June/July stuff

Real quick:

For all the July birthdays (Park, me, mom) we went to see Spiderman: Homecoming. 

It was super fun.

We got to spend time with Texas cousins!

Sterling and I always leave a check-in paper for whoever is out later than we are on the weekend. I love the answers Sydney gave to the closing questions.

Q: Who loves you the most?

A: Hmmm. Heavenly Father.

Q: And why?

A: He knows me the best.

We went to the Sandy amphitheater and watched "Beauty and the Beast." We are always grateful to for the opportunity to go and spend the time together. It was kind of stormy but luckily, although it sprinkled a little here and there through the performance, it didn't start raining until the show had finished. What a blessing.

May stuff

I took Mill, Ray and Hash to the Hales Center Theater and we saw "Peter and the Starcatchers." It was well done but a little more mature than I anticipated. The kids enjoyed it, nonetheless. Our favorite part was when the pirates also played the roles of the mermaids and swung from gigantic swings hanging from the ceiling. It was AWESOME!

I had my end of the year piano recital. Everyone did a fantastic job. 

Ray and I decided it was time to go through our fingernail polish and throw out the old ones. So we tested all the colors out on our toes.

When the boys went on their annual Father and Sons overnighter, the girls and I went to dinner at Panda Express and then saw the movie, Kung Fu Panda 3. 

Rachel participated in the egg drop at the school. She shoved an egg into a jar of peanut butter. It didn't survive.

Rachel enjoys playing dress up.

Beautiful Millie!

I'm making progress on the blanket I started on our trip to South Dakota. It requires soooo much yarn. I'm not sure I'll be able to make it as long as I intended, but I love it all the same.

September Stuff

Despite school starting, my kids have been as active and creative as ever, making every use of warm summer days.

Hash has had a lot of fun playing Super Hero! And he has a pretty good get-up too. 

Some of the kids went with Sterling to man the Farm Bureau booth at the State Fair. They came home with a cob of corn and a paper bag. I didn't believe them when they said they could pop the corn right on the cob.

But that is exactly what they did. They put that cob in the bag, put it in the microwave for a minute or two and that bag practically exploded with popped corn!

Bryce started a "club" which gathered nearly every afternoon in our garage. They read books, colored, played games and generally had a good amount of fun. Their meetings always began with Hash sitting on an upturned, orange home-depot bucket. He's following his father's footsteps and developing a leadership way of doing things.

The weather has stayed nice enough to have dinner outside. We love it! I love sitting around the table with these beautiful souls and listening to them and laughing with them. I can't think of a better group of people to have dinner with.

This is random, but.... Look at the Zits cartoon. (3rd one down). This is totally me. I say I'm awesome. Sydney says I'm awkward. And I agree, I can go from awesome to awkward in a microsecond. This cartoon demonstrates it perfectly.

Look at this mess of Legos, right in front of the door! The best part of this mess is that it was left deliberately! Yes, that's right. I was told by the perpetrator that they had left the Legos there hoping that a certain sister would run in the front door without looking and would trip over all the Legos. Hard to get mad at such creativity. :)

The best part of my days are spending them with these beautiful faces!

Fun Days in May (and it's only half way done)

Last Saturday, I looked out my window and saw children running toward my yard and soon enough the back yard looked like this. I hadn't seen this much fun happening since some of our old friends moved away to Idaho about 2 years ago. And sure enough, the Bradshaws had come to visit!

I think these two girls were the most excited to see each other. Millie still hasn't found a friend as dear as Shelby. 

We were so grateful to see this family. Every once in a while you cross paths with a person or a family who has a lasting impact and influence on your life and the Bradshaws are one of those families. We sure love them and can't wait to return the favor and visit them in June!

That very same day, Sydney and I made granola. We'd been craving it for over a month and finally made it. It's been one week and half of it is gone already!

We also went to the Payson Temple openhouse. I've got to be honest, I was teary-eyed and emotional by the time we pulled into the parking lot. Walking with my darlings through the temple, explaining the beautiful rooms and sacred covenants we make was just such a beautiful experience and a treasured opportunity. And the temple is gorgeous!!! From the upholstery to the artwork to the stained glass windows. Every inch is just beautiful. More beautiful are the promises of eternal life and eternal families.

On our way out, we saw kids selling refreshments in front of their house. Ster is always a push-over for that sort of thing, so he pulled over and bought warm lemonade and twinkies. $1.00 each. Hmmm. Quite a profit for the kiddos. wow!

We also went to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. The kids ran off together and it was almost like date night for Ster and I. This may be my new favorite picture!

The Smolder

So much to write, so much running around in my head, so little time.

Here's a quickie.

Over the weekend, I introduced my kids to "The Man From Snowy River." In the beginning, they weren't that thrilled. An OLD movie that MOM likes. Gross. They soon got over it because, face it, classics are hard to beat.

Remember the end, when Jim pulls his hat over his eye? I realized something that night, when I kept scanning back to that point on the DVD and forced the kids to watch it 3 or 4 times, just for good, irritating fun. (That's one of my jobs as mom, don't you know).

I realized that may have been the first, original "smolder."

Case in point:

Most recent "smolder" from "Tangled."




Perhaps the original "smolder." (the magic happens at :45)



Do you have any favorite "smolder" moments? It would be fun to embarrass my kids by watching them.

Our very own Kermit

A little while ago, my friend in Massachusetts posted on facebook that a bear wandered through her yard. That's a lot of scarier than the frog we saw in our yard last night.

Can you spot the frog?

 Watch closely and the frog will wave at you.

prime time

Reason #384, 921 (to the 1,000th power) why

I'm glad we don't have public television or cable

Deseret News article: "Raunchiness meter rises for CBS and its Monday comedies"

Quote from one of the show producers: "I consider our jokes really classy dirty. I think they're high lowbrow. I think they're fun and sophisticated and naughty, and I think everybody like a good naughtey joke."

My initial thoughts are: What in the world is "classy dirty?" Lowbrow is still lowbrow. I don't like naughty jokes. Monday night is not for raunchy comedies - its for Family Home Evening.

Phew. Glad I got that off my chest.

Generosity with a spouse

This morning in the newspaper was an article titled "Generosity with a spouse key to keeping married parents happy." This is front page, breaking news!!!

This is new research from the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia. I link to the research at the bottom of the post. The researchers define generosity as "the virtue of giving good things to (one's spouse), freely and abundantly, and encompasses small acts of service..., the expression of affection, displays of respect and a willingness to forgive him/her for mistakes and failings."

So let's translate that, shall we? Generosity can be defined as being nice. And there's the key. Basically, being nice to your spouse keeps your marriage happy. I'm glad that research was done to clarify such a suspicious and elusive conclusion.

Simple, but not easy. Something I know but don't always live by. Time to recommit myself.


Also:
Make of it what you will, but here is the list of the top five for a happy marriage according to the research.
1. sexual satisfaction
2. commitment
3. generosity with spouse
4. positive attitude toward raising children
5. for women: social support - for men: spirituallity in marriage

Isn't that sooo interesting? Do you agree?

newspaper article found HERE
research found HERE. top 5 lists on pages 52-53.

Modeling

 The other day we received this ad in an envelop with a letter from Ster's brother.  He wondered if Ster had taken up modeling and if that was common practice among some bishops. 

Why yes, YES!  That is us. 

How astute of you to notice.

He also wondered if I had grown my hair out and modeled on the other side of the ad.



twinners

Rachel and cousin, Paige, 3/23/08

There have been lots of studies and research done, all in the name of finding out how to live longer.  Well, Deseret News reported this morning that mothers of twins live longer.  Wow!  Good news for mothers of twins.  Which means waaaaay good news for my church ward. 


Start guessing now how many twins we have in our ward boundaries.  It will astound you.


The article states, "Having twins will not make you stronger or healthier, but stronger, healtheir women are more likely to have twins naturally" said Shannen Robson, a doctoral student in anthropology at the U."


So we have some pretty strong and healthy women in our neighborhood. They are AWESOME! (Are you guessing 3 or 4?  Hardly.)


In this study they "looked at Utah population data for nearly 59,000 non-polygamous Utah women born between 1807 and 1899 who lived at least to age 50 and whose husbands were alive while the women were fertile."  OK, yes, things have changed since then and the 1800s were a long time ago, but how else were they to measure longevity?  I also find it interesting all the qualifiers they needed:  non-polygamous, husbands alive. 


(Are you guessing 6 sets of twins?  Um, nope.)


"We're saying that women who twin naturally have something that makes them healthier." 


And so the question is - How many of these amazing women are my neighbors?  Well, we have 8 sets of twins, 7 mothers.  That's right.  One dear friend has 2 sets of twins.  And if you add in the 2 sets that have moved and then the mother with quadruplets.... well, let's just say...we love twins around here.



Rachel and cousin, Paige, 3/23/08

 Wait, wait!  Before you get any crazy ideas - the article ends with this quote:

"We're not encouraging women to actively seek having twins so they can live longer," said Smith.  "It's not a conclusion we can draw."

Saturday night stream of consciousness

There is a mess everywhere I look. The kitchen is full of breakfast and lunch dishes. An old newspaper. Shopping lists and coupons on the counter. Left over easter candy, plastic eggs and trinkets are still covering the carpet and table. Even more toys on counters, tables and the floor. And dirty socks, inside out in a stinky ball, always mismatched, never a pair. A coat, a half-drunk bottle of stinky formula. Every corner holds more misplaced items.

Down the hallway, the bathroom is the same story. It’s a mess from the whirlwind of 5 children hurricaning through bathtime.

In my bedroom are piles. Piles on the bed, under the bed and beside the bed. In the corner and on the cedar chests. Piles of random stuff. Laundry baskets are full of clean, folded clothing, (Yay for me) but they haven’t been put away yet. So instead of putting dirty clothes in the baskets, we’re trying to find our clean clothes in the baskets, which is only making a bigger. And why don’t I just put them away? Oh, just busy. Out of sight, out of mind, tucked away in my bedroom. And now the kids are trying to get to sleep so I don’t want to wake them. And by the time it would be convenient, I’m just too tired.

I really need to finish my talk for Easter Sunday, 9 am bright and early. Its 9 pm right now. I’ve got 12 hours to pull all the thoughts in my head together. I also probably ought to think about thawing out some meat because I have 15 mouths to feed after church. Did I the mention the house is a disaster? I should probably also go through my primary lesson, so I know which scriptures to read and which ones to summarize, etc. I hope my primary class musical number goes off ok in Sacrament meeting. Bless their hearts for singing for me.

Its just so hard to focus when the house is messy and yet, I’m just too gosh darn tired to clean it. And its easter in the morning. We didn’t produce an Easter Bunny visit on today (Saturday) so it will have to be Sunday morning. GASP! Secular celebration on a Sabbath morning? Somebody alert the Bishop. Actually, the Bishop has already witnessed my children praying multiple times for the Easter Bunny already, so no secrets there. At this point, I’m surprised they didn’t actually pray TO the Easter Bunny. Who is a woman by the way. Mrs. Bunny, to you. I’m tired of all the male holiday figures. So I guess I’ll be getting up early to fill easter eggs, right before I finish my primary lesson and my sacrament meeting talk and start 15 chicken breasts marinading in the frigde.

And then there’s the kids…

and all of a sudden...your turn...

Have you ever played the game where one person starts the story and then you pass it on to the next person and the next person to continue the story? We play that game at our house sometimes. Its loads of fun, especially on lazy Saturdays or while camping or to put off going to bed. Last week I started the game and it was fun to see everyone's personalities come out in their portion of the story. I can't remember all the details but this is the jest of the story.



Once upon a time, in a far away kingdom (that's how they all have to start at our house), there was a boy who liked to ride unicycles. One day he was riding down the street and saw a frog in the road....and then....

He stopped and picked up the frog and brought him home. But it was dark in his room so he left the frog there, sitting on his bed, and went to find a flashlight...and then...


When he came back, lo and behold, the frog was glowing and he didn't need his flashlight...and all of a sudden....


....the frog exploded. And sparkly, glowing pieces of frog guts flew into the air like stars...and then...

The boy looked at the sparkly, glowing frog guts on his ceiling. He reached up and took one down and ate it and it was a gumdrop. A sparkly, glowing frog-gut gumdrop...and then...

He scooped up all the sparkly, glowing frog-gut gumdrops and went outside on his unicycle. Some kids stopped him and asked him what was in his bag. He sold some sparkly, glowing frog-gut gumdrops to the kids... and then...

He made a lot of money, so he decided to go find some more frogs and see if he could get them to explode...and then...

He went to the river and looked in between the bushes and all of a sudden he found lots of frogs. They were glowing and dancing. They were having so much fun, the boy decided to join the dance party.








THE END

Ranting

Just allow me to rant here for a moment. (my husband always gets nervous when I do this.)

But some things in the newspaper this morning just got my dander up!

1. Some government health task force says "most women don't need a mammogram in the 40's and should get one every two years starting at 50. . . Also, the task force said breast self-exams do no good and women shouldn't be taught to do them."

What? Tell that to my friend, Misti, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in her 30's as a result of a self-examination. I don't know. Just sounds to go against the Cancer Society's recommendations. What is the motivation for that? According to Dr. Otis Brawley, Cancer Society's chief medical officer, the reasoning is this: "The task force advice is based on its conclusion that screening 1,300 women in their 50's to save one life is worth it, but that screening 1,900 women in the 40's to save a life is not. That stance is essentially telling women that mammography at age 40 to 49 saves lives, just not enough of them." And listen to this, the official 'advice' from the task force says, "Women 50-74 should get a mammogram every other year until they turn 75, after which the risks and benefits are unknown." What does that mean? After 75, it doesn't matter if you get tested or not because you are just too old and may or may not get or qualify for treatment anyway? Not to get political, BUT - if this is the direction of government involvement in healthcare - I'm scared! Seriously. I read an opinion piece in the paper a month or so ago that said the whole deal with the H1N1 flu vaccine and the long waits in the line in freezing weather and all the shortages is a pretty accurate description of a government healthcare system. PLEASE! Keep the government out. Keep the healthcare system free market. I even get a discount at my hospital for maternity and ER visits if I can pay that day. Of course I'm going to go to them if they can offer things like that. I love that about a free system. OK OK I'm stopping on this topic.

2. So Pres. Obama just spoke in China. I haven't read the transcipt and probably won't so this rant is all based off what other people have said about the event. The DesNews reports, "Obama may have been hoping to set a personal example for China's leaders when he said he believes that free discussion, including criticism that may be annoying to him, makes him 'a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions that I don't want to hear.'" Well, that's just fine. No one absolutely loves to hear criticism and you can't please everyone so invariably, there will be criticism. But this is how it was perceived by one Chinese blogger and novelist in Guangzhou (which incidentally is near where I lived when I was there and a place I frequented often). He said, "he was impressed by Obama's frank admission that some free speech irks him, and by U.S. Laws that are intended to keep the government from censoring criticism."
Irked by laws to keep the government from censoring? So he wishes censoring was more available to him? That implies he wished he could censor. OK, I know I'm going off about stuff on a 3rd person repeat, but still.

MY DANDER IS UP!

Our door is always open

It has to be.

It broke.

Boxers or Briefs?

or as we say around our house: Aaronics or Melchezidiks?
(haha mormon humor)


Rachel loves wearing other peoples' shoes. Apparently she also loves wearing their underwear as well. Specifically, Parker's. She put them on all by herself. She was quite pleased with herself.

Isn't she adorable?

Today, I found her with a left-over bowl of popcorn. I took the bowl from her and saw that it was empty. I put my hand under her mouth and she spit out a handful of kernels.


so I'm sitting here contemplating writing about spring break. But I just don't feel like it. So I'm not going to do it. The problem is, I enjoy writing, when I feel like writing. Unfortunately, it seems as though my creative self has decided to take a vacation. I haven't been able to find her since, oh, about March. The thing is, I hope that what I write is fun to read and my readers come away feeling rewarded for having read what I've written. Rewarded is not the right word, and its not enlightened either, maybe just happy or tickled or satisfied. (Argh, where is that creative self when you need her? She's the one that find the right words for me. She also types better than I do. The backspace key is getting tons of TLC about now! Talk about typos...) You see, I'm not interested in merely writing a travel log. If I'm going to record the happenings of my family, I at least want it to be entertaining or interesting or fun (take your pick) for you to read. and I'm just not feeling the creative juices flowing through my veins lately. So i'm rambling and I don't feel like putting forth the effort to relay our spring break festivities in a way that's entertaining enough to share. I'm completely uninspired so I'm not going to do it. I'll just sit here and wait for miss creativity to come bouncing back, hopefully soon.


OUR PSRING BREAK - (by uninspired me)
We did have fun. We went to Tracy Aviary. Fun. Swimming at the Legacy Center. Fun. Caught in the snowstorm. Kind of fun. McDonalds, multiple times. Double fun. Clean house day. not fun. stay at home/movei day. Fun. Rode Trax to downtown Salt Lake, Beehive house, J.S. Memorial Bldg, J.S. movie, picnic lunch, Child of God exhibit, wrong trax train took us on unplanned trip to UofU stadium, realized we were nearing hell-fire and brimstone country, quickly backtracked, got on correct trax train and made it home for dinner. Exhausted fun. Wheeler Farm. Fun. And back to school tomorrow.
Whew! I need a nap!

























Yep, that pretty much sums it up. If I begin to feel creative again, I shall expound on the list and add pictures.

Yep, that's how I feel today

But what emotion IS it?

I might surprise you.

What emotion does this picture say to you?

The proper way...

to eat a cinnamon roll.Eat the frosting off the top and hollow out the middle. Its kind of like just eating the top of a muffin. Its the best part.

Let them PLAY!

THIS IS LOOOOOOOOOOONG!

Sydney is in a choir. The Lehi Children's Choir, to be exact. She's 8 years old and in second grade. I figured it was time for some extra-curricular activites. Sydney's response:

"You should have asked my permission first, before just signing me up for something."

Well, excuse me for trying to be a responsible mother and help you develop your God-given talents. Seriously, Sydney has a beautiful voice. BEAUTIFUL!!! I thought she would enjoy it. I wasn't deliberately trying to introduce conflict into our relationship. But intentional or not, that is precisely what I did. Every Monday, 3:00 pm, without fail...Conflict!

This takes me back a few years...
Sydney was about 5. I was thinking about putting Sydney in a dance class. Why not? Most of her friends were in dance and they looked so cute in their little leotards, doing little turns and jumps and curtseys. So, before I "just signed her up for something, without her permission" I thought we'd go to a recital first and see what Sydney's interest was. Well...she got bored. Bored out of her gourd. We left early. We tried again, about a year later. Again, kind of bored but at least we didn't leave early.

On the way home from the recital I asked Sydney, "Do you want to be in a dance class?"
Her response (and this is IMPORTANT):
"I just don't think I have enough time. I need to play with my toys and feed my little pets (Littlest Petshop) and play with my friends. I don't think so, Mom."

Well, I think she still feels the same way today. She'd rather play. Just ask her. So when do you start with all the extra-curricular stuff? We're half way through 2nd grade, most of her friends have been involved in dance, piano, soccer, gymnastics, etc for quite some time now. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I think its wonderful. But what about us? What do I want to do, regardless of society's pressure? Where is the balance between play and extra-curricular activities that help develop important skills and talents?

Earlier this month, Dr. William J. Doherty, a family therapist, educator and researcher gave a lecture at BYU. He is the director of the Marriage and Family Therapy Program at the University of Minnesota. He spoke on "Parenting Wisely in a Too-Much-of-Everything World." I've long held the belief that we are living in a 'too-much-of-everything' world. This lecture seemed right up my alley, although I never actually heard it. I read about it in the ChurchNews (written by Scott Taylor, week ending Feb 21, 2009).

Two of my particular pet-peeves are excessiveness and indulgence. I'm so concerned with avoiding these that I think I probably run too far in the other direction. Not only do I not indulge my children, I make them sacrifice an awful lot. Not only do we not have anything in excess, we deliberately have less. For example:

We try not to turn the Air Conditioning on in the summer until it is over 90-95 degrees for several days in a row.
We don't give birthday presents to our children.
A couple of cookies is enough. (ice cream is another story altogether)
Gently used clothing is sufficient

Why? I think some of it has to do with my travels abroad and seeing how excessive and indulgent the American culture is. Many families don't even have the option of air-conditioning. Some children have to eat grass, literally. Some children have two pairs of clothes, one for school, one for church and one pair of shoes total.

Motivation? Be grateful. Focus on time together as a family instead of receiving gifts. Replace wanting things with giving things. Focus on service.

I'm still trying to find the balance. Its hard. I'm certainly not perfect in any of this. I still indulge and buy in excess. But I'm trying to be different, starting with my motivation. I want to make sure its in the right place.

Doherty said today's society faces "ratcheted up," excessive cultures geared toward individuality, competition, super-sized consumerism and "kids-are-fragile" therapeutic thinking. Continuing, "I think we think we need a lot to make us happy." He added, "there's so much to offer our children that wisdom and balance is difficult...and in the process, children grow up too fast."

That's the part that scares me. Children growing up too fast. It already happens too fast anyway. So bringing this tirade back to extra-curricular activities-where do they fit into this balancing act? Does enrolling my children in too many activities too early cause them to 'grow up too fast?' Do they need the responsibility of going to a class or practice or being a member of a team? Or do they just need to play with their "petshops" for a little while longer?

One pressure I feel, and I hope I'm not the only one, is that it is my responsibility, as a parent, to provide opportunities for my children to succeed, progress and develop talents and skills. And to start early! And it is certainly a valid and important resonsibility to provide those experiences. There's no doubt about that. But sometimes I feel pressured to provide too much or provide it too early and my priorities become cloudy.

Here's what Doherty has to say about parents as providers:

If we see ourselves only as providers of services to our children (and indeed, this is one important part of parenting), we end up confused about our authority, anxious about displeasing our children, insecure about whether we are providing enough opportunities, and worried that we are not doing keeping up with other parents. In a market economy, the service provider must offer what is newest and best, and must avoid disappointing the customer. When applied to the family, this is a recipe for insecure parents and confused kids. (from Doherty's website)(italics added because those parts particularly hit home for me)

Let me clarify. I am totally in favor of extra activities. Sydney is currently in choir and piano. And I've always done a pre-school co-op with other neighborhood moms. There are lots of benefits to these activites: learning teamwork, developing a talent, learning a skill, social skills, discipline, determination, responsibility and the list could go on. I'm just trying to find a balance and I thought this article was interesting.

And I'm one to talk. I started piano and ballet in 2nd grade and never slowed down. I was busy from sun-up to sun-down with extra activities. And I loved it. LOVED IT!!! I did. I can't imagine my life without it. Community plays, ballet recitals, piano recitals, choirs, practices, friends, song and dance groups, Ballet West Nutcrakcer, talent shows, professional stage productions, church activities, drill team, Madrigals. I was busy. I don't know how my Mom did it, with 6 younger siblings following in my wake.

But I also remember just playing. I remember playing in the field near our house and making indian camp-outs, bows and arrows and spending all day in our indian village. Or running through people's backyards, in the snow, jumping fences, hiding in bushes. Because we were Jews, running away from Nazi soldiers. I remember jump-rope and kick-the-can and red-rover and a gajillion other games.
So where's the balance. See, I have to figure it out because I'm the mom now. I have to be the grown-up. If I put my children in too many extra activities, will they be overloaded with all the 'benefits' of these extras? Will they 'grow up too fast?' What about the benefits of just playing?

Taylor's acticle on Doherty says, "Children and teens are failing to benefit from social skills often developed in unstructured, unsupervised, unofficiated experiences with siblings or peers -- 'we used to call it 'going out to play,'...where a child has to find someone to be with, convince them to play, negotiate what to play, teach others how to play, help enforce the rules and decide when to stop."

Could it be that with all we try to teach and expose our children to through teams and lessons and practices and classes, the best learning comes through "going out to play"? Could it possibly be that simple? I'd like to believe it is. And so... I hereby proclaim to my children...Go Play! I will cool my jets and take it one day at a time. And I promise, I will confer with you before I sign you up for any other extra-curricular activity. (however, I do NOT need your permission) But for now, grab your Littlest Petshops and your Lightsaber, and

GO PLAY!!!