57. Writing Output! Between last week's frenzied typing and yesterday I've done 15 pages this week! WuHu! Go me!
58. Finishing a photo book. I got a free code for a book from a friend. I decided to do a Christmas book for the kids I watch. I started one for them last year, but didn't finish, and this time the templates were all laid out for me. I had to dump in pictures and do a bunch of fiddling around, but not nearly as much work as starting from scratch. That said, it still took me all day. I was going to go on an outing with friends. I called and said I'd better hold off because I wanted to get this book done. (today is the deadline.) That was a very good thing, because the nurse at school called not 15 minutes later and told me I had a sick kid waiting for me. Poor Sue. Her lips get bright red when she has a fever. She did not feel good. By tonight the motrin had kicked in, and she was doing a little better. Oh well. Something's going around! It came around here!
PS. The next day she was completely better except for congestion and a slight headache.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Smiling and Tearing Up
56. I'll go where you want me to go. A beautiful family in our ward has received a call to attend a branch in the area. The mother is our Relief Society President. Their daughter, a laurel now, was in my beehive class. They spoke on Sunday. I will miss their talks so much. I always gain great insights whenever one of them speaks. Our ward will miss them. But now they are on to bless another congregation with their bright spirits. They aren't moving, but we won't see them very much. You can tell that they are sad to leave, and yet sure of the Lord's hand in this new chapter in their lives. I can't help but think that their willingness to change wards when the Stake President asks is a greater testimony to their teenage daughter of going where the Lord needs you than all the Family Home Evening lessons or church moments or talks in the world could be.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Random Musings
And here we are in no particular order for the last week or so
46. You know you have musical children when...... They are teasing each other with flat notes. Lou was singing to herself while setting the table one day this week.
Unnamed oldest said, "No! No!"
We all looked at her and said - "what?"
She said, "That song. That's not how it ends! It ends on a different note. "
We all looked at her. ??
"Here. I'll show you." She went over to the piano and played it the way it should be and the way it was being sung.
"So ..... It's a little flat?.... She's just singing it for fun."
"It's two whole half steps flat!"
So.......
"It's driving me crazy!" (Covers her ears.)
Lou immediately grins and begins singing it again - and ending flat.
"AHHHH. Stop! Stop!"
Followed by louder singing. etc.
Until Mom says, "all right you two, cut it out and set the table."
Ah, musical children.
47. A fun dress that looks so great on Sue! Couldn't have a better dress. So good looking and grown up. And yet she still looks her age. Love it!
I had her twirl too, to get the full effect.
48. Winning a tennis match! Yea!
49. Lou does her homework on the way home from school! Walking? Yes. And tries hard to have it done by the time we get home. She even gets the answers right!
50. Walking home with friends. We've been walking a lot to school this year. Most of the gang isn't in a sport at the moment, and we need the exercise. We feel so healthy. Luckily the weather has been cooperating.
51. S-Train and backpacks. There has been a rash of playmobiles hiding out and trying to go to school with the S-Train. But did you know that when you back away from your mother holding your backpack and saying, "NO, NO, NO!" It only means she is 100% going to have a look in your backpack?
52. Superhero day at high school. Kids with the confidence to wear polka dotted pajama pants to school with a cape, may just someday rule the world.
53. Packing quickly if we ever need to rough it. The S-Train would not eat dinner. Until his dad told him that he had to eat dinner if he wanted to go on a campout the next day. (Fathers' & Sons campout) Instant model citizen. In fact immediate packing. The clothes, peanut butter and jelly jars, and bread were packed before you could say tweedle dee. The kid knows what he needs to survive. We just aren't sure if he remembered the knife or if he was planning on spreading the peanut butter with his fingers.
54. Eating lunch at school. Chocolate milk and Corn dog Friday!
55. Another critique group. The pages were written, output was achieved, and yea! I made it to another meeting with awesome ladies. In fact, a description of the day might make me smile now.
I thought- since I had quite a bit written in a notebook I would just need to type it up, polish a little and be ready to go. I thought I could get that done in the morning while the S-Train was at school. Then I could finish up another project in the afternoon. Unfortunately, a one sentence hurry-the-plot-along summary turned into about 6 extra pages and took a lot longer to write than anticipated. So the quick typing up turned into this....
Walk kids to school. Home. Shower. Breakfast while watching morning news. Type Type Type. Check email. Type Type Type. Look up something on the internet. Type Type Type. Answer the phone. Get a snack. Type Type Type. Make a phone call. Type Type Type.
Ack! Time to get the S-Train. Get lunch. Try to direct the S-Train to a project. More phone calls in. Type Type Type. Mom.... can I print out pictures on the computer? Mom.... where is my winter hunting coat? Mom... Can you write.. Mom... How do you spell... All while trying to Type Type Type.
Time to get the kids. Walk home with friends. Direct everyone to get a snack and practice and do homework. Can they take care of things while I Type Type Type? Type Type Type. Recorder (musical instrument) going. Homework happening. TV on. Turn off the TV until the homework's done! Mom... I can't figure out how this goes on the recorder. Mom.... I can't figure out this math problem. (It's because your remainder is the same as the number you're dividing by.) Type Type Type. I can't do this recorder!! Do you want me to play it for you on the piano? Thank you mom. Type Type Type. Done. Maybe? Print and outside for uninterrupted edit time. The recorder follows. Edit Edit Edit. People out and in. The S-Train playing in the leaf covered fort outside. Mom... do you think.... Mom is this right... Back inside for applying edits.
Mr. C comes home. Honey, I'm really sorry - can you do dinner? PLEASE? Thank you so much. Quit throwing legos. Type Type Type. Deer meat being defrosted. Math homework being done. Spelling words being quizzed. Throw the legos again and you lose them. Type Type Type. Dinner being cooked. Set the table! The legos are stuffed into a plastic sword sheath and blown into. It sounds like a rain stick. Type Type Type. Almost done! Check directions to critique members house. Ack! supposed to be there in 10 minutes. It takes 20. Thought our start time was an hour later than it is. Call critique group. Leaving ASAP. Final Type Type. Print. Sorry ladies, only one copy. Time is of the essence and printer is almost out of ink. Ten minutes later. Love you. Finish homework! Shower! Practice! Love you! Bye. Drive. Arrive. AAAHHHHH. Nice people who seem to like me anway have intelligent conversations about writing. Eat apple pie. Talk some more. Go home. Sleep.
46. You know you have musical children when...... They are teasing each other with flat notes. Lou was singing to herself while setting the table one day this week.
Unnamed oldest said, "No! No!"
We all looked at her and said - "what?"
She said, "That song. That's not how it ends! It ends on a different note. "
We all looked at her. ??
"Here. I'll show you." She went over to the piano and played it the way it should be and the way it was being sung.
"So ..... It's a little flat?.... She's just singing it for fun."
"It's two whole half steps flat!"
So.......
"It's driving me crazy!" (Covers her ears.)
Lou immediately grins and begins singing it again - and ending flat.
"AHHHH. Stop! Stop!"
Followed by louder singing. etc.
Until Mom says, "all right you two, cut it out and set the table."
Ah, musical children.
47. A fun dress that looks so great on Sue! Couldn't have a better dress. So good looking and grown up. And yet she still looks her age. Love it!
I had her twirl too, to get the full effect.48. Winning a tennis match! Yea!
49. Lou does her homework on the way home from school! Walking? Yes. And tries hard to have it done by the time we get home. She even gets the answers right!
50. Walking home with friends. We've been walking a lot to school this year. Most of the gang isn't in a sport at the moment, and we need the exercise. We feel so healthy. Luckily the weather has been cooperating.
51. S-Train and backpacks. There has been a rash of playmobiles hiding out and trying to go to school with the S-Train. But did you know that when you back away from your mother holding your backpack and saying, "NO, NO, NO!" It only means she is 100% going to have a look in your backpack?
52. Superhero day at high school. Kids with the confidence to wear polka dotted pajama pants to school with a cape, may just someday rule the world.
53. Packing quickly if we ever need to rough it. The S-Train would not eat dinner. Until his dad told him that he had to eat dinner if he wanted to go on a campout the next day. (Fathers' & Sons campout) Instant model citizen. In fact immediate packing. The clothes, peanut butter and jelly jars, and bread were packed before you could say tweedle dee. The kid knows what he needs to survive. We just aren't sure if he remembered the knife or if he was planning on spreading the peanut butter with his fingers.
54. Eating lunch at school. Chocolate milk and Corn dog Friday!
55. Another critique group. The pages were written, output was achieved, and yea! I made it to another meeting with awesome ladies. In fact, a description of the day might make me smile now.
I thought- since I had quite a bit written in a notebook I would just need to type it up, polish a little and be ready to go. I thought I could get that done in the morning while the S-Train was at school. Then I could finish up another project in the afternoon. Unfortunately, a one sentence hurry-the-plot-along summary turned into about 6 extra pages and took a lot longer to write than anticipated. So the quick typing up turned into this....
Walk kids to school. Home. Shower. Breakfast while watching morning news. Type Type Type. Check email. Type Type Type. Look up something on the internet. Type Type Type. Answer the phone. Get a snack. Type Type Type. Make a phone call. Type Type Type.
Ack! Time to get the S-Train. Get lunch. Try to direct the S-Train to a project. More phone calls in. Type Type Type. Mom.... can I print out pictures on the computer? Mom.... where is my winter hunting coat? Mom... Can you write.. Mom... How do you spell... All while trying to Type Type Type.
Time to get the kids. Walk home with friends. Direct everyone to get a snack and practice and do homework. Can they take care of things while I Type Type Type? Type Type Type. Recorder (musical instrument) going. Homework happening. TV on. Turn off the TV until the homework's done! Mom... I can't figure out how this goes on the recorder. Mom.... I can't figure out this math problem. (It's because your remainder is the same as the number you're dividing by.) Type Type Type. I can't do this recorder!! Do you want me to play it for you on the piano? Thank you mom. Type Type Type. Done. Maybe? Print and outside for uninterrupted edit time. The recorder follows. Edit Edit Edit. People out and in. The S-Train playing in the leaf covered fort outside. Mom... do you think.... Mom is this right... Back inside for applying edits.
Mr. C comes home. Honey, I'm really sorry - can you do dinner? PLEASE? Thank you so much. Quit throwing legos. Type Type Type. Deer meat being defrosted. Math homework being done. Spelling words being quizzed. Throw the legos again and you lose them. Type Type Type. Dinner being cooked. Set the table! The legos are stuffed into a plastic sword sheath and blown into. It sounds like a rain stick. Type Type Type. Almost done! Check directions to critique members house. Ack! supposed to be there in 10 minutes. It takes 20. Thought our start time was an hour later than it is. Call critique group. Leaving ASAP. Final Type Type. Print. Sorry ladies, only one copy. Time is of the essence and printer is almost out of ink. Ten minutes later. Love you. Finish homework! Shower! Practice! Love you! Bye. Drive. Arrive. AAAHHHHH. Nice people who seem to like me anway have intelligent conversations about writing. Eat apple pie. Talk some more. Go home. Sleep.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Wow! Where does the week and a half go! I can't believe it's been so long since I've updated. Tons of fun moments have flown through my hands!
36. Labor Day at the Lake and a cookout. Fishing with Dad,
canoeing, and cattails we are planning to use to either catch dogfish (the kids' plan!)
or fight Darth Maul.
37. Then there were people at out house and we were trying to learn how to make picco de gallo. Except the 1 halapeno we use turned out to have super heating properties. Haaaaah! (That stands for that sound you make when you eat something that feels like it's going to burn your mouth off. You automatically open your mouth and make that sound to get the heat out!) We tried to add tomatoes to part of it to cool it down, but it was still potent. Only the bravest attempted hot batch.
38. Band. Our unnamed child is playing in the marching band now! We went to the band potluck, then watched the pregame show, let balloons go for the football players and passed out water to the band. Fun new adventures for us all.
39. Skipping. Apparently, my poor youngest has never been taught how to skip. He had to learn in gym class. But now we can practice all the way to pick up the other kids from school!
40. Writing conference sunflowers! I got to do the breakfast refreshments for the all day writing conference. There was a western theme. So I decided to decorate the table with sunflowers and bandannas. Aren't they pretty?
41. Picking the sunflowers. Was so fun. The S-Train and I went on an adventure. We found a field by some new construction. There was a pile of great big limestone construction rocks to climb on. My favorite moment was after we'd pick a few sunflowers. I was giving them to the S-Train to hold. He said, "Mom, are we done?" I said, "No honey, we need to pick enough to fill two giant jars." He looked at the sunflowers he was holding, then looked at me like I'd lost my mind and said, "Mom, my hands aren't as big as two GIANT jars!!"
42. The Girls running the house. While I was gone all day on a Saturday. The girls ran the house. They did some of their Saturday chores. They cleaned the kitchen, and ran the dishwasher twice. Then they got dinner and set the table beautifully using refreshment table left overs. Dad and I had to leave again quick, and they just took it in stride. It's so nice to have a good home support team. With it, you can do great things. Without it, it's really hard. Good job! Thanks kids! Next stop, the laundry. ;)
43. Sheridans. Yummy raspberry hot fudge sundae treats with friends after Saturday night stake conference. Fabulous!
44. The Stake 5K fun run. Sue and Lou and I went to run the fun run. We had a great time! It was a beautiful morning and the sunrise was gorgeous. The girls did really well. We walk/jog a mean 5K.
Of course, we did meet some of the front runners coming back after we'd been going for about 5 minutes. They started the race 5-10 minutes early. We had a hard time getting Mom out of bed and were 5 minutes late. We took a wrong turn and a scenic detour on our run. They even sent a car to see if we were still coming! Our official time was 1:30 something, but we think it took us 1:15 to go 6K. Maybe our new motto should be to "Go the Extra K!"
45. First Dances!!! Yikes Mom. We're growing up!
36. Labor Day at the Lake and a cookout. Fishing with Dad,
canoeing, and cattails we are planning to use to either catch dogfish (the kids' plan!)
or fight Darth Maul.
37. Then there were people at out house and we were trying to learn how to make picco de gallo. Except the 1 halapeno we use turned out to have super heating properties. Haaaaah! (That stands for that sound you make when you eat something that feels like it's going to burn your mouth off. You automatically open your mouth and make that sound to get the heat out!) We tried to add tomatoes to part of it to cool it down, but it was still potent. Only the bravest attempted hot batch.
38. Band. Our unnamed child is playing in the marching band now! We went to the band potluck, then watched the pregame show, let balloons go for the football players and passed out water to the band. Fun new adventures for us all.
39. Skipping. Apparently, my poor youngest has never been taught how to skip. He had to learn in gym class. But now we can practice all the way to pick up the other kids from school!
40. Writing conference sunflowers! I got to do the breakfast refreshments for the all day writing conference. There was a western theme. So I decided to decorate the table with sunflowers and bandannas. Aren't they pretty?
41. Picking the sunflowers. Was so fun. The S-Train and I went on an adventure. We found a field by some new construction. There was a pile of great big limestone construction rocks to climb on. My favorite moment was after we'd pick a few sunflowers. I was giving them to the S-Train to hold. He said, "Mom, are we done?" I said, "No honey, we need to pick enough to fill two giant jars." He looked at the sunflowers he was holding, then looked at me like I'd lost my mind and said, "Mom, my hands aren't as big as two GIANT jars!!"
42. The Girls running the house. While I was gone all day on a Saturday. The girls ran the house. They did some of their Saturday chores. They cleaned the kitchen, and ran the dishwasher twice. Then they got dinner and set the table beautifully using refreshment table left overs. Dad and I had to leave again quick, and they just took it in stride. It's so nice to have a good home support team. With it, you can do great things. Without it, it's really hard. Good job! Thanks kids! Next stop, the laundry. ;)
43. Sheridans. Yummy raspberry hot fudge sundae treats with friends after Saturday night stake conference. Fabulous!
44. The Stake 5K fun run. Sue and Lou and I went to run the fun run. We had a great time! It was a beautiful morning and the sunrise was gorgeous. The girls did really well. We walk/jog a mean 5K.
Of course, we did meet some of the front runners coming back after we'd been going for about 5 minutes. They started the race 5-10 minutes early. We had a hard time getting Mom out of bed and were 5 minutes late. We took a wrong turn and a scenic detour on our run. They even sent a car to see if we were still coming! Our official time was 1:30 something, but we think it took us 1:15 to go 6K. Maybe our new motto should be to "Go the Extra K!"
45. First Dances!!! Yikes Mom. We're growing up!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
A New Member of the Family
35. We now have a cousin with the coolest birthday ever! 9-9-09. Welcome to the world!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Miscellaneous stories this week
31. Skiing stories. We had some friends over and somehow everyone got into telling skiing stories. We all laughed so hard. My favorite part was when Mr. C was telling about a ski wreck and said, "I tend to lose my balance when I go down a steep hill really fast!"
32. Numbers and the S-Train. We are working so hard at figuring out numbers right now. A conversation on the way to pick up the group at school went something like this. "Mom, which is longer, 3 hours or 4 years?" We talked about hours and years. "How old are you?" "old." "Are you 10?" "More than 10." "Are you 20?" "More than 20." "Are you 100?" "Less than 100." "Are you 1,000?" "Less than 1,000." "Are you Google?" "Nope. And I'm less that a million, billion, trillion." "How about one hundred and one?"
33. Talking With Friends in Parking Lots. I've had a lot of great conversations with friends in parking lots lately. We've laughed and joked and reminded ourselves what is really important. I'm glad to have friends that I can talk to in parking lots.
34. Freshly Ironed pillow cases. This is a tradition that must be passed down! I am a sucker for embroidered pillow cases. They were always my favorites growing up and make me feel homey. I love a stack of pillow cases and how they look with the embroidery showing on top nice and neat. This week one of Sue and Lou's chores was to iron pillow cases for the family. Yea! One more generation learns how. I feel that jump in my heart that says, "Good job." and makes me feel part of a long line of women keeping house. I wonder where this tradition started and where it will end. I'm just glad to be a link in it.
32. Numbers and the S-Train. We are working so hard at figuring out numbers right now. A conversation on the way to pick up the group at school went something like this. "Mom, which is longer, 3 hours or 4 years?" We talked about hours and years. "How old are you?" "old." "Are you 10?" "More than 10." "Are you 20?" "More than 20." "Are you 100?" "Less than 100." "Are you 1,000?" "Less than 1,000." "Are you Google?" "Nope. And I'm less that a million, billion, trillion." "How about one hundred and one?"
33. Talking With Friends in Parking Lots. I've had a lot of great conversations with friends in parking lots lately. We've laughed and joked and reminded ourselves what is really important. I'm glad to have friends that I can talk to in parking lots.
34. Freshly Ironed pillow cases. This is a tradition that must be passed down! I am a sucker for embroidered pillow cases. They were always my favorites growing up and make me feel homey. I love a stack of pillow cases and how they look with the embroidery showing on top nice and neat. This week one of Sue and Lou's chores was to iron pillow cases for the family. Yea! One more generation learns how. I feel that jump in my heart that says, "Good job." and makes me feel part of a long line of women keeping house. I wonder where this tradition started and where it will end. I'm just glad to be a link in it.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Fun in the Neighborhood!
There have been lots of things this week that I remember laughing and thinking - that could be my thing for the day that makes me smile! I can't seem to keep many of them in my head for longer than an hour or so. I want to. Unfortunately, that doesn't make it so. But maybe I can figure out one or two.
27. More Empanadas! With rice and Black beans. The S's cooked for us again! Oh my. Yum. I really need to learn how to make these. It's fun to get together with them. So far, they provide the main dish. We cut up a cantaloupe and host the party and send them home with fresh tomatoes. I think we are SO getting the better end of this deal. I really think we should keep them as friends.
28. The S-Train's pictures at Back to School Night. I'll try to get a picture to post tomorrow. Apparently the STrain is the center of all things. My unnamed child and sisters a close second. Mom and Dad are ghostly figures who hang out in the background and drive us places and feed us. (I took pictures and talked to his teacher. Apparently the S-train got tired and she had to encourage him to keep going so that there were six people in his family.)
Also, we walk to school a lot. The S-Train had the only picture of getting to school with a crosswalk. And the people in the cars have cross bars on their windows. Apparently getting stopped at the stop light can be a big deal in others' cars. There were lots of big stop lights in some kids' pictures. I wonder if it's good that they can't spell yet?
And of course, school is where we learn colors.
29. Tennis matches. And my unnamed child looking so grown up in her tennis uniform. Wow. I don't want to blink! If I do, there she'll go! Which is really making me misty, not making me smile. But - funny tennis pictures are.
30. Captive Audiences. Sunday NS came home with us because her parents had to leave early. My daughters wanted to introduce her to the joys of "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown." They played songs for her. Then it turned into acting out the songs with N for an audience on the couch. They all had parts and actions to the words worked out. We had them move on to more interactive things pretty soon, but boy were they enjoying their impromptu audience!
27. More Empanadas! With rice and Black beans. The S's cooked for us again! Oh my. Yum. I really need to learn how to make these. It's fun to get together with them. So far, they provide the main dish. We cut up a cantaloupe and host the party and send them home with fresh tomatoes. I think we are SO getting the better end of this deal. I really think we should keep them as friends.
28. The S-Train's pictures at Back to School Night. I'll try to get a picture to post tomorrow. Apparently the STrain is the center of all things. My unnamed child and sisters a close second. Mom and Dad are ghostly figures who hang out in the background and drive us places and feed us. (I took pictures and talked to his teacher. Apparently the S-train got tired and she had to encourage him to keep going so that there were six people in his family.)
Also, we walk to school a lot. The S-Train had the only picture of getting to school with a crosswalk. And the people in the cars have cross bars on their windows. Apparently getting stopped at the stop light can be a big deal in others' cars. There were lots of big stop lights in some kids' pictures. I wonder if it's good that they can't spell yet?
And of course, school is where we learn colors.
29. Tennis matches. And my unnamed child looking so grown up in her tennis uniform. Wow. I don't want to blink! If I do, there she'll go! Which is really making me misty, not making me smile. But - funny tennis pictures are.
30. Captive Audiences. Sunday NS came home with us because her parents had to leave early. My daughters wanted to introduce her to the joys of "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown." They played songs for her. Then it turned into acting out the songs with N for an audience on the couch. They all had parts and actions to the words worked out. We had them move on to more interactive things pretty soon, but boy were they enjoying their impromptu audience!
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