All of these pictures were on the smaller camera I keep in my purse, so they didn't get loaded on the computer until today.
Amie and I hadn't gotten together or even called each other (what the?) in a couple months (but have stayed in touch through our blogs) but then she brought me lunch at school one day. It was so good to see her and catch up a bit, but the half hour I have for lunch flies by so quickly that I literally felt like I had to eat, spew crumbs and run!
Jenn came to rescue Landon and I one day after school when we were having car woes. She also brought me a Turtle Brownie that day, but somehow I failed to take a picture of it (I am so not myself these days).
My mom brought me lunch the very next day (it was a good week of company).
This is what it looks like for the hour I sit having my IV treatment. I try to be rather Zen about the whole thing, but it's difficult with phone calls (Whitney gets home from school while I'm there), and the busyness and noises of the hospital make it hard to relax.
My mom and Ashley brought me lunch again a couple weeks after the other time.
Surprisingly, I think work has actually helped me through all this iron-deficiency business because it has forced me to be out and about when all I wanted to do was try to sleep. It has given me purpose and been a 6 hour distraction each day as I have tried to keep my anxiety through all of this under control. I would have preferred not to have learned to be grateful for my job this way, but the lesson has been learned and I AM grateful!
Comment Window Tidbit: We need to have a major disinfecting/cleaning day after having the kids home sick for 3 days this week!
1. I went to the temple this week. I've always meant to be a regular there, but haven't always enjoyed going...I'm getting there.
2. I wanted to help Amie in some way this week because she's always so busy working (running Jimmy's business from home) and has made reference to needing to "dig out", but of course she didn't end up letting me clean anything (I didn't see any need for digging). She only let me help her catch up on cutting coupons (she gets 5 papers each week!). We were able to sit and visit while we worked, but I didn't end up feeling useful.
Our self-portrait, I just love how my face looks twice as wide as hers.
Amie ended up sending me home with quite a load of goodies; I guess this is one of those cases of receiving more than you give!
3. My parents are giving us (early) these passes for Christmas, so we schlepped over to get our pictures taken for them and then took the scenic route home.
It's kind of weird to drive through Provo after not living there for so long, everything is the same but oh so different too.
4. We stopped by Lori's place after getting our passes so I could finally deliver the card I'd written her but had forgotten to put the address on. Also, now that she's a hoochie-coochie college girl she's too busy to stop-by anymore, so we never see her. She was busy making dinner to take to someone in her ward the next night (hence the apron).
5. Apparently the flag football age range Landon's playing in includes 7th, 8th and 9th graders (we didn't know this), so it was quite a shock to show up at his game last night to find his team playing against an entire team of big 9th graders!
Whitney and I were scared for them and rightly so...the final score was 63-7! The challenge of it actually made Landon's team work harder and play better, so it wasn't a total loss.
6. Is anyone giving their visiting teaching people (or friends) something for General Conference? I'm hoping to make some fabulous sweet rolls from a recipe I got from someone at church, but it might not be smart to bank on that idea if I've never made them before, but they are so scrumptious.
Cinnamon Rolls 2 cups hot tap water 1 1/2 Tbs. yeast 1/4 cup sugar Let these 3 ingredients sit for 10-15 minutes.
Then add: 2 cups flour Let this sit for 20-30 minutes.
Then add: 2 beaten eggs 1/4 cup sugar 1 Tbs. salt 1 cube softened butter or margerine 4-5 cups of flour (mix in enough flour until dough comes away from sides of mixer--it varies on the type of day)
Let dough rise until doubled and then roll out onto a greased clean counter. Spread about 3 Tbsp of butter on top of rolled out dough then the cinnamon mixture. (You don't need it for the raspberry mixture since it already has butter in it).
Cinnnamon Mixture: 1/2 cup brown sugar and 2 Tbsp. cinnamon Raspberry Mixture: 3 Tbsp. soft butter, 3 Tbsp. raspberry jam and 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Roll up then cut with string or thread (much easier than a knife I think). Let rise until double. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 400*F. (I only let it bake until light brown. When it's golden brown it seems over done.)
Frosting 3 cups powdered sugar 1/3 cup butter softened 1 1/4 tsp vanilla 2 Tbsp milk (add a little more if thick--about 1-2 teaspoons) (I like to spread the frosting on right after coming out of the oven so the frosting drips and melts some into the middle of rolls.)
**Do you get the Sunday paper for coupons? Did you give more or receive more this week? Has anything pushed you to be better this week?**
Comment Window Tidbit: It is both comforting and disturbing how quickly Fridays come around.
I was in charge of the lesson for last week's Family Home Evening and taught the kids about consequences--both good and bad. That wasn't what I originally intended to talk about, but that's what came out so we must have needed it.
It's interesting to consider that there are consequences to every choice we make; that word normally has such a negative connotation for me. But there are consequences for going to church, going to bed at a decent hour, serving others, eating right, planning ahead, and so on.
Also as part of my lesson (though it wasn't related to the consequences topic) we all wrote two thank you notes to people from church. The kids wrote to both of their primary teachers, Randy wrote to a member of the Bishopric and the doctor from our Stake who gave Landon his physical for Scout camp for free (so nice!), and I ended up writing a young man leaving for his mission and the same Bishopric member that Randy wrote (though we hadn't discussed this at all). It was a great activity and one that everyone set to work doing right away and without complaint. Woohoo!
Landon's note to his teacher who changed his life.
We always end our Family Home Evenings by awarding the kids their marbles from the past week's work and behavior.
Landon had been saving his marbles for over a month so he could buy the itunes gift card (60 marbles) in the reward basket.
Landon bought the gift card, then bought Whitney a king sized Reese's for an additional 10 marbles and the blue Stegosaurus for her for 10 marbles as well. (This kid is something else.)
It was like Christmas, but different. Whitney was inspired by his generosity and bought him the other king sized Reese's in return (oh those consequences).
Landon got me again when I unwrapped my birthday gift a few days later and found that itunes gift card and a very generous coupon book as well! I tried to give the gift card back to him because that was just too much for him to give, but he wouldn't take it back. He really is a whole new kid ever since making the decision to do that early-morning service project with Randy...more consequences I guess.
(Sidenote: Landon has NEVER called me mommy ever, it's weird that he wrote that on the coupon book.)
**What are some of the consequences you like? Do you ever write thank you notes to people from church? Has any event or choice changed you dramatically?**
Comment Window Tidbit: Don't forget today is the 12th...document your day for Amy's 12 on the 12th project!
Last Tuesday was Whitney's last day of softball, she had both a practice in the morning and a game that evening.
I sat in the car and read during her practice because my attempts at helping her bat haven't been fruitful. It appears that she does indeed hear me and her coach, but processing and applying that information are two different things.
My parents and Andrew came to her game that night and Andrew brought some friends along.
My dad spent some quality time on the phone for work (he's a mortgage broker so times are tough) but I enjoyed seeing him in his dress clothes with sneakers.
Whitney got 3 tries at bat and had significant improvement with her stance and swings, but she didn't get a hit.
It has been so frustrating trying to help her throughout this season because I know she can do it! She has got power and skills, but lacks the belief in herself. I always come away from her games and practices wondering if this is what Heavenly Father feels like with us because he knows what we're capable of and that we're the only thing standing in our way! I wonder how many areas of my life are just like this?
She played 2nd base during this game and did quite well and caused 2 outs.
Andrew chose to sit on the rough asphalt in the sun, rather than in the shade with us.
It was nice for Whitney to have a fan club there to cheer her on even though things didn't go the way she would have liked.
**Do you wonder what areas of your life you're keeping yourself from succeeding in? Ever chose to sit on hot concrete when shade was available?**
Comment Window Tidbit: I'm feeling better! I'm back to cleaning, woohoo, I couldn't stand it anymore.
What in the world? We may be becoming a sham of a book club, but once again our book for this month didn't work out (The Pilgrim at Tinker Creek) so we had a life-catch up session instead. I suppose the book could have worked out except that the consensus (through email beforehand) was that getting past page 10 wasn't going to happen. (Oh Crystal, I hope you don't think we're chumps!) It's good to know as soon as possible if a book just isn't going to work for us so that there's no pressure to knock ourselves out to finish it. Amy actually told us she never had any intention of reading it all! If only we had known that earlier we wouldn't have chosen it in the first place.
Poor Michelle has been trying for weeks to recover from pneumonia, but ended up being our hostess because Marc and Max were both out of town and we wanted her there.
We ended up with one of our better food spreads (despite not having coordinated with each other) because we had more savory than sweet. We've had gatherings with 5 of the 6 of us bringing a dessert, and though those are still good, this one felt like dinner. Jenn brought chicken salad and croissants, I brought hot, miracle bread, Jana brought veggies, Amy brought cherries and a wonderful bean salsa with whole grain chips, Collette brought cookies, and Michelle made us Italian sodas. Not too shabby!
I got the first turn with baby Savannah, then handed her off to Jenn for the official baby whispering part of the evening. She's got swaddling skills and everything. We were all freaked out that Savannah (or Savvy as Jana calls her) is already 2 months old and weighs 13.5 pounds!
My plate of goodness! Obviously carbs are a friend of mine...or not.
Michelle's Italian Soda bar looks like an alcohol adventure to me, but it's not.
Fortunately, Amy's life has calmed down somewhat and she is eating again, but she's enjoying her skinniness (oh to say those words about me) and has been shopping a lot lately. She had just bought these "slutty shoes" (her words) that day. I would never torture myself with slutty shoes even if I was cute and thin, I just can't take the pain.
Though we didn't talk about the book, we did end up having an interesting discussion about morality, the things we hold sacred (aka our life boundaries) and the temptations lurking in the world right now. It's interesting how some things are such a struggle for some people and yet hold no temptation for others and vice versa.
**Do you prefer savory or sweet foods? Do you adore carbs? Do you think much about your moral compass?**
I finished my goal of reading The Book of Mormon between January 1 through July 9 and started over again today with the goal of finishing by December 31st. I love the scripture calculator that schedules the reading out for me, it makes it so doable.
I also had scriptures on the brain all week as I prepared for today's Sharing Time on "Reading Scriptures Strengthens My Family".
One of the things I did while preparing, was to make a list of the lessons I learned from reading The Book of Mormon, here are the ones I came up with right away (I'm sure there are many more to be learned).
Be obedient Have faith All things are possible with God We can be forgiven when we repent Listen to the prophet Teach children not to fight Serve others Stand up for what is right Be an example The Lord protects His servants Listen to your parents
Aren't these lessons comforting? They're recipes for happiness. I'm so thankful to have these answers in my life, and have had experience with each of them personally.
**What lessons have you found in the scriptures? Have you used the scripture calculator?**
I love this talk from President Uchtdorf from the November 2008 Conference Issue of The Ensign and especially like this story from it.
"Some years ago in our meetinghouse in Darmstadt, Germany, a group of brethren was asked to move a grand piano from the chapel to the adjoining cultural hall, where it was needed for a musical event. None were professional movers, and the task of getting that gravity-friendly instrument through the chapel and into the cultural hall seemed nearly impossible. Everybody knew that this task required not only physical strength but also careful coordination. There were plenty of ideas, but not one could keep the piano balanced correctly. They repositioned the brethren by strength, height, and age over and over again—nothing worked.
As they stood around the piano, uncertain of what to do next, a good friend of mine, Brother Hanno Luschin, spoke up. He said, “Brethren, stand close together and lift where you stand.”
It seemed too simple. Nevertheless, each lifted where he stood, and the piano rose from the ground and moved into the cultural hall as if on its own power. That was the answer to the challenge. They merely needed to stand close together and lift where they stood."
I really like the image of all these men working together to make a really hard task easy. I love that service is such a priority for us in our church, and I feel like I am learning that lesson over and over again as I see service in action.
Randy helped lay sod, along with 14 other men, in someone's yard yesterday and they finished the job in one hour! I have helped clean houses for people who are moving or ill. Seen a bounty of dishes be washed in no time after a ward dinner because of so many helpful hands in action. Every Sunday after primary the kids help fold up the chairs, so we're done just a few minutes' time.
I don't think life has to be as hard as we make it sometimes. We could all benefit from asking for help when we need it AND looking out for opportunities to help others so we can lighten their load.
Now that we're home from our trips, this week feels like our first real week of summer. I really want us to have good habits, yet it's nice when summer vacation feels different from the routines of the school year. I'm actually the one having the most problems because I've been sleeping so poorly. I'm in a bad cycle of being up at odd hours during the night and then sleeping in late in the morning...not good. I bought some Tryptophan tablets thanks to Adam's recommendation and was actually able to sleep for 6 hours in a row last night, woohoo!
{Notice Whitney's inside out and backwards shirt.}
But I digress, one of the things I want to work on in the summer is teaching the kids some life skills (remember this post from last summer?) along with having them do some work each day. Last summer I initiated the Popsicle-stick job bag which involved them pulling a Popsicle stick with a job written on it out of a bag. It worked well and was fun too, so we're doing it again this summer, but I added about 25 more jobs to the bag.
Some are super easy, some are fun, and some are a bit hard, but overall they are helping the kids learn to clean and help run the house.
Whitney's job on Monday was to make dinner. She was totally excited about this and chose to make spaghetti. I was in the kitchen with her the whole time, but had her do everything. She browned the meat, boiled the water, preheated the oven for the rolls, set the table, and so on.
Clearly, she's satisfied with her work!
Landon's "job" today was to write a letter to one of his cousins. He was happy doing this, but wouldn't have been had I just suggested it for something to do. I hope the kids catch the vision of some of these activities along the way.
Whitney and I made a reading chart for her to record and rate the books she reads. I really want her to gain a love for reading. She loves books, but is so visually-oriented that she prefers the books with pictures of animals, dinosaurs and such.
Another one of Landon's "jobs" this week was to list 20 things he's thankful for. I was impressed by how quickly he was able to do it and by the wonderful things he listed. He did this completely on his own. (I have no idea what made him think to write that last one.)
**Any job suggestions? Do you have goals for the summer? How did you gain your life skills? What do you wish you knew how to do?**
Is it just me or does Wonderful Wednesday seem to come around a lot? It's only once a month, so how is it possible that yesterday was the third time of the year so far? I always have issues with the passage of time and fear I am destined to be perplexed by it forever.
I was relieved that Eva was excited about the day, because I dread her thinking she sees too much of me (and knows that I'm not fun) and will one day tell Michelle that she'd rather stay home. I'm sure Michelle would veto that, but still, it's nice that we're all willing participants at this point.
We took our self-portrait in the car (as is our tradition) and then traveled to my house. We talked about teeth during the car ride, and Eva informed me that her front teeth are neither baby teeth nor big teeth, they're "middle teeth." I found this amusing.
Ashley arrived about 20 minutes after we did, and the girls began playing immediately. I love how they just get busy playing right away. They have that unspoken understanding all kids have that they both know there's playing to be done and that they should get busy with it. There's no awkward moments of reacquainting or questions like, "How have you been?" or "Why haven't you called?" It doesn't matter that they haven't seen or thought of each other for a whole month, there's pretending be done and the clock is ticking!
Yesterday was a glorious, spring day so the girls were able to play outside for awhile. Eva requested the picnic, but then didn't eat anything! Maybe she just liked the idea of it (sort of like I like the idea of exercising regularly). She also had some issues with being outside because that's where bugs live. She had a moment of fear and crying when some ne'r do well bug flew by her. She recovered, but there was a whole lot of going in and out during the 30 minutes of outside time. Ah well.
Play-doh was the real life saver of the day because they were united in their enthusiasm for it and were able to play without too many "sharing" issues. They did have a passionate exchange about who has bigger muscles though. I kid you not, they were getting so mad at each other as they compared their tiny biceps. I told them they were both huge (which is hilarious to think about) but they still debated it. Good grief!
I took some video of them playing just so I could capture the essence of their dynamic, and thought it was funny that the big muscle debate resurfaced during the video.
Eva brought a "Land Before Time" video with her so I made them a little popcorn picnic, complete with M&Ms in the bowl. I had to make sure they had the exact same bowls, with the exact same stuff in them. I don't know why there was such a fear of injustice, but they both got after me with loud vigilance.
I was quite relieved to have them happily set up watching their show and eating their popcorn. When their show was over I noticed there was a bonus feature sing-along so I played it for them. It was a HUGE hit, so the 3 of us sat on the floor singing "The Lone Dinosaur" song over and over and over again (seriously about 15 times). There was a biting incident after all the happiness, but we recovered and moved on. It's impressive that kids forgive each other so easily.
My mom stopped by around 3:30 to bring me a shake (woohoo) and to bring the girls ring pops. It was nice of her to do this, and good to stop and talk for awhile. She ended up taking Ashley with her when she left (since they live together), so then Eva and I were on our own. (Whitney normally comes home and plays with Eva, but she went to a friend's house after school.)
It was only 5:00 so I wanted to stall for time before taking Eva home, so we ended up playing dinosaurs on my bed. It definitely helped that we were playing on my bed because I was able to recline for much of the game, and really if you've got to play you might as well be comfy doing it right?
Our game actually ended up being kind of funny since my dinosaur was named Brenda and Eva's big scary dinosaur was named Linda. Those just aren't dinosaur names are they? I kept cracking myself up as I'd say things like, "Oh no, Dino Linda come out of the hot lava!"
Overall it was a good day. I wasn't exhausted at the end of it, wasn't wishing them good riddance, and didn't have any feelings of annoyance, hooray!
**Do you have problems with time flying? Did you suffer from feelings of injustice as a kid? What flavor shake would you have gotten? Do you forgive easily?**
