My Favorite Photo(s)

 For thoughts about this favorite photo of mine, click HERE.

Early Learning

(Joshua's Depiction of Thanksgiving 2012)

Yesterday was Joshua's first SEP (parent/teacher conference). He had absolutely no idea what to expect, but I didn't know he didn't and just kept saying things like, "We have to leave soon for your SEP" or "Let's go now. It's time for your SEP."

As Joshua and I got in the car, he ran back in the house to get his backpack. Confused, I told him he didn't need it. Equally confused, he returned it to the house. As we approached the kindergarten doors, Joshua said, "We need to line up here." He acted a little sluggish, nervous and skeptical when I told him we could just walk in.

At some point I must have finally got it through to him that it was just going to be, me, him and the teacher and it was not a glorified "Bring your mother to school day."

Joshua didn't ever quite get over looking nervous throughout the conference, despite the teacher's constant praise about him. She complimented his behavior, his efforts, his academics, his social skills and even went as far to say, "You have raised him very well."

I really quite enjoy parent/teacher conferences. For the most part, they have always gone very well for us as far as the good reports we hear from teachers. We've been to a lot over the years, but I do think my one yesterday afternoon with just me, Joshua and his teacher was one of my favorites. (Mike typically always goes too, but I'd made Joshua's appointment too early in the day for Mike to make it.)

A few of the reasons why I loved it:

The teacher showed me a piece of paper that had basic words and a check mark next to the ones that Joshua knew the beginning sound.

Words like, hat makes the "h" sound, "fall makes the "f" sound.

All the words were checked except for the word "run". When asked what sound/letter it started with, Joshua  had replied, "w". Which completely makes sense to Joshua's little "r"-sounds-like-"w"-type-world.

In Joshua's world if he is going to run to the neighbors, he "wuns". A chair is a "chay" a store is a "stoye" and when it is "dark" it is "dyke". And so really, the word "run" should have had a check mark by it, because in Joshua's head he was 100% correct.

I loved that Joshua got all of his rhyming words right, except "ball". Apparently that rhymes with "bob".

His numbers 1-5 were nicely written with everyone of them backwards. And though I may have panicked had he been a first child, I smiled instead.

On the other hand, his upper-case letters were all written correctly, and the lower-case ones were close.

I loved looking through his journal of simple sentences he had attempted to write over the last few weeks. Things like:

wt t gdmz and gpz hse

Which interpreted means, "Went to Grandma and Grandpa's house."

I loved all the pages, especially his ability to read all of them days and weeks later. I would have had no clue what they said if the teacher hadn't have written in below what they said.

I was enjoying each page, until the teacher turned the page and as soon as I saw it my face went red, and I was immediately horrified at what Joshua's spelling attempts looked like. Innocently the teacher 'read', "Went swimming." and I was:

a. Relieved that Joshua nor his teacher had as dirty of a mind as me, and
b. Beyond thankful that Mike hadn't been able to make the SEP after all. I'm pretty sure the two of us would have wound up in hysterical laughter, and left this young and single school teacher scarred for the rest of her career.

I can't bring myself to write the sentence here. But when I called Mike following the SEP to tell him about it, I was right--he laughed pretty hard too.

The SEP must have turned out better than Joshua had been expecting. As we drove home together, I heard a little voice from the back seat say, "That was 'weally fun."

Love that little Joshua of ours.

Facing a Fear

A couple of weeks ago, I woke up very early to do my Saturday morning shift at the Bountiful (LDS) temple. Typically, I am a pretty nervous person when the house is quiet, and I'm the only one awake, and especially when it comes to going outside/or into the garage (depending on what car I'm driving) to get into the car.

To make a long story short, I happened to not be as nervous that morning. Mike had woken up when I did and we had a conversation, and then I had an e-mail I had to send before I left, so by the time I was ready to walk out the door, I think I'd forgotten it was 5am. I'll make this story shorter: just as I was getting into the car on the driveway, Mike decided to "be friendly" and opened up the bedroom window (directly above our driveway) to whistle at me.

The whole thing is really a blur, because Mike scared me like I don't think I've ever been scared before. My scream was obviously pretty loud, because I had a sore throat for 48 hours following. I quickly got in the car, locked the doors and burst into tears. I immediately called him a not-so-nice name (although it is a word found in the Bible so I think it's excused) and went to grab my cell-phone so I could say the not-so-nice word directly to him. It was right then I realized I had left my cell phone in the bedroom, but at this point I was too scared and traumatized to get out of the car to go get it. Which is probably a good thing, because I was so mad at him I probably would have done a lot more than say one not-so-nice word to him.

 I drove the 10 minute drive to the temple, with my heart still pounding, my body shaking, calling him the not-so-nice name repeatedly for the duration of the drive. (Remember, the word is found in the Bible, so I don't think saying it repeatedly on the way to the temple is as bad as if I'd been calling him a non-Bible word.)

With my 4 hour shift at the temple, and Mike's morning obligation, it was 6-7 hours later before we finally hooked up again. I don't think in my 15+ years of marriage I have ever seen my husband feel as badly and/or as apologetic as he was that morning. He felt awful. Made worse by the fact I didn't answer my phone for him to immediately apologize, or to check I really was okay. Forgiveness took a while, at least until the 48-hour sore throat subsided.

Mike has now earned accompanying me to the car early on Saturday mornings.

That was a pretty long story and probably nothing to do with the fact that this weekend Mike was very kind and loving helping me overcome a fear, instead of helping perpetuate one. And I'm not talking about us driving in a massive snowstorm Saturday night. That fear may still take a while to overcome...

I digress again.

For years and years, I have had a horrible fear of ever leading/conducting music. Within our church we have a lot of meetings, and a lot of singing, and there always seems to be a need for someone to lead/conduct the music. It is something I have always avoided. I know it sounds ridiculous. I could speak, pray or teach in front of hundreds and not even break a sweat, but the thought of leading music has been enough to put me over the edge.

A few fellow church members laughingly remember the time a couple of years ago I was asked to lead one side of the Primary (children's organization) room for a song to be done in a round. My face immediately turned bright red and my body just about went into panic mode before I passed the responsibility off to the person sitting next to me.

It's ridiculous. I should be embarrassed to even be admitting such a pathetic fear publicly, but I'll tell you why I am.

Sunday night we were due to have a very small meeting that would include 16-20 members of our church. Earlier in the week, the lady I serve with in the Primary Presidency sent me an email asking if I would be willing to either play the piano or lead the music for the meeting. I immediately responded I would play the piano, but then I got some wild-hare idea that now was as good a time as any to face my fear.

If you are still with me after this rambling, long-winded story--

I am pleased and proud to announce that tonight I finally faced my fear. After practicing at home all week, (much to Drew's disgust-he thinks HE is the self-appointed conductor of any and all family singing), tonight I stood in front of 16 people and conducted the singing of two hymns!!! Sure I may have smiled a little too much, due in part to trying hard not to laugh out loud, (remember I have a tendency to laugh when I shouldn't laugh).

I had warned Mike not to look at me, and certainly not to make any funny faces, but there were a few times we caught eyes and he smiled a big, huge proud smile at me. A part of me wanted to burst out laughing, and another part of me wanted to burst into tears.

But I did it. I am very proud.
Upon arrival home, I was greeted by Megan who was anxious to hear the results of my conducting debut. It's kind of a rare occasions when a parent/child reversal takes place, but I couldn't help but smile as Megan looked directly at me and said, "Mom, I'm really proud of you. Good job."

Move over Drew. You may have to start sharing your pencils.

Short Lived Super-Hero

The other morning while I worked on the computer,  Joshua sat at the kitchen table coloring. (Which must be a post in itself one of these days.) I'm not quite sure what Drew was doing, but I suddenly heard the back sliding door open, and him walk outside as he said, "I'm going outside to see if I can fly."

His voice sounded quite serious, and I couldn't help but get up and follow him.

I really had no clue that Drew had any idea who or what Superman is, but I guess he does. Because with the paper cape attached to his back and the homemade "S" logo on his chest courtesy of Joshua, Drew believed he was ready to fly.

Drew ran around the patio a few times with his arms flapping.

Until I said the dreaded words,

"Drew, those are just pretend drawings. They aren't going to help you fly."

He turned and looked at me, came back in the house, took off the cape and logo and continued playing with his preferred toys of choice; Hot Wheels. They didn't seem to disappoint.

"So quickly they grow with bounds and leaps but the sweetest memories are mine for keeps."

(Unknown)

Casting a Vote

Not only did I do my civic duty and vote in the 2012 General Election, I spent 14 1/2 hours sitting in a chair as a Poll Worker. As I watched citizens come and go to vote, I was reminded of a time as a young child going with my dad to vote. I was young, and I'm pretty sure it was the 1979 election and I'm assuming I accompanied my dad to cast his vote for Margaret Thatcher. (I'm totally guessing who he voted for.)

Today as I thought back to that memory, I couldn't help but think what a unique opportunity and memory that is: accompanying my dad to vote in one country in 1979, and then 33 years later, assisting voters in another country across the world.

Several times as I watched people come and go from the voting machines I had to blink away tears as I felt blessed to live in a free country. Regardless of political parties, election outcomes, and candidate platforms, I believe America is a blessed land and I'm proud to be an American.

And for the record--being a Poll Worker was one of my favorite things ever! I loved every second of it. I'm thankful for being able to have spent a long day doing it. Hooray for my mother for bringing me delicious food, Mike's mother for watching my two little boys, children who held down the fort, and a supportive husband for filling in all the gaps in the day. (And who just happened to be the most handsome voter I checked in today.)

God bless the USA.

11

The other day Luke walked up to Mike and me and began to tell us something. I can't remember exactly what it was he was telling, but it was a typical "Luke" thing. In that moment, I looked directly into Luke's eyes and couldn't help but see the realization of a Priesthood blessing I received just over 11 years ago.

Perhaps I have referenced the blessing before, but not in detail. It is too spiritual and special to share so publicly, but suffice it to say, if for no other reason than that experience, I know without a doubt God's hand guides and directs each of our lives.

The name Luke means "bringer of light" and I am continually amazed at the way Luke lives up to that name, and the promises the Lord gave me 11+ years ago have come true in every way.

Luke came bouncing into this world 11 years ago. He was in a hurry to get here (19 minutes at the hospital, and 2 hours and 3 minutes TOTAL labor from first contraction to babe in arms), and he hasn't really slowed down since.

Luke wanted to have a "family" birthday. Luke chose to go to a trampoline park with just our family on Friday afternoon, followed by his dinner request of "hamburgers at home and twirly fries you cook in the oven." His cake of choice was an Oreo cake (the easiest cake I've ever made for him) with Nana, Grandpa, Paul and Vickie joining us for that late Friday evening.

It was a very simple birthday, but one of my favorites.

Changing Things Up and Loving It

Typically I'm not a fan of Halloween. I think maybe it's because it isn't a holiday I grew up with. For the last few years I say every year that the next year we won't celebrate it, but every year we still do.

As I went to bed on Halloween night this year, I realized something.

I had actually really enjoyed the evening. I think the reason why, is because I let go of a previous Halloween tradition that seemed to cause me more stress each year than enjoyment.

Typically we have people over to dinner, then a bonfire in the cul-de-sac. It always seems dinner starts too late, I'm trying to get over-anxious children to eat dinner and get dressed, answer the doorbell from early trick-or-treaters, etc. Then late at night when the trick-or-treating is all over, my kitchen is still a huge mess from dinner, everyone needs to shower because of the bonfire smoke and I am swearing next year I'll do something different.

So this year I changed it all up. We had an early dinner alone with just our family, the children leisurely got dressed up in costume, I cleaned up my kitchen from dinner, and then enjoyed all the trick-or-treaters from inside the house instead of out in the cul-de-sac.

My neighbor did call me and say she missed the bonfire, but with the fact the warm temperature set records around here, a bonfire wouldn't have been as appreciated anyway.

Enough rambling.
In no particular order, I introduce you to...
The boy who "ARGH"-ed every time I took his picture:

(Striped pants, red vest and gold sash sewed by yours truly last week. Yes, please be impressed. Just don't look closely.)

The boy who came home and said, "Nobody asked me to work."

The girl who proudly organized her 94 pieces of candy upon arrival home.

The cow that only lasted so long before he returned home to shed the costume and greet trick-or-treaters at the front door in his standard attire--underwear. (A.K.A. "Michael Phelps costume" as one trick-or-treater's parent said.)

And we can't forget the kind teenager that made it possible for Mike and me to stay in the comfort of our own house...

(I'm not sure where she was when the individual photo shoots were occurring with the real camera instead of the group shots with the cell-phone.)

Oh and I let the children choose whether to carve or paint pumpkins. Luke opted to carve an elk, (which I forgot to light up on Halloween night!) Ellie, Joshua and Drew opted to paint. And Megan decided to forgo the whole thing.

Such is Halloween around here.