Meetings

I like to simplify.  I like eliminating the fluff.  I like to focus on what really matters.  But sometimes I don't like to choose.  

I attended a fun social last night that was simply called a "Relief Society meeting." The sisters gathered in our Church building to meet and get to know each other a little better.  We were asked to put three things that we liked into a paper bag and share our things with the group.  I brought three things, but I wanted to bring a bazillion.  I jotted down a few things I wanted to bring and narrowed it down.  My original list looked something like this:

primary chorister stuff (I love digging through magazines and blogs to find new, creative ways to teach songs to the kids in primary and although I lack an effective way to organize it all, I have a lot of fun stuff from tambourines and stars to stickers and PowerPoint prints in sheet protectors)

thrift store treasures (Ditto what I said about digging around for great primary chorister stuff.  My mom taught me to never pay retail, tee hee!)

chocolate (Does this even need an explanation?  My favorite is dark chocolate, but milk chocolate works  too!)

books (I inhale them like. . . chocolate.)

my kitchen plans (a dear friend who is now retired from the cabinetry business came over a few years ago to measure and sketch up what we need.  I cannot wait to renovate our pathetic kitchen, but I don't look forward to not having a kitchen to cook in while we get it done.  I'm hoping to get started this summer.)

Sam Choy's Polynesian Kitchen cook book (I found this a few months ago and have been enjoying some great recipes from back in the day.)

mini drill (I have two of these.  And maybe it's the lack of upper body strength talking, but it's just so handy to be able to have a palm-sized power tool, especially when I'm doing electrical wiring.)

pottery from Steve and Jamie (Oh how I love pottery!  in my dream kitchen there is a corner shelf unit just for displaying pottery.  I love the smooth pieces and the blackened raku pieces equally.)

piano (its so relaxing to sit and play.  I'm teaching the three oldest kids to play, even though they don't want me to.  I've never heard a pianist say "I wish my parents hadn't taught me to play the piano." But I have heard the opposite: "I wish I'd stuck with the piano lessons."  I am not as good as I want to be, I'm working at it.)

playdoh (Playing with playdoh is one of my favorite things to do with my kids.)

sewing (I can sit down to sew and the hours just fly by.  It's just so fun, unless I mess up and have to unpick stitches.)

And the three I shared last night: yellowstone postcard (I loved our Yellowstone adventure last summer.  The Firehole river was great, but the Sapphire Pools are my favorite.  God's creations are amazing and there are so many wonders in Yellowstone. I can't wait to go again this summer and bring Ben along this time, too.)

my T.V.aholics anonymous membership (I have a love-hate relationship with the television.  I can be a total zombie sometimes. It's been three months since we unplugged.  And while I still watch The Office, etc. on Hulu, it's been great to go back to living life T.V. free.  It's not easy to fend off the "Can I watch Dora now?" questions from CO, but I strongly believe that minimal exposure to media is important for my kids, and especially important for their mother's well-being.)

a handmade bead necklace (I admired a necklace at my mother-in-law's house, it was something her sister brought back from Africa where she was a Church missionary.  She surprised me with it for Christmas two years ago.  Doncha love re-gifting?!?  I shared this necklace along with my love of beads and bending wire.)

Its just that simple.

Pet Peeve

We have three guinea pigs now.  A friend of a friend needed a home for her guinea pig while they focus on health issues in the family.  We are happy to help, but I do admit to wanting a break from pet ownership.  The guinea pigs' habitat of cedar shavings is messy.  And the dog is annoying.  He chased after a door-to-door meat salesmen the other day.  (Not that I would have bought anything.  I am not a fan of solicitors.  Send me a coupon in the mail.  Buy add space in a newspaper.  Make a commercial.  Don't knock on my door or call me.  Thanks!)   

Anyway, I read about a pet co-op where four families shared their pets.  I think there was a hamster, rabbit, turtle, and small bowl of fish.  They didn't share cats or dogs because adjusting to a different home would be difficult.  The families would rotate "ownership" every three months.  After a few months of taking care of a pet, you hand them off to someone else for a while. The variety kept the kids interested, especially kids who LOVE going to the pet store to look at new animals (I married one of those kids). 

We took care of this furry brown rabbit for one of Ben's co-workers for one day.  Look how attentive my kids are to their a borrowed pet! A one day pet is a commitment even I can handle making!

 Isn't a pet co-op a great idea?
Anyone want to borrow some guinea pigs?  

Jesus Had a Famous Cousin?

This year our family is reading the New Testament. We are on chapter 4 of St. Matthew. (It's not a race, is it?) The kids loved learning about how the Wisemen fooled Herod by returning home another way.   And they had NO IDEA Jesus had a famous cousin. The older ones knew all about John the Baptist, and even started an impromptu singing of the song; "Jesus came to John the Baptist in Judea long ago." But they didn't know Mary and Elisabeth were cousins and Jesus and John were second cousins.

Our kids have 14 cousins. They don't live near half of them, but they love their cousins all the same. They can identify them all in photos and even CO knows the two cousins they haven't met yet. Cousins are a good thing. We are glad that even Jesus had cousins.

Two Very Cute Cousins!

The first weekend in February, I'm taking RO to visit grandma and papa and two of his cousins, (one is pictured here sleeping in a Christmas stocking, and here is a baby picture of the other one)!

Nothing Like a Break:

The Christmas break angels were looking down on us. Okay, so it was Ben's co-worker who likes to buy DVDs then loan them out. The kids and their friends who came over had access to a bunch of DVDs. They worked very hard at being unproductive children. She loaned us:

Air Bud

An American Tail

An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island

Aristocrats

Babe

Babe: Pig in the City

Beauty and the Beast

Bridge to Terabithia

Brother Bear

Brother Bear 2

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Curious George

Doctor Dolittle

Donkey’s Christmas Shrektaculer

Dumbo

Finding Nemo

Finding Neverland

Golden Compass

Goonies

Gremlins

Happy Feet

Horton Hears a Who

Ice Age

Ice Age the Meltdown

Lilo and Stitch

Madagascar

Merry Madagascar

Monkey Business

Narnia: The Lion Witch and the Wardrobe

Narnia: Prince Caspian

Neverending Story

Night at the Museum

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Oliver and Company

Over the Hedge

Party Penguins

Pinocchio

Pixar Short Films

Princess and the Frog

Ratatouille

Santa Buddies

Shrek Forever After

Sleeping Beauty

Snow Buddies

Snow White

Surf’s Up

Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue

Up

Wall-E

Wild

Whew! I found two movies I liked: Finding Neverland and Shrek Forever After (I helped with being unproductive during a few movies--loved being broken-footed for Christmas, ha ha!)

And to make me feel slightly productive, Facebook has a "my year in status" tool that turned my 2010 profile updates into a thing of beauty. I like it!

Resolution

41 Days ago, my daughter dropped an eight pound hand weight on my foot, breaking a bone. My foot is still in a walking boot. I haven't seen much of an "up side" to breaking my foot, however, one good thing about it is that I don't feel pressured to make a fitness-related New Year's resolution. I just think it's a bad idea to mix a walking boot with a treadmill.

So my resolutions this year are to stretch my abilities in different ways. In Sunday School we are focusing on the New Testament. My first resolution is to study then teach my family a simplified version of the New Testament lesson every Monday for Family Home Evening. I haven't attended Sunday School since 2007 because I have been working with the children in primary, so deciding to study the lessons and scriptures without the benefit of a teacher is probably something I should have done several years ago.

My other resolution is to move past the planning stages and actually build furniture like the projects at this cool website: http://ana-white.com/2011/ I want to make so many things, but I just need to start somewhere someday.

Wore it Out

Ben and I went on a date to see "Gulliver's Travels" starring Jack Black. He cracks me up, especially when he dances. What a fun family movie, (although I would have preferred more clothes on the top half of the Queen of Liliput).

Growing up, we had a video movie of Gulliver's Travels. It was animated and we loved it. We would watch it all the time. In fact, we watched it until the video broke. We wore it out. I wish I had a copy of that movie. My kids would have loved it!

(There's a giant on the beach!)

For now, I'll take the next best thing:

Happy New Year!