Last Sunday was a typical Relief Society meeting – announcements, opening song, opening prayer, fourth Sunday TFOT lesson – until the bishop walked thru the door. (more…)

Executive #1: Hey everybody, I know that y’all are bummed having to come in on a Saturday night, but we need to pitch a new kid’s show by Monday, so we’re not leaving here until we’ve planned a show!

Writer #1: Well, I hope you don’t mind, but my friend baked me some brownies for the meeting.

Everybody takes a brownie

Writer #2: Hey, since we’re meeting on a Saturday night, I brought some wine. You know, just to make it fun.

Everybody pours a glass. Or two. (more…)

When I do get around to writing a blog post, I choose a font to type it in to match the mood.  That font usually isn’t supported by whatever blog publishing platform I’m using, but I like to think it helps the vibe and process go where they need to go.  Tonight I am using the font “analgesics”.  You won’t see that that’s what it is, but I thought I’d share to give you some insight into how I’m feeling right now. (more…)

Thursday night - 9 year old girl.

“I’m bouncy!”

WHACK (dining toom table) - tears commence.

“Not so bouncy anymore, hmmmm??” (more…)

1.  We are now 6 months after the passage of the new health care plan.  Many changes took place yesterday.  Did any of them affect you? Can you buy insurance where you couldn’t before?  Is your premium going up?  Did you have a maximum that now no longer exists?  Did anything change for you?  I’ll ask again in a year. 

(If you turn this into a guessing game/debate about the health care bill, I will weep.  They will be tears of glass and leave cuts all over my face.  You don’t want that, trust me.  I just want to know if anything’s changed for anyone I “know.”) (more…)

Or if you, like me, have married smart men who sometimes act like they have “overdegreed” themselves, this is why you don’t send these men to the grocery store:

I’m teaching about Job on Sunday. Thoughts?

Let me tell you a little bit about my 3 year old, Little Sister. Or, at least, I’ll tell you what I told her preschool teacher in our little meet and greet parent-teacher conference. I told the teacher that by and large, Little Sister is a reserved child who plays happily on her own. Unlike her uber social brother, she’s not particularly outgoing, but nor is she a doormat. She’s a little stubborn, has a strong will when she needs it, and can stand up for herself. But for the most part, she’s happy to play by herself, and with others if they seek her out. She was a late talker, and still doesn’t chatter very much, and sometimes won’t answer if you ask her a direct question. So, in essence, she’s a pretty easy going, fairly manageable child, and should do just fine.

This description matches how Little Sister behaves in nursery. This description, however, apparently DOESN’T match how she behaves in preschool. (more…)

I never thought I’d feel safe again. Thanks to those who made it so I do.

I was walking along the toilet paper aisle, trying to figure out the cheapest deal, and I came across some generic toilet paper that was really really super cheap. I reached for it, but then paused. I started thinking about if I really wanted to buy this toilet paper. I mean, WHY is this toilet paper so much cheaper than the rest of the toilet paper? I looked at it carefully, trying to figure out what made this toilet paper so much less than the other brands.

Maybe it’s scratchier than the rest? Not as absorbent? Only 1 ply, so it won’t last as long?I turned these questions over in my mind, then I reached for the name brand that was a dollar more, because you know what? My bum is worth it. (more…)

What would you say to yourself right before your first baby was born?

It is a universal truth that some people are campers and some are not.  I am a camper but there are others in my family who think that a Motel 6 stay requires extreme survival skills.  I will admit that as I age, my willingness to really rough it dwindles.  I can still cop a squat with the best of them, but prefer a camp trailer with a potty for use in the middle of the night.  I could shower out of a bucket like Heather did in Haiti, and cook over an open flame but the primary goal of camping, in my mind, is not to completely deprive yourself, it is to get away from everything that creates stress.

Over the Labor Day weekend, I took my family camping for that very purpose.  I wanted no cell phones, DVD players, TVs, computers, etc.  We packed our liittle trailer and headed to the mountains.  Just the four of us.  My kids couldn’t quite grasp the concept of no other cousins to play with on this trip, but I wanted peace and quiet and that is precisely what I got.  We camped on some family owned land that was contained and isolated enough so that I could let the kids run free without worrying too much.  They whittled, threw rocks, fished, played in water, chased animals did the daily fire preparation and had a grand time.  When not fishing with the kids, my DH decided to “landscape” the camp area by clearing scrub, and dead fall and making stairs and pathways out of the things provided by nature (which he does for relaxation). I read books (O.K. I’ll admit, they were on my Kindle, so I didn’t go completely electronic free) and napped.  A nap.  What a foreign concept!  I can’t think of a greater vacation and despite the fact that we have done many trips this summer, this was the first time I actually relaxed. I’m now wishing I had a little more summer to do more of these quick trips!

This is an informative article about the retraction of the original study that linked autism with the MMR vaccine. A good read for every mom who has questions about the best choice for their children when it comes to vaccines, although at the end of it, I did have to ask myself, “Who let this study be published in the first place?” Just another reminder that we have to be careful where we get our info, and listen to the Spirit when making decisions as parents.

Happy reading.

My apologies to Laura Joffe Numeroff, whose original story, ‘If you give a mouse a cookie’, can be found here.

If you give a mom some Windex, she might use it to clean her daughter’s artwork off the wall.

While she’s cleaning the artwork off the wall going up the stairs, she might notice that the banister is dirty, and she’ll start cleaning that instead.

She’ll use up so many paper towels cleaning up the banister that she has to go throw them away. She’ll put them in the trash can in the kitchen, only to notice that the trash can is full. She’ll get out another liner to put in the trash can, but get an idea that she should probably take the trash bag upstairs and throw stuff away in her bedroom before she puts the liner in the trash can. (more…)