sisters, sisters

Gratitude

2012-01-17T18:10:00.000-08:00

So, I've been working on that big long gratitude list, but I've only got the first ten figured out... and then it got set aside, and then I haven't picked it back up again.... but I wanted to post today, so I'm posting anyway.

Today, I am grateful for:

1. Heat that works - yeah, my heat was only functioning in the living room of my apartment and I had space heaters for my bedroom and bathroom.... but now I have heat that works throughout the place and it's a good thing too.... because our temperature finally decided to act like January. (Meaning that it is now well below freezing.)

2. My work car - I have to drive 28 miles one way for work on some days (Tuesdays and Wednesdays and sometimes other days too), so it's nice that I don't have to put the wear and tear on my own car and I don't have to pay for the gas either.

3. Music - Music makes me happy and good music makes life go better and dull tasks go faster. Really, I just love music. But I think you knew that.

4. Leftovers - I was so exhausted after ten hours at work that I was really glad to not have to worry about cooking tonight... because I cooked over the weekend. I also have a freezer stocked with meals that I can just pull out and bake. The joy of cooking for one. And what were my leftovers today you ask.... Manicotti. I even used the fancy spendy cheese and meat. Yeah, it was good (and probably choc full of calories but that's why I'm going to the gym in a few minutes.)

5. Sleep - I like sleep... a lot.

gratitude shmatitude

2012-01-01T20:34:00.000-08:00

Physical abilities

1 I can see

2 I can hear

3 I can sing

4 I can walk

5 I can speak clearly

6 I can type

7 I can play the piano

8 I can hold my babies

9 I can read

10 I can use the bathroom by myself

Material possessions

11 our rapidly growing collection of books

12 our bed

13 my computer desk with cabinet doors that shut and I don't have to SEE the computer every second of the day

14 cell phones

15 our piano

16 our van

17 my sewing machine

18 my boppy pillow

19 our food processor

20 our double stroller

Living people

21 Adam

22 Summer

23 Marnie

24 Jenna

25 Tenley

26 Mom and Dad

27 all of my siblings and their families (even the ones I've never met)

28 Frances Seay - she helped us A LOT in DC

29 Kera Fox - friend teaching me to sew

30 Christina Lance - friend talking me through getting going with homeschooling

Deceased people

31 I suppose this is where I should put Jesus Christ, since He does not technically live on the earth anymore

32 Joseph Smith

33 James Madison - Father of the Constitution

34 Theodore Roosevelt - created the National Park system

35 all 4 of our grandparents

36 Mormon

37 President and Sister Hinckley

38 Eliza R. Snow

39 Laura Ingalls Wilder

40 Handel

Nature

41 the beach/the ocean

42 waterfalls

43 trees with the fall colors

44 a low humidity day in the South

45 blue sky with white puffy clouds

46 the sunset

47 rosebushes

48 fields of mixed wildflowers

49 cherry blossoms

50 my poinsettia - Adam bought it for me last year and it didn't die after Christmas (like all the other ones we've gotten in December) so we replanted it outside in a large container. It's now about 3 feet tall and going strong.

About today (January 1, 2012)

51 it's almost over, as soon as all of the girls go to sleep

52 my Relief Society lesson went smoothly

53 Mom put Marnie to bed (Jenna and Tenley are still up at 10:30 but at least Summer and Marnie are finally down!)

54 we had tithing settlement and are financially square with the Lord.

55 I read some silly books with my girls.

56 trail mix for lunch. And dinner. And bedtime snack.

57 it's a new start. I like the new start of January 1 every year.

58 my fridge is full of milk because I found it marked down to $1 a gallon (instead of $4.20) at the store yesterday

59 I played the organ for sacrament meeting. It's really difficult at this phase of my life because of the ages of our kids, but I can sub occasionally and I enjoy doing it.

60 We got a new Primary presidency in our ward. Even thought I'm not in Primary at all, my kids are. It's going to be a good year in Primary.

Places on Earth

61 the Portland Temple

62 the Washington DC Temple

63 downtown Washington DC

64 the Sacred Grove

65 Nauvoo

66 Quietwater Beach in Pensacola

67 the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress

68 Western Oregon University

69 the Chevy Chase ward building in DC

70 the Mississippi Children's Museum

Modern inventions

71 air conditioning

72 indoor plumbing (showers, toilets, etc - all of it!)

73 dishwasher

74 washer and dryer

75 digital camera

76 disposable diapers

77 all in one printer/scanner/copier

78 vacuum cleaner

79 washable markers

80 the internet

Foods

81 chocolate mint

82 trail mix the way Adam makes it

83 pita chips and hummus

84 fresh basil from our own plants with tomato and motzarella cheese on Italian herb bread

85 homemade ice cream

86 chili on a cold day

87 cold pasta salad on a hot day

88 pizza - Adam's version

89 banana cream pie from scratch

90 strawberry banana smoothies

About the Gospel

91 the doctrine of eternal families

92 the Proclamation on the Family

93 the Book of Mormon

94 the priesthood

95 continuing revelation through the prophet

96 General Conference

97 the Atonement and the ability to repent

98 guidance from the Holy Ghost

99 the Teachings of the Presidents of the Church series of books for Relief Society

100 freedom to choose

100 Thankfuls

2012-01-01T18:13:00.000-08:00

Physical abilities

1 I can draw/paint/create

2 I can dance

3 I can work

4 I can sing

5 I can play the piano

6 I can hug and cuddle

7 I can see

8 I can smile

9 I can ride a bike

10 I can walk

Material possessions

11 My apartment

12 My car

13 My extensive game collection

14 My comfy new couch (free from a friend!)

15 My laptop
16 My blankets

17 My big bed
18 My new watch

19 My art supplies

20 My clothes and shoes

Living people

21 My husband
21 My parents

22 My in-laws

23 My nieces and nephews

24 My sisters

25 Sherry and family

26 Melodie and Elisabeth
27 My coworkers

28 Bishop Snyder

29 My visiting teacher

30 Stephanie

Deceased people

31 Joseph Smith
32 Abraham Lincoln
33 My grandparents
34 Aaron's grandmother
35 Moroni
36 Nephi
37 Mary (mother of Christ)
38 Thomas Edison
39 Alexander Graham Bell
40 Gutenberg

Nature

41 Sunshine

42 Rainbows

43 Rain

44 Gentle breezes

45 Green grass

46 Tall trees
47 Perfect snowflakes

48 Ocean/beaches

49 Mountains
50 Sunsets/sunrises

About today (January 1, 2012)

51 Long hot shower

52 Belated Christmas presents

53 Visit from the missionaries

54 New sunbeams in Primary

55 Sleeping in (church now starts at 11)

56 Homemade chocolates from a friend

57 Getting to pay less rent (since we got 3rd place in the Christmas lights contest)

58 Afternoon naps

59 Leftovers for dinner

60 Cuddling with Aaron (before he goes out of town for the week)

Places on Earth

61 Home (in Oregon)

62 Portland Temple

63 BYU-Idaho

64 Temple Square

65 Okanagan Valley, BC

66 Olive Garden

67 The beach in Lincoln City

68 Anna-Mae's house in Cremona

69 Italy

70 St Petersburg, Russia

Modern inventions

71 Telephones

72 Indoor plumbing
73 Webcams/Skype

74 Electricity

75 Internet
76 Printing press

77 Personal computers

78 Alarm clocks

79 Television/DVDs

80 Christmas lights

Foods

81 Cheese

82 Pasta

83 Aaron's bruschetta

84 Yogurt

85 Co-op white bread (made in store)

86 Ice cream

87 Fruit

88 Peanut butter
89 Fresh tomatoes

90 Homemade cheese ball

About the Gospel

91 Hymns

92 The atonement

93 Temples

94 The guidance of the Holy Ghost

95 Sealing power

96 Priesthood

97 Eternal families

98 Sacrament

99 Book of Mormon
100 Prayer

Choose to be grateful!

2012-01-01T15:09:00.001-08:00

Something I got in Relief Society today, and I thought I'd share with my sisters. To make this new year a happy one, become more grateful. This challenge originally came from John Hilton and Anthony Sweat (according to the handout I got today).

Write down 100 blessings. It's divided into 10 categories.

1. Write 10 physical abilities you are grateful for.

2. Write 10 material possessions you are grateful for.

3. Write 10 living people you are grateful for.

4. Write 10 deceased people you are grateful for.

5. Write 10 things about nature you are grateful for.

6. Write 10 things about today you are grateful for.

7. Write 10 places on Earth you are grateful for.

8. Write 10 modern inventions you are grateful for.

9. Write 10 foods you are grateful for.

10. Write 10 things about the gospel you are grateful for.

And now, my lists.

Physical abilities

1 I can read.

2 I can write.

3 I can sing.

4 I can see (sort of).

5 I can hug.

6 I can run around in circles.

7 I can hear.

8 I can dance.

9 I can taste.

10 I can climb stairs.

Material possessions

11 My laptop

12 My thumb drive ("Zippy" -- totally saved my writing when my last laptop caught a nasty virus and died)

13 My glasses (what would I do without them?)

14 My MP3-player (kept me from losing my mind at the last job)

15 A key to the front door

16 My books

17 My new CD of John Williams' music

18 A pretty dress

19 Soft hoodies

20 Slippers

Living people

21 Mom

22 Dad

23 Joshua

24 Henry

25 Tawnia

26 Trina

27 Mindy

28 Clarissa

29 Rebecca Morgan (best friend from college)

30 Stevie

(I could list many, many others on that part of the list; I did not even get through the entire family.)

Deceased people

31 Joseph Smith

32 Gordon B. Hinckley

33 George Washington

34 Thomas Jefferson

35 J. R. R. Tolkien

36 C. S. Lewis

37 Abinadi

38 Mormon

39 Uncle Bruce

40 Uncle Ray

(Again, I barely scratched the surface here)

Nature

41 Waterfalls

42 Ocean

43 Penguins

44 Lilacs

45 Cherry blossoms

46 Mountains

47 Snow on the hills

48 Rain

49 Sunshine

50 Trees

About today (January 1, 2012)

51 I figured out how to write an assassination in my epic fantasy story.

52 I was able to partake of the sacrament.

53 Sister Huff gave me a ride to church.

54 Carla Larson gave me a ride home from church.

55 Lots of people complimented me on how nice I looked.

56 The bishop taught a good lesson about the Book of Mormon in Sunday School.

57 I read the Ensign.

58 I'm listening to good music (at the moment, Handel's "Messiah").

59 I got this handout in Relief Society and was eager to share it with my sisters.

60 The sun is shining.

Places on Earth

61 My house

62 Southern Virginia University

63 Mt. Hood

64 Silver Creek

65 Old Nauvoo

66 The beautiful Willamette Valley

67 The church building

68 The beaches at Lincoln City

69 The library

70 The cabins where we stayed in Nauvoo

Modern inventions

71 Heat pump

72 Stereo system

73 Hot and cold running water

74 Microwave (like I ever cook)

75 The internet (so I could share things like this with my sisters)

76 Airplanes

77 Cars

78 Light bulbs

79 Washing machines

80 Cell phones

Foods

81 Chocolate

82 Cupcakes

83 Peaches

84 Grapes

85 Chicken

86 Cheese

87 Noodles

88 Rice

89 Canned soup

90 Peppermint fudge

About the Gospel

91 The Book of Mormon -- the keystone of our religion

92 The atoning sacrifice of our Savior

93 The ordinances of the temple

94 The birth of Jesus

95 That I can be baptized.

96 That I can pray and my prayers will be answered.

97 Tithing.

98 The Word of Wisdom.

99 Knowing the importance of the family in God's eternal plan.

100 Families are forever.

There you have it -- one hundred things I am grateful for. I did not even begin to scratch the surface. I thought of many more and could easily have done this with twice the number.

24

2011-11-24T22:29:00.000-08:00

I am most thankful for my family - my sweetie and our 4 girls, my parents and brothers and sisters, and their spouses and kids. I'm thankful that this past year, I was able to get in contact with some cousins I haven't talked to in literally all my adult life. Family is definitely what matters most!

Happy Thanksgiving!

grateful for Relief Society

2011-11-24T19:12:00.001-08:00

Tonight was my ward's Relief Society Christmas activity. How appropriate for Thanksgiving, huh? They had the cultural hall beautifully decorated, and a simple but delicious meal prepared. The best part was getting to sit and talk with the other sisters. I had quite an enjoyable evening. It almost made up for the fact that I haven't seen my husband all day, and I have to get up at 4AM for work.

grateful for food

2011-11-23T18:04:00.001-08:00

I'm grateful for the little cafe just down the road where they serve delicious calzones. Leftovers for lunch are the best.

On the way home from picking up Aaron from work, he asked if we could stop by the grocery store. Why? So he could make me a Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. But silly boy, I've got a Relief Society activity tomorrow night (which includes dinner). We bought the food anyway, and he'll make me my fancy dinner on Friday.

The one thing we couldn't find at the grocery store was a cheese ball. Okay, there were some there, but they were ridiculously expensive and weird looking. So please have some cheese ball and crackers for me.

23

2011-11-23T15:05:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for my (our) talent of singing well. I'm in 2 choirs for Christmas - one is the choir for stake conference in 2 weeks. We're doing about 15 minutes of prelude before the meeting even starts (all Christmas songs from the hymnbook, plus one in Spanish) and singing a really pretty arrangement of Silent Night for the interlude music.

And - check this out - a touring company is coming through the South to perform The Forgotten Carols. Michael McLean is not with this company, but the leads for it are professional Broadway singers. They're doing a show here in piddly little Vicksburg and I'm in the backup choir for the performance. We've asked our neighbor Susan to go with Adam and help with the girls during the performance. Adam has never seen it performed, so I hope the girls cooperate for him so they all enjoy it. I think they'll be fine with Susan there - they respond well to her.

Fun singing this year!

22

2011-11-22T10:25:00.000-08:00

I definitely prefer sunshine over rain, but I am thankful for occasional days that are gray and rainy - it's very cozy to light a scented candle, bake something, and sit on the couch to read with my girls. That's what we're doing today (not sure what I'm going to bake yet, because we just did bread last night ... maybe cookies).

grateful for warmth

2011-11-21T17:01:00.001-08:00

One of my coworkers hates Christmas. Really, it's only because she works retail, and working at the mall at Christmastime isn't very fun at all, so I can understand her point. But it's sad that her life seems to revolve around work, and that her job taints the whole rest of the season. I'm doing what I can to get ready for Christmas early this year - Aaron and I have done most of our shopping (and NOT at the mall), and we even set up the tree last night. It adds such a pretty glow to our living room.

I'm grateful for the little heater that we got from Aaron's mother. It looks like a little fireplace and helps keep us toasty warm (since it has been as low as -15C already). It's nice to have something to hang our stockings above too.

21

2011-11-21T08:54:00.001-08:00

I am thankful for the ability to pay bills online.

20

2011-11-20T23:52:00.000-08:00

I am thankful that we can read old General Conference talks and the reminders that they are of various principles and concepts.

grateful for memories

2011-11-20T12:05:00.001-08:00

As I was playing some prelude music for Primary, I heard a little girl telling her teacher the interrupting cow knock knock joke. It made me think of Joshua's clever polite cow joke.

Playing "Angels We Have Heard on High" made me remember singing with Tawnia and Trina. I had so much fun with that. I miss singing with my sisters.

And then playing "O Come All Ye Faithful" makes me smile and think of Tawnia. If you don't know why, just look at the beginning of the second verse. It is such a happy greeting.

We also learned in Primary that you can sing "O Little Town of Bethlehem" to the tune of "Jingle Bells" (the verse, not the chorus).

19

2011-11-19T20:57:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for clear, sunny, not-hot days with a breeze strong enough to blow through the house. Sometimes, things just need to be aired out.

18

2011-11-18T20:09:00.000-08:00

I am grateful for digital cameras. Summer took the camera from the desk earlier today and went around shooting a ton of pictures - at least 20 or 30. I remember very well having to change the rolls of film and pay to get them developed ... when Summer gets on these "photo shoot" kicks, I'm really glad we don't have to do that anymore.

Photography is definitely on our list of "electives" for school - Summer and Marnie both really like to take pictures. I think I've finally convinced them about not putting their hand over the lens (can't tell you how many shots we got of just Summer's hand when she first started taking pictures when she was 2), so one of these days, we'll try to get a little more artistic and maybe I can get someone to do an online class with them, if that's even possible. I know about point and shoot but I don't have the artist's eye for composition and stuff like that.

A Bunch of Gratefulness

2011-11-18T15:54:00.000-08:00

So I'm way behind on posts... mostly because the only time I'm on the internet is when I'm at work. This would be because I don't have the internet at home.... and I've been going to places where I don't really have internet access on the weekends. So I am here, on campus, which is pretty much dead, on a Friday evening..... without having even gone home first, just so I can post on here.... and check some other stuff on the internet.

So, things I'm grateful for.

1. My students. Honestly, they make work worth going to every day. A lot of my preschoolers don't know my name.... instead, they call me Speech. It makes me smile. "Speech is here!" Is what I hear when I walk into that classroom. So good. And it's great to see the improvement in my kiddos. It's funny that hearing a student say "pink" is such a big deal... but when I've never heard the kid talk AT ALL, it's a BIG deal! So these kids teach me to be grateful for those little things.

2. I'm grateful for stress free moments. I had one the other day. I was driving home from work and the sun was shining (which means I was actually heading home earlier than usual) and I was singing along with my music.... and then had this sudden realization that I was NOT stressed out. Wow! That was awesome.

3. I'm grateful for a career that I love. See #1 if you want to know what I love the most about it. I also enjoy learning the things that I need to learn. I'm not perfect, but I'm getting better and that is wonderful! Only 200 some-odd days left until I'm done with grad school!

4. I'm grateful for crisp fall days. I really do love jacket weather. Of course, here we have warm jacket weather (or coat weather), but I still enjoy it. I think my favorite time of day is when the sun is just beginning to set and if the sky is blue or just partially cloudy it doesn't matter the temperature... it's beautiful.

5. I'm grateful for having my own kitchen. I love that I can cook and clean (or leave a mess) and it's my space and my stuff. I know this might sound selfish, but until September I had NEVER had my OWN kitchen. I had always had to share, so this is wonderful.

6. I'm grateful for music. I really love music, especially the stuff that is upbeat and fun and puts me in a good mood. I also love Christmas music.... a lot. I've been listening to it for awhile now (shhhh.... don't tell!)

7. I'm grateful for a body that works. It may not be a perfect body, but it does work. Hallelujah! I hope it keeps on working for a long time.

8. I"m grateful for my family, of course! I don't know where I'd be without all of you. I really do feel honored and blessed. I am grateful that even though we are all spread across the continent, we still keep in touch and still make it obvious that we love and care for each other.

9. I'm grateful for amazing friends. I have places to go and people to see over the Thanksgiving holiday.... and for that matter, over any weekend that I don't want to spend in Roosevelt. It's been really nice. I do have amazing people that bless my life.

10. I'm grateful for prayer. Last weekend I had a pretty good reminder about the power of prayer and the fact that the Holy Ghost is a comforter. I was driving to St. George when I got a flat tire. I pulled over and was praying in my mind that all would be well. I honestly was completely calm the entire time during this incident. Within five minutes of getting the flat, a police officer pulled over and offered to put the spare on for me. We had three different times when things went wrong. 1. He couldn't get the last bolt off the original tire (I prayed and then he was suddenly able to do it). 2. He couldn't get the car lifted high enough to get the spare on.... so he let a little air out of it and got it on. (I didn't even flinch on that one.... just stayed perfectly calm.) 3. He couldn't get the jack out from under the car (it had gotten stuck on the frame.) Again, I didn't even flinch.... I ended up just pulling the car forward a few inches and voila! The jack came right out. Then I drove for an hour on the doughnut to get to Springville, spent the night with some amazing friends, and got the tire replaced for free.... since the tire place had just put these tires on two weeks before and they are pretty sure they are the ones that ruined the original tire. So, prayer works, and the spirit will keep you calm. Lesson learned, yet again.

11. I'm grateful for the Conference edition of the Ensign. I need to get my own copy but I've read articles while visiting with friends because they had copies sitting around. I absolutely LOVE President Uchtdorf's talk from the R.S. Broadcast. I could read it over and over and over and then hopefully I'll start to apply it, right!

12. I'm grateful for hobbies. These are the things that give me a chance to remove some stress from my life and just chill. And on that note, I'm going to head home, eat, and work on some more projects. Yay for projects!

I love you all!

17

2011-11-17T14:07:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for crafting geniuses who I'll most likely never ever meet, but I sure like their blogs and find inspiration in them for making stuff for my own kids! Some of the homeschooling blogs have been really helpful as well. I've been struggling with a number of things with the school stuff in my own head, and I came across a new blog (new to me, at least) just yesterday that struck a chord with me so I read a lot of posts on it. I'm going to keep going through the archives on that blog because it's helping me to resolve my own off-kilter thoughts and concerns.

grateful for sleeping in

2011-11-17T09:06:00.001-08:00

As much as we need the money from regular working, it's nice to get a few days off. I'm grateful for a few days off, so I can put my laundry away and do my dishes and clean my house. And do some Christmas shopping and wrap presents and paint and go to the zoo with a friend. I think I've needed a long weekend like this for a while.

16

2011-11-16T15:42:00.000-08:00

I am thankful that Adam taught me to bake bread, because I really like to eat homemade bread. It's yummy and much better than the air bread junk from the store, or even the whole grain or specialty breads. We bake ALL of our own bread, no matter what type. Wheat bread (or white - usually we mix the flours) for sandwiches, pita, French or artisan bread to eat with pasta, etc ... we even have a very good recipe to make our own hamburger and hotdog buns.

grateful for inspiration

2011-11-15T19:51:00.001-08:00

After weeks of drawing nothing, painting nothing, creating nothing, the inspiration bug bit me, and I started a project today. It is unlike anything I've done before, and I have no idea if it will turn out, but I'll work on it tomorrow, and see how it goes. Pictures to come, unless it sucks. And even if it doesn't become a masterpiece, I'm happy to be creating again. I'm thankful for talents and hobbies.

15

2011-11-15T12:05:00.000-08:00

Pff. So much for that autumn weather I posted about just 2 days ago. It's 80 degrees today and very muggy, so we closed the windows and turned on the AC. Ugh. Thanksgiving is a week off and we have the AIR on. Whatever! If the humidity stays low, we don't turn on the air when it hits 80 but that day is not today.

Oh, but I'm supposed to be thankful here, and not complaining. Frankly, it's been hard this month to think of things to post about. When we did this last year, I remember things coming to mind fairly quickly and easily. I'm trying to have a good attitude about life in general and all - sometimes it just takes more effort. I am glad I'm doing this, though. It's helping keep my head above water.

So for today ... I'm thankful for the priesthood and that Adam has it and properly exercises it. Tenley has failed her hearing screens in one ear with the pediatrician, so I'm taking her to a specialist in Jackson tomorrow morning. Adam and our home teacher gave her a blessing on Sunday, and they said she'll be fine. That's not to say she won't have to go through some kind of surgery - that's a possibility. But ultimately, everything will turn out and she'll be able to hear properly. Because of the priesthood and the Spirit, I'm not worried about this doctor visit at all - I can be confident that whatever we have to go through with her, in the end, she'll be able to hear.

14

2011-11-14T11:42:00.000-08:00

I am thankful that Jenna still takes naps regularly.

grateful for game time

2011-11-13T14:52:00.001-08:00

Aaron and I spent the weekend out of town with Anna-Mae, Ron and Barry. We played games the whole time. I am incredibly grateful for the break (since I have to go to work in an hour).

13

2011-11-13T06:14:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for the different seasons of the year, and that autumn has finally arrived in Mississippi. The trees across our backyard are very bright right now, and they turned a very interesting shade of pinky-orange last night with the sunset. It was really pretty.

After almost 3 years of being here, it still throws me off when summer weather goes literally for 6 months or more, winter is about 2-3 months, and spring and fall are very short. When I was growing up, I liked the summer best because we could get outside and do a lot of things. Out here in the East, spring and fall are beautiful and the summer is kind of unbearable. I feel rather short-changed that spring and fall are so short here in Mississippi, so I'm glad that the autumn colors and temperatures are finally here.

12

2011-11-12T21:29:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for a sweet husband who has humored me and not laughed (too much) as I'm getting into sewing and spent his hard-earned money on various things for this new hobby. At least I didn't have to buy a sewing machine (a girl in the ward gave me her old one when she got a new one), because that would have spent a lot more of his hard-earned money.

Out of 12 Christmas presents I'm making with my sewing machine, 4 are totally done and ready to be wrapped. 2 more are almost done. The other 6 have not been started but I know what I'm doing for everyone. Of those 6, I need to find fabric for 3 of them - the other 3, I can make from fabric I already have. It's fun! (Did I just say that?)

11/11/11

2011-11-11T22:13:00.000-08:00

Today is Veteran's Day, so I will express my thanks to all the men and women who serve in the military. I watched a parade in Albany today -- lots and lots of motorcycles, army men (as JP called them), horses, a few marching bands, scout troops, community groups . . . it just went on and on. (In fact, we didn't even see the end of it.)

grateful for the weekend

2011-11-11T17:21:00.001-08:00

I am incredibly grateful that today is Friday, and that I don't have work for a whole two days.

11

2011-11-11T08:30:00.000-08:00

Today, I'm grateful for a couple of days where we can get caught up on housework and grocery shopping and other random errands that we just haven't been able to get to for awhile. The pace isn't slowing down at all because we're still really busy, but at least we can take a little break from work and callings and doctor appointments and ... and ... and ... For instance, Marnie has been wearing shoes to church for the past month that are literally 2 sizes too big because I haven't had time to go get her any that fit, and the ones that Summer wore when she was Marnie's current size were totally ruined so we threw them away when Summer finished with them. Argh. Hooray for a catch-up weekend!

Thanks for the invite about Pinterest, Mindy, but I'm going to decline for now. I've seen quite a bit about it on the crafting blogs I read and have even looked at a few people's Pinterest pages. But my self-discipline is not what it should be right now so I need to cut back as much as possible. Email and blogs and getting directions for my projects that I already have bookmarked ... and I have PLENTY of those right now. I'm going to be hard-pressed to get everything done before Christmas that I want to do just for gifts, not to mention decorations and other stuff.

grateful for snacks

2011-11-10T14:38:00.001-08:00

A month or two back, Aaron's cousin Melinda invited me onto a site called Pinterest. It's basically a visual pinboard for your favorites - fantastic to link craft projects or fabrics or recipes too - so you can see a page of pictures instead of a list of words all linked back to original sources. Then you can look at what everyone else has pinned, and get lots more Christmas and craft and other project ideas.

So anyway, I found a recipe on there for "energy bites." I made some the other day, and they were delicious. Super quick and easy and a fun little pick-me-up snack. Definitely something I will make again.

I know it can be a time waster, but it's a nice way to peruse a lot of blogs at once. It has given me some great ideas (many of which I hope to actually use/do someday) .. so today, I am thankful for Pinterest.

Trina, I know you could have a lot of fun with this, and it is quite useful instead of bookmarking everything, so let me know if you want an invitation!

10

2011-11-10T07:22:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for a very good friend like Kera who is babysitting my kids multiple times in the next few weeks so I can take them (and myself) to doctor appointments one at a time. I'm also thankful that she's willing to coach me through learning how to sew. She's amazing (go HERE to see the Halloween costumes she made for her kids, mostly without patterns - isn't that Southern Belle dress just NUTS?!?!?) and she's passing on her knowledge to me. I figured out a bunch more sewing projects for Christmas presents this morning - they're going to be SO COOL! I'm feeling inspired. I'm glad I have Kera's phone number plugged into my phone. HA!

grateful for longevity

2011-11-09T14:45:00.000-08:00

After working over three months, I've realized that while I'm very tired at the end of my shift, at least my feet don't hurt anymore! I've gotten used to being on my feet for so long. And I'm thankful for that.

The Christmas music has started to play in the store - a few songs here and there, not all the time yet. I know Christmas is coming, but this is the least prepared I've felt in a long time.

8 and 9

2011-11-09T09:04:00.000-08:00

8. I am thankful for the apple peeler/corer or Mom and I wouldn't have gotten half the apples done that we canned. (We even had extra apples, so we gave them away at the Relief Society craft night.) I'm also thankful we got lots and lots of applesauce made, and now we're done with that.

9. Today, I am thankful for a bookshelf of inexpensive paperback novels, so I can relax and read for a while whenever I like.

9

2011-11-09T06:33:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for our piano. It's very old and out of tune, and the keys have a lot of the enamel chipped off so it's not very pretty. But it's a piano! And it's ours! And we got it for free! I can start Summer and Marnie on piano lessons, practice hymns, and play Primary songs for the girls to sing. It works well enough for all of that. We'll put some money into it in a couple of years (when we get the student loans paid off) and make it pretty again - for now, it's enough that we have it.

(Today's thankful item was suggested by Summer.)

7,8,9

2011-11-08T19:26:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to stay caught up and maybe even get a little ahead of schedule. Go me! I do have to go back and make sure that I don't repeat something I already said though.

7 - I am thankful for my nieces and nephews. I know they are not perfect and don't always do what they are told, but they are related to me, so when they say "no", or act like stinkers, I still think they are cute. If only they lived closer to me.

8 - I am thankful for the kiddos I get to work with. If all I did at work was the paper work side of things, I would hate this career, and would be moving on to something else. But the kids are what make this job so great. I love them. They make me smile, and I really want the best for each of them.

9 - I am thankful for music. I love to sing, play the guitar, play the piano, and just listen to music. My apartment is awfully quiet sometimes, and then I turn on some tunes and life is good. Right now I'm already into the Christmas music, it goes along with the Christmas decorations that are already up. I love turning on some Christmas music and plugging in the Christmas lights and then just soaking in the atmosphere of my happy home.

grateful for love

2011-11-08T18:08:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for Aaron. I've had a lot of long hard days lately and he makes me feel better at the end of them. It isn't anything in particular that he does, but knowing that he loves me makes me happy.

8

2011-11-08T16:55:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for crockpots. Today, I made chili in the crockpot while Jenna and Tenley were both napping in the afternoon, and dinner was all ready to go as soon as we walked in the door from Marnie's dance class (which is from 4 to 5). YUM. When we got home, I made cornbread muffins really quick (Adam found a TOTALLY easy and very yummy and moist recipe for it) while we were getting the girls settled to sit down to eat, and ta da! We ate dinner at 5:30 after walking in the door at 5:05. Love that.

7

2011-11-07T21:29:00.000-08:00

Today, I am thankful we were able to have company over for dinner -- the missionaries and a new member couple (she got baptized on Saturday -- I'm not sure about the husband). We had a nice dinner together, and then we watched the movie "The Restoration." It was very spiritual. We played a game of 100, and the elders were a bit rough when it came to grabbing the pencil. We had fresh apple pie and ice cream for dessert.

grateful for my secret sister

2011-11-07T16:09:00.000-08:00

I am very proud of myself that I was able to do some visiting teaching today. We still need to visit our two other girls, but getting one done this early in the month is quite an accomplishment.

Stephanie is a wonderful girl. She is always happy and positive. She is very talented, and is very fun and easy to talk to. We are secretly sisters, because her maiden name is Palmer too! I'm grateful to have a friend like her, who is always happy to see me.

I am also grateful that my passport came in the mail today. I'm not sure how soon I'll be able to use it (if the Thanksgiving trip to Utah is going to happen or not), but I'm happy that it is done.

7

2011-11-07T15:34:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful that Summer and Marnie are starting to be more cooperative with school time here at home. I started doing spelling lists for Summer on Saturday. (Adam was gone camping with the Scouts so I treated it like a weekday with housework, and S&R decided they wanted to have school. So we did.) Ten words to a list that I made using Marnie's phonics book starting with things like cat, fat, sat, etc. ... I made up 24 lists just going through the first section of the phonics book. It's a sneaky way to get in some handwriting practice since I've told her she's supposed to write the word rather than spell it out loud. She hates handwriting practice where you write the same letter over and over. This is a better alternative for her. We've just done two lists so far - she writes them on our chalkboard and is responding well at least to start.

Anyway, school is still going in fits and starts but at least I seem to have overcome one hurdle. That's definitely a thankful thing.

grateful for new wheels

2011-11-06T12:48:00.000-08:00

Aaron and I got to pick up our new car yesterday, a black 2007 Ford Fusion. I am so grateful that our car buying saga is over - we got out $1000 back and were able to put it towards the right car. I am excited that it has the same size gas tank as our previous vehicle, but can go twice as far on it.

As we were looking over our finances this morning to figure out tithing, we discovered that Aaron got a raise at work. Another $1 an hour isn't much, but it sure helps. And we are able to pay off one of the student loans, saving us $50 a month, which we can put towards the other student loan. We have been blessed with our finances. I'm very grateful that I have a job and can help contribute financially to our marriage.

6

2011-11-06T12:29:00.000-08:00

I'm grateful for occasionally getting a new calling (I was switched from teaching Sunday School to being in the Relief Society presidency 2 days before Tenley was born) so I can remember gospel principles and practices that I may have forgotten along the way while I was doing other things. With getting back into Relief Society, I'm being very firmly reminded about the good that can come from visiting teaching, and prompted that I need to do something about it in this new position.

5

2011-11-05T16:59:00.001-07:00

Today, I am thankful that I am able to attend the temple . . . even if it did mean getting up at five in the morning and struggling to stay awake through the session, it was still good to go.

5

2011-11-05T16:17:00.000-07:00

I'm grateful for our neighbor Susan, who just came and retrieved Summer, Marnie and Jenna to take to her house and have a movie night. She does that a couple of times a month and I get some quiet time. She's a saint. Now I can get my Relief Society lesson ready for tomorrow. I've had a mental outline for awhile now, and started working on actually writing stuff down earlier but haven't gotten too far with that part yet.

I'm also very grateful that my college friends Marc and Jessica are getting baptized in about 3 hours from now. Marc and I have been talking about religion and the gospel for literally 10 years or more, and if you go to the Nov. 14 post from last year, I connected him with the missionaries that day and wrote about it on this blog. He decided a few months ago that yes, he wanted to join the Church but he waited until now to get baptized because he was waiting for Jessica to also commit to it. I'm very disappointed I can't be out in Oregon (they live in Bend) for their baptism. If we move west next year, maybe I can be at their temple sealing. That would be absolutely amazing.

grateful for going home

2011-11-05T11:12:00.000-07:00

I'm thankful that today is my last day of babysitting. Generally sweet kids, but I'm so ready to go back to my house and not have to change exploding diapers at 5:30 in the morning. Don't make any comments on how that's life when you are a mother, because you don't start motherhood with seven of someone else's kid, at someone else's house.

Thankful Days 5 and 6

2011-11-05T10:28:00.000-07:00

5 - I am thankful for a car that works and works well. So far I have had no car trouble with this car and I am glad for that. I hope he continues to work well for the next five to ten years. Go Petey! Go!

6 - I am thankful for heat in my apartment that works and that I can control. It's so nice to be warm when I am sitting at home. I also love blankets and sweaters. I really don't mind the fall weather.... I'm just not as excited about the winter weather that looks to be heading my way, but I'm trying to stay positive about it.

4

2011-11-04T14:28:00.000-07:00

I am grateful for public libraries, where we can access sooooo many more books than we could ever hope to buy. Or read. But it's fun trying to read as many books as possible!

grateful for silence

2011-11-04T11:34:00.000-07:00

Right now I am thankful for nap time. And, on an unrelated note, I'm very grateful for the use of a washer and dryer.

Thankful Days 1 through 4

2011-11-03T19:57:00.000-07:00

I'm afraid you will not get daily posts from me because my "internet for fun" time is severely limited. So I'll do a few days at a time. Hopefully, I can think of some good things for this.

1. I am thankful for my supervisor at work. She has been a great mentor and friend.

2. I am thankful for plumbing that works. I have been having issues with the kitchen sink but at least the bathroom stuff is working. (And hopefully the kitchen stuff is fixed. Cross your fingers that it will stay fixed.)

3. I am thankful for the Book of Mormon. I finished reading it today for the umpteenth time (I've lost track... but at least 15 times.) That is truly scripture and inspired. I learn so much every time I study and have found answers to many prayers within the covers of that book.

4. I am thankful for technology -phones, internet, etc. I know that some people feel that they waste time, and yes, they can do that. But it is the technology that keeps me connected with my family and I'm very grateful for that. Technology also makes preparing lessons and finding ideas for activities at work so much easier.

I'll figure out some more for the next time I have time to write some out.

I love you all! Thanks for sharing your thankfulness, it helps me to have a more positive outlook on things.

Love, T

grateful for friends

2011-11-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

I am so very grateful for my friend Sherry. Even though she woke up sniffly this morning, she still came over with her two boys to babysit two more boys for me so I could go to the bank and sign the last of the paperwork for my new car. She is always so sweet and kind and isn't afraid to call just to tell me she misses me (which is a lot since I've started working).

3

2011-11-03T09:26:00.000-07:00

I am thankful for my vacuum cleaner. I hate a dirty carpet, especially when I'm barefoot which is most of the time. This morning, my carpet was all gritty with crumbs and bits of paper and crud tracked in from outside. It's not anymore.

November 3

2011-11-03T07:44:00.000-07:00

I am thankful for my adorable nieces and nephews.

Those are cute pictures you put up, Trina. And did you see the one of Nathan's boys?

2

2011-11-02T18:20:00.000-07:00

I'm grateful for stay-at-home Wednesdays, especially after our in-and-out-all-day Tuesdays (music class, library, Marnie's dance class). I've just sat around reading today, and I finally got the camera downloaded to get my personal blog caught up with the latest pictures. I didn't get anything done with the house or school. But that's okay. It's not a big deal to spend a day reading a book. (It was Harry Potter 7.)

grateful for early mornings

2011-11-02T11:41:00.001-07:00

Today I am grateful that I usually get up at 5AM, so when I was asked to babysit starting at 6AM I had no problem being awake.

grateful for sunshine

2011-11-01T16:52:00.000-07:00

Today I am grateful for a few more days of sunshine. It snowed yesterday morning (for about 2 hours), and yet since then it has been pleasently warm. I know it won't last, so I'll be happy that it's still here for now.

My grateful November

2011-11-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

Yeah, this is a good idea, Trina.

Today I am grateful for a nice hot shower, especially after tromping around in a freezing orchard for half the morning. I must have lugged about 250 pounds of apples to the car.

After that, it's so nice to shower, warm up, and settle down at the computer.

grateful November round 2 day 1

2011-11-01T12:33:00.000-07:00

I really liked posting every day about gratitude last November. It made me more aware of small things that I needed to recognize and be grateful for. I'm going to do it again - it would be nice if everyone else would do it too, but that's up to you.

For starters, November 1 is the anniversary of my baptism. I'm grateful for my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and all the blessings that membership allows me to access like the sealing ordinance in the temple. Especially the sealing ordinance. I'm grateful that I'll be with Adam and our children for forever. I'm grateful that we'll all be sisters for forever and we'll be with our awesome parents and brothers and their families too. Because we have a cool family and I like you all.

A few thoughts on General Conference

2011-10-03T23:02:00.000-07:00

Trina posted a few questions, so here are my thoughts on it.

1. Who were your three favorite speakers?

Carl B. Cook, Thomas S. Monson, and Dallin H. Oaks. President Uchtdorf and Elder Ballard also had some very good remarks.

2. Which talk spoke to you the most?

Carl B. Cook. That was one that I felt the strongest about. I guess I've spent too much time staring at the floor and getting bitten by snakes.

3. Which was your favorite hymn?

"Redeemer of Israel." "We will now sing with vigor," said President Eyring. Or something along those lines. I love hearing the choirs; that Primary choir was sweet, but my favorite hymns are the ones we join in singing.

4. Which speaker was the best dressed?

I think Sister Thompson was wearing a nice dress.

5. Were there any topics that you felt were repeated often? Any conference "themes"?

There was a lot on prayer, personal revelation, and scripture study -- also putting trust in the Lord.

6. Favorite quotes.

"It is better to look up," Carl B. Cook quoting President Monson.

"What think ye of Christ?" -- Dallin H. Oaks.

7. Something that made you smile or laugh?

President Monson telling the story about the lost five dollar bill. I could relate to that. One of the first prayers I remember having answered involved lost glasses. And the next story -- my notes on it read, "Follow inspiration, even when it makes no sense."

8. Was there any evidence that your children paid attention?

Joshy sang along with the first verse of "Praise to the Man." But the boys spent most of the time playing with Legos or napping.

9. What doctrine did you learn as you listened to the choir sing?

Nothing really new -- although "I Feel my Savior's Love" was the most moving for me.

10. Did the music enhance your General Conference experience? How?

It's good to have music to invite the Spirit.

11. Post conference goals?

Stop wasting so much time -- which means I need to figure out what I should do with my time, really. And the best way to do that is, as they said, study the scriptures, ponder them, pray, and seek personal revelation.

Also, as long as I am a teacher at church, I shall strive more to teach by the Spirit and encourage the learners to act. (See Elder Matthew Richardson's talk. He also showed some beautiful photos of the Cascades.)

General Conference Book Club

2011-10-03T11:18:00.000-07:00

I found something on another blog that you all might be interested in - an online General Conference Book Club. Go HERE. Week 1 was posted yesterday at the end of the last session.

And here are some questions from another post on that blog to review Conference:

1. Who were your three favorite speakers?
Elder Ardern, Elder Andersen, and Elder Scott. I suspect that Sister Dalton would be on this list as well, except that I didn't hear her talk. As soon as we heard "how fathers should raise their daughters," we of course wanted to hear it. But our daughters - all of them - decided at that second to go into banshee mode and we didn't hear a single thing for the rest of the entire session. Not just her talk.

2. Which talk spoke to you the most?
Elder Ardern's very stern indictment of excessive electronics use. Within 24 hours, my Facebook account was cancelled. The deed has been done.

3. What was your favorite hymn and why did it move you?
"I am a child of God" because my kids sang every word of it with the choir.

4. Which speaker was the best dressed?
Didn't notice. I'll watch the ties better next time. HA!

5. Were there any topics that you felt were repeated often? Any conference "themes"?
I noticed a lot about revelation - getting it, using it, etc. Adam and I also together really got the message of "how much time are you spending each day on things that DON'T MATTER?" That was all on Saturday. The message that we got on Sunday was that our children at this age can handle only one day of Conference, not two. Har har har.

6. Share a few of your favorite quotes from any of the talks.
Well, one that whacked me upside the head was from Elder Andersen when he told the story of President Kimball talking to the man who was concerned about having children while in medical school - "Where is your faith?" Given what we've been feeling we need to do with continuing our family, I needed that one.

7. Name something that made you smile or laugh during Conference.
When President Monson got up in the middle of the first session and just said, "Hello!"

8. Was there any evidence that your children paid attention?
HA! Um, on Saturday, they did pretty well. Sunday, not so much.

9. What doctrine did you learn as you listened to the choir sing?
Not something I've ever thought of. Again, something to pay attention for next time - that the hymns are just as much a teaching tool as the actual talks.

10. Did the music enhance your General Conference experience? How?
I don't know about "enhance" because like I've said, I've never really thought about it. But I think I would definitely notice a substantial lack if there were no hymns sung.

11. What are some of your post-Conference goals?
I actually made a list:
~ Get. Off. Facebook. It's a waste of time and does not facilitate genuine communication. It's a fake. (Already done - between the Sunday sessions, I killed it.)

~ Get the girls involved in family history. Adam and I looked at the website that Elder Bednar introduced, and our girls are not ready for the tech side of family history yet. We will be focusing on the stories, and hopefully Grandma and Grandpa will be pretty involved with that. I'll email Mom later about it as soon as I figure out exactly how to proceed here.

~ Study the what, how, and why of the gospel. See President Uchtdorf's 4th point in his talk from the Relief Society session.

~ Get on the ball with visiting teaching. I've really slacked on that this year.

~ My question of the weekend was - how can I be a better mom? The most specific answer I got was: study and ponder all of the scriptures (Elder Scott) and "inquire of the Lord" (Sister Thompson) - the first 2 talks of the Saturday morning session. These two things are the source of personal revelation. I found it a little amusing that I was spiritually berated about the Old Testament because I just finished reading it about a month ago and was SO HAPPY to be done with it! It was BORING! But I did get some good reminders from my study, most specifically at the end about keeping the Sabbath holy. Nobody does that anymore. It's totally a foreign concept.

~ Work with the girls on memorizing scriptures. They're working on the Articles of Faith for Primary - Adam and I need to be more consistent with working with them.

~ Stop worrying about having more children and have faith about the Lord's plans for our family.

Relief Society session

2011-09-24T20:41:00.000-07:00

Just checking to make sure you all went to the Relief Society session tonight ... I love love loved President Uchtdorf's talk! He just goes straight to the core of things. If you didn't watch it yet, I'm not going to spoil it for you by giving you my notes (I will when we know everyone has seen it) - go here for the replay.

Other than that, the kick in the head for me was to get on the ball with my visiting teaching. Kera and I have been slackers this year. So I just emailed her and said as soon as Tenley is born, let's get back to work with it.

Do you have your "Daughters of My Kingdom" book yet? Our ward handed them out last week. I've skimmed through the whole thing and already started underlining various quotes. Sister Beck's talk tonight was a summary of the first two chapters, before she started talking about visiting teaching.

book/reading observations

2011-09-16T19:27:00.000-07:00

Two random thoughts for you all ...

1. I'm THIS CLOSE to finishing Joseph Smith's biography by his mother and the last 50-60 pages or so, wherever I'm at, is all about the really awful stuff that happened in Missouri and Nauvoo. The Nauvoo era in the book is nothing but death threats and the martyrdom. Did the man really have NOTHING good or happy or cheerful happen in the last 5 years of his life? Because that's certainly what it looks like. I really can't stomach reading this kind of stuff right now. Hopefully I'll be able to push myself through to the end of the book before the end of the year, but this month is not that time.

2. Summer was recently given the book Little Women as a gift from a friend, and I was flipping around through it reading various sections today. I read the end, where Jo starts her big home/school for boys and is the trigger for the book Little Men. It occurred to me that as a kid, I always wanted to be Jo and do that same thing - have lots of boys in my home to take care of them. Heavenly Father, on the other hand, has apparently decided that I'm going to replicate the Little Women book instead, with 4 daughters. Go figure. Not that my girls are ANYTHING like Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy because they're totally not. The numbers game was just interesting to me.

Craving

2011-08-29T18:51:00.001-07:00

So I'm not craving food right now.... in fact, I come home from work and look at my fridge full of food that I picked out at the store just for me.... and none of it even looks all that appealing. Nope, right now I'm craving hugs. Yeah, that's what I could use right now. I nice tight, I don't care what people will think, hug. Not from anyone in particular, I should add.

I'm also craving babies. Probably because I held my friend's baby at church yesterday and he was ADORABLE. And then my aide at work just found out that her daughter is going to get to adopt twin boys that were born yesterday. So my aide will be gone for a couple weeks and I'm craving babies.

Unfortunately, neither of my cravings can actually be met, sigh. So I guess I'll have to satisfy myself with a bowl of Rocky Road ice cream.... after I get back from the library.

You're making me hungry . . .

2011-08-29T15:03:00.000-07:00

Mmm . . . chocolate mints. Don't mind if I do . . .

Work has been going lousy right now; we got a new supervisor for the department, and there's some tension there, budget problems, hours cut . . . so I want chocolate!

cravings? Did you say cravings?

2011-08-29T11:55:00.000-07:00

For the first part of this pregnancy, it was donuts. All the time. Every time I went to the grocery store by myself (because I was not going to buy multiple donuts for my kids, and I was certainly NOT going to share mine with them either), I'd go past the bakery section and get a donut. They cost 57 cents. Just so you know. It's been awhile since I've had one, and this is making me want a donut again. Sigh.

Since the hot weather hit, I usually don't want to eat at all but I do because I'll get really light-headed if I don't. This week, I want Mexican food. Fortunately, our next door neighbor made tamales and gave us some that Adam stashed in the freezer. He made some salsa at lunch time and we had tamales. Mmmm. I may get out the corn tortillas a little later and make some chips to eat more of the salsa.

Chocolate covered marshmallows ... hmmm ... we don't have chocolate or marshmallows in the house right now. Otherwise, I might have to attempt that.

what are you craving?

2011-08-28T19:10:00.001-07:00

I'm suddenly in the mood for chocolate dipped marshmallows.

back to work

2011-08-08T14:36:00.000-07:00

It was a bummer that Mindy and Clarissa (and Nathan, but he's a brother not a sister) weren't able to be at the Nauvoo reunion. Maybe next time? There were a few random conversations here and there with ideas about more reunion locations but I never heard that anything was decided as a goal for the next one - possible date or location.

We are back in Mississippi with awful awful heat - the other night, it was almost 90 degrees at midnight. So I'm totally hiding out indoors. We'll go to the library and playgroup this week but probably not much else. Good thing I've got plenty to do inside ... finish cleaning up from our trip and clean the new messes that have been made since we've been home. Work on some of my Christmas projects. Go through all the pictures I took on our trip and get them posted on the blogs. Homeschool our kiddos and try to make it interesting and fun for them. Order the books I want to use this fall/winter for school. Bake more bread. Do more laundry. Finish making Tenley's blanket. Read books, both for myself and to the girls. Go figure out why Jenna is fussing again today. She's not been having a good day.

Yep, lots to do. Have a good day. Talk to you later.

My "Boring" Evenings

2011-07-01T17:04:00.000-07:00

Trina - I just had to respond because, well, I had to stop and realize that you don't realize what I'll be doing this next year. During the evenings this fall and spring I will be taking another two classes. This fall's class is entitled Research. And from what I've heard, it's not going to be all that pleasant. On top of that, I also have to plan and prepare for my comprehensive exam. Basically I'll be tested on all of the classes I've had in grad school but with two huge case study questions. We have 2 and a half hours to answer EACH question. So I'll be studying for that at least one evening a week, if not two or three. The test won't be until next June, but it's not really something I can put off studying for. So, my class will take at least two evenings, and comps will take another two, and I'll probably still go to institute, and Sunday there is always a fireside, and I'm supposed to try and be social occasionally, so.... I guess my evenings will probably be boring, but I won't have much time to pick up other projects.

I know that you don't know about all of this, so I hope I am not coming across as snotty or anything. I just know that this next year is not going to be all that pleasant.... but after that, well, if you are still homeschooling maybe I can help you out at that point.

Oh, and we had a really interesting lecture about writing today and I learned some things that I'd never thought of before. I'll have to call you some time soon and talk to you about some of those things. See, I am always thinking about my cute nieces and nephews (and siblings and in-laws, and parents, and.... you get the picture.)

Love you,

Tawnia

project list

2011-07-01T12:35:00.000-07:00

Even though I was released from Young Women in March, I'm still working on finishing Personal Progress (for my 3rd medallion). The deal for leaders is that they have to do just the required experiences and 3 projects including reading the Book of Mormon, and be a leader for a year. I was a leader for 14 months, so that part is done. I have the required experiences done for 4 of the Values and just need to finish up the other 4, which I'm working on now.

I finished the 2 optional projects a long time ago - Good Works was doing last year's YW/RS service project of making baby blankets and hats to donate to the hospital. Integrity was being much more diligent with my visiting teaching (and sadly, since then I've really slacked off). We've been reading the Book of Mormon as a family since Mom gave us the family reunion challenge last fall, and we're at about the halfway point. To finish it for YW, I'll start where we're at as a family and go through it faster to finish it for myself. But first, I'm finishing the Old Testament finally. I'm in Ezekiel - I have about 130 pages left of the OT as of today.

And that is actually another project which I don't need to get the medallion but I'm doing it anyway. After I finish all the requirements and get my stuff (because yes, I admit it - I want the stuff. I want the full set), I'm going to go back through it and finish the whole book just for myself. That's what I did for Good Works last year and I'm planning to do for all the Values - do everything in the book. 9 experiences plus a 10-hour project. I did about 15 hours for the visiting teaching for Integrity, but everything else is 30-100 hours. If I'm going to do it, I'm going to go big.

Here are my Value projects:
Faith - read the Old Testament. I think when I'm done, it will come out to about 65 hours. And with that low of hours, how freaking ridiculous that it's taken me more than 2 years to read the darn thing! Although yes, I do have other scriptures to read, lessons to prepare, etc. The OT is not my only scripture study by a long shot. This one should be finished by the time we leave for the reunion trip.

Divine Nature - my 12 Months of Christmas sewing project, which I need to get caught up on. Six months down, but only 3 projects finished. Sewing is really hard around here lately - basically, it can only be done if the girls are in bed because they must touch everything. Including the sewing machine. At least I have ideas and an outline! No idea on the hours, but I've put in 20-30 hours so far. If I estimate 10 hours per project and have 12 things, that's 120 hours right there.

Individual Worth - do 1st year photo/journal albums for all 3 girls. This hasn't even been started yet, unless you count the blog. Which I don't. But it's certainly going to be useful for notes! I have no idea what to even estimate for the time on this. This will most likely be the very last thing I do, so maybe I should go ahead and add Tenley to the list of albums to do, since it will be that long until I get to it.

Knowledge - our 10-week term for homeschooling that we've now done 7 weeks of. Again, time estimates. One hour per day of working with the girls (sometimes more, sometimes less) at 46 work days in that time period (taking off for weekends and holidays) - so there's 46 hours right there. But I also put in at least that amount of time planning, reading homeschool books, recording things on the blog, etc ... So this is 100-150 hours. Ten weeks will be done on July 22 and then we'll take 2 weeks off for the reunion trip. But even with that, I think I can get 5-6 "work days" for school on the trip because of field trip type activities. For homeschooling, it counts! HA!

Choice and Accountability - I just spent a month tracking my computer time. Technically, this would be 24 hours a day for the whole 30 days, because frequently, if I was not actually on the computer, I was deliberately choosing to do other things. But the amount of time I actually spent on the computer in the month was 52 hours - it came out to 1.75 hours per day, which is substantially better than the 4+ hours per day I was on the computer before that.

I already mentioned Good Works, Integrity, and Virtue.

This is what's been on my mind lately. It incorporates pretty much everything I do - homeschool and my Christmas projects and reading ... and not much else. And speaking of ... back to work.

Any fun projects you're working on lately? Tawnia, do you have PLANS for fun projects when you're finished with this semester of school and you're back in nothing-to-do-in-the-evenings Roosevelt? I can give you some ideas!

things to look forward to

2011-06-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

I just whined a bunch on my blog, so I'll try and come up with a list of happy things for this one. (Since we seem to be going with a "list" theme as of late.)

- Aaron and I are getting sealed in just over three weeks. He picked the date of July 7th, since he figures he might actually be able to remember the date 7-7-11. We are very excited that it is finally happening.

- Hand in hand with that, is our trip to Oregon! I'm looking forward to seeing some family again, hanging out with a few friends, going to the beach, doing some shopping, and playing lots of games. The amazing part will be when we come home, and I'll be allowed back into Canada!

- I bought a new dress yesterday. Aaron's sister is getting married on Saturday, and I figured it was a good excuse to go shopping. I spent a whole $8 at a thrift store on the dress, and then spent two hours adding a wide black ribbon along the bottom to make it long enough. Well worth it, and it's lots of fun.

current reading list

2011-06-11T13:17:00.001-07:00

My current reading list is:

1. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin. It was written about the same time as Anne of Green Gables, and the two struck me as being pretty similar ... except there's no Gilbert Blythe character in the Rebecca book. I grabbed Rebecca at the library when I was going through the stacks to keep track of Jenna (who wanders around while Summer and Marnie read) and I finished it this morning. I like Anne better.

2. The History of Joseph Smith by His Mother. Yep, still plugging away through this one but I'm determined to finish it before the reunion next month! I should have it done by the end of this month - I have 19 chapters left and the chapters are only 5-6 pages each. It is kind of laborious to read because the language used by Lucy is not what we're accustomed to - I think that's why it hasn't held my interest much before this. That, and she went into A LOT of detail about Joseph's ancestry prior - that went pretty slow. Now that I'm into the Restoration section, it's going quicker. It's mind-boggling how much that family went through just to get the Book of Mormon translated, printed, and published. I just barely got up to the organization of the Church.

3. Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. This was last month's selection for book group that I haven't quite finished. It's a fun bit of fiction that you might get a kick out of - it's about a girl who is very into chemistry and she solves a couple of murder cases - one recent and one from many years before that was originally ruled a suicide. I'll finish this one after I finish the Joseph Smith biography. I have it borrowed from a friend, so no big rush to get it done and back to the library. Adam read it and he liked it.

4. Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts. Nonfiction about the mothers and wives of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Because very little exists from or about them from the original time period, it ends up being more of a series of sketches about those women rather than a full biography about each of them individually. This was for book group back in February - I bought it and started reading it but haven't finished it yet. It's pretty in depth, so kind of difficult to read unless you can concentrate quite a bit (which of course is next to impossible in my house). One thing that did stand out to me - the book opens by describing the mother of two of the signers of the Declaration of Independence ... she was 16 and her father left to take care of some military responsibilities, and she was in charge of 3 plantations which she managed quite nicely and even made them better and turned a major profit. When I read that, I thought - "What do I do now for my girls to make sure they're capable of that level of responsibility when they're 16 or 18?" I still don't know the answer to that question, but I'm guessing that homeschooling them will be a factor.

5. Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv. Nonfiction commentary about how today's children are being raised with way too much electronic gadgetry and don't spend nearly enough time outside. I got it from the library and flipped around through it that day, and suddenly had this urge to take our kids camping every weekend for the rest of our lives. But of course then we had a string of church obligations on Saturdays (including today - Adam is at the temple for baptisms with some new converts), and his shoulder is messed up so he's not at full capacity, which he needs to be for camping. Once his shoulder gets better, we'll talk about camping, hopefully with enough time for me to survive it once or twice before the baby comes.

Waiting on the nightstand:
- Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell. If you like Jane Austen, get some stuff by Gaskell. She's from the same time period. This is for book group.
- Game Change, the book I got for Adam's birthday last year about the 2008 election. Something else I've started but not finished yet. I'm trying to get some of these things off the list this year ... this one demonstrates quite thoroughly how totally dirty politics can be. I kind of feel dirty just reading about it.
- To Shield the Queen by Fiona Buckley. This is another book group selection - historical fiction about Queen Elizabeth I.

And I've been learning various Greek myths with reading them for the last 3 weeks with Summer and Marnie for their school literature section. Kind of interesting to hear the legends behind the constellations, but sheesh, those gods were mean to each other and Zeus was just a philandering son of a gun. Not exactly the type of story I want presented to my kids - sheesh. We've moved on to King Midas and Hercules - those are better. Next up is Aesop's Fables.

rainbows all around

2011-05-27T16:06:00.000-07:00

Red - Settlers of Catan box on the game shelf
Orange - Aaron's t-shirt on the back of the couch
Yellow - Winnie the Pooh head in my drawing of Keith
Green - Reusable shopping bag on the floor
Blue - Tablecloth with white Hawaiian flowers
Purple - Blanket covering the futon
White - Paper I'm using as a mousepad
Grey - The rain-filled sky
Black - Cover on the BBQ on the balcony

rainbow

2011-05-27T13:17:00.000-07:00

things I can see from my computer chair -

red - the girls' small square "school table" - it's an end table from Ikea
orange - the canvas bag with the croquet set in it
yellow - the Madeline book is open on the floor, and the illustrations on the open page are black with a yellow background
green - Jenna's four-wheeler riding toy
blue - a soccer ball
purple - our library bag has big purple flowers on it with white centers

Good

2011-05-14T06:01:00.000-07:00

Freshly cut grass smells good.

Chocolate tastes good.

The clear blue sky looks good.

My happy music playlist sounds good.

Going for a walk in the sunshine feels good.

Emily's good

2011-05-02T07:23:00.000-07:00

A new book smells good

A root beer float tastes good.

The trees all in bloom look good.

A choir singing in harmony sounds good.

Getting hugged around the knees by a toddler feels good.

more good

2011-05-01T16:47:00.000-07:00

Our little garden of fresh produce smells good.
Fresh-baked bread still warm with straight-from-the-hive honey tastes good.
Adam wearing cargo shorts looks good.
My kids laughing together sounds good.
A backrub at the end of a long day feels good.

good

2011-04-30T21:09:00.000-07:00

Easter lilies smell good.
Dutch chocolate orange tastes good.
Aaron pitching looks good.
Rain on the rooftops sounds good.
Going to church feels good.

What's good to you?

Shopping trip with Mom

2011-03-09T13:29:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, I went shopping with Mom. I needed to deposit my paycheck and we needed to get some medicines at Wal-Mart and a few groceries. And Mom wanted to pick up a few things at JoAnne Fabrics.

Then at Wal-Mart I found a couple of cute shirts; I can wear them to work or even church. I figured I could use new shirts after one was ruined. I mentioned to Mom that I wanted a new dress for Easter. So she wondered if the spring clothes had arrived yet and we went over to Ross to take a look.

It was a bit difficult to find something nice. I didn't want dark colors or black and white. And so many dresses were immodest. I finally took a few outfits to the dressing room. One dress completely hid my figure; Mom said it made me look fat. I didn't even think a dress could make me look fat. Another dress had a low V-neck, but it would look great with a tanktop underneath. Mom liked one, but it was uncomfortable. Two more did nothing for me.

So, I went with the second dress. I'll probably put up pictures sometime this weekend.

and that's my update

2011-03-07T08:31:00.000-08:00

Tawnia and I have been messaging back and forth on Facebook lately, and I figured since the sister blog died and nobody posted in February at all, I might as well post my little updates here.

Yesterday I decided to chop some bangs back into my hair. A touch on the short side, but surprisingly even. I'm happy to have them again.

Aaron and I played games yesterday evening. He won at Jitters, but I won at Tri-Ominoes and Scrabble. He found out today that he was supposed to have the tickets for the Flames game last night, but no one told him. He had watched the highlights online last night, so he was VERY disapointed this morning that he could have been there.

I'm working on a drawing of my friend's son Fabrice. After finishing my last piece, I was in the mood for another portrait, and this was what grabbed my attention.

Monday, Tuesday, Happy Day

2011-01-30T11:45:00.000-08:00

I had a very busy two weeks. I was babysitting Hayden, who was slightly sick the entire time. The first week was full of tantrums. The second week was much better. On Wednesday I woke up a little early and was able to read my scriptures before heading over there. It just set a good tone to the whole day. I was able to get some sketching done during nap time. And then, when I got home we found out that our car insurance rates have dropped significantly ($50 less every month!) for the next year. Lots of happiness.

Friday the 28th was an incredibly busy day. I started babysitting Hayden at 8 in the morning. At noon we walked around the corner to pick up Fabrice. Hayden's Mom came home at 2:15, so I took Fabrice back to his house and helped watch him and his baby sister Gabriella while their Mom worked on braiding a friend's hair. She finished up around 5ish, and we walked over to Sherry's house for a girl's night. We had dinner and then just sat and talked while their boys played together. Around 8:30, when I was about to head back home, Aaron called to let me know that I needed to head back over to Hayden's house - Katie's water had broke! She was scheduled for a c-section on the 9th, but baby Shanna decided to come early. So I walked back there and watched TV (Hayden was already asleep) until Katie's father drove in from out of town. I finally made it home at 1:30 in the morning.

So then Saturday we slept in until just before noon. The first day sleeping in for two weeks. Hooray! After getting ready and a quick lunch we headed over to our friend Pete's birthday party. Eleven hours of boardgaming! If you thought we had a lot of games you are mistaken - Pete has over 200! Awesome time had by all.

After less sleep than desired, we made it to church this morning and we taught our Primary class. When I told them we were watching a video about the First Vision one of the boys asked, "And then the second vision?" I had a good laugh.

I also stepped out of my comfort zone and decided that I need more girls in my life. I get along great with Aaron's friends - but they are AARON'S friends. I need friends for me! So while Aaron is at a hockey game on Saturday with his Dad, I'm having girls over! I'm not sure if we're watching a movie, playing games, making cookies, or doing some sort of craft, but we will have fun, whatever it is. (And if nothing else, inviting people over is excellent motivation to get my home clean!)

if you chance to meet a frown ...

2011-01-25T07:18:00.000-08:00

Good friends, like Kera who is helping me with a crafting project, make me smile. Good food, like the chili Adam made on Sunday and the pumpkin spice cookies we made for FHE last night, make me smile. And clean sheets when I get into bed - that REALLY makes me smile. Especially when I've just showered ... ahhhhh ... good sleep. Good sleep makes me smile too.

I Feel Pretty

2011-01-20T19:23:00.001-08:00

So I had to get to work extra early today because I was being observed via Skype by my professor. And also because of that I wanted to look nice. So I took a little extra time on my hair and make up and then slipped on my new glasses and a nice outfit and headed off for work.

I got to my room sat down and started planning out the day. As I was sitting there a little boy (not one of my kids) stopped in my doorway and started talking to me. He just stood there chatting away for a minute or two and then headed off to class. Next one of the teachers stopped by and talked to me I told her about being observed and she said, "Well, you look very nice today." It was nice of her to say (though she is the type of person that is always complimenting others.) A few minutes later a little girl stopped outside my door and said, "You look pretty today."

The day went on. My skype observation went quite well, which is really good because I'd been quite nervous about it. After it was over I just felt sort of off. I ate some lunch in the staff room (which I never do because I'm always too busy working through lunch) and then failed to plan my afternoon therapy (though I still pulled it off... the joys of being one on one with kids and following pretty set routines of things.) I even bought a school lunch because it looked good (and it really wasn't half bad.) A few of my kids saw me in the lunch room (which is very rare) and they all had to wave or come over to me and say hello. At one point in the afternoon I have a break. I always forget that I can't take a kid at that time because it is recess. Today I went out on the playground and ended up joining a game of four square with some first and second graders. It was the best fifteen minutes of just plain fun that I've had all week. I even made it to the "top" square... or whatever they call it. Again, several of my kids saw me on the playground and said hello or waved wildly at me from across the playground.

And then there was therapy with one of my kiddos. He was on one today. He's working on his /r/s and he can do them but usually when he does produce a good /r/ he is using a silly voice. He was being so goofy it was hard to not laugh. And then he started saying "pineapple" instead of the words he was supposed to say. One of the other teachers mentioned to me later that I was pretty talented to not be laughing at the way he was saying "popcorn". I was definitely smiling even if he was being silly.

After school I stuck around until 6:30 p.m. because it was parent teacher conferences, and even though not a single parent talked to me, I still had to put in the time (because we are given an extra day off at Christmas break and another extra day off at spring break because of staying those extra hours.) Anyway, I had a ton of work to do and barely made a dent even though I was working the entire time. As I was finally getting up to leave I walked into the hall and a little girl saw me and started talking to me. She said, "Did you memorize me?" I said, "No, what's your name?" (I was thinking that maybe she was a kindergartner that I'd talked to earlier in the day... she wasn't.) She told me her name and I said, "Nope." She then gave me a side hug, and took my hand so she could show me that some other kid had gotten a haircut. Random, so, so, random. It cracked me up.

Later I saw the principal and told her that I'd had more random kids come up and talk to me that day then ever before. She said that my niceness must be shining through today or that the kids just wanted me to hear their speech. I think it's because I looked pretty today.

And that's why I'm still smiling.

Blue Skies

2011-01-19T22:21:00.001-08:00

So I know it's super late but there have been a plethora of things that have made me smile today and I just had to get them out there.... especially since I haven't posted in awhile.

First, I was testing a kiddo today and she was supposed to be repeating sentences back to me. I said the following sentence, "Did you remember to bring your lunch?" And she said, "Yeah." She was supposed to repeat the sentence back to me. I just smiled and went on with the test.

Next, I took the above kiddo out to the playground to play for a few minutes after all the testing I put her through (about 90 minutes worth of testing on a kindergartner even when a lot of it is play type testing.... is still a LOT!) While we were out there I was pushing her on the swings and it reminded me of when I used to do recess duty after school at Meridian. It brought back some good memories so I smiled.

My district supervisor was with me all day and at the end of the day we were going over the therapy and testing I'd done and she was giving me ideas and constructive criticism, etc. At one point I said something about feeling like I still know so little and she said, "But at the beginning of the year you had never even done therapy." Yeah, I've come a long ways and I just need to remind myself of that.

On the drive home the roads were clear, the sky was a brilliant blue, and the snow was mostly sparkly (there are of course patches of super dirty snow on the sides of the road) and I was listening to a tape of stuff that I remember tape recording off of different movies that we had at home. I have songs from random musicals and lots of disney stuff. I guess I'm grateful that I have a tape player in my work car because it brings back some great memories. Any old tapes you don't want anymore?? Send them my way!

And then I went to the eye doctor and picked up my new glasses (I only got my eye exam on Monday so that was a quick turn around. Woohoo! First pair of new glasses in five years.) As I left the office I was noticing how clear and crisp the world looked. Amazing what a new pair of glasses can do.

Then I went to institute for the second time today.... once at 6 am and again at 7 pm. After class I sat around talking to Raylene and Tyler. Raylene is about 11 years younger than me but is kind of following the same path through life that I took. We constantly find things that we have in common. At one point in the conversation we were talking about how many kids were in our families. It turns out we all three come from families with 8 kids.... and all three have five girls and three boys. Crazy!

And of course, knowing that Mindy was smiling thinking of me makes me smile. And yes, that episode (and that line) are hilarious. Funny thing... my friend here has been on a huge Gilmore Girls kick over the last few weeks. She borrowed my three seasons and is now borrowing the rest of the seasons from another girl who has seasons 3 - 7.

"and I love coffee!"

2011-01-19T19:03:00.000-08:00

I've been babysitting this week. Today was not a good day for Hayden. There were many tantrums when I took his car away because he was standing on it to get at the counters. It was especially bad when he was at the stove, and when he stood on the steering wheel. And then to top it off I'm just feeling lousy.

The highlight of the day was watching Gilmore Girls. It was the episode where Rory has therapy. Tawnia will understand why I smiled. (I also smiled because I was thinking of Tawnia.)

just like Joshy

2011-01-16T15:26:00.000-08:00

As we were sitting in Primary, about to do closing exercises, the leader announced that we would be singing "I Am a Child of God" for our closing song. Arvin, age 5, who would usually rather talk to his friends than sing, said to himself, "I Am a Child of God? I love that song!"

missing slippers

2011-01-15T08:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I found my slippers in the cupboard.

Background: Aaron likes to hide things, or himself. He's very silly like that. So as I was sitting at the computer he "slyly" puts my pink fuzzy slippers on and walks away. I kindly reminded him that those are MY slippers, as he headed for the kitchen. Apparently he thought I was going to come after him, and he put the slippers in the cupboard to say he didn't take them. I didn't, he forgot about them, and the next day I found my slippers in the cupboard.

raes of sunshine

2011-01-14T07:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was blah. I woke up and my mood was just .. off, somehow. I was bound and determined to be productive though, so I made my way over to Office Depot. And they were too busy to help me do a test print. Sad. So those get delayed again.

On the upside, I helped Tawnya out and took her to Costco, and pushed the cart with her darling girls, while she pushed the cart with the food. I tried snapping a few pictures of them before we left for the store. Hooray for getting ANY pictures of Raelynn that were in focus. She doesn't hold still. At. All. (Thank you siblings for taking the time to take as many pictures of your children that you do. I understand how difficult it is to get decent shots sometimes!) And I even got a picture of Layla smiling! I may have to do a drawing of it, it's that cute.

After I picked up Aaron from work (another day before 5 o'clock, hooray!), I opened his paycheck. I always have him guess how much it is for. He guessed the amount that should have been there - but it wasn't right. There was MORE. And he hadn't asked for any extra hours either. So we looked at the pay-stub on the back. Aaron got a raise! (NOTE: No, this doesn't mean we'll suddenly have enough money to make it to the reunion, it just means that we won't be scrambling so much every month.)

Joshua and Henry

2011-01-14T06:20:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, I played with Joshua and Henry while Nathan and Amanda went out for lunch. They're both adorable. Henry got excited about coloring with markers, at one point with a marker in each hand. He also likes stamps. They both liked playing the bugle, although Henry would just make noises while carrying it around. Joshua liked playing with the dwarves and the little people. He also found the pet rock, and when I told him I had drawn on it, he pretended to be me coloring on it.

So there were lots of smiles yesterday.

love notes

2011-01-12T22:21:00.000-08:00

Today's smile came from Tawnia. Thank you for the random message.

weird Southerners

2011-01-12T20:39:00.000-08:00

My smile of the day today was more of a laugh. I found out kind of by accident (while doing a search for some other information) that in Mississippi, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is also Robert E. Lee Day. Their birthdays are only a few days apart - Jan 15 and 19, or something like that - so Mississippi (and Arkansas and Alabama) decided to honor them both on the same day. Forget the fact that Robert E. Lee defended the slave-holding Confederacy all through the Civil War, while MLK Jr.'s mission in life was of course to finally raise the status of black people to be equal with white people.

So the fact that both of these men are honored by the state on the same day is absolutely hilarious to me because it's about as big a contradiction as you're going to get. I've spent a good portion of the day laughing and telling various people, "Guess what I found out today!" And they laugh with me.

howdy

2011-01-11T11:22:00.000-08:00

I seem to be in an every-other-day mode of posting. Well, I'm here consistently! And I am thinking back over the day before about the things that made me smile!

Yesterday, Summer and Marnie decided that they wanted to do a puppet show with Daddy. Adam pulled the couch out from the wall and they all got behind it with the three pig puppets and the dog that they've dubbed the Big Bad Wolf. And they presented the Three Little Pigs story to Jenna and me. It was really cute.

Today, I'm glad to get back into our normal days - we've been all kinds of thrown off lately with the holidays, kids being sick, extreme weather patterns causing scheduling changes, missing church 2 weeks in a row ... It was nice today to have Adam leave at the regular time, come back at the regular time, and do housework and school time in between. And scripture study - I'm reading in the Old Testament still, plus I'm speaking in sacrament meeting and teaching YW this coming Sunday so I'm preparing for both of those things. And I got a little bit of reading time in when I rocked Jenna for her nap.

And now I will go work on that talk some more. Have a smiley day!

smiling through the sniffles

2011-01-11T08:09:00.000-08:00

So Aaron came back from the store on Saturday with a huge grin on his face. He tried to make it a light shopping trip since he knew he was the only one carrying all the food up the three flights of stairs. (I will be very grateful someday when we have our own house where we can park our car in our driveway (or better yet a garage!!) and unloading it won't be such an ordeal.) He commented about how much everything cost and then said to guess how much of it actually came out of the bank account. One would naturally assume that all the money did, but no. He had stopped by work while he was out and his coworker finally paid him for some extra work that he had done back in November. Hooray! So none of it came out of the account! It put Aaron in a very good mood for the rest of the evening. (I think it helped that he also bought some of the Dutch Christmas cookies that he hadn't had yet this season.) Obviously Aaron's good mood made me smile too.

With this icky sick going on, I have yet to make it out of the apartment in the last week or so. There's also a few inches of fresh snow, so another deterrent of going out of doors. I'll make it over to Office Depot to do those test prints one of these days. In the mean time I have still been productive with that project and did two little paintings yesterday. A duck and a puppy. Not entirely in love with either of them, but I can pick one (or both) and complete a series. Or I can keep going and make two series. Being productive even when I'm sick is a reason to smile. That, and I finally got a decent amount of sleep last night.

And I've got to agree with Tawnia. I'm glad Emily finally found a reason to smile, but Clarissa? No smiles yet and it's already the 11th. How sad.

weekend smilies

2011-01-09T08:47:00.000-08:00

Saturday's smilie was that we got everything done that we wanted to yesterday! Adam and Aaron took the bunkbed apart to cut everything down to fit (I'll put the story on the homemaking blog, but the bed frame was too big for the mattresses) - I figured this would take a week or more to get it all done. It took ALL DAY, but at 9 pm when it was time to put the girls to bed, everything was DONE. It was cut, refitted, and put back together. YAY YAY YAY!

Today, we had church canceled because of an ice storm which is a bummer because it was supposed to be our stake conference broadcast with President Monson. I'm sure it's being recorded to watch later, but still, it's nice to see those things live. Anyway, today's smilie is this means Adam is having fun in the kitchen for breakfast (turning into brunch since it's almost 11) and it's a bunch of our favorites - super rich hot chocolate, crepes with apples and cinnamon, homemade sausage (yep, he even makes sausage these days), and herbed scrambled eggs. Yummmmm!

Temple

2011-01-08T21:16:00.001-08:00

Today, I went to the temple with Mom and Dad. I had some family names to do, from the Betz line. This family had no imagination when it came to names; they named most of their daughters Anna (after their mother).

I saw Robin and Alena Wirfs while I was there. I said it was good to see them. Robin said it was good to be seen, and this (the celestial room) was a good place to be seen. That definitely made me smile.

Then we went to the Olive Garden. I had chicken parmigiana (at least, I think that's what it was called). It was good, if a bit salty.

Over all, this was a really good day.

P.S. What really made me laugh today . . . Brooke's message on Facebook. Go read it.

turned upside down in a snowglobe

2011-01-08T16:34:00.000-08:00

Day three of being sick. Blah. Already have a substitute for primary tomorrow. Today's smile came while I was taking a nap. I'm not sure how much I was actually sleeping, but I was relatively comfortable and laying down, so I'll consider it a nap. Aaron loaded the dishwasher! His contributions in the kitchen usually involve making a mess (with yummy dinners as a result). He works all day, so it's generally my job to take care of the house. He also said that he didn't want to go shopping without me - he wants to stay home and take care of me. That, and he knows how much I like going shopping. Not today, my boy. I finally convinced him that I'll be fine, and he can go. We'll see how he did when he gets home.

Smiling

2011-01-08T09:28:00.000-08:00

Now Emily and Clarissa.... you must have SOMETHING that makes you smile so get on here and post it! (please)

Okay, so I'm not the greatest at remembering to post but I'm trying to do better.

Jan. 6th - Thursday. I went to work and I had one student that will come in and try really hard not to smile. He was trying to hard that it cracked me up. I even did a drawing of his smile on a sticky note. It looked like this: ( ------ ) Except it was a solid line. Yeah, he has these cute dimples and he was trying so hard not to smile. When I drew that out and showed him, he cracked up and then we got to work on his artic. Thursday evening I got invited to help in the temple baptistry. It was really nice. I haven't done that except in the Portland Temple. I was even able to do some confirmations. I couldn't help leaving with a smile on my face.

Jan. 7th - Friday. I see a lot fewer kids on Fridays but I'm at the same school that I'm at on Wednesdays. (I have an aide who sees most of the kids for their second weekly session.) I had two of my girls that I don't see on Wednesdays stop by my office that day. One of them just stood in the doorway and said, "Hi Miss Palmer!" It was cute. The other one came into my office and put her arm around me. I asked if she needed something and she said, "No." I said, "So you just came to give me a hug?" And she said, "Yes!" It was adorable. I also get to work with my two cute kindergarten girls on Fridays. They always make me smile.

Jan. 8th - So far my smiles today have been from reading this blog, reading facebook status updates, seeing pictures of my friend's new baby, having the sun shine in my window (even if it is only 3 degrees outside) and watching videos here: http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com/?%2F%3Ffinalist=1264 My friend's cousin is the white guy in the doritos commercial that has the picture of two guys with one holding a little bag of doritos.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to more smiling just because I think it sounds like a nice thing to do.

It's the little things

2011-01-07T20:53:00.000-08:00

Day two of being sick. NOT FUN. I just wish my face would stop hurting, my nose would stop being plugged (and then dripping at random times) and my throat would no longer be on fire. I have done absolutely nothing productive. I had a few things make me smile today though.

Trina's post reminded me that she has her own blog! I usually check it regularly, but got out of the habit sometime in December so I had lots to read and catch up today. I love hearing about my nieces!

When Aaron got home he immediately offered to make me dinner, even though he had to work at least an hour later than usual. And when he came home he brought in the mail - the official letter from the first presidency finally arrived, even though I had heard about the sealing cancellation right before Christmas. Hooray.

date night!

2011-01-07T10:45:00.000-08:00

It's 11:30 in the morning. A lot of day left before we get to bedtime. But then I will get to open the first of my "time" presents from Adam and have a date night at home with him. And that thought - the prospect of the evening - is making me smile.

I don't think I explained on my personal blog what Adam got me for Christmas. We both had a hard time figuring something out for me, because I'm really in this mode of NO MORE STUFF. We use pretty much everything we own, so it's not like we can clean out and take a truckload over to the Salvation Army. It's that there's no storage in this house AT ALL, so everything is always out. Everywhere. Plus the fact that the girls get out all of their toys and spread them all over the place, and don't pick up when they move on to something else. Always always always a mess.

So when Adam asked me what I wanted for Christmas - an object that could be put in a box and wrapped for under the tree - I told him nothing. I honestly could not think of anything. So I had no idea what could possibly be in the box he brought home from work. When I opened it Christmas morning, it was a box full of small wrapped things with a couple of pieces of paper on top of the pile. One was this poem he wrote:

It's said that time is what makes a marriage grow,
Time to learn and time to love
Time to go fast and time to go slow.
Inside each package is a gift for you,
Some quiet time alone,
Some time together too.
So each month choose a gift to open up
And enjoy time, my gift to you.

The other paper was a list of 12 things - saying time alone or time together, how many hours, indoors or outdoors, and a clue as to what my activity is. 6 are date nights, and 6 are alone quiet time for myself. I asked Adam yesterday how many of the together items will require getting a babysitter and he checked the packages - 4 of the 6, so I'll plan those a few days in advance even though I'll have no idea what we're doing until we actually start the date.

For tonight, no babysitter. I have chosen: Time together, 3 hours, indoors, be creative. I will wait until it's time to start the date to open the little package.

more kid silliness

2011-01-06T21:34:00.000-08:00

Tonight during scripture reading, we had this exchange:

ADAM: [reading 2 Nephi 25:18] That means that someday, the Jews will believe in Jesus.

SUMMER: What day?

ADAM: I don't know.

SUMMER: I think it is Wednesday.

She cracks me up.

my face hurts

2011-01-06T18:29:00.000-08:00

.. and sadly it isn't from too much smiling. I woke up this morning with a horrible cold. Stuffy nose, sore throat and a fuzzy head. I didn't make it over to Office Depot as planned, but I will get there soon.

My happy time of the day was watching the Henry video! I love how much he is talking now. I wish other siblings would post videos of their children. They make me very happy.

on the 5th day of smiling ...

2011-01-05T23:56:00.000-08:00

We've felt from the beginning that we had moved here to Vicksburg to help with missionary work and building up the Kingdom. It kicked into high gear today. Just before our Young Women activity, we had all the girls come to the church for a missionary discussion with not one, not two, but THREE investigators! All of whom should be solid for baptism in the next couple of months. We're going to split one of them off to do the discussions separately - she's 17 and the other two are 12. But either way, it's teaching for the missionaries with fellowshipping from the ward. AND there are three more possible investigators in the YW circuit. Watch out, Vicksburg Ward! The Young Women are taking over!

And the activity itself went really well. I thought it would be good, but it exceeded my expectation. It was Personal Progress, and how we're doing those now is that the class presidents choose what Value we will focus on for the month, and then the leaders plan the activity. I had this one - Divine Nature. We talked about personality traits for a couple of minutes, and about attitude. Then we played "After the manner of the adverb" because that is a game that actually demonstrates attitude. It was really quite funny, and the girls had a blast with it. That made me smile.

January 5th

2011-01-05T21:55:00.000-08:00

Today was a really long day. I was up at 5 AM so I could go to an institute class at 6 AM. Crazy, I know. It was a really good class though... it's just going to make Wednesday really, really long. Especially because I have to direct institute choir in the evenings which doesn't start until 9 PM. We usually only go for a half hour though, but then I talk to people afterwards and rarely get home before 10 PM. Anyway.... today I smiled when:

1. One of my students was doing so amazingly well that I told him I was going to have to do my happy dance. (I then told him that my sister's and I have a blog and that I'd probably post about him tonight because he was making me smile so much! He's a sixth grader working on an /r/ and I really am hoping that I'll have him done with speech by the end of the year... that would make me smile a lot.)

2. One of my second graders is working on an /sh/. Today I was trying to get her to relax her tongue and trying to show her how her tongue tip doesn't need to come up. I finally stuck a glove on and stuck my finger in her mouth and held her tongue down. Before I did it I said, "Don't bite me." She replied, "I'll try not to." It was darn cute and hilarious. I later asked her if the gloves tasted bad (this was after my finger had been in her mouth for awhile) she said, "yeah, they do." But she hadn't even complained about it. She's so patient.... Now I just need to figure out how to help her. Anyway, you can't help but smile about sticking your finger (purposefully) in a kids mouth.

3. I was walking up to my friend's door this afternoon and there was a little boy on a bike out in front of her apartment. He looked to be about four years old. As I was walking up he said hi to me. Then he said, "I have a bike over there." I said, "Oh, that's really cool." He then proceeded to follow me up to my friend's door and continue to talk to me. It wasn't for that long because I had to go up some stairs to her door and he didn't follow me up, but the whole time I was thinking, "You're adorable... but where are your parents? And haevn't they taught you to not speak to strangers?" Maybe I just look safe?

4. Which reminds me of another story. As I went to pick up one of my kindergarteners another student noticed the name badge that I wear. She looked at me and said, "You wear that so we know you don't do bad stuff." I said, "Yeah, it's so that you know that I'm a safe person to talk to." It made me smile.

5. Just kidding. I can't think of a fifth story from today... but had to trick you into thinking that I'd come up with five for the fifth. Oh wait, that just made me smile! I guess I DO have a fifth. Hehe!