Revolutionary

I realized a few days ago that all of my cookie sheets and loaf pans are the dark, coated metal kind. It dawned on me that on the back of every cake box I've read, instructions are to bake 25 degrees lower in those types of pans. My recent experimental goodies, (cranberry oatmeal white chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin gingerbread), have proven this is very sound advice. The cookies bottoms and crusts of my quick breads are no longer overdone. My baking has been revolutionized.

Applied Escape

As a follow-up to my last post, I had to recount something that happened in Primary on Sunday. It was my first day back teaching my class of 9-turning-10-year old kids. The kids were a little crazy and out of hand. I'm a fairly strict and structured teacher, but since I hadn't been there for over a month, they were pushing the limits again. One of the boys is consistently more distracting than the others, but he seemed to enjoy interjecting random comments throughout the lesson. As I tried to refocus his thoughts, (yet again), one of the girls said, "It must be wrackspurts." And I almost laughed! If you're not familiar with a wrackspurt, it's from Harry Potter--and is an invisible mass that floats near (or into) your head for the purpose of distracting you. I love that I knew exactly what a wrackspurt was because of my recent reads. And, she seemed surprised when I told her I knew all about it. I guess reading pays off for a more than just a great escape!

The Great Escape

Someone asked me some time ago why is it that I read. Good question. As I've pondered, it occurred to me that some people read for information, some people read for companionship, but me? I read to escape. There's nothing that can compare with immersing yourself in a fictional world and letting your mind create the optimal setting.

Keeping this in mind, I recently read the Harry Potter series. In fact, I just finished the final book about 15 minutes ago. The first few books were a fun escape. But, as the plot thickened, I found myself torn--did I really want to go back to that tumultuous world? A world that in so many ways mirrors our own tumultuous world? Where was the escape in that? But, I couldn't leave Harry hanging mid-crisis--so I returned again and again.

Two days ago, I read the end of Book 6. My heart was heavy and I didn't think I could continue to read. I asked Ryan several times if the series really ended up "happily ever after"? He reassured me over and over that he thought I would certainly be satisfied with the ending. It was only with this reassurance that I was able to start the final book. Once I started, I couldn't read fast enough. I tore through the story because I HAD to get to the happy ending. The only downside is that once I reached, "All was well," I was disappointed. Not in the story--but that there wasn't more of it. Now that I know what happens, I want to go back and take a leisurely stroll in Potter-land. I want to hang out with the characters a little more and continue to explore the magical world I have visited frequently in the last 2 weeks.

Unfortunately, this is the down side of the reading escape. Once you're done with a book, the escape is gone and you have to find another fitting escape to delve into next. After the intense escape Harry provided, I think whatever comes next should be a little more calm. Any suggestions? (For escapes I've already enjoyed, check out the goodreads widget in the right hand column.)

Time to Mop?

My 2-year old decided the other day that the downstairs bathroom floor needed to be mopped. How did she communicate this to me? I'll show you:

She climbed on the toilet and turned on the water.

She decided to replace the plug with toilet paper. Here's a hint--toilet paper doesn't work as a drain plug unless you use a LOT of it. Her communication would have been incomplete if it had included a working overflow drain.

Fortunately, Kallie was paying attention to Whitney and relayed the mopping request just in time. When I arrived at the bathroom, (I had been upstairs), there was at least an inch of standing water sparking from the bathroom into the laundry room. The sink was still on, still clogged with t.p., and the overflow drain was still not working. Actions certainly speak louder than words because I heard Whitney's mopping request loud and clear. As a reward for her stellar communication skills, I sent her to her room.

Thirty minutes, a 2/3 full 2-gallon bucket, and four soggy towels later...

...Whitney's request was granted. The floor had been mopped.

Tiny Dancers

This week, my girls (and I, by default) took on a new adventure: dance class! Monday night, we went out to purchase their clothing. The excitement level was WAY over the top and the girls could hardly contain themselves. I don't know how many times I had to ask one or the other to please just walk, instead of hopping, jumping, twisting, and/or shouting, so they wouldn't yank my arm off or run into someone. When Whitney realized that her class was the next day, she cried. We had to convince her it really was going to happen. Kallie also ended the evening in disappointment, as she had to wait until Wednesday for her turn. (Once we explained it was only 2 sleeps, she managed to build up her excitement again.)

The morning of each of their classes, they woke up early and then begged to put on their "ballet outfits." Being the mean mom that I am, I made them wait until right before we were leaving to put them on. After a few pics, we headed out the door.

Whitney's Ballet Clothes

When we tell Whitney, "Pose!" this is what she does.
Whitney's Ballet Hair

Kallie's Ballet Clothes

Kallie's Ballet Hair

The classes could not have gone better! Well, maybe Whitney's could have. A couple of younger girls were nervous being away from their mom, so they cried, which was a bit upsetting to all of the kids. But, Whitney loved it and can't wait to go again! Kallie also cannot wait for Wednesday to roll around. She got to pretend that her teacher was Little Red Riding Hood and skip around the room with her. (The girls were playing LRRH's friends.)

I am really looking forward to watching these little ones learn and grow through theses classes. I have wonderful memories of dance class when I was little and I can't wait for my daughters to have dance memories of their own!

The Countdown

The girls are looking forward to having Grandma and Grandpa come in a few weeks for Clayton's blessing. Almost every day, we would have to review how many sleeps until their arrival. I decided giving the girls a visual reminder would be a great way to help them better understand what 28 days (at the time) looked like. So, I did what every other not-incredibly-creative person would do: made a paper chain! Kallie and Whitney helped, too. As of today, I believe we're at 23 days.

Clayton: One Month

For those who want to see what Clayton looks like...

At the Park

Last week, the girls begged me to go to the park. I told them if they could finish a few chores by a certain time, we would go. They finished just in time--so we went. I've made a goal to improve my photography skills, so I took the camera along. Here's how it went:


On the way to the park, I stopped and took pics of the neighbors' flowers. I LOVE this flower. Anyone surprised?

The first thing we did at the park was swing. I had Clayton in the Moby Wrap and was pushing both Kallie and Whitney on the swings. (Did I mention that I'm STILL recovering from a c-sec? The incision has healed, but my body is still getting up to speed.) I taught Kallie how to pump and then told her to keep it up. When she begged for more pushing, I told her to pump. She got mad, ran off, and started pouting. She has the most expressive little face!

I call this one "Whitney on the Slide"--for obvious reasons. Whitney LOVES to slide. Don't most kids?

The next few are me trying to be artistic. I love this bridge one because the girls look like they're making supermodel faces/poses.

This is their reflection in one of those plastic mirrors. I'm surprised the mirror is still intact. Most that I've seen look like they've been scratched to death by a wild animal.

The girls decided to play hide and seek. As you can see, Whitney is hiding and Kallie is seeking.

And, just to prove I was there... (This is the other side of the earlier mirror...and again, not one scratch!)

As we were getting ready to leave, we saw these blackberry bushes.

Kallie decided to try a few. She said they were really good!

My Thoughts on 9/11

Eight years ago today, I was stunned--like the rest of America. The news of the attacks hit me pretty hard, as I was leaving for my mission 2 month later. My thoughts of security were smashed to pieces and it took me a few weeks to regroup. But, honestly, leaving this country so soon after 9/11 was a great benefit for me because I learned why America is so wonderful and worth preserving.

When I left for the Baltic States, I didn't realize how fortunate Americans are. We can enter most countries in the world with nothing more than a passport. Other nationalities have to obtain residence visas before they can even put one finger over the border. As an American, I was allowed to stay and travel freely for 90 days before a residence visa was required.

Living in a post-communist country, I have seen first-hand the effects of a people that turn their ability to choose over to the government. You eventually lose your individual ability to make a choice. Any choice. People I spoke with on a daily basis described to me how their jobs were selected for them, how their class was determined for them (no chance to improve), and how they were required to purchase even household items according to their class. I was never so grateful for the chance we have in America to both succeed AND to fail--according to our choices. Many of the older generation I spoke with who had lived the majority of their lives under such restriction really didn't know how to make choices.

I am grateful to live in a country where I can practice the religion of my choosing. And, that there are no government-mandated punishments for doing so. As a missionary, religion was my topic of choice. I spoke with many people who, in public places, would not discuss religion above the tone of a whisper. Again--carry over from a time when religious choice was disallowed. But, here, if I so choose, I can shout my belief in Jesus Christ, in the Book of Mormon, and in a living prophet. What a blessing.

I am also grateful to live in a country where I make decisions about my family size. I think about restrictions on families in other countries--my first 2 children are darling girls. I would not give either of them up for the WORLD and I'm glad that my government doesn't tell me that I should. Having just welcomed our third child into our family, I'm grateful that I have the ability to choose whether we'll have 1, 5, or 20 kids.

There are so many blessings we have living in America. Even our poorest areas are blessed beyond the poorest in other countries. We truly don't realize how fortunate we are. To anyone who would like to disagree with these thoughts, I appreciate that you have the choice and the freedom to do so. I hope you also appreciate that freedom.

Kallie-isms

The other day, Kallie and Whitney were sitting at the table eating breakfast. Ryan and I were teasing the girls that Whitney was going to drive the car later that day. Kallie counter-argued, "But she doesn't have a silent!" I inquired, "A what?" Kallie repeated, "A silent. You know, a driving silent."

This morning, Kallie and Whitney were fighting over playing with a little kids' cookbook that Kallie has. I reminded them to share and saw Kallie open the book. As I left the room, I heard Kallie say, "And it came to pass..." Guess she really does pay attention!