Things I don't understand

There are some things that draw hurricanes from our ladybug.  Reading, games with rules, numbers, and memory exercises bring torrents of yelling, crying, and recrimination.  Coward like, I have withdrawn from the fight, leaving Briz to battle over the evening reading, and such.  


One by one, I have given up on many family activities I once thought essential.  I couldn't stand the storms.  In this manner I simplified scripture study till it simply contained stories I would tell while holding a picture.  Briz had enough of this and one night announced, "No More for our teenager!  From now on we will read out of the actual scriptures like normal people."  I subconsciously cringed as I waited for the certain screams during our "spiritual exercise".  Ladybug read one verse, then 2, then 5.  "Can I keep going?"  


"Sure"  We answered in shock.

Words tumbled from her mouth, words like generation, covenant, atonement, or commandment.  Though she can't remember the names of her classmates, questions about Cain, Able, translated beings and other long ago discussed topics sprouted from this little one.  How can this be when normally words like the and of can be a source of unimaginable frustration?    Two months later, she still chafes while waiting her turn to read the scriptures.  True, her reading reverts to normal when reading the Treehouse Series, or Ramona And Bezus.... But there is one book ... one magical book of scripture that seems to be comprehensible.  

Saturday, our ward had an indexing marathon...Briz signed us up as a family team.  Me, him, and Ladybug.  I was a bit humiliated.  I wasn't up for much and Ladybug?  She can't read print.  How could she decipher hundred year old script complete with curlicues and blotches?  Briz and Bug went to register and spent an hour indexing.  A beaming bug walked into my office where I added my few hundred records to our tally.  How did you do?  I asked.  "Great!"  she replied with excitement.  "I did 3!"


Sure enough, when family tallies came in, one family did over 2,000 records.  Another over 3,000.  A total of 67 people indexed 26,710 records in 12 hours.  Ladybug was one of the 67.  She added 3.  For a few moments, I felt ashamed of our little team.  We added so little... Others so much.  

3 Records, yet untold amounts of mental confusion went into those 3.   Visions of the widow's mite crossed my mind.  Today, after church, I was called to the computer.  Then again, and again.  Hour after hour, Ladybug sat curled up in front of the computer deciphering previously unable to access facts such as 1 means January and Dec is short for December.  

Truly humbled, I came whenever I was called and witnessed the miracle that was 30 more records and hours of what should have been screaming frustration.   "May I stay up late and do more?"  she asked.  

I don't understand.  Some things I have witnessed are just impossible. Does faith come because we see miracles or before? 



I have attended many conferences and lectures on Learning disabilities and Autism.  Current western medicine offers no hope of changing brain patterns, claiming that after formation in-utero, very little can be done.  "Why can't you just accept she'll never be normal!"  The school psychologist once yelled at me in one of our fun little conferences.  

I get that.  I understand that learning disabilities are disturbances of the brain and therefore a function of the body.  But there are things that I don't understand that I know to be real.  Other forces are at work in our humanness, ways of bypassing the brain blood barriers and neuropathways.  

If the brain is damaged is the soul of the person?  

Are there other non physical ways of communicating information to our brains?  


My experience says no to the first and yes to the second.  

That gives hope to all of us that are damaged in one way or another. 

Hydrate

 This week's health focus:  I will keep my body hydrated and clean by drinking at least 64 ounces of water.  
It is hard to overestimate the importance of water to help our bodies run smoothly.  Water washes out impurities that clog our pores, store in our fat cells creating cellulite, and make a sluggish digestive system.  


When I really want to lose weight, I drink 3 or 4 liters a day instead of 2.  But in my current state of un-energized existence, 2 liters are great.  

To help me track my water, I measure it into my $3 2 liter Walmart water bottle.  When I leave the house, the bottle goes with me.  

Throughout the day however, I pour 1 liter at a time into my metal water bottle.  Metal keeps the water cold and it tastes better in metal.  But the real reason I allocate my water into metal, is that I like to flavor my water.  My very favorite way to drink my water is with 1 drop of peppermint or spearmint water and a couple of drops of vanilla shot.  Oh, heavenly!  Sometimes I drink my water with a few drops of Slim and Sassy oil from Do Terra.  It regulates the metabolism, helps the stomach and tastes pretty good. Water makes a huge difference in so many body systems.  I'll share another favorite way to drink my water tomorrow!


Do you have any secrets for drinking more water? 

Internal health

I am not able to excercise yet, and I'm still using food for comfort (so I'll have to work up to that one).  So my first week is easy.  I added all those pesky supplements that usually are just a pain to remember.  Yes, I know that an amazing diet makes suplements unneccesary, but I need all the help I can get. 

As a part of supplementation, I have begun an essential oil regimen.  Each night and morning I topically or internally take the oils I need for insomnia, energy, antiviral, or breathing.  I even add one for skin to my daily moisturizer.  I used to use them as wonderful first aid items, but since I have learned that to see excellent progress, you need consistency. 

So consistency is the goal this week.  Nine pills each day, three pills to cleanse the colon, oils in the morning and oils at night.  It's amazing how much my energy has improved.  When I put Vetiver and Lavender on my feet at night, I just about fall asleep instantly.  I drink Digest Zen in my water to improve my sluggish digestion... it works.  Enough said.  So, week number one is a success.  I am ready to add my next healthy habbit. 

Are You Ready for A Life Change?

January often brings post holiday blah syndrome.  I like to give this hibernating, slow time meaning by ramping up my goals, and setting myself up for change.  Sweet Briz had a meeting with the family, distributed little planners to everyone, and had the yearly goal discussion.  I had already set my yearly goals... in September, so for me, it was a good opportunity to detail and shimmy my current plan. 

At Education Week, I entered a class where numerous sharp women were clustered around the previous speaker and her posters.  Instinctively, I saved my chair, then made my way up to join the crowd.  They were ogling a vision board.  I found the speakers name, then after my class went to the annex to find any books by her.  Are You Ready for a Life Change?  found its way into my basket and into my life. It is a simple short book with step by step details on how to make change a reality. 

My tendency is to focus on areas of my life that are dragging me down or driving me crazy.  Bahram Akradi changed my mind about that.  He suggested the following.  "Imagine that you're interviewing candidates for a really great, important job - the job of improving your life.  Really, of course, you'll be interviewing various parts of yourself, gauging your own willingness readiness to embrace change.  "Thanks for applying for this opportunity as a major force for change in my life.  Now I'd like to ask you a few questions:  What makes you interested in doing this job?  Why does it matter to you?  What's your long-term vision for how things will change if we're seccessful?  What are the first steps and small daily changes you'd like to begin with?  What obstacles do you think you'll encounter?  And what new skills or support will you need in order to succeed?" 

I hired 3 candidates, organization, relationships, and my health.  Then I divided up the year into 3 sections, where each candidate could do their best to improve my life.  This new year's section is for health. (Really it was supposed to me the final section, but since my health is sooooo poor right now, it would be pointless to work on anything else.  

My health decided it needed to improve in different ways each month:
1.  Strong mind/ immune system
2.  Proper nutrition
3.  Strong Body

Each week I accomplish the focus in  specific way and build new habits.  To maintain my vision, I have hung my vision board in my room and read it daily.  To ensure accountability, I will write about my weeks.  So, sorry... I'll be writing a lot about health for the next 3 months. 

Here's to a new year and a life change!

Cheers!

Hero Worship

To complement our Book of Mormon Reading, each girl picked a hero poster for her room.  We are providing our Primary children with scripture hero trading cards, along with their scripture reading log.  Ladybug picked a young women of courage... I probably should have insisted on a real hero, but it is beautiful.  Little Mother picked Helaman and the 2,000 warriors.  I think she likes having a scantily clad buff man picture in her room, but hey, it's better than Justin Timberlake.  Sunshine picked Mary, because she also has blueberry eyes. 

I love heroes.  Sure they can let you down if you expect too much of them, but if you just look to see what you can gain and leave the rest, they make wonderful friends to have.  I keep a council of them in my head for difficult situations.  I have to imagine their responses to my dilemas but they give me great council. 

This year, I am going to fill my little one's heads with heroes and heroines.  I want to fill their little brain councils with noble friends.  This morning we began with Enoch.  How can you not love self effacing amazing Enoch.  What kind of teacher could turn a whole city into such goodness?  The only thing I know that can work miracles like that is love.  He must have had a lot of it. 

Who is your hero?  Pick one or two new ones to add to your collection this year.  They make excellent friends. 

Boredom Busters

Today's boredom was banished by a "cake" decorating class using sugar cookies and yummy frosting.  We learned how to make ribbons, write names, make flowers and borders.  After one layer was complete, they started on a new one.  When  2 inches of frosting made the cookie unstable, they began with a new one.

Go Rams!

The Rams made the playoffs.  That may not mean much to me, but it means a great deal to a grown up little boy who wore a Rams helmet at the age of three.  Immediately he plans a party, which really just includes us, his girls, and his little brother, another loyal fan.  He buys ingredients for his favorite soup, and as I am too weak to cook, chops and stirs with Mitch to create dinner.  Saddly, he realizes he has no paraphanelia to wear for this momentous occasion. 

His little princesses note his sadness and go to work.  With the help of paper, tape and markers, soon Little Mother has all of us outfitted with Go Rams! hats and pendants. 

Sated with Super Bowl Soup, cheese ball, avocado dip, and Lil Smokies, the die hard fans and the three little ones who desperately want to please plop down to cheer on their fight.  I am supposed to be resting, But it is a bit hard when I hear "Man!  That is unbelievable."  or "No!  No!  No!"  yelled at full volume from the family room.  Yet for all the despair, I hear joy in the voice of my husband.  He is watching his team with his family in Rams paraphernalia.  Win or Lose, All is right with the world. 

popcycle stick coffin

"All true stories end in death.  And this is a true story."  Briz philosophically quips from his favorite movie as we prepare for yet more funerals.  The bright green tree frog became a frogcicle in our below zero temperatures, and we don't know what happened to Tootsie.  She just lay in the bottom of her cage.  Dead.  I suppose we are really prepping our kids for life, because we speak at a lot of funerals.  The flower bed outside Ladybug's window is full of corpses, some in home made coffins, others in the soft cloth.  Each lovingly placed, each one eulogized.  Ladybug is already angling for new fish.  Big ones though. 

I'm Bored!

"I'm Bored!" 

The whine reaches my left ear as read languidly.  I smile, a slow dangerous smile.  The offending one looks a little nervous.  "Only boring people get bored."  I reply my pat answer for such rubbish. 

"What can I do?  And DON'T say clean something again."

Though normally these are fighting words, I've been waiting, longing for these words. Why?  Because I want to spend a certain type of time with my kids, and I want it to be their idea. 

Take down the Christmas Tree
Scour the toilet
Write Thank You notes
Make bananna bread?
Learn a new skill?
Would any of these work for you?

The day together flies by.

We feed the birds.

They learn to chain stitch

To mend their own clothes

To make a pillow case

Bored kids make good moms.  I hope they get bored tomorrow.  Maybe they'll learn Latin?  

Programs

One of the many versions of Jingle Bells

They came... the three Christmas programs I was responsible for.  Some classes did well, others shone, and others didn't quite reach their potential.  Still, it is over... and I am left with these debilitating chronic illnesses.  Was it worth it to push myself?  I don't know the answer to that yet.  I have the next several months to think it out.  I do know that I love being a part of my childrens' education, that I love touching young minds, that I both wish I had more interaction with my students and less.  My favorite program was the one in which my own children performed.  Probably because I had the most say in what happened.  I particularly loved watching them interact with their parents and grandparents at the end as they taught them the Zemmer Atic, an Iraeli folk dance.

Learning the Zemmer Atic

I loved seeing them laugh together and share in their educational experience.  Sadly, I had to leave just as it really got going as my next program (a play about the Christmas Train) was about to begin.  Celebrating together is one of the great joys of Christmas.

Live Nativity

Every year I drive by the church advertising the live nativity, three shows a night for 2 weeks.  This is the year.  We'll try it out early in the season. 

First we meet at Jodi's for a cookie and hot cocoa bar. 

Outdoors, under a shelter, we sit on prickly hay bales, stuffed like cattle in a milking stall.  The back half is standing room only.  This must be really good, we think as we wait.

The young adult ward offers this nativity as it's gift to the community each year.  They have a small choir, actors, narrators, and several musical numbers.  The first musical number begins.  The gangling young man and the two young women screech their harmonies and I am embarrassed for them.  How can they bear to sing like that in front of so many people?  The play continues on the same note.  Three earnest wise men, bespectacled, plump, and in towels, TOWELS for crying out loud reverently make their way to see the doll.  This is without a doubt the WORST nativity I have ever seen and that includes all those years of sheeted childhood wonder.  So, why am I crying? 

This humble and honest offering made from over one hundred individuals offering their very best was enough.  The spirit of Christmas was not missing, it was strong, and we smiled as we swam through the crowd to the car.  What I have to offer this season is enough.  It is always enough. 

Little Mother is studying the middle ages.  She chose to do a report on physicians.  She was to create a 3-D showcase of her profession.  She decided she was 3-D and created this lovely outfit. 

We learned that the Beak like thing was stuffed with oils and herbs to keep the physician from becoming ill.  The full length coat, hat, and mask served the same purpose.  Their little glass vase they carried was for urine.  Sadly, the test was performed by the doctor himself who tasted it to give his diagnosis.  Oh the useful facts we gather!