Goodness

I am expecting our 6th baby.  I have been so very sick, even the sickest I've been.  Jared and I had to tell the kids we are having another baby earlier than we wished because I was needing so much extra help with cooking, chores, 4-year old Bruce's needs, and cleaning.  I am still the 2nd counselor in the Primary Presidency in our ward and so I had to tell the ladies I work with the news as well.  It seems almost as soon as the news has gotten out into the neighborhood, generous people have brought in meals.  Our neighbor Jennie Hyer offered to buy us pizza and she brought French bread to go with it.  One of the teachers in our primary, Joan Argyle brought over a yummy homemade tomato soup with crackers and amazing mint brownies.  And then the primary president, Carol Merrell brought over clam chowder and homemade bread.  With 7 hungry people to feed every day, this has been a blessing from above.

Also, Jared has had had challenging times with his job but we feel the Lord is here with us as well.  MOM brands is down-sizing a bit and many people in the company are quitting to find other employment.  Jared is not one of them.

The kids are doing well.  They are all growing and we are home schooling every day. 

Our relationships with my side of the family seem to be moving in the right direction.  My Dad wrote me an email and invited our family to their family Christmas party this year.  This is the first time he and my mom have ever invited us to their home for any celebration.  I hope this trend continues.  In the past one of us children would plan the party, but I stopped going to those several years ago because I have always felt that it is my parents responsibility to get the entire family together for occasions

Jared's family has been trying to mend with us for some time and we have had relations with them for a little over a year now.

Jobs Asthma And Things

Jared's job is in question.  We are looking for other jobs for him.  MOM Brands is going through a time where they need to down size.

Joseph and Rex's football season ended for the year.  They both loved it.

Vanessa is busy in school and working to increase her abilities with the violin.

Eric had a major asthma attack last week.  He is allergic to Jared's parent's dog and we will never be able to step foor in their home again.  His lungs swelled up and he could hardly breathe all night long.  We almost had to go to the ER.

Bruce is busy and makes a lot of messes.

We found a new home for Baxter, the dog.  We were sad, but he needed to go.  We think Eric might be allergic to Baxter too, so we are hoping that he'll be able to start breathing normally again.

Family

What a fun weekend we had!  Paul and Ashley and Wayne and Amy's family came to our house.  Joseph and Rex both had football games and that was what drew the crowd.  We watched the games and then came back home for Jared's yummy smoked brisket, funeral potatoes, and salad.  We had pumpkin cookies for dessert.  Wayne and Amy stayed overnight.  We had such a good time getting to know their family.  Our dog, Baxter, had fun getting to know Wayne's family  They came to Sacrament meeting with us on Sunday, we had leftover brisket dinner, and not long after, they left.

And guess what?  No one got any pictures.  Sounds about right for me.  My kids have broken so many of our cameras that I have a hard time even remembering to bring a camera out. 

We celebrated Bruce's 4 year old birthday on Monday.  We got him a really nice tractor.  He loves it.  Jared's parents came over last night because they wanted to give Bruce a present too.  They got him a neat scooter which he is trying to learn how to ride.  He knows how to ride regular scooters, but this one is a little different and he has had to learn how to ride it.

Today we are putting in shelves in our mudroom and doing schoolwork. 

Things...

It has been a busy week.  Yesterday we spent most of the day watching Rex and Joseph play their football games.  Both of their teams lost.  Rex hardly played because his team is so large and the coaches already have their favorite kids to play.   Joseph's coaches are upset with his performance during practice that they took him off of the defense and only had him play offense yesterday.  Jared was pretty upset by this.  Joseph has started saying that he wants a break from football and doesn't want to play next year.  Football is a huge time commitment and I wouldn't mind the break myself.

Our first week of home school has been fruitful.  The kids are happy and so am I.  I have been studying more of H. Verlan Andersen's writings and feeling more and more happy that we are doing what we are doing with the kids' educations. 

We love the neighborhood we live in.  We love our neighbors.  We love our Ward. 

Beautiful Day

It is a beautiful day here in Tremonton today.  The sun is shining with a few clouds in the sky. 

On today's agenda, I am headed 20 minutes south to Brigham City where I will hand in the form to check my kids out of public school.  I hate the fact that I have to sign my kids out of school because it should be the other way around.  I should have to sign my kids in to school each year.  Compulsory education is not what I believe this country should have ever agreed to.  However, I am so grateful to live in a country where I still have the freedom to educate my children the way I see fit.

I am so excited for homeschooling this year.  I have so many plans and am excited to see how well I do at executing them.  The kids are excited too.

As a reminder, if you are sending your kids to public school, please watch the assignments they bring home.  If you do not like the material that they bring home, speak up.  Talk to their teacher, their principal, the superintendent in their school district about your concerns.  The new state standards that were adopted in over 45 states in America are truly horrifying.  Do not be afraid to homeschool.  If I could afford a private school, and we lived near one, I would consider that too.  It has been said, and I agree with it, that even a parents' worst effort at homeschooling their child is better than the schooling being offered at the public schools because a parent loves their child more than anyone else ever could.

In other news, the company Jared works for still has yet to find a replacement for his current position.  They haven't told Jared 'no, you don't get the job' yet, but it only follows that they will with how long they are searching for other candidates to interview for this position.  We have had spiritual confirmations that either way, the Lord is with us and He will take care of us.

Reputation

In our family, we have been talking about reputation.  The older kids are starting to recognize how important having a good reputation is, and how much hurt and pain can come from a ruined reputation.  I loved this verse of scripture that I came upon this morning in my reading.  It is from 1 Timothy 4: 12.

12 Let no man ^adespise thy youth; but be thou an ^bexample of the believers, in word, in ^cconversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in ^dpurity

Last night, I gave a lesson to the children that our reputation can always be good if we watch our conversations and be loving, faithful and pure people.  I spoke of the Golden Rule and how important it is to remember it.  It turned out that Eric (13 year old) was having a misunderstanding with Vanessa (14  years old) amongst their mutual friends which was causing both of them to not behave their best around those friends.  We were able to talk out those misunderstandings and bring peace.

To end with , we came up with ways to improve a reputation once it is scarred or dirtied.  While some stains to reputation take several years to cleanse, the everyday mars to reputation can easily be cleaned with apologies or speaking good about others or by being kind to others' we don't agree with. 

The discussion on protecting reputation can be a tender one with youth and so I made sure the children know that I was speaking a out protecting ours because we want other's to think well of us because we are pure people.  We don't want to look good on the outside only to be filthy on the inside.  We want people to learn to trust us.  We want people to find a good friend in us just like we want to find purity in our friends. 

The night ended well.  I love having older children.

20 Year Reunion

It is mine and Jared's 20 year high school reunion this weekend and we are not attending the events.  It is Jared's work weekend anyway, but that isn't the real reason we aren't going.  It feels so trivial to write the reason why, but I want to anyway.  We attended our 10 year reunion and it was a pretty miserable experience for me.  I realized how many people I didn't know from our graduating class and they didn't know me either.  The event we attended was a family event at Sugarhouse Park in Salt Lake City.  At the time we had 3 kids under the age of 4, Vanessa was 4, Eric was 3 and Joseph was 1.  It was awful trying to chase them while reuniting with old friends.  Well, in my case I mostly just stood around while Jared tried to reunite with old friends.  I felt so stupid and so lonely.  There were even people there that knew me from high school but they acted like they didn't know me.  How rude!  I guess they didn't have anything to say to me and I decided I didn't have anything to say to them either.  I remember it was hard for me to even talk to people.  But the hardest part for me is how hard it was for me to smile.  And if you know me at all, that is saying something.  Smiling has always been something that has come easy for me.  So, I decided I wasn't going to go through anything like that again, ever.  And I have kept to my promise. 

I wonder if it would be different now that 20 years have passed.  I wonder if the people in my graduating class have gone through enough of life's battles that it has softened them a bit.  I feel sure that that is the reason why I do not want to attend this weekend.  I just couldn't bare the thought of standing around all alone trying pretend like I was having fun. 

I asked Jared if he wanted to go.  He knows my feelings and said he didn't want to go knowing how I felt.  It was sweet of him and I was glad he didn't put any pressure on me.

Here's to our 20 year graduation from Highland High School!!!

In other news, Jared's parents, Grandma Harris (92 years old,) his sister Marianne, his brother Grayson's wife Allysa, and his brother Jonathan and his family were all here for Jared's birthday party yesterday.  We had a lovely time and the kids loved seeing their cousins.  I was so happy that Jared got to spend his birthday with the people he loves the most.  Our relationship with Jared's parents is still strained and we have our disagreements, but we don't focus on them.  Now that Jared is completely away from working for his father, our relationship can move forward normally.  We feel blessed.

Birthday And School

It's Jared's 38 year old birthday today.  We are taking him to pick out his own present and stopping by Maddox in Brigham City to get him his favorite pie, coconut cream.  He is working on putting a party together with his parents and siblings.  He is hoping to do grilled hamburgers and hot dogs.  We'll have to see if it happens;)  Happy Birthday, Jared!

Also, we are getting ready for the new school year to start.  Vanessa and Eric will be doing a couple of classes and I will be doing their core classes.  Joseph and Rex will be fully homeschooled.  I am looking forward to the neighborhood children going to school too so that I will have less disruptions with my own kids.  I have been doing some schooling over the summer but we get interrupted so frequently that we've had to put a sign on the door that says we can't play till later.  Yikes, I've become 'one of those Mom's.'  I don't know, maybe that is not such a bad thing, we sure do get a lot more done when the door bell isn't ringing.

Observation

Jared met with the company manufacturing department head last night.  It wasn't a formal interview.  Instead, the man observed Jared conduct his weekly meeting and then Jared walked around the plant with him.  As he was leaving the plant, the man shook Jared's hand and told him he is doing a good job.  We still have no idea what the end result will be, but we know that our Father is in charge and His will for us is all we want.

Party and Promotion

We're off to the annual Ward summer dinner over at the church.  I have made a pasta salad with cherry tomatoes, olives, artichoke hearts, cucumber, and Italian dressing.  This year the Ward is having a bounce house and slide for the kids.  Bruce will love that the most.

Rex and Joseph are at football practice and will miss most of the party.

Jared also is meeting with the head of the manufacturing department of MOM Brands tonight.  The man is here from Minnesota for other business, but Jared will meet with him for some time too.  This is another step to see whether Jared will get the promotion or not.

Kids

Not much going on in our home.  Joseph had his birthday and we went to Chuck A Rama for dinner.  Last night we had a neighborhood boy come over and he spent the night at our house, which for us is unheard of, we are anti-sleepover.  His friend's name is Jason Sullivan and our families are very close. 

Football has kicked in full swing and Joseph and Rex are both on teams.  Practices are every night for 90 minutes.  Rex came home tonight with sore legs.  He is 7 years old and this is his first time being on an athletic team.  He is quite the athlete.  Joseph, however, is 11 years old and this will be his 4th year playing football, but his 3rd year playing for the Tremonton Bear River Bears.  His coaches love him and they put him in key positions.  He also has a really good friend on his team who is the quarterback named Ashton Rhoades.  As a family, we love watching the kids play.

Totally unrelated but my thought for the day:

'Individuals, to the extent possible, should provide for their own needs. Where the individual is unable to care for himself, his family should assist. Where the family is not able to provide, the Church should render assistance, not the government. We accept the basic principle that "though the people support the government, the government should not support the people." Latter-day Saints should not receive unearned welfare assistance from local or national agencies. This includes food stamps.' - Ezra Taft Benson

Be True

In this world where there is such a decline in values, there is ever the need for us all to be true.  Be true to the good in you.  Be true to your families, to your children, to true principles.

That is how I feel today, be true, be true, be true!

Happy Birthday Eric

Today is Eric's 13th birthday.  We have been celebrating it all week since we had his friend party last week before said friends went on their summer vacations. So today we had his favorite family meal of fettucine and he asked for homemade brownies for dessert.  We didn't have any candles and since we don't go grocery shopping on the Sabbath Day, we went without.  Bruce, our 3 year old, looked at the pan of brownies and said, 'Put the candles on.'  I then said, "We don't have any."  After about 5 seconds of serious thought he says, "Let's just eat it."  It was adorable and hilarious and gave everyone at the table a giggle and somehow it made the avoidance of candles not as big of a deal. 

Eric is a good boy.  He is entering teenage years with some trepidation and isn't as trusting of a soul as he once was.  His nickname is EJ, but I often call him Jo-Eric.  It is a combination of Joseph's name and his.  He loves food.  He has several friends who come over to be with him.  He is in a phase of teasing, which is really annoying to the rest of us.  Today as I was getting ready to prepare his brownies I took out the 2 sticks of butter.  When I put the rest of the butter back in the fridge, I turned back to the counter to pick that butter back up and it was gone.  I was beginning to think I'd gone crazy when I saw Eric over near the sink and I realized he was being a stinker and he was guilty of hiding my butter from me.  This is the type of things he's doing these days.  He gets these type of ideas from watching a prankster on youtube.  I don't like him watching that prankster so I don't let him watch it anymore.  He got a tablet for his birthday from Jared and I. 

We love Eric.  We are so happy he is in our home.  He was born at 17:59, weighed 8lbs 4oz, was 19 inches, with red hair.  He was the biggest baby in the nursery the night he was born.  The 2000 July had record breaking heat with the most days over 100 degrees.  His due date was originally July 22nd according to the ultrasound I had done, but according to my own thoughts and feelings, I thought he would be born on July 16th.  I remember being huge and miserable, so when his delivery came, I was so excited.  He was my second baby that I delivered unmedicated and Eric's delivery was a violent one.  As I was pushing him out, my midwife noticed his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck 3 times.  As my midwife was working to unwrap the cord, I was pushing with all of my might.  He 'blasted' out of me with amniotic fluid flying everywhere, especially all over Jared, who was standing right next to the bed.  My midwife stealthily avoided it.  I made a rather large scream and looked down at our new little bundle of joy.  His face was purple from being bruised at the quick descent into the world but he cried immediately.  It's amazing how fast the last 13 years have gone.

Lots Of Pictures

Eric brought me Vanessa's SD card with all the pictures we've taken over the last several weeks.

                                                         Vanessa and Eric are good friends.

                                   Eric doesn't like the horses so much because he is so allergic to them.

Bruce loves the horses! 

 

Joseph loves the horses the most.  He is in the background.

 

Jared had his hands full saddling all the horses himself and teaching kids what to do around horses.

 

Chillin' in the cabin.

 

The four wheelers were a favorite for everyone.

 

                                                     Vanessa with her best friend Nicole.

4th of July fireworks with the neighbors.

 

                                                      TV with the neighbors in our basement.

                                        At home Bruce all tuckered out in front of a movie.

                                                 Picture of me up at the cabin.  2013

Death And Life

The chapter heading in 2 Corinthians says Godly sorrow for sin leads to repentance—The sorrow of the world leads to death.  The very first verse says this,

1 'let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.'

And then verse 10 says:

10   For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.


Speaking of death of the physical body we know how much sorrow comes to us when we lose a loved one.

But what about the death of the spirit?  Do we sorrow when we see a loved one set their hearts on the things of the world?  Worse, are our hearts set on worldliness?  Do we attend church and take little thought of the lessons and allow our hearts to wander off to what the other church attendees are wearing, the latest hairstyles, how popular we are or are not, etc.

I have been studying what godly sorrow is and it has been a worthwhile study.  Since repentance comes before baptism, and baptism comes as the gate by which we must enter to get on the straight and narrow path back to Heavenly Father, repentance is the first place to start. 

Lastly, it is hard to repent if we don't know we are doing anything wrong.

Sin leads to spiritual death.  When we're spiritually dead we are in Satan's grasp.  Think of having a spiritually dead spouse?  They teach children to find happiness in committing sin and that there is no happiness in following Heavenly Father.  They don't find happiness is following anyone but themselves and whatever appetite is needing to be fed at that moment.  Principles mean nothing or very little to them.  They call good evil and evil good.  How sad it is when we see a husband get angry at his wife when she is offended by evil?

The good news is that there is a remedy for spiritual death.  The answer is repentance.  Jesus Christ came so that we could learn from our own experiences the difference between good and evil.  Through Jesus Christ we can become new creatures.  Once where there was death, there can be life because of Him. 

Beauties

As I sit here on this beautiful Sabbath early evening, listening to the rain gently drop on the windows and listen to Vanessa practice the theme song from '17 Miracles,' I am simply amazed at God's love to mankind. It warms my heart to think of all the beauty around me.  When times are tough and it seems like the world all around me is so full of sorrow, I love to think on all the joy I feel from the simple beauties of life.  Our grass and garden have been so thirsty lately that it occurred to me to pray for rain.  It was a simple prayer, really, and went like this, 'Heavenly Father, I don't know if anyone else needs or wants rain right now, but we do here at our house.'  Since that prayer, and I've prayed a similar one a few times since, we have received rain 3 times.   My lawn looks so much better and it seems that the rain from heaven turns the grass a beautiful green.  I wish my lawn would look this nice from the sprinklers.  We got to partake of the first yields of our vegetable garden 2 days ago.  What a joy!  It was zucchini and summer squash.  Jared and I have to fight over it because Rex, Bruce, and Joseph love it.  Bruce, age 3, looked on my cookie sheet to see what I was making and when he saw the vegetables he exclaimed, 'Oh yes, I love these!  I can't wait!'  I love that he loves them.  Joseph is the usual culprit that we have to fight over the fruits and vegetables with, so now Bruce and Rex are worthy contenders.  It is a good thing we planted a garden so I don't have to feel stingy about sharing in all the good food.

Great Smiles

We took the kids to the dentist today and not one of the kids had a cavity.  How impressive is that?  We were so excited.  Vanessa has about 5 months left of having braces.  We might have to get braces for Joseph and Rex.  Joseph's top teeth bow out a little and Rex's teeth to the sides of his two front teeth are coming in sideways.  Bruce was totally terrified of the dental assistant and we had to calm him down a bit.  Once Bruce calmed down for the dental assistant, the rest of the appointment went well for him.

Other than that, we are still trying to beat the summer heat.  Our vegetable garden is growing nicely.  The front perennial garden is struggling a bit from the heat.  I have already lost 6 of the plants.

Cabin

We are still waiting to hear the decision on Jared's job promotion.  Although we don't know if he will get the permanent position, I trust that what is supposed to happen will happen. 

We spent Monday night till Thursday afternoon at Jared's parents cabin up Weber Canyon.  It was a good time and no one got hurt.  Eric loved the 4-wheelers the most.  Vanessa, Joseph, Rex and Bruce loved the horse riding the most.  It was especially fun to watch Joseph and his Dad galloping along on the horses.  I liked the 4-wheelers.  We all loved the open fire and the hotdogs.  The night time was especially nice when it cooled off and we could see all of the stars.  Gorgeous.  I wish I had pictures uploaded on my computer and will get that done soon.

Now we are home and back to daily routines. 

Grill And Job

What a beautiful Father's Day here in Tremonton, Utah.  We spent the afternoon with Jared grilling hamburgers on the grill before Jared had to leave for work.  Luckily, Jared got to nap for a couple of hours after our church let out because he is battling a sinus infection and really needs rest.

We got some news on Jared's job promotion.  This last week the corporate office told the Tremonton office manager (he is our bishop as well) that they wanted more applicants to choose from than just the 2 that applied so they want the job to be opened up to the general public.  This feels like somewhat of a blow to Jared and he is quite disheartened and feels like his faith in the Lord is a bit wobbly.  I trust the Lord and feel like we are in His hands completely.  I have spent so much of my life not trusting the Lord that I don't want to go back to that ugly place.  If we don't get the job, then the Lord has another path for us.  If Jared doesn't get this promotion it will definately drive us to look at other employment options.  MOM Brands (aka Malt O-Meal) wants to put people with technical degrees in the job that Jared applied for and Jared does not have that.  Jared needs all of the prayers he can get, and not that he will get the job, but that he will learn the lessons he needs to learn in this experience and that his faith in the Lord will increase, not decrease.

Summer

Okay, so blogger has been giving me some trouble.

Anyway, we are still waiting to hear about whether or not Jared will get the permanent position at his work.  The company he works for has had the 'big wigs' from the corporate office there this week and that is what is causing the delay.  It's okay.

We are really loving summer.  We are watching our garden grow and the kids are loving the warm weather and the constant influx of kids/friends that come over everyday.  I am so happy that each of my kids have at least one good friend here in our neighborhood.  We are so fortunate to live among people who we get along with.

The only vacations we have planned for this summer are camping and cabin visits.  Jared's parent's have a cabin that is about 2 hours away.  Other than that, we will get to go to Lagoon in August with Jared's work.  It is their 10 year anniversary of being in Tremonton and they celebrate by giving each of their employee's and their families a day pass at Lagoon.  That should be a lot of fun.  The kids have good memories of the summer we got Lagoon season passes 4 years ago and are looking forward to going back.  Rex was only 3 then, so he'll get to go on a lot of the big kid rides this time around.  Since my back and hip injuries I have a hard time going on the rides.  I have had a small amount of healing in the last 4 years and I'll have to see how well I handle the jolting rides.

Concert And Job Interview

It is almost the end of the school year.  Vanessa had her year end orchestra concert.  Since her orchestra teacher teaches all of the orchestra classes from 6th grade to 12th grade here, the concert included pieces from all of those groups.  Vanessa performed with the 8-9th graders.  The 9th grader that is in 1st chair didn't show up to the concert and Vanessa immediately brought this to Ms. Dunns attention.  Ms. Dunn, the orchestra teacher, grabbed Vanessa's violin, began to tune it, and said, 'you have to be concert mistress (Vanessa would go out on stage while the audience has quieted down and play each note while the rest of the orchestra students make sure they are in tune) and don't forget to play 9th grade 1st chairs' solo part.'

After the concert, Vanessa told us all that had happened.  It amazes me to see Vanessa step up and do what needs to be done.  She said she was nervous, but one would never know it.  She did a wonderful job!  It was a special treat to have my parents, Jared's Mom and sister there as well to support her.

It is Friday today.  Jared has had his first interview for the Line Manager position at MOM Brands (formerly known as Malt O-Meal) two days ago.  He has one more interview and a psychologist test before he'll know if he is selected for the permanent position.  We should know by the first week in June whether he'll get the job or not.  In Jared's first interview, one of the interviewer's grilled Jared on whether he believes in negative punishment or not.  He asked Jared multiple times what he has done in a situation where he has had to reprimand someone.  Jared said that other than that, the interview was smoothe.

We are excited for the summer and love to see the green grass and leaves on the trees.

Outside

Rex comes up to me and says this, "Mom, I learned my lesson about wasps.  A wasp landed on the back of my neck and I didn't move.  Then the wasp flew away.  It didn't sting me!"

We are loving the change in weather and are outside most of the day.  The garden in the front yard is planted with perennials, and the backyard is planted with vegetables.  In the backyard we are growing corn, zucchini, squash, cucumber, tomato, pumpkins, carrots, and hot peppers.  I love watching the gardens grow.

Happy Birthday Vanessa

We had a birthday party for Vanessa today.  She invited 3 of her school friends over and they played volleyball, ate dinner, and chatted.  What a refreshing change to be with 14 year old girls.  I remember her 10 year old birthday party and the girls were wild.  The 14 year old girls are calm and respectful.  I loved it!  And wouldn't have a single problem having a birthday party every year for her if she invites girls like she did today.  After her 10 year old birthday party, I seriously thought I would never have a friend birthday party again!  Vanessa still has a friend over right now for a late night.  She lives a couple of doors down from us and is more like a sister to Vanessa than a friend.  They really have a fun relationship.

Alas, I am exhausted.  But happy for Vanessa.  Happy birthday Vanessa!

Baby Blessing

We went to my niece Veronica's baby blessing on Sunday.  What a precious little girl she has!  And what a treat to be able to spend such a special day with her and her family.  It was so good to get to know her husband and to see her after such a long period of absence on my part.  My own problems in my own marriage have caused my long absence.

I saw my parents for the first time in 5 years as well while at this special baby blessing.  It was strange.  But amazingly it went well.  I mean, we didn't break out into a fight or anything!  J/K  Really it was just awkward.  But the awkwardness didn't last.  We definately still have our disagreements, but we didn't discuss those, and I was grateful it went well.  Jared said it was really uncomfortable for him at first because the last time he saw my parent's, he had a fight with them.  My Mom sat down right next to him on the bench at church, while I was several seats away.  But Jared said that he had a powerful experience as he was sitting there where he felt the Lord reach into his heart and take away hurt and pain.  He said that it surprised him that he had that hurt and pain in there because he thought he had worked through his feelings.  But when he had this experience he realized that the hurt and pain was still in there because he felt the Lord take it out.  So, he was able to sit right next to my Mom and feel at peace.  What a wonderful blessing for Jared!

Vanessa had a remarkable experience as well.  She said it was strange to see my parent's holding hands.  Jared's parents don't hold hands and they are the only grandparents she has been around the last several years.  

I am looking forward to the future of mending broken fences.  I'm not sure how it will all work out, but I know that the Lord cares deeply about family and peace.  

Schedule of Events

Do you want more information on Common Core State Standards that Utah has adopted for our public school kids?  Here is a schedule of upcoming meetings the public can attend to find out more.  I really wish I could attend the one in Lehi with Dr. Gary Thompson.  He is the psychologist who is speaking out against it.

Tuesday night

Lehi: Wendy Hart, Renee Braddy, and Dr. Gary Thompson will be speaking at Traverse Mountain Corporate Center at 6:30-8:30

Herriman: Lisa Cummins will be doing a home cottage meeting at 7:00 PM

Thursday:

Kearns library presentation by Christel Swasey and Alisa Ellis at 7:00 PM

Saturday:

Orem Boy Scout Store, 6 PM mix and mingle, 7 PM presentation by Alisa Ellis, Christel Swasey, and Renee Braddy

Working

Homeschooling is going so well.  I love it!  The boys are working hard and I love being able to make sure they know the subject before we move on.  Eric missed some key Math lessons back in 3rd grade, 4 years ago, and so we are working on learning that stuff.  Joseph is also catching up on a few Math lessons that he missed when he had to miss 2 weeks of school a couple of months ago when he got his tonsils out.  Rex works hard and I am so proud of him.

In our neighborhood, there have been several people and friends who have asked what we are doing homeschooling our children.  Vanessa and Eric have had to answer why I am doing it.  They give several of my reasons, but they feel awkward and uncomfortable.  I tell my kids to hold their heads high and to not be embarrassed.  The responses the kids get from these people are interesting.  The most interesting comment to me is the one that said, 'Your Mom is ambitious.'  I never thought I would be one to home school my kids.  I have always thought home schoolers are weird.  Of course, there are plenty of public schoolers who are weird too, but I never thought of that before.  There are challenges and hurdles we have to watch out for, but we are committed and loving this new adventure and challenge of home school.

Dr. Gary Thompson

Wow!  The Utah Office of Education isn't building their case for their decision to implement Common Core very well.  Take a look at what Dr. Gary Thompson said today about a meeting he attended where CC was being discussed.  Way to go Dr. Thompson for making your voice be heard!

• Dr. Gary Thompson said, ' I'm mortified at USOE. I'm half tempted to shoot off (another) letter to the State Superintendent of Schools demanding that they stop all future "informational"meetings until they themselves either know the correct answers, or can be honest and simply state, " we are investigating these issues currently, and we will get back to you when we know the answers." Anything other than that is pure deception, and if they (Judy Park, ect) are deceiving tax paying parents, then they should be asked to resign from their positions of trust. If I here one more meeting filled with deception and plausible deniability, I may take it upon myself to publicly ask for those resignations myself in a very public manner that will make the my Glen Beck appearance look like minor league. 
  
  It is just common respect. THEY asked for my letter of assistance and clarification. Attorney Flint and myself spent an entire weekend drafting it for them and the parents in our community. 
  
  Their response over a week later? 
  
  Crickets. 
  
  Not even a thank you note....and then they have the gall to present a LIVE feed to the entire State filled with definitive answers to parents questions that not only could they not answer during our 2 hour in person meeting, but asked for our assistance to clarify the issues they did not understand. 
  
  How hard would it had been to simply say, "We do not know." ??? 
  Ms. Parks response to questions regarding adaptive testing to children with learning "quirks" (out new name for disabilities) was so devious and deceptive that I had to turn it off. 
  
  Alisa Olsen Ellis, don't you ever stop this fight as long as you have life in you. God bless you.

  about an hour ago via mobile · Like · 1
• 

  Gary Thompson and yes, you can repost my response to the world. As long as you correct my IPhone induced spelling errors.

  about an hour ago via mobile

Wedding, Talk, And Job

I have been battling a headache for the last 3 days.  I'm not usually a headache person, so this is new for me.  I think the headache might have something to do with helping the neighbors put in there lawn.  I haven't done been able to do a lot of physical activity for the last several years, so I think I overdid myself.

We attended Jared's brother's wedding on Saturday and it was beautiful.  The sealer in the temple happened to be our Stake Patriarch, President Simmons.  Being in the temple and hearing the beautiful words of the ceremony was touching and the presence of the Lord's Spirit was strong.  It was such a special experience.  Oh, and we're happy to see Grayson married to such a nice girl.

After the wedding on Saturday, we went to a restaurant called Maddox in Brigham City.  The food was delicious.  Little Bruce ate his little heart out.  The kids were so well behaved the entire day.  I was so proud of them.

As we came home from all of the activities that surrounded the wedding, we spent the rest of the day recouping.  Sunday morning church starts at 08:30 and I wasn't sure how I was going to get there because of how exhausted I was.  We had to help Vanessa write a talk for Sacrament meeting as well because she didn't plan her schedule carefully during the week.  Her talk was on the apostasy and the restoration.  Her talk was really mine and Jared's talk and I told her that that is the last time that will happen.  She is almost 14 and in my mind it is completely unacceptable for a parent to write a perfectly capable daughter's talk.

Jared's temporary job is about to become a permanent position.  That doesn't mean Jared gets the position, it just means that his company is placing the job up for bidding.  Jared will apply for it and we will see what the Lord has in store for us.  We continue to place our faith and trust in the Lord and we will accept whatever happens.  We know we are in His care.

Home Schooling

I am home schooling again and this time for keeps.  I home schooled our children 5 years ago for 2 years.  If you've spent any time learning about what is going on with our public schools, you might be tempted to pull your children from their schools.  I understand.  In fact,  a few of my neighbors have found out that I have pulled all but my oldest daughter, Vanessa, from public school and they are asking me questions.  Vanessa will finish out her 8th grade year and I'll home school her again through 12th grade.  But, I am happy to tell my neighbors what I have found out and point them to the people who have informed me.

I love home schooling.  I love learning with the kids and having them look at me as their teacher.  I love that the kids and I are really bonding.  There is such a sweet spirit in our home.

For those of you who are wondering how I am doing it, I'll tell you a little bit about what I am doing.

I use Saxon Math textbooks.  I went online to amazon.com and found the oldest textbooks I could find.  The new Saxon Math textbooks have Common Core State Standards in them.  I am not interested in that at all, as you know!

For English/Literature I am frequenting the local library.  The kids are checking out classics, like Peter Pan and Where the Red Fern Grows.  We are reading and talking about the characters in the books.  I am guiding the kids to look at character downfalls, main plot, and then we look at the conclusions of the books and analyze the outcomes.

We memorize a scripture every week as a family.

We pray.

We sing.

We cook together.

Jared is teaching the boys the cello.  Jared recently purchased a cello for himself and we are borrowing an old cello from Jared's parents for the boys to learn on.

Jared is teaching the boys how to play basketball.

We have plans to plant our vegetable garden in the next couple of weeks.

We are looking forward to teaching our kids in all walks of life.

What a joy to have the opportunity to get the kids ready for their lives as husbands, fathers, neighbors, community members, etc.  I love having the opportunity to choose with my children what they want to learn.

Birthday, Christmas Concert, And Christmas

I haven't posted any family pictures in awhile and thought today would be a good day to catch up a little.

Rex turned 7 in December.  We had a birthday party and he had 6 friends over for a party.  Rex is working on completing his 1st grade.  He loves his friends.  He loves to sword fight with his friends and brothers.  We moved his bed downstairs and he now shares a bedroom with his older brother Eric.  He loves to be outside.  He is a good boy and is a big helper.

Vanessa had a violin concert at her school in December.  And here are a couple of pictures of our Christmas morning.  I am realizing I need a new camera and I need to start taking more pictures.

Common Core State Standards (CCSS)

As a general rule of thumb in my life, I really try to avoid begging.  I am not going to try to avoid it today.  Please, please, please learn about Common Core State Standards that your state has adopted from the United States Department of Education for the free public education for your children.  If you don't know where to start, look up the website utahnsagainstcommoncore.com.  Even if you don't live in Utah, that website will point you in the direction of your own state and how your state had adopted Common Core as well.

Check out what Glenn Beck said today on his radio program about who is supporting Common Core.   

http://www.glennbeck.com/2013/04/11/youll-never-guess-who-is-supporting-common-core/

Here is a comment a teacher made from the Jordan School District in Utah.

“I recently attended a common core day of cheer leading for the sixth grade teachers in my district.  Money was used to pay for subs so that we could all hear for a day why the common core was so wonderful.  We were told that students would no longer be graded on completion of assignments or an average of assignment and test scores over a grading period.  Instead grading will be based on mastery of a subject.  How do we determine mastery?  The district has provided bench mark tests in language arts.  We were told that these are not mandatory BUT that if we did not use them they would become mandatory.  I find it scary that students will now be graded only on tests written by the core.  The final assessment was a research paper on modern revolutions.  Interesting how now in the sixth grade learning can be skewed to a political point of view that may or may not be historically accurate.  I find the curriculum scary and the measurement of learning terrifying. I know though that any questions I asked contrary to the core were met with anger and frustration. It was NOT allowed and dismissed to ask a question that was not common core friendly. I along with other teachers are afraid to speak out publicly against the core for fear of losing our jobs. I work in the Jordan school district.”

**Edited to add some meetings held in some Utah school districts where Common Core will be talked about with county representatives.  My counties was held a couple of night ago, but I didn't hear about it until today, so I missed it.  If you can attend, this might be a great way to see what your area parents, teachers, and representatives think of Common Core.  

**IF YOUR DISTRICT IS NOT LISTED, CALL THE UTAH STATE OFFICE OF EDUCATION AND ASK FOR A MEETING ABOUT THE COMMON CORE TESTS.  Or Call your state's office of education.

Alpine District4–6 pm District Office575 N 100 E, American Fork Tuesday April 16

Weber District4–6 pm District Office / Board Room5320 Adams Ave. Parkway, Ogden Tuesday April 16

Logan District4–6 pm District Office/ Board Room101 West Center, Logan Wednesday April 17

Juab District4–6 pm Juab High School / Little Theater802 N 650 E, Nephi Thursday April 18

Nebo District4–6 pm District Office/ Board Room350 S Main, Spanish Fork Tuesday April 23

Davis 4–6 pm District Office / Kendell Bldg (2nd Floor)70 E 100 N, Farmington Thursday April 25

Uintah District 4–6 pm Maeser Training Center1149 N 2500 W, Vernal

Food

Our family loves Chinese food.  We also love our recent commitment to reducing our eating out.  I always have my eyes out for yummy recipes that won't break the budget.  We have been eating a lot of rice these days.  And I mean a lot.  I'm trying to keep the kids from getting too tired of it.

I found a recipe online, from facebook that I'm going to make soon.  It looks like a simple recipe.

It's fried rice:

Fried Rice 

3 cups cooked white rice (day old or leftover rice works best!)
3 tbs sesame oil
1 cup frozen peas and carrots (thawed)
1 small onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup soy sauce


On medium high heat, heat the oil in a large skillet or wok. Add the peas/carrots mix, onion and garlic. Stir fry until tender. Lower the heat to medium low and push the mixture off to one side, then pour your eggs on the other side of skillet and stir fry until scrambled. Now add the rice and soy sauce and blend all together well. Stir fry until thoroughly heated! **You could really play around with this rice too! Try adding some diced ham, or green onion :) Yum!

Baking Soda And Deoderant

In talking to my friend a couple of months back, we were discussing deoderant.  Don't ask me why.  I don't remember.  She told me what she does for deoderant.  She pours a small amount of baking soda onto a dish rag, and then pats her underarm with the baking soda right after she gets out of the shower, or first thing before dressing for the day.  Weird!  I thought.  It is a bit of a mess, she said, but after some practice, she said the messes get less and less.

Well, I have been having a struggle finding a deoderant that I like and that keeps me smelling good all day long.  I am also very tired of yellow stains under my white shirts from the deoderant.  My friend says she no longer has that since using the baking soda.  What bothers me the most about store bought deoderants is that late in the day, I don't smell good at all.  My sweat smell mixed in with the deoderant just smells, well, nasty. So, I was willing to put the baking soda to the test.

Today I'd like to report the results of my baking soda deoderant test.  I love it!  It works!  I no longer have that nasty late afternoon smell.  And my shirts don't stink at the end of the day.  Even my hubby said I smell better.

Give it a try, if you are having the same issues I was having.  Let me know your results.

Jesus

What a beautiful Easter Sunday!  Our ward choir sang beautiful music today.  Primary was wonderful, as usual.  I love this time of year as my thoughts have been turned to Jesus and how He broke the bands of death.  I love to hear stories of how Jesus has transformed people.

We are headed to Salt Lake City to Jared's parents house today for dinner.  Even though our relationships with them are still strained and we have some work to do to get our relationship to a more healthy place, I am grateful that the doors have been opened for the opportunity to work on those changes.  Change is so hard, but I am totally committed to working in that direction.  I know it is the Lord's work to change us, and it is our work to stand for and live by true priniciples.

Happy Easter!

Get A Job?

Today Jared and I spent a couple of hours picking up some last minute items and groceries for the celebrations that will take place tomorrow.  We went to a little local shop here in our small town in rural northern Utah.  We pulled into the parking lot and had a hard time finding a parking place.  We wondered at this because this particular parking lot is never filled to capacity.  We thought maybe they were having a great sale or that other people are out getting their last minute items for tomorrow as well.

So, we walk in and there are people standing in the aisles.  We hear a lady come over the intercom and tell everyone to get on a number and that the drawing will take place in 2 minutes.  Jared and I ignore the announcement and continue discussing what we want to purchase so we can get home.  Then 2 minutes later the lady comes back on the intercom and announces that number 32 is the winner and to come to the front to  pick up their $20 gift certificate.  The crowd of people in this tiny store groaned and we heard the winner, a child, squeal in delight.  Jared and I were stunned.  We couldn't believe the large group of people who came out to this particular store just to try to win a $20 dollar certificate.  Jared commented that for all of the work these people went to to try to win this certificate, they would be better treated to go get a job.  I agreed.

The store emptied out, and Jared and I finished our shopping.  What a weird way to start our day!

Privacy And Our Children

Check what Dr. Gary Thompson has said about the Common Core State Standards that the US Department of Education has put out.  He was a guest on the Glenn Beck Program today as well and you can check that out as well.  I don't have a subscription to Glenn Beck's TV broadcast program, so the link to this came from a website called utahnsagainstcommoncore.com.

Here is a bit of what he said:

Given the gravity of these issues, I cannot professionally endorse the Common Core State Standards as currently written until pointed clarification is provided by politicians and educators from both party’s endorsing CCSS.  Nor in good conscience can I enroll my toddler in a public school system that utilizes CCSS until these issues are clarified to my satisfaction.

The issues involving psychological testing and privacy are issues that should be of concern to every parent with a child enrolled in public school.    The power granted federal and state education administrators via the regulations of CCSS are unprecedented in nature.   

Please, please, please if you have kids in the public school, please become informed about what is going on with Common Core.

What Is Going On In Our Schools

I have been made aware recently about what is going on in our public schools, a new curriculum being put into place called Common Core.  It is replacing No Child Left Behind.  I wanted to post today some comments from teachers across the state of Utah and their thoughts on what they think of Common Core.  The teachers were allowed to do this anonymously.  Follow the link to find out more.

1.  Greater centralization will result in inefficiency and waste. It will result in poorer student performance.  It will lead to encroachment on the freedom to home school. It will create databases which are expensive and dangerous to personal liberty. The standards do not promote individuality, liberty, or excellence or greatness in education. The centralization will make it harder for parents to become involved, so less will become involved.  That will hurt the education of children more than anything else. (Cody Nelson, Utah County)

2. I am most concerned about who has put together the common core.  They have started with math and reading but have designs to push their socialist agenda onto our children when they add the science and social studies components of common core.  The math standards teach a  “fuzzy math” that makes it hard for parents to be able to assist their children with math, making the parents seem weak to the children. Children then learn to trust the school more than home. There are no benefits to the “new” math, in fact it slows the learning by teaching children four or more ways to get the same answer. (Principle, Salt Lake County)

3.  It dumbs kids down, puts us behind schedule where we were, removes local control, eliminates creativity, omits important curriculum like cursive writing & classic literature, it forces “fuzzy math” based on common consent as opposed to fact-based math on individual merit, it was signed onto outside of proper legislative procedures & without public input. It is Socialized education, one size fits all and it doesn’t fit. It will only serve to harm our kids’ education, not improve it.  (Teacher K-5, Davis County)

A Day of Worship

Last night we had the second of four lessons for Family Night about the Resurrection. I had put pieces of paper in a plastic Easter egg that had St. John 20 written on it. Vanessa, Eric, Joseph, and Rex each got one since they are the kids in the family that can read. I hid them in the kitchen before we started Family Night. After the prayer and the song, the kids went into the kitchen to find their egg. After they read their scripture, we talked about how Mary must have felt to see Jesus standing there outside of the sepluchre and how just three days earlier she had just seen him beaten and hanging on the cross. It was very touching to hear that when Mary sat there weeping and Jesus spoke to her that she immediately recognized his voice. She must have been stunned and overwhelmed. I can't wait for Family Night next week to hear once again how the apostles reacted to Jesus's resurrection.

 After our Family Night, Jared and I headed 80 minutes south to see a Jazz game. We were given the tickets by a co-worker of Jared's. What a stark contrast to attend that Jazz game after our wonderful lesson at home. It was difficult to enjoy the game, and in fact, I didn't try very hard to enjoy it. It was nice to be with Jared together without the distractions and interruptions of the kids. I used to love the Jazz and would have loved going to a game, but it just doesn't have the thrill it once had. Don't get me wrong here, I am just fine not being that into the Jazz. I love my new life and the greater joy I have found.

We are in a day of worship. Joseph Smith was given the restored Church of Jesus Christ. We each have the privilege to study what Joseph Smith has restored and judge for ourselves what we think of it. Having Family Night each Monday night is one of the things we do to show our belief in Christ's restored church. I love that I can show what I think of Christ everyday as I worship Him and follow His prophets.

Vanessa

We went to Vanessa's concert today at Utah State University. Wow! It was amazing! Bridgerland School is the one who put it together. It was all of the best kids from Ogden to Preston, Idaho. It sounded like a concert you would go to for college age students. Vanessa is exhausted from the practices over in Logan, 30 minutes away. Jared's Mom, 92 year old Grandma Harris, and sweet Marianne drove up from Salt Lake to be there. Jared had forgotten to tell them exactly what day it was, so they went up to Logan last night, Jared's dad Doug, his brother Grayson and his fiance with them, but the concert wasn't last night. But, Linda drove up again today to be there for Vanessa. What a special day it was! We went to lunch at Texas Roadhouse as everyone was starving. Now the kids are out playing night games with the neighbors. I am sitting here on the couch waiting for them to come home with an ice bag on my hurt foot. I think I'm going to have to go the doctors for it because I'm not healing on my own. The original injury is from 12 months ago. I must have re-injured it because a couple of weeks ago something happened and now I have to hobble around. It has been a journey of injuries and healing now going on 8 years. I just can't seem to heal.

Co-Dependency

I was just looking through my blog stats, which I have never done until today.  It was interesting to me that a post I wrote in April 2010 got 157 page view hits on it.  Here is the link to it.  The post is all about me being a needy child.  The next closest post only had 20 page view hits.  Wow!  That is pretty remarkable to me.  What was so interesting about that particular post, I wonder?

I have no idea who has read that post 157 times because I don't have a widget that shows me who is coming to my blog and who isn't.  I have done that on purpose because I don't want anyone to think I am watching to see if they come to my blog.  I like people to feel like they can come here and their presence will be anonymous.

As a follow up to that post, I am happy to report that I have come a long way from being a co-dependent daughter, wife, friend, etc.

It is strange to think about where I've been and how far I've come.  Life feels normal to me now and I have so much happiness.  I feel like a part of my Patriarchal blessing has been fulfilled which states that 'As you keep the commandments, your life will be a joy and a pleasure.'  I feel so grateful that the Lord got to me and He helped me change my life.  He has done so much for me and helped me in ways that I can't possibly explain.

I am a testimony that people can and do change.  I have changed so much and I know with the Lord's help, I can change more to be who He wants me to be.  I am happy to allow Him to do this to me.  I am gaining more trust in His care, something that has been incredibly hard for me to do.  But, something inside of me yearns to trust Him more.  Something beckons me to feel after Him and search out His love for me.  Something inside of me wants to tell everyone I know of His love.

So my co-dependency is a faded memory.  Strangely, I feel like it could become a living, breathing part of my life again if I let it, but I don't.  I fell down on my right bum cheek 6 years ago on the pavement and the Lord has seen fit to not heal me from the injuries I sustained that day.  I attribute my spiritual growth to this.  I have been virtually physically immovable since that fall.  I sit a large portion of every day because of the pain I have in my right foot.  The Lord has taught me that through physical immovability, I could learn spiritual immovability.  And that is the exact lesson that I have needed to learn so badly, for I had consistently lowered my standards and consistently offended Heavenly Father in the process.  So, I am grateful for my physical immovability for the lessons it has taught me.  I wish I could have learned some other way, but...  And I suppose I need the constant reminder, ie constant pain in my foot, to never lower my standards again.  I gratefully accept it if that is the case because I have gone to every doctor, chiropractor, neurosurgeon, etc with no cure available to me.

So, I'm off to bed.  Church starts for us at 08:30 am, bright and early!  Good night everyone!