MaeLyn's Musings

 Steven returned home from Europe last Friday with a beret for me, chocolate for everyone, and jet lag for himself. It is wonderful to be a complete family again, and on Saturday we celebrated by having another Family Fun Day by going to a park none of us had been to before. This park did not have a playground, so at first the kids were bored, but eventually we all managed to find some fun things to do there. ... like climbing trees,  ...exploring an old fallen log,  ... and boulder hopping.  This week the kids are on Spring Break, while Steven returned to school. I've been struggling to keep the kids entertained, but we have had some fun.   On Monday we went to the library so we'd have plenty of books and movies for the week.  On Tuesday, Hannah had a youth temple trip in the morning, John spent most of the day reading, and the younger boys spent the day cleaning their bedroom. (One of the kids took this picture) ...

Yesterday in Primary, the question was asked: Why is the statue of Moroni on top of the temple blowing a trumpet? Josh was quick to raise his hand to respond: Because someone stuck him up there and he wanted to get people's attention so they would get him down!

Steven left for Europe last Friday. Ever since he started looking into this MBA program, I think this international trip has been what he was most excited about. He has been looking forward to it for over a year, and now he is finally there! He has suffered some jet lag and difficulty sleeping, but he has enjoyed the tours of businesses and monasteries, banks and cities. He landed in Frankfurt, Germany, but has also seen Rüdesheim, Mannheim, and Heidelberg. He has seen the European Central Bank, the Deutsche Bank, a John Deere factory and a BASF plant the size of a city. Today I believe he is traveling to Strasbourg, France. He has the camera so I hope he is taking lots of pictures. From his emails, it sounds like he is having fun. Meanwhile, I am essentially a single parent. I've attempted to keep the routines as close to normal as possible, and besides acting up a little, the kids haven't talked much about his being gone. I miss Steven though. I miss the things he does to h...

On Saturday we had a primary activity. The theme for it was "My Heavenly Father Loves Me", and it was based on the creation. We divided the children into six groups, and we had six stations that they rotated between, spending ten minutes at each station. At my station we did shadow puppets. We were on the stage, with the curtains closed and the lights off, and I had a lamp shining on a wall. I showed the children how to make some easy puppets (a dog, an eagle) and then I let the children experiment. I had a bunch of cards with pictures of various shadow pictures and how to make them, that they could use for ideas. Other stations included making animals with play dough, planting a seed, going through an obstacle course, singing songs about creations, and making a treat - chocolate pudding with crumbled Oreos and a gummy worm on top. After all the children had visited every station, we had all of the children come back to the stage where I talked about the days of creation ...

(Cat not included) John built a tower with some of the cans of corn. Earlier this week I received a phone call from a sister in our stake. She will be moving soon, and was wondering what to do with her extensive food storage, and she said my name came to mind, and she wondered if I would be interested in any of it. I thought about our food storage- which we have been using for the last year or so, and how much it had dwindled to little more than just the basics - still lots of wheat, but little left of anything else. Our food bills have been rising as I've had to purchase more and more food items that we have run out of. I told her, "Yes!" and so on Thursday, Steven and I went to her home to take some of her collected food off her hands. I was grateful that Steven was with me, because the food was in her basement, and it took him many, many trips up the stairs to get it all out to our van. By the time we had all that we thought we could use, the back of our van ...

I'm not sure exactly what world Joshua lives in, but he is definitely in a world of his own, marching to the beat of a drum only he can hear. I never know what he is going to be wearing next, or what creative game he will be playing. Whether he is wearing a lab coat, a monkey suit, a monk's robe or his "explorer" garb, I always know he is having fun. The following pictures were all taken in the last few months (since Christmas): Josh was thrilled with the lab coat and tools he got for Christmas. The better to play "mad scientist" with, I guess. Josh the Explorer warms his hands over a campfire. Josh the monkey has a chat with his friend Buzz Lightyear. Even when just dressing for school, Josh definitely has a certain style.

For February's Family Fun Fest, five fortunate family folk fit in the van with several bicycles for a drive to a nearby park with a lake. Steven rode his bike to the lake and met us there for a picnic lunch, flighty fowl feeding, boulder climbing, and bike riding around the lake. Later we meandered over to a part of the park designated as a skate park and watched some talented skateboarders do tricks in a bowl that resembled an empty swimming pool. The kids watching the ducks and geese Hannah feeds a brave goose Just after this picture was taken, the goose grabbed the food right out of Josh's hand! Practicing their rock climbing skills It was a lot of fun!