Sunday Groceries?

Wherefore, it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.

St Matthew 12:12

On this warm, summer-like autumn afternoon, we opened the backdoor . . . and saw a bag of food: 3 boxes of soup mix and 24 cans of various food items.

I don't know whether we were laughing more at the surprise of it or at the sight of Trevor trying to carry the bag to the kitchen by himself. The children excitedly wanted to go through the whole bag all at once. "Look, Mommy: corn!" or "What are kidney beans?" They were so excited.

Then Cory looked a little further outside and saw that we had missed a couple things: 30 jumbo rolls of toilet paper, 19 apples, 24 packages of Ramen (don't laugh. The kids are so excited to make that lunch for the week). Our amazement was then peaked at the sight of a loaded Costco Cash Card tucked into the Ramen.

Since our guardian angels desire to bland with the multitude, we are now uploading our gratitude to the multitude, and hope they know it.

Super Doughnut Saturday

A mouthful of sugar helps the Saturday begin . . .

Cory was leaving for a Saturday at work with the children howling at the door. Then he said, "We'll be back," and strode to the van with barefoot Trevor tucked under his arm. Well, Miriam and Kaith continued to cling and cry in their absence. The van returned, and with it a thin pink box that could only mean roses . . . or doughnuts! (Ah, pay day, glorious pay day. Mommy would buy produce, Daddy supplies the treats.) "Breakfast!" I cried before the door opened, and Trevor proudly cared the box inside. Peering through the viewing window, Miriam promptly claimed the pink doughnut. Then Cory returned with two gallons of sugary beverage with juice-like names, and happiness prevailed around the dining table, in spite of the speedy exit of Daddy (who took two doughnuts with him).

Miriam, who relished her pink doughnut, was nonetheless curious about the "naked brown sugar" one. Kaith, who loves black, readily identified with the "black" chocolate doughnut, and I feigned nutrition between a "fruit" jelly doughnut and apple fritter. Sterling was not impressed with the sugary bread, and whimpered until I got him down, but perhaps his sickness makes new foods unpalatable. Kaith himself gave the title for this block.

An Ideal Husband

Blessed art thou, Lehi, because of the things which thou hast done . . .

1 Nephi 2:1

I'm going to take a time-out from maternal obligations and stories to sing the praises of my seldom photographed husband. Of course I love him because he has his priorities straight, because he has integrity with the same standards in his long hours at work and school as in his few hours at home, because of his diligence which gives us the momentum to keep reading almost-daily from Jesus the Christ, to keep pushing through school until it's done, how he easily calms me when I'm under stress, under other traits and habits. That said, I imagine he would rather be praised by the things which he has done. So, let's see . . . his most recent domestic achievement was installing two four-foot wide shelves above the children's reach in our office, to hold our forty-one pounds of school supplies (yes, we got a ten-pound shipment of Teacher's Guides today. Still backordered on the handwriting workbook). Last Monday, knowing I had not finished my homework that was due that evening, he came home early and took over childnurturing and dinner so I could catch up. Oh, and he brought home a bouquet of pink campanulas. For this module, not only did he pose for my figure drawing (okay, I drew from a photo), but on Saturday, hearing that I wanted to submit my figure drawing homework that afternoon, instead of today, he piled the children in the car and took off until I was done, which took three hours. After putting the kids to bed last night, we stayed up reading to each other and laughing over Little Women (I had no idea how funny it was last time I read it, about a decade ago, and it's so much more fun to read with someone who laughs at the right place).


I never did take a picture of the base cupboard and countertop he so painstakingly and perfectly installed in June, but he did that, and before Spring Quarter was over, too. This week officially begins his Senior year studying Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering at UW, taking 16 (?) credits and working 25 hours a week. Of course he's incredible, but extra prayers would be appreciated, too.

Kindergarten Began

I was determined to begin school on Monday morning, September 8, whether our supplies had arrived or not. I was approaching our final morning chore (making my bed) at 9:15 when a large brown UPS truck materialized out front, bringing 31 lbs. of treasures.
Our first week, we read Cinderella, sorted colors, made a cushion-boat like in a poem by Robert Louis Stevens (Trevor is holding a "poison green plum"), and skipped the first nine weeks of phonics (that that is all Kaith skipped is a tribute to the thoroughness of K12's PhonicsWorks program.

Highlights from Last Week

At the company picnic, Cory told Kaith to go sit down to watch the animal show. Kaith chose a spot right next to some young woman, cuddled up, and put his hand on her knee. We have no idea who she is.

Miriam got a turn choosing and making family night treat. She chose star cookies, and was very proud of the result. Our lesson was on prayer, from the new nursery manual. That worked well, since Trevor was assigned to give a talk in primary on that subject (his teacher, who assigned it, said, "your kids give good talks. I learn from them"). We got our hard copy of Behold Your Little Ones just a few days ago, which was much sooner than I'd been expecting it.

About a month ago, I subscribed our family (under Trevor's name) to a magazine called High Five. It's the preschool cousing to Highlights magazine. We got our first two issues (they sent last April's and this October's) this week. We cut-out the bug dominoes, and played that. They also had a recipe for homemade tortillas. Trevor helped me make those, and wow, they were good.

My school started Thursday. I've had three days to work on things and am only two days behind schedule.

Our ward had a "Corn Ball" on Saturday. We brought dinner rolls, as usual. Silly us, we gave the kids lemonade before lunch. They hardly touched lunch, and that includes the cake. However, they did take frequent trips to the bathroom. I think we totaled seven, in all. I've included a picture of that toilet (sorry if you don't know that story. I think its unbloggable). Sterling, who did not drink lemonade, did eat most of a hot dog bun.

Kaith's school starts tomorrow. K-12 has been changing suppliers, I think, and so we haven't received the supplies we'll be using. We got an automated phone call Friday night saying our box would arrive Monday evening, at the latest. It must be costing them a lot of money to express ship a lot of big boxes. I'm glad I don't have to pay for the shipping fee.

Trevor Is a Child of God

Brr-Buh-Buh-Burr . . . Trumpet fanfare!!! Unveiling the colorful new manual: Behold Your Little Ones, useful not only for Nursery (this is to the old nursery manual what Preach My Gospel is to the old missionary discussions), but also for use in Primary and in the home. Currently available in seventeen languages, plus Braille. (Not Japanese yet, sorry Elder West) Our marvelous nursery leader has already given the parents a letter with the lesson schedule for the rest of the year. I've ordered my copy. Have you?

Also available online, we used lesson #1 last week: "I Am a Child of God." It had the song, a scripture story and an activity rhyme we used, several days in a row. Forget our old family scripture attempts that Miriam and Trevor wouldn't attend. They loved the presentation of the scripture story in the manual:

Show the illustration of Moses on page 99. Explain that Moses was a great prophet who lived a long time ago. Tell the children that Moses went to a mountain to pray. Invite the children to pretend to climb a mountain; then have them fold their arms as if praying. Open the Pearl of Great Price to Moses 1:4 and say, “God said to Moses, ‘Behold, thou art my son.’ ” Explain that Moses learned that he was a child of God.

Trevor climbed the post of Miriam's bed, of course (what he usually does during scripture study, but this way it was related). Wrapping up our lesson, we announced that Miriam was a child of God, Trevor was a child of God . . .

"No!" said Trevor vehemently. "I'm not a child of God! I'm a pirate!"

I calmly responded, "Even pirates are children of God."

"Oh. Trevor looked thoughtfully at his feet, then said quietly, "I am a child of God."

Fun Storage

We've been working on our "fun storage:" accumulating a wealth of healthy memories to enjoy in case the weather or our schedules prohibit such indulgences this fall. Kaith's school starts in less than 2 1/2 weeks - that feels so soon!

This week we met friends at a playground.

When I woke up that morning, it was pouring rain. I coaxed the children into personal prayers that morning, and they prayed that it would stop raining so we could go to the park. It did and we did. Trevor rode a two wheeler (with training wheels, of course) for the first time, borrowing one his friend had brought. I suppose that's another improbable possibility for Christmas. We already have helmets.