Mormon Helping Hands

Each year our local congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does a service project in our area for Earth Day.  Our project has been to help clean Landis Valley Museum, a local museum.  We weed, rake, mulch, trim, paint and a hundred other tasks.  Our family has helped with a certain part of the park for three years now.  They are mulching experts and now days we don't even have to fight them to help.  Although rain soaked mulch this year made for some backbreaking work, they happily did it.  Yes!!!

It's The Simple Things

A warm breeze blowing across my face,

All the kids laying quietly in bed,

An unexpected phone call from a friend,

Watching my children accomplish something hard.

 

Seeing my husband after he's been gone for a while,

Girls' Night trying out new restaurants,

A good workout and slightly sore muscles,

Happy dreams where I wake up laughing.

 

Sitting and watching the warm spring sunset,

My children turning into my best friends,

Remembering the good old days,

Making each day - another good old day for the future.

 

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you:

not as the world giveth, give I unto you.

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

John 14:27



iT's AbOut fLAmiNg TImE...

Spring has sprung. 

Some days are warm.  Warm enough to play baseball with siblings and friends.




























Some days are super warm.  Warm enough to shed shirts and break out the squirt guns. 

Hallelujah!

Blythe-sonian

Where did the Smithsonian get its name from? 

 

Anyway...we went there as a family during Easter break. 

We hit up a new (for kids) museum.  The National History Museum. 

 It was good.  Kids loved it. 

 Missed the Cherry Blossoms despite researching to get us there in prime bloom time. 

Crazy weather ruining things :)

Starting the day with crazy!

Never thought I'd see the day I loved something of Hilary's, but her's was my favorite china.

Betty Ford - I love your dress.  Great taste.  Too bad you had a raging addiction to alcohol and drugs.

Ending the day with crazy - wouldn't have it any other way!

Recently Boobles decided she was ready to cut her hair.  She didn't want to wait until school was out per our normal habits.  And as I assessed the situation I knew we would have plenty for Locks of Love.  And so with her guidance we chopped off 12 inches and gave her a cute A-Line haircut.  Lookout me, she has plans for highlights this summer.  I'm still on the fence about that, but here is the photo guide to her hair cutting experience.

Easter Wrap Up

Public Confessions

Public Confession Number 1:  I hate public toilets.  I hate any toilet besides my own.  And when I say my own, I am not even referring to all three in my house.  See I don't believe in the five years that I have lived in this house that I have ever used the kids bathroom.  Only a handful of times have I used the bathroom on the main floor.  See I am just that neurotic that I travel all the way up to the bathroom in my bedroom most every time. 

Public Confession Number 2:  When people ask what I do, I say "I'm a stay at home mom."  I'm not a fan of the word homemaker, only because I find it offensive to men and working mothers.  I believe wholly in working within our home, but I don't think that stay at home moms are the only homemakers.  Good fathers and working women can be homemakers.  Last I believe most accurately I am a domestic engineer.  An engineer is someone "applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems."  And I couldn't believe more in that being my cause.  My problem is how do I turn these little "animals"  into functioning, contributing, amazing adults.  And I like to think that daily I am working on these solutions.  I'll let you know how good of an engineer I was in another dozen years or so.

Public Confession Number 3:  Sometimes when I get really tired, I cry.  Now the trigger could be one of a million things.  But that is when my kids and hubby know to put me to bed and let me rest.  Because outside of spiritual things or very happy things, the only time I cry is when I am tired, very very tired. 

Public Confession Number 4:  Since Travis and I have been married, 8+ non-family members have either lived with or have asked to live with us, either directly, through friends or through foster care.  Most recently I got a call from another member, a retired teacher, of our church congregation who had a previous student with a four month old baby who needed a place to live - her parents had kicked her out.  I came highly recommended for this described girl who was outwardly rough around the edges with issues.  I am going to take the recommendation as a huge compliment, but I don't know what I do to make people think I have a knack for this thing, because often I feel like it's the blind leading the blind.  But as of tomorrow we will have two non related people residing in my house, so I am feeling pretty glad that the girl with the baby worked out her problems with her parents and went back home.  Because 9 people, four guests, one being a brand new baby might just be a little too hectic for even me.