a perfect sunday.

we're having a NO SCREENS time of life... when i woke up Sunday morning this is the to do list i found.
i replaced it with the "to do on Sunday" list above. 
aren't my kids funny?!

yesterday, i was FOCUSED.
:: i ironed all Sunday clothes on Saturday night.
(we still couldn't find shoes two minutes before we were supposed to leave... drew had to wear black sneakers.)
:: i read my scriptures, wrote in my journal, and really felt hopeful!!
(my hair was not so cute for church- i was pretty rushed, and i forgot the baby's pacifier at home-- todd had to drive home quickly to get it.)
:: we went for a beautiful drive after church... to see the 13 acres for sale that my husband loves.
(i just kept thinking how LOST i feel here... will i ever know my way around?)
:: i tried to meet with each of my kids one on one, and to write goals for the week in their new composition notebook journals.
(i only met with 1.5 out of 7 kids.)
:: the one child i had a one on one with was jakob-- and he left after church for scout camp for a week.  he had packed with him his scriptures with a little reminder note card of the goals he set for the week... 1. personal prayer and scriptures daily  2. be the FIRST to help   3.  pray daily to SEE someone who could use a friend.
(i'm in the primary presidency now, in this new ward... and so i didn't even get to say goodbye to jakob before he left.  i'm grateful he has a little piece of me tucked in his scriptures!)
:: after church, i was very tired, and i tried to get a nap in. 
(my kids woke me up FIGHTING over a picture album.)
:: i tried to take care of the more temporal things (like feeding and dressing the kids) so that my family could focus on spiritual matters.
(at dinner there was a lot of dumb contention-- fighting over seats and the color of their cups.)
:: i called the kids together for a Sunday devotional on this talk, "The Tradition of a Balanced, Righteous Life" by Elder L. Tom Perry.
(it was SO GOOD... but, i spent the majority of my efforts teaching the lesson-"How to sit in your seat nicely while someone teaches a lesson.  OH, this is such an important lesson for little ones to learn!!") 

i ALMOST felt that it wasn't worth all the effort.
but then, after our evening devotional, while we were eating pie, my husband said, "Wow.  This has been a PERFECT Sunday."
Later that night he said, "Jen, you really worked so hard today.  Thanks for all you did, it was perfect.  I realized that I am just so lazy.  I need to be better."
Not that he really is lazy, or that I was amazing... but, it was good to be noticed. 
And, I didn't even need to sit down and say "Honey, both of us need to do more."  I could just BE better myself and trust that the Spirit would tell him what he needed to change. 

Sunday this week, was just a little bit better than Sunday last week... 

That makes it a PERFECT Sunday.