Fire cracker!

Today, at the end of Sacrament meeting, it occurred to me that I might want to start preparing Sariah for the inevitable change in Sunday School teachers that will happen next week. I did this by telling her that she will no longer be in the youngest class, but will be one of the bigger kids and that she will need to be an example to those little kids coming in to Primary for the first time. Her eyes lit up and she smiled and told me that she could sit still and be an example. Then, what do you know, when we actually got into Primary (I sit two rows back from her with the six year olds), she is rocketing out of her seat, pulling on her teacher's tie, poking his baby and talking with an unusually loud voice. The teacher in front of me (bless her soul, she will teach Sariah next year) actually turned around laughing in amazement at what was going on. Next time, I think I'll keep my mouth shut rather that "preparing" her for future adjustments!!!

The picture at the top is typical Sariah pose for pictures. She will ask me to take her picture and this is what we get. She is exuberant about life. What can I say?!

Jump Rope Club

May joined her school's Jump Rope Club a couple of months ago. When she started out, she was what is known as a "non-jumper." Since then she has been working hard and can do some amazing tricks. It was hard to take pictures because the lighting was poor enough that I needed to use the night picture option which excluded the action picture option.

May appeared in several of the groups that performed and did amazing tricks like: pretzel, front-cross, and squat. I was dazzled by the whole show. They will continue practice and perform again in the spring, hopefully out-of-doors so that I can get some better pictures!
(That's May doing "squat" in the middle. See how fast they move??!!)

Learning letters

I don't worry too much about teaching my kids the alphabet. That is, I don't worry too much until the August before they enter Kindergarten (except Nathan, of course, being the first kid, knew them when he was two). They've all picked up on it pretty quickly. Sariah will go to Kindergarten next year and I'm way ahead of my game here already teaching her letters.

I can't really take credit though. My sister recommended a DVD called "Leapfrog Letter Factory" that her kids had been enjoying to learn their letters. I can't recommend it enough. In just 2-3 weeks Sariah knows every letter and all their sounds. She has graduated to "Leapfrog Talking Words Factory." This DVD teaches kids that vowels stick words together and helps kids put sounds together to make simple three letter words. Sariah enjoys music and these DVDs do use music to teach kids their letters. I've also been surprised at my other kids wanting to watch these shows. I personally didn't find them very entertaining, but the kids love them.

I'm having fun teaching Sariah. I had fun quizzing her on her letters and also I found these cute letter cookies at the dollar store and I would pick through them every day before she went down to watch her DVD so she'd have one cookie of each letter to eat as she watched the part about that letter.

She's also starting to read a little, just the kind where they memorize the book, then point at the words as they go through the book. May and Elijah both did this in their Kindergarten classroom. I don't know what that's called. It's not whole word recognition, because she doesn't really recognize most words.

On top of that, the other kids are teaching her addition, subtraction and even some multiplication. I'm wondering if she will have any use for Kindergarten once she gets there! I've been blessed with kids who love to learn!

I Will

Yesterday was my 15th wedding anniversary! That's so amazing to me. We celebrated on an off year, taking a week-long trip after our 13th anniversary two years ago! But this post is dedicated to Joseph:

I Will

Who knows how long I've loved you
D'you know I love you still
Will I wait a lonely lifetime
If you want me to I will

For if I ever saw you
I didn't catch your name
But it never really mattered
I will always feel the same

Love you forever and forever
Love you with all my heart
Love you whenever we're together
Love you when we're apart

And when at last I find you
Your song will fill the air
Sing it loud so I can hear you
Make it easy to be near you
Cause the things you do endear you to me
Oh, you know I will

TOFFEE break!

I'm on toffee break right now. If you've never made toffee, you don't know that it's really pretty easy to do. Here's the recipe, copied out of the Tightwad Gazette 10 years ago:

Toffee
1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 semi-sweet chocolate chips

Butter an 8 inch square pan. Spread chopped walnuts in the pan. (NOTE: I sprinkle the walnuts over the chocolate, which also means I used less, about 1/4 cup!) Heat the butter and sugar and boil over medium heat in a 1 quart sauce pan, stirring constantly. Do this until mixture darkens and just begins to smoke, about 7 minutes. Immediately pour mixture over walnuts. Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over hot mixture and put a cookie sheet over the top to hold in the heat so it melts the chips. Spread chocolate with a knife. Score into 1 1/2 inch squares while warm. Refrigerate. Break into squares when cool.


I made several batches of toffee last year for the teachers at the end of school. Joseph and I decided that this would be a good gift for the people in his office at that time. I didn't know what I was agreeing to do!

I've tried to keep this Christmas season low key. It's been nice that we are taking a small vacation instead of gift giving within our family. There is something about me though. I must need a certain amount of stimulation to exist because there HAS to be a bunch of work for me to do around certain holidays and birthdays. If the work isn't naturally there, then I create it!

It turns out that I needed to make 27 batches of toffee so that Joseph can give it to the people he manages. Here are some statistics:

**1 batch of toffee takes 7 minutes to cook and stir
**27 batches of toffee means over three hours of stirring
**1 batch of toffee has 2033 calories
**27 batches of toffee have 54,891 calories which translates to 15 pounds (not including the water retention from so much sugar and sodium!)
**It takes two days from dawn to dusk doing little else than processing toffee to make and package 27 batches of toffee.
**A box of chocolates costs $7. My toffee costs $2.50 per box. Theoretically, I just saved myself $121.50!!

Lost Glove

This morning I feel like pulling my hair out or screaming. Instead I grumped at my kids all morning and came here to vent. Yesterday, the kids went out into the snow to play for a while. When they came in they dumped their snow stuff where they pleased. This morning, Elijah is missing one of his gloves. This is the same boy who has recently lost two right handed gloves from different pairs of gloves. So, I bought him this nice $13 pair of gloves that are oh so warm. Of course, the glove HAS to be somewhere and I'm SURE we'll find it, although it may be next spring! You would think I was in luck because he actually lost the left glove. But this boy won't wear a mismatch. Nathan doesn't seem to mind. He'll pull on two different socks and not even blink. Elijah is very particular. I picked up two socks this morning that were actually a mismatch, but looked very similar. Elijah looked carefully over them to make sure he could wear them together. UUGGGHHH!

Love One Another

Today as I was teaching my Primary class (Sunday school), I had a new insight. The lesson was called "I Can Be Kind" and included studying the parable of the Good Samaritan. I love teaching children about the words in the scriptures. I love stopping and telling them the meanings of words and helping them understand what's happening. I love seeing their faces light up as they understand and then asking questions and hearing their answers. After we got the story of the Samaritan under our belts, I challenged them to take their pictures home and ask their parents if they could tell the story in Family Home Evening. Great fun!

I then read another few verses that were suggested and had an a-ha! moment for myself. John 13:34-35, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love on to another." I had somehow been mixed up most of my life. I had thought that people would notice me following Jesus because I didn't drink coffee, tea or alcohol. I thought people would notice me being a disciple because I tried hard to keep the Sabbath day holy. I thought that paying ten percent of my income to the church and hence to the Lord, was a sign of a disciple. I thought that refraining from gambling, swearing and instead reading the word of God and saying my prayers was proof of me being a disciple of Jesus. Don't get me wrong, I still think that all of these things are important, but for a much different reason than before.

I realized today that it is my love for others that defines my discipleship. Love, love, LOVE! I was thinking about it this afternoon after church and it occurred to me that doing those other things leaves me open to loving more. If I avoid addictive substances, avoid being an addict, I can spend my time caring for others that would have been trapped in endless self-absorption. If I keep the Sabbath day holy, I rest from the hubbub of week-day life long enough to regenerate and rest my physical body and feed myself spiritually so that I'm more open to being there for other people. If I read my scriptures and pray, I will make myself more open to knowing and understanding the word of God and hearing the Spirit, becoming prepared to serve and love others.

I know that I will struggle with this concept as I've had it mixed up for most of my life, but I'm so impressed at what I've learned today. It amazes me, truly. How many times have I read that verse (or sung the song "Love One Another"), and not understood?

"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." (italics added)

Tantrums and Accents

Brigham actually started drinking a bottle at age 12 months which is pretty crazy I know. I chalk it up to the things parents do to get a little serenity. He usually gets by with three bottles of soy milk per day. Lately he asks for more. Maybe it's because he's communicating better. His solid eating habits are still iffy enough that I don't really want to give him more than 24 oz. of milk a day. Yesterday he was asking for "ba ba" and I decided to put water in the bottle. I told him this and also gave the sign for water. He was distraught. His tantrum wasn't loud at all though. He looked like he was praying to Allah. He laid on the ground with his bum in the air, arms stretched forward and forehead on the ground!

Another funny story. I have been doing a big project that gives me some tv time. I have been watching DVD's of BBC productions of Elizabeth Gaskell books, George Eliot books, and of course, Jane Austen books. There are lots of good ones out there that I hadn't even realized existed. (Ask me if you want some recommendations!) I usually do this during Brigham's naps and Sariah will play upstairs or sometimes she'll come downstairs and play where I am. I can tell that she's been listening. As she was playing with her Webkinz yesterday, she was using different voices for her different animals. One of her pets had a distinct British accent! What a clever child.

December 11, 1972

1972 must have been an important year because my favorite jeans have this label:


I wouldn't normally call attention to my own birthday (my parents and siblings could tell you otherwise!), but my family made me feel so special that I just had to write about it.

First off, I have to own to being 35 years old. It doesn't seem too old, really. Now that fact is out I can tell you the rest.

We went out to dinner the night before my birthday this year. We are making a tradition of going to Frankenmuth, MI for my birthday. Once there, we go to Zehnder's which is a restaurant famous for their chicken. Considering the chicken I've eaten there for the last two years, I can see why. The decorations inside are spectacular. It really brings on the Christmas season! After Zehnder's we go to Bronner's which is the largest Christmas store in the world. We don't have too much time there because it closes at 9 pm, but the kids each get to choose one ornament from thousands! I like to look at the nativities. Inside, Bronner's is decorated to the hilt as I suppose it is every day of every year. There are such wonderful scenes to behold. Outside, they have decorated with thousands of lights, the trees have giant Christmas bulbs and there are large lighted nativities.

Then, yesterday, Nathan got his cello out first thing and played his newly acquired tune "Happy Birthday" after organizing the other kids to sing while he played. The kids stayed home from school yesterday because the van was making a funny noise and Joseph couldn't easily arrange his schedule to take the kids. They played while I baked carrot cake and pumpkin pie. Elijah made me this card:
May shared treats with me from her Achievement Days activity. My friend, Megan, dropped by with a Christmas cactus. It is supposed to flower on Christmas. I have never heard of such a plant and I'm excited about it. She told me it can be planted outdoors in the summer. I got a number of lovely phone calls including a very unexpected one from my Aunt Glenda. It was nice to take some time and chat with family members.

I received such lovely gifts. I got a new jewelry box, a snow globe with Mary, baby Jesus, and Joseph that plays "O Holy Night," chocolates, The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book, and this figurine below called "The Journey that Changed the World." (There's my jewelry box in the background.)
I had just been looking at this very thing in the Deseret Book mailer, but hadn't mentioned it. It was a very pleasant surprise and even though I hadn't planned on adding a nativity to my collection this year, I welcome this addition.

Once the kids were in bed, Joseph and I watched a movie called "The Christmas Card." It was ok, but it was real nice to spend the time with Joseph and my birthday was complete!

Laundry, Before and After

You probably know what it's like, "Mom, I can't find any pajamas in my drawer," or someone coming out in shorts and a t-shirt when the high temperature is forecasted at 22 degrees. That's when you have to do laundry...

A few months ago, I was rigidly sticking to my laundry one day per week method, which usually turned into three plus days by the time I got through. I decided to try to do three loads a day which is about what is needed in our household. It's not working great because although my kids have to put their own clothes away, I'm usually too busy to get to the rest which is mine to take care of and the love seat in our living room is almost perpetually full of laundry. I like it when people are coming over because it forces me to clear it off!

Last week, I stopped doing laundry on Thursday. I made it until today when I finally had to cave and get it done. Well, I deserve a break every now and again!!

So, here's the before (washing loads all day long):
And here's the after (20 minutes of folding):
What are your bets on how long these piles will stay here?

Two items of note

First, Nathan got his arrow of light in October, on his birthday, actually. He also got his religious square knot and several other Webelos pins. I was so pleased with his work and the greatest reward was that he was so pleased that he had done the work and earned the rewards. A great step forward for Boy Scouts! And, of course, I have to say, it was some work for me too and I learned a lot. (Bad mom. I didn't bring my camera to this event!)

Second, May ran her first 5K in November. I did bring my phone to this event and took pictures which hopefully I'll add in later this week. She was part of a program called Girls on the Run. The girls had two practices per week for about ten weeks with three wonderful coaches. They also learned valuable life lessons as they went along about encouraging others, thinking positive thoughts, saying no to drugs, exercising and eating healthy, among other things. The team spirit was wonderful and it was so fun to see young girls working so hard to achieve a goal. May wants to participate again. They have chapters all over the nation. Check into it for your girl. It's very worth-while!

Is it worth it?

I got motivated this weekend to get Christmas decorations out. The Primary chorister was talking about Christmas decorations last week and Sariah indignantly said that we didn't have any out. I didn't want a repeat of that! It does take me a while to get to it because I know I'm going to have to do some dusting. Ugh! (I put in pictures of my favorite nativities above). The kids still need to decorate their tree. We'll let them do that for family night tomorrow night. For a treat, it will be marshmallow popcorn. Have you tried that stuff yet? Pretty good! I think it's Jolly Time brand.

As I was unpacking the decorations, I asked Joseph if it was worth it to get these things out and put them away every year. He answered yes. I wasn't totally convinced. Then, today I got a couple of the really small nativities out and I remembered how May, when she was 16 months old, had to kiss the little baby Jesus from both sets and some of the animals too. She did this every night before bed. That was really cute. It's nice to have good memories tied to objects. I guess it's worth it after all!