Cameron

Today my little brother, Cameron, is twenty.  That's crazy cuz I still think of him as a high school kid.  He's in Canada right now, serving a mission, and he's half-way done.  Day to day, I don't really think about Cameron a lot.  I check the blog that my parents set up and I try to remind my kids about "Uncle Cameron," but I'm not quite as connected to Cam as maybe I should be.

But today is his birthday and I miss him.  Cameron is quite the eater and today he should be scarfing down Taco Time and some funny ice cream cake that Mom and Courtney picked to tease him.  (Like High School Musical or Hannah Montana.)  The birthday clown would be sitting on the fireplace, and it probably is.  I wish I could see Cam's  happy face.  He's a really sweet kid and he always lets us know how much he loves us.  I love Cameron.

So,  Happy Birthday, Cam Bam.  You are one special guy.  And at least for today, I'm thinking about you tons and tons.

To My Missionary Brother

We love you so; we are proud of your faith and know you are doing a great work in Canada.

Snack Answers

A couple things I found:

1.  Kids need more snacks than us.  

2.  If I give them healthy snacks I won't have to feel guilty about too much snacking.

(from a dietician)

3.  Grab and Go snacks will make my life easier.

4.  I should just pick one or two snacks to keep on hand each week.  Then rotate when grocery day comes.  

(some snack ideas)

Famine throughout the Land

My children are snack-a-holics.  And today I realized that I seriously need some advice!

All day long they ask me for things to eat.  Imagine breakfast, lunch, dinner, plus like 6-7 requests for snacks a day.  AAAAA!  Part of it is boredom, I know, but can those two really be as hungry as they say?  I've thought about creating a way that they can access snacks on their own, I've considered prepping lots and lots of healthy snacks the night before... I'm worn out by the whole thing.

Basically I need ideas of healthy and fun snacks,

Ideas about how you monitor snacking habits, 

for yourself or your kids,

And I just need a good dose of overall encouragement.

What do you snack on?  And how do I convince my kids that they are not truly starving?  

Go Idol

Here's the low-down folks:

Danny Gokey did a grrrreat arrangement of "You are so Beautiful" tonight.  It made me smile a goofy smile.  And it was just wonderfully sung.  

Kris Allen's rendition of "Apologize" was so mainstream compared to what he usually does.  Not that it was terrible or anything....  I was just unpleasantly surprised that he hardly changed it at all.  I actually preferred David Archuleta's performance last season.  And I can't say that I was in love with "Heartless" either.  But Kris always sings great, he's always adorable, and I still want him to win.  (Have you ever heard Kanye West's version of "Heartless," by the way?  It's super catchy.  And I'm not a big Kanye fan.)

Adam... I enjoyed the first half of the first song.  I only like Adam, I decided, when he sings like a man.  Whenever he starts sounding like a female, I bail.  But - he is a very sweet guy and  I like his personality a lot.  

Favorite performance was Gokey on "Beautiful."  But I'm hoping he's the one going home tomorrow.  My choice for American Idol is Kris.  This is not in any way a prediction, but I'm sure gunna try my darndest to vote Kris Allen into that finale.  1-866-IDOLS-02 !!!

*** K, this is what I've decided about "Heartless" - I was glad that Kris did his own take on the song, really glad.  And although it wasn't as catchy (like totally gets stuck in your head) as the original, the verses were much better than Kanye's version.  Mainly because singing is better than rapping, to me.  So I liked the verse of Kris' rendition, and the chorus of Kanye's. Kris definitely did take a chance and people seemed to love it.  I wasn't "jumping out my chair" as much as the judges, but honestly, yes, Kris did a good job.  I voted and I hope hope hope to see that shocked expression again as Kris is told to stay another week.  End of lengthy review - Amber out.

Keeps spinnin' round and round

Realized today that the world never stops.  Even if I'm having a bad day.

Regardless of whether I'm in a good mood or not, life goes on.  The sun comes up, the kids get hungry, things get dirty, and I have to kick myself back into gear.  The life of a mother is non-stop and even when you wish you could just take a break, kids need you 24/7.  So I've developed a survival mode; it's kind-of like when you drive somewhere without having any memory of how you got there, I can operate on autopilot when my pilot is out of commission.

I don't think this is a bad thing.  I think Heavenly Father gave us the ability to get through tough things the best we can.  It's like on Sundays, I can always somehow muster the energy to teach music in a fun way to my primary kids.  I don't know where that reserve comes from, but I'm grateful for it.  Cuz life doesn't wait for me to be ready.  It just keeps going and going and going...

What do you want to be when you Grow up?

When questioned, Taesya will tell you the four things she plans to be when she grows up:

1.  A Mom

2.  A Chef

3.  A Ballerina

4.  A Doctor

Canon has been taught by Taesya that you must aspire to be four things, so his current list is:

1.  A Daddy

2.  A Skateboard Man

3.  A Football Player

4.  A missionary

As far as Keller goes, his current goals are pretty basic.  But he really wants to achieve these:

1.  Sitting

2.  Holding toys

3.  Eating whatever the rest of the family is eating

As for me, I'm still trying to decide.  I do plan to get a BA someday, but I'm not sure what kind. Things I really love and would like to get better at:

1.  Writing (Possibly Creative Non-Fiction.)

2.  Photography (Mainly people, I think.)

3.  Drawing (An interest more than a talent so far.)

It's fun to have goals and dreams.  Just think, by the end of eternity, (k, there really is no end to eternity...) we'll have become so much!  Can you even imagine who you'll be by then?  Wow.

Makin' a Splash

Taesya will be entering the world of preschool this fall.  I am scared, but I know she'll love it. She's an adventurous girl and doesn't seem to be afraid of much.  (Except getting hit by cars; I think we scared our kids in an attempt to convince them to hold our hands in parking lots.)

This girl has a lot of personality and is sure to stand out in her class.  And not just because she's probably the only blonde girl in her entire school.  (Our area is very diverse.)  I hope she makes a lot of friends and learns a lot.  It's hard for me to let her go, even just for a few hours a day, but I know it will be good for her.  And it was bound to happen sometime.  My little girl is growing up.   

So watch out, world.  Here she comes!

Walking in Someone Else's Shoes

The next time you're driving on the freeway, in your own little world, heading off somewhere important or lame or urgent - expand your circle and notice the other cars.  Notice that there are people in each of those cars, and those people are going somewhere, too.  Maybe you're having a bad day or a good day or are worried about something, well - those other cars full of other people - what kind of day are they having?  What are they struggling with?

The first time I thought of this was when Ben lost his job in December.  I was driving around wondering how we'd buy groceries or whether I'd ever get to go to school again, when I began to look around me.  Had any of these people lost their jobs?  Was that lady worried about something, too?  And suddenly it made me want to help somehow, at least to smile, and let them know it'd be ok.

Everyone's going through stuff.  Maybe right now your stuff is going pretty good, and that's awesome.  People around you, though, could be having a hard time.  And you can help them out. Smile at them, pray for them - and just plain leave the judging to someone else - cuz people who are struggling need love and acceptance.  Warmth and comfort.  Expand your circle of awareness and notice those who're having a rough day.  And one day when it's your turn to struggle, someone can be there for you.