Are you ready for some football?

 

A clip of Jefferson at Football practice.  He is at the top middle of the screen in the maroon t-shirt.  The tree gets in the way at the worst time, but he does knock the ball out at the last second. 

Facebook makes my brain crazy

So I was just reading an article about homeschooling where the author got a letter from a person against it and the author was for it and they just went back and forth being mean to each other and belittling one another and it made me sad.  Why can't we just get along?  Why does one person have to be right and one person have to be wrong?  Why with the winners and losers all the time?  (can you tell that I'm not in any way competitively athletic?)  It's like if someone says, "I like the color green." there has to be a line of people out there with data and statistics saying that if you don't like red you like to torture puppies and feed your kids high fructose corn syrup for dinner. 

Why can't people just say they like sending their kids to a certain school without being judged and put down by everyone else?  I like sending my kids to the public school down the street.  It is not a perfect school but I feel like I wouldn't like it if it was a perfect school.  I want my kids to have a hard time sometimes, especially now when they are young and I am there to help them sort through it.  If they have a less than awesome teacher who consistently pronounces their name wrong and doesn't seem to recognize their awesomeness, that's okay because we can talk about it and see that sometimes that happens in life - not everyone is going to recognize your awesomeness all the time.  You will survive. 

People feel like they have all the answers and they comfort themselves with knowing that their way is the only and right way to go about things.  But there's lots of ways to do things.  I read a great article by a woman who tried for 10 years to have children and has finally accepted that having children is just not her path.  Through her long and harrowing experience with infertility she has learned a lot about herself and that this is her journey and hers alone and not to let other people get her down with their helpful advice and judgment.  I've got sort of the opposite problem with being uber-fertile, if anyone would call that a problem.  But any experience can be challenging, just as any experience can be a blessing when looked at the right way.  I feel like I can relate to this woman in that having many children is something of a challenge.  Not a super PC thing to say when it seems like half of the women I know struggle with infertility issues.  But it is true nonetheless.  I can get pregnant just about any time I want.  So where does one draw the line?  Should I be like my fourth great grandmother who had 16 children?  I'm sure she was happy and she loved her life but where would I stash all the little people?  She did it with a two room cabin lots of the time and I have a four bedroom house so what am I complaining about?  Plus sometimes my children don't appreciate me for the awesome mom I am.  They yell at me and roll their eyes and resist every helpful suggestion I give them.  When does that start getting fun?  I could go on and on about my challenges but I'll move on.

What the nice infertile lady and I have both decided is that we have to find our own happiness and fulfillment.  I have found it in my relationship with my Savior and in service to others.  I have found that when I am in the service of my fellow beings I am in service to my God.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ has helped me to turn my challenges into blessings, it occasionally takes a while for me to find just the right way of looking at things to see the blessing, but He always helps me turn it to the right angle and put it into the right light. 

And that's the key I'm trying to give my children so that they can do the same thing.  They have to bloom where they are planted, whether it is a rocky dry cliff side or a nice squishy meadow.  There's benefits and blessings to any situation and with the help of their Savior they can see them and let them lift them up instead of slam them down. 

So I'm going to try to be nice to people and assume the best about them.  I don't understand everyone's choices and I don't have to live them but I don't have to try to make them feel bad about what they've chosen. 

Staying at Home

I've been thinking a lot about this subject lately.  Then this morning as I was grinding wheat and making a quadruple batch of whole wheat banana waffles and listening to the Mormon Channel, they played chapter ten of Spencer W. Kimball's "Faith Precedes the Miracle".  That chapter was all about a woman's influence in the home and how essential it is for family life and society as a whole for a mother to be at home with her children.  The story I liked best was that he was in the home of a family where the husband was off at work and the wife was upstairs sewing and President Kimball was working at the dining room table (I think he was in town for a stake conference or something and staying at the stake president's house?  Don't get mad if I get it wrong, I was mostly listening, but also feeding Jujo and smiling at Dinah and watering trees occasionally, plus the waffles).  He said that a kid came home from school and searched the house for his Mom, he said, "Mother?" when he couldn't immediately find her.  She called down from upstairs that she was up sewing.  He said, "Okay" then went out to play.  This was repeated four more times as the other kids came home at various times during the day.  They came in the door and immediately looked for their Mom and when they heard her voice they were calmed, felt safe, and secure.  She didn't have to come to them or have a big long conversation with them, as long as they knew she was there they were happy.  She was available for them.

He was very straight forward and blunt about the subject and even though it is certainly very controversial and gets feathers ruffled in our current society and people can say, 'Yeah, well he wrote that 40 years ago and things are way different now.'  So what that he wrote it 40 years ago?  It was a touchy topic then and an even more touchy topic now but that doesn't mean it isn't important or true. 

About 10 years ago our family resources were even tighter than usual and I was stressed about how we would meet our obligations so I decided that I would go back to work.  I went to the owner of the company where I'd worked for about 4 years when we were first married.  It was a small company, owned by Mormons, really nice people.  Well, I kind of figured it would be easy to get a job there because the owner really liked me, when I left a couple of years previously I was essentially his assistant, besides my other duties I was doing the payroll and other kind of important stuff there.  So I was confident. 

Well, we talked in his office for a little while and he asked about our family and how we were doing.  I told him about our three kids and how cute they were and about Ryan's school and that kind of stuff.  Then he told me that he wasn't going to hire me back.  And he told me kind of bluntly that I needed to be at home with our children. 

I admit I was kind of hurt, I had thought he liked me and liked my work but he was just turning me down!  It hurt my pride and my self confidence took a bit of a blow.  It has been a long time since that happened but I have come to appreciate and admire him for being wise enough to deny me what I wanted.  We struggled and had some stressful times financially since then but I have been at home with our babies.  Ryan stepped up to the bat and has very manfully carved out a place for himself professionally and has provided for us.  We have always had enough and I am frankly shocked at how blessed we have been and what a good place we are now considering the economic climate and the fact that Ryan has always been the only one working.  I know we have been directly blessed not just financially, but in our marriage and in our fantastic kids. 

It may seem lame to some that I am so happy to be spending my days changing diapers, scrubbing, doing laundry, cooking, painting bedrooms (that's this weeks task and it is kicking my hiney), and being here when the kids get home from school.  I am here.  I am on call all the time.  I can run to the school and bring them what they forgot.  I can give service to people who need it.  I can occasionally make dinner for my family (you would think I could do that every day but dinner planning is my nemesis). 

I am grateful.  So very grateful for the many blessings I have received for doing what was and is the harder but better way. 

Also, I burnt the last waffle I made because I was writing this.  You're welcome.  It smells like burnt waffle in here now. 

What's the happs all up in here

 Leah had dental work and needed a Valium in order to open her mouth.  She was a happy little bug with the drugs though.

 Nunu got a pony.  Aren't they a cute couple?

 Jeffey took selfies.  He is getting too tall.

 Petey is enjoying Kindergarten.

 Pearly went and took pictures at her cousin's house.

 That morning I was like, "Oh, do I really want to drive all the way out there for Whitny to take pics of my princess?  It is so far and I have so many things to do..."

 Can you even believe I almost missed all this cuteness and cousinly and sisterly bonding time? 

 So silly.  But she is a darling little Dolly and I am grateful to have a talented sister willing to share and work so hard to provide proof of our sweet baby's adorableness.  She gets lots of kisses.

 We got a new bed.  I should rephrase that.  We got our *first* actual bed, we've been sleeping on just a frame these past 15 years.  Now we have a real live huge, heavy, impressive, super cool bed.  It's not all together in the pic but you get the idea.  It is heavenly.  I like it a lot.  Worth the wait.

 Dinah was still adorable.

 Nunu, Linz and I went to see Austenland and out for FroYo, yo.  It was so fun to have a night out with my sisters.  Where was Whitny?

 Oh yeah, she was up visiting our sister Kim in Washington.  She got to bring Daphne and have fun with Kim's family.  I'm really jealous because I haven't seen Kim in forever.  We will have to get up there somehow...

 We went on the ward campout which was up at LoMia and had a terrible turn out.  There were a total of 21 people there.

 We stayed in the Big Wig Wigwam up at Orchard Camp because we were the first ones to arrive so we called dibs on the best cabin with two full bathrooms.  That's right Jessica Joan Clerc.  Showers.  Right there in the cabin and there were minimal spiders.  I'm just sayin.

 Look how clean he is after a day of running wild in the wilderness ready to bed down for the night?!  This is not real camping but it was real fun and easy.

 It was fun and the kids ran around with the pack of kids that were there and they picked apples and ate them and ran around some more and played games and us adults visited with each other and enjoyed the not 100+ weather and the not sweaty-ness. 

 They stayed still for a picture, then ran off on the hunt.

 I canned chicken.  Or jarred chicken- how do I say that?  In any case, I have chicken in the pantry and ready to go and I'm excited about that.  What's for dinner you say?  I have no idea.

 I helped out at the school by making these folder books for the 6th graders.  Now all 60 of them have a place to put their history projects, color coded for their convenience with little pockets.  It was a bit of work but I can't even imagine how the dear teacher would have had time for all that.  I'm glad it is done and they turned out rather well.

That's enough for now.

Happy Days are here again!

 Yep, fancy chocolate cake.  I am not ashamed to admit that I bribed our children.  I told them that if they read a couple more books before school started they could go with us to the Compass Room downtown.  After 9pm the Compass Room has $5 desserts and it is super fancy.  So they read, some better than others, and we all managed to go.  Highlights of the trip were riding the glass elevator, being in a restaurant that spins 360 degrees (we stayed for about 180 of the degrees), eating yummy chocolate cake, and getting to stay up late.  Thanks to my Amanda sister some of our cousins from the east side came and were fancy with us.  I will pat myself on the back and say it was one of my better ideas.

 Here is a rare picture of Dinah being sad.  Most of the time she is a happy little angel bunny.  She was sad because Daddy was out of town.  He was gone this weekend picking up a car in New York.  But he is home safe after a long drive and we are all very grateful for that.

 The girls and I went school shopping on Saturday, thrift store shopping of course.  They got a bit waylaid in the shoe aisle so I told them to find the most ridiculous pair of heels they could find and I'd take a picture so we could move on to more sensible items.  Here is the result.  They have a fondness for high heels.

 Here's how Dinah looked for church yesterday.  She is adorable.

 And here is the day we have all been waiting for.  I have seriously been looking forward to this day for several years.  Seriously.  Peter has started kindergarten!!  All day kindergarten.  Oh bliss.  He is such a happy person about it, he has been chomping at the bit lately.

 He is sitting between two adorable little girls, I hope they prove to be a calming example to him today.  I know there are lots of moms out there who miss their kids when they go to school and they cry and stuff.  Although I cry about most things, I have yet to cry about sending a child to school.  I will say that I will probably miss him, I will miss all of them but I think school is really good for them and I am grateful to have a good school just down the road that the kids can attend.

 Our 8th grader.  His last year at this school!  You should have been there for the taking of this picture.  There was a bunch of 8th grade girls standing behind me giggling and commenting about how much these two look alike and how adorable they are.  Big trouble.  Also, we didn't dress these two like twins on purpose, it was just a happy coincidence.

 Pickles was eager to get to her classroom.  She is in the same classroom Leah was in last year and Jeff was there the year before.  Her teacher is different though, she is actually the same teacher Alana had last year.  She is a great teacher, I'm excited for Tess, she will have a fun year in 6th grade.

 Miss Brumm let Tessa choose where she wanted to sit and my brilliant daughter chose a seat right up front!  That's my girl!  She is such a sweet little lady.  I am glad she is one of my middles.

 Here is the tiny middle one.  She too had a choice about where she wanted to sit on this the first day of 4th grade...

 Front row!!  I love it.  Alana has a teacher we haven't had yet but I've seen her around a lot and she seems like a good one to me.  I'm sure she will have a great year, she is an excellent student.

 Leah got on campus and disappeared with her friends.  I got most of the other kids dropped off and stuck my head in her 7th grade class for a picture.  She is there way in the back.  I have a feeling she is planning to be a social butterfly this year...

 We got home from our walk to and from the school and baby girl decided she wanted to be adorable for a little while before her morning nap.

Like me, she is glad that everyone is learning and having fun at school. 

Nine Years Ago

Nine years ago this week I sent Ryan off for his first scout camp as a leader.  I got a lot of props for sending him with four smallies at home including a brand new baby Lana.  I expected him to come home and listen to my tales of woe and feel sad for how hard it was for me with all those littles all by myself.  Boy was I wrong!!  He arrived home and I took one look at my filthy exhausted husband and listened to his stories... Oh my.  He had it much worse than I did, hands down.  Yikes.  Scout camp.  I won't tell you the stories because some of you may be eating right now (I'm eating carmel corn), and I don't want to upset you.  Oh the nightmares you would have!

 Here are my nine years ago babies.  Aren't they so squishy and cute?  I just want to squeeze them and tickle them!  They are longer and pointier now.

Pete took Jeff's place in the photo.  Jeffy went to scout camp with Ryan.  They are having a great time.  They even got to bring Jeff's cousin, Oscar, along to camp so Jeff is pretty much in heaven.  He lives for scout camp.  Princess Dinah took Leah's spot for the photo this time.  My Leah Buggy went to girls camp!  She just got home this afternoon and had a perfectly lovely time.  I am so glad my sweet girl gets to go to camp where I went.  LoMia rocks.  It is unbelievable that she is 12 already, but I suppose that if the little tiny peanut from the top picture can grow into the adorable little flower shirted person in the bottom photo in a mere nine years, anything is possible.  Yes, Tessa looks exactly the same.

May Happenings

 Dinah and Daphne got together for some concentrated cuteness.  And Whitny took pics of the babies.

She made me birth announcements for Dinah with the photos.  So sweet. 

 Amanda brought her chihuahua pups over to see us and they were tiny but not compared to Dinah. 

Peter Mac graduated from Preschool.  He was awesome!

Dinah liked the graduation ceremony.

His teachers thought he was pretty nifty.  He is very excited about Kindergarten in a couple of months (I'm pretty excited myself).  The rest of the beasties ended up their school years beautifully and they were very happy to be done last Thursday.  We are having a fun summer so far!

 We blessed our baby Dinah yesterday at church.  It was lovely.  Lots of family came out to see her blessing.  Ryan is a little rusty I guess, because he headed up to the front and was giving the men nods to join him at the front but he almost forgot the baby!  He had to come back for her.  He gave her a wonderful blessing though, very sweet.  Jefferson got to hold the microphone for it and he told me that during the blessing Dinah was smiling.  It is neat that he got to be up there and be a part of it. 

 Dinah wore the same blessing dress that I and all my sisters wore, and it is the same dress that all her girl cousins have worn for their blessings.

Baby Daphne was blessed later in the day so we all went out to Gilbert to see her big moment and have family dinner after.  Whitny took more wonderful pictures.  She took pics of the girls in the dress and photo shopped them together.  They are pretty darling.