I enrolled Joshua in Let's Play Music this year and I totally love the curriculum, the bonding experience and musical play we enjoy together each week. He doesn't love to practice at home(none of my kids got that gene from my :( ! ) but I love hearing him spontaneously sing the songs we've been learning. I've been contemplating becoming a trained teacher for their company for several years because I love incorporating the element of play in music teaching and working with young children and their curriculum is so carefully sequenced and comprehensive while being fun at the same time. Making decisions like this are not easy for me because I analyze so much and have to weigh in my time and energy constraints, financial costs and potential, my strengths and inadequacies, time management with the increasing demands of my large family, my need for creative outlets, etc.
After a lot of deliberating, weighing the pros and cons, discussion and prayer I made a difficult decision this week that I've been going back and forth on for a long time. I decided to stick with teaching private piano lessons because it is a better fit for my current family situation even though that means letting go of an opportunity for now.
I am eating up the moments that I get to do learning activities with Josh during the day. I'm not ready for this chapter of my life to be closing soon. I love how he is fascinated with counting. He skip counts the numbers on my Kitchenaide (2, 4,6,8) when we're making bread, and wants to take his time when reading stories so he can count objects on the page. He loved fishing for numbers and finally made the connection between the digits and the teens when we "married" the matches (2 &12, 3 &13, 4 & 14, etc.) by putting pink paper clips on all teens and blue ones on all the single digits and then matched them up.
Making playdough snakes
He is such a social little guy that I have to keep fetching him from the new neighbors house because he wants to go play with their older kids. He's lucky to have several friends his own age close.
He entertains himself often by playing creatively and makes me laugh.
Sometimes I get too caught up in teaching preschool concepts, that he doesn't get the spiritual focus that I gave my oldest kids when they were little and we listened to primary songs and read simplified scriptures more consistently because I wasn't running around to tons of activities. So lately I've been trying to watch scripture videos together with him while we eat lunch.
He was so excited for the first day of preschool because he got to have Rebecca as his teacher.
Afterward he played 2 hours straight making playdough creations with his new preschool friend who lives nearby.
I had to laugh the other day after a conversation I had with Joshua. He said,
"Mom, can you buy me a [toy] truck because you have ALL this money (extra cash and change in the coin jar)?" I replied, "No because that money is for emergencies." He moaned, "Oohh, I wish we could have an emergency!"
We've had a lot of talk around our house lately about emergencies partly because I was called as the provident living specialist in Relief Society. So I can see why he thinks emergencies could be cool. He couldn't eat some of the granola bars and fruit snacks I bought because they were for restocking our emergency 72-hour kits. I asked him not to play with the cool Luci solar lantern I won at the emergency expo, because they need to stay charged in my closet window/glove compartment for emergencies.
I was in charge of this candle jar project for Super Saturday and ended up emptying 3 different Dollar Tree shelves of all their emergency candles to get the 360 needed!
Definitely don't want to run out of this in an emergency!
Following are some of the thoughts from my monthly messages. I especially love the November talks!
September Provident Living Focus: Food Storage/Rotation
The revelation to produce and store food may be as essential
to our temporal welfare today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days
of Noah.” (Spencer W. Kimball Oct. 1980.) “I speak with a feeling of great urgency. I have seen what
the days of tribulation can do to people. I have seen hunger stalk the streets
of Europe. I have witnessed the appalling, emaciated shadows of human figures.
I have seen women and children scavenge army garbage dumps for scraps of food.
Those scenes and nameless faces cannot be erased from my memory.” (Ezra Taft
Benson). "There will come a time when there isn’t a store" (Spencer W.
Kimball). The Lord has warned and forewarned us against a day of great
tribulation and given us counsel, through His servants, on how we can be
prepared for these difficult times. Have we heeded His counsel?
Challenge: Increase or rotate your food storage this month.
October Provident Living Focus: Light
Being
prepared with a variety of physical light sources (solar lanterns,
candles, flashlights with batteries, solar glow sticks, etc.) can
provide peace during emergencies. But even more important is our
continual need to "recharge" spiritual light through consistent gospel
study and personal prayer. "As we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. And
day by day, the hope of God’s light will grow within us, 'brighter and
brighter until the perfect day.'” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf)
Challenge: Choose a conference talk to listen to and add adequate sources of light to your 72 hour kit.
November Provident Living Focus: Finances "Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted." (2 Nephi 9:51)
There are so many compelling thoughts in these articles that is was hard for me to choose which of them to share but these are some of my favorite quotes.
"When faced with the choice to buy, consume, or engage in worldly things
and activities, we all need to learn to say to one another, “We can’t afford it, even though we want it!” or “We can afford it, but we don’t need it—and we really don’t even want it!” "When we are addicted, we seek those worldly possessions or physical pleasures that seem to entice us. But as children of God, our deepest hunger and what we should be seeking is what the Lord alone can provide—His love, His sense of worth, His security, His confidence, His hope in the future, and assurance of His love, which brings us eternal joy." (Robert D. Hales, "Becoming Provident Providers Temporally and Spiritually", April 2009).
"It seems that while the average home has increased in size, the average family has decreased in size; and while homes have more time-saving devices, the average family spends less time together. Why isn’t more money buying greater happiness?" "Due to improvements in productivity, Americans could work 22-hour workweeks if they were satisfied with a 1948 standard of living" I think this statistic is so compelling. Hard to imagine a life where my husband only works 2 and a half days a week, but we enjoy our small home, share just 1 car, have more together time, but with a lot less stuff!
"Each item we accumulate, he says, “stifles us and robs us of freedom because it requires so much of our time to tend.” He writes further: “We have to pay for it, keep track of it, protect it, clean it, store it, insure it, and worry about it. … Later we have to move it, hide it, apologize for it, argue over it. … But these things are valuable, you say? " "Our success will depend not only on answering the question “What do we
need to be happy?” but also on answering the question “What don’t we
need to be happy?”" (Lynn G. Robins "The Cost of Riches", June 2003)
The kids had some fun adventures after we picked apples at the college orchard and then checked out the waterfall nearby on the first day of Harvest Break.
The next week I joined Jared on his work training for a few days and totally indulged in family history, reading piano blogs and adding a bit more to my personal history while he was in meetings. It was awesome not to have to cook or clean for almost 2 full days I could have repeated it for at least 2 weeks without getting bored! During the busy months of fall football it feels like we rarely get time to really talk, so it was nice to enjoy the evenings and drive together.
Compiling my history is a bit daunting of a task, but when I take the time to reflect and remember the people who have had a meaningful impact in my life it reminds me of how good the Lord has been to me by sending me to a loving family and sending influential friends teachers and leaders to help me along journey of life.
Following is one "memory" that I typed up about my childhood.
"My mom tried numerous strategies to
help instill in us the value of work and keep the home organized enough to keep
her sanity.When I was young I remember
looking forward to adding stickers to my chore chart which included basic
things like “ I got dressed without being told. I cleaned my room.I brushed my teeth. Etc.”I took pride in getting a perfect sticker
chart and have a fond memory of going out to IHOP to eat breakfast with my dad one on one when I won
the chore contest.I ordered a pancake
with strawberries and cream and never knew that kind of “dessert” breakfast
existed until then.Later it was trips
to get a Dairy Queen Peanut Buster Parfait, Farr’s ice cream cone that kept me
motivated, but I also just loved the intrinsic feeling of being good and having
an organized room.Later we had colored
pegs for our am, pm housework and talent responsibilities inspired by Richard
and Linda Eyre’s “Teaching Children Responsibility.”One of my favorite strategies was when we
divided up into 2 teams of four and were assigned different zones of the house
to get completely clean as we worked with our team.This appealed to my competitive spirit and in
the end we usually all ended up getting a special treat despite which team won
the contest."
I feel like teaching my kids to clean the house is definitely not one of my strengths. Although I took pride in keeping my own room clean as a child, I fall short in the "managerial" duties of training my kids to do their chores consistently. So I expected to come home to somewhat of disaster after leaving our older teenagers in charge, but it was totally worth the break! But I was pleasantly surprised to come home to a totally clean kitchen with some leftover homemade apple muffins that Rebecca had made. I was so glad they stepped up and helped out.
Rebecca really enjoys some of the friends she has met in cross
country
and had a great time at Homecoming. She was set up on a blind date with
another boy who is new to the area so doesn't know a lot of people well
either. She was lucky to find a modest dress to rent in town just 2
days before the dance. For their day group date they went rock climbing
and had a nice
dinner at one of the boy's grandma's home. I love how they chose fun
activities that were not super expensive! Its been such a long time
since I've been to a school dance, I totally forgot about a boutonniere
until Rebecca asked me about 15 minutes before the dance if she was
supposed to get him a flower because he asked what color her dress is.
Big Oops! They came 10 minutes early and she wasn't quite done getting
her hair fixed after spending a long time curling all of her thick long
locks so with the quick rush to get out the door I only got one quick
pic on her phone and took another after she got home.
My kids took school pride week seriously and had some fun dressing up for each days theme during homecoming week. I feel grateful that they have all found friends at school and seem to be adjusting well. I'm loving the no homework policy of the middle school teachers, because it gives us a bit more sanity at home and a little time to squeeze in practice on the violin and saxophone between our crazy schedule of daily football practice and cross country, gymnastics and piano lessons and helping the rest of the kids with homework.
When I was in 7th grade, my family moved to a new state and started school a few days late. It was a hard and awkward transition at first. I was so grateful for Joanne Decker who volunteered to share a locker with me, a complete stranger, when she could have chosen to have a locker all to herself. I was praying my kids would meet kind people like her who would make this new start a little easier for them. I think all of the kids were both nervous and excited for school this year. Luckily they all get to ride on the same bus that picks up in front of our house!
Junior
Rebecca's new school adventures this year include Cross Country, Child Development, Food and Nutrition, Journalism FCCLA VP plus a lot of rigorous courses that she really pushed to get in (AP Govt, AP LitCollege Anatomy and Physiology, Human Biology and Stats). I am so grateful for her counselor MiKelle Barney who helped her get into some of her "full" classes and put up with our persistent phone calls, emails and visits. She was answer to prayer. I think Rebecca would jump right into college if she could do it with friends her own age! I'm hoping she'll take a little time to relax in high school instead of waiting until college like I did.
8th
Jacob is super excited to get to take Athletic Conditioning 2 times in a row. He definitely got that desire from his father and not his mother! The bus ride home is super long because they drop off a lot of the rural routes before our stop, so Jacob made another plan. He walked home, took off his shoes to cross the shallow part of the river, and got home at least 30 minutes before his siblings who rode the bus.
6th
Daniel chose to be a part of the Advanced Math Team and also hesitantly joined the band putting Jared's old saxophone to good use. The first week was a bit intimidating since he has never touched a sax in his life and most of the other kids played in the band last year. Luckily he learned a few basics from youtube tutorials and now has the notes BAG FED down.
5th
Emily jumped right in to Middle School and gets to play the violin in Orchestra. The first day's lunch was a bit sad for her because she couldn't find her friends to eat with, but she made friend's with "Hope" who is another new girl in her class. She was super anxious about having to switch classes during the day but was grateful to find that they don't switch as often as she thought.
I remember my first week I was so shy that I didn't know the kids in most of my classes. I accidentally skipped 6th hour and went to 7th and then headed for the bus. When no one was around I realized something was wrong and discovered I had completely forgotten my reading class and had to sit through the exact same 7th hour lecture with my real class. I felt mortified when I went to apologize to my reading teacher that I totally forgot her class, but she was so kind.
1st
Alyssa was lucky to get her friend Hadley in her school class and her favorite part is still recess! I love how she takes the initiative to pack her own lunch, even if it may be a bit nontraditional looking. The first morning she showed me what she had put in her backpack for lunch the night before and asked if it would be okay. I'm so glad she asked. She had packed her own homemade lunchable container of wheat thins shredded cheese and chopped lunch meat which sat in her bag all night. The night before I had explained to her that her teacher expects first graders to be responsible to pack their own snacks, so she went the extra mile and added lunch to the fruit snack box I gave her.
Preschool
Luckily I still get to have Josh home with me. It's heavenly just reading books together, going to Let's Play Music and outings to the store and seeing the house stay clean for at least a few hours in a row. Soon he'll get to go to preschool with Rebecca as his teacher for part of her Child Development Class, but for now I'm eating up all the time I get to spend with my last child at home. Today he drew a picture of himself on his leg, with blue eyes!
