It's In the Bag

Last week Joel and I were able to attend an Activity Day's recognition evening with Spring.  It was wonderful to spend the evening with just her and watch her shine.  All the girls were asked to choose a bag that has signifigance to them and fill it with 3 items to represent goals they have accomplished during the previous year in their Faith in God book.  Spring chose the following:

*She used the bag she earned from the library for reading 100 books in 10 different genres.
*She brought the Conference Issue of the Ensign and explained that she reads one conference talk each week and appies something she learned from it to her life (Learning and Living the Gospel).
*She brought a hat she had loomed to represent teaching the activity day girls to loom and donating hats to a local shelter (Serving Others).
*She brought a quilt square that she made because Grandma taught her to quilt over Thanksgiving and she is making her very own quilt (Developing Talents).

I love this girl of our's.  I am amazed at her strength and desire to learn all she can about the gospel.  She continually works hard to recognize and follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit!

Sunbeam

Gideon has officially be a Sunbeam for 2 weeks now.  He loves that he got his own set of scriptures now and is very proud to bring them out when we have family scripture study.  He is sure to have them with him when we head to church too. He is not sure if he really likes Primary yet.  Once he gets through sharing time he is fine in class.  I think each week he will get a little better.  Let's face it...giving up nursery is never fun!

He Suffereth It

Yesterday was a hard mom day.  Thomas came home from church after his Deacon's Quorum Presidency Meeting. I could tell he was bothered and just down a little.  While he ate lunch he shared a little of his frustrations that others just won't do anything or participate at all during meetings.  We talked a little and then I left for a few minutes to help one of the other kids. I came back into the kitchen to find at the kitchen sink scrubbing the crockpot.  As I looked closer I noticed his whole body was shaking and tears were pouring down his cheeks. I went over to him and wrapped my arms around him and he just sobbed, his body shaking.   He told me how mean one of the boys, in particular, is continuing to be to him.  This young man has told him they would be better off without him.  These mean spirited and viscous actions have been going on for a couple years now and it is not getting any better. Thomas always treats him kindly; however, and never holds a grudge.  He smiles at this young man, continues to invite him to parties and activities, goes to his baseball games to support him and watch him shine, and seeks to be a true friend to him regardless of how he treats Thomas.  I am in awe of the Christ like love Thomas has for others.   As I was holding this sweet boy of mine yesterday he choked out, "You know, Mom...maybe they are right.  Maybe they are right.  It would be better if I weren't in the quorum." He was breaking...he had taken it and taken it and he was at a point he was breaking. 

How this broke my heart.  Church should be a safe place for us to go...not a place where we are ridiculed for making right choices and tyring to follow the Savior.  I just held him and cried with him and told him I was so sorry.  I told him I wish I could make it better.  We talked a little and he calmed down for a bit.  He walked away and a few minutes later I went to check on him.  I found him on the computer indexing.  You could see a calmness had settled over him and he had found solace that only the Savior can provide.  How grateful I am that he has found that peace and healing come from the Savior and we can find that peace from seeking out good things and by doing the Lord's work.

My heart hurt for him all day, though, and even though he had calmed I knew he was still hurting inside.  We went to Stake Standard's Night with him last night.  I know this was a blessing to have that evening as we were immersed in the Spirit that helps bring clarity of mind and peace to our hearts.  During the concluding remarks our Stake President spoke of the Law of Kindness.  He spoke of how we need to be kind to others in all that we do.  He then read the scripture, 1 Nephi 19:9, speaking of our Savior Jesus Christ.  It reads:

And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men.

Tears came down my face as I heard this scripture in a new light.  This is exactly what Thomas does.  He has been bullied, teased, ridiculed, and excluded but he has always suffered it...not because he can't fight back...but because he won't....because of his love for this young man.  He has an understanding of the potential and divinity of all that he associates with and he will not stoop to their level.  He will continue to build them up and treat them the way the Savior would if He were here.  How my love for our son multiplied as the Spirit taught this to me.  Thomas has the gift of loving others with the pure love of Christ.  How I pray that his heart will be protected by our Father as he continues to show this love to others in spite of the way he is treated.  As the meeting concluded I watched as Thomas talked with other young men from the ward and even approached this one that has brought such heartache to him.  He still made the effort to talk to him and try to befriend him.  Once again, he was met with cruelty, but he doesn't let that change the way he responds.  There is so much I have to learn from Thomas.

Polar Vortex and Never Ending Christmas Vacation

Last week we began hearing news reports of a frigid front moving our direction.  Extreme wind chill warnings were issued from Monday through Wednesday morning.  This was supposed to be the coldest temperatures this area has had for over 20 years.  The kids speculated about whether school would be cancelled on Monday (their would be first day back after Christmas break).  Thomas heard a myth that if you put ice cubes in the toilet and wear your PJ's inside out the night before you go back to school, then school will be cancelled.  Sunday evening came and ice cubes were placed in our toilets and PJ's were inside out.  We tucked the kids into bed a little early since they were all so tired and needed rest before starting school again.  6:45 and it was quiet upstairs with some reading being the only activity going on.  

Joel and I sat at the kitchen table to study our scriptures together.  Around 7:30 my cell phone rang and the home phone rang.  Joel answered the home phone and I answered my cell...same message...school was cancelled on Monday and Tuesday due to the extreme cold that we would be having.  We headed upstairs and Joel asked, "Who put ice cubes in the toilet?"  They all fessed up and we told them school had been cancelled.  They didn't believe us.  Thomas really didn't believe us until Joel said, "Scout's promise."  Then he believed.

Monday came and the temperatures continued to plummet throughout the morning.  I took Thomas to a piano lesson at 10:00 and the roads were deserted.  It was kinda eery.  It was like the whole town was hunkering down inside.  That is the only time we ventured outside.  Joel had a frigid drive home from work and temperature gauge never moved off the "C" the whole drive home.  Temperatures were about 15 below zero and about 40 below with windchill.  The snow on the ground looked like a layer of ice.  There was ice on the windows of the house.  When we would open the door for Scout to go out, the cold air took your breath away.  We just enjoyed a warm home that gave us refuge from the cold.  The younger kiddos wanted to go outside but I made them stay inside all day.  

Tuesday brought day 3 of being inside (since Sunday we are inside for the most part as well).  Cabin fever was upon us hard core!  I ventured out in the morning for a haircut but I was not so smart.  I only wore my thin sweatshirt that I always wear around the house.  I really don't like coats and I figured it couldn't be that bad.  Well, I was wrong.  I was frozen as the car never warmed up.  When I got home it took quite some time to thaw!  Again, we stayed inside and tried to keep busy.  We played games, made bread, baked cookies and ate too many of them, and we watched too many cartoons!  Spring and Mary organized their room, the boys wrestled and pretended to be superheroes, Thomas helped Sara walk, and Sara walked all over the house most of the day all by herself.  I had the kids get their backpacks ready for school.  The day began to warm up.  When Joel got home from work it was 2 degrees outside, -2 with windchill.  The kids wondered if school would be cancelled again but we assured them it would not.  I secretly wondered if they would have delayed start though.

This morning came way too early.  I have been getting up early for the last week or so but I have had the luxury of relaxing and enjoying lazy mornings with the kids.  No such luck today.  I headed down with Thomas about 6:10 this morning after he had showered and was dressed.  I let Scout out and checked to see if we had a message on our machine as we don't hear our home phone upstairs.  Sure enough, at 5:55 am there was a message that school had once again been cancelled due to problems with the buses and lack of heating in some of the buildings.  I went up to tell Spring because she was just beginning to get out of bed.  So, today we all wanted to get out of the house.  It was cold but above zero.  Too cold to really play outside for long though.  I took them to lunch at McDonalds so they could run and play and get some energy out.  I was not the only mom with that plan as the playplace was packed!  The kids enjoyed it though.

So, the question now is...will the kids ever go back to school?  I have enjoyed having them home.  I am glad we had extra days together.  I am grateful, however, that it is getting warmer so we are able to be outside a little bit.  Sammy believes that ice cubes in toilets cause school to be cancelled!

Spiderman and the Hulk

So with 3 days in a row of being cooped up in the house due to this polar vortex we are experiencing our kiddos are suffering from cabin fever.  Today I was informed that Sammy was now Spiderman and Joshie was the Hulk. I was only to refer to them with those names.  They were running around having all kinds of fun together. This afternoon I briefly overheard something about chewed up gum, shoes, and climbing walls.  This piqued my curiosity so I decided to investigate. I discovered that Sammy was using chewed up gum on the bottom of his shoes and his hands so he could climb the walls like Spiderman does.  He just couldn't figure out why I told him he could not use gum for that purpose!  Fortunately, he complied.  I had to turn away so he wouldn't see my smile and laugh because it was pretty ingenious of an idea for him.

He then asked if he could use duct tape. I agreed to this as long as he only used it in the basement.  He was certain it would enable him to climb walls.  My mom suggested I get a video of him and I am glad I did! I love how at the end he says, "Ok, it doesn't work!"

Another Chin Injury

So, last night Sammy and Joshie were taking a shower when we heard Sammy yell down to us, "Joshie split his chin open!  He's bleeding everywhere!"  Joel and I headed upstairs to see what was awaiting us.  Yep, another split open chin from bathtime.  I think I am going to ban baths that occur during the hours/days when Doctor's offices are closed.  Joel put a couple butterfly bandages on it to hold it closed while he called a couple residents in the ward to get their opinion on what we should do.  It was decided it would be best to bring him over to one of their homes so they could stitch it up for him.  When we got there the cut was holding together pretty well but when they moved his chin a little it flapped open so it was a good thing for them to stitch it up.

They laid him on the kitchen table.  Joel held his head while I held his arms and legs down.  The two men from the ward gave him some lidocaine in the cut and then proceeded to give him a couple stitches.  He cried hard and it took all we had to hold him.  After it was all done they told us they don't think they got enough lidocaine in it for it to numb so he probably felt everything!  Poor kid.  When they were done he was ready to just come home. Once we got home he fell right to sleep.  I'm grateful, again, for good men willing to share the skills and time to help us out.  

Sleeping in the Snow

Testing it out during the day.

All day yesterday Sammy kept saying, "I've never been this excited for bedtime!"  They only made the shelter big enough for Spring and Sammy.  Thomas was just being kind helping them with the work.  So, last night around 8:00 pm they headed out to their shelter.  They had games to play, flashlights, and even snacks that the McGarry's brought for them because, according to Brother McGarry, "every good snow fort sleepover needs snacks!"  They were super warm in their fort and soon began shedding layers of clothing.  

Ready to head out for the night.

Comfy and ready for games and snacks.

They played games for about an hour and then they got tired. Sammy fell asleep right away  leaving Spring the only one awake.  As she lay there, she said she started to get scared.  She felt like she could hear people walking around the fort talking.  She decided to come inside because she was so scared.  I guess her coming inside woke up Sammy because about 10 minutes later he came inside too.  He told me, "Mom, I got kinda homesick." As I was helping him out of his snow clothes he told me after Spring left he started hearing strange sounds and was scared.  They were disappointed that they didn't make it all night; however, I reassured them that I was so proud of them.  I told them they worked hard and accomplished such a great task and now they know they could stay warm in the fort.  I also told them it is very normal to feel scared outside at night.  

Sammy already asleep!

Secretly, I was relieved that they came inside because I would have been up all night worrying about them and checking on them. After they came inside I was watching the weather forecast and we were in a Winter weather advisory due to heavy snow, wind, and sub zero temperatures.  They advised to stay indoors if at all possible and avoid leaving your house through the night.  Good thing they got a little spooked!  Blessing in disguise!

They said if Thomas had been with them they would have felt much safer and would have made it through the night, but Thomas would not have fit with them.  Joel offered that he would sleep with them all night if they made another fort that was big enough for him as well.

Snow Shelter

Spring, Sammy, and Thomas worked for about 6 hours in the cold and snow yesterday building a snow shelter.  They had extra help throughout the day from Mary, Joshie, and Gideon as well.  This is a very solid structure and they plan to finish it today.  In the beginning of the day yesterday they used most of the snow from the front yard area they were working.  The walls are about 9-12 inches thick all the way around.  We are supposed to get another 8 inches of snow today so they will have plenty to finish it off.  Inside the shelter there is probably 8 inches of packed snow as a barrier to the cold ground.  Thomas, Spring, and Sammy are planning to sleep in their shelter all night tonight.  I am nervous about this and I am sure I won't sleep most of the night as I keep going out to check on them; however, they are so excited for it!  I am grateful for the opportunity this has given them all to work together on a project.  It has taken cooperation, ingenuity, patience, and diligence and it has all been with smiles and amazing attitudes with each other.  It reminds me of the Proclamation on the Family that reminds us that successful families are built on various principles including work and wholesome recreational activities!