Winnie the Pooh!

Back in February, the 4 younger kids all auditioned for a production of Winnie the Pooh (Spencer didn't want anything to do with it. Oh well. To each his own.). Just by trying out, anyone under the age of 7 got in. But Olivia and Jacob landed main cast roles! Olivia was cast as "Rabbit" and Jacob was cast as "Roo". Honestly, I was quite surprised! Olivia is so quiet and a bit on the shy side. But when we went to the first rehearsal after casting, they told me that she "blew them away in her audition"! So whatever she does when I'm not looking on, 'You go girl'!


 Over 80 children between the ages of 2 and 14 were in the cast. Quite the feat!

 With our cute neighbor, Brigette, who was one of the narrators.

See the flower on her hat? She refused to be a skunk, claiming "they are stinky", until we showed her Bambi and Flower. From then on, she told everyone she was a "Flower skunk"!

 Off to dress rehearsal! Avvy was amazing! She stayed in her place and on stage not only for the entire show, but for every single practice. Well done sweetheart!

 Ready for the show! With flowers for the directors!

 Trying to not fall asleep on the way to the final performance.

'Christopher Robin' adored Jacob!

 Loving this group of kids!

I got in my traditional sobbing as soon as the curtain opened for dress rehearsal. What can I say, I'm a mom!!

 What a good sport! He was so sweet and encouraging when he was cast as background cast, congratulating Liv and Jacob on their roles. He reminded me that he had had his turn in "The Nutcracker". What a kid!

 Olivia was reported to have "stolen the show"! She was definitely the most expressive in her lines and actions. And you could hear her without a mike!

 Jacob was the all around favorite! His adorable little voice and darling smile had people seeking him out for pictures with him!

We laughed that these were kind of like Disneyland pictures with grown ups posing for pictures with characters!

They have had so much fun these past two months! Learning lines and songs and actions. They have worked so hard and we are so proud of them! I think it says it all when Olivia told us this morning that she is sad that it's over. I agree...Now, on to the next show!!

Just to remember...

(Heads up! This is a post about the tragic events of 12-14-12. It is personal feelings pertaining to my own children and the importance of treasuring our children. I don't want to forget how this has made me feel. If it is too soon for you to read about moving forward, please pass on this post.)

These are my sweethearts on their first day of school.

 I have spent this past weekend in tears, as has most of this country. On Friday, the 14 of December, twenty little 6 and 7 year old babies were robbed of their lives. It was a horrific experience and I think that most of us were glued to the news, at least for a bit, until we couldn't stand to see anymore. 

I was profoundly affected, having a first grader myself. It could have been any of us! It shouldn't have been anyone! And as I think of the events of that morning, I automatically think of our morning routine and I can't help but think what that morning was like for those sweet children BEFORE they went to school. Perhaps they were doing many of the things we have as we prepare for Christmas, each morning scampering from their beds, excited to look for their little well loved elves (as in 'Elf on the Shelf''). We have one and I am often awakened in the morning to a smiling face at my bedside exclaiming that "Scout" has been found! After breakfast and getting dressed (holiday socks have been a must with our sweethearts this past week), they are excited to break out the glue and add one more cottonball to their countdown Santa's beard. Then we round up our school necessities and don snowboots, snowpants, gloves and hats and load into the car.  Then we wait in the carpool lane to drop our kids off at their school, we talk of the upcoming Christmas sing-a-longs and what I'm helping to do in their class Christmas parties and when we will be doing a little Christmas shopping. It's at this point that I think I have the hardest time thinking of those Connecticut parents, because as I give hugs and kisses and wishes for a good day and "please be good", they hop out of the car and excitedly exclaim to their little friends to wait up and I always watch them. All the way into the school. Their sweet little tiny bodies bopping down the sidewalk, giant backpacks bouncing on their backs. Often, hands clutched to a homemade card for their teachers. Awkwardly pulling open those giant school doors and then disappearing inside. This happens almost everyday. I know it's silly, but more than once I have pulled away from the drop off with tears in my eyes as I have watched them and thought to myself "They are so beautiful!". I know this is sappy and I know we are not perfect (more than once have I been grouchy to them on mornings when someone doesn't want to get going!).
But I think the entire country looked at our children a little differently this morning as we sent them out the door. I know I did. The delay in getting dressed, the squabbles over not wanting the breakfast that was served, the last minute frantic search for shoes, it all seemed trivial. There are twenty sets of parents who would love more than anything to be frantically looking for shoes this morning!

Two thoughts are most prevalent in my mind. First, thank your children's teachers! The thought did briefly cross my mind on Friday morning to go and get my children, to keep them here and never send them back. But then I thought of the teachers who died with their students. And how much they loved them. And I thought of my children's teachers and how much they love them. And I knew that the greatest tribute to the teachers and those children is to not be afraid, is to not let the cowards who do this be winners by paralyzing the rest of us with fear!

Second, Morgan Freeman said it so eloquently when he said "Turn off the T.V." If we forget these madmen and their names and their faces, then we remove some of the fire that fuels people who do this kind of madness. If no one knows them, then the impact of what they do is for naught. Maybe then we will see less of this kind of sorrow. So I will not put his name in this post, but instead a link to the wonderful people who should be remembered! Let us not forget them!

In reading about the sweet little babies, I was moved to tears by the comments from around the world. Everyone has been affected! We are all looking at our children with a greater love and appreciation. And although that can't heal their loved ones' broken hearts, or answer the screaming questions of "why?", perhaps knowing that the rest of us are more thoughtful, more grateful, more loving of our children will bring some amount of healing that their sweethearts did not die in vain, that those angelic faces have triggered around the world a greater love for the precious children who remain.
Heavenly Father, please bless those families. Hold their children. Bless the children!

Boxer Muhammad Ali on Modesty

I found this little gem the other day. I posted it here to save it to share with our kids when they can appreciate it. It is one of the best, most touching, respectful points of view on this subject that I have found! My opinion of one boxer just went up a notch...and that's saying something!



(I think I found it on FB, but I couldn't find a link to the actual share.)

Boxer Muhammad Ali’s Advice To His Daughter

An incident transpired when Muhammad Ali’s daughters arrived at his home wearing clothes that were quite revealing. Here is the story as told by one of his daughters: “When we finally arrived, the chauffeur escorted my younger sister, Laila, and me up to my father’s suite. As usual, he was hiding behind the door waiting to scare us. We exchanged many hugs and kisses as we could possibly give in one day.

My father took a good look at us. Then he sat me down on his lap and said something that I will never forget. He looked me straight in the eyes and said, “Hana, everything that God made valuable in the world is covered and hard to get to. Where do you find diamonds? Deep down in the ground, covered and protected. Where do you find pearls? Deep down at the bottom of the ocean, covered up and protected in a beautiful shell. Where do you find gold? Way down in the mine, covered over with layers and layers of rock. You’ve got to work hard to get to them.” He looked at me with serious eyes. “Your body is sacred. You’re far more precious than diamonds and pearls, and you should be covered too.”

Love it!!

The President by Glenn Rawson

 

We heard this on Sounds for Sunday this morning. So powerful I had to share. It's from 

Glenn Rawson.

 

The President

This week the voice of the nation will speak to determine the president. I would like to talk about the President of the United States.
On May 30, 1787, a small group of men in Philadelphia changed the world. They were the delegates to the Constitutional Convention. Among other things, they created an officer of government unlike any ever before, one destined to become the most powerful political figure in our modern world - the President of the United States.
“There must be one, and not three,” they said. The office would require energy, action, and decisiveness. With only one, we would always know who’s responsible, and once a year he was expected to report to the people.
They were going to call him “His Excellency.” (Madison, p. 523) But that wouldn’t do. The President of the United States is a man of the people, a leader among equals.
Four years he would serve, and then he would be returned to his people, and that was the design. The framers felt if he merited their esteem, they could have him again as president. The only limit on his term was to be the wisdom of the people who elected him.
It was considered that he not even receive a salary, but sometimes the best of men are not wealthy men. He was to serve for love and honor, not for love of money.
The framers put him under the most sacred oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. To preserve that document, they felt, was to save us as a nation.
Never – never was the president to start a war! He could defend us in case of attack, but he could not start a war. If the blood and money of the people were to be expended in war, the people must declare it. But once it was declared, he was the Commander-in-Chief.
No law was ever to be imposed on us without his approval – no treaty that he did not negotiate. He was to be our voice to the nation, the champion of our rights and liberties, and the guardian – the guardian of all his people.
He alone was to be the nation’s voice of mercy and reason through the pardon power. All the chief officers who execute the law and judge it were to be his appointees – his nominees. He was to be the one man in government above the pettiness of partisan politics. He was not to be a man of the party, but a man for us all.
So critical was his leadership, and so vital his virtue, that the framers did not trust the common people to find him and elect him. So they devised a system whereby the wisest among us would select the wisest to be him.
He had to be a native son, a fully imbued American, filled with wisdom, maturity, goodness, and integrity. He was to be our voice, our protector, [and] the great man of the people.
He would be, and still is, only as powerful as ‘we the people.’ Similarly, he is only as good as we are. And the nation would be ever after as safe and free as he was good, honest, and wise.
Few men living can affect more people in a deeper way for a longer time than the President of the United States. Therefore, all things considered, this week God help us to be wise!

Glenn Rawson – 13 February 2007
Music: Take Pride in America, track 8 (edited) – Mel and Brook Teeples
Song: Heal Our Land – The Janice Kapp Perry chorus
www.soundsofsunday.com

A prayer for the elections this week. May we select a man who manifests this in all that he is. I pray that we each look deep inside of each of us and consider the good of this country and not just ourselves. That we will vote for one who will be the essence of all that is good and noble and righteous about this country. And may God ever be watchful over this blessed nation!

Thank a Veteran!

Jacob and Avvy with a kind sailor, Norman Walker. What a privilege to have seen this gentle man for the last several years!

Today is Veteran's Day. (Okay, technically yesterday was, but because it was a Sunday we observe it today!)

One of the reasons I love living in this tiny town of Wellsville is that the elementary school has a patriotic spirit twice the size of the school! We have freedoms at this tiny (albeit ancient) school that even other schools in this sheltered valley have let go the way of nostalgia. We still sing "Away in a Manger" and "Oh Holy Night" for Christmas. We still carry on traditions that started back when this (ancient) school was built. And if you are privileged to be in a classroom during morning announcements, you will get to hear the classes singing rousing songs of patriotism...every morning! "God Bless the USA", "My Country tis of Thee", "America the Beautiful", etc. And I LOVE it!!

Each year, like many other schools around, our quaint little school invites the veterans in our area to join us so that our children can thank them for their service. They are reinforcing what we teach our children about respect for the flag as they stand motionless, eyes on the colors until it is posted and we have been told to be seated. This is the beginning of my tears this day. The children sing the national anthem with vigor in each word. Our wonderful principal has explained to them all what each stanza means. Thank you, Mr Dobson, for your patriotism!

The children are so proud to sing the theme for each branch of the military as the members of the audience who served in them proudly stand, many in uniform. Cards the children have made are handed to these service personnel and the audience enthusiastically applauds.

Each year is pretty much the same program. The children growing up a bit. This is our 6th year attending. And every year I cry.

But this year was just a little bit different. Perhaps it was the music. Perhaps it was watching two of our kids in the program. This year I was NOT pregnant, so I can't blame it on that. It began the same as always, as the flag came in the silent room. Then, entering just to my right, an elderly gentleman, crippled in a specialty wheelchair, was wheeled in to sit in the area reserved for the veterans. The children sang each military branch's song, and as the Navy's began to play, the wheelchair bound veteran motioned to two people near him that he wanted to stand. He stood as proudly as he could, supported by a sweet teacher and another lovely woman, his face beaming with pride, waving his crumpled hand, his legs quivering beneath him. His smile was radiant, tears streaming down the women's faces. My own tears turned to sobs. This man had served in Korea. One of the oldest Vets now.

And with it all, there was an unspoken feeling in the air. Have things changed for this country? Has this past election changed the way this country will forever move through time? Will what these men and women saw in unspeakable horrors of war be for naught? Will our sweet children who so proudly sang "thank you" to our veterans ever really know what they are thankful for? Will they get to experience the benefits of a truly free country but not the "benefits" of entitlement?! I say we keep the spirit! We continue to teach our children that our freedoms are not free! We were not given the rights we absently take for granted. They were won by brave men and women who gave their all! And I believe they will continue to be defended by more "who love this country more than self"!

In the past the phrase "God bless America" was said as more of a statement. We are blessed. We were blessed. We will still be blessed as the greatest nation in the world! (And I defend my right to say that! I live in this country, I am entitled (yes entitled! think "freedom of speech) to say that this IS the greatest nation in the world!)
But I think this phrase has become a prayer. At least for me. "God, please... please bless America!"

So today, thank a veteran. Tell them we appreciate them! And pray for our country to continue to be the greatest, free-est, most giving country in the world!

Bugging me for a long time...

I am about to catch it for this comment but here goes: I am a Romney supporter. But before you click out of this post: I believe you are free to vote for whomever you choose, it is one of your rights as a citizen of this country! For those of you out there saying you will not vote for "the lesser of two evils", I implore you...I beg you...please, consider really asking yourself if he (Romney or Obama) really is a wicked man. Really?! You would throw your vote away on a person who will not win?! Vote for someone who can make a difference!! Whichever way you feel, but do not waste a vote!

We need every vote! EVERY VOTE! Yours is important! Yours will count! It will also count against when it comes down to the final tally. So if you really feel that both of the candidates are not worthy of the mantle of President of the United States, by all means, write in someone's name, vote for someone other than one of these two men. And console yourself that in the next life you can say you didn't vote for either of these two. But the truth of the matter is, one of them IS going to be the President!

We must live by the law of the land, and the law of the land says that he who gets the most votes, wins. So we really do have to choose our man. By not choosing to help in the election of our president, you are not making a statement, you are simply being neutral, and neutral implies "I don't want to be involved". It reminds me of kids on the playground who saw what happened in a fight but when asked by the teacher they hold up their hands and claim neutrality because they don't want to risk the possibility of losing the chance at being friends with the popular kid nor risk losing the friendship of the friend they already have. In the end the popular kid doesn't care, and the true friend ends up feeling betrayed.

This is epic. This is a big year, a HUGE election! Our country is divided. And to state from my point of view, this is not a black and white thing in terms of race. This has NOTHING to do with religion. This has everything to do with right and wrong!! And that part is black and white! Pick a side, right or wrong. That is the part that must be determined by each individual. Look inside ourselves, think about what we each stand for, and then make our vote count by voting for someone who will give us the chance that we want for our future!

Easter Bunny Saturday

Last year a good friend of ours (namely Nicole!), wrote about her family's "Bunny Day". In their family, the Easter Bunny comes on Friday night, allowing the non religious festivities to happen on a busy Saturday morning and freeing up Sunday to focus on the "true meaning of Easter". I have waited ALL year to do this! For a long time we have sought for ways to make Easter as important and celebrated as Christmas. After all, in the words of President Hinkley: "The babe Jesus of Bethlehem would be but another baby without the redeeming Christ of Gethsemane and Calvary, and the triumphant fact of the Resurrection." (Think about that for a moment!)
 


In the week prior to Easter, we drew from the scriptures, the church pictures and a treasured book by Eric D. Huntsman:"God So Loved the World" to make up an advent, if you will, of the Savior's final week of mortal life. Each night we had a mini family home evening and discussed the events leading up to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We discussed the triumphal entry, the cleansing of the temple, Passover, the instituting of The Sacrament / the Last Supper, Atonement, betrayal, and all of the events of those last few days. It was a wonderful, spiritually enriching week and we hope to make it even better next year!

Love this book!
 



During the week, the kids were anxious for the Easter Bunny to come, as is to be expected. But we shook things up a bit and told them that we would like to ask the Bunny to put us on his Easter Bunny Saturday list - easily done by way of a quick email! The kids were thrilled to go along with it as it would help the Easter Bunny since he could divide his delivery load between two nights instead of one!

All ready for Easter Bunny Saturday to start!

Jacob and Matthew paused mid-hunt-flight! Can you see the look of "Not now Mom!" on their faces?!

Grandma and Lexie

Zillia, Kali, Hallee, and Olivia

Pleased with his haul!

Four super great boys!

Easter Saturday morning was as exciting and fun-filled as ever with the added benefit of not having to handle sugared up kids in church and not having to try to tone down their excitement and festivities in order to keep the Sabbath Day holy. Win win situation! We had egg hunts and attended the Jenkins' Family Easter Party and played with our cousins. We finished out the evening with a discussion on what we thought the Savior might have been doing, as a spirit, on this night so long ago and how his disciples might have felt at this point.

Grandpa and Morgan

Grandma lovingly refers to these three as "the triplets". Actually, the twins: Carly & Aaron and Avonlea were all born one day apart.

8 of the 10 cousins

Selenia, Moira and Isaiah

Sunday morning was quiet! We spent the day in reflection and discussion of the Resurrection. We watched some of the church's video clips about the morning of the First Resurrection. The kids dressed in their new Easter clothes - which they received in their Easter baskets the day before. We had a breakfast of fruit and sweet rolls and arrived at church early and unhurried. It was such a peaceful morning! No modern traditions to rush through while trying to balance with reflection on The Resurrection. We finished out the evening with a potluck family dinner and a Resurrection Eggs hunt, in which we did one final run through on the true Easter meaning by way of tokens of the Easter story in plastic eggs. 

 

It was truly a wonderful Easter! John had been the skeptical one when I suggested doing this, but by evenings end, when the kids were all in bed early, he said how great it was! We are totally making this a permanent tradition!