Blow to the Ole Self Esteem

{click photo to enlarge}

I found this note written by Landon on Randy's night table while cleaning this morning, ouch for me.

**Are you the tougher parent?
Are you strict about bedtimes?
Would this have hurt your feelings?**

Sunday Thoughts

A couple of the speakers in church today mentioned miracles that happened while on their missions, and one of them read from the Bible Dictionary definition of miracles which totally piqued my curiosity and got me doing follow-up reading at home.

Miracles

An important element in the work of Jesus Christ, being not only divine acts, but forming also a part of the divine teaching. Christianity is founded on the greatest of all miracles, the resurrection of our Lord. If that be admitted, other miracles cease to be improbable. Miracles should not be regarded as deviations from the ordinary course of nature so much as manifestations of divine or spiritual power. Some lower law was in each case superseded by the action of the higher. They were intended to be a proof to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ (Matt. 11: 4-5; John 2: 11; John 10: 25; John 20: 30-31). Many of them were also parabolic and instructive, teaching by means of symbols such divine truths as the result of sin and the cure of sin; the value of faith; the curse of impurity; and the law of love. The miracles of healing also show how the law of love is to deal with the actual facts of life. Miracles were and are a response to faith, and its best encouragement. They were never wrought without prayer, felt need, and faith.

It is important to notice the different names by which miracles are described. They are called signs, as being visible tokens of an invisible power; they are powers or mighty works, because they are the acts of One who is almighty; they are simply works, or the natural results of the Messiah’s presence among men; they are wonders, marvels, because of the effect produced on those who saw them.

The following miracles are found in one Gospel only

Matthew.

The curing of two blind men (Matt. 9: 27-31).

the casting out of a devil from the dumb man (Matt. 9: 32-34).

the stater in the fish’s mouth (Matt. 17: 24-27).

Mark.

The healing of a deaf and dumb man (Mark 7: 31-37).

the restoration of the sight of the blind man at Bethsaida (Mark 8: 22-26).

Luke.

The draught of fishes (Luke 5: 4-11).

the raising of the widow’s son (Luke 7: 11-16).

the healing of the woman with a spirit of infirmity (Luke 13: 11-17).

the healing of the man afflicted with dropsy (Luke 14: 1-6).

the cleansing of the ten lepers (Luke 17: 12-19).

the healing of Malchus (Luke 22: 50-41).

John.

Water made wine (John 2: 1-11).

the healing of the nobleman’s son (John 4: 46-54).

the healing of the impotent man at Bethesda (John 5: 1-16).

the restoration of sight to the man blind from birth (John 9).

the raising of Lazarus (John 11: 1-45).

the net full of fishes (John 21: 1-24).

Miracles are a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If miracles cease it is because faith has ceased. See Mark 6: 5-6; Morm. 9: 10-20; Ether 12: 12.

I need to be better about recognizing and recording the miracles in my life so I don't forget them.

**Thoughts??**

Creative Friday--Denver Visitors Edition

The Paris countdown continues, but we squeezed in another Creative Friday.


Michelle made raspberries and cream for dessert, and all I can say is oh la la about that.


Oh happy sight! I forgot to bring envelopes (what the?) so Michelle brought out her well worn, yet oh so pleasing box of envelopes for me to raid.


Michelle worked on her marvelous birthday tags again and made a bunch of cute birthday cards to enclose with those gifts. It was good to see her stamping again. (We used to make cards with rubber stamps all the time, but have turned more to the computer in the past couple years.)

I put two birthday packages together and wrote 6 cards.

Michelle's Aunt Denise and her two daughters Charlotte and Emily came over to say "hi" before I had to leave. The 3 of them are bloggers so we've become friends. (Michelle sought Emily's knitting expertise immediately upon their arrival.)


Emily recently cut off a pair of track pants and saved the cut-off part for Whitney! She also gave me two items she'd knitted (I forget the name, but they're sort of a faux glove type thing) to give to Whitney because she knew Whitney would appreciate them. How thoughtful!


This was our 2nd (annual?) back-to-school, group o' 5 self-portrait. I can't believe it has already been a year since our last one!

Whitney was thrilled with the gifts from Emily and immediately went to work turning one of them into a dress for her T-Rex! She just cut some arm holes and voila!, instant fashion. She was obviously delighted with the results.

**Do you ever have raspberries and cream?
Do you do stamping?
Did you mail anything this week?
Are you friends with your friend's relatives through blogging?
Ever seen a T-Rex in a dress before?**

Tough Guy

We had more soccer euphoria going yesterday evening along with a gorgeous mountain backdrop. Have I mentioned how much I love soccer season?

One of Landon's teammates brought some sun-reflecting cream (I don't know what it's called) for them to wear, and I could tell it made them feel pretty cool.


Landon did his best to look like a tough guy, but really he was about to break into a smile.


The tough guy scored 2 goals and played great! Here he is celebrating with a teammate after scoring a goal. Once again, he generously shared his chocolate peanut butter shake with the family, and once again I wondered how we got such a sweet boy.


As we were driving home from the game, I was commenting on how beautiful the mountains looked. Whitney looked up from her stuffed animal (a creepy white tiger she bought at D.I. the other day) and said, "yah" then looked back down. Oh dear. I was so taken with the view that I pulled over and got out to take pictures...that'll show her!

**What do you think of the tough-guy look?
What views do you love?
Do you point out beauty to your kids?
Have you ever pulled over to take pictures?**

Winners

I have chosen 5 random winners to be recipients of some good mail from me. Please email me (stuart_jill@hotmail.com) with your mailing info (unless I already have it) and tell me if you'd like stationery, good mail labels or a mix cd. (And yes, I had a more substantial post in the works for tonight, but my photo uploading is sooooo freakin slow that I'm about ready to throw my computer out the window!).

Linda
Courtney
Miranda
Judy
Liz

**Which would you chose...
stationery, good mail labels or a mix cd??
Have you gotten something from me before?**

Hoochie Coochie College Girl

One of my great aunts once said, "Oh you're just a hoochie coochie college girl" to my sister Lori and it has stuck with us because it's just plain funny.

I felt like the fat, gimp-footed aunt of a hoochie coochie college boy today as I accompanied my nephew Gifford to Heritage Halls at BYU today. From the moment traffic came to a complete stand still off University Parkway I was excited. The surrounding cars were all full of garbage bags stuffed with bedding and clothes just like ours. I have been thinking about all the exciting possibilities this time of life has for these new students, and it's just plain exciting!


Trying to park was crazy, but we found a place to unload and had him unpacked and set up within 30 minutes! Boys. I can't imagine any girl being unpacked and set up in 30 minutes time! He didn't even bring any pictures from home!

{click on photo to enlarge and enjoy}

Memory Tidbit: I was all about decorating my dorm room back in the fall of 89' (oh my gosh, it's mine and Michelle's, Kristi's, Jen's, Stacy's and Nikki's) 20 year anniversary of moving into the dorms and I didn't even think of that until this moment). I loved my wall of goodness so much that I used to joke with my roommate that we should switch beds so we could sit on our bed/couch and look at our side of the room.


After getting Gifford (he was named after his great grandparents' last name) all unpacked, we went to La Dolce Vita for a super tasty lunch. As we finished I said, "This is the kind of lunch you think about later and want to do all over again." (Is it wrong that I'm quoting myself?)

I didn't know how the farewell between Gifford and Daniela was going to go since I knew she was emotional about leaving her first child at college and then having to fly back to Illinois. But since there was no place to park, and since we were in a hurry for her to catch her flight they had a quick goodbye and a hug and we were on our way. She ended up telling me that she did her crying weeks ago while she walked the dog; I thought there was something rather noble and poetic about that.

**Have you ever taken anyone to college?
Did you decorate your dorm room?
Do you think starting college is exciting?
Would you do your crying before, during or after?**

T-Rex Tuesday

Who could resist a bright blue and red T-Rex from D.I.?
Not Whitney.

**What can you NOT resist?**

Good Mail For Me and For You--Plus Edit

This note from Natasha should have been in my last good mail report, but I had mistakenly put the photo in a different folder so I missed it.


Jane sent me this note to thank me for making her a set of quote cards for her birthday.


I recently sent Missy Claudia a set of these small, square cards but was still surprised when one of them ended up in my mailbox. The envelope was so tiny! Claudia can never be contained by the size of her stationery though, and ended up writing more on a notepad.


Jeannie, who is one of my Etsy customers, sent me this thank you note for some good mail labels I made for her recently.


Miss Kacey sent me this darling notepad recently. I love everything Kacey does and was lucky enough to win her recent giveaway (along with commenter Jenn). I ended up getting 2 sets of stationery, one for Missy Claudia and one for Betsy (I forgot to take a picture of the cuteness) but the girls both loved their cards.


Natasha sent me this beautiful, letterpressed note and totally made my day.


Michelle surprised me with this thank you note, which arrived Saturday. I didn't see her writing any notes during Creative Friday, so she must have been rather stealthy about this and done it before or after I left. She included a Cafe Rio gift card (woohoo) for helping her clean her garage last month.


This colorful delight is the stack of thank you cards I wrote yesterday. I had made the cards at Michelle's house on Friday, but ran out of time to write them. It was so nice to sit on my bed with a clipboard and write all of these. It felt like a very relaxing, Sunday thing to do.

**I'll be giving away a few items to some random commenters, so tell me what you think.**

Edited to add: I must be going senile, because I totally panicked after reading Tasha's comment (thank you) and searched through all my photo folders until I found the picture of the gift she sent me, then ended up finding 4 more things I needed to post! There is always a danger of forgetting to post something, but wow this has got me worried! If I've ever not posted something you've sent, it's purely by mistake, not a statement of some kind.

Tasha sent me these 2 sets of acrylic stamps and a package of embellishments, so nice!


Michelle brought these to Creative Friday a couple weeks ago (unblogged about thus far) as an addition to my delightfully, color schemed birthday gift from July. I love these!


While searching through my photo folders (shouldn't it be pholders?) I found another good mail item from Claudia. Everything she sends looks like art.


Whitney's friend Madison's mom (now my friend Gaylene) is so good to us. She took Whitney for an entire day to do fun things with them and then brought us a box of Krispy Kreme donuts when she brought her home. Clearly she knows the way to my heart! (Both taking Whitney for the day, ha, and bringing donuts upon their return.)

**Do you like quotes?
Have you ever received a tiny envelope in the mail?
What do you think of my colorful stack of envelopes?
Are you a sucker for donuts?
Are you forgetful?**

Sunday Thoughts

"Serving others need not come from spectacular events.
Often it is the simple daily act that gives comfort,
uplifts, encourages, sustains, and brings a smile to others. May we always find opportunities to serve."
--Michael J. Teh


**Thoughts??**

Seven for Saturday--Cankle Edition

1. I finally finished reading "Here Be Dragons" after 2 months! Granted it's a 704 page book, but still, I never take that long to finish reading books I like. It's a testimony of how crazy our summer has been that it took me that long to finish it.

Also, it was hilarious that I had just finished the book and then checked my email and had a message from Lara with advice about my ankle and this sentence, "Why is it taking you so long to read Here Be Dragons. Did she burn the bed yet?" It made me laugh out loud that she had even thought about this and mentioned it to me. I was very happy to be able to write her back to say that I had just finished it and that the bed had been burned months ago!


2. On Thursday, while out hobbling errands (there was no running involved) I was slowly making my way into Costco and saw this old woman standing in the parking lot looking around. She saw me and said, "I'm looking for a cart to help me get into the store" (she was in a handicapped parking spot) so I showed her one next to a nearby car and she got it and said, "We can share this and get in the store together."

It was the sweetest thing, to be sharing the shopping cart with this old woman as we slowly limped into the store. She said she used to walk 4 miles a day and that it's very frustrating not to be able to do that anymore. I felt thankful that my injury is temporary and that I'll be able to recover and be young and strong again soon. (I really wish I had thought to take a picture of our hands on the cart at the time, it would have been such a sweet picture.)


3. The kids started school on Thursday, so I made them our traditional first-day-of-school, chocolate-chip cookies in celebration. They walked in the door to find this plate of cookies on the table awaiting them, along with 2 new Guitar Hero guitars (I had returned the ones Landon had bought with his birthday money because they didn't work). Their jaws dropped and then Landon proclaimed, "Mom, in like 5 seconds you have made me so happy! I wanted chocolate-chip cookies, I've been wanting some bagels from Costco, and I really wanted to go exchange those guitars!" It was a rock-star mom moment for sure!


4. Cute Collette called me after reading my post about hurting my ankle and was sweet enough to bring over an ankle brace, a heating cushion-type thing, an ice pack and a CANE! The crazy thing is that this is the 2nd time she has brought me supplies to help with an injury; the first time was in February of 2004 when I tweaked my ankle after wiping out on black ice at Amy's house after book club one night.


5. Randy's brother Larry, his wife Daniela and 2 of their 4 kids came to town to bring Gifford (their oldest) to BYU. I had to miss going to dinner with them the other night because it was right after "the incident" and I wasn't very mobile. Fortunately they were able to stop by Thursday night after having dinner with some friends. It was the first time Larry or Gifford had been to our house (we've lived here 5.5 years!) and the 2nd time Daniela and Isabella have been here.


6. Whitney and I made waffle cone sundaes (courtesy of Michelle) during intermission of our Jurassic Park movie marathon last night. Randy and Landon were on a scout camp out, so Whitney and I made mini pizzas together, then watched Jurassic Park movies 1 and 2 (she loves these) while I alternated between icing and heating my cankle. Those movies don't scare me, but I did find myself standing at the kitchen sink wondering what it would be like to look out the window and see a T-Rex in our yard.

Memory Tidbit: I remember back in 1993, after Randy and I (we were dating at the time) had seen Jurassic Park in the theater a couple times (it was awesome in the theater) every loud noise I'd hear seemed very dinosaur-like to me. Especially because there was a lot of construction going on behind the condo I was living in at the time, so those construction vehicles sounded very loud and aggressive to me and I could totally picture huge dinosaurs crushing trees as they walked by.


7. This is a very unsightly photo, but I simply must document my cankle. My ankle has swollen to the point that there is no bone definition at all (which makes shaving a breeze). I hadn't realized that I have bruising on the inside of my foot or the extent of the swelling until I stood on the porch to take these pictures. It's fascinating and gross at the same time!

**Have you ever taken 2 months to read a book?
Have you read "Here Be Dragons?"
Isn't my Costco story sweet?
Ever made someone's day in 5 seconds?
What do you think of Collette's delivery?
Have you ever had cankles?
Did you know there are websites about cankles?**

Creative Friday--Reunited But Not For Long

This summer has been so busy that Michelle and I have hardly been able to get together for Creative Friday. It's ridiculous but true, we got together twice last month (both undocumented due to my computer woes) but once was to clean her garage and the 2nd time we played games with the kids, so they weren't technically "creative" Fridays. Happily we were able to get together today for some creative productivity after about a month break!


Michelle worked on her brilliant birthday tags since she's trying to get stocked up for the birthdays that will happen while she's in Paris...how's that for thoughtful?


Eva had a jammie day (why not?) and did some coloring at the table with us.


I worked on an overdue project and was very pleased to send out 9 items of good mail today.


Michelle's faux-wood stapler was giving her some grief today, which made me laugh because every time she uses it I hear the theme song from 'Sanford and Son' in the background!


Michelle had planned to serve me a waffle cone sundae today but forgot until it was time for me to leave, so she sent me home with a waffle cone sundae kit for Whitney and I (Landon and Randy had a scout campout), I was delighted.


We were a little rusty on our self-portrait skills after having so much time off, but finally managed to take an acceptable one.

We had a good day, but I couldn't help feeling a bit melancholy since Michelle and family will be leaving for Paris in just over 2 weeks. That means we won't be having Creative Friday until after the New Year! Prognosis negative.

**Have you been creative lately?
Have you sent any good mail?
Have you ever made a waffle cone kit?
Do you like jammie days?**

Do I Have Balance?

Even though I like things to go a according to plan most of the time, I can also be somewhat laid back and go-with-the-flow, so even though it doesn't feel like summer should be over yet, I'm not upset that today was the first day of school. There are many reason to love summer, but there are also many reasons to love the school year, so I just go along with it and don't feel happy or sad about it, just fine really.


Things I love about the school year...

Having a set routine that defines the days.
Soccer season.
The change of seasons.
Holidays.
School supplies.
Having time to myself while the kids are gone.

Things I love about summer...

Having no set schedule to define our days. (Sunday is the only day of the week I'm ever sure about in the summer.)
Not having any sports obligations.
Great weather.
Holidays.
No papers from school.
Spending all kinds of time with the kids.

So the kids started school today after a morning of grumpiness and tears from both of them (not school related, more lack of sleep related). I can't believe I have a 3rd and a 6th grader! I am officially not a young mom or mom to young kids anymore!

**Are you emotional about your kids going to school
or do you go with the flow about it?
What do you like about the school year?
When did I stop being a young mom?**

Fun Mom or Stupid Mom...You Decide

Today's visit to the pool began just like any other, we packed our bag full of treats, goggles, toys and towels, lathered ourselves liberally with sunscreen and found a spot to set up camp.


It wasn't until the end of the day that some sort of mania came over me. I suggested to Max that we take a few turns on the diving board since this was our last visit to the pool for the season.

My first time down the diving board I did a decent dive, nothing fancy (how fancy can a potato be?), but as Max and I were talking about the back flips we wish we could do I found myself really itching to do a front flip.

I used to do all kinds of tricks off the diving board back in the day, and my body still thinks it can do them. My mind, however, knows I am much heavier than I was back then and that physics now play a more active role in my relationship with the diving board.

But I pressed on, I did a flip which was under rotated and resulted in my ham hock/buttocks area slapping the water painfully, but I was optimistic because I didn't die in the attempt!

My 2nd attempt was great, I got good rotation and was pain free. I think I probably lost points with the imaginary judges for plugging my nose, but so be it, I didn't want to clean out my sinuses in the pool.


Max and I were feeling increasingly confident about our flip prowess and decided to get Michelle to come document them for posterity (which means you). I realize that a girl of my size should not be eager to have photo and video evidence of her rotating corpulence, but my excitement blinded me and I just wanted to have proof that I did it.

Behold...I give you proof!


It wasn't until after Michelle went back to our base camp at the kiddie pool that the real trauma happened. I started thinking I could probably do a back flip. Sure I haven't done one for 20 years, but what the heck, it's like riding a bike right? Oh wait, I haven't done that for 20 years either!

I walked to the end of the diving board and turned around but then panicked and sort of slipped off and did a backward pencil-type entry. It was clearly a mistake, so Max, Landon, Lucas and I laughed (apparently Bella and Whitney witnessed this from a distance as well).

So when it was my turn again I thought I should go back to my proven front flip, no need to be a hero, I wanted to keep my spine in tact. So I did my approach to the end of the diving board and ended up sort of slipping/belly flopping into the water and felt my left Achilles tendon give some sort of rebellion.

I felt it instantly and was praying for it to be nothing serious before I even surfaced from under the water. All I could think was "oh crap, we don't have insurance, I can't be hurt, I can't be hurt, man it really hurts, what have I done, I'm an idiot, what was I thinking, how am I going to get out of the pool, good Hell what an idiot, please don't be hurt, please don't be hurt."

I paddled over to the side of the pool where Max greeted me by saying, "That looked like it hurt!" I asked him which part, and he said, "All of it." Oh dear.

I ended up gingerly making my way over to the shallow end of the pool rather than attempting to use the ladder to get out of the water. Max went over to Michelle and said, "Jill is damaged." So she came over to see if she could help me out. I just sat on the edge of the pool for awhile trying to move my ankle and assess the damage (as if I have any assessing skills!).

She ended up helping me over to a chair, then cleaned up our stuff and pulled my car around so I wouldn't have to hobble down the stairs to the parking lot. It seemed impossible to get out of there at that point so I really thought I might have to live there. I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't been there!

I was able to hobble to the car and drive home (luckily it's my left ankle, not my right), but I'm not sure how I'm supposed to function now. I can get around slowly, but don't see any stretching, dancing, stair climbing, or any normal walking in my near future. What have I done?

**Am I a fun mom or stupid mom?
What you have wanted proof?
Do you plug your nose?
Does your body think it can do things it used to do?
What should I do to fix my ankle?
Do you remember this trauma from last summer?**