Elder Maxwell Quotes

This wonderful post has been lost in my drafts folder. . .wonder why I never hit publish!

During some of the harder times of my life I became a student of Elder Maxwell. Recently I've turned back to him finding much needed strength in his thoughts.  Maybe you will enjoy them as well.

"Patience is tied very closely to faith in our Heavenly Father. Actually, when we are unduly impatient, we are suggesting that we know what is best—better than does God. Or, at least, we are asserting that our timetable is better than His. We can grow in faith only if we are willing to wait patiently for God's purposes and patterns to unfold in our lives, on His timetable."

"The submission of one's will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God's altar. The many other things we 'give' are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us."

"If, in the end, you have not chosen Jesus Christ it will not matter what you have chosen."

"Faith in God includes Faith in God's timing."

"Just as doubt, despair, and desensitization go together, so do faith, hope, and charity. The latter, however, must be carefully and constantly nurtured, whereas despair, like dandelions, needs so little encouragement to sprout and spread. Despair comes so naturally to the natural man!"

"Patient endurance permits us to cling to our faith in the Lord and our faith in His timing when we are being tossed about by the surf of circumstance. Even when a seeming undertow grasps us, somehow, in the tumbling, we are being carried forward, though battered and bruised."

I testify that He is utterly incomparable in what He is, what He knows, what He has accomplished and what He has experienced. Yet, movingly, He calls us His Friends"

"Ultimate hope and daily grumpiness are not reconcilable."

"Within what is allotted to us, we can have spiritual contentment."

"Patience is...clearly not fatalistic, shoulder-shrugging resignation. It is the acceptance of a divine rhythm to life; it is obedience prolonged. Patience stoutly resists pulling up the daisies to see how the roots are doing. "


So much food for thought.  So much inspiration to improve.  I'll keep trying.

Moving Day

Moving-to-college day came with more emotions than I knew what to do with. I was unprepared with how hard it is to have a child to move out. I had many a good cry for about a week.  Thankfully they have tapered off. This is good mission prep---for mom!

This organized kid had his boxes all packed and labeled when he brought them upstairs.  They were labeled: Office, Library, Janitorial Closet, Narnia, Parallel Universe and Iron Chef--all true to Cache-fashion!

So how is college life treating him? Very well!


He added and dropped classes a few times in order to create a sufficent academic challenge, but now he is loving it.  (Although he says it is way easier than high school and he has to find lots of things to do to fill his time--I think he wishes there was more school to do, yet he is nervous to add more credits his first semester because of his scholarship requirements.)  He is loving access to such a great library.  He is loving the freedom of being a young adult.  And he is loving cooking.  We stopped by after Caleb's race last Saturday to take him grocery shopping. He purchased food to make Hot stuffed Peppers, Chicken with Red Pepper and Asparagus, Roasted Cauliflower, Broccoli and Cashews, Black Pepper Chicken, Ravioli Soup, Fried Rice and Fried Zucchini.  Cooking has been one of his favorite parts of college.  He is eating very well!  (His groceries were about $36, and he says these menus will feed him for a couple of weeks so  he was pretty happy about the cost too--always conservative!)


He has joined an English group, was adopted into a Physics group, and is involved with events regarding his scholarship.  His calling is FHE coordinator for his group.  His FHE agenda is as follows: Hangman, Debate, Interesting Read of the Week, and Poetry Corner (he says he is trying to encourage literacy---mostly for his over-gaming roommates!)  To a normal person, this agenda may sound a little on the boring side.  But knowing Cache, it will be hilarious and very entertaining every time.  The debate topic he told us about last week was whether or not unicorns could be other colors than white.  The arguments sounded very humorous!  (In a texting conversation, I asked him if he was planning on doing other things for FHE, his response was:  "The official agenda may be added to, but only through a rigorous vetting process.  And hey, I don't tell you how to be Primary President."  Okay, Cache, I'll give you space.)


He's been generous to send a few 'newsy' emails.  Here are a few gems from them:


~The intramural sports program does not offer intramural polo, in case you were wondering.


~My new toothbrush is a bit too aggressive for my taste, but it should mellow out soon.


~My Writing and Rhetoric book arrived yesterday from the Allen family in Ogden. They wished me luck, but I don't know why. There's no way they could have known that I'm using the book for college and not just because I wanted it.


~The subject line of one of his emails was:  "The letter to the editor titled 'Invited to a Tea Party' contained a little more than party-line rhetoric."  So did that letter, incidentally."


~The piano player in my sacrament meeting is great. He always plays the hymns 10 clicks faster than normal, so instead of taking forever to sing all four verses of "I Believe in Christ," it only takes a few minutes. Plus, he doesn't wait for a member of the bishopric to stand up before he stops playing the prelude music. He stops exactly at 1:30 and then sits down.


~I still don't know what my major is, but everyone continues to ask me anyway.


~From a text in response to me asking about the devotional this week:  "I like Elder Andersen.  He did well today.  I didn't see his Avalon, though."


Man, I miss that kid!  But, I'm thankful he is having this wonderful opportunity and I'm also thankful he is letting me still be connected to him.  All is well!

Beyond

I hesitate to post this for fear of offending the spirit. Spiritual enlightenment is not given lightly and must be guarded sacred.  But I have felt that I should share this because others can benefit from this experience.  Hopefully that will be the case.

I was driving Caleb to Cross Country practice a few weeks ago and my radio was tuned to Classical 89.  A song came on that was familiar, but I didn't know what it was.  Without any warning, I was so incredibly moved by the spirit that tears started spilling.  I've learned that during such moments, answers are given if proper questions are asked.  I started asking questions:  Why is this song so moving?  Is this song important to me?  Through a series of questions and sensed responses (that I can't exactly remember), I came to the conclusion that I was present while that song was being composed.  Once I came to that conclusion, in my mind, I suddenly envisioned a man sitting at a piano with scores open and in the background there were many other heavenly visitors watching, guiding and prompting.  And then suddenly, I knew the desired conclusion. It came so suddenly and forcefully that I even said it out loud to Caleb:  "You never know who your audience is."   It was such a powerful moment that we were both taken back by the power of it.  We need to live so that those spirits sent to surround us are not disappointed or offended, but more importantly, we need to live so that we have their help! They have so much more power to help us when we live worthy of it. What a grand and marvelous idea!  As I've pondered this since then, it has been confirmed many times that this was the desired message.  You never know who your audience is.  Live up to that privilege.

So when I came upon this little comic in the BYU magazine, I grabbed my scissors and posted it top and center on my fridge.  We have so many who are cheering us, waiting to assist us, guiding and prompting us.  I really feel that they want us to be aware of their presence.  You never know who your audience is!
Here is a link to a beautiful video with the song I heard on the radio that day---Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland.  (Incidentally, I learned later he composed most of his pieces on a piano. This one was composed in 1944.)

Quick Bits

*I love early fall weather.

*Living with kids who dress up is awesome!

*I just finished Daughter's in My Kingdom.  Ahhh.   Such a feel-good motivator.  So much inspiration.  I will definitely be revisiting often.

* I'm so sick of cooking and eating pasta.  Caleb has been having us eat it twice a week in preparation for races.  (But I've become a cross-country-loving mom, so I deal with it!)

* You know it's time to update your recipe blog when your 11 year old reminds you of your lack of love for that blog (and asks why certain favorite recipes are not there). I've just had a very busy spell.  I'm working on it. We've had a few good recipes lately, so I'm slowly getting them added.

*I guess when you are two, you can get away with eating breakfast in only a tutu.

* Chan has not liked the new education model his school adopted this year (having the same teacher all day).  I keep telling him it is good for him.

*I've been boosting 72 hour kits.  I've also rotated 3 closet's contents to get those supplies closer to an exit.  (They've been about as far away from an exit as possible in my house.)

*Tessa has been wanting to grow her hair out (we'll see how that goes. . .her hair makes a piece of paper seem bulky). But the extra few inches has caused her to need 'air conditioner', as she calls it.

*When the Primary kids memorize their Primary Program part, they get to come and get a sparkly golden key to put on their scripture reading block.  (see here)

*Dear microfiber dishrags, where have you been all my life?

*Just because I miss him. (A college-this-and-that post coming soon.)  This photo is from his Elder ordination day.

*I have a new computer and have lost bookmarks---if I have access to your private blog, can you send me your blog address? (pretty please?)

*I ordered the 'fruit lovers' option this week at Bountiful Baskets.  I'm hoping it covers my fruit buying for the week.  (I usually have to buy more than comes in a basket to keep stocked.)

*Tessa had a time out the other day before dinner but we told her we would give it to her after the prayer.  She offered to pray.  It went something like this:  I'm thankful for the food.  But I'M NOT THANKFUL THAT I HAVE TO HAVE A TIME OUT AND I HATE TIME OUTS AND I'M SO MAD AT MOM AND DAD FOR GIVING ME A TIME OUT!!!!  We tried not to laugh. (didn't work though)  

*Greta is turning into quite the talker.  However, you still have to know her language to understand her.  For example, she calls carrots 'care guts'. She says a big one is a 'bib none'.  She's got a few other gems, I'm just not thinking of them now.

* Next year, if Cache didn't go on a mission, I'd have a child in college, high school, Jr. High, Elementary and Preschool. (gulp)

*Yay!  It's the weekend!

Scratch Tickets

I was asked to come up with two different projects for this year's RS Fabulous Friday. Thankfully they decided only to do the greeting cards (it is kinda hard to run two stations(!) and Caleb has a Cross Country meet that night so I'm not sure how much I'll actually be there). But I did  go to the effort to create this project so I might as well share!  Perhaps someone out there can make use of them.

These are customize-able scratch tickets. (I would have gone crazy over this as a teacher!) They can be anything you imagine!--rewards for homework, chores, instrument practice, smiling, good hair days, good manners--whatever!  The set I made is a reward for my girls if their room is clean at bedtime.  I also designed a set to be lunch box notes(see below), but they could also be used for other things as well--what kid wouldn't love a scratch off love note from mom in their lunch box?  They are fun and very easy! 

Here's what you do:

Print them out.

Write your messages.

Laminate--the surface to be scratched-off needs to be glossy. (I do them back to back and slice them apart with an exacto knife to save lamination, but I'm also cheap!)

Punch or cut a template out of clear contact paper. (You could skip this part and go directly to painting if you are not a perfectionist or have a steady painting hand, but they will take longer to paint.) If you are using a punch and your punch can't handle the plastic of the contact paper, punch a piece of paper with it.  That seemed to make all of the difference for me.  (But I do own a very temperamental punch.)  Adhere the contact paper to the tag, taking care to center the opening on the circle as much as possible.

Mix some paint with dish soap. (about 2 parts paint, 1 part soap) I used a Jo-Sonja silver paint because it's what I had on hand, I'm sure other paints would work as well.  I also have used regular acrylic paint; it works just fine but doesn't dry glossy.

Paint 3-5 very light layers as needed. Make sure each layer is as smooth as possible. I like to use a soft bristled brush. A foam brush seems to make the mixture foam up and creates unwanted texture.

Let them dry completely.  To remove template without ruining the edges, place a cardstock punch of the same size/shape over the paint. Hold firmly in place as you gently pull up the contact paper.

You're done! Try to resist scratching one off yourself! (Use a coin!)

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These are the lunch box notes. I used a 1 1/4" square punch for the template. I still haven't received my samples back yet, but you can get the idea.

If you are interested in these projects, I'd love to share (I made them to share afterall!) However, I don't have time to be a cool tech girl, so making a clickable, printable pdf file isn't happening. I will, however, email you the files all ready to print. Email me or leave me a comment if interested: chart@utwire.net

(Note: this is my spam email so if it's been a while since this has been posted and you don't want to wait two weeks to receive it, leave me a comment to check that account.)


Happy Scratching!

Playtime!

I don't buy a lot of toys because I don't like the clutter . I don't like the price and my kids don't play with anything long enough to make it worth the investment. (I think it might frustrate little visiting friends because in their mind there isn't much to do here. . .) But I don't mind a good toy-making project with the kids. They learn a different set of values when making their own toys, and it gives us time together. Here are a few as of late.

Magnets, Cans and Recycled Items:

I saw a version of this on here. The slinkies would be fun, but this was a free project from stuff I had at home. Maybe if I ever get to the dollar store and actually remember, I'll buy a slinky or two. But for now, here is what we have. The girls have enjoyed this a lot.

Puppets:

Growing up I loved to make salt box puppets. I made a dozen or so of them and kept them in a box. So I decided to make some with the girls. While they haven't been as exited about them as I was, they loved the process and have played a bit with them.  (Hard to tell from the photos, but the mouths are the dispenser on the salt box and when you put your hand in and move the dispenser, you can make it talk.)  Sorry for the bad pictures. . .the girls were not in the mood and I wasn't in the mood to coax. Still, they meet the purpose of documentation.

Bakery:
I saw this idea at Ikat Bag and loved it, but knew I couldn't pull it off myself because of my lack of sewing skills. BUT if my sister could do that end of it, I could do the paper part for both of us. She agreed and we collaborated. She didn't want to do the zipper (fine with me!) so she used magnetic snaps. Works just fine. And she threw in some adorable chef hats. As I got going on my part, I wanted more than candles for toppers so we have a large variety of "toppings". I also got way carried away making frostings. . .perhaps there are too many choices for such young children. But it makes it so much more fun when I play!

             

 Tessa hugging Greta for the donuts she made for her. Bad angle I know, but I knew it would be short lived so didn't
 take time to move.  I'm thankful to have captured the sweetness that occurs between these sisters often.

When you add a topper to the donuts, you have large cookies instead!

Smile  and dance while you bake the donuts!

So fun!

(Sorry for the weirdness of these pictures. I couldn't figure how to manipulate them very well with the new new interface and when I went back to the old, I couldn't adjust or move them like I could before.  Tips anyone?)

Designing Again

But not scrapbooking things this time around. . .

My sister has an Etsy shop where she sells embroidery designs (that you purchase and then sew on your own project with an embroidery machine). After seeing some things she had for sale, my mind started churning with ideas. I couldn't sleep. Ideas poured out. So I started sketching (and sketching and sketching). Since I'm not a real artist, my little drawings left much to be desired, but I sent her a dozen or so papers covered with sketches and ideas and notes and jibber jabber. It was amazing she was able to pull anything from those sketchy things, but she did. Here are a few that have generated from what I sent her.

Just a note about the birthday one, it is a birthday count down calendar that you make from a muffin tin with the embroidery designs put on magnets. It's not been a favorite of shoppers, but it's definitely one of my favorites!

If interested, check out her entire shop. Hopefully I'll catch a slower spell soon so I can curl up with my sketch book again. Too fun for me!

Happy Day

Yesterday was a good day:

~My to-do list decreased greatly in size; I was really in need of a productive day.  

~The finished Primary Program arrived in my inbox.  My counselor over it this year did a great job. That is such a relief to have done!  

~My sister had a new baby girl--16 days early.  All is well.  Katie was very near, I could sense that miles away.

~My nephew got his mission call to Novosibirsk, Russia, he leaves December 21. This starts a new era for our family.  

~I started diving into the new RS History book.  (Ward friends, don't be alarmed you don't have yours yet; when you've been asked to present when they are passed out, you get a sneak peek.)  It is a beautiful book filled with the Spirit and I'm excited to have it part of my life.  I am a student of Sister Beck and so I've been anticipating it greatly since she mentions it fairly often.  

~Caleb had a cross country race.  He finished 7th on the team (that puts him on the Varsity team for the next meet) and about 12th in the entire race (it was a V/JV race).  His time was good enough also that he lettered in cross country. It was a good race for him. 

 

~And Cache's missing math book arrived in my mailbox.  He's happy because now he doesn't have to use other methods to get his homework done.  I'm happy because it gives me a good excuse to go visit!  

(Hopefully the next few days can also be productive so I can get some required things behind me so I can catch up on my blogging. Life has just been so crazy lately.)