I've had more than enough whining!

Nathan is the big offender this week. His form of communication tends to run along the lines of a foot stomp, angry eyes, raised eyebrows and a long, drawn out whine followed up with his head thrown back on the verge of a crying meltdown. My sweet pre-Christmas cherub has turned into a ticking I-want-things-my-way whine bomb. I realize that his routine is far from normal living on a holiday schedule with everyone home for two weeks and that he has probably consumed enough sugar to put him into a diabetic coma so I'm trying to be patient. Or it's just trying my patience.

In an attempt to help him replace the whine with reasonable communication, we sat on his bed for a talk. I offered the advice to "Stop. Take a breath. Talk without whining." when things were not going his way. Then we did some role playing.

Me: "You want Justin to put the movie on for you but he tells you that mom said no. What do you do?"

Nathan: (hesitantly) "Stop. Take a breath. But mom, I want to watch a movie!"

Let's try again . . .

Me: "It's time to take naps but you don't want to go to bed. What do you do?"

Nathan: "I don't like to take naps."

Me: (after a little blurb on sometimes we need to do things that we don't want to because they are right, like taking a nap so that our bodies can grow and be healthy) "You want a drink of milk and mom asks you to wait a minute while she finishes changing Hyrum's diaper. What do you do?"

Nathan: "Stop. Take a breath. Talk without whining."

Whew! He finally got it. It has become our saying around the house. Everyone is using it on everyone else at the least provocation.

Justin, Derek, Nathan and I were playing Mario on the Wii, sitting on the two large beanbags. Hyrum kept jumping from bag to bag, landing on my body every other jump. After several attempts at trying to get him to stop, while still focusing on the game, I started to lose it. And then out of my wise Nathan came the advice, in a very strong tone of voice, "STOP! Take a breath. Talk without yelling."

Isn't there some parental scape-clause along the lines of "do as I say, not as I do"? Perhaps "a little child shall lead them" would be a better mantra. Either way, Nathan got it and is, on a good percentage, living it. I, on the other hand, have some work to do.

What's for dinner?

In a very lazy, vacation attitude I announced that we were finishing leftovers for dinner. There wasn't quite enough for everyone, which left the Raman lovers happy.

Then Nathan spoke up, "I don't want Raman. Can I have a salad with carrots and ranch dressing please?"

If Hyrum gets his way he'll be eating "hah dods" or "stills" or "ohh ahss". Hmmm, hotdogs, skittles, and fruit snacks just don't sound that nutritious.

Meals have been very flexible around here for the past week. I'm craving healthy stuff, the older kids are doped up on holiday sugars and the little boys eat somewhere in between. At some point we will get back to our regularly scheduled meal planning but I don't think it will be this week.

The Best Christmas Ever

Nathan was helping me clean up the wrapping paper. While wandering around the room picking up garbage he kept saying the same thing over and over again, frequently pausing to give me hugs. He wasn't really talking to me or expecting a response he just seemed to be verbalizing his thoughts. I quickly grabbed the camera. After his dramatic pause he added a blurb for me. I love the humble wonder and tender love in his expression and words!



I'm pretty sure he means ever instead of never which makes his statement a perfect description

of our Christmas this year.

Erika Jo

had a very full November.

One night she was standing next to me while I was playing the piano and when I looked up I saw this shadow on the wall. We couldn't resist a picture.

She had been napping most of the day so her pony tail was flying all over the place and she had a hoodie on. She made me promise that I wouldn't show what she looked like, just the cool shadow that it made.

After almost 3 months of practices, costume fittings, painting backdrops and a whole lot of goofing off the high school was ready for their production of The Music Man. I was expecting a wimpy high school drama club show but the night quickly turned into a fun, comedic, very well done performance. With the school orchestra in the pit, mounds of enthusiasm from the students, great backdrops that filled the stage and perfectly chosen main character actors the night was a blast. If the final night had not been sold out (which left over 500 people turned away in the waiting area and a blurb in the Rexburg Standard Journal) I would have gone again.

Bri and Erika

There's trouble in town!

Getting the hair ready . . . and brushing out the ratting

Erika was one of the townspeople, which was pretty much a background, fill-the-stage role but she also had a couple of lines and was in two of the dance numbers where the townspeople sing and dance. It was so fun to see her take on a character and really lose herself in it.

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Erika has wanted to color her hair darker for quite some time but has always been hesitant, not only because it's impossible to know what how your hair will take the color but also because of the cost. Her best friend bought a box of coloring and together they did Bri's hair and because it turned out so well Erika took the plunge and bought a box of coloring the next night. She did hold off doing it until family pictures were done in case she hated it but after it was done we wished she had had it done before the picture. We all love it!

November also brought a very big birthday for Erika. She turned 16!!! Her best friend Bri (and Bri's mom) threw a big party for her. They decorated the gym at the church, invited lots of friends, played silly games and ate all of Erika's favorite junk foods. Bri filled her camera with pictures but I haven't downloaded them from her yet. She also had a surprise in each of her classes that day which was fun for me to arrange (some teachers willingly went along with it and embellished the surprise, some act like I was messing up their whole syllabus). She also had a very big first date . . . with her dad. Her young women's leader brought over this cake for her:

By the time November was over Erika literally slept for 2 days. She had been fighting the colds that we were all passing around the family but it caught up with her big time once she slowed down. She didn't hang out with friends, didn't get on the computer, didn't talk on the phone, didn't even eat. She just slept. Once she woke up she realized that a months worth of laundry was piled on her floor and that I was not kidding when I told her that it had to be cleaned up. Her room was beginning to stink. Bri came over again and after an hour in their room Bri came to get me. "You gotta see this, it's awesome! Bring the camera."

I was imagining a spotless room with the sun shining in and lovely music playing. First of all, we probably won't see the sun until next spring. Second, Z103 doesn't play "lovely" music. Third, I couldn't see the floor at all:

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They thought it was so wonderful that Erika was in the bottom of the pile of clothes and I couldn't even tell she was there. She poked her head out, I took a deep breath and smiled and laughed and took pictures and walked out wondering how many years it would take her to clean that mess up. To my astonishment, they came back in about 20 minutes and with 3 baskets of laundry sitting in the laundry room and 2 full bags of garbage by the back door it was a spotless (well, close) room. Why, oh why, didn't I take a picture of that? Oh yeah, I have sworn an oath to not post any pictures of her room until the walls are all finished. Skittles theme, none colors. Posting a picture of a mound of clothes gives nothing away.

Boy Stuff

Justin was cutting the onions for taco soup one night. He couldn't believe that someone has not created a way to prevent crying while cutting onions. I'm not sure if he thought the glasses were to prevent the strong onion odor from burning his eyes or just a coverup for the tears.

This is what entered my sewing room one night. Nathan screamed like I have never heard him scream before. He was very relieved when the pumpking head was removed and Derek's head popped up through the neck of the jacket.

Caytlyn got an ipod touch for her birthday so now the latest game at our house is the mini dance dance revolution type game on her ipod. Has anyone heard of "tired pointy finger" syndrome? Levi has it.

Ralph's ah-ha pose . . .

Nathan's thinking pose . . .

This is his response to any question. He won't pose on demand so we've started asking really random questions just to get him to pose for us. "What's the 6th letter of the alphabet?"

Keeping up with Hyrum

Typical bedtime routine: jammies, drinks, story, prayer, jump on the bed, giggle in the dark, eventually fall asleep






We did put up and decorate our Christmas tree. Hyrum undecorated it. After 2 broken ornaments we decided to leave it his way.

Nathan loves to play Hide and Seek. He taught Hyrum a really great hiding place and now Hyrum will go there by himself and sit quietly until found. Of course it helps that he can entertain himself with a box full of dishwasher gel packs. He always leaves his feet sticking out because it is "gork" (dark) if he lets the doors close all the way.

Flower Endorphins

This morning I woke up with an unusual desire to exercise. I haven't done one bit of exercise in any form for over 2 weeks due to my injury. You wouldn't think that cutting off part of my finger would prevent me from aerobic activity but even a quick trip up the stairs or hurrying across the house to get the phone got my heart pumping just enough to bring on the painful throbbing in my open growing wound.

Who starts exercising 1 week before Christmas? Isn't that supposed to come 1 week after Christmas in a determination to repent of the past year of exercise ignorance? Well, what motivated me to exercise this morning was the constant puffy state that I have been living in. You know, the one that is brought on by too many carbs and sugars and not near enough greens and veggies. I decided I was sick of living on the verge of a headache and I was the only one who could take control of it.

I stuck in a new DVD that was given to me for my birthday:

I nearly died this morning! As my heart started pumping I was able to ignore the slight increase of throbbing in my finger but what really got to me was the sugar slugging through my system, reminding me of the 2 week emotional binge that I had succumbed to. Previously I had been able to make it through the entire 45 minute torture but this morning I barely made it through 30 minutes and plopped to the ground in an attempt to stretch my exhausted muscles.

As I lay there I realized the obvious: my abs have sagged to flabs, I have jiggles in places that haven't jiggled since my last baby was born, I was so out of breath that I sounded like a panting dog, and I might not make it off the floor for the rest of the day. All because of 2 weeks neglect? Really, it has been complete neglect for the last 2 weeks but prior to that I was only halfheartedly giving any attention to my physical needs. And now I am paying for it. So one week before Christmas I am determined to get this saggy body toned up.

If any of you show up at my door this week you better have a bag of carrots NOT a plate of sugar. The kids have strict orders to eat, hide or throw away any sugar that comes our way BEFORE they tell me who brought what.

I headed upstairs to put together a healthy breakfast for myself, feeling a bit discouraged at the acceptance of what I have let happen to myself, and this is what I saw:

How could I not be cheered by this? It is the middle of winter and on my kitchen counter sits a vase of gorgeous summer blossoms in all of my favorite colors! I don't think any happy endorphins made their way through my sugar sludge system during my 30 minute attempt at exercise but one look at this beautiful evidence of love sent a surge of happiness that healed my battered attitude and put a smile on my face. No long could I droop in my lazy past.

As I made breakfast I thought back 2 days to the special delivery that came to my door. It was a long box from a flower company (of course not anything from Rexburg, since there seem to only be 4 flowers available in our frozen city). Inside were special instructions for clipping, watering and arranging the buds so that 12-24 hours later they would blossom into a full bouquet of color. Even the setting up of the flowers was a gift. I felt like I was out in my garden. I loved clipping the stems and carefully putting it all together. It seemed like such a summery thing to do, which I completely enjoyed as I mentally put on hold the cold gloomy winter awaiting me outside.

If a watched pot never boils it could also be said that a watched bud never blossoms. I went to bed imagining what they might look like the next morning. Throughout the next day the tightly closed buds began to open their colorful petals and by the time I went to bed the 2nd night I was catching a glimpse of just how beautiful they would be in full bloom. The next morning when I dragged my tired body upstairs and saw them sitting on the counter they took my breath away and put an immediate smile on my face.

The typed card that came with the flowers didn't have a name on it. For 2 days I wondered who would have sent me such a wonderful surprise. It was an enlightening exercise realizing that I have many wonderful friends and family members who would do something so thoughtful. I really could not pick out one person that I could absolutely be sure had done it. Then in an e-mail exchange I found out that it was my sister-in-law. Jessica, you gave more than flowers. You relieved my discouragement and brightened my spirit after a very tough month. Thank you!

What Shall We Give?

Tears of Unspeakable Love

There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of

weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently

than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of

overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of

unspeakable love.

~Washington Irving

Today my tears flow from the fountain of unspeakable love. The love that I feel from others; the love that I feel for others; the love that I feel from the One who defines pure love. Through simple yet profound acts of charity "I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love". (2 Nephi 1:15)

Show and Tell

I never did post the finished project that I did in quilt class last spring. This post, Quilt Class, will remind you of it. So here is my star table runner hanging on the dining room wall.

My goal was to get it finished by July 4th because a lot of my family was going to be at the house that week. With so much hand quilting to do it took determined effort but I got it done during the last week of June. I was initially going to paint stars on the wall to save on money but when I went to the local craft store for something else I saw that all stars were 50% off so I bought metal stars and painted them instead of the wall. I love the three-d effect.

Now we have started a new project. I love this class because I learn so much! With this project we are learning how to do foundation paper piecing. It really makes me wish I had learned or understood geometry better. Once I could wrap my brain around all the different layers and how the shapes would flip and lay, I got pretty good at.

Start with shapes and paper patterns.

The shapes are sewn directly to the paper in a numbered order creating 8 triangles which are then sewn into 4 triangles, then 2 half circles. I think I held my breath during this entire sewing process. I was afraid that the points wouldn't be lined up or that I'd get a piece in the wrong place or that my circle would be lopsided but with the paper piecing it all worked out perfectly.


Once they are all sewn the points come together and now I need to choose a background fabric.

This is what I'm leaning towards right now. Why am I always stuck on green or red? By the time I add a flying geese border and the edging it will end up as a square wall hanging, somewhere near 36x36. I'm thinking of hanging it in the stairwell on that big empty wall.


And if you remember this post, Sew Crazy, it was the beginning of a new hobby. Actually, it is a stress reliever for me. My family has no idea that when I am downstairs sewing it is usually a pretty good sign that I'm ignoring something else. I really do not like choosing fabric but I love putting it all together.

I tried to turn my hobby into profit when my sister in law, Jessica, offered to take them to the craft fair in Lava that she had a booth in. It didn't turn into much of a profit but sales did bring in enough to cover all of the fabric I had bought so I guess if I sell more that is where the profit will come in. My problem is that I'm not good at trying to sell them, I like giving them away. I did set up an etsy store but I need to get the pictures and descriptions loaded. I'll get around to it when the mood hits. Then, hopefully, it won't feel like my hobby is turning into a job.

Here are some of the bags I've done this fall. (The flower in some of them was just covering the ugly nail that they were hanging on.)


The first set ready to go to the fair

I liked this one when I got it finished so I kept it for myself. I had just enough fabric for a second one for the craft fair.

I had 2 of these and the same lady bought both of them at the craft fair. Either she was giving one away or didn't want anyone else on earth to have one like hers.

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I touched up the pictures to post this on etsy but when I learned that Kara really liked it, I gave it to her instead. Giving is so much more rewarding than selling!

. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .
My first listing on the esty store. I actually have something listed!

The front . . .


and the back

I gave this one that I gave away as a Bunco gift when I hosted in November

Bunco gift

Bunco gift

Bunco gift

One side . . .

and the other side

This is the one I made for Caytlyn for her birthday. She loves anything orange or with a peace sign so I did both. This is also the one that I was in a hurry to finish and lost part of my finger to. This was also my first sewing machine applique project. Thanks so much for the instructions and personal training Jessica!

One side. . .

and the other side.

Someday I might get this one up on etsy. It was a new pattern that I wanted to try and I really liked it. It was simple to do, is a great size and can be easily changed for a variety of looks.

I did this one simply because I love the fabric. Also for etsy. The picture is lousy so I'll have to have a little photo shoot with it to get the listing ready.

I just gave one to mom for her birthday but I forgot to take pictures. She already had one of the very first ones that I made but since then I have learned to adjust the sizes to be a little more practical and comfortable, I've added pockets (most bags now have 3-6 pockets sewn into the lining), and all of my bags now had a magnetic clasp for privacy. She had requested one in black and white and I loved it so much that I may make one for myself.


I'm sure with a closet like this there will be many more to come.


I even have a few ideas coming together.

If only my bulky, bandaged finger didn't get in the way and throb so much while sewing!

The Spirit of Giving

We received a phone call that showed up as "private caller" on our caller ID.

"Merry Christmas. Go to the front porch."

We were given a huge box of food. I was surprised to see the reaction from the kids. It wasn't a box of treats or toys but a box of everyday practical foods that we use. A great moment where the gift itself doesn't matter near as much as the feelings it created, that someone thought of us and took the time and secrecy to deliver it was more meaningful than the food itself.

We are pretty sure we know who did it because every item in the box is something that is used frequently at our house or something that we have run out of lately, even down to Erika's favorite brand of Wassail. Which means that the foods chosen would have been suggested by teenage friends, Sisters who are always over at our house. I am so impressed at the details they noticed and passed on to their parents as they put it all together. Or we have no idea who did it and they were just very inspired to know what would be used at our house. Either way, we have great friends!

Another gift that appears so simple reveals hours and hours and hours of detailed work. My grandma started this tradition with her kids and grandkids and now that she is gone my mom has picked up the tradition. Each of these Christmas stockings is cross-stitched and has our names on them. There is so much love sewn into them!

When LeRoy and I were first married we used to daydream about our future home. I always said I wanted a fireplace. And now I have it. I love having all of the stockings hung, the garland and lights on the mantle and the fire below. It is a favorite reading place that we all congregate to in the evenings

I met my mom in Idaho Falls today and she brought Nathan's stocking with her. He was so excited. Actually, to take the picture I had to sneak into his room and gently pull it from his snuggled up arms. He was thrilled to have a stocking with his name on it and to brag to the other kids that grandma gave it to him. Thanks for continuing the tradition mom! I can't possibly express enough gratitude for the hours you have spent and the hours you will spend in the future doing Hyrum's stocking. We will treasure them forever.