Planting Flowers

This morning our Stake had a service assignment planting flowers at the Mesa Temple. It was a cold (for Arizona), cloudy morning when we started at 7:00 AM. The flowers were dropped, still in their plastic containers, right where they were suppose to be planted. It almost looked like they had fallen from heaven for us to take care of. Lots of people came to help and the planting went quickly, but not quite quick enough to avoid the rain that started sprinkling down. After the planting we added compost. Lots and lots of compost. Some of the compost got blown from the truck and stuck to our wet jackets until we began to resemble mud people. I was wet and I was dirty but I'm still glad I got to make a small contribution to the beauty of the temple. I was home and showered by 8:30 and when my boys got up they questioned whether or not I had really gone. Of Course, I forgot to take my camera so I couldn't prove to them that I had. While I was down in the dirt digging flower holes I was reminded that one of the first "dates" my oldest daughter and my son-in-law went on in the Fall of 2007 was a service project to plant flowers at the temple. Those same flowers looked beautiful the next April when they had there wedding pictures taken with them. Unfortunately I am having a hard time coming up with any pictures with the flowers. Perhaps you can see them if you blow this picture up bigger. The week after the wedding these flowers were all dug up so the summer flowers could be put in. Kind of sad, but necessary in Arizona. Friday, April 17 - Today when I went to the temple I took some pictures of the flowers we planted on Saturday. They have been in for almost a week now, and while they are not quite up to par for temple flowers yet, they are still all alive and the compost is still in the planter where it belongs and off of the sidewalk where it doesn't belong. I wonder what they will look like by mid-summer?

Things we Think we Want

Tonight I actually watched an episode of "The Biggest Loser". I have followed this show for the past few seasons and there are things about it that I really like such as the amazing transformations that occur in these individuals lives. There are also things about it that I really don't like especially the back stabbing strategizing that goes on. I haven't watched much of Season 7 because it seems like I always have somewhere else I need to be on Tuesday night, but I have kept kind of updated on what is going on by checking the weekly recaps on the website. I have been pleasantly surprised that this group of people have seemed to be a kinder, gentler group than the last few. However, things apparently have reached the point where kind and gentle is replaced by mean and nasty. I am sorry to see that happen.

I also think this show teaches me some great life lessons, not necessarily about losing weight, but about making everyday choices and what I am willing to do to get what I want or what I think I want. Tonight the group was given a temptation. They all went into the gym where there were lots and lots of covered trays. Under each cover there were various items - unhealthy food, money tickets, and one special tray with a golden ticket that would give the individual that found it the only elimination vote at that week's weigh in - ultimate power. Each person could choose whether or not they played, but in order to move on once a tray was uncovered, the food had to be eaten. It was amazing to me, but not surprising, how crazy the majority of the players went with this temptation. All the self discipline and rational thinking that they have learned over the past couple of months went out the window when they were tempted with this power. They wanted to be able to say who left this week, as well as protect themselves.

Each player could only be sent home if they had the smallest amount of weight loss, and yet they were willing to put there safety in jeopardy for the chance to determine someone else's fate. I was happy when Kristin realized that no one could have power over her if she stayed above the yellow line this week and just chose to stop eating the junk. The results of this temptation were so sad to me in many ways, and perhaps the saddest was when Laura, who won the golden ticket, realized that she didn't want to have the only say in which of the two individuals who fell below the line went home. She had the power, but when it came right down to it it wasn't nearly as wonderful as she had thought it would be.

How often is this just like my life? I am going along, making good choices and trying to do what I am suppose to do, listening to my leaders who know more than I do, and even making some progress when all of the sudden temptation comes barrelling along. Boom! I see something I think I want and I forget what I have learned and the progress I have made and the counsel I have been given and I succumb to temptation. I am willing to put my ultimate goal, eternal salvation, in jeopardy so quickly, without even thinking the decision through. How long does it take me to realize how foolish I am being? Do I, like Kristin, recognize the error of my ways right away and stop or do I continue on until the thing I want is out of my reach and the guilt begins to set in or until I actually get what I wanted and only then realize that it was just a sparkly distraction that I don't even really want at all?

How important is it for me to think through my decisions? To pray when I am faced with temptation or to refer back to the counsel of my leaders? To remember what it is that I really want and the road that will get me there? To not be sidetracked by the path that might look smoother or easier, and if I am, which will probably happen, to stop and turn around as soon as I realize my mistake, before I get so lost that I end up at a totally different destination? I think it's of eternal importance. Much more important than the choices made on some reality TV show.

Beach Bummed

Well, the decision was made today that there aren't enough women available and able to go to the beach this year for "our annual break from reality" to make it financially feasible, so our reservation has been cancelled and there will be no Beach Trip 2009. I am truly bummed, but life goes on. Even though I am sad about the end of a fun thing, I am even happier that I got to be included in this awesome activity for the past two years and that I got to share it with each of my daughters. We all have some wonderful memories of our time at the beach together.

Baptism

Tonight the sons, my youngest daughter and I attended the baptism of one of our friends. This young man started out as a friend with my youngest son when they were in middle school together. He enjoys playing basketball and he and my son connected on the basketball court. The son and I also enjoyed sitting in the stands with his dad and his uncle watching him play on the middle school basketball team. Then he started playing on the church basketball team (Deacon) that my older son coached several years ago. He has continued to play church ball each year and played on the team the youngest son was on recently.

He is #14 in this picture. (Unfortunately I didn't take my camera with me to the baptism.) He lives in the ward that we share our building with and he has attended many of their Wednesday night activities over the years and became close friends with many of the boys in that ward, especially one young man, who was also his neighbor and whose family have always welcomed him into their home.
Not too long ago the boy who was baptized tonight lost his dad unexpectedly. His mom has never been a part of his life, at least not for as long as we have known him. After his father's death he ended up moving in with his much older brother, but that ended up being a less than positive situation and a change needed to be made. The neighbor family invited him to live with them just after the start of the year. Since then he has attended church every Sunday and recently decided he wanted to take the missionary discussions and things progressed from there.
Whenever someone I know decides to be baptized I stop and ponder what kind of an impact I personally had on this decision. Did my interactions with this person give him a desire to know more about the gospel or did he decide to join the church in spite of my example? I think it's good to have opportunities where we really stop and think about the influence we can have in other people's lives and the difference we can make. We really never know who is watching us.
In this situation I don't really believe that anything my children or I did made a huge difference in how things transpired. Perhaps we were all cast in the supporting roles in this life story, not as one of the main characters. I am happy to say though that I can't think of too many moments when our choices might have actually stood in his way of joining the church, except perhaps those few times when my youngest son or I got a little too emotionally involved in the drama of an exciting basketball game. Could we have done better? Most definitely. Are we glad we did what we did? You better believe it.
This young man is such a great kid, who has faced a lot of challenges in his life. It was a very sweet experience to see him enter the waters of baptism this evening, surrounded by his new church family. I love baptisms and the spirit I felt during this one tonight.

Tonight I am thankful for

the Holy Ghost.
individuals who open their hearts and their homes to others.
my oldest daughter who rescued her father when his car died on the way home from work and none of the rest of us would answer our cell phones because we were at the baptism

Today I am thankful for

church on my couch.
a living prophet.
the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Today I am grateful for

no ward bulletin to prepare for tomorrow.
a husband who goes to the General Priesthood Session of conference even though he'd rather watch basketball on TV
and sons who go with him.

Today I am thankful that

my boys weren't home when I cleaned behind, inside and under the family room couches so I couldn't beat them when I felt like it.
it was the hubby's night to wash all the dishes that I found hidden in the family room.
tomorrow I get to watch General Conference.

Cherry Chip Cake with Cherry Frosting

My oldest son was very sad that he didn't have a birthday cake yesterday with candles to blow out. Since I am a nice mother I decided to make him one today. Better late than never I always say. This son's favorite kind of cake is Betty Crocker Cherry Chip cake with Cherry Frosting and it is what he has requested at least his last 10 birthdays. I am also a fan of this combination, but every time I make his birthday cake I think "this cake certainly doesn't look very masculine." I have attempted coloring the frosting a different color on occasion, but then it just usually ends up looking gross, not masculine. Today I decided to just go with the pink look and not care. However, I thought a 9 x 13 cake was kind of boring. When the girls and I took the cake decorating class I'm pretty sure I bought 2 round cake pans, but of course I couldn't find them today. I did find some small round pans that my friend had given us for Christmas one year to make individual pizza cookies though. I decided I could make a tall, small round cake. The cake ended up being 5 layers tall. It would have been fine, but I didn't have enough frosting to put it together so I decided to put some pudding in between the layers. I didn't feel like leveling the layers since that seems like a waste of good cake to me, so the cake was a little precarious. The pudding was too slick to hold the layers in place and ran out the sides and mixed with the frosting and that made the frosting too runny to stay on the cake as well. The cake ended up resembling a pink volcano in a pool of lava.
The oldest son, however, was happy that he had candles to blow out and the cake tasted a lot better than it looked.

Also, in the dark you can't even tell the cake is pink. I'd say it was a success!

Today I am grateful

that I don't have to make a living selling cakes.
that my oldest son is easily pleased.
for birds that collect spiderwebs from my window sills to pad their nests. It makes me feel like I am helping a fellow mother rather than just feel lazy for not cleaning the windows.
for a surprise phone call from my mom and sister.

To Drive Thru or Not to Drive Thru

I was very excited to receive a refund check from the oral surgeon in the mail a couple of days ago. Apparently if you get a dry socket they feel bad for you and give you some of your money back. Actually, the insurance paid a lot more than they had predicted it would and so we got two thirds of our payment returned. Hooray! It was a pretty fair amount of money, which the youngest son insisted should be signed over to him since he was the one who suffered the pain. Unfortunately for him, and fortunately for us, the check was made out to his father and therefore the money went back into our checking account.
This morning I took the check to the bank to deposit it. I considered whether I should get out of the car and take it inside or just do it at the drive thru ATM. I think it is pretty cool now when you deposit a check in the ATM you put your card in and then you just slide the check into the machine and it prints you out a pretty little picture of the check and credits your account. It's super easy. However, this morning I decided that the good Lord blessed me with two legs so I could walk into the bank and not just sit on my backside. I filled out the deposit slip, walked in and got in line. There were about 4 people ahead of me. Quickly the roving employee approached me and asked what had brought me in to the bank today. I wanted to say the two legs that the good Lord blessed me with, but I refrained. Remember we are working on our sarcasm in our household at the moment. Anyway, I told her I was making a deposit and she invited me to the front counter to assist me. While she was helping me she asked, "Have you ever used the drive thru ATM to deposit a check"? I replied, "Yes." "It's so much quicker for you, and so easy. I don't know why everyone doesn't do it." Here I had made the "better" choice to actually get out of my car and walk inside and I felt I was being reprimanded. I responded with "but then I wouldn't have gotten to see your happy, smiling face." I'm not sure she was looking that happy after my remark. I guess next time I need to make a deposit I'll probably just drive thru.
On the way home I decided to stop at McDonalds and buy me a McDouble for lunch. Now, I do have legs, but I pretty much always choose to use fast food drive thrus. Going inside is a hassle. I ordered my hamburger, plain of course since that is the way I like it. I got to the second window, gave the employee my money and waited and waited and waited. Finally the employee tried to give me a drink, but I hadn't ordered a drink. I told her what I was waiting for and she looked in about four bags, decided on one and handed it to me. As I was driving away I decided to double check that she had actually given me what I ordered. It was indeed a McDouble, but not plain. I parked my car and went inside. I waited in the line where a gentleman was taking orders. Finally a woman came to a different register and asked if she could help me. I told her I had ordered my sandwich plain, but it wasn't. She turned to the male employee and told him my problem and he responded, "I know." "I know?" He walked to the warmer, picked up my special order sandwich, put it in a bag and handed it to me. "Mistake." Personally I think he just wanted me to see his happy, smiling face.

Birthday Boy

Today was the oldest boy's 23rd birthday. I don't know how my kids can be getting so old. He had planned to go out to Cafe Laguna for Indian Tacos to celebrate, but since his Auntie made those last night he decided he would rather eat at his old favorite "Mi Amigos". We were sure to tell them that it was his birthday so he could wear the sombero and be serenaded.

It was a fun meal with our "family", but our family is getting too big to go out to eat together very often.

This son was my only child to be born before his due date. He wasn't suppose to arrive until April 4th, but for some reason he really wanted to celebrate his birthday every year on April Fool's Day and hurried to get out. I was glad he came when he did since he was also my largest baby, weighing in at an even 9 pounds.

After dinner we came back to the house and opened gifts. I had bought him some new Jeans online and decided to even pay the extra money to have them hemmed. When he opened the package to check them out he found the extra material from the legs stuck in one of the pockets. He decided it would work as a headband and modeled for us.


Looking at how even that strip of fabric is cut, I could have probably done as good a job of hemming the pants as they did.

Today I am thankful for

a son who sets aside 15 minutes to talk to me every morning.
family and friends to celebrate with.
money.

Pima Tacos

This morning I got a phone call from my sister-in-law inviting our family to her house for dinner. About a year ago one of our nieces committed suicide leaving behind 4 children between the ages of 11 and 2. She had kind of distanced herself from the family and her children a few months prior to her death and the children, along with the father of the 2 youngest, were living with this sister-in-law when this all transpired. The father of the 2nd child eventually decided he wanted his daughter (who is 10 now) to come and live with him. She wasn't excited to be separated from her siblings and this turned out to not be a very positive situation in a lot of ways. This sister-in-law went to court to get custody of this child and today she came back home. She loves Pima Tacos and so we welcomed her back with food.

My oldest sister-in-law showing off her popover patting skills.

The hubby can cook with one hand in his pocket.

The kids waiting patiently to partake.

Today I am thankful for

dinner cooked by someone else.
my vacuum.
relatives who work hard to make life better for the kids we care about.
the chance to watch things grow in the fields around my in-laws homes. Right now it's a crop of wheat.

Today I am thankful that

I can actually see my kitchen counter.
my husband was in charge of Family Home Evening.
my daughter shared her extra Costco tortillas with us.
my other daughter played delivery woman for me.

Oldest Kid in the Nursery

Most of the kids in our ward nursery are just barely two or younger. However, we have one little boy who is almost three. I feel kind of bad for him because he has to hang out with all these babies. He also has two younger siblings at home (along with a four year old sister) so he spends most of his time with babies. When last year's nursery group moved up to Sunbeams we got rid of the play dough, the puzzles, the stringing beads and some of our books that the new group weren't quite ready for, but that leaves this little boy sometimes bored with all the baby toys. He comes up with new and unique ways of playing with the available toys. Some which aren't necessarily safe or appropriate.
The other day when I was at the thrift store they were having a sale on their puzzles and they had a Noah's Ark floor puzzle that I thought this child might enjoy. I brought it to church today and he was excited to put it together. Unfortunately, our nursery princess (our only girl) was equally excited to pull it apart. One piece in, one piece out. We finally got it all put together and I went to grab the camera to take a picture of our accomplishment. When I came back he was guarding his masterpiece from certain destruction.


She looks innocent, doesn't she?


But as soon as she thinks no one is watching, out comes a piece.


We do have rules against sitting on the table, but this child was determined that he was going to get in front of the camera.

We put the puzzle away and our big boy decided he might enjoy reading books. This child isn't a big talker. He can talk a lot, he just chooses not to. It was fun to listen to him read this entire ABC book - A, apple, B, ball... complete with the entire ABC song as a finale. He is a great singer.

This is his little brother. In 4 months, we have yet to hear a word out of his mouth.

This little guy got all of his curls cut off this week and has grown from baby to toddler overnight. It's amazing the difference a haircut can make.

We only had 5 kids in nursery this week. It was so quiet at times it was almost scary.

This would actually be the oldest kid in our nursery, but his mean mom makes him go to his Sunday School class every week. He even promises to play nice with the babies and she still makes him leave.

Today I am grateful for

food. It always tastes better after fasting.
nursery children.
patient boys.

Water Fight

This afternoon I was attending a bridal shower for one of my friend's daughters when I got a phone call from my youngest child. He wanted to know what had happened to the big bag of water balloons we had. I told him where they were and thought "water balloons sound like fun on a warm March day."
By the time I arrived home though they had tossed all the balloons and moved on to buckets and hoses. The sons, the daughter and the roommates all seemed to be enjoying themselves. It's hard to believe that it's still cold in a lot of the USA right now. I love Tempe, Arizona in March!!

Today I am thankful for

children that enjoy doing things together.

happy occasions to celebrate with my friends.

opportunities to sleep in.

BYU Idaho

My youngest daughter has been accepted to attend college at BYU Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho this Fall. She is very excited and we are excited for her. BYU Idaho has specific tracks that determine the months when you attend. I think they are based on your major, but I'm not sure. Anyway, the daughter found out today which track she is on. I don't remember the name of it but she will attend school from September to December, then be off from January to April and then return the end of April through August. I think this is definitely the best of both worlds for an almost Arizona Native (we moved here when she was 8 months old). She gets to miss most of the cold Idaho winter and the hot Arizona summer. I wonder if I can apply to BYU Idaho too? I could really enjoy cooler summers.

The Friend Magazine

Two years ago when I renewed our church magazines I decided that we probably didn't need to receive the Friend magazine any longer. The Friend is the church magazine published for children. My youngest child was 14 at the time and I felt like we would be fine with just the youth and adult magazines. Every month for the entire year my youngest son would lament each time the church magazines arrived, "Why don't we get the Friend anymore. I really like to read the Friend." So the next time our subscription ran out I added the Friend back on. It has arrived with the others every month and I have placed it in the magazine rack by my chair where I read each morning. I don't think the son even knows it's there most of the time. As I was planning Family Home Evening yesterday I was thinking about the stories my daughter had used in her talk on Sunday from this magazine and how it is a great resource that I often overlook.


I pulled a few of them out and browsed through them. There were so many great stories and even suggestions on how to use them for a Family Home Evening lesson. I actually ended up passing out a Friend to each family member during FHE and we each chose a story from our magazine to share and expound on. If was interesting to see how we all chose a story that focused on love/service. I really like that the majority of the stories included in this publication now are based on experiences that someone really had. There are so many ways the children of the church are making good choices each day and I'm glad they have a platform to share some of these moments with the rest of us. It's once again time to renew my magazine subscriptions and I'll be including my $8.00 for the Friend. I've decided our family still needs it.

Today I am thankful for

Church Magazines.
Day two of the new and improved teenage mouth.
time to spend with my Relief Society sisters.

The Deal

We have a problem in our family with the kind of words we use and the tone of voice we speak with. It has gotten to the point where pretty much at least half of the stuff that comes out of my mouth or my son's mouths seems to be sarcastic, facetious, unkind, impolite, contentious or just plan mean. I have been thinking for a while that we need to do something to change this, but I wasn't really sure how to help us stop. Today while the youngest son and I were waiting for his last (hopefully) visit with the oral surgeon he made a smart remark and I said, "I think you should see if you can go for a whole week without being sarcastic." His response was "What will you give me?" I told him I would kiss him on the forehead. That definitely wasn't going to cut it. "Will you buy me a car?" "Uh, No." "Will you let me get my driver's license?" "Nope." "If I go for a month without being sarcastic will you let me get my license?" I had to think about this one for a minute. First of all, the way things are in our home at the moment I would say the chances of him going for a month without being sarcastic are less than zero. Probably like a negative 50 at least. And that is not being sarcastic. That is the genuine truth. However, I could really enjoy an entire month of honest, polite responses coming out of this son's mouth. I was thinking it might actually be worth it. I wasn't going to give in too easily though so I upped the ante. "If you can go for a month without saying anything sarcastic, rude, or mean to any member of our family I will let you get your license." "This is going to be easy!" He was immediately checking his calendar in his phone to figure out what day of the week April 23rd was and entering a note that he was getting his driver's license on that day.
On the way home we stopped at Circle K so I could buy the son an ICEE in honor of his one year anniversary of giving up soda. He hasn't intentionally drunk any type of carbonated beverage since March 23, 2008. (He was tricked into drinking soda when he partook of the wedding punch at his sister's wedding reception last April before he was informed that one of the main ingredients happened to be 7up.) He went into the store to make his purchase and I waited in the car. When he came out I remarked "You smell like coffee. Have you been drinking coffee?" He quickly retorted, "All day, every day." I looked at him and he whacked himself on the knee. He pulled out his phone and changed his note. "On Friday, April 24 on I going to get my driver's license." Since then he has done quite well and I am thoroughly enjoying this welcome break from his wicked words. Now I just need to work on myself and his brother. Stay tuned to see how this episode of "Let's Make a Deal" turns out.

Today I am thankful for

a visiting teaching companion that makes the appointments.
a son that took out the trash without complaining and even gathered up the palm tree litter left by last night's windstorm without even being asked.
a husband that goes to the grocery store.
the last trip to the oral surgeon (I hope).

Pray For Others

Today the oldest daughter and the son-in-law spoke in their ward and we went to listen to them. Their topic was "Pray Always" and they both did a good job sharing their thoughts and insights. The daughter shared a story about a little boy whose mom encourages him to look for opportunities to pray for others during the day. They go to the library and he sees a baby crying so he silently prays for her to be happy. He sees his neighbor, who has been sick, getting out of her wheelchair and into her car and he silently prays that she will get well. The piano tuner comes to his house and he silently prays that he will be able to do his job well and make their piano sound nice. I don't very often take the opportunity to pray for people outside my usual circle. My prayers seem to focus more on myself and my needs. Recently I was reading a book that talked about taking a prayer walk. Apparently in some churches as people walk around their neighborhoods they pray for the individuals who live in the homes that they pass. At the time I thought this was a rather random idea, but the more I have thought about it the more I think that it isn't all that strange. It would probably be good for me to pray for others, even those I don't know, sometimes. I started thinking what a different person I would be if when I got frustrated with someone's driving ability instead of getting upset and yelling I said a prayer for them to arrive safely at their destination. Or when I didn't agree with the way someone was parenting their child I offered a prayer for help for them in raising their kids. Or when the college kids next door are having a wild party AGAIN that I prayed for them to be kept safe. Or when the referree in the church basketball game makes a call I don't like I offered a prayer of gratitude for their willingness to give service in the church. How would that be if every time I was given an opportunity to be unkind or upset or frustrated I chose to offer a silent prayer instead? How long do you think it would take for that to become my natural response?

Today I am thankful for

cooler temperatures.
an opportunity to hear my daughter share her testimony concerning prayer.
The chance that preparing a talk gives us to evaluate our performance in a specific area of our lives at the moment.
people who share their Kleenex.

Español

Tonight I had the opportunity of going to the temple to see one of my youngest daughter's good friends receive her own endowments. This young woman will soon be known as Sister Zarate and will be serving in the Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission for 18 months.

We are all excited for her. Some other members of the family would have gone to the temple with her as well, but it just so happened that tonight was also the beginning of the church young men's basketball tournament and the youngest son's team, which is coached by the oldest son, had a game at the same time. It was hard for many of us to decide where we wanted to be the most. I finally decided that since the tournament is double elimination and the team was only playing one game tonight that I would have another opportunity to watch them participate and so I chose the temple. I was glad that I did. (The son's team lost and listening to the recap, I think I was lucky that I wasn't there to experience it.)
Since English is this sister's second language she chose to go to a Spanish speaking endowment session. My family and I had discussed ahead of time whether or not I thought I could follow what was going on if I had to do it only in Spanish. Pondering this question reminded me of a trip I took to a Denver Albertsons grocery store a couple of years ago. I was getting ready to check out when I received a phone call from my oldest daughter informing me that she had just been offered a job teaching Kindergarten at Fuller Elementary School. This was her first teaching job, school started in a week and we were both very excited. After I hung up I went to the self check out to purchase my groceries. I was still a little distracted and accidentally pushed the Spanish button instead of the English one. I tried to go back and choose English but couldn't figure it out. I decided I could check out in Spanish. I know a little Spanish and I use the self check out all the time, I could probably do it with my eyes closed so I thought a foreign language would be no problem. Scan the item, drop it in the bag. Pretty much the same in any language. I was rolling right along until I got to the produce. Even though I didn't know what a cantaloupe was called in Spanish I scrolled through the pictures and managed to find one that matched my item. Success! Then came the green pepper. I found the picture, entered the code but then the number keyboard popped up again. I thought the code hadn't gone through so I entered it again. I figured out what it was actually asking for about the same time I pushed the enter button. I was suppose to enter the quantity. Instead of one green pepper, or whatever it is called in Spanish, I said I was buying 4035 or some other ridiculous number. My grocery tab was immediately over $2000. That was when I finally decided to call for help. The employee was very confused about why I was checking out in Spanish, when I obviously was speaking English. Luckily for me he stood right next to me for the rest of the transaction. I think I needed his assistance at least 3 more times before I was done and thoroughly embarrassed.
So, as I thought about the temple ceremony, my first thought was that perhaps I could manage most parts, I mean I've heard it all a number of times. However, I quickly reconsidered.
The temple was very accommodating and supplied headsets for all of us who couldn't understand Español. I enjoyed hearing English in one ear while I tried to figure out what they were saying in Spanish with the other. I could actually understand a few things. However, I did find it somewhat disconcerting having Satan whispering directly into my ear at times. He seemed a lot more menacing when he was piped right into my head. Kind of like the devil sitting on my shoulder feeling.
I love being in the celestial room with someone who is there for the first time. My sweet friend was so happy to be there and I was equally happy to be there with her. It was such a wonderful moment. Lots of Love to you Sister Zarate. You're moving in the right direction and I wish you the best in life.

Today I am grateful for

hugs.
modern technology.
the temple - in any language.

Tying it Together

The oldest daughter and I decided to continue to be ambitious during her Spring Break so we borrowed some quilting frames and tied the quilt that we finished Tuesday.

We didn't want to just work during her "vacation" however, so the other daughter and the roommate-girlfriend came over and we went to lunch together.


I chose to take them to Iguana Mack's.

A fun restaurant that my visiting teachee introduced me to that has a reasonably priced lunch menu and some really funky interior decor.


We had a lot of fun. The youngest daughter enjoyed taking lots of random photos and the oldest daughter got to drink rootbeer "shot right out of the gun".

It's nice to have a quiet day and take time to smell the "roses".


Today, while we still had the quilting frames we put together some other fabric I had lying around and tied another baby quilt.


This one was to appease the baby if he's a boy. Plus it has little airplanes on it in honor of the son-in-law.




Now we just have to get them bound and they are done!

The Evolution of a Quilt

Way back a long time ago
when the eldest daughter
was still living in Flagstaff
and attending NAU
she was in the JoAnn's Fabric store one day,
saw a quilt book full of baby quilts
and decided she wanted to make one.
She chose her favorite quilt
called Rainbow Sherbet

and purchased the book,
a variety of colored fat quarters,
a fabric cutter,
a ruler and a cutting mat.
Then she wasn't quite sure
what to do next
so she put all her purchases
away for a while.

Still a long time ago
the daughter moved back home
and one boring summer day
she decided to get out her quilt making supplies
and see if she and I could figure out how to proceed.
We cut all the colored fat quarters
into little squares


with the help of the fabric cutter,
the ruler and the cutting mat.

Then following the pattern in the book
we put all the little squares
into their proper positions
on the floor and stepped back.
We both really hated what we saw.
The squares didn't seem to blend together nicely
like they did in the picture in the book.
They all seemed to be fighting with each other.
We decided perhaps if we found a nice fabric
to go around the edge
it would tie all the blocks together
and we would like it better
so off we went to the JoAnn's Fabric store
to purchase a rainbow print for the border.
We looked and looked and looked
and couldn't find anything that we liked
to finish the ugly quilt.
We came home with this instead.


We took the green squares from the original quilt
and added them to some new pink squares
and white print squares
and some larger frog squares.
We really liked this quilt a lot better!
We sewed and sewed and sewed
little squares together to make bigger squares
and then sewed and sewed and sewed
the squares together to make rows.
As we added squares to rows
we discovered that we were short
one dark green square
that we needed to finish the quilt.
One silly little square.
So we put the quilt away again for awhile.
For weeks and months and years
we searched every JoAnn's Fabric store we visited
in Arizona,
in California,
in Utah,
for a green fat quarter that matched
the missing piece.

Fast forward to today.
The daughter is actually expecting a baby,
is on Spring Break,
and feeling crafty.
We pull the quilt out of the closet
once again.
We look at it and decide if we rearrange
a few squares here and there
we don't need that one little square of green fabric.
We unpick,
we rearrange,
we sew,


we unpick,
we rearrange,
we sew.


We even do some ironing in there
and TA-DAH...


We have a quilt top all sewn together
and it only took 5 years.

Roadrunner Folklore

A couple of months ago the oldest daughter and the son-in-law were hiking on South Mountain and they saw a roadrunner.

During Second Grade O'odham (Pima)culture class the next week the teacher told the children that in the O'odham culture it is believed that if you see a roadrunner it means that you are going to receive a great blessing or good fortune. The daughter was curious to see what blessing might be coming to them. Tonight they told us what their blessing was.
When they shared their news my hubby said, "I should have known. I saw a baby roadrunner the other day when I was driving back to work."

I was wondering if I should feel bad that I hadn't seen any roadrunners. Maybe I need to get out more. But then again, I don't need to see a roadrunner to know that a new baby is a blessing. Plus, at this point in my life I'd rather be the Grandma than the one expecting so, just to be on the safe side, I'm glad I didn't see the roadrunners. The daughter and her hubby can have the blessing and I'll just enjoy it, spoil it, and send it home.

Today I'm thankful that

I get to be a grandma.
they make dry socket paste. It smells so bad that the girls won't want to come close to the boy for a while.
I got to go to breakfast with my girls who are on Spring Break this week.

Little Black Rain Cloud

Sometimes my youngest son has a lot in common with Eeyore. He has a habit of thinking that bad things are always going to happen to him. At the start of church basketball season he predicted that he was going to get his nose broken during the season. Sure enough, it didn't take long for that very thing to happen. I kind of think he wanted it to happen, but maybe not.
When the son and I went to the oral surgeon to discuss having his wisdom teeth pulled the doctor shared with him all the possible things that could go wrong. He told him the most likely was that he would get a dry socket, which is where the blood clot that forms in the hole where the tooth was dissolves and leaves the nerve exposed to the air. It can be very painful but is easily treated. As we left the office the son told me, "I'm going to get a dry socket." When I questioned why he said "that kind of thing always happens to me." I suggested that he have a more positive outlook and even made a bet with him, if he got a dry socket I would wash his dishes the next two times it was his turn.
Day 2 (the most common time for a dry socket) passed with no problem. Day 3 - no problem. Day 4 - no problem. Day 5 - there was more pain than usual on the left side, but even the son didn't think it was a dry socket because it didn't hurt as bad as the dentist had said it would. Day 6, Monday morning (first day back to school after spring break) the boy's pain level on a scale of 1 to 10 was 27 when he woke up. He took an Advil and said it helped a little, but not much, but of course his mean mom still made him go to school. I called the doctor and they said bring him in, so during his lunch hour we took a trip to the the oral surgeon. It was most likely a dry socket. He was treated with some nasty smelling, nasty tasting dry socket paste that took the pain away in about 30 minutes. We get to go back every 2 days to get more medicine put in for at least a week and I get to wash his dishes as well.
Same thing with the son's report card. He thinks he's going to get bad grades and sure enough that's what he gets.
I need to figure out a way to get the kid to envision positive things happening in his life. Think of all the good things that could come to pass if he'd just think them.

The Last One

Today my youngest child had his wisdom teeth pulled. He was one of the lucky ones, like his just older sister, who only had 2 wisdom teeth instead of 4. That makes removing them a little easier. At least it seems like it should. The same oral surgeon has taken out all my kids wisdom teeth (plus a few extra from the oldest daughter) and I think he is going to miss us now that we have run out of children to grow new teeth.
The son decided to not be sedated for the extractions. Some of my kids were, some weren't. I personally think waking up from surgery and not having a clue what has just happened in your life is a horrible feeling so I would prefer to be awake if possible. Actually, back in the dark ages when I had my wisdom teeth removed sedation wasn't even an option. What I remember most about the experience was that it was very loud and the worst part was that the dentist pulled the 2 teeth on the left and then I had to go back 2 weeks later to have the 2 on the right pulled. I was not at all excited about that 2nd visit and I am glad they do it all at once now.
The boy did use the laughing gas today and that seemed to make the experience more enjoyable (maybe a little too enjoyable since on the way home he was asking me if you could buy nitrous oxide on EBay).
Since this kid has a manly image to uphold, he also insisted that he didn't want to take any painkillers so I didn't bother to get his pain prescription filled ahead of time. His brother had a full bottle that hadn't been touched from his surgery 2 weeks ago that I felt we could use in an emergency. I know it's illegal o.k. I know. Well, as the shots began to wear off and feeling returned the son became more and more irritable. It didn't take long for him to decide to heck with the image. Apparently having your wisdom teeth pulled hurts a lot more than a broken nose. I offered the brother's medicine and was read the riot act. I am surprised that the police were not called immediately and that I escaped being hauled off to jail. What was I thinking??? I drove to the store, filled the prescription, paid my $8.00 and returned home as quickly as possible. The oldest daughter took Percocet when she had her wisdom teeth pulled and she was comatose for 2 days. Unfortunately Percocet didn't have the same effect on my youngest child. He wanted to be asleep, but couldn't seem to figure out how to do it. Everyone was way too loud for his liking and he made sure to let me know about it. Finally I decided to take him for a ride. That use to be how I got him to take a nap every day when he was a baby. I would drive his sister to Kindergarten and then go around the neighborhood until he fell asleep and then we would come home, I would put him in his crib, and he would be out until all his siblings arrived home from school a few hours later. It was rather nice. I was hoping for the same effect tonight. He did drift off while I drove and I found a nice hillside close to our house to park on and enjoyed the full moon, the city lights and watching the planes appear on the horizon, grow larger and then disappear as they landed. It was very peaceful. Eventually I drove home and we dozed in the driveway for a while longer. He woke up a lot less irritable and determined to never take another painkiller in his entire life. Now I have 2 almost untouched bottles of pills in my cupboard. Too bad I'm a law abiding citizen or I could sell them to the highest bidder. I just hate having addictive medicine sitting around my house and there's so much controversy surrounding proper pill disposal anymore that I don't know how to get rid of it. Don't flush it, throw it away, or bury it, that's for sure. Maybe there needs to be a medicine recycling program. Oh, but that would be illegal too. I think it would be nice if you could just return it to the pharmacy and get a refund on the unused portion or a credit toward your next purchase.

Today I am grateful for

no more wisdom teeth.
kids that don't like to take pain killers.
beautiful Spring weather.

Today I am thankful for

boys that help me mow my lawn and whack my weeds.
a break from the normal routine.
a to do list with almost everything crossed off.

This is the Day

I am still plugging along in my reading of the Old Testament. I am deep in the book of Psalms at the moment and actually enjoying it. I will admit that I probably don't retain much of what I read because I read several chapters each day. I have decided that this may be my first time reading the Old Testament clear through, but it isn't going to be my last. This time through I am reading for the "I did it!" experience. Next time I'm going to go a lot slower and do more pondering, referencing and analyzing. I should probably be doing that this time, but I still want to accomplish the goal I set and I need to keep moving to finish all the standards works in the next 6 months.
Today however one verse really stuck with me. I know I have heard it before and probably even seen it decorating a plaque or two somewhere, but today it spoke to me. It is found in the 118th Psalm, verse 24.
"This is the day which the Lord hath made;

we will rejoice and be glad in it."
I was sitting in my living room welcoming the morning. Wondering how the day was going to unfold with my boys home for Spring Break. I was desiring some help in the front yard and I knew that they were looking forward to a fun break ie. no work. As I read this message it really hit me. Heavenly Father has blessed me with this new day. He didn't have to give it to me. I could have not woken up this morning. Today is a gift from my loving parent, he knows what it holds and no matter what transpires I should be grateful for it and show my gratitude by enjoying it.
Wow! I wonder what a difference that could make in my life if I greeted each new day with that insight foremost in my mind.
No matter what happens today I will try to remember this is my day and to be glad in it.

Gotta Love Him

There are times when my youngest son and I don't seem to see eye to eye. When we have a difficult time agreeing on what's fair and what isn't. When we do things and say things in the heat of the moment that we regret later. When we might even raise our voices together, and not in song. Sometimes he is just plain annoying, but then sometimes I can be pretty annoying too.
But other times he makes me laugh. I asked the son to come and help me dry the van after I washed it, so it wouldn't get all spotted and this is how he decided to help.

I do love the boy and neither one of us is ever going to tell why the van got washed in the first place.

Today I am thankful for

moments when my kids and I get along.
Angela's bread stick recipe.
dinner as a family.

Just for Me

During my early teens I babysat frequently to earn some spending money. My going rate was 25 cents an hour and I remember getting paid 50 cents an hour once in a while and thinking I was rollin' in the dough. I had several families that I babysat for regularly, but there was one family that I tended more than any other. I enjoyed their kids a lot and was always happy to be at their house. I think perhaps one of the reasons I liked babysitting for this family were the food perks that were included. The mom always made sure the cookie jar was full of fresh chocolate chip cookies every time I came. She made a point of telling me they were there "just for me" so I didn't even feel bad about eating them. This mom would also prepare a shepherd's pie and leave it in the oven or the fridge if I was going to be there during the dinner hour. This was 'just for me" as well. Her kids probably got tired of shepherd's pie, but I never did. This was a treat that we didn't have at my house and I enjoyed it every time I ate it. I guess that is why shepherd's pie is close to the top of my comfort foods list still today.

This dish never fails to bring happy thoughts with each bite. It's amazing how a little hamburger, tomato sauce, green beans, mashed potatoes and cheese can do that!

Today I am thankful for

a woman who knew how to make a 13 year old feel special.
things I learned from babysitting that have helped me care for my own children.
a husband who goes with me on errands.