THANKSGIVING TIME

Rob, the girls, and I got to go to Gage's class for a Thanksgiving play and party. The previous week I had come in to volunteer and Miss Smith asked me to make Indian vests out of paper grocery sacks. She acted like this was an easy task. And it probably was for someone besides me. I am so inept at anything crafty or artsy. I immediately began sweating and somehow fumbled my way through it. I hoped that my feeble attempts wouldn't be noticeable from afar. When the kids marched out on stage, Rob immediately commented on how the Indian vests looked odd. Ha!!

You can't really tell from this blurry picture how bad the vests are. But it didn't matter. The kids were so cute.

Gage loves Miss Smith.

And so does Paisley.

I am reminded of another embarassing day volunteering in his class. Miss Smith asked me to use a yardstick and permanent marker to make even lines on several sheets of posterboard. I started perspiring because I wanted it to be perfectly measured and even. Throughout the time, I was wiping the perspiration off my face with my hands. Unbeknownst to me, the marker from the yardstick had rubbed off on my hands and as I was wiping my face, I was inadvertantly spreading black marker all over my face. None of the kids said anything and neither did Miss Smith, but at the end of class I went to the sink to wash my hands and saw my reflection in the mirror. I was sooooo embarassed!!!

We had the Powers over to our new house for Thanksgiving. It was a great time and always fun to get everyone together. They are all so fun and have such personalities. It's no surprise where Rob gets his humor. For some reason, I only got these pictures with Uncle Larry. My camera battery must have died.

We went on a date night with Melody and Gavin Baugh (a fun couple) and had their daughter, Kyra, babysit. When we returned, this is how we found the kids. She had worn them out! Kyra is pretty much the best babysitter ever. The kids adore her. She always gets them in bed and then cleans the whole house after. We love her and all of the Baughs!!

GRATITUDE

Today, I am GRATEFUL....grateful, grateful, grateful. If I keep saying it, it will sink in, right? I woke up with an awful headache brought on by an even worse head cold. Rob left the house when it was still dark to go to the airport. I am so grateful that I got to take the kiddos to church by myself. I am so grateful that I had to take Paisley out three times and wrestle with her. She is seriously strong. I am grateful for the stares and glares given to me by wise people wondering why I bothered to come back in with her. What these wise people didn't know was that I left my 6-year-old in charge of my 3-year-old, without really even telling him he was in charge. I am soooo grateful for nursery because it ended this battle of wills (which I totally won, by the way). I'm so grateful that today as I was coming out of nursery I noticed a friend of mine who had obviously just come out of the restroom and her skirt was tucked into her pantyhose above her hiney. Seriously, I'm probably more grateful for that than anything else today because I got the best laugh from that and did throughout the whole day. I am grateful for wonderful teachers who gave uplifting lessons in the second two hours. I'm grateful that I had a visiting teaching appointment with a special lady today and got to load up the whining kids again wondering what on earth I was going to do with them when I got there. I am grateful for a VT companion who said I could drop them off with her unsuspecting husband. I am grateful that he gave me the silent treatment at the door instead of actually verbalizing the words I know he was thinking. I am grateful for Mac & Cheese because that's what we all ate for dinner quickly so that I could load the kids up again to go to a presidency meeting. I am grateful for a generous sister who is willing to watch my kids while at this meeting. I am sincerely grateful for three amazing women in the presidency who are unbelievable examples to me in all kinds of ways.


I am grateful for all of this because it makes going to bed tonight all that more sweet!!!!

And it's true what they say.....if you try to look for things to be thankful for and see the good, it really DOES make you feel better. I feel better already.

FALL FIELD TRIP

I got to go on Gage's first field trip ever. His kindergarten class loaded up the bus and we all went to Schnepf Farms. The kids got to pull plants that had harvested, go on a hayride, and play their little hearts out.

Skye, Ben, and Gage.

Gage's teacher, Miss Smith, is so great. I love her teaching style, the way she interacts with the kids, her humor. She and I have become good friends. We have a lot of the same philosophies on school, parenting, and life.

I had a great time being with Gage and he loved introducing me to all of his new friends. Gage adjusts really well to new things and new people. He has no trouble at all making friends.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

So my DVR box recorded an episode of Oprah. I just about deleted because I don't watch Oprah anymore for LOTS of reasons and haven't for a long time. UNTIL....I read in the information box what the episode was about. Are you ready??? The entire cast of The Sound of Music was there for their first interview together since they promoted the movie back in 1965. This movie is my all-time favoritest favorite movie. I just can't describe how much I love this movie. And I know that I'm not alone in this sentiment. I LOVE it so much that Edelweiss is the first lullably I ever sing to my babies. I LOVE it so much that I watch it several times a year and make my hubby and kids watch it with me at least once during the holiday season. I LOVE it so much that I begged Rob to let us name one of our girls Liesl. (I love the name and the actress who played her is a spitting image of my mother at that age. Really. She's so beautiful, isn't she? So I love Liesl even more). I love the music, the message, the love story, the actors, the breathtaking scenery of the hills of Austria. Oh, and the MUSIC!! You simply cannot watch this movie without bursting into your best Julie Andrews voice (which for me is 75% falsetto). Rob and the kids laugh at me but I can't help myself.


But......then....I was reminded of something that I surely blocked out for survival purposes. You know how they say your brain protects you from danger and suffering?? Well, here it is: Julie Andrews can NO LONGER SING!!!! She had been performing for 20 months on Broadway and her vocal chords and muscles really took a beating. So she chose to have this surgery that was supposed to quickly repair and rejuvenate them and the surgery failed. This happened in 1997!! I suppose I already knew this. I guess in all the times I watch The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins (another fav) I never noticed that she doesn't sing anymore. What a tragedy. She was given this amazing gift that has touched so many people and it was literally ripped out of her. She suffered intense feelings of depression (as you can only imagine), but emerged from that with an unbelievably optimistic perspective. She quoted the movie, "When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window". She began to write children's books with her daughter and has since built a successful publishing company. Her daughter told her that she lost her voice to sing so that she could find this new voice that writes. If that isn't making sweet lemonade out of sour, rotten, bitter lemons, I don't know what is.


Amazing, amazing example. I suppose I should learn something from this. And I will someday. But today I am BITTER!!!




Oh, and one more thing. On the subject of movies, I am a little embarassed to admit that I watched The Lion King for the very first time today. (I really don't know what took me so long). But that movie has a powerful message in it also. What stood out to me was Mufasa's words to his son, Simba, who would be king. "You will never be alone" and "Remember. Remember who you are." Very profound.