Sleepover

On Friday night, Annie and Sophie had a sleepover at our house. Both of our families had already been to a ward activity and wedding reception, so the sleepover got under way a little bit late.

Sophie said, "I look like Medusa." :)

The girls all watched a movie (which was a tiny bit scary for the first 3 minutes but then not scary at all.) It was Junior Detective or something like that. I just thought Michelle and Sophie's faces were too cute and funny.

The next morning, Max came over and joined us for breakfast: eggs, hash browns, pancakes, strawberries, and bagels. Then a bit later, Kate also came over to play. The kids played outside for several hours. They jumped on the trampoline, played on the zipline, etc. They also pulled all of the cushions off the couch and jumped onto them and made a fort out of them.

Alfredo had purchased a tv 6 months ago, and it recently developed a 3 inch line down the middle. Since it had a warranty, he was able to return it and get a new tv yesterday. The kids also played for quite awhile with the tv box. They had a fun day playing with friends.

Women of Faith

There is a book by this title that I've been planning to read for awhile. I still haven't gotten to it. But I feel the need to record my own thoughts about several women of faith that I am fortunate to know.

Today we sang "Each Life that Touches Ours for Good" in Sacrament Meeting. Then shortly after church, I was cooking dinner and turned on the Sounds of the Sabbath on the radio. And playing was "Each Life that Touches Ours for Good". I think I needed to hear and reflect on that song today.

Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, no. 293

1. Each life that touches ours for good
Reflects thine own great mercy, Lord;
Thou sendest blessings from above
Thru words and deeds of those who love.

2. What greater gift dost thou bestow,
What greater goodness can we know
Than Christlike friends, whose gentle ways
Strengthen our faith, enrich our days.

4. For worthy friends whose lives proclaim
Devotion to the Savior’s name,
Who bless our days with peace and love,
We praise thy goodness, Lord, above.

Text: Karen Lynn Davidson, b. 1943. © 1985 IRI
Music: A. Laurence Lyon, b. 1934. © 1985 IRI

I love this song, and I have been fortunate enough to have my life touched by so many Christlike "friends whose lives proclaim devotion to the Savior's name."

I feel the desire to write about a few of them and why I admire them. This is in no way a complete list. There are so many more women that I admire and love. I could probably make a list of 50 or more women that have touched my life in the present or past. But that would take more time than I have, so perhaps I will revisit this again in the future and add some others.

First and foremost is my own mother. There are so many things I could say about her. But the things that stand out the most are her patience and trust in the Lord. My mom is such a calm, patient person. She never raised her voice at us or yelled at us as children. I wish I stayed that calm all of the time. My parents divorced right before I turned 14. It was hard on all of us. Especially my mom, I am sure. But she was so amazingly strong and forgiving. That next fall, I went to youth conference at Camp LoMia. The leaders asked each girl's parents to write to them. My mom wrote me a beautiful letter that I have saved ever since. It was written on November 8, 1990. In part this is what she wrote: "One day when I was really depressed the Spirit spoke to me and said, "Everything will be ok." ...I don't know yet what the "everything will be ok" really means. I just know I have to be patient and trust in the Lord that He knows what is best for me. If I have faith in Him, everything will be okay...I know it is really important for all of us to strive to be happy now and live the very best we can so we're worthy to receive the blessings we need." I have reread this letter many times in my life when I was struggling and have tried to follow my mom's example of faith and trust.

I have two sisters; I am the oldest. Rebecca is two years younger, and she has 3 children...the same ages as my three children. She and her husband are incredible parents. They have two special needs kids. My nephew and nieces have food sensitivities and have very special diets. My niece was recently diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. My sister is such a tremendous advocate and support for her children. She loves them and wants what is best for them and works so hard to make sure they get what they need. She spends many hours each week preparing food because they are on special diets. She spends many more hours each week working with her 4 year old on speech and other therapies. These children are amazing, special children with strong spirits. They are incredibly gifted and full of intellectual curiosity so she is also constantly answering questions and seeking books about topics of interest to them. I am sure I don't fully realize how difficult some days are for my sister, physically and emotionally draining. And yet, my sister knows how important her role is as their mother and she continues to do all she can for them. She sacrifices for her children as much as anyone I know, and they are so very fortunate to have her and her husband. They are truly incredible people with strong commitments to the gospel. She has been blogging about her experiences, and I am touched every time I read what she writes. Heavenly Father has given her some very difficult challenges, but she is strong enough to deal with them through Heavenly Father's help and guidance. On top of being such an amazing mom, she is also a talented photographer and a truly beautiful, wonderful woman. I know she is my younger sister, but I look up to her.

My other sister, Suzy, is just as incredible. She has a bachelors degree in history and editing and an MBA. She plays the piano beautifully. She runs marathons. She is a wonderful aunt to my girls and she is so thoughtful to come up here to visit regularly, even though we aren't that great about driving to visit her. (She lives in Orem.) She often brings little gifts to my girls, and she comes to nearly all of their concerts and other events. She moved here from AZ a year ago, and it has been wonderful to have her close. She was just called to serve the Mia Maids in her ward, as well as to be the choir pianist. She will be great at both. She hasn't had the opportunity to marry yet, although we all hope that is in her near future. But she is a wonderful example of faith. She attends the temple regularly. She fills her life with rich activities. She is so talented.

I have a dear friend in my neighborhood that I love named Aly. She always seems to know when I've had a bad day or just need a kind word. She'll either send me an email telling me how much she loves me or tell me something kind about myself. She watches Gabby for me while I work, and I know she loves Gabby nearly as much as I do. And Gabby loves her and her family. Every once in a while when I come to pick up Gabby, she'll have dinner ready for my family. On a night a few weeks ago, when I had worked long hours for SEP conferences and my kids had the next day off but I had to work, she asked if they could sleep over and then I would get a little break. I had book club that night and wouldn't have been able to go since Alfredo was working late, but thanks to her kind offer, I was able to go. She lets me complain about my job when I've had a bad day (as does Alfredo, thank goodness!). She is genuinely kind. I also love that she gets really interested in a subject and totally immerses herself in it for awhile...and then moves on to something else. I think she sometimes thinks this is a bad quality, but I think it is great. I've learned things from her that I wouldn't otherwise, and she has taught her kids a lot about things that she is passionate about. She is one of the best friends I could ask for. I love her and her family. People love to be around her because she makes everyone feel good. I know that I was inspired to ask Aly to watch Ella and Gabby. I know that she was an answer to my prayers...when her name came to mind, I didn't want to ask because she was homeschooling at the time and I didn't want to interfere with that. But I felt really impressed that I should ask. And it has been such a huge blessing for us to have her watch Ella for a few months and Gabby for 2 1/2 years now. I often give thanks to my Heavenly Father for that answer to my prayers.

One other person that I feel inspired to write about today is Sara. Sara is an inspiration to me. She has eight children, three of whom she adopted. It is an incredible story. Sara is one of the best moms I know...she is incredible with her 8 kids, and they are all great kids. She faithfully holds FHE, scripture study, and family prayer in addition to managing dance, soccer, and other activities for 8 children. This is just remarkable to me. But it is her spirit that is most remarkable. Just like Aly, people are drawn to Sara. She notices others and listens to them and really makes everyone feel important and good when they are around her. She also is so good at recognizing the Lord's hand in her life and documenting it. She is diligent in serving the Lord and prioritizing what matters most. She is a constant example to me.

I am truly thankful to be surrounded by so many great women who have touched my life in countless ways. As I said, this is only a small selection. I talk about how great my neighborhood is with others at work and often say things about how nice my neighbors are or that we have an annual Christmas street party or that my kids have friends. And those are all real reasons I love my neighborhood. But it goes much deeper than that. I am surrounded by women of faith (and men of faith) and that makes this a perfect place to live.

Cornbellys

Yesterday, we spent a couple of hours at Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point. My kids and I went with Brenda and Polly. Brenda and Polly are the other two second grade teachers that I work with. They are both great. We are each different, but we work so well together. Brenda and I have been teammates for 6 of the past 7 years. This is the third year that Polly and I have been teammates, and the second year that Brenda was with us. We are all young, we all have kids, and we have similar teaching styles and similar teaching philosophies. We're a great team! Brenda and I do things together fairly regularly since her daughter and Ella are in the same class and are good friends. So a few days ago, we were talking about Cornbellys and told Polly she should come with us.

It was a lot of fun.
Polly has two girls. Sophie is 3 1/2 and Finlay is 9 months old. Brenda's daughter Aelora is 7. (Unfortunately, neither of the photos I took of Brenda or Polly are that flattering. The sun was bright.)

Gabby's comments about Cornbellys: "You know my favorite part of Cornbellys? You know that hay? That hay stack? I liked that part cause you get to climb up it. I like climbing up stuff."
Me: What else did you like about Cornbellys?
Gabby: "Eating a hot dog."
Me: Did you like getting your face painted?
Gabby: It said BYU. I liked when she sprayed and I had to close my eyes. (to put glitter on the face paint)."

Ella's comments about Cornbellys: "So the thing that I liked going in the dinosaur and like there were like these things shooting out and it was like water shooting out but it wasn't water. It was just nothing. And I liked where the big haunted house but it wasn't actually haunted because it was morning, so we were walking and walking and me and my friend Aelora were running so fast that we got lost but then this lady said, "Is your name Ella?" and I"m all like, "Yes." and she's all like, "They are calling for you." I'm all like, "Thank you." Then Brenda was all like, "Where's Aelora?" and um, I'm like, "I don't know cause she was running faster than me and I was trying to stay with the group but there was a person that was like next to me and so I stayed with that person and I said, "Aelora, come back," but she didn't listen and so then they found Aelora. She was way ahead." Me: What else did you like?
Ella: There was another maze. And so there were these little gates for the maze, and we were going one way and Michelle went another way. She went into the shortcut so she was way ahead, but we didn't lose her. So we tried to catch up to her, and we did eventually. It was very fun. But there were all these little dead ends and we had two dead ends and then we found our way out. It was really fun. I liked the bouncy houses. One of the bouncy houses had these little spikes and like a maze and then we had to go under and then jump on this tall one or you could go under but it was funner to go on the top because like you were the queen. I saw Brenda and you (Mom). Then at the last part of the jumpy house there was a part you had to squeeze through. It was so hard. And sometimes, you almost could never get through. You can't even breathe in there!"
Note to self: Work on removing the word "like" from Ella's speech or at least decreasing its use.

Michelle's comments about Cornbellys:
"I liked it because I was with some friends. It had some cool things to do. We went into this dinosaur thingy and me and Ella were so scared and we wanted to go again with Aelora, but then we saw the haunted house and we went in and you can't hear echoes (it's soundproofed). Then we went into another haunted house thing. You kept going into dead ends. I also liked the train ride. It was funny to see the Shrek scarecrow and it had some other fairy tale characters. Some kids in a school did it. Then I liked how they had these wood places to buy and play in. (Play structures) One was $2,111.69 or something like that. I liked the little singing animals. They were funny. I saw my little sister having fun there. I also liked the baby tricycles. They were too big for little kids, and just right for a little bit bigger kids."
.

Silly girls

Conversation between Gabby and her friends while with my good friend Sara. I stole this from Sara's facebook page.....

Gabby: Gracie, do you know flu shots?
Gracie: No.
Gabby: You get it in your nose.
Gracie: Oh yeah, I saw a girl wearing one of those before.
Gabby: Me too.
Sofie: I have no idea what you guys are talking about.

So cute. Gabby and her sisters got flu "shots" in August, but they were able to get the flumist which is a nasal spray. It was awesome. Gracie, we think, was picturing/describing someone with a nose ring. Sofie, obviously, was confused by the whole conversation. I adore all of these girls. Gracie was in my Sunbeams class last year, and Sofie is in it with Gabby right now. Love them!

However, on the same day that this silly conversation occurred, I got pretty angry with Gabby. While I was cleaning the kitchen and overseeing the older two girls' homework, Gabby was playing with Sofie. When I walked into my room, Sofie and Gabby had colored all over the wall with marker. I mean, all over. And Gabby had just gotten in trouble two nights before for coloring on the wall. I quickly grabbed wet towels and made them start scrubbing. They were more than half way done when it occurred to me that I should grab my camera and take a photo. So you really can't tell what artists they are! Argh. But I'm pretty sure she learned her lesson. She loves to play with Sofie, Gracie, and our neighbor Alyssa. I told her if she colored on any more walls, not only would she have to clean them, but she wouldn't be able to play with friends for 3 days. To a 4 year old, 3 days is an eternity. So hopefully, all artwork will be on paper from this point on.

Treehouse Museum

It is UEA weekend, a five day weekend for my girls and I. I am really enjoying the time off with my kids. Since I have laryngitis right now, the break came at an opportune time for me.

Yesterday, we went to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden. We have been to this children's museum before, but it has been about two years. I wasn't sure if Michelle would still enjoy it or if she'd feel like she was too big. But she had a great time. All three of the girls did.

They played in the Great Britain house for quite awhile...cooking and cleaning in the kitchen.

Gabby played with dinosaurs while Michelle, Ella and I drew dinosaurs.

They played school, they "rode" horses, Michelle put on a puppet show. Gabby played with farm animals and farm equipment. They played with musical instruments. They pretended to be President, put together a flag puzzle, played a game with the map of the US where it gave facts and they went to stand on the place it described. We made little pumpkin books in the art room. They giggled, talked, created, imagined, and played happily for a little over two hours. It was fun to watch them interact with each other, and fun to see Gabby go off on her own at times and do her own thing. It is fun to see them be little kids, as I know that I don't have too much longer with Michelle being little. She is heading into her tween years and already balances between being fairly mature and responsible and still being an innocent, fun-loving child.

Conference

What a wonderful conference this was! I felt the spirit so strongly during so many talks and kept thinking, "Oh this is my favorite." And then thinking it again during the next talk and then the next. I really did LOVE Elder Holland's talk. He gave a similar talk at the MTC and our Bishop had shared the talk with us in July. It really touched me then, and it touched me again today. It really was one of my favorites, but there were many others that were excellent and that I needed to hear. President Eyring's talk was also wonderful and helpful. And I loved Sister Burton's talk, "Observe and then serve."

Usually, I print out activities for my kids to do during conference, but I didn't this time. But we do have a binder of coloring pages that are gospel related that my mom gave us. So they spent a lot of time coloring. Near the end of the last session, Michelle started drawing pictures of the speakers on the white board. Some of them were quite good. My sister Suzy spent the day with us, so she and I each did a little coloring along with the kids. Ella, Suzy and I each colored a page of hearts which Ella wanted to show off.

I feel a great desire to recommit myself to living the gospel fully. I was touched by one speaker that talked about how often we wear our busyness as a badge of honor. But if we reflect on the ministry of the Master, our Savior, he was never too busy to teach or to serve. He was not going from place to place frenetically. I need to slow down at times and make sure I am available for my friends and family. I need to "observe and serve". I liked the counsel to begin each day with a prayer to have an opportunity to bless someone's life...and then to look for those opportunities and take them. Because if we look and listen, we will get these opportunities to serve. I want to be better at meeting other's needs outside of my own family, although it is also noble and important to meet their needs. I want to be certain that I don't get so worried about test scores and data that I don't have time to listen or help my students to know that they are unique and special. I am quite certain that many of the opportunities I have had and will have to serve come while I am at work. I want to be more aware of the promptings I receive and to follow them.

(And by the way, the threshold ritual at home and work is really helping! I don't always remember, every day, to stop at the door and repeat a mantra. But I remember most days and it really helps me to feel gratitude for my blessings. I've decided to change my mantra every month or two, and my wonderful mom sent me several I can use. Thanks, Mom! You're the best. Right now, I am repeating a saying that I've loved for a long time... "Children are God's way of telling you that tomorrow is beautiful." (Anonymous)... and not only is tomorrow beautiful, but today is too. I try to use that to remind myself what a blessing this stage of life is and that it passes all too quickly.)

I want to be certain that my life is a testament to my love for my Savior and my Heavenly Father. I want to be certain that Christ will know the answer to his query of Peter, "Lovest thou me?" I want to be able to answer with certainty, "Yea, Lord, thou knowest I love thee." And I want to feel certain that He does know I love Him, because I have served Him all of my life. I want to feel certain that I have taught my children to love Him.

As I was listening, a song that I learned when I was in the Young Women's program (many years ago) came back to me. We sang this for some program and even learned some sign language to go with it. It is called "Hands of Heaven" and was written by Julie De Azevedo.

"Easing a burden, putting a broken heart together again, guiding a lost friend home...We are the hands of heaven on Earth. Reaching out to each other through our good works. We know the Lord is there. And through us He can answer prayers. We are His hands. The hands of heaven on Earth."

I want this song to describe me...to describe the life I live. I have a long way to go, but I'm going to try harder.

Craft fail, but treat fun

Michelle brought home a book from the library called Hello, Cupcake! This is the second baking cookbook she's checked out this year. Because I'm a fun mom (albeit not a crafty or artistic one), I said we could try one of these cupcakes. So we made cupcakes and tried to decorate them like adorable little Westies. The girls wanted to use food coloring in the frosting, but we only had green but I knew the cupcakes weren't actually going to look much like Westies, so I let them. Well, I will not show any pictures of the cupcakes. They didn't resemble any kind of dog at all. Michelle thought hers looked like a hamster. Frankly, I think they just looked like a big mess. But the kids had fun and they tasted good.
Gabby had a great time smearing frosting on her cupcakes...and her hands and face. She was covered in the stuff.

I will never be known as a crafty person. Some of you may think I am exaggerating my lack of craftiness, but I assure you I am not. I like to go to Super Saturdays to socialize but for the most part I have given up on actually doing the crafts. They just never turn out well for me. I do not paint well. I am not good at getting things centered or even. I am impatient. I don't have a steady hand. I don't enjoy most crafty things (although I used to love to scrapbook...and plan to return to it someday) and certainly don't enjoy the results I get when I attempt most crafts.

But oh well, as a mom perhaps this lack of perfection is a good thing at times. If I'd really cared about having the cupcakes look like Westies, I would have insisted on doing it myself. I would have been disappointed that they didn't turn out. I wouldn't have allowed my kids to make such a mess or have such a good time. Instead I laughed and giggled and smiled at our efforts but didn't worry about our results.

New Clothes

As I've mentioned, my girls wear uniforms to school. But they do get choice day on Fridays, so we bought a few new outfits for them for school. And since Gabby is going to preschool two days a week, she also got a few new outfits. They were so happy to get some new clothes. They picked a couple of outfits out. Then another day, after school started, I went shopping with Gabby while the girls were at a friend's house. They were very pleased with the new shirts I bought them. I can tell it won't be long before they don't want me to shop for them without them being there, so I was glad they were so pleased with what I bought. They were thrilled to try on one of the outfits and get their pictures taken with it on.