whole time.  I would stop occasionally to bring them a snack to keep their blood sugar high and their minds occupied while playing in the camper.

Then we cleaned out the garage and I broke down about 30 cardboard boxes.  Then simplified everything.  It felt so good to declutter.

So tonight we waited in our freshly organized garage for daddy to come home while running around and peering out the window at our twinkle lights that have been on the Bla-bla tree for over a year now.  The kids took turns on the pink bike, which Evies legs are finally almost the right length for.  They practiced good manners and sharing.  Until the end when they got hungry.  I fed them meatloaf which they love!

When John was close we turned off the lights and sat on the couch in the dark as quiet as could be to scare him.  We all practiced saying "boo!" at the same time and they were so excited.  When John walked in we gave him a good scare followed by lots of giggles and a big group hug. It is so nice to have so many places to escape to on this home.  It constantly keeps thing feels new and fresh, we sure will miss that when we move to Athens.

Love my very wiggly noisy funny busy bodies and that they go along with my silly ideas. ❤️

the rewards

I love spending my days with them. I'm doing a job that is hard and exhausting and busy.  There are times when I question every little thing I am doing as a mom and I wonder if I'm already messing them up.  And then there are moments that sneak up on me and surprise me and give me the encouragement that I'm actually doing a pretty darn good job.

A few things lately that have touched my heart:

-Evaleigh wants to sing Avett a song before bed every night, she always chooses I am a Child of God and she knows every word.  She stands by his bed side and softly strokes his head.  She refuses to let me sing along.

-Avett has gotten particularly great at sharing.  If there is a conflict for the most part all I have to do is ask the kids to have "a conversation" about it and then they work it out.  Avett is such a humble little guy he is usually the one to give in and make peace.

-Evaleigh loves to "give service" around the house.  Today I told her she could help me do laundry and I left to go to the bathroom.  When I came back to the living room she had carried all of the clean laundry from the laundry room and piled it on the floor.  She loves to remind me with a huge smile and wide bright eyes, "Mom! Thats giving service!"

-Both of my children are loving and affectionate.  They love to hug and kiss and Evie loves to ask to tell me a whisper.  Usually it is, "I love you." Or "You are a sweet mom."

I'm honored to get to do this job and I'm so thankful for the times these kids make me laugh or feel proud.  It's such a reward for all of the hard times.  

walk in the light

These little balls of energy and I had been cooped up for so many consecutive rainy days that we bursting at the seams and had to get out of the house rain or shine!

So two days ago we slapped on our rain coats and plugged in our twinkle lights and made the most of the gloomy evening.  They were drenched and muddy but oh so happy that none of the dirt even mattered.  Laundry could be done and shoes cleaned but the outside was the solace we needed.

Evaleigh loves tiny things. And somehow she tracked down a small part of my key chain that had broken off and was laying in the mud.  She brought it to me blowing the whistle at the top of her lungs and asked me to do the same.  Then I noticed the small keychain attached to it with two tiny foot prints and next to it it said "Walk in the Light."  I pulled her close to me and read it to her and then sang her Teach Me to Walk in the Light.  It was a moment I never want to forget under the glow of the twinkling lights teaching my daughter about faith and the gleam of the Saviors love and gospel.  

The spirit filled my heart as I watched her stomp around yelling "walk in the light walk in the light!"

Then we all share a big piece of eye of round roast that I had been slow cooking in the oven for 8 hours. Yum. 

women who care

Last weekend I had the opportunity to speak alongside my friend Jenn Mack at the Atlanta Stake "Women Who Care" conference.  Our topic was "It's your divine nature, own it!".  Here is a 40 minute excerpt from the conference, the last 5 minutes included the song that Jenn and I wrote for the conference.  The first 10 minutes are missing in which we took one big group selfie and talked about the things we see when we look our physical selves and then we imagined what our "spiritual selfie" would look like, or how we look to our Heavenly Father.  After our song we both bore our testimonies and those are missing too but I'm so glad we have the middle documented, it was such a sweet experience to look in to the eyes of those young women and seeing them soaking in the message.  The spirit was so strong in that room.  I love sharing the gospel and testifying of its truths. 

composer

I've been making good on our anniversary chat.  I've written several songs in the past few weeks and it feels so good to be creating.  I read a quote a long long time ago and it has always stuck with me. "Don't give up on something you can go a day without thinking about."  For me, that is music. 

I know music will always be a part of my life and I know that at different times of my life it will play different parts.  Teaching, performing, competing, writing, creating, singing in the living room to the sound of my husband playing Hannah. I love it all.

These days music is just coming out of me.  I sit down at my dads childhood piano and I can expel a song in about an hour, it's like they've just been waiting to get out.  I love this.

Tonight I finished a song call "tender mercy love". It's one of my favorites so far. I've always had a dream to write church music and now I'm doing something's to make it happen.  We will see what the future holds but what is coming out feels good and sounds good. 

new schedules and happy babies

Today was a perfect day. Truly.  John Murphy and I have come up with a new family schedule that I am very excited about.  I've had such a hard time keeping up with this big house and two crazy kids who love to make messes faster than I can clean them.  

So after an excellent conversation we came up with a plan that is just going to be amazing.  When John comes home from class we feed the kids lunch together and then he takes over with the kids until their nap time.  It gives me time to clean, do chores, catch up on emails and seminary stuff, write music, and study my scriptures or whatever I need to do.

I am realizing how important it is for me to have regular uninterrupted daytime time to do things that I want and need to do. I've never really asked for consistent time like this but I can tell it is going to be such a life changer for me. Today was one of our first days on our new schedule idea and I was more productive in the 4 hours I had today than I am in 2-3 days combined! It was such a breath of fresh air to turn on some music and get to work in the house while john had the kids and then when they were napping I studied a talk for seminary and got so much done. 

I crave productivity.  I grew up on to do lists and goals, something my father engrained in me, and I am so thankful for those abilities he encouraged me to make a part of my life. Being a mother with young children has changed things in the realms of productivity every day.  Progress looks different than what it used to because my progress comes in my children. It comes in the things I am teaching them, in them grasping concepts and manners and routines.  It comes when they say prayers on their own and they throw away their trash or take a dish to the sink without being asked.  Right now a lot of my daily progress is wrapped up in the incessant task of teaching and caring for my babies.

But I am learning how important and fulfilling it is for me to be able to make time and do both of the things I am talking about.  

This past week john have me a beautiful blessing as I was feeling so overwhelmed by motherhood and they way that I respond to it sometimes. I am so grateful that he talks to me about it and that we make decisions together on how to improve our home lives and personal lives.  I am grateful for his support in everything I set my heart out to do.

I've been writing a lot of music lately and it feels so good.

Anyway, today was wonderful.  Because I knew I would have a chunk of hours to do what I needed to do I let all of that go until it was time after lunch and I spent the whole morning playing with my babies instead of trying to do things here and there.  They were so much happier and so was I! 

I'm just so excited for what is to come, life is good. 

a little girl in her mothers dress

Oh Evie, today you made my dreams come true.

This morning I taught a seminary lesson about eternal marriage.  I set up the room like a wedding reception and I had my wedding dress on display.  

About 15 years ago, well before I knew John, I started writing letters to my future husband. I would tell him about the things going on in my life and what I was doing to prepare to marry him someday.  It helped me keep an eternal perspective as a youth as to the goal that I wanted.  It is hard when you are young and there are  so many temptations and struggles placed in your way but writing these letters helped me keep an eternal perspective.

The night before John and I were married I gave him the box of letters while sitting in our rented white Mustang.  We laughed and laughed as a lot of them were pretty lame and embarrassing.  However what was clear was that even before I knew who my husband was going to be I prayed for him, thought of him, and tried my best to stay worthy of him by keeping him in my mind and trying to reflect that as best as I could with the decisions I made.

I shared some of those letters with my class today and I encouraged them to write a letter to their future husband or wife. I was amazed at how almost every single one of them went silent and took the time to write what looked like long thoughtful letters.

When I got home I hung my dress in the living room and hopped back in bed.  I woke up to Evie saying, "oh mommy, I saw your wedding dress in the living room!"  I swear. Nothing gets by her.  Later while I was getting ready to put it away she asked if she could try it on.  

Well why not?!

So we did, and she was giddy and happy and looked so beautiful.  My heart was just bursting with joy seeing her in the dress my mother made for me.  It made me hope so much that she does what ever she can in her life to look forward to the day when she gets to go to the temple with her own love to be married.  Making choices that will cause her to be worthy of that is the most important thing she will ever do. 

She tells me all of the time that she wants to marry someone like her daddy.  I tell her that he is the most kind, handsome, and genuine man I've ever met and that she has to marry someone just like him.  

Marrying my John Murphy was the best decision I ever made. Hands down.  

kind of heavy for a friday.

Yesterday I stumbled across some very disturbing images through what I thought was going to be an innocent hashtag on Instagram.  I have been quite disturbed since then and have not been able to get them out of my mind.  I have been wondering how some people get to such a point of self loathing or how their life situation has caused them to have no self esteem.  This makes me feel sad. I wish I could show people that they have incredible worth.

I know every single person has a different life situation and I couldn't even begin to imagine some of them.  The world is such a dangerous place but it can also a beautiful place if you look for the positive.

I think it is so important to start with loving yourself.  

I think its important to be able to take a look at your self and say, "Yeah, I'd be friends with that person, I like her."  I can truly say that I love myself, and I don't mean this in a conceited or egotistical way.  I enjoy who I am.  I think its important to respect yourself where you are in your life at the current time.  Life is always going to be changing and you will be transitioning from one stage of life to another.  Always.  It is important to love yourself through those changes and to be kind to yourself.  

Sometimes I look at my sweet baby and pray as hard as I can that I will show her how much we love her and she will know how precious she is.  I couldn't imagine a day where she would feel alone or hate for herself.  It is SO important that we spend our days with our children loving them and helping them to acquire solid foundations of true self esteem.  Not just that they are beautiful or smart or funny, but that they are worthy of life and worthy of love and that they deserve, yes DESERVE, to have the best life has to offer.  Because they are children of God.

Christmas Card 11'

I love Christmas cards.

I love sending them.

I love getting them.

So, here is one for your little online mailbox from us to you.

Next year we will have an extra little person in our Christmas pictures.

Merry Christmas!!!

busy busy busy

I have been a busy lady these past few days.  

Mr. Murphy and I are getting ready to leave for Florida on Wednesday.

We are going down to the ranch for his cousins wedding.

I just love weddings.

While we are down there we will be having our family pictures taken by the ever so talented Audrey Layne (who we just so happen to be related to! Lucky us!) I was able to talk John in to doing these pictures by bringing up the fact that it will be our last chance for pictures together without the babe in tow.  

He hates having his picture taken...perhaps his only flaw.

I have been a crafting fool trying to get a few things ready for our shoot.

(This banner was printed on brown paper bags from Publix.

Free font found here.)

P.S. Can't wait to share pictures from my beautiful baby shower this past weekend.  They will go up as soon as I get them from my sister's camera.  I had a lovely time ladies, I love you all!!