Let The Adventure Continue

I admit it. I’m not exceptional at math. However, I am good at counting. And I’ve been especially proficient at counting how many times I’ve moved our family in the last “just under 20” years. I can’t recall meeting anyone that I didn’t beat at the “I’ve moved more than you” game. I count the big moves. I count the small moves. Any time I have to pack and move boxes, it counts.

Well. Here we go… again.

James may be happy to know that I will not be counting living with my parents for a few weeks while the kids finish up school in St. George as a “move”. Instead, I’ll call it a “passage of transition”. There is a reason for this. A very good reason.

You see, this next move is a BIG move! It’s what I’m going to call our “Silver Move”. Yes – this will be our 25^th move! I want to make this a very special move. I want this move to be the best move yet. I want James and I to really enjoy the opportunity we have to move yet again (And by “James and I”, I mean that I will inevitably get to do most of the packing and moving and James will do everything he can to help me enjoy the move).

So, in preparation for this move, I’ve done a little research.

The silver 25th anniversary is a milestone wedding anniversary. And rightly so! Spending a quarter of a century in love with one person is to be celebrated. So why shouldn’t the 25^th move be a milestone in a marriage as well? (I mean, it has been awfully nice of me to follow James around so much…) In anticipation of James helping me enjoy this move a little more, I’ve come across the following ideas (some better than others):

25^th Anniversary Traditional Gift Ideas: Silver (Silver is the metal most noted for the twenty-fifth anniversary due to its radiance and brilliance.) Some Alternatives: Tsavorite, Green Garnet. (Set in silver perhaps?)

25^th Anniversary Flower: Iris (I actually love flowers, but don’t like them as gifts because they are expensive and then DIE and therefore are, in my opinion, a waste of money… I know, so abnormal for a woman.)

Additional Gift Ideas:

• Purchase theatre tickets and wrap with a silver ribbon or place in a silver box.

• Plan a trip to Silver Springs in Florida or Silverstrand Beach in Ireland. (If traveling somewhere with the word “Silver” in it is difficult, I’d settle for Antigua.)

• Silver Jewelry

• Make a Silver Wish Tree. Paint a big branch silver and decorate with silver ribbons, ornaments etc. Fill the branches with pictures, tickets for a trip, travelers checks, gift certificates for different events and restaurants you could use on a trip, etc. (James can keep it simple and leave out the tree if necessary.)

Although I'm really going to hate saying good-bye to everyone in St George, I’m really looking forward to this move. Of course, the first step is getting James to see this post… because he would never realize on his own what a big event this move actually is. But, as soon as he realizes, I’m sure he’ll be completely on board with my celebration ideas!

*Disclaimer: Although moving has certainly had its challenges and is most definitely not my favorite activity, I must make it clear that I would follow James to the moon and back millions and billions of times. So although I may complain about the task of “moving”, there are absolutely no complaints about doing whatever it takes to be with James!

The Talent Show

Isabel performed at her school talent show yesterday. Sadly, we had an unfortunate series of events prior to the talent show and our video camera ended up locked in our car across town from the school. As a result, my only recording option was my cell phone. It's not great quality and has no zoom, but it's better than nothing.

This is Isabel singing "Here I Am" from "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels". Enjoy!

Toothless

As of May 9th Micah has lost 6 teeth. He hates having his teeth pulled out. It seems like he is constantly getting pestered by someone when he has a loose tooth. "Let me just see how loose it is", "Can I just try to pull it out?", "Wiggle it for me". The poor kid starts crying any time anyone comes near. Last Sunday morning he woke up and had his 6th tooth just dangling from his gums. When he got to church people noticed his tooth and asked him if they could try to pull it out before we even went into Sacrament meeting (that's how loose it was!). Of course, he declined.

However, halfway through Sacrament meeting Micah held up his tooth to show James and I that it had finally fallen out. We found a safe place to store it during church until we could get it home and ready for the tooth fairy. Then (without me noticing somehow) he got a hold of my phone, took a picture of himself and posted it on facebook. Here is our little toothless boy:

Great Kids!

Sometimes I am overwhelmed with the gratitude I feel for my family.

For example, in April the girls and I attended the General Young Women Broadcast. It was a typical Saturday, except for the fact that we had to get into our Sunday clothes that evening and head to the church for a 1 1/2 hour meeting. I always enjoy the talks, but know that it's a sacrifice to ask anyone to give up a Saturday night to hang out with their mom at the church. My girls attended the meeting without one complaint and sat reverently listening. I found myself getting emotional as I reflected on how blessed I am to have such amazing daughters. Daughters that want to do what's right and don't give me too much trouble (unless you count kitchen jobs a huge issue).

A few days ago I was talking to a friend that has been dealing with some struggles in her life. Her comment to me was, "I'm so grateful for your girls! They have loved me when I didn't feel that I was loved. They always seek me out and give me a hug. They have been such a blessing in my life!" Again, how did I become so blessed?

Then there was the Sunday that we had our Stake leaders visit us in Young Women. They played a "Unity Game" with us. The first Stake leader stood up in front with a ball of yarn and talked about someone that she admired, then threw the ball of yarn to her. That person would throw the ball of yarn to the next person, and so forth, until we could all literally see that we were tied together in unity. The first person chosen by the Stake leader was Tori. She talked about how they had gone on a camp out and Tori had been so helpful and friendly. It was another moment when I realized how blessed I am to be her mother.


Just this morning I received an email from one of Emma's teachers: "Hi - This is Terri Lusk. I teach Emma science here at Dixie Middle. She has been such a pleasure to have in class that I wanted to take a minute and tell you what a wonderful daughter you have. Respectful and a friend to everyone. Emma is just a happy girl. Thanks for sharing her with me this year. Ms. Lusk" Emma IS an amazing friend to so many. She IS always happy. She IS a blessing in my life.


I have been watching Isabel lately. She ran for Student Body President, was in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and auditioned for the talent show all within the last 2 weeks. She always exhibits such class. Not only is she extremely talented, but more importantly she treats everyone with respect and love and genuinely lights up the room when she walks in. People can feel that she loves them. It has been a joy to watch her grow up.


And I suppose we shouldn't forget Micah. This morning on the way home from taking the kids to school he said, "Mom, can we please stop by grandma's house on the way home? I need to thank her for the graduation gift and give her a hug." A thoughtful act that was not prompted by anyone. What a great kid.


The examples could go on and on... but today I just wanted to reflect (and record) the gratitude I have for my incredible children! I am so blessed to have these amazing people in my life!

Tori's Gift

A few days before Mother's Day, Tori mentioned that she had thought of the perfect gift to give me. She stated that I would especially love it because "it came from the heart". She was right. This is the picture she gave me on the evening of Mother's Day with a sweet note. I think it's beautiful.

Micah's Gift

I loved my Mother's Day gift from Micah. I found it in his backpack after all the celebrations were over and the kids were in bed. He must have forgotten that he made it for me at school.

His gift actually had two parts. The first was a "fill-in-the-blank" poem he had written for me. It said:

I Love You Poem

My mom likes to watch Biggest Loser.
My mom likes to play.
She also likes to snuggle with me.
She is great in every way.

I like the way Mom bakes pizza.
I like the way she shares.
She always tries to not be mean.
And I know she really cares.

My mom is really nice.
She's loveing, yes, it's true.
That's why I want to tell you, Mom,
Just how much I love you.

Love,
Micah Truax

The second part of his gift was a "Kindergarten Recipe Book". Each of the kindergarten students were asked "What is your favorite recipe your mom makes? How does she make it?" The students answers were written down word for word and printed up for all the moms. This was Micah's entry:

Micah - Homemade Pizza

She makes the dough well she gets the ingredients out and some of the ingredients I remember is salt, cheese, sauce and flour and I think - I think vanilla - yeah, vanilla. Then she puts actually some flour on the table then she puts the dough on the table and puts it in a round, flat surface. Then she puts it in a pan in the oven for a little bit. Then she puts some sauce and cheese on it and puts it back in the oven and we wait for it. Then we take it out and put it on the counter then on the plates then we eat it!

Micah loves to help me make homemade pizza. It's one of my kids favorite meals. We usually make 2 pizzas (one cheese, and one pineapple). They actually prefer homemade pizza to frozen pizza or restaurant pizza. Since it's a lot cheaper than a pizza parlor I don't argue with them, especially since it doesn't take too long to make. I'm posting the recipe below, just in case you want to try it for yourself. (Thanks to Tryn Paxton for the recipe!)


Homemade Pizza

1 T active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 T olive oil
2 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in sugar, salt, oil, and flour. Knead dough for 5 minutes by hand or in a bread machine. You do not need to let this dough rise. Roll dough out on a baking stone or a greased pizza pan sprinkled lightly with cornmeal to prevent sticking.* Use the back of a spoon to spread pizza sauce of choice. Add desired pizza toppings and grated cheese. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.

* To prevent a doughy pizza crust, I put the pizza crust into the oven for about 5 minutes prior to putting the pizza sauce, toppings & cheese on the crust.

Mother's Day

I hate Mother's Day. I think it's because I'm such a selfish person. Every year I get upset because my kids and husband aren't sensitive enough to MY needs, they don't pamper ME enough, they fail to get ME the gift I asked for. In addition, I allow it to be a reminder of all the things I fall short of as a mother. I don't know why I fall into the "guilt" trap, but I do.

This year was going to be different. James was going to be out of town on Mother's Day. I was going to pretend that it didn't exist for me. Instead, I was going to focus on celebrating the fact that I have an AMAZING mother. I made plans with my dad to bring my mom to my home for a special Mother's Day dinner, and arranged for my siblings that live nearby to come for dessert.

However, Saturday came and I found myself getting increasingly more irritated with my family. Regardless of my plans to pretend that Mother's Day didn't exist for me, I just couldn't seem to help feeling that no one cared as much as I wanted them to. I fell into my selfish trap and told myself all day long that Mother's Day was the WORST day of the year.

I stopped by my mom's house and vented a bit. She told me that she had always worn black on Mother's Day because she was in mourning. I have a funny mom.

I vented to a friend and we made plans to take a vacation next year over Mother's Day weekend. We decided that for Mother's Day the best gift would be to get away from our families.

I watched the Mother's Day episode of "The Middle" and thought, "SEE!!! Mother's Day IS a horrible, horrible holiday. No one appreciates us for everything we really do."

I went to bed on Saturday night frustrated and angry. Tired because I had done the cleaning and shopping and cooking in preparation for "my" Mother's Day.

Sunday morning came, and I felt better. I had gotten all my frustration and anger out in the open the day before, and I was ready to deal with whatever Mother's Day turned out to be (or not be). I went to church and started listening to the lists of "what every good mother should do..." Surprisingly as the list went on and on, I found myself thinking, "Hey! I'm doing a lot of these things. I'm certainly not doing them all, nor am I doing them perfectly. But I'm doing my best and I'm not going to feel guilty about it." (Now that's a much different reaction than I felt a few years ago!) After church I went home and took a short nap before getting dinner ready. We enjoyed a nice meal with my parents. It was also fun to have the additional family members come over for dessert.

While my sister was visiting, she mentioned that someone at church had told her that mother's day was her favorite holiday. My sister said, "Are you serious? Why?" This mother answered, "Because I LOVE being a mom and I love that I can reflect on how blessed I am to have kids." That was my first wake-up call. I need to make my mother's day more about how much I love being a mom and less about how I want a break from being a mom.

Later in the evening I received a text from a friend that said, "I hope you enjoyed your mother's day. Hopefully you had a nice dinner with your mom. I've been missing my mom today." Her mom passed away a few years ago. That was my second wake-up call. As I mentioned, I have an AMAZING mom. She is someone I truly look up to. She is an example of someone that really tries to live a good life. She is selfless, spiritual, hard working, Christ-like and really cares about her family. I can't imagine not having her in my life. However, in spite of my decision to make mother's day about my mom, I had failed to give up my selfish expectations. I needed to make mother's day more about rejoicing in the fact that I have a wonderful mother in my life that I honor and respect.

And in actuality, it WAS a nice mother's day. I can't wait until next year.