The other evening my kids were watching a Christmas cartoon on TV and someone in the show made the comment "That's not what Christmas is all about." To which my four-year-old responded, "Yeah, we know what Christmas is all about. . . it's presents."
His reply was a little shocking to me and made me realize that we need to make a concerted effort to refocus my little guy's thinking about the holiday season.
So I made a scripture advent activity for our family to do this year. Each morning we'll read a passage of scripture dealing with the "real meaning of Christmas" and add a tiny ornament to a little advent tree. Hopefully this year my kids can understand what this is really all about. . . or at least think about it for a small moment!
Anyway, it took me some time to put it all together, so I thought I'd share.
December 1 Micah 5:2
December 2 Moses 5:57
December 3 John 1:14
December 4 Alma 5:50
December 5 John 3:16-17
December 6 1 Nephi 10:4
December 7 Alma 9:26-27
December 8 Isaiah 40:3-5
December 9 Helaman 14:3
December 10 1 Nephi 11:20-24
December 11 Isaiah 7:14
December 12 Luke 1:30-31
December 13 Alma 7:9-10
December 14 Matthew 1:18-23
December 15 Isaiah 9:6
December 16 Luke 1:26-38
December 17 3 Nephi 1:19
December 18 Luke 2:4-7
December 19 Luke 2:8-11
December 20 Luke 2:12-14
December 21 Matthew 2:1-2
December 22 Matthew 2:9-11
December 23 Mosiah 3:5-8
December 24 3 Nephi 1:13
December 25 Luke 2:1-20
Happy Christmas one and all!!
Friday, November 30, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
Fact or Fiction part II
OK. I guess I was kind of tricky and my falsehood is actually more of a half truth.
Here's the full story on each of my statements.
1. I was born right on my due date and weighed almost 10 pounds. TRUE
I was born on my due date and weighed in at 9 lbs. 15 oz. My mom once told me that I looked like I was three months old the day I was born. (When I was pregnant with my first child I read somewhere that mothers who were big babies themselves tend to have big babies. I was honestly terrified to give birth. None of my kids have been as big as I was, although my daughter weighed in at 8 lbs. 7 oz. and she was induced 10 days early so the potential is definitely there!)
2. Although I am the daughter of a beekeeper and was raised on a honey farm, I am deathly allergic to all stinging insects. FALSE! (or rather a half truth)
The truth is, I am only allergic to honey bees--not ALL stinging insects. A honey bee sting could send me into anaphylactic shock but a hornet sting has absolutely no effect on me. Which I have always found to be very ironic. I think it has something to do with the fact that I was stung by honey bees often as a child--although no more (and probably less!) than my siblings, so I don't know why I developed an allergy when no one else did. My brothers would often claim that my allergy was suspiciously "convenient" because it got me out of a lot of work as a kid.
3. I was once the star of a Korean radio show. TRUE
I was the on-air English consultant on a late night radio show called "Evening at Pops." Where I would loosely translate American pop songs and use a phrase from the song to teach something about English. For example, I once did the song El Condor Pasa by Simon and Garfunkle that has all those lines about "I'd rather be a ______ than a ______." Then we talked about using the phrase "rather than" properly in a sentence. It was probably really lame but I had fun.
4. I don't like sweet breads. TRUE
I am very picky about my baked goods. I'm not a fan of things like banana bread, zucchini bread or raisin bread. I also don't really like muffins, cake donuts or heavy cookies like pumpkin cookies. I like certain sweet rolls but can't stand others. Regular cake is fine but carrot cake, spice cake and heavy pound cake type things are not my idea of a treat.
I'm not sure what quality it is exactly about these things that is offensive to me, but I figure that it's all stuff I probably shouldn't be eating anyway so I'll just go with it!
Here's the full story on each of my statements.
1. I was born right on my due date and weighed almost 10 pounds. TRUE
I was born on my due date and weighed in at 9 lbs. 15 oz. My mom once told me that I looked like I was three months old the day I was born. (When I was pregnant with my first child I read somewhere that mothers who were big babies themselves tend to have big babies. I was honestly terrified to give birth. None of my kids have been as big as I was, although my daughter weighed in at 8 lbs. 7 oz. and she was induced 10 days early so the potential is definitely there!)
2. Although I am the daughter of a beekeeper and was raised on a honey farm, I am deathly allergic to all stinging insects. FALSE! (or rather a half truth)
The truth is, I am only allergic to honey bees--not ALL stinging insects. A honey bee sting could send me into anaphylactic shock but a hornet sting has absolutely no effect on me. Which I have always found to be very ironic. I think it has something to do with the fact that I was stung by honey bees often as a child--although no more (and probably less!) than my siblings, so I don't know why I developed an allergy when no one else did. My brothers would often claim that my allergy was suspiciously "convenient" because it got me out of a lot of work as a kid.
3. I was once the star of a Korean radio show. TRUE
I was the on-air English consultant on a late night radio show called "Evening at Pops." Where I would loosely translate American pop songs and use a phrase from the song to teach something about English. For example, I once did the song El Condor Pasa by Simon and Garfunkle that has all those lines about "I'd rather be a ______ than a ______." Then we talked about using the phrase "rather than" properly in a sentence. It was probably really lame but I had fun.
4. I don't like sweet breads. TRUE
I am very picky about my baked goods. I'm not a fan of things like banana bread, zucchini bread or raisin bread. I also don't really like muffins, cake donuts or heavy cookies like pumpkin cookies. I like certain sweet rolls but can't stand others. Regular cake is fine but carrot cake, spice cake and heavy pound cake type things are not my idea of a treat.
I'm not sure what quality it is exactly about these things that is offensive to me, but I figure that it's all stuff I probably shouldn't be eating anyway so I'll just go with it!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Serious Home Improvement
This is what my laundry room looks like right now.
Kind of makes you happy you aren't me, huh? No worries actually, it's being done by a contractor. The whole thing should be done in a few days.
It's just kind of shocking to come home and find a pile of dirt in my house that should actually be under it.
(P.S. Just in case you're wondering, I did not choose the yellow paint. If all goes as planned, next week those walls will be a totally different color.)
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Tennis Anyone?
I was fairly spastic as a kid. It's not like I couldn't walk without falling down, but I couldn't throw or catch or aim to save my life. I participated on all of the sports teams in Young Womens' but I was never what you would call an "asset" to the team (unless you count the fact that my presence would often insure that we didn't have to forfeit due to lack of players). I did, however, join the high school cross-country team my sophomore year. Not because I was a particularly fast runner, but because all of my siblings had done it before me and I felt compelled to give it a try. I figured it was something I could do even as uncoordinated as I was--I thought, how hard is it to run? "You just go that way real fast, if something gets in your way--turn." (Unfortunately, I discovered running is rather hard and painful and I wasn't very good at it, so I only ran that one year!)
As a self proclaimed "spastic person," I have never done much in the way of sports or fitness other than walking or aerobics. I have always just been very hesitant to participate in many activities for fear of making a complete fool of myself. Which is why I surprised even myself when I decided to take up tennis this past year. I had been wanting to get more active and I was looking for something my husband and I could do together--plus, I thought the short little tennis skirts were super cute!
So I signed up for summer tennis lessons at the local rec center. As I drove over to the courts on the first day of class I was terrified. ("What if I can't even make contact with the ball?" "What if I can't get it over the net?" "What if the class is full of twelve year olds and I'm just a ridiculous old lady?" "What if I look like an idiot?") I was grateful to discover that the class consisted of a bunch of other average moms just like me, and moreover, I was not any more spastic than anyone else. After that first lesson I was hooked--I loved playing tennis! Sure, I sometimes missed the ball and I had a hard time serving, but I was having fun. As the two week class continued I noticed that the other women in the class seemed to be making great improvements. I, however, was just as awkward as the first day.
But for the first time in my life, I didn't care.
I had a bit of an epiphany after that tennis class--I have been denying myself a whole lot of fun (and fitness!) over the years by letting my fear of embarrassment control what I do or don't do. I may never be much of a pro at tennis but I have a blast playing it. And it is an activity my husband and I enjoy doing together--and that's all I need it to be anyway.
Who knows, maybe it's time I get out there and figure out what other sports I've been missing out on. I could even try running again. I'll probably never be as spastic as Phoebe, but I wouldn't even care if I am.
As a self proclaimed "spastic person," I have never done much in the way of sports or fitness other than walking or aerobics. I have always just been very hesitant to participate in many activities for fear of making a complete fool of myself. Which is why I surprised even myself when I decided to take up tennis this past year. I had been wanting to get more active and I was looking for something my husband and I could do together--plus, I thought the short little tennis skirts were super cute!
So I signed up for summer tennis lessons at the local rec center. As I drove over to the courts on the first day of class I was terrified. ("What if I can't even make contact with the ball?" "What if I can't get it over the net?" "What if the class is full of twelve year olds and I'm just a ridiculous old lady?" "What if I look like an idiot?") I was grateful to discover that the class consisted of a bunch of other average moms just like me, and moreover, I was not any more spastic than anyone else. After that first lesson I was hooked--I loved playing tennis! Sure, I sometimes missed the ball and I had a hard time serving, but I was having fun. As the two week class continued I noticed that the other women in the class seemed to be making great improvements. I, however, was just as awkward as the first day.
But for the first time in my life, I didn't care.
I had a bit of an epiphany after that tennis class--I have been denying myself a whole lot of fun (and fitness!) over the years by letting my fear of embarrassment control what I do or don't do. I may never be much of a pro at tennis but I have a blast playing it. And it is an activity my husband and I enjoy doing together--and that's all I need it to be anyway.
Who knows, maybe it's time I get out there and figure out what other sports I've been missing out on. I could even try running again. I'll probably never be as spastic as Phoebe, but I wouldn't even care if I am.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Fact or Fiction
A friend of mine recently "tagged" me on her blog. The deal is I'm supposed to write four facts about me, only three of which are actually true, and you are supposed to guess which one of the four is false. I'm kind of new to this whole blogging thing but I'll give it a shot!
1. I was born right on my due date and weighed almost 10 pounds.
2. Although I am the daughter of a beekeeper and was raised on a honey farm, I am deathly allergic to all stinging insects.
3. I was once the star of a Korean radio show.
4. I don't like sweet breads.
So? Any guesses?
I'll give the answer in a few days!
1. I was born right on my due date and weighed almost 10 pounds.
2. Although I am the daughter of a beekeeper and was raised on a honey farm, I am deathly allergic to all stinging insects.
3. I was once the star of a Korean radio show.
4. I don't like sweet breads.
So? Any guesses?
I'll give the answer in a few days!
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Welcome
I've thought for quite a long time that it would be fun to start my own blog, but the idea of actually doing one was very overwhelming. I regularly read the blogs of several of my friends, all of whom have significantly more writing experience than me. So the thought of doing one myself has been intimidating to say the least. However, the other night as I spent several hours at my computer reading the blogs of my friends and getting caught up on their lives I thought, "I could totally do this."
So here's my very first post on my very own blog!
I should clarify that this blog is not likely to be a newsletter of my family (although I'll write about them often) nor is it going to be a forum for me to expound on my opinions on current events (although I'm often more opinionated than even I realize). This is probably just going to be a compilation of all of my random thoughts, musings and observations. I can't promise that I'll write with any regularity or even with much of a purpose, but I hope to have a bit of fun with it.
PS If you find yourself confused by the title of this blog, I should inform you that "Blondie" is a nickname I acquired just this year and only use it on blogger!
So here's my very first post on my very own blog!
I should clarify that this blog is not likely to be a newsletter of my family (although I'll write about them often) nor is it going to be a forum for me to expound on my opinions on current events (although I'm often more opinionated than even I realize). This is probably just going to be a compilation of all of my random thoughts, musings and observations. I can't promise that I'll write with any regularity or even with much of a purpose, but I hope to have a bit of fun with it.
PS If you find yourself confused by the title of this blog, I should inform you that "Blondie" is a nickname I acquired just this year and only use it on blogger!
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