I already posted a super-long story about the day we sang in church, but there is one more thing I want to record about the experience.
I know it is true that sometimes the Spirit testifies the truthfulness of things to our hearts when we are speaking (or singing?) about what we know is true. I had an experience like that while we were in the chapel, singing about families.
As I stood there with five of the people I love the very most in the world, I felt the Spirit confirm the truthfulness of these words from the song:
God gave us families
To help us become what He wants us to be.
This is how He shares His love,
For the family is of God.
I really believe that is true - that it is God's plan that we have our families to help us become better people. And it's not always easy or fun or picture perfect, but knowing that we have have unbreakable bonds with each family member makes it worth it to work harder. We become more like our Father in Heaven when we love each other through the good and the bad times.
And, it's always great to have people to laugh with!
Friday, November 13, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
My new favorite thing
I'm in love. A few weeks ago I bought these super-soft fleece bedsheets at Costco. Every night when I climb into luxury I wax poetic about how soft they are. When I wake up in the night I just have to smile when I realize that I am sleeping in a cloud. Winter has hit and the sky is perpetually weeping. These sheets make it easier to bear!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Pushing the limits of the Comfort Zone
About three weeks ago the Primary at church asked our family to sing a song for the Primary Program. All of us, all four verses, in front of everyone. It was an unfamiliar song, one which was published in the Friend magazine. Wow. That is so far out of our comfort zone that it is not even in the same time zone. Our kids are shaping up to be fine singers, but Dan and I are more comfortable moving our lips and singing very, very softly. The thought of singing in front of a congregation is terrifying for most of us.
We asked the Primary if they were SURE, but they were. So, we said yes. The first thing I did is transpose the song down six steps to a much lower key (my former piano teachers would be so proud). Primary songs are just not written for our family's alto and bass voices. The upside to being terrified and out of our element is that we were motivated to practice.
Fast forward to the performance day, which was yesterday. Dan had meetings all morning and planned to meet us at the church. We were supposed to be there early to get seated. I thought I had done a good job thinking through the advance preparation checklist. The girls both wanted their hair specially curled, so we got up early so I could help them with that. The girls and I were dressed and ready quite early, when Dan called from the church to see if he needed to run home to help. "No," I chirped. "We're doing great - almost ready!" Why, oh why do I curse myself like that?
Critical error: Joseph was not yet awake. Lately, he has done an impressive job of getting up happily, getting himself dressed, using the facilities, etc. I erroneously believed that I could count on this historical precedent to hold true when it was really critical.
First, he wouldn't get out of bed. Once I bodily removed him, he refused to wear clothes. Nothing. He apparently was going to go through the day in only his Transformers underwear. Then, he refused to use the bathroom. Now, I try to be a "go with the flow" sort of mother, but I have to draw the line at having my son on the stand in the chapel in his underwear, announcing that NOW he needed to use the bathroom.
So, I panicked. I begged him to get ready, I threatened, I tried to force him, and finally I bribed him heavily. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Five minutes before Sacrament Meeting was to start and ten minutes after we were supposed to be seated we were still at home and I was shoving M&Ms into Joseph's mouth so that he would use the restroom and then pull on clothing. Oh, and with all the turmoil, he had not eaten breakfast. So, my gift to the Primary that day was a child with only M&Ms in his stomach.
We sped our way to the church house, jumped out and prepared to dart into our seats just as the meeting started. Then, crisis #2. Aubrey had a significant speaking part in the program. She had written out notes for her story, and left them sitting on the desk at home. As tears welled up, I threw Brandon the keys and told him to drive home quickly to get the program notes, while the rest of us found our seats.
Our song was basically at the beginning of the Primary program, which was right after the Sacrament. There was no guarantee that Brandon could make it back to the church in time for our song, which would mean we wouldn't have his nice bass voice to help us. Dan was especially terrified by the thought of singing a solo, as Brandon and Dan were to sing one verse as a duet.
The program started, Brandon arrived just in time with Aubrey's part, and then a few minutes later we were on. We were singing a sweet song about the family. Which was a little ironic, since it hadn't exactly been "love at home" as we struggled to make it to the church without causing bodily harm to one another.
I have to say that I am very proud of my family. Everyone really put their hearts into the singing. We sang well enough to not detract from the beautiful message of the song. Really, though, the rest of the family was just a backdrop for Joseph, who (by all accounts) stole the show. He sang many of the words (who knew that he was learning anything in our practice sessions - we had never heard him sing the song), and also beamed and waved at the audience.
Afterward, Dan whispered that it had been the closest he had ever come to having his knees buckle and passing out.
We got a good laugh as a family when we remembered that multiple people had said to us afterward, "your family started to sing and I began to cry." Supposedly they were saying that they had been touched by the Spirit, but that might also mean that the quality of our singing provoked tears!
Awhile ago I listened to a talk which focused on the concept of doing good things which are uncomfortable for us. Every day the speaker and her family say together before leaving the home, "we can do hard things!" I thought that was a wonderful message, and have bugged my kids with this ever since. It is very true that growth happens when we try things which are difficult for us.
I am grateful for our family's challenge to do something hard and uncomfortable. Those who listened to our part of the program may remember it for a day or two, but hopefully our family will always remember how we worked together to do something difficult.
We asked the Primary if they were SURE, but they were. So, we said yes. The first thing I did is transpose the song down six steps to a much lower key (my former piano teachers would be so proud). Primary songs are just not written for our family's alto and bass voices. The upside to being terrified and out of our element is that we were motivated to practice.
Fast forward to the performance day, which was yesterday. Dan had meetings all morning and planned to meet us at the church. We were supposed to be there early to get seated. I thought I had done a good job thinking through the advance preparation checklist. The girls both wanted their hair specially curled, so we got up early so I could help them with that. The girls and I were dressed and ready quite early, when Dan called from the church to see if he needed to run home to help. "No," I chirped. "We're doing great - almost ready!" Why, oh why do I curse myself like that?
Critical error: Joseph was not yet awake. Lately, he has done an impressive job of getting up happily, getting himself dressed, using the facilities, etc. I erroneously believed that I could count on this historical precedent to hold true when it was really critical.
First, he wouldn't get out of bed. Once I bodily removed him, he refused to wear clothes. Nothing. He apparently was going to go through the day in only his Transformers underwear. Then, he refused to use the bathroom. Now, I try to be a "go with the flow" sort of mother, but I have to draw the line at having my son on the stand in the chapel in his underwear, announcing that NOW he needed to use the bathroom.
So, I panicked. I begged him to get ready, I threatened, I tried to force him, and finally I bribed him heavily. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Five minutes before Sacrament Meeting was to start and ten minutes after we were supposed to be seated we were still at home and I was shoving M&Ms into Joseph's mouth so that he would use the restroom and then pull on clothing. Oh, and with all the turmoil, he had not eaten breakfast. So, my gift to the Primary that day was a child with only M&Ms in his stomach.
We sped our way to the church house, jumped out and prepared to dart into our seats just as the meeting started. Then, crisis #2. Aubrey had a significant speaking part in the program. She had written out notes for her story, and left them sitting on the desk at home. As tears welled up, I threw Brandon the keys and told him to drive home quickly to get the program notes, while the rest of us found our seats.
Our song was basically at the beginning of the Primary program, which was right after the Sacrament. There was no guarantee that Brandon could make it back to the church in time for our song, which would mean we wouldn't have his nice bass voice to help us. Dan was especially terrified by the thought of singing a solo, as Brandon and Dan were to sing one verse as a duet.
The program started, Brandon arrived just in time with Aubrey's part, and then a few minutes later we were on. We were singing a sweet song about the family. Which was a little ironic, since it hadn't exactly been "love at home" as we struggled to make it to the church without causing bodily harm to one another.
I have to say that I am very proud of my family. Everyone really put their hearts into the singing. We sang well enough to not detract from the beautiful message of the song. Really, though, the rest of the family was just a backdrop for Joseph, who (by all accounts) stole the show. He sang many of the words (who knew that he was learning anything in our practice sessions - we had never heard him sing the song), and also beamed and waved at the audience.
Afterward, Dan whispered that it had been the closest he had ever come to having his knees buckle and passing out.
We got a good laugh as a family when we remembered that multiple people had said to us afterward, "your family started to sing and I began to cry." Supposedly they were saying that they had been touched by the Spirit, but that might also mean that the quality of our singing provoked tears!
Awhile ago I listened to a talk which focused on the concept of doing good things which are uncomfortable for us. Every day the speaker and her family say together before leaving the home, "we can do hard things!" I thought that was a wonderful message, and have bugged my kids with this ever since. It is very true that growth happens when we try things which are difficult for us.
I am grateful for our family's challenge to do something hard and uncomfortable. Those who listened to our part of the program may remember it for a day or two, but hopefully our family will always remember how we worked together to do something difficult.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Haunting the neighborhood
We were SO lucky to have a dry Halloween night. The weather was perfect - cool but not cold. On Halloween, our neighborhood is a magnet for everyone in Vancouver, it seems. Parked cars line the streets at each entrance to the neighborhood and there are swarms of people on the street. Neighbors across the street spend the month prior to Halloween turning their garage into a haunted house which attracts many hundreds of people. This means that we have to buy a LOT of candy (we give out 350-500 pieces, depending on the year), but it's very festive and fun. Three of our friends and their kids joined us. The guys watched a show at home and answered the door and the moms walked around with the kids.
Joseph couldn't find his Batman mask/cape, but quickly got over his disappointment when he realized that he was going to get lots and lots of candy. We did have a tantrum over whether or not he would wear a coat over his costume (I won). He happily trekked through the neighborhood with us for about an hour, and then he told me "I don't want any more candy. I want to go home." I ran him back and then met up again with our group.
This is typical Joseph.
Our lovely medieval princess.
Bailey was an "80s hip-hop dancer." I told her that if she really wanted to be "80s", she needed to curl and rat her bangs. I offered my services in creating this hairstyle (which I knew very well). She declined. Technically, Bailey is past our family's cut-off age for trick-or-treating. We made an exception because her good friend (who is on the autistic spectrum and seems much younger than her age) was planning to join us for trick-or-treating.
Joseph couldn't find his Batman mask/cape, but quickly got over his disappointment when he realized that he was going to get lots and lots of candy. We did have a tantrum over whether or not he would wear a coat over his costume (I won). He happily trekked through the neighborhood with us for about an hour, and then he told me "I don't want any more candy. I want to go home." I ran him back and then met up again with our group.
This is typical Joseph.
Our lovely medieval princess.
Bailey was an "80s hip-hop dancer." I told her that if she really wanted to be "80s", she needed to curl and rat her bangs. I offered my services in creating this hairstyle (which I knew very well). She declined. Technically, Bailey is past our family's cut-off age for trick-or-treating. We made an exception because her good friend (who is on the autistic spectrum and seems much younger than her age) was planning to join us for trick-or-treating.
Alien eyeball, anyone?
All of our friends and family in far-flung states, you really missed out. Had you happened by the Porter house Friday night, you could have been a part of our Annual Disgusting Dinner Delight. You, too, could have used your scab picker and gut retriever to eat alien eyeballs, zombie intestines, slime, crunchy bat brains, Monster Mash, Frankenstein's Fright, hollow bones, and leftover toejam. Oh, and don't forget the star attraction, the arachnid nightmare.We had a great time with this tradition. The lighting was dim, the music spooky, and the participants brave. Happy Halloween!
Joseph making his menu choices.
Bailey and Aubrey left right after dinner to attend a ward trunk-or-treat with friends.
I was sentimental about this being Brandon's last Halloween dinner with us. He was preoccupied with leaving on his date, but did grace us with his presence for a few minutes. Teenagers.I totally forgot to take a picture of my favorite part of the meal - the brownie spiders. Very labor intensive, but worth it. I borrowed a pan from a friend in which I baked brownies shaped liked spider bodies. Then I dipped pretzels in chocolate and inserted them in the brownie for legs, added some frosting, and some red hots for eyes. They were spooky and delicious!
The next day we made more brownie spiders to take to the Halloween party Brandon attended Halloween night. Some of his friends in the ward (twin girls who are also seniors in high school) put on a great party for all the youth. I helped their mom with some of the food. Brandon cringed at the fact that we provided brownies in the shape of spiders. I didn't care. It is part of my Mother Job Description to embarrass my teenagers! I checked with the girl throwing the party and her friends, and they all thought it was such a "super cute" idea. So, there you go. Now, I just need to figure out how to send something equally embarrassing to Brandon at BYU next year . . .
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