UPDATE

It has been a while since I have gotten around to blogging. Obviously I am slacking on writting to our missionary. Sorry Brad.
We are very excited as to how the Idaho elections turned out. Hooray! I am a little concerned about Boise though - as a city, Boise votes completely opposite of the rest of Idaho. That's what happens when people move here for our way of life - first thing they want to do when they get here is change it. Silliness!!
We have been very busy with life. We have been on fieldtrips and had fiddle recitals and such fun things as that. I always forget my camera - ugh! I will try to do better. We went to Planet Kid for a fieldtrip with the homeschool group. It was a blast! (Think giant McDonald's playplace minus the ketchup and the smell.) Grace learned to jump very far into the ball pit. It was so cute. When she first started, she could barely clear the edge; by the time we left, she was landing in the middle of the pit.
I have been keeping busy with my 5 Pillar group. I have had two papers due for it already this month and one more still to come soon. It has been fun, but it will be nice to take a break in December. The book we just did was Steven Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It is very good. I actually wrote my own mission statement this time through! Hopefully I will be able to incorporate more of the habits in my life this time too. I have listened to it before on tape a few years ago and we have been trying to use some of his ideas but I still have plenty of room for improvement.
Randy ran a half marathon a few weekends ago. He did really well. We were proud of our dad. I think he got 9th place out of almost 700 people.
Last Wednesday, at fiddle lessons, the kids got Jingle Bells for one of their songs. They both have it pretty much memorized already and Robyn can play it on the keyboard too. If only every song were that much fun! Grace likes to get her violin out and say she is going to play Jingle Bells. We had a fun time practicing this morning, I learned a few back up chord to Boil Em Cabbage Down and we had a jam session. It was really fun to play together like that. Robyn even learned Shortenin Bread so she could play more songs with Colin and I. We aren't exactly ready for a real show, but we had fun.
A few days ago we got Children's Miracle Music. It is AWESOME! It is two CDs - one for morning and one for night. 46 minutes before you want everyone ready for the day, you push play on the morning CD and nice music plays for 2 minutes. Then a pleasant voice says, "Wake up, it's time to play our game." She then instructs everyone to make their beds and a song plays that you have to have your bed made before it ends. Then you go potty to a song. Then you "Do your act of kindness" or take a bath for three songs. Then you get dressed and comb your hair. Then you have 8 songs to eat breakfast. (That is not quite enough for us to eat in so I pause the CD for a minute to read a story from the Friend and of course to say the meal prayer.) Then everyone rinses their dish and then brushes their teeth. Then you get to record the points you earned by beating the songs done with each task. When you earn 100 points you get to go on a private date with mom or dad. The bed time one starts with the Act of Kindness (some job you choose when you started the CDs the first time) or take a bath. Then you get your jammies on, brush your teeth, and go potty. Then it has five minutes of silence for family
and personal prayers. Then 22 minutes of soft go to sleep music which I read chapter books to the kids in their beds during. We have only had it a few days, but I love it! My house has never been so tidy and my children more willing to get things done quickly before. It really helps everyone stay focused on the task at hand. It keeps me focused so I don't get sidetracked and makes it so I don't have to get upset at anyone for getting sidetracked themselves. I love it. It has made bedtime easy as pie. Everyone stays in their beds after the story because the music ends and thus so does story time. I actually read for the full twenty minutes instead of feeling like it has been twenty minutes and bailing early. Good Stuff. I found it at www.childrensmiraclemusic.com from an ad from Meridian Magazine. Check it out!

Hello

Mitt Romney for President

The kids and I went to a campaign rally for Butch Otter this morning. Mitt Romney was there and he spoke. It was so good. He talked about his going to Iraq and what the people want is the liberty to learn from other nations. He talked about all the threats that we are facing now and how grateful he is that we have a president who is facing them even though it is not "popular." He also talked about how important it is for us to get out and vote and to take a friend. Many races that were "in the bag" have been lost due to apathy.
It was neat to meet all the candidates. They all shook the kids' hands and squatted down to their level and took time to ask their names. We shook hands with Butch Otter, Jim Risch, Mitt Romney, Tom Luna, Steve Kimball, and some of their wives. Colin's favorite thing was meeting Tom Luna and shaking his hand. We had fun. The kids were great during the speeches, they were very quiet except when it was time to clap and then they clapped as loud as they could. Grace did sing "shave and a haircut, two bits" but it was only once and it was very quietly. We stood on the landing of the stairs in the back of the room during the speeches so we could see everyone and the stage really well.
Now that's socialization!

Two Bits!

Gracie loves to sing "Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits." Lately she has taken to singing everything she says and then adding "Two Bits." She just said, "I want to read, Two Bits." She has also said, "I need the stool, Two Bits" "I am so hungry, Two Bits" "I got my shoes on, Two Bits." And many other things, Two Bits. It is very funny!

Primary Program

The Primary Program went great today. The kids did very well. I was proud of them.
I played my violin for Dearest Children, God is Near You. It went better than I expected. :)
Sister Farnes called on Monday to ask if I'd do it. I told her that I am only comfortable playing in the key of A so I didn't think so. She, of course, didn't let me out of it that easy. She transposed the song into the key of A just for me. She still had to arrange the music, so I didn't get my copy until Friday night. We had a 40 minute practice on Saturday morning and then we performed today. I have only taken three months of lessons myself and I was not exactly ready to play in sacrament meeting, but I spent most of my teenage years teasing mom because she wouldn't play the piano in front of anyone. She spent all that time practicing but couldn't play in front of anyone. So anyway mom, I did it. I am not a hippocrite in that area. Also I have a quote that I keep on my fridge that says:
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." Marianne Williamson

Go shine!

Scary Thought!

Saturday Fun

We had a fun day today. We went over to Shelly’s for a Halloween party with our cousins. Joan brought crafts for the kids – they built spiders and monkeys and tigers and lions out of beads, strings, and, our personal favorite, chenille stems. (Perhaps I will blog about chenille stems someday – for now I will just say they are GREAT for sacrament meeting.) Then we ate donuts off of strings and just played. Then pumpkin carving took place and more playing. Everyone had a fun time. The kids love playing with cousins. I, of course, forgot my camera so you will just have to take my word on how fun it really was.

On the way home I intended to get more yard signs, but we were having too much fun at the party so we were too late for signs. Oh well, maybe Monday. Anyway, Randy decided to take us all out for dinner and what kind of wife would say no to that?!! Not me. So we tried out the new Sizzler that is very close to our house and we decided it was average + (they left us a survey to fill out – so we used a crayon and filled it out). While we were enjoying our meal, an older couple stopped by our table to tell us what wonderful children we had and how well behaved they are. I like that (especially because it was true and well behaved children always make eating out more fun).

When we got home, we all went to walk the dog around the block. The kids got to ride their bikes. Colin is getting pretty good at his bike these days. He did actually fall down and skin his knee, but over all he is getting pretty good at it. Grace got tired half way around and said she was going to walk. So I asked who would ride her bike home if she walked. She thought about it for a second and said, “Nobody.” Then she got back on and finished the trip.

After everyone was jammied, we snuggled on my bed to read “Winnie the Pooh.” Then Colin and Robyn wrote in their journals and we all laughed at the fun things they have written about in the past. (Their journals are comp books we found at Walmart that have blank space at the top and big lines with the dotted line between them at the bottom. The kids draw a picture on the top and then write about the picture on the lines and date it. Some of the entries are pretty funny. It is fun to see their progression in drawing and writing ability over time.) Then Robyn read “Green Eggs and Ham” to herself. Colin read “The Giving Tree” and Grace and I read “Peak a boo Pooh”. It was really fun to be a mommy right then and see all your kids reading together on the bed and having fun. Not to mention how proud I am of Robyn for being able to read all by herself. She still asks on a few words but usually figures them out as she is telling me the letters in the word. After everyone was done with their books, we snuggled some more and somehow got talking about how glad we are we have lights and what we would do without them. Robyn decided we would need five lamps and Oreo would just have to always stay with someone. Then we talked about how Grandma Reeder didn’t have an indoor bathroom when she was a kid and how Grandma Murphy‘s dad had to haul their water to the house in the truck. They want to ask Grandpa Byron about tipping outhouses over.

Before the party this morning, Colin and I went to the church to practice for tomorrow’s primary program. I have been asked to play the violin in church – YIKES! I hope it goes well. The song is pretty easy, but I get kind of nervous and then I squeak. Colin said I did okay and he would be proud of me. He loved watching Sister Farnes play the organ and has added that to his list of instruments he wants to learn to play someday. The list is getting kind of long. He has been having a lot of fun with music this week. He started writing repeat symbols in his handwriting. He writes “Noo :II Goo :II Zoo :II” and you are supposed to say it, “noo noo, goo goo, zoo zoo. “ It’s pretty funny. He and Robyn have both been figuring out how to play their violin songs on the keyboard and working on reading music. What fun!

I really like being a mommy and having all my kids close to me.

Interview with Church Leaders

Question:What is the position of the Church on same-gender attraction and same-gender marriage?

This interview can be read in it’s entirety at

http://www.lds.org/newsroom/issues/answer/0,19491,6056-1-202-4-202,00.html

 

PUBLIC AFFAIRS: On the issue of a Constitutional amendment prohibiting same-gender marriage, there are some Latter-day Saints who are opposed to same-gender marriage, but who are not in favor of addressing this through a Constitutional amendment. Why did the Church feel that it had to step in that direction?ELDER OAKS: Law has at least two roles: one is to define and regulate the limits of acceptable behavior. The other is to teach principles for individuals to make individual choices. The law declares unacceptable some things that are simply not enforceable, and there’s no prosecutor who tries to enforce them. We refer to that as the teaching function of the law. The time has come in our society when I see great wisdom and purpose in a United States Constitutional amendment declaring that marriage is between a man and a woman. There is nothing in that proposed amendment that requires a criminal prosecution or that directs the attorneys general to go out and round people up, but it declares a principle and it also creates a defensive barrier against those who would alter that traditional definition of marriage. There are people who oppose a federal Constitutional amendment because they think that the law of family should be made by the states. I can see a legitimate argument there. I think it’s mistaken, however, because the federal government, through the decisions of life-tenured federal judges, has already taken over that area. This Constitutional amendment is a defensive measure against those who would ignore the will of the states appropriately expressed and require, as a matter of federal law, the recognition of same-gender marriages — or the invalidation of state laws that require that marriage be between a man and a woman. In summary, the First Presidency has come out for an amendment (which may or may not be adopted) in support of the teaching function of the law. Such an amendment would be a very important expression of public policy, which would feed into or should feed into the decisions of judges across the length and breadth of the land. ELDER WICKMAN: Let me just add to that, if I may. It’s not the Church that has made the issue of marriage a matter of federal law. Those who are vigorously advocating for something called same-gender marriage have essentially put that potato on the fork. They’re the ones who have created a situation whereby the law of the land, one way or the other, is going to address this issue of marriage. This is not a situation where the Church has elected to take the matter into the legal arena or into the political arena. It’s already there. The fact of the matter is that the best way to assure that a definition of marriage as it now stands continues is to put it into the foundational legal document of the United States. That is in the Constitution. That’s where the battle has taken it. Ultimately that’s where the battle is going to be decided. It’s going to be decided as a matter of federal law one way or the other. Consequently it is not a battleground on such an issue that we Latter-day Saints have chosen, but it has been established and we have little choice but to express our views concerning it, which is really all that the Church has done. Decisions even for members of the Church as to what they do with respect to this issue must of course rest with each one in their capacity as citizens.

 

(I bolded a part that I found particularly interesting in light of my previous post. The Church chooses to follow God’s Plan. )

Politics and such

Now on a more serious note...I have been very preoccupied with the up coming elections and studying the candidates and the issues this past week.  I pretty much have my mind made up on most of what will be on my ballot.  The kids and I have even spent a few days campaigning for a few of our favorite candidates - very effective government lesson!  We have signs in the yard and have distributed pamphlets to the neighborhood.  We visited the campaign headquarters of a few candidates to pick up the stuff and the kids thought that was cool.  One wonderful lady delivered her signs and pamphlets right to our home and visited us for a while.  I have called several candidates to get first hand information instead of relying on second-hand biased news reports and have enjoyed talking with them very much.  I just finished watching tonight's debate for Superintendent of Public Instruction.  To me the choice is clear in that race.  I would encourage all who missed it to watch it online at www. Idahoptv.org.

The thing to remember in politics is that the Great War in Heaven was fought over agency. As much as Heavenly Father wanted all of his children to enjoy the blessing of a God like life, he rejected the use of force and gave us the eternal principle of agency. The war is still going on today on many fronts. Remember this from one of my previous posts – “the two belief systems are 1 - People are free to choose for themselves in life and will, therefore, learn to avoid pain and seek happiness and that they are responsible for the consequences of those choices. And 2- We people are not capable of making the "right" choices in life and must therefore be controlled and forced to do what others believe is best for us.”

Whether in parenting skills or government, we need to judge based on what (and who’s) plan we choose to follow.

Studying politics has strengthened my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I understand Alma 31:5 better. “And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just – yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them….” Some things just can’t be legislated.

I say, “GO BRAD!” Imagine how many social programs could be cut if people believed. Even just following the word of wisdom would change the world – but we know that legislation can’t force that (think Prohibition, bootleggers and moonshine), only desire to choose the right and knowledge of what is right. Difficult in a world of relative values.