Hair Affair

Sarah wanted a braid in her hair yesterday morning.  Originally, she wanted some kind of fancy do swept up to the side.  But her hair is too short and so I had a good excuse to say no.

Little braids going down one side are popular choices, too.  So that's what we attempted.  It was going well when one of the three sections of hair I was braiding started getting to short and I had to stop.

Sarah found the shortened braid unacceptable and started complaining.  As she pulled on the end to undo my work, I reminded her that I wasn't going to do her hair over again.  It's one service per head in this house!

Eventually the braid was gone and she was crying for a new one.  I suggested some self serve options and ended the conversation.

The next time I saw her, she had a little flower clip stuck awkwardly in her hair.  I thought it was a great solution!

Frozen

I found a frozen ice cube tray in the freezer yesterday. 

Just the tray.  No ice.

Perhaps someone was prepping it for future ice cubes.

Completely unnecessary, of course.

One of Life's Greatest Mysteries

There is a broom in my family room.  It shouldn't surprise me.  But why must I suffer such mysteries?

It might make more sense if we swept the family room floor.  We don't.  (What am I saying?  There is no "we".)

I don't sweep the family room floor, even though it is mostly bare concrete.  The vacuum is for the family room and the broom is for the kitchen.

Maybe a witch left it there.  She is trying to entice me away with a speedy getaway.  I am tempted, but there would be no one left to ponder the great mysteries around here.

Family Home Evening...Collett Style

Monday nights are reserved for family time in our home.  It is counsel from wise Church leaders in order to strengthen family relationships and counter the destructive influences of the world.  It also something our kids look forward to.

This week we had a typical Family Home Evening (FHE).  

Sarah conducted the meeting.  She welcomed everyone and announced each part and who would be doing it.  Then she thanked them when they were done.  This is to help the kids learn to be comfortable conducting meetings when they get older!  ;)

Chad had the song.  I don't remember what it was, but it was something the kids would know...a Primary song or simple Hymn.

Technically, I had the prayer, but since I was teaching the lesson, I traded with Nathan and he offered it.  Rest assured, it was short!  :)

Daniel's responsibility was the scripture. He shared a scripture mastery: Moses 1:39.

Next was the lesson.  We used to have each of the kids teach lessons until we decided they needed some better examples of what we wanted from a lesson.  We are getting close to handing over some of the responsibility to the older kids, but for now, I taught what would have been Nathan's lesson.

I gave everyone a piece of paper and asked them to write down everything that was important to them or that they were grateful for.  I just wanted them to write, write, write for 5 minutes.  This was Sarah's paper. I snapped a picture of it because her spelling was so cute.  (Translation: food, houses, families, popcorn, movies, light, couch, cars, beds, clothes, scriptures, Idaho.)  Chad and I noticed she is already learning to use an apostrophe incorrectly.  Haha.

After the five minutes was up, I directed everyone to chose the 3 most important things on their lists and cross out everything else.  Or in other words, what would they be willing to give up over another on their list?  Some of them struggled a bit there!  The point of the lesson was to recognize what we value the most and consider what we are doing to keep it a high priority.  If one of our priorities, was wrong, we needed to reconsider our choices and correct it.  Otherwise, we should always remember to keep our activities and priorities in check so as not to lose what is most valuable to us.

I was happy to learn that my children's three top choices included God, Christ, family, temples, scriptures and the Gospel.  :)

After the lesson, Leah had the talent.  She performed a death-defying head stand on a pillow.

 

We always clap for the talent, no matter how awesome, confusing, silly, crazy, boring, or repeated it might be.  Everyone deserves some clapping once in a while.

Rebekah was in charge of choosing the activity this week.  She first suggested taking dinner to the park to eat to count for the activity, but I didn't think I could pull that off.  So her second choice was Sardines. I don't know if you've ever played this game. I grew up playing it in the twilight of evening with my neighbors.

It is played by sending one person off to hide while everyone else stays together, counting to 20 with closed eyes. Then everyone breaks apart (similar to breaking the balls in a pool game) and goes searching for the person hiding.  If you find them, you quickly and quietly join them and wait for the next person to discover the hiding spot.  This continues until the last person finds the group (who is now uncomfortably squeezed into a space that is fit only for sardines) and becomes the next person to hide.

In our family, the rule is to leave the lights as they are at the start of the game.  Some places are better with shadows to disguise the hunched forms.  It also makes it a little creepy.  Bwaahaa!

Here is most of the family hiding "under" Daniel's bed.  I was 2nd to last to find them.  Daniel was last.

Daniel then chose to hide in an 8" space between the washer and dryer.  I was first to find him and will never understand how I squeezed in there with him!

When Joseph found us, he didn't have much trouble sliding in!  (The picture was taken in the dark, so the flash is a little hard on the eyes.)

Unfortunately, Daniel chose a hiding spot in a construction zone.  He continued slipping further behind the dryer and up against the walls we recently removed paint from.  He has powdered wall texture all over him!

At one point, Sarah chose a hiding place under the computer desk.  Nathan found her second.  Joseph found it just after I did.  (That's his back in the bottom of the picture.)  We were looking for her forever!  A tiny person has much more success in this game than a big person.

After we'd gone several rounds of Sardines, it was time for the treat.  This was Joseph's choice this time and he'd planned for snow cones.  (I froze extra ice during the day for him.)  You can see that he has some "helpers" who want to be sure he can handle the job.

That is FHE in our home.  It's loud, and gets us to bed later than we'd like.  But it's a great way to teach family values and strengthen bonds.  It also helps us sharpen our fighting skills.  *sigh*

Choose Carefully!

If you ever find yourself in a position to choose a kitchen counter top, choose carefully! 

If you plan to do any food prep in your kitchen (and maybe you only plan to have a pretty kitchen), consider how big you want your work space to be and how hard you want to work to disinfect it.

I hope after you consider those options, you won't choose floor tile (or any tile); no matter how good of a price you can get!

If you do have a lapse of judgment, try to stay in that home forever so you don't have future homeowners cursing you and questioning your sanity.

Meanwhile, get ready to have lines in your pizza dough and pizza dough in your grout.

Soft Spoken

I am soft spoken tonight.  Not by conscious effort, but because I made the choice to yell at one of my children at the top of my voice.

It is not the first time I have traded being able to speak for a lecture/crazy mad woman moment.  And it isn't the first time with this particular child.  It's even the second time within a month.

I hope all parents have that moment when they totally lose all patience and hope and want to shove their fist through a wall.  It would make me feel better about this journey I am on.

Unfortunately, because of past experience, and because yet again we could not get this child to verbally respond, I expect to have another opportunity to speak like a shadowy, secret informant.

Of all the challenges that come with parenting, watching undesirable behavior be repeated without remorse (and despite all efforts to effect a change) is the HARDEST!  It's so difficult because it indicates that the person is freely choosing to be less than they can be.  It damns their progression to becoming the person that lies in wait only as potential.  I can see it.  It is unclear if they can see it.  It is clear that they aren't trying to see if it's there.

We can't always chose what happens to us, but we can choose how we happen to others.

Trust Issues

As I was driving the kids to school this morning, I noticed the high school students in the neighborhood waiting for the bus.

Of eight teens, seven were actively looking at their phones and the eighth had one in her hand. Most of the kids were standing in groups but none of them seemed aware of the others and several had ears buds in their ears.

There is one smart phone in our home. It is mine. And it is small. It is expensive. From what I could see, most of those kids had larger, more expensive devices than I do. I was trying to imagine the thousands of dollars in the hands of young people I passed, and the responsibility that comes with it.

And I began reflecting on society's view of our youth. In large part, I hear people giving much and expecting little from today's rising generation. Entitled children are causing adult problems and suffering infant consequences. And the effects are being felt across the board. And yet, the general response seems to be an increase in freedoms and allowances as if strict rules are the cause of rebellious actions. I would would suggest stricter consequences for the offenders and ripple consequences for the community.

Coincidentally, as I drove Daniel to school, he mentioned learning that any Florida youth born in 2001 or later cannot get a driver's license until they turn 18 years old. They can have a permit, but are not permitted to drive independently until they reach 18. It seems this is to combat the drunk driving problem in the state. I have not confirmed this information as I only heard it less than an hour ago. But it would not surprise me. This is how we handle situations like these.

Our family is run a little differently from the world. I find a lot of peace in this. We do things, consider things, believe things, and expect things differently. Therefore, we have different results. We will have to make some small adjustments as we continue to live in this world, but we will not change much. I expect our trust issues in our home are and will continue to be vastly different from the issues other families are facing or will face.

Beauty Queen

Sarah was joining the rest of us in the bathroom this morning as we brushed hair and prepared for school.

She had stolen the one brush good for ponytails and was repeatedly brushing one section of hair.  I questioned her about how long she was going to be.

She replied, knowing she had something we wanted, "Only a few years."

Oy. 

Is There Any Extra?

When I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, we were living in Arizona and my dad was stationed at Luke AFB in Phoenix.  He would rise before dawn and leave for work just as the sky was lightening.  That was generally before anyone else was awake.

He used to make some kind of breakfast drink with raw eggs and honey, and probably some kind of grain (though I only truly remember the egg and honey).

I loved his drink!  I would probably think it disgusting now, but it was the best tasting thing to me back then.  I used to wake up while my dad was getting ready for work and wait for him to come to the kitchen.  He would give me a tiny bit of the drink in a little cup.  So delicious.  Truthfully, I think much of the taste was the emotional connection to the drink and a little girl catching some stolen pre-dawn moments with her daddy.

Eventually, he stopped making the breakfast drink and I stopped waking early to get it. I was told that he was just trying to avoid sharing his breakfast. I don't know if that's true or not, but as I am not a morning person and prefer to have a solo breakfast, I can see it as a likely reason.

Fast forward over three decades...

I now make a breakfast drink.  Mine doesn't include raw eggs or honey but bananas, ice, peanut butter, almond milk, and a few drops of essential oils.

And I have a 2nd grader who hopes for some of it every morning.   I have to consciously make extra for him, but he always wants it - even when I mistakenly put frankincense oil in instead of something else.  He hears the blender and comes over asking, "Is there any extra?"

A lot of time I can hand him a tiny bit in a little cup, and enjoy history repeating itself.

Are They ALL Yours?

If I had a dollar for every time I get this question...

We were at Lowe's last week and the conversation went like this:

Clerk: "Are all these kids yours?"

Me:  "How many are there?" (I didn't look up from swiping my card.)

C: "Six."

M:  "Yes.  I had to make sure we didn't pick up any extras while we were shopping."

I'm not sure what impels someone to ask this question.  It doesn't really bother me, but I do hear it a lot.  Usually I am happy to claim all the kids because they are great human beings.

Sometimes we get someone who wants to compliment the kids on their good behavior.  I usually end up ruining the moment by saying something like, "You didn't see them two minutes ago."  Sadly, two minutes ago might have prevented the compliment!

And that is why some days I answer the first question with, "Maybe." But that would be more believable if they didn't all look so similar to each other!

Dusting Off the Rusty Fingers

This is it!  My first personal blog post in over two and a half years.  I used to be a pro at this;  now I feel like I am starting over.

I am not going to attempt to recall all that has happened since January 2013.  I will start anew and try to keep up with the crazy things that happen in the course of a day or hour.  That will be enough to keep me typing!

So if you are joining me on this journey, please feel free to comment.  I communicate better if I can picture an audience.  There is no "like" button on a blog, so speak up!