Our Life Lessons: January 2019

Monday, January 28, 2019

Week 4 - Lunar Eclipse, Busy Boys, ER Visit

Lunar Eclipse was fun to watch. We pulled out our telescope and looked at the moon as it went into the eclipse.

We laid on the floor as a family and watched the moon go through its cycle. It was magical.

Earlier in the evening we hosted an evening with our trek group. Getting to know these young people and to see their personalities is fun. Grateful for how kind they were to Underfoot and Hurricane.

The boys had 2 days off of school - one for Martin Luther King Day and one for a blizzard. One day we got appointments done for allergy shots, establishing care for chiropractics for the boys, and cello lesson.

The next day we bummed it by playing together, getting laundry done, and being together. Sweetheart went to work. We are grateful for his sacrifice of working. He went in late the morning of the snow storm but stayed late. I hosted a Women's Clothing Exchange. Many women shared clothing, and some ladies got some new clothing. It happened during the snow storm.

The boys went back to school and had Battle of the Books practice after school. We swam laps after the practice. The laps made a difference for all 3 of us. We came home in time for piano lessons.

I've been doing a bunch of meal planning to help the boys learn how to cook their meals and the efforts that goes into getting food ready for our family. I've been making a recipe book of the meals.

Friday as a family we were going to go and get flu shots as our Friday night activity. Sweetheart came home, and I had a really awful pain in my back on the right side. As the evening progressed, it got worse. We went to the Urgent Care. After poking and prodding, he said it could be a kidney stone, an exploded ovarian cyst, an enlarged appendix, an ectopic pregnancy, or something else. They referred us to Emergency Room. This was not the exact date night we hoped. The boys went to a friends' house. Sweetheart and I headed to ER. More tests (CT Scan and ultrasound), blood drawn, and pain medication given.

After 5.5 hours, we left with the knowledge of a best educated guess of a kidney stone since they didn't see it on the CT Scan or ultrasound.

Saturday we bailed on our plans to let me heal but did get flu shots. In the evening the boys went and played Dominion with friends. I drank and drank and drank.

Be Well.

*****

Monday, January 21, 2019

Week 3 - All about a Cello and Snow

Sweetheart and I have been asked to be a Pa and Ma for Trek. It is in July. On Sunday night was the Trek Kick Off fireside. We met the youth that will be in our family.

We got to know them by playing a game and eating treats. We are excited and planning to be as healthy as possible.

Underfoot decided in September to change from the violin to the cello. Because we don't know much about playing the cello, we have been looking for a cello teacher. On Monday, Underfoot had his first cello lesson. He learned how to refine his cello position and more. We're excited for him to get better.

Hurricane and I both had dental work done this week. Hurricane has an under bite, and he is wearing an appliance to bring his upper jaw forward. He is making progress. His teeth no long are touching.

I finally went to start the process for the crown on the tooth that I had a root canal on last October. I have a new dentist. I like her.

Underfoot is trying to get his Citizenship in the Nation merit badge done. On Friday there was no school so we were going to knock out two requirements by visiting the State Capital and visiting the Cadet Chapel in Colorado Springs. We attended a tour at the State Capital.

It had started to snow outside with big, wet snowflakes. The boys found the tour interesting and made friends with a boy on the tour. We saw both houses since the legislator and governor are in the same building.

The building cost of the capital was 2.1 million in 1890s. The cost today would have been $772 million. Every 35 years the dome is recoated in gold. It is the 3rd highest in elevation state capitals in the United States.

We took a picture of the one mile above sea level.

We tried to drive to Colorado Springs that should have taken an hour but never made it because of the snow storm. We had watched the weather and it said it should have been fine. We turned around when we had been driving 2 hours at 15 miles per hour. It took us 2 hours to return home. We are grateful that we were safe. We cleared the drive and then went to swim. The pool got closed because a child pooed in the pool. It was comedy of errors for the afternoon.

Saturday was a work day at someone else's house. We helped change things around in a lady's house in our neighborhood. Afterward we went to get Underfoot a hard case for his cello. He has had a soft case which had made me very, VERY nervous. We went to the strings seller. He had 3 cases. In the end, one of the cases was used but needed a little work to make the zipper better and to fix a handle. He now has a case that is hard to protect the cello. We are SO HAPPY and relieved.

Sweetheart got to go and play his game for the afternoon. He was super happy.

Be Well.

*****

Ice Cream with Stars

Bedtime

Catching Snowflakes

Inner Dome State Capital

Handrail at State Capital

Sorted Letters

Family Settlers of Catan

Selfie

Come Follow Me for the Week

Monday, January 14, 2019

Week 2 - Temple, Scout Camp Out

January 6 was the reason all the Grandparents came to town. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints announced in December 2018 the following: "Young men will be eligible for ordination to the appropriate priesthood office in January of the year they turn 12, 14, and 16." Underfoot was excited for the announcement change. He invited his Grandparents to join him. We are grateful for the sacrifice and efforts they have made.

Monday morning bright and early Kirky and Jilli went to the airport. They were headed to Arizona to pick up a new truck for Kirky. They bless our lives for their positive attitude and goodness.

Boys went to school. Sweetheart headed to work. Grandpa and Grandma Locey stayed at our house taking care of business before we headed to the airport for a midday flight. They blessed our lives by making the sacrifice to come and to meet the desire of their grandchildren to have them come visit. They took time to listen and be with us. For that we are grateful.

Life returned to normal that evening with us getting to know a new family in our congregation.

Hurricane had Pack Meeting and was awarded two achievements. He has the goal to complete his Bear badge by the Blue and Gold Banquet. We have some work to do if he's going to complete it. The hard one will be Baloo the Builder.

On Tuesday, Underfoot had training for the passing and individual nature of the sacrament for his activity. On Thursday, Underfoot attended the temple and had a really wonderful experience.

I was grateful that Sweetheart and I could attend with him. I'm grateful to the Gates family watch Hurricane while we attended.

Book Club was held at our house. We discussed Still Alice by Lisa Genova. The book is about someone who has early onset Alzheimer and how she and her family deals with it.

The men attended Donuts with Dad Friday morning. They have enjoyed this chance to hopefully according to Hurricane "have donuts for lunch too."

The first camp out of 2019 was held in our backyard. Underfoot came home from school and started to build a snow structure from the snow we had got that day.

The structure was then moved to be around the base of the trampoline. The Scouts built up the sides to make a snow fort with the top of the trampoline being the roof. They burned almost every candle we had to melt and freeze the inside. (Jilli we may need some of your candles...) They build a fire and stayed up late. Five boys slept in the structure. Two boys got wet. Hurricane slept the least and got up at 4 am to try and start a fire. He came in and got Sweetheart at 5 am.

The boys will remember it. The boys reported varying degrees of comfort in the fort. Some were hot, and some were cold. One boy got so hot, he broke down one of the walls. After sledding and s'mores around the fire in the early morning hours, they came in and created their annual plan for their 2019 activities. They asked for different people to teach the things they have set in place.

Hurricane slept about 4 hours midday because he didn't sleep so much that night. Sweetheart and Underfoot played Dominion with friends that afternoon.

Be Well.

*****

Mission Quilt

Weight Loss

Snow Storm

Come Follow Points for the Week

Monday, January 7, 2019

Week 1 - New Year's and Grandparents

New Year. New Goals. Retrying again. Last year was a year of growth for me personally. I dropped the ball in lots of areas as I struggled with some personal demons. I am still working on those demons but feel more hope.

At the end of 2018, Sweetheart sent an article about growth mindset. We have talked extensively about this idea of growing, being curious, and learning to set boundaries. For our 2019, we as a family have decided to learn more about growth mindset and apply what we learn that works for our family. Our hope is that it will bring us more - more peace, more hope, more vision, and more love.

So part of our new is to record our past. I'm grateful for those that want to read and be part of our journey. Now I'll finish waxing eloquent and being all philosophical.

January 1 - Bowling Tradition. We went bowling. Underfoot won. He was thrilled to beat all of us.

We all use the bumpers so the score is in the 90s at a minimum. The bumpers' inventor has saved countless tears.

An award was claimed by going to see The Grinch for a reading challenge our family made and met. We came home for delicious homemade burgers. We prepared for Sweetheart to return to work and retired early.

January 2 - Sweetheart got up to go make bacon while the rest of us slept. I'm grateful for his sacrifice to work and provide for our family. He's a gem. Sweetheart has been asked to be the Scoutmaster for our troop for 2019. He held a meeting to coordinate Scout Camp this coming summer. We at home prepared for our Grandparents coming visit this weekend.

January 3 - We shopped, cleaned, and prepared for Grandparents even more. The boys have decided that they want to celebrate Christmas, New Year's, and 3 Kings while everyone is here. It is a short time to celebrate 3 holidays but they are up for it. That evening I went to a session at the Denver LDS Temple. My world is vastly better because of it. I felt such an incredible joy and love of God.

January 4 - We deep cleaned our house before we needed to go and get our Grandparents Locey. Underfoot made key lime pie, and later Hurricane made chocolate cheesecake via the sous vide. It's Sweetheart's new toy that makes all kinds of goodness. Because I had attended the temple the evening before, there was no anger in our home. It was an immediate blessing. We picked up the Loceys and made a wrong turn. We got to tour Denver from the most north point to our home. After a lovely dinner, we headed to bed.

January 5 - Hurricane met his new Primary class. Underfoot and Hurricane got new shoes. Grandma Locey joined us while we did our errands all the way to the airport to pick up Kirky and Jilli. We had some good laughs on our way back to the house. While we were gone Sweetheart and Grandpa Locey fixed the gutters that a hole from an errant nail left in the gutter that rusted. After lunch, we celebrated Christmas then went swimming.

Sweetheart used his sous vide to start a turkey and make steak. The steak was delicious.

January 6 - Happy 3 Kings Day! The 3 Kings showed up for everyone. They were more generous than normal.

I got up early to make rosca de reyes (king's ring) for a gathering for the Spanish Sunday School class that night. Underfoot was sustained to be a deacon and was ordained after church.

We had our first Sunday with 2 hour church. I was in nursery. We toured Parker after church. We celebrated New Year's at supper with poppers and all. Again Sweetheart used his sous vide for the turkey. The Spanish class came for rosca and hot chocolate.

So much fun!