Ok, that was an awesome testimony! What a smart girl! But, I understand your hesitation about next testimony meeting, because as good as it was, I have to admit I was giggling through the whole thing. How would she handle a whole ward laughing while she bore her testimony? Would she think they were making fun of her or her testimony, or would she think they thought she was cute?
Yeah I guess my Dh's arguement with it is that Christ had a beard and long hair and so have many prophets, he doesn't get why it's a no, no now(notice a trend, he finds a lot to complaign about)
I know my FIL said one guy in their bishopric almost stepped down because of itbut decided to shave the beard he had had for like 30 years
Me = Alison, DH = Evan, DS #1 = John 09/05/06, DS #2 = Alan 07/21/09
http://majorosfamily.blogspot.com/
John's dad has had a handlebar mustache since he was about 25 and he's now 62. He asked them if he'd get released if he refused to shave it. They told him "whatever's important, Gene." He shaved it.Originally Posted by EvandAl
Yeah I guess my Dh's arguement with it is that Christ had a beard and long hair and so have many prophets, he doesn't get why it's a no, no now
I know my FIL said one guy in their bishopric almost stepped down because of it
John's dad has had a handlebar mustache since he was about 25 and he's now 62. He asked them if he'd get released if he refused to shave it. They told him "whatever's important, Gene." He shaved it.
Me = Alison, DH = Evan, DS #1 = John 09/05/06, DS #2 = Alan 07/21/09
http://majorosfamily.blogspot.com/
Senior Member
Constant Presence
I didn't realize that about bishops and beards. How odd! I know BYU has some crazy rules for hair length and facial hair and sideburns. Crazy, crazy stuff.
I find it all ironic because for the first half of this dispensation, all prophets had beards. Not even modest, close-cut beards either! I MEAN, LORENZO SNOW??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? ;)
Yeah, no kidding. I believe it was even considered...crass maybe?...to NOT have facial hair-at least during Brigham Young and the clean-chin beard look. If I remember correctly that was a mark of social dignity and considered the correct thing to do with your facial hair!
I guess I could see them not wanting beards/hair out of hand. And I guess it's hard to draw the line partially down the population rather than just making it an across-the-board sort of thing. But still...
Totally changing the subject...but for those of you who do FHE. Do you use any lesson guide books or suggestions online or do you come up with it all on your own?
Dh said that we could do FHE and I saw a cute book in the desert catalog (I should seriously be a spokeswoman for them
http://deseretbook.com/store/product?sku=5008642
Also another question. I know there are a few of us LDS moms who are/or planning to Homeschool or are stay at home moms. What do you guys do all day with your little ones? I know I could post this in SAHM but I wanted YOUR opinionsI've found a bunch of good sites for eductional stuff now I need to organized with it. But I also need some motivation just for anything. I've noticed over the last few weeks we have been watching WAY too much TV and I hate TV
Family ideas would be great too. John still is not very close to Evan and I would love to find stuff that would include him too.
Me = Alison, DH = Evan, DS #1 = John 09/05/06, DS #2 = Alan 07/21/09
http://majorosfamily.blogspot.com/
Senior Member
Constant Presence
Wait a second Al, that was TWO questions!
FHE: We aren't 100% on this yet, and we've actually found that trying to do a five minute mini-FHE every night at dinner is more effective, but probably 2x a month we do an actual full FHE as well. I do have the old-school FHE manual (the one that's like five bucks from ldscatalog) but IMO it's poo. It's really not applicable. Maybe when kids are older? So we usually just choose a topic (something simple, like the temple, families are forever, tell the truth, word of wisdom) and then google an activity or think of a little activity to go with it. Of course Lucy is typically the only one who gets something out of the lesson. We've also started checking out materials from our materials center at church. They have some cardboard people/places sets we can put masking tape on to use on our flannel board, or big poster size pictures (we got a big gory David & Goliath and did a little lesson on that. Truman was enthralled with the picture).
Homeschool/Days: We are cross between homeschooling and unschooling at this point. I try to have a loose plan each day with some activity (otherwise I go NUTS). We don't do the same thing on the same day each week, but this is what we do in a typical week:
-library (1 or 2 times)
-kids' museum
-scheduled play date with friends
-ward play group (Wednesday mornings, we usually go unless it's something you can't take 3 kids to, like swimming)
-various parks throughout town
-picnic at a park after play time
-super-shopping day (which is really my mid-week shopping for things we forgot on our real super-shopping day which is Saturday when David comes with us and we divide into 2 teams with 2 carts and meet up at the check out!)
Does your ward have a play group? I guess you'd have to stick around for RS to find out.Our ward sends a weekly email saying where play group will be for that week. Also the elementary schools here, during the school year, have a preschool-age story & play time once a week so we go to that in the wintertime.
We have found that by getting rid of cable, we watch a lot less TV.
I know there are some mom social networking sites, maybe someone else knows what they are, where you can find impromptu play groups in your area. Maybe a good way just to get out and John to be around other kids and you to see other adults!
Senior Member
Constant Presence
BTW Alison the video of John on your blog singing ABCs is adorable!!!!
Thanks! He's been big into the ABC song lately!
Yeah I really need to talk to some of the ladies at church. I know one of the moms who I talked to mentioned a playdate but it seems that most of the moms live on the opposite side of the ward boundaries from us so it's like a 30-45 minute drive to them. Although I think at this point I would be willing to do it. I really need some good examples in my life
I'm on 2 local sites that do playdates also, but they've been pretty quiet for the summer so I'm hoping that will liven up some in the next few weeks.
I think I really need to get my priorities straight. I have been to lazy and need to remember why I am home each day, KWIM?
Thanks for the ideas!
Oh on another topic
http://deseretbook.com/store/product?sku=4920234
So far it has been great. I think I've really lost track on my purpose in life. And am just rambling through.
Sorry I am rambling here, can you tell I'm in need of conversation
Thanks for being here for me ladies. I really am so thankful that I have this area to come to. You really help keep me moving and remind me of why I am making these changes in my life.
Me = Alison, DH = Evan, DS #1 = John 09/05/06, DS #2 = Alan 07/21/09
http://majorosfamily.blogspot.com/
My husband went to BYU for a year and he had to shave every stinking day.
Hey did you know that Lorenzo Snow was burried in Brigham City, thats only 30 mins from where I live?
So we went to the Twin Falls open house! What a beautiful temple, but it was stinking hot in there! Infact we were coming out of the temple and I had taken the booties off and all of a sudden I got really and I mean REALLY light headed. I was walking so that I could sit and all of a sudden everthing was blurry. I totally almost passed out infront of TONZ of people. How embarrassing!
So glad you didn't pass out completely!
I went to Ricks and I had some guy friends that were put on probation for their hair styles. One was balding and he kept his hair really short, like almost bic'd but it was attractive on him because he had so little hair! The other one's hair covered the tops of his ears...oops!
So how totally backwards is this? I'm morbidly afraid of speaking in church and teaching. Doesn't matter the situation. John usually politely declines the request for me to speak. He, on the other hand, ADORES speaking. The last talk I gave, about a year ago, I SWEAR to you I prepared and delivered a 10-15 minute talk...only to find out that I didn't quite hit 5So I was asked to speak on the 31st. I told him that was fine but I HAD to have the topic ASAP. He called Sunday evening and gave it to me. And ladies, I'm so stoked...I think I'm READY for this talk! I really do! I've got it all written out and referenced and I just need to get it on notecards. I have a bad habit of writing my talks out word for word and then I just read them straight off the paper and talk too fast. So I'm going to try the note card route. But I actually feel prepared, and I still have like 2.5 weeks! So it can only get more polished, right!?
I can't even count how many times Adam got stupid letters in the mail for violating the Honor Code at BYU for dumb things like side burns (not like big chops or anything. Maybe a centimeter lower than the bottom of the ear?) or his soul patch.
Gosh... FHE. We really need to start that. FHE is one thing we've never been good at. When we were first married we tried to get consistent w/ it a few times, but it never lasted. Now with children we should get serious. Now is probably not the best time to start since Adam has clinicals every Monday from 7am-7pm. Or I could not be so lazy and just do it myself. My MIL just sent me all the volumes of the BOM, OT and NT stories. That'd be a good place to start.
What do we do at home? I try to get out almost every day. Sometimes it's just errands. Other times it's to a park, or we have a season pass to the zoo. I take C swimming on Adam's short school days. We play in the front yard and C has gardening tools to play in the dirt. He's obsessed with puzzles lately, so we've been doing a lot of those and reading books. We have tons (way too many) GeoTrax sets, so we'll spend the morning building big complicated railway systems. I try to save TV for the times when I need to get something done -- like prepping dinner stuff or take a shower.
We are about to head out but I had to come tell you guys this.....
Great Lengths is having a sale on their shorts. ALL shorts are 6.99 or Less
http://www.greatlengthsshorts.com/
Me = Alison, DH = Evan, DS #1 = John 09/05/06, DS #2 = Alan 07/21/09
http://majorosfamily.blogspot.com/
They've got some awesome prices on there, but not too many sizes left in the twill ones that I like! I'll have to bookmark that site, though!
Senior Member
Constant Presence
Ugggg... I'm so dragging today ladies. I've been trying to make this a super fun day for Lucy so she doesn't get sad that some of her friends started kindergarten today (which she hasn't been really) and it's worn me out!Nevermind all the little things I did RIGHT today (took the kids to discovery time at the museum where they got to feed a russian tortoise, read books to them, did 2 loads of laundry, made a house with door from the washing machine box, and so on) I keep dwelling on those stupid burned beans and singing in my head the Jeffersons theme song (beans don't burn on the grill... why didn't I grill 'em? )
Sorry I'm venting here. Just a rough day. And I still have to cook dinner, go pick up two 50-lb bags of play sand, drive our kitchen toy over to a friend's house (we're giving it away since the kids never play with it anymore) and THEN I get an ice cream cone.
Happy Birthday Tif!! Sorry I forgot to write that earlier
Sorry you've had a rough day Heather!
Me = Alison, DH = Evan, DS #1 = John 09/05/06, DS #2 = Alan 07/21/09
http://majorosfamily.blogspot.com/
I totally understand about your fear of talking though. I wish I could get over it! I'm glad that your ready though! I have told my husband to NEVER say yes to it. I will not pray infront of people, I will not speak infront of people. We were asked to pray in Sacrament and I told the guy that asked no I would not do it but my husband would he is never nervous (I guess thats what a mission does to ya). At girls camp I had to read a couple scriptures about prayer and fasting and I was sooo nervous and it was only like 10 girls. I have to teach the YW in Oct and I'm already freaking out!!
So how totally backwards is this? I'm morbidly afraid of speaking in church and teaching. Doesn't matter the situation. John usually politely declines the request for me to speak. He, on the other hand, ADORES speaking. The last talk I gave, about a year ago, I SWEAR to you I prepared and delivered a 10-15 minute talk...only to find out that I didn't quite hit 5
Tif I love your new siggy
So we are doing our FIRST FHE tonightWe decided to start at the beginning with John and picked the topic of Heavenly Father. Very broad I know. We'll see where it leads us. I figure we will talk about HF, read a scripture, maybe color a picture, sing a primary song and eat some yummy ice cream :celebrate:
Off to see what help I can find
Me = Alison, DH = Evan, DS #1 = John 09/05/06, DS #2 = Alan 07/21/09
http://majorosfamily.blogspot.com/
Senior Member
Constant Presence
How'd it go???
It went pretty good. Dh was no help. He was like soooo what are we supposed to do. I was like didn't you guys do FHE growing up, he says Nope
So I just did what I could HAHA
I'm bummed, DH called to say that he switched to an earlier shift tomorrow so I could actually take John to all 3 hours of church. But of course he's been sick the last 2 days, so I'd hate to take him to Nursery and get all the other kids sick
Oh and I'm asking this early. Please think good thoughts for my DH. In a month he is having surgery on his chest. He was born with Pectus Excavatum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pectus_excavatum He had surgery as a kid, but it really didn't fix the problem. They do a new procedure now and he is going for it. He will be in the hospital for 5 days and then home for about a month
I'm excited though that his parents are going to stay with us for the first week so I'll have some help, plus I love being with them.
Me = Alison, DH = Evan, DS #1 = John 09/05/06, DS #2 = Alan 07/21/09
http://majorosfamily.blogspot.com/
So we stink and are not at church today.
John is still all snotty
Plus I asked him if he wanted to go to church or stay home and he said Stay home. Don't laugh. Usually he is DYING to go to church and begs all Sunday morning to leave, so I know when he says stay home he must not feel good
How was church for everyone else?
Me = Alison, DH = Evan, DS #1 = John 09/05/06, DS #2 = Alan 07/21/09
http://majorosfamily.blogspot.com/
Senior Member
Constant Presence
Al, I hope his surgery goes well! After reading that wiki article, I wonder if my DH has some mild form of that. His chest doesn't look like the one pictured, BUT I've always thought he has this weird sunken in area at the base of his sternum. Doesn't bother him (or me, too much anyway
Um... how did church go. Well that's a loaded question.
First of all, today is my Mormon Birthday! Eleven years ago today (on a Sunday even) I got baptized & confirmed! Woohoo! Best part was, David remembered without me even reminding him at all! So that makes me happy.
We decided to make some changes with the kids' Sunday routines. We brought NO snacks to church and we would only let them have water up until breakfast time (normally they get chocolate milk, but then they are too full to eat much and want snacks later). All of that went fairly well. Then sacrament meeting got CRAZY...
Penny kept crawling under the benches in front of us and we kept pulling her back by her feet. She didn't do it too much but just often enough to get annoying, yk? Anyway, she crawled away and before I could grab her, she got up 2 rows in front of us and I saw her put something into her mouth. So I scooped her up, and as soon as I did, I smelled it -- PEANUT BUTTER. (I'm allergic and we haven't ever let T or P eat or touch peanuts and hoped not to until they are at least 3 years old.)
So I ran into the bathroom, scooped all (or nearly all) of the pb-sandwich bit out of her mouth and threw it in the trash, wet some paper towels, and cleaned out the inside of her mouth and her fingers and washed my fingers frantically. Already my throat was getting itchy and swallowing felt weird. When I was satisfied I'd thoroughly cleaned her, I sat her down on one of the chairs in the mother's room and just watched her, for any signs of hives or breathing problems or anything. The former RS president came in to see if everything was ok because she'd seen me freak out and run. I told her what was going on. We stayed in there about 10 minutes and nothing was happening so we went back into the chapel, where sacrament meeting was almost over.
I was SO MAD I just wanted to cry. I wanted to cry and to hit this person in the face. I know who brought the sandwich and I know this person knows I am allergic and that we are really careful about our kids being around peanuts. I was angry because I asked the bishop a year ago if it could be made a rule that no peanuts be brought into the building and he said no. He only agreed that the primary could use no peanuts or p.b. in any snacks or treats or parties. I guess his thinking is that I should know well enough what not to eat and so by keeping primary peanut-free, that keeps the kids safe. Well not if people drop p.b.j. sandwiches on the floor during sacrament meeting!!!!
I am more than a little mad right now, can you tell?
Fortunately she's okay, BUT the bad thing is, now she's had it once. The reaction occurs on their 2nd time of having it. So now I feel I have to be even MORE vigilant. I am going to ask her doctor next month about having an Epipen prescription just in case something happens. The doctor doesn't think there is a very strong hereditary link, but of course as a mom we always worry.
Oh Truman got a haircut and looks like a real trouble-maker now.
Maybe I should send an email to the bishop? What do you ladies think? Suggest, AGAIN, that the building be peanut-free? I really can't imagine why that is such a huge inconvenience to anyone. In the nursery today, I spoke with another mom whose son JUST had his first reaction to p.b. - hives, swollen body, the whole works - so now between her son and me with definite allergies and our immediate families who should not touch p.b. for our own safety, this makes about eight people in our ward who need to be in a peanut-free environment. What would you do?
How scary! I don't think it would be a big deal to ask it to be Peanut free.
I was just sitting here thinking about it and I always bring a bag of mixed nuts with me for John (he loves them). I never even thought about them dropping and other little ones picking them up
As for the Pectus Excavatum, yep you can have mild cases that don't require any surgery. My dh had a good friend that had a really minor case. I was trying to see if I have any pics of dh's chest but he won't ever let me take his picture if his shirt is off
I know I said this a few posts ago but I have to say again how much I am loving the Mary Ellen Edmunds book about contentment. It is really helping me deal with my own "worldly" demons
Me = Alison, DH = Evan, DS #1 = John 09/05/06, DS #2 = Alan 07/21/09
http://majorosfamily.blogspot.com/
Yikes, Heather! That's scary. Are you the only ward in the building? If so, I'd push it. And if the bishop says you "can't" make it a peanut-free zone I'd actually approach the stake presidency and ask if there's a policy about that or if it really can be done. I hate going above heads, but the reality is that it's sort of a big deal!
I'd love to make our building a mold-free zone...but that ain't happening. We've seriously got a decrepit building. The foundation's shot, it's ant-infested and the RS room is sooooo nasty with mold under the carpet because of the foundation. The chapel is right off the RS room, as is the gym where EQ is. John has such a hard time every single Sunday because mold is a HUGE asthma trigger for him. He usually is fine all week w/o his inhaler but at church he's seriously got to take it every 15 minutes. It's ridiculous. And embarassing as far as church buildings go!
Speaking of John....he ticked me off good this morning. He teaches EQ quite a bit. Today was his first time in actually 3 weeks-a record for him or something. Anyhow, he never plans his lessons until the morning of. So he gets up at 6:30 to shower and get ready. I wake up at 7:15 and he's sleeping. So I get the girls up and give them breakfast. Wake him to tell him I'm getting in the shower. He's fine at that point. Half an hour later when he needs to be getting dressed and we need to be leaving he's "got a headache" blegh. whatever. I hate his excuses like that. I'm so non-compassionate when it comes to John and either headaches or tummy aches. All he had to do was toss those words out in his youth and he could stay home from school whenever he wanted. It's a habit. He's got migraine meds (because he legitimately DOES get those...which makes it even harder to decide if he's being dumb or really in pain) but I have to kick him to take them. Anyhow, he said that he'd just take a little 1/2 hour nap (usually kicks it) and bring the truck. No problem. The girls and I went and they were angels. It was an awesome meeting with them. No John. Sunday School gets in full swing...finally 20 minutes before EQ is to start I go and call and explode the home phone with calls, yell into the machine, finally get him to wake up. "My head hurts too much still. Tell President Swift I won't be there to teach." click. Thanks, jerk. He'd asked me before Sacrament if he needed to prepare the lesson and I told him John would be there. So I feel like a schmuck telling him 15 minutes beforehand that he really did need to prepare.
So then we get home and John's still sound asleep. Ladies, I was SOOOOOOO mad. I walked in and yelled at him that he'd better be working on a way to get rid of his headache. I knew he hadn't taken any of his Midrin because it was in the kitchen and he'd not moved a muscle. He came out to the kitchen where I was making lunch and I just lost it. Made it all about me-told him to never ever put me in that position again. That he needs to take responsibility for his calling or ask to be released. When he tells me he's going to come he needs to come, etc, etc. And then I felt so bad for just loosing it like that. But he really ticked me off. I had a good Sunday at church, and then came home and it's like all my goodness just exited. But we talked it out and I think we're ok. Until the next time he "has a headache"
Senior Member
Constant Presence
I'm sorry Tif I thought that whole story was kind of funny (probably b/c it didn't happen to me though). I'm sorry he put you through that! It must've been a rough day for EQ lessons in general because the man who was supposed to teach in our ward today didn't go to EQ. No one knew where he was but after church he was leaving with his family, so.....??? Who knows. My DH is the only presidency member here but he was in nursery subbing with me so he didn't even know about it til afterwards. Fortunately someone stepped in and taught the lesson on the fly.
Thanks for the comments about peanuts. I am going to email the bishop I think. This is just really bothering me. However, I have a fear that if he comes back and says no, he won't make that announcement, I'm just going to go inactive until we move in January. Seriously. I can't deal with being so freaked out all the time.
I wouldn't blame you for kinda dropping out of sight until January. And then when you go into that new ward make a HUGE stink about it. Seriously. As much as I know this isn't necessarily right, I think there are times where we wax and wane. I'm coming out of a very large waning time of life. And I'm ok with that. I think the key is being willing and wanting to wax again...wax on, wax off, wax on, wax off...
Senior Member
Constant Presence
I thought it was the woman's job to always have a headache?
I think you should try to email the bishop again Heather because now you have an example of a situation that happened to you and you can "prove" that peanuts are dangerous at church period, not just in the primary. I don't really understand why he's so resistant to the idea. Is he walking around with a pocket full of peanuts that he doesn't want to give up? You'd think he'd be concerned about the health and safety of the members.
Today was a good church day. Caiden has been doing so well during Sacrament meeting... I guess that's part of growing up. He's not such a handful anymore, so I'm loving the break until Ellie gets all crazy and climbs under pews to eat sandwiches off the floor. ;) One fun thing we did during Sacrament is folded up a sheet of notebook paper and then made a book about "Caiden's Favorite Things". On each page we drew a picture of something he loves and then we read it like 20 times. It was a good way to fill up 15 minutes or so.
Nursery went well. I was able to leave him w/o any freakouts, but he still cried during singing time at the last 15 minutes. This time is was during the Follow, Follow Me song. I think a lot of the problem is he's just tired. Naptime for him is 1:30-4:30, and our church time is 1:00-4:00. By the end he's exhausted, over-stimulated and ready to conk out. I hope he has an easier time next year when we have an earlier church time. Do kids start Primary at 3 or 4 years old?
And good luck to your husband Alison! Are you looking forward to having him home for an entire MONTH? I had to smile about John not wanting to go to church. It's so cute that he's so excited and enjoys himself.
Senior Member
Constant Presence
They usually start at the first of the year once they are three. So for poor Caiden (and Truman) he has to stay in nursery until the first Sunday in January, 2010. By which time he'll be nearly FOUR years old. But then again, nursery is a lot more fun than Sunbeams IMO.
Do kids start Primary at 3 or 4 years old?
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