thoughts on a Sunday

*What happened to the lazy days of summer? My summer has been anything but lazy. Crazy? Yes! Hazy? OK, that too, but not lazy. Vacations, camps, swimming lessons, sports, oh, and a little surgery, have made my head spin. I hear about all these people with their summer bucket lists and I wish we had one. But basically I am just trying to survive the summer. I don't know if I am going to make it. Blogging has definitely suffered, but we just had a Relief Society meeting on journaling, so I am determined to catch up.....again. We'll see how it goes.

*We went and delivered lemonades to some of our new neighbors tonight. Bryson had changed into shorts but kept his black church socks on. He then chose his black church shoes to wear for the walk. It was an interesting look. Kara or Tyler told him he looked like an Irish dancer. That was all Bryson needed to hear. He Irish danced his way along the sidewalk to each house. We were cracking up. Those little skinny legs twitching all around with his upper body steady as a statue was a sight to see. I have no idea where he has ever seen Irish dancing, but I'm telling you, he wasn't half bad.

*I was doing Ashlyn's hair one day and noticed some white flakes on her scalp. I commented "Oh, it looks like your peeling." (She had gotten a little sunburned earlier in the week) She looked a little concerned and asked me what peeling was. I said, "oh, it's just when your skin kind of comes off." Her look of concern turned quickly to a look of terror. "My skin is coming off?" It took me a while and a little more explaining to calm her down. It's funny how when you really think about what you are saying to your kids it can sound down right terrifying. I would probably become a little worried if someone casually told me my skin was comin off too.

* I was informed this week that Alyssa was playing a game on the computer (games for girls) that involved some making out in the back seat of a car. I asked her if this was true and she could not deny it. Is there really any good that comes from computer games? In my opinion , no. I mean really, making out? I must investigate this accusation further.

*Ask me how I felt when 2 scouts were killed on the same day at 2 different organized scout camps in Utah the same week my husband and 12 year old scout were at an organized scout camp in Utah. I didn't like it. Not one little bit. I was very glad to have them both safely back home. Ask me also how I feel with the news of several bear sightings at the very camp where me and Kara will be camping next week for Girls camp. Go ahead, just ask.

*Ashlyn has turned into the stoplight Nazi. Trevor taught her a little song with the help of a big purple dinosaur named Barney, about how green means go, yellow means slow and red means stop stop stop. Well, at every light we come to she yells out very specific instructions. "Red means stop mom, STOP!" The worst is yellow. "Slow down mom, you have to drive SLOW because it is yellow and that's what the song says!" Now really, who goes slow for a yellow light? To me, yellow means go a little faster so I can get to where I'm going without hitting every red light. That just doesn't fly with our little light Nazi. Thank you Trevor and Barney. Thank you very much.

*Ethan was so proud today in church. We were sitting in sacrament and he excitedly showed me his scriptures. "Mom, look, I marked my scriptures!" Now this was a big moment for him. The first scripture he ever highlighted. I took his scriptures and looked at the little crooked yellow highlighter marks. Now you would think that the word Jesus might have been in there somewhere, but no, what I read was 'I was constrained to kill Laban.' Oh brother. Boys will always be boys even when it comes to highlighting scriptures. I have yet to ask him why he felt touched or prompted to highlight this particular passage. I am hoping he isn't feeling constrained to do anything similar.

*Ashlyn's quote of the week. "Mom, I love corn and the cob. I just love it!"

*Kara's quote of the week (following EFY) "There are just so so many amazing LDS people in this world, and I'm never going to meet most of them."

*Here's a good boredom buster. Boys + a video camera + a few toy weapons + a bottle of ketchup. Yep, hours of fun. The result, the short film aptly titled "A Bloody Movie." I had no idea what they were up to and I'm kind of glad I didn't, but I did see the end result and I kind of wish I hadn't. It was very gory, lots of blood/ketchup, lots of spitting and stabbing and spurting. But I have to admit it was clever and messy and all boy. At least they rated their movie PG-13 for scenes of intense violence. Ethan was proud as can be for his cameo. He is the one who gets his head chopped off. Nice.

*And now for a more spiritual entry. Whenever Trevor and I go to the temple I like to come back and thank my kids for helping to make it possible for us to go each month by babysitting and helping out at home and I also like to share some of my thoughts and experiences with them (like the time I did the work for a woman named Cinderella, I really did). This month we did sealings, which I love to do. I came home and told them that dad and I did some sealings for a couple with the last name of Fuerer. I was so surprised when the sealer said this name, that after, I told him that it was my maiden name and asked how it was spelled. He said that they had seen that name a lot lately which I thought was really neat since I don't hear that name very often at all. Also, I did the work for a girl who was being sealed to her parents. The sealer looked down at the card and then said that she was born in 1519. This didn't really mean much to me until he paused and then said, "This child has been waiting almost 500 years for her work to be done." Then it hit me. 500 years! That is amazing. There is so much work to be done and I am so grateful to be a part of it! I love the temple and I want my kids to know that.

*Kara and Tyler just got back from a week at EFY. They both loved it. We had them each take some time and tell us all about it and share some experiences when they felt the spirit and what they learned. Brandon had also just gotten back from Scout camp and he also shared some experiences and when he felt the spirit (yes, he felt it at Scout camp!) I sat back at looked at these 3 older kids of mine and felt so grateful for them as I watched them teach my younger ones. They taught through their words and their excitement and they continue to teach each day by their example. It's a great feeling to have them working with us as examples and teachers. My little ones, and Trevor and I, sure are lucky!

I have more, but I'm out of time, so until next week! Happy Pioneer Day!