Site Title

Home again, home again…jiggity jig.

I'm home.

I had SO much fun last week.

All of my programs went well (better than expected in fact).

I have lots of stories to tell.

But they'll all have to wait because 1. my house looks like it was hit by the tornado that threatened our town last week, 2. we have swim lessons and doctors apptmts and hair apptmts, 3. I've already started to work on my next big project and church assignment (Derek and I are "trek" coordinators – a pioneer simulation for the youth of our church), 4. I have to grocery shop, 5. I am having to adjust to having all 3 kids at home all day, 6. I am still getting caught up on a major lack of sleep, and 7. we leave again on Thurs to spend Father's Day in Austin.

But lots of pictures and stories on their way…

It's off to camp I go. (insert whistling)

LOTS of long hours this week…so much work.  But I'm excited to spend the week with these girls and leaders.  It's always fun!

But I'm really gonna miss these faces:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And believe it or not I'll even miss this (but just a little)…

 

And, of course, I'll miss the big man too.  I'm so grateful that he's able to take the whole week off.  I never worry about these guys when they're with him…he's wonderful that way and has made it "easy" for me to leave.

When I get back I need to blog about our friends The Cranes and Bartells and our last days of school (note to self).

Be back on Saturday…

2008 vs 2009 (Memorial Day)

 

 

 

I've got a heavy to-do list this week to get ready for next week's Girls Camp:

– finish costumes (my friend, Katie is sewing for me…bless her)

– finish necklaces (Derek helped me cut all the ribbon last night…bless him)

– record accompaniment track (Chris B and Amy L are helping me with this…bless them)

– get trained on the A/V equipment

– put together slideshow music (involves "cutting" some songs)

– do slides for program

– tweak the script and add stage directions

– figure out how my lamps from Jerusalem work (olive oil and wick)

– pile, assemble and pack all necessary props, games, music, etc.

– make a "wake up" morning cd

– try to make a new video about Emma Smith (the quality on the one I have is poor – will involve some video editing)

– organize my laptop so I can easily find things while at camp

In addition, I still have "life" this week:

– buy teacher's gifts (think of what to buy)

– speech therapy for Samuel

– allergy shot appointment (first one – four shots, two in each arm – it turns out I am allergic to everything!)

– present budget for next year to PTA Board

– attend RoughRiders game and pass out noisemakers to our school's attendees

– attend Celebration of Learning for boys

and the list goes on…

I'm carrying my stress this week in my shoulders, so I wish I could add a massage to this list, but that will have to wait.

Thankfully I'm young.  Thankfully it's all FUN! 

Sleep is overrated, right? 🙂

I think Cub Scouts is a brilliant and inspired program…especially for boys like my Jacob.  He loves the accomplishment, the learning, the masculinity of it all!  He loves the sociality with the other scouts, the leaders and the snacks!  He comes home every Tuesday night sweaty, and happy.

He passed off all of the necessary requirements to get his Bear patch, and a golden arrow (10 electives).  He also received his whittling chip (allowing him to carry a pocket knife…heaven help us all!).  This summer we'll work on his "Faith in God" and his electives. 

When the boys earn their patches they have something called "KTM" – "Kiss the Mom!"  Last year he was embarassed to do it – this year he seemed more comfortable (while Caleb was in the back giggling out of embarassment for him).

Love this kid!

 

 

Edited to add: Superb photography by friend, Phoebe Hall! 🙂

In Jacob's QUEST (G.T.) class this semester they have been studying Medieval Times.  They read a book about it.  They have been researching, writing, everything you can think of associated with studying this topic.  At the end of March they were assigned an at-home project (that they could also work on in their once-a-week class) based on their personal interests related to the topic. 

Jacob chose to do his project on the weapons and battles of the Medieval period (sur-prise, sur-prise!).  He was supposed to do a diorama, and sketches of weapons with written descriptions.  The written research project was done earlier in the semester in class.  And yes, this is a BIG project for a 3rd grader!  And he was adament that we couldn't help him (engrained in him by his teacher).

So in April he started working a little at a time.  He wanted to do a battle scene with clay men.  Great!  It took him a month to do all of the clay men.

Then it came time for the project to be due.  The weekend before the due date was an extremely busy one for us, which left him no time to work on it.  The Sunday evening before I sat him down and we discussed his game plan for the next two days.  He understood that it would take up ALL of his after school hours to get it done.

AND IT DID!  He came home on Monday and worked for 6 hours with only one break for dinner and FHE.  He came home on Tuesday and worked hard to be 3/4 of the way done so he could go to Cub Scouts.  Then he came home and worked some more (total of about 5 hours that day).  And despite their being some deep sighing, occasional staring off into space, and some grunts of exasperation, he did really great.  He has a history of tears and melt downs when he gets overly tired.  But seemed to understand that there was no point in crying about it - a sign of maturing on his part.

Next time I will try better to help him calendar a project like this out on paper and space it out – I just don't think his 9-year old brain was capable of seeing the big picture in a project like this.  Lesson learned for both of us.

I am proud of him.  This project was all his own – he made all of the clay men and their weapons (out of toothpicks and foil).  He drew and colored the castle.  He drew and labeled all of the weapon sketches (and my favorite part, rated each of the weapons on a "danger scale").  He wrote and typed the description of his battle scene.  The only thing we helped with was the glueing of the grass and the supervision of the hot glue gun when he was positioning the men.

Here's the final project – don't look too close if you are at all squeamish about clay blood or rolling heads.  As Jacob likes to tell me "it was a very brutal and violent time, Mom" – apparently so! 🙂

 

 

With GM's announced bankruptcy today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added Cisco Systems to their list of 30 important and trend-setting stocks.

That gave a little boost to our stock today – which always makes this house happy. 🙂

Dow Jones added Cisco "because its communications and computer-networking products are vital to an economy and culture still adapting to the Information Age — just as automobiles were essential to America in the 20th century," Wall Street Journal Managing Editor Robert Thomson said in a statement.

I personally think it was their brilliant purchase of Flip Video back in March that put them in the running – very cutting edge of them to buy one of my favorite toys to call their own!

 

I'm grateful that Derek works for a good company.

While I don't LOVE getting up at 5:20 a.m. to go work out, I do love the feeling of accomplishment and strength that I've been getting from participating in a "Boot Camp".  Our trainer is Laura – she's a certified trainer for Lifetime Fitness, but does this for us on the side.  Starting this week we're doing 3 times a week instead of 2 – and that was my idea (what was I thinking?).

I have been frustrated with my lack of motivation and diligence in the exercise department for the last 10 years.  The truth is that I really do enjoy it.  But I haven't done anything worth speaking of in 10 years and 3 pregnancies.  That makes for one very out of shape body.

This morning we had "testing" and I am proud to announce that I can hold a "plank" for 2 minutes and 30 seconds (on April 9th I could barely do a minute, last month was 2 minutes).  I can do 18 full sit-ups in 30 seconds.  I can do 26 consistent push-ups (one knee down) – this is a BIG weak area for me.  And today I decreased my mile run to 9 minutes and 10 seconds (from 10 minutes and 5 seconds a month ago).

These are NOT impressive numbers for most.  But for me it shows great strides.  I haven't missed a single session (although I will have to next week for Girls Camp).  And I am so pleased to finally feel like I enjoy exercising again.

Next goal – a 5k (run the whole thing).

Our last official Gourmet Club event of the season was this month…hosted by our two fabulous, and pregnant (their poor feet), hosts Rebecca and Julie.  I was especially excited because their theme was Mexican (my favorite) – and it did not disappoint!

the drink! (granizado de Lima)

 

 

 

 

 

The yummiest pepper soup!/Chicken enchiladas, beef taco, homemade rice and beans – heavenly!

And for dessert…fried bananas with ice cream and caramel sauce.

Everything was so good…thanks girls!

Our church publishes a monthly magazine that is sent to member's homes all over the world.  It is called the Ensign.  In it are inspiring articles from church leaders and members alike.  I read it every month and enjoy it.

But one article in our latest issue has become one of my new favorites…I loved the insights it gave.

In it, Douglas Callister (a General Authority of our Church) spoke of the need for refinement in our daily lives and the departure of such attitudes in our modern culture.  He speaks of heaven as being a place of refinement…and if we are to someday be comfortable in heaven we will want to cultivate heaven's attitudes and culture into our everyday life.  And while we of course will never feel completely comfortable in the presence of God in our earthly state without the necessary cleansing power of the Atonement, I found it enlightening to think of ways that I can come closer to experiencing heaven on earth in my own home.  Here are some of my personal highlights from the talk:

"If we could part the veil and observe our heavenly home, we would be impressed with the cultivated minds and hearts of those who so happily live there. I imagine that our heavenly parents are exquisitely refined."

Refinement in language

"God speaks all languages, and He speaks them properly. He is restrained and modest of speech…Refinement in speech is more than polished elocution. It results from purity of thought and sincerity of expression…Refinement in speech is reflected not only in our choice of words but also in the things we talk about."

Refinement in literature

"My wife and I recently spent four years on Church assignment in Eastern Europe. We often traveled on the Moscow underground subway, called the Metro. We noticed the bowed heads of the Russian passengers, for they were reading Tolstoy, Chekhov, Dostoyevsky, or Pushkin—and, sometimes, Mark Twain. The people were poor, but they were not obsessed with their poverty. They possessed the rich tradition of Russian literature, art, and music.

President McKay noted: “As with companions so with books. We may choose those which will make us better, more intelligent, more appreciative of the good and the beautiful in the world, or we may choose the trashy, the vulgar, the obscene, which will make us feel as though we’ve been ‘wallowing in the mire.’”

Refinement in music

"If we could peek behind the heavenly veil, we would likely be inspired by the music of heaven…

Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said: “We … live in a world that is too prone to the tasteless and we need to provide an opportunity to cultivate a taste for the finest music. And likewise, we’re in a world that’s so attuned to the now. We need to permit people to be more attuned to the best music of all the ages.”

Refinement in art, appearance and attitude

"What I have shared about bringing great language, literature, and music into the home may be said with equal truth of great art—perhaps tastefully displayed in our heavenly home. It may also be said of our physical appearance and manners, the order of our homes, how we offer our prayers, and how we read God’s word.

I once visited briefly with the great actress Audrey Hepburn while she was making the movie My Fair Lady. She spoke of the opening scene in the movie in which she depicted a modest, unpolished flower girl. Her face had been besmirched with charcoal to make her seem part of her surroundings. “But,” she said with a twinkle in her eye, “I was wearing my perfume. Inside I still knew I was a lady.” It doesn’t take expensive perfume to make a lady, but it does require cleanliness, modesty, self-respect, and pride in one’s appearance.

Many years ago an associate of mine decided he would please his wife by sharing with her a specific compliment each night as he arrived home. One night he praised her cooking. A second night he thanked her for excellence in housekeeping. A third night he acknowledged her fine influence on the children. The fourth night, before he could speak, she said, “I know what you are doing. I thank you for it. But don’t say any of those things. Just tell me you think I am beautiful.”

She expressed an important need she had. Women ought to be praised for all the gifts they possess—including their attentiveness to their personal appearance—that so unselfishly add to the richness of the lives of others. We must not let ourselves go and become so casual—even sloppy—in our appearance that we distance ourselves from the beauty heaven has given us.

Some flippantly say, “How I look has nothing to do with how God feels about me.” But it is possible for both earthly parents and heavenly parents to have unspoken disappointment in their offspring without diminished love."

I found this talk to be fascinating!  I'm especially glad to have read it before summer hits because now I want to try to invite more refining activities into our summer plans – introduce better music, art and literature to the boys (and to myself!).   

You can read the talk in its entirety HERE.