A new blog with encouraging content

I just discovered a neat blog which is geared toward homeschool LDS families.  However, it has lots of good content that applies to all families who are trying to raise thier children in righteousness.  It is a nice place for a weary parent to be refreshed.  Here is a link if you want to check it out.
 





3 more days until the first official day of spring! 

17 more days until General Conference!  (I am excited for the talks, the kids are excited for the candy blow-out tradition and the quiet craft projects and puzzles!)

The newest addition to our collection

We seem to be growing a collection of musical instruments. I heard Dallin telling his siblings, "Dad is a sucker for outdoor athletic equipment, and Mom is a sucker for educational things, espcially books and musical instruments." He was right.

Slightly before the beginning of the school year Kaylee joined the highschool marching band with her flute. Her enthusiam spread to Dallin and Jillian, and so when the opportunity arose a few weeks later, they joined the elementary, and middle school bands. Jillian on the clarinet and Dallin with a trumpet. They have had so much fun, and gained an incredible amount of musical knowledge. Every day Dallin comes home and says, "I love band." He tells me about the different songs they play, who is best on what instrument and about the annoying antics of some of the other children. He has also been talking a lot about the cool trombones that he sits next to. While his love for the trumpet has not decreased, his fascination with the trombone has continued to increase. Finally this weekend he managed to acquire one of his own.

He has been saving for a couple months, but was still far short of what he needed. In desperation he turned to his siblings. Somehow he managed to convince each of them that they should help pay for it. Kaylee, Jillian and even Madeline donated various ammounts, but that was still not enough. Next he turned to his Mother. "Mom, you just spent a lot of money on Kaylee for all her school clothes. Don't you think that a trombone would be far more EDUCATIONAL, and would last a lot longer than silly fashion clothes. Can you pay the same amount of money that you used on Kaylee to help me get a trombone?" Well, he had a point. He even volunteered to not have me buy him any clothes for the rest of the year. I started to cave in. I checked with Matt, and he actually agreed to do it. I think it reminded him of the time that he and his siblings pitched in together to buy a motorcycle. He was also relieved that Dallin was not asking for the latest video game contraption, a skate board, or any other brain or body killing devices.

Matt took him to the store on Saturday, and the instrument has been in almost constant use since then. Maddy loves it and has declared that when she gets to 5th grade, she will be playing the trombone. The cool thing about the trombone is there are no fingering positions to memorize. It is all based on how far one moves the slide in or out. To play the right notes, you have to just know by ear where the exact position is. It is excellent ear training. Today Kaylee was playing through the hymbook on the piano and Maddy was sitting beside her picking up the melody on the trombone as they went along. It was quite unique to hear the hyms being belted out of a novice trombone. I wouldn't recomend it for a sacrament musical number, but it was fun for a Sunday afternoon.

So here is our list of instruments. Piano, electric keyboard, guitar (bought on Deanne's impulse for Dallin that he never plays, but Kaylee picks it up every once in a while) flute, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, fife, recorder, alto saxaphone, and a mini steel drum. Kaylee has been asking for a piccolo to use during pep band season. I am fine with acquiring more instruments -- just as long as no one gets it in thier head that they need a drum set!

Another book I am going to write.

Perodically I have a flash of inspiration about a book that I could write. If I don't write the idea down, I forget it, and I never remember it again. So, I just have to write this so I will have it for future reference. And, just in case I don't ever write it, at least someone might still get a laugh out of the idea.



I was reading an article in the paper that said blogging and e-mail were out of style and that Face Book, Twitter and texting were now the standard form of written communication -- especially among the younger generation. The article was condeming this modern attitude that all communication has to be expressed in 140 characters or less. How sad it is that long letters and journal entries and descriptive narations are becoming a thing of the past. What cultural and intellectual degeneration. I began thinking of some of the wonderful books that I have read where the story was told solely through these "old fashioned" forms of comunication. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins is a great example of this. There are various children's books as well, that are written as letters back and forth between the characters. So, I thought, "I am going to write a book where the entire format is done through status updates like on Face Book." It would be new, novel (pun intended) and funny to be the first to utelize this modern writing style. I could be famous! Then I wondered what to call it. I thought about the other funny parodies I have seen using the Face Book, or Twitter or My Space names, and I came up with the greatest one yet. I am going to call it "Twitt Book - a novel for those who can only comprehend prose in 140 character status updates or text formating."

However, I would need someone to co-author it with me, as I have not really gotten into the whole world of texting or Face Booking in depth. I would not know the proper form or what would be funny to people who use that method a lot. I need to find someone who is really into all that. I don't even know what all the abreviations are when people use text messages! So, there you have it. If anyone would like to be famous with me, let me know.

The Cat -- Chapter 3

Well, this is old, but I should at least finish the story.

The mystery cat stayed around on our back porch sleeping and eating for a few more days. Matt and I finally gave in and decided to make the thing a part of our family. We took him to the vet to have him fixed, and get shots, etc. When I came to pick him up the next day, the nurse told us that they hadn't done the sugery because the cat was not doing well. He was very lethargic, and would not get up, seemed to be in pain in it's back end, was vomiting and had bloody diarreha. Of course we were very worried about "our cat" and kept him in our prayers continually. He stayed at the animal clinic for a couple more days. All I could think of was the bill that we were probably racking up by keeping a sick stray cat in the hospital. I called to say nevermind, we'll just bring him home and see what happens to him. However, the nurse said that he was better, and that they had done the surgery and he was healthy and good to go. When we picked him up the nurse explained that they had run blood tests on him, etc. But they did it for free because he was such a magnificent cat, and they just wanted to see how to help him. Turns out he had tape worms which they treated free also. Additionally, they gave him a flea treatment. They had been feeding him a couple cans of wet food each day, and brushing him and really spoiling him while he was there. He had loved all the attention. We happily brought him home -- delighted that our prayers had been answered. For the rest of the day, he hung around in our yard, playing near the kids and sleeping on the back porch in his usual spot. Early that evening he disappered -- which he had done a few times in the past, and he always returned by early the next morning. So that evening he did that, and like usual returned the next morning, meowing to be fed and let in. After staying inside for a few hours he wanted out, and we went off to church. We have not seen him since. Maddy thinks she saw him a little ways away a few days later, but we could not be sure. We can't figure out if he went back to his real home (and can't help but laugh at the people's reaction when their cat went missing for 2 weeks and then came back neutered.) Or possibly the coyotes got him, or maybe he found a new house to torment. Everyone who we have told our story to has a story to tell about a cat that they knew that lived at 4 different houses, or lived one place for a coule months then went missing for a couple then showed up agagin... It is very baffling. At first the kids prayed that he would come back, but then that changed to just hoping that he was safe and happy wherever he was, and hoping that he'd at least stop by to say hi once in awhile. I'm peturbed at the $87.00 we spent on him, but if it was a good deed and helped a poor cat in need, then I guess I am ok with that. Jillian claims that he was sick and Heavenly Father sent him to us, because He knew that we would help take care of him, even though we didn't get to keep him. I'd like to think the we can be called on to do helpful things for God, but I don't know if that is a true interpretation of this event. I have sent the cat a few subliminal messages to let him know that if he wants to remain flea free, he needs to show up on the 15th of this month in order to get his next dose of flea medication.

Anyway, I just thought I'd write the rest of the story.