Decent day, even if the weather was kinda housy.

My headache is gone. My husband said he cleaned the house today, so it will be nice when I get back...whenever that will be :). I got some of next week's homework done. Life could not better be.
Well, my friend is moving to a place where I'll pretty much never see her again. :( But maybe it'll be an excuse for another trip. Hmmm, maybe. We'll see how this traveling with the kids thing keeps going. So far so good. I do like to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible with no stops, but my sister-in-law made me think maybe I shouldn't be in such a hurry all the time. Maybe it would be nice to stop play for a bit and not rush to wherever I'm going at the last possible minute. I dunno, that would be awfully new to me. :)

My children are sick, but at least my mom is feeling better. It's really not fun to be watching little kids when you feel lousy. I've worried about her all week. I'm going to wait until I see how they're doing before I plan my trip home.

Cold. I have been cold all day long. Okay- bedtime, have to leave early in the morning. Goodnight.

What Sad News

I haven't had time to blog. After a long trip to Idaho I am now on a long trip to Salt Lake City. My trip to the Philippines has been canceled, due to unforeseen natural disasters and the ensuing widespread damage in Japan. We will go later, and meanwhile pray for all of the people in Japan who are suffering. A friend recently said that "they must have done something really bad for God to have done that." I don't buy it. That's like saying when I lose a baby it's because I did something wrong, or when anyone has anything bad happen to them for that matter- that they must have offended God. It's a test. Bad things happen to good people and the test is how we react to our own and others' trials. It may be easy to justify not reaching out or loving others by saying they deserved it or brought it on themselves, but in the end it may not only not be true, but that part is none of our business. The part that is our business is comforting, helping, supporting, and loving.
(On a side note comforting others is one of my own mini trials. When I try to comfort others I become tongue-tied, or ramble on, generally saying the wrong thing, about on par with a teenage boy asking for his first date. It's just that I have no idea what to say in most sad situations, and get very tense and nervous. Handing out hugs and holding a hand is especially hard- mostly because I hate it when others do that to me when I'm upset. Hopefully, I'll improve with age.)

Back on track. It's very sad to see others suffering and not quite know what to do about it except pray. In this case, I will trust that my church will know how to distribute contributions.

In other news, I will be home sooner than I thought, unless I decide to stay longer, or go do something else. (Read, as usual, I'm not yet sure what I'm doing. And I'm okay with it.)

Catching up...a bit

8^th March 2011

My son stayed up reading The Jungle Book for an hour and a half after Shawn and the other kids were in bed. I asked him if he understood much of it, because it intrigued me that he’d stay up and read something that difficult. He didn’t understand a lot of it, but just before bed said, “I just LOVE Rudyard Kipling!” Haha. Love that kid.

My unpacking is nearly finished, my dental work was not painful (I love my new dentist!), and hopefully my finger will heal quickly. I chopped it with a butcher knife, but not badly enough to go to a clinic.

Now for the packing. I'm excited about my upcoming trip...if only I could decide what day I'm leaving. Since I inevitably work to a deadline, it will probably be the last possible moment. There's just too much to do! (Read- I'm behind :().

10th March 2011 @ 12:50 a.m.

Yes- it's late. I'm on my way to bed. But I just noticed that I have several blog entries halfway done (or not even that far) that will probably never get finished. It's okay...haha- did I say 12:50? Had to take a break to make Shawn's lunch for tomorrow; I'd feel horrible all day long if I forgot. Well, I did get a lot of homework done this evening anyway.

Hark- what's this? The cry of a waking child at 1:15? Sure enough. Goodnight blogosphere- I better scoot before the whole house is up.

A late night update

Yes, it's late and I know I should be in bed. I just finished my rough draft of the economic and political conditions in Colombia. I'm looking around my house and realizing that three steps forward and two steps back is still progress. I did get a lot of the unpacking and cleaning done but lagged on general upkeep. I'll get there though.

We initiated "closet time" today, inspired by the blog of a TJED homeschooling momma. It's a set time to use any of the learning tools or games in whatever is designated as the "closet." -Doesn't have to be an actual closet. Mine is. Today we drew pictures from a "How to Draw" book...and spent a good hour and a half on it. The attention span of a child isn't so short when they really want to do something! We drew very recognizable renditions of Walle, which are now hanging on our fridge. Shawn was duly impressed :).

I'm looking for more book series' for my 7 yr. old. We're running out of Magic Tree House books. I'm thinking of Encyclopedia Brown, and the Wayside School books. I'll have to hunt around for recommendations. A Thomas Jefferson Education has a good list in the back...I just have to buy it; I used my mom's copy previously.

Oh yeah. We watched While You Were Sleeping today while folding many many batches of laundry, and I once again noticed that it's so fun to watch kids' expressions. It's a sweet little chick flick and my oldest smiled through most of it, laughing, and saying things like "This is my favorite movie!" (Boy, we need to get out more.) He likes things to be happy and feel-good, just like me. He fast forwards parts of Snow White and Pinocchio (as well as several others I'm sure). Love kids; they are just so interesting!

Sometimes I think I'm superwoman...it's okay that I'm not, just don't tell my husband :)

Boxes and batches of laundry and dishes. Glad to have a dishwasher and a washing machine. Sometimes I forget how hard something is (like moving) and think I'm going to have it done in a ridiculously short period of time. Glad to have my things here. Tomorrow I'm going to use a gallon of bleach and maybe I'll bleach the laundry too just for good measure.

But tonight I'm going to bed, just as soon as the advil kicks in. I'm considering whether I want to sand down a wooden bunk bed set and refinish it or throw it out. It's not much of a contest- I've never sanded anything in my life. No, I take that back. You have to sand shrinky-dinks.

Ah well, I have cartoons for kids, all the fixings for sandwiches, and a decent-sized living room to unpack in. I already promised the kids we'd take reading breaks, and they're not likely to forget. We found some Magic Tree House books on tape at the library for our trip in a few weeks. :)

Update on Family Life

We’re having devotionals in the morning now- and it makes the whole day much better. We pick a few verses of scripture on a particular topic and discuss them and how we can do what Heavenly Father has asked of us. Today’s topic was love. The boys are trying to remember to show love to one another throughout the day. There are dozens of hugs going around, because that is how they show love. I think tomorrow we’ll talk about service as a form of love. :)

I’ve been writing about my mission in life, just for more clarity and to, well, write. I guess I like to write when I make the time to do it. There are several books I want to read, but I’m putting them off until after the unpacking project. Our 7 yr old has gotten into the habit of singing his brothers to sleep and then reading for an hour before bed. Normally I wouldn’t let him stay up that late, but as he seems to be enjoying reading so much, and it’s a good quiet time to do it with no distractions… Sometimes he reads a couple of chapters out loud to the little boys until they fall asleep, instead of singing. They adore their older brother. When he’s not busy reading the Magic Tree House at night, we read from a classic. At the moment we’re in the middle of Little Men, which he’s enjoying immensely.

Shawn isn’t around much, but he’s learning Chinese at a rapid rate. And when he is here, he tries to take a little time to play with the boys, we try to have dinner as a family, and we can squeeze family home evening in if we manage our time very well (read, if we have a fast dinner and the kids are pretty much ready for bed by the time Shawn gets home).

I’m looking forward to my trip in March and my sister visiting in April.

Mourn with one who mourns

http://roscommonacres.com/2010/12/what-happened/

Last night I read one of the saddest stories. I cried myself to sleep. I feel like an ungrateful wretch. The dumb little things I worry about when I am blessed far beyond what I deserve right now. Everyone is healthy, we have the gospel, we love each other. I hope never to face what this dear mother is dealing with right now. My bad days are nothing, bad moods over mere trivialities. I feel like most of what I have to say, or have ever said in my life, is trivial. Kind words, words of encouragement, sharing the gospel, telling others how much you love them…these are the important things there are to say.

How can I forget that my precious children are children of God and yell and be cross with them? May I begin now to live up to the expectations of my Heavenly Father regarding how his dear children should be treated every moment. Any occasion could be the last opportunity, to say “I love you,” to give a hug, to go on a walk and watch the spring flowers or the fall leaves.

…It is now much later in the day, and I realize that just because everything I have to say isn’t life-changing, or about the most important topics in life, it doesn’t mean some of what I think and say isn’t important. To me, at least. As I make new discoveries, learn from my mistakes, and understand life better, I grow. Writing about what I learn or feel, or how I’m improving, or my family life, is part of the process of growing. I can review what is going on in my life, what I “used to think” (it does change occasionally!), what I have deemed to be important. The prophet also told us to make a record of our lives. At the moment, this is my record. I used to keep a journal, and I will again, but for now, it’s just my blog and the occasional intended blog that never gets published.

My heart goes out to those who are in need of comfort, who feel guilty (whether they should or not), who feel alone, who experience the loss of a loved one, who never feel like they are "good enough." I pray that they will find peace in Heavenly Father's love and through the angels he sends to help us.