The Ladies Who Lunch

Lunch with dear friends can be the best reminder of all that we are blessed with.  How delightful to have two precious hours, where I can be a mom by cell phone while I relate to other human beings, not of my creation.  To be reminded that everybody has their challenges.  That everybody has their crazy.  That every mom, at some point, wants to disown their child one minute, then cry with over-spilling love the next.  To relive childbirth, yet another time.  (What's with women and childbirth stories?)

Wealth may not be one of my particular blessings at this time (or at any time in my adult life), but I was given new and wonderful insight by one of my dear friends today.  For her, wealth feels like a burden at times.  Wait!  What?!!??!  Some burden--paying all your bills on time, using cash instead of credit, having health insurance, being that person who answers a desperate prayer and helps another develop their faith in tithing.  A burden you say?  How so....

This wonderful person feels a major responsibility to share her blessing with every needful person she sees.  She feels guilt over major purchases because she is keenly aware of others who cannot do the same.  She wants to be frugal in every thing, so as not to hurt anybody in need.  She struggles to find the balance between sharing and keeping her little family prepared.  She worries that any changes in her lifestyle will create envy.

I have never consider this side of the wealth coin, but I thank her and my group of friends for helping me see that nothing is perfect.  Nobody has it easy.  We all have our "thing" that makes life a beautiful struggle.  And we all have other people we can turn to who will help us through and make us laugh in spite of it all.

Today I am thankful for friendship.  One of the Lord's tenderest mercies.

Swish your bushy tail

I am thankful for squirrels.

Not the two (possibly three, generically named Mr. Squirrel) that were living in the walls of our unfinished front porch.  Each morning, evening, and many an afternoon, we could hear their little claws scurrying across that piece of metal flashing (on the right side of the picture).  The little girls freaked out more than once when they heard those critters rustling around in the wall against their beds.  We did try to stop them--we hammered up a piece of wood over the hole (they clawed through it).  We filled the hole with foam insulation (they clawed through it).  We shot at them with a pellet gun (they got bruised bottoms, but clawed through).

At one point, one Mr. Squirrel made his way into the unfinished upper level of the addition, while Tim and I were on a date.  The kids called our cell phone, yelling and frantically chasing him around with a broom and eventually locking him in the adjoining bedroom.  He must have wiggled his way back outside since he was gone by the time we came home.

Unfortunately he (or one of the other ones--and while we're on the subject, how does one tell a he-squirrel from a she-squirrel?) found his way in again.  We came home from soccer one fine Saturday and heard him in the basement.  Oh yes, Mr. Squirrel was loose.  In the house!  When he heard us come in, he hid in one of the unfinished walls by the stairs.  We tried luring him out with nuts and corn kernels.  We waited outside until we could see him come out, then tried chasing him out the door.  Of course he just ran back to his wall.

When our hero arrived home, it was time to put the hurt on.  He (and by hero I mean Tim) somehow managed to chase Mr. Squirrel from the wall and we chased him with brooms all over the basement.  He hid behind an uninstalled door.  We opened a window for an easy escape, but he hid in the framing beneath it.  He hid behind the water heater.  He hid behind the computer cabinet  (let it be known that squirrels are squirrely!!...those suckers are quick).  But our hero, got him caught between the wall and an uninstalled window.  His intention was to squeeze the little monster to death.  It was a good plan, except that I could SEE the little Mr., stuck spread-eagle against the glass.  As Tim pushed the squirrel tighter against the wall he would chirp in pain.  I could see his little lungs moving as he cried.  My softer side (and truth be told, Tim's too) gave in and we prepared to catch him as we moved the glass.  He darted towards his hiding place in the wall, but Timmi guarded her position well and he ran passed her to the water heater, again.  The hero had to dig out the insulation around it, but he got Mr. Squirrel out while I trapped him under a broom.  We skillfully transferred him to a storage tub.  Carried him to the woods.  Released him into the wild.  Left him to build a new home in a more natural home.

Side note...the others tried to return, but once we knew we had one out, we rendered their front door un-clawable (more foam and double wood layers!! Oh yeah.)

No, I'm not thankful for those squirrels.

I'm thankful for the three nutheads (pun!) that scurry round the yard with nuts and leaves, stealing old apples from our tree.  They live in the trees, as nature intended.  They are just adorable, providing minutes of entertainment.  We just love having them around.

As long as they stay in those trees!

I'll take one of those

I am thankful for any man who....

Works hard.  Loves his children.  Enjoys hockey, football, being outdoors, PLUS musicals, chick flicks and shopping.  Willingly dresses up for Halloween.  Has brilliant ideas.  Is patient.  Serves others and is devoted to his faith.  Funny.  Adores his wife.  Looks fantastic in jeans.

Greatest blessing of all.  

That is all.  Before I start to cry.

 Thank you Maggie Fechner for the family pics

Except to say that he is adored by his wife and children

The big THANK YOU

What else could I say.  These kids are so worth being thankful for.  Tim and I have been richly blessed by their enthusiasm, their intelligence, their forgive-ability, and their good natures.  And they're pretty cute, to boot!

Tanner, I am grateful that you came first.  I depend on you more than you realize and you rise to your position in our family.  You work hard, you are organized, and try to do what is right.  You get better and better with age and I love you more each and every minute. Thanks for being an example of "choosing the right".

Timmi, you have always been the gentle, sweetheart of our family.  You have put up with your brother's teasings your entire life, you are patient with your little sisters, you are a friend to everybody.  Your musical talents bring tears to my eyes and I love that you can play the piano for FHE.  You are beautiful and good and I love the peace you bring to our home.

Bella, you are the most energetic and creative human I have ever known.  I love how excited you are about EVERYTHING (even when it wears me out!).  You bring color and pizzazz to our home and you have some of the best ideas on how to celebrate life.  You're an artist, athlete, dancer, and entertainer -- I hope it never ends.

Maddie, my baby, you are the doll of the family.  You are so spoiled with love and kisses because you are sparkly, sweet, and adorable.  You make the best silly faces, help out everybody without complaining, and your snuggles are the warmest.  You are one smart little cookie and I love/hate seeing you grow up and develop into a little person.

I couldn't love these people more if I tried!

An Attitude of Gratitude

A member of our ward shared this quote in their talk on Sunday...

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.

I've wrapped dozens of presents already this season--how silly not to give them to the intended receivers.  That would be a waste.  Not even the thought counts, if not shared.  In November, I enjoyed hearing/reading what my friends were thankful for, that I'd like to take the month of December to express my gratitude for the many gifts the Lord has blessed me with.

For FHE last month, we talked about gratitude with our children.  There's another story from church that I remember hearing years ago.  The one about the women in a Nazi concentration camp.

These Jewish women were cold, starving, sick, and utterly miserable.  After surviving winter, summer came and with it, fleas.  Naturally the fleas caused itching, which led to constant scratching, which led to open wounds, which led to infection.  Again, the women were miserable.  But one wise woman, as she knelt to pray one night, thanked God for the fleas.  She thanked God for sending a pest so detestable, not even the soldiers would dare come around to molest or harm them further.

Gratitude indeed.

Even something miserable, can be a blessing.  Which leads to the first item on my gratitude list.

Our house.  Mind you, not our home.  Our home has pretty much always/mostly been wonderful--full of love, laughter, fun, learning, and quoting movies.  But the house, let's just say it has felt miserable these last few years.  But in the attitude of gratitude...

I am grateful that we're warm.  The wood stove is in its final resting spot, just waiting for a hearth to rest its feet.  75% of this old house is now properly insulated.

So cozy down in the basement.  There is even a great old napping couch.

I'm grateful that we have all those wonderful technologies like electricity, running water, city sewer, a hot water heater (which amazingly is the one that came with the house...we were all ready to go buy a new one when Tim felt inspired to drain it, clean out all the sediment, replace the elements and now it works like new!), the internet, a microwave, and a water-in-the-door fridge.

I'm grateful that Tim finally had an entirely free Saturday and got up early to hook up the outdoor electrical bits.  After two years of our front porch  being dark, we now have porch lights, a bright yard light, exterior plugs, and a switch-controlled outlet for CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!!  Now that is something to be thankful for!

I'm grateful for a yard big enough for the kids to play in and the husband to store stuff.  Grateful for two whole bathrooms.  A big soft bed to rest in at night.  A place for family to stay when they visit.

It's a place where we have room to try and do our best, love one another, and dream of things to come!  Grateful I should be!

My mom can sew better than yours

I am not a Halloween fangirl.  On my list of favorite holidays, it ranks with Columbus Day.  I do like to dress up and I am in love with chocolate, but creativity doesn't hang with me .  I have no talent for putting together clever costumes.  My children always ask for princess hair, some sort of make-up design or a homemade ensemble.  Hello!  I can do none of that.

PLUS, the excess of candy, before and after trick-or-treating tempts me day in and night out.  To the point of sugar headaches and fuzzy teeth.  Now, I'm pretty good at getting the perfect present at Christmas.  I can rock an Easter egg hunt.  I even have a killer homemade roll recipe that I only use on Thanksgiving.  But Halloween comes around and I am L-A-M-E.

This year...

I could take all the credit for how good the kids looked.  I could tell you that I sewed, teased, coiffed, and face-painted each of my little darlings.  I could pat myself on the back.

But I won't.  I hardly did a thing.  My mom, my sister-in-law, a lady in the ward...they did all the work that made the kids look good the night of our ward Harvest party.  I've been waiting to post the pictures that were taken that night at the party, but I haven't gotten them back yet.  Instead, here are the pics I took the night before, for the school Harvest carnival.  This is before Megan, my genius SIL, professional stylist and naturally awesome artist, showed up to do the little girls up right (sparkly make-up, a real bun, the works!).

Megan bought Bella her cat costume and my mom bought Maddie her Cinderella dress.

Timmi dressed up as Azula, the fire-bender from the animated Avatar series.  She sent my incredible mother an email asking her to make this costume from a couple of pictures off the internet and some measurements.  In less than a week, my incredible mother whipped this up and shipped it to our door.  The costume was PERFECT.  How about that!

Tanner, didn't have an official costume this year, as he is too old for trick-or-treating and only helped me take the little girls around the school carnival.  At the ward party, they asked the Young Men to do a "spooky" hay ride around the baseball field.  He was supposed to wear his Scout uniform and spook the kids a little while they rode around.  I sent him to the church, thinking my handsome son would just jump out from behind a fence or something simple.  Then I saw the make-up job they did on him and my heart stopped.  For a split-second my stomach flipped in panic.  This is the sweet boy I saw....

I don't EVER want to see my son like this again.  I'm not sure what my problem is, but I hate seeing his sweet face look like THIS!!!!!!  (I just got the chills again).

Another Halloween in the books:  4 parties, 5 trips to WalMart, 200 trunk-or-treaters, 1 cat, 1 princess, 1 fire-bending girl, 1 zombie, 3 hrs.of trick-or-treating, 1 whole group of trick-or-treaters at our door, 80 billion pounds of candy, $1000's in dental bills, 4 candy-hyped children, 1 mom recovering.

Is it Columbus Day yet?

Goin' to the farm...to visit all the animals

About twenty years ago, my brothers-in-law made a kids' movie, as a business venture.  A cute little "kidformative" video starring my nephews and their neighbors, with original songs by my BIL.  They sold it at boutiques, local video stores, and to friends and family. 

When I became a mother, I was given one of the very last VHS copies they had.  My own children enjoyed it until the DVD/Hi-Def age took over and its viewing became too low-def for modern eyes.  All the same, the songs are forever in my memory and some of the lines (often delivered by my darling nephews who are adults now) are quoted regularly at family gatherings.

The clever title to this little gem?  Farm Animals.  Sweet and simple.  A video about going to the farm.  My sister prompts the viewers to guess, "who's feet are these" (while looking at a still of some animal's foot).  My BIL does his best farmer drawl to describe "milk coming out of the cow's teats".  My favorite line comes from my nephew, Cameron..."those sheep are lookin' at us!!"  I know, it sounds lame.

But it truly is adorable.  It should've made them millions.

I wish I had a clip.  Someday I'll figure out how to convert it to digital--it's that good!

Well today, as Maddie and I visited the farm with her pre-school, all the songs from Farm Animals ran through my head.  My own personal soundtrack for the day.  There were pigs, sheep, horses, ducks.  Some very friendly cats and a good ole farm dog.  I had no idea there was such a darling little farm so close to home.  Thanks Prairie Farm for such a fun place to be with my daughter.