Tongue Tied

I have been in a real creative slump lately. I haven’t been able to put together posts for the blog the way I’d like to, and it’s really starting to get annoying. I feel like it’s been a year since I’ve felt able to express myself well “on paper.” It even encompasses comments on my friends and family’s blogs, so don’t take it personally if I seem to have disappeared. I’m still reading, just not commenting. I’m determined to pick myself up and keep trying. So, you may need to endure a lot of pictures with captions, and quotes from other people until I get my groove back.

I have a little book, “What Christians Believe” by C.S. Lewis that I’ve read through. I’ve always known CS Lewis was an admired writer and thinker, but never read much from him except for the Narnia stories. I really felt truth in his words. Here’s one of the quotes from the book that I enjoyed:

“… God designed the human machine to run on himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.

That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended-civilisations are built up-excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes wrong. Some fatal flaw always brings the selfish and cruel people to the top and it all slides back into misery and ruin… It seems to start up all right and runs a few yards, and then it breaks down. They are trying to run it on the wrong juice. That is what Satan has done to us humans.”

Seal Beach

Seal Beach– a beach where the seals like to hang out in the sun.

You can get pretty close to the seals. Just behind us was a rope that separates the people from the seals.

The views are gorgeous! The ocean has an aqua color that you tend to see in more tropical locations. You can also walk out on a concrete wall and be right next to the large waves crashing on the rocks.

There is a path along the coast line and a grassy park where we saw lots of runners, dog walkers, and couples enjoying the views. There are several of these “little houses” (as dubbed by our girls) where you can sit to look out on the ocean. A great day-trip for the family. And it was free!

February Ketchup

Here is a new batch of pictures! Unfortunately I’m only to February in my photo gallery. For more pictures not seen here, visit the February gallery.

Princess Dress-ups from Nana’s closet.

Nana helped the kids make an early-birthday fairy cake for Sabrina with fondant! A first for all of us.

Fondant flowers, butterflies, lipsticks, and a lake with Tinkerbell flying over head- All of Sabrina’s favorites- Especially when the candles were on.

We were so excited to see our cousins again! Owen jumped out of the van before they even made it up the hill…

…And then Kate promptly tackled Hannah!

The kids (mostly Owen and Davis) spent lots of time with the gazillion legos.

Kate kept swiping the girls’ clothes and shoes and showing up in them. She really liked Sabrina’s princess shoes!

By the end of the visit “Brina Bell” and “Katerbug” had traded names. Such cuties!

The day before her birthday Sabrina insisted that we decorate Easter eggs. We ate them for breakfast the next morning along with the traditional donuts.

Sabrina is four years old!

Candles and a lip gloss necklace, her favorite!

Sabrina wanted the cute princess castles and shoes in her cupcakes.

Such a lovely girl!

And as quick as you can blow out a candle, that was the end of February!

Charlotte Paige

Mothers And Daughters

Today I went Visiting Teaching and was in charge of sharing a lesson. Since April was General Conference I got to choose the message. So in honor of Mother’s Day I chose the talk by Elder Ballard, Mothers and Daughters. After reading the talk and then presenting it three times this morning, I just had to share some of my favorite parts.

It’s hard to find our place as women in the world when so often we are berated for standing up for morals and values. Elder Ballard reminds us of the sacred role we play in Heavenly Father’s plan and of the respect the priesthood leaders of the church have for women: “It is, unfortunately, all too easy to illustrate the confusion and distortion of womanhood in contemporary society. Immodest, immoral, intemperate women jam the airwaves, monopolize magazines, and slink across movie screens—all while being celebrated by the world. The Apostle Paul spoke prophetically of “perilous times” that will come in the last days and specifically referenced something that may have seemed particularly perilous to him: “silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts” (2 Timothy 3:1, 6). Popular culture today often makes women look silly, inconsequential, mindless, and powerless. It objectifies them and disrespects them and then suggests that they are able to leave their mark on mankind only by seduction—easily the most pervasively dangerous message the adversary sends to women about themselves.”

Message I most want my daughters and nieces to hear, because it’s so true. I can see this clearly now about my own mother, but I wasn’t always so sure (love you mom!): “Love your mother, my young sisters. Respect her. Listen to her. Trust her. She has your best interests at heart. She cares about your eternal safety and happiness. So be kind to her. Be patient with her imperfections, for she has them. We all do.“

For all mothers of daughters and sons this is crucial. Everything we say and do goes into their heads and is processed. As my dear friend recently reminded me, they may not seem to be listening or watching, but they are; So we should fill their heads with positive things: “Let me assure you that even when you think your daughter is not listening to a thing you say, she is still learning from you as she watches you to see if your actions match your words. As Ralph Waldo Emerson is believed to have said, “What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.”

Some reminders of the things Mothers can do to raise daughters of faith:

• …avoid the temptation to gossip or judge one another
• A mother-daughter relationship is where a daughter learns how to nurture by being nurtured.
• …(teach) the importance of making covenants, and then show them how to keep those covenants in such a way that they will desire to live worthy to go to the temple.
• Immodest, unchaste women are glamorized and all too often celebrated and emulated….You need to have frequent, open discussions during which you teach your daughters the truth about these issues.
• …learn how to recognize the presence and the voice of the Spirit.
• Point them to the scriptures.
  
• Give them experiences that will help them cherish the blessing of priesthood power in their lives.
• God will truly hear and answer their prayers.
• if needed, teach them how to repent and how to remain pure and worthy.

The thesis for Elder Ballard’s talk: “I hope you are listening and see a pattern and hear a steady, consistent message that in these last days it is essential—even critical—that parents and children listen to and learn from one another. These are not just ethereal concepts about which I have been speaking. They are the essence, the center, of God’s plan for our eternal happiness and peace.”

Hunter graduates from primary soon, and we enter the world of  “the youth.” I hope and pray that this is a time of learning and growth for him, and his parents, as he figures out the man he wants to become: “…the home is the most important place to prepare the youth of today to lead the families and the Church of tomorrow. It rests upon each one of us as mothers and fathers to do all we can to prepare our youth to be faithful, righteous men and women. It is in the home where we must teach the gospel by precept and by example.”

The Mutual theme for 2010 applies to our youth as well as to all of us: “Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1:9).

Our family at Cabrillo Tidepools

Elder Ballard closes with this beautiful quote from President Joseph F. Smith that reminds me why families and motherhood are so important: “…We form associations and relations for time and all eternity. . . . Who are there besides the Latter-day Saints who contemplate the thought that beyond the grave we will continue in the family organization? the father, the mother, the children recognizing each other..? this family organization being a unit in the great and perfect organization of God’s work, and all destined to continue throughout time and eternity?”

To listen to this talk click here.

Cast Buddies

So, let me just say up front- This is not a joke. Although I seem to laugh when I talk about it because the timing of it all seems so unbelievable. Poor Hunter broke his arm on Saturday! He was riding his scooter down the hill and got going so fast that he missed his turn onto the grass, flew out into the street and crashed. This time Rob took him to urgent care and got the x-rays. He has a large break in the big bone, and a smaller fracture in the little bone. The doctor compared the break to what you would get if you took a green tree branch and bent it until it snapped. Hunter has been brave through it all, and took just one day off of school.

On Wednesday I took Sabrina to get a follow up x-ray and she still needs another two weeks in her cast. Our hurdle to overcome now is getting her to walk on it. She is very hesitant, although she made some good progress when my friend who is a physical therapist came to visit and pushed her a bit. Now that Tonya’s gone and it’s just Mom and Dad, Sabrina is trying to avoid walking.

On Thursday I took Hunter to get his cast on, and it will be four weeks until his follow up appointment, and six weeks until he’s allowed to do regular PE activities. That means he’s out of PE for the rest of the school year. He was pretty excited about that.

We had friends from Orange County visiting when this happened and the rest of the weekend was great fun. We were able to catch up with our friends, play, hike the canyons by our house picking up trash, watch an impromptu performance of Cinderella where the step-sisters ran wild, Cinderella sang, and a three-year-old prince chucked Cinderella’s slipper at her and ran away. It was super cute.