mother's day, the day after

I am so grateful to be a mother. And I LOVE the phase of motherhood that I am in. I am so sad thinking about how soon I will be in another phase, with my children starting to leave. But I can't spend all my time thinking about that, can I? There's too much to think about in the moment. There's so much going on all the time, but in such a different way than when my children were little. I am finding such joy and satisfaction in watching my increasingly independent children run their lives. Sometimes I have way too many opinions about that very thing, but I'm learning to sit back and be quiet a lot more. I was reading a book the other day about mothers, and I found this thought that jumped out at me:

God knows a mother

needs fortitude and courage

and tolerance and flexibility

and patience and firmness

and nearly every other

brave aspect of the human soul.

But . . . I praise casualness.

It seems to me the rarest of virtues.

It's useful enough when

children are small.

But it is important to

the point of necessity

when they are adolescents.

- Phyllis McGinley

I don't know who Phyllis McGinley is, but I think she has hit on something good here. My adolescents sure do seem to appreciate me more when I am casual about things. Not always easy to do, but something worth thinking about . . .

good times

Life has been moving quickly the last few weeks, which is pretty normal I guess! We have had a lot going on, and time is just flying by. This may shape up to be a too-long post full of non-interesting-to-anyone-but-us details of our life, so be warned.

One recent event of note was Brennan's Eagle Scout project. He worked with a contractor to landscape a recreation area behind our church building. This recreation area actually provided eagle projects for three young men, which was great. One of those is Brennan's closest LDS friend, and I heard him tell Brennan one day, "It will be so cool to bring our grandchildren here someday and tell them WE did this!" Made me smile. I was very proud of how Brennan handled all aspects of the project, once we got past the "procrastination phase", that is. In the end, I think he had about 175 man-hours toward the project, and the requirement is something like 30. About 55 people showed up to help him on the day of the project, and he was humbled by such a great showing of support.





Last night our YW had their fundraiser for girls' camp by doing a dessert auction. This is something we started a few years ago when I was YW president, and it's become somewhat of a tradition! So last night we had a Mexican potluck dinner, and then the auction afterwards. Each young woman and each leader made a dessert to auction off, and it got fun and crazy, as usual. Some people (like my husband) really get into the competitive spirit of things, and it is quite the event. Kristi made a "White Chocolate Berry Pie" which looked beautiful and sold for, are you ready? $120.



Unbelievable, right??? We came home with a lemon bundt cake, but we got off easy at $42. Keith won another cake too, this time for $85, but then another ward member yelled, "I just can't let Keith win -- I'll take it for $100!" Yes, it was some good times in the Clear Creek Ward.

Today was our kids' annual spring piano recital. Dallin was so ready, he didn't need his music or anything. He played "The Entertainer" and "Maleguena", and did a great job. He's one that doesn't really get nervous, which is weird. Austin complains a bit about piano, although he's a pretty good sport. He played Bach's "Menuet in G Major", and then a ragtime version of the same song. In his practicing, he would either play them extremely well, or extremely poorly. You just never knew which way it would go. Earlier today as he was practicing, and it wasn't going so well, he asked if I would just call his teacher and tell her he was throwing up and couldn't make it to the recital. I reminded him that he wasn't actually throwing up, to which he replied, "any minute now, any minute." Well, he didn't get sick, and he played so well! WHEW. His big grin of relief as he stood up from the piano said it all.

Kristi doesn't take piano lessons anymore, so she hasn't played in this recital for a couple of years. Her former teacher always invites her to play, but she always politely refuses. This year, for some unknown reason, she agreed to play. I tried to hide my joy for fear it would make her change her mind, but she didn't! She played a song called, "Piano Fantasy" by William Joseph. If you are unfamiliar with William Joseph, then you will be glad you read this post. He is an LDS musician and Kristi just loves his music, both to play and to listen to. Here he is playing the song Kristi played today, and honestly she very nearly plays it as well as he does. Just sit back for three minutes and enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmbb8-ry5JY

Tonight Kristi and two friends are going to the "Mormal", which is a Dr. Suess word for "Mormon Formal". They do not have dates, but since it is a regional event in Reno, they are hoping to meet some equally cool and equally dateless young men. Cross your fingers for them.

Tomorrow Keith has to speak in sacrament meeting, and then each young man in the ward is supposed to take 2 minutes to talk about their moms. Oh boy, should I be nervous to have Keith, Brennan, and Austin at the pulpit on Mother's Day? There are just so many things they could say, not all of which I want broadcast in front of the ward . . .

And one more thought on Mother's Day -- don't you think we should always sing, "We are All Enlisted" as one of the songs in sacrament meeting, or maybe it should be a special women's choir? Just check out the words in the hymnbook and see if you don't agree with me.

That's all for now. My in-laws are coming for dinner tomorrow, so it's time to vacuum!