Sugar Creek Ward Baptism Preview and Priesthood Preview

Catching up.

A few weeks ago, the Sugar Creek Ward Primary hosted a Baptism preview and a Priesthood preview for all of the children and parents of children turning 8 or 12 in 2014. 

There are 19 children in our ward who will be turning 8 this year and be old enough to chose to be baptized.  I wish I had taken more/better photos because it was a very special evening. 

The program included talks about baptism from our bishopric, a what to expect/planning info from our ward baptism coordinator, a welcome to cub scouts for the boys and a welcome to activity days for the girls from our Cub Scout and Activity Days leaders, and a testimony from the Primary president (me). I think the kids' favorite part was checking out the baptismal font. 

First of all, hats off to my presidency. I serve with the greatest women. They are dedicated, talented, prayerful, thoughtful, and all so so so very easy to work with. I love them so much and I love how devoted they are to helping the children in our ward grow closer to Christ. 

Our secretary made the cutest handouts and desserts for both previews. I don't know how I would do my calling without the support of my awesome presidency. They do so much. In our planning meetings, I never have to ask them to do anything because they are always one step ahead of me. Their work makes my calling so much easier. 

The Priesthood preview was in the primary room. Since I was conducting the baptism preview, I didn't get to hear much of the Priesthood Preview, but the feedback from the 11year old boys and their families was great. The bishopric, Young Men's program leaders, and deacon's quorum president spoke about the blessings of the Priesthood, preparing to receive the Priesthood, and a welcome to the Young Men's program and Boy Scouts. 

Above are some cute handouts my secretary made about Priesthood power and attached to bottles of powerade --seriously, so creative! Below is our Bishop with the deacon's quorum president. He is an awesome kid and even got all of his peers to fold up chairs, vacuum the rooms, and clean up after the meetings. Great job, boys!

It's been a adventure with these 11 year old boys. They've been a little wild and less-than-enthusiastic about participating in sharing time on Sundays. In the last few weeks there has been a great change in their attitudes and they are more respectful and active in the discussions, share their testimonies willingly, and set a good example for the younger boys. I can tell they are ready to graduate from Primary. 

It was a special night for me to share with so many children who are preparing to make covenants and advance in primary. I got to share the night with my little Quincy, who I can't believe will be old enough for baptism this year! 

Her favorite part of the meeting was singing the songs about baptism. The picture above isn't from the preview night, but from Christmas morning, but I love it so much I had to post it. It is SO Quincy. Light and love, excitement and creativity, full speed ahead. She lives with  joy, come what may. This year will be a special one for her as she prepares to take upon the name of Christ and be baptized. 

Temple trip

Thursday and Friday were our stake Fill The Temple Day. We decided to make a mini vaycay out of it and took the kids out of school Thursday for some family time. 

We left Wednesday night when Aaron got home and headed for OKC. 

The children were stoked to be staying in a hotel and fell asleep quickly. It was after 10pm when we got settled. They were crazy crabby the next day but we just kept them loaded up on junk food and made the most of it and they all crashed on the way home Thursday. 

Aaron and I don't have children sleep in our bed, aside from the very rare special circumstance. In the hotel we fell asleep with Corbin between us and he stayed there for the night. I never understood why anyone would co-sleep with children. I don't judge others if that's how they roll, it's just not our thing. We never "got" why anyone would choose restless nights with everyone cramped and jetting kicked in the face all night by a kid, let alone the intimacy/privacy thing. I will say that I kind of get it now after our night with snuggly Corbin between us. He was warm and cuddly and it was like having a personal heater in our bed all night. We don't plan on changing our "no kids with us in our bed at night" policy at home, but I do see the positive side of co-sleeping after our all night snuggle fest in the hotel with Corbin. I also got kicked and kneed in the back and smacked in the face enough times to limit our wonderful experience to a one time event. ;) 

On Thursday, we met up with Zebleys, who had the same mini vaycay plan as us, and we hired sweet Hannah to babysit in the meeting house on the temple grounds while we were in the temple. It worked out perfectly! 

 I hope we will have a temple in NWA someday...and I hope it comes sooner than later! I'm thankful for the peace and perspective I feel when we are there and leave with clarity and understanding and feelings of love and happiness. Doing temple work makes me feel connected to  others and reminds me that we are all God's children. Zebley's had brought family names with them and we were able to do work for a couple of Eric's ancestors. I'm thankful for the sealing ordinances of the temple that bind my family together forever. 

These were our children within 2 minutes of pulling out of the temple parking lot. Exhausted much? Hahaha! 

They were happy to wake up for a side trip to Pop's, a dive diner on Route 66. The walls of the building are made of glass shelves and lined with thousands of  soda pop in every flavor you could imagine from "pumpkin", "communist Leninade", "monster lime slime", and "pirate piss" to "watermelon", "bacon" and "beef jerkey". The Super fun! 

We let the children each pick out a flavor and put together an assorted six pack of soda. 

The choices were orange dreamsicle, strawberry cream, strawberry watermelon, bug juice, irish cream soda rootbeer, and fudge brownie cookie dough---which was Aaron's choice against my advice. 

SO gross. One sip was all anyone could handle and I even spit that sip out. The children also picked out a candy from the old school candy bar selection of zero bars, zebra stripe gum, missile suckers and cow tails to name a few. The food was excellent and Pop's was a great adventure!

We grilled dinner when we got home and Aaron left to help out a friend in the hospital. When he got in late that night I commented about how exhausted he must be after the restless night, early morning, adventurous day, long drive home and then being out to visit his friend, etc. He just shrugged it off like it was no big deal, even though I could tell as he collapsed into bed that he was far beyond tired. He is such a good example to me of serving others with a willing heart and happy attitude. 

One of the greatest blessings that always seems to come to our family after attending the temple is an increase in capacity to work joyfully. 

Homemade Samoas

Last night was the 12 and up session of stake conference at the church. Aaron went and I stayed home with the children and we invited some friends over to play so the parents could go together. Sometimes having a house full of children is crazy but last night was just perfect! Everyone got along beautifully and we had so much fun! 

I have been dreaming about these cookies ever since Katie and Kasey both made them a few months ago and I pretty much ate all of them. I made them with some of the kids last night and they were delicious and easy.

 

Homemade Samoas (original

Recipe by Katie, who is amazing and takes the time to toast the coconut herself and add it to caramel. This is a cheater version, but she definitely gets the creds for being the mastermind behind these beauties.) 

Betty Crocker sugar cookies

German chocolate coconut pecan frosting

Ghirardelli dark melting chocolate

Make drop cookies and let cool

Frost.

Drizzle with chocolate. 

Congratulations! You're fatter now, and better for it. Homemade Girl Scout cookies. Get on it! 

Leprechaun Traps

The children are determined to catch a sneaky leprechaun, this year! We made traps as a family tonight and the kitchen is covered in Lucky Charms, green construction paper, and a lot of gold glitter! 

Reese's trap is a goldfish box with leprechaun snacks at the top. The leprechaun climbs the rope, follows the gold path to the snacks, then falls through a trap door. 

Quincy's trap is baited with a note and a bucket of gold. The leprechaun follows the instructions on the note, "pull rope and gold will come down on you." But when the rope is pulled, the lid to the box closes and traps the leprechaun inside. 

Corbin's trap has a ladder up to a gold trail that leads to a big hole. There is a bucket of lucky charms dangling over the hole and when the leprechaun tries to eat it, he will fall in the hole and get stuck on a bunch of tape. 

No leprechauns were harmed during the making of this post, but a lot of Lucky Charms were eaten. 

2014 Garden Prep

I've been working hard to get some garden beds prepped so we can have a small garden this year. I have really missed my fresh herbs, summer and fall produce, and the therapeutic peace that comes from working outside. 

We're having a fence built soon (I will never ever ever build my own again in Bella Vista rock soil. So many grey hairs!) and when it's finished, I have a grand terraced garden planned for the back yard. Knowing the amount of time it will take me to dig and build leveled beds, I panicked a little when I thought about having to wait so long to plant anything. I decided to put my recycled pieces from the raised beds from the old house into use.

Shoveling rocks is no joke! My back and arms ached for days after clearing our these spaces. With the parts of the old beds I was able to salvage enough to assemble 3 square beds and two long beds. That will at least be enough for this year. We don't have a lot of direct sun in the yard so I hope our garden will be successful! I also have 4 trees that need to be cut down soon. We've been saving all of the money from my preschool in a separate account and there's enough in there to pay for the tree removal, a fence and garden and some other large projects, so that's pretty exciting. It feels awesome to not dip into our budget for projects. 

It's coming along and I'm slowly leveling them out as I clear the rocks out. In the future, these beds will hold the herbs, strawberries, and asparagus, but I'll probably fill them with tomatoes, squash, and peppers this year because I cant bear to go another summer without them. I'm really looking forward to having a garden again! This hobby brings me a lot of sanity, teaches my children the benefits of hard work, adds beauty to our yard,  puts good on our table, and brings me closer to friends as we share ideas and things we grow. The garden will be small this year, but it is mighty in purpose.

A Letter for Frances

Remember when I took the girls caroling at Concordia at Christmastime and Q fell in love with a 100 year old lady named Frances? Well she talks about her all the time, and made her a card last week. 

It was harder than I thought it would be to track her down. Apparently Frances was a very popular baby girl name 100 years ago. After many phone calls we found her and scheduled a playdate for Quincy with her new BFF.  

We went to Concordia after church on Sunday and the children were armed with cards, pictures, and letters. 

We were well received. Frances showed us her treasures and answered Quincy's many important questions, like, "What is your favorite color?" and, "When is your birthday?" I'm also very glad Frances is hard of hearing because the first thing Quincy said after marching on up to her in her room was, "Well Frances, I'm surprised to see you here. Most people start to die when they get to be 100." 

I know that at some point I need to teach Quincy to exercise some amount of filtering before she speaks, but I also just really love the bold honesty of her words. 

We learned that Frances will be turning 102 next week and that her favorite color is aquamarine. We also learned that she is a bit of a minimalist. Her room is very neat, especially for someone her age. Her side table and little shelf were full of treasures and necessities, but every other surface of her room was very tidy, with very few possessions. A covered sewing machine on the desk, some relics on the walls, a neat stack of folded blankets, a quilt and one pillow on her adorable jenny lind antique twin bed. It's interesting to think that after living almost 102 years, all that this woman has to her name can be displayed in a tiny bedroom. It is a happy place full of things that she loves, and very clear from the messages on her walls that the things she loves are not "things". Her room is clean, simple, and lovely. 

Look at those faces. Frances took to the children right away and asked a few times if we were "part of her relations."  We replied, "No, we just really like you!" The staff later informed me that Frances never married or had children and the few family members she has nearby (a couple of nieces) haven't visited her until recently when she turned 100, and even then only come by twice a year around her birthday and Christmas. 

Quincy's eyes lit up at the thought of another birthday to celebrate. We will go back for her party next week, and Quincy is on a mission to find an aquamarine flower pot to give her.

Frances gave the children a hard candy, much to Corbin's delight. I was also a little surprised by Corbin's gentleness with her. He sat on the side of Frances' chair and stroked her arms and patted her back lovingly and was totally aware of how fragile she is and how much she needed his tender affection. 

After our 20 minute visit with Frances, we walked the hall quietly and visited with anyone who welcomed us there. A man named Dennis had a conversation with them all and invited us to come back and visit anytime. He walked us out and said, "goodbye, wonderful children, come see us again!" 

We will definitely be back to visit. The total time we spent at Concordia was probably only 30 minutes but in that short time the children received valuable lessons on service, friendship, aging, and compassion that I could never have taught them with words. 

When I was very young, my brother and I had a friend named, Margaret. She was really Scotty's friend... I think he was only 6 when they met while she was taking a walk down our street and he was out playing in the front yard and he asked her, "What are you?" her reply was, "I'm a Grandma, what are you?" As I grew older, I joined him on visits to her room at the retirement home at the end of our street, and later, my friends Annie and Emily went over there with me a few times, too.  I have memories of walking down and "picking her up" for walks and she would tell us stories while we walked. We'd make cards and pick flowers for her and probably knocked on her door way too often, but she always had us inside and gave us See's caramel suckers. 

There is so much to be gained from these special friendships and it pleases me that little Quincy has adopted a "Margaret" for our family to grow to love. I see many visits to Concordia in our future. 

"This one. Smile, Frances, you're the oldest woman in the room." 

Gift Exchanging with Grief

I had a miscarriage last week.

Every time I go through this it does not get easier.
Though lacking in ease, Grief has yet to fail me in allowing a valuable exchange to occur in the time after despair has circled the drain, and my emotions have run dry and left me with emptiness. The hollow slowly refills and becomes a reservoir of something valuable: understanding, empathy, color, appreciation, humility, etc. and these are reserves that can stay with me forever to bless others.

Today I have ounces of strength trickling into the bottom of my well.

I am strong enough to power through a horrible experience.
I am strong enough to accept and take in the sadness of this and not be absent from the rest of my life. I am strong enough to still do what needs to be done and extract something good from doing it.

I am strong enough to take care of my little family and let my little family take care of me. 

I am strong enough to love and share joy in the four babies that were born to my friends and family this week, and I'm strong enough to be happy for two friends who excitedly announced healthy pregnancies this week.
I am strong enough to ask for help, say no to extra, and delegate. 

I am strong enough to be happy. I know this because this morning I woke up in grey, pulled a pillow over my head, cried a prayer out loud for knowledge, will, courage, and strength…and I knew right away what I needed to do to get myself together and take in some happiness today.

                      

And I am strong because I did it. 

 I placed a stop in my emotional drain and let my soul refill with drops of strength and happiness. Today was not an easy day, but it was a good and honestly-truly joyful day. 

I have trust that God's plan is always greater than my own. 

I am still operating in a sad state of drought at the moment, hydrated only by (sometimes exhausting) constant choices, reminders, and intentionality to keep me positively fueled:
I spent a couple days completely devoted to my children.
I did an intense weights workout with a friend (what the squats? Whyyyyy?!)
I'm reading a good book
I went on a date to the local live theatre with Aaron
I ate a lot of ice cream and baked cookies at 11pm and I ate those too
I took a couple naps
I watched videos of my children that make me laugh.
I made some lists: gratitude, service, happy things
I cleaned my house and organized my bedroom closet
I had one on one time with each of my children and soaked up what incredible people they are.
I spent an afternoon doing a craft with my friend in Bentonville.
These are just little things, but each choice helped accelerate the exchange and replaced my emptiness with some happiness, courage, and strength…even if the latter two only came because I got up and and simply carried out the choice to do something to help me feel happy.

I know I am strong, I know will get better, and I know I will be full, even overflowing, once again when grief's great gift exchange is over.

post edit **We did not tell the children about the pregnancy or the miscarriage, so please please PLEASE don't discuss  any of the above with them or with us in front of them. They think I've had a stomach bug and have worried enough about that as it is.**