I like to ride my bicycle

My mom used to sing this song as she bicycles a baby's leg when she is playing with them or changing their diaper:  "I like to ride my bicycle, I like to ride my bike, I like to ride my bicycle, I like to ride it where I like."  The band Queen sings a song called Bicycle Race that some of my older brothers liked.  I'm trying to find an original for it.  I thought of the song today as I went for a bike ride.  A new road was recently re-done just minutes from our house and it goes out into the country.  I biked it part way a month or more ago.  Today I wanted to go to the end.  It's a little over 8 miles.  It was so much fun, so peaceful, and a good workout.  I just was reminded again how much I love to ride my bike, but I do like to ride on paved roads, and not in traffic.  Tall order, huh?  It seems to me that I enjoy small town living more than I thought. Now, if we could just transport the Beaumont/Edmonton region to just north of the Alberta border, things would be in perfect order.

Joel

Summer is a challenge. I was looking forward to it mostly but my kids are fighting and being rude to each other ALL THE TIME!  I want to pull my hair out everyday. We've had good moments every day along with all the rotten ones. This was a good moment. Joel wrote me a nice letter and it made me laugh.

"Dear mom, I love you mom!! I wish that it wasn't so hard to be a mom because you do lots of work every single day. :)

Please help dad make the choice to move because I really want to move!!

You are the best mom in the whole entire world!!

I hope we will be able to go to the west edmonton mall because it is really fun, but I am not going to go on the dolphin slide if we do go because that's how I cracked my chin. :)

I hope you have a good day!!  I love you!!

Love, Joel"

This is proof that he is sweet. 

Drops of Awesome

In relief society today we had a lesson about making a choice to see good in ourselves and to be less critical. Satan always tempts us to focus on the bad and to tear ourselves and others down to his level. During the lesson a story was shared about a mom who chose to fill an imaginary bucket with drops of awesome. As she noticed little things she did right, she discovered she really was becoming the person she wanted to become and that Heavenly Father really is happy with who she is. It made me think. When I get compliments from others, I often think about all the bad traits and weaknesses I possess instead of putting a drop of awesome in my bucket. Another point is that when we start to do this, Heavenly Father blesses us with more than our bucket can hold and we feel amazingly blessed. I can choose each day and each moment to have "drops of awesome" in my bucket instead of listening to satan's temptations of worthlessness.