Round 2 (and this time he got it right)

It's not even been 4 months since our last visit to the doctor for a foot x-ray for what turned out to be a false alarm, but Joseph and I found ourselves there again today for the same purpose.  This time was not a false alarm.  His turn for redemption, I suppose.

Yesterday he kicked the door frame to his bedroom as he was heading in to get ready for a trip to the temple with the Teacher's Quorum.  He managed to hit it hard enough that he has a small crack on the large (most proximal) phalange of the middle toe of his right foot.  There's nothing to be done but let it heal.  He'll keep it taped for a while and maybe try crutches for a couple of days to relieve the pain.  It's the worst of both worlds- the pain and annoyance of a broken bone but no cool cast or brace for sympathy purposes.  Oh, the trials we are called on to pass through!

Not Quite the Horrible Parent I Thought I Was

Joseph and I had a little visit with the orthopedic doctor today.  Turns out he most likely does NOT have a broken foot (parental redemption!) but a strain of some sort on either the tendons that attach to the 5th meta-tarsal or the growth plate at the end of the bone.  He even took an x-ray of his other foot to prove he has the same "break" in both feet.  He recommended a set of shoe inserts and gave Joseph some pointers on ways to change his gait when he runs.  Joseph tends to run on the front of his foot and toes more than he should and that puts strain on those insertion points.  He should see improvement soon.  If not, we go back in three weeks.

So glad it's not broken and the treatment only involved a trip to an orthopedic supply place this afternoon.  That is a much better option, in my opinion, than surgery or a brace for several weeks, or whatever else.  Joseph is still not completely convinced that the doctor isn't scamming us, but does agree that the inserts feel "squishy" and better on his feet.  They also make him a little taller.  That alone makes the day worthwhile.

Amazing Parenting 101- Step by Step Instructions

Step 1:

When your child complains of a sore foot, tell him to give it some time because he probably just strained it participating in PE that day.

Step 2:

Figure it must have gotten better since he doesn't ever complain about it again- just mentions it in passing.

Step 3:

When he brings it up again in the middle of soccer season 2 YEARS later, tell him it's probably just from soccer and see how it feels when the season is over.

Step 4:

Ten days after the season ends, finally take him in to the doctor.

Step 5:

Bask in your amazingness as you tell the doctor and the nurse and the x-ray technician- out loud and to their faces- that your son has had a sore foot for 2 YEARS (even though he hadn't really complained about it and played soccer two more seasons, and had 2 rounds of PE, and all that other stuff and seemed to be fine.)

Step 6:

Be totally impressed with your son when the x-ray appears to show he's had a broken foot for 2 YEARS and he's not really complained about it and played soccer two more seasons, and had 2 rounds of PE, and all that other stuff and seemed to be fine.

Step 7:

Be somewhat concerned that even though it appears to just be an avulsion fracture it still hasn't healed in 2 YEARS and agree that a referral to an orthopedic surgeon is probably warranted.

Step 8:
 
Agree to not make said son do the mile run in PE on Tuesday, but stand firm in demanding that chores be completed.  After all, he's not really complained about it and played soccer two more seasons, and had 2 rounds of PE, and all that other stuff and seemed to be fine for 2 YEARS.  I think a couple more days of vacuuming the living room before seeing the orthopedic surgeon isn't going to make matters all that much worse.  (But go ahead and buy him a cookies and cream candy bar.  You don't have to be totally heartless.)

Sorry Joseph.  I've said it before and I'll say it again- It's amazing, sometimes, that humans live to adulthood.

 There's probably some way to mark this, but I don't know what it is.  The fracture is the edge of the bump on the right.  The doctor circled it with a pen, so it looks like a dark line of shadow surrounded by a hairline fracture.  The hairline fracture is just ball point pen.

Miracle Worker

Last fall I ran into an old friend of mine. Justine and I were friends from 4th-7th grade in northern Michigan. We lived in different towns, but were in the same small branch of the Church. Her family moved to southern Michigan and mine moved a year later to Arizona. We saw each other a couple of times while we both attended BYU, but lost contact after that. Last fall she happened to be standing in front of me in line at Parent/Teacher conferences at the middle school. We have sons the same age and in several of the same classes. I had no idea she lived in the same state, much less the same school boundaries.

We've gotten our families together twice, now. The second time being last night. My parents are visiting us, her parents live in UT, and we all got together to have dinner and catch up. It was lots of fun. It wasn't until this morning, though, that I realized she'd worked a couple of miracles last night.

The first involved Joseph. For most of Joseph's life, he has been a bit of a social enigma to me. He hated play groups and going to the park. He never wanted to go visit anyone. He was just happy to be at home doing his thing and he could make life kind of miserable for the rest of us when we did go out. I worried that he'd never have friends. To my surprise, he's been a very social and out going kid. He has lots of friends and has a couple he spends as much time with as he can. He still hates to go places and visit people, though. He'll tolerate the drive over, about 5 minutes there and then he's ready to leave. Often he's not very discreet about it , either. It's lots of fun for the rest of us.

This morning I realized that not once last night did he say anything about wanting to go home. In fact, he didn't even come upstairs from playing except to grab another cookie. I can't remember the last time that happened. He is friends with Justine's oldest son at school. I hope they hang out more often. I might actually get a chance to visit with one of my friends occasionally.

The second miracle involved me. My friend is involved with a small magazine called Segullah. It publishes essays, poems, and artwork by LDS women about twice a year. I'd never heard of it before, but I read through some of the articles this morning and enjoyed myself. I have no grand aspirations when it comes to writing, but our conversation last night reminded me that I hadn't written anything besides a family newsletter in months. I realized I missed it. That's saying something because I hated writing in high school. Somewhere along the way I've picked up the idea that writing can be fun and my brain was missing it. I've sat down to post something to the blog several times in the last couple of months, but nothing came to mind that seemed worth writing about. I blamed it on being busy or tired. This morning my head was flooded with ideas and I'm still busy and tired. Maybe it was some sort of writer's block. Maybe I was just too tired and busy from all the holiday stuff going on. Either way, it was gone this morning. Too bad I didn't sit down and write while all the ideas were flooding, because you might have something a little more interesting to read at this point. At least the ideas made an appearance. That felt nice. Maybe they'll trickle back in and I'll put them into words here. That would feel nice, too.

So thanks, Justine, for dinner, conversation, fun, and reopening a door I hadn't noticed swinging shut. I needed all four.

Frosting

Joseph made dinner last night. It was a requirement for his foods class at school. He had to include an appetizer, main dish, side dish, beverage, and dessert. All the food groups needed to be represented. At least one of those items needed to be made from a recipe. The rest could be packages that were prepackaged. He also had to set the table and clean-up the dishes afterward.

He opted for Black Bean Quesadillas because he likes the beans and we hadn't had them in awhile. He also opted for broccoli as his side dish because it's one of the few green foods he'll tolerate. Chips and salsa was the appetizer (but really, what family do you know that serves an appetizer before dinner?!), water the beverage and applesauce cake the dessert. I don't buy many prepackaged anythings, so he got to be an over achiever and have two made-from-scratch recipes.

A friend came home with him to do homework and then they played on the computer for a little bit. He didn't say anything about dinner, so at 4:30 I asked when he'd like to get started. He made the cake first, so it would have time to cool before we ate it. While it baked, I went and picked whatever was ready from the garden. Lucky Joseph, not only were his recipes made from scratch, several of the ingredients came from his backyard and were started from seeds. Doesn't get much more "scratch" than that! We had cantaloupe that didn't look totally ripe, but the vines were dying, so I brought two of them in and they were added to the menu.

Shortly before the cake was done he chopped the green pepper and made the insides of the quesadillas. The cake came out of the oven, and he put the quesadillas together and put them into the oven. Then he chopped up the broccoli and put it in a pan, then sliced the cantaloupe (too ripe, but we'll try again next year). He flipped the quesadillas once, set the table, removed the quesadillas from the oven, dished everything onto plates, and called everyone to dinner. After we said the prayer, he looked down at his plate and said, "It's weird to sit here and know how much work went into my dinner."

That comment made me think. We don't eat overly fancy or complicated meals. Our kids are not ignorant of the ways of the kitchen. They make their own breakfasts and lunches. All of them could fry an egg in elementary school better than I could when I left for college. They used to help make dinner every night (years ago, now) before evening schedules got to be too crazy. They even still like to come in and help sometimes while I'm finishing things up. I guess they've all gotten used to the fact that dinner is dinner and it's something we eat every night. It's just always there. It was good for Joseph to be reminded what all goes in to making it be there.

After dinner, Joseph got up to wash dishes. We almost never have frosting on our cakes because one, it's an easy way to cut down on fat and sugar, and two, by the time I actually get around to it, it's to late or I'm too tired. We had talked previously about frosting the cake and he thought he'd like it. I asked Joseph about it again on his way to the sink. He asked, "Do I have to make it?" I replied, "Yes." He looked right at me and said, "No." The other four kids piped up with, "Yea, we should have frosting" and "Why can't we have frosting?" Only the one doing the work could really decide between what was a want and what was a need.

I wondered, how many things do I completely overlook in my assumptions that they'll always be there? I don't think much about the cars until one of them ends up in the shop for something or other. The water is always just a handle turn away, until it's not working. Electricity- at my fingertips until a truck takes out a power line. 2,000 square feet is a minimum for living space until you find that your family being together is most important and that can happen in 700 square feet just as well. There's always going to be another full moon, fall leaf, or blooming flower until something happens and my eyes don't work right. A walk to school is no big deal until my knee is in a brace and even walking to the bathroom is out of the question. My Grandma has always been here, but she's nearing 90. That won't last forever. A loving family is always there and willing to forgive my faults, but that may not always be the case. An illness, disaster, or hurtful comments or actions could take it all away- and sometimes without much notice.

This morning I realized, "Wow, it's weird to sit here and think how much work goes into my happy life- and I don't do but the tiniest little bit of it." Most of the things that I take for granted in my life are here by someone else's work. I pay the electric bill, but their technicians keep the juice flowing. I pay the house payment, but I don't earn the money nor did I build the house. I can plant flowers, observe stars, or call Grandmas. I chose to marry my sweet husband and gave birth to my children, but it's not me that keeps any of them here, growing and blessing my life. The one who really does all the work makes much better decisions on what's needful and what's wanted in my life. He knows much better than I what I need. I have been blessed beyond measure- and with much more frosting than I could have ever hoped.

March Madness

I'm finding that March is not my favorite month of the year. It has something to do with the end of the third term at school and every teacher thinking that warrants some sort of project and/or extra concerts. I think we're about done with the projects and half way done with the concerts. Can you believe we have 7 school-related concerts this month alone?! At least the last concert will feature 3 of our 4 instrument playing children in one concert, so that should help me feel like it's a time-saving venture. I mean "feature" as in they'll all be playing in the orchestra, not that they are featured performers.

Don't tell Joseph, though. March=birthday for him and he's counting down the days. He keeps trying to find out what he's getting by asking "So, what am I getting for my birthday?" at random times. I keep disappointing him by answering "Nothing, yet." I haven't really gotten around to birthday shopping because I've been helping with science projects, building bridges, and making electric eel habitats. (3rd graders should never be allowed to pick their own animals to report on.) Add in the "taxi-driving" aspect of motherhood and I feel like I'm never home between 3 and 5, never mind monitoring homework and chores. The actual school part of the day has been pretty mellow, and that's a good thing because that's when I'm catching up on all my sleep instead of other needful things like vacuuming and bathroom cleaning. And, somehow, my brain doesn't function very well when it's sleep deprived. (Oh, and I really do have a couple of presents for Joseph, but if he knew that he'd never leave me alone. So, it's all hush, hush right now.)

Tonight is the first night this week that I don't somewhere to go, at least not that I can think of right now. If you know of someplace I should be, please keep the info to yourself. I'm going to pick up Erica from track and then take the rest easy. Oh wait, I forgot. Greg and I get to go shopping for a new wireless router because ours died yesterday. I should also stop and get Ryan the Starbursts I promised him earlier this week. Happy Date Night to us, I suppose! It's been kind of nice not having internet capabilities on the laptop. The kids are "bored", but they also aren't glued to a game. But, there are papers to be written and information to look up and I can't read the information that Steven's orchestra teacher emailed because our Word program on this computer is too old and can't open it. The new program is on the laptop, and I can't check the email there, so a-shopping we will go.

Speaking of technology, we were challenged in that department yesterday. The CD player in the van is on the fritz and spends all it's time trying to eject something that's not in there. The poor little motor just keeps running and the screen says "Err". We tried putting in a CD to see if it would kick start it somehow, but it just turns on the radio, spits out the CD, and goes back to saying "Err". I discovered today that if I let it spit out the CD and leave it there, half way out of the player, that the motor stops running and the screen shows the time like it's supposed to. So, I've spent today with "Alvin and the Chipmunks" hanging out of the CD player. I chose that CD because I'm so sick of it that if it breaks in half I won't be sad.

And, that brings us back to March and Joseph because he got that CD for his birthday, in March, a couple of years ago. I think I'd take another school concert before I'd listen to that CD right now. Good thing I can't, in the car at least. Joseph is definitely getting something else for his birthday this year, but that's all I'm going to tell him!

Right

I should be doing dishes, but I don't feel like it. I want to write something, but haven't figured how to put what I want to say into words. Rock and a hard place. Tough one.

For those that don't know, we've had a pretty amazing weekend. The kids had Fall Break beginning last Wednesday. It happened to coincide with the first available time at the Mesa Temple for my one-year-ago baptized brother-in-law to take my sister and their sweet family to the Mesa temple to be sealed for eternity. Greg, his dad (Tom), and I were able to spend part of an afternoon in the Mesa temple with three of our children doing baptisms and confirmations. Another brother was able to schedule his 8-year-old daughter's baptism for the same weekend. All of my siblings, most of their spouses, both of my parents, my father-in-law, and my grandmother were able to be together for a few days. I love my family, all of it, both sides, and I love every minute we get to spend together.

The kids picked up perfectly timed cases of gatroenteritis on the drive home. Even this turned out to have several silver linings. Since all 5 were all sick at the same time they kind of watched out for each other. Sunday morning found them all on the floor in the living room with blankets and bowls, keeping each other company. That sight continued while Greg, Tom, and I went to church that afternoon. We were met there by Greg's brother (Mike) and his wife (Terri) and later my Aunt Nancy. They were all in our ward to be present while Greg was sustained as our bishop that day. All 5 of our kids missed it. I tried calling home on the cell phone so they could at least listen on the speaker phone at home, but the mike on my cell phone wasn't strong enough. The sweetest part came when Tom and I got home after church, though. The kids had really wanted to be there and were bummed when they couldn't hear anything. Since they couldn't hear what was happening and when, they picked a random spot during their meeting and all raised their hands to sustain their dad on their own. I don't know why that meant so much to me. I guess I just felt like that was the end of any issues we'd have with dad being bishop and gone alot. I hope I'm right.

I slept more and better than I had in weeks that night. Probably had nothing at all to do with getting no sleep the night before with kids sick all night. I know it had lots to do with a feeling of peace and that everything was right. Travel was done, we'd had some great family time, and the stress of keeping hushed about the bishop news was over. Everyone keeps asking me how life is going now. All I can say is great so far. Regular life hasn't been affected at all (knock on wood at the end of day three!). The kids are all back on their feet and back to school. I'm coming to grips with the fact that my remaining time in YW is rapidly growing very short. Even the dishes and backlog on the rest of the housework haven't been able to disrupt this feeling that everything is just "right" with the world. I don't know how long this will last, but I'm loving it.

You're Invited!! (Or at least you should have been.)

It's August. At our house that means lots of things are going on. This year the list looks something like this so far: the end of youth conference, Shan's birthday, a little Nelson reunion, Greg's birthday, Steven's birthday, friends visiting for BYU Education Week, the start of school, the start of soccer, the start of school again, the start of soccer for a second time, and our anniversary. I always hope that September brings a little bit of calm, but I'm giving up on that this year. So, bring on the rest of the birthdays and holidays and I'm looking forward to a fabulous nap in January. I've included a few pictures, if I have them, so you can feel a part of our month and all the celebrations, even if I forgot to send an invitation in time.

Shan in Maple Canyon on her birthday and at the end of Youth Conference (It's a "two-fer-one" shot. Facebook has the rest of the Youth Conference pics or email and I'll send you an invitation. The other birthday pics are of me blowing out candles with wet hair. They will not be posted here or on Facebook. Not even if you send me an email.)

Most of the Nelsons in town for our little reunion.
We're on the observation deck at the Church Office Building in Salt Lake trying to not be blown off. Majorly windy day. Others joined us later in the week, but I don't have any pictures.

Happy Birthday to all the Nelsons who have a birthday in August!
(Shan, Terri, Julia, Greg, Steven, Mike, and David)

Happy Birthday, Greg!
(He's holding the wooden knives that Steven carved for him.)

Happy Birthday, Steven!
He's holding the wooden knife Greg carved for him. It was a carving week. He also wanted this picture left just the way it was because, and I quote, "We look AWESOME with red eyes."

It was also an electric week capped with the complete dismantling of an old boom box when Steven got a new one for his birthday (which was still in the box at this point!). And I quote, "This is even better than video games!" So, I guess they really are happier without real presents. It may not be boxes like when they were 1, but old radios seem to make great presents. That should save on money spent at Christmas. (hint! hint!)

I forgot to take any pictures of our the two sweet ladies who stayed with us during Education Week, but they would go right here in our time line if they existed. I would like to make it to Ed. Week at some ppint. Unfortunately, it falls on the first week of school and I kind of feel like a mom ought to be around that first week. Maybe I'm crazy, but Ed. Week will still be there even when I don't have to think about the magical First Day of School.

That brings us to the first First Day of School:

Joseph- 7th grade

Steven- 5th grade

Ryan- 3rd grade (Yes, I TRIED to tell him those shorts didn't really match and couldn't he PLEASE make a better First Day impression and change into jean shorts, but he was quite adamant that black goes with blue and this is what he wanted to wear on his first day. Oh well. Moms worry about that kind of thing too much, I guess.)

The first First Day of school was also the first soccer game for Ryan this season.
(Don't you just LOVE his shorts? He does.)

A small diversion. Greg was working on a video project for the Library this week. This is the Science section at the library on the first First Day of School for us. Notice that it is empty. They have not started school, yet, and for some reason the people at Education Week don't stop down there much. I kept trying to get my friends to go down there for a nap because it's quite and there are soft couches to lay on, but I don't think even they stopped in. Oh well, their loss!

We had two first days of school because the middle school and high school use the first First Day of School as an orientation for the incoming 7th and 9th graders respectively. So, Joseph, Steven, and Ryan went on the first First Day. Erica and Spencer went on the second First Day.

Erica- 11th grade
(Yes, she catches the bus at "Sun-rise O'clock"- at least for now. Later in the fall and winter she catches it pre-dawn.)

Spencer- 8th grade

If we had a kindergartner we would have a third First Day, but that's not until next week and thankfully it won't impact our lives. Whew! Our little friend, Lizzie, is very anxiously counting down the days, though.

The second First Day also happened to fall on our 17th anniversary. It did not even dawn on me to take any pictures. Greg took the following:

because the second First Day and our anniversary also happened to be Steven's first soccer game day. It was also soccer practice for Spencer and Joseph as well as the open house at the middle school. Greg went with Steven while I took Spencer and Joseph. So, in order to have a little celebration, Greg took the day off and we went to the temple and out to lunch at the Sky Room Restaurant at BYU. (There are many, many Ed. Week people that visit the Sky Room. Maybe that's why they're not in the library.)

Well, that's it for now. Greg, Spencer, and Joseph had a scout camp out last night (no pictures, aren't you glad!) and we had a Stake picnic tonight.

As my friend, Lisa, named her- Erica Shortcake

Our friend, Dallas.
And everyone thinks we are boring people. Just look how wild and crazy we can be.

I thought it was nice of the Stake to fix dinner for me to celebrate our second-day-after-our-anniversary. Do you celebrate that day? We usually don't either.

I should probably write...

As the title of this blog is "Everyday Miracles", the idea was to record everyday, or at least close to it. Who knew July 8 was so long ago!

So, what's miraculous about today, or even any of the last 15?

1) The pumpkins have lived and we actually have a pumpkin growing. For some reason, there are currently LOTS of male flowers on the plants, so one is all we have, but it appears there may be a couple more female flowers opening soon.

2) Two days ago I got all the laundry washed, folded, and into the right bedroom. Yesterday was the same, only because I never put any laundry into the laundry room. As a result, the baskets in the laundry room were put away and empty for more than 24 hours.

3) We had a Young Women presidency meeting that only lasted 45 minutes.

4) I found out that even though school is going to be starting a day later than originally announced, all of the extra days off have been canceled- I assume for budgetary reasons. Now we only have days off around actual holidays. I'm happy, Erica is not.

5) Steven and Ryan have somehow kept themselves nicely entertained even though Spencer and Joseph are at scout camp.

6) The heat has reminded me that the person who invented air conditioning deserves a Nobel Peace Prize.

7) Sparkling blueberry frozen yogurt is really yummy. Another wonderful invention.

8) Saw a perfect clear double rainbow right outside the front door.

9) Made tofu spinach dip and people (most of whom were not related to me) actually liked it. Erica was the only real exception, though I'm not sure Greg ever had the chance to try it.

10) Watched Greg run the games for the little kids at the Library picnic and was reminded why he's such a great dad.

11) Joseph told me he likes baby carrots. (About fell down at that announcement.)

12) Ryan said he's beginning to like green beans. (Good thing I was already sitting down at the table. FYI- I don't know what the current "# of times to try before they like it" guide doctors are telling moms these days, but for us it was 8 years, 1 month, and about 2 weeks of having green beans a couple of times a week.)

13) USM didn't raise their tuition for Greg's MLIS program for the fall.

14) After a year of living here, Greg and I fixed the sprinkling system. Now, not only do all the heads spray like they should, not one of them needed to be replaced. They just had dirt, rocks, lint, and grass inside the filters or needed the spray levels adjusted.

15) I hiked up to the "Y" twice in 3 days and had fun doing so.

16) Saw the chewed piece of gum that some passerby thought would be funny to stick on the black car door handle in the hot sun before I put my thumb in it when opening the door after shopping and had a piece of paper handy to remove it.

So, what little miracles have happened for you today?

10 Random Things For Today

I'm in the mood to write, but don't have really anything to say. It's kind of a strange predicament. So, we'll see what we get with a little stream of consciousness exercise.

1) Erica voluntarily sat and watched both sessions of conference today. And took notes. It was cool, but kind of strange. That's definitely a new attitude.

2) The boys only watched the few minutes of conference that we asked them to. That means all 4 watched when the the new member of the Quorum of the Twelve, Neil L. Andersen, was announced and Spencer and Joseph watch when Bro. Neider spoke to the young men and then at the Priesthood session, of course. Otherwise, they didn't interrupt us or fight once during both sessions. It was cool, but kind of strange. That, too, is definitely a new attitude. (We should have General Conference weekend more often!)

3) We watched "The Count of Monte Cristo" with the kids last night. They loved it, especially all the sword fighting and treasure.

4) The General YM Presidency was released today. Bros. Dahlquist and Burgess spoke at the YW Training that I went to earlier this week. Bro. Dahlquist finished his Virtue value three weeks before Sis. Dalton, the General YW President. Yes, that is a YW project, but I think it's great that he did it. I'm getting there, but am not done yet. Consider yourself challenged to complete it as well. Click on the link for more info.

5) We got a piece of junk mail addressed "To The Parents of" Greg today. What?! How did that happen?

6) Our mailman lives down the street. I'd ask him about the junk mail, but he doesn't address it, he just delivers it.

7) We had popcorn and tomato soup, quesadillas, and pears for dinner. Except for one child about the pears, there were no complaints. Miracle. I even heard some "yum"s and "yes!"s while I was serving it up.

8) I love watching the weather move across the valley. Today we had little falling balls of snow. Not ice or hail, snow, and I could see the sun shining farther south.

9) I should be writing a newsletter. I thought this would be faster, though, and then I could go to bed.

10) I think my Stream of Consciousness either dried up or became a Stream of Unconsciousness because that's all that is coming to mind.

Happy Saturday. Hope you have a great weekend!

Joy Cometh in the Morning (Psalms 30:5)

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth."

Joseph turned twelve a week and a half ago. Because his birthday fell on a Monday, he wasn't able to get a temple recommend until the following Sunday, so today was his first trip to the temple. The last couple of weeks have been nice, but this morning there was a slight dusting of snow on the ground and it was pretty chilly- all the more incentive to hurry up and get inside. It was crowded today for some reason, but it was a great morning. I loved watching Spencer play the role of big brother beautifully and direct Joseph where he needed to be. Once again, I'm so grateful that Erica wanted to start this as a weekly experience and I overrode my own hesitations and agreed. The above scripture, 3 John 1:4, has been running through my head all day. I think there may be only one joy greater- to actually be able to see it.

Cemetery Service

Joseph finished up his Citizenship in the Community merit badge over the weekend. Part of the requirements is a community service project. We had a hard time finding one for some one his age until United Way sent him (us!) over to the city cemetery to rake pine cones. He was trying to be done by Saturday, so we spent most of his afternoons there last week trying to get his 8 hours in. Joseph was pretty sick and tired of pine cones by Friday afternoon, but he stuck it out and did a great job.


We pretty much only saw one part of the cemetery, but it had some neat headstones. One was for President Hinckley's grandparents (Ira and Adelaide Hinckley),


another for Dan Jones (a body guard of Joseph Smith in Nauvoo and Carthage)


and my great, great grandparents, John Joseph and Mary Frances Mosely Woffinden, their son, John W. Woffinden, as well as Mary's father, Thomas Mosely.


The Woffinden's were Joseph's favorite because they are not buried near any trees at all, much less pine trees! The saddest for all of us were the children, especially those just a day or two old. There were far too many of those. It was sobering for our children to realize just how unusual it is for most babies to survive into adulthood like they do now. Our medical system isn't perfect, but compared to life in the not-too-distant past, we're doing ok.

It was a crazy week and I'm not sure Ryan actually got his homework done everyday, but I really loved that project. I may go back myself sometime just to help out. There was such a quiet peace while we were there. It felt good to be doing something nice for these people who came and went before.

Joseph

The trend, I've noticed, on birthdays is for a sentimental, tender expression of love and/or history for said birthday-er. Today was Joseph's big day, but he'd hate sappy, so I will refrain and settle for a couple of quick sentences.

He had a party on Friday with some friends. (One ducked right at the last minute!)

They ate pizza, played video games, had cake/ice cream, and behaved themselves. It was great.

Today we did the family presents, donuts and juice.

I also broke down and let them watch TV. (I am getting weak as that's happening all too often on "special days off". It's amazing how many of those can come up!) His mean mother then forced everyone out of the house for a quick trip (I mean it, less than 40 minutes including travel time) to the BYU Museum of Art to see the Walter Wick exhibit. He's the guy who does the "I Spy" and "Do You See What I See?" books. It was great and they loved it for the 17.2 minutes that we were there (5 minutes of which was in the restroom!). I forgot the camera until half way there and knew I have a mutiny on my hands if we went back to get it. We wrapped up the day with Family Home Evening and ice cream (vanilla, cookies and cream, and orange sherbet) with hot fudge (yes, even the orange sherbet. Bleh!). Joseph didn't want a second cake. No problem. Hot Fudge sauce is WAY faster to make! He still wasn't big on pictures, but after holding his ice cream hostage, I got one.

Then off to bed at a MUCH more reasonable time than last night.

Happy Birthday, Joseph!
(Thanks for the picture, Erica!)

Post Pre-Birthday Camp Out

This is what I found last night when I went to check on everyone:
(Sorry, but I can't figure out how to turn of the underlining. This must be REALLY important stuff!)

What an amazing amount of rest is going on!


This is the result this morning:

The only thing that got any one out of bed today was the promise of Joseph's presents and donuts and juice. Good thing there was no school today. I thought they'd crash at some point, but they made it all the way through. Bed time was pretty welcome, though!

Pre-Birthday Camp Out

9:00-ish-Tomorrow is Joseph's 12th birthday and the school district was nice enough to give him the day off for a Teacher Quality Day. It also might snow for the first time in several weeks, so we can pretend it's a snow day, too. So, to prolong the birthday excitement as long as possible, Joseph asked if he could sleep on the bean bag tonight. I don't know why that is such a treat as I would take my bed any day over the bean bag, but it is. Well, one thing led to another and right now all 5 kids are in Spencer and Joseph's room for a pre-birthday "camp out". I won't say "sleep-over" because judging by the sounds floating up from the basement there is no sleep going on at this point. I'm not bothered, though. They are very happy, friendly voices and no one is bothering any one else (minor miracle, but not one of the "everyday" variety, unfortunately!). They are talking and laughing and having a great time. It's a smiling heart moment for me.

10:55- They are still talking and laughing and having a great time, though it has slowed down considerably. The suggestion to make this a birthday tradition has been tossed around. I am all for spending quality time with the siblings and making some fun memories. Memories at 11:00 p.m. are the #1 reason we don't do these things on a school night, so a huge line will be drawn there! For now, the rest of the lights are going out and the boring grown-ups are going to sleep.

I Never Thought The Day Would Come When...

...the kids would have a campout and I wouldn't do anything for it but run to the grocery store and then drive them to the meeting spot. It came today. For two children, Spencer and Joseph, no less. Part of it is the fact that Spencer has had enough camp outs that I know he knows what's what. The other part is that I am old (and tired) enough to let them really experience the natural consequences of packing (or not) for themselves. One night will not kill them. Of course, the real reason could be that I've already passed this milestone with Spencer or Erica and just can't remember. (A mind is such a terrible thing to waste!) My subconscious mind, for instance, might be telling me everything went fine before and not to worry. If that's the case, I get to double dip in life's Bowl of Satisfaction and am enjoying it very much the second time around. The boys asked for my help packing last night and I politely declined ( partly so I could keep playing Wii tennis- how's that for being a caring parent!). Today afterschool they packed their food into a cooler, fit the big stuff into garbage bags, and even loaded everything in the car. Funny how liberating that is. Next stop on this road is the driving up, unloading the child(ren) and belongings at said meeting point and driving away. Haven't quite gotten there, yet. Maybe next time. I guess there are still milestones/ stumbling blocks to be encountered on the raising child path that always seem huge deals with your first children but almost disappear for later children. I hope by the time Ryan is going on these little adventures that I at least remember the fact that he's going. Maybe by then the trip to the grocery store and the dropping off will be icing rather than resposibilties for mom. Who knows!

Courage

"Courage is that quality of mind which meets danger or opposition with calmness and firmness which enables a man to face difficulties that lie in his pathway to righteous achievement...Courage implies facing difficulties and overcoming them."
-David O. McKay

We had a little experience last night that has had me thinking about this quote for the past 12 hours. Last night was one of those nights where almost everyone has some where different to be at almost the same time. Spencer and Steven had scouts at 6:00. Spencer at the scout master's house. Steven at the church. Ryan had a soccer game at 6:30 and Greg was the designated driver and parent in attendance. Erica and I had Young Women at 7:00 at the church. As we currently don't have an 11-year-old Scout leader, Joseph was the only one not rushing out the door. Our schedules meant that he would be home by himself for an hour or so, until Greg and Ryan got home form the game. No big deal, he stays home all the time.

About 7:50 I had a call from home on my cell phone. I hate it when the girls (or the leaders) use their phones during YW and since Greg should have been home long before that, I didn't feel like taking the call and answering a profound question like, "Can we have some ice cream?" Unexpected calls from home always worry me, just a little, so I changed my mind and stepped out into the hall to return it.

The phone rang and was answered by someone. All I could her was yelling or hysterics over an extremely terrible connection. I couldn't even tell who it was. Finally I could make out that it was Joseph. He sounded hysterical and said something about a man and the back door and then the line went dead. My heart about stopped and fell out on the floor. My first thought was , "Where is Greg? He should be home by now." I called his phone. The game had started late, but he was almost to the bottom of our hill and was on his way to take Ryans friend, Jaron, home. I told him about Joseph's call and he agreed to book it home as fast as he could. I, being health and gasoline conscious, had of course walked to church and it would take me a good 10 minutes to get back home. Greg would definitely beat me. I called home, but no one answered. I decided to keep calling until either Joseph or Greg picked up.

Part way through my 4th call, I turned around to see Joseph sobbing and running barefoot down the church hallway. I gave him a huge hug and sat on the couch, waiting for him to calm down and tell me what happened-oh, and called Greg to tell him that Joseph wasn't home so he wouldn't freak out when he got there.

Turns out that the doorbell had rung and Joseph had answered it. A tall creepy-looking man with short, reddish blond hair asked to speak to his parents. Joseph said they weren't able to come to the door then and to come back later. Then the man looked at him very strangely and told him to go ask his parents why the couldn't come to the door. That was enough on the creep-o-meter for Joseph. He shut the door and locked it, grabbed the phone, and ran out the back door; calling me on the way. The connection was terrible because he was rapidly running through the backyard behind our house and away from the phone base. It went dead when he got out of range.

Greg got home and found no one. He made Ryan and Jaron stay in the car with the doors locked, just in case. He searched the house but found no one there and nothing out of place (except the total destruction in the basement from Ryan and Jaron playing all afternoon). He closed and locked the house and left to take Jaron home. On the way, he passed a man meeting Joseph's description at the door of our neighbor, Nicole, down the street. She's our Primary president, so Greg went and confronted him at her door. Greg said he did look kind of creepy and didn't seem at all concerned that he had terrified our son. Nicole called later to say that she had been kind of creeped out, too. The guy was going door-to-door selling essential oils. She had been trying to close the door and go get her kids to bed, but he wouldn't let her. I don't know where he went after that, but Greg came down to church to pick up Joseph and Steven and they saw him walking across the street on their way home. We haven't seen him since.

So, it was a totally freaky experience, but has had me thinking about courage. Courage really isn't the "laugh-in-the-face-of-danger" bravado that we sometimes imagine. It really is keeping a cool head and doing what needs to be done in the face of some obstacle or difficulty. In Joseph's case, it happened to be intense personal danger-or at least the perception of it. (I really want to believe that it was just a really bad case of miscommunication and misunderstanding, but I don't know that.) Sometimes courage is standing up to do what's right, even if it means doing so all by yourself in the face of laughter or ridicule. No one "laughs in the face of danger" at those times, but that's when the biggest character strides forward are taken and the deepest depths of your strength and faith are tested. I'm hoping that this particular instance gives Joseph the knowledge that he can remember the right things to do and then do them even when the doing seems impossible, whatever the circumstance. Because, last night, my hero was a terrified young man who faced a very huge difficulty and overcame it.

First Day of School, Round 2

Today was the first day of school for Erica. She and I went yesterday to find all of her classrooms, but she was still pretty nervous as well as excited. She catches her bus at 6:57. I think there is something wrong with having a "6" as the first number in a school-related time. I offered to walk her to the bus, just so she would know she was loved, but she assured me she could walk the 5 or 6 houses to the bus stop just fine all by herself. She never came back, so I assume she caught a bus and made it to school ok.



I should clarify something about the kids pictures. Neither day was overcast, even though it looks that way to me. We are just right up next to the mountains to our east and the sun hasn't been all the way over them by the time the kids are leaving in the morning. In Erica's picture you can see that the western sky is still pink and blue. Wonder what it will be like in the winter!

Now, everyone has gone for a day, but not everyone is gone today. Joseph went to bed not feeling very well and woke this morning all pastey (the computer doesn't like how I spelled this and I don't like it's suggestion, so you get mine!) and feeling like he was going to throw up. He's been asleep all morning and still doesn't feel well. Hopefully this is a 1 day bug (and a 1 individual bug!). We'll try again tomorrow to get everyone out the door.

First Day of School, Round 1

The boys all started school today. The junior high and high schools only have the youngest grades (7th and 9th) go the first day for orientation. 8th and 10th-12th start tomorrow. That means Erica got one more day of summer vacation. She and I went up to school and found all her classrooms. It looks like a great school. She's pretty excited to start. The boys were excited, but they won't tell you that.

Spencer's been torn between excited and nervous all weekend. He's finally making the big jump to Jr. high. He told me yesterday morning that he'd dreamed about trying to pick out an outfit to wear the first day. I honestly didn't think boys EVER did that. (By the way, he wore today what he decided on in his dream!) His bus never showed up this morning, so Greg dropped him off. Hopefully he can find the buses (and hopefully it comes this time!) to get home this afternoon. He gets just a half day orientation today. Tomorrow real life begins.

Joseph tried to convince me that he's is guaranteed the right to the pursuit of happiness. Since staying home from school would make him happy, he shouldn't have to go. Too bad! The right to the pursuit of happiness doesn't allow you to break the law, and skipping school is against the law. Besides, I needed him to be out of the house and school's as good a place as, or better than, any.

Steven had the best start to school ever. The first day has always been traumatic for him, but today he just ran to the door waving and yelling "Bye!" as he went. It probably helps that a new family moved in down the street with a boy in his class. I don't care what the reason, I was floored and totally happy to have no tears and actually see a smile as he left.

It's supposed to be 93 today, but Ryan insisted on his favorite long sleeve shirt. If it makes him happy, I really don't care. He was pretty nonplussed all the way to school and on the playground. He was almost even brave enough to walk inside to his classroom by himself, but changed his mind a the last minute. I guess it's nice to be needed just a teeny bit!


So, tomorrow everyone goes and will be there all day. Spencer just called. Apparently the bus broke down this morning and he has no way to get home. Wonder what they'll do with a whole bus full of kids stuck at school. Happy First Day back!

I'm Not Sure I'll Ever Understand

Erica left for Girl's Camp this morning. This camp, unlike our last "resort" has no showers. They'll be there until Saturday afternoon (that's 5 days, glad I'm not riding back on the bus!). The thing here is for the girls to braid their hair in little braids because it apparently looks less dirty over time. Then, they pull it back in a ponytail so it's out of the way. I'm alright with that. So, I've included a couple of "during" shots of Erica and then her "after" picture when she left this morning.




The part that I don't understand is that last week I couldn't get Joseph to smile for a normal, everyday shot at the Bean Museum, but he was more than willing to pose for the following. I just don't get it!

Guess that's what keeps us on our toes!