Great phrases by kids

Last week Derek was playing soccer. I was the only one there because of the 3 other commitments happening at the same time - divide and conquer is the name of the game. After the game I had my hands and arms full with camp chairs, school bag (I study when he's not actually playing), my bag (no, not a purse!) and the left over treats, because it was my week to provide snacks. To get back to the car I asked Derek to carry my bag, so I could carry everything else. It was hanging around his neck and down his front. He said, "I look like a woman!" He was happy to carry it to the car, but asked as soon as we got there if I could take it off of him. As soon as I removed it he shouted, "I feel like a man again. What a relief!" My little 7 year old man. I wish I had taken a picture!

The clean and the not so..

I cleaned my brother's house, and my dad's condo today. My brother is recently divorced. He is a tidy soul, but he hates to clean bathrooms. He prefers to pay someone to clean for him, and I have the job. It currently helps pay for the gymnastics meets every other week ($75 each meet), so it is worth it! My father loaned me some money to take chemistry last semester, and I pay him back by cleaning his place once a month for 18 months. He, too, would rather pay one of his daughters to clean for him than do it himself.

So, today I left home at 8:00 am, after my children all left for school. I went to my brother's house first. After turning on some music, I cleaned to my hearts content. It is actually sort of nice to clean without the added concern of organizing or rearranging. I just have to clean. When I left, the bathrooms sparkled, the floors were done, the house was dusted, and the door frames wiped clean. Then I went to my fathers place. There, too, the bathrooms were cleaned, the floors vacuumed, the dust wiped away, and the kitchen scrubed. Then, at long last (2:00 pm), I came home. MY bathrooms need attention immediately, my floors need to be done, there is dust every where, and the kitchen is cluttered with the school papers and homework of the week. I can't face cleaning another house today! Perhaps tomorrow. At least I can enlist the help of the children, so we can all get it done more quickly.

I typically write a note for my dad when I leave his place. Usually it is just a "Hello, I came and cleaned, have a great day, I love you" sort of note. Perhaps the fumes from all the bathroom cleaner I had inhaled finally affected my brain. Here is a copy of todays note...

"Esteemed Father -
I did clean, and it seemeth to me good. The bathrooms now sparkle, and do not stinketh - they did not stink when I got here, but the stink can set in rapidly, wherefore I did clean them so they stinketh not. The kitchen floor is delightsome to the senses, and could be eaten upon, though that would be a foolish place to eat. The floors are clean and free of dust, whereby you may relax and not fear the strength of the dust bunny. And many other things did I clean. And finally, dear Father, I thank you for the refreshment you gave, though you knew it not. I was faint with hunger, and did partake of the cashews, but not many did I eat. I also did enjoy one cookie, but not more than one did I eat, lest you run out of the delightsome treat, because you have only a few. I leave you with love - Your obedient servant - Deborah

(It bears knowing that he had four full, unopened packages of oreos on the counter, having just been to the store)
As a final note of interest, I got back my biology midterm score, and, believe it or not, I recieved a perfect score - 100%. Apparently, I am the only one that got that score, though many were in the 90% range. I did a little jig of joy!

Finding Balance...

I teach yoga. During class we always do at least one, and sometimes several, balancing poses. I remind the students that each pose is a process and a journey. We search for balance throughout the body. Balance is not a competition. Strength and balance are increased by working on them. We strive for balance in our body, and balance in our life. Always adjusting a bit, understanding that it will be better on some days than others, but balance is improved by working on it.

I am really good at finding a balance in my life, and then adding three or four projects, responsibilities, or commitments into the mix. Then I either have to pull out of something I committed to - and I detest being flaky!! - or, usually, I just cause myself lots of stress and grief, and let other things that are important to me fall apart (ie. personal time, time with the kids, house cleaning, etc.) So, I just did it again. I thought I could take 8 credits this fall and make it work. It would be great! I could finish off the nursing school pre-requisites in one final fell swoop, get on the waiting list, and feel great about my accomplishments. Unfortunately, physiology was one of those classes. The first day of class my professor informed us that her class would take a large amount of time, and if anyone was taking any other challenging courses or had big time commitments, they could be in trouble. At the end of class, every day, she reminded us that she would keep moving fast through the information, and that we needed to be spending lots of time with the subject. I sat there, and wondered WHEN I wouldn't have other big time commitments! I dug in and studied. I worked 35-40 hours a week, for 2 1/2 weeks, on that class, squeezing in a bit of biology work along the way. Then I took my first test. I bombed it!!! Miserably!!! When all was said and done, and the curve applied, the test score was probably decent. But I realized that my life was completely out of balance. I didn't want to study full time for a 4 credit class, to the complete exclusion of everything else. I dropped it the very day after my test. I was still in the window of time where I could get a full refund and pull out without getting a "W". Am I a quitter? Did I fail? Should I feel ashamed? In fact, I feel wonderful. More balanced. I think I lost 10 pounds of stress (Now why doesn't that show up missing on the scale??). I can take biology this semester - I just did great on my first test today - and physiology next semester from a different professor. What's the rush?

Can I do it?

My current fun, or not fun, is school. I have only been working on this semester for just over three weeks, and it feels as if it will never end. Can I possibly learn enough to do well - or do well enough to not have to take the classes over, which seems like a fine option today? And then I have to wonder why I have done this to myself - payed a lot of money to spend time in class trying to learn a lot of stuff really quickly, and then, to top it off, I get to spend time being tested on the large amount of stuff that has been talked about in class. Who wouldn't want to spend two hours in the testing center with someone walking up and down the aisle between the desks, watching every move you make, trying to catch you making signals to someone across the room as you scratch your nose?

Then I have the "ahaa" moments, when parts of the whole come together, and I realize that I love to learn, I can do this, and it is cool to be in class learning new things in a formal education way. I sit around the kitchen table with my children after school and we all study together. My kids think it is cool that I have homework too. I even cleaned my wood floor and master bathroom today (I had to get up at 6:00 am to get that in), and am feeling like I may be able to stay on top of a few things at once. What an accomplishment!

Football Season Begins!

While I don't set my clock by the beginning of the BYU football season, my husband does. He shows great restraint, waiting to mow the big "Y" in the front yard until the week or two before the first game.

There is something about football season that I do look forward to - fall! I love rain, changing leaves, and long sleeve shirts. Nathan goes to most games, and I use the time to relax - ok, that's what I used to do, now I study. Going back to school means that when we have down time, I study. When the kids go out to play, I study. I sit on the porch swing to watch the kids ride their bikes in the cul-de-sac, and study. I never put such effort into my classes when I was younger! Not that it would have changed anything - I did fine before, and earned my bachelor degree. I didn't decide to do nursing until 10 or 11 years ago! Now that my youngest is in kindergarten, the time has come to return to school. I can't tell if it is fun or not, but I'm glad I'm doing it.

Being a mom is unpredictable. Jas had to get two big moles removed from his leg on Tuesday. One was bigger than a dime, and the other only slightly smaller. The moles were cut out and he has stiches for each one, the stiched line between 1 1/2 and 2 inches long. Yesterday Cam and Jas were goofing around, and the longer set of stiches site popped. Big gaping hole, larger than a quarter, wide open. Pretty deep to. Nate took him into insta-care to get it all stiched up again (of course, this happened on Sunday). Today is Labor Day. We went up to the family cabin for the day to relax and watch it snow! Der is prone to migranes, and got one right before dinner. He gets sick and throws up every time he gets one, which is about once a week. Fun for a 7 year old...or not. You just never know what will happen next. If we knew what to expect, how boring life would be!

Er...Was that a complement?

School has begun, for me as well as the kids. I am taking biology at Salt Lake Community College and physiology at UVU (previously known as UVSC). Yesterday was my first physiology class. I was about 10 min. early, but still had to sit in one of those small chairs with a little arm desk sticking out in front. Taking notes on such a thing is an interesting adventure! If I had been earlier I would have had a spot on the big lab tables. I will be earlier tomorrow!

So, some of us on the back chair row began chatting before the professor arrived. The subject of children came up, as it often does, and one gal said she has a two year old that she dropped off in the day care at the university. I said that I have five children, and had just dropped my kindergartner off at class too. She said, "Wow, you don't look that old!".

So, here is the rub. On one hand, it could be nice that I don't look old enough to have five children, but on the other, it made me laugh, because apparently I am "that old". Of course the conversation doesn't end there, and goes on to when we graduated from high school (what a natural thing to discuss in a place filled with people that mostly graduated 2 or 3 years ago, tops). After sharing that I graduated over 20 years ago, and earned my bachelors degree 15 years ago, the same comment with more energy was given ..."Wow, you don't look that old". So, here's to all of us that are "that old" and then some! It's a great age to be, whatever it is!!

Counting our blessings

You know when you pray every morning and ask the Lord to protect you and your family? Well, we are witness to those prayers being answered.

In front of our home this evening, a 32 year old man with a seizure disorder sped left to right, across the edge of our front lawn, through our flower garden, over a cable and phone box, across the front lawn of our neighbors to the south, and smashed into a full-sized pickup at at least 40 or 50 miles an hour. The miracle? The road he was flying down runs directly toward our cul-de-sac. He hit a speed bump 30 yards up the road, which forced his car to turn with the road, and veer away from our cul-de-sac. 4 of the 5 kids were out front playing. Somehow, the 12 other cul-de-sac kids were not playing in the path which the car took, nor were the 15 or 20 other neighborhood children that are typically outside playing in the front. While the neighbor owning the truck appears to be the only person who suffered a loss, it was a blessing that pickup was in his path. The driver rammed the pickup broadside, effectively stopping him from driving right into their home. There were no skid-marks showing any braking, and an aunt of his, driving by later, confirmed to us that he indeed had a seizure disorder and that he "wasn't suppose to drive." I was there very quickly and tried to help the driver remain calm, and stayed with him until the ambulance arrived. He was completely unaware of what had happened. We know the truth......God answered our prayers today. We're saying them again tomorrow - we suggest you do the same.


"The difference between God and the Devil is that God creates and organizes, while the whole study of the Devil is to destroy." -Brigham Young

(This post was written by Nathan, and changed around by Deb)