Surprise on the Porch

Daniel took a few steps out the door to go to school one day, but quickly came back in exclaiming, "What is on our porch?"

 I stepped out to discover evidence of a scuffle in the bushes and a large decapitated creature beneath the steps.  The picture is deceiving because it was quite large.  Apparently our cat and the neighbor cat were getting hungry............. or someone played a mean prank on us.

We got an outdoor cat to try and maintain the vole problem in our backyard.  So a week later we threw the cat in the window well to catch a live mouse scurrying around.  He wouldn't even touch it!

Peace, Be Still

Last week I had the awesome opportunity to have a girls getaway with my mom and sisters.  They spoiled me with awesome food like homemade lasagna and raspberry cheesecake that was seriously scrumptious, we had fun crafting and playing games together.  But what I enjoyed even more was just sharing their company.  My husband marvels that when women get together then can actually "enjoy" staying up into the wee hours of the morning.  Perhaps it is because it is during those late night hours that there are finally no more distractions and we can have heart to heart conversation sharing our joys and our struggles and feel peace.

I made a simple wreath that I can change the decor on for different seasons.  I like decor that inspires, so was hoping to embellish it by adding a short inspiring messages or quotes, but I couldn't find the perfect way to do that.  I did find a simple metal chalkboard frame that I can write inspiring messages on as I need constant reminders to help to me to remember to
"Lift Others Up"
"Live in Thanksgiving Daily"
"Be Joyful"
"Have an Attitude of Gratitude"

The church we attended had their Easter program one week early due to general conference.  The music always touches my heart.  The final number made my tears overflow as a young girl about 8 years old sang "I Wonder When He Comes Again."  Her face was peaceful and angelic, and the words of the song brought back to me the distinct memory of laying in bed at night when I was about her age listening to this song each night on a cassette tape player.  I remember envisioning in my mind what the Savior's second coming might be like, and I always thought of the light and hope of springtime.  But as a child I didn't expect I would live to be 40 and still be waiting for his return.  As I listened to the message of her song, my heart filled with gratitude for parents who instilled in me a love of music at an early age, especially sacred music.  I love how music comforts me and lifts me as the challenges of being a grownup are much harder than I had imagined as an innocent child.

I felt that same power and strength tonight as I listened to the final song in Priesthood Conference , "Master the Tempest is Raging".  As I listened to President Monson speak I felt the majesty and power of his testimony of the power of the priesthood of God.
As the choir sang
"Master, with anguish of spirit
I bow in my grief today.
The depths of my sad heart are troubled.
Oh, waken and save, I pray!"
I thought of the sorrow and loneliness that comes from seeing an eternal companion depart from this life temporarily and the love that President Monson has expressed for his sweetheart.  But I also thought of the hard times that I and close friends and family have face.  I know that through the Lord I can feel peace, but I too often wait too long to seek his help through prayer or taking time to be still so that he can "still" me.  My favorite line in the song is,
"PEACE, BE STILL."

The final verse brought to my mind a dual message.  I thought of the amazing peace that will come when "the test" in this life is over and we get to return to a place of perfect peace and rest.  And yet,we don't have to wait until then to enjoy that kind of bliss.  I want to hang this saying in my home somewhere to remind me of the Savior's power to bring peace to me on an everyday basis.

Master, the terror is over.
The elements sweetly rest.
Earth's sun in the calm lake is mirrored,
And heaven's within my breast.
Linger, O blessed Redeemer!
Leave me alone no more,
And with joy I shall make the blest harbor
And rest on the blissful shore.
Text: Mary Ann Baker, ca. 1874

"Just a Potato"

  Earlier this week I was laying down in the evening feeling fatigued and a total lack of motivation for cleaning up my filthy kitchen.   I just wanted my day to end. The doorbell rang.  I ignored it thinking it was just a kid coming to play, but one of my kids got it and it was my visiting teacher.  She was a little apologetic, because she was coming unannounced on the eve of the last day of the month, but she had a bag of chocolate chip cookies for me.  I invited her in despite the filthy kitchen, and we chatted for just a few minutes. 
  That few minutes made a serious difference in the rest of the evening.  Admittedly part of it was the cookies that satisfied my sweet craving that I especially get when I am feeling down, and I ate way too many.  But I felt renewed motivation to do my work and connect with my family just from connecting socially and knowing someone was thinking of me.  Some of our challenges are the same and some are different, but I know we both face the challenge of juggling our time and priorities in the many different roles we fulfill. 
 This experience made me think of an article that I read recently called "A Potato for the Teacher." The message of this short story really resonated with me, because I to often procrastinate doing something good because it may not be the "perfect form" of good.  The cookies and impromptu last day of the month visit from a friend was just what I needed that day even though the giver might have felt like she was figuratively giving me "just a potato." 

Silly Selfies

 Daniel had fun trying to get Josh to imitate him while he snapped some shots.  I love how these two boys were born with a naturally cheerful and social dispositions.
It can be delightful to take Joshua to the store with me (if he stays in the cart like he's supposed to), because he is so friendly.  Yesterday I went to the mall early in the day.  He spotted an older man in the parking lot.  He had his back to us and was quite far away from us, but that didn't stop Josh from reaching out.  He shouted out in super cheerful voice, "Hi!"  I think it kind of startled the guy at first, but when he saw that the "hi" was meant for him because there wasn't another soul in sight, he smiled back and said hello to Josh.  He elicits a lot of friendly greetings from the elderly as he greets them all from the shopping cart.

Daniel got braces a few months ago and although it a literal pain, I love his motivation to get "A" grades on his oral hygiene.

February BBall, Spinach, Treats, Trips and Finals Drama

 The boys are both loving basketball.  They both advanced in the Elks Hoopshoot Competition making 19/25 free throw shots.  Jacob's personal best in practice was 22/25 which I think is pretty amazing!  They beat me in Speed the majority of the time despite my height advantage.  Unfortunately in the District Finals they both shot 16/25 and weren't able to advance to State, but it was still a positive experience.  After the awards banquet, Jacob and I were able to talk with a few of the men who run the Elks Lodge about some of the other programs they run to benefit the community.    It brought back memories of my first interaction with the Elks lodge when I was fortunate to receive an academic needs based scholarship for college years ago.  Despite some of their differences in beliefs and the thick smell of smoke from the bar below, I was pleased with Jacob's observation as we left as he said, "Those are good guys."

 To make homeschool a little more exciting, we've planned out activities to do for "Fun Friday" once Emily completes her lessons for the week.  Last week we made sugar cookies to decorate and take to a few friends.  This is a tradition that I enjoyed growing up, but as a mom I only bake sugar cookies about once a year because of the extra work involved.

 Josh is officially potty trained and is typically running around the house sporting his "Speed" "Buzz Lightyear" and "Mater" undies or his double breasted suit which he wants to wear all week long, not just on Sundays.

 I am loving the extra warm February temperatures although it scares me a little to see my flower bulbs already sprouting so soon, when the cold is likely to return.

 Alyssa was elated to discover some spinach growing in our garden from last year's leftover seeds.  She loves eating raw spinach and gathered a bunch to share with me.  I love the sweet subtle flavor of fresh homegrown garden veggies too.

Rebecca successfully pulled off another trimester with straight A's, but not without a lot of stress.  For her English final she had to compile a video trailer depicting a book, which if you have an i-device with awesome apps can be a pretty simple project... but we don't.  

She really wanted me to go buy her an ipod to complete the project in 3 hours like her friend.

She spent more than 10 hours, gathering props, costumes, filming, and mostly trying to figure out a completely new program with a huge learning curve despite watching tutorials to learn how to incorporate music, edit clips and add text.  I started to feel my blood boiling when I  read the rubric of what was going to determine a large portion of her grade... things  like "the quality of the editing and music"(which you have to pay for) and "multiple appropriate voiceovers." (which require a microphone).  What does that demonstrate about her knowledge of English?  Maybe it just brings up issues for me from my childhood about the discrepancies between opportunities for those who "have" and "have not."  But one thing she is lucky to have is a bunch of siblings willing to help her out on the project.

For a  preschool field trip we took a tour of the local bakery.  The kids thought the large stacks of pans, giant mixer and grand oven were pretty cool, but the cookies at the end were the best.

Jacob did a report on Bigfoot, and now he thinks he sighted him near our home.  Look closely.

Life Saving Plungers and Debate

Becca amazes me.  She manages to keep straight A's in her classes including Honors Physics, Geometry and Debate and has surpassed my knowledge level in some areas like physics.  She especially spends a lot of time prepping for debate and studying out current boring topics like "Just governments should provide a living wage" or "The Right to Be Forgotten".  Today we were able to watch her compete as she made it to the semifinal round for the 3rd time.:)  I love hearing her intelligent arguments, watching her poise under pressure and seeing her friends rally to support her with kind comments.  Earlier in the year she said it is unfortunate that she had to be the family "guinea pig" to discover that debate is much harder than speech, but now after winning several rounds at tournaments she's actually considering taking the class again next year.  I love seeing the leadership/public speaking skills she's developing.  She tried a different event called "Retold" where she is given a children's book to act out in a dramatic silly way switching between different characters and she made it to semifinals at her first tournament.  For another interesting event she did a sales pitch on the many uses of the plunger...subway stabilizer, child's play thing, life saving device, car dent remover that was very amusing.

Homeschool Fun

  I have a hard time scheduling in play time or fun, because it seems like there is always more housework that needs to be done. I love how homeschool gets me more involved in play with my children even though my home is definitely messier.  My favorite subjects in homeschool are history and science.

 This week we've been learning about the Ottoman empire so we dressed up and "traveled" by camel (me) to the Grand Baazar to trade our goods and check out some of the mosques in Istanbul that the Muslim Turks took over.

 Josh was not so thrilled about dressing up as Suleyman the Lawgiver.  He'd rather stay in his role as the handsome prince like he did for our Baroque ball last week :)

We learned about physical and chemical changes by making cookies and Emily keeps begging to  repeat that lesson over and over again.

 

I have always been fascinated by the complexity of the human body, so I'm glad Emily enjoys learning about it too.  She loves the Study Jams Math and Science videos.  We made clay skeletons.  Its always a bonus when I can find a learning activity they all can do together.

Emily was so excited to buy a set of colorful marbles and they came in handy for her solar system model.  I think one of the things she likes the most about homeschool is not having to stress about getting all fixed up early in the morning.  We get to keep on the comfy pajamas as long as we want and she actually starts and ends school earlier than if she had to ride the bus :)