I don't really want to dwell on what's been pervading my thoughts lately, so instead I'll write about something that makes me happy.
In January, I was called as the Primary Chorister at church, and I just love it. We have a rather large primary (about 75 kids) and the majority are under 7 years old. They're really great kids, though, and I just love seeing them every Sunday. Some of them even give me big smiles or hugs when they see me, and I can't even describe how amazing that makes me feel.
I've had this calling before. Back in Chicago, while I was teaching elementary music 5 days a week, I was called to be the Primary Chorister. And I hated it. I absolutely HATED it! I didn't have time to make all the props and I didn't have tons of time to spend on it anyway. And on top of it all, I couldn't figure out how to maintain order and discipline with the kids without using my "severe" voice (a voice my school kids heard quite often. Not as nice, but much quicker and very effective).
I'm not sure why, but it's 100% different this time. I love every minute of it. I have more time at home during the week to think out my lesson plans and make visual aids. It's possible that being excited about it has made all the difference.
I haven't had many meaningful musical connections lately, and I'd just recently begun to feel that lack. And even though I know this calling is a a very small outlet, it still brings me so much joy! It's so amazing to me how the Lord seems to help me with every single little need, no matter how insignificant.
I feel very fulfilled; like it's honing my skills and keeping my teaching fresh. And what's more, I feel like I'm finally learning how to maintain that classroom order WITHOUT my severe voice, which is an invaluable skill.
Now if I could just do the same thing with my KIDS, that would just be super.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Pickin' Strawberries
Yesterday morning we to Froger’s Fruit and Vegetable Farm in Alvin for some strawberry pickin’! It was really neat. They give you a bucket, and you can pick as many strawberries as you like for 1.50 per lb. The boys were really excited, Stevie kept repeating the rules: “No eating, and don’t pick the green or pink ones.” He kept repeating it like a mantra. It was really cute.
David was excited to pick for about 5 minutes. After that he just wanted to run up and down the rows of plants. (I don't blame him...they did look pretty cool).
We had a little girl with us who was hilarious. She had painstakingly taken one bite out almost every strawberry in her bucket.
We ended up picking about 9 lbs of strawberries. My boys ate TWO ENTIRE BOWLS full of berries yesterday. They also shared a bowl today. I ended up freezing the rest to use in smoothies. Yum!
This little trip has REALLY made me garden-hungry. I think I might ask our landlord to let us plant a little garden out back; which if he ends up selling it to us, will OF COURSE include a strawberry plant or two. It just seems like you can grow so many awesome fruits and veggies down here. And who knows? Maybe if I grow them I’ll be more likely to eat them.
Look how home-makey I’m becoming! Or at least aspire to become.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Bathtism
On Sunday, Stevie's primary teacher pulled me aside and told me that they had a lesson on Baptism. His teacher had explained to the kids how when you're baptized, you go under the water--and you have to be completely under the water--and then you come back up again.
Stevie apparently raised his hand and said, "Well, my mom bathtizes me every day in the bathtub."
I'm glad it's all sinking in so well. (And by the way--I do NOT dunk him completely under the water when he takes a bath...even though it'd probably be quicker).
Stevie apparently raised his hand and said, "Well, my mom bathtizes me every day in the bathtub."
I'm glad it's all sinking in so well. (And by the way--I do NOT dunk him completely under the water when he takes a bath...even though it'd probably be quicker).
Friday, March 20, 2009
"I scared!"--David Tidbits
This morning around 5 am, David came screaming and crying to our room. I was less than pleased. Don’t get me wrong, I love the little monster, but I pretty much don’t like anyone at 5am. I tried to hush him as best as I could and took him back to his room (to which he was adamantly opposed). I climbed up in bed with him and snuggled under the covers, hoping to convince him that I’d be staying there the rest of the night.
Of course he was fanatically aware of every single move I made, trying to discern whether or not I was trying to trick him and go slip back into my own bed. I finally devised that I could possibly bribe him into sleep mode with a sippy-cup full of milk. Worked like a charm. I quietly snuck out of his bedroom and collapsed in my oh-so-amazingly-soft-and-ROOMY bed.
About an hour later, he came running in again, crying inconsolably. I just relented and let him crawl up into bed with me (which in retrospect was quite lovely and sweet). I tried to calm him down and asked him what was wrong and he replied “Venom scared me!” I’ll admit I didn’t get the translation right on the first try (seeing as how I wasn’t completely coherent in the first place), but I eventually figured out that he must have had a nightmare about his latest craptastic McDonald’s toy—a little figurine of the Spiderman character “Venom.”
The culprit
Bless his heart…he loves those “boy” toys but they scare him too. It reminded me of when I was 5 years old, and went as a witch for Halloween. I had one of those super-scary masks to go with my costume (what was my mom thinking?) When I put on the mask and looked in the mirror, I let out a blood-curdling scream and almost peed my pants in terror.
He fell asleep like this on Saturday. You know you’re really tired when you don’t even care if you can breathe.
Of course he was fanatically aware of every single move I made, trying to discern whether or not I was trying to trick him and go slip back into my own bed. I finally devised that I could possibly bribe him into sleep mode with a sippy-cup full of milk. Worked like a charm. I quietly snuck out of his bedroom and collapsed in my oh-so-amazingly-soft-and-ROOMY bed.
About an hour later, he came running in again, crying inconsolably. I just relented and let him crawl up into bed with me (which in retrospect was quite lovely and sweet). I tried to calm him down and asked him what was wrong and he replied “Venom scared me!” I’ll admit I didn’t get the translation right on the first try (seeing as how I wasn’t completely coherent in the first place), but I eventually figured out that he must have had a nightmare about his latest craptastic McDonald’s toy—a little figurine of the Spiderman character “Venom.”
Bless his heart…he loves those “boy” toys but they scare him too. It reminded me of when I was 5 years old, and went as a witch for Halloween. I had one of those super-scary masks to go with my costume (what was my mom thinking?) When I put on the mask and looked in the mirror, I let out a blood-curdling scream and almost peed my pants in terror.
He fell asleep like this on Saturday. You know you’re really tired when you don’t even care if you can breathe.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Family Night--That's 5 in a Row!!...sort of
Happy St. Paddy's! Are you wearing green? If not, consider yourself pinched.
Last night we talked about Families for Family Home Evening. We started out by showing this video from the Church Scriptures Stories about Adam and His Family (we’re going to try to go through ALL the scriptures…starting with the Old Testament all the way through D&C) . Steven somehow managed to get my laptop connected to our TV, and it was a very short, easy video to watch and understand.
I had cut and pasted some little paper family figures from the Friend, and we did this activity where we talked about each family member and what makes them special. Then we put the little figure in the house. We also talked about how EVERYONE is important to the family in their own way.
Afterwards, Steven read a little poem from the Friend, and we ate “Family Cupcakes” (--translation: teeny cupcakes that Steven had bought at the store only moments before that we christened “Family Cupcakes” for theme’s sake).
Anyway, it was a very fun night and I really hope we can keep this FHE habit going! We never really had FHE (in the formal sense…or any other sense for that matter) when I was growing up, and so it’s kind of a challenge to know what to do and stay motivated. But if it can make our family even a little bit closer, and keep us from killing each other in the meantime, it will be more than worth it.
Last night we talked about Families for Family Home Evening. We started out by showing this video from the Church Scriptures Stories about Adam and His Family (we’re going to try to go through ALL the scriptures…starting with the Old Testament all the way through D&C) . Steven somehow managed to get my laptop connected to our TV, and it was a very short, easy video to watch and understand.
I had cut and pasted some little paper family figures from the Friend, and we did this activity where we talked about each family member and what makes them special. Then we put the little figure in the house. We also talked about how EVERYONE is important to the family in their own way.
Afterwards, Steven read a little poem from the Friend, and we ate “Family Cupcakes” (--translation: teeny cupcakes that Steven had bought at the store only moments before that we christened “Family Cupcakes” for theme’s sake).
Anyway, it was a very fun night and I really hope we can keep this FHE habit going! We never really had FHE (in the formal sense…or any other sense for that matter) when I was growing up, and so it’s kind of a challenge to know what to do and stay motivated. But if it can make our family even a little bit closer, and keep us from killing each other in the meantime, it will be more than worth it.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
3 Points of Interest
This man is awesome.
I can not express how much I enjoyed this stinkin' concert! I mean, Brad Paisley is just freakishly talented, has fabulously fun music, is a good person, nice to children, looks good in jeans....what's not to love? And I have to admit that being THERE at an actual live show was just magical for some reason. I guess I just haven't been to a concert in so long. But granted, I've only ever been to mind-numbingly loud concerts where everyone is screeching and standing up and crushing themselves together.
But regardless, I had a wonderful time singing along with all the songs and snugglin' into my sweetie on the love songs (he even had to good sense to put him arm around me--intuitive man that he is!)
This movie is awesome.
It was playing at the dollar theater, so Steven and I packed up the kids to go see their very first movie in a movie theater. We figured that if they lost interest and started maniacally running up and down the aisles, we could just leave because hey, it was only a dollar.
However, the boys actually loved it, and were relatively spellbound through the whole movie. It was so much fun, in fact, that I've decided to take them to movies more often. (The sweet, sweet air-conditioning of the movie theater will be a perfect refuge on one of the anticipated sauna-like days of summer).
Lastly, my toes are awesome.
Well, not really my toes, but I do love my toenails (notice the hip little black flowers on the big toes? Love it.) I went to a Girls' Night In last night (complete with toenail painting) and had an absolute blast. I had to laugh out loud when the owner of the toenail polish told me she felt so empowered by that color that she felt like karate kicking someone whenever she wore it (and strangely enough--I understood).
I also had a really great time making a cute bead bracelet (do wonders ever cease?) but somehow managed to lose it by the time I got home. Oh well. It was still so much fun, and I feel really happy to be creating new friendships with such wonderful people. Good times.
I can not express how much I enjoyed this stinkin' concert! I mean, Brad Paisley is just freakishly talented, has fabulously fun music, is a good person, nice to children, looks good in jeans....what's not to love? And I have to admit that being THERE at an actual live show was just magical for some reason. I guess I just haven't been to a concert in so long. But granted, I've only ever been to mind-numbingly loud concerts where everyone is screeching and standing up and crushing themselves together.
But regardless, I had a wonderful time singing along with all the songs and snugglin' into my sweetie on the love songs (he even had to good sense to put him arm around me--intuitive man that he is!)
This movie is awesome.
It was playing at the dollar theater, so Steven and I packed up the kids to go see their very first movie in a movie theater. We figured that if they lost interest and started maniacally running up and down the aisles, we could just leave because hey, it was only a dollar.
However, the boys actually loved it, and were relatively spellbound through the whole movie. It was so much fun, in fact, that I've decided to take them to movies more often. (The sweet, sweet air-conditioning of the movie theater will be a perfect refuge on one of the anticipated sauna-like days of summer).
Lastly, my toes are awesome.
Well, not really my toes, but I do love my toenails (notice the hip little black flowers on the big toes? Love it.) I went to a Girls' Night In last night (complete with toenail painting) and had an absolute blast. I had to laugh out loud when the owner of the toenail polish told me she felt so empowered by that color that she felt like karate kicking someone whenever she wore it (and strangely enough--I understood).
I also had a really great time making a cute bead bracelet (do wonders ever cease?) but somehow managed to lose it by the time I got home. Oh well. It was still so much fun, and I feel really happy to be creating new friendships with such wonderful people. Good times.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Random Tidbits While Nursing a Cold
I'm sick yet again. It's a cold this time, and it's a doozy. I've had it since last weekend and I just can't seem to kick it. Everyone else in the family's mercifully been spared, so that's good. I can completely revel in the uniqueness of my infirmity. Maybe I have been milking it a bit. I haven't gone to the gym all week long, and I've slept A LOT.
My friend Stacie gave Stevie "Hullabaloo" for his birthday. The kids randomly pulled it out yesterday and have been obsessed with it ever since. It's insanely adorable. They get so darn excited and want to play it over and over again. Which is great because they're actually interacting with one another without hitting or kicking (mostly).
Steven and I have tickets to go see Brad Paisley at the Houston Rodeo tonight. I have mixed feelings, in that 1)I adore Brad Paisley and think he's an amazingly talented song-writer and guitarist but 2)I'm not a big fan of stadium-seating concerts. You can never hear or see anything, and I've been known to wear earplugs in the past. (I know, I'm an old grandma). But, hey, it's a date with my husband doing something that we normally don't do, so I'm still excited.
It's delightfully cold today. Out of the blue, once again. Yesterday it was 75 degrees, and now its 54. Perfect day for a blanket, a good book and some baked potato soup.
My friend Stacie gave Stevie "Hullabaloo" for his birthday. The kids randomly pulled it out yesterday and have been obsessed with it ever since. It's insanely adorable. They get so darn excited and want to play it over and over again. Which is great because they're actually interacting with one another without hitting or kicking (mostly).
Steven and I have tickets to go see Brad Paisley at the Houston Rodeo tonight. I have mixed feelings, in that 1)I adore Brad Paisley and think he's an amazingly talented song-writer and guitarist but 2)I'm not a big fan of stadium-seating concerts. You can never hear or see anything, and I've been known to wear earplugs in the past. (I know, I'm an old grandma). But, hey, it's a date with my husband doing something that we normally don't do, so I'm still excited.
It's delightfully cold today. Out of the blue, once again. Yesterday it was 75 degrees, and now its 54. Perfect day for a blanket, a good book and some baked potato soup.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Making Ice Cream Sandwiches
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Print Your Blog!
Attractively, no less! I finally found out how to do it without taking a week off from life to organize it all. I just went to Blurb.com and downloaded the newest BOOKSMART software (for free, of course...we all know how cheap I am).
I know, I know, you've done this all before and almost killed yourself at how tedious it was to cut and paste, cut and paste. But no more! Blurb finally have a new feature that will "slurp" your blog and format it automatically. Then you can just go back and edit it however you want.
I'm really excited about this! I just finished formatting, and I plan to order it and get it in book form. So anyway, if you've been pulling your hair out trying to figure out how to get your blog in print, give it a whirl.
Make sure to check out THIS VIDEO first:
I know, I know, you've done this all before and almost killed yourself at how tedious it was to cut and paste, cut and paste. But no more! Blurb finally have a new feature that will "slurp" your blog and format it automatically. Then you can just go back and edit it however you want.
I'm really excited about this! I just finished formatting, and I plan to order it and get it in book form. So anyway, if you've been pulling your hair out trying to figure out how to get your blog in print, give it a whirl.
Make sure to check out THIS VIDEO first:
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Busy Week
MONDAY
Normal day, but had a lovely time at a birthday party in the evening. I have to say, I enjoy children’s birthday parties immensely…as long as there are plenty of adults there to jabber with. Oh, and as long as I don’t have to do anything.
TUESDAY
My baby brother Joey came into town, and we spent a lovely day at the Zoo. What you see here is a very awesome tunnel that went RIGHT THROUGH an aquarium tank. The kids could crawl through and look at the fish from inside the tank!
S. and D. really would have been happier if we had spent all day in the tunnel, but I moved us on nonetheless. 
And what would a visit to the zoo be without having your photo taken with a large, ceramic elephant?
WEDNESDAY
Nothing particularly of note, except that Steven had a band rehearsal in the evening, which meant an entire day and evening wrestling my sweet, adorable children. By the end of the day, I had lost my patience, my sanity and all of my charm.
THURSDAY
Another lovely day spent with my brother Joey, this time at the beach. Now I know that seafoam is a "thing", but is it suppose to have a yellowish hue?
The water was absolutely freezing, but that didn't deter the boys from getting as wet as possible. 
FRIDAY
Some friends of ours who told us they wanted us over for dinner in AUGUST are finally coming through on the deal. (Ha ha, Erin, I ratted you out! You're not getting out of it THIS TIME!) Since I admitted my food neurosis to them early on, we're looking forward to an evening of dessert-only foodstuffs and a Wii tournament! (In which I anticipate losing horribly...*sigh*..I really need to learn how to work that thing).
Normal day, but had a lovely time at a birthday party in the evening. I have to say, I enjoy children’s birthday parties immensely…as long as there are plenty of adults there to jabber with. Oh, and as long as I don’t have to do anything.
TUESDAY
My baby brother Joey came into town, and we spent a lovely day at the Zoo. What you see here is a very awesome tunnel that went RIGHT THROUGH an aquarium tank. The kids could crawl through and look at the fish from inside the tank!
S. and D. really would have been happier if we had spent all day in the tunnel, but I moved us on nonetheless. 
And what would a visit to the zoo be without having your photo taken with a large, ceramic elephant?
WEDNESDAY
Nothing particularly of note, except that Steven had a band rehearsal in the evening, which meant an entire day and evening wrestling my sweet, adorable children. By the end of the day, I had lost my patience, my sanity and all of my charm.
THURSDAY
Another lovely day spent with my brother Joey, this time at the beach. Now I know that seafoam is a "thing", but is it suppose to have a yellowish hue?
The water was absolutely freezing, but that didn't deter the boys from getting as wet as possible. 
FRIDAY
Some friends of ours who told us they wanted us over for dinner in AUGUST are finally coming through on the deal. (Ha ha, Erin, I ratted you out! You're not getting out of it THIS TIME!) Since I admitted my food neurosis to them early on, we're looking forward to an evening of dessert-only foodstuffs and a Wii tournament! (In which I anticipate losing horribly...*sigh*..I really need to learn how to work that thing).
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