This Perfect Moment

Life is full of wonderful, savory moments. Jaremy just called to say "hi" from work. I love hearing his voice. I feel the same way I did when we first fell in love. That is, I wish I could be with him 24/7. I love his smell, touch, kiss, voice, company, and calming effect.
Right now Teancum (16months) is playing dog. He is barking and crawling up the hallway. He is also chewing on carrots and then spitting them out on the floor. He just went into a yoga position, Dog Poise. He loves that one and does it everywhere.
Jessica(13), Benjamin(11), and Moroni(9) are at school right now. They got up early to do there homework. They are doing awesome in their challenging charter school.
Natalie(7), Hyrum(5), and Ella(3) are upstairs quietly playing house in the tunnels. The tunnels are little passage ways under the eaves. It's a nice, quiet moment. We don't get many of those around here.
I was able to shower and read my scriptures all ready this morning. Wow! After 3 days of not showering it's about time! Tank has climbed up into my lap and is spitting carrots all over the place, so ta-ta for now.

Family History Thursdays

On Thursdays our regular homeschooling schedule goes out the window. Instead, we read and write family histories, play "Name that Ancestor" with photo flashcards, fill in pedigree charts and family group sheets, and attend the Logan Temple. We all enjoy this special day! Our kids develop a great sense of belonging. As we explore our family history our own family culture becomes more beautiful. As we attend the temple we strengthen our testimonies of eternal families. Thursdays are a cherished day!

Morning Blurp

This blog is more of a personal journal than anything else. I don't more than 10 minutes once in a while to throw out an entry. Obviously, it's always a first very rough draft. My hope is after the kids are raised I'll have time to come back and put this blog, our scrapbooks, and journals into some kind of readable order. But in the meantime, I will keep scribbling down little events in the kids' and my journal and a bit on this blog.

I love, love, love this time in my life. I'm surrounded by my sweet family all day! Everyday! I have the dream job. My job is to teach, train, and delight in my children! My job is full of ordinary moments that to me are sensational. Like right now.

Right now it is a bit before 6AM. Tank(10 months) has had a wakeful night. So he is hanging out with me. We kind of gave up sleep around 5AM. Between sentences we play peek-a-boo and hide n' seek. I get to cuddle him when he climbs up in my lap. He is also enjoying nibbling on a bit of sugar cookie that Hyrum (5) and Jaremy (35) made last night. They made Halloween cookies for Hyrum's stay up night and had a blast.

The last couple of weeks have been perfect fall weather. The kids would live outside if they could, so we do our school, eat our lunch, exercise, garden, and play like crazy outside. The boys, Benjamin (10) and Moroni (8) have been experimenting with zip lines between the cottonwoods in the back of the lot. The zip lines have been quite primitive and, from a mother's perspective, scary. Now they have enlisted Jaremy. So that means it's going to be 250 feet and I can only imagine how high. I will have to be the safety inspector, an unpopular job. It's wonderful the kids have these 5 acres to haunt. What would a child's life be if he couldn't build tree forts, ride bikes off "sweet" jumps, dance around bonfires, fly on the tramp, and sword fight?

Well, Tank is bored with this! I have to go assist Moroni in making whole wheat/oat pancakes.

Law of Kindness

In the beautiful 31st chapter of Proverbs a virtuous woman is described. It says, "in her tongue is the law of kindness." For the past two weeks I've been trying to follow this ideal. Unfortunately, most often in my tongue is the law of demands and anger. However, as I have focused on this phrase and prayed for help I have been softened. When I feel frustrated with my family or start to react with yelling I picture this gentle woman pausing. She then slowly and kindly proceeds to listen, understand, counsel, and guide. This image has helped me to stop and reflect on my ideals before I react. I still have blown it royally several times in the last two weeks. But even then, this scripture has helped me to regain control, apologize, and do better the next time around. I'm so grateful for the scriptures and the gentle reminders that Heavenly Father sends me through the Holy Ghost.

Wheat

Today I will spend several hours buying and delivering 50# bags of wheat to sisters in our ward. I am the "Food Storage Specialist" in our ward. My job is to encourage families to store a year's supply of food. You can store about anything, but I've been only focusing on the basics.

Of course, you can't get more basic than wheat. Our family uses about 50# a week. Jessica (12) and Benjamin (10) can make delicious wheat bread without any assistance. Moroni (8) can pretty much do it by himself too. We make the dough into loaves, cinnamon rolls, scones, Indian fry bread, orange rolls, garlic bread sticks, French bread, and dinner rolls. Our not-so-secret recipe is: Add 1/3 cup sugar, 2T (heaping) yeast, 4 cups very warm water
Mix and let sit and bubble for 5-10 minutes
Add 3T oil, 1T salt, and 5 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour
Beat until smooth
Add 4-5 cups more whole wheat flour
Knead until bowl comes clean, about 10 minutes, dough should be slightly sticky
Let rise for about 45 minutes
Punch the puffy dough down and form into loaves or whatever
Let rise another 15-45 minutes depending on room temperature or until dough is
doubled.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Makes 3 loaves or 2 cookie sheets full of delicious
cinnamon rolls. So delicious that all 40 of them are gone within 30 minutes of
taking them out of the oven. Of course, we have 9 people in our family.

We bake a batch of bread about everyday. We also enjoy (Jaremy detests) cracked wheat cereal with brown sugar and milk. We use wheat flour for all our baking: pumpkin bread, chocolate chip cookies, brownies, muffins, zucchini bread, etc. It is so healthy, filling, and delicious! Using wheat and baking our own breads saves us thousands of dollars each year. And it fills our home with a wonderful aroma and home baked love!

Amazing Provider

My husband Jaremy is such a stud! He has his priorities set right and firm. On Saturday he needed to meet a deadline at work. However, he knows how important it is to work and play with his family. So he scrubbed bathrooms and loaded the washing machine. He weed whacked, watched the kids do their "tricks", mowed the lawn, awed over a snake the kids caught, went grocery shopping with me, and insisted on a family movie night with popcorn. It was a great day because of him!

This morning he woke up at 2AM so he could meet his deadline. He sacrificed his sleep so he could spend time with us and provide for us. He is amazing! Benjamin (10) and Moroni (8) both remembered to thank Heavenly Father in our prayers today for their amazing dad! I thank my Heavenly Father everyday for such a wonderful sweetheart!

Religious Freedom

I am so grateful to live in a country where I can believe as my soul tells me.

I believe in Jesus Christ! He is my Savior and Redeemer. He has shown me the way to live in peace and happiness.

I testify that Jesus Christ has restored his true church on the earth, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Joseph Smith really saw and spoke with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith is the great prophet of the restoration of Christ's true church.

Jesus Christ speaks to His living prophet today, President Thomas S. Monson. President Monson and the living Apostles and Prophets tell us what Heavenly Father want us to do. When we listen and obey we are blessed and prospered by the Lord.

I am grateful to know that the Lord sanctifies marriage between a man and a woman. The family is central to His plan for the happiness of His children, who we are. The Lord loves children. I'm so grateful the Lord has sent us seven of his choice spirits to be in our family.

I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I have studied it for years. This book has reminded me to turn my heart to God and my fellowmen. I am grateful for its precious teachings.

I am grateful I can express the beliefs I hold dear. I am grateful I can practice my religious beliefs.