Kids' View: Danny's Eye

We have given the kids the permission to use our old digital camera.  They reached max capacity today on the memory card so it was time to download and see what they saw.  It is fun to see what is at eye level for them.  They use angels I would never get, from 2 foot higher up.  Here are a few of Danny's best:

Classic Self portrait.  It was impressive to watch him learn how to adjust the view in the mirror on one of his first camera adventures.

Keys: a close up

Angle on this one is super fun as he is even below his sisters.

He often is demanded to capture the girls on film, they are little divas.

Actual shelf on his eye level.

Early attempts to capture his favorite subject.

Taken a few days later, got the focus worked out.

Then in for a close up on an animate object, with no blur.

I actually took this picture but the story is what captures how much Danny is processing with film.  His sisters were telling him all about the spots that were on his back.  After a few failed attempts at seeing his own back in the mirror he came to me with the camera and asked for me to take a picture of his back so he could see the digital image of what he could not otherwise see.  Smart guy.

Teachings of Jesus

Every morning at breakfast I try to take hold of the opportunity that the kids are all eating to get in a bit of Spiritual feeding for them as well.  I have a very small window of opportunity as they are a wiggly bunch and fast eaters, but I do my best.  As we have found previously, our small lessons can be drawn out (punny) a bit more with the use of colorful markers.  If you really want to get the most out of a verse, try drawing pictures of the concept easy enough for 6 and under to manage.

We are studying in 3rd Nephi in the Book of Mormon, in which the Savior visits the American continent and teaches them how His sacrifice has changed things and teaches these Nephite disciples many of the same things He taught to His disciples in Jerusalem.  Chapter 13 in 3rd Nephi is comparable to Matthew chapter 6 in the New Testament. 

The kids and I have talked for several days now about prayer.  Jesus begins his teachings about prayer talking about hypocrites.  That word alone took us one day to get understood and applicable to the littles, but it was certainly worth it.  I sincerely desire the teach my children correct principles so they can form their own personal relationship with God that will be meaningful throughout their lives, and prayer is really the ticket.  So it is important the Jesus taught His disciples that when you pray it ought to be for you, not for other people to see.  The next day of talking about prayer was in the following verses as Christ talks about the reasons we pray.  He notes that the Father 'knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him' which may render prayer meaningless to some if the outcome seems pre-determined.  Yet, Christ teaches that we must pray in all things that the Father can continue to bless us.    He warns against using "vain repetitions," which we learned in our little lesson as insincerity.

Today we approached what is well known in Christendom as "The Lord's Prayer."  As we began talking about prayer again this morning and review what we had learned over the days previous, it was important to note that before Christ gives this example of prayer, He says to avoid repetitions.  Deduction then teaches us that while showing us how to  pray, Jesus was not telling us what to say.  So, the kids and I went through Christ's example of prayer to understand the elements of prayer that he is demonstrating.  

I have known this model of prayer most of my life.  As a missionary I also had opportunity to teach people a pattern of prayer based this same model.  Today, however, I noted something, perhaps more poignantly in an answer to my own prayer, that I had not taught as a missionary. Colored as the 2nd element in our model "Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven."  I learned this morning, for myself, that just as important as giving thanks and asking for help, is recognizing that God already has a plan set out for my life and it is through understanding that in humility that prayer becomes most effective.  

As I was breaking it down for the kids, I was reminded of prayers I had said as a distraught teenager, pleading that I wouldn't have to be part of my family.  Obviously the Lord had had me born into that family, so that was were I was supposed to be, so praying to change that essential element in the plan was not wise.  I thought of other times in my life where I have known the plan very clearly, but didn't like it so I still prayed against it.  How sad it must have seemed to the Father, in His loving wisdom, that He had a child that was so missing the mark.  This problem is by no means solved, which is why the revelation this morning has been so meaningful - I need to seek to understand the plan if my prayers are really going to be of any use to me.  How would one sincerely ask for forgiveness or direction of I were stuck visionless of the real reason for needing direction.

I am grateful for answer to prayer found through scripture.  I am further grateful that the Lord makes sure I get the message.  I did humble myself in fasting and prayer and am recieving the answer.  The follow-up to scripture study was in listening to the voice of an apostle, Henry B. Eyring, "Where is Thy Pavillion;"

It's Curtain's for you

Saturday's project was to be building a new room in the basement.  However, our contractor helper was tied up in another job, and what resulted was just a lovely day of switching curtains around.  It is amazing the difference that a proper window treatment can make in a room.  When we initially moved in we just threw up the curtains we had for practicality.  Now we are settling in to things better I had the gumption to bump everything around to where it ought to be.  So here is how the switch-o went:

Everything is staged now to build a bedroom in this corner of the basement.  The curtains over the very drafty window I had initially put in the kids' room because they are light/heat blocking curtains, but they didn't fit the windows.

The curtains I needed for the kids room were hanging around the makeshift bathroom here in the corner of the basement.  I found the large red curtain and hung it on the important side, and with moving the food storage into that corner it created a fourth wall on the other side of the 'bathroom'.  Note that the wooden cupboards on the left have no doors on them any longer.

I had got some thermal sheers for the kids' room a while back so now I could move the appropriate size and color window treatments into the kids' room that is coming together, slowly, but coming.  Looks better with the right curtains to match the window sizes.

My favorite result of it all was our master bedroom, which now feels like a master retreat, thanks to the doors we took of the cupboards to make a head board and the sheers from he basement 'bathroom' to finally allow some privacy and daylight in the room.  Josh was skeptical when I told him about moving the bed angled in the corner to get away from the draft under the window, but just as I suspected, by creating triangular floor space rather than rectangular pathways the room looks and feels twice as large!  Always rethink a room, you may be surprised.  And of course the cats now prefer our bed for the softness and sunlight.

At Christmas I had found the fabric to create the valances for the dining and kitchen area, which Josh and I created on Christmas day.  I love the pattern and color (which can play both orange and red) and love how cozy it makes this end of the house.  I have only the window in the kitchen and the back door to finish dressing and everything will look so fine!

All this fine home improvement with only the cost of the fabric for the kitchen windows.  The rest of the window treatments I had from previous moves (way back to our first apartment in Mildred's basement) and the curtain rods were often splits of ones I had used before.  It all worked out.  As we are staying within budget it is fun to rethink our house over and over again to get the maximum benefit.

Lunchtime Philosophers: Death

Eat lunch with the kids.  Actually, eat every meal you possibly can with your kids.  They learn the art of conversation and polite table manners because you are there; and you learn everything that goes on in their precious little heads.

Today's lunchtime topic: Death

Faith: "Momma, I have been wondering for years and years and years now why it is that our bodies die."  I love the insistence of a six year old of emphasizing importance in the term of nearly half their life pondering one question, and in Faith's term, the question of life and death.  Did she really start thinking about that at age 3?

I commenced telling her that sometimes bodies die of illness, accident, or age.

Faith: "But why does your body just die at the end for no other reason?"

Danny: "Because it is old and tired."

Viv: "flbleh blehwe dsbowe"  she still has a hard time remembering that you have to finish chewing your food before entering a conversation.  I reminded her.

In an imperfect marriage of science and faith I explained the best way I could figure to Faith why we die in old age.  As I reflect on the answer now I am grateful for connections made and have one last question which I will pose at the end of my explanation:

Science tells us that our bodies grow and get strong until a certain point in our life and then they start getting weaker.  That is why it is so important that we make our bodies as strong as we can while we are young so we will be able to be strong for a long time when we are older.  We also have to keep using our brains and our muscles so they don't get too old too fast.  Also, you know how God planned for us to come to Earth to learn for a while, but really our point here is so that eventually we will get back to Him.  Isn't it marvelous that God created our bodies so that they would be ready to die so we could return to him before we started repeating too many lessons.  Once we have learned something then we have fulfilled our purpose on Earth and we can return to God.  When you are young you learn as a child.  Then you learn how to be an adult.  Them you learn as a parent.  Then a grandparent.  After that it is just adding 'greats' to grandparent, and doesn't that sound like you are repeating the same thing?  Perhaps that is one way we can see that it is okay that our bodies are ready to relax and let us go home to heaven.

My explanation gracious cleared up Faith's long time concerns as to why people 'just die' when they are old (I can imagine that this question has been in her mind for a couple of years since her first encounter with death was that of my Grandpa Ellis Rasmussen who died gracefully of old age).  It seemed she was at peace with lovely 'angels' as Josh calls the white haired sweet elderly he treats are finally replaced to Heaven with not fault or no apparent reason.

Her question answered I mused a bit longer in my own thoughts and wondered:
Assuming that medically the body stops growth and begins degeneration around the age of 30 (as I understand it), could we assume that by that age God figures we learned enough on Earth to start the process of going home (to speak nothing of life expectancies over the ages)?

Yet another wonderful lunchtime philosophizing session with my children. Oh, I am glad that I was the one talking with them rather than an uniformed peer over a school lunch table absent of love, concern, or the Spirit of God.

What?...for real she is still 6

 I am ever reluctant to admit that my babies are growing up.  Perhaps that is why I have been waiting for a couple of weeks to post Faith's 6th birthday photos; I had to make sure it stuck.  I am still in denial that she is really as big and grown up as she is.  I was looking at photos in a magazine and they kept labeling this big girls as 6 and I thought, no, my Faith isn't that grown up.  But she is.  She always  has been quite mature, but now she is elegant and articulate in a new sort of way.  Not to mention a bit more emotional.

When asked what she wanted for her birthday meal she promptly replied that she wanted sushi.  I have to admit, it threw her into a whole new category of grown up for wanting sushi for a birthday meal (long lost are the years of ramen and hot dogs).  The day was a bit spread, she got to open her gifts at breakfast with Daddy home, then dinner before ballet, then cake after.  Faith got to move into the 6-7yr old ballet class, yet another shock to my system to see her with girls her own age that are also elegant and mature.  Faith is classy, and really does fit in with these big girls.  She also requested a fresh strawberry cake with a light pink fluffy frosting.  Particular, and so beautiful.

the bun on her head put a little oriental flavor to add with the sushi

Graciously, the cake turned out just as Faith requested.  This is two good cake turn outs for me  in this lifetime!

Josh gave her trick candles.  The funniest part was that she  kept making the blowing noise but not really blowing on the candles even if they did come back to flames.

I am so very very very glad that this girl is mine.  She makes each day a joy.  Just yesterday as we have all been convalescing from colds I asked her how she was feeling as she cuddled into bed with me, her response "Much better when you are by my side."  I love my 6 year old and will learn to accept that she is growing up, even without my permission.

Winter Wonders!

One of the reasons we moved to Indiana was seasons!  We have so enjoyed having a winter season this year!  The snow didn't stay for long, but we made the most if it everyday!  The kids went out and froze daily for at least 30 minutes and we had a great day that the snow fell and was so pack-able that Daddy helped them create a wonderful snowman.

While inside the I have been teaching the kids about what seasons are and where they fall.  It is fun to see them figuring out the months of the year and how the Earth travels around the sun.  And best of all is the art projects!  Their little personalities come out in everything they do. I love giving them open ended art!

It was so adorable to find them outside playing in the snow once we got them all snow pants.  I just did my work on the counter so I could watch them outside.  At first Faith looked a little grumpy sititng all alone, but of course once I got the camera everyone decided it was the perfect little perch.  The little woodchucks just climbed right onto the wood pile.  I remember having the exact same kind of fun when I was a kid, wood piles and all!  

These little people are the wonders of my winter land.  The look so beautiful all matchy-matchy.  Can't help myself.  These are their Christmas outfits.

Fulfillment in NYC

As an actress, it is only natural that I dreamed of someday visiting Broadway.  I have likewise always been enchanted with the city of New York as portrayed in all my favorite films from 'Easter Parade" to "Serendipity."  So many of my favorites take place in NYC.  The time had come to bring the dream to fruition.  In the frustration of a really bumpy ride through 2012, my best friend and I decided that we were gonna take a girls trip no matter what.  We scheduled the trip last year in October or November and it was the last link to sanity for us getting through the final spurts of 2012.  We were ready to bring in the new year in style, city style.  So off I flew, by my onsies to join my sister and my best friend since third grade to have a big girls retreat in the big city.  Admittedly, I was a bit nervous about traveling by myself, it has been 7 years since I traveled solo and I didn't know if I could do it.  No probs.  The big city is not so scary.  But even better was having Jill around as the ultimate guide.  We joked with her all weekend that she was better than an iPhone Siri because we didn't even have to ask a question to get the answer, we just followed her as she new our own mind before we did and walla!  We arrived at awesome places in the city.  We didn't hit as many tourist sites; the objective was to see as many Broadway shows as possible and just be familiar with the city.  I was rejoicing in being with fine ladies very much like myself, or at least indulgent to my little fantasies, and we spent time on 5th Ave just window shopping and walking around, and up and down most of the city streets.

I arrived Thursday night around 6:30pm and Jill and I made no wasted time heading down to Times Square, which was a mere 5 blocks from our hotel, and purchased tickets to "Avenue Q" an off broadway show.  It was a fun, semi-crass, commentary on this generations struggle to find purpose.

The next morning we were up and walking around Central Park for our morning shake out.  And that started the walking for the weekend.  The objective was to see as many Broadway shows as possible and get a feel for the city.

We spent plenty of girly time on the tour of 5th avenue.  I am pretty obsessed with high fashion.  I will never be able to afford the stuff, but my is it pretty to look and and wonderful to touch!

Ice Skating at Rockafeller, no we didn't pay to play

We stopped into St. Patrick's Cathedral right around noon and found oursleves in the middle of mass.  It was my first time attending a Catholic mass and loved the music.  I certainly believe we are all in this life game together and religion is a great way to find some meaning and purpose.  Additionally I am glad that I a member of the Church of Jesus Christ that helped me even understand a Catholic service better (I don't know if I would have understood it the other way around).

Jill was awesome and made reservations for us at Serendipity 3, an eclectic little diner featured in one of the quintisential rom-coms of the early 90s.  Great food.  This was one of the highlights of my trip. I think we sat there and talked and ate great food for two hours.  It was slightly drizzly outside and I was warm, inside, with a few of my favorite people laughing and connecting.  I could do that every week and call it almost as triumphal a vacation as the whole NYC experience.

Friday night we saw Rock of Ages which was by FAR our favorite!  It was like being in a live concert that was narrated by a comedian.  Everyone was singing along and dancing in their seats.  Oh it was fun!  We came out of that one on a high!!!  Kristen even woke up the next morning singing songs from the show (which is saying something cuz Kris is super crusty in the mornings).

Saturday morning we couldn't determine online whether or not SNL was back to live tapings so we went down to Rockafeller early again to see if we could get tickets.  They weren't taping live, but we made it worth our early morning walk by sticking around for some of the early taping of the Today show.  We are in the first 30 minutes waving after coming back from a commercial break.

We went to the 9/11 memorial that day at noon.  Amazing memorial.  That day is for my generation what Pearl Harbor is for the older generation.  We all remember exactly where we were.  I remember watching the second plane hit Live on the news and was shocked. I kept thinking it was just a TV movie and couldn't be real.  The hopeful thing, that I realized while reading the information, was that although we lost 3000 of our citizens that day, including 400 first responders who were valiantly doing their duty, there were over 35,000 people in those two buildings. So many people did get out!  That is miraculous.  It was really neat to get a lay of the land and understand more about that area.

We waited in the tkts line 5 different times.  It really is the only way to reasonably see Broadway.  We did not see the two shows we set out to see that weekend (Once and Newsies) because the tickets were not on a good enough discount, but the ones we did see were super fun.  They also have workers there that have seen all the shows to give you reccomendations.  We talked to Mike every time we were in line.  He gave us some of the quotables of the vacay.  When we asked if we should see Mamma Mia!  he responded "Just go to a karaoke bar and watch a bunch of middle aged women sing Abba and you've got it covered."  Funny, although in retrospect we wished we would have seen Mamma Mia! Saturday night rather than Newsical the Musical which he reccomended.  But hey, 4 out of 5 is good advice.

Saturday matinee was Nice Work if you Can Get It.  This was my favorite.  Classic Broadway with all the Tony award winners.  There is something to be said for Tony winners, they just know timing and staging so very well that it is a delight to watch.  I love the big group numbers and zany characters.  Best part was actually seeing Gershwin music done without taking it too seriously!  Loved it.  Another quotable came from the elderly usher there who noticed that our seats were on the inside of a row where all the other women were already seated.  She casually hollered at the women in our row "Alli-oop Gals!"  just fit with the whole vibe.

Between matinee and night show on Saturday we filled it with what seemed like another show.  We went to the Stardust Diner on Broadway where hopeful actors are the waitors and sing between busing tables.  Again, another sing along party, which is perfect after you just came out of a show, you just wanna sing!  Diner food, fun entertainment.   Like I mentioned above, we saw Newsical the Musical that night.  It was lame.  It was to be the same flavor of SNL, but it was a bad SNL night.  If it weren't for Christine Pedi who is a master immitator, the show would have been poop.  Sheri O'Teri was the guest star and she was not so good as she was in the old days of the Spartan cheerleader skits, or rather she was exactly the same, which is kinda more disappointing.

Not to leave on a low note, we determined we could still get a matinee in on Sunday before planes (I had to leave before the end of the show to get to the airport on time) and it was so worth it!  We took a walk after breakfast down to the Hudson River and saw the Intrepid.  I realized after that it is the ship that Nathan Cage jumps off of in National Treasure.  I was just taking a big picture for the kids to see how giant that boat is!  Then it was a brisk walk back to SpderMan the musical.  SOOO cool.  All the spectacular staging that can only be done really well on a Broadway stage, not to mention the arial stunts.  The music was beautiful; classic Bono and The Edge, which fit the tone of the show so well.  The set angles and costuming were by far the best part of the staging.  Our Mary Jane was a bit off, but the gal who sang Arachne was intrancing!

There it was, whirlwind through the end.  I made it to my plane gate on time, but the Spirit staff was retarded and did not let me on my plane, which was a bit more drama that I liked.  She basically shut the plane door in my face saying she couldn't let me on because I was not there at 4:30 as I showed her the clock on my phone saying 4:28.  Spirit Airlines is awful.  The wouldn't make any accomodations and the snarky girl was not even servicable enough to get my refund taken care of on the spot.  The service was bad on both ends and I have never been in smaller seats in more cramped situation.  I got a Delta flight after that drama (costing way too many pennies, which is why I went with the cheap airline before) and was happy to have friendly service and pretzels.  I suppose you really do have to pay for quality to get it.

I was so happy to have a trip with my lady friends!  I fullfilled a life long dream, and in the middle of it had the realization that dreams really do change as you get older.  I still want to see every Broadway show I can get to, but I don't need the sensationalism of the city.  I am happy at home with my lovely kiddos and my happy husband.  What a blessed way to start out 2013.  I hope to have more and more fun as the year continues!