Monthly Archives: January 2009

The Need to Create

Church, Thoughts Leave a comment

The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before.

President Uchtdorf spoke about the need to create at the Relief Society broadcast last September. President Uchtdorf is one of my favorite General Authorities and it’s things like he said in this talk that impress me so much.

What is creation for one is not creation for another. I enjoy quilting and cross stitching and digital scrapbooking, things my best friend does not. She, unlike me, takes amazing photographs and find lots of joy in looking at what she has taken. My mother-in-law is an incredible gardener. Plants shrivel up and die in my presence. But, for all of us, particularly women, creating what we enjoy (whether we are very good at it or not – the key is creating something and enjoying what we create) is not just fun, it’s a need.

I have found, and it’s only after reading his talk that I became aware of it cognitively, that when I have spent the whole day just busy with day to day chores and dealing with the kids and have not had a chance to create anything, I simply do not feel as happy and content as when I have had a chance, even 5 minutes, to sit and create something.

It’s been months since President Uchtdorf’s talk and I still ponder it often. It is so wise and has taught me so much. I am especially grateful that my husband seems to easily understand, as President Uchtdorf does, this need to create and strongly encourages me to create something daily.

Genetics

Family Leave a comment

It’s always fun to see which traits a baby gets from their parents. My grandmother and daughter each have/had two dimples. My husband and youngest son each have one dimple. All four of my children have blue eyes like me.

The strangest one, though, is one that until a few months ago I honestly did not realize was unusual. One of my pinky toenails is shaped like a pyramid. My mother has the same thing and my daughter does, too. I don’t know where my mother inherited it from, but I am quite curious to see if my daughter one day gives birth to a child with one pyramid-shaped pinky toenail, too.

Fans

Family Leave a comment

What is it about fans and kids? We have a small yet strong fan that the big kids have loved playing with pretty much their entire lives. Now Fritz and Adrian love to sit in front of it, too, with it blowing full force on their faces.

Behind is relative

Family Leave a comment

Cameron doesn’t have an official diagnosis, but it’s pretty obvious he inherited his father’s storage, processing, and retrieval disorder. It could be a problem if he were in public school, but since he’s homeschooled and works with me one- or two-on-one, it’s no big deal.

My cousin is a special ed teacher. When I told her we would not be getting him officially diagnosed because he’s doing just fine, she said that he may be fine now, but what about when he has trouble with pre-algebra. Then what will I do.

So I was thinking about that. What will I do? Nothing. If he needs to spend three years doing pre-algebra, so be it. We’ll spend three years doing pre-algebra. The thing is, since we homeschool, he won’t be left behind. I won’t say it’s time to move on until he is ready to move on because there is no one else in his class.

The anatomy of a Sonlight Box Day

Homeschool Leave a comment

First you take a picture of the Fed Ex delivery guy and get a really strange look from him. (You get an even stranger look when your kids are jumping up and down at the sight of their Sonlight boxes and you tell the delivery guy that they are excited over their homeschooling curriculum.)
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Then you leave the boxes where the delivery guy placed them just inside the door and go back downstairs to finish the school day. The anticipation of opening the boxes is so fun that I always leave them for a little while until just the right moment comes for opening them.
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When the time comes to open the boxes, you check to be sure the toddler isn’t already attacking one of them with a knife. Fritz gets excited over the new books, too.
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Then you empty out the box (with several hands helping) and gaze happily at the pile of lovely new books. Following this you have your oldest help you go through the books to be sure everything is there. Ani picks up a book and tells me the name and I check it off on the packing list.
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Next you place the baby in the big box where he happily plays until the toddler sticks a bunch of books in the box with (and on top of) the baby. Notice the box can be turned into a nifty castle. That’s one of the awesome things about Sonlight. Even the box is useful.
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Finally, you put the labels on the books and stack them in groups. Included are some Sonlight books we already had (like Cameron’s readers – Ani used those when we did Core K).
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