Dustin' off the ol' sewing machine

This week for the wellness challenge, I chose:
Do Something You Love: Free up at least an hour this week and do something you love but never have the time for, like trying a new recipe, knitting, reading a book, or attending a sports event.
With my feeling sick half the time I haven't had a lot of time to do my things. Just staying on top of laundry and dinner (plus cleaning those pesky bathrooms every now and again) has been about all I can handle. Now that I'm feeling better (some days it doesn't knock me out at all, and the rest it's only a couple hours, much better), I can take a little bit more time to do the things I like to do. I haven't touched my sewing machine since I finished my Christmas presents, and I've missed the creative-ness. So today I decided to dust it off and get to work. One of the neighbor girls had asked me to make a hobo sack for her--it's one of those bags with the backpack straps that cinch it closed at the top, apparently they are all the rage at the junior high. She'd brought me the materials about three weeks ago, and washing the fabric was a far as I got. I had a bag to use as a pattern and with just a few (OK, a little more than a few) mistakes that had to be unpicked, I figured it out and now she has a cute bag. And I might have to make a few more now that I know what I'm doing. She wanted her name on it, so I got to figure out that option on my sewing machine, very fun, and easier than I thought it would be. I might start putting names on more projects...hmmmm. Creative juices flowing. Which is good, because I have four babies I need to make something for (congrats Desi! Can't wait to see little Derrin!). Do you think babies would like a hobo sack? Maybe I'll stick to cute little booties. Ohhhh, maybe in a hobo sack...

On a side note, Farris is coming home tonight! He's been in Florida at a conference since Tuesday and I'm looking forward to him being back. The kids are excited too, when he called he told them he'd been walking on the beach and they were completely agog. Me, too, it's been awhile since I've seen the ocean. Joseph even wrapped up some of his Valentine's candy in a funny little package to give to his Daddy. Awwww.
Seth has been talking more. The other day he told me "Cat bite Caleb," very serious. I tried to sound just as serious (the cats bite the kids every day, I think they would stop if the kids were nicer to them), and said "That's terrible!" Seth nodded solemnly and said "Terrible. Kitty terrible." I know just a silly story, but I think it's cute. Speaking of the cats, tonight Caleb was supposed to be getting p.j.-uped, and told me that the cat dissected him. He meant distracted. Hee-hee, 'nother one. At preschool the other day we were learning the sound "V". The kids bring things that start with that letter to feed the Sound Monster and one of the little boys brought a Visor. He handed it to me and told me it was a Virus. He's had a little bit of sickness running through his family, but I'm hoping it was just a visor. Oh, those kids. It's a good thing they make me laugh every day.

We're mending

Not socks. I hate mending socks (hence lots of holes in our socks). Our bodies. The doctor thinks it was the flu we went through, and yeah, this was the year we didn't get the flu shot. All six of us went to church today, Seth even went to nursery. Wow! We talked about keeping him out for one more week, he has a cough, but as soon as Amen was said to the last prayer in Sacrament meeting, Rocket Boy ran for the nursery. Can you believe it took six months of crying to get him to go in the first place? Now it's his favorite place in the world. Beside the candy jar, of course. So, point is that we're all doing better. We all took (enforced for some of them) naps after church because we all still have coughs. But the light is coming and soon we will sniffle and cough free.

This week I decided to do the Random Acts of Kindness for my BYU wellness goal.
Random Acts of Kindness: Do five random acts of kindness this week. You can smile at a stranger, hold the elevator door for a co-worker, let a car in front of you on the highway, etc.

I'm not sure if I completed it or not. Can the random acts be for family and people I see all the time? 'Cause I spent very, very little time outside of the house this week. If so here's my list:
1. I picked up the kids from school, even though technically it wasn't my turn.
2. In one of my few excursions out of the house, I smiled at a couple that were pushing a baby stroller into a store. The husband looked really excited (that's sarcasm, if you can't hear my voice) and the wife looked like she had to pull out the big guns to get him to come at all, and then didn't know if it was worth the outcome. But when I smiled at her, she grinned back.
3. I drove three of the YW home in our weird thunder/lightening/snow storm on Wednesday. The girls couldn't believe the lightening, and kept saying "A THUNDER SNOW Storm!" You could hear the capitol letters in their voices.
4. On Valentines Day morning, even though I felt bleeechhh, I got up and made pink pancakes for breakfast, and even put in some of the m&m's that I got for my birthday. That's sacrifice, right there. OK, not really, but the kids giggled when they saw the pink pancakes. Felicity thought they looked better than the green ones I made for St. Patrick's day last year: I concur. I do need to add to the story, I mixed the pancakes up and got about half cooked and then Farris took over because I was looking a little green. Or gray. Just not like I should. That's a kindness, right there.
5. I washed the dishes a couple times this week for Farris. He does the dishes in our house, probably 95% of the time, but this week he got sick (ha, imagine that in our house), not quite as high fevers as the kids, but achey, tired, headaches, stuffed up, chills, cough and all that. He actually stayed home from work for three days. If you know Farris, that's not something he does very often. So I helped him as much as I could, and he made sure I got a nap in the afternoons, and we both got through.
So that's my list. It doesn't feel like I did anything out of the ordinary, just the kind of the stuff all of us do everyday. Except for smiling at the strangers, everything was for friends/family. There's no way I would have let those girls walk home in that storm, and of course I wasn't going to let Farris do the dishes while he was shaking from the chills. I don't know. I think goals are something that stretch you, but this week probably wasn't a week I could stretch much, anyway. What do you guys think? Did I fulfill the goal?

Happy Valentines Day!

In honor of Valentines day I'm going to tell the latest Seth story. It (sort of) has a connection to the holiday.
We just started putting Seth to sleep in his Big Boy Bed, no more crib for him. That first night, I was up with Felicity at 3:30 the other morning--sick, sick, sick. I heard the cupboards banging in the kitchen and I thought, What is Farris doing? The banging stopped, but the kitchen light was still on. I went to turn it off, but there was Seth. Standing on the countertop, calmly eating Valentine candy (see, there is a connection). No, he wasn't sleep walking, he just thought, hey everybody's asleep, I can get out of this bed really easy, and I know where mom hid that candy, wahoo. I put him down, trying not to laugh, and sternly told him to go back to bed. He did and slept 'til morning, even with a little bit of candy overload. He hasn't been out of bed in the night since. At least that I know...

Oops, I love Saturday

I missed yesterday. I haven't spent much time on the computer the last few days, maybe because every day seems to bring another sick child into the house. Poor Felicity had a temperature over 104 degrees on and off throughout the day and then most of last night. Then this morning her high temp went away...and she started throwing up. Pinkeye has now got into each of the kids, and a couple hours ago Caleb started complaining of an earache. Good grief. What is good in all this? (just a sec, I'm thinking...)
I love...a good thermometer that I don't have to strip the kids down to take it, or put it in their mouth for a very long minute. I love that we have a good supply of children's Tylenol and ibuprofen. I love that Farris has the priesthood, so in the middle of the night when someone hits 104 twice in only a few hours, we have something we can do to help. I'm really going to love the day when my post does not contain any illness.


Today is Saturday. And really, who doesn't love Saturday? I am lucky that Farris' job only requires him to work on Saturday about once a year, so it means one more adult around which is helpful, and it means that my best friend is here instead of somewhere else! We usually try to get things done that just don't happen during the week (we cleaned the family room and toy room--aww! It feels good to not step on anything when I go in there). Today Farris is painting the bathroom. Hurrah! For the last six months we've had two different colors painted in spots around the room so we could see which we liked. And we liked neither. Last week we finally bought some paint in a different color (it's called Chocolate Froth, what a name! It makes me want a Wendy's Frosty) which I think we'll like. I hope so, 'cause it isn't changing for a long time.

What else do I love today?

I love...teaching my Mia Maids in YW. What a fun calling! The girls are enthusiastic and happy and fun and always willing to add something to the lesson. It doesn't always have something to do with the lesson, but we can usually get it back on track. Speaking of which, I need to be preparing my lesson right now, so this is the end of I love The Whole Week. Ha! I made all five posts! Unfortunately, I have not been exercising...sick kids are a good excuse, right? Tasha and Cindi, how are you doing?

I love Thursday

Today I love...my mom. I was baby number 5, born at 12:01 in a tiny hospital in Idaho 33 years ago today. Now that I'm having my own baby #5, I appreciate her sacrifices more. And those sacrifices don't stop with pregnancy! But mom never made us feel like we were taking opportunities away from her and she always let us know that she loved us unconditionally. She trusted us and we knew that not only did she love us because we belonged to her, but because she enjoyed being around us. She is creative and fun and loves to laugh with us. I love my Mom!
I love...my dad, too. He wasn't the kind of dad to go to work and ignore the kids when he came home, but played with us and listened to us and showed his love to us every day. We loved to feed the calves while he was milking, not because calves are especially fun...or clean...or nice, but because we got to sit in the barn for awhile and talk with dad.
I love...that I've been blessed with much family, that we all still love each other and support each other, and that as our family grows, it just brings in more love. And by the way, congrats Sam! We're so excited for you and Kolleen!
Other birthday loves:
I love...how the kids wiggle with excitment when presents come out, even if they are not for them.
I love...ice cream.
I love...getting breakfast in bed and lots of hugs and kisses with it.
I love...hearing the kids sing happy birthday. Seth was even (trying to anyway--I have to admit it was adorable) singing along and it made me happy.

I love...Wednesday

I have to admit I'm pretty tired tonight. Seth is on the mend from his Pinkeye (thank you, antibiotics!), but Caleb started a high fever last night and through today. This morning I felt pretty good and tried to get things done...by lunchtime I was exhausted and didn't get much done the rest of the day. Another few weeks and this ickiness should be gone! Whew, because my house in some serious need of catch-up cleaning. So tonight I love...
that Farris is cleaning the kitchen right now. He's listening to the BYU basketball game (I'm not a huge follower of basketball, but that Jimmer is really fun to hear about) so he's happy as he works and I don't need to help him. Ahhh, I can sit down and relax a little.
And this is going to be short one tonight. Yawn.

I love...Tuesday

I love...how excited my kids get about school. I mean, they have their trials and hard things, but they are usually pretty excited to get there in the mornings and they run off happily to the school. Tomorrow is Science Day. Felicity and Caleb are too young to do the science fair, but Felicity is helping with some kind of a set of mini-classes on electricity. She's nervous because she'll be teaching 6th graders, but I think (mom kind of thing) she'll do great!
I love...how I don't have to be smart to answer my kids questions. How did our parents do it without the internet? Caleb and I even googled something the other day and proved a Magic School Bus book wrong (Macaroni Penquins do live on a set of islands called the Prince Edward Islands, but they are off of the coast of South Africa, not the Anne of Green Gables Prince Edward Island in Canada. Who's ever heard of penquins living in the wild in Canada, aye?). Ha-ha, take that, Ms. Frizzle. Yes, I've even had to look up answers to my kids homework on-line. The last one was that I didn't know which president was on the dime. I'd tell you right now, but I forgot, and I'm getting too tired to google. So...
I love...my bed. Good Night!

I love...the whole week

This week my Happiness Tool is: Write a Gratitude Letter or Keep a Gratitude Journal:
Spend time writing a sincere letter of gratitude to a friend, or write in your journal about the things your are grateful for. Write at least 3 letters or 5 entries each week.

So I'm throwing an I love Monday all week long! Besides, I haven't done an I love Monday for...well, a while anyway. Today:
I love...electricity. Our power went out tonight when I was finishing our supper. Luckily, I was stirring the last ingredients into the soup so it was ready to eat. The kids were astounded for a minute and a little worried but quickly got into the game of finding flashlights and our camping lanterns. We wondered if the power would come on before bedtime, if we would have FHE in the dark, and how cold the house would get before it came back on. Luckily it came on in about half an hour. It reminded me of how grateful I am to have a home with electricity that provides a place to cook, heat, warm water, and lights to see with, especially in the middle of a winter storm! I don't think I would have made much of a pioneer.
I love...having modern medicine and good doctors, AND priesthood/prayer. This morning on FB one of my friends said that her son was undergoing surgery and asked for prayers. It was for a fairly routine thing, but it's still scary watching someone you love go into a room surrounded by doctors and nurses. When Farris had appendicitis, I had to wait in this little room that had a phone so they could call when there was any news. I was by myself with family at least 10 hours away (the kids were with friends at home--and I was actually pregnant with Joseph), I was so scared something would happen. Farris doesn't get sick often and it's strange to see him still. Everything turned out well, he was sore for a couple weeks, but the doctors were wonderful. Today, I took Seth into our doctor, he has pinkeye, ohhh yeah, very fun. He should be un-contagious by tomorrow, thanks to the local pharmacy. I can't complain though, because another friend who has three girls has seen bad to worse the last couple weeks. The girls had colds, which turned into Bronchitis, and now the middle one has been diagnosed with RSV, and maybe the baby. There will be a few extra prayers going up for my friends tonight. I'm so glad both of these friends have good husbands who honorably hold the priesthood. Me too!

It's time to begin FHE now, so that will be it for today. I'll have more things I'm grateful for tomorrow!

Happiness Tools, last week and this week

Ooops, I'm getting a little behind on the journaling for my challenge. This is going to be a long one. Sorry.
Last week I decided to read in Jesus the Christ every day. How did that affect me? Well, first let me say that it isn't the easiest reading! Many times I'd get to the end of a paragraph and I'd say huh? and go start over again. But I love learning these interesting things about the Saviors life and how His world was. Part that I read was about the Samaritans. I always thought that the they were part Jew, part Gentile, but they are actually part Gentile, part of the Lost Tribes or Israelites. I know, I know, I was thinking umm, is there a difference between Jews and Israelites? Yes, there is. Remember in Seminary/Institute learning about how the 12 Tribes split after Solomon died, the tribe of Judah and half of Benjamin and a few odds and ends following Solomon's son and the other tribes following the other guy (their names are Jeroboam and Reoboam, I just don't remember which is which). So, the ones that followed Solomon's son took the name Jew (Jew, Judah) and the others took the name Israelites. I have no idea how this all works into modern day Israel. Anyway, eventually the 10 Tribes were conquered and scattered, but part of them remained behind and repopulated the country with the Gentiles that had conquered them. So the religion they practiced was a little Jewish and a little Gentilish, they had historically deserted the rightful King, and they couldn't be clean because they couldn't come to Jerusalem to worship at the temple, add it together and that is why the super strict Jews hated them and the Samaritans thumbed their noses at the Jews. Or whatever the culture's expression of "Whatever" was at that time. Huh. I know, not terribly exciting, but I thought it was kind of an A-Ha moment, and I understood the why's of our Sunday School lesson on the Woman at the Well a little better. So last weeks Happiness Tool stretched me a little and gave me some insights as I study the New Testament this year. This week I've been feeling yucky more, so I've slacked again. But I've been reading the Ensign with my breakfast and I've found some wonderful articles that I need at this time.

This week I decided to do the Happiness Tool: Share the Good News: Write in your journal about some good news you shared with someone else and how it impacted your positive outlook on life.
As I was scanning through the list of tools, I almost laughed. What a perfect week to share The Good News! So background: After Seth, even though he was such a good baby, very mellow, I thought we were done, no more kids. We'd always talked about having five kids, but with three running crazy while I was nursing, I was very tired. And then...I had a feeling that we needed to have another baby. I don't get these kind of Feelings a lot, I guess I need to work on being more in tune, but this was a strong one. So while I'm sitting on my bed in the middle of the day because I feel awful from morning sickness, at least I know that I'm doing what I'm supposed to! And then after about a month of it, I still know I'm doing the right thing, but my stomach is defiantly overriding any feel-good feelings about being pregnant. Then on Monday I went to the doctor, she's great, and we told the kids that night during Family Home Evening. Seth, of course, has no idea he's about to be supplanted as the Baby (that's going to be interesting), but the other kids were so excited. I think they were glad, too, to know what was wrong with tired, cranky, somewhat sick mom. Felicity immediately started talking to the baby and they were trying to decide boy or girl (Felicity wants another boy--she enjoys reigning as Supreme Sister and Caleb thought we needed another girl, Joseph was pretty much just jumping up and down). What makes you feel better than joy coming from loved ones? Stomach yuckiness--gone. Yeah, it came back, but any relief is good. Then on Tuesday I called my parents and bros and sis's. I had Felicity call my parents, they were delighted. Then she called her cousin Rylee so Rylee could tell her family. Chad and Tarilynn had pretty much guessed at Christmas time, anyway (I swear I did not say four and a half kids, Tarilynn!). As I worked my way down the family I felt happier and more excited. Don't get me wrong, I am very excited about having baby #5 even without people telling me they are excited, just sometimes I catch my breath thinking, whoa, can I really do this??? But sharing happiness with loved ones rebounds it right back to you, it makes me feel stronger having their support and love. And when I'm focusing more on good, my stomach doesn't complain as much. I also put on here and on Facebook my hints and it was fun to read comments from friends and more family. Yes, Amy, rolls would be good, too. Hmmmmm, I might have to get some started... So sharing good news has helped me physically and mentally and especially emotionally. I know in most parts of the country telling people that I'm about to have kid #5 would get winces and probably a few lectures on responsibility, but I am very grateful for the people around me that have cheered and hugged and wanted to help. This week I also had to share bad news, my dentist told me I needed a root canal. I've never had one and I have heard horror stories...I was worried about the medicine I would need and how it would affect the baby and I was worried about the pain (low tolerance me. And yet I've had four babies...they are worth it), and worried more about the baby. As I shared the bad news, I still got support (no cheers) and hugs, and that helped me a little, but dwelling on it wasn't good. Sharing good news boosts you up, sharing bad news helps because you get reassurance and support but the good news is definitely better. I've wandered enough in this topic, so I'll finish now. Shout your good news from the roof tops and let people enjoy it with you!
p.s. More good news: the root canal was much, much easier than I thought it would be. I can't eat on that side of my mouth yet but I don't have to take pain killers. My imagination of the doing was much worse than the actual doing.

It's a hint.

Get it?