2013 April General Conference

One of the best weekends of the year - GENERAL CONFERENCE!  You can watch all of the talks online by clicking here.   I promise that it is worth it.

 Wonderful talk by Elder L. Whitney Clayton about marriage.  Best quote ever:   "Marriage is God's gift to us, a quality marriage is our gift to Him."  Another favorite:  "Terrific marriages are completely respectful, transparent and loyal." 

Other fave speakers - Elder Bednar and Elder Uchdorf. 

 I'm still hoping that Elder Holland will speak as he is my favorite.  One of the best General Conference  talks ever was by Elder Holland.  You can watch that talk by clicking here.  My favorite wisdom from Elder Holland during that talk was "Trumpeted from the summit of Calvary is the truth that we will never be left alone nor unaided, even if sometimes we may feel that we are."

 After Elder Clayton's talk, I turned to Mr. Wonderful and commented that I thought we were doing great in that department.  He agreed.

 We stay in pajamas to watch conference, pass copious amounts of salt water taffy, and try to make it a fun, peaceful, family tradition.

And doggie girl makes her circuit to get attention from every family member.

We sure miss Firstborn.  It is our first General Conference without him.  But we are grateful that he is serving his mission and wouldn't change a thing.  It is our understanding that he is able to watch conference online from his area, by streaming the conference online. 

They really need to quit growing

 Thirdborn is officially taller than his grandmother.

 Secondborn is waaaaay taller than his grandmother and great-grandmother.

Maybe I should quit feeding him?  Darn kid is just 16.  He is now officially as tall as his dad and four inches taller than Firstborn.  Firstborn will be shell-shocked when he comes home from his mission.

Happy birthday, Thirdborn

12 great things about Thirdborn

1.  He works hard.  He has to work harder than others at school because he learns differently than them.

2.  He doesn't complain.  Instead, he tries to find a way to solve the problem.

3.  He is empathetic.  This is the kid who feels deeply what others are feeling.

4.  He is compassionate.  He wants to save the world.  He is always looking for ways to serve.

5.  He is smart.  When you have a question about science or animals, he is your go-to resource.  If he does not know the answer, he will find out for you.

6.  He is kind.  Always a good friend.

7.  He is patient.  He particularly has been patient concerning The Love Magnet.  She hasn't been easy to live with lately, but he has tried hard to patiently teach or model good behavior for her.

8.  He is serious.  Now that he is 12, he has been ordained a deacon.  He takes serious the responsibilities of a deacon.

9.  He has a great sense of humor.  He always has a joke to share.  He loves to find the fun things in every day activities.

10.  He is brave.  The kid recently attended his first middle school dance and made the goal of asking someone to dance for every single song.  If the girl said no he had the attitude of finding another girl who wanted to have fun and get out and dance.  He even convinced a few of his friends to do the same thing.  This mom is so proud.

11.  He is enthusiastic about life.  Going to the temple.  Going to see family.  Family activities.  Service activities.  It doesn't matter what it is, he is enthusiastic and his enthusiasm is contagious.

12.  He is loyal.  He sticks up for family and for friends.  He will not tolerate anyone trying to hurt or offend them.

Thanksgiving

27 lb turkey plus........ 

veggies and dippy dip, traditional stuffing, wild rice stuffing with dried cherries and pecans, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, au gratin potatoes, homemade rolls with butter and jam, brie and baguette,  plus....... 

hungry people, plus.... 

more hungry people, plus.... 

more hungry people, plus.... 

plenty of food for seconds, the most amazing apple pie on the planet, pumpking and sourcream lemon and pecan pie, plus.... 

gratitude for friends who are like family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Going to the MTC

I was told that the drive to Utah to take my son to the MTC would be the most emotional drive ever.  I did not cry once.  I was excited for my son.

 After taking care of banking, buying a backpack last minute, and lunch at the Brick Oven (where, we didn't know until we got there, that missionaries entering the MTC that day eat free), we stopped by the Provo LDS Temple for pictures.  It seemed that everyone else taking a son or daughter into the MTC decided to do the same thing.

 The kids were tired and not looking forward to the hours long drive home.  Firstborn was just excited.

 The day was bright and mild.  Still no tears from mom.

 As we left to get back into the car to head to the MTC across the street.....

 Firstborn couldn't resist teasing Thirdborn one last time.  I think he was theatening to throw his little brother into a snow bank.

 At the MTC, there is no lollygagging.  The luggage is removed quickly and goodbyes are even quicker.  The tears (mine) started to come.

It was a lot like the first day of kindergarten.  All smiles, no tears, quick lean instead of a real hug (all the while talking to the missionary over my shoulder) and then off into the doors of the MTC without even a glance back.  He was ready.

On the way to the freeway, as I dried my tears, The Love Magnet started to cry.  Mr. Wonderful and I tried to console her, telling her that Firstborn was safe and she could email him and that he would email her back.  She replied "I'm not sad about him!  I MISS MY PUPPY!"  We couldn't help but burst out laughing.  It was too funny!  Later that night, The Love Magnet was in her bed and I heard her crying.  I went into her room and wrapped my arms around her.  "Honey, look it is okay.  Doggie Girl can sleep in your room tonight.  Look how happy she is to see you."  My duaghter looked up at me with tears on her cheeks.  "I'm not crying about her.  I miss my brother!"

Yeah.  We all miss him, sweetheart.

Love Magnet speaks up. Watch out.

Pensacola Beach, Florida, January 2012

The Love Magnet has been harder to understand this year.  Her speech is somewhat garbled.  I think there must be a disconnect somewhere - is her brain running faster than she is able to express?  Or is it that she hears her peers speaking faster and tries to match their speed at the expense of being understood.  Whatever the reason, I've tried to work more with her on articulation.  It has been an interesting journey.  Mainly due to the reason that I can't be caught at being the teacher - rebellion would ensue.

The boys have picked up on the articulation models I have been using and started using them as well.  when The Love Magnet attempts to articulated /s/, they will point out that they can see her tongue.  "Hide your tongue!  I see your tongue, put it back in your mouth".  Alternately, when she attempts a /th/ sound, she ends up substituting with a /d/.  The boys will model where her tongue goes and then tell her it is her turn.  She complies with much more enthusiasm for them than she shows for me. When her entire sentence is unintelligible, they will let her know.  "Whoa, I didn't understand that.  Say it again, but this time slow down."  She is very willing to clarify to them, particularly if she is requesting something.

I love that the boys have picked up on this without me requesting it of them.  They are also learning to be more careful of what words they say and how they say them.  I've said it before and I'll say it again:  Heavenly Father sent The Love Magnet to our house to show us how we sound to each other.  She can mimic tone and inflection in speech with absolute clarity.  It is very obvious who she is mimicking and the offensive party ducks their head in shame when they recognize that they are the ones being imitated.  Worse, she picks up new words with lightning speed, particularly words we don't want her to repeat.  We've discovered that it is more than twice as hard to train her out of a bad word than it was to get my boys to stop saying a new word they learned on the school playground.  Read this post.  It was the most mild of words we didn't want her to say.  It took all the next year to train her out of it.

Here I raise my glass (of water) to old words said with more clarity and new words that aren't offensive.  And most of all to the power of the examples of sibling and friends.

My daughter is watching and listening to you.  Please be kind to each other.

First Day of School

Remember this school picture from 2010?

Check out how much taller they are now. 5th grade and 3rd grade.

This one just won't quit growing. He is in 9th grade and it was his first day of high school. According to Secondborn, it was also the worst first day ever. New school and none of his friends went to this school. (It is an advanced, invitation only high school.) Thank heavens the second day was better. He likes most of his teachers; loves Chinese, Geometry, and American History; still has few friends, but getting them through early morning Seminary and the fact that his classmates are learning his name. His high school shares the same building as my university, so he eats lunch with me if he doesn't have anyone else to eat with (I told him that a cute girl inviting him to sit with her constitutes a better deal than eating with mom). So far, I've only had two lunches with him.

Firstborn is just working and starting his mission papers. They should be turned in by Thanksgiving and hopefully he will have a call soon after that.

No back to school pic of me. I was too stressed to think to snap a pic.

Countdown to grad school

Titres, skin tests, CPR certification. All the stuff I didn't know I needed to have before grad school is now messing up my trip-to-Utah plans before school starts. Grad school also wants my immunization records. As another 40-something classmate has also found out, we can't get those records because they no longer exist. I've had a few booster shots in the past two years that will count, but it looks like I will need a few more.

I've spent over $500 on textbooks for this upcoming semester, including 5 books for neurology alone. I love neurology but I will admit to some apprehension of the seeming insurmountable workload from that class alone. I need to pay tuition this week, too, and give information on my insurance for my SHIP waiver.

Kids school supplies have been purchased as well as most of the school clothes they will need. Still waiting anxiously for information on meet-the-teacher night as I still don't know who they will be.

Slowly things are being checked off my to-do list. I will admit to a small bit of anxiety in the realm of "Can I really do this?" But I know that this goal of grad school is a righteous goal and I will have all the help I need to accomplish it. God is great. He will not leave me alone.

I've been marveling at all the huge milestones our family will see during my two years of grad school:

* Firstborn has an interview this Sunday to be ordained an elder after which we will start marking off the checklist of everything to be done before his mission. He can turn in his papers in November. He'll leave for his mission sometime in February. He is hoping to serve in Africa like his grandparents.

*Secondborn will turn 16, be ordained a Priest which will allow him to bless the Sacrament. He will also start driving and dating (in my church, dating doesn't start until you turn 16). If you ask him which one he is more excited for between driving and dating, he will certainly tell you driving.

* Thirdborn will turn 12 and be ordained a deacon, which will allow him to pass the Sacrament. This is a big deal and he is so excited at the thought.

These are huge milestones in my church and my kids are really looking forward to them. Here is to the next two years. They will be monumental.

Camping at Horsethief Reservoir

We went camping up at Horsethief Reservoir. It was too overcrowded. We were lucky to get the last spot available. Since Mr. Wonderful and Firstborn were coming up later, Uncle Nate supervised Secondborn and Thirdborn in the making of fire. They tried flint and steel. Then they tried matches. Thirdborn spilled matches everywhere. It took a lot of tries but they finally got a decent fire burning.

Uncle Nate was so patient with the young pyromaniacs. He deserved a gold medal.

The boys ran to the lake to try to catch fish for dinner while Nate, Eliza, The Love Magnet and I waited back at camp.

Thirdborn came running back to camp with a huge fish. We were surprised he caught one so quickly. He told us he did not catch it, but that he found it. He thought a boat must have hit it. He wanted so badly to cook it for dinner. Mr. Wonderful and Uncle Nate had to point out that the coloring was off and that it would probably make him very sick if he tried eating it. Thirdborn was so disappointed. He really wanted to have trout for dinner. No way. Not this fish.

Finally it was time to cook brats (my back-up plan for dinner) and s'mores for dessert.

Thirdborn LOVED s'mores!

The Love Magnet loved s'mores!

Did Secondborn like s'mores? Not sure.

We kept the fire going pretty late. It was fun to sit around, watching the stars.

Three of the four tents we had between the eight of us. Plenty of room.

The morning was cold. Good thing we had three Eagle Scouts (Mr. Wonderful, Uncle Nate, and Firstborn) who knew how to build fires.

No, Thirdborn did not have a black eye. That was dirt all over his face. He slept with that all night and claimed he had just washed it.

After Mr. Wonderful's fabulous dutch oven Mountain Man breakfast, it was time to go fishing.

Mr. Wonderful bought a pink and yellow little kid's tube for The Love Magnet to play with. Secondborn decided to commandeer the apparatus for the more worthy pursuit of fishing.

Secondborn got pretty far out on that little tube. No fish were biting, though.

Thirdborn had great fun rescuing dragonflies from the water. When I asked him why he was doing that, he replied so he could use them to bait his fishhook. No fish were caught and we had to head home.

We stopped at Fisher Park in Cascade to see if we could catch something. By this time most of the campers looked like they were ready to head home to hot showers.

I just had to compare height between Firstborn and Secondborn. Yep, Secondborn has almost completely caught up to his bigger brother.

The Love Magnet fully monopolized Aunt Eliza. Poor Uncle Nate was trumped by his more popular wife.

Thirdborn had to try one last time. No fish were biting, not even in a small, fully stocked pond. *sigh* Maybe next time.