Mom Remembers

1. Starting from the end of the week: Scott's trach was removed this morning!  He no longer needs any assistance to breathe and can speak normally. 2. OK, going backwards: My sister and her husband were here over the weekend.  Brianna was so helpful at the hospital, making sure that Scott was getting adequate care and prodding the process along.  And Collin was an angel at home, playing with the boys and keeping them entertained.  They taught Mom and I to play a game called "One Night", which is a spin-off from "Werewolf" that was actually pretty fun.  Watching Brianna and Collin interact was bitter-sweet for me; they are so cute together.  I am so glad that my sister is happily married. 3. The Scott-highlight from Sunday was that he got off the ventilator!  At first, they gave him supplemental oxygen through a little mask over his trach but gradually that was weened away until he was able to breathe without any support. 4. Monday, Scott got out of ...

These are Soren's responses from a worksheet he did in primary on Mother's Day. All About My Mom My Mom's name is   Carolyn  She is   30   years old. Mom and I like to   play games  Mom likes to say, "  clean that up!  " My mom really loves   the family  She likes to eat   leftovers  She likes to drink   water  My Mom's job is   housekeeper  If she had time, she would lie to   work  Mom is really good at   making the funniest out of every ansswer  If I could go anywhere in the world with her, we'd go   to Poland.  I love my Mom because   she's great 

Kids get older.  That is a fact of life.  But it still surprises me every year.  Soren is nine  now. I remember the day he was born: how I pushed for three hours with no idea how to get him out; how Scott got back from a final exam to see me deliver the placenta; how cute our little stranger was after he'd been cleaned up and dressed in a Christmas stocking; how alert he was, with no intention of closing his dark eyes and missing anything. Now he's a pre-teen.  Whoa. Here's what we did to celebrate: 1. I got up very early in the morning to buy foods he liked, then I wrapped them up like presents.  For breakfast, he unwrapped a box of fruit and cream instant oatmeal!  (It was Monday and we usually have oatmeal on Monday--usually the plain kind that you make on the stove.)  All the kids were excited about birthday oatmeal. 2. Grandma and Grandpa sent him a guitar.  I told Soren that when he was nine, I would support him in developing ...

Goals for Soren: * focus on his own schoolwork while Mom is helping other kids * stay quiet during lessons and adult conversations * keep his bed dry at night Goals for Carl: * obey instructions cheerfully * play nicely with Sven Goals for Sven: * stay in bed at night * finish potty training * follow reasonable instructions given by his older brothers Goals for Leif: * eat some of what we are having for dinner * no shrieking! * regular naptimes and bedtimes Goals for Carolyn: * finish writing novel * pray for missionary opportunities daily Goals for Mom: * attend to positive behaviors, reconnect when things are going well * start school promptly in the morning and don't multi-task * supervise tooth-brushing morning and night

1. He loves a good pun. 2. He can do the dishes. 3. He is curious 4. and makes interesting connections between the things he is learning. 5. He wants to be a peacemaker, both in our home and in the world. 6. He is cheerful 7. and friendly. 8. His handwriting is improving. 9. He is teaching himself computer programming and makes up his own programs. 10. He is passionate about environmental conservation. 11. He makes (and performs) up his own piano music and some of it sounds pretty cool. 12. He also makes up (and sings) accompaniment/harmony/sound-effects for primary songs and hymns. 13. His brown eyes look like Scott's. 14. He can tie his shoes the awesome way . 15. He expresses sincere gratitude whenever he feels it. 16. He has a strong desire to choose the right 17. and help others to do the same. 18. He is learning to play the harp!  (It's more difficult than he thought it would be.) 19. He has a vibrant and active imagination. 20. He talks easily about...

Yesterday was Michaelmas, the holiday that (as Soren put it) "no one celebrates but us."  I think that's one of the things I love about it.  Since no one I know celebrates Michaelmas, there is no commercial pressure attached to it.  That means that the only expectations are the ones we create ourselves. I asked the boys in family council on Sunday which traditions were most important to them, so we could be sure to meet their expectations.  Thankfully, no one said "presents!"  So there weren't any.  The traditions that were mentioned were:    1. checking out dragon books from the library    2. decorating the house    3. making dragon bread    4. sharing the scripture story in Family Home Evening We did those things so--hooray!  Expectations met. I have my own personal expectations, of course.  I like to tell my Kindergarten story of St. Michael and the star children.  I like to sing songs abou...

SOREN: (cutting across the grass on his bike) My bike is like an ATV!

Oh, how I welcomed Midsummer with open arms this year!  I was ready for summer: no school means time to write, time to plan, time to swim, and time to rest.  The kids went with wide-open eyes into our media fast and I had a plan to teach them lots of skills and chores.  I love that summer is unique in all the year; at least for stay-at-home moms and kids, it is a gift of time large enough to explore different skills and new ways of being. And, of course, we kicked off summer with our traditional camping trip.  Here's a recap: 1. We went somewhere new this year: Lake Le-Aqua-Na.  It's a man-made lake in Lena, hence the silly name.  I find it ironic that even though I associate Midsummer with the desert, we will probably always camp near water now that we live in Illinois.  The fun thing about choosing a campsite this year was that we made it an item of business for our (newly-formed) family council.  We voted not to return to Apple River, th...

CARL:  When we get home, can we sit in the fridge? MOM:  No.  The fridge is for keeping food cool. SOREN:  And you could freeze in there! CARL:  But you don't understand how hot I am! I am as hot as a toenail on fire! MADDY: I know; I was almost cooked to a rotten chicken.

I have been blessed in the last year by many experiences that are spiritual in nature.  My faith in God and His miracles has grown as the voice of His Spirit has testified to me.  I know better than before of the reality of an unseen world and the love that reaches out to me from that place. Because of that growth, Easter held extra meaning for me this year.  Christ's triumph is real  to me--and so is the hope I felt this season.   Hallelujah . Our family's celebrations this year included: 1. Soren and I kicked off the season by watching the world's largest virtual Hallelujah chorus , a project produced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  That was an amazing way to get into the celebratory spirit. 2. This was our first Easter in our own home.  We set up the Easter table in the dining room.  This is one of my favorite traditions: we decorate a table with symbols that remind us of Christ and keep a candle burning there in t...

Soren was assigned to read Helaman chapters 10 and 11 (of the Book of Mormon) in school this week.  This is the story of Nephi receiving power from God to do practically anything.  (He prays for a famine, hoping that it will teach the people humility.  It works.) After reading the story, Soren gave me a great narration: SOREN: In this chapter, Nephi receives root permission.  He can do anything.  The root user can even destroy the whole system with just six commands.

I have been looking forward to Christmas at my parent's house for months.  My mom goes above and beyond when preparing to welcome company and, as a result, her home is the most comfortable place in the world. While looking forward to our visit, I was reminded of a very old talk given by Neal A. Maxwell that reminded me of my mom.  He said that "When we return to our real home, it will be with the 'mutual approbation' of those who reign in the 'royal courts on high.'  There we will find beauty such as mortal 'eye hath not seen'; we will hear sounds of surpassing music which mortal 'ear hath not heard.'  Could such a regal homecoming be possible without the anticipatory arrangements of a Heavenly Mother?" Yeah, my mom makes coming home feel like that.  And since it had been five years since I'd gone home for Christmas, my excitement for the holiday this year was almost as great as when I was a child. Here are some of my favorite mem...

I fried SPAM for the kids this morning.  Unfortunately, I fried it a little longer than they like.  It was slightly toasted on one side, which is perfect for me but is "burnt" to them.  They know they are not allowed to complain about the food but Carl always likes to comment anyway.  He used his most cheerful voice to pay me a false compliment: CARL:  Wow!  This SPAM is really well cooked! SOREN:  Yeah, it has carbon on it.  That's because SPAM is organic. Thanks, boys.

When I was a girl, my mom would settle disputes between my brother and I by arbitrating a guessing game.  She would pick a number between one and ten, then invite each of us to guess what the number was.  Whoever guessed closest would win the dispute.  This was her way of choosing who would have the first turn at a game, with a toy, or in the kitchen.  Randomness was, supposedly, more fair. The only problem with this game was that my mother always picked the same number.  Patrick knew it and so did I.  So rather than having these inconsequential issues resolved randomly, victory always went to the quickest contestant.  The first person to blurt out mom's number would win. That number was 8. When I lost the blurting contest, I would whine.  "That's not fair.  You always  pick eight." My mom would smile--how could she smile when life was so unfair?--and say that eight was her favorite number.  "You can get baptized when you ar...

Having a quirky, genius kid is often delightful. I have been teaching Soren a little bit of music theory.  Actually, he has been teaching himself by reading the text in all the piano lesson books.  But I'll pretend that I've been scaffolding it some. This week he has been working on identifying triads, a task I never dreamed I would teach my 2nd grader.  And then he figured out something additional that astonished and delighted me. He is learning a song called "Cockles and Mussels" and I assigned him to say each chord name of the accompaniment while he practiced.  We went over it in his lesson; at that time he found all the obvious triads as well as the ones that were inverted or split between hands.  That was cool but didn't surprise me. What did  surprise me happened today, during his practice time. He called to me from where I was stirring monkey mac in the kitchen.  "Mom!  I found a chord you didn't see!"  I put down my spoon an...

Michaelmas came like a breath of fresh air this year.  It brought certain pessimistic ruminations to a screeching halt, reminding me once again that God is at the helm and His victory is assured.  Michael and his angels have fought and conquered the dragon once before; with the help of our Savior, we will do it again.  My faith is refreshed and my courage is bolstered. Here is what we did to celebrate: 1. Yesterday, we went apple picking at a my husband's sister's friend's grandma's house.  She has more apples than she can pick and so we took a bucket and brought home plenty for our needs.  The trees were so full, it only took about 10 minutes for the kids to gather enough good apples to fill two buckets.  Soren got the idea that he might like to sell some apples so he filled up his shirt, too. 2. Then, yesterday evening, Scott helped me make boffer swords.  They were surprisingly easy but used a lot more duct tape than I expected.  We...

Today, Soren had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.  I am so glad that he is in bed now.  Even though he's not sleeping, bedtime is so peaceful.  He doesn't complain at me constantly about how bored he is.  Isn't that ironic?  At the time when he has no options at all, he seems to be the most at peace. I'm not sure what it is that he is so upset about lately.  Although last year was awesome, this year homeschool is a battle.  He is constantly "bored" and wishes that he could be doing something else.  Although, when I assign those other things that he professes to want, they are boring, too. Every day this summer was boring as well so it's not that more free time would solve that problem. And he was epic-ly angry today, even though there was no school.  After finishing his morning work, he wanted to earn some money to buy himself a Lego Airjitzu like Carl got for his birthday.  So I gave him a list of chores he could do fo...

Happy birthday to Carl!  He is six!  He woke up this morning and told me that he could feel his legs growing in the night.  That's because he's getting bigger! Here is what we did to celebrate: 1.  Most importantly to Carl: there were presents!  He opened up the present from his Grandma first thing in the morning.  It was a great big lego set.  He hurried upstairs to put it together.  But soon enough, he figured out that some of the pieces were missing.  It looked like someone had opened the box in the store and removed the minifigures.  So (at 8 am in the morning), the whole family piled into the car and went to ShopKo to return the set and get a replacement.  Carl was very worried that they would just put it back on the shelf and some other kid would have the same disappointing experience but the shopkeeper assured him that they would send it back to the Lego cooperation to be fixed.  Happy, we hurried home so that the bo...

Sometimes, it seems like nothing is happening in my life.  But when I am keeping a journal, there are a million things I want to write about.  That’s a little daunting.  It makes me not even want to get started because I know that I could just write forever.   I was thinking today, though, about memories.  Our memory is so faulty.  Someday, my children will be grown and I will only have my patchy memories to hold close.  I am grateful for the everyday things I have recorded about them.  I haven’t done enough of it, though.  And so today, I want to write about my kids. Carl is very excited because his birthday is tomorrow.  He was antsy about it all day today.  He kept climbing up on the piano bench to shake the birthday present from his grandma and guess which lego set she bought for him.  Mixed with the pre-birthday excitement, he also had more than his fair share of upset today.  He tripped in the kitchen during...

Sven:  I think the pioneers went to Illinois. Soren:  No, they went from  Illinois. Carl:  To Utah. Soren:  And there, Abraham Lincoln said "This is the Place."