Rumor Has It I Have Moved

Sunday, a sweet older sister asked me, "Julie, where did you move to?" A bit confused, I said I hadn't moved, I was in the same house I moved into 2 1/2 years ago. A few minutes later I asked her why she thought I had moved. She flushed a bit and said, "well, I drove by your house and saw how tall the grass and weeds were and I thought you had moved."

Where are all the emo-icons for this - embarrassed, roll eyes, sigh, smile, cry...

If I only didn't need to sleep...

I might be able to get everything done. And it is highly frustrating to finally lay down in bed knowing the alarm will go off in 4 hours, feeling exhausted, yet not being able to actually fall asleep.

Had to's vs. Got to's

Sorry I've been gone lately. Not that I am under the delusion that many are waiting with baited breath for my every post, but I do feel like I left Nauvoo hanging out there. I actually have a ton of posts written waiting for me to attach pictures and post. Soon, I promise.

I just wrote a long post on all of the things I had to do today. At the end, I thought what a wonderful list of got to do things. Here is the re-vamped list~

*I watched my tween stumble to the bathroom trying to wake up this morning.
*I had an awesome family prayer this morning
*I taught kiddos all day long. I laughed. I read Beatrix Potter's "Jemima Puddle Duck" to them.
*I spoke Spanish today
*I watched Ryan play football
*I stood up for myself in a conversation
*I cooked dinner - huge feat on a school night! ;)
*I watched a movie
*I got to be a mom, a sister, a teacher and a friend today.

Not bad.

Memorial Day 2010

I am blessed with many family & friends that have served our country in the military. I am proud of my ancestors who have sacrificed for what they believed in and served with honor. As I have become friends with military wives, I've seen up close the sacrifices the families make and at times it has broken my heart. It has made me infinitely more grateful. 

My dad was a sailor stationed in Portland, OR when he met my mom. They were married just days before he shipped out and spent the first four years of their marriage apart more than they were together. My mom became determined to meet his ship anytime it was on the West Coast, which often meant working odd jobs, packing everything they owned into unreliable cars & traveling by herself, and living in navy housing. They carefully arranged for my dad to have 3 weeks R&R with my due date in the middle so that my dad could be there for the birth of their first child. I can only imagine the heartache that they must have felt when dad's ship sailed and I hadn't arrived. My mom waved goodbye and then went to live with my grandma so she would have someone to help her when I came. My dad heard that I had safely arrived via a telegram read over the ship's intercom while off the coast of the Philippines during the Vietnam war. He held me for the first time when I was 4 months old. My heart catches a little at some of the pictures of birthdays and Christmases that were obviously taken to send to my dad. I am awed by my mom's strength and sacrifice.

Pioneer Woman has been posting pictures sent in by reader's this week with the theme - "Coming Home". As I looked at each one, my heart is touched by the love, the devotion, the sacrifice. The ones where the father is obviously seeing his child for the first time especially touched me.

My cousin Annette sent me this:

It is the 

VETERAN, 

 not the preacher, 

 who has given us freedom of religion. 

It is 

the VETERAN, 

 not the reporter, 

  who has given us freedom of the press.

It is 

the VETERAN, 

 not the poet, 

who has given us freedom of speech.

   

It is 

the VETERAN, 

not the campus organizer, 

who has given us freedom to assemble. 

    

It is 

the VETERAN, 

 not the lawyer, 

who has given us the right to a fair trial. 

It is 

the VETERAN, 

 not the politician, 

Who has given us the right to vote. 

 

 

 It is 

the VETERAN who 

salutes the Flag, 

 

It is 

the VETERAN who 

serves under the Flag, 

A few months ago, I saw the movie "Taking Chance" - it is the true story of the experience the military escort had in escorting a fallen soldier home. It is deeply moving and I would highly recommend it.

Remember is a huge theme in the scriptures - something we struggle with constantly. Today is a day to remember and honor the soldiers who have served, the pain and sacrifice of their families and to pray for those currently serving. Today, I say ~ Thank you. 

Notebook Memories - Things I always want to remember...

Ryan singing to himself in bed tonight - "The hills are alive with the sound of music La, la, la, la, la." He has the song stuck in his head and has been singing it off and on for the last week or so. Tomorrow night is opening night for his school musical "The Sound of Music" (Yeah Savanah!) and the choir has been practicing during his choir hour.

This reminds me of last year when he was singing all of the songs to Mama Mia! all the time because my friend Alisa played it all the time when she gave him a ride to my school everyday. 

Gotta love when good music gets stuck in their heads!

And on that note - ;)

let me share with you Ryan's science project. I have 3 glass jars in my bedroom window right now with 3 styrofoam cups full of soil under them. One has my iPOD ear bud just above the soil and the little seedling is listening to hymns all day. Another has Ry's ear bud from his MP3 just above the soil and is listening to everything on Ry's MP3. The third is listening to silence. We plug in the devices in the morning and the seedlings listen all day and then I recharge them at night. He is measuring the effects of music on plant life. Is it wrong for the mother in me to be rooting for one seedling over the other? I will let you know the result in two weeks when he finishes the project. 

Lastly- 

Tonight the scouts started working on their Physical Fitness Merit Badge by running 1 mile - 2 1/2 laps around our church and parking lot. One boy in the group fell a lap behind and was struggling a bit to finish. He passed the other boys who had just finished and started on the last lap. After a few minutes, three of the boys who had just finished and were still breathing hard, got up and ran the last lap with this boy. One boy ran behind him with his hand on his back pushing him while the other two boys ran along side. As the four passed me, I listened to these sweet young men encouraging him on, "Come on dude, you can do this. Think of those linemen, we gotta outrun those linemen. Hey, look, we are almost there, you're doing it! Don't stop now, you can do this." Ryan and another boy were about 3/4 of a lap ahead of this boy so they didn't run with him until the very end but as he got closer to the line, they ran out to meet him and cheered him in. I was so proud of these young men tonight and felt privilege to see a glimpse of the men they are becoming.  

A few years ago someone pointed out to me the difference between teenagers and youth. They noted that the leaders of the church ALWAYS  use the term youth. We all know what connotations the word teen or teenagers brings up. We discussed the difference with the word youth. Youth is encouraging, hopeful, active, full of life and ambition.  Youth implies leadership, respect, goals, and solutions. Teen is, at times, a disparaging remark, implying troublemaker, disrespect, lazy, and uncommunicative and is usually followed with a sigh or an eye roll or both by adults. I have remembered the conversation and try hard to always use the term youth. I even call my 3rd graders young men and young ladies. 

Tonight, these 12 yr. old young men really touched my heart. 

In Defense

Of the Lemon Bar recipe - When you decide to half a recipe, it is a good idea to half the lemon juice. Especially if you only put in half the sugar.

Of Ryan- He did try to clean up the 1/2 c. syrup off the carpet. He did make his own dinner and how many 12 yr. old boy really clean up after themselves? He did do the additional school work I require without complaint. And he did start a load of laundry. The first time I asked.

Of my parenting attempts - We had family prayer this morning and scripture study (and an actual discussion). Hopefully that weighs out that Family Home Evening will be a prayer in the car and a late baseball game tonight.

My favorite quote from General Conference -
"The end will be better than the beginning."

No School Again Tomorrow

That will be 3 snow (well, actually ice) days in a row. And guess what? I have done absolutely nothing! I have played on the computer. I have talked on the phone. I stayed up late and taken naps. I watched Our Mutual Friend (4 hrs. - Dickens sure knows how to weave a complicated tale!), The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and Northanger Abbey. Yesterday, I didn't even take a shower which is very risky when you are going through an ice storm and you might loose power which means no hot water.

I am estatic to have another day. I have been lazy long enough and I am ready to get busy. I have lessons to plan, dishes to wash, clothes to fold, papers and papers and papers to grade.

I have a new favorite quote that comes from "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" - "Second marriage - The triumph of hope over experience." I love that!