Funny Kids

Nathanael, saying the alphabet very slowly and distinctly, gets hung up on the same spot all kids seem to have trouble: "j...k...l...m...MOE...p"


Nathanael also is trying to learn his nursery rhymes. He sings, "Tickery Tickery Dock. The mouse ran up the house. No. Tickery Tickery Tock. The mouse ran up the house.   No. Tickery Tickery Dock. The mouse ran up the clock. Tee Tee Tee. Tickery Tickery tock. A mouse ran up the house."

He'll get it right one of these times.....

The Touring Life

One of the biggest challenges I found on tour with kids was birthdays or other celebration-worthy days. You can't skip a kid's birthday, and they want a cake.  And cakes, from the store, are SO expensive--and usually nasty.  We never could justify the cost--touring is expensive, and we're lucky if we bring home enough to pay the mortgage on our house at the end of two weeks.

The other thing I've noticed when we're on tour is that sometimes we just want a good old-fashioned home-cooked dessert, minus the artificial colors, preservatives, and overabundance of sugar. And sometimes I just want to bake.

So I finally found a good, easy MICROWAVEABLE cupcakes recipe, which also works for cake, and which is unbelievably fast.

One of the keys to cooking in a hotel room is keeping in mind that cleanup is not easy, and that we have to carry in anything we want to use, so we have limited kitchen tools on hand (only one glass bowl, for example). Almost everything we have must be disposable, and the fewer dishes we have to wash at the end of the day, the better. Also, we've discovered that hotel sinks are small and shallow, and many dishes don't even fit in them, which complicates washing and therefore cooking.

While almost everything needs to be disposable, we've also found that we have to keep garbage to a minimum--hotel rooms don't have large trash cans for a family of 8 to use.

This recipe uses minimal equipment, basic ingredients, and is easy. And it tastes good. Instead of frosting, top the cake/cupcakes with a scoop of ice cream or cool whip. Hotels all have different rules about fire in the rooms, but we figure if they don't get mad when people smoke in rooms (and they don't, no matter what their official policy is), they won't even notice if you light a birthday candle and then blow it out.

Cone Cupcakes/ Bowl Cake

10-12 ice cream cones, flat bottom kind

3 tbsp cocoa powder

½ c butter

½ c water

1 c flour

1 c sugar

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

2 eggs

¼ c buttermilk, sour cream, or yogurt (or milk with 1 tsp lemon juice in it)

1 tsp vanilla

Put butter, water, and cocoa powder in glass mixing bowl. Microwave for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave it again if the butter needs more time to melt, and stir again. Add, in this order and without stirring until the end, sugar, flour, soda, and salt. Stir well. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Stir for 1-2 minutes, until mixed. At this point, you can stick it in the microwave and cook it until it looks dry on top (I haven't done the whole batch before, so I don't know how long it takes. But 1 c in a small cereal bowl cooks in about 2 minutes). Or, spoon it into flat-bottomed ice cream cones (The kind that say “cake cones” on the box), filling to an inch of the top. Microwave for 1-1 ½ minutes (no longer, I caught one on fire microwaving it 2 ½ minutes). They're done when they look dry on top. 

Now you can have a birthday party, and, if you use the ice cream cones, almost no cleanup OR garbage to throw away.

Did I just read that?

All from the same article.


"She also started rigorous physical therapy, dangling her legs over her bedside to exercise her muscles and sitting in a chair for periods at a time. "

Rigorous chair sitting is my favorite therapy, although rigorous leg dangling isn't too bad.


"The cognitive ability and the speech are the key things," he said. "We know that she's moving her limbs. The question is, how strong is she."

Because limb strength always indicates cognitive ability and speech. That's why wrestlers and football players have such a strong reputation for.....hey, wait a minute here.......





"Giffords' family hopes to move the Arizona congresswoman on Friday to TIRR Memorial Hermann hospital in Houston, where her husband lives and works as an astronaut."

I bet you didn't know hospitals kept astronauts on staff. Their job? Well, some patients are pretty spacey, especially when they're on narcotics.

"the wounded congresswoman stood up and looked a window"

Hey, now. Let's not be mean. So she had a bullet pass through her head and they removed part of her skull. No need to start throwing that "window" insult.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/01/20/giffords-relearn-basic-skills-texas-rehab/#ixzz1BZWIrozc

What I read today, and some quotes

http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/temple-mirrors-of-eternity-a-testimony-of-family?lang=eng


" growing together in love and faithfulness, we can give children roots and wings."

"Having dwelt in flesh and subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, our Savior knows how to succor us, His people, in our pains, afflictions, temptations, sicknesses, even death.  Having “descended below all things,”  our Savior can bear our griefs and carry our sorrows. “He was wounded for our transgressions, … bruised for our iniquities … ; [with our Savior’s] stripes we are healed.” "

"only our Savior’s Atonement transcends time and space to swallow up death, anger, bitterness, unfairness, loneliness, and heartbreak. Sometimes things go wrong even though we have done our very best. A Lamb innocent and pure, our Savior weeps with and for us. When we always remember Him, He can stand with us “at all times and in all things, and in all places that [we] may be in.” His “faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death.” In drawing us to Him, our Savior also draws us to our Father in Heaven. While some things are imperfect on earth, we can trust our Heavenly Father to complete “redemption’s grand design, where justice, love, and mercy meet in harmony divine!”

Mormon Mommy Blogs, from an atheist POV

This is surprising--and happily, so.

"Self-proclaimed feminist and atheist Emily Matchar recently wrote for Salon about her "addiction" to such blogs, calling them strangely uplifting and even encouraging.

"Indeed, Mormon bloggers ... make marriage and motherhood seem, well, fun. Easy. Joyful," Matchar wrote. "These women seem relaxed and untouched by cynicism. It's not that (my friend) or I want to quit our jobs to bake brownies or sew kiddie Halloween costumes. It's just that for (my friend), Mormon blogs are an escapist fantasy, a way to imagine a sweeter, simpler life.""

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=14053365

But Marriage and Motherhood ARE fun, easy, and joyful. 

It's the only escapist fantasy you could actually join if you wanted to. Why not?

Anda is so cool

Just when I start to worry that I was totally off-base thinking I should be throwing my 7 year old into a college biology course, I get this.

She woke me up this morning with (and I quote. Directly. No paraphrasing at all.): "Mom, what are the symptoms of rhinovirus?"

What? Why?

I think I mumbled "Stuffy nose."

"Oh. Good," she said.

"Why? Are you sick?" I asked, coming more awake.

No, she explained. She's writing a comic, and the main character is a single cell, and the first episode is called, "Trouble in the nose."

In it, the Immune system sends Cellina and her dog, Nuclea, to battle rhinoviruses in the nose. And, since we were just studying the Lytic and Lysogenic cycles (virus "life" cycles), and also how the immune system works, I suspect she'll get it right and also exciting.

And I wasn't sure she was getting it.....

I love that homeschooled kids often come up with their own projects to show they are engaged in the material--no forcing, coercing, begging, pleading, or bribing involved. Just excited kids learning exciting things and applying them in cross-curricular ways. No teacher could ask for more!

What I read today, part 3:

"the only sure and secure road to protection in this life comes through trusting in and obeying the counsel from the prophets of God."

http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/our-very-survival?lang=eng

" We would do well to search out answers to our problems and questions by investigating what the Lord has revealed through His prophets. With that same technology today, we have at our fingertips access to the words of the prophets on nearly any subject. What has God taught us about marriage and the family through His prophets? What has He taught us about education and provident living through His prophets? What has He taught us about personal happiness and fulfillment through His prophets?"

" [Follow] … the living prophet and the First Presidency … and be blessed; reject them and suffer."

What I read today, part 2:

http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/faith-the-choice-is-yours?lang=eng

"So I say, choose faith. Choose faith over doubt, choose faith over fear, choose faith over the unknown and the unseen, and choose faith over pessimism."

"Yes, faith is a choice, and it must be sought after and developed. Thus, we are responsible for our own faith. We are also responsible for our lack of faith. The choice is yours."

"By moving forward into the unknown, armed only with hope and desire, we show evidence of our faith and our devotion to the Lord."

"If confusion and hopelessness weigh on your mind, choose to “awake and arouse your faculties” (Alma 32:27). Humbly approaching the Lord with a broken heart and contrite spirit is the pathway to truth and the Lord’s way of light, knowledge, and peace."

"When logic, reason, or personal intellect come into conflict with sacred teachings and doctrine, or conflicting messages assault your beliefs as the fiery darts described by the Apostle Paul (see Ephesians 6:16), choose to not cast the seed out of your heart by unbelief. Remember, we receive not a witness until after the trial of our faith (seeEther 12:6)."

"As strong as our faith is, with all the mixed messages attacking it, it can also become very fragile. It needs constant nourishment through continued scripture study, prayer, and the application of His word."

"And because of faith I have personally witnessed a mountain of pain replaced with peace, hope, and gratitude."

What I read today:

http://lds.org/ensign/2009/09/the-influence-of-righteous-women?lang=eng

He says, " Sisters, you are an essential part of our Heavenly Father’s plan for eternal happiness; you are endowed with a divine birthright. You are the real builders of nations wherever you live, because strong homes of love and peace will bring security to any nation. I hope you understand that, and I hope the men of the Church understand it too.

What you sisters do today will determine how the principles of the restored gospel can influence the nations of the world tomorrow. It will determine how these heavenly rays of the gospel will light every land in the future.4

...
May I invite you to rise to the great potential within you. But don’t reach beyond your capacity. Don’t set goals beyond your capacity to achieve. Don’t feel guilty or dwell on thoughts of failure. Don’t compare yourself with others. Do the best you can, and the Lord will provide the rest. Have faith and confidence in Him, and you will see miracles happen in your life and the lives of your loved ones. The virtue of your own life will be a light to those who sit in darkness, because you are a living witness of the fulness of the gospel (see D&C 45:28). Wherever you have been planted on this beautiful but often troubled earth of ours, you can be the one to “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees” (D&C 81:5).

My dear sisters, as you live your daily life with all its blessings and challenges, let me assure you that the Lord loves you. He knows you. He listens to your prayers, and He answers those prayers, wherever on this world you may be. He wants you to succeed in this life and in eternity.

Brethren, I pray that we as priesthood holders—as husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, and friends of these choice women—may see them as the Lord sees them, as daughters of God with limitless potential to influence the world for good."

Did I just read that?

From the Las Vegas Sun today: "Las Vegas sees record heat as high hits 74 degrees"

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/jan/17/las-vegas-sees-record-heat-high-hits-74-degrees/

Las Vegas...record heat...high..74? That sounds like a record LOW for Vegas!

(I know, I know--I lived there. It's usually about 30 degrees all winter. But the headline still sounds funny.)

What I read today, and some quotes

http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/let-there-be-light-?lang=eng

" it is essential that values based on religious belief be part of the public discourse. Moral positions informed by a religious conscience must be accorded equal access to the public square. Under the constitutions of most countries, a religious conscience may not be given preference, but neither should it be disregarded."

" He pointed out that in societies where the citizens are taught from a young age to feel accountable to God for honesty and integrity, they will abide by rules and practices that, while unenforceable, promote democratic ideals. In societies where this is not true, there cannot be enough policemen to enforce honest behavior. "

"Let me be clear that all voices need to be heard in the public square. Neither religious nor secular voices should be silenced. Furthermore, we should not expect that because some of our views emanate from religious principles, they will automatically be accepted or given preferential status. But it is also clear such views and values are entitled to be reviewed on their merits."

"We need to protect our families and be at the forefront together with all people of goodwill in doing everything we can to preserve light, hope, and morality in our communities."

Did I just read that?

From Fox News.com: "Jennifer Lopez, a presenter for the evening, covered up her long white dress in a shear shawl."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/slideshow/entertainment/2011/01/16/best-worst-th-annual-golden-globes/#ixzz1BH7La91L

Latest fashion for the Golden Globes: the Barber Look! Now, is that a shawl covered with shears, or one shaped like a pair of scissors? It might have been more...um...pointed...if she'd worn a red-and-white striped barber-pole pattern dress!

Some things never change....

My first post ever on this blog, September 20, 2006, ended with the question, "So do we have no home, or no Daddy?"

Funny how some questions never get answered.

4 1/2 years later, we're still asking that very thing....

Sad Note

Melody Yellowvan, our beloved 1996 Honda Odyssey, is on its last legs...er...wheels.

We bought it in May 2006, used, from a nice Turkish family that were returning to Turkey. They fed us Turkish pizza--it had mashed potatoes and hot dogs on it, and I was genuinely surprised that it tasted good. Most expensive car we've ever owned, too--we had to use our whole tax refund plus borrow $2200 from my parents to pay for her, but we've owned her outright all this time.

In just over 4 1/2 years, we've put almost exactly 120,000 miles on that car, bringing the total miles up to over 250,000 miles. We've put on numerous sets of new tires. We had her fitted with a tow hitch and bought a little yuppie wagon trailer that she pulled, fully loaded with sound equipment when she was already fully loaded with people. In all of that, she's  had maybe 3 formal oil changes and one repair--to the power steering system when a part broke--and it had to be done twice. Because music is a tough business, she's had no new filter, no tune ups, no flushes or help of any kind. I think my Dad put new breaks on her once or twice.

Melody has been thrown up in, spilled in, colored, scratched, cleaned. One child drew a giant smiley face on her hood in permanent marker. She's been in a few fender-benders. We even made up a song about her that everyone in the family can and does sing.

In that time, we toured all over the West, sometimes with musicians and sometimes with kids in the car. We've gone from having 3 kids to having 6, bringing home three new babies in that van. We've lived in 4 houses in 3 states (beginning and ending in the exact same house). We've had trips to the church, school, library, grocery store, ER, dentist, doctor's office, airport, mountains, ocean, Grandma's house, weddings, funerals, duck ponds, friend's houses. We've had major discussions, and long quiet drives. The radio died not long after we bought her, and we never fixed it--and that's been a really wonderful, pleasant thing. The car became a kind of sanctuary for learning, discussion, and quiet thought. It's a place where Tim composed, revised, planned, dreamed, worked.

Unfortunately, no car can last forever. The tail gate no longer stays up. The inside driver's-side door handle is long gone (you have to open the window to let yourself out). The windows are scratched. The paint is dinged up. The front turn signal is missing entirely. It's been bumped, bruised, rear-ended (lightly, but more than once). And, as of this week, the engine is smoking like crazy, and it's going through a quart a oil a day. At least. And we're not driving it far each day.

With 250,000 miles on it, and without enough seats for our whole family anymore, it's getting close to time to say goodbye to Melody Yellowvan.

She's been a fantastic car--how many cars can take that much abuse and just keep going without needing either maintenance or repairs?

We'll miss her.

What I read today and yesterday

This again: http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/of-things-that-matter-most?lang=eng
and this: http://lds.org/general-conference/2008/10/happiness-your-heritage?lang=eng
and this: http://lds.org/ensign/1996/06/the-invisible-heartbreaker?lang=eng
and this (I skimmed this): http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/the-sustaining-of-church-officers?lang=eng
and this: http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/agency-essential-to-the-plan-of-life?lang=eng

Obviously, my mind was going all over the place!

Did I just read that?

From Fox News: "Motta de Lima came to find the body of four relatives presumed buried in the slide"

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/01/15/brazil-slide-survivors-left-fend/#ixzz1B9mdHfQv

Multiple personalities? 

offensive! Warning!

I find this book offensive on so many levels. I can't even explain how much it grates against my soul.

http://deseretbook.com/Children-You-Want-Kids-Have-Marie-Ricks/i/5041571

Start with the title: "Children you want with the kids you have".  What? In other words, your kids don't measure up to your dreams, so instead of loving them, you're going to REMAKE them? That shows the ultimate disrespect for them, both as individuals and as creations of God. Besides, it doesn't work. It just damages the kids' psyches. How about loving, valuing, respecting the kids you have and helping them learn to deal with who they naturally are in the real world? Maybe you should get to know them instead of NOT WANTING them. Sheesh.

The description: "Do you want to know the secret of getting kids to work? Train them early! If you want your children to work together, finish their chores, complete their homework, and take care of their own personal hygiene and possessions, you have to train them. And it usually takes a helping hand and a few hints from someone who has "been there - done that." These suggestions, charts, and to-do lists from professional organize Marie Ricks will get you well on your way to having a clean home, a well-kept yard, and helpful, hardworking, on-their-way-to-being-independent children."

OH! So really the title should be "The SLAVES you want from the kids you have." That is more what this book is about.

Because, obviously, nobody wants a kid who has ADD, or is a little creative but also a little messy, or a kid who is busy programming computers and doesn't finish their chores, or a kid who has Asperger's.....

Because obviously all adults work together without stress, finish their chores before they do anything else, finish their housework every day.....etc.

Gosh, according to this, nobody wants my kids. Or ME. Or my husband--or anything he contributes to the world (like his music, videos, etc).

Newsflash: Creative people don't live this way. As adults. They don't work with other people. They don't finish chores if inspiration strikes. They lose their possessions--or give them away. And if you didn't have creative people in the world, doing everything "wrong," you also would have no music, art, books, dance, film....You want to live in that perfectly organized, clean, well-kept world? Sterile. No fun.

I don't even WANT a life like that. Might look pretty. And be pretty stifling. Not to mention stressfully impossible, and therefore confidence-shattering. Making that kind of organized the highest good destroys a lot of souls. Just sayin'. MOST of us can't live like that, and we waste a lot of energy feeling guilty about it. And this book is there to teach your children that THEY need to feel guilty about it, too, because if it doesn't come easy to them, then they are not wanted.

One of her chapters: "6. Obedience Is First, Honesty Is Second, and Their Bedroom Is Third"

Really? And here I am, busily teaching them that God is first. And everything else comes after, in a different order depending on the day and what the Spirit tells them. I guess I should put their bedroom in there somewhere. And start telling them that obeying me is more important than being honest. Because, after all, I am the most important thing EVER, and my instructions are always infallible and always have the greater view of what's going on everywhere.

I have issues with a lot of the things she says in the excerpt, too, but it's nitpicky.

It's probably a great book if you are a completely  uncreative person who needs a white-glove-approved house in order to think.

But for the rest of us? Nah....if you want clean, try the FlyLady instead. And WANT your children. As they are.

Did I just read that?

From Fox News today: "A spokeswoman for E.E. Pickle Funeral Home in Amory said funeral arrangements were incomplete."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/01/14/touched-angel-star-john-dye-dead-home/#ixzz1B3xGZzPC

I just had to laugh.  A funeral home called Pickle? Where they show off preserved bodies?

I laughed, but also wondered--isn't it a bit disrespectful? The name, I  mean. 

Did I just read that?

Boulder Craigslist http://boulder.craigslist.org/cto/2125460043.html: "Good running van just need to fix speedometer and gas gauge not working, minor scratches on side of door. Won't last long."

If you're selling a used car, "Won't last long" is NOT what you want to say.  I don't want yet another used car that is going to fall apart not long after I buy it!

Living on Tour

I started this blog initially to document what I thought was a rather unique set of experiences we were having: going on a music tour with the family in tow.

Not many people end up on tour with a musician at all, much less with children coming, too. Especially a bunch of children.

So I thought, since there are no further tours on the horizon for me and the kids, I probably ought to write down a few of the things I learned so I don't forget them if it ever comes to touring again.

When you hit a hotel for one night on the way to somewhere, or when you're staying in a hotel as part of a family vacation, you don't do it the same as when you're on tour.

Why?

Because on tour, that's daily life. It's not a vacation. It's not that we saved a bunch of money and budgeted in eating out every night. It's not even that we got to choose our own hotel. We go where they booked rooms for us, and stay in the rooms they chose (usually not ones I would pick), and, since we have all these kids coming along, we try our darndest to make it feel like real life because it turns out that it's not fun to be on vacation all the time in a place you wouldn't choose to go. Plus, for the kids, it's just another day doing something we've done a lot of times before. It's not so strange to stay in a hotel. It just means we get to watch TV, something we don't do at home. Ever.

We don't even generally go out and see the sights in the towns we stop in like I thought we would. For one thing, it's expensive--most places of interest charge you to get in, and that adds up REALLY fast when you have 8 people coming along, and there are not a lot of free places anymore. For another, it's easy to get lost. And, the biggest challenge, it's not time off for Tim. He's always working when we're on tour. So that leaves me taking six kids anywhere we go by myself, and Benji doesn't handle that well, and neither do I (normally, when the whole family goes out, we divide the work: one adult takes Benji. The other adult takes the other five kids.). Besides, who goes out every single day? Nobody. Mostly we like to just have a day, with a regular routine. Same as at home. We do try to do something cool in each town we go to--important to make memories, same as at home. We don't try to do something amazing every single day.

So, for this first "living on tour" blog post, I'm going to put in the list of things I always wish I had when I get to a hotel room. You'd think I'd always remember all these things, but I usually get there and go, "Shoot. I forgot ____ again." Maybe writing up the list will help!

--First Aid Kit (including allergy meds, bandaids, antibiotic ointment, hydrocortisone cream, sunscreen, bug spray, baby and kid medicines, ibuprofen, hand lotion, etc.)
--A roll of duct tape (for emergency repairs as well as for things like covering outlets so the babies don't get hurt)
--a night light, especially now that we always try to ask for two adjoining rooms.
--a card of thumb tacks (because hotel curtains never quite reach the wall, and consequently don't darken the room well)
--a package of strong safety pins in various sizes, including large skirt-pin size (because the curtains never meet in the middle, either)
--The Kitchen Kit (more on this later)
--Cleaning, disinfectant wipes like Clorox wipes OR a large bottle of "hanitizer" (alcohol-based hand sanitizer) and paper towels for cleaning up with
--Swimming kit (suits and life jackets for all kids, not packed with the other things and not even brought in unless the hotel has an appropriate pool).
--Activity kits in backpacks or duffle bags, one for each kid to carry in, but for everyone to share (things like a bag with blocks, one with legos, one with art supplies and coloring books, one with small games, one with hotwheels and tracks, one with "character" toys, one with books....stuff like that) so that we can do something besides watch TV all day. We've also contemplated taking the nintendo, but a lot of hotel TVs don't have the right hookups.
--ziploc bags in two sizes: gallon and sandwich
--scriptures
--laundry soap
--the "desk" kit (scissors, pens and pencils, envelopes, paper)
--the magic jack (hotels always have a phone, this lets us get calls and make calls on our regular number for free)
--dustbuster style hand-held vacuum
--the School Kit (including a laptop with a wireless card AND .pdf assignments just in case of no internet access, the math books, everyone's work notebooks, pencils)
--and the usual clothes and toiletries that you need to live.


When we're on the road a lot, I just leave all of these packed (including the toiletries bag) and have duplicates of the things we use every day that stay at home. It's a whole lot easier than trying to pack and unpack and repack and unpack. Maybe that's why I keep forgetting the same things, like the thumb tacks. They aren't in the bag!

Did I just read that?

From Kickstarter today: "We need to raise $ 8,000 by March 13th to help pay for the production of "Living Without Money" "

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/115591955/living-without-money-dvds-0

Apparently they didn't watch the movie.....

(I know the niece of the subject of the film--that's how I found this....funny.)

What I read today, and some quotes

http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/of-things-that-matter-most?lang=eng

This is one of my favorite pieces of counsel ever given by a general authority in conference:

"Therefore, it is good advice to slow down a little, steady the course, and focus on the essentials when experiencing adverse conditions."


I LOVE Elder Uchtdorf's talks.


"There is a beauty and clarity that comes from simplicity "

"My dear brothers and sisters, we would do well to slow down a little, proceed at the optimum speed for our circumstances, focus on the significant, lift up our eyes, and truly see the things that matter most. Let us be mindful of the foundational precepts our Heavenly Father has given to His children that will establish the basis of a rich and fruitful mortal life with promises of eternal happiness. They will teach us to do “all these things … in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that [we] should run faster than [we have] strength. [But] it is expedient that [we] should be diligent, [and] thereby … win the prize.” ⁷Brothers and sisters, diligently doing the things that matter most will lead us to the Savior of the world."


"He is our Father. He desires our happiness. As we seek Him, as we learn of His Son, Jesus Christ, as we open our hearts to the influence of the Holy Spirit, our lives become more stable and secure. We experience greater peace, joy, and fulfillment as we give our best to live according to God’s eternal plan and keep His commandments."


"we must place high priority on our families. We build deep and loving family relationships by doing simple things together, like family dinner and family home evening and by just having fun together. In family relationships love is really spelled t-i-m-e,time. Taking time for each other is the key for harmony at home. We talk with, rather than about, each other. We learn from each other, and we appreciate our differences as well as our commonalities. We establish a divine bond with each other as we approach God together through family prayer, gospel study, and Sunday worship."


"Strength comes not from frantic activity but from being settled on a firm foundation of truth and light."

Did I just read that?

On the Medicaid Recertification Paperwork I was filling out tonight: "Is anyone in the household fleeing a felony? ____yes ____no.  If yes, name: ___________"

Who on earth would check YES?

Today I read this

http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/reflections-on-a-consecrated-life?lang=eng


"To consecrate is to set apart or dedicate something as sacred, devoted to holy purposes. True success in this life comes in consecrating our lives—that is, our time and choices—to God’s purposes (see John 17:1, 4; D&C 19:19). In so doing, we permit Him to raise us to our highest destiny."


"all honest work is the work of God. In the words of Thomas Carlyle: “All true Work is sacred; in all true Work, were it but true hand-labour, there is something of divineness. Labour, wide as the Earth, has its summit in Heaven.” <sup>3"


"</sup>Work builds and refines character, creates beauty, and is the instrument of our service to one another and to God. A consecrated life is filled with work, sometimes repetitive, sometimes menial, sometimes unappreciated but always work that improves, orders, sustains, lifts, ministers, aspires."


I love that the menial, repetitive work is also important and valuable in building the kingdom of God. We forget that sometimes.


"Music, literature, art, dance, drama, athletics—all can provide entertainment to enrich one’s life and further consecrate it. At the same time, it hardly needs to be said that much of what passes for entertainment today is coarse, degrading, violent, mind-numbing, and time wasting. Ironically, it sometimes takes hard work to find wholesome leisure. "


I often need to be reminded that what Tim and I do (music and writing) ARE valuable to God. They aren't a waste of time. If good people don't make good art and music and literature, etc., then we have nothing left but the coarse, degrading, etc. If more righteous people made wholesome stuff, maybe it wouldn't be as hard to find it!






" In like manner future generations will take courage from your consecrated life, acknowledging their debt to you for the possession of all that truly matters."

The first ten pages. Again.

Over the last 6 years, as I've been learning to write, I've posted (or posted links to) the first five to ten pages of my manuscript over and over. If you go back and look it up, you'll see the development of the book as I've learned to write. Also the development of my writing. It's been quite a process. I've never (ever) taken a class in writing, and I didn't write a single word of fiction until I graduated from college just after my 20th birthday--and then I wrote 4 novels and took 5 years or so off from writing long fiction even though I enjoyed it. So I was kind of starting from scratch.

First I wrote, using Brenda Ueland's advice to write fast and furious and just tell the story with as much honesty as possible.
Then I revised.
Then I queried agents and used their comments to rewrite.
Then I researched manuscript format, length, etc. and cut 100,000 words (yes, the first draft was WAY too long) from the ms. This is actually a good writing practice skill that I used to have my students use: write, cut by half, rewrite to double the length, cut by half again. Just for practice.
Then I researched more: everything I could find about publishing, getting an agent, working with agents, manuscripts, contracts, copyright, querying, summarizing, etc.
Then I revised again, found an agent to work with (but never signed with her) and rewrote according to her specifications until I realized she was aiming for "Twilight" and I didn't want to write for adults.
Then I spent a year reading classic children's literature.
I threw away my manuscript and started over with the understanding that my heart and soul wanted to write for children (well, junior high kids), not adults or even teens. I rewrote from scratch.
I revised.
I spent a month reading modern children's literature.
Now I'm rewriting again with what I've learned.

This time, I think I might have finally "got it".

In keeping with "tradition" and also the idea that the blog archives can't reveal my progress if I stop posting it, I'm posting the link the google doc where the first ten pages are hiding right now.

The Poison Spindle Problem, Chapters 1-2

Feel free to read. You can even comment if you want (gasp! Do I dare?).

My goal that I hope I've accomplished? It's finally done and I can move on to the story about the art forgers and the story about the dragons--and the cave-dwellers who keep them on ice.

Did I just read that?

From Fox News today: "Thanks to the fluctuations in the force, the airport has closed its primary runway until Jan. 13 to change taxiway signs to account for the shift, the Federal Aviation Administration said."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/01/06/magnetic-north-pole-shifts-forces-closure-florida-airport/#ixzz1AKS5XoZV"

Thank goodness they changed the signs. Now the Jedi can still find the landing strip and hold their convention in Tampa.....

Did I just read that?

From KSL.com today: "Deer survives deadly encounter" http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=13897043

If he survived, then it wasn't very deadly, was it?

I suppose "Deer survives what should have been a deadly encounter but wasn't" is too long for a headline, though.

What I read today, and some quotes

http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/gospel-learning-and-teaching?lang=eng"

Quotes I liked from this talk:


"Before we can teach the gospel, we must know the gospel."


"When Hyrum Smith desired to be a part of this great latter-day work, the Lord said to him, “Behold, this is your work, to keep my commandments, yea, with all your might, mind and strength.” <sup>10 "


"...</sup>it is of utmost importance that we exercise our agency and act, without delay, in accordance with the spiritual promptings we receive. President Thomas S. Monson taught: “We watch. We wait. We listen for that still, small voice. When it speaks, wise men and women obey. Promptings of the Spirit are not to be postponed.” ^16"

Conference Talks

At my dad's suggestion, I'm trying to re-read the conference Ensign from November (October's Conference). I'm not staying very on top of it, though, so to help myself keep at it, I'm going to start posting here the talk that I'm reading. I might add a few quotes or thoughts, or just the link.

Feel free to read along and add your favorite quotes or thoughts in the comments.

Here is the link to the whole conference: http://lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2010/10?lang=eng

And the talks I already finished:
http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/as-we-meet-together-again?lang=eng
http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/because-of-your-faith?lang=eng
http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/stay-on-the-path?lang=eng
http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/obedience-to-the-prophets?lang=eng

And what I'm reading today:
http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/gospel-learning-and-teaching?lang=eng

Did I just read that?

From foxnews.com today: ""Then I just immediately started balling," she said. "I never cried before in my life."Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/01/05/woman-unaware-pregnancy-delivers-pound-baby/#ixzz1ADE2jSEm

Two things--what was she balling up right after childbirth? (The person who transcribed this and the editor should have realized it was the more common word--bawling.)  Also, she never cried before in her whole life? How did she get food when she was a newborn?

I found a New Year's Resolution!

Okay, so I decided to make a resolution.

That is:

This year I want to:

Embrace my strengths
Accept my handicaps
And go from there.

Nice article on marriage

Actually, I thought this was common knowledge about marriage--

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/02/weekinreview/02parkerpope.html?src=me&ref=general

My experience (in what I would class an excellent marriage) bears out the research reported in the article.  Tim and I are both happy; we fill each other's need and enrich each other's lives. Making him happy  makes me happy, and vice versa.

Did I just write that?

Sometimes I find the most amusing sentences in my own manuscripts! After reading a bunch of childrens and YA fiction, I've been going through my novel and seeing how it compares, livening it up, and generally making it so I like it again (so I can hopefully put it away and move on!).

Also, I've been finding bad sentences and fixing them.

Sentences like this:

"The gingerbread smelled really good after eating so many blackberries."


Pray, tell--how does gingerbread eat anything?


I guess I am not immune from writing nonsense now and then.

New Year's Resolutions

Goals=an artificial attempt to convince ourselves to do things we are unmotivated to do (perhaps because we really don't want to?).

New Year's Day=a reasonable time to examine your life and decide what needs to change.

The thing about resolutions, though, is we are almost always destined to fail that them because we can see what we want to change, but there is no even cursory examination of WHY we want those things to change and why we haven't changed them yet.

For example, how many people set the goal to lose weight? Maybe almost everyone? But do they ever ask Why am I overweight? Why do I want to lose weight? If I care so much, why haven't I done it? It seems like the answers to those questions would be integral to the success of the endeavor. And, if answered honestly, the questions might also reveal our greater desires. Do we really want increased health and energy by losing weight, or are we after greater social acceptance and power? And if it's social acceptance we want, perhaps a little counseling and a few superficial changes or behavioral changes that are easier to make would help us achieve the real goal better than a doomed diet-and-exercise plan we don't want to follow that doesn't make us feel good.

Without a greater understanding of what we want and are trying to do, the old habits will persist and the resolutions will fail. Very few people have the will power necessary to do something difficult simply because they decided to. And what's the value in that, anyway?

Generally speaking, I avoid making New Year's Resolutions. My idea is that the day a problem becomes apparent is the day you should resolve to fix it and do whatever self-examination is necessary to make the change--that is the moment of greatest motivation, after all.  Likewise, we should be re-examining our lives frequently, not just once a year, and resolving to fix things that might not have come up as a "problem". If I understand it correctly, we are supposed to be doing this before Tithing Settlement, Temple recommend interviews, when we get callings at church, and, quite frankly, every week in preparation for partaking the sacrament. YES we need something to remind us to examine-and-resolve, but it should happen a lot more often than when a giant lighted ball drops. Frequent re-examination also helps you stick with your resolutions--and weed out the ones that are unimportant or impractical.

Choosing resolutions this way helps me focus my resolutions on the things that my limited energy really should go to, rather than superficial or artificial things or things that really aren't practical to "goal."

So if I were to make New Year's Resolutions, what would they be?

Not to have a clean house, but to care less if it's messy.
Not to lose the baby weight, but to enjoy the baby.
Not to read my scriptures for more hours or more pages, but to get more out of them when I read.
Not to make more money, but to be more thankful for the money we have.
Not to eat less junk, but to enjoy food more.
Not to talk to the kids more, but to listen to them more.
Not to have less fighting in the house, but have more playing together.
Not to get more exercise, but to do more things I enjoy doing.
Not to get more done, but to listen to myself more and do the things that I will say, when I'm 90, I'm glad I did that (and, honestly, do I think having cleaner toilets are going to be on that list? No.).
And to stop feeling guilty for the stuff I think I maybe ought to have done but didn't do.

There isn't time in life to waste on things that won't matter in the long run. So why make resolutions to do those things?

Daniel

Daniel has surprised me lately. I have always known he was a math guy and also that he had a knack for buildings and processes and the ways things fit together. (When he was 9 months old, he examined the door at my mom's house and discovered that the threshold was held down by screws, which he immediately set to work trying to remove so he could get the threshold off....had he been using a screwdriver instead of a ball-point pen as his primary tool, I have no doubt he would have dismantled the whole thing!)

Now that he's 5, he also has the verbal ability and the confidence to express mathematical concepts. Turns out he has a really good spatial mind.

For example, yesterday he was in the kitchen playing with a toy sled that's about 2 feet long. There were two chairs on opposite sides of the kitchen. He held the sled up, like the beginnings of a bridge between the chairs, and said, "It would take about three of these sleds to make a bridge between the chairs." Just eyeballing it....so casually.  And he was right. Anda and he measured, and it took about 3 sled-lengths (3 1/2 to be exact) to reach from chair to chair. He could just SEE that. I am so bad at distances, so I was duly impressed.

But then today I was even more impressed. I was explaining to him the concept of paying postage by weight for an overseas flight to get his picture to his Grandma on the other side of the world in Portugal. He listened and comprehended. Then he held his hands up as if he were holding an imaginary ball. "The easy way," he said, "would be to slice the world here, right in half." He showed me with his hand, cutting his imaginary ball into two pieces, pole-to-pole. "Then just turn this half around, and we'd be touching her and could just give it to her." He showed me with his hands, manipulating the pieces in the air so deftly that I could see what he was seeing.  Practical? No. But the fact that his 5-year-old brain could dissect a world and manipulate the pieces so that two points on opposite sides were closer together--that's some impressive geometry. Especially for a guy who is just supposed to be learning that you can combine groups to make larger groups.

He says he wants to grow up to be an architect. I believe him.

Ideas I come back to that help me write better fiction

"Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity" (entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem). Father William of Ockham (d'Okham) . (Entities=words, characters, motivations, dialog....I also call this the "need to know" principal--don't tell the reader any more than they actually NEED to know).

"When you get stuck, just blow something up." Andrew Cannon (This frequently works for me. I don't always blow up a thing--sometimes it's a relationship, sometimes a character's misconception, etc.) 

"A novel is like a living body: everything has to connect to everything else. Anything that doesn't is a cancer, draining the vitality of everything around it. " Sean Williams

"Real people are damned inconvenient: they avoid issues, have oblique conversations, feel things others don't understand, and are very rarely think out loud in a coherent and rational way so that the protagonist can get important information." Kelley Eskridge

"The main advice is: Stop looking for advice and just keep putting words on paper. " Orson Scott Card

"Writer’s block is your friend. It is your unconscious mind telling you that something you just wrote, or are about to write, is not working....Your unconscious is your best editor – it tries desperately to keep you from writing crap. So the answer is NEVER to tough it out and force yourself to move on through your outline. The result of that will be garbage that you don’t care about and the reader won’t either."  Orson Scott Card

"Fiddling with language or tiny meaningless details, of course, accomplishes nothing except to kill the spontaneity of the first draft. The first draft is the best draft – you only change spots where it isn’t clear or where the story isn’t working; you never just fiddle with language. That just kills your natural style....There is no virtue to eliminating “needless” words in fiction – and if you’re thinking about style, your style will be dead. You think about story and character, what happens and why, and let your natural voice carry the story. You’ll have an inimitable style then – your real voice – and the rules from the ignorant, miseducated English teachers who abused your understanding of the language throughout your miseducation will fall by the wayside, where they should be left behind. You can’t be thinking about language while you write; that’s like trying to ride a bicycle while thinking about balance and pedaling. And you’ve seen the stories that result from that kind of writing – a “style” that calls attention to itself constantly, so you can barely find the story through the English-professor-pleasing nonsense that has been smeared on the lens."  Orson Scott Card

"^aWoe unto them that decree ^bunrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed." Isaiah 10:1

You wonder "how do you do it?"

People ask me all the time, "How do you do it?" Homeschooling, raising 6 kids, writing, quilting, music career, etc.

Well, the answer is I have to. I can't help it.

And apparently that's part of being who I am (and what I am).

http://talentdevelop.com/articlelive/articles/1123/1/The-Special-Challenges-of-Highly-Intelligent-and-Talented-Women-Who-Are-Moms/Page1.html

So, like other gifted women who are also mothers, I find myself immersed--in creating homeschooling for my kids, in writing, in my husband's music career, in art (quilting).

Gifted adults often have messy desks and messy houses because, as they all say, "I have better things to do." Tim and I have said that to each other. Often. And have you seen our house? Yikes. Eight gifted people, complete with obsessions, hypersensitivities, and projects, living under one roof. Again--Yikes.

But that's how we do it.

We have to.

Did I just read that?

from boulder craigslist free section: " 5" Round folding table - (SW Longmont)"


For mice. Or very small dolls. Fits in a pocket when folded.

Baby pictures

Elijah Jones

Did I just read that?

The top headline on Fox News.com today: "White House to Push Global Warming Policy as GOP Vows Fight"

Go for it, GOP! Anyone who makes Global Warming their POLICY deserves to be fought against. Even if it is something of a shifting of the expected roles.

Luke II

I watched this movie literally hundreds of times over the two Christmasses I spent at the Visitor's Center at the Arizona Temple on my mission.

And it's not Christmas for me unless I see it. I have a video copy of it, but no VCR this year, so I had to go online to find a copy. There are hundreds with modified audio, but I wanted the real thing. It's so much more intensely beautiful that way.

FINALLY found a copy.

And here you go.  Merry Christmas:

Funny kids

Benji just walked up to me and said, "My eyes can be on." Then he slowly and deliberately blinked. "Or off!"

A minute later, Nathanael yelled, "Mom! Help me! I'm too scary!" (He was stuck on a chair....and scared.)

Tim does Christmas--for me

This is what Tim makes for me and for family and friends for Christmas:

Once in Royal David's City


and

Silent Night


Merry Christmas, everyone!

Tim does Christmas--for various companies

For some reason, Tim has been asked to do Christmas videos more than once.

We have this one, which is Tim's voice and arrangement, but not his face:



And this one, which is Tim's original song and him on screen:



And there are a couple of holiday videos for JibJab.com:

http://sendables.jibjab.com/holidays/sendables/204445/kazoo_jingle_bells

and

http://sendables.jibjab.com/holidays/category/new_year

(I can't embed it until they release it to YouTube, but do click on the links. They're really fun.)

Tim has also just finished another project for McAfee--one that started before we moved to Vegas and is just finishing up after being tabled for a couple of years. I'll post links once it goes live.