What I Did Today

Thought it would be good to catch up on a few day to day things. Gotta start with yesterday, though.
Sunday, Dec. 12
Woke up with a sore throat. Read scriptures. I'm studying Isaiah. I figured that with Jesus Christ and Nephi recommending it, I probably should tackle it. Steve and I started reading it together a few weeks ago. We got bogged down in the "burden" chapters, where Isaiah predicts death and destruction for Moab, Damascus, Egypt, Babylon, Ethiopia, Tyre, the drunkards of Ephraim, and even Ariel (whoever or whatever that is). So now I'm reading by myself and finally got to some really, really good stuff in Chapter 40. "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people", "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength", "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."
After reading, I got Lizzie some breakfast, then went back upstairs to write a new blog post.
Then time to tackle the newspaper. My favorite sections of the Sunday newspaper: the editorials and the crossword puzzle. Settled down to work the crossword puzzle. Ted helped for a bit. I had to interrupt the puzzle for a bit while I ironed Daniel's shirts. He was going to his basketball trainer's missionary farewell.
Said goodbye to Steve, who left to go to Kansas City for business. Then finished the puzzle. Studied the Sunday School lesson that Steve asked me to teach for him. Actually, studied is too big a word. I skimmed the lesson and considered it done. I would regret that decision in 3 hours. Oh well...
By that time it was getting close to choir practice. I quickly showered and got the little ones bathed and dressed and headed to the church. I love singing in the choir at Christmas time! We are singing 4 songs this year, two of them we have sung in previous years. One of the new ones is not coming along well at all. Basically, we need a Christmas miracle.
After practice, went home to pick up the kids for church. Sacrament Mtg went fine until Lizzie decided to bite off a chunk of yellow crayon and show all the people sitting behind us what was in her mouth. Took her out, washed her mouth and scrubbed her teeth, then had her sit down in a corner with her arms folded (not to be mean, but just because the couch was all taken).
She didn't want to go to Primary, but Sis. and Bro. Lamb came out and gave her no choice. No one says no to the Lambs. She went and left me to try and convince Daniel into his class. Which took a lot. Then went to face Steve's class. All I'm going to say is that one can not go into a class of 13 to 15 year olds unprepared and expect all to go well. Also, Ted should consider himself lucky that he's still alive. His ADD was showing big time.
Let the class out early and headed to Relief Society. It truly was a relief to be there. I played the piano because our regular pianist was sick. The lesson was on the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Spirit was so sweet in there. I love our RS ladies!
Went home and got everyone dinner, then attempted to do a little visiting teaching. But no one was home. So went home and cracked the whip. "Forced" the boys to do the dishes and clean the kitchen so we could do our Advent celebration. I tell ya, it is NO FUN to get boys to work - especially Ted - when they don't want to. Ted plays this game of making himself so obnoxious that I send him to his room and he gets out of his work. This time, though, I waited until he was almost done, then sent him to his room before we did Advent.
Advent was nice. A nice new tradition. After we lit the candles and sang a few songs, I read a couple of Christmas stories, then we worked on gingerbread houses. They didn't work well at all, so we mostly just stuffed our faces with candy. Lauren brought Holden over and we talked for a while. Helped Ted with an online Science test, and put the kids to bed, then drove Lauren and Holden home at around 8:15 to Goshen. Had to tutor Lauren a bit in getting Holden to go to sleep on his own. Not a fun stage. But it passes quickly if done right.
Then came home and watched a bit of "White Christmas". Unfortunately I turned it on right as the "Minstrel" number came on. Yikes! Don't know how that song made it passed the film editors. But, right after that comes the "When you're worried and can not sleep, count your blessings instead of sheep" song. That was the perfect place to turn off the TV and go to sleep.

Dec. 13
I didn't sleep well. I had a sore throat and couldn't seem to swallow without effort. But I got up right before scripture study. Wasn't the most scintillating sections - D&C 47 and 48. But we did it. Lauren dropped off Holden and picked up Ted to take him to school. I went walking with Kim. Jill had to stay home with Lyle, who is sick. Kim and I had a good talk, but my favorite part of the walk came after I dropped her off at the bottom of her hill and I saw Timmy running to meet me and walk me home. He was in shorts and still in his PJ top. He had such excitement and love in his eyes as he ran towards me and then took my hand. I'll never be as popular with anyone else as with my little children. I never want to be.
After our walk, I had breakfast, then read to the kids - first "The Wizard of Oz", then our history book. We read about the late 19th C. immigration. I love this quote by German immigrant Carl Schurz:

It is an old dodge of the advocates of despotism throughout the world, that the people who are not experienced in self-government are not fit for the exercise of self-government...[but] liberty is the best school for liberty, and self-government cannot be learned but by practicing it. This, sir, is a truly American idea; this is true Americanism, and to this I pay the tribute of my devotion.

That goes along with my philosophy of parenting and home school. Reading and writing and math will all be taught soon enough. But what I try to concentrate on with my kids before those things is teaching them to use agency wisely while there is still a bit of a safety net. It's taken me a while to get to that place where I honor my children's agency and their divine spark. In my earlier years I played God too much and tried too hard to control every facet of their lives. I fell into the trap of thinking children were empty pitchers, waiting to be filled. I know now that isn't true. Children come with an inner desire to learn and to progress. When they are controlled too much their inner flame can become extinguished. Now I try to give them space to listen to their spirits and to God's spirit so they can hopefully discover their inner mission and purpose.

For instance, Timmy is trying hard to read. I have tried in former years to sit down with him and practice reading with him for a certain amount every day. He got bored with it and soon hated it. So I backed off. Now he begs to have me help him. I put him off as much as I can and give him help here and there, but only until just before he gets bored. I follow his lead. I haven't actually had a reading lesson for 2 weeks. Yet today he picked up a chapter book and started trying to sound out words. He's actually gone through 2 pages, mostly by himself. It's like watching a baby take tentative steps. They don't give up. And neither will Tim.

Anyway, after reading history, the kids played outside for a bit, then did a bit of math. I cleaned up the yard and house, then put Holden to bed for a short nap. Then we went to the Anaya's school. We learned about Christmas around the world. Not too much going on there, except that the kids like to interact with other kids. We are going caroling together tomorrow.

Came home after that and I had to get salad and dessert ready to take to the Swensons. Then we watched TV a bit, then had dinner (Burger King), then watched the movie "Ramona and Beezus" for FHE. It is such a tender, good movie. I was surprised that all the kids watched it without complaining. Daniel gave me such a nice hug before bed. It's not often I get those hugs from him these days. He towers above me and he is gone a lot with basketball. He is growing up to be such a nice young man - as are the rest of my boys, for that matter. And my girls. I am feeling very blessed right now.