January 22

We did it! We got the bench done!

 We get to park in the garage and have the buckets hidden! What bench you ask? The bench was a creation from my Dad's head during their visit in here over New Year's. Sweetheart and Dad built it together. I then sanded, stained, sealed, sanded, and lacquered once again. The missionaries helped us move it into our freshly cleaned kitchen floor. (I know the clean kitchen for isn't that great of a detail, but I want it written for posterity that we did wash the floor.)

Picture Link

Underfoot and Hurricane

• Underfoot attended Joy School. He LOVES to go to school. He memorized his phone number and street address as part of their goal and order segment of the curriculum.
• Hurricane wants to go to Joy School and is practicing on his goal to use the potty to go to Joy School.
• The boys drew more sidewalk figures as I finished the bench. They painted with washable paints most days. They got to paint outside one day while I was trying to finish the bench. Hurricane painted himself blue that day. The same day they took the stain from the bench and tried to stain the sidewalk in front of the front door. (They then got to sit in time out together for quite a while.)

Sweetheart

• Sweetheart really struggled at the beginning of the week. The pressures from work have been pretty overwhelming. He changed his attitude midweek, and he made great progress. He really loves his job.
• Sweetheart loves to listen to audio-books to and from work. He will sometimes listen to the book twice because when you listen (like when you read) you will miss things. Some of the books he has "read" lately have been Eisenhower: The White House Years, Shine, and Entreleadership. The library has a pretty good selection of books that he will listen to. Not all of the books are fascinating but he is engaging his mind as he drives.
• Eleven year old Scouts activity changed times this week. It is still held at our home. Our sons are really enjoying the interaction of the Scouts here.
• For our date, we watched Tron Legacy. Sweetheart liked it. That is saying a lot since he is not a movie fan.
  

Mama

• Friday the carpets were cleaned in the house and Fred (Sweetheart's commuter car). They turned out beautiful. The car does not look so gross. We spent the day at the zoo, going to a nursery, ran an errand or two, and at the library. The boys and I were exhausted by the time we returned home. The best part is the mineral oil that was spilled in the carpet has seemingly disappeared. It doesn't look like someone wet the carpet and then spread dirt in it anymore! Yeah!
• I made a lot of dessert this week. Chocolate chip cinnamon rolls with chocolate icing, cinnamon rolls with maple frosting, banana cake with chocolate icing, and soft chocolate cake with orange sauce. Are you noticing a theme?

Today I learned in Relief Society about forget-me-nots. The teacher brought out the five points that are discussed in this talk from Dieter F. Uchtdorf. I thought they are worth sharing.

 

1-Forget not to be patient with yourself. He tells us that no one is perfect despite what we think. We all have strengths and weaknesses, and it is not fair to ourselves to compare ourselves with others. We are continually growing and learning and need to be patient with ourselves. 

2- Forget not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice."Giving up a little sleep to help a child who is having a nightmare is a good sacrifice. Staying up all night, jeopardizing our own health, to make the perfect accessory for our daughter's Sunday outfit may not be such a good sacrifice."How do we know the difference? " We can ask ourselves, "Am I committing my time to the things that matter most?....Our Heavenly Father is most pleased when we sacrifice something good for something far greater with an eternal perspective"

3-Forget not to be Happy Now. There is nothing wrong with righteous yearnings,( like marriage, a home, good job, family) The problem comes when we put our happiness on hold as we wait for some future event to appear."  Sister Earls shared her experiences with the yearning for a family. The devastation of losing the children she fostered, and hoped to adopt, back to their biological relatives. Knowing the importance of being "Happy Now" she continued opening her home to foster children and was able to be happy taking care of them and enjoying their wonderful spirits while she waited for her chance to adopt.

4- Forget Not the "Why" of the Gospel. "When we understand why our Heavenly Father has given us this pattern for living, when we remember why we committed to making it a foundational part of our lives, the gospel ceases to become a burden and instead, becomes a joy and a delight."    

5-Forget not that the Lord Loves You. "Wherever you are, whatever your circumstances may be, you are not forgotten. No matter how dark your days may seem, no matter how insignificant you may feel, no matter how overshadowed you think you may be, your heavenly Father has not forgotten you. In fact, He loves you with infinite Love."   

Remember we know you are important and are grateful you are in our lives!

Be well.

January 15

On Tuesday afternoon, I spent time transferring our friends and family's email to a different computer. On Wednesday, Underfoot accidentally poured a glass of water on our computer killing it. In fact he came out and said I needed to go in and fix the computer because "it had died."  Sweetheart was successful in running a diagnostic on the computer yesterday, but the computer won't boot up on its own. We are in a little bit of limbo because it was the computer we watched movies on, stored our journal on, and had the last 6 months of pictures on. The best part is I didn't erupt like Mount Saint Helens in 1980.

Our project of the week was to sand, stain, and lacquer the bench that my parents built with  Sweetheart over their stay at New Year's. The boys would draw on the sidewalk while I would sand and stain (except for when they went to be at the computer and have water spilled on it). They started with simple things like hands, letters, rainbows and progressed in their drawings to missiles and missiles with guidance systems that blew up the bicyclists on our street. It was usually other children on the bikes. After they bored of drawing, they rode their bikes down our driveway hill (missing the missiles of course) to turn at the the last second to avoid rolling into the street. I can't accomplish the job after they go to bed because I'm too tired trying to keep them alive from giving me a heart attack.

Since September Underfoot has been asking  Sweetheart to teach his Joy School class. On Thursday,  Sweetheart taught. He read. He played. He instructed. He went head to head with 5 year old intelligence. He came off conqueror. Underfoot announced to the neighborhood in his loudest voice, "My Dad is teaching us TODAY!" He was so happy. Pictures were taken and will be shared at a later time.

Sweetheart and I went to the Tucson Symphony on Friday. I had bought the tickets at a school auction last April. We enjoyed being together.  Sweetheart asked how we could usher so maybe we could go more often. We'll see how that turns out. The kicker was it was nice to see "fresh young blood."

In Joy School, the children are working on goals. Hurricane made his own goal to sit on the potty. He jumped up in the middle of Joy School and ran to the potty to use it. He didn't come back and didn't come back. I found him as he was just pulling his whole bum out of the bowl of the potty. He said he fell in and that his bum was cold.  He had a very clean backside.

Be well.

January 1

Happy New Year. We celebrated by hosting Mama’s parents for a quick 3 day visit. Among other things, we:

•   Visited San Xavier Mission
•   Visited the Mormon Battalion Monument in downtown Tucson
•   Visited the Franklin Car Museum (Franklin cars were made from 1902-1934. Franklin cars were significantly more expensive than comparable Fords because of the air cooled engines, which were patterned after airplane engines.)
•   Ate lunch at an exciting local restaurant - Cafe Poca Cosa
•   Built a bench for Mama’s kitchen (to disguise 9 five gallon plastic food storage buckets)
  
•   Installed a new ceiling fan in the kitchen (improved lighting from 60 Watts to 240 Watts. . .we can see our food again!)
•   Created additional storage space in the kitchen by putting shelving up in an otherwise “dead” part of the kitchen
  
•   Beautifying the kitchen by optimizing kitchen tool storage locations (a.k.a. hiding the junk in the newly created cabinet space)
•   Increased ambient kitchen lighting by changing a blind in the kitchen
•   all of the above items completed in a mere 72 hours, including a visit to Lowe’s and Harbor Freight Tools

Also:

•   Mama gave up her sugar fast
•   Underfoot and Hurricane played with Grandpa K and loved on him lots!
  

On New Year’s Eve, we celebrated by having supper at a local Greek restaurant. We were able to use a Groupon. We enjoyed fine dining and then visited Target on our way home. We also stopped at the church to set up the room for Mama’s lesson today. We all cried when K and J left at the airport this afternoon. Underfoot cried the most! We are so grateful for K and J's generosity and we will cherish the memories they made with us.

We are excited for the new year. We were able to spend some time today calendaring. Save the date- Friday, November 16th, Pie Party 2012!

Be Well.

December 26

Merry Christmas! We hope that your day found you with the memory of the Savior and the power of his birth!

Over the past week, we had activities, sickness, family adventure, and child happiness. I like to write our letter by person and some times by day of the week. I think it is easier to follow our week by person instead of events. Pictures: Click here.

Family

• Sweetheart received an early Christmas present of an annual membership to a local museum. The museum membership allows us to visit reciprocal museums outside of a 100 mile radius. We chose to go and see the light at the LDS Mesa Temple visitors center Thursday night, stay in a hotel to use up our Marriott points (so we could cancel the credit card), and attend the Arizona Science Museum the next day. We all had a blast.
• We finished our Advent on Sunday before running down the hall to Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus. We have enjoyed opening a “present” each day to remember the birth of our Savior.
• We went from Phoenix directly to our ward Christmas party.

Sweetheart

• On Monday he went to work and felt lousy. The rest of his team also felt lousy but didn’t want to go home so they didn’t have to work the whole week just a few days of it. Sweetheart finally gave up and came home early. He went to bed and immediately fell asleep. Underfoot had a performance that night and asked his Dad to go support him. Sweetheart dragged himself out of bed to go watch his boy perform. Underfoot was ecstatic. At the potluck before the performance, Sweetheart ate his food very quickly and then sat on the stairs and watched. As soon as the performance was over, we headed out the door. Sweetheart said that he was having tightness in his chest, was hot, had a headache, and that he was in pain. I panic thinking he was having a heart attack. Sweetheart took a hot shower, got a few good burps out, and his chest pain went away. He had indigestion. So if you think someone is having a heart attack, check the internet for symptoms, burp them, and then call the ambulance.
• Sweetheart finished his hours at work for the break on Wednesday night and has been home since. He has been very cheerful this year at Christmas.
• Sweetheart is a champion. He has let me sleep in and read Louis L’Amour books (it’s how I’ve learned to like Arizona better.) What a great guy!

Mama

• The long awaited Christmas came. I conspired with my Auntie, and we arranged for her brother-in-law to made a book for my Grandpa H and his children. The story was an oral story that Grandpa H has told over and over. Since I wrote the story during high school, I have always wanted to have the book illustrated and one day published. Since giving it to Grandpa, he has given his permission to have the book published. It is part of our family history, and I did my best to keep it a secret. It paid great emotional dividends.
• My college roommate and her family joined us on Thursday night at the Temple lights and then at the hot tub in our hotel. It was a lot of fun to catch up and watch our children interact.
  

Underfoot

• In our family the 3 Kings bring presents which means 3 times the gifts. Underfoot this year has answered the question many different ways when people have asked him if Santa is coming. He started out by saying that Santa doesn’t come but the 3 Kings do, and by the end of the season, he would say, “I want Star Wars Legos.” The 3 Kings did come, and Underfoot received Star Wars Legos. It is amazing how the 3 Kings just knew exactly what he wanted.
• The Joy School nativity performance was Monday night. Underfoot was so proud to say “his” line of “There is no room, but you can stay in my stable.” He beamed when he said it. He had invited his friends (who are also our neighbors) to come and watch him. He felt very special that night.
• Underfoot said his favorite part of the week was opening up presents. He has become very helpful lately.
• We helped someone with the last 5 days of the 12 days of Christmas. Underfoot was the perfect height to go to the door, ring the bell, and not be seen. He would put the package in front of the door, ring the doorbell 2 times, and run. He would come sprinting from around the corner with a HUGE smileon his face. When we made other deliveries later, he would ring the door bell twice and run away. (Even when someone would open the door.) He smiled each time.
  

Hurricane

• Lately Hurricane has started to say, “My Grandma says I will ride on an airplane. And I say yes.” He has told many people this phrase, and they in turn ask,“Are you going on a trip?” No we are not, but Hurricane thinks we are.
  
• Hurricane loves the trains he received for Christmas. He stopped opening up presents after he saw the train and begrudgingly opened more presents. He was thrilled when one of the other presents was more trains. He refused to eat on Sunday for fear he wouldn’t get enough time to play his trains.
• He got to ride on the light rail in Phoenix. He loved it. Once we were on the light rail, he settled into his seat and said, “This is fun.” He told anyone that would stand still long enough at the ward party that he rode the train.
  

Be Well.

December 18

This week we tried to put together all of our Christmas. We packaged, shopped, and mailed packages. I spent a few days finishing up a birth to one year old book for Hurricane and then a surprise book for Sweetheart. He figured out the that I made him a book but doesn’t know the topic. I am anxious for him to receive it.

Sweetheart pulled out the GeoTrax trains, and the boys have spent hours and hours playing with the trains. They love the trains (Sweetheart included).

Sweetheart attended an HOA meeting this last week. There were some home owners who were very angry come to the meeting. Another board member told me that he handled their anger and the situation very well. He was able to help with a compromise between the home owner and the adherence with the HOA rules.

At Scouts this week, the boys came to our house and had hot chocolate. Hurricane spilled the hot chocolate down his body. Sweetheart got to practice first aid and then the boys got to review their skills.

Later that night, Hurricane “attacked” the hot chocolate. He put multiple knives in the hot chocolate container. We found it after he went to bed. I guess that is his way to get back at the hot chocolate. It is kind of a Clue game: the Hurricane in the kitchen with the knives.

Underfoot continues to blossom. He has a great love for painting and coloring. He has only started this skill in the last month or so. He painted a picture this week of the wind, the sun, and Mama watch Underfoot and the flowers grow. These are all three different pieces of art. Hurricane decided to paint too and poured a 1 inch pile of paint on the paper, spread it around reducing the pile to about 1/2 an inch and let it dry for the next 2 days. A friend also sent us a phonics website that Underfoot loves to play.

We’ve gotten a lot of rain this month. To date, we are twice our monthly average of rainfall for December.

Sweetheart is a miracle worker. He was able to help get our house clean and bring flowers home as a surprise in the same day. (It was the same day that I finished the “book” project(s).  I’m lucky to have a good husband.

This evening after church we attended our neighbor’s children’s Christmas pageant church service. On the way home, Underfoot thanked us because he was so happy to see his friends.

Advent continues 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

December 11

A couple funny stories for the week: Underfoot prayed tonight that the Christmas Tree wouldn’t break down (as though it were an old pinto or something...) Hurricane has learned how to turn on the charm when he wants something. He will cock his head and say, “Well...” and he purses his lips, and bats his eyes. He may not yet be three years old, but he has certainly become aware of the ladies around him.

Underfoot performed in a Christmas Pageant this week at a local nursing home. After the performance he came up toMama  and asked if he did a good job. He did a great job singing.

Mama had a Relief Society Meeting where the women got together to share their Christmas Traditions of Christ. She returned home glowing. The meeting was a great success and she was so relieved. This is what we've been doing this year. Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Day 11

I’ve learned a new skill this week. Mama hasn’t been feeling well, so I have helped her blow dry her hair. This is something I’ve never done before. It takes a long time because she has a lot of hair. It isn’t rocket science, but it has a very soothing effect on her.

Today we attended Stake Conference in lieu of our regular Sunday meetings. One of the speakers shared with us his conversion story and the trials in his life which have brought him to great joy.

This year has been filled with the stuff of life- trials, joys, heartaches, headaches, smiles, and lots of laughter. Too often I forget to count the blessings which enrich my life. Underfoot and Hurricane are so wonderfully different, but they manage to laugh and play together in a way that is delightful. Mama has given me the most precious gift- life.

As a family we have been reading in the Book of Mormon about Helaman’s 2000 Stripling Warriors. They were all young men, but they had been taught by their mothers that if they did not doubt God, that He would deliver them from their trials. I was overcome with emotion as I read the story about these valiant boys to my own sons. The 2000 thought more about the freedom and safety of their families than their own lives. Those 2000 young men chose to go to war to defend their loved ones with the very real prospect of not surviving the ordeal.

Reading to my own boys brought a host of emotions I have not often experienced. I’ve read the story many times. I know it well, and yet, this time it was new to me. I hope that I will have the discipline to teach my sons, that they may be like those 2000. I want them to know that I know, that God does hear and answer our prayers. He does know each of us.

December 4

We started our Christmas advent on Thursday. Our boys have been very excited to open a “present” a day as we participate in the Advent Jesse Tree. Mama has done a blog post each day on the ornament that we have done. She included the pictures on a daily basis.

Check them out. Each has different pictures of boys....
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4

Hurricane likes to flip the pancakes with the flipper (a.k.a. spatula). Pancakes are one of his favorite foods. He can eat as many pancakes as I can.

Underfoot is very kind to Hurricane and doesn’t like to be teased by him. Hurricane loves to tease Underfoot. Underfoot loves to sing and “play” the piano.

Mama worked on some Christmas surprises this week too for family members.

On Friday night Mama and I went to the Botanical Gardens we some friends. The Gardens were filled with paper sacks that had candles in them. After wards we went for a late supper. We went to a place called the Village Inn. We were pleasantly surprised at how well the food tasted.

On Saturday we went to a t-ball game. After that we ran some errands. It seems that every Saturday we run errands after the t-ball game.

Today we went to church and choir, and I did a home teaching lesson. Tonight as a family we watched the First Presidency’s Christmas Devotional. We enjoyed the gift of Bible movies made about the birth of the Savior.We hope you have felt the love of the Messiah in your life today.