Where have I been?

Nowhere, really. I have found that spring is a neck-breaking catapult into summer. Just when I get hopeful about spring coming around the bend we are in the downhill slide to summer. I can't seem to get a hold of anything as time speeds up with choir tour, end of the year field trips, school programs, annual work trip with D, Memorial Day...

In March I envision myself crawling into a comfortable hammock-type apparatus. I know that I can survive the rest of the cruel Minnesota winter and I look fondly to the horizon of a far off summer. "There is still time" I tell myself. I enjoy the schedule of school, lessons, rehearsals, and church activities. Routine wraps me in a warm, predictable embrace all school year long. I snuggle into my proverbial hammock feeling as if predictability will be my companion for a good-long time.

Little do I know that my snuggly hammock is really a fully cocked catapult ready to let loose. And so it does. It lets loose and sends me hurtling through time until I land in a gelatinous puddle of fatigue and bewilderment in late June. I am not saying that March to June are unpleasant days; quite the contrary, I love the blossom of spring and the anticipation of warm days, late nights, and sleeping in. Oh I love to sleep! But my June puddling self can't seem to be present in any of the moments I have "flown" over. Not sure how to slow all that down and really suck the marrow from each day.

My oldest daughter B is well on her way to young womanhood and all the blessings that come with that transition. Her life seems to swirl around my head and I try to keep smiling as I know her time with me is fleeting. I love that child. She is the product of prayer, fasting, and faith. A joy to me she has always been. Even in times of struggle, my interactions with her convince me that I am truly alive and a mother. Is it possible to both dread and eagerly anticipate the future? I am so excited to know her as she journeys into adulthood, but my heart will always ache for the days of snuggles, milk mustaches, and story books together.

My middle child M is an amazement. She colors my world vivid. If not for her, my life would be black and white and often without a soundtrack. Her perspective has opened up new experiences for me and my appreciation of all creation. What a blessing she has been to all of us with her tender heart and sensibility. What will she be and more importantly, what will she wear?

My boy C is my little man. Muscle from head to toe and a heart of gooey caramel. He smothers me with kisses and wants to help and take care of all "his girls". He has an old spirit that seems to communicate easily with heaven. I often sneak up to listen at his door as he talks with God and tells him all of his thoughts. Tender and simple, he thanks God for making his life possible, for frogs and beautiful rocks. He asks that no one will ever be hurt. No one will ever have their house burn down or get sick from carbon monoxide poisoning. (latest obsession) Help us to love each other and for everyone to know God better.

So, where have I been? Right here. Not present in the blogosphere, maybe not even present enough in my every day, but still right here - hurtling through time trying to grab any little bit of joy as it flies by.

Scratchin' the Record

For some more "mature" people the idea of scratching a record is probably horrifying. I remember learning how to avoid scratching a record and protecting the turntable from harm. It will become obvious to all that I am not talking about gouging an LP beyond playability, when I say "I love scratchin' the record".

Let me explain. Some time ago I was talking with a wise sister about trying to erase images that I have burned in my brain and continue to haunt my conscious and subconscious. She explained that we cannot erase an image, but we can forever alter an image just like scratching a record.

I will illustrate the concept. C came downstairs last night describing an image of a mummy that was troubling him and keeping him from sleep. He was clearly troubled by this pesky mummy so I asked him to describe some details to me. We decided that rather than a menacing face on the mummy, he now had googly eyes and a silly grin. His eyes were so googly that he became very dizzy. He fell down and hooked some of his bandages on a nail. He was trying to get back up when he began to roll and unroll down a hill. As he unrolled we could see that the mummy was nothing more than bandages wrapped around thousands of bouncy balls. So many bouncy balls, all different sizes, all different colors, and all for C to gather up and play with. In fact, some of the balls were so large that C could ride on them and bounce up to the sky. We were able to change THIS











TO THIS! And a little boy went to bed with a smile. Little boys going to bed can put a big smile on a Momma's face too.

I had this scratchin' method work for me on several occasions. The first time it REALLY saved my life was after a very "bad mommy" moment. I thought I was being a Good Mommy by taking my children to the free "children's movie" a couple of summers ago. I figured since the movie was for children that I didn't need to read all the reviews and background prior to taking my children to see the movie. I WAS WRONG! About 10 minutes into the movie, my two youngest children had curled up on my lap and were ready to leave. For heaven sakes, I was scared too. B insisted she wanted to stay so I took the other kiddos and wandered around Target until the movie was over and the rest of our group was ready to go.

That very night, while trying to go to sleep, all three of my children had visions running through their heads and they weren't sugar plums. This is what they had printed on their brains:
I had to take this creature and "scratch" it into a sweet dream...




So, I glitterized this fella and all of his friends in these:




and in my new story the trolls were not trying to kill the three children home alone. Rather, they were thrilled and so very anxious to prance over to the fabulous and oh-so-important...







TEA PARTY! Oh, the cookies were going to be marvelous! The little cucumber sandwiches were world famous and delicious. Every troll for miles around was dressed in their festive tutus and tiaras and headed straight to the tea party hosted by the three children!

Huzzah! What a glorious party they had and there was plenty to eat for everyone.

This Spiderwick scratch taught me a lot. The more vivid and profound the bad image is, the more vivid and profound the scratch must be. We invented this new story for the hideous trolls in about 40 minutes. We really had to put in a lot of details to properly squash the darkness out of those images. But even now, I can't look at those trolls without picturing them in their tutus, tiaras and glitter wands, prancing to the best tea party ever invented for a sweet dream.

Note to self. Avoid garbage images at all costs. Clearing out the trash requires more imagination than this old brain can handle and I am not sure I have enough glitter to go around.

High on the MOST HIGH!

I have had a couple days in a row where I have had time to worship in the morning before I leave the house. I love my scripture memorization, my new marking scripture system, and my music. I am flying high and with the sunny skies there is literally NOTHING that could get me down. We chose a new scripture for our family this week. We will be working on

Psalms 118:24
This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

This scripture was one of Grandpa Omer's favorite scriptures. He quoted it often and every card we got from him had this passage. He truly was a man of God and looked for God's hand in all things. Dave was explaining all of this to us and he shared with us a song he sang as a child to learn this scripture. My man of God, Dave, taught the song to his family and bore testimony of this passage. How can I NOT count myself richly blessed.

My personal scripture to memorize this week is

D&C 84:88
I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.

Wherever you are in your life make sure to look around every day. You will see the hand of God and angels bearing you up. Settle in for the ride and count your blessings, there are always some laying around. Look out world, this woman is on fire for God and I am about to leave my house!

Halloween 2010

Halloween fell on a Sunday in 2010. We participated in a church trunk or treat on the freezing Saturday before the holiday. The kids made the rounds and were ready to head home. On Sunday, we went to the Charter House to visit our adopted Oma and Opa. I don't have a picture of them here which is weird, but we have attended their Halloween celebration for the last few years. They are a marvelous couple who have become part of our family and we love them dearly. At the Charter House the kids parade past the residents and line up to get their picture taken with the Queen of the Pumpkin Patch. After the picture, they are given a bag of treats, donuts, popcorn, punch and it is a lot of fun to see all the smiles from the residents. After the Charter House we came home and the kids answered the door for trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood. I think we played Pinochle with Mom and Dad. That is getting to be a tradition too.M was thrilled to participate this year. She was very ill last year so she is grinning from ear to ear for good reason. She is a princess/wizardess/something pretty and not scary. The day before at the trunk or treat she was a Twister game, but she picked her costume from last year for the visit to Oma and Opa's.C is a ninja and this is the scariest costume I have tolerated thus far. I don't love the creepy, scary, elements of Halloween. He knew the names of his different swords and knives. He eventually got sick of the mask, but he was still pretty tough looking.

B was Dorothy this year. When I bought the costume (last year) her hair was long and I thought it would look so cute in braids. We cut it in shorter layers during the summer so we settle on these cute piggy tails. I think she is darling, but she must be eating her candy already based on that look on her face.

Little Feet

I went to a doctor appointment this morning and again I heard music. This time I heard the theme song for The Land Before Time children's movie, "If We Hold On Together" sung by Diana Ross. The first time I saw the movie I was at my sister Bonnie's house and I was expecting B. The characters in the story are so endearing. It has been a favorite movie of mine since my children were small. The main character of the story is "Little Foot" a long-necked dinosaur. He and his new friends have many adventures trying to make it to "The Great Valley" where they find their families.

Now that my children are older it has been years since watching The Land Before Time. It just reminded me that a chapter has closed. No more diapers, strollers, sippie cups, and nap times. Time has an interesting effect on our memories. Generally, time sifts through our memory and selects several pleasant vignettes to retain. I know there were MANY difficult experiences with my little ones, but now looking back through time...it seems pretty great.

We are in a new chapter now with all of the successes and pitfalls of a prize winning novel. The challenge is to enjoy the day today. Do not wait until time has faded the color and flavor of the experience. As much as I like leftovers, the presentation of a meal the first time is unequaled. Enjoy today while it is still here and buy The Land Before Time it is so cute.

Footprint Poem
The pitter patter of little feet
Leave behind something dear and sweet
A precious treasure for me to keep
The memories of your little feet.

TV Theme Songs

I just took a trip down memory lane with Les and Mom discussing TV theme songs. I wish I could say that I was one of those mature and gifted children that found no entertainment in television, but that wouldn't be honest. I loved TV. I was addicted to TV. I could surf 13 channels like nobody's business. You name it, I could watch it, especially if there was work to be done somewhere in the house. That makes me sound like a terribly lazy kid, but I turned out OK.

This TV addiction is one of the reasons why we don't have cable or satellite today. We haven't had it for years and I find that we are all much more productive without it. However, we have a few shows that we watch on the computer. Guilty pleasures! :-)

Anyway, TV memories... As a child we would have sleepovers at my Grandma's house. She and my Aunt Betty lived together and they kept very late hours. When we would stay at Grandma's house we would have TV dinners ;-P and get to watch several TV shows back to back. My favorite show at Grandma's was The Love Boat, but in order to watch it I had to endure The Lawrence Welk Show. I am sure I learned a few things from both Lawrence and Captain Stubing, but Lawrence Welk was probably a little more helpful since I have always been involved in music. To this day I have never taken a cruise. I am already married so what would be the point?
I am pretty sure that we also watched Dukes of Hazzard while at Grandma's but I don't think Grandma and Betty watched that with us. Later we would "watch" the news. I don't know what I did during that time, because the news is still hard for me to watch. Actually, yes I do know what I did. I sat next to Betty and she would tickle my arms and back. I love to be tickled. Not the ticklish kind of tickle, but just fingernails on my skin. Aunt Betty had awesome fingernails. Directly following the boring news was M*A*S*H. I think I enjoyed that show as a kid, but I am sure I didn't understand 90% of the humor. I now own every season of M*A*S*H. I understand all of the humor and the heartache. My kids now watch the show with me and Dave and they think it is pretty funny. I am sure that they don't get most of the humor, but they will. Traditions passed from one generation to the next.

After M*A*S*H I would climb into my hide-a-bed and try to go to sleep while Grandma and Betty would have their late night meal of toast, Postum, and who knows what else. The toast smell and clinking of dishes was all I really witnessed. Boy, those 2 ladies were amazing, quirky, and incredibly loving. I miss them both very much.

So, that is why I included several TV theme songs. Very vivid memories flood over me when I hear those songs. If you are old enough to know about some of the TV shows you may wonder how I was able to watch them since they played during the day. Well, let's just say I was sick occasionally. I was also "sick" occasionally and I ALWAYS watched TV when I was home from school.

Oh dear, more memories coming. I probably should stop before I tell you that I called PTL - Praise The Lord televangelists several times as I was home watching TV. That was Jimmy Baker's ministry and they always told me to call. They wanted to talk to me, help me, and pray with me. So, I called. And I called. And I called. I never said a word so the prayer warrior on the other end of the phone probably thought I was conflicted or suicidal, but I was just small. I didn't realize that it COST MONEY until one night lying in bed I heard my Dad ask my Mom, "Becky, what are all these calls to California?" OOPS! Dad called the number and found out what it was and in typical Dad fashion he asked me IF I had called PTL. I don't remember what all he said to me, but I remember being very grateful and feeling loved afterward. I never called PTL again and that is why Jimmy Baker became corrupt and ended up serving time in prison in Rochester, MN where I would live 13 years later. How do you like that cause and effect? Whew! It wore me out.

I am sure that this will not be my last TV post because, as I said, it was a big part of my life. For now, I will say "Good night, sleep tight, and pleasant dreams to you..."