Five Children

 Day Six - Thirty Days of Thanksgiving

Our daughter Elle (Elizabeth aka Noble) helped me tonight after finishing her day at work. We are moving from Minnesota to Iowa in two days and I needed help with the kitchen. Her work was much appreciated.

I love our five children and am so grateful for everything I've learned from them over the years. Motherhood is a crash course in character development. When we were homeschooling many other mothers commented, "Oh I wouldn't have the patience to do that." Well, let me tell you sister I didn't start out with the patience either, but it was either develop it or go to jail for crimes against children. I think I managed to develop some along the way. But along with character traits, I've learned about so many wonderful subjects because of the wide and varied interests of the five of them. 

Our five have multiplied to eight as three have married, and then thirteen as five grandchildren have been added. What a blessing to have posterity! I hope it keeps growing.

A Little Christmas Joy!

Christmas with Nana!

The magic of Christmas comes through children. They are so innocent, hopeful, and charmed by simple things like lights and music. Children remind us of the Baby Jesus, the Christ Child. So sweet and lovable.

These precious cherubs came for a family dinner and gift exchange on Sunday. They will be traveling to Idaho to their other grandparents for the actual Christmas day. 

Moms' Cafe

When our children were very young we lived in a suburb of Washington DC in Northern Virginia. Often we would meet Daddy after work and stop at a fast food place for supper. Our children became VERY familiar with them. However, as our family grew to five children we decided that eating out was too expensive. The first time we chose to eat at home the children asked, "Where are we going to eat tonight?" And we answered, "At Mom's Cafe!" They were so excited to try a new place. Ha ha! We pulled into the driveway and they were totally puzzled. It only worked a few times before they caught on and didn't want to go to "Mom's Cafe". But we didn't care, we went anyway.

Hence, my kitchen became known as Mom's Cafe.

Fast forward many years and all the children are leaving home. They asked me to put together a cookbook with all the family favorites. I promised, worked on it a bit, procrastinated and promised some more. 

This summer I decided to get it done. 

Tah-Dah! (And yes, I'm inadvertently revealing my true identity, but hey, we're among friends here.)

Each child got a different colored book.

Each Section is labeled and on the other side (sorry no photo) is a list of recipes in the section.

On a few recipes I included photos.

The Housekeeping section is to remind them of what I taught them, plus a few things for grownups

such as defrosting a chest freezer and cleaning an oven.

That's a huge project completed and crossed off my list. Now on to some T-shirt quilts and photo albums. 

Oh my. I'm tired already!

Tuesday's Treasures

The fun of shopping at thrift stores is that you never know what treasures you'll find. Here are my latest gems.

This item on Amazon is listed as $5.96.

These books are great fun with children. I enjoy the challenge too!

Alphabet books are some of very favorites - I have lots!

Jan Brett is an exquisite artist and storyteller. 

Eloise Wilkin is my all time favorite illustrator.

Another great illustrator and storyteller - Tomie dePaola.
And who can resist a story about a quilt?

Can't have too many books about the Nativity.

Do you know Veronica? She's a delightful French hippo!

I miss my own Grandpa Joe and so wish my children could have known him.

The children's books ranged from $.35 to $.75; quite a savings from buying new. I have a huge library of children's books that we used in our homeschooling. I can't resist adding more as I anticipate sharing with grandchildren.

What treasures have you found lately?

Wednesday's Wisdom

When Noble was about ten or eleven I asked her to pick up all the books that the two youngest boys had dragged off the shelf. She resisted saying that she hadn't made the mess. I explained that I hadn't either and I needed her help to quickly pick it up and straighten the room while I was making dinner. She put her hands on her hips and said, "When I'm the mother I'm not going to make my children work." I looked at her and asked, "So, as the mother, you're going to do all the work?" You should have seen the look on her face as she realized what she had said. As an adult she has thanked me over and over for teaching her how to clean a house.

I love this story from Anita Canfield's book A Woman for All Seasons:

When I was first married, I met a woman with several daughters. One day while I was visiting in their home one daughter appeared at the door with a shirt for her mother to iron. A few minutes later another daughter came in and asked her mom to pick up her room. She was bringing friends over later and wanted it clean. Then a third daughter later came to make a similar request.

 I mentioned to this good lady that she certainly had her work all lined up for her and she replied to me, "I don't believe in making my children do any work at all. The day will come when all they'll do is work and take care of others. These years are theirs. This is their time for fun."

I thought at the time, What a great idea! This mother really has it together! We moved away shortly after that and I forgot all about the incident. Years later we lived in the same ward (church congregation) as one of those daughters. It wasn't long before I realized she had terrible housekeeping problems. One day she confided in me with a great many tears that she hated living in a pigsty--and was embarrassed--but she didn't know how to clean a house.

In this mother's enthusiasm to give her children immediate pleasure, she failed to prepare them for a fuller joy.

Children are young for such a short time, and adults for such a long time. Shouldn't we use those precious years to teach and train them to be competent, successful adults? They will thank us forever for doing so.

 

 

Wordy Wednesday - Parenting

I was the last of my parent's children to marry and have children, by a long time. When we all got together my parents thought my children were brats compared to the older grandchildren, so they sent me a book to help. It hurt my feelings at the time, but I got over it and am grateful for them pointing me in the right direction. The book is John Rosemond's Six-Point Plan for Raising Happy, Healthy Children (also available here and here) Our children were normal, immature children; their grandparents were old, tired and accustomed to quieter, older, mature grandchildren. Also comparing our children to their own was unfair because there are long spaces between my brothers and I and our youngest sister, while my children came at fairly regular intervals and were all young together. That makes for more noise and excitement.

So what's the six point plan? Here's my brief synopsis:

Point One - The Parent Centered Family
When you think about it, the purpose of family life is to raise independent children who will leave home to form their own families and leave the parents on their own again. If we neglect our spouse we will end up strangers when our children are grown and then what's left? Children orbit around the parents, not the other way around. When children are the center, they can grow up selfish and unable to meet the needs of others.
For single parents he says ". . .you can't successfully supply someone else's 'warehouse' unless your own is fully stocked."

Point Two - The Voice of Authority
Expect your children to obey. My parents told me "Make them mind," and it took me a long time to figure out how. Parenting is tiring, but when done right, in spite of exhaustion, produces wonderful adults. We are not meant to be friends with our children until they become adults. We are meant to teach and train them to become successful in life and lead them, literally by the hand when necessary, to that end.

Point Three - The Roots of Responsibility
Expecting children to work is so vital to their maturity. Responsibility comes before rights, a lesson that too many aren't learning, as evidenced in the infantile obsession with rights in our country today. "Give them opportunities to learn the hard way, which is often the only way possible."

Point Four - The Fruits of Frustration
Part of maturity is being able to deal with whatever life throws at you without having a meltdown. Consistent doses of Vitamin N (the NO word) produces children with strengths such as self-discipline and self-control.

Point Five - Toys and Play: The Right Stuff
"So, how are parents to know whether the toys they are buying their children are good investments? In addition to being safe, a good toy embodies four qualities:
-First, it presents a wide range of creative possibilities.
-Second, it encourages manipulation.
-Third, it's age appropriate
-Fourth, it's durable."
He gives a "10" to Legos, with building sets like Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys, and Erector Sets coming in a close second. He advocates art materials, dolls (cuddly ones that don't do everything), stuffed animals and such. He also gives his advice on involving children in organized sports (or not involving as he advises).

Point Six - Television and Children: More than Meets the Eye
He advocates severely limiting screen time (of any kind) for children during the most important developmental time of their lives, up to six years of age. "They are called "formative" because they comprise that period during which the young child is discovering, developing, and strengthening the skills he/she will need to become a creative, competent person.

 His final point is to love them enough to do the other six.

These points work! I've seen it in our children and many others who were raised in a similar way. And when adult children express gratitude for being raised in this way, well, that's what we call Parental Paydays. Hope you have many!

Motherhood

Day Fourteen of Count Your Blessings 2013

Today I'm thankful to be a mother. For lots of reasons, but today for the reason that my children have introduced me to things I would never have explored otherwise.

I'm currently reading a book that Noble recommended in a genre that she loves. I can't put the dang thing down even though I have so many things to do! She's also the reason there is a jar of Kimchi in the fridge. I just had a craving for it! I'm also learning Korean, one word at a time.

Of course, my Korean gets mixed up with the Spanish I learned in my childhood and youth and try to keep up. But I'm nowhere near as fluent as PW. He gives me an incentive to get better. And then there's the guns and airplanes to learn about! And he was my first Lego Man, but not the last.

I know a lot more about the inner workings of automobiles because of JET. He loves cars! So I hear about them when he comes to visit. I love his enthusiasm. I always thought a vehicle was just a way to get from point A to point B. But he knows how to drift!!! And other cool things.

Dr. Hair has taught me to look at movies in a whole new way. As a film-maker himself he notices effects, camera angles, bloopers and such. And he can remember dialog from movies seemingly without effort. He's also the younger Lego Man. A master builder with visions and skills that rival professionals.

I sat through a year of violin lessons with Dandylion before getting up the courage to take lessons for myself. Seeing him do it gave me hope that I could learn too. It gave me great joy for four months before finances fell apart and I had to stop. We had fun playing a few duets too. He has music in his soul! I've learned to listen closer to hear the different instruments being played. He plays percussion and those instruments are not always easy to distinguish. But I'm getting better.

My cooking skills are legendary (within my family) having been honed over twenty-four years of feeding hungry children. My patience has increased exponentially over the years. I'm grateful to have learned selflessness through motherhood. And I'm so grateful for all the joy! Especially as my children become my best friends as they reach adulthood.

My only regret is that I couldn't have had five more!

Miss Alaineus

Miss Alaineus is a delightful children's book about a missed vocabulary assignment. (I love children's books.) Anyway, today's post is a bunch of stuff.

A friend gave me a bag of plum tomatoes from her garden. I ate as many as I could in salads (tomato, garbanzo beans, feta cheese) and then made the rest into some delicious soup. I made up the recipe and it turned out fabulous. I chopped up some onion and slowly cooked it in some olive oil (I don't use exact measurements) while I chopped up the tomatoes. Then I added them along with some basil and simmered it for an hour. I mashed it with a potato masher but that wasn't fine enough and I couldn't find my "ricer" so I put it by cupfuls through the blender and that worked great. It was DELICIOUS! Sprinkled a bit of Parmesan cheese on top, dipped in toasted homemade french bread and was in heaven.

The other day I cooked up some chicken quarters, de-boned it all, and put it into containers for the freezer, except one portion for dinner. After some pondering I decided to make a soup. This time Cream of Chicken and Vegetables. I chopped up a carrot, onion, two ribs of celery, and a few potatoes, added some frozen peas, a little bit of thyme and parsley, covered it all with water, brought it to a boil, turned the heat down and simmered it while I made the cream sauce (flour, butter, milk). When the veggies were done along with the sauce I added the chopped chicken, and the white sauce to the veggies, stirred it up and set the table while it was heating through. HEAVENLY! Even Dandylion liked it. Autumn and soup just go together.

We are moved into our new-to-us house. It has many advantages, one of which is the spacious kitchen and working oven. It has fewer rooms but they are larger. Still some work to be done but it's good to be in here before the snow flies. Next projects will be new curtains for my bedroom, the kitchen, and living room.

I began this blog as a way to document my weight loss, but that didn't work and I didn't lose any. In June of this year I joined T.O.P.S. (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly) after reading a piece in the local newspaper about a man who had lost close to 100 pounds. TOPS was touted as encouragement and accountability, which is what I needed. I joined and have lost 15 lbs. so far. There is value in having to weigh in and report each week; not to mention the great women I've met there. I notice a difference in my body, but as I wear loose clothes anyway no one else has noticed. My first goal is another 15 lbs. (Doctor wouldn't approve any more than that) and when I reach that goal I'll set another, 20 lbs. lighter. When I was 42, after having had five children I weighed that much (or little) and looked and felt great. I want to get there again.

I haven't hit the thrift stores for a while, keeping my eyes on the goal of spending less. I did make Noble a cute skirt for her birthday this summer, which she really liked. I promised to make another one in wool for winter. (Still have to set up my sewing room.)

I know I've done some other frugal things, but my mind has gone blank and I don't remember what they were. You understand I'm sure!

Lastly, this Saturday I'm teaching a class at a church women's conference. The class is Cooking with Basic Commodities. I teach three sessions, each 25 minutes long. How am I supposed to cram 30 years of cooking knowledge and experience into 25 minutes? Not going to happen. What I will do is go over reasons why we (well not me) don't cook from scratch, good reasons for doing so, overcoming the obstacles, starting to cook from scratch (The Principles), and then give some resources and recipes to help them on their way. I'm looking forward to it.

A Quarter of a Century

Twenty-five years ago today, TopDad and I were married. The only thing I've done longer than that is simply live. We are in the midst of the first annual Thoelke Family Reunion. It's a tradition I've wanted to have for a long time. With three adult children I figured now was the right time to begin, then the habit will be established that each summer right around June 25 everyone will gather at Papa and Nana Thoelke's for a family reunion, which will include the Thoelke Family Golf Classic.

For our anniversary we are getting a couple of trees to plant in our yard. We did that for our 20th also. We hope we stay here longer and can actually see the trees grow up.

In other news, Noble is across the ocean and the international date line, so I now call her Future Girl. As we are getting up she is winding down her day; when we are going to bed, she is eating lunch the next day. Mind boggling, but fun.

PW is taller than TopDad, JET is still the tallest, Dr. Hair is not far behind, just a bit shorter than TopDad, with Dandylion bringing up the rear, and taller than PFCMom. I'm the shrimp now! But it is fun to be surrounded by five tall, handsome males.

Here's looking at the next 25 years and planning on even better things to come.

He's Home

Elder PW - home from Argentina

We met him at the airport on Wednesday, April 4 at 10:45 AM, true to his teasing nature, he was the last one off the plane. I started running toward him and the gate guard cautioned "Ma'am, you can't go down there." I ignored him and ran to give my son a hug.

He is the same person, just a little taller, a little slimmer, and a lot more emotional and spiritual depth. He is settling in and making decisions about the future, taking care of business such as dentist and doctor visits, making contact with Westminster College and hundreds of friends.

PW's first request was to eat Pizza for lunch. Here he is with Topdad, and then his first taste of American pizza.

Then a short drive in JET's car

Oh yeah, this is sweet!

Here we are on Easter Sunday:

JET, Rozylass, Elder PW

The Man!

Dandylion

Sunday evening Dandylion combed his hair back out of his face. Is it just me or is he just about the most handsome thirteen year old boy you've seen recently? By the way, he has decided to continue to comb his hair this way. I love it.

Random Thoughts

Yesterday I went for a walk to buy eggs at the grocery store. The boys had requested cookies and I was out of eggs. The weather is WONDERFUL! The walk felt good and the persistent pain in my right knee is almost all gone. That means I've been sitting down too much!

I'm suffering from pile-itis at home. There are piles of paper all over. Little notes to myself (LOTS), handouts from church, newspaper articles to share, letters, bills, misc. stuff, all waiting for some action. I'm pondering how to deal with the ongoing inflow of paper to get it under control and help me take action, find things when needed and decide what to throw out. Please, inspiration, strike soon!

I have always loved being a mother; being a mother to adult children is the best! I feel successful to have three adults making good choices, doing what they're supposed to, and they're such fun friends! We have great conversations and good laughs together. Those years of training that seemed endless have paid off. Three raised, two more to go.

Tender Mercy! I rearranged some things in the freezer and uncovered three packages of ground beef that I didn't know I had. Hallelujah, I don't have to buy more until it goes on sale again.

I found, on-line, some fast growing willow trees to plant in the space between us and our noisy, nasty neighbors. Reportedly, these willows grow eight to fifteen feet per year. Fantastic!

For Family Home Evening on Monday we de-cluttered our movies, judging them by two criteria:
1) Is it virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy?
2) Do we want to watch it again?
We cleared out about sixty movies, which was enough that the rest fit nicely on the shelves, all alphabetized for easy access. We have lots of movies, mostly because we don't watch TV, and haven't for the past twenty years.

The boys (and TopDad) are going on a scout campout this Friday. It's girl's night! Anyone want to come over and enjoy a good chick flick with me? I miss my Noble!

De-Cluttering Monday

Noble introduced me to Miss Minimalist last year. Although I'm not ready to downsize to 100 items and live like a Nun, it has helped me to move in the direction of owning less.

Two other factors have come into play recently. One was helping my mother, and sisters-in-law, clean out my younger sister's room after she died. My sister was confined to a wheelchair most of her life. She had several hobbies and interests, all of them heavy on the stuff. She loved make-up and nail polish, and had tons of both, along with dozens of bottles of perfume and bath products. She was a "Stamper" and had hundreds (maybe thousands, since I'm not sure what they cost) of dollars worth of stamps, ink, paper, paper cutters, doo-dads, and such. All her life she'd been given stuffed animals and had kept most of them. She never got rid of clothes as she outgrew them. We must have had a dozen large garbage bags of clothes to go to the charity shop. Oh, one other thing she loved was jewelry, she could have opened a store!

Helping my mother sort through this and bag it up was interesting. To me it was just junk to be gotten rid of, for my mother it was all kinds of memories. What it taught me is, of course, that we leave all our stuff behind when we go home. I knew that, but had never gone through the actual clean out before. Second, that the most valuable things to leave behind are not material goods; it's the journals and photo albums (if they are well labeled) that are the most valuable, as they are a record of a specific life lived. I have often wished my grandmother's had left journals and photo albums. I don't feel I know them well enough. My father and grandfathers each have written a personal life history; those are precious volumes to me. My dad has been really good about putting together and labeling photo albums. My mom is currently working on her life story.

Clothes, dishes, jewelry, knick-knacks, toys, hobby supplies, furniture, music cd's, DVD's, and any other personal belongings usually get divvied up, sold, donated, or trashed. Unless it is an unusual piece or it has specific sentimental value to another family member, it is simply excess junk.

The other factor in moving me toward a less encumbered life has been children leaving home. I don't need so many things in the kitchen, or the linen cupboard; outgrown games, toys, and books can be donated; the fact that we live in a much smaller house than we did five years ago helps too. There just isn't room here for all my "stuff." Plus, the fact that some of it has been packed up for the past three moves means I probably can get along without it. I also want to get rid of the cost of our storage unit. Little by little I'm proceeding toward my goal of a place for everything and everything in it's place.

Today I went through my kitchen cupboard where I keep serving bowls and such. I removed duplicates and excess, reminding myself that I have enough and some things can serve in multiple ways. I rearranged what was left and it sure feels good to have more room in the cupboard.

Our town has a community-wide yard sale in the Spring so I'm preparing for a big sale. Whatever is left will be taken to my favorite thrift store.

P.S. Happy Birthday to Elder PW - He's 21 today!

Another Funny

From the Files:

After observing me take out, clean, and put back in one of my contact lenses, Dr. Hair, age 6, asked, "Do I have one of those?"

Have a fun day!

Chuns Say the Funniest Things

"Chuns" is our family's word for children, which came about when JET was learning to talk and couldn't pronounce the word children. He would ask things like "Can the chuns go out to play?" It stuck and we've always thought it a much better word than "kids" which are baby goats. Anyway. . .

From the file marked "Children's Funnies"

8 January 2005
Tonight at dinner I noticed that JET's fingers were stained pink. I asked, "What's that on your hands?" He replied sheepishly, "I don't know." I said, "That's the most bogus answer I've ever heard. You didn't come running up the stairs screaming about the color appearing on your hands. What is it?"

He said, "Red food coloring."
I asked, "How did it get there?"
"Well I was in the pantry looking around and I opened the box and saw the bottle and I picked it up and it popped open and exploded in my hands."

Uh-huh! This incident did not stop him from snooping around in the pantry, and over the years I have devised many different hiding places for secrets. They have yet to find my favorite and I'm not about to divulge it until everyone is gone from home and have chuns of their own. So there!

A New Year, A New Beginning

A fresh calendar, a clean slate, a new year in which to pursue goals, hopes and dreams. This past year was one of change and adjustment. I passed the one year mark of living in Iowa, a new to me experience; Noble joined the Air Force and left home permanently; JET graduated from High School and left home, temporarily it turns out (he's home again for a short time); as of this week Elder PW has just three months before he returns from Argentina; Dr. Hair surpassed me in height; and lastly, fortunately Dandylion still fits under my arm and still likes to cuddle.

I began my blog a year ago to announce and record my weight loss. LOL, that didn't exactly work; but it got me blogging and introduced me to a whole world of wonderful people and ideas that I didn't know existed. I've "met" seamstresses, crafters, preppers, scriptorians, moms of Large families, homeschoolers, poets, writers, photographers, gardeners, and more. What is so fun to me is that every blog I find leads me to at least a couple more (sometimes dozens). I've learned so much it's like attending a university.

With just two children at home now my time is more my own and I look forward to finally getting to some projects that have been on the back burner for years. My New Year's Resolutions include "making measurable progress" on five projects: weight loss, photo albums, cookbook, de-cluttering, and sewing.

I've written out a detailed weekly schedule to include all those projects so I don't get distracted and can focus more clearly on my desired outcomes.

Today we took Noble to the airport and said goodbye again. The time together was just too short! But I'm so thankful she got to come home at all and so grateful the weather cooperated so she could arrive and depart with no trouble.

Thanks to all who read this and may there be more of you in the coming year!

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

When JET was a baby I sat nursing him in the glow of the Christmas tree lights at midnight on Christmas Eve. I loved having a baby and felt close to Mary and her baby. As I looked at the tree with its lights and baubles I wondered "What does a green tree and lights and shiny baubles have to do with the birth of the Savior?" I couldn't answer except to say "nothing." I pondered for months on what would be a better symbol of the birth of Jesus Christ. Finally the light came on in my brain and out popped the answer: A manger and a baby doll. While visiting my parents that summer (1994) I was able to leave the children with someone responsible and make a trip to the toy store alone where I found the perfect little newborn baby doll. In the fall we moved from Washington state to Virginia and just before Christmas I had my husband build a manger for me. I couldn't draw what I wanted so he put together what he thought I wanted and when I saw it I said "It's just fine, dear." (He built another, much nicer one in Utah.) Our children were five, three and sixteen months that Christmas and the older two enacted and re-enacted the Christmas story all through December and into January. We didn't have a Christmas tree that year as I wanted to keep the focus on Christ and not telling the toddler NO NO NO.

The peace I felt that Christmas convinced me that I was onto something great. For a while we alternated not having a tree and having one according to whether we had a toddler or not. I noticed during the years we had a tree that the manger with Jesus in it was pushed to the back and the children were much more me-centered and contentious. During the years we had only the manger the children were sweeter and more service minded. Finally one year we had a tree and the fighting during just the decorating of it was more than I could tolerate so I decided to forego trees in the future.

Now don't get me wrong, I love Christmas trees, but in our home it caused contention and I realized that after I had spent so much time pondering and then getting my answer that I should follow what was personal revelation for our family. As much as I love Christmas trees I can do without them; I can't do without my manger and baby Jesus.

I truly love my Savior and am so grateful for his condescension in coming to earth. Seeing the sweet baby in the manger reminds me of several truths:

1. I must humble myself as a little child to enter the kingdom of heaven.
2. When I give a gift it is as if I'm giving to Jesus
3. He sees me at all times
4. He lived a mortal life and knows my pains and sorrows, along with my joys and triumphs

Last year Noble begged for a tree, saying it didn't feel like Christmas without one. I consented and found that now the children are older they can handle it. I believe all the training has paid off. We bought a little tree that allows room for the manger to be central to our decorations.

So, however it is that you celebrate, I hope you'll keep Jesus at the center of your heart if not your room too.

Our sweet baby Jesus

Nativity Tree Skirt 

Some of our homemade, handmade ornaments

The whole picture

We love giving gifts to each other and remind our children that "Inasmuch as ye have done unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Matthew 25:40

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Another Fledgling . . . Fledges!

Today our 6'4" hunk of an eighteen year old man moved out of the nest. JET goes to school and works in Council Bluffs, just over an hour away. He has wanted to move out since August but hadn't found just the right situation. The decision was made easier on Saturday when he slid off the road into the ditch on his way to work. When Topdad went to pick him up they drove immediately to see a house with a room for rent. Today he and I packed up the most necessary items into the family Suburban and he drove off to a new home in the big city. (We are driving a rental car until JET's car is fixed.) He'll be back tomorrow after school to get the rest. It's always nice when a child moves out under good circumstances rather than in anger or rebellion.

Time continues to race ahead us our readiness. When I think of where our family will be in five years it boggles my mind. JET should be home from a mission; Dr. Hair on a mission; Dandylion preparing for a mission. And here's an interesting tidbit for any LDS readers: In our family we have a High Priest, an Elder, a Priest, a Teacher, and a Deacon. How's that for priesthood representation!!

Christmas preparations are coming along slowly, had that major hiccough this weekend, but I think I'm back on track. Stay tuned for tomorrow's post about what we do and why.

Accidents Will Happen!

Dateline - Provo, Utah 27 June 2006
Dr. Hair, age 7, and Dandylion, age 5, went to the Creamery on 9th to get a child's ice cream cone each. They were VERY slow returning. Mom sent JET to look for them. When asked where they had been Dandylion said, "On the way home we found a huge sand pile and we accidentally played in it."

CORRECTION: Dandylion tells me my math is off - He had just turned 8 and Dr. Hair was almost 10.

What Do You Want for Christmas, Mom?

Day Twenty-one of Count Your Blessings

My children used to get very frustrated with me when they'd ask that question.  My answer was always the same, "A clean house and obedient children." 

Today as I was cleaning up the mess from our busy, but relaxed Sabbath I got all teary eyed as I realized that my wish had come true.  Well, not the clean house part, but the obedient children part. No rebels in the bunch; our adult children are all productive, contributing members of society, as well as in the church; our two younger sons are busy with school, work and improving their talents.  We have good relationships and enjoy being together.  We look forward to reunions with those who are away from home presently.

With a grateful heart I say thank you to my Heavenly Father for sending me such great children.