My Christmas talk

Here's my talk I got to give for Christmas this last Sunday. Hope you enjoy it.

The Light of His Love

Today is my least favorite day of the year. Not because of speaking in church, but because it is winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. I conducted my own private rebellion against Mother Nature last night by leaving my Christmas lights on all night in my own humble attempt to defy the darkness. As an optimist I can also regard today as my favorite day because, aside from it being the Sabbath, the days can only get longer from here on out.
As a gardener I find great comfort in the turning of the seasons. Although I don’t enjoy the cold of winter, I love the warmth of the holidays, of being with friends and family and enjoying the harvest of my garden. Winter is a time of anticipation and planning for the gardener. The increasing daylight in spring melts the snow, warms the soil, and sprouts new seedlings. Long summer days help bring visible, almost daily changes to what is growing. It’s hard to keep up with all that should be done daily in a garden then, which is why I love fall, the time to put the yard to bed for a winter’s rest.
I love that we celebrate Christmas in December, during the shortest days of the year. The symbolism of celebrating the Light of the world being born during the period of greatest seasonal darkness is easy to recognize. Signs of His royal birth involved light. Samuel the Lamanite spoke of a day with no night and a day. Old Testament prophets spoke of a new star appearing to mark his birth. Many of us today celebrate his birth by putting up lights, driving around neighborhood to see others’ lights, or going to Temple Square to enjoy the lights.
In Doctrine and Covenants section 88 the Lord tells us that,
“He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth; Which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it is made.” He is the light that teaches us and helps us to understand spiritual things. He is the beacon guiding us home to our Father in heaven. He is the light that nurtures our souls and causes our testimonies to grow, just as the sun warms the earth and helps my garden to grow.
There is another way of looking at His light. My dad called me this past week to share a new insight he had regarding one of our most familiar carols. As he was singing, “Silent Night” as part of a stake Christmas choir the words of the third verse struck him very differently: “Son of God, love’s pure light radiantly beams from thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus, Lord at thy birth.” It dawned on my father that Jesus Christ is Love’s Pure Light. Just as the apostle John described Jesus as being the “Word of God made flesh,” so also is He the very embodiment of God’s love for us.
It is a concept we begin very early to teach our Primary children. They learn to sing “Teach me to walk in the light of his love” and “I know my Father lives and loves me too.” When we teach them about the Savior’s mission on earth, we teach them to sing, “How could the Father tell the world of love and tenderness? He sent His Son, a newborn babe, with peace and holiness.”
That reinforcement comes each Sabbath as we sing hymns to prepare for taking the sacrament, a weekly symbol of not only our renewed commitment to God, but also of His love for us. Nearly every one of our sacrament hymns directly speaks of this love. “God loved us so he sent his son.” “Tis sweet to sing the matchless love of him who left his throng above to come to earth, oh wondrous plan, to suffer, bleed and die for man.” One of our hymns, simply titled “God is Love,” sings of all the earthly manifestations of that love:
“Earth, with her ten thousand flowers,
Air, with all its beams and showers,
Heaven’s infinite expanse,
Sea’s resplendent countenance –
All around and all above
Bear this record: God is love.
This greatest of all gifts, the mortal embodiment of God’s love, was given without reservation to all who would accept it. John wrote, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Paul wrote to the Corinthians that, “since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
The signs of His birth – the day with no night and a day – literally meant life to Nephite believers in the new world. The star in the east drew wise men and shepherds to him. His life was spent demonstrating his love for others, and He sealed His mission by giving up that life because He loves us all. Another familiar carol reminds us, “truly He taught us to love one another. His law is love and His gospel is peace.” The challenge remains for us to love each other, to light the way for each other, as He did for us.
I testify of our Savior’s love for us. I know He lives, that He is the light and life of the world, and only through Him can we return to our Father in heaven.

Adventures in Parenting

Before I had kids I had visions of what parenting would be like. I pretty much planned on dirty diapers, getting up in the night with sick kids, potty training, reading stories, music lessons, sports activities, and parent-teacher conferences. I was well aware that children don't always just go along with what Mom or Dad say, because, well, I WAS a kid once myself.

But there are always the things you don't plan on.

Things like trying to convince your six-year-old that jeans with a hole in the knee are still warmer this time of year than a pair of shorts. I couldn't believe I was going the rounds the other day with L. about this. He wanted to go over to a friend's house, and since it is in the 30's here, I insisted that he change out of his shorts, put on long pants and shoes and socks. I can't believe that kids think shoes and socks are optional this time of year. Incredibly, however, L. was insisting that he would be colder wearing his jeans that have a gaping (as opposed to a slight tear) hole over one knee than he would be wearing his favorite shorts. Sigh. Although he eventually gave in (something about having to choose between going outside in what he wanted or having to stay inside), he scrunched up his face in the grumbliest grimace he could muster to let me know he was obeying under great duress. And the friend wasn't home anyway.

And then there are adventures like last night.

O. was vacuuming the basement last night, as per his after-school job. After five or six minutes of blissful vacuuming noise I heard him holler for me. Naturally, I didn't respond right away because who does he think I am? His dog he can call for? After several more loud repetitions of my name I decided to finally see what he wanted. It seems that he was vacuuming up gerbil fluffies (the shreds of cardboard the gerbil has chewed from various toilet paper rolls and cardboard we give him) off the floor with the hose attachment. All at the same moment he realized the gerbil cage door was ajar, said gerbil Mr. Darcy (who we originally thought was a Miss Bennett, but then matured to where we realized our mistake) was on the floor, and said gerbil was sucked up the hose. AAAHHHhhh. When I got down there, surrounded by everyone else, we could see Mr. Darcy plugged up in the hard plastic part of the tube. He hadn't gotten into the ribbed hose part yet. I could also feel exactly where he was in the tube because there was a distinct warm section there. Sigh. What to do? I tapped the tube on the floor, hoping to dislodge him. No luck. I tried wiggling it hard. Mr. Darcy seemed stuck fast, like Winnie-the-Pooh when he ate too much honey at Rabbit's house. I knew we didn't have days to wait and get the little guy out. And I could see he was still breathing at least. I finally had to pry the ribbed hose part off the tube (which he tried to climb up when he realized he was about to be exposed), and all at once he was on the floor. I snatched him up, gave him a few strokes for comfort (his and mine) and we returned him to his home.

Phew.

Plumbing Princess

No, this isn't a birthday photo. You're lookin' at the Plumbing Princess! Okay, so it's also a birthday photo, but the ring and tiara are for crowning my achievement of installing my birthday kitchen faucet. My parents knew I needed a new one because the old one leaked and there were broken parts on the inside. I won't bore you with the whole story, but I ended up having to take out the old faucet all the way down to the stop valves underneath the sink. And I ended up having to do it a little sooner than I thought thanks to those nasty valves.

I had started in the afternoon to work on the faucet replacement, but ran out of time to really do the job because I was teaching piano. I figured I would just jump into the job full-bore the next morning. Hah. By dinnertime I found out, though, that I was having to do it right then because the stop valves were leaking profusely. They don't like any turning at all. So, three phonecalls to my dad, two trips to the hardware store (one at the last possible minute they were open), three hours, a few cuss words and tears, and help from everyone who was at home (B. holding the flashlight and handing me things, E. offering advice and fastening a couple of nuts, Justin loosening things too tight for me, and L. checking in on the whole process, knocking things around with his blankie) and lots of wet rags later we have a beautiful new non-dripping functional faucet in the kitchen. YAY!!! See...it even works.

Happy 10th Birthday!

E. turned officially ten years old last weekend. He was very excited about this birthday, now officially being in the double-digits and verging on 'tween-hood. Since this was an even-numbered birthday he got to celebrate with a friend birthday party two days before his official day. E. got to invite 8 friends and he chose a nice mix of boys from school and the neighborhood. He chose to celebrate by playing some improv games. The game plan was to play a couple of warm-up improv games, led by Improv Master Justin, and then divide the kids into two groups who would come up with some kind of skit based on random items they were given in a brown paper sack. We would give them time to practice their skit and then they would get to perform it for everyone else and we would videotape it. Then we would watch them on tv so the performers could see how their "play" turned out. After the playing around, the kids would get to make their own little English muffin pizzas and decorate their own cupcakes for treats.

Well, it sort of worked out like that. Only three of the 8 children invited called to RSVP (doesn't anyone do this any more? It's so aggravating not to know), and the party composition turned out rather different than we had expected. Five of the boys ending up coming. One boy is a next-door neighbor, and his little sister, who is also a friend of B., came too. Then O.'s best friend came over during the party and he ended up staying too. This was all fine by E. and company, and there was plenty of food. The brother and sister's mom came by to check on things and she ended up staying, which was so helpful because she helped me corral things in the kitchen and keep excited children in check. Justin led the kids in several different improv games like Party Quirks (which B. called "Party Quarts"). I taped the kids doing several of them, and it was a riot. Justin handled the kids so well and they were having a blast! My friend Tess was great to help with the food part of it, and because the kids were having so much fun playing improv games we never quite got to the skits part. That was okay, though. We rotated kids into the kitchen to make their pizzas, and once everyone had food we sang Happy Birthday and E. got to open his presents. He was thrilled with all of them. Anything to do with Lego, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones, or electronics is an ace in the hole.

On Sunday my parents came down for dinner and they gave him a recorder. He promptly sat himself down at the end of the evening and figured out Hot Cross Buns. He has since added Mary Had a Little Lamb to his repertoire and he's trying to figure out the hobbit theme from Lord of the Rings. He was also introduced to the comic strip Foxtrot, and he hasn't put it down since. It's so fun to introduce my kids to things that I enjoy and find they enjoy it too: Foxtrot, Monty Python, Andy Andrews, Broadway musicals, and classic movies are some of them ("The Great Race" anyone?).

Raising Stripling Warriors

Today is a bright, clear autumn day. My two oldest boys were acting like frisky colts as they played a game of tag while we walked to church. Repeated admonishment to avoid street and flowerbed went largely unheeded. My thoughts drifted to the future and I was struck by one in particular about the distinct possibility of my children seeing war time (brought on by Owen's passing comments about Hitler's fitness as a human being) and my mind keyed in to the mothers of those 2,000+ stripling warriors from the Book of Mormon. I began thinking about what I am doing and wondering if it is enough as I raise modern day stripling warriors. Am I teaching them faith? Repentence? Steadfastness? If they are called into battle will they have had the religious foundation built sturdy enough to help them keep perspective and retain their standards? Will there be a modern miracle of protection and strength for my sons, and possibly even my daughter as there was for those mothers so long ago?

Perhaps this has been on my mind's back burner with the advent of Veteran's Day this past week. There was a special assembly at my kids' school to explain the day and to share veterans' stories with the kids. The kids came home with a greater appreciation for the men and women who have served and are serving our nation. My daughter took it very personally, though, as she thought about Dok, a South Korean young man who lived with our family for 5 1/2 years while going to high school here. he is now performing his mandatory two-year military stint at home in Korea. She was quite teary as she told me her fears for Dok's safety. I tried to reassure her as I explained that he wasn't near a war zone (does the DMZ count?) and most likely wouldn't see any military action. She was calmed, but it got me thinking about her brothers' future. I worry because I believe things in the world are going to get a lot worse at some point before they get better. I never thought twice about boys having to register with the Selective Service when I was a teenager because I grew up with sisters. Boys in the military was the furthest thing from my mind. But as my oldest child/son has become a teenager, it crosses my mind as an unpleasant nagging feeling every so often. Perhaps I am just "borrowing trouble," to use an expression from Anne of Green Gables. I hope so.

A Full All Hallow's Eve Festival

Halloween has come and gone for another year. We couldn't have had better weather last night for trick-or-treating. It was practically tropical outside -- light breeze, overcast, but rather warm. I think it was probably in the upper 50's. Once we picked up O.'s friend for a sleepover, we set-up the pumpkin palace in the kitchen. This year I didn't do anything to help anyone with their pumpkin beyond carving out the lid. B. wanted hers cut out of the bottom (thanks for the idea Karli!). Each child had to do their own scraping out and face design and execution. In a couple of cases, I think the word "execution" is more than appropriate. L. left a fair amount of goo and seeds inside his. That made for some toasted pumpkin smells coming from his pumpkin for the night.

Once the Pumpkin Palace closed and cleaned up, the kids hustled into their costumes. L. was a ninja (and he wouldn't wear the handsome homemade version I made because the tabard came down way too long and he complained that it looked like he had a dress on. No matter that the tabard was actually too big for him. I had made it for O. when he was probably 10.); E. settled on being a karate expert; and B. reprised her vampire role from last year. I think we did a better job of make-up on her this year. She doesn't even look like a girl. O. and his friend took the kids trick-or-treating around the neighborhood while I stayed home to hand out candy. And experiment with the settings on my camera. I discovered the usefulness of a tripod when taking pictures with the "fireworks" setting, and I also discovered how to make the timer work. Enjoy the Halloween pics!

When everyone returned (I thought they would stay out longer, but the shortest legs in the bunch were 6 years old, after all), we had some chili for dinner and then sat everyone down to watch Arsenic and Old Lace. I realized how different movie pacing is now from when this film was originally done. The kids were pretty squirrely until it came down to the final bashing-up-the-room scene at the end. B. thought Jonathan was too creepy and she kept hiding her eyes.

Halloween Pops In

Is anyone really ready for Halloween this year? Once again, I informed my children that whatever they wanted to be for Halloween had to be found in our current dress-up boxes. And carving pumpkins? Well, I just picked those up last night. So much for the annual tradition of letting the kids each pick out there own...at the grocery store. No going to a pumpkin patch for us. And this year, the pumpkin selecting happened at the grocery store alright, last night at 9 p.m., in the dark, and on the way home from a faculty viola recital at BYU. O. was there, so he picked out an enormous pumpkin with a dented side that already looks diabolical. B. was with me too, and she helped me pick out pumpkins for herself and everyone else. We ended up with four soccerball-size squashes and one dented beachball-size. At some point, the carving will happen tonight, along with trick-or-treating (which O. is supervising this year, along with a former classmate of his), eating chili for dinner (love those cans!), and watching Arsenic and Old Lace, starring the handsome and funny Cary Grant. Maybe I just need to classify this as my laid-back approach to the holidays. I'm not even stressing about cleaning up my house, decorating my house, or fixing a fancy dinner. The focus is all on the candy anyway, right? (which is going to be slyly sorted through between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., and after 9 p.m.).

Refreshed and Rejuvenated

I love attending our annual music teachers conference in the fall. The presenters almost always have interesting things to share, and it's a chance to hear inspiring, wonderful music performed. This year was no exception, and I had so much fun attending with other teachers in my chapter. By the end, though, my brain felt too saturated to take in any more. I came away from several great ideas that I want to try with my students (look out kids!). Two of my students also performed for a duets master class. These two young ladies did a marvelous job playing their duet in front of several hundred people and then staying on the stage while the guest teachers (Dallas Weekley and Nancy Arganbright) talked with them about their performance and had them try several things to improve their working together and their sound. They were very brave, I thought. I found myself getting anxious on their behalf, but they looked so calm and cheery there on the stage. I was very proud of them. They represented themselves (and me!) very well.

I had several favorite sessions that I attended. Two were from our main guest, who is the head of the piano department at the Eastman School of Music, one of the most prestigious music programs in the country. She was witty, interesting, and able to explain so well what she talked about. In fact, her presentation and demonstrating were so interesting that no one noticed the passage of time, and at one point when she was told it was time to take a break she said, "Do I have to? Let's not!" I laughed to myself because she sounded just like a child who was being interrupted in the midst of her favorite game. I think I took pages and pages of notes. Again, beware my students! There were a couple of sessions which were somewhat over my head, but I came away from them with several things I learned and some things I would like to try with my students. For instance, I liked the idea of having students copy four bars of music daily, just to learn the art of writing down music. It also helps in teaching students to read music more easily and feel comfortable with all of those lines and dots and squiggles on the page. I think what you write down becomes a part of you. If it worked for J.S. Bach, it can certainly work for others! It's a good thing there is a year between conferences because I think it will take me a year to work through all of the new things I want to try.

Fall Break

While Justin, some of his brothers, and the boys took off for the annual fall fishing trip, better known as the "Get Up in the Middle of the Night to Leave by 5 a.m. to Go Freeze in a Tent for Three Days Spectacular", I took Pengbo and B. with me to visit Justin's sister Lauri overnight. Actually, I love camping and fishing. And I hear the daytime temperatures are actually quite nice at Grey's River. However, I don't fancy sleeping in a tent up a canyon when I know I'm going to wake up to frost on the ground and my socks standing upright, frozen. Perhaps I'll go, stay overnight in a motel room, and join the guys for the daytime and early evening stuff ... someday. And it's just worked out to be a "boy" thing. The girls were invited to go, but we all said, "perhaps another time/life/season."

Lauri was so gracious to let us invite ourselves into her home. It was so fun to drive Pengbo through turkey and cattle country and those wider spaces of Sanpete County. There sure weren't many turkeys out. Many farms looked empty. When we arrived we promptly introduced Pengbo to the chickens and horses running around, and Lauri introduced us to the newest family member, Julius, a lop-eared bunny. When he is wearing his harness you can even take him for a walk!

We spent the evening getting the cakes ready for fondant, making homemade fresh tomato soup (WOW! Lauri's twins and B. had a predictable reaction to something maybe a little grown-up for their youthful palates, though. How will they learn to like better food if we never try it out on them?), and making and frosting sugar cookies. You can probably figure out what the kid favorite was. We settled everyone down with a couple of movies: Disney's Blackbeard's Ghost and (once the boys were in bed) Bell, Book, and Candle (Jimmy Stewart, Else Lanchester, Jack Lemmon, Kim Novak).

In the evening, Lauri let us make a group project of decorating the three-tier square wedding cakes. She has a great eye for putting the details together that give her creations pizzazz and class. Getting the cake set up at the reception site (a stake center) ending up being a little more involved than we anticipated. Evidently there are two stake centers in town, with address references that make it easy to confuse them. As we arrived at the first one we noticed a white delivery truck leaving. Lauri double-checked and found out we needed to go to the other building. When we arrived there we found the same white delivery truck pulled up. Evidently the caterer had gotten mixed up too, and had everything 90% set up at the other building when they were notified it was somewhere else. Yikes! So Pengbo, Lauri, Jay, and I spent some time helping get tables and chairs set up, table cloths on, and chair covers thrown over all of the chairs. It only took Lauri and Jay a few minutes to arrange everything with the cake, which we had transported all assembled (I wish you could have seen Lauri drive a stake through the heart of the cake to hold everything in place!).

When we finished we went back to Lauri and Jay's for some lunch and horseback riding. Jay saddled up Polly (who was feeling her oats) and Little Joe, who is a merciless flirt. I love being around horses. Jay took everyone in turn on a short ride down the road and back. When it came to B.'s turn I walked Little Joe while she sat on his back. Pengbo has never been on a horse before, and I don't think she's ever been up close to one either, but she said she really liked riding and was ready to do it again, any time. I got to take my turn too. I love the view from the back of a horse. And I love being in Sanpete County. It's calm. Quiet. Wide-open. And it's gorgeous in the fall, with the sun riding low on the horizon.

End of the Season

My second peach tree performed amazingly this year. And I was even patient enough to wait until the fruit was truly ripe before picking it. Last year I picked it a week or two too soon and those peaches would not let go of their skins, no matter how long I scalded (cooked) them. This year I waited until they were falling off the tree. Mmmm. This is a great tree, but it does ripen late for Utah. It's an O'Henry peach tree. If you want another really wonderful peach variety, get yourself a Reliance peach tree. They come much earlier and eating a Reliance peach is like eating peach cotton candy. They are so peachy and sweet, and they just melt in your mouth. O'Henry peaches are great for canning because they're a much firmer peach. Anyway, I've given loads of peaches away (since I got 90 quarts of peaches last year and haven't nearly gone through those), and I'm trying my hand at peach freezer jam and peach jelly. We're into this three batches of jelly and four batches of freezer jam. Yay! I'm even trying something I heard from an older sister in my ward, who has been preserving fruit for Low These Many Years. She washes them thoroughly, splits them and takes the pit out, and then slaps those peaches back together and freezes them whole. We'll see how that goes. I have a cookie sheet of them waiting for the freezer. Making the jam and jelly has been a time-consuming process. I think it took me all day yesterday to get through two batches of freezer jam, even though I was doing them at the same time, because I kept getting phone calls and needing to run errands...oh, and there was a bunch of piano teaching and parent-teacher conferencing in there too (kids are doing great, BTW, which is always a relief to hear!). I think I finally got the jam into the plastic containers last night around 9 p.m.

My next project is to go out to the garden and see what I can rescue from my tomatoes. I have had them covered (with three bedsheets and one bedsheet-size piece of plastic), but I think I see dead tomato plant through some side openings. Hopefully I haven't lost the ripening tomatoes inside. And I think I'm also going to pull in a couple of begonias and see what I can do with those. They were so pretty over the summer in a flower pot on my porch. I'm also trying to bring in my marjoram, three cucumber plants (why not try the greenhouse thing and do the pollinating myself?), and a lemon grass plant to nurse along through the winter.

Well, time to get back to the last batches of jam and jelly. Sigh. I'm going to just look at them for awhile before I put them into the storage room (the jelly, I mean).

Happy Birthday Grandmother!

My grandmother passed away seven years ago, and I still miss her. Today is her birthday. I think she would have been 95 years old. Some of the flowers I have planted in my yard are ones she loved and had in her yard, and I even have starts of some iris she gave me. She loved roses and iris, among other flowers. And every time I prune my fruit trees (or anything else!) I think of her. She was (in)famous for pruning her tree in her front yard very hard every year, to the point we were sure it would never live. It always came back, though, lush and beautiful. Grandmother loved pretty things and cooking for people too. She was a gracious, generous woman. There are so many things I learned from her. I hope to make her proud. Love you Grandmother! Happy Birthday.

Catching Up V: Baptism Day

This is the Picture Spot at our house. B. declared that she was in love with her dress. We took the time to french braid both sides to keep her hair under control. And she came downstairs delightedly showing off her off-white Sunday shoes that had been AWOL for some time.

Always have to have the Dad with Child before the baptism! B. was so excited for this day. She'd been kind of giggly in her interview with the bishop, but today she was just happy.

Justin and B. walking into the baptismal font room for a pre-service orientation. I wish I had caught them walking down the hall together but I couldn't wake up my camera quickly enough. The principal at B.'s school was also baptizing his son that day, and so he took a moment to pop in for B.'s actual baptism since his ward went well before ours. It was nice of him to take some time to be there for her.

Clean! And wet.

I told you about the fun nail polish for her birthday party? Well, two days later we held a toe-nail painting party in the back yard. This is what she requested for her toes, peach and lime green! She quickly changed out of her dripping clothes after this, and I think I may have rubbed off some skin as I vigorously rubbed her down with a towel to help her warm up a little bit.

It was a beautiful, sunny, temperate day. We had a potato bar in the backyard that took a bit of a turn when we came to realize that the potatoes hadn't gotten cooked in the oven while we were gone. Somehow the lock on the oven door had been latched and so the oven got confused over whether it was supposed to cook or clean. So it did neither and turned off. Sigh. My mom and sister-in-law Keli quickly helped the situation by stripping potatoes of their tinfoil coats and started cooking them in batches in the microwave. There was no point in any tears or getting cross about anything, because there was so much help and people were patient and having a nice time visiting. O. and his best friend came to the rescue again by taking some potatoes over to his friend's house and cooking them in the microwave there. There was plenty of food for everyone and we had a lovely time visiting outside in the yard. B. had a wonderful day too, and we all collapsed after our guests went home. Okay, well, I collapsed on the couch and ignored whatever video gaming/movie-watching/running around/tomfoolery that went on for about two hours.

Catching Up IV: More Birthday Partying!

I felt kind of sorry for my oldest child this year, who turned thirteen. He's an official teenager now, and so far he's handling it well. We get the occasional grumpies and why-do-I-have-to's or the do-I-HAVE-to-go's, but how I can begrudge him that when I have all of those same feelings myself? Anyway, with getting ready for B.'s baptism which would occur the next morning, O. had kind of short shrift on his birthday.

I informed him earlier this year that I was now done with detailed, planned friend birthdays since he was older than twelve. Since I only did those on even-numbered birthdays anyway, his thirteenth was expected to be calm already. However, with trying to get ready for company, I was afluster with trying to get the house in shape and get food ready for the next day. While I had spent the day cleaning and organizing and going with B.'s class for a field trip up the canyon, I was still far from done when the kids got home from school. There was a checklist we were going through, and I was doing to make-up piano lessons for a pair of students whose lessons I had had to move from the day before. Yikes!

So, O. and his best friend made his birthday cake (they love doing brownies and cookies and stuff) with the bargain that I would frost it. Fair enough. When I finished teaching, I hurriedly wrapped O.'s presents and we met Justin and Pengbo over at a local Thai restaurant that O. had chosen to eat at for his birthday. He was thrilled at getting an mp3 player, an iTunes gift card, and the last Christopher Paolini book, Brisingr.

We didn't dawdle over dinner, however tasty it was, because I had to race with B. to get into a store that closed at 7 p.m. to try to find her a pretty white dress to wear at her baptism. There literally hadn't been any other opportunity to go find one. With exactly 19 minutes to get there, we raced down the freeway, sqawked at red lights and slow drivers, and screeched to a halt at the shop with 2 minutes to spare. We raced across the parking lot and into the store, grabbed the first four dresses we saw that would fit her, and dashed into a fitting room. Within 15 minutes we had our dress, a slip, and pretty tights. Kaching!

While we were gone, O. and his friend and the boys worked on my list, and O. and his friend scrubbed 20 pounds of potatoes and wrapped them in tinfoil for the potato bar the next day. What awesome boys! The house looked pretty good, and I quit worrying about having a sparkly house. I decided the most important thing was the ordinance that B. was participating in the next day, and the rest of it was just superfluous (don't you just love saying that word?).

O. got to have his friend sleep over, and the rest of us plopped into bed, pooped. O. was quite a trooper with all of his help. He and his friend stayed up watching movies, playing Magic, and who knows what else.

Catching Up III: The Real Birthday

In spite of the drama of her actual Birth Day, B. was very excited for her "friend party" the next afternoon. She got to invite eight other little girls to come enjoy a tea party in the finest traditions of the Grandma's Tea Party my mother started holding when my sisters would be in town with their families during the summer. My mother would send out lovely invitations with her best calligraphy on the envelope and my sisters and I and our daughters would come dressed up in our Sunday clothes to have a nice tea party at my mom's house, complete with tablecloths, little tea sets all set up on the table, crustless sandwiches, little cookies, and apple juice for the tea pots. We always have a wonderful time and take lots of pictures. Once we have all eaten, then it's fun craft time. One year my mom had gotten a pair of flip flops for each granddaughter and strips of brightly colored cloth to tie on the plastic straps. Another year they got to paint little wooden heart boxes and then glue on shells or sequins or whatever. This was what B. wanted for her friend party.

I borrowed my mom's tea sets and got the table all lovely. No one had called to rsvp "regrets" so I was expecting all of the little girls. B. decided that she would like to make little bead bracelets and necklaces and paint fingernails. Painting fingernails has become quite the popular tradition at the Grandma Tea Party because one of my sisters has a great collection of nail polish colors that she generously shares. She also has those cool little decals to put on nails. So I found some, along with a couple of wild fun colors to add to what I have at home. My mom came down to help me with the party. I was so glad, because with the wild and crazy week I had had, by the time it was supposed to be B's party, my brain had melted and I couldn't think very organized. As the girls were arriving we decided to paint fingernails so they would be so glamorous for the eating part. My mom and I did the painting and the decal sticking. I didn't notice any nail polish smears on my tablecloth later, so that was good.

By the time we got to the food, we realized there were three girls who weren't going to come. One we could account for because there was another little girl in B.'s class who was having her birthday party at the same time. The other two, well, who knew? The girls enjoyed the food: crustless turkey sandwiches, some little crackers, and Belgian cream puffs that I grabbed from Sam's Club. Those proved quite popular! We opened presents and made bracelets, and I think that was the girls' favorite part. Each girl got to make a couple of stretchy elastic bracelets.



I kept it to about an hour, which was short enough that the girls were still having fun, but long enough that they enjoyed themselves. No more two-hour birthday parties for me! (I learned that with L's kindergartener birthday party last winter. What a zoo!).

After everyone went home we had a birthday dinner using my grandma's real china to celebrate both B.'s birthday and O.'s, whose birthday was a week later. Both my parents were there to join us, and that was fun. I had popped a roast and potatoes in the oven earlier in the day, so dinner prep was minimal. Store-bought rolls were handy, and we had brownies and sundaes for dessert. Yum!

Catching Up II: Birthday Drama

Child number Three turned eight a couple of weeks ago, and that's a big deal in our church. Her actual birthday was marred a bit by a repeated disobedience the night before, to which the natural consequence was losing most of the birthday celebration for her birthday the next day (it was either lose that or her friend birthday party the next day). In case you're wondering, B. has a bad habit of just taking off to go play and not tell me where she is going. We have talked and scolded and warned and tried logic and grounded and spanked once...this is something that scares us, particularly with the recent spate of young girls going missing, only to turn up assaulted and dead days later. Well, this particular Wednesday I was really starting to panic because I had called all of the friends she might be playing with to no success, and it had been thirty minutes of calling around and yelling her name outside. I sent out her two older brothers to go look for her, and fortunately she had just been playing outside at a friend's house up the street, and her mother hadn't been aware the girls were outside together. Phew! But I was angry and scared and, although I calmed down quite a bit by the time she got home, I knew I had to do something that would be painful for her in order to help her remember. The only thing I could think of that would make that kind of an impact would be to cancel any birthday celebrating the day of her actual birthday: no cake, ice cream, presents, or anything. I told her it would be just a regular day.

Well, she reacted as I knew she would -- many tears. In fact, she wouldn't come down for dinner. I didn't force her to join us at dinner because I figured she needed time to think about her choices that day. The hard thing about parenting, though, is that sometimes when we need to follow through on consequences for our children, it hurts us too. I look forward to the kids' birthdays and I try hard to make them special -- nothing over-the-top or anything, just special by cooking their favorite food for meals that day (they get to give me a menu) and having a few wrapped presents to open. We have a cake or whatever other type of birthday treat they want and we sing the usual Happy Birthday song. And I was so sad the whole next day about her not getting to have her birthday.

When she came home from school she asked me if there was anything she could do to earn her birthday back. We talked about why this had happened and about the choices she had made, and then I told her that if she would get her afternoon chores done we could do a little bit. She did try hard, but I ended up having to take a neighbor's two children for the rest of the day because they were having some emergency family things she needed to attend to, and so the rest of the day was just chaotic with people. I had to run into Provo as soon as I was done teaching to pick up Pengbo from my brother-in-law's house (it was Justin's day to go to Idaho), but on the way home we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some ice cream and bakery cupcakes. It was crazy and fun, but by the time I had O. take the neighbor kids over to their house to go to bed, poor B. was overwhelmed by the afternoon. I scolded her for leaving a few things on the stairs that I had asked to pick up as part of her jobs, and she sat down on the stairs and burst into tears. I suddenly realized what kind of a day it had been for her and so she sat on my lap for a bit as I wrapped my arms around her and talked gently with her. She agreed to come watch some Muppet Show episodes with me while I folded some laundry and before the end of three episodes she was sound asleep on the couch.

Catching Up I: Comings and Goings

Two days after B. turned 8 our kitty cat Luna didn't come home. She didn't come home all that week. I began to realize how much I had come to want her around and how soothing it had been to have a warm, soft cat to sit on your lap that you can mindlessly stroke and be rewarded with loud, contented purring. She would sit peacefully on my lap in the afternoons as long as I would let her, and even go to sleep. Caring for a cat, even in the midst of caring for four children, a husband, a business, a home, a yard, a garden was something easy. She didn't need her self-esteem stroked, only her fur. She didn't need me to mediate arguments or solve problems or go to parent-teacher conferences for her. She didn't need me to check on whether she had her homework done or was caught up on her reading. She just needed food scooped out of a bag and plopped in her bowl, fresh water, and plenty of playing outside. Oh, and a comfy lap to sit on and be stroked. What could be more simple. I missed her more and more as the week went on. Six days later a neighbor brought her over. She had wandered into another neighbor's garage and visited them for the week. We were all delighted and grateful to have her home. The kids (and I) had been praying for her safety and homecoming, and several of the children said we needed to say a prayer to Heavenly Father for answering our prayers. We did.

On the other hand, our tarantula Harriette has left us for the Great Beyond. We had had her nine years, and she had been with several other owners before coming to our family. I had finally purchased some crickets at the pet store to feed her after she molted a few weeks ago, but when I went into the laundry room to put them into her cage I found her on her back in her dry water dish with legs tightly curled up. It's hard to mourn for a spider, frankly, but I did feel that I had let her down, even if she was old. I couldn't just throw her in the garbage either, so I donated her body and her molted exoskeleton to science -- specifically O.'s science teacher at school, who said he would be delighted to have her for class. So now we're down to four chickens, two fire belly toads and one white polydactyl cat (Luna has seven toes on one front paw and six on the other).

A Chance Encounter

So I was sitting in Primary Sharing Time this afternoon, keeping my little six-year-olds at least quiet and paying scant attention when a neighbor tapped my shoulder and asked me to come out. He reassured me there was nothing wrong, but he knew I would feel terrible if I were in the same building as a Stradivarius violin and missed my chance to see and hear one. He told me that for the musical number in their Sacrament meeting coming up was going to be the grandfather of two of my piano students playing a Strad and being accompanied by his granddaughter who was a former student of mine. I walked into the chapel and just caught my breath as I listened to him warming up on the piece he would play. It literally brought tears to my eyes as I listened. I never thought I would get to hear or see one played in person. I talked my students' mother and she explained their family was speaking in the meeting that day and her father would be playing right after she spoke.

I was sad for a few minutes because he would be playing while I was supposed to be teaching my lesson, but I decided that taking time out to listen to a musical number would be a good break for my class any way. I watched my clock carefully and I slipped into the back of the cultural hall with my five students just in time. He played "A Child's Prayer" -- a gorgeous arrangement. I couldn't believe how gorgeous it sounded.

After our class time ended I was walking down the hall with my own children and the Sacrament Meeting had just ended. I decided O. and Pengbo needed a chance to see this violin up close, so I went into the chapel to visit with my friend and see if her father would show us the violin. He not only showed it to us, he let me hold it in his hands. This particular violin is a Firebird and it was made in 1718. It was exquisite. Later O. told me he thought I was going to cry. Well, I was. I never thought I would feel so strongly about being close to a famous musical instrument, but I was so overcome. There are a few things made by human beings in this world that are worth getting emotional over. A Stradivarius violin is one of them.

State Fair

I decided on Friday that a family cultural experience was worth pulling the kids out of school and going to. So we packed everyone up on Friday morning and met my parents so we could all go to the state fair together. In all the years I have lived here, I've never gone but with our exchange student here I thought it would be a great opportunity. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. I loved seeing the steers all cleaned up and coats fluffed for being judged. You'd never think a cow could look so handsome, but they were beautiful. We were interested to see what people do to their animals to present them for judging. All of the animals get a shampoo and bath. The steers had their tail tips fluffy and curly. The sheep were sheared to take off as much wool as possible. Mom and I got to touch one that was being sheared and it was like touching a fine carpet. The dairy cows and goats were shorn practically down to the skin. The barns were all kept pretty clean and there wasn't the usual overwhelming odor of Farm around (which I don't mind, but my children go around holding their noses). We enjoyed seeing pigs (including a sow and her piglets), sheep, goats, steers, dairy cows, rabbits of all fluffinesses and sizes, and poultry. I've never seen geese with blue eyes, or enormous beach ball-size black chickens. We wandered through the 4-H exhibits and I wished I had time to get my kids involved in that. One of my favorite and most interesting things to see was a live bee colony and a man who kept bees as a hobby. We talked with him for quite a while. Another of our favorite things was a tiger show. There was a tiger troupe all the way from Florida which featured four different kinds of Bengal tigers from India. They were all captive-bred animals and just incredible in size and colors. The MC explained that there are actually four colors of Bengal tiger that occur naturally: the usual orange with black stripes, white with black stripes, and then two colors more rare: white with light tan stripes (the previously-thought mythical "white tigers") and one that was orange with reddish-brown stripes.

We enjoyed the sights, and I also decided to splurge just a bit. We actually bought food at the fair. Phew. That was a pinch on the pocketbook. Next time we go (if we ever go back) we will brown-bag it for sure. The other splurge was the rides. I had promised the kids we would each get to choose one ride...until we found out that each ticket was $1, and most rides were 3 or 4 tickets each to ride. L. was begging to go on the ferris wheel, so E., B., L, and I chose that one. What a fast $16! O. decided he would rather take his $4 and walk around to see if there was anything that caught his eye. When we met up again he had decided there just wasn't anything he wanted badly enough to spend a whole $4 on, so he gave me my money back.

We left with the kids wanting to stay and see more (which is a good feeling to leave on) because I had to get back to do a group music lesson with my piano students. We got a little turned around trying to get back to the freeway and enjoyed a brief (thankfully) tour of some west-side neighborhoods before managing to find our way to our road. I think next year we will just stick with the county fair because even if we have to pay for parking, it's free to get in, it's much closer, and maybe the rides won't be as expensive. I'll get my camera and post some tiger pictures tomorrow.

We've Been Adopted

It's true. An ice blue-eyed, white-blond beauty has decided to call us her family. She's playful, affectionate, and great with kids. Oh, and she has a caramel-colored tail and ears. B. has named her Luna, probably more after Luna Lovegood than the moon, but with her coloring the name fits either way. I finally broke down and spent money on this animal by getting some kitten food, a dish, and a kitty sleeping pad. Oh, and a little cheap collar to wear to indicate that somebody was claiming her and she wasn't just a stray. Luna has been hanging around our house regularly for at least a couple of weeks now. The kids have tried and tried to find out if anyone owns her, but without any success.

Feeling His Oats

I think we've finally settled into something of a school-year routine now. My piano teaching started again last week, along with my music teacher association stuff, so life seems a little extra busy now. It's evident the kids are still feeling their way around a new school and system, as evidenced by L. last week. He is our first grader, and I'm learning that he would much rather play all of the time than tell the truth, obey his teacher or me, or do his class assignments. Our latest little to-do with him started on Tuesday evening when I asked him if he had any homework (there is always a little worksheet on a week-night as well as reading 15 minutes). He claimed he didn't, and when I asked him to show me his backpack he brought it to me a few minutes later with no homework folder. So I believed him. Mistake Number One. The next morning, after I took the kids to school I discovered L. had stashed his homework and his folder behind the bathroom door before he brought me his backpack. Then I got a call from his teacher at lunch (she has the patience of Job) to say that L. was having a hard time getting his work done in school and that he was refusing to do his work. When she asked him why, he said he didn't like work and just wanted to go play. I told his teacher that attitude and behavior didn't fly in our house, that he would be getting a talking-to at home and that he was going to be grounded for the afternoon for not obeying his teacher.

When L. came home that afternoon I explained to him that he was grounded and why and that he needed to go stay in his room. Mistake Number Two. Only ground your child if you can ensure that he stays grounded. Since I was busy teaching I didn't notice him slipping out of the house. When I was done, however, The Convicted Criminal Wanted Poster went right up. When said convict was found playing at a friend's house and asked why he had broken out of prison, his response was that he wanted to go play and he didn't feel like being grounded. So the Parole Board (consisting of both his parents by this time) read him the riot act, paddled his bottom, and grounded him for the next week.

This was effective for getting him to obey his teacher at school for the next morning, but he forgot everything by the afternoon. Since he was mad about having to do his work, he spent his time snapping his crayons and colored pencils in half. I found out about this the following morning when I took him to school (his teacher had called that morning, but I hadn't been able to talk to her before leaving). Sigh. So we had another chat in the hall and I told him he would be doing chores for me to earn the money to replace his vandalized property. Until then, though, he only gets to use the broken bits to do his work.

I also found out from my sister that she had tried to call me on the weekend, but L. wouldn't go get me to answer the phone. He was busy watching his favorite movie and would not call for me, send anyone else to call for me, or even give me a message later. He completely refused to cooperate.

I think a certain six-year-old is pushing on the corral gates a bit. I'm sure I haven't been as strict with him about doing things as the others because maybe I'm still viewing him as being a lot younger than the other kids. Well, The Law is going to land a little heavier from now on!

And Then There Were Four

What's that about the Circle of Life ... "going the way of all the earth" ... moving on to a brighter sphere? Well, the cloaked fellow with the sharp farm implement came calling at our house yesterday and invited a chicken to go with him. I was in the middle of teaching piano lessons yesterday afternoon when B. came in through the front door sobbing her heart out. "One of the chickens is dead!" was what I finally got out of her.

I had to take a brief intermission from teaching to go check things out, and yup. E. followed us out to the coop. There was a deceased chicken in a corner of the coop, eyes closed. I also noticed that there were four eggs laid. The only reason this is notable is the chickens have only been giving an egg or two daily for the last two weeks. Maybe the demise of a coop-mate scared them all into laying. Since I couldn't do anything about it then, I left the poor bird where she lay and finished teaching. I had to leave E. and B. in tears on their own. B. took up a wailing post in the family room and spent the better part of the next 45 minutes crying. I finally had to ask her to cry a little more quietly so I could teach.

L. didn't seem at all bothered by a dead chicken. He cheerfully took a neighbor friend with him and collected the four eggs. Little ambulance-chasers.

I didn't get back to taking care of the deceased until well after dinner. I dug a deep hole in a far corner of our yard and Justin brought the chicken over to my hole. When I had it sufficiently (I hope) deep I called E., B., and L. to come say good-bye. They formed a semi-ring around the hole as I lifted the chicken on my shovel into the hole. Their hands were clasped in front of them as they each took a turn saying something about the chicken. L. said he wished chickens didn't die. E. said, "She was a good chicken." I can't remember what B. said, but it was sentimental. Then they all enthusiastically helped me backfill in the hole with dirt.

We don't believe she was sick. She had been a perpetually broody hen, and we just hadn't been able to break her of it. When a hen gets broody they sit on their nest all day and won't get off, even to eat or drink. Something in their little chicken brain tells them they have eggs to hatch, even when they don't. Well, this chicken had been getting thinner and thinner. Poor thing. My chicken book says this is common with hens that stay broody.

A bit of this and that...

Here is the first major harvest of the season. I actually got edible grapes this year. These are Himrod, and it's the first year this vine has produced. I also got a couple small clusters of grapes from my Niagara variety. The Concords are coming on well -- fat and plentiful. They haven't started changing colors yet. The chickens are being lazy. We only got one egg yesterday and one the day before...maybe they're just slowing down for the season. I discovered these tomatoes quite by accident when I was working with my four tomato vines on Wednesday...
The tomato vines were trying to conquer the whole garden. They had encompassed my poor apple tree. What a welcome it's had to my garden! There certainly wasn't a "Book of Mormon" distance between these plants...positively immoral, if you ask me. Anyway, I built these supports out of scrap lumber we had laying around in the garden (the old Superman stage piece has become a Super Supporter of things agricultural). The frame on the left was easy to build because the side supports were the same length and I could easily get to the vines. The frame on the right, however, was a right stinker to put together. I had to pull nails out of the 2x4's, nail a smaller board to two longer ones to create one great big one the right length. And then I had to take out a wild sunflower shrub next to the fence to even get to the backside of the box. I'm guessing these are trailing/vining tomatoes. You can't even see the neat, small tomato cages they started out with. Anyhow, as I was tying the vines up I discovered three small ripe tomatoes. The first one ended up in yesterday's sandwich. Mmmmm.
Don't we all look happy to be getting out of the car at Cove Fort? B. was positively thrilled about getting out to walk around. Cove Fort is a cool place to visit, if you can overlook the frequent little Moral Moments the missionary couples throw into their historical descriptions. This was back at the beginning of August, on our way back from the Shakespeare Festival.
Welcome to Pengbo, our Chinese exchange student living with us this year. We missed seeing her come down the stairs by the baggage claim, so we missed getting to hold up the sign B. had made. Justin noticed her walking around lugging two enormous wheeled suitcases. I felt bad we hadn't helped her get them off the carousel. She's having a great time so far here, and the kids love having her here.
Enjoy this picture of the kids on the first day of school. They always look so much more grown up on that first of school than they did even the day before. They have a much wider variety of clothing colors and options this year. B. is excited she gets to wear pink to school.
Remember what I said about enjoying the back-to-school picture? Well, the above two pictures of B. and E. were taken last weekend at Millcreek Canyon. Of course, we had a lovely time roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, eating yummy corn on the cob, and visiting. And the kids had a marvelous time getting back to Nature and enjoying the nearby creek quite thoroughly. Nothing like being soaked from head to toe. A nice mud pack goes a long way to rejuvenate the skin too, don't you think? Thank heavens for the modern conveniences of showers and washing machines. Everybody got in the shower before getting into bed that night.

Happy Anniversary to me!

It's our 15th anniversary today. We're so romantic that we're going to spend it going to Back-to-School Night for the younger three kids. When the whole family is involved in school, including your spouse, that makes it kind of sad to have a week-night/school-night anniversary. I'm trying to think of something fun to liven things up a bit to at least note the date for today. We'll plan something more interesting for another night.

Also, I've been watching the Olympics every night. Did you catch the gold medal women's beach volleyball final last night? I couldn't believe the officials insisted the game go on in the pouring rain! Everyone in the stands had slickers and umbrellas. I guess I can't feel too sorry for women who insists on playing in what amounts to little more than bandaids, though. Both sets were very exciting to watch, and hotly contested. And we won! Woohoo!

The kids seem to be settling into school well. B. had a rocky first day (a rude girl in her class, splattering her Go-Gurt all over her clothes and then not getting to eat the rest of her lunch, finding out that her best friend won't be going to her school after all), but things have improved over the week. The rude girl has become a friend, and she's making other friends in the class too. She's needing to learn how to avoid letting others boss her around. It makes her mad, but she lets herself be bossed anyway. We had a talk about what to say in those situations so she doesn't have to feel bossed. The boys are doing well. O. seems like 7th grade and is making the adjustment to taking more responsibility for his homework and stuff. E. is having a great time in 4th grade, and L. couldn't wait to get down the hall for his class on the first day.

Changing Stuff

Well, I'm in the process of figuring out a few things about my blog layout. I figured out today how to widen the two columns. I haven't figured out how to widen the background to match the new size. Hmmm. I'm reading up on HTML as I do this. And this for more than just casual goofing around because I don't have to battle with my children for the computer. I'm also responsible for the content on my music teacher association state website in which I have to employ a fair amount of HTML in order to make the text look right and interesting. Doing this blog has been great for figuring out how to do things there, although it's not exactly an Ender's Game level of significance. I'm not saving the world here!

Well, They're At School

Okay, I successfully got everyone off to school this morning. It started at 5 a.m., making sure Pengbo was up (she didn't need a reminder from me after all). Justin took a little longer to get himself going (so much for getting out the door at 6 a.m.), but when he went upstairs to get ready, B. came downstairs to get her clothes she had set out. Justin and Pengbo left in plenty of time to get to their school. Then all of the rest of our kids were dressed and ready by 7 a.m. School doesn't start until 8:45 for them, but O. has to go early to catch the shuttle to his school. There is something about seeing children wearing their new (especially uniform) clothes for the first day of school that suddenly makes them seem more older. O. was so handsome in his navy blue polo shirt and khaki trousers, shirt nicely tucked in, hair combed. He looked so much more grown-up. It was easy to picture him being a few years older. The other kids all chose to wear khaki pants as well, since they've only ever had the option of navy in the past. E. also wore his navy blue polo and he even put on a belt without being reminded. I only wish he hadn't lost his shoelaces. They've been AWOL for months and months. Of course we took the ritual First Day of School Pictures on the front steps. Once O. got picked up by a neighbor to go catch his shuttle, the other kids spent the next 45 minutes nagging me about when it was time to go. I tried reading them the first chapter of Anne of Green Gables to take their minds off the molasses-slow clock.

When we arrived, finally, at school the kids ran in ahead of me into the building. Even B., who I was most worried about after last week, seemed excited to get to her classroom. We dropped E. off first in his fourth grade class. He gets to have a man teacher for the first time. I think it will be very good for him. E. was worrying about whether he would make any friends on this first day. L. kept tugging on my arm to go down to his class. He wasn't nervous or worried at all. He couldn't wait to go. B. was a little more apprehensive about walking into her new room, but she was more calm and even smiling when I left.

I learned where not to park from now on when I take the kids to school. Trying to back out with the drop-off lane right behind me was hampered by cars attempting to skirt the drop-off queue, leaving me little maneuvering space. I'll park elsewhere tomorrow.

Now that I'm home, the house is too quiet. There are lots of things I need to get done today, and I will work on them, but this beginning of the year is a bit of an adjustment for me. I know our schedule will leap into high gear once I begin teaching again in September, but just for today, I think I'm a little lonesome.

First Day Jitters

Tomorrow is the first day of school for my family. Everyone -- my husband, my children, and our new foreign exchange student -- will all begin classes. The children excitedly put together some school supplies from what I had on hand in a "school supply" bin. There were some brand-new supplies and a lot of still-usable stuff left over from last year. Hopefully there won't be as much school supply shopping to do this year. Although it's late, the kids are almost too keyed up to go to sleep. L. is insisting he's afraid of monsters and he wants to sleep in his sister's room. We'll see where everyone is sleeping when I go upstairs in a few minutes.

Our Chinese exchange student arrived last night. We drove up to the airport to pick her up and B. had decorated a nice sign with Pengbo's name on it. We missed a grand entrance because the arrivals monitor wasn't accurate. Justin finally noticed a familiar-looking young lady pulling a couple of very heavy rolling suitcases passed us. He greeted her and then we got to hold up the sign. Sigh. I really wish we could still go the gate in the airport. It would make things much more simple. Pengbo will be staying with us this year and going to Justin's school.

I think it's going to be a good year. I'm nervous for my children because they're all starting something completely different and new. Tonight, though, they just seem excited, even B., who was devastated to find out on Thursday that she and her best friend will not be in the same class together this year. She almost refused to go meet her teacher and spent a couple hours being quite teary. I felt so sorry for her. She's missing the comfort zone of her old school. I'm going to be watching the kids very carefully for the next few weeks to help them adjust as smoothly as I can help them to to a new place/class/teachers/building/schedule.

On a Lighter Note

Lest you think that all I do is philosophize here, I can report that there are far more lively things going on around here than that! Last Monday we took the kids up a nearby canyon to camp overnight. We went to the Diamond campground, a local one that I really enjoy. It's very large, probably 40 or more improved campsites by a river. Since it was a Monday, we pretty much had the campground to ourselves. Everyone helps load up the van (okay, well, mostly). And everyone helped unload. O. and E. got to put up the tent -- without too much squabbling this time. Justin worked on getting coals going. Did you know the cheap WalMart brand matchlight charcoal sometimes doesn't light? At all? Luckily I had purchased a couple of brand-new bags so that wasn't a total loss. I worked on getting the food into the dutch ovens: Scout Chicken, with Shrimp; Justin's 'Taters; and Raspberry Cobbler. E. does the cobbler every time with Justin. That's *his* dish. Once we got the dutch ovens stacked, I flopped in a chair while Justin took the kids down to the river to throw rocks. It was so relaxing to watch little finches and other unidentifiable-by-me birds flitting through the trees. A near-by cricket decided it was safe enough from humans to chirp. And I just sat and listened. And breathed. I love breathing up in the mountains.

Dinner was delicious. E. and L. decided they loved the shrimp, once they were coaxed into trying it. B. wasn't so sure she liked it. The weather cooperated with us and it cooled off in the night, but wasn't too cold. B. was worried about bears for a while as we were trying to fall asleep (and I was a little anxious about it myself but I didn't say so), but soon everyone dozed off. It was a quiet night except for a sinus headache that kept at me most of the night, but oh well.

We fixed a hot breakfast of bacon and eggs and some store-bought mini-doughnuts. Cleaned up our campsite. Went home. BATHED.

Justin took O. that evening off on another campout and fishing trip. They drove several hours to Flaming Gorge and the Green River. O. came home the next evening with a family friend who had also gone out, and he had had a wonderful time. This was a guided fishing trip, and O. was thrilled about the big fish he caught -- a beautiful brown, and even a cut-bow. That means he's earned his fishing merit badge.

We are so lucky to live here.

An Insight

I realized today in church that my favorite hymn is "Come Come Ye Saints." Every verse tells me something about how to face each day. The deep optimism, especially in the face of trial, reminds me that one way or another, things work out. Perhaps they don't work the way I'd like, and often things don't work out the way perhaps I expected. But I find that when things do work out, the new way is better than what I could have expected. There were a couple of phrases that struck me as we sang this hymn today. The first one is:

’Tis better far for us to strive
Our useless cares from us to drive;

I realized that only through striving for the best things, the most important things (raising a family righteously, serving in and out of our callings, repenting daily), can we improve. And not only that, while we are in the midst of striving, we can shed those things that really don't matter and that might be holding us back -- useless habits, old hurts, pet sins, activities that don't move us along towards heaven.

The other verse that particularly struck me today was this one:

Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?
’Tis not so; all is right.
Why should we think to earn a great reward
If we now shun the fight?
Gird up your loins; fresh courage take.
Our God will never us forsake;

Elder Holland visited our stake several years ago to reorganize our stake presidency. He said something then I have remembered. I'm paraphrasing here, but he commented on how often we petition Heavenly Father in our prayers to help us be like the Savior. Then, when He sends us down the road to our own Gethsemanes in answer to our prayers, we complain and cry, "Why me?!" These two things are a reminder to me that the best things, the most worthwhile experiences in our lives come only through striving, effort, and sacrifice.

So today I'm looking at my life and trying to figure out what I need to shed (probably playing so much Spider Solitaire on my computer, for one) in order to spend my time on the more worthwhile things, and reminding myself that this refiner's fire called Life is helping me along my path to eternal life. I chose it. I'd better make the best of it.

10 Things I Wish I Had Known About...

A few days ago I was having a frank discussion with my neighbor who is a nurse about some of the things no one ever bothered to tell me about childbirth -- during and the six weeks following. These were things that really could have been included in the six-week course my husband and I took together before we had our oldest. I realized much later that those Get- Ready- For- Intense- Pain- And- Public- Scrutiny classes only cover the labor and delivery process right up to the moment when that cute baby pops out. Nobody ever tells a new mom what happens after that! Well, that got me thinking about other stages of my life and what I wish I had known going through them. If I could go visit myself in a dream or somehow time travel ala Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, what would I tell myself? On the other hand, would I believe myself and take my own words to heart if I somehow had the benefit of later wisdom at the beginning? (Okay, that's an entirely different discussion). Anyway, here are 10 Things I Wish I Had Known About Childbirth and Post Partum Recovery:

10. My o.b. was happy to induce babies early because it was as much or more of a benefit to his busy medical practice schedule as it was for my convenience.

9. I would have done more walking and exercising through my pregnancies.

8. I would have prepared myself for natural childbirth just in case the epidural didn't work (which it didn't for my third delivery).

7. Babies do not have a regular breathing pattern like grown-ups. O. spent his first few nights at home sleeping in his carseat at the foot of our bed. It was only a few nights because either my husband or I was scrambling to the end of the bed when it sounded like he had stopped breathing. Sleeping improved a little once O. was in his own room. We had NO problem hearing him when he woke up!

6. Post partum uterine lining shedding (bleeding) goes on for a long, long, long time. Blech. Nobody tells you about that!

5. Have some meals made and frozen before the little wonder arrives. And have plenty of fruits and vegetables on hand for after his arrival. Keeping the digestive system working smoothly greatly decreases the angst over using the bathroom for the first couple of weeks post partum.

4. It really does take six weeks before your body starts to feel at all normal, and not until you are done nursing is your body back to being yours again.

3. You still need those maternity clothes for awhile after the baby is born. Dang!

2. Keep plenty of phone numbers at hand to call someone when you think you might be cracking up from lack of sleep, hormones, loneliness, nothing good on tv during the day, hormones, lack of sleep, or uncertainty about what to do with a bundle of joy that won't stop crying.

1. Three and a half weeks is NOT enough time for maternity leave.

I am not sad about being through with childbearing. My quiver is full with creative, strong-willed, too-smart-for-their-own-good, wonderful little arrows already. I don't miss the exhaustion period once I brought my babies home. I don't miss spending loads of money on diapers. I do miss the toothless grins, the snuggling (snuggling has to totally reconfigured when they don't fit in the circle of your arms and lap), the easy conversations with strangers over a baby, and watching them learn how to communicate with the world. I haven't been in a rush at any stage with my kids. I know they are growing up too fast. Pretty soon they are taller than I, deeper-voiced, and more interested in the outside world than in home (at least they think so).

What do you wish you had known?

Unintended Public Loitering

Yesterday was full of the unexpected. At a second visiting teaching appointment I found out there was a 50% off the already 50% off clearance stuff at Old Navy. So instead of going home to clean my house I rounded up the kids (O. was still at Scout Camp) and we dashed to Old Navy to see what they had and if there was anything that would work for school. I also got the wild hair to go to my parents' house, so I had the kids grab their swimsuits and towels too. I figured we were going a third of the way there, so why not all of the way. It made all the more sense because I was supposed to be at Justin's school for a host family orientation meeting, and I thought I would just hit that on the way home.

Well, the cunning plan worked out pretty well. We spent a little longer in Old Navy than I had planned, but I found something fun on sale for every member of the family except me. I scored on two pairs of pants and two nice shirts for Justin for about $25 total. I LOVE a bargain. What they had on clearance for moms just wasn't my style or size.

On the way to my parents' I decided to stop at my sisters to pick up some things she had for me, and she gave me a couple of pairs of capris, so I got something after all. She also had some Cars cars for me (we both collect the little cars from the Disney movie Cars, and when we find some new ones we always call each other to see if we need to pick up an extra). We also picked up my nephew to come swimming with us at my parents'.

The kids had a blast in the pool, and I spent some time working with L. on his swimming skills. He didn't pass his level 2 class this year, and I have tinkered with the idea of signing him up for private lessons, but I think I will just work with him myself. He was excited to show me how Harry Potter swims in the fourth H.P. movie -- the dolphin kick. My dad unexpectedly decided to get KFC for dinner, which was a fun treat for the kids and me.

I met my sister at a gas station to return my nephew to her. While we were there at the gas station, one by one the kids trickled out of the van while I talked to my sister in her car for a few minutes. As I walked away from her car, E. informed me that he had locked the car. AAAAAHHHHHHH. My keys and my purse and my cell phone were all inside. I managed to catch my sister before she pulled away from the gas station and commandeer her cell phone. Unfortunately, Justin wasn't answering his cell phone, and no one was answering the phone at his school (I didn't particularly care at the moment that it was way after summer office hours ... how could anyone ignore a telephone that was ringing forty times right in a row?! Sigh.). Fifty phone calls, 600 telephone rings, and three contacts later I found a sister-in-law who could drive down to Justin's school and tell him to call me on my sister's cell phone (my sister left me with her phone because she had to take her daughter somewhere; I promised to drop her cell phone off once I got back inside my van). Once Justin called me, Rescue was on its way! Hallelujah!!

I broke down and bought a couple of bottled waters for the kids and me because it was rather toasty outside the gas station (despite the fact I still had my credit card in my pocket from gassing up my car, I wasn't going to buy anything and "reward" the little turkeys for not being where they were supposed to be -- INSIDE the van -- and locking it without checking with me first -- and I was standing 10 feet away).

Two couples stopped by our car to ask if we needed help and at that point I was relieved to be able to answer that my husband was on his way. Our ten-minute child-swap turned into nearly two hours, but thankfully everything turned out alright. Justin gently reminded me on the phone to go easy on our little security guard.

So what did I learn? NEVER leave your keys in the car, even if you think there are people inside your car and you are only going to be two minutes and ten feet away. And always TELL the children to STAY inside the car at the gas station.

Peanut Butter Paradise and Other Delights

Okay, so last night I promised recipes for some tasty treats. We love treats in our family (and unfortunately it's showing up below the waistline) and here are a couple of recent discoveries.

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cinnamon Rolls
This recipe came to me from my visiting teacher. They are easy and delicious!

1/2 C sugar
1/2 C potato flakes (even the generic storebrand works great)
1/2 C dry milk
2 TBSP yeast
3 C hot water

Combine the above and let sit until yeast, milk, and potato flakes dissolve. Then add:

1 stick butter, softened or melted
2 eggs
2 tsp salt
4 C flour (all-purpose or bread flour

I think I ended up adding an additional 4 cups of flour or so as I mixed the dough in my mixer. The original 4 cups didn't do much more than make a gooey batter, so add flour until the dough pulls away easily from the side of the mixer, isn't terribly sticky to the touch, and still soft and tender. Let the dough sit for 10 minutes or so to rest. This allows it roll out more easily. Divide dough in half and roll out one half on a floured surface to about 1/2 inch or less in a rough rectangle. Spread with melted butter, and sprinkle liberally with brown sugar and cinnamon. You can add chopped nuts at this point if you wish. Roll the rectangle up along the long side. Take 10 inches of plain sewing thread to cut the dough into 1" sections (slide the middle of the thread underneath the roll, cross the ends over the top of the roll and pull the ends opposite of each other to slice through the dough). Place the buns fairly close together on a greased cookie sheet and let rise while oven heats to 400 degrees. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown on top. Repeat rolling out process with other half of dough.

Frosting:
8 TBSP butter (1 stick or 1/2 c butter)
1 1/2 C powdered sugar
1/4 C cream cheese
1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix until smooth and frost rolls while still warm.

Peanut Butter Paradise Ice Cream
I love making homemade ice cream. The basic recipe came with my Rival ice cream maker (it's a 6-quart machine...I figure if you're going to make ice cream you might as well make a big batch!), and it's a cooked recipe, so allow plenty of time for this. I'm giving you the 6-quart recipe. If you have a smaller ice cream maker and want the recipe for a 4- or a 5-quart mixer, just email me and I'll send it to you.

3 1/2 C sugar
1/2 C flour
3/4 tsp salt
7 C milk (I always use 1%)
a good book or magazine to read or cordless phone close at hand
6 eggs in a separate bowl, beaten
1 C creamy peanut butter
6 C whipping cream (3 full pints or 6 half pint containers)
3 T vanilla extract
1 1/2 C macadamia nuts, chopped (approx. 6 oz.)
1 pkg Heath toffee bits (8 oz.)

Combine dry ingredients in large stock pot and blend with a wire whisk. Add milk gradually, stirring in with whisk. Cook over medium heat approximately 15 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly. Read while you're stirring the mixture, or call a friend/sibling/mom on the phone for a chat because you're not going anywhere for a while!

Once the mixture is nice and thick, slowly stir one cup of the milk into the beaten eggs. This tempers the eggs so they stay liquid. I usually stir in two or three cups of milk, one at a time, just for good measure. Pour the egg mixture back into the milk mixture, stirring constantly. Cook 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add peanut butter and stir until smooth. Chill 2 hours. If you're in a hurry, place stock pot in sink filled with cold water. Add some ice for good measure to the water. Stir mixture inside pot briskly until the heat dissipates out (probably 10 minutes). Be careful to not get any water inside your mixture.

Add whipping cream, vanilla, nuts, and toffee bits. Pour into your ice cream freezer and freeze as directed.

I made this for a ward party, and it would have been perfect if I had started sooner to allow more time for churning in the freezer. It would also have helped if I didn't have to go driving around the neighborhood to find my youngest child who had decided to go with some neighbor kids early to the ward party. Unfortunately, the ward party wasn't being held at the church, and when I realized I couldn't find L., the other kids all went off on THEIR bikes to find him, and then I couldn't find anybody. So I spent time driving around the neighborhood rounding people up, which meant the ice cream was on the soupy side by the time we arrived at the ward party.

Phew. This is enough for one post. I'll put the zucchini bread to die for recipe on later.