Reading list

Sterling is building some beautiful new shelves for me downstairs. I'm so excited. In the meantime, my books and other assorted items are covering the basement floor. I'm hoping everything stays in one corner until we're finished. Camille organized everything into nice tidy piles. But this morning, it looks like several children, ages 4 and 1, went swimming in them this morning.

I have book club tonight. This month we read "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand. May I just say, it was AWESOME!!! I recommend it to anyone. Even Sterling is reading it. Can you believe it? The story is a true life story about a young man, who grew up a hellion and then focused his energy on running. As a record breaking,one-mile runner, his olympic dreams were put hold with the onset of World War II. His story is an amazing tale of survival as he survives his plane going down, sharks and weather in a raft, and POW camps in Japan. It is almost unbelievable what that man went through. Iin fact, I kept saying to Sterling. "I think some of this is made up. This cannot possibly be true. People just don't survive stuff like that. I'm not sure this is real." Its inspiring, that's what it is. Truly a must read.

Here are some of the other books I've been reading.

"Kira-Kira" is a Newberry Award winner. Its about 2 young japanese sisters and their struggles growing up in America where Japanese resentment is still strong post World War II. After reading "Unbroken" that takes on a new weight. Its a nice story but a little depressing. I'm not sure Sydney would enjoy it because its sad and a little slow moving.

"Book of Mormon", cuz its the best book.

"Founding Mothers".  This is the book for the library book club. The last one they chose, "The Last Cowgirl" was an interesting book but the language turned really bad the last 1/4 of the book. Rated R bad. I wouldn't recommend it. But I'm not talking about that book here. "Founding Mothers" I've just started and its a captivating look at the lives of the women who raised and supported the founding fathers. These women were extraordinary.

"Whispered Secret." I've also been reading the Leven Thumps books. I'm not in love with them. They are a little too outlandish for me and I feel like the story could be told in fewer words than 5 long books. I've made it through 3 and honestly, I'm not that compelled to finish the series.

"Midnight Pearls" and "Wild Orchid". These are re-tellings of The Little Mermaid and Mulan. I love fairy tale re-tellings. Love them. And these are good, quick, entertaining reads. Sydney is currently reading "Midnight Pearls" and is really enjoying it. I think she like the love story. :)

"Linger" is the 2nd in a series about werewolves. What can I say? Fantasy, anyone? The whole time I'm reading the first and second books I'm thinking, "Haven't I already read this story?" It kind of feels recycled. Its interesting and I must finish the series because at least its a strong enough story to make me want to know how it turns out, even if I don't think the writing is that great. But I'm weary of the high school/young adult love fest where you can't survive without each other. Life stops and all hell breaks loose if you have to be separated for more than a day. Give me a break. Life is bigger than that. And the protagonist guy is always writing lyrics to songs and sharing them with us. Boring. But, like I said, its a good enough story that I want to know how it turns out.

"Death Cure" is the much anticipated finale to the "Maze Runner" series and it is fantastic. I couldn't stop reading. I read it in 1 1/2 days. My only regret is that I didn't read book 2 before I started book 3. Dashner didn't do much background to catch me up to date so I'm sure I missed out on some of the intensity. But it was awesome. Exactly what any science fiction book should be. LOVED IT!

"Elements of Style" and "Bird by Bird".  The final two are just books about writing and I'm wanting to explore that talent and interest a little. Bless my mom's heart for encouraging and getting me these books for me for my birthday. I'm just now starting to think about opening them. I've scanned through them already and they look fantastic. Much more interesting than I thought they would be.

So there you have. My book list as of late.

Do you have any suggestions I should add?

Thanksgiving

Sterling put the Christmas lights up on Thanksgiving morning. First time in a few years. While he was up there, he looked down into one of our neighbor's yards and saw this....

Oh yeah. That's a major Thanksgiving dinner. Syd and I went over to drop off a few extra chairs they borrowed and get a closer look at the pigs. I love Sydney's face in these pictures.

Back at our home, we were on our own. Mom and Dad went to Ohio to visit Katie and others were with their in-laws. So, for the first time in my life, I cooked a turkey. All by my-big-grown-up-self. And I must say, it turned out AWESOME! Now, listen, we don't need to mention that I had to make twice as many pies. I HAD to because I messed up on the crust the pumpkin pie so they were demoted to banana cream. We had ALL the fixin's. Turkey, mashed potatoes, candied yams, green beans, stuffing and rolls. Inside the rolls we found small notes listing things we were thankful for. That was pretty awesome.

After Thanksgiving lunch/dinner was finished, we walked to the school and played wall-ball and played at the playground. It was nice to work off some of the yummy food. Then we returned home and ate our pies. Yum. We also snacked on these cute little turkeys the kids made earlier that day.

Friday, we visited with Sterling's family. We all took a walk along the Jordan River Parkway. Beautiful, even in the winter.

And there you have it. Food, Family and the great outdoors.

A successful holiday weekend.

pic:  2011 thanksgiving

critique, please

So I'm looking for some feedback on this story. Anyone, anyone?

“Hey, Mom. Can you sign this paper?” Geoff asked.

“Will you sign this paper,” Mom replied over her shoulder as she stirred the pot on the stove. “Is that what you mean?”

“Yeah, Mom. Will you sign this paper?” he said, impatiently. He was on a mission this Christmas Eve. A secret mission that could possibly lead him to the most important discovery he would ever make thus far in his nine years. He had started to hear rumors that Santa might not be real. He started to wonder, if Santa isn’t real, then who brings the presents? Who eats the cookies and cocoa we leave for him. This year, he was on a mission to find out who Santa really was.

Mom set the spoon down next to the stove and tousled Geoff’s hair with one hand as she took the pen in the other. “What am I signing?” she asked.

“Oh, just a paper. I’m just trying to get as many names as I can,” Geoff responded, already looking for the next person to ask. When his Mom finished, he took the paper to the kitchen table, where Grandma sat, still looking for last-minute deals in the newspaper ads. He sat next to her and pretended to read along. “Hey, Grandma,” he said.

“Geoffrey. I didn’t see you come in,” she said, placing her long, nail-polished finger down on the paper to keep her place. “Give your Gwamma a big hug and a kiss,” she puckered. Geoff leaned over and gave her his best, 9-year-old hug. He tried to pull away before the kiss but Grandma insisted and pulled his head back for a big smooch on the lips.

“Grandma,” Geoff said, quickly brushing his lips with his shirt sleeve, checking for red lipstick. “Would you mind signing this paper? I’m just trying to get everyone’s signature tonight.”

“Well, sure,” she said, carefully mouthing her name as she wrote it. “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you go grab my purse and find yourself a dime.”

Geoff, grabbed his paper and started to the family room. “And Geoff, don’t forget to grab a penny too, for tithing,” Grandma hollered after him.

Geoff was nodding over his shoulder as he rounded the corner into the family room. The purse was easy to spot, sitting on top of the piano. As he rummaged through the bright blue purse, picking through perfumed hankies, old packs of gum and safety pins, he noticed Grandpa sitting on the couch. He grabbed eleven cents, put the purse back on top of the piano and approached his Grandpa. “Hey-ya, Grandpa,” he said. Grandpa didn’t respond. Geoff moved closer and leaned down to the same level as the Christmas storybook Grandpa was reading and said hello again.

“Geoff!” Grandpa said, with a start. He chuckled to himself and straightened himself up as he reached to turn up his hearing aids. He always turned the volume down at family gatherings because of the constant background noise generated by Geoff’s six siblings. Grandpa patted the cushion next to him and invited Geoff to sit down. “What’s going on, Geoff? Are you excited for Christmas in the morning?”

“Well, yeah. I’m excited. But I was wondering if you could sign this paper.”

Grandpa took the pen and paper and asked, “What is this for?”

“I just want everyone’s names. You know, just for fun. Just to remember who was here for Christmas Eve… and stuff.”

“Looks like you have a good start,” Grandpa said, adding his name to the list.

Geoff gave his Grandpa a hug and continued his hunt to get signatures. He found his older brother downstairs, playing video games and his older sister coming in from last minute shopping. Just before dinner, his Dad came home from work and Geoff was waiting at the door for his signature.

By the time bedtime rolled around, Geoff had signature of everyone in the house who could legibly write. Now, it was time to finish the last and most important part of his preparations. Closing the door to his room, he sat at his desk, turned the paper over and wrote a brief note. He signed his own name and stealthily crept up the stairs. He peeked his head over the banister and saw a flurry of activity. All the adults were busy around the kitchen table, laying out wrapping papers and ribbons. Clutching the letter, Geoff started toward the family room.

“Geoff!” boomed his Dad’s voice. “Where do you think you’re going? We sent you kids to bed 15 minutes ago. Santa will just have to pass over our house if no one ever goes to sleep.”

“OK, Dad. I just want to leave this note for Santa by the cookies. It will just take a minute. Please Dad,” begged Geoff. Dad returned to wrapping the gift in front of him and Geoff took that as permission to continue. After placing the note neatly by the cookies, with a pen angled across the middle of it, Geoff scurried back downstairs. Laying in bed he knew that in the morning all his questions would be answered and the mystery of who Santa really was would be answered in the morning.

Later that night, when all the presents were nestled under the tree and just one cookie was left on the Santa plate, a warm hand picked up Geoff’s note. “Dear Santa,” it read. “Thank you for the presents. I left you a few cookies and a cup of hot chocolate. I hope its still warm. Before you leave, would you mind signing this note? Thanks, Geoff.” The reader turned the paper over and chuckled at the other signatures, all ready to be compared to the last, determining signature.

Rachel's world

Rachel is constantly playing. Usually pretend. And she has to tell me all the time, what she's doing.
"Mom, I'm a dog now." "Mom, now I'm a mermaid and I'm using my heat power." (Have you seen H20 on Netflix? Mermaids have all sorts of powers). But today she said, "Mom, I'm not a dog today. I'm an alien."

It nice to get the play-by-play details of what's going on. Its understandable right? She must know that I can't see this unique world she's created for herself and she just wants to keep me up to date.

file 11142011

Lately she's found lots of uses for her little blocks. They used to be chickens. I could never figure out if they were cute, little, living chickens or if they were edible, like nuggets, or something. And then she decided they would be fun to slide with on the kitchen floor. So she said, "I'm sliding on my chickens, Mom. Watch me. I'm sliding on my chickens." Very functional chickens, I must say.

She has about 3 or 4 blocks she's been carrying around with her lately. They are her iphone, ipad, ipod and whatever "i" she comes up with. She recently received a toy dog for her birthday that barks and makes slurping noises, like its drinking. The best gift-giver ever, my brother Geoff, gave it to her. As she had the block up to her ear she noticed me watching and said, "What Mom? I'm talking to Geoff on my cell phone." With a roll of her eyes, she put the block/cell phone back to her ear and said, "Yeah, so Geoff. I really like my dog. I want to say thank you."

file Pictures: Rachel

Parker gets his bobcat - or whatever

I'm not sure about all this scout stuff. I'm pretty sure my brothers did it and I'm pretty sure my mom was involved. I'm pretty sure my dad and one of my brothers are eagle scouts. I know, for sure, that my husband is an eagle scout. As far as I'm concerned, I think it would be good to keep scouts in the "boys club" and let the fathers take care of it. That never seems to be the case, though.

I'm grateful that Sterling is more than willing to be completely involved. He helped Parker through his first requirements: memorizing the scout oath, promise, motto, etc. We did it for family home evening and now the whole family could probably recite them for you if you pressed us.

Here are a few snapshots of Parker getting his award. (Bobcat? maybe? how does this work again?)
We were instructed to perform "surgery" on him and put the award on upside down until her performed a good deed.

file 10302011

And now Parker is a freshly decorated cubscout. Let's give him a round of applause! ( I hope you're doing that cubscout style)

Horse play

Sometimes things get a little rowdy around here. I mean, I know I'm supposed to teach my children to respect furniture and take care of things so they'll last and whatnot, but honestly, when I see Parker start running for the couch, put his hands on the armrest and catapult himself in a beautifully executed pike-flip in the air and land softly on the cushions, it takes my breath away. "Wow," I think. "I wish I could do that." And its moments like those that urge me to let the kids get a little rowdy every now and then.

Like the other day, when Rachel and her friend, Eleanor, went cushion back riding. It was adorable. They had their harness and everything. I just couldn't rain on their parade.

file 11142011

file 11142011

I also like to let Hash experiment with food. This particular evening we were having cous-cous for dinner. Worse than rice, from the messy clean-up perspective, but Hash seemed to enjoy it quite nicely. The key here is to let it dry before you clean it up. Which also involves sending the kids to a different part of the house while it dries. Then you just sweep it up, easy-cheesy.

file10302011

And that's how we roll around here. Sometimes I like it a little rowdy.

Light of the World sculpture exhibit

One crisp fall morning, after the kids had all gone to school and Rachel was in Joyschool, Hash and I went to Thanksgiving Point Gardens. It was the last day of their season for the year and I just had to have one more look at the new sculptures. They have a new exhibit called "Light of the World." Its quite impressive. There are to be 14? sculptures, all depicting parts of the life of Christ. The vision is to have them all life size. Right now, only 3 are that big. The rest are smaller, on pedestals, as you can see in the picture below.

They are beautiful and the whole atmosphere is reverent and peaceful. I would even say sacred. We had gone as a family to see the sculptures the Saturday before and I was so taken with them that I went back a few days later and just sat and observed and listened and soaked in the spirit and peace.

The sculpture below is Mary and Martha conversing with Christ. I love his casual, comfortable posture. Do you get the feeling he enjoyed being with good women doing good things? I think he felt the strength and potential of good women who are just trying their best.

I can't wait to go back to the gardens and take it all in some more. Looking at these pictures, I wish I had taken a picture of Christ walking on water. Its the center piece of the exhibit. I'm so impressed and grateful that Thanksgiving Point is adding this to their gardens. I can't think of a more beautiful setting for these sculptures. So, keep this on your calendars, it will be worth waiting for until April.

Millie's 1st grade program

School programs always get me choked up. I'm not sure what it is. It may be becauseI know its a lot of work. It may be the sense of accomplishment and pride I hope the kids feel to see their hardwork pay off. It may be seeing a packed gymnasium, full of people who love and support these cute little kids. It may be seeing my own child as part of a group of peers doing good things. It may be thinking about how fast time flies and how it seems like just yesterday, Sydney was singing these songs.

I don't know all the reasons why, but I get a little teary-eyed every time. Look how adorable my Millie-bell is.

Here's a picture of a good portion of her class.

file 10302011

 Ahhh. Can't you just feel the love and support these children have?

They sing the same songs every year. This song has been one of the favorites of all my kids. I happen to like it too.

I've been trying to catch up on a few family event type posts but I've put them back where they chronologically belong. Here are the links.

Halloween

Sydney's birthday

Just joking

I only know two jokes. They are simple but decent jokes. They go like this:

Why did the chicken cross the playground?
Because he wanted to get to the other slide.

Why did the girl go up the ladder to get to school?
Because she was going to high school.

Well, I told these jokes to the kids at dinner tonight. What later ensued was a joke telling fest inbetween mouthfuls of burritos. And we're talking kid jokes, here. The primary requisite is that nothing make sense, whatsoever, and then laugh like hyenas. One of my favorites of the evening came from Rachel.

Knock, Knock.
Who's there?
Why did the chicken didn't cross the monkey bars?
I don't know. Why?
Because he didn't want to play.

(crickets, then raucous laughter)

But my ultimate favorite was this one. (also from Rachel)

Why did the boy do his homework?
Because he was supposed to.

Yes. That would be a very funny joke, indeed. :)

Bedtime Prayers

photo by Eveline Wunder

Raising boys is not my forte, I must say. It is a struggle for me to understand and accept the noise, dirt, mess, jumping, throwing, yelling and general windstorm of raucousness that is termed "BOY." I'm learning to not battle the natural disposition of my boys so much anymore. But its hard. I feel like I'm failing regularly because I feel like I'm losing my cool regularly. I don't like to feel either way. Many nights I lay in bed, looking at the ceiling, confiding to my husband that I have no idea what I'm doing. And the things I am doing don't appear to be making a difference...

...until I pray with my boy. Suddenly this busy, little body, who hasn't stood still long enough for homework, reading or dinner; who has made his sisters cry and picked on his little brother; who consistently "misses" in the bathroom; who leaves a trail of dirt, food and stinky socks in his wake, takes my breath away with his prayers. As he prays to his Heavenly Father, his walls come down and he asks for help to be better in ways I didn't think he realized he was lacking. He has yet to offer a rote or routine prayer. It is always sincere and specific. He asks for help to be nice to his sisters. He asks for help to listen to his teacher in school. Last night he asked for help "to not be so hyper." Simple requests but heartfelt to the core.


I don't say bedtime prayers with all my children. Mostly with Parker because he insists on it and I am so grateful he does. I'm missing out with the other kids and that needs to change. What a difference it makes to get a glimpse into his heart and the way he really feels about things and people and actions. As I pray with him, I realize how hard he is trying to improve himself. I also come to recognize his spirit more as I see him pray with true faith and testimony that Heavenly Father is listening and will help him. What a great example for me. Suddenly everything that irritates me about little boys dissipates as I peel away the mortal mask and see him truly for who he is. And when he closes his prayer with, "thank you for my mom," I couldn't love that little boy more.



photo by Eveline Wunder

Rachel's birthday

This gorgeous little girl just turned 4 years old. 

I still remember the night she was born. I wasn't sure if I was in labor. Contractions were regular but not uncomfortable. It was the night of the ward trunk or treat. We sent our kids with the neighbors and headed to the hospital. I was sure they were going to send us home. We walked the halls for a long time and just when I was about to call it quits and head for the car, my water broke and Rachel was born only minutes later. One of my best deliveries, if I do say so myself. Anyway, enough about me.

Rachel is so smart. She knows all the words to all of her sisters' favorite songs, mostly Selena Gomez. I love to hear her singing to herself..."I..I love you like a love song, baby." And "You are the thunder and I am the lightening..." And who could forget "Pearly shells...from the ocean."

She listens to everything that is said. If I ever have a question about something that happened earlier in the day - I ask her. If I know I need to remember something and might forget it - I tell her. And I'm learning to be really careful about what I say in passing, or to myself, or to someone on the phone. She hears and remembers it all.

I was a little concerned when she was blowing out her candles. She blew them out one by one and each time her hair got dangerously close to the flame of the neighboring candle. Luckily, we were accident free and she blew out all 4 candles.

For Rachel's birthday activity we went bowling. She was very concerned that we were going to the place where she can wear the fancy shoes. I think that's her favorite part. The shoes and dancing to the music. All the kids picked out their own balls, which all happened to be the same color and same size, until they realized what they had done. Then they switched it up a bit.

Note to self for next time: It cost $42.00 to bowl one game (which is all our short attention spans can handle for now.). For $45.00 we could have added a large pizza, but it was 10:00 am and we just finished breakfast. Crazy.



This is Sydney helping Rachel and Rachel jumping. She did that a lot, along with her dancing.

I love the look on Hash's face. He was very enthralled with the ball-return system. I can't believe he didn't squish a finger.

I love bowling but I'm not good at it. I explain a little more about that in one of my posts about Camille's birthday here. This day, however, was out of the ordinary. In fact, it was extraordinary.
Actually - I was extraordinary. I actually broke my normal score ceiling of 70. But I didn't stop there. Are you ready?....

116!

Seriously, I could have cried. My best game ever!

But back to the birthday girl. She had a blast, which is the most important thing. She adds an element to our family that is essential to our happiness. I'm convinced of it. I can't imagine life without her.

LOVE YOU RACHEL!!!!

Sydney's birthday

Sydney turned 11 years old. Its sort of a family tradition to celebrate Sydney and Sarah's (my sister) birthdays together. They are a week apart. This year was special because Syd turned 11 and Sarah's birthday is 11/11. We listed 11 things we love about them (and Sarah's husband, Dallin, who's birthday is also in Nov.) We played number games with 11. It was a lot of fun

Add your age and birthyear.

Syd: 00 + 11 = 11

Karin: 73 + 38 = 111

Try it. (ps, you need to use the age you will be at the end of the year if you haven't had a birthday this year yet. copeesh?)

Anyways, here's the birthday girl blowing out her candles.

file11142011

One candle left, better be a good wish!

I cannot tell you how much I love this girl. She has been by my side since she was born. We did a lot together during those first years of family life, when Sterling was gone most nights of the week. We were pals. And still are. Sydney is so compassionate and sensitive to others' feelings. She is fantastically organized. She is a natural born leader, in the home, with friends and among the kids in our cul-de-sac. She is an animal lover and looooves to dance and listen to music. I consider her one of my best friends. Love you, Syd. Happy Birthday!!!

Capturing the Rainbow

There was still a trace of rain in the air as I drove south on the interstate.  The road stretched flat and straight to the horizon.  Fortress-like mountains reached high on the east while a flat, gray lake bordered the west.  Heavy gray rainclouds slowly dispersed behind me.  It was the perfect set-up for the framed by my windshield.  A beautiful display of color majestically arched through the sky.  The rainbow appeared to actually rest on the road in the distance ahead of me. 

Rainbows are so many different kinds of beautiful, I thought.  Sometimes the backdrop is a gray sky, sometimes the air sparkles like diamonds, with leftover water droplets from a sudden summer afternoon shower.  Sometimes the rainbow arches the entire sky and other times you catch just a glimpse or portion of the colorful crescent - a smattering of color between straggling clouds.  Many have attempted to capture the elusive beauty of their shape, color and reflection of light in art, photography or prose.  Of course none have been able to capture the rainbow itself.

As I drove, keeping an eye on the rainbow ahead, my heart was filled with the longing that my pre-teen daughter know she’s as stunning as a rainbow.  “Oh Sydney,” I would say.  “A rainbow isn’t beautiful because of its shape or color or reflection.  It’s beautiful because it was created by God.  The rainbow was created from the beginning to be breath-takingly beautiful and yet to signify something even more beautiful.  It holds a promise for the future, a promise of His love and deliverance. It’s not merely a reflection of light but of light and truth, goodness and divine beauty.  That is representative of who you are.   

“The world would want you to think that beauty lies in shape and color.  There are those who will tell you that the reflection that matters is reputation, accomplishment, physical features and comparison.  That image of beauty is as fleeting and unattainable as grasping the colors of a rainbow. Your true beauty is that you were created by God.

“When a rainbow is seen for what it was divinely created to be, it is the true beauty, glory and love of the God who created it.  Sydney, when see your body, mind and heart, I want you to also see the God who created you.  For He is there, in the intricate details of who you are.  He created you to be beautiful, to rise in His glory and to love and be loved.  When you truly see yourself as a daughter of God and recognize His reflection within you, I think you will find the end of your rainbow.”

I could see through the windshield, where the rainbow ended.  It was straight ahead in the middle of the interstate. If I could just keep my eye on it, I would drive right through it. Before I had finished the thought, the carnival of light had disappeared. One quick glance back confirmed the color was behind me. But it’s reflection of truth was still with me.