Easter Morn

Tomorrow is Easter. I've been thinking about it for weeks. I've got a scripture hunt planned for the kids (instead of the Easter egg hunt, although we did hide the plastic eggs today with some candy in them). I wanted to get them an Easter basket with traditional goodies in it, but I really wanted it to have meaning. Easter means so much, really. It's the reason Christmas is so amazing. If not for the resurrection, we wouldn't bother celebrating the birth of Christ either. It's the whole package that really makes the difference. So, we're having a scripture hunt in the morning, and at the end, as we all pretend to watch the skies for Christ, the surprise will be on a high shelf. I'm excited. It's a small bit of symbolism, and I'm sure it'll be over their heads a bit (no pun intended, but it was a good one!), but I think in time they will understand what I mean.

I've been thinking about how I'm very impatient about them understanding the gospel, and today I realized that I am barely starting to understand it fully. There is so much to grasp to really understand the love God has for us, that he would give his son--his first born son, to die for us. I can teach, and teach, and teach--yet it won't be until my children have children that they will understand the love of a parent. That the love of God much be so much stronger than even that. I look at my first born, my son, and I think of how wonderful he is. I think of how when he was little, I thought I couldn't love another child as much, that there was no way I'd have more children because I loved him so much that I would never be able to love another. But then, as each child came, my love didn't diminish for him, my capacity GREW. Wow. I just sit and think of how full I feel (I really can't explain it), full of an intense love that will never go away, with only three children, and then I think of how the Lord loves every single human being on earth--that has ever lived and will live, and I think of how full his joy must be. True, his heartache must be wrenching as well, but...all I can think to say is WOW.

Whew.

Life is crazy here! I've taken pictures but my computer is not yet put back together (thanks for letting me hi-jack your laptop, Sweetie!).

There are holes in most of the walls in the house. Insulation has been blown in, and now we are spackling. Sigh. Then we will sand. Then paint. Then clean, then put furniture back--and maybe sit on it.

School has been hap-hazard here lately. We had a discussion on adding double digits while sitting on the kitchen floor, because all of the other rooms were full of workmen. But, tonight, Zac re-affirmed to me that I'm not as horrible at this homeschool stuff as I thought I was. We sat down to read scriptures (he's trying to finish the Book of Mormon before he turns eight. He has 1.5 years to go.) and I asked him if he'd like to read some of my studies from the Bible with me. We read Daniel (by the way Dan 5:6 is hilarious. if you're into Shakespeare, you'll understand what it's saying. Pretty much what happens to anyone that sees a ghost. ha ha Go look it up.), and in chapter 5 it talks of the kingdom being taken over by the Persians and the Menes. Well, here's the part where I jumped up and down inside and almost cried...Zac remembered who the Persians and Menes WERE! My lessons actually make it into his head. Wow. Anyhow, it was great to have that, considering how weird school has been with all the other things we've had going on.

Hmmm, what else? Well, bike riding is still coming along. He still won't get on without someone else holding up the bike for him. I think he could, but is just afraid. Not sure how to get him to do it without really forcing him to, which I believe would make him dislike riding (the force part). We'll see.

Payge is talking more and more! As we watched the movie on the Mars Rover being built and taking off, she kept saying, "Aww-ket eeves da erf!" (Rocket leaves the Earth). Cute. And I LOVE how every morning she runs to me yelling, "Mommy! Mommy!" as though she hasn't seen me in days.

Chayce is getting taller. She's progressing in reading and smart-aleky-ness. I got a big hug from her today and just held her. I couldn't believe how strong her hugs have gotten. She's not the toddler I keep thinking she is. She'll be five this summer. What I consider full-grown child age. Wow. OK, must sleep in order to wake in time for our early contractors (who ever heard of such a thing?).

Park Day!

After Payge woke from her nap (where it is obvious she hired Harry the Hair Dresser!),


we threw the girls in the stroller
and headed to Parkovash Park! (Zac, Stephen and I walked, if you're wondering.)

There was much spinning that took place. Not just here, but also on the tire swing, which I didn't get photos of.

Tree Climbing Galore!!




Time well spent on the teeter-totter (which is not nearly as fun for me as it used to be. These safety ones are BORING!)


Oh, and we can't forget the dinosaur. Everyone had to take turns on her (yes, according to Chayce, the T-rex is a girl). There was a lot of happy giggles on the slide, too, but the camera was rolling, not doing still shots. I'm not going to take the time to upload those today.

Chili Champion!

I was going to title this, "I Won!" but then realized I already had other blog articles with that title. Winning rocks. Anyhow...

I didn't win our church chili cook-off. Not even close. I overhead some men saying it was too mild. Well, I thought, I will change that before the neighborhood cookoff. See, church is a practicing place for all things. Not just spiritual. Temporal too. And competitive stuff. You sense my slightly sarcastic seriousness, no?

Below is my loot from winning the neighborhood chili cook-off. Yay!
My favorite parts of the gift bag were the bag itself (a re-usable tote!), the bamboo cutting board, the crinkle cut knife, the stainless steel water bottle and the candles with colored flames. The other stuff will probably go to charity. Well, I might keep the mug, perhaps the scarf...but not the hat and t-shirt. I have so many of those from races. I'm going to try to re-create the recipe below, because as many of you know, I don't use recipes, and I was asked for it at the end of the cook-off and couldn't tell them what was in it exactly...so I promised to email it to a few folks. When will I learn to write as I go?

My White Chili

1 Qt of dry white beans (is that a bag? a pound? I don't KNOW! Just fill a one quart jar with beans and use it.)
1 pkg mild, sweet Italian sausage
1 onion
1 red bell pepper (please don't pay $2 for one, wait til they are in season, or check your freezer stash!!)
1 Qt half-and-half
3 Tbsp corn starch, dissolved in (a cup?) cold water (set aside)
Some olive oil
Chili powder OR if you have it (which I do...) Mapuche spice to taste.
Salt
Black pepper

Soak the beans overnight. The next day, rinse and cook in the crock pot on high til done. Hmmm, I started them around 8 and they finished around 4, you do the math.

Fry up the sausage (slice and dice it if you bought links), and add it to the beans (umm, there shouldn't be much water left in the beans at this point. Take some out if there is a lot. When I added the meat, the water was down to not even covering the beans, but there was still some in the bottom). In the same pan, but not with the sausage (you know, later, after you put the sausage in the chili), add the olive oil and chopped onion and red bell pepper. Saute til perfect. You'll know. It'll be beautiful.

Add all of the half-and-half. Add seasonings. Taste, taste, taste. If you like it, it's almost done. I then add the corn-starch water and let it cook another 1/2 hour in the crock pot. This isn't necessary, but it does add some thickness that makes the cream taste creamier. Really.

Hmmm, I think that's it. Enjoy!

Remember When?

Remember when it was cool to hide the book you really wanted to read inside of the book you were supposed to be reading? Remember how it was usually a comic book, or some other work of interesting fiction? I caught my son doing that the other day. At first, I was thinking, "Ug! That math needs to be done today!" But then I saw what he'd chosen to read...

Show us what you're reading Zac...

ahh, history. He eats it up, and has almost finished his textbook. I have to cajole him to do math (which he's good at, but would rather not do), but I catch him trying to read history books inside of his other texts. Ha!

Imperfect.

All too often, I hear people say, "How do you do it all?" They scoff in disbelief if I say, "I don't." Then they speak of the accomplishments they have heard I have made. However, what they don't see is this behind the scenes mess:




But in ten short minutes, because each thing has a place, the four of us can get ready for dinner and have it looking like this again:

Not perfect, but good enough...better than before, eh?

So, I don't do it all. We have our moments, but the nice thing is that life is full of moments of crazy, with a few calm spots to catch your breath. Enjoy the calm spots.

Replenish the Earth

So, in my scripture study lately, I've had this thought.

Genesis
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and ^amultiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be ^afruitful, and ^bmultiply, and ^creplenish the ^dearth, and subdue it:

See anything big and glaring and different here, besides the fact that one is to animals and one to mankind? The REPLENISH part. Multiply and replenish are two different things, replenish being a commandment that only mankind is given.

What does replenish mean to you? (I'll give you a hint from our dictionary: 1. to make full or complete again by supplying what has been used up or is lacking)