Aging with Grace

Last week was a whirlwind. Steven had completed his Eagle Scout Project in May. The paperwork was written in Aug. The Board of Review was in Oct. Finally, last Saturday, we had the Court of Honor. It was nice to have two of his friends earning theirs too. It was especially nice to have my parents here. I wasn't sure they were coming, but then they were, and we loved it. We were in charge of refreshments so I got two cakes from Costco decorated with white icing and an American flag on top. One was white cake with strawberry mousse and the other was chocolate cake with vanilla mousse. A scoop of vanilla ice cream to go with it, and it was simple and delish! Simple and tasteful, that's truly my style.

Steven is growing again, meaning last year's khakis are now too short! We were supposed to have him in official Scout pants, so it worked out to get him some new ones. I wonder when he'll finish this growth spurt. I think he must be about 6'3" now. I always feel a little bad for him when he goes to kiss me goodnight and I'm sitting down. . . it's a long ways down for him. He really is such a wonderful son. He truly exemplifies the values that are part of the Scouting program. It was good to be able to honor him.

I have lived in my home for over eleven years. It is a twenty-two year old home. Trying to help it age gracefully sometimes takes more effort than I've been willing to give. Well, last week I had it in my mind that I needed to do some updating. I started by going to several local stores. At first I wasn't really sure what I wanted, and I knew I didn't want to pay a lot for it either. Then I'd come home, and start looking around. With my mom's encouragement and support, this is what transpired. Mom and I (and sometimes Dad) had a great time shopping together. Fortunately, Mike likes it all too. It feels like it represents us.


This is one of the trunks I already had. The larger one is still under my front entry table. We filled it with plants I already had and found these two statues at Home Goods - one is a fleur de lis, the other is an artichoke. The fleur de lis is French, and Mike served in the Paris, France mission. It is also the Scouting symbol so it just seemed right since we now have 2 Eagle Scouts in this house. The artichoke I thought was going to go home with my mom, but she left it for me, and it looks lovely, contrasting with my vanilla colored walls behind it. She is too good to me!

This is my new perpetual calendar. The magnetic iron frames for month, day, and date, just hooked me. The metallic, iron look is a big part of my style - new French country something. . . not really sure how to define it exactly, but wrought iron, black, swirling flourishes, and aged slightly are all part of the mix.

This dish holder was actually the first piece I acquired, only it was cream colored, and against my creamy vanilla walls, it didn't work. However, a can of hammered metalic spray paint gave it just the aging it needed, and my Walmart $1 burgundy dinner plates looked perfect.
Among our many shopping trips we visited Pier 1. I loved this store when I was fresh out of college, and purchased clothing and candles and decorative things there. Over the years, however, it just lost its appeal to me, but let me tell you, things have changed! We went there three days in a row. Okay, the 12 cent Ghirardelli chocolates were just too good to ignore, but really it was these dishes that drew me back the most. The small plates are part of one of their current lines and I LOVED it. The edging, the dots on the edges.. . the cute flowers!!! Click on this photo to get a better look. Truly it was love at first sight. I have always loved dark reds and burgundy so this was a match made in heaven, and the swirls around the flowers just sealed the deal! When I realized how much I liked this against my solid plates I had to get two more because now my kitchen has new dishes! How quickly one thing leads to another!!! Actually I was down to five matching dinner plates, so it was time for some new ones, though these weren't a dollar like my last ones, but close enough!

This is my entry way. It was my original intent to replace the large floral centerpiece my friend in Las Vegas had made for me in 1995. Afer fifteen years, I needed some updating!! That's what started this whole shopping frenzy. I never found the right piece, but instead I moved the small quilt over from the wall across from it, (I moved my Washington D.C. temple photo in its place) and added a plant below the table, which I already had. My mom got me this fabulous bird towel holder, (Pier 1) that held all kinds of creative possibilites, and away things went from there. The only other new item is the white jar. It matches my new dinner plates. (all Home Goods)The darling red swirly floral ones are just the salad plates, and they all match my white $1 soup bowls from Walmart. . . such a combination! Everything else there has been around here a while, being moved from here to there. Finally, everthing feels like it has arrived home!

Here's a close up of the Ikea (another favorite place!) ornaments I got in November last time my parents were here and never found the right place for. LOVE them here! I've been thinking about what I'll put up the rest of the year. I have Christmas covered, and my mom gave me a great idea to try for in between. . . we'll see if I actually pull it off!
These are the same heart that matches my front welcome mat. What's not to love, right?


The first space to actually get done was my mantle. I have had no idea my whole life how I actually wanted this to look. Its been way more miss than hit, but I did love these heart wrought iron candlesticks so they were the beginning. I got them several years ago at Walmart for under $10. (Are we seeing a decorating tip here? When buying shampoo, walk by their home dec aisle ;-)
Anyhow, I decided a mirror would open up this small family room. I loved the nailhead edging of this one next to the glass. I had the "family" wooden blocks for a couple of years. Sadly, they are from my favorite store in Kaysville, Utah, which closed this year. The plant was a bargain at Michael's. I saw one in a furniture gallery for more than three times what I paid for it, so it felt like a good deal. One more new candlestick, also from Michael's, and it was done. Love the little detail of jute around the plant vase, and the black that all works together without being too overpowering, since I haven't gotten brave enough to paint any real color except in my dining room. My kitchen chairs are black, right off this family room, so it all works.

The last project I just finished on Monday were these prints. They were the find of the week. $9.99 for 4 stickers, each on 11" x 11". They are peelable vinyl. I bought 12 x 12 canvas at Joann's on their big sale for 50% off, and then using a sponge brush, dabbed around the edges of the stickers with acrylic paint (CHOCOLATE brown- another underlying theme of the week??) that were super easy to put on the canvas, and voila! The paint makes them look like they're ceramic of some kind or maybe even wooden, but not white canvas. I put those three in my bedroom because they match it perfectly and the one that says faith is on my living room wall above the wall of cellos. It is going to be the inspiration piece for my living room whenever I get around to it. Somehow, furniture isn't quite as cheap as my budget allows right now, but at least my home reflects me better and feels more organized and unified. Maybe its possible for it to age gracefully after all. . . .

My Little Man

My baby continues to grow up. He's now five feet tall. Here is a glimpse of his last few days, looking backwards. He's only ten, but sometimes he just blends right in with everyone older. Here he is at the skating rink, on Saturday, tagging along with big brother and his friends. He loves to skate and was having fun going forwards and backwards and getting his feet used to skates again after almost a year on hiatus. He's also good about stopping and posing for all my photos whenever I ask - trained young, he was! :-)

Friday he and his dad were invited to a father/son night at his school. I wasn't invited so these are pics from New Year's karaoke - they both have great voices but you may never hear them - too shy to sing in public, but truly they sing wonderfully!!!
Over Christmas break they had fun working on robotics projects just the two of them in the den. In many ways their minds are alike.

On Thursday night he bridged from Cub Scouting to Boy Scouting. After the Pinewood Derby he'll be eleven, and moving on up. Can't say I'm going to miss Pack meeting too much, but its a big transition, and in some ways I'm just sad that its happening already. My friend, that night, noted, that in just a few months I'll be down to half my children at home. Sad as that day is, at least this guy will be with me still. We had a great time playing games last night and taking time to share our thoughts and feelings. This morning we signed him up for Little League for another Spring season. I'm glad he'll be around for a few more years still. I enjoy him so!

Wednesday night was his postponed Winter Concert. He's first chair on the viola. Its really not fair, he seldom practices at home at all, but music is in his blood. He thought about giving it up this year because each 5th grader can only choose two extra curricular groups to be involved in, and he had said all last year he wanted to be on safety patrol and student council. He is a natural leader so I understood that, though sad he couldn't play his viola too, so was starting to look for private teachers. Instead, however, he chose at the last minute to be a technology helper and play viola again in the orchestra. I think his music teacher would have truly been crushed if he hadn't come back this year, and his love for her, and her for him, won him over. She was a great teacher for Steven too. I am grateful for good-hearted teachers who influence my children for good.

Happy 2nd Day of the New Year!

Vacation is finally coming to an end. It seems like ever since Shaena got here, all we've done is sleep in, stay up late, make messes, clean them up way after we should have, make food, eat food, play games, play wii, play foosball, watch TV, watch movies, sing karaoke, shop a little here or there, eat out and laugh. . . a true break from reality! Getting back is going to be hard, trust me!

I thought I'd scrapbook at least a little, but not at all. The closest I came was putting together calendars for my family before Christmas and ordering pics to be developed.


Now, the new year is already upon us. Some people contemplate their goals, give a lot of time to thinking about how they want to improve, but that's just not where I'm at. Until now I haven't given it much thought. Of course things will change. They always do. I could never have predicted last January 2 how differently things would be for me this Jan. 2. I think I have just naturally taken the approach to live each day in the present and do what I can do when I can do it. Its not too complicated. Life is busy. Every day somebody needs my time and attention. Mental illness is part of my every day life. Every day there are challenges. Every day there is something new I can improve on and learn to do better. If I can just stick with the basics, and do what I can to the best I can with each moment that I have, then that's all I can do. No new resolutions, no new approach or plan. Help point others to Christ, come to Him more fully and offer up my will more for His, love others more with His love, replenish my well with the basics and repent daily - that's the plan, nothing new, just a sincere gratitude that I'm alive and get to try again this year to do it better - whatever comes my way. . . and that's the creativity of life - we just never know what's ahead, do we? But whatever we make out of it, is the way we create our lives - for the opportunity to do it again another year, for that I'm truly thankful!

White Christmas

With all the snow (24 inches in 24 hours) last weekend, it made for a beautiful white Christmas in Maryland. Today was cloudy, and I never even made it outside. This picture was taken on Sunday afternoon, already 5 days ago, but there's plenty of snow left. Below are pictures taken of our backyard. Everyone made snow caves.


It was a very merry Christmas here. I don't know why LittleBuddy was up so many times in the night, but I had to have my first nap before 10 in the morning. We got several games and have had a great time playing them all. We talked to all our grandparents and cousins and felt the peace and joy of just being together.
On Wednesday evening our neighbor passed away. She was just a few months older than me. Steven had helped to dig her car out of the snow Sat. evening around 6.Her husband had come to help her get home and at 8:30 that night she had gone into cardiac arrest and never woke up. Our hearts grieve for her husband and two sons still at home. It made us all realize that just being together is gift enough.
It is great to have Shaena back at home again. She's already treated us to her fabulous homemade salsa and been a great help in getting the house put back together after it all came unraveled Christmas morning. For breakfast, she had the idea to make a pizza with crescent rolls as the base. On top we put grated bake potatoes, grated cheddar and mozzarella, 9 eggs, and some crispy bacon. We baked it at 375 or 30 min. and it was great. The only thing we would add next time would be a bunch of diced green onions. Still, we loved it. It went great with our cinnamon rolls.


She gave me a Willow Tree statue of a mother and daughter, titled Chyrsalis. It says - to protect and cherish and give wings to fly. It made me cry. Being a mother is the only job I've ever wanted and to have my daughter appreciate me being her mother is a blessing to my heart and soul.
We're looking forward to some crafting time tomorrow. Tonight we're still recovering from her arrival after midnight and staying up until 2am talking, then little brother keeping the whole household up on Christmas Eve. We'll sleep well tonight and tomorrow, more time to play. I am so blessed to have this family. At Christmas time I thank the Lord for his plan for eternal families. Without Him, none of this would be possible. With Him, all things are possible.

Another Post

If anyone reads this, I'm sure its a sudden shock that I'm posting again. Its probably partly from guilt - I have the Christmas letter written. It's been done for a couple of weeks. I just put off copying it. Then Friday night, after our ward activity, I thought, Okay now I'll go downstairs and copy the letter, get everything ready to be mailed while it snows, and send them all out Monday morning. So, down I go, and I get three copies made until the ink cartridge lets me know its out of ink, and since we were getting an inch of snow an hour for between 23-24 hours, today was the first time I could venture out to get a replacement. (The last one lasted for over a year and I just forget about it when its so reliable - learned that lesson!)

Except for sending out the letters and getting one more giftcard and making a couple of homemade gifts, still, for my kids - Christmas is ready! I can't believe it. Actually looking at this list, I'm not done yet - wishful thinking!!! Still, it feels good to presents all wrapped and under the tree, packages sent a week ago, baking done and delivered tonight. (One of my neighbors said it was the first time they'd ever been caroled to, which we decided to do since it was Family Night, so that was special for us to be their first!) We've had all kind of service opportunities, and I still can't believe iwe've been able to get it all done. I guess that's just a testimony that when doing the Lord's week, He can make up the deficits without us even realizing it.

The fridge is full, the children are home from school for another day, so there'll be more tubing and snowball fights and snow forts, and they've had lots of activities with their friends, which is a sign we're not out rushing about when we have time for the people who matter the most to us. We're keeping Christmas music on in the car, on the stereo, on PBS yesterday - did you hear Andrea Bocelli? Fabulous! Had to buy that CD today!! Music is such a big part of the holidays for me. I think I've had some part in a ward's Christmas program for more years than I can remember. Probably, for most of my marriage, and its been fun. I really enjoyed preparing with Steven, who is playing The First Noel with myself and Kristine Knudson. Hopefully we get to make it up this coming week, which got snowed out. Steven's winter concert was wonderful. Unfortunately Ryan's has gotten canceled - it was supposed to be tomorrow, so we'll look forward to his make-up one in January.

Some Creativity Again

Today - a big, beautiful snow day! I love it. It looks like we have about 18 inches outside right now. Life slows down. We all relax and the rush and hustle of the holidays grinds to a halt. Its back to just family and what we have here.

I started my Christmas baking on Thursday night. Today I did some more.

And, now, more time to post some photos I've wanted to share for over a month.

These are the felt turkeys I found at a dollar bin somewhere and used to make our place cards for Thanksgiving - a little ink and their names - easy.
Now for a lot more work, all done by my sister-in-law, Rebecca Jacobs.

Its a countdown for Christmas in a mini-muffin tin, held together with magnetic labels of the numbers. Inside are piece of papers I typed up with an activity every day, most of them service oriented. Its been great fun for the children to do something.
She used the magnetic material you use in a heating vent, which is light weight. Then she used her Xyron to adhere cute patterned papers to the front, then she used her die cut numbers and more Xyron on those to stick on top of the paper, and after all that, she added white snowflakes with more Xyron on them. . . I think I need a Xyron! The ribbon is satin in an apple green - just love it! She is one talented lady!

Mothering

This young man of mine is a blessing. All of my children are. This week he has been at the center of attention. Monday was his orchestra concert. Tuesday we worked hard together, he on cello, me on piano, Ryan on viola, for a performance in church on Sunday.

Wednesday was an usual day. I was requested to come to the high school to discuss my son's and my choice that he not read a couple of books which we found offensive in content. I am not afraid of controversial topics or dark themes, and recognize that clearly life is not all roses and that hard things happen to many people. However, I am concerned that we teach in a way that elevates and inspires people to be their best. I want to expose my children to the best literature that is out there, that models excellent writing and causes one to think about their own life and how they can reach their own potential. There are so many good books available that I don't understand why they are being overlooked for books that have profanity spready thickly and are overtly sexual. Through his high school experience, he has been exposed only to the dark side, rarely to the higher road. I insisted that he read some of the great literature of the world. Does it isolate him? Yes, but he is already isolated in his class by taking a stand on many controversial subjects they have discussed all year. He has gotten quite used to feeling like he was the "lone voice crying in he wilderness." And that day, I felt it too.

I was accused of being against diversity, because one of the books was about the life of black man, but I explained I love the book To Kill A Mockingbird. I was accused of usurping the teacher's authority as a professional educator, but I explained that my value system as my child's parent was being usurped by a teacher who has not invested 17 years in raising this boy to think along a higher standard. I was accused of being too sheltering, that he would be not be prepared for the realities of college life. I praised BYU's standards as being equal to my own, that my son selected that school by himself, because of what he felt while walking on that campus. I was accused of harming my child's classmates because they are missing out on the goodness of Steven. I agreed, that was sad for them, but wondered aloud how much that would be true, as the teacher has allowed them to laugh out loud at some of the opinions he has expressed in class, with the teacher allowing that to happen. They argued that literature is to expose children to the world and that I was preventing my son from being adequate exposure. I explained that he had heard enough swear words from walking down their hallways to sufficiently be exposed enough for a lifetime, that he did not need to read more to be adequately exposed.

Some people advocate exposure to everything, somehow thinking that what matters most is exposure, thus if you're exposed, you're educated. In some schools they even hand out condoms. To me, exposure is not the purpose of education. It is to train a mind to be disciplined and to learn how to do something correctly. Anyone can throw lines on a paper, but someone who knows English, or whatever language they write in, can use them correctly to make something wonderful. Is not the purpose of learning English to increase one's vocabulary, to understand what is being communicated and to learn how to put words together clearly in a way that the person who read them is now better for having read them? My experience says that teaching difficult subjects can be done without having unlimited profanity and rampant sexuality. That was really my only issue. Please allow my son to read something that isn't utterly profane and graphically sexual. In the end, they allowed my son to read books I approve of, without swearing, sexual promiscuity, the rationalization of a man who had incest with his daughter and rampant drug use. I don't think he's really missing very much from missing out on those books. Instead, he gets to read a piece of classical literature that everyone puts on their lists of top 100 books to be read in this lifetime. Taking a stand isn't always easy or popular, but it makes me feel better at the end of the day that a mother can still make a difference in the life of her child.