I Wish I Was in Dixie

One Year

Amy Dotson — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 23:33:34 +0000

It’s been one year.

Already!

I feel like I blinked and it was gone.

One year since we walked into the courthouse, early that Thursday morning, to change our lives forever.

One year since I made small talk with attorneys and caseworkers just to pass the time.

Once year since I walked into Courtroom #3 for the last time.

One year since we heard the judge say those glorious words.

One year since Zoe squeezed my hand under the table in the court room until I couldn’t feel my finger tips.

One year since I watched the tears stream down my daughter’s cheeks.

One year since I held my breath while the judge spoke, praying to not have another road block.

One year since the legal joining of our lives.

One year since my Zoe became a Dotson.

One year since the moment time stood still. The moment Zoe looked into my eyes and asked, “Is it over momma? Am I yours forever now?”

One year since we walked across the parking lot, all four of us, hand in hand.

One year.

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5 Great Ways to Implement a Family Theme

Amy Dotson — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:59:55 +0000

A family theme is a great way to unify your family and to have something common to talk about, sing about, or think about every day, all year long.

As a mentioned to a friend on Facebook, the year we had “Do Not Fear” was the year we we hoped to adopt Zoe. There were many things to be afraid of, but we needed to remember the Lord was in charge and to not fear. Every night we recited our scripture together and prayed for peace and comfort. We talked about what we had to look forward to and not be afraid of. Our family theme got us through that year. It strengthened our testimony of the nearness of God and His love for us.

The “how” of implementing a family theme is so personal. It is also different for each family circumstance. For me and my family, we make it part of everything do, and here’s how we do it:

1. Make it part of our morning and nightly family/personal prayer.

2. Memorize and then recite the scripture or quote together every morning and night.

3. Create something visual to remind us of our theme and our goals. We make these fun vision boards to accomplish this and hang them in places we will see them often.

4. Each week during family home evening (family night), we take a few moments to talk about the theme. We share how we practiced our theme that week, or how it helped us in a tough situation, or ideas to make it more apart of our every day.

5. Make a sign with the theme and quote or scripture on it. Hang it somewhere everyone will see it every day. Make a point to bring it up in every day conversations as a family.

Not too hard, right? Not at all.

A family theme is doable and unifying. Use mine! Create your own! Either way, try it out and see how it works for your family!

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3rd Annual Family Theme Night

Amy Dotson — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 18:47:44 +0000

Tonight is our 3rd annual family theme night!! I love this night. I look forward to it and plan for it weeks in advance. What is it you ask? Well, it is a night I gather my family close around me (and my hubby) and we discuss the year ahead. We discuss birthdays, vacations, goals, healthy choices we want to make, spiritual improvement, etc. Based on this conversation, and my weeks of studying and praying, I present the new family theme for the year.

In 2011, our theme was “Do Not Fear”.

In 2012, our theme was “Choose the Right”. (I posted on facebook about this one, but didn’t blog about it. Sorry!)

In 2013, our theme will be (drumroll please!) “Listen to the Still, Small Voice”

At the end of every year I say to myself, “Phew! What a year!” Recent years especially. For example:

2008 brought a move from our apartment to a HOUSE, the start of a new business and leaving the comforts of working for “the man”.

2009 brought Matt taking a second job and us leaving said house and moving into my parents basement.

2010 brought us leaving the business to our business partner, the arrival of Zoe and becoming foster parents in order to keep her. This year also brought the death of Matt’s dad.

2011 brought the hope and prayer of keeping Zoe and an adoption. The adoption never came, but we still had Zoe. We also made major strides on our Bucket List by purchasing a Disneyland annual pass! This year also brought a mountain of spiritual growth for me.

2012 brought a long awaited adoption and sealing in the St. George LDS temple. It gave us the joy of a pregnancy and the sadness of a miscarriage. It also brought many delightful and important family bonding trips to Disneyland!

2013…. Who knows?!

Each of these years had joy, disappointment, love, heartache, suffering, and thriving. Opposition in all things!

As I look ahead to the bright and shiny new year in front of me, I see a need to connect with and listen to the still, small voice. The voice that will lead us to good friends, good habits, good health, and closeness to God. This voice is soft and speaks to everyone differently. For me it is more felt then heard. Others may have another experience. The point is, I want my little family to be able to hear/feel it, to be able to easily identify it, and to be unafraid to heed it.

The Friend magazine is always a huge help as I plan these family theme nights. This year is no different. I plan on using this fun activity that describes the still, small voice and its purpose. I also found a couple of stories for my girls to read that perfectly illustrate the point I want to drive home. Finally, my husband and I have cut out the hundreds of words and pictures from magazines and advertisements that we’ll use to make our individual vision boards (papers). My girls love this activity especially.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Card stock (I like white)

Magazines to cut words and pictures from

Glue sticks

Markers

Sheet protectors

Here’s how it works:

Grab a blank sheet of card stock and a glue stick. Collect the words and pictures that represent what you want to accomplish in regards to the family theme and in your life personally. Glue them on the card stock with the glue stick in a way that appeals to you. Let it dry then slide into a sheet protector. Done!

Hang it in a place you will see often and be reminded of your goals for the year.

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(Virgin) Red Rooster Holiday Drink

Amy Dotson — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 15:39:07 +0000

Thank you to Emeril Lagasse for this fabulous Red Rooster holiday drink recipe. It’s another easy yet delicious way to help with the holiday celebrations!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 quarts cranberry juice cocktail

1 (6-ounce) can frozen orange juice concentrate, defrosted

2 cups of your favorite lemon-lime soda

Directions:

Combine all of the ingredients in a large plastic container. Freeze for several hours. It will not freeze solid, but rather achieve the consistency of a slushy.

Scoop into punch cups and serve.

This slush is very festive and could be used for any holiday from Thanksgiving to Christmas to Valentine’s Day to the 4th of July! I plan on breaking it out on Christmas Day as a fun drink choice with all the other snacks and treats.

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Christmas Scattergories

Amy Dotson — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 17:39:59 +0000

Have you ever played Scattergories?

It’s a great game where you are timed while trying to come up with words that fit into a specific category while also being limited by a specific first letter of each word. It is so fun! And a fantastic party/group game. You can play as teams, with kids, etc.

A week or so ago, I was invited to attend a lovely Christmas brunch. While we waited for the quiche to finish baking, we played Christmas Scattergories. It was the original rules of the game with a fun holiday spin.

Instead of trying to come up with your own categories and such, I have a gift for you my readers.

CHRISTMAS SCATTERGORIES

Print this off for a fun family and kid friendly game! This game will be in my Night Before Christmas Activity Bag.

Rules & Guidelines To Remember:

Pick a letter at the beginning of each round. Usually, before explaining the game, I randomly ask someone to give me two letters. Then when you play those are the two letters you will use for the two rounds!

Each round should be 3 minutes long.

You get one point for each original, not duplicated answer.

Any duplicate answers do not receive points.

Most points wins!

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Night Before Christmas Activity Bag

Amy Dotson — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:41:40 +0000

This Night Before Christmas Activity Bag is going to be so fun (and EASY)! I really hope you will make one, because your kids will think you are the best EVER! And who doesn’t want that.

How-to:

Grab a festive gift bag. Size doesn’t matter. Just a bag that will fit your stuff.
Gather the fun items that will be used. (*see below for ideas)
Place all of the items into the festive gift bag.

Voila! Night Before Christmas Activity Bag!

In my Night Before Christmas Activity Bag I have included:

Hot Chocolate Packets

Peppermint Chocolate Spoons

Popcorn

A Charlie Brown Christmas movie

The card game Flinch

These are items that will foster fun memories and opportunities to be together talking, laughing and enjoying the spirit of the holiday. Pick the things that YOUR family will love for your bag. You could even include a letter from Santa to add a little magic to the evening!

These activity bags would make an AWESOME gift for friends and family members.

Enjoy!!

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EASY Peppermint Chocolate Spoons (for your hot chocolate!)

Amy Dotson — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 23:46:22 +0000

I saw this idea of peppermint chocolate spoons for your hot chocolate and wanted to give it a whirl. Without a recipe or instructions I booked it to my kitchen and in about 15 minutes I had made a dozen spoons. BEST IDEA EVER!

Here’s what you’ll need:

Plastic spoons

Your favorite flavored chips

Vegetable oil

crushed candy cane

festive sprinkles

Wax paper

Here’s what I did:

Pour a cup or so of your favorite chips (chocolate, white chocolate, butterscotch, etc) into a microwave safe bowl. I chose semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Crush a few candy canes
Melt your chips in the microwave. Start with one minute, then in 30 second intervals until the chips are melted.
Add vegetable oil to thin the chocolate a bit. About 1 tablespoon.
Dip your spoon! I dipped the back of the spoon first, then let a spoonful drizzle off the front of the spoon until smooth and the amount of chocolate I wanted was on the spoon.
Immediately sprinkle with the crushed candy cane and colored sprinkles.
Carefully place on the wax paper and let the spoons set. To speed-up the setting process, place spoons in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

And that’s it! A fun treat you can make with your kids. Make extras as gifts you could include in your Night Before Christmas Activity Bag or to pass around the neighborhood!

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Why I Didn’t Wear Pants To Church

Amy Dotson — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 18:07:37 +0000

I chose to not wear pants to church on Sunday, December 16th. And my reasons are as important to me as the reasons for those who did choose wear pants to church on Sunday.

But focusing on differences is like treading water. No progress is made. No one comes out on top.

When I am faced with different points of view or different beliefs, I try to simplify the situation down to one question. What would Jesus Christ, the Savior of ALL of God’s children (denomination and gender not a determining factor), do?

The answer every single time is love. LOVE. Unconditional, without boundary, void of cruelty love.

I am not a stand on my soapbox, create a scene, start a debate, kind of woman. I am more of an observer. Some call it being a coward. I call it biting my tongue. So many ugly things get said in the heat of the moment. And I have learned my lesson the hard way. I am done with the proverbial foot in my mouth.

I was completely oblivious to the “Wear Pants on Sunday” movement, rebellion, cause, until Saturday (December 15th). Upon reading the commentary I was heartbroken. Not because of the pants. Who cares about pants? My heart was broken because of the unkind things being said. So many faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were tearing each other apart, from both sides of this event. The ugliness was not one-sided. I did not see any martyrs. As I contemplated my place (or lack of place) in this debate I was reminded of the words to two different Primary songs. One is actually my family’s theme/motto for this school year.

Kindness Begins With Me

I want to be kind to ev’ryone,
For that is right, you see.
So I say to myself, “Remember this:
Kindness begins with me.”

Jesus Said Love Everyone

Jesus said love ev’ryone;
Treat them kindly, too.
When your heart is filled with love,
Others will love you.

The common denominator in these two sweet, simple songs?

LOVE EVERYONE!

Not just love the men and women who are like me. Love everyone.

My life the past two years has been one lesson after another on loving everyone. I have had to learn to put my own stereotypes, judgements, and arguments aside in order to best love and serve my new family. It has been a heart wrenching, joyful, hard, beautiful, painful, and l-o-n-g learning process. In fact, I’m still learning!

So, when Sunday, December 16th, 2012 rolled around and the call to wear pants was sounded, I turned within. I considered my relationship with my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I thought about what that means to me. I thought about what that looks like to me. I thought about all I have been given. I thought about the tender mercies I have been witness to. And I sunk to my knees. With tears of love and gratitude streaming down my cheeks, I poured my heart out to the one being who truly knows me and my heart. He heard my prayer. And I knew that I was not less. I am more. More than equal. I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father who loves me, and I love Him. And in that moment I knew that I would stand as a witness of God at all times, and in all things, and in all places.

So I stood, and put on my Sunday best. I helped my beautiful daughters into their Sunday best, and we proudly, with thankful hearts went to church.

We are more than equal. We are daughters of a King.

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LDS Sister Missionaries Rock!

Amy Dotson — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 23:42:58 +0000

I’m a Mormon and I served a mission for my church when I was 21 years old (just a few years ago).

To that point, it was the most important and most life-changing thing I had ever done. Quite honestly, my mission shaped the rest of my life. I will never serve in a church calling the same way, or teach a lesson the same way, or share my testimony the same way. I am a better mother because I served a mission. Sacrificing that portion of my life was exactly what I needed and was supposed to do. I am forever grateful to a kind and all-knowing Heavenly Father who sent me to a mission that covered only 10 acres but was full of 200 amazing women from all over the globe. Those women changed my perspective on the world. The Lord changed my heart.

To say I am excited to see all these women receiving calls to serve would be an understatement!

You go (and serve) girl!!

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Polar Express (in your own car!)

Amy Dotson — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 15:12:50 +0000

I think it is the Magic and Spirit of Christmas that draws me in.

The miraculous birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ being announced by a new and glorious star with angelic voices singing. The softening of hearts and the desire to secretly help those in need. The quiet wishes said in hushed tones by the sweet voices of little children.

So perhaps that is why I have always loved the story of the Polar Express. It incorporates the reverence, wonder, and invitation to believe.

I don’t live in a place that hosts a Polar Express, so I have come up with a way to experience it in my own car!

A few things you will want to have are:

Hot chocolate (recipe below)

Travel mugs (enough for everyone)

Popcorn

Candy Cane sugar cookies (recipe below)

Silver Bells

Golden Tickets

The soundtrack to Polar Express

“3D” glasses

Here’s how it goes down…

Sometime during the day I will place a golden ticket under the pillow of each person, inviting them to ride the Polar Express that night. Then, after dinner, we all get ready for bed as usual. Pretty soon I will hear the squeals of my girls who have discovered their ticket and are so excited for their ride on the Polar Express. Meanwhile, I have prepared hot chocolate in mugs that have been placed in cup holders in the car and popcorn in bags for everyone. The soundtrack is in the player, and mapped out is a route of the best Christmas lights in town. Shuttle everyone, pajama clad, to the car and off you go! Be sure to punch the golden ticket before driving off!

At some point during your drive, turn on the song Hot Chocolate from the soundtrack and guzzle away. I also like to pass-out an extra little treat to go with the hot chocolate. A favorite is the Candy Cane sugar cookies.

This year I plan to add a festive shaped punch for the tickets and these really awesome “3D” glasses to enjoy the lights with.

There are many printable golden tickets on line. Find the one you like best or just print from the image I have posted here.

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