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Showing posts from August, 2014

Sleeplessness

What do you think about when you're lying in bed trying to fall asleep? This past week, I've had trouble falling asleep, and frequently wake up in the middle of the night and have difficulty getting back to sleep, so I've had a lot of time to lie in bed and let my mind wander. Here are some of the things I tend to think about when I'm lying awake: Things that happened that day. Conversations I'd had, and things I might have said differently. Projects I want to work on. Books I've read. Blogs I want to write. Poems and other things I have memorized, such as " Jabberwocky ", " The Walrus and the Carpenter ", " The Listeners ", " The Road Not Taken ",  The Articles of Faith  etc. The elements of the periodic table - like counting sheep (1. Hydrogen, 2. Helium, 3. Lithium...) Dreams I've had in the past that I can remember. Noises - like rain falling on the roof, Peter's snoring, the clock ticking, my own br

The Birds

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The birds are staking out the house. They pretend to be eating the grass or whatever it is out there, but really they are spying on me. A car passes on the street and they flutter and fly, but they soon return. My cats go crazy. They want to get out there and chase away the intruders. I finally let Abish out. She looks at all the birds, and then turns around and meows at me to open the door and let her in again. It is intimidating to have that many birds flocked together, so determined to stay. Will they attack? Will they form a mob and dive bomb us and peck our eyes out? They chatter at each other and the noise is deafening. What are they saying? What are they plotting? I think I'll stay inside for a while... until they all give up and fly away.

Responsibilities and Expectations

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This morning was a challenge. It's hard for both kids and parents to adjust to having routines and schedules again after a relaxing summer, and today was evidence of that. I have one child who needs more sleep than any of my others. He usually goes to sleep earlier than any one else, and he still has trouble getting up in the morning. Seminary started yesterday, and luckily he isn't old enough for seminary yet, because he comes to family scripture reading at 5:30, with his pillow and blankets, and only lifts his head from the pillow when it is his turn to read. As soon as we finish, before Steven leaves to take Hannah to seminary, he is the first to return to his bed. I wake the kids up again at 7am. This is sufficient time for the kids to get dressed and get ready for school... or it should be. Two of my boys were dressed with lunches packed and shoes on and ready to go at 7:45, which is the time we aim to leave. The other one had stayed in bed until 7:30, and spent the n

Apples

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On Saturday, our bishop and his family picked a whole lot of apples from a tree owned by a friend of theirs. They came home with the back of their Excursion full of apples. They posted this picture of the back of their car on Facebook. I happened to be at their home when they were unloading the apples ( One of their sons is a Webelos and we went on a hike that morning. ) and so they gave me two large boxes full of apples to take home. The two boxes I brought home barely made a dent in the number of apples they had left. What do you do with two large boxes full of apples? Box #1 Box #2- after making a boat load of applesauce.   Several of them were eaten as snacks. We spent much of the rest of the day making applesauce. We still have a huge box full of apples, plus a bunch of bottles of applesauce. This morning I encouraged the boys to take apples to school as snacks. I also made applesauce muffins for breakfast. I'm thinking of dehydrating some apples slic

The Beginning of the School Year

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Every August, when the kids return to school, I seem to have the same thoughts. While I am a bit overwhelmed at the idea of returning to rigid schedules, getting up early so Hannah can get to seminary, and all the back to school activities, I also look forward to a chance to clean the house (and have it stay clean for some length of time) and have some time to pursue other interests. This year was no different. Last week we shopped for all the back to school clothes and equipment the boys would need for school. While we didn't have an equipment list for Hannah yet, I did take her clothes shopping. On Tuesday of last week, we went to the high school so she could turn in forms, get her schedule, have her picture taken, and get her ID. On Saturday I took Joshua to get the immunization that he needed for 6th grade. He did very well with it; I think the anticipation was worse than the actual event. Monday of this week, John and Joshua had their Back to School night for middle scho

Bedtime Story

Last night, my boys asked for a bedtime story. Josh held out a book for me to read to them: Harry Potter . Since it was late and a school night, I decided to tell them a slightly shorter story. This is the story I told: Once there were two sisters who shared a bedroom. They slept on a bunk bed, with the older sister on the top bunk, and the younger sister on the bottom bunk. At night, these two girls loved to talk and laugh and play games long after their parents had sent them to bed. One night, they came up with a new game: they were going to try to scare each other. They told each other scary stories. They sneaked off their beds in the dark and tried to jump out and startle each other. Finally, their parents came to their bedroom and told them they needed to go to sleep.  The younger sister left the room to go to the bathroom, and when she returned to her bedroom the pile of blankets on the top bunk was still and quiet, and she assumed her older sister had obeyed her parents an

Haiku for the Start of School

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Where's my uniform? Lunches and backpacks ready. Three, two, one, School time! Crickets sing with joy. I marvel I can hear them! Peace and quiet reign.

The Medicine Dilemma

I don't like taking medicine. I would rather eat burned toast for upset stomach, or drink honey and lemon for a sore throat than take any pill. I've never really gone for essential oils, either - I think my natural skepticism has a detrimental effect on their potency. In my head, I know if I get a headache, if I take something for it right when it starts, it will go away a lot faster than if I wait until it is a full blown headache to take medicine. But inevitably I put it off, thinking the headache isn't that bad, that it will go away on its own. And sometimes it does. But sometimes it doesn't and the headache gets so bad that I have to take something for it, and then it will go away. Why not take it when the headache starts and spare myself the discomfort? I don't like taking medicine and would rather not take it if I can avoid it. And then there is the allergy thing. I am allergic to cats. I live in house with four cats. I am no stranger to the stuffy nose,

Caterpillar

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This cute little guy came around for a visit a couple days ago. Peter found him on the wall of the house Friday.  He and Joshua played with him, and enjoyed his fluffiness before letting him go. We did a search on Google, and we thought he might be a spotted apatelodes. Someday he will turn into a rather nondescript brownish grey moth, but for now, he is beautiful! (He is much cuter than the teeny brown ants that have invaded our cats' food dish. I've resorted to putting a moat (an upside down lid filled with water) under the food dish to try to keep them out!)

School Supplies

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School starts next week, and I've been doing a lot of shopping to get all the supplies and clothing that the kids will need for school. To celebrate finally having most of that done, I've made a logic problem for you! See if you can figure out what store I went to on what day, how much I spent, and one thing I bought there. (Please note that logic problems are not indicative of true facts.) I spent more at Office Depot than I did at the store where I bought the pants, but less than I spent at the store I visited on Monday. Of Old Navy and the store I visited on Tuesday, one was where I spent $10, and the other was where I spent $18. Wednesday was neither the day I went to Dollar Tree, nor the day I spent $35. On Thursday, I bought pens at Sam's Club. I spent more on Friday than I did at Sam's Club. Saturday was neither the day I bought pencils, nor the day I spent $20. I bought the graphing composition book the day before the day I spent $8. The six days wer

A True Story

It happened as I was preparing to shower this morning. I pulled back the shower curtain, and there she was, hanging on the wall, a vampire digesting the blood from her last victim - probably me. Senselessly, I turned on the hot water thinking to scald her. She laughingly danced out of the way. It would take several seconds for the water to get hot enough to scald, anyway. I reached for a weapon, and came up with a hand towel. It wasn't ideal, but it would serve. I swung and missed. I swung again and again and again while she flew out of the way, or maybe she was just maneuvering into position for another bite. Finally, I had her cornered. I swung, and the towel left a bloody smear on the shower curtain. The rest of her broken body was a dark mess on my fuzzy green hand towel. The blood sucking monster was dead. But the war isn't over yet. We are still under siege from her mother and sisters and daughters, lurking in and around the house, waiting to poison us and suck the blood

Family Home Evening Drawings

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Josh chose our activity for Family Home Evening last night. He divided three pieces of paper in half lengthwise, then gave each of us one piece of paper and told us to fold it into sixths. Then we each drew the top of a head (to the eyebrows), then fold down what we drew and pass the paper to the next person, who finished the head down to the neck before passing it on. Next person drew down to the waist, next to the knees, next to the ankles, and the last person drew the feet. It was fun to unfold the drawings and see the creatures that we drew!  Sometimes the lines get lost going from one section to the next, which is what happened to the picture on the left above. As the kids have gotten older, this has happened less frequently. These are fun because each of the six members of our family drew one section of each of the drawings, but it is difficult sometimes to figure out who drew which part!

Sealing Power and Temple Blessings

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Yesterday, I got to teach in Relief Society. The lesson was Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Fielding Smith, Chapter 17 entitled Sealing Power and Temple Blessings. As I was preparing, I realized that the entire lesson was based around one scripture (D&C 2:1-3), so I printed it out very large and had it on the chalkboard behind me, along with a picture of the temple and some temple name cards. I also borrowed Steven's genealogy binder and placed that on the table. (I like having visual aides, things to look at besides me.) Here are some of the questions that we discussed during the course of the lesson: What scripture is quoted in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine & Covenants AND the Pearl of Great Price? (Malachi 4:5-6, 3 Ne 25:5-6, D&C 2:1-3, JSH 1:38-39) When and where did Elijah come? (April 3, 1836 in the Kirtland Temple) What did Elijah bring? (The priesthood sealing keys) Moroni informed Joseph Smith that this prediction was ab

We Bought a Car!

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It is a 2001 Honda Accord, and a stick shift, so I can't drive it yet... but Steven can take it to work and I'll have a car during the day again! Yay!!!!!!! Since we sold Steven's Jeep in October 2012, we've been a one car family, and there have been times when that was hard. I'm grateful for all those ward members and friends who have given us rides when we needed them! Hopefully we can return the favor some time.

Joshua Had a Birthday!

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Yesterday, Joshua turned 11. A small celebration was crammed between finishing dinner and leaving for scouts, and involved opening just a few gifts - LEGOs and a remote control transformer from Grandma Kathy and a build-your-own robot set from Mom and Dad. There will be more... somehow with the vacation and everything, birthday shopping got pushed to a back burner. On the other hand, it might mean that his celebration will be more spread out, so he can enjoy it longer. It is fun watching my children mature and grow. Sometimes it seems like they haven't changed a bit, but then, one day, I'll look at them and realize that they really have changed, that they are taller, more serious, more thoughtful. Here is a snapshot of who Joshua is today: Favorite color: blue Favorite animal: dog What do you want to be when you grow up: inventor Favorite healthy food: apple Favorite dessert: chocolate Favorite dinner: lasagna Favorite outfit: elf outfit (green pants, Peter Pan

Fuzzy Friends

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When I'm watching a movie, I like to keep my hands busy. So a couple months ago, I decided that I wanted to make a small crochet animal for each of my nieces and nephews to give out at the family reunion this past week. My parents currently have 28 grand children, but my own children already have crochet creatures (see here ), so my goal was to make 24 stuffed animals. I ended making my 26th animal on the drive to Nauvoo. Here is what I came up with, along with the patterns I used. (Freestyle means I kind of made it up as I went along.) Penguin. Pattern from a book,  Vanna's Choice Easy Crochet Critters Lion. Pattern from   Vanna's Choice Easy Crochet Critters Snowy Owl pattern   from Vanna's Choice Easy Crochet Critters Walrus . Pattern from  Vanna's Choice Easy Crochet Critters Elephant. Pattern from  Vanna's Choice Easy Crochet Critters Hippo. Pattern from  Vanna's Choice Easy Crochet Critters Giraffe. Patte

Blood Bath and Beyond

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The city of Nauvoo was built on the banks of the Mississippi River, and originally it was a swamp. The early pioneers became very sick with Malaria before the swamp was drained. There are still billions of mosquitoes in the area. I think most of them came to visit while we were in the town. Sunday night the mosquitoes had passed the word that there were members of our family who were very tasty. That night, Hannah wisely decided to sleep in the car. The rest of us weren't that smart. Tired from the many activities of the day, Steven and I retired to our sleeping bags ready to sleep. We closed our eyes, snuggled down and prepared to sleep, only to be brought to sudden wakefulness by a buzzing in our ears. We would swat away the offending bug, roll over, and once again attempt to sleep, but it was useless. Before we had achieved a truly restful state, the mosquitoes would come calling again. Occasionally we would hear John toss and turn, or Peter murmer, "Stop that!" th