Fire and Drought

It seems to me that adversity often comes in two varieties--Fire and Drought.

When a fire hits you, the heat burns and it hurts so bad you almost can't stand it. The smoke makes you disoriented and you just can't see clearly. The ash settles around you, making everything a dull gray. You ask, "How did this happen? Why did this happen? And who started it?" You feel your way around, hoping to find a door that leads you away from the heat. And you keep hoping that someone will hear your cries for help.

In a drought, there is something that you need, that you yearn for, that just isn't happening. The rain does not fall, the job doesn't come, the cradle is still empty, the person doesn't change, the pain won't end. And there is nothing to do but wait. And waiting is the hardest part. Every day leaves you a little more drained. Every day it gets a little harder to keep your faith. You wonder if this drought will ever end and you wonder how you can possibly go on another season.

One of my favorite scriptures in Jeremiah says:

"Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."

Whether you are being seared by a fire or parched by a drought, my wish for you this coming year is that you will have the only thing that puts out a fire or ends a drought--water. May the living water of Christ soothe your burns and quench your thirst. Then you will have the courage to face the heat and the hope to weather the drought. And that is when, like the tree, you will force your roots deep and spread out your branches and yield fruit to all around you.

Some Random Things

Just thought I'd comment on a few random happenings, quotes, etc. from my life lately.

*On Monday, I had to make a special trip to the store to buy a square Kleenex box that my daughter needed for a science project that she told us about the day before and was due the next day.

*True quote by me: "Do not play with the plunger. The plunger is not a toy."

*While going through pockets during laundry, I found coins, candy wrappers, 4 pencil top erasers and 2 glow in the dark plastic stars.

*Zach quote: "She said she loved me, but not in a kissing way."

*I cannot find our digital camera. Sigh.

*While waiting for a pie to cool, Emma suggested we hurry up the process by putting it in the microwave. Apparently, I need to have them help more in the kitchen.

*I bought 6 cans of Red Feather canned butter from New Zealand for my food storage.

*Lucy pointed to her stuffed bear in a play car seat and said, "This is my baby Jesus."

*I cannot find my Harry Connick Jr. Christmas CD. Double Sigh.

*While sick in bed yesterday, my husband made me breakfast in bed, brought me home flowers, and made eggs and french fries for the kids for dinner. He's a keeper!

*My friend Tyra gave me this Fabulous Blog Award.



I am to pass this award on to 5 other blogs, so check out the following:


Emilie--hilarious & honest stories of her boys crack me up
Dedra--true blog lover, great pictures, fun observations
Moments by Tyra--Tyra did our family pictures and they were great!
RG in ID--love her insights on children and motherhood
Balancing Everything--great posts on childbirth, motherhood, and home education, not to mention sewing tutorials

Belonging

The other day, my little Lucy wanted to play with our globe. I pointed out fun places, like where Daddy went on his mission (Spain) and where we live. But then she looked up at me and said, "Where am I at?" I said, well you live where we do. And she looked at me again and said, "But where am I at?" So I pointed on the globe and said, "This is where Lucy is." She put her stubby little finger on the spot and grinned and for the rest of the day, she kept dragging the globe up to me and asking, "Where is Lucy?" I would show her and she would say, "Yep, there's Lucy!" It was such a pointed reminder to me of how important it is for little children to feel like they belong--that they know their place in the world. That they matter.

This summer, we attended a large family reunion on my husband's side of the family. His mother is the youngest of 13 children and there were hundreds of people there. We all had name tags that said our name, plus which child of the 13 we were descended from. My 7 year old, Emma, walked into the building and saw all of the people and you could tell it was a little overwhelming for her. A few minutes later, she looked down at her name tag and smiled and said confidently, "I belong to Nadine." And she was fine. She knew who she belonged with and who belonged with her. Her source of belonging was her family.

As children get older, this sense of belonging can become more complicated, as they see both the positive and negative aspects of belonging to a group (or family :)). About a week ago, we finished listening to dramatized scriptures and my 9 year old son Ethan asked,"Why are the boys always the bad ones?" I explained that there were surely bad women during that time, too, we just don't know about them because they weren't written about in the scriptures. He reiterated, "But why are the boys always the bad ones?" And he went on to talk about how the boys were always the ones to get in trouble at school and how there were more men than women in prison. And what he wanted to know is "Why?" What he didn't ask, but I knew he was thinking was, Am I going to end up doing bad things because I am a boy? I told him that I really didn't believe that there were more "bad" boys than girls, but that boys are often more outspoken and violent in their responses and that gets them in more trouble (long answer condensed). It made it even more clear to me how important it is that boys have upstanding examples of their gender. Unlike many of those young men in prison, Ethan is blessed because he has his father to look up to--someone who mirrors every quality of a good man. And he will be able to see that we can all choose how we will behave and who we will be both because of the groups we belong to, and sometimes, in spite of them.

Lots of Little Things

There have been lots of little things in our house the last month. Little things that to little children mean a lot. Here are a few of them:

Lucy turned 3 years old! She got to wear her Cheetah costume all day and even into the grocery store. The very next day, she rushed up to her Daddy and said, "Daddy, Daddy, look at my legs! Look at them! I'm bigger now!!"



Emma lost her very first tooth. She was wiggling it furiously every day for at least a week. When I pulled it out, she cried and yelled that it hurt, but she was very proud. The tooth fairy has a hard time remembering to come to our house, but when Daddy helped her look in her room, he magically found a whole dollar for her very first tooth. Sometimes the tooth fairy has had to leave notes of apology and explanation for failing to appear. Apparently, the Tooth Fairy Company can sometimes get understaffed and overwhelmed and they are very sorry for any inconvenience.





Well, by the time we remembered to get pumpkins for carving, everyone was all out. But we still did our caramel apples and dipped them in chocolate, to boot. Here is a picture of some very happy chocolate faces!



And here is a picture of our sweet little Halloween gang:



One funny story--My husband asked my son, Ethan, if he remembered to change his alarm clock due to daylight savings time. Ethan said he didn't want to do that since he would just have to change it again the next day. "Why would you do that?" my husband asked. "Well, isn't it for just one day?" Ethan answered. So Brady explained that it was for another six months. "Oh," Ethan replied. Then he thought for a minute and asked,"Do people who aren't members of the church do it, too?" We think that he thought that because they are always announcing and reminding us about it at church and it always starts on a Sunday. So there you go--Daylight Savings Time is just for Mormons and just for a day!

As for me and my shenanigans, my friend Tracy and I transformed 6 bushels of apples into canned applesauce, apple pie filling and frozen apple pies. I just baked one of the pies today and it was quite yummy. You make the pie just like normal, but instead of baking it, you put it in a gallon bag and place it in the freezer. Then when you want a fresh baked pie, you just pop it into a hot oven straight from the freezer and you have pie heaven. We each have a dozen pies in our freezer! That was a lot of pie crusts, my friend!

Money Chores

I originally had this as part of my other post, but I think it deserves a space of its own.

We had a special family meeting last Sunday about money. Brady had gotten after the kids for not doing their chores right and one of the children (I won't say who, but you can guess) said, "Maybe we would do it better if we got paid." WRONG answer. We tried an allowance once, and we regretted it. It started a whole entitlement issue, with the kids starting to say that we "owed" them money. Parents do NOT owe their children money and I was not going to have them speaking to their father that way when he is working so hard at 2 jobs!

So we got all the kids together and told them that if they wanted, we would start paying them for their chores. But if they wanted to get paid for their work, they would also have to pay for the goods and services they receive. I took a white board and had them list all of the goods & services they would have to pay for. Some of the things included food, clothing, electricity, laundry, television, etc. They realized real quick that what they receive from Mom and Dad far outweighs their chore contributions. We talked about how chores are something that we do because we belong to a family and everyone needs to help out. I pointed out how ridiculous it would be if I told their Dad that I wanted money for the chores I do around the house and how it's just as ridiculous for them to do it.

But we understand that they want a little spending money and it's good for them to learn some financial skills. I asked them, "What did Dad do when we needed more money?" They answered that he got a 2nd job. I asked them,"What did I do when we needed more money?" They answered that I started selling hats. So we told them that if they wanted extra money, they could also get a 2nd job. We are now instituting 2nd chores which we call "money chores." I will pick extra chores every week that they can get paid for if their regular chores and homework are caught up. We have got to free our kids from the epidemic of entitlement and the quest of "something for nothing" that is so prevalent in our society. I really feel that parents who give without requiring are saddling their children with a future handicap in both their professional and social lives. For a great discussion on this, read an essay entitled "The Cornucopia Kids: Giving Children Too Much May be Giving Too Little." It's by Bruce Baldwin and it's a 16 page article published by the National Association of Secondary School Principals. If you can find it, it's awesome! I'll get down from my soapbox now.

Catching Up

Earlier this week, after a day of botched peach jam, kids with diarrhea and a husband out of town, I plopped down on my bed with a pan of Rice Krispie Treats and the remote control to see what was happening in the world of Bravo Reality TV. Then I started thinking that I'm not keeping up with this blog like I want to. I really like it, but it can end up feeling like homework at the end of a day when I am completely exhausted. And I am completely exhausted almost every night. So I am lowering my expectations of becoming a great and powerful blogger. I am hoping that the lowered expectations will make me more relaxed about it, which in turn will actually induce me to produce more posts. I'm practicing psychology without a license here, but it's worth a shot.

So, here's a little bit of what's been happening in my life. The canning adventures have continued, yielding both grape juice and some yummy pear butter. Have you ever used a steam juicer? Those things are SO COOL! I don't have one, of course, but a huge thank you to Tracy and Heidi for letting me use theirs. It is now on my wish list. I have also been crocheting my little hats until my fingers go numb, but I am really happy about their success.

Little Lucy has been running around in a cheetah costume for weeks now. I have put my foot down about wearing it in a store, but I admit that she did walk in a church with it on. She wears it and sleeps in it until it is dirty or peed in, and then digs through the hampers when I do laundry looking for it. When she wants to wear it, she comes to me and says, very emphatically, "I hate my clothes! I HATE THEM! I want them off!" She has a hard time taking the costume off to go to the bathroom, so we've had lots of accidents, which is making me HATE the costume. Sigh. She turns 3 tomorrow and is super excited. Here is a picture of her in the costume.

Got Me Some Skills!

Well, I decided to be brave and attempt to do some canning. I have zero canning skills. I've never done it by myself, I only helped my Mom when I was a kid. And I use the term "helped" very loosely. On Wednesday, my friend Liz gave me a box of apples and I decided to do applesauce. So I borrowed my friend Tracy's Saucer and my friend Tyra's water bath canner and after scrounging up some jars from my basement, I was ready for the fun to begin. And, again, I use the term "fun" loosely. It was very satisfying, but after about 5 hours, it was no longer fun. Brady took the kids and slept outside in the camper, so it was a one man job. I had to scrub the kitchen in the middle of the night because applesauce hardens into industrial strength glue. (After 6 kids, I've had applesauce on almost every surface imaginable.) But I got everything cleaned up and I was so happy to get some new skills! Here are some pictures of the process:

Then, yesterday, I got another box of apples and decided I would do apple pie filling. Which sounds reasonable, except that I started the project 5 hours before we were supposed to leave for family pictures, thinking "I can do it! It won't take that long." HA! Famous last words. (Insert Brady's "I told you so!") So of course, I'm still slicing apples while hollering instructions to children about what clothes to wear and timing my shower while the last batch is cooking and we were all running late. I did not have time to clean anything, so I left the kitchen looking like this:

But in the end, we got some yummy apple pie filling and had a great time doing our family pictures. We always dread getting our pictures taken. It is just plain awful. Someone is always pouting, someone is always crying, Mommy is always frazzled and Daddy is always mad. But this year, we had our neighbor and friend, Tyra, take them at the university gardens and it was great! The kids liked being outdoors and picking where they wanted their shots. We had to hurry because it was overcast and we were losing light, but we were still able to get a lot of fun shots in. I'm really excited to see how they turn out, especially the individual shots of the kids. We also took some pictures up by the Rexburg temple. In a quiet moment, I looked at all of these people around me, all happy and dressed in matching brown and cream, and realized that they were all mine. And I loved them all and they loved me. I thought my heart was going to swell out of my chest with contentment. It was a fleeting personal moment, but I hang on to those. That's the stuff that moms cling to when we wonder "Why am I doing this again?" So a big thank you to Tyra and also to all my friends who let me borrow and mooch for my canning education. I finally got me some canning skills!

Bryce is #1!!

Bryce turned 1 yesterday and I still can't believe it. Where did all the time go? Why is it that the most precious baby years fly by? All I could think about all day was a beautiful quiet moment between the two of us in the hospital after he was born. Everyone was gone and he was in my arms and we were drifting asleep. For some reason, that memory is burned in my mind. I can still feel his soft, even breathing. That was the moment that I made up his song. All of my children have a baby song that I create for them and sing lovingly and off-key. They are very (VERY) simple and here is Bryce's:

Oh, my beautiful baby Bryce,

Wouldn't it be nice if we could stay this way forever, you and me?

And I could rub your fuzzy head

And kiss your chunky cheeks--

Hold you for a while and say your name and see you smile.

Yes, my beautiful baby Bryce,

It's going to be so nice, for I will love you for forever, wait and see.

The kids love for me to repeat their special songs, even when they are older. And the big kids can all sing the songs of the little ones.

Bryce is a beautiful and sweet child, although being the youngest of six, he has evolved an incredibly high-pitched scream that he feels is necessary for his survival. He simply will not be ignored! He says WOW and Uh-Oh a lot and occasionally Da-Da and sometimes (rarely) Ma-Ma. He loves to play peek a boo and a new favorite is Patty Cake with Daddy. He points his little finger to mark it with a "B" and puts his chubby arms high in the air for "Throw it in the oven for Baby and Me!" Very adorable. I must remember how adorable when he is Lucy's age and telling me what a poopy head I am. But for now, I am his favorite person in the whole world and that is a wonderful feeling. Happy Birthday, Bryce!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Saturday was my birthday and although turning 33 is not super special, I had a fantastic day. My mother and sister came to visit and we spent the day shopping and having fun. We got to play neat games like "How Long Will It Take For Amy To Make Up Her Mind" and "How Many People Does It Take To Help Amy Try On Clothes." We went out to lunch and that night we made a bunch of homemade Chinese food. Here's a picture of us at the beginning of our adventures:

My husband took the kids to get me some flowers. Here is a picture of the card with all of their signatures:

On the back of the card Brady wrote down the gifts that the kids said they wanted to give me. Here is what it said:

Alanna: Do the dishes twice

Ethan: Watch Bryce for 3 hours

Emma: Rub your feet every day for a week

Zach: Scratch your back every day for a week

Lucy: No more messies

Bryce: Drink from a sippy cup

Is that cute or what?!

Look, Mom! I Canned Butter!

Well, it's not "true" canning because there was no water bath or pressure canner, but STILL, I did it! The process was pretty easy and can be found here. It can store up to 3 years on a shelf . I wanted some for my food storage (shortening on your toast, anyone?). 7 sticks of butter did 4 half-pint jars. I gave one away as a door prize during the food storage class I had last night at my house.

That class was the last emergency preparedness class I'll be doing for a while. The 1st one dealt with water storage, sanitation and 72 hour kits. The 2nd focused on emergency shelter, heating, and cooking. And last night we talked about long-term food storage. I woke up this morning so glad that it was over! Due to my amazingly honed skills of procrastination, I was up until 2 a.m. for four nights in a row trying to get things ready. The turn-out was smaller, but it went fairly well. I did get a little preachy (GASP! SHOCK!) but no one even rolled their eyes at me. Them's good peoples! When it was over we sat around and devoured yummy homemade bread and jam that a bunch of gals brought.

Bread making is a skill that I have not mastered. Something about working with yeast intimidates me. There just seems to be so many ways to screw it up--temperature, humidity, my mood.... Even the instructions are intimidating with their foreign phrases of "Raise until Double", "Punch it Down" and "Gluten Content." Part of it is laziness, since it seems to take up a whole day. My mother-in-law did help me make it once. And I tell ya, it's a little sad when you are that supremely proud of yourself for something that other people do every day of their lives. But hey--I did can butter!

Buses and Hats

Yesterday was the first day of school and a day of milestones. My oldest daughter, Alanna, went to Middle School. Middle School. Do you remember Middle School? All I could think about the night before she went was an image of my junior high and kids making out. Making Out. In sixth grade. But she left excited and came home happy, so I am very relieved (so far). Ethan started fourth grade and Emma started second grade.

My second son, Zachary, started kindergarten today. I've never seen him so excited in his whole little life. All he could talk about for days was riding the bus. Brady even wanted to take him to school on the first day, but oh no, he insisted on riding the bus. I walked him on and he was grinning from ear to ear. I thought I was doing good until the bus drove away and then I started crying. He just seems so little! I was waiting at the driveway when he came home and he came running to me with his arms open saying, "Mommy, Mommy, it was FUN!" So cute!!!

I've been working on these crocheted hats for a while now, trying to get the patterns and sizes down. I'm going to be selling them. I'm taking some samples in to a boutique next Saturday and I plan to put them on craigslist and hopefully sell some wholesale. They are made of cotton yarn. I've done a newsboy hat (not my own design), an irish rose beanie, and a boys' striped skater beanie. On the black beanie, the rose is sewn on and on the aqua beanie, the rose is attached with a removable clip that doubles as a hair barrette. The newsboy hat has elastic cord inside around the bottom. Of course they will come in all different colors. I think that chocolate brown has been a favorite so far. Here are some pictures. The boys' beanie looks out of place on the girlie hat stand, but when I get a picture of Bryce modeling it, I'll post it.

Laundry Day

Well, yesterday was Monday and that means one thing....Laundry Day! Most of the home and organization books & articles will advise you to do one load of laundry a day. Now that just doesn't work for me. We have a bigger than average family, so we have more laundry than the average family. Plus, when I did it that way, no one was ever happy. Someone (read Brady)always wanted their black socks or tan pants and I hadn't done that load yet. How was I supposed to know you wanted to wear that today? I'm good, but I'm not that good. Also, I have more loads of laundry than days of the week, so if I did the once-a-day thing, I would never ever catch up. And I find that's the issue about laundry that most people hate--the feeling of always being behind. So I started doing laundry one day a week, just like my madre did.

I gather it, sort it, and spend the day at home so I can fold it. (Of course, I'm a SAHM, so I can do that.) I sort into the following loads: Whites, Darks, Khakis, Brights, Denim, Pinks, Blues, and Towels/Sheets. So I have at least 8 loads, thanks to my handy dandy front loading washing machine. If I had a regular washer, I would have a minimum of 12 loads. So I pat my washer and whisper sweet nothings into her bleach compartment. Here's a picture after it's all been sorted:

It does take almost all day, but when it's done, it's DONE! And unless someone gets the stomach flu, I don't have to think about it for a whole week! I've also found that this method relieves me of some mommy dependency. I no longer hear, "Hey, where's my such and such?" Once I wash and fold it, it's YOUR responsibility. Don't come crying to me asking where your favorite shirt is. And when you wear it, you know exactly when it will be washed again, so plan accordingly. Laundry went from an overwhelming, never ending task to a weekly accomplishment, all thanks to the Laundry Day. If you can try it, let me know how you like it!

Back to School at WalMart

Well, it's back to school time. Did you get your supply list yet? I have 4 kids in school this year: kindergarten, 2nd, 4th, and 6th grade. I got their lists at registration (which, by the way, took over 2 hours) and when I saw them, BAM--instant headache! But I took a deep breath, lined them all up and made a Master List. This way I knew exactly how many of each item to buy, like 25 glue sticks. Then I waited until Brady (hubby) was home and the baby was asleep and headed out to Wal-Mart to get it over with. Now, at our house, my husband jokingly refers to WalMart as the 'Whore of Babylon' or 'The Great and Abominable Church of the Devil'--take your pick. And I usually roll my eyes, laugh, and make out my list, while he reminds me to be sure and take my hand sanitizer. But this time, he might have been right. I got there and they are out of yellow #2 pencils. What??! It is a week and a half before school starts and you are out of pencils?? What kind of a world is this? And I needed a lot of them. 77 to be exact. They were out of a lot of other items, too and everything seemed to be in different places. I just seemed to wander around in a fog. Then I noticed the other parents there and realized I wasn't the only one.

You could tell the parents because they were all staring bleary-eyed at their list. It's 10:00 at night and you could just feel the exhaustion. They would look up hesitantly from the list, blink a few times, and then reach out for what they wanted. BUT WAIT! Are those the more expensive PRANG watercolors that your teacher specifically asked for? Are you allowed to have that box of 64 crayons? Pointed or blunt tip? Wide ruled or college? Are you sure those pocket folders are supposed to have prongs? And I pity the fool who actually bought a Trapper Keeper. They'll be blacklisted for sure.

After several more trips to different stores, I got all the supplies and vowed that next year would be different! Remind me to read this post next year. And to remember that I have a relative who works at Office Depot!

In other news, my son Ethan had Pack Meeting last night at Rigby Lake. The kids had a great time, but my tummy was not liking all of the salad varieties I loaded up on. So about midnight, I'm in the bathroom thinking "Please don't let me throw up Cub Scout Hot Dog Potluck!" But of course I do. And I do not recommend it. Bleck!

Small Plus Simple Add up to Great!

I don't know about you, but I'm not going around doing grandiose things every day. In fact, a lot of the things I do could be labeled as routine, commonplace, and typical. But I want to make something grand and worthwhile out of my life and my children's lives and I really believe that the best way to accomplish this is the cumulative effect of small and simple efforts. So, this blog is to chronicle those everyday efforts, along with the occasional grand one, that bring meaning to the big picture of my life. As if to illustrate my thoughts, my baby (turning 11 months tomorrow--how did that happen?!) crawled for the first time today. He's not been very interested in being mobile. He has an adorable, but HUGE, Charlie Brown head, and he just doesn't like to move. But today, he saw something he really wanted and decided to go for it! Not too long from now, he'll be walking and then running, but for today he simply crawled a few small feet forward.