Sacrifice

I have been teaching seminary for three full years now. I can hardly believe it. I never thought that I would ever be asked to teach something like seminary, and now I can hardly imagine life not teaching. It can be grueling, especially during the cold, dark winter months of January and February, to drag myself out of bed at 4:30, shower, get dressed up, and head in to church by 6 am. It can be emotionally taxing to try to inspire youth every single day ... especially when some choose not to care. It can be super easy to criticize myself for not doing a good enough job. But above all, it is worth it, because I am part of this great work of hastening the work of our Father in Heaven, working to help the future generation recognize their own divine potential and help them to truly feel the love that Heavenly Father has for each one of them individually as we immerse ourselves in the scriptures each day.

Well, today I was really struck less by my own sacrifice as I serve in this calling, and instead I noticed the great sacrifice that my family makes so that I can teach every morning. This year Herman volunteered to teach a group of five boys from the other ward who are getting ready to graduate this year. It truly is a sacrifice for him to do this while he is also serving as stake president, but he felt strongly that it was something that he was supposed to do, and the flexibility for his schedule that our business offers made him an ideal person to help this year. As we leave the house at around 5:30ish each school day with Savannah and Spencer who are attending my class, we leave four younger children at home on their own to get ready for school on their own. As I'm walking out the door I wake Katie up so that she can get ready for junior high, and after a bit of time she wakes Hyrum and JoJo so that they can get ready to jump on the bus for school. After seminary gets done we have time to drive home, have family prayer, and send all but Minsy off. There is little time to do more than hug goodbye. Any preparation for the day has to be done the night before or without Herman and me in the morning.

This has been the case ever since I began teaching. At first it was Savannah who had to be woken up to get herself and her younger siblings ready for school. Then it was Spencer. Now it's Katie. Depending on how long I'm teaching, it could continue on down the line. But through it all I have never heard the younger kids complain one bit. They just pick themselves up and do what has to be done. I think that they just feel like this is just what you do as a family. I may be the one with the calling, but in their own way they are serving right along side me.

Today as I arrived home it really hit me what a sacrifice the younger kids are making so that we can serve. It is theme week at Freedom Elementary. I can't remember what it is they are celebrating, but each day they have a different thing that they are supposed to wear. I am no fan of spirit week dress up days. I can trace it back to a horrible experience in junior high when I went all out and dressed up for Hawaiian Day during our spirit week. It was not a pretty thing, and it was the last time I ever participated in such a thing. But I try not to let my own neuroses affect my children. If they want to dress up, I support them in it. But I'm not a "pintarest" mom. I can't come up with these super fancy or cute costumes that will wow the masses. We do the best we can, and so far none of my kids have held it against me that they aren't as cool as their classmates. Today it was "Come as your favorite book character" day. I have seen some super elaborate costumes that parents have posted on facebook. Sadly, my boys didn't enjoy such costumes. But they were totally okay with that. Really.

When we got home Hyrum told us that he was going to be Percy Jackson, and JoJo was going to be Harry Potter. They had asked Katie to wake them up early so that they could work on their costumes, and they did the best that their limited artistic selves could do. JoJo grabbed a robe and a wooden walking stick he got in Nauvoo. I took time to draw a lightning scar, but because we were in a hurry to get to the bus I didn't do a great job. It was a little smeary looking. JoJo was super sweet though. He just said, "Look, Mom. It is just like his scar in the first movie (I think) when his scar was bleeding because of Voldemort." Then Hyrum took a sharpie and a white t-shirt and made his own Camp Half-Blood shirt to wear. It wasn't perfectly done, but it was super sweet. They were so excited about their costumes. I hope everyone at school appreciated them for what they were.

So, anyway, I did feel a twinge of sadness for the fact that I didn't have the time to really devote to the boys as they prepared for the day this morning. But I was grateful for the blessing that these sweet children are in my life. They are strong and faithful. They are forgiving and loving. They are willing to bear the burden that sometimes arises when you have two parents serving in high demanding callings. But as a family we have recognized so many blessings that come to all of us because of this service. We have so many other ways that we make up for the loss of family time during the weekday mornings. that it all works out in the end. I am grateful for the chance that I have to serve my Heavenly Father, and I am super grateful to have children who are willing to serve along side me as well. We wouldn't trade the blessings our family enjoys ... even for the chance to have a rockin' book character costume. :)

There Is No Kill in Love ...

Just a short post today. I think the picture above says it all. JoJo had an after school reading activity last night, and they did all sorts of activities focused on Valentine's Day. When he arrived home he was toting this gem of a Valentine bag that he had personally decorated. He added his own little sayings that I am sure will one day show up on a Hallmark card near you. Nothing says I love you like this ...

There is no kill in love

or 

Bodies have blood.

He's such a romantic. 

But don't worry future ladies who will someday hope to fall in love with him. I've still got plenty of time to train him. But it looks like I've got my work cut out for me. 

Goodbye vacation!

It has been a glorious two week Christmas vacation. I have spent tons of time having fun with my family. I have gotten to unwind and relax after a busy first semester of school and seminary. I cooked lots and lots and lots of food. I began the task of trying to declutter and organize my house. And through it all I ...

watched Elizabeth get together with Mr. Darcy

Twice!

I even saw Mr. Darcy end up with Miss Amanda Price.

Then I saw Emma fall in love with Mr. Knightly.

And Fanny Price fall in love with Edmund Bertram
(who looks surprisingly similar to Mr. Knightly ... hmmm)

Moving away from my Jane Austen obsession ...
I got to see Mr. Rochester and Jane Eyre find love as well.

So, it's been a busy winter break for me. I am grateful to my large collection of BBC miniseries and assorted period movies that kept me some company through the break as I got lots of work done in those spare moments when I was not doing family events. I'm not through with them as well. I still have another great Jane Eyre miniseries to watch along with a few other great British movies and miniseries to watch while I gradually work on my goal of decluttering and simplifying our home this year.

Marriage Saved!

I'm not sure what is wrong with me, but lately I have not been able to get warm at all. I am FREEZING all the time. And it isn't just because it is winter ... duh! It is all the time. I bundle up, put on warm socks, huddle under blankets, and I am still cold. The older I get, the worse I suffer. But, no problem ... I found a wonderful solution. I have a space heater that I just crank up to maximum heat and stick it right next to me. Add that to the bundles of blankets and clothing, and I manage to stay relatively warm. Yea!

But there is one unfortunate problem with my genius solution to my heat problem ... I happen to be married to a heater. While I feel cold all the time, Herman is the opposite. He is always burning up. It can be the dead of winter, and Herman will often crack open a window to cool things off a bit. He can adapt when it comes to dealing with normal house heat in the winter, but my space heater made things too hot to handle for him. He felt like he was living in a sauna. He would come into the bedroom, open a window, turn on a fan, and pull off the covers so that he wouldn't sweat to death. He would get things comfortable for him ... and I would be a shivering mass beside him. I suppose that a solution would be for us to turn off all of our external heating/cooling appliances and just have me drape myself over him all day long. He is my own personal heating source, I guess. But practically that would end up being inconvenient some of the time, I think. We needed a better solution.

Herman came up with the perfect solution this Christmas when he bought me the best Christmas present ever. I am now the proud owner of a super cozy, super warm electric blanket. I have never had one before, but after a week of using it I cannot imagine living life without one. Now I can wrap myself into my own personal cocoon of warmth, and it doesn't affect Herman's comfort level at all. Problem solved. Marriage saved.

Now if I could only invent an electric snuggy that I could wear all over the house to stay warm while I do my household chores ... my life would be complete. :)

Just call me Firestarter

I am so grateful for the wood stove that we have in our home. I was terrified of it at first because I am terrified of my house burning down. But it is has come in handy lots of time. A few years ago our area suffered through an ice storm that knocked out power for most of our area for more than a week. While many of our neighbors suffered from the lack of heat and power to their home, we were able to survive the ordeal relatively unscathed because of our wood stove. In fact, the whole experience became sort of fun for our family as we pulled out our survivalist gear and made it into an indoor camping trip. Then last year when we experienced the "polar vortex" of extremely low temperatures for an extended amount of time, our little wood stove probably ended up saving us tons of money in electric bills. Yea for that!

I have often had days when I have wanted to have a nice blazing fire going, but I haven't lit the fire. Why? To be honest ... I had no idea how to light a fire. Really. I have never lit my own fire before. Herman or Spencer or sometimes even Hyrum and JoJo have lit the fire, but I never have. Lately I have felt like this was a skill that I really needed to learn. It was silly not to do this. And today I finally decided to take the plunge and see if I could master this skill.

I headed to our stove and saw a pile of wood and several newspapers ready to go. I stacked the wood, layered the newspapers in the spaces between the wood, lit the paper, and .... NOTHING. Not a thing. Sure, the paper lit up nicely, but that was it. The wood never caught the flame. I nursed that fire for over an hour, trying to gently blow the embers to get them to ignite, holding the lighter forever to see if the flame could catch on. Nothing. I didn't ask for help. I wanted to figure this thing out on my own. But nothing was working. I kept thinking of the scene in Castaway when Tom Hanks' character agonizes over trying to get the fire to light for him on his deserted island, and I was feeling his frustration.

Thankfully, Spencer walked by after I'd been at this for an hour and asked what I was trying to do. I told him my dilemma, and he was kind enough to give me some advice. Although Herman has some success using the newspaper to start the fire, Spencer uses a tiny chunk of wood he cuts from a fire starter log. It looks like an itty bitty piece of charcoal, but it stays lit for several minutes, giving the wood time to ignite. I grabbed the chunk, stuck it in a good spot, lit the thing and waited until ...

Fire!!

Oh yeah! I did a little dance, I did.

Herman was shocked to learn that that was the very first fire I had ever started. What can I say? I was not a boy scout. We didn't have a fire place growing up. Plus, I am quite adept at getting others to do the dirty work when camping. So this was my first experience getting a blaze going. It was surprisingly satisfying and a bit empowering.

I am ready for spring, but I'll make the most of these dreary winter months ahead by enjoying nice cozy evenings by the fire, I think.

Just call me the Firestarter.

Happy 2015!!

It's a new year, full of all sorts of exciting opportunities to rise up, do better, make a difference, and fully enjoy the moments given to me. I've got lots of things I'd like to do ... digitalize all my hard copy photos, declutter, get in better shape, continue to build our nest egg, declutter, eat better, declutter. I want to take more time doing the things that matter and less time doing the things that don't. I want to do a better job of blogging. I'm not sure that anyone out there really reads this blog regularly, but I think my kids might enjoy these random ramblings someday. I want to do a good job of getting my thoughts written down.

Great things are going to happen this year ... Savannah will graduate from high school. Spencer will get his driver's license (after he becomes an Eagle Scout). Laney will return home from her mission. Laney and Savannah will head out to college (maybe together, maybe one in Utah and one in Idaho). Katie will become a teenager. Minsy will start kindergarten. Hyrum will receive the Aaronic Priesthood. JoJo will enter double digits. It's going to be a great year. I can feel it.

I wanted to do a whole post about my resolutions for this upcoming year, but instead I think that I'll just post a few quotes from Gordon B. Hinckley that will provide some good direction for my life this year. I love President Hinckley ... I miss him. Here is some of his good advice ...

Thomas S. Monson has some good advice for this new year too, so here are a couple from him that will guide me this year as well ...

Have an absolutely amazing 2015!!!