Finding Joy

Nov. 17, 2008

near tragedy averted

Y'all are going to be so relieved to hear this........Levi has decided he does like Winnie the Pooh after all. I know, I know, what a relief!!!!

This morning he screamed that he did not want to watch the Winnie the Pooh movie, he did not like Winnie the Pooh. I told him that was not allowed! Everybody must like Winnie the Pooh! I said it quite firmly and sternly, there was no room for argument. Still, he said in a sulky voice "no I don't". I went to the grocery store for shortages from the weekend, and I mean it, the whole time I was thinking how am I going to get this kid to like Winnie the Pooh? I mean, I am all for individuality and all, but not liking Winnie the Pooh? Did you get switched at the hospital? Can you actually be of my body????? Luckily by the time I came home, all the other kids, their superior genetics shining through clearly, had convinced him that Winnie the Pooh is the best ever.

All is right in my world once again.

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Nov. 15, 2008

Posted in family life

Random bits.........

We made reservations yesterday for the moving truck and Walt's plane ticket back home. So it all feels more official now. Sunday he is to sign the lease on our house. Not old, though very much in the country with lots of trees and privacy. Can you believe I have not even begun to start packing boxes? And he is due back Friday? Oh my. Know what I am going to be doing next week.

Today the house is jumping. Everyone going every direction. My oldest daughter is fixing to leave for a day with friends. My oldest son is teaching a Red Cross first aid class, which he loves doing. My second oldest son is on his first date, since he just turned sixteen last week. (afternoon movie and lunch, double date with friends.....I have such good boys!). My second oldest daughter is waiting to curl my hair. The two middle boys just came home from their basketball game, and me along with them. Three youngest munchkins have no official plans other than jumping off the furniture and being monkeys. That should keep them and me busy. Third oldest son(11) wants to grill steaks tonight. Somewhere in that, we need to straighten up the house for the Sabbath and take baths and lay out clothes and I have a Sunday School lesson to finish preparing. And a house to pack!!!!!!! lol

I dyed my hair back to brown. I loved the red but I never came to feel when I looked in the mirror that I was looking at me.

I found pannetone at Safeway today! I have been looking all over town for it! Joy. I bought two, just in case I eat it all, want more and cannot find it. Yes, I love it that much. Should learn how to bake it myself I suppose, but pannetone baked by a Georgia girl probably tastes different.

Ok, curling iron is smoking by now. I have hardly released all my random bits but enough.

Oh, and homeschool this week was mostly reading books, history books, science books, book books. It was wonderful. Most of the time, everyone (youngest five) were curled up on my bed. Oh, and scripture books, with everyone. Good week.

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Nov. 10, 2008

Posted in family life

Have you noticed my life is a little blah lately? I have! I think God was trying to give me a gentle nudge last month because I was asked to do two different creative projects at church, both of which were challening and I immersed myself in completely, I had those creative vibes going, I prayed daily for inspiration to guide my thoughts and both ended up very satisfyingly done.

One was a lesson to our women's group about keeping an eternal perspective in life. I researched, studied scriptures, did visual aids........it was an intellectual wrestle, lol. I think it went well. I felt good about the ideas I presented. One woman cried, one very smart woman said I taught her something new, and I came away feeling I did not embarrass myself. lol Always my aim in these things.

The second was for our Fall Festival at church. I was in charge of the Relief Society9our women's group) game and I planned a Knight's Gauntlet. A series of three tests to prove themselves brave, strong and wise. We had a room with two doors, for in and out. So the door in......I had two trees there, and a tarp thrown down and bunched up like a raging river, with a board(bridge) and some toy alligators(fierce sea monsters). That was the first test. The second, I had our stuffed dragon, with a barstool made into a mountain, some of my son's balloon swords (he makes balloon animals and other things) and they had to fight the fierce dragon and defeat it by knocking it off the mountain. The final test was answering a riddle. I had a minimum of decorations but they seemed to be just enough. Some large castle blocks we have....I made some castle ruins with them. One of my sons built a large castle facade that was in front of the exit door and of course our suit of armor we have nicknamed Sir Bob from our own living room. lol It was fun planning, fun doing. Though I was a bit jealous of the ones doing doughnuts on a string, and the fishing game and such. My mind just does not work that way! Anyway, it felt very good to be creative and planning something and involved rather than worrying and fretting.

I do think these opportunities were divine nudges, to awaken my creativity again and have me using my gifts, such as they are, to benefit my family. Our late beloved prophet told the story of some advice given him by his father when he was discouraged that shaped his life "Forget yourself and go to work". I am starting to feel creative in lessons again, looking up ideas. I would love to plan some fun way to celebrate Thanksgiving this year. I thought about turning off the electricity and using candles and our firepit for cooking. Trying to live life like a Puritan does not sound like much fun! Maybe we could be the native Americans, lol.

Anyway, I was just reflecting this morning about how uninspiring my life has been lately. How grateful I am that my Heavenly Father has given me such an abundance of blessings, such wonderful children and the chance to teach them. How that truly has been my joy in times past. Time to forget myself and go to work?

This morning I have a headache myself, a periodic thing. I get them for two or three days at a time, but then.......sweet relief they are gone until the next month. Strange as it sounds, I am quite cheerful thinking about how good I will feel tomorrow morning. lol But then I have some sick munchkins. Some have headaches and sore throats, some have sick tummies, some have a combination. Some are yet to be sick, the three year old is well after three days of being quiet and cuddly. Glad he is well, wish he were still quiet! lol So we are having a slow, cuddle up in blankets kind of day. We all miss Daddy.

My goals this week.......a trek to the Nature Center to study leaves and autumn. An art project, studying Matisse's art and doing collages. Finishing our book and starting a new one. Getting well.

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Nov. 8, 2008

What a beautiful fall this has been!

Autumn is my favorite season, I think it is most everyone's. Everything is at its most beautiful. I like thinking about how these are the leaves' natural colors, that this beauty is there all through the summer, life just hides it from us. Maybe a bit like how I feel being forty. I feel more beautiful, not because I actually am, but because I am truly me, I have reached a season in my life where the true bits of me can no longer be hid. Of course, the decay is starting to show just a bit through the beauty, just like me! lol Back ache in the morning, back ache at night. Little bits of grumbling here and there from an otherwise healthy body that has been very good to me, and given me a great life.

But that is not what I started writing this entry about!

Sometimes autumn is a season that escapes me before we have a chance to enjoy it. After a lazy summer, fall suddenly explodes with activities and then the holiday season is here, and autumn is gone. This year though, we truly took the time to enjoy ourselves. Corn mazes, pumpkin patches, we would have picked apples if the frost had not killed the blossoms in the spring. It has been beautiful and so restful to all of our souls.

It is starting to fade and Walt tells me in Pa, it is already gone. It snowed the other day in my corner of Nebraska. But at least this year, I feel sated. With still a bit more left to do! I think this week we will take one more hike down the nature trials, one more picnic, maybe make some leaf prints.......

If only every time I went into a store they weren't already playing Christmas music! lol Love Christmas, intend to enjoy it when it comes. Just not yet done with Autumn......

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Nov. 7, 2008

Posted in family life

Finding joy in motherhood

My two little girls (4 and 6) sat down with me yesterday morning and looked through cookbooks to plan a meal for them to cook. I admit, I skewed their choices because I only offered them the Healthy Kids cookbook and the organic foods cookbook, lol. It was a bit difficult to make a choice because, while the four year will eat nearly anything, the six year old is a bit particular. Finally we choose Roasted Chicken With Sweet Potatoes, Tuna Bites (for the vegetarian sister who eats fish), and green beans. Dinner was exceptionally late but I let them do as much of the work as possible. And it was great food. At one point, I was about to lose my patience, because, imagine this picture, three smallish children (the 3ds of course had to help) sitting on the bar, "discussing" who would get to pulse the food processor to make the breadcrumbs (for the tuna bites) while Mom was trying to figure out why the dratted food processor would not turn on. Dinner was already late, we had already faced the disappointment of not making the carrot cake for dessert (it will be our afternoon snack today), and I thought "why the heck did you think this was a good idea, all three kids at once!!!!". Then I thought (Heaven must have been smiling at the picture and gave me a helpful nudge) I thought "cracker crumbs!!" and we had fun banging them out in a ziploc bag.

It was a great evening. I need to remember to not get so busy, I forget to take time for this. Sometimes I feel like I am raising two different sets of children. For better or for worse. Somethings I did better when the older ones were younger, and I was too. Younger and more energetic. Yet there are some aspects of my mothering that have improved with time and a bit of character development, lol. I guess it all evens out in the end.

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Nov. 5, 2008

Posted in My stuff

Well, what do you know? The sun still rose this morning. lol I have some friends and family that I know probably thought it would not. After watching President-elect Obama's eloquent acceptance speech, I am curious to see what will happen. I have some fears, well....some uncertainties....about how some of his purposed policies will affect my family but the sun rose this morning on a gorgeous day.

A family friend came over today, a bit of an American Revolution historian, to share with us what he has learned, in particular the ways he has found that divine providence, miracles even, smiled on the colonists and their effects. Floods which prevented the British armies from following the colonial armies (who passed and then immediately after the flood waters swept along), people including George Washington who escaped certain injury and death, many things. It was very interesting and I thought especially appropriate today. To remind us of the efforts that went into us being able to do what we did yesterday. Even more than that, how God's Hand was in that, and with us now.

I have read an article about the legislation that passed in California in favor of traditional marriage, and how one of the ways it unexpectedly benefited was the African Americans voters who came to vote for Obama and also voted for this bill. Already something good has happened. For all the emails and comments I have listened to and maybe even made, that were negative and fearful. Which predicted dire consequences. I am not saying that suddenly I agree with his positions. I have some serious misgivings. But I have decided not to be negative. To be for something, rather than against. He is our president and I intend to give him a fair chance. See who he appoints to his cabinet, see what he does. And mostly to recognize that one man cannot put aside God's purposes. And that maybe I do not always recognize how God manages to have those purposes accomplished.

And Walt may have found us a house in Pennsylvania already. A very old house.

It has been a beautiful day.

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Nov. 4, 2008

Posted in My stuff

So I voted.

I remember the first time I voted, in the George H. Bush election. Who did he run against, I cannot remember? Was it Mondale? I guess you know how I voted. I remember the euphoria, the sense of having done something important. I have felt that in every election since, whether my man won or not. A sense of having participated in something important.

I did not feel that today. Maybe a mild sense of satisfaction.

I realized last night, I am not voting for someone, I am voting against someone. That does not sit well with me. I started researching, at that late date, because before then I thought I knew which political party I was aligned with. My dad belongs to that party, and most everyone I know. At one point I believed in their ideology quite strongly. I found last night as I researched a possible third party option, that my opinions have shifted, my priorities have changed. As far as ideas go, my sensibility actually leans toward that dratted other party! How did that happen? How am I going to tell my dad? lol

But even then, it is not a perfect fit. I have serious conflicts with some of their ideology. And I have never heard a candidate from that party speak in a way that made me lean towards them. There are some third party candidates out there that excite me much more. I seriously considered them, though the Ross Perot factor is an important one. Yet, how long can I keep picking the lesser of two evils? The idea of joining a grass roots movement, helping to nurture it in its early days even when it yields no visible results but planning for future yields.....that is very appealing. In the end, I voted a compromise. On the national level, I voted the traditional parties (though I thought it through until I was voting for something I felt was important, some decision different perspective). But on the state level, I voted third party whenever I could. Even though that means I might not be pleased with who wins, I used my voice.

More than that, I decided to start using my voice more than once every four years. Not that I am going to be obnoxiously vocal, but I have already started writing emails, asking for clarification about different parties' platforms, educating myself. Once I feel comfortable with my own political leanings again, I will see where I can go from there.

The amazing thing about that is, no matter who wins tonight, I feel like I have found my euphoria, my committment again. In the process, even if not in a person.

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Nov. 3, 2008

Posted in family life

We have been so busy, I am having a hard time even remembering everything we have done! It has been a great month.

DH left yesterday for Pennsylvania and last we spoke was stuck in rush hour traffic in Pittsburgh. Which is near where we will be leaving though I am hoping for a small country town, with a great old house. I kind of have a thing for hundred year old houses, lol. I live in them in all my dreams. We have found many, many things to be excited about with this move, though of course, I am worried about fulfilling the rather daunting homeschool laws in Pa. I am looking forward to a very old fashioned, sweet Christmas with lots of snow. Cutting our own tree, sleigh rides, maybe some Christmas pageants or festivals. We plan to move the week right after Thanksgiving, praying that Walt will find a great house to rent quickly.

So what have we been doing this month? Corn mazes, pumpkin patches, drives and hikes in the mountains, a couple of great restaurant meals with the family, some with just dh, a Halloween festival, a Sunday picnic, a birthday/Halloween party. Great family time. The homeschooling part of our lives is starting to kick in and feel good. I think we have found our rhythm. Hopefully we will not allow moving to hamper that. I keep thinking about the great field trips we are going to have. So much history, my stars. And Pittsburgh has what sounds like a great children's museum and a great science museum. Don't tell the kids but I think our family Christmas present this year will be some family memberships to some of these places.

One thing I just have to brag about, sorry in advance.....my oldest son has started preparing for the ACT, something I was very worried about, but all in vain. His preliminary score is a 27. He is aiming for a 28, in order to win a scholarship. He plans to study Forestry in order to enter the National Forestry Service. He has taken two preliminary tests so far and scored a 27 both times. Math was his downfall, everything else was 28,30 and 32. So hitting the math books hard and we will see.

Everyone else is doing well. Samantha is still planning on leaving in two months for Russia. That is going to be an amazing experience for her. Logan turned 16 and is petitioning hard to take his driver's test, but so far he nearly gives his mother a heart attack every time he is behind the wheel. Everyone is doing fine, just humming along.

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Oct. 17, 2008

Changes coming up

Posted in family life

Apparently.........we are moving to Pennsylvania. I am still in shock, going from giggling to nerves. This moving business still gives me hives but in the end, this seems to be good for our family.

Can you imagine the field trips! lol

And how beautiful Christmas will be this year.

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Oct. 10, 2008

time with my middle child

Posted in family life

I have always felt very strongly about each child's individuality, and getting to know them on that level. I think I have done that, but as you would expect......the middle child is the one I feel gets overlooked the most. Today I did a far too rare thing. Said middle child begged earlier in the week to cook dinner.......he wants to be a chef when he grows up......so we went to the store and bought his ingredients. We are having whole roast chickens, roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes. And I think some herb biscuits. He is cooking it without my help, though he is letting his three year old brother help him. What a guy.

Anyway, it was great to spend some time alone with this young man. He is smart, and interesting, and eager to please. He tends to get overloaded quickly and so some of my conversations with him during the day are not the most pleasant, all about not fighting and not being bossy. That causes me to sometimes overlook his gifts. He is conscientious, hard working, thoughtful, friendly and engaging. He laughs at my jokes. That is a rare gift, lol. And quirky too, which is always a plus in my book. He is obsessed with penguins. Penguins of all things. It started out with birds, any birds but two years ago, he settled on penguins. Especially emperor penguins. I asked him why and he said "why not? they are the coolest...have you ever seen them run?". lol Whatever.

He is eleven now and already showing a sense of responsibility and compassion that impress me. Next year he will receive the Priesthood and I am looking forward to seeing him take on that challenge. What a guy.

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Oct. 4, 2008

what I did this week

Posted in family life

Lesson learned for the hundredth time in my life, lol, every day has its ebbs and flows but taken together, add up to something good. So what I have done over the week......

We have been reading our book The Island of the Blue Dolphins.   Half done and something we all look forward to. Well, not Sarah, but she listens anyway. lol

I have been deep cleaning my kitchen this week, as my project. I have a couple more things to do today, but it feels great to have this done. I am even cooking more, all day.   Trying to decide which room to tackle next week! They all need it so badly, lol.

We had the missionaries over again this week. Apparently they have been low on dinner appointments.   I certainly hope when my boys go out, there are women who will take them in and feed them.   Simple this week though......homemade spaghetti and garlic bread.

We had a bike ride up and down the street with the youngest three. Usually they are just allowed to ride up and down our long driveway, but I decided to break free, lol and take them down the road. Oiy!   It was a bit of a headache, trying to teach them to ride single file along the edge of the road, not run over Mom as she walked along side, not stop suddenly, not bump into the person ahead when they were not going as fast as they should, and get over in the grass when a car comes. But! I think after a couple more times of this, we will have some fun evening walks/rides around the block.   They had fun even if Mom was sick of the sound of her own voice by the time we got back home. We made lemonade and read our book and I was glad we had gone.......and come back.

I cleaned our bookshelves and organized some books and found several that had been "lost".   Now that all the picture books are on one shelf, I have been brought books at all times of the day.   Lots of reading going on, which makes me happy. I am glad I have at least eight children who love books. (One who loves to write books, not so crazy about reading other's efforts though, lol).

This weekend is our General Conference, where the church leaders meet in Salt Lake and give addresses which are broadcast into our homes, if we are lucky enough to have DISH (and BYUTV) or we go to our church and watch. It is my favorite two weekends of the year. I feel very nourished afterwards. My oldest four are there, this weekend, attending the first session Saturday and hoping to get into more, though that is difficult.

edited to add this later in the morning........cannot believe I forgot, lol

This week I also: registered to vote, one day this week actually had all my dishes washed (with the dishwasher broken, nonetheless though husband fixed it yesterday, hallelujah), and had my hair cut. Still long, but with layers. And get this, if I use the right conditioner, curl cream, spray gel and a diffuser on the blowdryer, I have "naturally curly" hair! I have not spent this much time primping since before my marriage, lol.   Thank goodness it is naturally curly, what would I have to do if it wasn't?

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Sep. 26, 2008

thursday

Posted in family life

Yesterday was a moderately successful day. I gave the younger five their choice of books and they chose Island of the Blue Dolphins. We read two chapters and I was surprised that even the youngest two sat very quietly and listened. Some workbooks were done, but not all    I am moderately happy with the learning that was done yesterday.

We read scriptures together. In fact, I also read them alone and later with my husband. That gives me a great sense of security and peace, like a warm blanket being wrapped around me.

Chores were done, and the house is reasonable right now. The missionaries came over last night, and they were great company. Very nice young men who were a pleasure to talk to. And they shared some scriptures with us before they left........yet more warmth. For dinner, I made pepper steak, usually one of my best things. I have an unusual recipe, with a great broth of tomatoes, molasses and soy sauce. Yesterday, after I started it, I ran to the store for a couple more things, and it burned! Just a little, it tasted smoky.   Thankfully I had a back up dish, a new one which I normally would not do for company but it worked, thankfully with the "smoky" pepper steak. Spicy green beans with pork, a Chinese stir fry. All of that with jasmine rice and corn muffins. And Sara Lee pies for desert, lol. It felt like a success and I needed that.

Today, I am headed to Denver for the morning/afternoon, to go to the temple with some other women from my church. I am so looking forward to the peace and feeling of sanctuary in that place. I have given all the children their jobs and assigned each teenager to be a mentor to one of the younger ones.   The plan is in place, it should all be smooth, I guess we will see this afternoon when I get home! lol

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Sep. 25, 2008

Wednesday

Posted in family life

This is a conversation I had with my husband last night as he was just coming in the door: "I need a big hug, I am feeling a little panicky" with deep concern, he hugged me while asking "what is wrong? what happened?" "promise you won't laugh?" "o-k-a-y?"   "I watched the evening news". He did laugh after all, while assuring me that I was fine, my family was fine, my world was just fine. I am not so sure. I have faith though that these are the days that the scriptures say the faithful will endure with the help of the Lord. Not sure exactly when were the days when they did not need the help of the Lord, but I do think it takes faith these days to listen to the news and not tremble just a bit. It makes me very grateful for the food we have gathered this summer and for the network of family and friends who would help us as we helped them should something happen.   And that I can pray any time I want without fear of lions.

I was talking to my friend Joanna yesterday and she tells me that every year I say the same thing about feeling behind before I have even started. lol Thank goodness for friends with good memories. Because looking back, I feel good about the learning we have done in other years. So, this year will probably be fine too.

I feel good about being honest about this here, no point in pretending to be perfect, but my husband and I have been going through marital distress for about two years now, it has been much much worse this past summer. We are doing everything we can to rebuild and some days, I think we will. Well, most days I want us to, some days it feels possible. I think we will. We have the help of our clergy and a marriage counselor and we are trying as hard as we can. The stress level some days takes nearly all of me, and I am not as energetic in other areas of my life. Yet, I think this is the most important thing I can do for my children. If it makes me not as eager and available for amazing art projects and thrilling lessons, so be it. So yesterday I was thinking about what I could do, realistically, without inducing guilt over plans not followed through on, yet giving my children the best I can at the moment.

Whenever I feel burnout coming on, I usually go back to the two subjects that give me the most joy myself, art and geography. I am beyond even that at the moment, lol.   I had to dig deeper.   Books. My love for books, my family's love for books. I went to the bookstore and bought several books to read aloud with each other (I am talking the younger children here, the older ones have long ago taken control of their own schooling, they tell me the subjects, I gather the materials, off they go).   I tried to find good historical fiction and this is what I found:

1. A Gathering of Days about a young girl living in New England in the early 1800's
2. Island of the Blue Dolphins, a favorite of mine from childhood, about a girl living on a Pacific Island who is left alone when her tribe is taken, killed, left...cannot remember, but I loved it
3. The Cat Who Went To Heaven about a cat who belongs to a Buddhist monk living in ancient Japan
4. The Door In The Wall about a young boy living in medieval Europe who is meant to be a knight but ends up with the monks in a castle
5. A Wrinkle in Time because we are all sc-fi freaks and it looked like fun. lol

So for now, we will read the scriptures as a family, and then with the younger children, I will read books and have them do their math books and grammar workbooks. I think workbooks are the most boring things ever and it fills me with guilt that I am not producing great hands-on activities instead but the children actually seem to like them, so we are going with it for now. There is a nature center not far from here, and last week we went and took our field guides with us. We have one for trees, birds, wildlife, insects and reptiles, and out of all that, we managed to classify a tree (a white ash) and a bird (a mallard duck). LOL What great naturalists we are. But it was fun, and I think nature is great science.   That is something that can be done easily and frequently. There are some museums around here we have not explored yet. My children eat up documentaries and Masterpiece Theatre productions like candy.   I keep raving about gentle, rambling days, well, that is what we are having. lol

Last yesterday was actually a good day for all I am writing about. I took my younger three to a mommy and me class, Music Makers.   It was fun.   I shopped at a bookstore and when I came home, had a fun afternoon snuggled in my bed with my youngest reading picture books and looking through the cookbooks I bought, picking out food he thought was yummy. The oldest, and middle ones had done chores and the dreaded workbooks while I was at Music Makers so that was taken care of. For supper, we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over our fire pit and looked at the stars. As days go, it was pretty nice.

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Sep. 23, 2008

what a day today was!

Posted in family life

In a mostly good way.

There is a woman in our church with five children nine and younger, expecting her sixth child on Friday. Looking at her and all her ducklings around her reminds me of younger days. In some good ways but also I remember how that felt. So I offered to watch her children for her a day this week. She said it would be nice if I could watch them for her appointment which was at eleven. I said "fine, drop them off at eleven and pick them up at five". She said "What would I do with myself?". I said "oh, you will think of something". Sunday she came back up to me and said "were you serious?" LOL Absolutely! So today we have had five extra munchkins running around. They were very good children and it was very smooth. Every once in awhile though, I looked around at the sea of children bobbing in and out of every room, and thought "oh my stars!". She came an hour early, but she looked happy and relaxed. I guess she had her time. I remember those days. Young mothers say to me sometimes "I don't know how you do it, I can barely handle my three" (or two, or four). What they are doing is so much harder than what I am. They are in the midst of it right now. The first children get older even as the next children are coming. Life gets easier. Having a large family is a joy and I hate thinking of a young mother giving up on that, if that is what she wants, because of being overwhelmed.

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Sep. 23, 2008

Just in case someone needed a good laugh

Posted in My stuff

this story is apparently making its round through email so you might have already read it, but it gave me a good laugh.

When a woman lies........

One day, when a seamstress was sewing while sitting close to a river, her thimble fell into the river. When she cried out, the Lord appeared and asked, 'My dear child, why are you crying?' The seamstress replied that her thimble had fallen into the water and that she needed it to help her husband in making a living for their family.

The Lord dipped His hand into the water and pulled up a golden thimble set with sapphires.

'Is this your thimble?' the Lord asked .

The seamstress replied, 'No.'

The Lord again dipped into the river. He held out a golden thimble studded with rubies.

'Is this your thimble?' the Lord asked. Again, the seamstress replied, 'No.'

The Lord reached down again and came up with a leather thimble.

'Is this your thimble ?' the Lord asked. The seamstress replied, 'Yes.' The Lord was pleased with the woman's honesty an d gave her all three thimbles to keep, and the seamstress went home happy.

Some years later, the seamstress was walking with her husband along the riverbank, and her husband fell into the river and disappeared under the water. When she cried out, the Lord again appeared and asked her, 'Why are you crying?'

'Oh Lord, my husband has fallen into the river!'

The Lord went down into the water and came up with George Clooney.

'Is this your husband?' the Lord asked.

'Yes,' cried the seamstress.

The Lord was furious. 'You lied! That is an untruth!'

The seamstress replied, 'Oh, forgive me, my Lord. It is a misunderstanding. You see, if I had said 'no' to George Clooney, you would have come up with Brad Pitt.

Then if I said 'no' to him, you would have come up with my husband. Had I then said 'yes,' you would have given me all three. Lord, I'm not in the best of health and would not be able to take care of all three husbands, so THAT'S why I said 'yes' to George Clooney.

And so the Lord let her keep him.

The moral of this story is:

Whenever a woman lies, it's for a good and honorable reason, and in the best interest of others. That's our story, and we're sticking to it

Signed,

All Us Women

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Sep. 15, 2008

Posted in education

It has been hard to get back into the school year this time around.

We were excited for school to start, I had so many plans, but it has been harder than usual easing into that routine.

One good thing already I see happening this year is my six year old is learning to read. Beautifully, easily, and taking a lot of pleasure in it. I think teaching children to read is my favorite part of teaching my own. Perhaps because books mean so much to me personally. It is a joy to share that with them. She is the seventh child I have taught to read! I am just amazed by that. The first four were rather easy, even though I was not sure of myself at all during the first two. My middle children both are dyslexic, something that comes with gifts and challenges.........mostly gifts I think. But reading is under the challenge part of that. It was a struggle but now, they are both reading so well. Smart, curious, engaged boys. So now, I am teaching my little princess to read. I waited a bit longer with her, mostly because I was still working with her older brothers. I felt a touch of dread, just a touch, wondering how will this one go? Seeing her little face light up with joy as the story continues page after page and she is still reading, still doing well is a wonderful thing.

We did have a bit of a field trip last week. Dad had the day off unexpectedly so we headed off into the mountains. Not sure what we were going to do, but knowing that there were more things than we could get around to, we ended up visiting a fossil bed of redwood trees (did you know fossils are more than dinosaurs? lol......wasn't quite expecting that), an old pioneer homestead, a dinosaur museum!, and a chocolate factory, which has become my very favorite place. LOL We tried to visit a wolf sanctuary, but they were closed. We did see some wolves, and a fox through the fence. They howled at us and tracked the movements of the little ones. That was creepy!

My goals for today are to have a science lesson/exploration, do the basic math/grammar/reading work, and sit down together to read a good book. And have chores done. And work on the laundry. And clean the kitchen. And subscribe to Netflix and renew our magazine subscriptions. Good luck to me in being ordered enough to finish all that! Start with the schoolwork first though and spread out from there................

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Aug. 18, 2008

Conversation with two of my boys this morning

Posted in family life

This morning my two boys who are 11 and 9, were telling me about a show they watched yesterday, a documentary about lions. Joshua says "Tommy cried at the end". Tommy says indignantly "no I did not........well it was so sweet". LOL Something about baby lions and their mother. I am laughing but I am also touched. I am so glad that these young men still have their tender feelings in tact. Even if it is over baby lions. lol

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Aug. 6, 2008

Posted in family life

We never made it to Yellowstone. That is the problem with last minute plans.......they are not always feasible. Last week was quite a week anyway. By Thursday three munchkins had a stomach flu. What fun that would have been on a road trip. We had a mostly quiet week at home, playing and making messes with no one to help Mom clean them up. Guess what we are busy doing this week.

I turned forty one Saturday. It was a very quiet birthday. Forty one does not feel any different than forty, and I liked forty. Moving past that forty mark has a comfortableness I was not expecting. And not in a "too old to care" way either. LOL It just feels good.

We start our school schedule in two weeks. I am looking forward to it. I never lost that excitement in the fall of new things happening and the excitement of new challenges. Of course, in school, I had lost that mostly by November. With homeschool.......we can re-invent our year any time we want and recapture that. Still, fall is a great time of year. The crisp weather, leaving summer behind and preparing for winter and the holidays......it is invigorating.

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Jul. 28, 2008

Posted in family life

We are down to five munchkins around the house for the next few days. The oldest four (secretly I call them my minions, rather than my munchkins, but they hate that LOL ) are off to Especially For Youth , a youth retreat, this week. It has been such a mellow morning. Surprise, surprise, five is easier than nine. We had fish sticks for supper and french bread pizza for lunch. They have been playing quietly some made up game about the Avatar (Japanese anime we all love) in the family room. Mellow morning.

And we are headed to Yellowstone this weekend. The minions LOL are only an hour from there so we are driving up this Thursday and they will meet us there Saturday. Four days of camping at Yellowstone. It is going to be great.

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Jul. 21, 2008

catching up a bit

Posted in family life

The last two weeks have been a bit of a blur. Every day I felt swamped with "outside the home" stuff. I am such a homebody, that is tiring for me. Friday I was thinking how smoothly it had gone, how well I had held up, along with having teenage children popping in and out with all their things, and then Saturday I woke up feeling overstretched and grumpy. LOL So I did the basics and then read a book. Enchantment by Orson Scott Card. It was a great read. I finished it late Sunday night and have that satisfying buzz from a great read that leaves you thinking long after the book is back on the shelf.

My son Ryan, 17, is home from being away working at the Scout Ranch. It has been a great summer for him. He wants to be a forest ranger after college so this was fairly close to his dream job. (the ranch is in the mountains...of course). Two weekends he even surprised us by coming home with four friends from the ranch. Well, he gave us a couple hours notice. We invited them to dinner and grilled out. My oldest daughter has been dating someone, maybe the first serious relationship she has had, and they come over sometimes. I find myself in a strange in-between land as far as a homemaker and mother........small children, heck nine children create chaos, but older children need a company ready home. Ugh! Trying to adjust and demanding lots of help. (Secretly, I kind of like it though

)

I have joined our church choir since moving to Colorado. We sang yesterday for the second time (we sing once a month). It has been an interesting time. I warned the choir director that I have a very unpredictable voice. It is not terrible, or squawking or anything, but not naturally beautiful either. I do fine if I can choose another voice and match theirs. Usually that would be a male baritone, LOL and here I am singing alto with a bunch of girls. And the choir director is not shy about stopping the whole choir to help me practice getting one note right , either.

She is nice enough about it though and I did tell her I was there because I want to learn how to sing. So, fair enough. Ever once in awhile though, I am hitting it great and she gives me a smile. And she made me a cd to practice during the week. This might not be a natural talent of mine, but it is one I want very badly. I just keep plugging away. Maybe by Christmas I will be singing with the angels, LOL.

And school is coming up........I feel all the excitement stirring. We have already had many talks about what we would like to do this year. I plan to unschool this year, but in a Montessori kind of way. We all want to learn about American History. And geography. Dabble in several sciences. Maybe learn German which would be fun because our neighbor is Swiss and has German cartoons and books and all that. Read lots of books, go lots of fun places. Oh, it is going to be great. I am so thankful homeschooling is in mine and my children's lives. It has really been the making of us.

Ryan and Samantha are supposed to start community college this fall. We do not have all the paperwork in but I do not foresee any problems. Samantha started working in her dad's office, as a file clerk, today and is getting paid a very nice wage. She should have Russia paid for in a month and then have four months to put money in savings for whatever she wants to do when she gets home. (She is going over to Russia with a volunteer organization to teach English to school children in January).

All in all, we are just humming along. A sour note here and there

but isn't that life. Drinking lots of lemonade, making lots of icees, having a good summer.

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