Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!!  We made it through all the preparations and now are on our way to cousins to celebrate.  It took us the entire day yesterday to make our five pies.  With a two year old and a six month old, we frequently had to stop what we were doing to help with day to day "emergencies"  The older ones were very helpful with everything though.  Nathan rolled most of the pie crusts and made the filling for the apple and cherry pies.  Jacob cut onions for the stuffing and Benjamin made an emergency trip to the grocery store for bread to finish up the stuffing.  Nathan made the cranberry sauce and Olivia made the taco soup so that we would still have dinner amidst all our preparations.  Emily and Olivia were wonderful in helping to keep Sophie and David happy and content.  But nursing and diapers and babies who sometimes just needed Mom to hold them and no one else would do, were also a part of the day. 

Now, we are all packed up and on our way to visit family and spend the night.  I am so grateful for family.  My family are my best friends.  They are always there for me.  They love me despite my failings.  They cheer me on when I need to do hard things.  I am so grateful for parents who taught me so well, how to love and live the gospel, how to serve, to use my talents to bless others.  I am grateful for my husband's parents (my second Mom and Dad) who have always made me feel like one of their own.  I am grateful for my own brothers and sister and for Jerry's brothers and sisters.  Uncles, aunts, cousins - we have a wonderful, warm, loving, accepting family.   

And I am grateful to be a part of an even larger family.  I know that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us and knows each one of us by name.  He loves unconditionally and desires to bless us and be a part of our lives.  We, every person here on this earth, are his children.  That makes us all brothers and sisters.  Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World, is our elder brother.  He has shown us how to love.  He has shown us how to serve.  He has shown us to love even those who are unkind to us.  He sacrificed his own life that we might repent and be made clean, that we might live with our Heavenly Father again.  On this Thanksgiving Day I am truly grateful!!!

Cold Cereal for Dinner?

What's for dinner tonight?  It's one of those inevitable things about being a human being.  We all need to fill our tummies at least three times a day.  I love to cook, but there are days that I'm so busy or tired by dinnertime, that I kind of wish we could just skip dinner and eat again the next morning when I know I will have more energy.  NOT GOING TO HAPPEN WITH KIDS!!  Today was an extremely busy day and we were out a lot.  The house was pretty untidy when we got home and I hadn't even decided on a plan for dinner.  We started to tidy and tried to think of our options, which were not looking good considering we had three boys who had to be at the church pretty quickly.  Finally I said, "We are having cold cereal and homemade pina coladas for dinner tonight. Someone go grab a box of cereal from the 72 hour kit stash."  (We rarely eat cold cereal because filling our children's bellies with it on a regular basis would break the budget, but we do keep some in our 72 hour kit.  This proved to be a great opportunity to "rotate" our storage.)  Fortunately we had Frosted Mini Wheats in storage this time, so at least they would get a little whole grain to go with their dinner.  Once we decided on our menu, things lightened up and we were all smiling and laughing again.  I joked with the kids that I was probably their #1 hero that night for serving such a yummy dinner.  Seriously! - they love cold cereal and they love homemade pina colada.  Tonight's thrown together meal probably ranked right up there with hamburgers or pizza for my kids. 

I realized tonight though, that it's time to get some more "ready to go" meals in the freezer.  Periodically I'll have spurts of a couple of weeks at a time where I will double and triple lots of our dinners, and freeze the extra for days like today.  I guess it's been a while since I did this because I couldn't find a single thing in the freezer tonight to just pull out, thaw, and serve.  I will definitely wait until after Thanksgiving for this project though….tomorrow we're making pies!!!

Don't Be Afraid to be Different

My daughter gave a presentation to her homeschool class today on the life of Joan of Arc, and how Joan has inspired her.  Olivia decided to dress up (ok - I actually came up with a costume and convinced her that it would be a fun way to do the project.)  She spoke as though she were Joan.  She spent a lot of time learning about Joan of Arc to prepare.  She read a book, watched a dvd and read a talk by James E. Faust (April 2006 General Conference) that referred to Joan of Arc.  In that talk he called on young women to live by the light of Christ that they have been given and to have the courage to follow his promptings. 
 
He said,
"To other girls in the fifteenth century, Joan of Arc seemed to be very different.  Sisters, don't be afraid to be different in our century.  Sometimes we have to be different in order to maintain Church standards.  So I repeat, don't be afraid to be different, but be as good as you can be.  Many girls are concerned about their friends' conduct and style of dress.  Such conduct may be motivated by a desire to be accepted by the peer group.  Joan of Arc did not worry about what her friends did, but rather about what she knew she should do."

This really sums up what I want to teach and exemplify to my daughters.  Living the gospel of Jesus Christ does mean that we will sometimes stick out and look different from many of those around us.  But we can "stick out" in a good way.  When we let the light and love of Jesus Christ show in our countenances we can influence those around us for the better and help them want to know more about Jesus Christ and his gospel.

Table Tip

For the first ten or so years of our lives together, Jerry and I had a kitchen table that he built for us.  We loved it.  It was made of good solid wood and had a laminate top with nice solid wooden benches.  However, eventually our family outgrew that table.  We purchased a bigger, nice solid wooden table with chairs.  I quickly realized that if I wanted our nice wooden table to stay that way with our busy family, I would need to do something to protect it.

Like most families, we do a lot more at our kitchen table than just eat.  It gets used for rolling out cookies and pies, playdough, painting, soap carving, school work, canning, board games, lego, bubble blowing, and even occasional veterinary work (actually, that only happened once and I will probably never share that scary story on this blog). 

My solution was one that we are still using today.  I purchased a length of clear flexible plastic (found it on rolls in the fabric department at Walmart) and simply covered the table with it.  Most messes clean up very easily and it even protects against dings and scratches to the wood.  Last week it even got covered with white glue and glitter and it simply got taken outside and sprayed off with a hose.  When we do want to have a nice formal dinner it is easy enough to take the plastic off and use a cloth tablecloth or placemats.  Three or four times a year I replace the plastic as it does occasionally get small tears in it that can allow moisture to get underneath and get trapped between the plastic and the table.  But it is really quite inexpensive and the years it has given to the life of our table have been worth it. 

Besides protecting the table we also use the plastic table cover to add a little fun to our kitchen.  Sometimes the children will make paper snowflakes in the wintertime and slide them underneath the plastic.  We have also put maps under the plastic, family pictures, and even sign language flashcards. 
 
Today the kids and I picked up a new length of plastic for the table.  I am hoping that they will get excited and make some Christmas and wintery decorations to go underneath it. 

Reality Check

When my children were all very young, too young to help with the housework, too young to help entertain anyone younger than themselves for more than a couple of minutes at a time, I remember thinking – Am I crazy?  How can I homeschool?  I can’t even find clean socks that match.

At the time I was reading a lot of homeschooling books and although I got a lot of great ideas I also came away wondering why my home didn’t seem to look like these perfect homes in the books.  Sometimes I would look at other homeschool Moms who had mentored me along the way, and shared many great ideas with me, and I would think – Why I can’t get it all together like them?

I am much older now – I won’t tell you how old – but I do have a 21 year old.  I am also much wiser.  I realize that we all have glorious days when everything seems just perfect – someone’s practicing piano, someone’s reading to the two year old, the chores were all done before breakfast, supper is already in the crockpot and I am sitting on the couch getting in a little reading of my own. Those are the days that people write about in their books and on their blogs.   But we also have days where I am lucky to find a chance to get dressed (I’ve been known to drop a child off at a class in my slippers and scrubs which I sometimes wear for pajamas), let alone take a shower, days where I feel tired and grumpy from nursing a sick baby all night.  Most of our days are somewhere in between the two.

I have learned that while homeschooling and motherhood are not perfect experiences, I can find perfect moments in every day….and when I take the time to cherish those moments, nothing can describe how wonderful that feels.

I read a phrase in a book by Linda Eyre (Joyful Mother of Children) .  This is one of my favorite books  that has an almost permanent home next to my bed  The phrase is – You can eat an elephant.

An elephant is a huge animal.  Even imagining eating something that size is absolutely ridiculous.  But what she says is, “It can be done – one bite at a time”  Raising children can sometimes be overwhelming - but we can do it – one bite at a time – every story we read, every song that we sing, every family activity, every time we lovingly teach a new chore, every prayer, every heart to heart chat we have in our bed late into the evening – all of these little bites bring us closer to our goal of helping our children become all that they are meant to become.

A Pearl in Every Oyster

A long time ago we watched a classic movie called, "The Good Earth."  In that movie the woman has a pearl that to her, is a symbol of her husband's love for her.  

Once a year my husband goes on a business trip to teach at a convention.  And whenever he comes home he brings me a gift.  It’s a very small gift but it has great meaning for the two of us. Near the airport is a small shop that sells cans containing one oyster apiece.  These oysters were scanned before they were processed to be sure that they contain a pearl.  When you get a can, you open it up, drain off the stinky preserving liquid, rinse off the oyster, and then pry it open.  Inside, you will find a pearl.  You rinse it off and rub it with salt to shine it up.  Sometimes the pearl is round and beautifully white.  Sometimes it has a small dark spot and may not have a perfectly round shape.  Some are whiter, others more cream colored or with a grayish tinge.  I have quite a collection of these pearls now that Jerry has brought to me over the years.  Our children are always  part of the "opening" ceremony when he brings one of these oysters home.  Then we get out the little ring box containing all the other pearls that have been collected and add it to the box, enjoying looking at all the pearls before we put it away.  I will probably never make earrings or a ring or a necklace out of these pearls.  Perhaps someday I will give them to my daughters.  But for now, I just enjoy taking them out and looking at them once in a while, just like in the movie, to remember the love of my husband for me.

Taking time to do and say little things each day to a spouse helps keep love alive and vibrant in a marriage.  I love it when my husband calls during the day, comes up from his office to give me a kiss, or runs a bath for me in the evening.  I like this quote from President Spencer W. Kimball that emphasizes the need to nurture the relationship between husband and wife.

"Love is like a flower, and like the body, it needs constant feeding.  The mortal body would soon be emaciated and die if there were not frequent feedings.  The tender flower would wither and die without food and water.  And so love, also, cannot be expected to last forever unless it is continually fed with portions of love, the manifestation of esteem and admiration, the expressions of gratitude, and the consideration of unselfishness."  (Oneness in Marriage, Ensign, March 1977)

And it Came to Pass

This past week Sophia, age two, asked to participate in family scripture reading for the first time.    In the past she has occasionally let us whisper the verse in her ear while she repeated it, but this time, she said very firmly, "I will do it by myself."  Then she opened her book on her lap and proceeded to read, "And it came to pass…."  After those first five words she said all kinds of interesting things including talking about the toy that baby David was holding.  But it was those first five words that were music to my ears.  You see, seven other times in the past 21 years I have witnessed a similar event.  When children are included in family scripture study right from the time they are born they seem to just soak up the language of the scriptures.  They internalize phrases like "it came to pass."  When Sophia finished her "verse" she finished by saying, "Amen," a common way for chapters to end in the Book of Mormon. 
 
Many of my children have participated in a Shakespeare class offered by some homeschooling mothers in our community.  When the children read their first Shakespeare play they find it very difficult to understand the language of "the bard."  But one of the requirements for the class is to read and watch as many plays as they can throughout the semester.  Sometimes my children have read as many as twenty plays.  By the end of the class, the language of Shakespeare seems much easier for them to understand.  They can read through the plays much quicker and still follow what is going on.  When the language is no longer a stumbling block, they can focus on the themes and meaning that Shakespeare has woven into his stories.

It is the same with the scriptures.  Familiarity with the language of the scriptures comes through reading regularly.  When the language is easier for us to understand, our minds are more freed up to think and ponder the doctrine and principles we are reading.  We can apply the scriptures to our own lives more readily. 

So that is why I get excited to hear my children using scripture language.  It means that they have heard the language and know how it should be used.
 
Anne G. Wirthlin (a past member of the Primary General Presidency) said in a 1998 General Conference:

"Recent research on the development of a child's brain has revealed new insights into how and when a child learns.  I quote from a (recent) study: "From birth, a baby's brain cells proliferate wildly, making connections that may shape a lifetime of experience.  The first three years are critical" (J Madeleine Nash, "Fertile Minds," Time, 3 Feb. 1997, 49).

"Is it surprising that our Father in Heaven fashioned the minds of very young children to be so capable of learning at a time when they need to be taught who they are and what they must do?  The years from birth to age 10 are the peak years for acquiring the language that will become the foundation for understanding future knowledge and truth.  That foundation is formed by the words they hear and the impressions that come to them from the world around them.  It is an ideal time for parents to read to their children from the scriptures.  They will begin to learn the language of the scriptures."