Where Are Our Elected Leaders?

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU8uuPhQog0

I do feel better about things, and not as sad as I said recently;  Especially after the talk we heard on Sunday that Niki mentioned in her comments.  That said, I still feel that our elected leaders in California need to step up and stand against the acts of violence, vandalism, and hate that we see now. I was encouraged to see this press conference and hope it might help.

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I Am Thankful for Faith

Tonight has been rough for me.  I don’t really feel like writing, but I want to stick with my Thanksgiving goal.  Honestly, right now I am very sad.  I am trying not to take the Prop 8 backlash personally, but it’s difficult when the attacks are so mean spirited and I feel like we have largely been left to fend for ourselves.  I am truly thankful for those who have come forward and defended the LDS church, but I can’t help but feel disappointed in what I thought America stood for and misunderstood by the public. So I think I’ll take a break from reading articles and watching news stories about the protests for a while and try to remember the big picture. I know that all will work according to God’s will and I am still firm in my faith, and for that I am thankful.

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I Am Thankful For the Yahoo Girls

Kelly started up a Yahoo group and it has been so great. It is made up of many women in the ward and we use it mostly to coordinate park days, play groups, and babysitting. It is also used as sort of a message board and I get an email every time somebody posts something. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with it, but I I love how I feel like I have a whole group of people that have my back should I need last minute help, advice on a doctor or mechanic or an uplifiting thought on a tough day.

I really enjoy seeing everyone’s personalities as they share their favorite blogs, recipes, and shopping tips etc. I have a seperate folder in my email for this group because there are always a ton of emails coming in (we seem to average about 400 a month). It is a great way for a person like me to stay in the loop.  I’m not the best communicator in person, and I never feel like I know what’s going on with anyone, but through this I feel like I have a group of people outside of my family that care about me, my husband, and my kids.  It’s kind of like that saying, “It takes a village to raise a family.” I have been so impressed at the quick responses people give to needs.  There have been so many times that I have seen a string of emails that I missed earlier where someone needed a babysitter, and within 15 minutes they found one.  It’s amazing, and I’m so lucky to be surrounded by these women that love to serve each other and truly understand what charity is.

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I Am Thankful For My Timer

I use my little kitchen timer every day, but I never use it for anything in my kitchen.

I use it to teach sharing: “When the buzzer rings it’s Hannah’s turn.”

I use it to motivate: “When the buzzer goes off you better have this room cleaned up because anything left on the floor is going in the trash.”

I use it for bribery: “You can have dessert if your helper jobs are done when the timer goes off.”

I use it for quiet time: “I know you’re not tired, and you only need to stay in your room until the buzzer goes off.”

I use it to regulate computer, video game, and TV time: “I know you’re almost done, but the timer went off, so your time is up.”

I use it for practice time: “I know it feels like you’ve already practiced for 20 minutes, but I haven’t heard the timer yet.”

So I pretty much use it to save my sanity.  This way I don’t have to nag, or remind, or be the one saying, “times up!” all the time. Love it!

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I Am Thankful For Cute Words

One thing that makes time spent together with the kids even more fun are the cute things they say.  Today at lunch Hannah almost knocked over her cup of lemonade with her elbow, but caught it just in time. She looked at me with big eyes and an even bigger smile.  Then Sabrina said, “Good catch Elmo!”

This is a phrase that we adopted from a book that was a favorite bedtime story many years ago. I can’t remember the name of it now, but it was a Sesame Street book that was sent as part of one of those monthly book club offers.  In the story Elmo is playing with a ball and chasing it with his Sesame Street friends.  Finally on the last page, he catches it and Zoe says, “Good catch Elmo.” We all picked up on the phrase and say it whenever someone in the family makes a nice save from disaster or while playing a game etc.

As you know from the name of this blog, we think this kind of stuff is funny, and keep using the words or phrases again and again until they seem normal to us. This comes mostly from Rob’s side of the family who all love to add an ee sound to the end of every word they can. I tease Rob(by) about a time when we were dating and someone in his family referred to something as “weirdy.” Nobody snickered, or mentioned anything about the use of this unique word.  I love that his parents have programmed them all this way…  And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Robby married Amy, Marky married Melanie, Scotty married Korby, Heidi married Gary, and well, I guess Heather and Craig are that exception to this rule.  No pressure Holly, but you’ve got to find a way to make your future honey end his name with a “y.” 😉

Some other examples of words we have adopted into everyday use:

bopper or dipee= diaper

be in pirate= be in private

shoesies= shoes

ladytard= leotard

pawcorn= popcorn

meanie-meanie= a person who is being mean

a double= anything with two stuck together (a double Cheeto or a double bubble…)

There are tons more, but I can’t think of them right now.

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