Mark's scout troop is camping in our backyard tonight. I think it may have been Adam's idea because Adam said he's going to sleep in his bed.
Mark said, "You're going to leave us?"
Adam said, "I don't need a camping merit badge."
It's a good spot because Saturday they're going to go bike riding on the new bike trails that are a stone's throw (if you're good at throwing stones) from our backyard.
And I think it's going to be a plenty arduous experience, even though it's in our backyard.
The temperature is in the low 20s this morning.
Also, we heard a coyote last night that sounded like it was in our yard. Adam turned on the lights outside to get a look. It stopped its yowling and howling. He thought it was by our playset in the back corner. He turned the lights back off and it gave one more yip.
I'll be surprised if I don't wake up to a basement full of boys.
Friday, November 18, 2016
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Changes
It's not a secret to anyone that I spent the first part of my time as Young Women president scared to death. I also didn't really want to be Young Women president. It was a lot of work and the girls were surly so it didn't feel like it was worth the work.
Things have changed. Last night the laurels came to my house. One girl came to the first activity I think she's been to in over a year. I've been doggedly reaching out to her in what felt like ineffective ways, but she came! (She left early.)
We decorated cookies. The girls sat around the table and created masterpieces and disasters with frosting. They laughed a lot. It seemed like everyone felt a part of things, even the new girl that moved in less than a month ago.
Rose is one of my girls and she's in a wheelchair (hopefully today she'll be able to graduate to a walker). She had surgery on both legs and she is an inspiration to me of tenacity and optimism. Her mom brought her early and Mark and Adam got her up the front steps. They were gone to scouts when we were finished decorating and then we were going to deliver the cookies in our neighborhood. We debated the best way to get Rose down the steps. She was game to scoot down on her bottom but by then it was cold and the steps aren't that clean. (I should sweep them.)
I was in charge of certification at Girls' Camp and inspiration struck. Liz (another leader) and I did a two person arm carry. Guess what? It works!
That's why you go to camp, kids.
We got her in the van and Emma said maybe Liz and I could be an infamous duo. Instead of Thelma and Louise, we would be Thelma and Liz.
I was just proud of us for carrying Rose. (She's tiny so it wasn't that hard, but still.)
We had over ten plates of cookies. We delivered cookies to a house in our neighborhood then asked for a referral of where to deliver the next plate. It was fun and we made some people happy and made some people super confused. One lady said, "But I don't know any of you." She lives in one of the probably 4 houses in our ward boundaries that doesn't have a member of our church living there. Everyone else looked at the group and knew it was a YW activity.
Running across the grass to the car, Heather wailed about her cold feet. She was wearing sandals.
There were more changes afoot than just me having a genuine good time at a YW activity. It was 73 degrees on Tuesday. A record.
Last night, it snowed.
I think that's the end of sandal weather.
Things have changed. Last night the laurels came to my house. One girl came to the first activity I think she's been to in over a year. I've been doggedly reaching out to her in what felt like ineffective ways, but she came! (She left early.)
We decorated cookies. The girls sat around the table and created masterpieces and disasters with frosting. They laughed a lot. It seemed like everyone felt a part of things, even the new girl that moved in less than a month ago.
Rose is one of my girls and she's in a wheelchair (hopefully today she'll be able to graduate to a walker). She had surgery on both legs and she is an inspiration to me of tenacity and optimism. Her mom brought her early and Mark and Adam got her up the front steps. They were gone to scouts when we were finished decorating and then we were going to deliver the cookies in our neighborhood. We debated the best way to get Rose down the steps. She was game to scoot down on her bottom but by then it was cold and the steps aren't that clean. (I should sweep them.)
I was in charge of certification at Girls' Camp and inspiration struck. Liz (another leader) and I did a two person arm carry. Guess what? It works!
That's why you go to camp, kids.
We got her in the van and Emma said maybe Liz and I could be an infamous duo. Instead of Thelma and Louise, we would be Thelma and Liz.
I was just proud of us for carrying Rose. (She's tiny so it wasn't that hard, but still.)
We had over ten plates of cookies. We delivered cookies to a house in our neighborhood then asked for a referral of where to deliver the next plate. It was fun and we made some people happy and made some people super confused. One lady said, "But I don't know any of you." She lives in one of the probably 4 houses in our ward boundaries that doesn't have a member of our church living there. Everyone else looked at the group and knew it was a YW activity.
Running across the grass to the car, Heather wailed about her cold feet. She was wearing sandals.
There were more changes afoot than just me having a genuine good time at a YW activity. It was 73 degrees on Tuesday. A record.
Last night, it snowed.
I think that's the end of sandal weather.
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Français
Emma and I are going to France next year with other students and the esteemed (especially if you're Emma) Madame Tyler, who is Emma's French teacher.
Madame Tyler is from Paris. She's incredibly kind and charismatic and she terrifies me. She has said a few times that since there are two adults going (and then she looks at me), the group can maybe divide up from time to time.
Every time she says that I tell her I. Don't. Know. French.
Even if she leaves me with French speaking students, I don't want to be in charge in a country where I can't communicate.
Emma set me up with an app called Duolingo. I diligently practice every day. I have learned enough French that I understand this joke:
There's plenty more I don't understand though. I'm not sure I'm making much progress. I was very confused about the many forms of the word eat. Emma used the nearest writing surface, the back of a receipt, and wrote me a tutorial. I dig it out every time I practice.
There are times when the app prompts me to repeat some phrase in French, then the phone says, "Hmmm. That doesn't seem right. Try again."
I'm going to need Emma to write me some more receipt tutorials. Still, with all the cheat sheets from Emma in the world, don't leave me alone in France!
Madame Tyler is from Paris. She's incredibly kind and charismatic and she terrifies me. She has said a few times that since there are two adults going (and then she looks at me), the group can maybe divide up from time to time.
Every time she says that I tell her I. Don't. Know. French.
Even if she leaves me with French speaking students, I don't want to be in charge in a country where I can't communicate.
Emma set me up with an app called Duolingo. I diligently practice every day. I have learned enough French that I understand this joke:
There's plenty more I don't understand though. I'm not sure I'm making much progress. I was very confused about the many forms of the word eat. Emma used the nearest writing surface, the back of a receipt, and wrote me a tutorial. I dig it out every time I practice.
There are times when the app prompts me to repeat some phrase in French, then the phone says, "Hmmm. That doesn't seem right. Try again."
I'm going to need Emma to write me some more receipt tutorials. Still, with all the cheat sheets from Emma in the world, don't leave me alone in France!
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Life with Adam
Adam frowns on it (he thinks it's rude) but the kids and I usually play Walmart Bingo if by some unlucky circumstance we have to go to Walmart.
Everyone picks something you may encounter at Walmart (I usually pick a child screaming uncontrollably). There are all sorts of options: people in pajamas, people wearing slippers, an inordinate amount of tattoos.... You get points for each person we see who meets your criteria.
Adam and I were at Walmart Saturday. A few check stands away from us, a little girl, who had been wailing, finally succumbed to the tantrum and was lying on the floor, kicking and screaming and flailing her arms. An older girl, who appeared to be her sister, stood there and gave her a kick every once in awhile. A woman, who I assume was the mother, was studiously ignoring the whole thing. Another woman, an older woman ( the grandma?), was wearing clothes that weren't quite age appropriate (maybe she'd borrowed them from the tween?) and had on the most horrific looking strawberry blonde curly wig you've ever seen. She had a cell phone and was videoing the little girl's histrionics.
When we walked away, Adam said, "That was amazing. That just cleared the board for Walmart Bingo."
And I think he's right.
I use one of these to clean Adam's shower:
It's in the bathroom we share but I'm strictly a bath person so it is therefore Adam's shower. Our old house had a detachable shower head which I liked. It made cleaning easier. This shower has one of those rain shower heads. Adam likes it and won't install a handheld shower head, despite my complaining.
Instead, he brought a water gun upstairs from the garage. It lives in the corner of the shower and I'm probably the only person in America that uses one to clean.
It works remarkably well.
If you were to ask our children the most annoying thing about us, they would have a long list, but I think what annoys them the most is our indecision when it comes to selecting a restaurant. We go back and forth, telling the other one we don't care, they can decide. (Then Mark makes a choice and we both tell him no and he says, "But I thought you didn't care!)
(We're a lot of fun.)
Adam and I go to lunch every Monday and it's a major decision. Adam was looking up restaurants on his phone and came across this picture for Rancheritos.
Adam likes it there but I think it smells weird. I didn't know storm troopers serve the food. That changes things.
We may drive our kids crazy, but I like us. You just never know what delights await when you're alongside Adam.
Everyone picks something you may encounter at Walmart (I usually pick a child screaming uncontrollably). There are all sorts of options: people in pajamas, people wearing slippers, an inordinate amount of tattoos.... You get points for each person we see who meets your criteria.
Adam and I were at Walmart Saturday. A few check stands away from us, a little girl, who had been wailing, finally succumbed to the tantrum and was lying on the floor, kicking and screaming and flailing her arms. An older girl, who appeared to be her sister, stood there and gave her a kick every once in awhile. A woman, who I assume was the mother, was studiously ignoring the whole thing. Another woman, an older woman ( the grandma?), was wearing clothes that weren't quite age appropriate (maybe she'd borrowed them from the tween?) and had on the most horrific looking strawberry blonde curly wig you've ever seen. She had a cell phone and was videoing the little girl's histrionics.
When we walked away, Adam said, "That was amazing. That just cleared the board for Walmart Bingo."
And I think he's right.
*****
I use one of these to clean Adam's shower:
Instead, he brought a water gun upstairs from the garage. It lives in the corner of the shower and I'm probably the only person in America that uses one to clean.
It works remarkably well.
*****
If you were to ask our children the most annoying thing about us, they would have a long list, but I think what annoys them the most is our indecision when it comes to selecting a restaurant. We go back and forth, telling the other one we don't care, they can decide. (Then Mark makes a choice and we both tell him no and he says, "But I thought you didn't care!)
(We're a lot of fun.)
Adam and I go to lunch every Monday and it's a major decision. Adam was looking up restaurants on his phone and came across this picture for Rancheritos.
Adam likes it there but I think it smells weird. I didn't know storm troopers serve the food. That changes things.
We may drive our kids crazy, but I like us. You just never know what delights await when you're alongside Adam.
Monday, November 14, 2016
Mannequin challenge
After closing night of any show, the drama kids go to JCW's. Emma
complained all week about how tired she was but she was miraculously
revived enough to go to JCW's. I said, "Don't be too late."
But I wasn't really worried. They're good kids in a safe town, for which I feel very grateful.
Emma texted me the video of a mannequin challenge they did.
Drama kids have the skill set for this kind of thing.
But I wasn't really worried. They're good kids in a safe town, for which I feel very grateful.
Emma texted me the video of a mannequin challenge they did.
Drama kids have the skill set for this kind of thing.
Friday, November 11, 2016
A Thursday in November
In unpacking my boxes from Young Women in Excellence, I discovered I had accidentally stolen three tablecloths.
They've all been returned to their rightful owners.
I walked through Sephora and was mystified by all the offerings. I didn't even know what most of it was.
Also, without exception, the women working there had about 4 times more makeup on that what I would deem normal.
Speaking of makeup, I was at Sephora because I was on the prowl for something for this girl.
She likes makeup. (Her eyes may fly away on those wings someday.) Also, she looks startlingly like her aunt Megan in this picture.
I have been planning for Christmas gifts. I have a few ideas/purchases that I think are home runs. I'm excited about them. I have a few that I think the recipients will like and I have a few that are long shots.
It's all part of the adventure.
Facebook political posts are slowly going away. Thank you Facebook political posts. See you in four years. (Please don't hurry back.)
We went to Working, the musical Emma's production class was performing.
It was very confusing on the family calendar because Emma adds when she is working and she also added Working.
Working was fabulous! I'm excited to go watch it again tonight. I think it's one of my favorite shows I've seen my children perform in.
Pretend there isn't a head in the way and pretend you can hear them and not just see them singing.
Because they sounded amazing!
As Thursdays go, it was a pretty good one.
They've all been returned to their rightful owners.
I walked through Sephora and was mystified by all the offerings. I didn't even know what most of it was.
Also, without exception, the women working there had about 4 times more makeup on that what I would deem normal.
Speaking of makeup, I was at Sephora because I was on the prowl for something for this girl.
She likes makeup. (Her eyes may fly away on those wings someday.) Also, she looks startlingly like her aunt Megan in this picture.
I have been planning for Christmas gifts. I have a few ideas/purchases that I think are home runs. I'm excited about them. I have a few that I think the recipients will like and I have a few that are long shots.
It's all part of the adventure.
Facebook political posts are slowly going away. Thank you Facebook political posts. See you in four years. (Please don't hurry back.)
We went to Working, the musical Emma's production class was performing.
It was very confusing on the family calendar because Emma adds when she is working and she also added Working.
Working was fabulous! I'm excited to go watch it again tonight. I think it's one of my favorite shows I've seen my children perform in.
Pretend there isn't a head in the way and pretend you can hear them and not just see them singing.
Because they sounded amazing!
As Thursdays go, it was a pretty good one.
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Young Women in Excellence 2016
I. Am. Tired.
Days like yesterday that are anything but calm, remind me of how much I enjoy the more calm days.
It was Young Women In Excellence which is one of the Big Deals in the life of a YW president. My fellow leaders and I had been preparing for weeks. I wrote a talk and then rewrote it yesterday morning. Everyone's best friend, Pinterest, helped us with the idea. This is where our inspiration came from.
I appreciate people that share their good ideas.
Our youth are doing a Small and Simple Things challenge right now so a Small and Simple Things theme seemed perfect.
We had eight leaders decorate eight tables, one for each value color. They looked so pretty that I took a picture of each. Except integrity. Somehow I missed it. I'm also realizing that I didn't take a picture of the refreshment table. One of my counselors did it and it was amazing.
Each leader also gave a short talk about each value and we had the YW give talks about things they'd done for personal progress.
Emma wasn't able to be there because she was in a performance at her school for her productions class (I had to miss opening night but there are two more shows and I will be there front and center--well, house left. That's where Emma told me to sit for optimum viewing). And if she had been there she would have had to speak because she finished her Personal Progress recently! Happy Day! I did have her create the program. She is a font guru and can make Microsoft Word do magic tricks that I can only dream about. (I should have been taking notes.)
One girl spoke about how I'd helped her with one of her goals by sending her a text message every day for two weeks to remind her. I was feeling a bit pleased with myself and then the next girl talked about how I'd asked her to speak and "when Sister Davis walks up to you at church that is never a good thing."
So don't worry about me holding onto any feelings of smugness for too long.
Teenage girls have a way of tempering any success you may experience.
It was a nice night though. They're good girls. They're worth spending time trying to create a sort of fancy event for.
Now I am off to restore order around here. I was too tired to even unload the van last night.
Days like yesterday that are anything but calm, remind me of how much I enjoy the more calm days.
It was Young Women In Excellence which is one of the Big Deals in the life of a YW president. My fellow leaders and I had been preparing for weeks. I wrote a talk and then rewrote it yesterday morning. Everyone's best friend, Pinterest, helped us with the idea. This is where our inspiration came from.
I appreciate people that share their good ideas.
Our youth are doing a Small and Simple Things challenge right now so a Small and Simple Things theme seemed perfect.
We had eight leaders decorate eight tables, one for each value color. They looked so pretty that I took a picture of each. Except integrity. Somehow I missed it. I'm also realizing that I didn't take a picture of the refreshment table. One of my counselors did it and it was amazing.
 |
| Faith: this was mine |
 |
| Divine Nature |
 |
| Individual Worth |
 |
| Knowledge |
 |
| Choice and Accountability |
 |
| Good Works |
 |
| Virtue |
Emma wasn't able to be there because she was in a performance at her school for her productions class (I had to miss opening night but there are two more shows and I will be there front and center--well, house left. That's where Emma told me to sit for optimum viewing). And if she had been there she would have had to speak because she finished her Personal Progress recently! Happy Day! I did have her create the program. She is a font guru and can make Microsoft Word do magic tricks that I can only dream about. (I should have been taking notes.)
One girl spoke about how I'd helped her with one of her goals by sending her a text message every day for two weeks to remind her. I was feeling a bit pleased with myself and then the next girl talked about how I'd asked her to speak and "when Sister Davis walks up to you at church that is never a good thing."
So don't worry about me holding onto any feelings of smugness for too long.
Teenage girls have a way of tempering any success you may experience.
It was a nice night though. They're good girls. They're worth spending time trying to create a sort of fancy event for.
Now I am off to restore order around here. I was too tired to even unload the van last night.
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