A Really Really Big Announcement...

Ssshhhh! Don't wake her up...'cause this girl is...



FINALLY SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!!!!

Let's all hope I didn't just jinx it by announcing it too soon...It's almost been a week though. I just couldn't contain my ecstasy.

A Buffet of My Thoughts

It's like going to Chuck-A-Rama today. You get to pick and choose which one of my random thoughts you like and want to chew on for a while. Enjoy the smorgasbord of confusion:

First off; Okay, we get it!! Football is serious. Practice is every evening from 5:45 to 8pm. Except Sundays, thank goodness! Otherwise: "IT'S GOD OR FOOTBALL, PEOPLE!!" If your son is puking, and he doesn't feel up to tackling, or you run late for a practice because you can't locate your son, expect a phone call from the coach. Toto, we're not in soccer anymore.

Next; Why was Henry VIII such a butt? Seriously? Six wives? Focus on something besides producing a male heir you doofus. Like maybe appreciating your awesome first wife, Catherine of Aragon who was like, the smartest woman alive at the time.

Third; James and I have read these amazing books. They are called For Men Only and For Women Only. They are companion books written by a husband and wife team. I've always thought that I understood men pretty well. But. Holy cow was I wrong. Seriously? My jaw just dropped. Especially while I was reading the chapter called "The Visual Rolodex". James was equally astounded. We kept asking each other "Is this true??" I highly, highly recommend these books. I've always felt that James and I had a fantastic marriage, but these books opened up a whole new world. Give them a shot.

Next; I turned 32 on the 4th. Happy birthday to me.

Next; camping is a lot less fun, now that I'm the mom and not the kid.

Next; If you do not own a window squeegee you need to take care of that, and fast. I bought this little beauty a few months ago, and kids, cleaning windows is a blast now. And so speedy. And you don't even need soap! And there are really no streaks!! And you don't waste paper towels!!! (Inhaling, exhaling). Just go buy one, okay?

Next; my blog is really really dumb.

Next; You know what is making me really sad right now? The fact that my family is hostile to homeschooling. It's dangerous to rant on your family on your public blog, but I'm gonna anyway. Apparently, a couple of my family members ambushed James and staged a full scale intervention. They think that homeschooling is a bad idea. They think he should make me stop. You know what bugs me the worst? It's that they didn't come to me. (Okay, I'm kind of glad they didn't). But seriously, it's like they're scared to ask me anything about it. They don't ask what we're studying, they don't ask how it's going, they don't ask where we get our materials...all of the stuff that people usually ask...and they are just silent. And this is my family! It's like they're afraid to ask, because then, they might have to think it's cool. And if homeschooling is cool, well, that's gonna change the way they view their whole world. They might have to open their minds. (They think that their minds are already open, because they are liberal democrats, but their minds are closed to anything that they don't agree with. Like homeschooling. Just to name a random example.) They might have to admit that they were wrong.

Next; I hope that the above rant doesn't kick me out of my family.

War Buddies

On June 26th, James and I celebrated our ten year anniversary. I did a little "ten days of our anniversary" thing for James, (like the twelve days of Christmas). For one of the gifts, I wrote him a letter, and as I was writing to him, trying to think of all these lovely little romantic things to say, I realized that being married for ten years (if you're raising kids), is less like a romantic comedy, and more like a war drama.
Don't you all feel this way too? When you look at your husbands, don't you see the man who has carried you on his shoulders through the battlefields of motherhood? You see the man that at times, you've had to drag by his heels through the killing fields of fatherhood. I know that throughout the ten years, I've had so many moments of being overwhelmed, and feeling like I'm going to die for the sake of being a wife and a mother. I've been on the brink of a freak-out many times. As has he with respect to being a father and all that that includes! Ups and downs in jobs, feeling like we're going to kill our kids, and then wanting to die of guilt because we snapped and yelled at them...we've both done it. And we've both saved each others lives along the way. And we've always been united in a great cause, like all good soldiers are. The cause of raising a family and doing it well is the greatest war effort there is.
At the end of the day, we collapse on the couch (or wherever we happen to be standing after the kids are put to bed), and we look at each other, astounded at what we've had to endure for the sake of the cause. But so grateful that we have each other. No one told me when we joined the army, that I'd have to clean poop off of every solid surface in my two year old son's room the VERY FIRST DAY that my war buddy went off to fight other battles in the office just days after I gave birth to my second recruit. Nobody told James, when he was drafted, that he'd be kissing his wife goodbye, as a sexual being, for at least six months after each of the recruits were born, or that he would be waiting alone at the end of a hospital hallway facing the fragile mortality of his unborn daughter, and his hemorrhaging wife.
There has been joy, pride, comedy, and much happiness too, knowing that we're fighting the good fight, and raising wonderful people. Like all good war buddies, we rely on each other, trust each other with our lives, love each other, and serve each other.

Here's to another great ten years!

The Sunshine Maker

As I've slowly pulled myself together after the birth of Kate, I've noticed the clouds lifting here at home. The first few months after Kate was born are a fog, and I now know that I was walking around the house in a sort of daze. I wasn't depressed, but I was overwhelmed, and as an overwhelmed mother, I went into a sort of auto-pilot mode. Did you ever see that Adam Sandler movie called Click, where he can fast forward certain parts of his life? To everyone else, he looks like he's there, he's responding to the conversations (sort of), but he isn't really there. Well, that has been me.

Now that life has crept into my body and mind, I'm looking around me and noticing what has happened to my little family. The kids are fighting more. Keller hasn't been as nice to Ella as he usually is, and Ella is yelling at Mary just for being Mary. Mary is hitting everyone. The kitchen was always a mess, a consequence of my children constantly foraging for some sort of sustenance, like a pack of hungry wolves. Dinner has been hit and miss and you may remember what it's like around here when dinner doesn't get cooked!

The point I'm (slowly) getting at is this: As the mother goes, so goes the rest of the family. If the mom is in a bad mood, the rest of the family starts fighting, even dad yells more. In the book Good Wives by Louisa May Alcott (a sequel to Little Women), Marmee tells Beth one day when Beth is very discouraged with the cares of home and family "You are the sunshine maker of the home." I feel the awesome weight of how hard it is to have to carry on the emotional climate of our entire families, but I also know that it's important that we remember this and try to be happy and create happiness at home. It's really hard to be cheerful all the time. But lately I've tried remembering this; I'm GOING TO make mistakes. Luckily for me (all of us) Christ is there to atone for not only my big fat sins, but all my shortcomings, even my childish little bad moods, and the times that I don't do what I should just because I don't wanna. Somehow, KNOWING that I'm going to fall short makes me happier. Being perfect would be a big let down, because we would never know the joy and sweet relief of laying it all down at Christ's feet.

Let's remember that our families look to us for their emotional feeding, just as much as they look to us for food.

Weekly Report Weeks 3 and 4

School is humming right along. I'm happy with the amount of work that is getting done. Kate is really predictable with her naps now and it has made such a difference. We've even done several science experiments this week. Granted, they didn't have anything to do with earth science (which is what we're supposed to be studying), but they were fun and very educational.
Mary was sick yesterday with a high fever, but she was actually a lot easier than normal, so we still did school, though it was pretty much just the basics, yesterday. I'm trying to think what else we've been up to that has affected school...I think that's it. Right now I'm working on a list of chores that the kids need to do before they can go out to play. I'm feeling a lot like the family slave lately. That needs to change.
First off, I'm still so pleased with Winston Grammar. Keller already has common and proper nouns, articles, and personal pronouns down pat, and we've only been at it for about 3 weeks. This is a great curriculum for us. He enjoys doing it too, which is totally the point.

Last week math had a few bumps in the road for Keller. This week has been better for him. Ella is using unifix cubes to help cement the idea of larger addition and subtraction problems (sums of up to 20). She's doing pretty well, though I'm not sure how much it really means to her. She loves having her own work to do alongside of Keller though, so I just let her do it and try not to push her to finish if she doesn't want to.

Keller finished his White Star book. He's doing better in reading, skipping less words and being a little more careful, sounding things out instead of just fudging and guessing. Ella's doing great on reading. She's fun to listen to.

Keller has a fit every time he misses a spelling word. I try to calm him down and tell him it's okay to make mistakes, but he just hates to miss any words! Next week, we'll practice a little more. Ella needs work on writing. I've got to find her a writing program. Suggestions?

Science was fun. We put pepsin ( the enzyme in your stomach that digests proteins) onto gelatin and watched it dissolve the gelatin. We also labeled the parts of the digestive system, and we also tested different foods for starch content. Plus Keller had his MacGyver class both weeks. They raced their rocket cars and our car (our real car that we drive) narrowly missed being attacked when one of the cars blew up. It looked like the space shuttle explosion. But, needless to say, the boys loved it.

Um, we pretty much skipped history. Except I let them watch a video on the Celts. We'll work on improving that next week. I need to find a new book for Keller to love, also.

Well, that's it! All in all a good couple of weeks.

Tornado

I know you all will think I'm nuts, but a tornado just blew down my street not 10 minutes ago. I was minding my business and enjoying the beautiful weather out on the front porch when all of a sudden, seed pods from the neighbor's tree are pelting me in the face and papers from the binder on my lap are being torn out of the rings. I looked around and the world was in chaos. Trash was everywhere. Leaves and blossoms and pollen were falling like rain. I looked over at the end of the street and I actually saw the grass flatten as the tornado made its way to the corner. In about six seconds, everything was still again and I was left wondering if I had imagined the whole thing. My only clue that I wasn't crazy was a plastic shopping bag and an unidentifiable black thing floating very high above my house.
Okay. OKAY! Maybe it was only a whirlwind, but it was a darn strong one!

Introducing My Kids: Volume 1

Keller, my first born son. My only son. Junior. Didders. Dids. Bud. Mr. K. He's high highs and low lows. I remember the first time I took him outside in a storm. He must have been around 5 or 6 months old. The wind was blowing the trees and flowers and there was lightning and thunder. And Keller looked around and just squealed with delight. He is an outdoor boy.
He loves wild weather. When he was about 4-ish months old, he ate my husband's math book. I know every mother says this about her kids but seriously, his laugh is magic. He is a people person. He NEEDS human interaction. He's exactly like my dad in that way. One day, we had been going all day to social events, he was playing with friends earlier in the day, then we went to a party, then we went to a park play day. After the play day at the park was over, we got in the car...and about two minutes later he asks me "Can you call Anna and have her come over and play when we get home?" I used to have the worst time trying to get him to go home from fun activities. One time we were at the park, and he threw a fit when it was time to go. He must have been around 4 or 5? Anyway, I told him I was going to leave without him, so I got in the car and drove away (around the corner watching him) and he totally didn't even care. He loves being in a big group of people. When the good times end, he is one sad boy. He's really in tune to what I'm feeling a lot of the time. When he was little he used to say "Just be happy at me mom." or "Will you make your eyes happy?" He's a good big brother because he's really patient with his little sisters! When Ella was between about 1 and 3 years old he called her "honey". Every time he talked to her he called her "honey".
He's beautiful. He has bad breath. His feelings get hurt pretty easily, and he can really pick up on when someone isn't being nice to him. He's not aggressive in every day life but is super aggressive in sports. He loves sports. He's never been really good at imaginative play, but give him a game to play or a ball to kick around and he's happy. He won't play with kids who are mean. He was an easy birth. I went to the hospital and they were going to send me home, but then my water broke and three hours later he was born. He has really pretty skin. When he was 1, he ate one of my pearl earrings that James gave me when we were married, then it came out in his diaper a couple of days later! Don't think I don't still wear those earrings! Keller has never had stitches or broken any bones. We've never been to the emergency room or had any health scares with him. (Knock on wood now, every one). He isn't afraid of doing anything, like jumping off diving boards, climbing trees, getting hurt, or anything like that. In fact he's an adrenaline junkie. One time I came out of the house and he had climbed a ladder up to our roof! And he was a lot littler than he is now when he did it!

He is afraid of scary movies though, and the dark.

Once he peed on my mother in law's carpet. This was waaay after he was potty trained. He has to say "favorite part of the day" every night before he goes to sleep. Titanic obsessed. Lagoon obsessed. Likes the Tram at Snowbird. Loves to build huts. Looooves to build dams in the rain gutters and make rivers and lakes in the dirt. I think he's going to build a real dam some day. He loves to work in the yard with his dad. Loves to work with his dad or grandpa doing anything. Desperately wants to be grown up and have sugar drinks before bedtime and stay up late. Desperately wants to be grown up and be productive and helpful like adults. He loves the scriptures. Learned to read because of the scriptures. Can pick out songs on the piano by ear. Naturally athletic. Fast runner! Loves to sleep in a tent. PEOPLE PERSON. A water bug. A joy to raise.

Tongue Tied

I know it's been a long time since I've posted. I just feel lately that I have nothing to say that would interest anyone beyond my immediate family! I'm just pretty boring that way. Actually, my best blog post ideas come at about 2am, but then, I get so busy during the day that I just forget about them!

Weekly Report Week 2

The microscope and all the new books came last Wednesday. The microscope has been a huge hit! We spent all of Wednesday afternoon setting it up and looking at bug parts. Then on Thursday morning, we picked flowers and cut them apart and looked at them. We saw plant cells! We looked at skin cells from the inside of my mouth (gross I know, but the kids loved it).

We kept plugging along with math. It's feels so good to be doing it every day. Math is one of those subjects that needs to be done regularly. Keller is still working on techniques for working math problems in his head. During one lesson, he just wasn't getting it. I just kept repeating myself in the same tone of voice ( I was being patient)! Finally he says: "Oh, I know, I could just do this..." and then he went ahead and did what I had been explaining over and over. Yep. You could do that, Keller... LOL. It's fun to watch the "light" come on.

Winston Grammar is a hit! I love it. It's a visual and tactile way to learn all the parts of speech and sentence mechanics, and it's fun. I just didn't use the First Language Lessons of the Well Trained Mind. I don't know why, but we just couldn't get thrilled about it. Winston is better at getting the student involved.

Spelling is rolling right along. Both kids are doing the Spelling Workout books.

We started cursive writing! Keller has been begging me to do this for more than six months! How sad. I kept telling myself that I would research cursive writing books and choose the best. Finally I just broke down and ordered the first one that I saw. Of course, he loves it. He just wanted to learn it, forget about how.

Still doing our journal pages. Nothing new here.

This coming week, what we need to do better:
Get back into picture scriptures. The kids are begging for them.
Fill out Keller's weekly planner. The days go so much smoother when I do this!
Ella is bitter because Keller is learning cursive and grammar, and she's not doing these. The grammar program said that kids don't think abstractly enough to really understand parts of speech at her age. I'm not letting her do cursive, because we need more work on printing first. So, since she's feeling bitter I need to find something special that's just for her. Hmmm. Ideas?
I need to make cards for spelling and Latin. Making cards with words for them to know works so well, but I didn't do it last week. Must do it this week. Now in fact.
I need more ideas on what to do with Mary during school. For now, I've been filling pots and pans with water and letting her play with them out on the deck, but this only works when it's warm outside! Filling up the kitchen sink with water and bubbles works too. Anyone have any other ideas for occupying a precocious two-year-old?
That's it for now! I welcome comments, especially those with ideas!

I'm In Love

It's not like I didn't love her the minute she was born. I did. But the past three months or so have been such a blur. Over the last couple of weeks, I've realized that I have finally fallen completely in love with my baby. I think about her adorable little smile. I'm happy when she wakes up from her naps, because I get to see her smile. She's my sweet thing in life.

She found her thumb the other day. This is a picture of when she found it. It doesn't do her justice. She had the cutest look on her face-proud and concentration and sweetness all mixed together. She's delicious to me.

Weekly Report Week 1

This week we're still easing back into the schedule of school. Kate is just barely starting to be a little bit predictable with her naps, and I think all of us are really anxious to get back into school!
This won't look like much, but it's a beginning!

Math: Keller did two pages of Singapore this week and to my relief he flew through, and was able to do most of it in his head. Ella loves her Singapore work book. She's doing great.

Reading: Keller is reading White Star. It's about a dog on the Titanic, so of course, he loves it. Ella is amazing me with her reading ability. Seriously, I taught her the sounds that the letters make, and she's done the rest. She's reading scripture verses with almost no hesitation. She seems to understand what she's reading. She's a sharp one.

Writing: Haven't done our journal pages, but I've got the blank pages copied off and ready to go.

History: We finished our ancient studies! Rome has succumbed to the various Barbarians. They did their map work, outlining the East and West Roman Empires, and also the final map, where they named and colored the continents and major countries that we studied. Next week, we're moving on to the bold middle ages. Yay!

I ordered a grammar program for both the kids, a microscope, and a surprise piano course for Keller (and Ella?). Watch next Friday for the next weekly report and we'll see how the new programs work out. We've been doing school at the kitchen table instead of in the school room. Katie sleeps in her swing and I can be doing dishes while they work on their stuff.

Hey, it's a start.

96 Years Ago Today...

At 2:20 this morning, Titanic sank 96 years ago. Ask me how I know this. I know this because about four years ago, I bought Keller a book on the Titanic for Christmas. It was on clearance for $3.99 and I thought "What the heck?". And so, an obsession was born. You want to know anything about the Titanic, Keller's your guy. And me too now.
That's one of the funnest things about having kids. They have a way of drawing you into their interests, and you find yourself learning things you would have never learned or thought of. Keller also loves hurricanes, tornadoes, lightening, the weather in general, and just about any kind of science. He loves to build and learn about dams. Dams? I would have never considered dams or how long it takes to design and construct them. OR how long it takes to fill them up and make a lake. Now I do.
Ella really loves horses and art. I'm horrible at art. But I've been forced to buy books on how to draw and paint so that I can teach her. I've learned about all about the different kinds of lines that are used when you draw. One day, she was running around the room showing me all the different kinds of lines she could see. I became drawn in too, looking for and finding different lines in everything that I saw.

Kids have an awesome talent for waking you up to the world. What have your kids woken you up to? What have you learned more about because of your kids?

A Day in the Life of a Super Hero!

Hi, James again... I just wanted to take a moment to tell my wife "THANK YOU!!!" Thank you for everything you do every day. If you ask Kristy what she accomplished today she would most likely say, "Not much." But let me just take a moment to brag about what she really did today... and tell her thanks along the way. I was at work today, so unfortunately I can't tell you ALL the wonderful things she accomplished today, I can only tell you what I saw or can see the results of. Kristy changed Mary's poopy diaper and didn't make me do it. Thank You Kristy. She made sure she took care of a ticket she got because I forgot to register her car. Thank you! Kristy did the laudry. Thank you. She folded the laundry. Thank you. She cleaned BOTH of the bathrooms and now they sparkle. Thank you, they look fantastic! She mopped the kitchen floor. Thank you. She did the dishes. She wiped down the counters. The kitchen is spotless! Thank you, Kristy! She made a blanket to give to a pregnant friend. Thanks! She organized the hand off of our children to the grandparents for a trip we are leaving on tomorrow. Thank you! She got the kids all packed and ready. Thank you. She prepared dinner, fed the kids dinner, AND cleaned up after them all by herself while I entertained a guest. Thank You! Now all this might sound like a big deal... but that's not even the most important part. She gave Mary that special one-on-one time she craves...several times. (That was so cute watching the two of you say prayers together!) Thank you. She didn't lose her temper with Mary when she woke up the baby, almost broke the baby's swing, almost broke Lindsay's bouncy chair, or drag out laundry Kristy had been folding. Thank you, Kristy. She made Ella feel special by letting ONLY her go with Kristy to the store to pick out some shoes. Thank you! Now, in contrast, while Kristy and Ella were at the store may I just tell you what I accomplished. Um, I held the baby. Watched some basketball on TV. Uh, I held the baby. I had Keller keep Mary busy. And boy was I tired and frazzled after all that! Whew, was I glad when Kristy made it home! She was gone a WHOLE HOUR! (Notice the sarcasm there.) As you can see I am married to a super hero of a woman. The things I've listed are only a small portion of what she did today... I was at work and so I missed lunch time, nap time, probably several kissed owies, comforting hugs, and many words of encouragement and affirmation. Thank you, Kristy. You are SO incredible with our children. You are such a wonderful mother to them. They adore you! There is a reason Mary has a melt down when you leave... you are great with the children. If I was two years old, I'd cry every time I had to be away from you too. Thank you for managing our home. You do a great job... much better than you give yourself credit for. I am so happy with everything you do and are. You are so appreciated, so loved, so adored, so admired and needed. Honestly Kristy, I don't know how you do it. You truly do amaze me. I love you so much. You really are a....


(I couldn't find a "Superwoman" logo... sorry.)

Classic Cashmere Sweater by Erika Knight

This is a sweater I knitted for Kate. The pattern is found in 'Simple Knits for Cherished Babies' . Things I learned with this project:
*Mattress stitch
*Casting on at the beginning of a row.
*Casting off in the middle of a row.
*When putting stitches on a stitch holder, make sure the right end is at the point of the needle when you slip them back on!

Thanks to my cute model Katie.

This is a close up of the mattress stitch. You use it when you sew pieces of knitting together. You can't see the seam, can you? It's magical.

Easter: A Celebration of the Greatest Moment in Eternity

So you’re sitting in Sunday School and the teacher asks you, “What’s special about Easter?” Class in unison: “It’s when Jesus was resurrected.” And that’s that. We know that. We believe that. But do we really understand the true weight of that answer? Have we given it much thought beyond that? Often the miracle of Easter is somewhat overlooked or under appreciated. The power and importance of the doctrine of the resurrection is made clear in the Bible Dictionary.

Bible Dictionary – Resurrection

To obtain a resurrection with a celestial, exalted body is the center point of hope in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Jesus is the most glorious of all messages to mankind.

The center point of hope in the gospel. The most glorious of all messages. Those are powerful statements. Note that it is a resurrection with a celestial, exalted body... meaning not only salvation from physical death but salvation from spiritual death also.

Mormon also tells us that the resurrection is the center point of hope in the gospel.

Moroni 7:40 – 41

40 And again, my beloved brethren, I would speak unto you concerning hope. How is it that ye can attain unto faith, save ye shall have hope?

41 And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.

The resurrection is such an important doctrine that God put reminders of it in our daily life. Baptism is a symbol of death and resurrection as we are buried in the water and arise new and clean. The seasons remind us of death in the winter and yet every spring, those very trees that had lost their leaves and appeared dead bud into lush, green life. The sun is buried in the horizon every evening leaving us in darkness, yet it rises again each day. And the closest, most intimate reminder we have is when we go to sleep at night. We bury ourselves under our covers. Our bodies appear they are dead. But each morning we rise… renewed and refreshed. Restored. I can think of no other symbolism that God has placed so blatantly and prevalently in our physical world as those reminders we have of the resurrection.

This Easter season may we all ponder a little deeper, and appreciate a little more what really happened on the glorious morning of Easter Sunday.

I leave you with President Hinckley’s final testimony of the resurrection and of Savior of the world. (“We Testify of Jesus Christ” by President Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign Mar. 2008)

"He is the chief cornerstone of the Church that bears His name, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There is no other name given among men whereby we can be saved (see Acts 4:12). He is the Author of our salvation, the Giver of eternal life (see Hebrews 5:9). There is none to equal Him. There never has been. There never will be. Thanks be to God for the gift of His Beloved Son, who gave His life that we might live and who is the chief, immovable cornerstone of our faith and His Church.
We know not all that lies ahead of us. We live in a world of uncertainty. For some, there will be great accomplishment. For others, disappointment. For some, much of rejoicing and gladness, good health, and gracious living. For others, perhaps sickness and a measure of sorrow. We do not know. But one thing we do know. Like the Polar Star in the heavens, regardless of what the future holds, there stands the Redeemer of the world, the Son of God, certain and sure as the anchor of our immortal lives. He is the rock of our salvation, our strength, our comfort, the very focus of our faith. In sunshine and in shadow we look to Him, and He is there to assure and smile upon us.
He is the central focus of our worship. He is the Son of the living God, the Firstborn of the Father, the Only Begotten in the flesh. He is “risen from the dead, … the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Corinthians 15:20). He is the Lord who shall come again “to reign on the earth over his people” (D&C 76:63; see also Micah 4:7; Revelation 11:15). None so great has ever walked the earth. None other has made a comparable sacrifice or granted a comparable blessing. He is the Savior and the Redeemer of the world. I believe in Him. I declare His divinity without equivocation or compromise. I love Him. I speak the name of Jesus Christ in reverence and wonder. He is our King, our Lord, our Master, the living Christ, who stands on the right hand of His Father. He lives! He lives, resplendent and wonderful, the living Son of the living God."

-- Happy Easter everyone. Love, James.

My Whole Life Story

In an attempt to take everyone to new heights (or is it new lows) of boredom, I've decided to post my life story every week. The reason I'm really doing this is that I've been meaning to write my personal history on Sundays and now I'm going to do it. It seems like a pretty good Sabbath activity.

This post will be about a couple of my ancestors and what they mean to me. The photo above is George Wallace Armstrong, my Great Grandfather on my dad's mom's side. I love this photo. That was his football uniform at the University of Idaho in Moscow. It looks like the football pads were built right into his pants.

His mom gave birth to 16 children, 15 of whom lived past their youth. I can imagine her in her homestead on the farm sitting down probably for the first time that day to answer the questions of the census enumerator. Sixteen kids. And this is before all the housekeeping helpers we have now. Imagining her workload just scrambles my brain.

On my mom's side, there is a branch of the family whose last name is Lindsay. They were from Scotland. The father, William Lindsay, and the sons worked in the lead mines.

"Oft times in the winter time we scarcely ever saw the daylight except on Sunday. We were in the mine before daylight and didn't get out until after dark. In the spring of 1861 we moved into the town of Kilmarnock and were there only a few months when our dear and loving father was killed by a large stone falling on him. Brother James and I had left him all right and were gone about thirty minutes and returned to find him dead. We were two frightened little boys and in our haste to get help our light was knocked out to make it more terrible. This was a dreadful time for all of us especially our dear mother. Our home where peace and love had always reigned supreme was turned to one of sorrow. It seemed all our hopes of ever getting to Utah were blasted. Some of our friends, mostly LDS members, aided us at this time and our dear father was buried in St. Andrew's Churchyard in Kilmarnock....
(me at St. Andrew's where William was buried in Scotland)

for a time we were so grieved we were at a loss which way to turn. But mother did not give way to despair and said to us boys, 'Never mind, we will get to the Valley yet on the very first ship next spring.' ...The words came true...but it was the emigration fund of the Mormon Church that got us here. Then the word came giving us notice to sell everything not needed and to be in Liverpool by the 21st of April, 1862 to go on board the sailing ship John J. Boyd, where passage had been secured for our whole family of eight children and mother. Some people have quite a trial in leaving their friends and their relatives and native land but we were happy in having the privilege to do so."

When I have a difficult day and my spirits are low, sometimes I think of these women, my ancestors. Mary Elizabeth Armstrong, who cooked for, sewed for, cleaned for, taught, and raised 15 children on a farm. And Christina Howie Lindsay who had to bury her husband in Scotland and then take eight children by herself on a 39-day sea voyage to New York and then over the plains and mountains to Heber, Utah. When I think I'll never pull through my trials I sometimes remember them and think "Their blood runs into mine...I'm made of the same stuff that they were...I can get through this...this is nothing, don't make them ashamed to call me their posterity."

Gossip

Note: This post is taken from a journal of mine. It was written solely for my benefit. I thought it might help others, too. I just didn't want to sound like I was preaching a sermon, or like I was perfect.

Why is gossiping so harmful?
In a ward setting, it creates tension and destroys the feelings of love, acceptance, trust, and inclusion that should exist within a ward. It hurts people's feelings! It damages reputations of sometimes innocent people. It makes people feel uneasy: "What are they going to say about me when I walk away?"

How to stop yourself from gossiping:
Pray.
Beware of gossip's disguises: "I like Cindy a lot but..." Often it is done with a thin mask of concern: "Is something wrong with Lisa? She lets her kids run all over the neighborhood...I'm worried that she's depressed..." then the conversation takes off about poor Lisa. These women aren't "concerned". If they were, they would lovingly watch out for Lisa's kids, and drop them off at home if they wander too far or get into a dangerous situation.
Find other topics of conversation, read the newspaper, talk about your own life, various gospel topics, politics (!?), recent family vacations, etc.
Realize that when you gossip, you sound rude, critical, unfriendly, and unChristlike. Is this the vibe you really want to radiate to your neighbors and friends?
Along with gossiping, a close cousin, is backstabbing. Backstabbing (or backbiting) is unkind remarks made about another person who is not there. It's just as bad or worse than gossiping.
*BE HUMBLE*: What are your own weaknesses and failings? What excellent qualities does the person you are tempted to gossip about possess? The thing is, we are all different! The way I choose to raise my kids is different from the way my neighbor does. Why must we tear down another person to prove that the way we do things is the "right" way?
Look for the good in others instead of the bad. This can be hard at first if you're not used to it. In the beginning, you will probably have to make a conscious effort to shut out the negative thoughts that enter your head about people. A wonderful way to break this habit is to replace every bad thought with a thought about what makes that person good.

How to stop others from gossiping: We can't control what other people say or do...but we can make it harder for them to gossip (at least when we're around). Some things we can do:
Change the subject. It can be useful to keep a mental list of interesting topics of conversation that can used to gently steer the topic away from people.

Gossip is ugly. It's mean. It's a weakness that is an overwhelmingly female trait. Let's all try to do better. We are better. Let's be sisters.

Green Hour Pix

It took me long enough to get these pictures added. Life with a newborn...
Anyway...this is a cool rock we found on our nature walk. It had a shiny spot with shimmering rainbow like flakes of rock that would peel off...




This is one of the peelings from the rock.








Keller and Ella getting excited about some crocuses that were blooming.






A tiny little pine cone. Ella called it a baby pine cone.



A leaf Ella was excited about. I don't know if we'll keep doing this...I've got a lot going on already. The kids loved it though. And now... we're off to tour the State Capitol Building. By the way...do you love Keller's mismatched outfit? He looks pretty homeless.

Hotel Mother's Day

I'm opening a hotel, and only moms who have had really bad days can go there. It will have a massive hot tub in the lobby where moms can congregate, soak their feet, and share stories of their bad days. Also in the lobby there will be a gigantic dessert bar with an emphasis on chocolate. There will be a large staff of massage therapists, child psychology experts, and shrinks. There will be a mandatory lights out at 11pm to ensure that each guest gets a good nights sleep. Courtesy wake up calls will be available for those who need to get back home to get kids off to school the next morning. I will charge $5/night. See you there.

Green Hour

We've decided join the Green Hour Challenge! We're committed to spending an hour outside a week, just observing nature and learning more about it. I'm excited to get this going. I know the kids are gonna flip. They love this kind of thing, especially Keller. He's such an outdoor boy. We'll start tomorrow and I'll return and report.