The Old and the New

Here is Jake before one big day this month:

Falling backwards fast so that he is blurry.

Mug shot
Laughing because he thinks he's so funny

And NOW:

He got braces!!!Being silly again
And again. (My camera was on the red eye position so it took longer to take the picture after I'd push the button. So Jake thought it was very funny to smile and look like he was taking a nice, normal picture and then to jump up real close, or lean back real fast, or do a serious face!) He keeps me smiling. I guess they never stop being silly.

This cute kid has been sick in bed for a week! The doctor thought it might be swine flu. Whatever it was, it was something else I tell ya. He could barely move. And all this happened right at the end of the term when everything is due and he missed tons of tests, etc. Crazy! I am just glad he is on the upswing now.

Also, I love this blog post.

Thank you BYUTV and other notes

Today I am thankful for.... BYUTV. If it weren't for you, BYUTV, I would not be able to have such a nice Sunday when I am not able to make it to church.

But, because you do exist, I get to have a nice Sunday spirit in my home. I get to watch Women's Conference in my pajamas on my couch and (thanks to dvr) pause it if I need to go to the bathroom or make a snack. I get to record a nice little talk by John Bytheway for a great Family Home Evening with Jake.

I also am so happy that I have The Old Testament Made Easier that I borrowed from my mom. It makes the Old Testament infinitely more readable for me, and much less weird. 'Cause let's face it, there is some weird stuff in that book of scripture. Some very interesting stories, just some weird and confusing stuff too. So it is making a world of difference for me for this time around of reading it. I can't remember if I thought it was this strange before, but I did have college teachers, seminary teachers and Sunday school teachers guiding the way the last times I read it.

Other good reads: I am reading Catching Fire - the 2nd book in the Hunger Games trilogy. At first I thought the Hunger Games was too sickening of a premise for me, but I read it for a book club and was hooked. It really pulls you in and I loved it.

I wanted to say thank you for everyone sounding off on Jake's homework issues! You are all so great and it all helped. I actually almost erased that post, but I'm glad I didn't because it was good to hear your ideas, and good to hear we're not alone. He is hanging in there and I am trying not to add stress to his stress! He also had fun in Hawaii last week! I need to do some updates and I will try to be better at it. I hope you are all doing well!

I'm Not Ready

for Jake to go back to school. It just doesn't seem like it is time. It has been so fun to just relax with him and watch a show together or play games. Summer went by too fast and now he has to sit through 7 hours of school and come home and we have to deal with 1-3 hours of agonizing homework. It just doesn't sound fun to me. Jake gets stressed ->which slows him way down at getting anything done -> which makes me stressed because I want him to get to bed at a decent hour -> which makes him more stressed -> see the pattern? He is a smart kid and does really well in school. There is just this big obstacle for him when it comes to doing his homework, and I think it happens at school too. He freaks out inside and it slows him down. Way down. It is weird to me with him because he is such a wonderfully capable person, and this doesn't show up with anything but schoolwork.

A half hour of homework can take up to 2 hours. No joke. I end up going upstairs to cool off just because the whole process is so dang frustrating.

SO... do I just take myself out of it? Just say calmly and reasonably that it is homework time and to start. Try not to be bothered when he is not doing it for 3/4 of the time or when he is sitting there staring off for 30 minutes between each math problem. Just let it go? Would that help him to take charge of it? He does care how well he does. But also gives up and just wouldn't turn something in if he thinks it is too much. And once that happens, he starts to feel behind and buried and the stress gets bigger. And there are also times where he legitimately needs my help. And then drama and trauma ensues. Why is it so hard? Do I just keep at it, trying to stay balanced between being patient and keeping him on task? What do I do when I am just not up to dealing with it all?? I guess just let him figure it out for himself. Or call Gram, or Anne.

If that doesn't work, can he come live with you during the school year?

It is funny - when he does homework with Anne (who does tutoring), he gets a ton done in a short time. AAAAAAAAAGGH what am I doing wrong?? Is it just a mom/son thing? If you have any ideas, please let me know. On the other hand, he thoroughly loves and needs the friends and social aspect of school and this gets even stronger as he gets older. He is a people person and it drives part of him a little crazy to be stuck home alone with just the two of us all the time. (Although he needs his down time too.) He thrives on being with people. I just need to somehow pull my head out of it and not stress when he is stressed so homework can go a little more smoothly for us.

Sorry this is so dang long. I even cut some out! And this format makes it seem even longer. Thanks for sticking with me, if you did.

A Bundle of Yummy

Here is my little niece Elise in a onesie I appliqued for her. This onesie was given to my sister-in-law Anne with a really weird applique on it, so we pulled it off and I did the birdies on it instead. Could this baby get any cuter? Dang! I want to eat her up!

And you'd think all she does is smile...

...and goo and try to talk to you. She LOVES when you talk to her. She is definitely a people person already. Hmmm... could she be her mom's daughter?

And her brother Andrew, the entrepreneur has been busy this summer. Busy doing what? Making money. He had a farmer's market with my dad's veggies from his garden and some magnets he made, and he made $25.00. I think I just found a new summer job for Jake next year. Maybe Anne and Curt won't have to worry about putting Andrew through college - if he keeps going at this rate he will take care of it himself. He is so cute and funny. He is always selling candy and wanting to do lemonade stands. He brought me some snickerdoodles for my birthday (made my day!) and he "snicked my doodle!" He told me it was cauliflower under the foil and I believed him. Little trickster. I love the phrase "snick my doodle." Anne said he kept saying he was going to snick my doodle the whole time he was making cookies.

Glad To Be Alive

It has been a whole year since this happened, so many of you may know all about this, but I was really touched by it today and wanted to devote a post to a remarkable woman.

Stephanie Nielson is an LDS blogger who has had a very strong following on her wonderful blog which celebrated the small moments of family life that make it all worthwhile. She is a dear person, and so is her husband. Last year, they were in a plane crash that killed their friend and severely burned and almost killed both of them. I guess the Lord saw fit to put these tremendous people through a true refiner's fire when He gave them this trial but Stephanie is healing and writing her blog again. She hiked the Y Mountain Saturday to mark a year since the accident. Her husband Christian had burns on over 30% of his body and Stephanie had burns on over 70% of her body and was in a coma for over 2 months.

I sometimes feel so awful physically, and grow so incredibly tired of it, that thoughts like - getting in a car accident and passing from this life might be a big relief- but then I take it back and apologize to the powers that be. In reality, I am so so very grateful for my life, and all the many blessings in it and I have no desire to leave Jake behind until we are both much, much older. I just wanted to say how grateful I am for my life today. I have so much. I love you - family and friends. I love the Lord. Stephanie is a beautiful beautiful person and she still appreciates the small and the big things that many of us often forget. I celebrate her and her life. The Lord has quite a plan for her.

Here's a quote from the New York Times about her and her blog: “People don’t understand that of course Stephanie had days where she was crazy and wanted to pull her hair out... Her relationship with her husband wasn’t perfect. But she chose to focus on the beauty.

“And the more she focused on it, the more she had.”

May we all do the same.

Since Today Is My Birthday...

And I am turning 37 (ACK! Where has all the time gone!?)...

I decided to share 37 Random Facts About Me

1. I think it would be awesome to learn to fly an airplane.
2. I have been parasailing and loved it!
3. I would really love to go hang gliding.
4. Bungee jumping doesn’t appeal to me because I think it would yank my back completely out of whack and I would hurt.
5. For one whole summer, I wouldn’t (or would only rarely) swim in our pool when I was younger because of all the snot I always saw people wipe from their noses.
6. I thought it was cool when my cousin Camille plugged her nose when she swam, so I did too, and now I ‘have’ to plug my nose.
7. I absolutely LOVE L-O-V-E LOVE riding on a boat, in the front with the wind in my hair.
8. I love wind.
9. I would really, really like to prove to myself that I can make money at a great job that was meaningful to me.
10. I would REALLY like to feel up to doing more than lying in bed all day every day. REALLY.
11. I love heat. When I was in High School, I had a heater in my room and knew how to use it! I think I probably kept it at about 75º in there.
12. I love sunshine and spring and summer and dislike fall and winter.
13. I don’t like mushrooms. All I can think about is that they’re fungus.
14. Sometimes I eat cinnamon straight out of the spice jar.
15. I think hairspray is icky. I don’t like the smell. I don’t like the feel of it in my hair. And I really can’t stand the feeling that it is on me anywhere, and it feels like that once you spray it on your hair, because that stuff goes everywhere.
16. My favorite meal in college was Special K cereal. But that was also when I really got into learning to like vegetables.
17. I don’t like chocolate. Well... not that much.
18. I like chocolate chip cookies, but pick out some of the chocolate chips. Ok –I’d pick them all out if I could.
19. I don't really like candy.
20. I do (unfortunately) like baked goods and bread.
21. I think carrot cake (without raisins or nuts) is way better than chocolate or vanilla cake.
22. I don’t tolerate a lot of noise very well.
23. I feel things extremely deeply.
24. Life would be a lot easier if I didn’t.
25. I read constantly. I often have a novel, a self-help or health-type book, and something else like a church magazine going at one time. I can’t focus well on the non-fiction, but I like to learn that stuff so I try. I have to have a good novel going at all times.
26. I am very interested in alternative medicine.
27. I really like things to be pretty and am very aesthetically-minded. Ie: cool fonts, pretty paper, my surroundings, clothes, etc.
28. I’m kind of scared of people.
29. I like words. I LOVE word games. One of my top favorites is where you make as many words as you can out of another word.
30. I write to people better than I talk to them.
31. I wish I had more kids. Like 4 altogether.
32. But I would need MUCH better health.
33. I love water. It is the only thing I really like to drink.
34. I think the voice is the best musical instrument. (not mine)
35. I like to travel and see different places. I even like to be in different cities that are near to me just to be there and see what they are like.
36. I like natural foods and rarely eat refined sugar. I try not to eat processed stuff.
37. I don’t eat or drink dairy, except for cheese, which I seem to tolerate just fine.

Me in 1974 (age 2) with Jeff

Got kid's art?

Well you have to go and submit it here! This guy is brilliant. He even says so himself. (Which makes me giggle.) And meanwhile, you gotta go check out what this word genius says about my niece Sarah's art. Remember to dance with the triangles today!