Appropriate Dress For Cleaning the Church

Last Saturday, our family volunteered to vacuum and clean a portion of the church building where we meet on Sundays. When it was time to head over to the building, Caitlin and Joseph, who were both in sweats, asked what was appropriate to wear for cleaning the church. Roger replied, "You can wear whatever you have on. That's just fine."

Preston, who had thus far gone unnoticed by his father, squealed with delight. "Alright," he said as he pumped his fist. This is what he had on at the moment.


Unfortunately, lightsabers are not especially effective when it comes to cleaning windows or taking out trash, so Preston ended up changing into something more suitable.

Random Acts of Blogging

I have it on good authority, that a person in California (but probably not one of my sisters) did not know how to say their name in Pig Latin. Having once attended grade school myself, I understand how vital that skill is. Luckily this victim of such an unfortunate circumstance had Internet access allowing them to Google, "how to say your name in Pig Latin." Low and behold, my little blog came up as the first hit!!! (BTW-it only works if you include the quotation marks.) Since my blog gives the link to http://www.isthisyour.name/, it was actually a helpful source to this person in immediate need of internet guidance. I am so proud of my unintentional random act of blogging kindness, I may just have to mention it when I report my visiting teaching this month.

Also, it has come to my attention, that I am one of the few people in the great big world of blogging (or on the whole Internet for that matter) that has discussed the chinstrap penguin as a personal power animal. I always knew I would have a claim to fame someday, that somehow I would make a unique but significant contribution to humankind. Now it is through random acts of blogging that I have achieved this (albeit momentary) moment of notoriety.

So, armed with the knowledge that occasionally someone does actually read my blog and may even in a rare instance gain valuable information from it, I have decided to start a blog about singing. (Now, my biggest fear is that someone interested in singing may actually read it.) You are welcome to take a peak, or even visit it on occasion. It's called The Legato Line.

Anyone who knows me, knows I like to talk about music. Actually, I long to talk about singing and the things I learn as I study and teach much more than anyone really wants to listen. This blog will give me the chance to do that, and maybe if I throw in the words "chinstrap penguins" and "personal power animals" enough, I will get a few readers.

Seriously though, isn't it interesting how much the Internet is changing our lives? It is so much easier to learn things, to communicate, to express ourselves and to find others with similar interests with whom to e-socialize.

I have a goal that each day I will wonder about something and google it. I call it, "The Daily Wonder." So, I'm curious, What do you google?

Bloggers' Corner

I decided to make a Blogger's corner on the right sidebar for things I learn about blogging. If you have questions or input, please feel welcome to post them in the comments section here.

Thought for Today

Roger brought a quote home from work and shared it with me today. He knew it was exactly along the lines I've been thinking lately! I want to make a cross-stitch of this saying, or write it in lipstick on my bathroom mirror so I can remember and internalize it. I guess I'll just post it on my blog.

"Never try to compel others to change; leave them free to change naturally and orderly because they want to; and they will want to when they find that your change was worthwhile.

"To inspire in others a desire to change for the better is truly noble; but this you can do only by leaving them alone, and becoming more noble yourself."
Christian D Larson (1874-1954)
Mastery of Self

I think it takes a lot of courage to give someone the space they need to make a change, but I can see how it works. For example, Roger has lost over 150 pounds in less than two years. He would never think of trying to convince someone else to loose weight, but people ask him all the time what he is doing. Several people have found motivation to make changes in their own lives because he has shown by example that such changes can be worthwhile.

A dear friend of mine has a son who has cancer. I have been astounded with the poise and faith that she has shown as she has faced such a difficult time. I asked her how she could be so strong. She said she had been able to increase her participation in activities that strengthened her spirit just before her son's illness was diagnosed. I am amazed at the power that simple conversation had in my life. I have increased my participation in activities that strengthen my spirit because I witnessed that her changes had truly strengthened her.

I have noticed that when a change is working in someone's life, it becomes contagious. Other people catch it too. It get's really exciting. It's fun to associate with a group of people who are enthused about changing their own lives but are willing to trust you to make the changes you feel are actually worthwhile.

I think of blogging as a big party. I am so grateful that fellow bloggers let me see a little bit of their lives. I love reading about the things they are doing, learning and changing. I have become more politically minded (which is a BIG deal for me). I have more desire to be a better writer and a better cook. I want to hang cute vinyl crafts in my home. I have made changes in my life without even thinking about it because of my sweet blogger friends. Thank you. This is fun.

25 Random Things I Never, Ever Want To Do

1. Post 25 random things about myself.
2. Give birth to octuplets and then find out I already have six kids at home.
3. Admit to past crushes by blog. I only do that by phone and only about Donny Osmond. (I was really young.)
4. Send a message in a bottle only to have it returned marked "Not at this address."
5. Tell a joke that’s not funny. Oops, I just did.
6. Play professional ice hockey.
7. Find a snake in my washing machine.
8. Wait a whole week to see the next episode of Lost.
9. Grow a beard.
10. Discover I was a dumb blonde in a previous life. (No, not twice!)
11. Perform with a smelly accompanist.
12. Find a zit inside my nose.
13. Find out I am actually Darth Sidious undercover.
14. Become perfect in this life. (No fun. No fun.)
15. Realize I've forgotten my own birthday.
16. See the back of Mount Rushmore.
17. Eat a broken banana.
18. Find out my life history is not a true story.
19. Realize that it’s not over until I sing.
20. Go skydiving with a broken parachute.
21. Spill a word wrong.
22. Find out I’m really normal after all.
23. Join Mensa – whatever that is.
24. Mistake Times New Roman for the baptismal font.
25. Look in the mirror one day to discover that I look like subject of The Scream.

The Family That Reads Together, Laughs Together

Over the years we have come up with many ways to make our family scripture study more meaningful, or at least ways to keep us focused on the task at hand.
A few years ago while we were studying the Old Testament, every time we came to a verse that began, "And the Lord spake unto Moses" we would have Caitlin read that phrase. It got to the point where we would say, "Caitlin" and she would say, "And the Lord spake unto Moses" without even looking down at her bible.

While studying the Book of Mormon, we started a tradition where each time it said "chief," the kids would give an Indian yelp. We had to stop that after a while, though, because it distracted from the spirit. It also scared me.

Last year, we read the New Testament and found that portions of it were harder to understand than the Old Testament. When we finally got to Revelation, I noticed that after too many months of reading the epistles, we were just reading words and not really getting into the fabulous imagery in Revelation. I just couldn't sit by as we read about beasts, thundering and lightnings, fire and destruction with no inflection at all; reading as if we were in the fast lane on the freeway going at least 5 miles-per-hour over the speed limit. My husband and children are really bright, so I assumed they could understand all that imagery at high speeds, but not me. I was missing out. My blond covered grey matter just couldn't keep up. Besides, why not enjoy some of the drama of Revelation while reading it.

So I proposed a contest. (Nothing like a contest to increase spirituality.) I suggested that at the end of each evening's scripture study, we would vote for the person who read it with the most expression by holding up our fingers, 1 for dad, 2 for mom, 3 for Joseph and so on. Knowing my children's almost too-well established self-esteems, I added a rule that no one could vote for themselves. Otherwise, we would have had a six-way tie each night.

It has revolutionized the way we read scriptures. (Now we don't tend to stay with the same scripture reading tradition for more than a year, so don't be surprised if we come up with something else in a while, but this has worked for several months.) Sometimes, we give little campaign speeches offering special favors in return for votes. If we have guests, we add them into our mix and vote for them too. (Somehow the guests always win.) Sometimes we read with our British accents, and once I read a conference talk with my Transylvanian vampire accent. (I won that night.) Roger has banned my vampire accent. He says it's not reverent enough. (I think he just doesn't want Caitlin thinking about Twilight while we are trying to study the gospel.) Now we are reading the Doctrine and Covenants. Joseph likes to read the word, "Behold" in his deep authoritative bass tone. Everyone loves his "Behold" voice so much, and he wins so much of the time because of it, we all fight over the verses that say "Behold" trying to imitate him but never succeeding because he is just the best.

Now, lest you get the wrong impression, we are not silly the whole time we are reading the scriptures. Just a smattering of family humor keeps us engaged.

I hope you don't think this was a boast post either. I tried to be totally humble in the way I subtly let you know we have studied the entire standard works together including every single word of the Old Testament. Yes, completely, totally humble. Like I always am. (Maybe I'm the real reason we have to have the no-voting-for-yourself rule?)

Anywho, one more fun tradition. Up until this year, Preston was too young to take a turn reading, so for his contribution to family scripture study, we would have him hand out the scriptures. I was joking one night that someday in the distant future, we would be gathered as a family with grandchildren and great grandchildren and it would still be the duty/privilege of Preston's descendants to hand out the scriptures. Then making up the name of a future grandchild I said in my perfect replica of a granny voice, "Erastus George, will you hand out the scriptures?" Well, the name stuck, and now, whoever is assigned to hand out the scriptures goes by the name Erastus George for the study period. The sad thing is, now my children may feel obligated to actually name one of their children Erastus George. How hip.

Actual Dramitization. Not a real scripture reading event.

Celebrating Preston

This week we celebrated Preston!Mom says, "Preston is a sweet little dude. He is charming and fun. He is a good reader and enjoys going to school. His endearing personality is enjoyed by friends young and old."

Jacob says "Preston is happy to do things and he's cute."
Caitlin says, "Preston is energetic and funny."
Preston started basketball this week. He is really excited about basketball. That's one of the best things about Preston; he gets genuinely excited about so many things.

You can celebrate Preston too! What do you like about him?

Endear to the End

So we had three great speakers in sacrament meeting today. Caitlin was the youth speaker and of course, she did a great job. To read her talk click here. The second speaker was a sister I truly admire and like to quote because she says really profound things. The third speaker was a brother who is one of my all-time favorite speakers. So wow, the meeting was a real treat. The subject was adversity and the brother who was speaking was talking about how it is important to endure to the end in adversity. The way he said endure sounded a little like endear, so from that I got a little bonus sermon. I have found that my trials have forced me to rely on the Lord in intimate ways, to forge a really close friendship with him and to cherish his promptings and his tender mercies. Through the process I have let God and his words become more precious and dear to me; I have endeared through adversity. So, "Endear to the end" seems to be a really appropriate phrase to me. It reminds me that the gospel is about love: love of God, love of Christ and his teachings, love of our family members and love of God's children. I would love to hear your thoughts on "Endear to the end."

Well, I hope I haven't offended you by being all spirchul on my blog. I prefer to write silly things, so next time maybe I'll tell you about my adventures as a Dumb Blonde Relief Society Counselor. Each Sunday I come home with new stories of really great blunders starring ME!

Here's a recording of our ward choir singing a Christmas song featuring Caitlin on the Bells. Joseph is singing tenor.

Caitlin's Talk

Overcoming Adversity

For much of the week it was unclear to me exactly what I should say to you today. I was asked to speak to you on the topic of adversity and explain to you that with the assistance of our Heavenly Father we can overcome all things. But since this week has been particularly difficult for me, writing this talk wasn’t as easy as I had thought it would be.

As I was searching for some inspiration in some of the General Conference talks from last October I was struck by what Elder B. Wirthlin said in his talk: Come What May, and Love It.

He said:
“You may feel singled out when adversity enters your life. But the dial on the wheel of sorrow eventually points to each of us. At one time or another everyone must experience sorrow. No one is exempt.”

I believe that this is very true. Everyone at some point in their life will experience some form or another of adversity. This does not mean that we will all face the same trials, but each person has to face adversity in order to grow.

When we think of adversity, our thoughts are often turned to those who have gone through some of life’s more serious trials, such as the loss of a limb, cancer, being the only one in your family left alive after a devastating natural disaster and other similar situations. But the word “adversity” can refer to much smaller things as well, such as the everyday struggles we may have at school, with our friends, our family and with ourselves. All types of adversity—big or small—can be frustrating. But the Lord is there to help.

For several years I struggled with problems with my thinking. I often felt like my brain was a senseless blob of Jello that could never be molded into something beautiful.

However, through patience and faith, I was able to follow the promptings of the spirit and the advice of my parents so that I could discover that certain types of exercise could transform my brain into what it needed to be in order to function properly.

Because of this, I no longer have to fight to make sense of things as I had to before. I am able to focus the creativity I have been given into my art, writing and music where it can not only make my life more enjoyable, but the lives of others as well. This has truly been a great blessing in my life.

I also believe that no matter how severe or seemingly insignificant your trials may be, God won’t ignore your needs. He doesn’t choose who he helps first through their adversities based on the enormity of their circumstances. God has his own plan for when and how he will help each person though their own adversities. Just because someone with what seems to be a greater trial is tended to first in some occasions, that does not mean God won’t help you as well. He understands what you’re going through and only wants you to be happy.

There are a lot of great things we can learn from the experiences we have here on this earth. I do not think I would fully appreciate being able to have full use of my mind if I had not at first understood what it was like not to be able to. And similarly, sometimes it is hard for us to truly understand what happiness is until we’ve experienced the opposite.

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin said:
“The Lord, Jesus Christ, is our partner, helper and advocate. He wants us to be happy. He wants us to be successful. If we do our part, he will step in.”

I testify to you that if we pray diligently to the Lord and have faith that he will help us through our adversities, he will be there for us.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Randumb Power Animals

So, I found this website that will tell you how to spell your name backwards (Oh good, because I couldn't figure out how to do that myself) and how to say your name in Pig Latin (another dumb, but funny feature.) It also guestimates how many people in the US have your full name, tells you how to write you name in binary code and the meaning of your first and last names (slightly more interesting and more valuable features.) BUT the best feature of all was that this website tells you what your power animal is - SOMETHING I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW! OF COURSE.

Oh, I suppose that now you want to know what my power animal is. Which animal, you wonder is like a guardian angel to me? What creature will be there to help me conquer my darkest fears and lead me to greatness? What, you may ask, is the animal that is always in my dreams and the most likely to be on my charm bracelet or hanging from my rear view mirror?

My Personal Power Animal is . . . .

The Chinstrap Penguin

Doesn't it look like me? I could follow this fellow into battle. Waddle my foes to death. BUT, where was my power animal at church today when I was so cold I couldn't stop shaking for the entire three-hour block? Oh, that's right, I don't really believe in power animals. If I did though, I would have been warm at church. A penguin should be able to do that for me, right? At least my power animal has an eternal quality - its smile, or is that a very definate double chin. You decide. (I really hope double chins are not eternal. I do not want to be resurrected with a double chin. One life is enough!)

Jacob's power animal is . . .

The Giant Weta (Ta Da!)

We couldn't stop screaming when we saw this photo on the internet. The Giant Weta can get up to 8 inches long. I knew Jacob was talented at bugging us, but I didn't know it was his power animal's fault.

Talk about inspiring courage, Preston's Personal Power Animal is a . . .

Yellow-bellied Weasel (no kidding)

Ahhh! so cute. Now we see where Preston gets it.


So here's a few more:

Caitin: A Black Widow Spider

Roger: Roughtail Stingray

Joseph: Angora Rabbit







Melinda's Relatives
Kimball: White-lipped Peccary



Grandpa Davenport: Desert Dwarf Mongoose






Grandma Davenport: Madagascan Fossa








Darian: Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker








Stevie P: Black Pirranha










Lance: Amazonian Manatee





Nathan: Blue Iguana






Hudson: Blast-ended Skrewt

Roger's Relatives
James: Ring-tailed Lemur










Dave: Honey Badger




Grandpa Lawrence: Leopard Gecko





Grandma Lawrence: Greater Roadrunner





If you don't like your personal power animal, well, too bad for you. I'm not the one who named you (well, for the most part - I guess I did name four people on this list).

I didn't look up everybody because there are sure a lot of people in the world and that would take a long time. And, I thought you might have some fun looking yourselves up. Besides, you might need some help learning how to spell your name backwards.

Here's the name of the site: http://www.isthisyour.name/

Tell me what your personal power animal is (even if you already know, like from a vision or from seeing it on TV).

Snowflakes Are Kisses From Heaven

So we had a nice Christmas, an exceptionally white Christmas, but that didn't stop us from having lots of fun. The road by our house was so bad for the whole week before Christmas, that for the most part only trucks with 4-wheel-drive could get up it. We only got mail delivered once in 10 days and no garbage picked up for over two weeks. Here is an ambulance that got stuck on our road two days before Christmas.

They lifted a person out on a gurney and pushed her/him up the hill. Here's video.

We had a power outage that lasted for several hours, and then, when the power came back on it fried the electrical panal in my oven rendering it entirely useless. Since the roads were so bad that I couldn't just run to the store and buy food for non-oven meals, I had to figure out alternate cooking methods for all the meals I had planned.

Here's how we felt about that.Laurel, Eric, Stevie & Allie came to visit. Roger's brother Mike wanted pictures of our kids to give to his parents, so we took this one with Stevie. We thought about sending this to them and claiming Stevie was one of our children that we had never told them about. Ha, Ha, a secret we somehow kept for three years.

Eric's reaction.

When I was about 10 years old, I got three sets of Jody Dolls and all their accessories. Laurel, who was seven years younger than I was, asked me through most of my teen years if I would let her play with my Jody dolls. I always said no (how mean is that?) because I wanted to save them and give them to my daughter someday. When I finally had a daughter old enough to give them to, I was very dissapointed because Caitlin could care less. She was into Polly's, not Jody's. While staying in Caitlin's room, Laurel found my Jodys, and at last, after 30 years of longing, she could play with them. In fact, I gave them to her, something I really should have done long, long ago.

Each night, we have the kids report on whether or not they got all their chores, homework, practicing etc. . . done for each day. When they do all the "stuff" for 12 days, we give them a candy bar in a special presentation. The theory is that public recognition is a more effective motivator than any prize. It seems to work.

Here's Roger doing a presentation for Joseph. (Don't worry, it's short.)

Here's a presentation for Caitlin.

Laurel wanted a presentation too.

(What some people will endure to get a candybar.)

Stevie got one too!

During the day on Friday, the roads were horribly slushy with ice underneath and the snow fall was so heavy it was blizzard-like at times. There had been little plowing at all on most side roads for days so there was like 6 inches of nearly frozen slush on our roads by Friday afternoon. It was easy to get stuck in. We helped several people by our house get unstuck Friday afternoon. Late, Friday night, about 11:00 pm, it warmed up to 40 degrees which was really weird because it was warmer at midnight than it had been for 10 days. Saturday, the snow had melted enough for us to get around and do a much needed shopping trip, but the going was rough. The side roads and parking lots were like craters of the moon but slippery. When we got home, Roger shoveled snow off the road to our house (imagine clearing the road, the whole road, because no snow plows would come and do it). It was a huge job, but he made two tire track lines for us to drive in so we could get out safely and go to church on Sunday. We still almost got stuck twice on our way to and from church, but Roger's expert driving saved the day. Over the course of 13 days, we probably got 18 inches of snow altogether, which never really melted until today. We have never been so glad to see rain and 40 degree weather in all our years living here. Someone (not me) prayed for a white Christmas. They got it and then some.
A little too much love.

How's the weather at your place?

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Now Stop Already

We've had several big snow storms this week, and it's still snowing now. The kids missed three days of school. Roger telecommuted for three days, and we all stayed home. Our family has never seen this much snow here in Washington. We've sure had a lot of fun playing in it. These are really short videos, so you don't have to feel you have made a major committment when you start watching them.

Celebrating Caitlin & Converse

What do you like about Caitlin?

Preston: She rocks.

Jacob: She is very funny.

Joseph: She's smart.Mom: She is fun to hang out with and a joy to talk to. She very personable and considerate of others. She is impressively creative and inspires us all to pursue our own creativity.

Soccer in the Snow

Jacob's last game of the season was yesterday. That's him in the #10 white jersey and Adidas (of course) hat. He played very well and his team ended up with a tie against the league leaders. Spectating was cold. Jacob seems to think getting his feet really wet and trying to do throw-ins with frozen fingers was tough as well - wimp :) I'm just glad he played on FieldTurf - not sure playing on frozen mud would have been real fun.

We now get a few weeks off without soccer - What will we fill our evenings with now? I'm sure we'll find something to do and it might even involve spending some time with the rest of our family at home - I know, perish the thought ...

Literacy Abounds! (or not)

Caitlin reads a book to Preston everyday.

Preston is starting to read well enough to grab a book and read on his own sometimes. Jacob is reading Tom Sawyer and Treasure Island. Joseph has read every Star Wars book ever published and amazingly keeps finding new ones to read.

All this reading prompted me to read "Twilight." Then I had to cleanse my palate with something well written so I read "The Great Gatsby." I realized during my recent return to voracious reading that since I'm too lazy to consult a dictionary as I read, I’ve come up with my own definitions for certain words.

For Example:

Plaited – flat like a plate “plaited hair”

Wayfaring – Eating wafers along the way “wayfaring stranger”

Supercilious – More silly than most "curled his lip in a supercilious smile"

Fractious – prone to break things into thirds or quarters "an incorrigibly fractious young man"

Sardonic – having to do with sardines “sardonic grin”

Languid – wordy or verbose “a languid mood”

Cherubic – fat “...her beaming, cherubic face.”

Abase – to slide into like home plate “Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased.”

Candor – sounding like a really big bird “The candor of the speech impressed the audience.”

Heinous – causing a hernia “It was a heinous crime”

Multifarious – having something to do with lots of carnivals “There is a multifarious artifice in the structure of the meanest animal.”

Redress – to change one’s clothes “Those wrongs, those bitter injuries, . . . I doubt not but with honor to redress.”

Homogeneous – smart and gay "a close-knit homogeneous group"

Dogmatic – of or pertaining to the worship of dogs “dogmatic theology”

Reprobate – someone who got ripped off when his father’s last will & testament was validated “He was nothing but a reprobate.”

Repugnant – smelling like pregnancy “a repugnant smell”

Implacable – not worthy of mention on a plaque "an implacable enemy"

Acrimonious – using lots of acronyms “an acrimonious debate between the two candidates.”