Dear Midget,

4 years, 5 months, and 17 days ago I gave birth to a baby who surprised us all when she arrived with a full head of hair that appeared to be professionally highlighted.  For the first year of her life, I wrote monthly blog posts about her progress in babyhood.  Then, I stopped.  I haven't blogged much lately, so I thought maybe I'd highlight each one of my kids in separate blog posts over time. How much time?  I don't know. That just depends on when the urge to write strikes.  I'm going to write them in letter form, written to the child.

Dear Midget,
     Before you were born, your Dad and I had a really hard time deciding what to name you . We both have very different ideas of what constitutes an excellent name.  He was pulling for names from his childhood- Brittany, Whitley, Felicity. . . while I wanted something like Leah, Melanie, or Miriam.  Eventually, the next great war was prevented when we agreed on Emmeline Adelle.  And then you were born. And Emmeline fit you perfectly. But, so did LemonLime, Emmelion, and Midget.  You are little, at least almost all of you is little, except for your cheeks. You recently pointed out to someone that your cheeks is what makes you so cute, "because they are soooo SQUISHY!" complete with a demonstration.  Who can blame you for saying this when people comment on your cheeks everywhere we go?  They are pretty cute. You are just an adorable little package of cuteness. It's true. You know it, but you are so cute that it isn't even annoying.

You experience everything in life with a sense of wonder.  Somehow you make your eyes sparkle when you are excited. Really. They sparkle.  I've asked you how you do it, but you don't know anymore than I do.

You are funny.  Every single day you say something that makes me laugh.  If it is really funny, you usually tell me not to laugh. And I do try not to laugh.  But, your vocabulary is so advanced for a little girl who looks like she is 3 years old, it's just hard to keep a straight face when you say things like," Audrey hurt my feelings and I'm just very sensitive." "That was exhausting" "When can we go to the orthodontist again?"  "Doctor Gummy is my pediatrician." and a gazillion other things.

You are learning how to read, mostly 3 letter words, but you tried out "dentist" on your own a couple of weeks ago.  You had your first checkup this fall and acted like it was no big deal. You got your kindergarten shots, knowing they would hurt, but deciding it was worth it to avoid the illnesses they protect against.

You ask me when we are going to read scriptures next and cry if you don't get a turn "reading" . With just a few practices you memorized your scripture for the Primary Program yesterday, "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Emmeline, you are wise beyond your years. Already you have asked me to help you when you have your first baby, to help you through the labor pains.  You have picked a husband and ordered a carriage with hearts on the wheels.  You think about when you grow up and move out. More than anything, at only 4 years old, you desire to grow up and be a wife and mother.  You have many interests and many talents, but you understand that nothing is more important than family.

Midget, you are a delight to be around.  I always thought I would celebrate when my last child went to school, but instead, I have put it off.  I didn't send you off to preschool. I taught at your preschool. I'm not ready for you to go to Kindergarten in 10 months.  I am not going to have a party.  I am going to be sad. You are the best little buddy a Mom could ever want.  You love to go with me to teach piano lessons in Orem, to clean Grandma's house, to buy groceries, to perform PTA service, to visit teach, to weed or harvest in the garden, to visit the chiropractor, or to pick Audrey up from school. It doesn't matter where I'm going; you want to come with me. I never need a break from you.   I hope that never changes.

I hope that when you grow up and go off to college that you want to come home to see your Mommy.  I hope you still want to talk to me, to be with me, even if what I am doing is kind of boring.  I hope that you get a chance to fill your brilliant mind with light and knowledge, experiences and increased love.  And most of all, I hope that one day you get to be a mommy too, and then you will understand exactly how much I love you.

Don't grow up too fast Midget.

Love,
Mommy

Timpanogas

At the beginning of the summer, I started taking hikes with my friend Janice Snow. We tried to go once a week, but it didn't always work out.  We slowly built up the distances until a few weeks ago when we hiked to Desolation Lake, a total of 10 miles round trip. The goal, besides the awesomeness of hiking, was to train for Timpanogas.

Technically, you don't have to train to hike Timp. You can just go, spur of the moment. But, that isn't a very good idea.  18 years ago, just after starting my second year of BYU, an apartment of boys came over to visit my apartment of girls. It was late at night. They asked if we wanted to hike Mt. Timpanogas the next day.

YES! (I think what I thought was, "What's that?  Hmm, sounds fun. And these boys are so cute!")

It took us until around midnight to pack some food and prepare our bags. I think we slept for a couple of hours, or tried to anyway.  I remember leaving around 3 or 4 in the morning.  I can't remember which one.  We drove in the quiet dark and arrived at the parking lot.  The thing I remember most about that hike is actually the beginning.  I had never seen the stars like that.  The sky was suddenly more white that black.  I was looking at a massive bowl of glowing cookies and cream ice cream.  I still feel in awe of the Universe when I remember that sky.

I don't remember hiking in the dark, but obviously we did, for a couple of hours at least. What I do remember is that I was not prepared.  I was tired.  I had on really awful tennis shoes.  They had NO tread on them, due to being 3 or 4 years old. I think I was wearing blue jeans, a tshirt, and a sweatshirt, and probably a hat.  I remember enjoying the hike, and also fearing for my life several times when I slipped.  I know that I am a dramatic person, but I am being completely honest when I tell you that slipping on that hike can be deadly.  I truly almost slid off the mountain every time I fell.  It was scary.

What I don't remember is if we went to the peak or stopped at the Saddle.  I think we stopped at the saddle, which is still a ways from the true peak, but it is on the ridge and the view is breathtaking.    What I do remember is that the entire trip took something like 11 hours of hiking.  I got back and somehow was transported to my grandmother's house.  I found her couch and didn't get up until someone took me back to my apartment.  I could not move.  To this day, other than after surgery, I cannot remember feeling so exhausted. I had met my physical limit.

So, of course I wanted to go again at almost 37 years old, you know, to see if I could do it.

This time, being older and wise, I prepared much more carefully.  I wore good shoes and exercise clothing that didn't restrict my movements.  I applied bug spray.  I carried sunscreen the whole way, but kind of forgot to put it on. So, I'm sunburned.  I guess I didn't want to be completely perfect just yet.  I brought 3 large water bottles, toilet paper, ziploc bags, a trash bag, food, a first aid kit, a hat, and a friend that I trusted would help me get up to the top.  She prepared just as carefully.  We also brought some scriptures to memorize, written on note cards. They were randomly selected Scripture Mastery from the Book of Mormon.
The first one that we worked on became somewhat of our theme.  Helaman 5:12

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the son of God, that ye must build your foundation, that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwinds, yea, when all his hail and mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the foundation upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, whereon if men build they cannot fall."

I thought about this scripture for most of the hike.  I thought about the storms that the devil sends forth, the temptations, the trials, and the troubles. We talked about what exactly it would mean to be caught up in one of those storms and their intense power.  Satan is real.  His temptations are real. They are as real as the mountain we were climbing. The danger of the devil is as easy to fall into as it is to slip on some sand.  At least 50% of the hike to Timpanogas peak is extremely dangerous.  One fall to the wrong side, and, well, that's it for you.  Parts of the path are very easy to walk on, then suddenly become covered in unstable rocks of all sizes. There are portions where you must climb with both hands grabbing hold of rocks, hoping they don't slide. There is a part where you cross a field of rocks and boulders, pretty much a rockslide meadow, not knowing which way to go, just looking for the next cairn built by someone who knew the way.  As soon as you cross that, the steep climb to the Saddle begins. This was probably the most dangerous part of the hike.  It was steep and sandy.  Handholds were too far apart. We grasped anything we could, often just spreading our fingers and scrambling in the dirt.  And then came the solid stone of the mountain.  From the Saddle to the peak, the ground was pure stone.  Our feet could land firmly and not slip.  But it was still treacherous.  One wrong step, and the drop would be immense and deadly.  But, the view was breathtaking.  There was no way we were stopping before we reached the highest peak.

We kept climbing. Very slowly. Very carefully. We wanted to make it home to our kiddos.  After nearly 8 hours, we reached the summit.  At that point, I still felt pretty good. Janice was excited to be at the top, but had been feeling unwell for the entire hike.  She pushed through like a champ.  Just before reaching the top, we stopped to rest and I bowed my head and prayed, probably closer to God in real physical distance than I've ever been.  I asked Him for safety.  I asked Him to give Janice the strength to make it the rest of the way, to bless us for our preparation, and especially to make our feet sure for the trip down.  The thought of going down what we had just come up was rather sobering.  I really really wanted to make it home unscathed.

After enjoying the top for a while, we started our trip down.  It was 3:33. We had started up around 7:30 a.m.  I didn't think it would take too long to get down.  Silly Becky.

After we made it down to the Saddle, we skied down the sandy slope by sitting on our feet. Seriously.  It was the only safe way to get down.  It was just impossible to find stable footing.  We just slipped right on down.  Then we crossed back over the rock field. I slipped once and grabbed Janice's backpack. It saved me. Luckily, we both stayed upright.  I thanked her for saving my life and apologized for trying to take her down with me.

From that point on, it was pretty smooth hiking. But, it was long.  Different sites list different times and distances. We certainly could have gone faster and taken less breaks, but were weren't there to race people.  We were there to experience it and hoped not to damage ourselves too badly while doing it.  It took us just under 5 hours to get back to my car.  The last 30 minutes were in the dark. We could just barely make out our feet by the moonlight, our feet that were practically running at this point, with no conscious effort on our parts.  After a bit, we had to force ourselves to slow down because we kept stubbing out toes.  We were exhausted.  We had reached the point where we knew that our spirits were stronger than our bodies and our spiritual strength was going to get us down.

And it did.  When there is no choice but to keep on going, you keep on going.  All summer long we have been telling ourselves, "I can do hard things."  It's just just about physical and it's not just about spiritual.  It's really about the combination of both of them, the team, the control of the soul.

Education Week 2014

Last week I ran away from home with my friend Janice.  And that sentence right there pretty much sums up the whole week spent at BYU attending Education Week. Since people thought we were college students, we decided to act like them.

IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!

Janice says we have to go back every year until we die.  Now that this is in writing I consider it to be not only a verbal contract, but also a written contract, and I shall hold her to it.

Mu ha ha ha ha!

Ok, so as not to bore you all straight to an early death, I am going to condense my thoughts about Education Week into list form:

1. It was awesome.

2. I ate BYU ice cream almost every day, including for breakfast on the way home.


3. The Skyroom Restaurant Buffet is truly excellent. We enjoyed Greek cuisine on the day we dined there.
http://dining.byu.edu/skyroom//

4. The Cannon Center Cafeteria is also truly excellent.  It's worth the money to eat there when you visit the Y. Come hungry.

5. Being mistaken for a college student never stops feeling fantastic.  Definite natural high.

6. Chin people is still fun when you are 36.

7. Hiking the Y at night is thrilling and the tarantula we saw on the trail, both coming up and going down, was pretty scary.

8. I was finally motivated to write a bucket list. Included on my list is a serious desire to have a decent role in a play.  I just know I have it in me.  Janice agrees after hearing my various improvised renditions of "Mary Had a Little Lamb."

9.  Seeing "Meet the Mormons" first public screening felt pretty special.  You should go see it when it comes to theaters on 10/10/14.

10. I learned why I am a pig.  Now I am obsessed with "landing", a concept I learned about in an organization class. If you are not a pig, you do this naturally. If you are a pig, the extreme condensed version has to do with finishing tasks completely so that the time you spend in disorder/chaos is reduced.

11. I learned great teaching methods and a new scripture study style that we are trying to use with our family now.  If you are interested, this is explained in the new Book of Mormon Seminary Home Study Student Manual, located at LDS.org and in the Gospel Library on mobile devices. The concept of looking for principles in the scriptures and then applying them to our lives is simple and exactly what my family needs to help my kids develop their own testimonies of the teachings of Jesus Christ.

12. I kind of wish I could go back to college.

13. I sang in the DeJong theatre and received a standing ovation.  Truly. So did everyone else in that class.

14. Apparently, according to one instructor, everyone in the world loves me, some people have just forgotten it.

15. The cheapest meal to be had on BYU campus is a kids meal at the Creamery on 9th.  You don't have to be a kid. I asked.  For $4.10 I had a cheeseburger, a decent serving of seasoned fries, a small drink, and an ice cream cone.
http://dining.byu.edu/creamery//

16. Y shaped donuts are cooler than other donuts. At least, my kids thought so when I brought them home as souvenirs.

http://bandbcasper6.blogspot.com/2012/01/donuts.html

17. Running to the temple is hard. It's uphill.


18. I look adorable when I do my neck exercises.  I'm currently in chiropractic treatment at Oasis Wellness in Taylorsville. The Pettibon method is awesome and it's a lot of work, and I'm rocking it! Check out their facebook page.

19. I went for fun.  I didn't think I would learn anything that would instantly change my life.  I was wrong.

20. I was close enough to smell costumes worn in movies by Angelica Houston, Johnny Depp, Amy Adams, and many other famous people.  The Museum of Art has a free movie costume exhibit thru December 6th. It's worth going!
http://moa.byu.edu/cut-costume-and-the-cinema/

21. The newly renovated Bean Museum is also worth visiting. And it is also free! Parking is free at BYU for visitors and it is right next to the Museum of Art.

http://mlbean.byu.edu/

22. And finally, in summary, I would like to repeat statement #1. It was awesome! It was the least expensive, most fun, BESTEST vacation I have had in my entire adult life. Yes, I'm serious.

Goodbye Jordan Fowles

 I don't know how to write this.  I don't know what to write.  Facebook has created a whole new way to be social, and sometimes it leaves a person feeling completely blindsided.  On Wednesday night I got on facebook and found out that a friend, Jordan Fowles, died that morning.  He was one of my sister Sarah's best friends when she was a teenager.  They dated in college, but ended up marrying other people.  They remained family friends over the years.  Jordan and I connected as friends on facebook a few years ago.  We were surprised to find out how many similarities we shared.  My husband was a lawyer. Jordan was a lawyer. They were the same age.  We each had six kids, most of them almost the same ages.  We even both had daughters named Emmeline.  I greatly enjoyed Jordan's posts on facebooks and chatting with him that way.  It was especially fun to read about his job at google, which he clearly loved.

 As I scrolled through the posts on his facebook page, I just wanted someone to say it was a big joke.  I thought, "Maybe it's his birthday and this is some weird inside joke."

It just can't be real.

But, it is.

His car crashed into a tree and he was ejected and died at the scene.  His facebook page is flooded with memories and stories of what a great guy he was- no surprises there.

As soon as I realized it was real, I grabbed my phone and called my sister.  She doesn't get on facebook a lot, and I didn't want her to find out in some insensitive and shocking way.  She had already been sent two private messages.  My hands shook uncontrollably while we talked.

I've just been breaking down randomly throughout the day.


I didn't know Jordan well enough to write a lot about his life, but his facebook page clearly demonstrates who he was, how he served people, how he touched their lives, how he persevered through struggles and weaknesses, and how he loved his children.  The last post I saw from him was just after he returned from a family reunion in Utah with his kids.  He wrote "Home again, home again, jiggety jig".

And he is.

It's hard to accept the reality of a childhood friend leaving this life behind.  Too soon.

In thinking of Jordan's children, I can't help but think of my own kids, how it would be for them to lose their dad or me right now.  Their pain must literally be breaking their hearts right now.

This is a part of being a grown up that I have always dreaded.  Mortality. Death.

Still, there is comfort. Comfort comes from truly believing that life is eternal, that those who pass on live on as spirits and will one day be resurrected with their physical bodies.  Comfort comes in believing in the atonement of Jesus Christ and the power to be healed, not only from sins, but also from immense suffering and sorrows.  I pray that the comfort will eventually sustain those closest to my friend, that it will carry his children through the years ahead.

The sentiment R.I.P. is, well peaceful, but that is not really what Mormons believe people do after they die.  We believe that the work goes on, and I know that Jordan is not sitting around on a fluffy cloud playing a harp. He's working.  He's serving.

1. What is this thing that men call death

This quiet passing in the night?

’Tis not the end but genesis

Of better worlds and greater light.

2. O God, touch Thou my aching heart

And calm my troubled, haunting fears.

Let hope and faith, transcendent, pure,

Give strength and peace beyond my tears.

3. There is no death, but only change,

With recompense for vict’ry won.

The gift of Him who loved all men,

The Son of God, the Holy One.

Copyright © 2007 by Gordon B. Hinckley and Janice Kapp Perry. All rights reserved. This song may be copied for incidental, noncommercial home and church use.

Suckers are Sweet!

What happens when you combine sugar, more sugar, and flavoring?

I call it deliciousness.

More specifically, I am speaking of suckers. Homemade suckers.

I made suckers with my friend Janice last night.  Janice, yes, you just made it into my blog again.  It tends to happen if you hang out with me enough.  But, these weren't just any suckers. They were the suckers of my childhood.  Well, not specifically the exact suckers of my childhood. Those were all eaten. But these were as close as it gets.

apple cinnamon, wintergreen, and watermelon

The memories!  My mom was so awesome!  When I was growing up in Texas, we were allowed to bring homemade treats to school for our birthdays.  My mom always, and I mean ALWAYS, made homemade suckers.  If I remember correctly, she usually made at least two batches. That way, we had enough to take for our school treats, have some for home, and some for our birthday parties too.

They were so yummy!  I can still taste, feel, and smell a hot cinammon sucker, sliding it up and down on my tongue, mostly smooth, but a little bit of texture and taste explosion!  Wow! They were just hot enough.  I loved to flip the sucker over between licks.  I loved to dip it in a glass of water before licking.  I loved how long it took to eat it. These suckers were not the kind you would crunch, not until you got to the very end. These suckers were the kind you really would lick until it was all gone.  My mom made all kinds of flavors: watermelon, strawberry, grape, cinammon, apple cinammon, lemon, tangerine, fruit punch, mint, root beer. . . there were a lot of choices.  I liked every single one.

 A few years ago, my mom realized that her sucker making days were over.  Her kids were raised and her wrists were wrecked.  Carpal tunnel had taken its' nasty toll and she could no longer hold the heavy pot to pour out the molten sucker batches.  Getting old, well, let's just say that it stinks.

So, my mom gave me her supplies.  I used them once and then packed them away and kind of forgot about suckers for a while.  I had some pretty intense distractions, mostly my freak mouth problem.  Today is the 4 year anniversary of the day my mouth went crazy.  Fast forward.
A few weeks ago,my friend Janice talked about how much she likes suckers, so we decided to make some.

I got some extra flavorings and sucker sticks from the store.  My daughter Amy helped me set out the supplies.  And as we opened the box of molds, it was like my childhood was pouring over me.  It was exactly as if my mother had just used them a few weeks before.  I could remember eating suckers of every shape!  Dinosaurs, hearts, flowers, bears, mickey mouse head, trains, bunnies, apples, muffins, and stars. There was a Tuppeware container with her old flavorings, most of them still good.  I opened the apple cinnamon, and, instantly, I was 11 years old again.  If I were to assign a taste/smell to my childhood, it would be that exact apple cinnamon flavoring.

You know, I think it's kind of hard to lick a sucker and freak out at the same time . It's just a calming act. You have to slow down and lick it. Feel it. Taste it. Enjoy it.  Savor it.

And that is the feeling that came over me.  We made three batches. We used new flavoring for two of them- watermelon and wintergreen. For the other we used the apple cinnamon from my mom.  My entire house smelled like my childhood.  I'm sure to my kids and my friend it just smelled like apple cinnamon. My husband fled the kitchen to escape the spicy scent.  But, to me, it was peace. It was love and safety, service and sacrifice, calm and security.  It was my mom's love for me and my siblings, concentrated and poured into a mold with a stick, popped out into a beautiful translucent, tangible piece of joy.
 

It was magic. Last night, as I made those suckers with my friend and with my own 11 year old daughter, I felt the power of carrying on a tradition of love.  Yes, my daughter was a little annoying, as I'm sure that I was to my own mother . And, yes, we had a few mishaps, but for the most part, we enjoyed being together. The work became light as we talked and laughed and shared, enjoying the aromas as we worked.  I remembered what my mother taught me, and my hand was sure as I took the 300 degree mixture, boiling in the pan my mother used and passed on to me, and poured it carefully into the molds; my mother's molds.  I remembered how to use spoons to push down the sticks that popped up, how to reheat the mixture if it got too cold too fast, and how to carefully pop the hardened suckers out of the molds. And my daughter was learning, so that one day, she can remember.

You know you want one.

I guess, when it's all said and done, it really isn't about suckers, even though suckers are sweet! I mean, that's not why they are so special to me.  It has more to do with the gift of time combined with the joy of the sucker, the willingness of my mom to slow down and give us something that she didn't have to make time for, again, and again, and again.  Of course, she did this in so many ways. This is just one example.  It's a very happy, yummy example.  So, thanks to my mom, today I get to bring a big batch of suckers for my extended family to our 4th of July get together.  Anyway, it's pretty cool. And I know this post has been pretty SAPPY, but hey, it was about suckers!  And my mom!  And they are both awesome!  So, I guess to sum up my point. . .suckers are cool, my mom is even cooler, and I'm glad for both of them in my life.

How to Clean the Family Room

I am tempted to say there is something wrong with my children. But, I know it isn't true.

It's genetics.

I'm not sure exactly who or what to blame for all of our children inheriting messy genes, but the proof is in the pudding.  Judd and I are naturally messy.  He won't admit it, and I'm not going to elaborate in any way that would get me in trouble, other than to say he's messy.  And I'm messy too.  I've never enjoyed cleaning.


Allow me to clarify.

I enjoy clean.

I wish someone else would do it for me.

Now, my children have all inherited the same disease.  I imagine they have thoughts along these lines:

Why should I put my shoes away when I can just leave them on the floor in whatever random spot I decided to remove them? Then I have created a game for myself of hide and go seek when I need to find them.

And socks?  Well, they should probably get shoved in the couch cushions, or some other dark place where Mom won't find them until they have grown enough mold so that she can no longer identify their owner.

Popsicle sticks, candy wrappers, tissues, food particles. . . all of these clearly belong on the floor.  Right?
I think I remember learning something in school about taking the path of least resistance.

And toys, oh glorious toys. They hold my attention for at least 5 minutes, so I make sure to spread the parts all over the family room, and maybe also throw a few pieces downstairs, in the next room, behind the toilet, and of course shove a few in the couch cushions. It's just so convenient.

I know DVD's have cases, but it makes more sense to leave them out so that I can look at them.  And I can see them the best on the floor.

Stuffed animals get lonely and they can't breathe in the toy box.  They also need to be on the floor where I can see them and talk to them, you know, make sure they aren't lonely.

There's no point putting a game away if we might play it again in a month or two.

And even though Mom says to  put the cushions and pillows on the couch, well, I know better.  Mom is so silly.  Pillows are for building forts.  So are blankets, towels, sheets, tablecloths, brooms, chairs, ironing boards. Really, I will work with any material that I can find in the house.  I am sure Mom doesn't need it.

END CHILD THOUGHTS

Yep.  I think that about covers what they are thinking.  As I sit in this disgusting room, I am trying to muster the energy to gather them all together and make them clean up all of this toy/garbarge/movies/pillows/blankets MADNESS!  And I realize that I have a fantastic chart for cleaning your room, but I don't have one for the family room.  The need for such a chart is staring me in the face and squished under my feet as I type these very words.

So, here it is. I present to you. . .  How to clean the family room, a simple step by step guide for short people and even tall people that get claimed on my taxes.

1. As foreign as this idea seems, the floor of a common room, such as a family room, is meant to be bare of belongings.  Acceptable items are rugs and furniture. Everything else must go.  Please take a moment to mentally realign your thinking with this new concept.

2. Make the couches look like couches again, complete with cushions and pillows, and devoid of any and all belongings or garbage hiding in, on, or under the cushions.

3. Bookshelves.  These are so cool. They are for holding books.  I know, that's weird, isn't it?  Well, anyway, gather up the books on the floor and stand them upright on one of the 5 bookshelves in this room.

4. Now, let's move on. DVD's. They are round and shiny. They are pretty.  They belong in their special cases with little plastic sleeves.  This makes it so easy to find a movie when you want to watch them.  It makes the DVD's feel so nice and secure. Please put all of the stray DVD's in cases.

5. Don't be discouraged, but we need to talk about garbarge. Mom has placed these really cool plastic cans in the room. One is a garbage can. The other is a recycle can.  Put the garbage in the garbage can. This means things that cannot be recycled, like food that you weren't supposed to eat in here. It's also a good place for used tissues, carpet coated candy, and the lint from the vacuum.   Just about anything that is cardboard, plastic, or paper can be put in the recycle can.

6. Now, this next topic is embarrassing, but it must be addressed.  Clothes.  I know. This is silly, right? Who would take their clothes off in the family room?  Um.  We won't point fingers.  Just get them to the proper dirty clothes basket and we'll pretend it never happened.  This includes socks.

http://boogersonthewall.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/laundry-pile.jpg

7.  We're almost done. You can do this! You get to talk to the stuffed animals now. Give them some love while you pick them up and put them to bed in their nice spacious stuff animal condo, A.K.A. Great Big Rubbermaid Tote. They really will thank you.

http://www.aliexpress.com/popular/goat-stuffed-animal-toy.html

8. Dress up.  If you dressed up, you can dress down.  Even dress up clothes need a nap. They really prefer to be in the dress up boxes.  It's nice in there.


9. Quick! Gather up all the dishes that you used for your secret snacks and get them downstairs in the sink

.
http://www.staceyreid.com/news/?p=8751

10. And finally, let's talk about toys and games.  Ugh.  I know. This is kind of overwhelming. There are a lot of them.  But, never fear. They all have a container. The pony container has a pretty pony drawn on the side. The duplo container says "Duplo".  The potato head container says, well, you get the picture. You can clean these up any way you like.  Honestly, you never should have let it get this bad. You never should have taken out a new tub of toys without cleaning up the first one. But, since you did, I'm going to help you out.  Shove all of the toys in a big pile. Gather all of the bins and game boxes that are empty.  Now pick something up and put it in the right bin or box.  If there are 100 things on the floor, do this 100 times. If there are 500, do it 500 times.

http://abingtonfreelibrary.org/events/185

Now, whatever is left over either belongs in someone's room, or another room in the house, or it is junk. Put it away or throw it out. Vacuum.

Relax.

You did it.

Way to go short people and dependents!

People who Drink Chocolate Milk are Fat. . . OR ARE THEY?

One of my kids' favorite activities in the summertime is the free lunch program run by the school districts.  We live in Granite School District, but we prefer Jordan School District lunches. It's like the difference between gross and pretty yummy.  Anyway, we go to a school very close to our house for free lunch and we have been going there for several years.  I call it "Reclaiming my taxes."

We often seen daycare providers using this program to feed the children in their charge.  There is a particular woman who comes frequently and  brings about 6 or 7 young children with her. There have been quite a few times when my family sat next to her group. And, several times over the years, this lady makes some comments that make me want to share my opinion with her.  But, I haven't done it yet, because I don't want her to beat me up, swear at me, or cause an ugly scene at the nice free lunch school.

I bet you want to know what she talks about. Well, I think my title might have given you a clue.  Here's how it goes down. . . . .
My children sit down with their lunch trays.  4 of my 6 children usually choose chocolate milk.  Her charges see the chocolate milk and one of them says,"I want chocolate milk."  The lady, we'll call her DL, for Daycare Lady, not for Devil Lady, says,"Chocolate milk is bad for you!  It's full of sugar. It will make you fat!"
The child looks up at her with trust and wonder and replies,"So, chocolate milk is bad?"
DL,"Yes."
Child,"It will make me fat."
DL" Yes, people who drink chocolate milk are fat!"

Okay, it is at that point that I kind of want to reach over and SLAP her!  I mean, seriously, it's one thing to tell the kids that white milk is a healthier choice. That is true.  It's even true that the chocolate milk has more sugar. More on that later.  But to take it one step further and basically call my children fat is just plain rude.  We were sitting really close to each other, and she knew I could hear her. There was only one small child between me and her.  And, honestly, this is at least the third time she has said this about chocolate milk when my kids sit down with chocolate milk.  She isn't talking to my kids. She isn't talking to me. She's just calling my kids fat. And calling me fat too for that matter.  Cause, you know what?  I drink chocolate milk too!  And I LOVE IT!


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7801188/Chocolate-milk-can-help-athletes-recover.html

Devil Lady, I mean, Daycare Lady, is a liar.  Or maybe she is just lacking in crucial knowledge and skills of tactfulness.  Even if it is true that chocolate milk makes you fat, she shouldn't have been saying that in front of my kids who were drinking chocolate milk.

So, let's talk facts.  I love cold, hard, non-disputable facts.  OK.

FACT( You have to say this in your head like the KidHistory guy. If you haven't watched KidHistory, you need to watch KidHistory. It is very funny and very clean and good for your soul. So, Google FACT KidHistory, and watch it. .  right now.)

Ok, I got a little distracted there.

FACT:
One container of TruMoo plain milk served at Heartland Elementary for the free lunch has 100 calories and 12 grams of sugar.  This is an 8 oz. serving.  EVERY single 8 oz. serving of cow's milk in the world has 12 grams of sugar.  Why? There is naturally occurring sugar in milk. It's called Lactose. Quite a few people have tolerance issues with lactose.  Anyway, it's in there. 12 grams.  Every time.


FACT:
One container of TruMoo chocolate milk served at Heartland Elementary for the free lunch has 120 calories and 18 grams of sugar.  12 of those grams of sugar come from the naturally occurring lactose.  6 of them are added in the form of another sugar.  It grows on a cane. Technically, to me anyway, that is a vegetable.  One gram of sugar has 4 calories.  Those extra 6 grams should make the calorie total 124.  This is a little confusing, but that's what the box says. I know the chocolate milk is fat free.  In the 1% variety, which is not offered at the school, the white milk as 110 calories and the chocolate milk has 140. They both have 8 grams of protein, 2.5 grams of fat, and the same sugar content as the fat free milk.


Let's talk about 6 grams of sugar.  I'm not saying it's nothing.  It is 24 calories.  That is the same as 1/4th of a banana, or 1/4th of a bag of fruit snacks. Ok. I'm just going to tell the complete and total truth.  6 grams of sugar is 1.5 teaspoons. Or 1.5 starbursts.  Or 1.5 Tbsp. of ketchup.

A 12 ounce soda has around 45 grams of sugar.

Don't even get me started on yogurt. Okay, get me started on yogurt. One 8 oz. strawberry yoplait yogurt has 170 calories and 26 grams of sugar.

And let's not forget that milk has 12 grams of sugar from the get go.  I guess that might just make some people fat too.  Did I mention that DL was, well, not skinny. She was very much not skinny.  Do you think maybe she is drinking chocolate milk after the little kids go home? Is that how she knows chocolate milk is full of sugar and makes people fat?

I promise I am almost done ranting.  It's just that, well, I know chocolate milk isn't exactly health food. And, I know that calories add up over time.  And I know that it takes 3,500 calories to gain a pound, so just by choosing chocolate milk and not cutting back in another area, theoretically my children could gain a pound after drinking 175 cartons of chocolate milk instead of white milk.  We go to the free lunch about 3 times a week over the 10 week summer, so they would gain a pound in about 6 years.  Of course, this is assuming that they overeat, that they don't adjust their intake for the extra calories. I don't know.  I guess, that maybe, I should be really worried about how that chocolate milk is going to make them one pound fatter in 6 years.  Really! How do I sleep at night? I am a terrible mother!  We can ignore the fact that most of my children are rather skinny.  Three of them tend to hover between 1 and 25% on the growth charts.  My 8 year old wears size 4T pants as capris. What am I thinking?  I've got to stop this chocolate milk madness.  Truly!

And you know, DL might have convinced me to spend a moment considering whether or not she could be right, but as I sat watching her let her kids eat  the huge chocolate chip cookies that also came with the lunch, I kind of forgot about the chocolate milk.  I wonder how much sugar those cookies had in them?   Actually, I don't care.  I'll take the cookie and the milk, thank you very much! Yummy!


http://www.pillarsofmodernman.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/chocolate-milk.jpg