Redecorating the Living Room

Know what is delicious? Pop-overs. Yorkshire Pudding. Cream puffs, Eclairs, German Pancakes, Crepes. I love all of those things. And, they all have variations of the same recipe: milk, eggs, flour, blend.

I do NOT love having those ingredients combined together on my living room carpet. If someone (not to name any names, but she is the youngest!) broke half a dozen eggs across the carpet, poured out the rest of the milk and then poured a 5 gallon bucket of flour over them, then played in it...well, you can imagine.

It does make me think about the argument of evolution versus intelligent design. Even if you have the right ingredients, without the knowledge of how to combine them correctly--all you end up with is a mess.

Growth

We are so busy. Yes, I know that we are ALWAYS so busy, but as the kids get bigger, the schedule gets--busier. I did calendaring for the year, and every week is already full. We have the usual stuff--Scouts and Young Women, our beloved Fiber Arts Friends group, Church stuff. And we have the other stuff like Youth Conference, Scout Camp, 4-H Camp, Girls Camp, 2 major hikes with Dad...the list goes on and on. It is exciting to see them grow.

SmallDaughter had her neurologist checkup on her birthday--which meant she had to have a blood draw, poor thing. She was very brave, even though (for the first time ever at our wonderful children's hospital) they had to poke her twice and use both arms. The good thing is she doesn't really comprehend abstract ideas like "today is your birthday", so (even though this is the second year in a row with a Dr. visit/blood draw on the day) she didn't mind. She was very excited a few days later to have a combined birthday party with Grandpa, with LOTS of candles on the cake for her to blow out (with a little Grandpa help!).

This week she got to go see the eye doctor (the specialist at the childrens hosp., who is set up for non-verbal children). Thankfully, her eyes are healthy and we don't need glasses or anything else. I can not imagine the horrors of trying to keep SmallDaughter in glasses!

LargeBoy is making wonderful smells emanate from the kitchen. As much as I miss how freakin' cute they were when they were little--they sure are a big help to have around now!

For instance, a couple of weeks ago, I threw my back out quite badly--which wouldn't have been much of a problem, except my awesome Chiropractor had a heart attack and triple bypass surgery in December. So, painfully waiting for him to come back, life still had to go on. We went grocery shopping while SmallDaughter was at school, and not only did LargeBoy and BigGirl do all of the bagging/loading at the store, once we got home they did the unloading/putting away and sent me to bed with an ice pack! They are truly becoming awesome people, as well as sweet children!

I am happy to report that Dr. S is back in business, and my back is, too!

PANIC!! or not.

I am getting pretty frustrated with news reporters--especially television news. "Now is the perfect time to PANIC!"*

Every time clouds move in they predict "THE STORM OF THE CENTURY--from 30 to 96 inches of snow! Highly dangerous conditions!!!! More snow than you can imagine!!!!!"

And then we get a little bit of winter. Yep, it can be dangerous to travel in snowy weather. Ditto hot weather, rainy weather, you name it. What is needed is more thinking and less panic mongering.

Just Sayin'.

We got about 3 inches of lovely white snow. SmallDaughter's school was canceled and she was out playing in it every time I turned around. She just likes to kick it and make tracks. I cleaned the sidewalk off with a broom, which indicates to me that it was not a blizzard--just winter!


*Monsters, Inc. quote

Big News!

I am officially jumping in and doing all the prep work to (Trumpet Voluntary, please)...go back to school. Specifically to get my Bachelor's Degree (side note--anybody else think it is a little odd for the married mother of 3 to want to be a Bachelor?). Anyway, I am currently up to my nostrils in scholarship info, etc.

Apparently I just hate boredom, and will do anything to keep my life from being calm. OK--there are actually lots of other factors going into this decision, but I think that is the main one I am admitting to!

While this is huge and scary at this point in my life, it is also right and feels so...right!

Christmas Musings

Sometimes Christmas can be pretty disappointing for moms. You work to make sure everybody has the perfect present, and boxes and packages of wonderful, charming magical things, and you get...a vacuum.

This can be difficult for those of us whose "love language" is gift giving.

One year, my sweet littles asked what I wanted for Christmas. All I really wanted was a card of small, sparkly earrings, that I could wear everyday. They were very sneaky, and went shopping with dear Miss K, who helped them wrap the gift. They sneakily told me that they put my gift in a big box, so I would never guess what it was! And I didn't! Because when I unwrapped it, it was a frying pan.

However, as they have gotten older the gifts have improved, and this year was pretty excellent. My Favorite Gentleman, who knows me well got me really good lotion (in a food scent--Mango Melon--not a flowery scent--urg!)and two pairs of the best socks in the world (which I LOVE and can NOT buy for myself because A) I really hate shopping, B) I really, REALLY hate shopping for socks, and C)I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY hate shopping for myself--and I always have cold feet, so they truly are the gift that keeps on giving, and that make me feel loved and cared for all year long.) SmallDaughter went on a shopping field trip with her class that netted me a candle and a box of thin mints. I got other lovely stuff, and got to watch a movie with MFG (Sergeant York, which I really recommend, even though it is hard to find!).

In the "do I laugh or do I cry" category: While we were upstairs watching the movie, SmallDaughter poured the whole bottle of lotion onto the carpet, and opened up the thin mints, and fed them to the WonderDog, who (luckily) barfed them up on the carpet, too.

I spent the last half of the afternoon with my carpet shampooer. Boy am I grateful for the carpet cleaner! It has gotten a workout this week! Chocolate syrup (again--she just LOVES it!) and eggs, milk and flour at different times.

Quiet Men

Standing at the front of the front of the congregation, singing in the choir on Sunday, I saw something so beautiful it brought tears to my eyes. In the back of the chapel, I saw a Sister sitting with a Handsome Young Man, who had his arm around her as they listened to Christmas Carols.

Now, this sister, to paraphrase the Bible "hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see (her), there is no beauty that we should desire (her)". Certainly Abercrombie & Fitch and The Gap aren't pounding down her door with modeling contracts. Physically she is small, and has obviously had a hard life--physically and emotionally. She has been a widow for 25 years, and struggled as a single mother to raise her two children. She succeeded--amazingly well. They are now strong, intelligent, caring adults who benefit their communities and the world. But, she is home alone.

She is never at the front, in the spotlight or looking for attention. While others perform at the Ward Talent Show--she is in the kitchen, making sure the desserts are sliced, that every casserole has a serving spoon and that all the dishes get washed up and put away afterwards. She is easy to miss, if you aren't looking for her.

So, when I saw her in the loving embrace of a good man, 30 years younger than she is--my heart melted. Because he is the fiance of her daughter, who was singing in the choir. And he loves her. Because he recognizes that most of the wonderful traits in the fabulous woman that he will marry in two months, were given, taught and trained by this quiet, humble lady, and he loves her for those gifts.

Our society, which adores the loud and self promoting, overlooks men who are quiet. My dad is a quiet man. He hates confrontation, he hates raised voices. A lot of people who saw my parents together assumed that my mom "wore the pants" in the family, because she was much louder and outgoing than my dad. They were wrong. In a quiet, loving way, he led us by example.

I hear women talk about how "all men are jerks" or "all the good men have been taken". Well, girls there are several reasons for that: The good men are busy doing good things--quietly. They aren't tooting their own horns and talking about how great they are. They just roll up their sleeves and get the job done. AND if you are looking for a good man--don't look at the singles bar--because the guys who are there are not the ones you want. Also, men live up to what we tell them. Once, my wise mother told me that small children obey everything you tell them--so if you tell them they are brats, or little terrors, or "Just like your lazy father"...they will be. Men, too live up to the messages they hear from us.

There are LOTS of good men out there. I am privileged to know some of them. And I want to tell them thanks. Thanks for quietly being "real men"--who take care of their responsibilities, their families, their friends, and our world. Who stand up for what is good and important in our culture, and--if it was required, would lay down their lives for it.

I have no words to express how grateful I am.

Busy Times

I have triumphantly finished last week! That in itself is a major cause for celebration, since every day had multiple back-to-back (or, sometimes, OVERLAPPING) activities. Also, My Favorite Gentleman is laid off, and is home--all the time. The readjustment continues.

The Ward Christmas Party (that I was in charge of, in my position as Activities Chairman) came off mostly smoothly, and was pretty much a success. We got our Christmas Tree before the storm hit--when we went to the tree farm on Saturday, it was so warm all the snow had melted off--and we were all seriously overdressed! The snow rolled in overnight. The Bishop canceled the last hour of church and sent us home early.

MFG has delivered one of his favorite rants (and I totally agree with him) about how the news coverage of winter weather creates and stirs up panic. What was built up as "THE STORM OF THE CENTURY!!" gave us about 1 1/2 inches of snow. Really? I thought that was just what happened if you live in the North and it is Winter. North+Winter=Snow. Not panic every time a snowflake falls. Just Winter--it happens every year, people!