Head Cold Season

It can't be winter without a nasty head cold, right?? Today I wanted to post (for my November post) about the common cold and one over-the-counter method that works great for me! Before going any further, whenever one person in our family gets sick, I like to use "on guard" essential oil on the bottoms of everyone else's feet. With essential oils, I really have noticed that the sicknesses do not spread as much within the family as they used to.

The common cold is a virus, meaning that there is no antibiotic that will take it away. When you or your kids get coughs and colds, there is very little that a doctor can do, so I try to stay away from the doctor's office as much as possible (unless there is a fever involved, which Michelle talked about last post).

When I get colds, I tend to have a lot of mucous and gunk build-up in the sinuses right around my nose and under my eyes. That is why this NeilMed Sinus Rinse is AMAZING! You fill up the bottle with warm water, add a packet of saline solution powder (it is simply sodium chloride and sodium bicarbonate mixed together) and lean over your sink while slowly squeezing the solution in one nostril. It comes out the other nostril, and usually a whole bunch of gunk comes out with it. :) I know, TMI! The thing I love about this is that it gets out so much more junk than what normally comes out if I just blow into a kleenex.

When you get colds, it is super important to get the junk OUT! If it has no way out, then it can turn into a nasty sinus infection, which is much worse than the common cold and usually does require antibiotics to go away.

Also, I am sure all of you use Vick's Vapo Rub on your kids. I seriously love this stuff! I put it on the bottoms of their feet if they are coughing or congested and it helps them sleep so much better. What other remedies do you have for the common cold?

Strep Throat

Does anyone else feel like life is getting more and more crazy?  Sheesh!  Some news not related to the topic; we went to Disneyland two weeks ago and we had a blast.  It was so fun to get away as a family and to watch the kids enjoy the magical land of Disney.  Also, now when we are driving in the car, the kids will put their hands in the air and say weeee, even Jared!
Anyway, on to strep throat.  For some reason we have had a lot of experience with this.  Isaac has gotten this 3 or 4 times in the last few years.
  Strep is caused by group A Streptococcus (group A strep), and it is spread by droplets.  So if someone coughs or sneezes on you, or you drink from the same cup etc.  Strep has no vaccination to prevent it and it is fairly contagious if you are in close contact with someone infected.  (Though when Isaac had it he did not pass it to anyone else, we kept him away from everyone.) 
Strep will make you miserable, but is easily treated.  The trick is identifying it.  Here is the full list of symptoms from the CDC:

Sore throat, usually starts quickly and can cause severe pain when swallowing

A fever (101°F or above)

Red and swollen tonsils, sometimes with white patches or streaks of pus

Tiny red spots (petechiae) on the area at the back of the roof of the mouth  (the soft or hard palate)

Headache, nausea, or vomiting

Swollen lymph nodes in the neck

Body aches or rash

The symptoms that have been most prominent when Isaac have had it are the sore throat and the fever lasting more than a day.  It is usually the fever that brings us into the doctor.  (Side note, any time you have a fever of unknown origin lasting more than 3 days go see the doctor!)  His fever is constant, and I am giving Tylenol and Ibuprophen around the clock every 4-6 hours.  Poor kid is miserable! He also has the nastiest breath! 
Luckily it is super easy to identify.  Your doctor can just swab and do a quick test, which if it comes back negative they will culture it and do a fullproof test just to make sure.  Once it has been tested positive they give you an antibiotic and poof, 24 hours later you are feeling better!  (It's like magic, seriously.)  It is very important to take the full course of antibiotics.  That is how we end up with antibiotic resistant bacteria.  So take all your medicine even if you feel better!  Always finish them unless directed not to by your doctor, very important! ;)
Hopefully strep does not visit your household this season, but if it does now you will be ready! 
I took all my information from this website:  http://www.cdc.gov/features/strepthroat/

So this is Christmas

I missed my post a few weeks back but we are starting our Christmas traditions today and I just love me some traditions. This year we are doing something new that I'm excited about and hope to enjoy for years to come. I got the idea from my sister-in-law who did something similar. Many people celebrate Christmas Advent in different ways as a count down to Christmas. If you want to read an article about Advent the Deseret News has a good one here.

When I've thought about Advent in the past I thought it was just the day by day countdown calendar involving chocolate boxes or activities or what have you and seemed totally overwhelming. Turns out the original tradition is specifically Christ-centered and involves lighting a candle each week as you countdown to Advent (in Latin Advent typically means "coming"). Some celebrations involve each of the four countdown candles representing the four gifts we have because of our Savior: Peace, Hope, Joy & Love.

So here's our take on Christmas Advent that we will start today and continue each Sunday evening.

I have a little Christmas box for each week. In each box is a little thing of treats with a scripture to read that talks about one of the four gifts we have been given. Today will be love and we're reading John 13:34-35. I also have a little candle votive and a LED candle tea light to put in it (because really fire and four year olds, yeah...). Then I wrapped Christmas books that we got to go along with each gift from our Savior. Today will be "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".

Anyways, it will be fun to read some Christmas books together and enjoy a special time talking about the importance of the Savior in our lives. Our other three Christmas books are: "Polar Express" (Joy), "A Christmas Carol" (Hope) and "The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey" (Peace).

Our other Christmas tradition is to use our Monday FHE's before Christmas to talk about the Nativity story and the different people in the Nativity. Tomorrow we'll talk about Joseph & Mary, next week Baby Jesus, 3rd week the Shepherds and Angels, and the last week the Wise Men. We pull out each person from our nativity and set it up on the shelf after we sing and talk about them.

We'll probably use this Popsicle stick Nativity to act out the different portions. Zeke got this from a nursery class last Christmas and it is super cute and looks pretty cinchy to put together. And no worries about breaking figurines!

Anyways, I liked these traditions because they were fairly simple and didn't require doing something each day but still help make Christmas about Christ. What are some of everyone else's favorite Christmas traditions that make it a special time without a lot of stress?

New favorite website

I'm probably so late on the bandwagon, but I have a newfound love for the website PicMonkey. It's what I use to make any invitations or signs these days. You can pay a subscription for access to some of the extra cute stuff, but I've been able to use the free version for everything I need. It is quite user friendly, which is a big plus. The main complaint I have is that you can't save a project and come back to it--you can only export what you're working on as a picture and won't be able to work on the individual elements again.

Here are a few things I've made during the last couple months:

A flier for our ward party:

A banner to order for when my sister gets home from her mission in December:

A flier for our Primary breakfast:

Sources of Inspiration

I want to share a few sources of inspiration that I have read recently that have made a difference in my life:

1. Mothering Inspiration
A few weeks ago, my feelings of adequate homemaking and mothering abilities were ebbing and my feelings of being overwhelmed and discouraged were flowing.  This mom business can be tough.  I said my prayers before getting in bed, then continued my scripture study from where I was reading in Doctrine and Covenants section 64.  I love reading D&C because it is the Lord's voice directly.  I came upon verse 33:
"Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work.  And out of small things proceedeth that which is great."
It was an answer to my prayers.  I have felt strength and patience as I reflect on that scripture each day as I change diapers, do dishes, pick up toys, read to my kids, give baths, etc.  Each little thing we do as mothers really REALLY matters.  We truly can find inspiration for all aspects of our lives in the scriptures, and should look there before seeking other sources.  With that said, below are a few other sources of inspiration you might want to check out as well :)

2. Marriage and Relationship Inspiration
Do you all know my brother Richard?  I think you do-- he was on the ballroom team with me at BYU and we were together a lot.  His wife Celeste sent us an email a few weeks ago, letting us know that they've started a blog.  She said, "Rich and I were motivated by Elder Bednar's recent talk about spreading the gospel more online (To Sweep the Earth as With a Flood).  So, we're starting a new blog.  It's a blog about marriage.  Here it is:  www.athingcalledloveblog.com.  We're hoping to make it a big, beautiful collaborative effort where people will feel comfortable commenting, sharing and posting with the aim of producing edifying, uplifting posts about improving marriage and also providing a natural platform from which to share the gospel."  They have various people post on the blog and give relationship or marriage advice.  It is uplifting and funny, and I recommend you check it out!  You might come away with a new idea on how to strengthen your marriage.

3. Cooking Inspiration
My number one resource for the past year or so of finding recipes is from a website called Mel's Kitchen Cafe.   She is an LDS mom with 5 kids I think, and is a creative and amazing cook with a focus on nutritious, family-friendly food.  I have no clue how she does all of the things she does (I feel like I barely have time to check her website every few days, let alone create a recipe/cook it/photograph it/write about it like she does!).  Almost all of my latest favorite recipes have come from her website, so much so that Autumn started calling dinner time "Julie's Kitchen Cafe."  A few that you might want to try: Green Chile Enchilada Stack (we had this for dinner last night), Thai Chicken Crunch Wraps, Delicious Greek Pastisio, Freezer Beef and Bean Burritos, Black Bean and Butternut Squash Enchilada Skillet, Skillet Creamy Macaroni and Cheese, Chopped Thai Crunch Salad, Creamy Tex-Mex Quinoa Dippers, Healthy Applesauce Carrot Muffins, Perfect Lemon Bars, Lava Flow Drink, Orange Cranberry White Chocolate Bars, Caprese Skewers,  Those are a few that I thought of off the top of my head that we've had multiple times and really liked, and there are so many other great recipes.  Let me know if you try anything that you love!

4. Family Inspiration
You all get the BYU Magazine as BYU alumni, right?  I have a hard time throwing them away after I've read through them because they are so well done!  In the latest edition (Fall 2014), there were two articles that were especially inspiring to me.

The first article is about the importance of family recreation, called Living the Play-Full Life.  The article starts off with a story about Patty Freeman, who Nelson and I took a winter camping class from at BYU years ago.  We owe a lot of our outdoor-knowledge to Patty!  There is another anecdote in the article about a dad taking his daughters on a backpacking trip to the Highline Trail-- a different section and direction than we did, but still pretty much the same thing :)  So you can see why I loved this article!  It has some really great suggestions and ideas for recreating as a family.

The second article is called Immunization Misconceptions, and it addresses three common myths about immunizations, I feel that the reasoning is sound and very similar to what our pediatrician recently told me.  I agree with the points made in the article, and I feel so grateful for immunizations that keep us safe from the life-threatening diseases that our grandparents faced.

If you haven't had a chance to read them yet, I would recommend it!

5. Friends
Each of you provide inspiration to me, and I love reading your blog posts. You each have such insightful and valuable ideas. I'm so glad we're friends.  Love you all!

p.s. Happy Halloween tomorrow to everyone!  If we all made Michelle's white chicken chili and turned ripped jeans into Monster pants, it would be a pretty great day, wouldn't it?

Monster Pants

I am also late, I was working on a different post but as with most things in my life it is half-finished and I haven't set aside the time to complete it. But I thought I'd put up this super quick crafty fix for boys' (or girls') pants that I found on Pinterest. I made it even easier by using Liquid Stitch instead of iron-on interfacing or stitching like I saw on some different Pinterest examples.

So all I did was cut a piece of thick corduroy fabric in a rectangle and glued it on the inside of the pants. Then I cut out little eyes and teeth out of felt and glued them on the inside and outside of the hole. We'll see how it holds up, but even if I have to replace it every so often at least he can wear the pants now whereas before they just sat in the back of his dresser. Literally took like 5 minutes per patch when I wasn't being distracted by Zeke. I think these pants now scream "awesome sauce" and I'm excited for him to wear them instead of hiding them in the back of his drawers.

Chili recipe

So, I also am late.  But better late then never!  So we had our ward Halloween festival on Saturday and I had signed up to bring cornbread.  (I am not a chili fan)  Then my husband said they were asking for more people to bring chili cause they didn't have enough.  So I made some chili, but I figured if I was going to make some, I would find a recipe that I would actually like.  So to Google I went.  I found a recipe for a white chicken chili and I decided to try it.  I ended up winning first place overall for it, it was soo good.  I actually only got a taste of Jared's because by the time we went through the line it was almost all gone.  We finished it off with the kids and Brandon.  And my kids ate it, Emily was done with it in like 5 min.  I was amazed.  Brandon has requested that this become part of our normal dinner schedule.  So I thought I would share with you the link to the recipe.  The only thing I did differently was not to add cayenne or lime juice and I just used regular cream cheese.  White chicken chili recipe
Let me know what you think if you try it!

How moving is like becoming a vegan

Whoooooops, I'm super late. But maybe that's better because I actually have something to post about now.

The other day Matt and I were both (for a variety of reasons) missing our life up in Seattle very much. After a good night's sleep we felt better, but I was chatting with my sister-in-law the next day and trying to process that experience of being so homesick.

I decided that our relocation is like when someone tries to take a food group out of their diet (like dairy, meat, gluten products, etc.). There are many "substitute" products out there, but none of them taste quite the same. A veggie burger is yummy, but it doesn't taste like beef. I think almond milk tastes pretty good, but it doesn't really taste like milk. So to avoid continual frustration, it's almost easier to just enjoy the foods in your new diet rather than try to replace each item that you miss from your old diet with a substitution that will never quite cut it.

So when we moved back to Utah, I made the mistake of trying to recreate everything we had up there. I signed kids up for the same types of activities, I tried to find doctors that were exactly the same style, etc. And I was continually frustrated. I was trying to chug the almond milk but taste dairy milk.

After a few weeks, I realized what was going on and instead have tried to make the most of what we have going on here instead of focusing on how it's not the same--because it will never be the same, and that's okay. I also think it's okay to miss where we came from, because that's a sign that we loved it there and met wonderful people.

Any tips/thoughts about relocating and how to make it feel more like home?

Individualized Child Time

Hello everyone! I was supposed to post last week, but again, I am late! :( Oh well. I think we are all enjoying this blog, even if some of us are slackers. :)

My post today is about some ideas on how to create individualized time with your kids. Growing up, this was something my parents were very good at. From a young age, I remember my dad taking each kid on date night once a month (so one night a week, dad was gone on date night). Some of you may already do this, but I just want to say how important it is for our kids to spend quality time with their dads, most of whom they don't see enough of! Doing daddy date night once a week is quite the sacrifice on the mother's part too, especially if dad is involved in church activities on another night.

Other ideas on how to have more individualized time with your kids:

1) When the older children (or child) are at school, take some time to actually play with your baby or toddler. Although it is tempting to "get as much done" while there are less children around, it is still important that your youngest see you playing on the floor with them (just like you did when you had your first and only child).
2) Find something in the community that you and your child can participate in:
story time at the library, music class, mommy & me swimming classes, dance class, tumbling class. One time I put McKay in a tumbling class, and I actually got a baby-sitter for Nelson just so that McKay and I could have some alone time together. Everyone may not be able to pay for a baby-sitter, but it was only 1 hour a week that we went together. Now, one day a week while McKay goes to pre-school, Nelson and I attend a free music/singing time group at the local library. It is a group of moms who got together and decided that our kids need more singing and music. We each take a turn teaching, which means we only teach once every few months. We usually don't do church songs. More holiday/seasonal and nursery rhyme songs. It is super fun!
3) When kids are doing their daily jobs around your house, choose one at a time to help:
If the younger one usually needs help, give them a job that they can easily do on their own. Then spend the time helping or cheering on an older child. (Or vice versa)

I think some moms think they are being a great mom if they have all of their kids with them all of the time (I am sure they are great moms), but it is also important to remember that sometimes kids need individual attention. In some families, maybe there is one especially needy child and that child always seems to get the most attention. Or  sometimes the youngest child gets the most attention and then the other kids start to feel left out (and will start acting out to receive attention).

What other ideas do you have to spend more alone time with each child?

Q&A

Since there are five Tuesdays in September I thought I'd post another Q&A since no one is scheduled for today. Also, I really want to see people's answers to this question because it is the same one I have as Zeke is getting older.

How do you handle money matters with your kids? Do you do an allowance? Do they have to do special jobs to earn money? How do you handle the fury when you tell them "no, you can't have that toy" and you have to drag them out of the store kicking and screaming? How do you ever build up the courage to go out in public where there might possibly be an item for sale that they want and you don't want to buy it?

lds.org Media Library

Happy Autumn everyone!   We celebrated the first day of Fall by making apple crisp, leaf-hunting, replacing a hair bow for a fake orange leaf at the top of my Autumn's braid, and setting out our handful of fall and Halloween decorations.  I can appreciate a well-decorated, seasonally-themed home. However, at this point in my life, I don't have the time, means, or space to have decorating be a priority.  I love the holidays, though, and a few simple items can make them more exciting and magical!  

I spent an afternoon making these Halloween mason jar lanterns a couple of years ago, and I still love them.  They are easy, adaptable, and inexpensive.  You might already have everything you need to make them in your house.  In addition to decorating your own home, I think they would also make a great gift or Activity Days/Relief Society meeting/craft group activity.

I got the idea from Our Best Bites-- a fun blog that I like to visit for their recipes and craft ideas.  A couple of tips from my experience: 

-You can use any glass jar that you have.  One I used was a maraschino cherry jar, and I love that it's a unique shape and size.  The variety of sizes makes it look great as a set.

-The photo is from Our Best Bites, so mine look a little different.  I made two orange pumpkins and also did the white ghost, purple vampire, and green Frankenstein, and it's so much cuter to have the variety of color than if I'd only done orange.  

-Some white tissue paper is SO thin.  Try to use white tissue paper that's a little thicker if you can.  The thin stuff kind of disintegrates on contact with the Modge Podge.  (p.s. If you live by me and don't want to buy a big jar of Modge Podge, you can use mine!) 

-To store them, you should put each jar in a plastic bag (like a Twist and Tie or Ziploc bag, and maybe a grocery plastic bag would work), then you can pack around them with tissue paper or newspaper.  The Modge Podge stays a little sticky, so new tissue paper/newspaper adheres to it even after it has dried.  If you pack them all together in a big plastic bag, they stick together and pull off each others' colors.  

Here are the step-by-step instructions, along with patterns for the faces:

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/10/crafty-in-the-kitchen-mason-jar-lanterns/

Happy crafting :)

p.s. Congratulations Laura and Stephanie on your little bundles of joy!!!

Life is precious

I did not even realize it was the third week already and totally missed my day.  Sheesh, this is harder than I thought it would be!
Thank you all for your birthday wishes.  It was a very bittersweet day for me.  Brandon is an amazing husband and surprised me with all our family over for dinner, and someone else brought it, so I didn't have to cook.  I have one amazing husband.
But it was all very difficult day as well.  As I was getting ready, my Relief Society president called to tell me that one of the sisters I visit had her three month old baby pass away.  They think it was SIDS.  They just went to get her up and found her not breathing.  She was declared dead at the hospital.  This is their first baby, and she was such a big spirit.  From the time she was born she was wide eyed and smiling.  And they are the sweetest couple.  He is actually our home teacher as well. 
It has been so sad as I think of their loss, and it has brought up a lot of my own sorrow as well.  We just celebrated Rachel's 1st birthday last month.  As I was cleaning up their house that day, I kept looking at all the darling pictures they had up, and thinking of the few that we have up if Rachel.  There is so much sorrow, it really is hard to express.  But at the same time there is so much joy as well.  Each child that comes down to this earth is sent lovingly from our Heavenly Father.  He does not make mistakes.  I know that He sends His children to specific families for specific reasons.  And some children have a short mission in this life.  Every life is so precious, and we all have a divine destiny.  I know that we are eternal beings, and mortality is just one short act of our lives.  And I am so grateful for how my life has been touched by these amazing spirits that only need to be in this life for such a short time. 
Take advantage of each day that you are given.  None of us know the future, only God.  Don't let yourself get into the mindset of, "I'll be happier when..." or "I'll do it later".  Live the life that God has given you, and find joy in it.  Even in the depths of sorrow, the joy of the gospel and the gift of the atonement shine through.

Lengthen Those Telomeres!

This is the post I meant to write up last month but I lost the article I read that it is based on and therefore lost all motivation to write anything, sorry! I read this article a few months ago and found it really interesting. It is in the Food and Nutrition Magazine, Jan/Feb 2014 edition and is called "Telomeres - Insights into Aging".

So you are probably wondering what in the heck telomeres are, unless you are real good at remembering your human biology (microbiology?). Telomeres are kind of like the plastic tips on shoelaces, except for they are on your chromosomes, protecting their integrity. Each time the cell replicates the telomeres shorten until they reach a critical point where the chromosomes become unstable and the cell dies and thus your body ages.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telomere

Research has looked at telomeres as an indicator of a person's true age to see the effects of not only time (age) but also lifestyle, genetics, disease, and drugs. What they've found is shortened telomeres are related to a number of diseases (like Alzheimer's, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and dementia), as well as tobacco and drug use, physiological and psychological stress and some nutrient deficiencies.  Shortened telomeres are also associated with some cancers but not all, and the relationship is not entirely clear.

Okay, so enough with the background, here is the part that I thought was interesting. The article details some of the things they are discovering about actually lengthening your telomeres through changes in your lifestyle. A small study took a group of men with low risk prostate cancer (one of the cancers not associated with shortened telomeres) and studied them for five years. They had them on a low-fat plant-based diet, they meditated and some stress relief measures, they had moderate daily exercise and spent time with family and friends (yay for family and friends!). The control group (who did not have the above interventions) had a 3 percent decrease in the size of their telomeres after five years. The experimental group however, had an increased telomere length by 10 percent!

Moral of the story: find stress relief and spend time with loved ones! Oh, and eat plants and exercise and all that jazz that people know already.

In looking at other studies the following were associated with longer telomere length:

-Folate
-Vitamin C, Vitamin E and selenium
-omega-3's from seafood
-Higher vit D levels
-Taking a multivitamin
-Physical activity (especially during leisure time, as opposed to those who have strenuous work)
-Stress management and meditation

Anyways, I found the article super interesting and I even started giving Zeke a multivitamin a couple times a week just to cover my bases. I'm not one that is a big fan of taking a lot of supplements as I prefer getting the nutrients from the actual food but who am I to keep Zeke from lengthening his telomeres?

We're working on balancing life like everyone else and right now our goal is family exercise time a couple times a week. We've done walks/runs at the park and indoor obstacle courses with running, diving through tunnels and stairs. Zeke absolutely loves it when we do it and it is a great way to have family time, stress relief and exercise all at the same time! Lengthen those telomeres!!!

P.S. Happy Birthday Michelle!!!! Welcome to 30 years! It is pretty awesome as far as I can tell :)

It's OK to be clean

This morning, for my YW calling, I attended a beehive conference with the cute little beehives from my ward. The speakers did a wonderful job, and gave me everything I needed for my lesson tomorrow to the mia maids. :) They told a story called,

"It's OK to be clean"
     This story is about a young man on a high school football team. Most football teams in the summer have "two-a-days" where they practice in the morning, then have lunch, and come back in the afternoon for another practice. Most of the team would practice in the morning, get all muddy and sweaty and dirty and go to lunch together at fast food restaurants looking all grubby, then go back and practice again. One particular young man on the team would practice in the morning, then go home where he would shower and his mom would make him lunch and launder his uniform before he went back out to practice that afternoon. He started getting made fun of. The other guys would call him a "momma's boy" and tease him for having to go home every day to see his mom and clean his uniform. He soon told his mom that he didn't want to come home anymore for lunch and that he would just stay with the team. She insisted that he come home each day and she told him, "I do these things for you because that is how I show my love to you. And, it's OK to be clean." It's OK to be clean because that is how we show our love to Heavenly Father.

Relating this to being clean in thought, word, deed, and speech, I feel that it is very important to teach our children and remind ourselves that it is ok to be clean. The world will tell us otherwise. The world will teach our children that being clean (morally) is not exciting, or worth it, or cool, or popular.

Here is a poem I like:

It's ok to be clean,
It's ok to be You.
Pray unto the Lord,
And you'll know it too.

Rats in the Cellar

I cannot believe it's my turn again. I totally have motherhood-induced ADHD--I can't keep track of time anymore!

This past month was a crazy one for me at church. I started two callings (VT supervisor, primary teacher), was released from both of those callings and got a different one (primary president--say wha??), and was asked to speak in Sacrament meeting. My topic was the talk by Elder Zwick at the last General Conference, "What Are You Thinking?"

In preparing for the talk, I remembered a quote I heard a while back by C.S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity:

"When I come to my evening prayers and try to reckon up the sins of the day, nine times out of ten the most obvious one is some sin against charity; I have sulked or snapped or sneered or snubbed or stormed. And the excuse that immediately springs to my mind is that the provocation was so sudden and unexpected: I was caught off my guard, I had not time to collect myself. 

"Now that may be an extenuating circumstance as regards those particular acts: they would obviously be worse if they had been deliberate and premeditated. On the other hand, surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is? Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth? 

"If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man: it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light.”

I love the analogy at the end: "If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man: it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. "

I have days where my poor children see a lot of my "rats in the cellar." Yet ever since I heard that quote, I have tried very hard to remind myself that no one can "make me feel" a certain way. Another person's actions do not create my feelings or make me respond in a certain way--I always have a choice. Those rats are kind of like our natural man tendencies that each of us can overcome.

And next time you feel like your cellar rats might be revealed, try picturing a totally ridiculous picture like this (the internet is a strange place, full of bizarre pictures!). You never know what might help you calm down!

Source

Book Review: These is my Words

I recently read These is my Words by Nancy E. Turner.  This was a book that I thought about for days afterwards, something that's a sign to me that I read a good book.

The story is told in diary format which I don't usually like.  The author, however, did a good job with the narrative and I never felt like I was reading...well, what my journal entries are like.  It tells the story of Sarah Agnes Prine, a pioneer who lived in the Arizona Territories in the late nineteenth century.  I gained a greater appreciation for how scary it was to be one of those first settlers, especially during a time of Indian wars.  Sarah is a brave young woman who helps hold her family together.

Throughout the story Sarah works on her education.  It made me appreciate the education I have and also realize how much I take it for granted.  Throughout the twenty years covered in the journal  Sarah talks about how she wishes she'd gone to school.  She reads voraciously, though, and teaches herself about so many subjects.  It made me want to do a better job of improving myself.

The story also shares the sweet love story between Sarah and her second husband.  It also talks about her relationship with her children, which was rather poignant.  One thing I also enjoyed was watching the frequency of journal entries.  They dwindled over the years, which I think we can all relate to as we become busier and busier with our families.

I recommend this book.  It was an entertaining read that also helped me appreciate blessings I have and encouraged me to be more grateful and appreciative for the things I have.

Q&A

Sorry I didn't get this question up before the summer was over Shelley but hopefully people's answers are still helpful for fall structure as well:

Where do you find free worksheets(math/ABC's)/writing or coloring activities for your pre-schoolers? I am learning that McKay thrives on structure, and I think this summer I need to intermix play time with some more structured learning time. 

Invitations

There's been a lot of discussion in our ward lately about sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. I've loved it--I get so complacent with my sharing because I live in a place which I assume is mostly full of people who already are members or who know about the gospel and aren't interested. And yet... so many are reaching out for that something which will satisfy the soul, and are hungering. That includes members of my own family, my own self, my neighbors, random people at the grocery store/park/etc, people I've met traveling, and many, many others that I have met across the years and by whom I may no longer live, but with whom I still keep in touch.

We've had many people mention this book by Clayton Christensen which I bought like 2 years ago and haven't read yet. Have you read it? I'm going to read it in September. I need a kick in the pants. I forget often that the field is white.

So... but... it's scary, right? And people have heard enough, right? Well. That's the thing. I've learned lately that as I make a plan and make a concentrated effort to pray for opportunities to share the gospel, my mind and heart are more attuned to those opportunities that already present themselves as part of my everyday living. That couple I chat with casually at the park... that mom in the diaper aisle at Target... that friend whose testimony is fragile right now and I haven't been sure how to help... the words will come as I pray for them. It is pretty cool. I haven't had any mind-blowing experiences so far, but I've had some really, really nice ones, and I'm glad for the invitation to pray for eyes to see those opportunities which present themselves.

Which brings me to the place where I'm residing with this now: our family mission plan is mostly to extend invitations to folks. Invite them over for dinner and Family Home Evening. Invite someone to a church activity. Invite a friend to a temple open house or to church. Invite someone to feel the love of the Savior by extending that love to them. There are so many ways to share the beauty of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, and I'm excited to act more upon the ways in which I can fulfill my covenant to share His love and truth with those around me.

One of my favorite scriptures: "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life" (3 Nephi 5:13). I think I've erroneously assumed this applied to me wholly while I was a full-time missionary, and that I was sortof released from that when I was released as a missionary. I am starting to see how my calling to declare His word--in my home, in my words, in my actions--is not just a temporary thing. But it's not a scary or monumental, thing, either; I just get to invite people into my life, and to see the source of my joy because it's just a part of me and I talk about it easily, like I talk about other things I love.

This was a wordy post with no photos! But there you have the summation of what's been on my mind lately. Mostly. Here's a photo of a shirt I want to wear every day these days, since I get SO many stares at the belly lately. Oh my goodness I want this shirt so bad. So funny.

photo from amazon.com

Aaaaaanyway. "Go forth with faith to tell the world the joy of families....!" 

And so it is. As Christ becomes the center of our lives, our joy is amplified, and sharing that joy becomes a natural extension of our lives, as simple and laundry-filled as they may be. :)

Highlights from the Highline Trail

Nelson and I had such an amazing adventure on our weeklong backpacking trip: 

6 days of hiking plus a rest day, 

75+ miles, spanning the Uinta Mountains east to west,

6 passes (the saddle you hike up to before you get to the peak of a mountain),  

1 GPS track from a friend that never let us down

The Highline trail is definitely not for the faint of heart: it is a LOT of hiking, major elevation gain and loss every day, quickly changing weather, and extremely difficult-to-follow trails.  But now I understand why Nelson wanted to take me back only a year after he did it before-- you can't comprehend how beautiful the entirety of the Uinta mountains are, or how empowering it is to hike miles and miles every day and see your progress, or carry everything you need in your own backpack and live outside for a week until you actually do it!!!  I might have started as more of a faint-of-heart type, but with Nelson's help and detailed preparation, I think I can say that I ended up as a real "Highliner."

It was such an exhilarating feeling to make it to the top of a pass (North Pole, Anderson, Porcupine, Red Knob, Dead Horse, then Rocky Sea).  To look back and see the dense forest of pines in the low valley that leads up to a grassy meadow, then to the rocky, steep pass, then to look forward and see another grassy meadow valley full of streams and lakes and boulders with another dense pine valley beyond, with steep mountain peaks surrounding us-- that was the best part!  We often felt like we were in scenes of the movie Lord of the Rings in the beautiful places we hiked through.  Nelson called this trip "Return of the King" :). 

The varied terrain meant a variety of wildlife.  We saw two bull moose, bald eagles, deer, elk, squirrels, chipmunks, marmots, a badger, big mice-looking animals, woodpeckers and lots of pretty birds, a huge herd of sheep, some horses, and pack goats.  

The clouds were so beautiful-- big and white and puffy, all over the bright blue sky most days.  We felt like we were hiking right under the clouds at some points.  We had significant rain our first afternoon hiking, then again our last day.  I have never been in rain like we experienced our last 8 miles of hiking-- it was like a monsoon!  The trail that was wide and well developed at that point became like a running river of mud that we tried to hike around or step on rocks sticking up in the trail.  

We crossed probably a hundred creeks, streams, and rivers-- mostly without incident.  Nelson did slip off a wet rock and was above ankle deep in the water trying to cross a river in the rain our first day as we tried to hike quickly away from the moose, and the weight of his pack prevented him from steadying himself at all.  

We sang a lot as we hiked-- partly to keep ourselves entertained when we weren't panting up steep hills, and partly to keep the wild animals at bay-- and realized we don't know lyrics to a lot of songs as well as we thought we did.  I was singing "Let It Go" as we came to a river at the valley below Red Knob Pass one day, and we stopped there to filter some water.  Nelson made a comment about needing to find a place to go to the bathroom, then "Oh- you startled me!"  There was a bow hunter in head-to-toe camouflage on a hill right above us.  He came down and said that he had been sleeping, but that he heard some singing, "which wasn't a bad way to wake up!"  He was really nice, as were all of the people we met along the trail.  When we were about 14 miles from the finish, as we prepared to look for a place to camp, we ran into three backpackers from BYU who had started that day, attempting to complete the Highline trail in 5 days.  They were super friendly, but looked very ill-prepared with their ziploc baggie of paper maps and compass (no GPS), jeans and cotton T-shirts, and huge backpacks.  We hope that the crazy rain on their second day on the trail led them to make the decision not to try to do the whole Highline so they would be safe and not get lost.  We also enjoyed talking and listening to some cute Boy Scouts on their way up to King's Peak, which lightened things up for us on that tough, steep section of trail.

We took about 30 lbs of food, which was probably 10 lbs more than we needed, and we know exactly how we would pack food differently for another long backpacking trip.  After a few days, everything started tasting like everything else. . . peanut M & Ms that taste like beef jerky are not super appetizing.  Julie's favorite trail snacks were little Tilla-Moos of cheese and Chex Mix, and Nelson loved anything chocolate and Kind brand bars. We had a freeze-dried meal every night for dinner and some mornings for breakfast (we'll tell you our favorites if you need recommendations :).  

Nelson expertly hung bear bags every night, which held all of our food and "smellables."  This consisted of picking the right tree, tying a rock around an end of the rope, throwing it over the perfect branch, tying the bag(s) to one end of the rope, hoisting it up into the tree, then securing the free end of the rope onto another tree nearby.  I was amazed at how many knots Nelson knows and uses!  We mostly managed to hang the bear bag and be in our tent before it was pitch black except for Saturday night when we hiked as far and long as we could to cut down on our Monday and Tuesday miles.  Even though it was a little eerie being in a dark forest, it was really amazing to see millions of stars and the Milky Way that night.

Conclusion: Nelson makes the best hiking partner ever, and our experience on the Highline trail was epic!

We missed our kids like crazy, and were so thankful for those who helped take care of them while we were gone.  It's good to be home, but now I can't decide what is harder: taking care of three kids and running a household or hiking miles and miles each day :)

Banana Cookies

Hi all, I was supposed to post yesterday, but this week has been a little crazy. My Grandpa Thacker, who lives in Phoenix, passed away this week. He has been physically healthy until Monday morning. He just went unconscious and stopped eating/drinking and passed away on Wednesday. It is a blessing for him and his family because he has had dementia for many years and has lived in a care home for about 4 years due to the fact that my grandma, who is dying from cancer, cannot take care of him. We all thought she would pass first, but we think she has been holding on for him and probably will pass away in the coming months. My grandpa's funeral is next Friday. Kimball is staying home with the kids while me, my brother, and a couple cousins will drive down Thursday. I am actually very excited to see all of my siblings, cousins, parents, etc. Funerals for old people are more a happy celebration!

So....going along with the recipe kick we are all on, I thought I would share a yummy banana cookie recipe. We have a cookie recipe book from All Recipes that has 200 cookie recipes in it. I have loved it and use it often! We always have ripe bananas around our house because we like to eat bananas, but usually not fast enough before they get too ripe.

Banana Split Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional
1/2 cup chocolate chips, optional

After mixing all together, cover and chill for 1 hour. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons onto lightly greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes, or until no imprint remains when touched. The cookies turn out very soft and chewy!

Alfredo Sauce

My kids love pasta, and I have gone through a couple alfredo recipes.  The one that has been our favorite was given to us by a friend, so I thought I'd share the love. 


melt 1/2 C butter in sauce pan
add 1 C half and half
  4oz cream cheese
   1/2 C parmesan cheese (I use the grated stuff from Costco)
   salt and pepper to taste
Stir continually until melted, then cook for 5-10 min still stirring


pour over your favorite pasta and voila!


I've added chicken to this, and I have also mixed it with some Hunt's 4 cheese pasta sauce which is really good as well.  My kids and husband love it!

Childhood Stuttering

Stuttering is something that makes a lot of parents worried, but is often times just part of a child's typical development. Not every child will go through a period of stuttering (A never stuttered, but E went through a period of a few months where she could hardly get a sentence out without repeating the first word over and over). The majority of those who stutter will grow out of it after a few months. This "stuttering" is called normal disfluency.

In my experience, the normal disfluencies usually occur during a time of rapid language growth in early preschool years (ages 2-4), as if the child is attempting to use all their newly-learned language but becomes disfluent as they try to organize everything in their brain.

Stuttering is in no way an indication of intelligence, and frequently people who stutter have higher than average language skills. It is simply a neurological phenomenon that affects the output of speech.


Here are some things to consider if one of your children or a child you know begins to stutter:

Type of Stutter: Typical disfluencies are usually initial word repetitions (saying the first word in the phrase over and over before continuing). If the child is stuttering in other ways (prolonging sounds - wwwwwwwe went to the store; "blocking" - looks as if they are trying to say a word, but it seems stuck; syllable repetition - "I want bu-bu-bu-bubble gum"), it is more likely to be a concern.

Family History: If the child has a family member who stutters (and never outgrew the stuttering), they are more likely to struggle with stuttering long term.

Age at Onset and Duration: If the child begins stuttering before age 3.5, they are more likely to outgrow the stuttering (usually within 6 months).

Gender: Girls are more likely than boys to outgrow stuttering. There are also more boys than girls who stutter in the first place.

Other Factors: If the child speaks clearly otherwise and has few speech errors, they will be more likely to outgrow the stuttering. 

Here are some suggestions for responding to a child who stutters (either as a long-term issue or a short-term, normal disfluency):

Reduce the Pace: As much as possible, help the child feel unrushed. Do this by slowing your own rate of speech, allowing enough time for them to talk and complete tasks, and organizing your day so there is less stress on quick performance.

Listen: Show the child you are really listening to the content of their message, not the disfluencies.

Reduce Questions: Reduce the number of questions you ask in succession.

Modeling: Use FHE or other opportunities to model appropriate turn taking with family members in conversation. Teach other children how to be patient and let the child who is struggling with disfluencies finish a thought. This is one of the hardest things for other kids!

Special Time: Set aside time to do something of the child's choice so they feel safe and loved by you. Reduced stress usually decreases stuttering.

For some fantastic information (including parent-friendly pamphlets and articles), check out the Stuttering Foundation website.

Wheat Rye Pizza

Gross, right?

That's what I would think if Nate hadn't made it for me years ago after tweaking a recipe I brought home from work.  It actually tastes really good and I think it's relatively healthy.  :)

Crust:

1 C. whole wheat flour
1 C. white flour
1/2 C. rye flour (if you don't have rye go ahead and just use white or wheat flour)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. yeast
3/4 C. water
1 tsp. olive oil

Sauce:
1 can unsalted diced tomatoes, drained  (I recommend petite diced tomatoes)
1 diced onion
2/3 tsp. dried basil
2/3 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. oregano

Toppings of your choice.

To make:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Coat a pan with cooking spray.

In a bowl combine the flours and rye, sugar, salt, and yeast.

Add the water and oil and work the dough.  Add more water or flour as needed.  Today I had to add probably an additional 1/4 C. of water to the dough.  I guess it depends on how dry things are when and where you cook!

Cover the dough and let it rise as you prep the sauce.  (At least 10 minutes)

Combine the tomatoes, diced onion, basil, black pepper, and garlic powder.*

Stretch the dough.  Spread the tomato mixture on top to for a sauce of sorts.  Then top with cheese and whatever other toppings you like.  Cook for about 20 minutes.

This pizza is a great way to serve up garden veggies.  Last year we actually used tomatoes from our garden instead of canned diced tomatoes.  Very yummy!


*In the past we've always left the diced tomatoes diced.  However, tonight I made this recipe and my diced tomatoes were not petite, they were just normal diced tomatoes.  So I decided to puree them in the blender with about 3/4 of the chopped onion. Oh my.  I preferred the sauce this way instead of the pieces of tomato.  You'll have to try both methods to decide which way you like best, but I'll probably be pureeing mine in the future!

Book Review: Global Mom

I am a member of a book club in my ward (meaning I am on the email list, so I know what book we are reading and where we are meeting each month), though I have only finished two books in the last 8 months? of book club membership.  As much as I enjoy it, I just don't have/make time for pleasure reading.  When I get into a book, I have a hard time getting other things done- including sleeping- until the book is finished.  That's what happened to me when I read Global Mom by Melissa Dalton-Bradford.  

"After more than twenty years living internationally—sixteen addresses, eight countries and five different  languages—writer Melissa Bradford shares a fantastic journey of motherhood that will inspire any family.

Follow this family of six on their passage—extraordinary, hilarious and heartbreakingly poignant—from Bright Lights (of New York City) to the Northern Lights (of Norway) to the City of Light (Paris) to the speed-of-light of the Autobahn (in Munich).  Continue deep into the tropics of Southeast Asia (Singapore) and end your voyage in the heights of the Swiss Alps (Geneva).

As varied as the topography—the craggy fjords, the meandering Seine, the black forests, the muggy tropics, the soaring Alps—this multicultural tale traverses everything from giving birth in a château in Versailles to living on an island in a fjord. From singing jazz on national Norwegian T.V. to judging an Indonesian beauty contest. From navigating the labyrinth of French bureaucracy and the traffic patterns of Singapore to sitting around a big pine table where the whole family learns languages, cultures, cuisines—where they, in short, learn to love this complex and diverse world and, most importantly, each other." (From Amazon's synopsis)

I got a taste of cultures around the world through Melissa's experiences.  I love her writing style and descriptive details. Her observations about people and life are honest and full of wisdom.  She is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (she's actually the niece of former Young Women's General President Elaine Dalton who was my mom's dorm mom at BYU. . . we all have connections through BYU, right? :), and some of the most poignant parts of the book are about her faith and her family.  You HAVE to read this book!  It will broaden your horizons and strengthen your faith.  

Call or email  or comment when you do read it so we can have our own mini-book-club and chat about it! 

Blog blog blog, blog blog-a-log...

Do you ever feel like this?

I kindof do all the time these days. I know I missed my blog day like 4 times or something. You know, my friends, I like a lot of things about myself, but if I could change one thing, it would be my forgetfulness. I am a really talented forgetter. Now I need to work on the talent of remembering. Sigh, well, here we are. 

Swing Shifts

I was referred to this talk by Sister Julie Beck from the 2010 Women's Conference by a friend. Here's the part I am going to emphasize today:

In order to prioritize time wisely, I learned something from my father-in-law years ago. He was a steel worker and spent his life working three different shifts. He either worked the day shift, the afternoon shift, or the night shift. As a young mother I realized one time that I was working all three shifts, and that’s why I was so tired. We can’t do all things all at once, and we have to be careful and safeguard our shifts. 

As I have talked to young mothers and mothers with children at home—those with teenagers and young adults especially—they tell me that their most important shift to be at the top of their game, to be the strongest lioness at the gate is the “swing shift.” That’s the afternoon shift. That’s when everyone comes home hungry, tired, needy, and less lovable. It is when you are hungry, tired, needy, and less lovable. It is also the time of day when people are more teachable, when they are most grateful. When we realize and prioritize our time properly, we don’t expect to use all of our strength on the other two shifts so that the afternoon shift can be safeguarded and can be a time of strength and power. We plan for times when the meals are there together, when we can create that home environment and when that family can gather, and you are the strengthening power and force in that family. Remember that influence and power come when we prioritize correctly. If you spend time elsewhere, you don’t have it to give. For other women it might be another time of the day. Some of us have to be on call during the day shift. There are many who need help during the day. Service is needed during the day, but look at and evaluate your life. Ask “Where do I need to prioritize my time?” and “When do I have to be at the top of my game?” I have learned that a good woman with the help of the Lord can usually work two to two and a half shifts. However, no one can work all three shifts. You have to prioritize where you are going to spend your energy.

I feel like lately, I have been trying to work all three shifts, and I have been feeling burnt out. I like the idea of finding what time I need to be at the top of my game, and focusing my energy there. I find that if I am fully present with my son for his preferred morning schedule of (1) play time and (2) breakfast time, then he will play by himself for a bit whilst I clean up the kitchen and get ready for the day's activities. And then I have some other times of the day where I need to spend my strength. I feel like mealtimes are a huge part of that, and I can safeguard my energy and time so I have it to give at the important moments. 

What are your thoughts?

Meatless Meals - Quinoa Vegetable Teriyaki Bowl

We recently tried a new vegan recipe that I actually really enjoyed - Teriyaki Veggie Quinoa bowls. I was excited to find a new recipe for quinoa as it is a complete protein and a great way to get protein without meat. It was also more filling than I thought it would be.

The original recipe is found here but I kind of simplified it. I just used a frozen bag of stir fry vegetables and cooked those up in regular oil (I'm not into the whole coconut oil thing - it's really high in saturated fat although it would probably give it a nice tropical flavor). For the sauce I just used soy sauce and I didn't have much maple syrup so I put in some brown sugar. Next time I will make more sauce as it wasn't a lot of sauce to flavor all the quinoa. Also, I never have minced garlic or ginger so I just used powdered.

I didn't take a picture but you can click on the link above to see what it ends up looking like. Ammón wasn't a huge fan as he isn't big on cooked vegetables but he ate it. Zeke took a few bites which I figure a success and with more exposure he'll get more used to quinoa. If you try it I'd make sure and serve it with some sides that your kiddos like to make sure they have other stuff to fill up on just like introducing any new food. We had strawberries on the side for our meal.

Also, Happy Birthday to my Zeker today, he's 4! We're celebrating up in the mountains at Glacier National Park!

Ear infections

Some of the most common questions I get are regarding ear infections.  And I have had a lot of experience personally with them as well.  Isaac used to get them all the time as a baby/toddler, and he eventually got tubes in his ears.
In basic terms an ear infection is when the middle ear becomes blocked in some way and that blockage becomes infected.  This is a very common ailment in children/babies.  However, it can also be an over diagnosed ailment as well.  When Isaac was younger, as I said, he would get ear infections all them time, and they would prescribe antibiotics all the time.  And he would have reactions to those antibiotics.  It got to the point that they thought he was allergic to amoxicillin which is the main ABX used to treat ear infections in children.  He would have severe diarrhea, and then he would get severe diaper rash.  It was not fun.  At one point they (we were going to the student health center, not my favorite place for pediatrics) prescribed this very strong ABX, and Isaac couldn't keep it down, he would just throw it up immediately.  I was not happy, especially since it cost us like $70.
Now the question I get most often is should I take my child in if I think they have an ear infection?  First, I want to say, if you ever feel like you really need to take your child in, for any reason, do it!  I really believe that we will be prompted when our children need to be seen, and we should never ignore that prompting when we feel it. 
Here are the basic guidelines I use and tell people when they ask me.  A lot of the time people mistake water behind the ear for an infection.  There are lots of reasons that kids get blocked ears.  They have very short Eustachian tubes which get plugged easily.  When this happens kids will complain of feeling pressure, or just like their ears are "plugged".  They will also not be able to hear as well.  When this happens, it is not a problem, often the issue will resolve itself and no intervention is required.  When it doesn't resolve itself, and the fluid becomes infected, that's when it becomes a problem.  This is a list I took off of WebMD about when to take a child into the doctor, and I actually really liked it.  The link here if you would like to check out the whole page.
Call your doctor immediately if:

• Your child has sudden hearing loss, severe pain, or dizziness.
• Your child seems to be very sick with symptoms such as a high fever and stiff neck.
• You notice redness, swelling, or pain behind or around your child's ear, especially if your child doesn't move the muscles on that side of his or her face.

Call your doctor if:

• You can't quiet your child who has a severe earache by using home treatment over several hours.
• Your baby pulls or rubs his or her ear and appears to be in pain (crying, screaming).
• Your child's ear pain increases even with treatment.
• Your child has a fever of 101°F (38.3°C) or higher with other signs of ear infection.
• You suspect that your child's eardrum has burst, or fluid that looks like pus or blood is draining from the ear.
• Your child has an object stuck in his or her ear.
• Your child with an ear infection continues to have symptoms (fever and pain) after 48 hours of treatment with an antibiotic.
• Your child with an ear tube develops an earache or has drainage from his or her ear

I have an otoscope that I use all the time to look into my kids ears.  It is actually easier than you might think.  The key to having your own otoscope is to recognize your own limits and respect them.  When I see something that isn't normal and I don't know what it is, I tell parents to go and get it checked out.  There are thousands of pictures online of what a healthy eardrum looks like versus an infected eardrum.  Basically a healthy eardrum will be a nice gray shiny color, and an infected ear will be red and inflamed. 
My advice to parents is, unless there are severe symptoms found in that first list, to watch and wait.  No one likes to have to spend money to go to the doctor only to be told there is nothing they can do.  Like I said before, if you ever feel prompted to take a child in, do it!  But if not, I usually err on the watch and wait side unless as I said before there is a severe symptom.  If they don't start getting better in a day or so, then take them in.  
What have been your experiences with ear infections?

Family Home Evening

Hmmm...I think it's kind of ironic that I mentioned at our Draper get together that I was so happy everyone had been posting so consistently. HA! Then I missed the boat and dropped off the blogging world for a bit. Sorry about that! :(

My post for today revolves around simple FHE ideas for toddlers or young kids. Of course, you could spend your whole day looking online for such things. I have compiled just a few ideas here that we have used.

Topic: Families
Song: Families Can be Together Forever
Lesson: Talk about what it means to be a forever family
Activity: Look at pictures of grandparents, cousins, and practice saying their names. This is helpful before family reunions, family get-togethers, family trips.

Topic: Prayer
Song: A child's prayer
Lesson & Activity: Use a prayer puppet (a doll or puppet you have that shows how to pray). Talk about how we are supposed to pray and everyone can take turns saying a prayer.

Topic: Book of Mormon Stories
Song: Book of Mormon stories ;)
Lesson: Choose any story from the Book of Mormon that can be acted out. Have dad or mom tell the story.
Activity: While telling the story, help kids act out the people and what they did in the story.

Topic: Prophets
Song: We thank thee, O God, for a prophet OR Follow the Prophet
Lesson: Teach who the prophet is and how he helps us
Activity: Have everyone stand in a line and the line leader can hold a picture of the prophet glued to a popsicle stick. Go around the house singing the chorus to "Follow the Prophet" and switch line leaders periodically.

Most importantly, I want to share that the main thing I remember about Family Night (that's what we called it) growing up is that my family had it consistently, every Monday night. We had a very strict rule that nothing was to supersede family night (sometimes we would have band concerts and sporting events, but then the whole family would attend and support the sibling involved). If you have not already made FHE a priority in your family, I promise if you do you will find more peace and love in your home.

What other ideas do you have for simple FHE lessons?

Recognizing the Lord's Hand in Our Lives through Analogy

This past week in Sunday School we listened to a rendition of "The Lord is My Shepherd" (Psalm 23). As we listened, I remembered an article I read years ago in an old book of my grandma's entitled "The Basque Sheepherder and the Shepherd Psalm" by James K. Wallace*. The author was a Basque sheepherder from Nevada who goes into detail about each line of the Psalm and what it means to a shepherd.

What struck me as we listed was how David (the author of the Psalm) was able to see the Lord's hand in his daily life, not just in scriptures and ancient prophecies. He was able to draw analogies between his work/training to his relationship to the Lord.

I love the idea of looking for the Lord in all that you do, because I think we all learn better when things can be applied to our daily actions. Here are a few examples that have come up in our family recently:

1. Apostasy and Restoration. Andrew asked us the other day what "Catholic" meant. I explained that it was another religion, then he asked if it was "a good religion." I explained that there are many great people who are Catholic and that my dad was even raised Catholic. As I started to explain about how lots of churches have bits of truth, he responded, "Yeah! It's like the blocks! In Primary they built a church out of blocks then knocked it down to show how all the pieces broke apart after Jesus died" [apostasy]. Even Emma (age 4) remembered the object lesson and chimed in with a few details about how the church was broken and needed to be put back together [restoration].

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Both kids love to build with blocks, so it was an easy way for them to not only understand about the Apostasy and Restoration, but to be able to retell it to us later.

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2. Lord's Personalized Care for Us. Because of my training as a speech therapist, I always like stories about communication and struggles with communication. I am fascinated by two stories of stuttering (or "slowness of speech") in the scriptures. Both Moses and Enoch describe themselves as being slow of speech and ask the Lord to help them in their ministries. Although they both suffer from the same basic ailment, the Lord provides individualized solutions for each of them. Moses is granted a spokesperson, while Enoch is given the words to say.

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I know from personal experience how important it is to take into consideration a client's situation, personality, family support, and abilities when teaching communication skills, and I love to see how the Lord demonstrates that as well. It helps me apply that to my own life, and recognize that the Lord will help me, bless me, and challenge me in ways different from those around me.

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I think even the Lord recognized how important it is for us to see His hand in our lives daily, because he frequently taught using parables that his disciples could apply to their common situations (gardening, fishing, caring for children or animals, etc.). And I always find the talks in church or Conference most memorable when they include stories from the speaker's personal lives to help draw analogies and teach principles.

What are some ways that your education, experiences, or training have helped you see the Lord's hand in your lives in a different way than you otherwise would have?