Which one isn't Bridget?

We saved this red outfit from when Sydney was a baby and dressed Bridget up in it. I can't believe how much they look alike!

Obviously from the bow the middle one is Sydney (I wish I would have saved the bow too!)

Charming Austenland

Okay so it ain't Shakespeare....it ain't Austen either...but if you're in the mood to drink hot chocolate (recipe below) by a flickering fire while burning a fragrant Christmas candle (I recommend "cinnamon spruce" from Salt City candles) and read by the light of a twinkling tree...and you don't want to think too much but want to smile instead...I recommend this book. I dare say (written in an English accent) it is a better romance than Twilight (I know I should bite my tongue!) Jolly good read!

Here's my new guilty pleasure:

1/4 C Hershey's cocoa

1/2 C sugar

3 C milk

1 C evaporated milk

1/2 t. vanilla

Heat it up then put it in the blender on the "soups" setting until it is steaming and foamy. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Christmastime Fun

This year our ward and our old ward's young men/young women participated as cast members at Tuacahn's annual nativity. Steve was cast as "townsperson #?" and his performance was the tour de force of the production. He had to barter his wares in the crowded streets as Mary and Joseph were looking for a room in an inn. Bravo Steve...encore!!! I bundled the kids up and took them to see both showings on Friday night. It is one of our traditions to go to Tuacahn every year, and we signed up to all be in it next year. Sydney and Gaby snuggling

Asher and Jonah look so much like brothers--can you tell them apart?

Townsperson of Bethlehem kissing the anachronistic baby. I bet my mom will recognize the snow suit she's wearing--it was mine when I was a baby!

Gabe was as comfortable as can be on Santa's lap after the shows. He asked for presents for himself, Asher, and Jonah.

Too old for Santa? NEVER!!!

And here's a picture taken at dinner tonight. This is what the 1:00pm church time does for 3 year olds!

Sink Reflections

My mom gave me this book with the disclaimer "don't be offended"--and I wasn't. I know I am "overwhelmed, disorganized, living in CHAOS" (can't have anyone over syndrome). It is by the "Fly Lady" who runs the website flylady.net. She has a system of cleaning and organizing based on the philosophy that doing a little bit all the time, and not worrying about perfection is the better than going all out once in a while. It's taken me about a week to get organized enough to start this method, but so far it seems to be working for me. Here are some of the tips/methods that are helpful for me:

• Shine the sink every night and keep it clean all the time. Don't let anything stay in the sink--ever. Not even a dish rag--keep it on a hook under the sink and replace daily. I really have noticed a difference in the kitchen with this one simple rule. Dishes automatically go in the dishwasher and it seems to keep the whole kitchen clean.



• She talks about "hotspots" or places that attract clutter. For my house it's my desk. Her advice is to focus on keep this "hotspot" clean at all times--even if you don't do anything else.



• Get dressed, do your face, and put on lace up shoes before doing anything else in the morning. I had to modify this because I try to exercise in the morning, but it has really helped to get dressed right after exercising, instead of feeling like a total scrounge all day. Really, most cleaning can be done in regular clothes.
• My favorite tip is to clean the bathroom every time you go to the bathroom. She suggests that you drink a lot of water (because it's good for you anyway) so that you have to visit the bathroom a lot. I try to remember to use a different bathroom each time, and I put windex and lysol under each sink along with clean rags. This is working out really well. Instead just thinking about how I need to clean the bathroom, I actually just do it!
• I also have begun to do laundry all the way through to the end and never letting it leave my laundry room to get piled on my bed. I do one load every day from start to finish. With just one load at a time I have enough room to fold it on top of the washer and dryer. I hate having stray socks on my floor in my bedroom, which is where I usually fold laundry. This method is really working!
• She tells you to get rid of anything that doesn't bless your home. I actually got rid of a vase I bought on our honeymoon that has been sitting on the floor for 13 years waiting for me to do something useful with it. I also got rid of the extra fabric from my bridesmaid's dresses that I didn't know I had until this week, and a bunch of old Christmas stuff that should maybe have been sentimental but isn't, so why have it? With my overactive imagination I sometimes have random nightmares like what if Gestapo type soldiers ttake over our country and come to my door and say my family will be spared only if I can produce an artifact from my honeymoon...I also always wonder how much money I would have to be offered to shave my head or be a surrogate mother. Anyway, none of these scenerios will ever happen!

What isn't working yet is the "zone work." She divides the home into 5 zones and you are supposed to work on deep cleaning one zone for 15 minutes a day. Zone one is for the first week in each month (which may be shorter than a whole week depending on what day the month starts), zone 2 for the second week, etc. I'm still not sure how to divide my home up. In the book she has just one week for the kids' rooms, all bathrooms besides the master, and I think the den too. She must not have as many kids rooms--not that 3 is that many, but it seems like that "zone" is too big. Anyway, even to have 15 minutes to clean is difficult once my day gets going and kids are home from school, etc.

She also says that if the kids or husband don't do their share, don't whine, just do it for them. I totally get the "no whining" thing, but I am having a hard time trusting that if I just do everything they will somehow come around and see my good example and start pitching in. I think they might just come to expect that mom is the maid--sweet! I guess it doesn't hurt to try to just do everything myself happily--I do it all angrily now anyway! I'll see how this goes.

Overall, I think it is definitely worth reading. My favorite philosophy is that even cleaning the wrong way is beneficial, so forget about the notions of right and wrong when it comes to cleaning. For instance, today I really needed to mop the floor but didn't have much time, so I just started mopping with water in the places that I could see black spots on my tile. I used the mop to push the crumbs to the corner and swept later. And even though that is not really the right way to do it, it still looked much better in about 2 minutes! I think that we are all too caught up with the notion that our homes have to be "perfect" to be clean. Real-ife dirt and clutter really isn't like sin, despite all the religious metaphors that compare the two. If it looks good on the outside, who cares if it is hypocritical, as long as you intend to deep clean eventually, right?

Well, I'm really good at planning to start new habits, but sometimes not the best at following through, so we'll see how this goes. If it doesn't work out, I can always go back to my own method--the plan to clean all day everyday and then do this for about two days, then realize that I will never, ever get ahead so I give up completely and decide to read a book and pretend that living in a disaster doesn't bother me until I really can't stand it anymore because it does bother me so I am mean to everyone around me and act like a martyr for having to do housework....Hey..maybe I should write a cleaning book!!!

Big Bows

Our conversation when I tried the bow Staci made on Bridget last night:


Sara: Doesn't she look cute?
Steve: What is she, a Christmas package?
Sara: Of course!

Tell me the truth--is it too big?
Is it possible to be too big?

For the record: I'm back to doing my blog now!

Halloween and More

We're not sure what Bridget was for Halloween...a leopard ballerina? But she sure looked adorable--my favorite is the naked arms and tight leotard bottom!

Jonah was the "human torch" from Fantastic 4. He tried to go to school with no underwear, just the spandex suit.

Asher was a mummy for Halloween night. He was supposed to be a football player at school but he refused to put on his costume. I'm sure glad I went to the school parade to see my son wearing jeans and a shirt!

Sydney looked cute in her spider woman costume.

This is as close as we got to getting all of the kids in a picture! We had an altogether fun Halloween complete with our neighborhood party and trick-or-treating! It's only Sunday now and our candy is all gone--hooray!

It was Grandma Johnson's 81st birthday on Friday, November 2. My mom was in town and we had a birthday party for Grandma! Jonah kept reminding her she was turning 81!

Grandma and all the Layton kids. Love Gabe's face in this one--classic!

You may have noticed there was not one picture of Gabe on Halloween. I guess he felt left out so he wanted to look like Frankenstein after Halloween! Saturday night as I was getting ready to go to Stake Conference, Gabe slipped in the shower and split open his chin. That landed him at the Instacare where he got 8 stitches. In this picture I asked him to show me his scar--I think he was showing me where his Harry Potter scar should be. The nurses apparently thought he was pretty cute. The most traumatic part about it was having to get a band-aid. After stitching him up (he was pretty calm through that whole ordeal) they asked him if he wanted a band-aid on his hand and he threw himself to the ground crying.

LOVELY! We actually feel blessed that a few stitches here and there are the worst that have happened to our wild Gaby!

Well, wish me luck this next week. We had an awesome meeting on Tuesday when we were set apart as Primary leaders. We came up with a list of all the callings we needed to have filled, and the Bishop said it was about 80-90% correct. I really felt the spirit and know we were guided to choose who we did. Now I have to wait and see who accepts and how many substitutes we'll need for next week. It should be interesting!

Steve was also extended a calling today, so we'll both have our plates full. Again, BALANCE is my new motto!

What a Week!

Reflections on "Reflections: Lisa and I finally finished up our duties as "Reflections" coordinators this week, though so much has happened this week it seems like ages ago! Last Thursday (Oct. 18) all of the projects for the school were due, judges came, etc., and we were at the school off an on from 8:30 am to 7:30 pm. Bridget was such a good baby all day I wish I could give her a prize--what a sweetheart she is! Jonah and Asher both entered in the category of 3-D art, and since there were only 5 entries total, and 5 are able to go on to districts, they amazingly both won finalist ribbons! (I'm sure they would have won no matter how many entries there were.....maybe:-)
Jonah was so excited to get to go up in front of the whole school during the assembly on Tuesday! He made a model of himself feeding lizards a hamburger entitled "I can make a difference by taking care of animals."

Asher was playing it cool and trying not to smile when he was called up as a finalist. His project was a model of a man cleaning up the polluted lake (it also had a hamburger floating in the water!).

While Jonah and Asher each won a box of whoppers, a ribbon, and a certificate, Sydney won 50 dollars cash for her 1st place reflections project at Lava Ridge (I wasn't in charge of this one--their coordinators got sponsers to donate cash--good idea--I'll pass it on to the next reflections girl because it won't be me!). Sydney wrote a story and Steve filmed her telling it. After seeing the cash, she has decided that next year she will try her luck in every category. She'll write a song for her viola, choreograph a dance, write a poem, make a film, etc. And I have no doubt she'll do it--what a kid!

With the stress of Reflections over, I was ready to get my life back in order and take it easy. Then, I got "the call" from Brother Whitehead (second counsellor). Since I had heard that a friend of mine was getting called in the same night with her husband, I figured they had gotten the big callings out of the way and were giving Steve and I our smaller assignments. I really felt that I should be the wolf leader with my friend Jen, because Asher is in wolves and it would be fun to be with him and his littel buddies. I also figured that if anyone got a "big" calling it would be Steve, not me. I have had a strong feeling lately that I need to be home with my kids, get my house in order, get our food storage together, have better family home evenings, read more with the kids, play with my baby, etc. I certainly wasn't ready for the calling I got!

The first time I was called into a Primary presidency was just before Asher was born--8 and 1/2 years ago! I remember I felt like I was going to pass out--I literally felt the blood drain from my face. I hadn't been in primary since I graduated from it, and I didn't consider myself a primary type person. The president would ask me to do things, but told me everything I did had to be approved by her. She made me write the whole program, turn it in to her to be checked, then she picked it apart and rewrote the whole thing herself. It was very strange.

That president moved and I was called as second counsellor to another primary president in that Phoenix ward. This primary president was not even active in the church, really. She hardly ever showed up to sacrament meeting, and was usually late to sharing time when it was her turn. Many times I had to ask the chorister to do singing time first while we waited for the president to show up to do sharing time. Things were much different there in our little, struggling ward! One sunday I conducted, did sharing time, lead the singing, and handed out rolls. It was just me and the pianist and two primary teachers!

When I was called as first counsellor in this ward in March 2004, I was really excited. I had been in the ward without a calling for 5 months and was starting to wonder if they didn't need me here in Utah. I learned so much in those 3+ years, but when I was released in May of this year, I was ready to go. I think we all felt a little burned out and the need for some new ideas. I'd shared all my good stories, and used all my good ideas already, and was relieved to not have to go through having my second baby while in the same presidency!

On thursday when they called Steve and me in, I had no idea what to expect. I swear he said "Steve, we'd like to call Sara as Primary President." That really threw me off! My first reaction was shock, then confusion (did this new bishop forget that I was just in primary?), then anger (what the heck!?#%@ can't you think of anyone else you insensitive men? I just had a baby!!!) I asked them if they were sure, and they assured me they had taken everything into consideration and still felt strongly that I should be the president.

I haven't really slept since then, and it's midnight now on night 4 of no sleep and I'm still wired about this. I think I scared brother Whitehead with my psychotic behavior. On Friday at the ward party I practically broke down to him because I had no idea who to call for counsellors. I have never had to do that before, and knowing how much work goes into primary, I knew I had to choose who Heavenly Father wanted. I went through the ward list and wrote down every woman's name and thought about each one (even Sister Potter who is in the wheel chair!). I drove around the ward hoping to gain inspiration. I went to the ward party hoping someone's face would start glowing or something.

Finally I told Brother Whitehead on Saturday that I would have the names to him that day because I had to put and end to my misery! He looked sympathetic and almost scared by my haggard appearance Saturday morning! Steve gave me a blessing then took the kids to a soccer game, and while I was cleaning my house in peace, I decided who would logically be good counsellors. I knew I needed solid, dependable women. To make a long, very dramatic story short, I chose Nicole and Sallie, felt good about them, called Brother Whitehead (who sounded much relieved), and prayed that they would accept, which they did!

Now the work begins! We had a meeting today to figure out what needs to be done. We are a new ward now starting from scratch, and everyone has to be called anew. It is quite overwhelming, but I have decided that the most important thing is for my life to have balance, that my family comes first, that primary doesn't have to be over the top, that I don't have to fit the cutsie primary president mold, and that I can do it because Heavenly Father chose me to do it....

Now I'm going to try to go to bed...and maybe even sleep!

Shining "Shiner" Memories

It's always fun to take pictures of deformed children! And we've had our share of them over the years! Here is a picture of Sydney when she was 3-years old in August of 1999. The day before Asher's blessing, she was bitten by a mosquito right under her eye--by the next morning it had swelled so much she was unrecognizable! When she woke up that morning she said matter-of-factly, "one eye opened, one eye closed!" During sacrament meeting she went up on the stand to sit on her grandpa's lap (who was bishop at the time). He thought she was a "special" child come to sit on the bishop's lap. Next is a picture of Gabriel taken in November of 2006 (almost 2 years old) after he pulled a barstool on top of himself. Somehow I knew I would end up having to see a doctor for him while his eye was like this and have to explain myself or face child abuse charges. Sure enough, he came down with severe croup a few days later. Knowing Gabe already, Dr. Kaddu wasn't too surprised by the accident!

Finally Jonah, the not-so-innocent victim of both of his brothers this weekend. First Gabe hit him with the backside of a light sabor (the two red dots on his eyebrows), then Asher chucked a hotwheels car at him, hitting him under the eye and causing it to swell. Asher actually feels really, really bad, and was waiting on Jonah during conference, bringing him water, toast, and giving him his old toys as a peace offering.

Just par for the course at the Layton home!

Before and After

I've been dreading having to clean out clothes from Bridget's room that she has grown out of--it's always such a sad day. Here's Bridget the day we brought her home from the hospital in her yellow lily pad outfit. Here she is less than three months later. Why do they have to grow up so fast?

Blessing Days

Here are about a hundred pictures from Bridget's blessing day. I also dug out pictures of the other kids wearing their blessing clothes and scanned them in below. Bridget Kathleen was blessed by Steve who was so nervous his legs wouldn't stop shaking, but he did a great job. In the circle were Grandpa Claude, Grandpa Ken, Uncle Kent, Uncle Taylor (that sounds weird since he's so new to the family!) and Bishop Miller. Despite the Karo syrup on her head, the gorgeous headband Staci helped us make fell off during the blessing, but my dad tried to throw it on her head before Steve held her up for the ward to see.

We had a photo shoot before church--Bridgie was workin' like a little model

Unfortunately the family pictures didn't turn out as well (thanks a lot, Asher!)

Bridget with Grandpa Ken and Grandma Kathleen. Kathleen mad her beautiful blessing dress--after all, Bridget's middle name is Kathleen!

Look at these darling socks!

This is the most appropriate family picture we have!

Gaby and Jonah!

Gabriel Jones

Jonah Lee

Asher Steven

Sydney Emily

Thanks to all the family who travelled here to be with us today!