Nutrition drives me crazy. There are enough diets and people telling you contracting information to make your head spin. I read somewhere that girls between the ages of 9 and 12 feel better about themselves when they are on a diet. So it starts that young? Is nutrition and diet just a female thing? I have to say I have not seen many males in the field. I believe that there is one God and one true religion. Why can't there be one true diet? Didn't God make all of our bodies the same?
I seem to go through a cycle. I start looking into new recipes, then I take a step back and consider if these new recipes are good for us to eat. That usually brings me to the library or computer to figure out what is really good for us to eat. Then by the time I look at enough nutrition books and websites, my eyes glaze over and my head hurts. I end up wanting to throw the books in a violent show of protest, then go and have a large bowl of ice cream covered in chocolate. What is a mom trying to raise healthy boys to do?
Maybe its good that I don't have girls, Peter is nearly 8, and he doesn't care about what he wears or if he is on a diet. I just make sure he isn't wearing his brothers clothes. He has a vague idea of matching, only because jeans go with anything. What would I do if I had a little girl get all worked about stuff I don't know about? I must be better suited to boys, because I am about to have #5!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Stop Kissing the Avocados!
Yesterday I took the kids shopping and during our trip to the produce section, I had to tell Sam to stop kissing the avocados, it sounded funny saying that. I am sure I have said a lot of funny things since becoming a parent. I am trying to do better at keeping a journal of our life and the kids have been journaling too. Peter's handwriting has gradually been improving since he starting keeping a journal. He dictates to me what he wants to say and I type it out for him. Then I write some of it out for him to copy and the whole thing get put in his journal notebook for him to read later. It will be a sweet keepsake collection of memories for him later in his life. Sam and Joe are also beginning to keep a journal too. Its been fun hearing them relate our life through their eyes.
Peter's journal:
March 29, 2010
What is your favorite type of animal? My favorite type of animal is a dinosaur. What is your favorite dinosaur? My favorite dinosaur is stegosaurs. What does the stegosaurs have on its body? It has bony plates and it has things on its tail that is why I love this dinosaur. What is your favorite Jedi? My favorite Jedi is Asoka and Obi-wan and Luke Skywalker. What is your favorite Sith? My favorite Sith is Count Dooku in Clone Wars. What is your favorite Clone? My favorite Clone is Captain Rex. What type of body droid do you like? My favorite type of body droid that has a color on it is a blue body droid that is a battle droid. What is your favorite movie? My favorite movie is “Where the Wild Things Are” and some of Star Wars but not just one movie and that is number 2 Star Wars. And I like Clone Wars. I love watching those things. Here when it is the second week of April my brother will be having his birthday party. He will turn four years old. His name is Joe. Soon my other brother will have his birthday on June 3rd. And then it will be my birthday and I will turn eight. And my other brother is named Sam. And my name is Peter. My baby brother had his birthday on the first day of February. And my dad was the second one to have his birthday, but it was a different week. My mom, I don’t remember when her birthday is, but I just know she was on February. My birthday is October 3rd and I love my family. Sam will be in PE and I will be in PE in September. We have a Clone War Lego game and a Star War Lego game on the computer. The Clone War game that was a Lego one we found it in a Lego magazine and it is on the internet. My dad said one of these months he will buy a Lego Indiana Jones computer game.
Yesterday we read about Jesus coming to his apostles and he did the sacrament with them. We are in the book of John, the last book that Jesus is in. After John, Jesus goes up to heaven and then it’s just the apostles in it. In church I learned about when Jesus died and the resurrection. We had to take home a paper that had when Jesus died and when he was resurrected. We had to take home a general conference coloring book. Jesus died on a cross and Jesus was in a tomb then the stone got rolled away and Jesus was risen. I know that Jesus really died and was resurrected in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Yesterday we went to the toy room and there my mom and my dad built stuff out of Legos. Dad built two things. The first one was a house. The last one was a castle. Mom built one thing and that was a house with stairs. She said it was the corporate offices for the Jedi Knights. Mom is silly. My brothers and I (except Will) played with the Lego guys. Our creations that are Legos are saved on the shelf in the closet. Will helped Mom while we were doing this. Saturday Dad built a thing where the Jedi can fight the Sith on the top of the wall they can fight the Sith. The Jedi can jump up there and destroy the bad guys.
I love to make stories. This week I am going to try to do school every day so I can have free time and make a book called “Where the Wild Things Are”. I am going to make a page each time I have free time. My brother’s birthday that is the three year old is going to turn four on Friday. And we are not going to have his party yet. Next week is his party. My brother where we are going to do his birthday is the beach. Joe wants Mom and Dad to make a sand castle for his birthday at the beach. Today we are going to pick up candy for Easter. We are going to get candy for Easter because on Friday we are celebrating Easter after the beach. Sunday is really Easter but we don’t hide eggs on Sunday. But Sunday is General Conference. After the baby comes I am going to start piano again. There is this book that is called Keyboard Gymnastics and I am in book number one called Brillante.
Sam's Journal:
March 30, 2010
My favorite animal is turtles, fish, and frogs. I like fish because they have scales and they are very colorful. When we go to Wal-Mart we see the fishies in the tanks. They are in tanks so they can’t jump out. I like turtles because they are reptiles and the frog is an amphibian. I like learning about frogs, turtles and fish in homeschool. I like them because they swim and my favorite dinosaur is triceratops. I like triceratops because he has three horns on his head. In this book that has triceratops says that triceratops could maybe scare away t-rex with his horns.
Baby Charlie is coming in May. We sing Frosty the Snowman to him every night. I am excited for him to come. I am going to try to hold baby Charlie. Mom is going to have the baby at home so I can see the baby quickly after he is born instead of having to wait and go to the hospital. I hope we can do the home birth.
On Sunday I got taught about Easter. Easter is reminding me about when Jesus died and was resurrected. I know that Jesus Christ is resurrected and He lives today. After church we had lunch and when it was night we had dinner. After dinner we had pecan pie. Then we went up to the toy room and we built Lego City. Peter and Joe and Will played with Lego guys. I helped Dad built Lego City. Joe and Will helped Mom build Lego City too.
Yesterday we went for shopping jelly beans and M&Ms. We bought bubbles and crayons. We had Family Home Evening. For Show and Tell, I showed my small Lego Star War Rebel. The lesson was about talking nice to each other. We should use please and thank you and not yell. For the activity we played small Legos. We built more Lego City. Dad built a castle and a house. Mom built a little house too. All my Lego guys were hanging off of the castle and my bounty hunter droids had a chain to their guns and they were hanging onto tower on the castle that was a triangle.
Today I got up early. I said my prayers. I brushed my teeth. For exercise we went up and down the stairs and then did summer salts. I cleaned my room. We read scriptures and now I am doing my journal.
On Thursday we are doing Art Club. They are making eggs. We are going to glue papers on eggs called decopage. I hope it will be really fun.
We are going to the beach on Friday. I am going to look for sea shells. We are going to make a sand castle. I am going to go in the water.
On Saturday and Sunday is General Conference. During General Conference we are going to color a General Conference coloring book. Mom bought us new crayons for General Conference.
Joe's Journal:
On Friday is my birthday I will be 4 years old! We are going to the beach on Friday. We are going to make a sand castle. Yesterday we played small Legos.
Will's Journal:
I am learning to talk and today I said "lizard", yesterday I said "bebe". My favorite song is Wheels on the Bus when you sing about the babies. I love my eyes and like to point them out.
Charlie's Journal:
I am moving a lot, in Mom's tummy. When she sits down and my brothers are watching they can see me move around. They sing to me, I am due to be born in May. The midwife says there is a little more water in here than usual, so maybe that is why I have a little more swimming room.
Mom's Journal:
I am getting excited for the coming birth of baby Charlie. I am nearly 8 months pregnant and its been gradually more and more uncomfortable. The kids and I are working hard establishing solid routines and cleaning/organizing the house to help with the transition from 4 to 5. I started doing phases. Phase 1 is our morning routine and the last phase 5 is adding art and science to our homeschool routine. This way we will work on one phase at a time, and when the baby comes if we have to start all over, at least we can pick up the pieces easier rather than having to reinvent the wheel. I am confident that changes will have to be made as an infant joins the ranks, but that I am better than ever at maintaining order. I am getting rid of any junk in my way to victory over clutter and mess. I feel like I keep improving on my housekeeping abilities as I have more children. Its a challenge, but a challenge that is improving me in valuable ways. Being a mom is the most rewarding learning experience ever. I know that by the time my babies are ready to leave home we will have all grown closer together, closer to God, and will have become better people. I can feel myself stretching and growing becoming a better wife, mother and woman. I love my life. I love my children. And as I get asked every time I take the children shopping, "Yes these are all my children, they don't cost as much as you think, I wouldn't have it any other way! I love them so much!" What better joy than to have a houseful of children and raise them to be good Christian followers of Jesus Christ, honest, upright, Godly members of society, ready and willing to stand for truth and right. I KNOW this is what God my Father in Heaven wants me to do with the life He gave me. I am so lucky to have a husband who believes the same and supports me in every way. We make such a great team!
Peter's journal:
March 29, 2010
What is your favorite type of animal? My favorite type of animal is a dinosaur. What is your favorite dinosaur? My favorite dinosaur is stegosaurs. What does the stegosaurs have on its body? It has bony plates and it has things on its tail that is why I love this dinosaur. What is your favorite Jedi? My favorite Jedi is Asoka and Obi-wan and Luke Skywalker. What is your favorite Sith? My favorite Sith is Count Dooku in Clone Wars. What is your favorite Clone? My favorite Clone is Captain Rex. What type of body droid do you like? My favorite type of body droid that has a color on it is a blue body droid that is a battle droid. What is your favorite movie? My favorite movie is “Where the Wild Things Are” and some of Star Wars but not just one movie and that is number 2 Star Wars. And I like Clone Wars. I love watching those things. Here when it is the second week of April my brother will be having his birthday party. He will turn four years old. His name is Joe. Soon my other brother will have his birthday on June 3rd. And then it will be my birthday and I will turn eight. And my other brother is named Sam. And my name is Peter. My baby brother had his birthday on the first day of February. And my dad was the second one to have his birthday, but it was a different week. My mom, I don’t remember when her birthday is, but I just know she was on February. My birthday is October 3rd and I love my family. Sam will be in PE and I will be in PE in September. We have a Clone War Lego game and a Star War Lego game on the computer. The Clone War game that was a Lego one we found it in a Lego magazine and it is on the internet. My dad said one of these months he will buy a Lego Indiana Jones computer game.
Yesterday we read about Jesus coming to his apostles and he did the sacrament with them. We are in the book of John, the last book that Jesus is in. After John, Jesus goes up to heaven and then it’s just the apostles in it. In church I learned about when Jesus died and the resurrection. We had to take home a paper that had when Jesus died and when he was resurrected. We had to take home a general conference coloring book. Jesus died on a cross and Jesus was in a tomb then the stone got rolled away and Jesus was risen. I know that Jesus really died and was resurrected in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Yesterday we went to the toy room and there my mom and my dad built stuff out of Legos. Dad built two things. The first one was a house. The last one was a castle. Mom built one thing and that was a house with stairs. She said it was the corporate offices for the Jedi Knights. Mom is silly. My brothers and I (except Will) played with the Lego guys. Our creations that are Legos are saved on the shelf in the closet. Will helped Mom while we were doing this. Saturday Dad built a thing where the Jedi can fight the Sith on the top of the wall they can fight the Sith. The Jedi can jump up there and destroy the bad guys.
I love to make stories. This week I am going to try to do school every day so I can have free time and make a book called “Where the Wild Things Are”. I am going to make a page each time I have free time. My brother’s birthday that is the three year old is going to turn four on Friday. And we are not going to have his party yet. Next week is his party. My brother where we are going to do his birthday is the beach. Joe wants Mom and Dad to make a sand castle for his birthday at the beach. Today we are going to pick up candy for Easter. We are going to get candy for Easter because on Friday we are celebrating Easter after the beach. Sunday is really Easter but we don’t hide eggs on Sunday. But Sunday is General Conference. After the baby comes I am going to start piano again. There is this book that is called Keyboard Gymnastics and I am in book number one called Brillante.
Sam's Journal:
March 30, 2010
My favorite animal is turtles, fish, and frogs. I like fish because they have scales and they are very colorful. When we go to Wal-Mart we see the fishies in the tanks. They are in tanks so they can’t jump out. I like turtles because they are reptiles and the frog is an amphibian. I like learning about frogs, turtles and fish in homeschool. I like them because they swim and my favorite dinosaur is triceratops. I like triceratops because he has three horns on his head. In this book that has triceratops says that triceratops could maybe scare away t-rex with his horns.
Baby Charlie is coming in May. We sing Frosty the Snowman to him every night. I am excited for him to come. I am going to try to hold baby Charlie. Mom is going to have the baby at home so I can see the baby quickly after he is born instead of having to wait and go to the hospital. I hope we can do the home birth.
On Sunday I got taught about Easter. Easter is reminding me about when Jesus died and was resurrected. I know that Jesus Christ is resurrected and He lives today. After church we had lunch and when it was night we had dinner. After dinner we had pecan pie. Then we went up to the toy room and we built Lego City. Peter and Joe and Will played with Lego guys. I helped Dad built Lego City. Joe and Will helped Mom build Lego City too.
Yesterday we went for shopping jelly beans and M&Ms. We bought bubbles and crayons. We had Family Home Evening. For Show and Tell, I showed my small Lego Star War Rebel. The lesson was about talking nice to each other. We should use please and thank you and not yell. For the activity we played small Legos. We built more Lego City. Dad built a castle and a house. Mom built a little house too. All my Lego guys were hanging off of the castle and my bounty hunter droids had a chain to their guns and they were hanging onto tower on the castle that was a triangle.
Today I got up early. I said my prayers. I brushed my teeth. For exercise we went up and down the stairs and then did summer salts. I cleaned my room. We read scriptures and now I am doing my journal.
On Thursday we are doing Art Club. They are making eggs. We are going to glue papers on eggs called decopage. I hope it will be really fun.
We are going to the beach on Friday. I am going to look for sea shells. We are going to make a sand castle. I am going to go in the water.
On Saturday and Sunday is General Conference. During General Conference we are going to color a General Conference coloring book. Mom bought us new crayons for General Conference.
Joe's Journal:
On Friday is my birthday I will be 4 years old! We are going to the beach on Friday. We are going to make a sand castle. Yesterday we played small Legos.
Will's Journal:
I am learning to talk and today I said "lizard", yesterday I said "bebe". My favorite song is Wheels on the Bus when you sing about the babies. I love my eyes and like to point them out.
Charlie's Journal:
I am moving a lot, in Mom's tummy. When she sits down and my brothers are watching they can see me move around. They sing to me, I am due to be born in May. The midwife says there is a little more water in here than usual, so maybe that is why I have a little more swimming room.
Mom's Journal:
I am getting excited for the coming birth of baby Charlie. I am nearly 8 months pregnant and its been gradually more and more uncomfortable. The kids and I are working hard establishing solid routines and cleaning/organizing the house to help with the transition from 4 to 5. I started doing phases. Phase 1 is our morning routine and the last phase 5 is adding art and science to our homeschool routine. This way we will work on one phase at a time, and when the baby comes if we have to start all over, at least we can pick up the pieces easier rather than having to reinvent the wheel. I am confident that changes will have to be made as an infant joins the ranks, but that I am better than ever at maintaining order. I am getting rid of any junk in my way to victory over clutter and mess. I feel like I keep improving on my housekeeping abilities as I have more children. Its a challenge, but a challenge that is improving me in valuable ways. Being a mom is the most rewarding learning experience ever. I know that by the time my babies are ready to leave home we will have all grown closer together, closer to God, and will have become better people. I can feel myself stretching and growing becoming a better wife, mother and woman. I love my life. I love my children. And as I get asked every time I take the children shopping, "Yes these are all my children, they don't cost as much as you think, I wouldn't have it any other way! I love them so much!" What better joy than to have a houseful of children and raise them to be good Christian followers of Jesus Christ, honest, upright, Godly members of society, ready and willing to stand for truth and right. I KNOW this is what God my Father in Heaven wants me to do with the life He gave me. I am so lucky to have a husband who believes the same and supports me in every way. We make such a great team!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Marchings Towards the Due Date
As most of you can see we are now getting closer to the due date of the baby. We are getting anxious for the time to come and so far everything seems in place for the home birth. We have been trying to get our home ready for this new bundle of joy coming into our life and so that means the last few weeks we have been really working on the house. We got all our new trees and bushes going and this weekend we finally got all the wood from the trees we cut down also cut into smaller pieces in a pile. We are going to save some of the wood for scouts but we will probably offer some of it on craiglist (hopefully someone wants it). We also have gotten most of the rooms organized how we want them although we will need to maintain it. I guess we are nesting.
Work continues to go good for Chris and luckily he has been spared the hard times with his work. He continues to enjoy it which is also important. Scouts continues to be fun and they now have a larger patrol which is an adjustment as some of the boys get a little more rowdy. He has been a great help since I often get low on energy and is very anxious for the birth. He has always been such a great birth partner.
I continue to grow and I am struggling with the usual symptoms of the last part of labor (tired, big, and uncomfortable) but things continue to go well. Homeschooling is good and both Peter and Sam do well with that - although Joe and Will only have limited patience for it. We set up a toy room and as of yesterday also have an outside play room in the garage. The garage room will be when the kids have a lot of energy and need to burn some of it off and it is raining or for some other reason we can't get out. Will was very cute, he kept sliding down the small slide in the garage.
Peter is getting really good with his reading now and has moved up to the next level in reading. We are reading a book together where he reads from the book and I have the same book and follow along. He is also very anxious for his baptism in October and asks us about it about every other day. He has his moments where he doesn't want to help pick up or wants to be the boss, but luckily they typically don't create too many problems.
Sam loves animals and plants. He has been quite the helper when it comes to doing the planting outside. When we were cutting down our trees, he would often be right there wanting to help dig or cut up roots. He even helped when the missionaries came over to help chop up branches. He loves to draw and writes very well and is gaining enthusiasm with his reading as well. If especially likes reptiles (including dinosaurs) and several times has corrected us when we say something wrong about a particular species. Also Sam LOVES to ask questions about everything.
Joe is light hearted and tries so hard to do school. He tries to stay up with his brothers but often can't. Still he has his preschool each day and normally does that until his attention span runs out or he sees Will doing something fun. He kept getting upset because he couldn't right his 5 on the chalkboard. He continues to be the most interactive with Will and you can tell Will prefers him (even though all of his brothers play with him). It is clear that the two of them enjoy a special bond like Peter and Sam do. He loves Star Wars like his brothers especially Darth Vader. He is excited for his birthday coming up and last week he was able to hand out invitations to all of his friends.
Will loves any kind of power cord, especially Chris' laptop. If he anything with a cord on it he will take that item and plug it literally into all the light sockets in the room. He always tries to make sure that Chris has his work phone and will scale great heights so that Chris has it. He loves his new little playland in the garage and recently learned how to go down slides. We are not sure how he is going to take the next little one but I am sure like all of his brothers we will have a period of adjustment. I think the kids have a bigger problem that they can't be on Mom's lap right after she has the baby. He words keep improving and some of the sounds he was making are becoming clear. He was actually trying to say words but they weren't clear, but now he is getting better at that.
I had better sign off but everyone have a great week.
Work continues to go good for Chris and luckily he has been spared the hard times with his work. He continues to enjoy it which is also important. Scouts continues to be fun and they now have a larger patrol which is an adjustment as some of the boys get a little more rowdy. He has been a great help since I often get low on energy and is very anxious for the birth. He has always been such a great birth partner.
I continue to grow and I am struggling with the usual symptoms of the last part of labor (tired, big, and uncomfortable) but things continue to go well. Homeschooling is good and both Peter and Sam do well with that - although Joe and Will only have limited patience for it. We set up a toy room and as of yesterday also have an outside play room in the garage. The garage room will be when the kids have a lot of energy and need to burn some of it off and it is raining or for some other reason we can't get out. Will was very cute, he kept sliding down the small slide in the garage.
Peter is getting really good with his reading now and has moved up to the next level in reading. We are reading a book together where he reads from the book and I have the same book and follow along. He is also very anxious for his baptism in October and asks us about it about every other day. He has his moments where he doesn't want to help pick up or wants to be the boss, but luckily they typically don't create too many problems.
Sam loves animals and plants. He has been quite the helper when it comes to doing the planting outside. When we were cutting down our trees, he would often be right there wanting to help dig or cut up roots. He even helped when the missionaries came over to help chop up branches. He loves to draw and writes very well and is gaining enthusiasm with his reading as well. If especially likes reptiles (including dinosaurs) and several times has corrected us when we say something wrong about a particular species. Also Sam LOVES to ask questions about everything.
Joe is light hearted and tries so hard to do school. He tries to stay up with his brothers but often can't. Still he has his preschool each day and normally does that until his attention span runs out or he sees Will doing something fun. He kept getting upset because he couldn't right his 5 on the chalkboard. He continues to be the most interactive with Will and you can tell Will prefers him (even though all of his brothers play with him). It is clear that the two of them enjoy a special bond like Peter and Sam do. He loves Star Wars like his brothers especially Darth Vader. He is excited for his birthday coming up and last week he was able to hand out invitations to all of his friends.
Will loves any kind of power cord, especially Chris' laptop. If he anything with a cord on it he will take that item and plug it literally into all the light sockets in the room. He always tries to make sure that Chris has his work phone and will scale great heights so that Chris has it. He loves his new little playland in the garage and recently learned how to go down slides. We are not sure how he is going to take the next little one but I am sure like all of his brothers we will have a period of adjustment. I think the kids have a bigger problem that they can't be on Mom's lap right after she has the baby. He words keep improving and some of the sounds he was making are becoming clear. He was actually trying to say words but they weren't clear, but now he is getting better at that.
I had better sign off but everyone have a great week.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Videos
Here is a short little video of each of our sweet children. They sure are cute... growing fast see them while they last!
Sam
Joe
Will
Peter
Sam
Joe
Will
Peter
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Baby Charlie
Life is good. We just had a great Sunday, one of the talks in Sacrament especially hit home. It was about balance. I have been thinking a lot about balance lately. It seems everything comes back to being balanced. Whenever I am troubled about what to do with a particular thing it seems the answer revolves somewhere around being balanced. So the lesson is that we need to be balanced in all aspects of our life, temporal, spiritual, emotional, etc.
Baby Charlie has been doing somersaults in my stomach lately. We had an ultrasound last week that showed things are going very well and he was head down during the ultrasound. Later though I could tell he had moved back to breech. Right now he seems to alternate a lot and the midwife isn't concerned because he was very easy to turn. Being all baby helps in all of this. The placenta continues to move away from the scar which is also a good sign. Hopefully everything goes according to plan. We are being very prayerful about the whole matter. People give us all different kinds of reactions to the home birth thing so it has been interesting. Chris wouldn't even consider doing it unless he got a definite "yes" in his prayers. I am more of a risk taker than him, but luckily the Lord knows the right balance (see there is the whole balance thing again). In truth, Chris and I balance each other real well. I am more spontaneous and he is more organized. Thankfully the Lord had helped us to be a great team.
The yard is almost completely ready for planting now, we chopped down our last tree and all we have left to do is remove the stump (we have already have done several). We may move one of our lime trees to the back yard as well, but we still have a lot of wood to chop up and bundle too. Maybe Chris can use all of that with scouts or we'll have the garbage haul it away. We can't wait to get our trees and get them going. Our strawberries survived the Houston winter (even with an actual hard freeze) and already have some strawberries growing. We are going to eventually move them to the front and hope to have them set up in the next couple of weeks. We just hope this all pays off.
Baby Charlie has been doing somersaults in my stomach lately. We had an ultrasound last week that showed things are going very well and he was head down during the ultrasound. Later though I could tell he had moved back to breech. Right now he seems to alternate a lot and the midwife isn't concerned because he was very easy to turn. Being all baby helps in all of this. The placenta continues to move away from the scar which is also a good sign. Hopefully everything goes according to plan. We are being very prayerful about the whole matter. People give us all different kinds of reactions to the home birth thing so it has been interesting. Chris wouldn't even consider doing it unless he got a definite "yes" in his prayers. I am more of a risk taker than him, but luckily the Lord knows the right balance (see there is the whole balance thing again). In truth, Chris and I balance each other real well. I am more spontaneous and he is more organized. Thankfully the Lord had helped us to be a great team.
The yard is almost completely ready for planting now, we chopped down our last tree and all we have left to do is remove the stump (we have already have done several). We may move one of our lime trees to the back yard as well, but we still have a lot of wood to chop up and bundle too. Maybe Chris can use all of that with scouts or we'll have the garbage haul it away. We can't wait to get our trees and get them going. Our strawberries survived the Houston winter (even with an actual hard freeze) and already have some strawberries growing. We are going to eventually move them to the front and hope to have them set up in the next couple of weeks. We just hope this all pays off.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Update on Peter
We saw the doctor and he said that the records all say he has Spastic Diplegia, but the only way to know for certain is if Peter is tested by a neurologist. So now it will probably take about 4 months to get in, which I am just fine waiting for, and we will be able to find out once and for all if he has that or not. It seems we need to find a name for whatever ails Peter before he can get braces, which I partly understand, but partly don't. Peter still anxiously awaits getting braces, I wonder if he thinks they will be magic shoes or why he is so excited about it, I will have to ask. Whatever the case, I think Peter will need braces to help his feet, especially since he can't really move one foot much.
So look down at your feet, move them in a circle, appreciate your ability! Never take for granted that you can move freely! Count your many blessings!
So look down at your feet, move them in a circle, appreciate your ability! Never take for granted that you can move freely! Count your many blessings!
Living Within Our Means
I gave a talk in church this Sunday, you can see it below:
At 18, I was taught the restored gospel and accepted baptism into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One of the first phrases I heard as a new member was “living within your means”. I have thought long and hard about that phrase. At first glance it simply means that you should not spend more money than you have, but I think there is a much deeper meaning here.
The word “means” in the phrase has to do with our money. How do we get money? We work. So money is the value of our labor, and labor is the energy we exert to get the job done. So our “means” can be a reflection of our energy.
At first glance living within our means has to do with living within the money we have. It may sound too simple, but you cannot spend more than you make. At least it used to be that way. Our grandparents had a very different view of credit, back then it wasn’t given out as freely as it is today. If we budget our money, pay our tithing, plan out our expenses, save for what we want… it all sounds so simple, but we can and should avoid credit. If we stop and think about what money really means and what credit is, it might change our thinking a bit. As I said, money is the value of our labor, our energy to perform a task. So when we borrow money, we are borrowing against our future energy with interest added. What will happen if we borrow beyond the energy we can exert to make money? That is when we may feel overwhelmed by debt. In order to explain interest to our children we told them that it’s as if you borrow money and every day that you can’t pay it back you have to pay a little more money. Debt is like a hungry monster always growing with interest. Soon it amounts to double the original cost of the item.
“Interest never sleeps nor sickens nor dies; it never goes to the hospital; it works on Sundays and holidays; it never takes a vacation; it never visits nor travels; it takes no pleasure; it is never laid off work nor discharged from employment; it never works on reduced hours. . . . Once in debt, interest is your companion every minute of the day and night; you cannot shun it or slip away from it; you cannot dismiss it; it yields neither to entreaties, demands, or orders; and whenever you get in its way or cross its course or fail to meet its demands, it crushes you.” — J. Reuben Clark
I went to Ecuador on a mission for 18 months. Ecuador is a pretty diverse country. I saw people with huge mansions and people with one room dirt floors, but I never saw storage sheds or storage rental facilities. Upon coming home to Arizona, I had been gone so long and had so many different experiences that I saw the United States through a foreigner’s eye. I was amazed at how much we own. Driving home I saw one after another of places advertising to store your excess stuff. I got home and was blown away at how much stuff there was. I feel like we suffer from an over abundance of things. As I saw more and more rental storage units the phrase came into my mind, “living within your means”. I felt the Spirit whisper to me that so many people aren’t living within their own residential space. If we cannot afford a large enough house to hold all the things we want, perhaps we have too many things.
The same month I got home from Ecuador, Chris began to make frequent visits to my home and within the month we were engaged. We began our married life with little money but lots of love. Soon after our marriage, we were expecting our first son, Peter. I stayed home and Chris worked hard to provide for us and go to school to further his education. I have supported and encouraged him all the way through college. I knew that he was learning valuable skills to further his potential salary. I knew that his education would increase our means to provide for our children. Our level of education helps us learn unique things, the more unique—the more valuable. Education comes in many forms; it may be college, trade school, apprenticeships, and military training. My brother in law has worked long and hard learning about airplanes in the military and now he is one of the top people in his field. As we further our education we learn unique skills that set us apart and increase our value for work.
During those school years, I felt that I was as much in school as he was. We were both quite busy and living in a college town, the church ward was small and we were given time consuming callings. Chris was called as Elder’s Quorum President and I was called as Seminary Teacher. Our family continued growing; I had two pregnancies during those seminary years. Our time was stretched thin, but the grace of God sustained us. Time and again Chris and I felt bad that we couldn’t do more, but we honestly didn’t have any extra time. We were living within our means giving all of our time and talents to furthering Chris’ education, nurturing our children and helping the church. We can budget our time the same as way we can budget our money, planning how to spend our time. We can increase our earnings through further education. Unfortunately we cannot increase our time, there will always remain 24 hours in a day, no matter how hard we pray to the contrary. We need to learn to live within our time and use it wisely.
Brigham Young set the perfect example of balancing our time: work 8 hours, sleep 8 hours and 8 hours recreation.
Living within our means doesn’t have to be a line drawn with permanent marker, we can increase our means through education, and we can strive to spend our money more wisely, spend our time more wisely, organize and use our living space. As our lives change, our means change. Right now Chris and I have decided that he will work and I will stay home and raise our children. I feel like it’s his job to make money and my job to save money, and it’s important for both of us as well as our children to be content.
At 18, I was taught the restored gospel and accepted baptism into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One of the first phrases I heard as a new member was “living within your means”. I have thought long and hard about that phrase. At first glance it simply means that you should not spend more money than you have, but I think there is a much deeper meaning here.
The word “means” in the phrase has to do with our money. How do we get money? We work. So money is the value of our labor, and labor is the energy we exert to get the job done. So our “means” can be a reflection of our energy.
At first glance living within our means has to do with living within the money we have. It may sound too simple, but you cannot spend more than you make. At least it used to be that way. Our grandparents had a very different view of credit, back then it wasn’t given out as freely as it is today. If we budget our money, pay our tithing, plan out our expenses, save for what we want… it all sounds so simple, but we can and should avoid credit. If we stop and think about what money really means and what credit is, it might change our thinking a bit. As I said, money is the value of our labor, our energy to perform a task. So when we borrow money, we are borrowing against our future energy with interest added. What will happen if we borrow beyond the energy we can exert to make money? That is when we may feel overwhelmed by debt. In order to explain interest to our children we told them that it’s as if you borrow money and every day that you can’t pay it back you have to pay a little more money. Debt is like a hungry monster always growing with interest. Soon it amounts to double the original cost of the item.
“Interest never sleeps nor sickens nor dies; it never goes to the hospital; it works on Sundays and holidays; it never takes a vacation; it never visits nor travels; it takes no pleasure; it is never laid off work nor discharged from employment; it never works on reduced hours. . . . Once in debt, interest is your companion every minute of the day and night; you cannot shun it or slip away from it; you cannot dismiss it; it yields neither to entreaties, demands, or orders; and whenever you get in its way or cross its course or fail to meet its demands, it crushes you.” — J. Reuben Clark
I went to Ecuador on a mission for 18 months. Ecuador is a pretty diverse country. I saw people with huge mansions and people with one room dirt floors, but I never saw storage sheds or storage rental facilities. Upon coming home to Arizona, I had been gone so long and had so many different experiences that I saw the United States through a foreigner’s eye. I was amazed at how much we own. Driving home I saw one after another of places advertising to store your excess stuff. I got home and was blown away at how much stuff there was. I feel like we suffer from an over abundance of things. As I saw more and more rental storage units the phrase came into my mind, “living within your means”. I felt the Spirit whisper to me that so many people aren’t living within their own residential space. If we cannot afford a large enough house to hold all the things we want, perhaps we have too many things.
The same month I got home from Ecuador, Chris began to make frequent visits to my home and within the month we were engaged. We began our married life with little money but lots of love. Soon after our marriage, we were expecting our first son, Peter. I stayed home and Chris worked hard to provide for us and go to school to further his education. I have supported and encouraged him all the way through college. I knew that he was learning valuable skills to further his potential salary. I knew that his education would increase our means to provide for our children. Our level of education helps us learn unique things, the more unique—the more valuable. Education comes in many forms; it may be college, trade school, apprenticeships, and military training. My brother in law has worked long and hard learning about airplanes in the military and now he is one of the top people in his field. As we further our education we learn unique skills that set us apart and increase our value for work.
During those school years, I felt that I was as much in school as he was. We were both quite busy and living in a college town, the church ward was small and we were given time consuming callings. Chris was called as Elder’s Quorum President and I was called as Seminary Teacher. Our family continued growing; I had two pregnancies during those seminary years. Our time was stretched thin, but the grace of God sustained us. Time and again Chris and I felt bad that we couldn’t do more, but we honestly didn’t have any extra time. We were living within our means giving all of our time and talents to furthering Chris’ education, nurturing our children and helping the church. We can budget our time the same as way we can budget our money, planning how to spend our time. We can increase our earnings through further education. Unfortunately we cannot increase our time, there will always remain 24 hours in a day, no matter how hard we pray to the contrary. We need to learn to live within our time and use it wisely.
Brigham Young set the perfect example of balancing our time: work 8 hours, sleep 8 hours and 8 hours recreation.
Living within our means doesn’t have to be a line drawn with permanent marker, we can increase our means through education, and we can strive to spend our money more wisely, spend our time more wisely, organize and use our living space. As our lives change, our means change. Right now Chris and I have decided that he will work and I will stay home and raise our children. I feel like it’s his job to make money and my job to save money, and it’s important for both of us as well as our children to be content.
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