Outside my window... It is sunny & hot (low 100's) but really not too bad for June in the AZ desert. It's actually been the coolest June since 1913, according to Lance.

I am thinking... that I spent way too much time on the computer today.

I am thankful for... having known Elder D. Todd Christofferson as my Stake President in high school

From the learning rooms... Miss Jenee's "That's Entertainment" Musical Theatre Summer Day Camp for the 4 oldest children for these last 2 weeks of June, so we are not having school

From the kitchen... very low on food in the fridge! I've been lazy. Threw a roast in the crock pot for dinner and did it the lazy way, even for a crock pot meal: didn't brown the roast, sprinkled on garlic salt (goes with almost everything, doesn't it?), threw in some beef broth & diced frozen onions rather than slicing fresh ones myself, and NO veges. I'll add some salad for dinner. We already had a mini-dinner at Gma J's next door of pizza rolls.

I am wearing... a lilac, v-neck J.Jill tee; vintage wash, boot-cut Gap jeans; leather Bjorn sandals, and a bobby pin in my hair (put there at Sage's request to encourage her to wear one in her hair to keep it out of her face while it's growing back.) No make-up, no jewelry, no shower yet today.

I am creating... a few blog posts and some albums of old pictures on Facebook.

I am going... to get everyone together for dinner as soon as this is done. Went to Safeway for a quick run this morning and got gas: $80.03 for 29 gallons of 87gasoline, $2.729/gallon.

I am reading... May 2009 Ensign and maybe Ali Edward's Life Artist before bed.

I am hoping... my fingers & neck stop hurting after I get off the computer; to hear from some people I messaged on Facebook.

I am hearing... the laughter of Macey, Skylar, and a friend as they swing in the backyard

Around the house... is very messy - I haven't cleaned a thing all week. Also, several cousins are in and out between here and Gma J's next door.

One of my favorite things... low-fat Oreos and skim milk. Bought some at Safeway this morning then shared them with the 3 youngest on the kitchen floor this morning. Good times!

A few plans for the rest of the week: the kids' performance Friday evening, date night Saturday. Anna Vincent will babysit.

Here is picture thought I am sharing:

{Daddy & me, 1973}

It's my dad's 59th birthday. I need to go call him!

The Idea

I am taken with the idea that Ali Edwards promotes (and does so beautifully well) of capturing everyday moments and snapshots of what a period of time in your life generally looks like. I came across a template to fill out periodically that helps you do just that. It is called The Simple Woman's Daybook. You just fill in the blanks of the list on a regular, even scheduled, basis. I will tweak it over time to match my life and what I want to capture. I think it is a brilliant jumping point to get me going in the right direction. It will help me slow down, notice the beauty of every day, and be more in the moment. It will also show changes in the seasons of my life over time.

The moments of my life slip by so fast. Many of them I capture, but I am missing the over-all picture of the everyday details that are so normal today, but will look completely different at another point in time. Ali has done many "Today" pages for her 7 year-old son, Simon, over the years, which I adore. But I struggle with how to do that for 6 children. There just isn't time. (Now that she has had another baby, I am eager to see how she will manage it for more than one child.) I am considering coming up with a schedule of when to do such pages for each child through out the year. Maybe once a quarter. That would cover each season of the year.

There is so much"doing" to do. I simply can't always stop. I want to capture and store away details so that someday I can take them out and examine them at my leisure. And as much as we all hate it and think it won't happen, we do forget those precious fleeting moments that come and go before we know it. I'll never capture them all, but I want to be better organized with a system for gathering as many of them as I can.