Yes, I'll Take Care of your Legos

"You are making a sacrifice, but it is not a sacrifice because you will get more than you give up, you will gain more than you give, and it will prove to be an investment with tremendous returns. It will prove to be a blessing instead of a sacrifice. No one who ever served in this work as a missionary, who gave his or her best efforts, need worry about making a sacrifice, because there will come blessings into the life of that individual for as long as he or she lives."  

- Gordon B. Hinckley

It's a strange feeling when you work so hard to achieve something, give your all for a future goal, strive tirelessly for a positive outcome...but when it actually happens, you're an emotional wreck. I'm happy, too. Really, I am. I'm jovial and ecstatic and thrilled and proud. This was what I wanted all along. But my heart strings are being pulled and when that happens to Mama Bear, tears flow, emotions are high, and focusing on real life is tough. However, it will get better. Millions of mothers have been through it. I will, too.

What am I talking about? My son just left for Santiago, Chile for two years. He's serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. Since he was born, we've hoped for this day. We've prayed that he would have the desire to serve a mission. We know what it will do for him. We know the growth that will take place. We know the man he will become. 

He grew up talking about going on a mission...

His 3 year old prayer: "Help me that I can go on a mission and help my dog go on a mission, too."

His 4 year old prayer: "Please help me that I can go on a mission and my dog, too."

His 7 year old plea: "I'm collecting legos like Uncle Stephen. I'm going to keep my legos until after my mission. Mom, when I'm on my mission, will you take care of my legos?"

His 8 year old prayer: "Please bless me that I can go on a mission to Mexico so I can buy a switch blade knife."

Through his youth he has prepared for this day: seminary, youth activities, service projects, testimony meetings, scripture study, Family Home Evening, missionary prep classes, temple attendance, prayer, jobs, work, saving........

I am a thrilled Mother for his obedience to Heavenly Father and his desire to tell the people of Santiago, Chile about Jesus Christ and His plan for us. I wouldn't want him anywhere else. I'm willing to only hear from him via letter/email once per week. I'm willing to only talk to him twice per year - 4 times over the next two years. I'm willing to pray for him and write to him and support him. But it hurts. He's been gone for almost 24 hours and I'm still crying. He's where I want him to be, but I'm a mess.

As Mothers, we rejoice and mourn for our children. Now is the time for me to rejoice...

"Lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is come; and your tongue shall be loosed, and you shall declare glad tidings of great joy unto this generation." D&C 31:3

...but I can't help mourning, just a little.

I wrote him a letter to read on the airplane. It's too personal to post in its entirety, but I will share the following:

"I love you, son. I have shed more tears than I thought possible. But they are tears of joy for your goodness, for your righteous desires, for your obedience, for your wise choices, for your example to your siblings and to me. Be of good cheer and know we will pray for you every day. We are waving the flag for Elder Bushman. We will await hearing from you each week with excitement. We will support you as you go to serve the people of Chile. I give you, my oldest son, to the Lord for the next 2 years, willingly and gratefully. Thank you for making me a very happy Mama. My love to you, Adam. Go forward with faith and with God. Return honorably. Love, Mom"

Oh, and yes, I'll take care of your legos while you're on your mission.

More to Come...but until then, Stick-to-it!

It's a Feeling

"Christmas is a feeling, filling the air.
It's love and joy and laughter of people everywhere.
Christmas is a feeling bringing good cheer;
It reaches out to touch you when the holidays draw near.
It's mistletoe and falling snow
And candles burning bright.
It's a baby in a manger on a cold winter night;
It's glad noels and chiming bells,
And presents by the tree;
It's the spirit of giving in you and in me.
For Christmas is a feeling filling the air,
It's love and joy and laughter of people everywhere.
But if Christmas is a feeling
Bringing such good cheer,
Then why, O why don't you and I
Try to make it last all year?
Why can't it last all year?"
Christmas is a Feeling

When I was an elementary student, we learned and performed the song, Christmas is a Feeling, for a school concert. Since then, I have loved the beautiful tune and the meaning of the words. Christmas is a glorious feeling! I remember the Christmas feeling from my childhood. Allow me to reminisce...

 

I recall coming home from school each weekday in December , opening the door and smelling the fresh scent of pine, coming from the LIVE Christmas tree we acquired from the boy scout tree lot up the street. Mom always had the Christmas lights on when we came home. I remember sitting on the couch at night with all the lights off except for the Christmas lights. We always put the same strand of large colored bulbs around the big windows in the front living and dining room. The Christmas tree always had colored lights. The decorative tree in the corner had white lights. Mom compromised. We always wanted white lights on the tree; mom wanted colored. I sat on that couch night after night, staring at the lights, reading stacks of Christmas books found in the basket by the couch, and listening to the Christmas music that always seemed to be playing on Mom's under the cupboard radio in the kitchen, tuned to KOIT. 

 

The excitement when the presents were wrapped and placed under the tree was almost tangible, and I can still remember it now. Shaking and feeling the presents was common. Searching the house for gifts was an annual event until I found them one year and was entirely disappointed on Christmas morning because I was not surprised. I never searched for my gifts again. Christmas Eve was the highlight of the season! Grandma and Grandpa and Don and Sally's family gathered at our house for a Christmas Eve dinner. Grandma always brought the turkey. Grandpa always did the dishes. Funny jokes and stories were told. Lots of laughter was common. We dressed up each year in the same nativity costumes as the year before. Dad's bottles of cologne were the three gifts from the wisemen. We acted out the nativity story and sang Christmas songs at the proper breaks in the narration. Dad was always the narrator; his long "ALLLLL the world would be taxed" was classic and everyone knew he would do it yet again. Grandma and Grandpa always dressed up, too, usually as wisemen. I remember being Mary as a little girl and holding that baby doll so carefully before I placed him in the manger, the cradle Grandpa made. We still use it to this day. Treats followed - egg nog, sparkling cider, fudge, the most delicious homemade sugar cookies, divinity, peanut blossoms (peanut butter cookies with the hershey kiss). These were my favorites

 

Christmas morning found us gathered in Mom and Dad's room. We waited for Dad to put on his grey sweat pants and hoodie. We lined up youngest to oldest and walked down the hallway together to the living room. The living room light switch was connected to the outlet for the Christmas tree lights. Switching it on brought colorful light to our excitement as we discovered what Santa most generously delivered. Dad and Mom sat and watched with pure pleasure. We spent all morning with our new-found goodies. The rest of the day was spent with the extended family at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They always had a special gift for us. Many times Grandma wrote a little poem that went with their gift. We played with cousins, ate turkey sandwiches, played cribbage and Uno, ate See's candies from Grandma, looked at the Christmas decorations, and enjoyed the FEELING.

 

One year I received a necklace that I had wanted for months; they were the big rage. The necklace was that of stuffed fabric. The charm was a porcelain rabbit. I LOVED it! Later in the day Mom and Dad gave us the bad news...our friends home was robbed and all their Christmas gifts were taken. My parents asked us to donate one of our gifts to the children of the family. One of the girls was my age. Alyssa. I looked over my gifts and knew I needed to give her the necklace. I couldn't give her socks or a sweater. It made me happy to give her something that would bring her great joy, something that meant so much to me. I will NEVER forget that experience. I think it was the first time I really FELT and understood what Christmas was all about. Yes, Christmas is a feeling, a beautiful feeling, especially when it involves the true meaning of Christmas - that of giving of yourself, serving others, and thinking of another before yourself... giving a gift to Jesus Christ. 

 

 Some of my favorite 2012 Christmas moments:

 

My cutie!

Just some of the participants

Playing the Part: Shepherds, Mary & Joseph, Wisemen, Angels

Singing together...

Little Lamb

The angels singing Silent Night

Santa Baby

Cute Cousins!

Shepherd and Lambie

Our wisemen

Shepherds

Love this Shepherd!

Wise Buddies!

A Singing Moment

O, Christmas Tree on Christmas Eve

Ready for Santa

Her own straightener!

Cute Couple loving their finger lights

Ready to fly...

Usain Bolt Dog Tags...

Sweet Sisters

Sue Thomas Complete Series!!

He wanted a Christmas Moose sweater. A shirt will have to do...

Scooter Buddies!

A new tradition - Follow the Star

She is my daughter

I have tried to create a Christmas Feeling in our home. I pray that through traditions, service, stories, laughter, giving, and memories, my children will forever have the Christmas Feeling in their hearts.

 More to Come...but until then, Stick-to-it!

 

The 5:49 AM Wakeup Call

Midnight...

Mom is given a request.

Has the Mom lost her memory?

Daughter truly thinks so. 

When the dawn comes

The memory just might be there.

Thus, a cute sign... helps her out!

(Think Cats)

D#3: "Mom, will you wake me up at 5:49 AM? I have to finish my homework."

Right....she's 8 years old, going to bed at 10:30 PM and she's going to get up at 5:49 AM? I've been surprised before, but I'll be really surprised if this really happens. 

Mom: "Honey, that's pretty early. Are you sure?"

D#3: "Yes, Mom. I need to catch up on my work from being sick."

Mom: "OK, I'll try to remember."

I always use that disclaimer so if I don't wake them up, they will recall that I warned them of my inability to remember due to Mom-Overload.

As I was going to bed, I discovered the following:

In my Bathroom

On my Dresser

 She didn't want to rely on my memory! She was really serious about this!

This morning, I found these:

On my Desk

On the kitchen cupboard

At 6:00 AM, I made my way to her bedroom. I was a little late 'cause I was sleeping at 5:49. This is what I found...

I tried to wake up Sleeping Beauty...Nothing! She wouldn't budge. I decided to take a video to prove that I indeed did try to wake her up as requested.

An hour later I tried again. I told her I took a video of me waking her up. She watched it and we laughed when we heard the root-toot-toots in the video. She got up at 6:49AM. Only one hour later!

Thoughts:

• When your child is serious about something, try to accommodate. Even if she doesn't respond, at least she'll know you made the effort for her.
• The signs worked! She is brilliant!!
• There is something so peaceful about a sleeping child. It's just wrong to wake her!
• We really need to go to bed earlier!
• So happy that she cares enough about her school work to get up early and work on it.

Thanks for the memory-jogging tool, sweetie. Now, how do I remember all the other things I need to do today?

More to Come...but until then, Stick-to-it!

The 8 Steps Addendum

Dear Son,

Thank you for waiting to throw up until 30 minutes before my alarm was set to go off, instead of at 2AM! Many thanks for throwing up in one spot on your bed. The cleanup was so fast and easy. Also, thank you for hitting the spot in the MIDDLE of the mattress. The times when your siblings made my life miserable by throwing up in the corner of the bed by the wall still haunt my memory. Pulling the bed out and scrubbing all the way down to the carpet is something I never want to repeat. I love you and hope you are feeling better really soon!

Love,

Mom

So during this latest escapade, I recalled a few things that I left out in my past post, How to Deal With Throw up in Eight Dreaded Steps.

1. When you put your child in the tub, make sure the puke bowl is within reach. Thankfully, I thought to put it next to him this morning and what do you know, he needed it two minutes later. So grateful for that inspiration! There's nothing worse than having to drain the tub and start all over again. Wait, there is something worse....it's the puke down the side of the bed thing.

2. My sister recently gave me some bedding she was getting rid of. It included a REALLY NICE mattress pad so I put it on my son's bed. When I took off the soiled blankets after the ralph-accident this morning, the mattress was totally clean. I'm a believer now. Invest in waterproof mattress pads! I still sprayed the mattress - mainly to get rid of the smell in the room. What a joy not to have to scrub a mattress, not to mention keeping the mattress soil-proof!

3. DoTerra's DigestZen is amazing to help soothe the stomach. Put a drop under the tongue and also dilute with fractionated coconut oil to rub on the abdomen. What would I do without this? 

6 family members down. Hopefully, no more to go!

More to Come...but until then, Stick-to-it!

How to Deal with Throw up in Eight Dreaded Steps

I'm sorry if your name is Ralph!

We've had a bit of a stomach bug this week. Dealing with all manner of bodily fluids always makes me grateful for good health. It also tends to remind me of past sicknesses which brings up memories of how I coped. It's taken a lot of years to learn how to deal with the stomach flu. I remember the melt downs I had as a young mother, the feelings of being overwhelmed, the drama and stress of having a sick one, and not quite knowing what to do. If I could have read a book called, "How to deal with throw up in eight dreaded steps", my life would have been much easier. Considering the nature of this post, you may want to stop now and go do your laundry. However, if this blog post can be that booklet for my children, they will have an easier time when the puke hits the fan. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Oh, and just so you know...no photos, in case you were worried.

1. When you start seeing the signs of sickness (complaining of a stomach ache, not eating, no energy), have the child stay in one place. Offer a container (bowl, pan, plastic lunch box, ice bucket, bed pan, large ziploc bag - anything that will hold liquid. A plastic yellow doctor kit, Kath?). Don't try to run them to the toilet or the garbage can. Bring it to them. It's better to clean up throw up in one place than a trail of mess from the living room to the bathroom. Trust me on this. This has happened and I cried the entire time I was scrubbing carpet.

2. Prepare the spot. I NEVER let my sick child into a bed for them to throw up all over it. Our spot is between the kitchen floor and the living room. Put down a waterproof covering (shower curtain works well or plastic garbage bags). Cover it with something that easily washes. I use an old mattress pad folded in half. It provides a lot of cushion and washes nicely. I NEVER give my sick child a pillow. Pillows and throw up just do not mix. We use a folded towel inside a pillow case. All washable. When we had really young children that were sick, one of us slept with the child on the floor to help them make it to the bowl. 

The worst thing is when your child vomits during the night in bed. Oh, the dread that washes over me when this occurs. Supplies Needed: Grocery Bags, Paper Towels, Wash Cloth, Cleaner (more on that in a bit), Spoon.

This is how I handle such an event:

3. Wake up your spouse. This is a two person event, especially if the child is really young. If they're older, I let him sleep. Get the child in the tub first thing. Start the bathtub and take out any bath toys!  Use a paper towel to get out anything significant (aka chunks) before entering the water. Warm water makes everything feel better. Fill the tub with just enough water to rinse the hair and body of all undesired mess. Drain and rinse the tub then fill it again. Wash the hair a couple times! This is where you need the extra person...to help the child in the tub while the other person cleans up the mess.

4. Once the child is squared away, conquer the mess. Use paper towels first to scoop up all the substance that you can. Use a spoon to scrape stuff out of blankets or carpet. The more you get cleaned up before the bedding hits the washer, the better. Deposit everything in a grocery bag for disposal. Take all bedding and clothes to get washed and start it immediately. Don't wait until the morning. Your laundry room will smell horrid the next day. Set the machine for the extra rinse cycle!!!

5. Time to tackle the mattress and the carpet. Make sure you have on hand a product called Nature's Miracle. It is geared toward pets but is amazing for all types of waste - vomit, urine, blood, etc. It is a non-toxic, organic cleaner that has a nice smell and is extremely effective for getting out smells and stains. You use is straight - no dilution. I pour this on the mattress and the carpet and let is sit for 10-15 minutes. Take a wet washcloth and scrub the area. Repeat if necessary. 

6. Once the child is out of the tub, brush his teeth and put her in the prepared spot (step #2). I tend to wait on any liquid for a little while.

7. As far as food and liquid while the child is sick, stick with clear fluids. I rarely give food until they have stopped throwing up. When he's ready for food start with a homemade clear soup broth, then move to banana, rice, toast, or oatmeal.

8. Nursing infants can get dehydrated so quickly when vomiting. I follow Dr. George Wootan's advice found in his book, Take Charge of Your Child's Health. According to him, you have to cut back to a nursing schedule of fifteen seconds of feeding, then wait fifteen minutes. Repeat. Then nurse 30 seconds and wait fourteen minutes. Thirty seconds, wait thirteen minutes. Forty-five seconds, wait twelve minutes. If the baby throws up, go back two steps and start again. The baby will be very frustrated but he says that if you follow this schedule, it will prevent dehydration and hospitalization. He says, "I do not know of any cases where it has failed to work." I have used this method myself with each of my sick babies and even though it's heartbreaking to see your child cry, it really does work.

There you have it. If you made it through the 8 steps, you deserve a prize! Oh, the prize is more knowledge for the next puking event...sure to come!

More to Come...but until then, Stick-to-it!

The Birthday Roasting Skit

You make some food, yah. You have a lot, yah.

You add some friends, yah...and you mix them all about.

They put a skit together for the sixteenth birthday girl.

That's what the fun's about!

We don't have a hot tub or a pool. We don't have a fire pit to roast marshmallows. We don't have foosball, ping pong, pool or air hockey. We don't have a volleyball net, tetherball, or a basketball court. We don't have a trampoline. We don't have a theater room or even a fancy entertainment system. However, we do have creative minds and the ability to make good food... and a lot of it. When you put those two things together, you can have a fun and successful party without all the frills that many people think you need.

Now imagine 20-25 boys and girls (ages 14-17) at my daughter's 16th birthday party. What do you do with them? Well, first you feed them. Hawaiian Haystacks - perfect. They didn't even put away half of what we had prepared. Oh well, leftovers for the whole family the next day!! Once everyone is sufficiently stuffed, we need an activity. Here's my favorite activity at a party...the birthday roasting skit. No, not a roasting stick, roasting skit. 

Here's a little background...when I was a senior in high school, our church group had an activity called "The Senior Roast".  First, there was a dinner and then the program commenced which consisted of the Juniors getting together a roast of the seniors. It was a planned skit that poked fun at personality traits, emphasized talents, rehashed funny memories, or entertained with inside jokes. It was an activity we all loved and looked forward to. Fast forward 20 years and I'm now using this same idea for my children's parties; just recently, my daughter's 16th.

We split the attendees into 4 or 5 groups, depending on how many people you have to work with. We tried to mix them up into groups from different walks of life...church friends, school friends, life-long friends, neighborhood friends. When you have a group of 4, 5, or 6 kids that know the birthday girl from different angles, you get a fun twist. Plus, people that don't know each other get to know each other and that's always a plus at a birthday party.

Give the groups 15-20 minutes to put together a random skit about the person-of-honor. They are allowed paper if needed and any prop that can be found in the house. Everyone in the group needs to participate. After the prep time, the groups take turns performing the skits in front of everyone. Of course, I record them so my child has this special gift from her friends. The skits are hysterical and fun. They are randomly varied. Some may sing a familiar tune, penned with their own words. Another may be a game show or a newscast. Or, one ends up being just a silly skit full of inside jokes and commentary. Whatever the case, it is a fabulous way to involve everyone, take up a good chunk of time, and provide a feeling of love and support for the birthday girl.

Happy 16th Birthday, Sweetie!

More to Come...but until then, Stick-to-it!