Naylor Notes: Bad news/ Good news

It is now March, which means January and February have passed without any documentation. It has been a hard, crazy winter with me having a broken foot and hernia surgery (and currently a nasty cough) that has stretched us A LOT! All of the rest and recovery time I've needed allowed me to pick up an old hobby of mine... reading. One of the first books I read, or rather finally got to finish since I had started it last spring, is Motherhood Realized by Power of Moms. Each chapter is written by a different mom from various stages of motherhood. One idea I found that really stuck with me is what one mom calls "bad news/good news." The idea is that when one of her children faces a trial, a scraped chin for example, she pulls them aside and says "The bad news is you scraped your chin and it hurts. The good news is that you landed on the grass instead of the sidewalk which would have been much worse." It is a way of acknowledging the pain of the moment and then finding something good in the situation and moving on. It fosters an "attitude of gratitude." Basically, there are always two ways we can look at a situation, negatively or positively. In an effort to notice all of the good that has come with what feels like one long wave of trials, I have applied this principle. So here is the bad news/good news of 2015 so far:

Bad News

I broke my foot and had to spend 6 weeks wearing a boot.
Brian had to study a lot for dental boards part 1 and various exams at school.
I had surgery to remove three hernias and the recovery was much harder than expected.
Ezra has been really fussy cutting teeth.
Thomas and/or Ezra have been waking way too early, like 6am, everyday.
Maybrie's school bus has changed numbers and times so much it has forced me to drive her to school late several times.

Good News

My parents flew my brother Spencer out to help me for 10 days. He provided tons of help physically, doing things I couldn't do because of the limited mobility of my boot, and mentally he kept me sane by talking and laughing with me. It was a wonderful visit and one I will cherish always. I love you Spencer!
Brian passed his dental boards part 1 exam!
I was still able to drive because I broke my left foot.
It was a dry winter so I didn't have to worry about walking in snow with my boot on, and I didn't have to feel bad that I couldn't take the kids out to play in the snow.
The two good snowfalls we received landed on the weekend so Brian was able to take the kids out.
I had over a week's worth of babysitting and dinners provided by our ward's relief society and friends during and following my surgery. There is no way I will ever be able to thank everyone enough for all of the service given. I have amazing friends!
I was able to hire a homeschooled teenager from church, Ellika Barlow, to help watch the kids and clean the second week out of surgery thanks to my parents financial generosity. Ellika was a total lifesaver and was just what I needed to help me slowly ease back into my routine.
The kids and Brian have been healthy.
I read some great books including the Dairy Queen series, Geek Girl, Big Little Lies, and Cinder.
etc. etc. etc.

Spencer's visit: