While shoveling my incredibly long driveway this morning it hit me: All the women are strong here in Lake Wobegon because while our men-folk go off to work every morning, we are left to shovel snow.
***
Mr. Monk always said that, "It's a blessing...and a curse." I really get that. Sometimes I wish I could not see both sides of a situation. But I always do. It is impossible for me to stay mad, even when I would like to wallow in my misery. I just can't do it.
***
The older three kids sang in Sacrament meeting yesterday--"The Chapel Doors" and "Reverence is Love". They did a great job!
***
Today I have two extra kids over (homeschooling friends--their newborn sister is in the hospital with RSV), including a birthday girl! Funny how on busy days I get so much done! Fresh bread (with helpers), birthday decorations up, personal pizzas for lunch (including for 4 missionaries), and 3 missionary hair cuts. Oh yeah, and shoveling 3-4 inches of snow off my driveway. When the elders got here they shoveled another inch or two, as well. I love having missionaries in my home!
***
I'm always a little bit proud when we are in the produce section at the grocery store and Mason yells, "Mom! There's asparagus! Can we pleeeeeeeease buy some today?" And then Sammy and Elise chime in, "Pleeease, Mom? We haven't had any in a long time!"
Monday, January 31, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
He-Man and She-Ra
Every morning the kids have to get their clothes on and beds made. This morning they came upstairs and announced,
"I am He-Man!"
"I am Adora, He-Man's twin sister, defender of the Crystal Castle!"
Flashback
In October 2007, President Henry B. Eyring gave an address in General Conference titled, "O Remember, Remember". His closing comments were:
"Tonight, and tomorrow night, you might pray and ponder, asking the questions: Did God send a message that was just for me? Did I see His hand in my life or the lives of my children? I will do that. And then I will find a way to preserve that memory for the day that I, and those that I love, will need to remember how much God loves us and how much we need Him."
For a couple of years after President Eyring gave that talk I faithfully, daily, wrote experiences down where I had seen the hand of God in my life. I just took a few minutes every night, and I have several notebooks full of these small miracles--which by themselves seem small and inconsequential, but added together are an incredible testimony of God's love for me.
I just got started doing it again (after 1 1/2 years of not), and so was going through my most recent "miracle journal", and found the following entry (it's much, much longer than my normal entries...):
Monday 16 March 2009
What a fun day! We went out to the farm this morning, went on a hike after a McDonalds lunch, went shopping with Grandma (just me--and we bought things for Brett & Scotty, too), and had FHE with "dirt dessert" for dessert. It's 8:45pm and I still hear the pitter patter of little feet sneaking back and forth. They are so sure they are so sneaky!
Mom just kindly reminded me how exciting it is to be in a new place and how hard it is to settle down. That's right--I remember visiting Grandma & pa in their house on Kings and having such a hard time going to sleep. So I am ignoring the excited whisperings and visits back & forth. It's not every day we get to visit Grammy's house! And half the fun is not getting caught!
Elise and Mason were playing outside at the farm today, and when they came inside Elise asked if she could talk to me alone. We went into the sewing room and I closed the door and sat down on the futon. Elise came and stood by me and started sobbing. She explained what had happened: She and Mason were playing on the teeter-totter. Mason was getting off and she was trying to get on and the seat split in two.
She was sure that she had broken something special and would be in big trouble. I hugged her and held her and told her the story of when I was about her age and broke one of Grandpa's wine glasses. I was certain that it was an expensive special glass, and I was heart broken.
Dad came and talked with me and when he left, Grandpa came in. He sat next to me and put his arm around me and told me that he could get any old wine glass for a nickel, and the one I broke wasn't anything to him. Then he said, "Gosh, you even made your old grandpa cry!" And he wiped away a tear. I don't think I ever loved any one so much as I loved my grandpa then. And I knew he loved me, and I was more important than any old wine glass!
Back to today...I asked Elise if she would like me to send Mormor in, and after a few minutes she said yes.
She and Grandma were in the room for about 10 minutes. When they came out, Elise was beaming and very happy. I had a chance to talk to her a few minutes later and she told me what Grandma told her--that there was nothing in her house more important that a granddaughter. And, Mormor told Elise of a time that she broke a lamp and felt so bad about it.
Elise's comment was, "When I'm older and have a daughter or granddaughter and they break something I'll have a story to tell them! Just like you and Mormor!"
I talked with Grandma some while shopping and told her Elise's response. She told me about how when she was a little girl they had an old coal-burning lamp, and about 10 years after they got electricity (they no longer used the lamp), she knocked it off a shelf and broke the glass lampshade. She felt so terrible that she climbed onto a pile of blankets and hid there all day. Finally her mom found her--and the lamp--and said, "This has got to stop. Is this all you are worried about? I've been meaning to get rid of this for years!"
She had a story that Elise needed to hear, and she knew Elise's distress was real, and was willing to take time to help her.
"Tonight, and tomorrow night, you might pray and ponder, asking the questions: Did God send a message that was just for me? Did I see His hand in my life or the lives of my children? I will do that. And then I will find a way to preserve that memory for the day that I, and those that I love, will need to remember how much God loves us and how much we need Him."
For a couple of years after President Eyring gave that talk I faithfully, daily, wrote experiences down where I had seen the hand of God in my life. I just took a few minutes every night, and I have several notebooks full of these small miracles--which by themselves seem small and inconsequential, but added together are an incredible testimony of God's love for me.
I just got started doing it again (after 1 1/2 years of not), and so was going through my most recent "miracle journal", and found the following entry (it's much, much longer than my normal entries...):
Monday 16 March 2009
What a fun day! We went out to the farm this morning, went on a hike after a McDonalds lunch, went shopping with Grandma (just me--and we bought things for Brett & Scotty, too), and had FHE with "dirt dessert" for dessert. It's 8:45pm and I still hear the pitter patter of little feet sneaking back and forth. They are so sure they are so sneaky!
Mom just kindly reminded me how exciting it is to be in a new place and how hard it is to settle down. That's right--I remember visiting Grandma & pa in their house on Kings and having such a hard time going to sleep. So I am ignoring the excited whisperings and visits back & forth. It's not every day we get to visit Grammy's house! And half the fun is not getting caught!
Elise and Mason were playing outside at the farm today, and when they came inside Elise asked if she could talk to me alone. We went into the sewing room and I closed the door and sat down on the futon. Elise came and stood by me and started sobbing. She explained what had happened: She and Mason were playing on the teeter-totter. Mason was getting off and she was trying to get on and the seat split in two.
She was sure that she had broken something special and would be in big trouble. I hugged her and held her and told her the story of when I was about her age and broke one of Grandpa's wine glasses. I was certain that it was an expensive special glass, and I was heart broken.
Dad came and talked with me and when he left, Grandpa came in. He sat next to me and put his arm around me and told me that he could get any old wine glass for a nickel, and the one I broke wasn't anything to him. Then he said, "Gosh, you even made your old grandpa cry!" And he wiped away a tear. I don't think I ever loved any one so much as I loved my grandpa then. And I knew he loved me, and I was more important than any old wine glass!
Back to today...I asked Elise if she would like me to send Mormor in, and after a few minutes she said yes.
She and Grandma were in the room for about 10 minutes. When they came out, Elise was beaming and very happy. I had a chance to talk to her a few minutes later and she told me what Grandma told her--that there was nothing in her house more important that a granddaughter. And, Mormor told Elise of a time that she broke a lamp and felt so bad about it.
Elise's comment was, "When I'm older and have a daughter or granddaughter and they break something I'll have a story to tell them! Just like you and Mormor!"
I talked with Grandma some while shopping and told her Elise's response. She told me about how when she was a little girl they had an old coal-burning lamp, and about 10 years after they got electricity (they no longer used the lamp), she knocked it off a shelf and broke the glass lampshade. She felt so terrible that she climbed onto a pile of blankets and hid there all day. Finally her mom found her--and the lamp--and said, "This has got to stop. Is this all you are worried about? I've been meaning to get rid of this for years!"
She had a story that Elise needed to hear, and she knew Elise's distress was real, and was willing to take time to help her.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Overheard
Mason, after asking Sammy why he couldn't copy his magazine...
Sammy: That isn't a 'why' question.
Mason: EVERY question has a 'why'!
Sammy: That isn't a 'why' question.
Mason: EVERY question has a 'why'!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Ice skating!
I really like Minnesota! Who knew we could have so much fun in the winter?
We had an entire hockey rink and regular ice skating rink all to ourselves, with fresh, smooth ice. Pushing Lincoln in the stroller worked just fine--in fact, it helped the kids to not fall too often! Elise picked it up the fastest--we had some good races!
We had an entire hockey rink and regular ice skating rink all to ourselves, with fresh, smooth ice. Pushing Lincoln in the stroller worked just fine--in fact, it helped the kids to not fall too often! Elise picked it up the fastest--we had some good races!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Going private
I've been thinking about going private for some time now, and with some recent activity from Saudi Arabia and Iran, I've decided it's time to do it. If I know you and you live in one of those places, let me know, and maybe I'll change my mind...
If you'd like an invite, just leave a comment with your email in it and I'll send one to you. I won't publish your comment (Deanna J. and Heidi B.--don't leave a comment--since you are 'authors' I don't mediate your comments). :o)
I know it kind of stinks, because Google Reader is just so convenient, but maybe I'll make my homeschooling blog public to make up for it. We shall see, we shall see...
If you'd like an invite, just leave a comment with your email in it and I'll send one to you. I won't publish your comment (Deanna J. and Heidi B.--don't leave a comment--since you are 'authors' I don't mediate your comments). :o)
I know it kind of stinks, because Google Reader is just so convenient, but maybe I'll make my homeschooling blog public to make up for it. We shall see, we shall see...
Claire's year of the...
...unfinished projects!
That's right! I'm going to FINISH projects this year! Things like making Christmas pajama pants--with fabric that I have had for at least 4 Christmases! Finishing skirts 1, 2 and 3 for Elise! Sewing two, yes, two memory quilts from our time at BYU. One for the first year we were there and one for the second.
I WILL put the grommets in my quiet book, and make the cover with my cute fabric! I will use other fabric that I bought years and years ago, and match it up with patterns that I also bought years and years ago! I am even planning on finishing my 2010 Christmas presents. Really.
I am going to finish Ben Hur and War and Peace. Make curtains for Sammy's room. Even hang pictures. *gasp* Maybe I will even hem our 3-year-old curtains, and hang curtains in the front room. I will set up my food swap blog, and take down my Christmas decorations. Fix two loose screws in my dresser. Sweep up the bird seed in the garage. Hang my Ikea mirrors.
And try, really try, to not take on any new projects for a while!
Happy new year!!
That's right! I'm going to FINISH projects this year! Things like making Christmas pajama pants--with fabric that I have had for at least 4 Christmases! Finishing skirts 1, 2 and 3 for Elise! Sewing two, yes, two memory quilts from our time at BYU. One for the first year we were there and one for the second.
I WILL put the grommets in my quiet book, and make the cover with my cute fabric! I will use other fabric that I bought years and years ago, and match it up with patterns that I also bought years and years ago! I am even planning on finishing my 2010 Christmas presents. Really.
I am going to finish Ben Hur and War and Peace. Make curtains for Sammy's room. Even hang pictures. *gasp* Maybe I will even hem our 3-year-old curtains, and hang curtains in the front room. I will set up my food swap blog, and take down my Christmas decorations. Fix two loose screws in my dresser. Sweep up the bird seed in the garage. Hang my Ikea mirrors.
And try, really try, to not take on any new projects for a while!
Happy new year!!
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