Since we seem to be doing random thoughts

It's funny how being unable to post to my blog put my mind into blogging overdrive. I kept coming up with things that I wanted to write about, with no means of acually posting. So, in the tradition of Jill and Amy M, here are a few of my random thoughts.

1. Have any of you ever participated in a Family Home Evening Packet group? I did for a while--I think we lasted less than a year. The idea was that ten people would prepare one lesson for nine different people and themself. We got together on a quarterly basis to exchange lessons. In theory it was a great idea. But the pressure to produce a "fat" packet (lots of activities, stories, games, etc.) was just too much. It seemed like some of the girls were always trying to "one-up" each other. As much as I complained about having to prepare a lesson for ten people--the time commitment, the money commitment--I was kind of sad when it ended. I really enjoyed getting the packets. A few days ago I had an Eureka! moment. Jeremy and I were talking about how we ought to start trying to have a short Family Home Evening every week with Kaitlin. She's 2, so she should be able to handle, oh, about 2 minutes of something gospel related! The family home evening packets came to mind, and I thought I'd start sifting through the ones I have to see if there is anything age appropriate in them. That thought led to an idea for incorporating Conference talks into our Family Home Evenings. I thought I could pick six talks and prepare a kid friendly Family Home Evening lesson around it. I would only have to prepare one lesson a month, until the next Conference, and my family would have a forum to discuss topics that the General Authorities find relevant for our time. Since I didn't have this idea until now, I think I'll begin when the Conference issue of the Ensign comes out. I'll start over with the next Conference issue. This way I don't have to start out by feeling behind. Hopefully this will be a good way to bring more of the gospel into our home. I really feel it's important to start soon with teaching Kaitlin the things that we believe as a church and as a family. So, does anybody else do something like this? If so, or if you do Family Home Evening in a fun and interesting way, what do you do?
2. One day at the hotel I entered the lobby to find they had laid out complementary copies of Newsweek magazine. Knowing I was facing a few hours cooped up in the room, I grabbed one to read. I read this touching little article written by a man who had lost his wife two years ago. If you don't have time to read it (if you're wondering, it's short!) I'll sum it up. The writer, William Shaw, always knew that his wife loved him, but after her death he wished that they had taken the opportunity to write love letters to each other throughout their marriage. He would have liked to have something of her left behind as "proof" of their love for each other. I immediately resolved to start writing letters to Jeremy every once in a while, just to let him know that I love him and tell him why. Do any of you write love letters to your spouse or significant other? (Two post scripts on this one. First, if you liked that article, you might want to print it out. I'm pretty sure that Newsweek doesn't archive their articles for long. Second, this article plays very nicely into my emphasis on journal writing--something that I want to post about more thoroughly later!)
   
3. This week we're trying to begin to transition Kaitlin fromt the crib into her big girl bed. I want her to take ownership of her new space as soon as possible before the baby comes. Does that sound really psychobabble-ish, or what? Anyway, we tried it yesterday and it freaked her out so badly that she refused to take a nap at all, even when I moved her into her crib. I think she could smell my fear and was reacting to that! Last night and this morning I worked on making the room a little more her own. All of her toys are there, her clothes are there, I made the bed (well, the mattress on the floor) and made sure to get her dressed and change her diapers in her new room. We also talked about all of the furniture in the room, the sheets, the pillows and pillowcases--everything. You name it! A few hours before naptime we had some errands to run, and then we stopped for lunch. At lunch I asked her where she wanted to sleep. She chose the big girl bed, and so far so good. I'm not sure that she's actually sleeping in there, but at least she's not screaming! Do you have any good tried and true techniques for getting a kid to sleep in a bed?
   
4. Today's an exciting day. Jeremy's new Mini Cooper is ready to be picked up. We're going to Salt Lake this afternoon, after my doctor's appointment to get it. I'm bummed that I'm going to have to drive the Explorer home while he gets to ride in his new plaything. But that's ok. There will be plenty of opportunities to ride in it later. I'm just really excited for Jeremy to get this car. He's been working so hard lately both at the office and at home--he deserves something fun for himself.

OK, I know I'm going a little long winded again. Sorry. I'll go try to get started on what I really should be doing--getting a few things done while Kaitlin's asleep.