If you'd like to know who to thank...

for the snow this afternoon/evening,

well, you can thank us.

We got the car washed.

You're welcome.

New Calling

Shad was set apart as the 1st Counselor in our ward's bishopric Sunday. We're all excited for the opportunity to serve our church congregation more, and I'm truly grateful that this calling did not come until after I finished teaching.

Anyone want to play Ghostbusters?

Shad asked for the Ghostbusters Wii game for Christmas.

Several family members were happy to oblige.

Gingerbread Houses

The kids' piano teacher invited us over for a Gingerbread House party. Peter and Laura had been begging me to make gingerbread houses, and this gave them what they wanted, without my having to put forth a lot of effort. The kids had a blast making houses out of graham crackers and then covering them with candy.

Of course, we all know that the best thing about making gingerbread houses is eating all of the candy off of them!

I survived!

Today was my last teaching day. I just have a staff meeting to attend tomorrow and then my long-term substitute assignment is complete. I am glad to be done. I will still go in and help out each day until the winter break, but I won't be in charge and that will make all of the difference. No bringing home assignments to grade, no putting together lesson plans, no planning projects or assignments. From now on, "it's not my problem!"

I learned a lot through this experience. I don't think I'm cut out to be an elementary school teacher, certainly not for grades K through 3rd. I just don't have the patience for it. If educational assistants weren't paid less than substitutes, I'd happily do that. I'd love to work in a classroom without being in charge of that class, to walk in and have the teacher say "here, do this with that kid today" and then be able to leave without bringing home 2 to 3 hours of extra work in preparation for the next day. Actually, I didn't really mind the preparation. It was working with kids who don't follow directions, who talk when I'm talking even though I've already told them twice to stop, who forget to bring their homework to school, who look at me as if I'm speaking Greek when I explain what they're supposed to do - that's what I minded. And I imagine that I'd encounter that no matter what grade I taught, so I think I've learned that teaching isn't for me. Maybe I should just stick with homeschooling my 3 kids and leave the "real" teaching to the professionals who have patience.

Please, Thank a Police Officer Today!

The first call (incident) Shad had at work today was the fatal shooting of a 9 month-old baby. The baby's father was mad at his girlfriend, the baby's mother, because she was trying to leave him, so he went and killed their child. That's one of the calls Shad was actually willing to talk to me about. There have been much worse ones that he will not discuss with me, because they're so awful he doesn't want me to have to know about them.

I am so grateful for men and women who choose to protect us and shelter us from the horrors that are perpetrated in this crazy world. I wish people would understand how much the police do for all of us. I wish there was more gratitude and respect for police officers. I wish I lived in a city that was police-friendly. Hopefully the new mayor will help, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

So, if you have a minute, send a thank you note to your local police station or to an officer you might know. We can never thank the police enough for all that they do for us. Just remember that the next time you get pulled over for speeding.

It warms my heart

The other day Laura said to me, "You know what my favorite kind of Christmas music is? The kind that talks about Jesus being born." (By the way, we start listening to Christmas music the first of November, a tradition we adopted from one of Shad's college roommates.)

Yesterday, Laura asked Peter and I to write down things we are thankful for at Christmas time. I wrote down delicious food, hot chocolate, and beautiful decorations. Peter said, "I don't have to write anything down. The thing I'm the most grateful for at Christmas is Jesus."

Blessings will come, right?

It is very ironic that our family is helping clean our church building tomorrow, while our house has not been cleaned for longer than I care to say. I am hoping that one of the blessings we will receive from our service is that a miracle will occur, and we will come home to a spotless house.

Halloween...

also known as Windy's least favorite holiday EVER!

Due to my dislike of Halloween (and to the fact that I'm working), my kids had to scavenge for Halloween costumes around the house. Emily went as an LA Kings hockey player (thanks to a hockey jersey my mom and I gave Shad for Christmas when we were engaged). Laura went as a ballerina (thanks to Emily's ballet recital costume from when she was in Kindergarten). Peter was a Sir Laughs-a-Lot (thanks to a craft he made at a friend's birthday party at least 2 years ago).

I was also a Halloween Scrooge this year, by saying "NO WAY" to outrageous candy prices. I refuse to buy anything but chocolate to pass out to trick-or-treaters. Usually Wal-mart has a bag of KitKats or Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for $2 or less. This year all of the chocolate was $2.50, and so I only bought 4 bags, instead of the usual 8.

Now my kids have tons of candy, and it calls to me and begs me to come eat it. Which is just another reason why I hate Halloween!

Finally!

I finally did something I've wanted to do for about 24 years -

got tickets to the Nutcracker!

Talk about some delayed gratification.

This is long overdue, as evidenced by the fact that my almost 12 year-old has been to the Nutcracker at least FOUR times already.

Shad and I will go see it at Popejoy the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It's sort of my early reward for surviving my long-term substituting position, because at that point I will only have 4 days left of teaching!

Can someone please explain?

I bought my kids socks today. Yes - socks. I bought a total of 20 pairs of kids socks. And it cost me $32.80! For socks! What is this world coming to?!

Eight Weeks Later

We just finished our 8th week of school, and we're all still alive, though sometimes it doesn't feel that way.

Emily started off the year working for 4 weeks on a science powerpoint presentation about Scientific Method, Science and Society, and Science and Ethics. She partnered with her friend Rylee, and they put inordinate amounts of time putting together an amazing presentation. Ms. Heather had told them that she wanted them to "set the bar" for the rest of the class's science presentations. Well - they did! After 4 weeks of 20 hours of homeschooling a week, the science project was done, and the girls received Advanced marks.

Peter and Laura are doing well in their class, too. Laura's reading is taking off. She's in chapter books now and loving it. Peter is flying through the division unit and is already in the Personal Commenting reading group (usually a 4th grade unit).

I'm holding on by the skin of my teeth. I teach 12 hours a week, but my work week is about 48 to 52 hours a week. I am learning to appreciate our teachers even more than I already did. You pretty much have to give up your life to be a teacher at Family School. I've decided that that is NOT something I want to do. I'm halfway through with my long-term substituting assignment, and I'm really, really, really looking forward to getting back to normal life in December!

On a lighter note: Laura informed me that she does not like the desert. I agree with her, but her reasoning is rather unique. She doesn't like the desert, because if she didn't live in the desert she wouldn't have to put on lotion after her shower.

First Day of School

Thursday was the first day of school and Family School finally has its own beautiful building. It's an amazing facility.

Emily is back with her beloved teacher Ms. Heather

(she taught Emily from 1st through 3rd grade),

and Peter and Laura are in Ms. Chantel's class.

I'm not normally in our first day of school pictures, but this year I will be a long-term substitute for one of the Family School teachers while she's on maternity leave. The baby is due in two weeks, but we're not sure she'll wait that long. I'll be teaching for 3 months, and at this moment, I'm scared to death and

wondering why I ever agreed to be her sub.

Harry Potter 6

The movie came out today and, much to my Emily's and Peter's delight (Laura was out on a date with Ba and Nana Gail), we went and saw the first showing this morning.


We bought our tickets a few days ago online and arrived 30 minutes before the movie started. We were very lucky to find 4 seats all together in the second to last row, otherwise we would have had to sit in one of the first 3 rows (which would have killed my neck). I had originally just wanted Shad to take Emily and Peter, because I am never happy with how much of the book gets left out of the movie. Shad insisted that I had to go, so I did. The movie was fine, but during the entire drive home the four of us listed scenes that had been left out of the movie. 

Paris - Day 2, La Sainte-Chapelle

I'm hoping to make some progress blogging about our trip to Paris last November. I think I've put it off for 2 reasons:

1. I have to look through 1000 pictures and decide which ones to post.
2. Once I finish blogging about Paris, the trip is completely finished.

After our visit to Notre Dame, we walked to another famous cathedral on Ile de la Cite - La Sainte-Chapelle.

One of the sides of the Cathedral butts up against a government building (I think it's the Ministry of Justice) and so it's hard to get a picture of only the cathedral.

Gotta love the gargoyles!

Sainte-Chapelle is amazing because of all of the stained glass inside. The walls are several stories high and the stained glass windows start at about 10 feet off the floor and go almost all the way to the top. I can't come up with words to describe it properly.

More gargoyles

This was a little chapel you would enter on the ground floor and then you climbed a flight of stairs to get into the main chapel with the stained glass windows. I loved the vibrant colors and the arches. 

The floor of the main chapel was painted with beautiful designs and patterns. I felt guilty stepping on it.

These intricate carvings were on the wall to cover the space below the stained glass windows. I cannot even fathom how much time it took to do these carvings - let alone make and install all of the stained glass windows. (I wonder how many broke during installation?)

The altar in the main chapel

One of the rose windows. Jesus is in the center of the window.

This gives you a bit of an idea as to the height of the walls and stained glass windows.

Julie and I

Will wonders never cease?!

I just got home from book club and received the nicest surprise. Shad works graveyard and so Emily was in charge. All night I kept waiting for the phone to ring, expecting Emily to call because the younger two weren't behaving (it hadn't been their best day). Happily, though, there were no calls. When I got home I discovered that Emily and Laura had finished folding the laundry I hadn't gotten to yet, and the kids had tidied up the house! Emily was able to report that everyone behaved and all had gone well. I am so grateful!

Beaten

Peter has been sick with some sort of stomach bug. Last night he threw up about 9 times within 2 hours. Today he's had a fever. So, all we've done is hang out around the house. 

I was going to go to the grocery store today, but I didn't want to leave Emily babysitting a kid who might start vomiting at any minute. Our pantry is pretty empty - I was away at girls camp most of last week, so no one has been grocery shopping in a whole week. Amazingly, I was able to scrounge up a dinner. 

Emily got a ride to Activity Days; Peter didn't have Cub Scouts; and I skipped out on YW to stay with my sick kiddo. 

He asked to play Monopoly, and so we pulled out the old board game. If he wasn't feeling better before, he is now. He beat Laura and me by over $2000! 

He said he wished it were real money. Me too. I'd ask him to pay rent.

Last Day of School

I don't know how it happened, but the school year has ended. The kids had a fun last day of school...

launching water balloons,

hanging with friends,

reflecting on the year gone by,

displaying great reading ability,

getting awards (Emily received an award
for being an inspiration to the class),

signing yearbooks,

and being adored by a classmate's little sister.

Peter and Laura with their teacher, Paula.

Emily with Rita and Dorian, the student teacher who worked with the class for the last half of the year. This photo is taken after Emily's
end-of-year class performance last week.

(Yes, I know - I'm behind in my efforts to keep people posted about events in our life.
So sue me.)

The Way Kids Play

Laura loves Littlest Pet Shop toys. She got quite a few new ones for her birthday (like 15). She and Peter are playing with them at the table. The Littlest Pet Shop animals are in a war. The bulldogs are the bad guys. The butterflies are look-outs. Peter built guns and blasters out of Legos for the animals to use in their war. I doubt this is what the creator of Littlest Pet Shop envisioned his (or her?) toys would be used for.

An Example of Murphy's Law?

Paid off the car on Friday.

Broke it on Monday.

I must have driven over something, but I never saw anything. 

It shredded our rear driver's side tire and broke the clips that hold the siding (?) on below the door.

Photo Tag

I was tagged to post my 6th picture in my 6th photo program folder; however, I wasn't sure if it was the 6th folder from the beginning or from the end. So, I'm posting both.

This photo is one Peter took of his Star Wars Clone Wars Lego men. 

This photo is in the 6th folder, 

counting from the beginning of all of my digital photos. 

It's of Shad, Emily, and Peter at Christmas (obviously) 2001.

I guess I'm supposed to tag people, which I hate doing, so I'm tagging my sister Julie, Traci M., Jessica S., Kristi B., and Dacia A.

Lost Tooth

Laura lost her third tooth the other day.

Although this is the 3rd tooth she's lost, it's the first one that she didn't actually lose. The first one fell down the drain in the sink. The second one came out in the Houston airport. We're not sure if she swallowed it or if it fell on the floor; we could never find it. 

So Laura finally got to put an actual tooth under her pillow for the Tooth Fairy. The other two times the Tooth Fairy just got a note explaining what had happened!

A Goal Achieved

For about two years, Emily has been growing out her hair so that she could donate it to an organization that makes wigs for cancer patients.

It was finally long enough, so I made an appointment with my hairdresser 

( I wasn't going to trust such a massive cut to just anybody).

The first cut

Meagan dried Emily's hair, so that she could 

straighten it and touch up the cut.

We all agreed that an afro is not Emily's style.

Then Meagan straightened Emily's hair, making Emily look fabulous and a lot older than I like to see. 

It's weird to see Emily with straight hair. I kept thinking it was my sister in my living room, when I'd just see the back of Emily's head.

Doesn't she look great?!

I'll have to post some other pictures when it's curly again.

A love of books

I guess it runs in the family.

I like food. Free food is even better.

If you go to this site, you can print out a coupon for a free 2-piece grilled chicken meal at KFC. I love their biscuits and coleslaw, and younger two might actually eat a chicken leg. The coupon can only be printed until 9:59 CDT Wednesday May 6, and you can print 4 coupons, so hustle over there if you're interested.

I'll be able to say I knew him when...

Elder Birch is an amazing missionary for our church. He has quite a talent for music: singing, playing, and composing. Last night, we recorded Elder Birch playing his new arrangement, "Amazing Grace."

Then I made him sing for his supper. Elder Birch composed his own arrangement of a beautiful hymn, "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing."

*** I fed him homemade lasagna, breadsticks, and lemon cake. He seemed pleased.***

The green-eyed monster

My sister and her dear husband and daughter head off to Denmark and the Netherlands tomorrow. And they'll be hitting Germany in the fall.  I'm jealous. I don't normally get jealous (anymore) of people, but if you're traveling to Europe, I will be jealous of you. I have this great wanderlust that just can't be satiated. (And yes, I know I've been very fortunate to do so much traveling. I'm not ungrateful, just greedy!)

Do you remember last September when this post appeared on my blog. You know, the one where I said we'd done so well saving money that we were going to go to Vancouver for the Winter Olympics and London for the Summer? Well, part (but not all) of that was a ruse to throw my sister off track since she'd pretty much figured out Shad and I were accompanying her to Paris. We really had been saving to go to London.

Well, that dream is gone. 

Instead we have this sitting in our garage now.

(And we think the garage is a better place for it than the living room!)

We took a HUGE chunk of cash out of savings and paid 80% of the car with cash. We sold our old Odyssey and are down to $750 owed on the car. While it's nice to have a new car and to practically own it outright, I'd rather have my old Odyssey in the garage while I was on a plane to London. 

But oh well.

So if you're driving around Albuquerque, and you see a green-eyed monster - don't worry. 

It's just me.

An age-old truth

The other day I saw a saying on a bulletin board 

that I just loved. It said:

"A waist is a terrible thing to mind."

Grateful Sunday

I'm grateful for finding a delicious, quick breadsticks recipe over at Chez Moi. It went perfectly with what would otherwise have been a rather boring dinner (leftovers). I'm also grateful because I LOVE Little Caesar's crazy bread and this recipe is as close as you can come to crazy bread without driving across town to Little Caesar's.

Here's the recipe, but do yourself a favor and go to Recipes Chez Moi for some other fabulous recipes.

1 1/4 c. warm water
1 T. yeast
2 T. sugar
1/2 t. salt
3 - 3 1/2 c. flour (I only used 2  3/4 cups)
1/4 c. melted butter
garlic salt/parmesan cheese

Proof the yeast. Mix sugar, salt, and 2 1/2 c. flour. Add yeast mixture and stir to form dough. Add more flour if needed -- it's better to be on the stickier side. Let dough rest 10 minutes.

Put half of melted butter in a jelly roll pan. Roll out the dough into a rectangular shape and then press into pan. Brush with remaining butter. Cut dough into long strips with a pizza cutter and then, depending on how many breadsticks you need, cut your strips into halves or thirds. Sprinkle with parmesan and garlic salt. Let rest another 10 minutes.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Undermining my best intentions

I set a goal for myself several weeks ago to work on being more nurturing. I want to praise my children more. I struggled with my goal, mostly because I'd forget about it. So this week I renewed my goal and put a reminder on my bathroom mirror. I am trying to find things to praise, but my children are making that very difficult. Laura and Peter will NOT do anything that I ask them to do when I'm helping them with their homework, with chores, at meal time, at bedtime, when its time to get dressed, time to get in the car, time to breathe! They struggle with something, and then when I give them a strategy to make their struggle easier, they promptly ignore my advice. It's as if they know I'm trying to become a better person and they don't want me to, so they're doing everything in their power to make me want to kill them, instead of praise them.

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*** Can you tell I'm a little frustrated as I type this? Just imagine one of those cartoon bulls with steam coming out of its ears - that's me right now! ***

Grateful Sunday

I'm grateful that Shad will not have to work graveyard or weekends starting at the end of April!

The sergeants bid for their new shifts last Monday, and Shad was able to snag a swing shift (3:00 p.m. to 11:00  p.m.) with weekends off. Shad has not had weekends off since he was a cadet in the academy -11 years ago!!!!!!!!!!!

We've Joined the Club.

You know - the exclusive club of parents who have washed their child's mouth out with soap.

Peter was angry with us this afternoon and called us "dimwits." His behavior has taken us to our wit's end, and so we opted for an old-fashioned parenting technique. He did NOT enjoy it. Only time will tell if it made a lasting impression on him.

A Post from Shad

I just found out that I have been doing it wrong all of these years.

Grateful Sunday

I'm grateful that General Conference is this weekend! I love to hear the prophets and apostles speak. Today I challenged my Young Women (and the sisters I visit teach) to choose a question, concern, problem, challenge, etc. that they need an answer to, and then to pray for Heavenly Father to give them an answer in General Conference. I've found that if I listen to Conference with a purpose, I am amazed at how many of the talks seem to have been written just for me!

Grateful Sunday

I am looking at my kitchen counter. It is covered with dishes from tonight's dinner. I am feeling sorry for myself because I have to put those dishes in the dishwasher. How lame am I?!?! At least I have a dishwasher. At least I have plates to put dinner on. At least I have food to put onto those plates. At least I have a healthy body and I am able to feed myself instead of having to be fed by someone else. And so, I should be grateful.

And I am.

So Much for Setting a Good Example

Peter has a bad habit of getting changed into his pajamas with his bedroom door wide open. Shad is constantly reminding Peter to close his door, with no success. Tonight Shad employed a different tactic. He said, "I see London, I see France, I see Peter's underpants." That did not make make Peter close his door. But it did make all 3 of my children run around the house repeating that oh-so-lovely verse for half an hour.

Thanks for that great parenting help, dear!

Grateful Sunday

Even though it has only been a week since I last blogged, it feels as if it has been a month. Life has been so hectic lately, and it only promises to get worse as the school year races towards a close. In all of the rush and insanity that makes up my life, I am grateful for those who help me to do all the many things that I manage to do.

This Sunday I'm particularly grateful for my two counselors in the Young Women presidency. Our ward was assigned to host a stake youth dance last night. We decided to have a St. Patrick's Day theme for the dance, since it is so close to that holiday. My first counselor, Becky, helped do the legwork to find the best price for a cake to serve as refreshments. The three of us cut out about 100 shamrocks to use as decorations. We decorated the cultural hall for the dance, served cake, and chaperoned. 

While planning this dance, we were also in charge of finding out prices for food to be served at next month's Youth Conference. My second counselor, Leslie, called a myriad of pizza places, trying to find out which restaurant would offer us the best deal on pizza for the conference's first dinner.

I am so grateful that Becky and Leslie support me. They've attended meetings when I couldn't (or when I felt it was more important for me to stay home with my family than to attend yet another meeting). They teach amazing lessons that fill the room with the Holy Ghost. They befriend the young women in our ward and set such a great example for me of willingness to serve. They have the sweetest testimonies. I am so lucky to get to work with them!

I also must mention how grateful I am for my husband's support of my calling as Young Women president. My calling keeps me busy, but he never complains about how much I need to do. He runs the kids here and there when I can't because I need to be with the Young Women. Last night, after only having slept for about 5 hours, he helped me set up for the dance and then stayed with me to chaperone. He spent more time at that dance than he did sleeping yesterday! He even took the first hour off of work so that he could help me until the entire dance was over and the building cleaned up!

I could not function as Young Women's president if it were not for the love and support of my husband and my two counselors. I am truly blessed!

Grateful Sunday

I'm grateful for people who see something good in me!

I substituted for Kris, one of the Family School teachers, Wednesday. My friend Leah called me the next day to pass on a compliment. Her son's teacher had a student author night Wednesday night, and Leah ended up in Kris's room with her son's group. Leah's teacher asked if Kris's room was a disaster when Leah's group arrived, because the teacher knew Kris had had a sub that day. Leah was able to tell her the room was in great shape, because I had been the substitute. Leah's teacher said something to the effect of that since I had been the sub, she was sure the room had been just fine after all.

It was so nice that Leah passed that compliment on to me. Things have been incredibly difficult for me with my kids lately and I haven't heard many nice things said to me lately. It really made my day. Thanks, Leah!

Bacon

Do you like bacon? I like bacon. It tastes delicious in breakfast burritos, on baked potatoes, and in my tossed macaroni recipe (one of my favorite meals). 

Shad LOVES bacon. He loves, loves, loves bacon.

But, unfortunately, Shad does not get all of the bacon that he desires, and I will tell you why.

I HATE the fact that my house smells like bacon for at least 24 hours after I've cooked it!!!

I made tossed macaroni last night. After the kids were in bed, I washed the pan that the bacon had been fried in. I loaded the dishwasher with all of the plates that we had used to eat the dish which included bacon. I wiped down the stove and counter with Clorox wipes (orange scent) to make sure all of the bacon grease was gone. Shad took out the garbage that held the paper towels that had absorbed the excess grease from the bacon.  I lit a triple berry candle from Salt City Candles (very powerful, yummy smelling candle) and left it lit for at least 2 hours. 

But, alas, this morning the house still smelled like bacon! I opened up the back door and turned on the ceiling fan (even though my children kept trying to shut the door because they were cold) to exchange the bacon-scented indoor air for some fresh-smelling outdoor air. I lit my candle, again.

It is now 29 hours since I cooked the bacon.

My house still smells like bacon.

I just may have to move!

Have I ever mentioned that I have an incredibly sensitive sense of smell?!

A Much-Needed Dose of Encouragement

The major work of the world is 

not done by geniuses. 

It is done by ordinary people, 

with balance in their lives, 

who have learned to work 

in an extraordinary manner.”

-President Hinckley Apr. 1996

I took the kids to the Botanical Gardens today and we saw daffodils popping up everywhere. It reminded me of this story ... I'm sure you've all read it before, but I'm posting it anyways.

The Daffodil Principle!

"Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over. "I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead. "I will come next Tuesday," I promised a little reluctantly on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house, I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren.

"Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch!"

My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother."

"Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her.

"But first we're going to see the daffodils. It's just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this."

"Carolyn," I said sternly, "Please turn around." 

"It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read "Daffodil Garden." We got out of the car, each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight.


It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and its surrounding slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.

"Who did this?" I asked Carolyn. 

"Just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house.

On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking" was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958."


For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration.

That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time--often just one baby-step at time--and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world ."

Financial Planning

Dan was a single guy living at home with his father and working in the family business.

When he found out he was going to inherit a fortune when his sickly father died, he decided he needed a wife with which to share his fortune.

One evening at an investment meeting he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Her natural beauty took his breath away. "I may look like just an ordinary man," he said to her, but in just a few years, my father will die, and I'll inherit $200 million."

Impressed, the woman obtained his business card and three days later, she became his stepmother.

Women are so much better at financial planning than men.

Grateful Sunday

I'm going to try and get back in the habit of blogging every Sunday about something I am grateful for.

Here are a few of the things I'm grateful for this week:

• My stepmom was released from the hospital in Orlando, was able to fly home without incident, and is doing well.
• Peter's and Laura's writing projects are done!
• I don't have any church meetings tonight.

The main thing that I am thankful for today is this: that in an uncertain world I have many things that I am certain of. The most important certainty in my life is that God lives, that His Son Jesus Christ atoned for my sins so that I can be forgiven when I repent, and that Christ's church has been restored to the earth once more. I'm thankful to have the Bible and the Book of Mormon to teach me how to be more like my Savior. And I am grateful that I can give these certainties to my children.

First Flight

After surprising the kids, we hopped into the car and headed to the airport. Here are the kids looking out the window at our tiny plane - there were only 3 seats total in each row on that plane, meaning there were 2 seats together, the aisle, and then one seat all by itself. I had to duck my head so as not to hit the emergency exit sign as I walked down the aisle.

Emily has been on a plane once before, but she doesn't remember it because she was only 18 months old. None of the other kids have ever flown on an airplane, so they were excited and a little nervous too.

The window seat was the coveted one amongst the kids. 

Personally I prefer an aisle seat so that I can stretch my legs out.

Our seats were the very last 6 on the plane, so when everyone else had disembarked the kids were able to hang out with the pilot in the cockpit.

For some reason the exposure on this picture was horrible, 

so I tried to fix it as best as I could.

We flew to Houston where we were met at the gate by my dad (on the right) and stepmom. Then my brother, his wife, and son arrived (they're the ones, to the right of Julie, bending down to greet baby April whom they had never met before). My sister and her hubbie and baby were the next to show up (they live right there in Houston). 

And of course, the fact that we were all there was NOT a surprise to Julie! I need to teach my brother-in-law how to keep secrets - my kids didn't know anything about the trip until I told them 15 minutes before we left! I think the only surprise was Julie's friend and old college roommate showing up. That's Liz - the one on the left holding the cup in her hand.

We all got to fly together to Orlando. Our seats were all together, except for Chris's seat. He got bumped up to first class - poor soul! Of course then he got to take the baby with him, which worked out great.  (Though I guess I'll have to stop calling her "the baby" soon; she's 14 months old already.)