Daniel's Primary talk

Last week Daniel had a turn to give a talk in Primary. He wasn't too thrilled. Surprised?

I took him to Deseret Book and we bought a Mormon Ad packet that had a picture about prayer (the blue one with the white phone...for those of you still "up" on your Mormon Ad posters). He wrote his talk without too much help from Chad and me. (OK. After reading through, Daniel wrote the first half, I gave him the scripture, hoping he would tie it in somehow, and Chad gave him the "testimony." It was a joint effort.) It was kind of a funny one, so I thought I'd share it with you. Here is it...unedited. ;)

How do you talk to god? Do you run to the phone and ask your parents what Heavenly Fathers pone number is. No. You reverently get down on your knees, bow your head, and fold your arms. But what do you say? You can say anything from being gratefull that you didn't fall of the the seat in the bus to being gratefull that you didn't get yelled at by your parents. In Doctrine Covenants section 25 vers 12 it says, For my soul delighteth in the song of heart; yea the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me and it shall be answered with a blessing upuon their heads. I know prayer is important. It is how I can talk to Heavenly Father. In the name of Jesus Crist, Amen.

I don't think I'll run spell check on this post. But what a great talk, don't you think? I can't wait for a year from now when he's giving his first Sacrament Meeting talk as a 12-year-old. I'll try to sneak it away from him then and post it for you (and us) to read over and over again. *sigh*

Joseph has a talk tomorrow morning. We haven't written it yet. Do you think we can use Daniel's?

-Having 5 kids in Primary at one time means a lot of talks, prayers, and scriptures!

Sunday, 25 September 2011

A beautiful fall morning with a bit of significance in Daniel's life. It was Daniel's last Primary Program and I wanted to freeze him in time. I had them all line up on the sidewalk. (Well, almost all of them.)
Hmm...too shady. Everyone back up into the sunshine. There, now they are blind. It will be a perfect picture. ;) And we get to include Joseph. (Sarah sees a dog.)

Joseph is really dedicated to tantrums lately (like the past 3 years) and this morning was no exception. Oh well, document it, too!

What a great looking bunch of kids!

Primary Activity

The kids had a Primary activity last Saturday and they were supposed to dress like they were living in Jesus' time.

That worried me for a little bit: how could I dress up 4 kids? Most people would think a towel around the head or a robe would work. Unfortunately, we are a very FUN family and don't have the kind of robes that Jesus would have ever worn...rubber duckies anyone? And I know my children well enough that they might get out of the van with a towel tied to their head, but they wouldn't leave it on for more than 10 minutes.

As it turned out, my OCD for fabric collecting paid off. I used a flat twin sheet for the younger three and another large piece of "linen-y" fabric for Daniel. The ties were long scraps.

And Voila! Daniel doesn't look too thrilled with the idea. He's too young to be feeling too grown up for this kind of thing! And he sure DIDN'T want to take his scriptures along. But he lived. And he wore the costume for quite a while after he got home...as did Leah.


It appears we are also ready to play angels in the next Christmas pageant. We'll just get some gold pipe cleaner halos and red or gold or blue sashes. (What color are angel clothes? Does anyone REALLY know?)

Rebekah is in Level 5

Swimming lessons were over in August. We're still talking about them. We really liked swimming lessons and now we talk about swimming lessons coming up again...likely in August.

Rebekah and Leah talk about what levels they will be in. Leah was moved up to Level 2 (mostly because of her age) and so Rebekah will be in Level 1 by herself. Maybe it's a good thing we're talking about it now, so she'll be able to go to that class by herself when the magical day finally arrives.

Anyway, we're in the "Level" mentality.

Yesterday was the first Sunday of the year and all the primary classes changed. Rebekah advanced (there is no failing in Primary!) from the Sunbeam to the CTR 5 class. She keeps saying that she is in Level 5 now. She was wondering how long she would be in that level. "Until next year," I keep saying.

Lyrics

I can't remember where I was, but I was recently talking about Primary songs with some friends. More specifically, we were talking about how they change the lyrics to the songs so that all of a sudden, we're singing the wrong words that used to be right. Not many people over the age of 35 feel quite right singing "Family History" instead of "Genealogy."

And the topic came up again last week while we were visiting Chad's mom. The topic was the song, "Popcorn Popping." How many of you familiar with this song know that the lyrics say, "It wasn't really so, but it seemed to be" and NOT, "...but it seemed to me?" This song is sung incorrectly in so many wards, branches and family living rooms that it almost seems that they should rewrite the song. I can't remember a time when it really did say 'me.'

So tonight, we were singing the song, "Quickly I'll Obey." (Can you even guess what the lesson was about? And, oh, how badly we're needing this idea to take hold in our family.) The words USED to be, "For Mother(Father) knows just what is best" but they've been changed to "I want to do just what is best." So why the change? Did the leadership decide that the parents are exhibiting behaviors that prove they really DON'T know what is best? Or is it that some parents were using this as license to be extra bossy with their children?

I'm not sure what happened. I'm not sure I don't feel a little rebuked as a parent. The song has taken away some of my confidence to be a good parent. I'm not even sure I can lift up my voice and sing now...I'm a little depressed. (Besides, I'd probably sing the words wrong anyway.)

A boring update

At least it seems boring to me. That's partly why I haven't posted anything for a while. I can't get excited enough by my life to consider it good reading for anyone else. But here I go anyway. I apologize in advance.


The kids finished swimming lessons on the 21st. Daniel passed Level Two and will be starting Level Three next Monday. Nathan did not pass his 2nd attempt at Level One. He just wouldn't float. I think he has trust issues. Leah did not pass her 1st attempt at Level One. I didn't expect her to. I was surprised she made it through the whole class since we almost dropped out after the 3rd day. Nathan and Leah can wait until next summer to try again. Rebekah faithfully accompanied me to the bleachers to watch every day.





On the last day of lessons, they all got to jump (or be dropped) off the diving board and go down the water slide. Leah only felt it necessary to go down the slide once. I'm glad I got a picture! (Though now I see that this Daniel, not Leah.)





I have been crocheting a blessing afghan for the baby. I got halfway through it and then started over because the matching (no dye lot) yarn I got for the second skein didn't match in color (white) or texture. So I have a lot of practice on that.

I did finally get back to my quilting frame. I quilted for about an hour and a half the other night. I stood back and couldn't see much progress. Very discouraging.

I finally made it back into my sewing room and finished the next quilt block for the year. This is June's. Here it is. Kind of weird colors. Definitely unique.

I have mostly made it through my morning sickness. (As evidenced by my recent return to quilting and sewing.) I have even started making menus and cooking again! It's a miracle! I still get really tired at inconvenient times. What is convenient? Bedtime would be good. That's usually when I can't sleep.

I got a new calling at church, too. I was a grouchy beast all through my morning sickness and just as I start feeling better and nicer, they release me! Now I teach the 4th Sunday lessons in Relief Society. These are the Teachings For Our Times lessons which come from the most recent General Conference talks. This means that there are no suggested discussion questions.

My first Sunday in RS was the Sunday I got to teach for the first time. To make it even more exciting, I was finishing up a project that I'd already started with my Primary class...Sharing Time. So we presented our lesson in Primary, then I walked across the hall to the RS room for my next big performance. I was glad when that day was over. I sat in RS yesterday and it felt weird. I was only out for about 13-14 months. It must be really weird to return after years in Primary or Young Womens!

I'm probably missing something else really exciting that I've been up to, but I'm sure we'll all survive without knowing about it.

My weekend

This is what I did this weekend. Actually, I started it on Thursday (or was it Wednesday?) and finished it this evening. It was a birthday present for a sister I visit teach. I delivered it tonight and she loved it (like she would have said that she didn't). Anyway, I knew that she would appreciate the gift. That's probably why I was willing to put the time into it.

There was a Primary activity today. I took Leah since she's more than ready to be a Sunbeam, but gets to enjoy Nursery for one more year. I was assigned to an activity that "spotlighted" each child. I got to ask them a list of questions about themselves. There are a lot of girls that like pink and a lot of boys that like lions. Interestingly, the "favorite part of Primary" that received the most votes, was singing time. Yeah. I'm in there and I don't hear a lot of singing coming from the kids! Daniel said his favorite part was classtime...he must REALLY love his teacher! (me)

Daniel was invited to a birthday party today. It was at a skating rink, clear on the opposite side of town. He had never been skating, so I watched him "hold to the rod" three times around and then said I'd see him later. I wandered around some stores while I waited. I feel it's a miracle that he didn't seriously injure himself. He had a lot of fun.

This past week was our RS Birthday celebration. It was a very nice evening of relaxing, eating and visiting. I was asked to sing, "Gentle" (Michael McLean) and worried the whole time that I was off key. It's about 2 octaves lower than what I normally sing, but someone admitted that the song made her cry, and I don't think it was my performance that caused it (whew!).

And now I look forward to a nice, relaxing Sunday. We've already set the clocks ahead. This may be the one day this year that the kids sleep all the way to 8 AM!