The Book I Made

I realize this is huge and taking up a ton of space but I wanted to show those of you who didn't get to see the book what it looked like. I spent a TON of time on it but I love how it turned out. If you view it on full screen you can at least see the pictures better. The print is too small that I don't know if you'll ever be able to read it in preview mode.

A Matter of A Few Degrees

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave a talk at the General Conference of our church that I really love. It was given at the Priesthood Session and my husband told me I should read it. He tells a story about a sightseeing plane that left from New Zealand to Antarctica. This is how the story goes-

"In 1979 a large passenger jet with 257 people on board left New Zealand for a sightseeing flight to Antarctica and back. Unknown to the pilots, however, someone had modified the flight coordinates by a mere two degrees. This error placed the aircraft 28 miles (45 km) to the east of where the pilots assumed they were. As they approached Antarctica, the pilots descended to a lower altitude to give the passengers a better look at the landscape. Although both were experienced pilots, neither had made this particular flight before, and they had no way of knowing that the incorrect coordinates had placed them directly in the path of Mount Erebus, an active volcano that rises from the frozen landscape to a height of more than 12,000 feet (3,700 m).

As the pilots flew onward, the white of the snow and ice covering the volcano blended with the white of the clouds above, making it appear as though they were flying over flat ground. By the time the instruments sounded the warning that the ground was rising fast toward them, it was too late. The airplane crashed into the side of the volcano, killing everyone on board.

It was a terrible tragedy brought on by a minor error—a matter of only a few degrees."

President Uchtdorf then goes on to say how King Saul had such potential until he did something he had no Priesthood authority to do. He offered a sacrifice to the Lord unworthily.
I shared this talk with one of the women I visit teach because I find myself needing to correct my course by just a few degrees.

President Uchtdorf taught:
"The difference of a few degrees, as with the Antarctica flight or Saul’s failure to hold fast to the counsel of the prophet just a little longer, may seem minor. But even small errors over time can make a dramatic difference in our lives.

Let me share with you how I taught the same principle to young pilots.

Suppose you were to take off from an airport at the equator, intending to circumnavigate the globe, but your course was off by just one degree. By the time you returned to the same longitude, how far off course would you be? A few miles? A hundred miles? The answer might surprise you. An error of only one degree would put you almost 500 miles (800 km) off course, or one hour of flight for a jet.

No one wants his life to end in tragedy. But all too often, like the pilots and passengers of the sightseeing flight, we set out on what we hope will be an exciting journey only to realize too late that an error of a few degrees has set us on a course for spiritual disaster."

What a powerful lesson for me to learn. I love this talk. It put things into perspective.

When A Teacher Shouldn't Teach

I got this video from a friend. I can not believe that a teacher would have Kindergarteners vote their classmate out of their classroom. Watch this interview with the mother.
I can't seem to embed it on here so click and go see it here.

Move A Mountain

My friend Lynn posted this about how she felt like she is always being judged but she's still a terrific person. So, I've been thinking about that a lot lately. Today I was in my car and singing along to my current favorite CD when I realized how much the song applies to Lynn, to me, to everyone. God doesn't want us to just go out and move a mountain today. We just have to take it one step at a time. I wish I could share the beautiful music of this song with you but you'll just have to read the lyrics.

How to Move a Mountain
(Cherie Call)

When I was young I heard the stories
About the people who could make the mountains flee
And every now and then, someone would tell me
I could do the same if I believed
So one summer night, I looked out my window
And I closed my eyes and listened to the wind blow

And I tried to move a mountain
I wished for it to crumble at my feet
I tried one thing after another
but I couldn't shake a leaf

I never knew that the mountain
Had a lesson it would teach
Cause as tall as I got, I still lived in its shadow
I watched it tower over me
Till one summer day, I thought I heard it call me
So I closed my eyes and then changed into my blue jeans

And I learned how to move a mountain
It was harder than I dreamed it would be
But I set one foot down past the other
Till the mountain was under me

And I felt like I could see forever
When the truth hit my senses suddenly
This mountain wasn't nearly the first one that I'd moved
God had seen my victory
Every time I put my weaknesses behind me
And I close my eyes and let His mercy find me

I know how to move a mountain
I have to fall down on my knees
Then I get back on my feet and head on upward
Till I make it to the peak
And the mountain's under me

Popcorn is Entertaining!!

Who knew that popping popcorn could be so fun?! I wish my video camera had been charged. I would have video taped the boys watching the popcorn. They both squealed and clapped and jumped up and down. They were SO excited!! They want to pop popcorn every night but they just don't eat it all. Who needs to eat it? Popping it is the fun part!

Never Forget

I hope we can all take a minute and remember those who have died for our country. I know the boy in the picture won't be forgetting any time soon.
Brian was in the Army because he wanted to serve his country. Luckily, he never had to go to war.
A woman in my neighborhood has a 4 yr old son (friend of Marshall), and twins who are 4 months old. Right after her twins were born, her husband was deployed to Afghanistan. This young mother is strong but I can't imagine how hard life must be for her with all those little ones and no husband around. Luckily, she has a lot of family around and our neighborhood has kind of adopted her and tried helping her. I pray for our soldiers. I am grateful for their service and I hope they can come home safely to their families.

52 Blessings Project, Week 21

A few days ago, we decided to show Marshall one of Nathan's old Rescue Heroes movies and he LOVED it!! I have saved Nathan's Rescue Heroes for years and Marshall is finally old enough to enjoy them. Nathan and Marshall played together ALL DAY yesterday and then this morning they got up and played together again. It's like Heaven on Earth! They are having a blast saving people. My favorite part about Rescue Heroes is that they don't go fight bad guys. They fight fires. They are firefighters, policemen, veterinarians, and doctors. They are true heroes and I love it when my kids play with these toys. They are PERFECT for little boys.

Flashback Friday

I've been given a challenge from a friend to do a flashback Friday so here goes.
I had a hard time picking just a few pictures. I think I'll do this every Friday now. It's fun to look back and remember what was going on in my life during those pictures. My friend posted pics of him and ones of his wife so I think I will post some of Brian too.
I look like I'm ready to take off!


This is a family picture from YEARS ago. If you don't know which one I am, I'm the younger daughter. My Dad has down that this picture was taken in 1978 while we were living in Naperville.


Here is my cute Nate flying Uncle Mack's airplane. Mack really let him fly. That was an interesting experience for me in the backseat!


This one is Brian at age 4. People are always saying how much Marshall looks like Brian. I'm going to let you all tell me your opinion on that one.

Here is Marshall. He's almost 4 now.

Nathan's Choir Concert

Yesterday was Nathan's school choir concert. He sang a solo and did such an AWESOME job!! He totally amazed everyone with how great and how powerful he can sing. He is always on key and knows the rhythm. I've also managed to teach him not to breathe in the middle of words and to breathe silently (as silently as possible). All you YNS people...do you remember "cool air sips"? Ah, that brings back memories of MUCH time spent in YNS. I wish Nate could experience a choir like that but I don't have the money so I'll have to do my best with the school choir. I'm going to be even more involved next year. I didn't get any pictures because I'm the accompanist. Oh, and I even directed the last song. That was my first time and I was SOOOO nervous but I did OK. PHEW! It's over!

Global Warming?

With all this hype about Global Warming, I just wanted to say, "If this is global warming, I would hate to see what Global Cooling is!!! Today's high is going to be 52 degrees and raining. And for tomorrow??? SNOW!!!!! ACK! This is pathetic. It's MAY PEOPLE!! WHERE'S MY GLOBAL WARMING? I'M COLD!

Wax Museum and New Van

First, the Wax Museum. For Nate's Biography book report, he had to dress up as the person he read the biography on, and pretend he was in a wax museum. When someone pressed the button, he gave his "speech". It was great! He was the only one who did Ronald Reagan. There were LOTS of kids who did Abraham Lincoln and lots of girls did Mia somebody, a famous female soccer player. Nate did really well. This is what he said:
My name is Ronald Reagan. I was born in an apartment on February 6, 1911 in Tampico, Illinois to John and Nelle Reagan. My father nicknamed me Dutch when I was little. I moved to Los Angeles in the 1930’s and became part of the Screen Actors Guild, as well as a spokesman for General Electric. I was Governor of California from 1967-1975. In 1968, and then again in 1976, I ran for President but was defeated. However, I didn’t give up and in 1980 I won both the nomination and the election, making me the 40th President of the United States. I was President from 1981-1989. When I had only been in office for a couple weeks John Hinkley Jr. shot me inches from the heart. I worked hard as President and was able to bring the country out of recession. I also put an end to the Cold War and supported freedom around the world. I had a good sense of humor and once told someone that the nine most terrifying words in the English Language are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
I died on June 5,2004 after suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease for 10 years. I left behind my dear wife Nancy, and 3 children; Michael, a son from my first marriage, Patti, and Ron Jr. I was a good man who believed in the human spirit. I once said: I know in my heart that man is good that what is right will always eventually triumph, and there’s purpose and worth to each and every life.
Here is a picture of him. Doesn't he just look like a president giving a speech?


Next for the big news! We are now the owners of a 2005 Kia Sedona. It was time. We're excited/nervous/in shock. It will be so nice to have a reliable car!

Car Repairs, Oh How I Loathe Thee!

We have a 1996 Chevy Cavalier which we have pretty much run into the ground now. We had decided that instead of buying a minivan with our tax refund, we would use it on other things. We had an emergency fund set up but ended up spending that on car repairs. A few months ago, we spent over $1200 on car repairs. That WAS our emergency fund! We took the car in for what was supposed to be a reasonably inexpensive car repair and were shocked to find out how much it would cost to fix everything. ARRGHH! SO, we still felt good about our decision. We got some food storage, though not enough. We got a nice First Aid kit for our home, and just need to add clothes to our 72-hour emergency kit. Then my car had to go and cause issues again!! It's making a really bad noise and Brian thinks the transmission is going out. This is frustrating! We were trying to follow the counsel of our Stake President and pay off debt and get a big food storage. This was NOT in the plans. OH well...is it ever?

52 Blessings Project, Week 20

I am SO thankful to have a dishwasher. I have lived in apartments without them and it is SO much nicer to have one. Without it, the dishes pile up SO fast!!

A Touching Story

My friend Cindy posted this on her blog and I was so touched by it that I wanted to post it here. It's good to know there are still good kids in the world today. This is definitely worth watching.

Uh Oh!

Nate is suddenly NOT doing well in school!! I don't know what the problem is. He went from getting an A on all his Math tests to getting a D- on his last one. Brian and I correct his homework and most of the time he gets a few wrong here and there but it's mostly right. The past few days, he's missed more problems than he got right and it's because of careless mistakes. He's completely distracted and spends more time drumming his fingers on his desk and making noise with his mouth than he does on his homework. I'm really concerned!! Only 2 more weeks of school but that's plenty of time for him to mess up his A in math.

The Difference

We took Marshall to see a WONDERFUL doctor who specializes in attention disorders like ADHD. This man used to be a Pediatrician who was well known in this area. A few years ago, he sold his practice and instead of retiring, opened the Attention Clinic. As many of you know, Brian and I have exhausted just about EVERY resource available to us.
We finally decided it was time to try medication. We were barely hanging on and were so wiped out all the time. Nobody can ever understand truly what it was like living with Marshall unless they did it. He rarely slept through the night, refused nearly all meals, and was angry almost all the time!!! This face is what we got almost all day long.
It's still a cute angry face but it's SO hard to have a very angry child ALL the time. He would hit me and Nate, throw things at us when he got mad, and when you put him in time out, he'd kick the door and throw things at it. He broke a few things, but amazingly the door has stayed intact so far. He was ALWAYS on the go. You could just forget playing games like Candy Land with this 3 1/2 yr old. Church was HORRENDOUS and so many days we ended up in the foyer before church even began!! Well, we switched his sleeping medication and put him on another one that is commonly used in ADHD and Autistic kids and we are SO PLEASED with the results. We have only had to use the very minimum dose on both medications and they are working beautifully!! Now, instead of being angry all day, he is happy. He can entertain himself for a few minutes while I do things around the house, he tells me he loves me so many times a day. I love it! He sleeps about 10-12 hrs a night and he even took a nap yesterday!! He's playing Candy Land and even asking to play it 2 and 3 times. It's like a completely different child. Not in the way that many people think when you tell them you're medicating your child. Most people are under the impression that if you medicate your child, they will basically turn into zombies. Not the case here. Marshall is a normal, happy child. He's more eager to learn and help me out around the house. He has more patience and, although he gets angry sometimes, as normal children do, he controls it SO much better and gets over it quicker. I really feel like my prayers have been answered. Brian and I have been praying for 3 yrs that we would be able to find what would help Marshall. The Lord is testing us to see how patient we can be but also showing us how much we can learn and how much stress we can really take. I'm grateful for challenges that help me grow. Here are pictures of the wonderful differences we've seen after nearly a week on these medications.

Things I Never Knew About Myself

Nate made me a Mother's Day book and a hot plate at school. I am so amazed at what things I like! I think all Moms ought to find out just what their kids think about them. Here are the questions that Nate's "book" asked and his answers:
All About My Mom
-Favorite Color- Blue (yes, he's right)
-Favorite flower- Daffodils (Wow..I never knew that!)
-Favorite Book- Harry Potter (Yeah, that's one of my favorites.)
-Favorite food- Teriaky Burgers (That is how he spelled it and yes, Teriyaki Burgers are one of my favorite foods..yummy!)
This next part CRACKS ME UP!!!
-Hobbies- reading, doing chores, playing Toontown, Playing with me and Marshall. (WHAT?? My hobby is doing chores?!? HAHAHA!! I laughed when I read that. Hey, it's good to know.)
-Doesn't like- When Marshall gets mad and goes beserk (yeah, those are awful times but he's doing SOOOOO much better this past week. I'll have to post about that later.)
-Some of my mom's favorite things about being a mom are: She likes making brownies and cookies. (Oh really?)
-One of my favorite memories with my mom is: When we used to make cookies. (Hahaha. I guess I better make cookies with the boy again!)
-Some of my favorite things about my mom are: She cooks awesome. She cares about me and loves me. (Awww...isn't that so nice?? I DO love that boy!)
-If I could give my Mom something it would be: A blender that works. (He's so thoughtful. I keep trying to make yummy smoothies for everyone but it takes FOREVER because the blender keeps having trouble. I have already broken 2 blenders...let's not make it three!)
Nate was SOOO excited to show me this Mother's Day present. He accidentally left it at school on Friday so he was extra excited today. He's so cute. Oh, I mean cool. He's SOO cool!!

The Whole FAM!!

It looks like we're going to have our whole family together for Stefanie's wedding. This is a VERY rare occasion. I can't remember when the last time was that all of us got together. I look forward to some good singing time with my siblings. I can't believe my baby sister is getting married!!!! It's wonderful!

52 Blessings Project, Week 19

Today I am thankful for my Mother. I'm thankful that in the time she had with us on this Earth, she taught us the Gospel. She taught us to have high standards. She taught us to enjoy working. When we grumbled about work, she got us singing and then suddenly the work wasn't that bad anymore!! I am thankful that my Mother taught me to enjoy GOOD music. I'm very selective on what kind of music I listen to and what I allow to be played in my home. I'm also grateful to her Mother and all the Mothers who helped shape who my Mother became. I also am thankful for Judy Peterson and the wonderful friendship she shared with my Mother. It is so nice to read her blog and the blogs of her children and see how they have standards so similar to mine. Thank-you Judy for teaching me too. You had (still do) an influence on my life as I'm sure my Mother did on your children. I have never had that close of a relationship with any family since we left Naperville.
Last, but not least, I also have to say I'm thankful for the "substitute" Mother we have in Diane. I think substitute sounds nicer. Diane is not trying to replace our mother but she has enough love to share that she can love us while she is here.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL YOU MOTHERS. You really never know how much influence you have on other people's lives.

I Survived Another One

This was my first experience with Pinewood Derby and I'm glad it's over!! I'm very frustrated though. Some parents shaved the wheels of their cars to make them go faster and that is cheating. These parents KNEW it was cheating when they did it and they did it anyway. It makes me sad.
Nathan won 3rd place in the Obstacle Course (which wasn't all that interesting) so he was quite upset. It's good for him to learn that he won't always win.
I learned SO MUCH about what to do and what not to do at Pinewood Derby. I couldn't do it without my darling husband. He helps me more than any of my committee people and he doesn't have the calling!!! It's really hard when you don't have enough help. We are 2 wards combined and we have very few leaders. When we have Pack Planning Meeting, the only people who show up are me, my asst. Cubmaster, and my committee chairman. Nothing is getting planned and it leaves ALL the work to me. I can't continue to have that much stress! I feel like I just exist most of the time. I go through the motions of life and barely hang in there. I asked the bishopric member in charge of Cubs to please get more committee members to help. I can't continue to do all the planning alone. I have way too much other stuff going on. I feel like my head is spinning while I'm there and I have a million things to do that never get done. I was at the church at 9:30 this morning to set up for an 11am Pinewood Derby. I still wasn't ready at 11am. AAAAAAAAARRRRGHHH!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME??!!!

Pinewood Derby

I've been SO busy lately! Not only have I been working hard on my special project but I also have Cub Scout stuff to do too. I've been planning and really trying to prepare for the Pinewood Derby. I am not sure how I'll pull all of this off but somehow I will. I always do! In the meantime, my health needs to improve because I'm just going to have to ignore it until after Stef's wedding next week. I do not have time to get sick!! Today I help teach choir at 3pm, then I have Roundtable (for scouts) at 7pm. Saturday is Pinewood Derby. I hear there is supposed to be a baptism that day too. A boy in my pack is getting baptized. We got him registered for Cub Scouts and then he noticed that all the boys go to the same church. He told his Mom he wanted to go to church too. He noticed that in church, many of the kids have their own scriptures (Book of Mormon and Bible) and he wanted one too. What a great kid! Now if I can work all this out so I can go to his baptism, that would be amazing. It's way too much for one day!

Book Tag

Book Tag

This is what you do:


1. Pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages)

2. Turn to page 123

3. Find the 5th sentence

4. Post the 5th sentence on your blog

5. Tag 5 people

OK, the first book I picked up with at least 123 pages was- Modern Physics, 2nd Edition
The 5th sentence is:
Thus, the total energy of the atom, which contains both kinetic and potential energy terms, is given by
E= K+U=.5*m*v^2-k*e*2/r

What do you expect??? That particular book shelf is all my husband's books. He's a physicist! Don't ask ME what it means. If you want to know, I'll have to ask the brain of the family.

I tag: Cindy, Susie, Autumn, Lynn and Judy

InDUHviduals

InDUHviduals are described by my husband as people who require a lifeguard in the gene pool. I got these quotes from the Dilbert website. They make me laugh!!

Here now, some quotes from Induhviduals, many of whom are allowed to operate motor vehicles, and have children, sometimes simultaneously.

"I don't want anybody stepping on anybody else's thunder."

"You can't pull the sheep over my eyes!"

"I'm thinking in my brain."

"What is that disease where if someone loses a lot of blood they just die?"

"Clean as a baby's bottom."

"I don't mean to take the steam out of your sails, but..."

"She has not seen one red dime from him."

"I used to be as sharp as a button."

"That'll put the monkey in your court."

"We don't want this project to snowball into a can of worms."

"… up the creek in a hand bag."

"It's best not to open that can of wax."

"Let's pair up into threes."

"I just thought myself into a corner."

"We really need to hang on to our coattails to ride the waves of change."

"That way I can kill two bricks with one stone."

Here are some more true tales of Induhviduals, as reported by vigilant DNRC operatives in the field.

--

I have to turn in my wife for a True Tales of Induhviduals. We live in the Colorado mountains and sometimes see bears on our property. Recently my wife asked if I knew how bears know when to hibernate. I said I thought it had to do with temperature, when it got too cold to be out wandering around. She suggested that the end of daylight savings time probably triggered hibernation. When I asked what that would have to do with it, she said, "The bears would notice it getting darker an hour earlier." I guess I didn't realize bears had clocks.

--

My friend was standing with an Induhvidual at a crosswalk the other day when they heard the signals that indicate to the blind that it is safe to cross the street. The Induhvidual asked "What is that?" My friend said, "That's for the blind. The chirping sound indicates that it's safe to cross the street north to south. The cuckoo sound indicates that it's safe to cross east to west." The person looked at my friend and asked, "What do the deaf people do when they need to cross the street?"

--

The secretary came in this morning and noticed that her big, picture calendar had fallen off the wall, to which it had been held by taping the monthly pages as they folded upward. It wasn't so surprising that it had come down, she said, because "It's getting toward the end of the year so it's heavier."

52 Blessings Project, Week 18

My Mother-in-law has been here for a few weeks and it's been SO helpful! She was only supposed to be here a week but because of her car accident, she had to stay longer. She has been doing laundry, dishes, and watching the kids so I could work on the MANY projects I have going. Between choir, Cub Scouts, and my other project, I've been completely SWAMPED! Now she's going to teach me to hem pants! WOOHOO!!

My Best DI Find EVER

A few weeks ago, on my way home from Marshall's Occupational Therapy appointment, I stopped by the Deseret Industries (DI) in Sandy, Utah. DI is a thrift store. I was supposed to be looking for dressers but instead, I found a big plastic kitchen and a Power Wheels Jeep! The kitchen was $10 and the Jeep was $15. I was disappointed when I realized the Jeep didn't work but I found a local repair shop and had them test the vehicle, the battery, and the charger. It turns out the battery was dead. New batteries are quite pricey (just about $60) but it was SO worth it!! These little cars usually cost several hundred dollars and I got one for under a hundred!! Apparently, Monday morning at the DI in Sandy is a great place to be!!!

Happy Mayday

Today (as I do every May Day) I've been singing "Now Is The Month of Maying". It's a madrigal song that I learned while I was in my mother's choir, Young Naperville Singers. I hope you're having a warmer May Day than we are. It's FREEZING!!! I want my global warming please!!!
Here is a video to remind you of Mayday. Mostly it's because I like the song. :)

Too Busy!

I've had a really crazy week already. As some of you know, I'm working on a special project that has kept me really busy. So in the meantime, you'll just have to enjoy these old pictures of the Young Naperville Singers and my Mom.