December 2015 Term: Week One

"The Adoration of the Shepherds" by Rembrandt van Rijn

Hello, everyone! 

I'm just peeking in here to share my latest "Lead, Guide, Walk Beside" homeschool blog post.
http://www.mamarachel.net/2015/12/december-2015-term-week-one.html

Merry Christmastide to all!

Love, Mama Rachel

A Day in our New and Improved Homeschool!

October means Table Time in costume regalia

For those following our homeschool changes, I have a new blog post up today on my "Lead, Guide, Walk Beside" blog. 

You can check it out here: http://www.mamarachel.net/2015/10/a-day-in-our-homeschool.html

Love, Mama Rachel

Walk Beside Me

For those that are interested in the changes in our homeschool method and philosophy, you can see the final installment in my series on how our homeschool has changed here:

http://www.mamarachel.net/2015/10/walk-beside-me.html

Love, Mama Rachel

A New Chapter

Dear friends,

After 15 years of homeschooling, I have decided to change some things in our family's approach. as part of these changes, I have started a new blog. If you'd like to follow me on my new homeschool journey, you can check it out here: http://www.mamarachel.net/2015/08/changes-in-our-homeschool.html

The new blog is not finished-- hopefully it will look better designed in the future, and it will have a new domain name-- but I wanted to get started writing, at least as the new school year begins.

Happy homeschooling!!!

Love, Mama Rachel

Living a Consecrated Life- Part 1

This past Sunday, I was asked to speak in church, and learned so much from the subject I was assigned! The title of my talk was to be "Living a Consecrated Life," and I had a wonderful time learning more about consecration and what it means to consecrate our lives to God. 

Because I want to remember the lessons I learned, I thought I would share my talk here on my personal blog as a way to keep a record for myself out in the internet cloud. Maybe it will also help someone else in the great "out there".

Love, Mama Rachel

What is “consecration”?

Elder D. Todd D. Christofferson said,

“To consecrate is to set apart or dedicate something as sacred, devoted to holy purposes. True success in this life comes in consecrating our lives—that is, our time and choices— to God’s purposes. ” 

For us, consecration means that we devote our means to do good, to give service, and to help the Lord's children. 

In order to do this, first and foremost, we must remember that everything we have comes from our Heavenly Father. In the early history of the Church, Martin Harris was told through revelation that he needed to mortgage his farm in order to fund the printing of the Book of Mormon. To us, this may seem like an overwhelming request, as I am sure it was for Brother Harris.

In Doctrine and Covenants section 19, verses 23, 24, 26 we can read exactly what it was that the Lord said to him:

“Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me. I am Jesus Christ; I came by the will of the Father, and I do his will. And again, I command thee that thou shalt not covet thine own property, but impart it freely.” 

This scripture really make me examine myself and how I use the blessings that the Lord has given me. If everything we have truly comes from God, then we DO need to use what we have been given in the way he wants us to use it. And anyone who is familiar with the Savior's teachings knows how much he emphasized caring for the poor.

Blessing Others

The Lord gives us a very specific way to keep the law of consecration that is used to bless the lives of those who need help.

In Doctrine and Covenants section 42, verses 30 and 31, the Lord tells us:

“And behold, thou wilt remember the poor, and consecrate of thy properties for their support that which thou hast to impart unto them, with a covenant and a deed which cannot be broken. And inasmuch as ye impart of your substance unto the poor, ye will do it unto me;”

If everything we have comes from the Lord, then we must not keep back anything that the Lord asks us to give. 

The latter-day prophet, Spencer W. Kimball, said: 

“It is incumbent upon us to put away selfishness in our families, our business and professional pursuits, and our Church affairs. These things should not be. Let us resolve today to overcome any such tendencies.

In our family, we have had some very personal experiences with others helping us with their means in the spirit of true consecration.

First of all, we can never forget some of our dear friends who lived in Provo at the same time as us. We both had young families, and both households were struggling to make ends meet.

Russell and I were specifically struggling with some debts and medical bills that we could never seem to catch up on. I had not told my friend everything, but she could tell that our finances were strained.

One day, the wife in this couple arrived at our home with an envelope in her hand. She expressed her love for us, and left us watching her drive away with the envelope unopened. As I carefully tore it open, I found a check for $500 with a note enclosed. All the note said was,

"Heavenly Father told us that this money is for you, not us. Love, C. & A."

We were humbled and in awe of how much the Lord loved us, and in how blessed we were to have such dear friends that listened to the Lord's promptings with such diligence.

On another occasion, a few years down the road, we now had six children and I was pregnant with our seventh. We had been driving a 1978 Chevy Suburban without air-conditioning, but we knew that we would no longer be able to safely transport all of us in the eight seat belts the Suburban had. But we just didn't have money for anything new!

One day, out of the blue, a family in our ward called us and proposed that they give us their fifteen passenger van. They apologized that it had a lot of miles on it, but that it had a new engine and should run well for some time.

I was astonished! This family had thirteen children of their, and yet they were offering us their van? The wife explained to me that they had several drivers in the family now, and that they usually used more than one vehicle when going places, so they didn't really need it any more.

Sheepishly, we offered to exchange our Suburban for their van, and they agreed. (They actually used the Suburban as a project, and drove it for several years afterwards.)

Both of our families were blessed because of the generosity and spirit of true consecration that this one family showed in helping us as fellow saints and members of the church. They lived a consecrated life.

We have been blessed by the generosity of other families several times over the years, each situation being one that was inspired by the spirit of consecration. And because of the excellent example of wonderful people in our lives, we also have been inspired to "pay it forward" and help others we come across in our lives.

And that means that ALL of us are blessed, thanks to living a "consecrated life."

Watch for Part 2 coming soon: "Building the Lord's Kingdom"

Random February-ness

Our "Ten Virgins" cast

Dear ones,

We had a calm, good week-- my favorite part was being in the Ten Virgins musical! :-) I'm afraid I will subject you to several pictures on that subject! ;-)

Monday I took Lliam, Gavin, and Ronan to get haircuts. Yes, even Lliam was ready for a trim. I stopped in the McDonald's drive-thru for ice cream cones afterwards. It was nice to spoil them a bit. :-)

Haircuts make us happy!

On Tuesday I ran Morganne to Institute Choir at CGCC (Chandler-Gilbert Community College), and then Daddy took her back for Institute that evening. We need to get that girl driving soon!

Wednesday evening was New Beginnings for the Young Women. They had a fun "Cruise" theme and Dierdre brought home one of the decorations; a tiny goldfish she named "Goldilocks."

Our lovely "Goldilocks" (a.k.a. Dierdre)

We spent Thursday cleaning the house in preparation for feeding the missionaries that evening. Morganne made her famous chili and served it with tortilla chips, cheese and sour cream. They couldn't stay long, but it was so nice to have them join us to eat. It sure makes us think of our missionary!

Friday morning's Biology class that's usually at our house was cancelled, so I gathered some props and stage decorations for the Ten Virgins play and after almost getting in a car accident on the way, (WHEW!) I headed over to the church to help decorate the stage. Even though I had my class to plan for later that afternoon, I decided to stay and help. It was so fun! I was draping fabric, pinning trim, and arranging decorations and props. I had a BLAST!

Our stage, all dressed up

About the play: It felt soooo wonderful to be using my talents to build up the Lord's kingdom. I had been praying for an opportunity to do so for a LONG time, and the Lord answered my prayers in a wonderful way! :-)

Cast members getting direction in between performances

We had our final dress rehearsal Friday night, where we also performed for our families. It was a little rocky, but overall, it went really well.

Saturday morning we had our first performance at 9am. President D--, our stake president, came and talked to us briefly after our warm up. It was so neat! He reminded us of how much the sisters in our stake needed to hear the message to prepare spiritually. We also performed at 11am and then again at 1pm. We really felt that the Lord used us to bring His daughters closer to Him that day. It was the BEST experience I have ever had being onstage. I loved every second!!!

Our director and pianist discuss song speed with our one dancer.

Being in this presentation has been such a blessing in my everyday life, too! It has helped me feel close to the Savior every day, and taught me lesson after lesson about staying in tune with the Spirit, and being prepared to meet the Lord. I have had some very sacred, personal experiences because of my preparation for the performances. I hope I remember them all! (Yes, I am recording them in my journal...)

Me, backstage

Last night, after choir practice, Daddy and I attended the Priesthood Preview meeting with RONAN! Can you believe it?! Yes, he turns 12 this year. He and all the boys in his group are so fun. There's a LOT of them! Most of the boys sat together on the front row, but even though they invited him to come and sit with them, Ronan wanted to sit with Daddy and I. That was sweet!

At the end of the inspiring meeting, Ronan and all the boys stood up at the front and sang "Armies of Helaman." I'm pretty sure there wasn't a dry eye among the parents. (The sound cuts out in the middle when I accidently covered the mike, and you get subjected to my soprano voice at the end when the sound comes back up. I tried to sing quietly-- I really did! LOL!)



During the meeting, Brother--, who is in the stake YM presidency, said that only 35% of young men in the stake are going on missions! OUCH. Satan is really working hard to distract the young men in our area from serving. Yes, I cried.

We we miss you all, and we want you all to know how important you are to us. We pray for each of you daily, and love each one of you sooo much. May the Lord continue to bless and teach and heal us all!!!

Lots of love,
Mama Rachel

A Fresh, New Year

Goofy selfie with baby Fiona

Dear ones,

I just love new beginnings, don't you?

We had another nice week of vacation, and some New Year's Eve fun-- no fireworks this year! (After Ronan's fireworks accident in July, and Lliam's gunpowder explosion last New Year's, we thought we'd better not tempt fate.)

Fascinating fire, without the BOOM!

So, we lit four paper lantern/balloons, and enjoyed the neighborhood fireworks displays. We also had our traditional "dinner" of appetizers with different cheeses and crackers. The kids were in heaven! (Crackers are a treat around here-- they don't get that that often.)

We spent New Year's Day taking down all the Christmas stuff and packing it up for next Christmas. I didn't even cry this time! ;-)

She's HOME!!!

It has been so nice having Morganne back home. She is so sweet with the little girls, even though they drag her from place to place, all vying for her attention. She fixes their hair and helps with dishes and cooking-- we like it!

Saturday I took some time alone to plan out the new homeschool semester for our family. It was so cool to park in the temple parking lot with the majestic Gilbert temple in front of me, listen to some quiet music, pray and be inspired for this new semester. 

Posing cuties

I'm trying to add a weekly trip to the library on Mondays this semester, but it will all hinge on whether or not the kids get their chores done each Monday. (Our "House Recovery" day.) We shall see how it goes!

Today we have a flurry of room rearranging going on, and trying to get back on our usual schedule. Bonny and Gavin started seminary again today, and so that was good for helping us get up early, and get the day started out right.

Our TJLA classes start up again this Friday, so I have all kinds of administrative stuff to get done. (Ick.) That's not my favorite thing to do, but I am looking forward to my literature class for second semester. Austen and Dickens and Tennyson! WOOT! Lots of good books to come.

Pretty big sisters

I had my first rehearsal for the "Ten Virgins" musical I'm in for the stake. I play the part of the Narrator, and got to sing one of my solos in front of all the other ladies. I was a tiny bit nervous, but also had a great time. We all sound so good together on our group numbers! I am going to try to make sure they film it when we perform. We perform it on Saturday, February 7th. Exciting!

We hope you are all doing well. I have a testimony of the Savior's influence and help in our lives, even when things are hard. I know that Jesus Christ is on my team and He gives me HOPE to make it through whatever comes, even when things are really difficult. He is not standing before me in judgment, no! He is on my side, lifting and carrying my burdens WITH me. Oh, how beautiful that image is to me! His Atonement and love are amazing-- oh, it is wonderful!!!

"I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me." I know this is TRUE. This is my testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

With so much love,
Mom/Rachel

December Cometh!

Dear ones,

We had a great week, and a blessed Thanksgiving. We hope you all had the same!

The week started out slow, but then picked up steam as it went on.

Early in the week, I found out that I got a part in the Stake Relief Society musical! Wahoo! I will be playing the part of the Narrator (two solos! O.o) in a musical about the parable of the Ten Virgins. The music is beautiful, and I'm excited to get started! We perform it in February at a stake Relief Society activity.

I'm thrilled for the chance to play the Narrator!

On Wednesday, Bonny and Dierdre went to the temple with some friends that just moved from our ward. I watched the family's younger kids while they went. The girls had a great time! 

Bonny and friend

Thursday was Thanksgiving, of course, and Daddy, Lliam, Bonny, Dierdre, and I had a good time cooking, baking, and getting ready. Dad tried a new way to cook the turkey, but we cooked another 20+ pounder, so it took longer than we had hoped. (Typical, right? LOL!)

Thanksgiving action shot!

Bonny and Dierdre did all the pies, Lliam did the potatoes, and Dad and I did the rest. It was yummy! We hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving celebration, too. :-)

Happy Birthday to our Didi!

Friday was our Dierdre's birthday! Can you believe she's 13?! She and Bonny spent a good part of the morning setting up Pinterest and Gmail accounts for her. (She's decided she doesn't want a Facebook account. Which works because we're on a FB fast, anyway.)

13 Candles

We also spent Friday putting up all the Christmas decorations. YAY!!! In fact, Daddy and I actually got a NEW TREE! I know, I know. It's a miracle! It's a 7 foot tall wonder that looks the closest to real we've ever had. (Daddy and I ventured out on Black Friday to get it half off.)

A new tree!

Saturday was full of service for the youth, first cleaning the church, and then helping the C--- family move. Lliam also had his trek reunion on Saturday night, so he actually got to spend some time with Mark!


Mark looks great. He is so excited to leave for the MTC in the middle of this month. Hong Kong won't know what hit it! ;-) I know he's going to be a great missionary! He even took this semester off from college! I wish he and Lliam could get together more.


Sunday was lovely. Lliam had a meeting for his new job early on Sunday morning before church. He starts work at The Dollar Tree TODAY! He is excited to have a regular, non-temporary job. He was given a new bike by Brother C--- when he helped them move this weekend, so between the bike and his longboard, he's all set!


The kids and I are in full Christmas-happy-mode, listening to lots of Christmas music. (Look for something special in the mail this week, Elder Keppner!!!) They're all begging to go Christmas shopping, and some even have their shopping for siblings all done. Christmas will be here before we know it! (Yikes-- I need to get busy!)

Happy baby!

We look forward to having Morgie home for Christmas. Her ticket is bought, and we're trying to figure out how to rearrange rooms. We're also excited to be able to Skype with our Elder on Christmas day!!!

HALLELUJAH!!!! And Happy December, y'all! We love you!!!

Love,
Mama Rachel

The Refiner's Fire

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." ~Romans 8:28

Love, Mama Rachel

Holding on to Hope

I think most bloggers would agree with me that it is not easy to blog when we are going through tough times.

That's how I feel, anyway.

I am normally obnoxiously candid and transparent on my blog. But my candor in real life has recently really bit me. Hard. And I am still reeling from the trouble and heartache it's created.

So, even though I HATE ambiguity, I just can't be more explicit about what's going on in my life right now.

However, I DO know that Jesus loves me. And I know that joy WILL come again. And I have HOPE in happier tomorrows, all because of Christ and His all-encompassing Atonement.

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me.
Confused at the grace that so fully He proffers me.
I tremble to know that for me, He was crucified.
That for me, a sinner, He suffered, He bled, and died.

Oh, it is wonderful that He should care for me,
Enough to die for me.
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful, to me!

I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,
That he should extend his great love unto such as I,
Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify.

Oh, it is wonderful that He should care for me,
Enough to die for me.
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful, to me!

I think of his hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt!
Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?
No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat,
Until at the glorified throne I kneel at his feet.

Oh, it is wonderful that He should care for me,
Enough to die for me.
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful, to me!

Love, Mama Rachel

Homeschooling Helps: Teaching Character

(Artwork by the talented Greg Olsen)

And now, for a happy, mundane post about some of the things we're using for homeschool this year! This is part one of a "Homeschooling Helps" series I will be doing about the subjects we are studying in our homeschool for the 2014-2015 school year.

Searching for the right resource

For years, I have been looking for an LDS based program for teaching Good Character. I know there are many out there for other Christians, but I have wanted one that specifically used LDS scriptures and quotes from our church leaders.

I also needed something that is fluid-- something that I can change and adjust at the last minute. Because I love to make plans, but I don't always love to follow those plans.

Tricky, I know.

And then one day, while I was trying to put together a devotional for our homeschool on Obedience, I discovered an amazing online resource that has been right in front of me for years.

The website

I went to the LDS Church's website under the "Resources" tab at the right-hand top of the page, and then...

1) I followed on the link that said "Children".  

2) Then I clicked the link in the left-hand sidebar that says "Resources for Teaching Children."

3) I next clicked on the link that said "Resources by Topic."

And voila! I suddenly had before me a long list of topics to choose from! And when I clicked on the topic I was looking for, I found an enormous amount of songs, stories, and activities I could use, all on that subject!

Quick and easy preparation, lots of topics available, and all the components needed for a short and sweet character lesson. Just the thing I was looking for!

Making a plan

After finding the list of topics above, making a plan for our character studies then became really easy to do! After some praying and pondering, I wrote down the months of the year, and assigned each month a topic that I want to focus on with my kids. 

For September, I decided to focus on the character trait of "Obedience." I found just the songs and stories I needed for our particular circumstances, and used a few of the activities available.

I decided to sing one song and read one story about obedience each day as part of our homeschool devotional. I can go right to my computer that morning, and choose the things I want to use for that day's lesson. (Which works great with my spontaneous nature!)

Choose, print out, teach, discuss.

That's it!

How is it going?

Despite October's craziness, we still have been holding our morning devotionals. (Though we did take off the week of "Fall Break" so the kids could spend some time with their public schooled friends, who were out of school for the week.)

For October, I chose the subject of Integrity. But when I looked at the list of topics on the website, they didn't have anything for that. So I decided to look at the other topics again, and see if anything else was similar. I decided to use the resources for "Honesty," but then added my own insights to look at honesty with an eye toward having integrity.

It's been great! I love that every day is different, and that I can choose a story that morning that can speak to what is going on in our family right then.

I hope this idea can help another mom who is struggling to find the right resources for teaching lesson on good character!

Love, Mama Rachel

Trials and Tribulations

The past week has been a real "adventure"-- and definitely not one I would have asked for. Yet, at the same time, I have felt the Lord's protection and love so strongly this past week. I know He is watching over our family.

We've had money problems, MAJOR teen troubles, car issues, toddler craziness, and even bodily injury. Needless to say, I'm EXHAUSTED.

{Just as a warning, some of what has happened might not be something you want to read, and the corresponding pictures might be too much for some people to handle. So, read on at your own discretion!!!}

A Battle for the Soul

First of all, we have a child who is struggling spiritually. I am a very transparent person-- I don't like secrets, and I can't stand ambiguity. However, this child's story is not mine to tell to the general public, so I will refrain from going into details here on my blog.

I can say that it has been the most difficult year of my life, and I am learning some very challenging, though amazing, lessons from it all. I have discovered things about myself that I never wanted to know, but I have also experienced some phenomenal changes in my own heart.

I am in awe of how God can can make the painful and devastating into goodness and light. He truly IS a God of miracles!!!

An Accident

And now, on to the latest drama at our house. It involves this little sweetheart:

Our smiley MacKenna, age 8

My girls like to keep their hair long. And I mean LONG. A trim around here is a big event. With two teenage girls, and five-- yes, FIVE-- little girls at our house, it's all about the hair.

So, right before the sun began setting last evening, we were buried in the usual evening craziness. I was furiously making dinner while talking to my mom on the phone, the big kids were watching an economics video, and the other kids were all playing in the basement-- or so I thought.

As I was talking to my mom, my twelve year old daughter, Dierdre, came running up to me with strong urgency telling me that our MacKenna had her hair caught in the AC unit outside. I ran outside with her, followed by a couple of other kids. Over my shoulder, I asked Dierdre to go grab my sewing scissors, and, while still on the phone with my mom, explaining that something bad was going on (I think I was too shocked to hang up), I made my way to the north side of our house, where our AC units sit on the ground. 

MacKenna was on top of the big unit, screaming and crying. I hung up with my mom, and was greeted by an unfamiliar young lady standing next to my daughter. Apparently, she had heard MacKenna's cries and screams, and had come through our side gate to help her. She had then knocked on our back door and let Dierdre know what was going on.

I tried to assess how to best help MacKenna. She was lying on top of the unit with her head laying flat against the cage surrounding the huge fan. The fan was stopped, but as I examined more closely, I could see that her hair had stopped the fan, as it was wound around it several times.

I poked the sewing scissors that Dierdre had brought to me through the cage around the fan, and slowly turned the fan to unwind her hair. The sweet young lady that was MacKenna's hero held up MacKenna's body to help ease the pressure on her head. Finally, we got her hair unwound, and were able to release her and put her back on the ground. 

Her hair looked burned in some places, and she said that she felt like her head was burned. On closer examination, we found that she had some hairs that were now hanging down below her regular hair length. Some clumps of hair had been pulled out.

OUCH.

MaKenna's savior excused herself, and I thanked her profusely, telling her that she was a true hero! (Luckily, my girls know our hero by name, and so I'm planning to do something special for her in gratitude.) I took my poor girl in the house to examine her better, and see what we could do to help make her more comfortable. 

MacKenna was very upset, sobbing her heart out, and I was trying to calm her, while not panicking, myself.

As I carefully brushed her hair, more clumps came out, and I found where her hair had come out at the roots. She has a little bald spot that-- thankfully-- is easily covered by her other hair. However, her hair was damaged and broken above her shoulders, and so I knew she would need a haircut. 

This is just some of the clumps of hair that came out.
This funny girl smiled for the pictures!

The new bald patch

I also knew that she would need to give her hair a real rest, in order to prompt her bald spot to grow back, and her head to heal. (There was NO damage to her scalp-- a real tender mercy!!!) So, a short haircut it was to be!

You can see how it's now thinner on the right side of her head.

Before the haircut, we wrapped her in a blanket, to keep her from getting shock, and I laid her on the couch to rest and calm down. The other little girls were so cute, bringing her toys, tucking the blanket around her, trying to make her more comfortable.

At one point, she said, "Mom, you know how you told me that the best way to calm down is to take deep breaths? I'm trying to calm down."

So I helped her regulate her breathing, and she was able to relax considerably. 

At this point, my 18 year old son announced that my missionary had written us an email. (WHAT??? I had been told that P-day was supposed to be tomorrow!!! :-( Crud...)

So, while MacKenna rested, I tried to explain to my missionary why he had not received a letter. :-( (Sometimes we can catch each other online, and almost "chat".) I also gave a quick recap of the drama going on at home. (All this while dinner was still on the stove. I think my son had the clarity of mind to turn the burners down.)

Our missionary had to go, so I promised to send him a "DearElder.com" letter with more details of the craziness, and got back to finishing dinner.

Russell finally got home from work, and we had to tell the whole story to him. He immediately gave MacKenna a blessing of comfort, and she calmed down even more. (She had gotten upset again in the telling of the story. I can't blame her!!!) 

I am so VERY grateful for the Priesthood power that my husband worthily uses to bless our family. It makes even the most scary things become less traumatic. We ALL felt more peaceful after Russell's sweet blessing!

I called my mom back to let her know that MacKenna was okay, and we all sat down to eat dinner.

The Haircut

Her "Before" pose. (With a smile again!)

And "After"-- she looks so grown up!

Life Lessons

All of these "trials and tribulations" have got me thinking. My daughter was just walking by the AC units, enjoying the breeze produced by them blowing in her hair. One second, she was having a quiet, serene moment alone, and the next she was terrified and in pain.

She had not been doing anything she shouldn't be doing, really. But she was close to danger, and had no idea of what was about to happen in an instant of being too close.

Don't these things happen to us all the same way? And sometimes by our own faulty judgment? One inch too close to danger, and we can be devastated by the results.

But even when we have blindly and unintentionally strayed too close to the danger zone, God sends us heroes, and help, and love, and comfort. Our Heavenly Father NEVER leaves us alone.

If we permit ourselves to learn from these difficult times, and allow our hearts to be humbled and changed, there are smiles and good things just around the corner.

Yes, He truly IS a God of miracles, large and small.

Love, Mama Rachel

September Rolls On...

Happy Fiona

Dear Fantastic Missionaries (and family!),

Life is busy, busy, BUSY, as always. It's always funny to review each week, because after getting through it all, it somehow becomes a big mish-mash of "What the heck did we do this week???"

I will try to remember everything that went on, just for y'all! ;-)

On Tuesday we did some science for homeschool (We still take Mondays off for cleaning and Sunday recovery.), and just stayed home learning and making messes all day. It was nice! :-)

Twinners MacKenna and Grayse

Daddy's car is out of commission, due to an expensive hybrid battery that we have to replace. ($2500 for a BATTERY. Yikes.) So he has been driving the van to work, and it's been a pain to not be able to go where I need to go, but it's kind of nice, too. The biggest problem with all of that is driving Daddy back and forth to work if I need the van that day.

It's kind of funny when I think about how Daddy now works only 5 minutes (And within biking distance) from our OLD house, as opposed to 20 minutes away from our house here in Gilbert.

Ha-ha???

Davy-boy is getting so big!

Wednesday was busy with history for homeschool, and then Activity Day, 11yo scouts, and mutual. The big kids got to go to SKATELAND for a combined activity and had a great time! They loved telling everyone about how we used to live around the corner. :-) 

Handsome Gavin

Thursday ended up being crazy, partially because Bonny and Lliam worked for the H-- in Mesa again, and partially because I got wild hair and reorganized the laundry room, which has been really bugging me of late. With Bonny and Lliam gone working, and Gavin was hiding in his room downstairs, I moved a very LARGE cabinet from the garage to the laundry room BY MYSELF. (Applause, please!) I was very proud :-) and sweaty. :-p

Bonny and Lliam brought home a box full of treasures. They were given a Polaroid camera from the 1960's, some old shoes and handbags for costumes, and even an 8-track tape. They were in awe of it all! LOL!

Ronan is the Lego Man

Friday brought our homeschool classes here to the house, with the Biology kids here in the morning, and me teaching my English lit class in the afternoon. I am LOVING it! But I hope the kids are enjoying it. It's a bit more sedate than my usual Shakespeare classes, but I'm doing all I can to make it fun.

Next week we will be discussing "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," which is an epic poem from the Medieval times. The version we're studying was translated by Tolkien. Yeah, it pretty much ROCKS! :-D (Brennan, you would LOVE it!)

Avalon loves to SMILE!

Saturday was BUSY. Bonny and I went to her first meeting for the Nutcracker ballet, followed by grocery shopping at American Discount Foods, and then transporting the Bon-bon to ballet CLASS and home again. She was cast as a toy soldier in the fight scene, and she is ECSTATIC! :) 

Ballerina Bon

Later that night, she also babysat for the W---. She came home exhausted! Between working for the H--- and babysitting like crazy, she has almost earned her payment for Europe this month. We are so proud of how responsible she is. What a girl!

Dierdre also was babysitting on Saturday. She's been babysitting a lot lately, too. She was set apart as the Beehive class secretary yesterday. She is such a sweetheart!

Dierdre, head of the breakfast team, making breakfast.

Sunday we had awesome meetings, and S--- sang while her mom played the violin. It was beautiful! Lliam came for the second and third hours, but then left and spent the day at a friend's house. He didn't get home until just before 11pm, and then he and I had a long, good heart to heart.

Wow, I LOVE that young man! He is struggling with some things, but he is still a wonderful son, and our relationship has never been better. I know the Lord is really working in his life. 

Lliam entertaining our Fiona

Well, I have oatmeal to scrape off the kitchen floor, and a fussy baby to feed, before I gather my cleaning crew to work on the kitchen.

Lovely Eryn

We all love and miss our sweet missionaries! THANK YOU for dedicating this time in your life to the Lord. I know that it is blessing us, you, and so many others.

With so much love,

Mom (a.k.a. Queen Mother of the Universe)

Some Advice on Leadership

image via Pinterest.com

I have a lovely online friend on Facebook that tagged me to give her some advice on her efforts to start a school in her area. I was flattered and surprised, but wanted to help, and so I sat down and wrote out seven of the lessons I've learned in my efforts to lead in my community.

As I read through them, I realized that I have never taken the time before now to sit down and think through the things I have learned over the past eight years. And so, I decided to record them here, as a way of reminding myself of the lessons that God has given me. 

And if they can possibly help someone else along the way, that is wonderful! 

Well, here's my advice, for what it's worth!

1) PRAY. I could never have had the strength and inspiration to wade through all the kinds of challenges and difficulties that DO happen, without it. Keep a constant connection between yourself and God. He has a much better view of things!

2) SIMPLIFY. If you are an idea person like me, you may have all kinds of grandiose, complicated plans that you're musing about, but I would advise you to scale things down to what you can realistically handle. There will be time to add more things as time goes on, and you have a better idea on what will be required. K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple, sweetheart!)

3) FIND YOUR "WHY" AND STAY FOCUSED ON IT ALWAYS. If you haven't already read it, take the time to read the book "Start with Why" by Simon Sinek. Our "Why" is the most important ingredient to successful leadership. Make it the center of everything you do!

4) DO NOT TRY TO PLEASE EVERYONE! It is an impossible thing to try to do, and it can never, never, NEVER happen! So do what you can to help others, but don't own their problems, and be prepared to be criticized. Sometimes, the criticism is warranted, and you need to listen.

However, there are often people who do not wish to have the responsibility of leadership that still want to steer the boat with their strong opinions. These people will usually criticize you no matter what you do! So, don't change your direction, unless a trusted, wise friend or mentor gives you advice to do so. (And if they do, LISTEN and follow it!) Just don't change things constantly in order to please others. Follow that inner voice-- your gut, the Spirit, whatever you want to call it-- and trust that you are going in the right direction. If someone doesn't like how you are doing things, allow them to go and start their own!

5) USE THE INTERNET. Have a website, use social media, and stay in close email contact with your community. If you have a teenager in your family or among your friends that can take on the social media presence for you, do it! You probably won't have time to maintain all of these yourself, so find some good help, but always have an Internet presence that accurately represents who you are and what your vision is. That way, like-minded people can always find you.

6) BE AUTHENTIC and DON'T GET A BIG HEAD.

There will be times when people will tell you how awesome you are, and you might begin to buy into it. DON'T! Just bring them back down to earth, and remind them that you are just a mama with a dream, and are doing your best to see it through. It's sad, but true, that there are some people that might even try to put you on a pedestal so that they can knock you down.

Just don't ever get up on that pedestal-- it's lonely and cold there! (And it's a LONG way back down to earth!) Stay down on the ground with everyone else, and keep your principles and ideals and your "why" up on the pedestal.

I had an amazing mentor once remind me, "Peoples are peoples, Rachel," and it's true. We are all children of God, just trying to do our best.

7) KEEP YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT. Your husband and your children and your God are the most important things in your life, so be sure to never let your dreams and goals harm those precious relationships. Be 100% willing to step away from-- or completely drop-- whatever it is you're doing if it EVER harms your family or your principles and beliefs.

BEST WISHES TO YOU!!!

Love, Mama Rachel

Welcome September!

Our Bonny is fourth from the right. (Photo courtesy of Ballet Etudes)

Hello to my sweet, precious missionaries!!!

This past week was pretty low key. Things are finally getting settled with our TJLA plans (We start classes on Sept. 12th.), and though we have yet to set up a workable schedule for our own family, it's coming. That's my goal for this week!!!

On Tuesday evening, we had a registration meeting for TJLA, and I think it went well. This whole summer I've been a basketcase about TJLA. I felt like everyone had jumped ship, and I had destroyed it all.

And yes, the majority of the families we had involved last year left. But, we had new families and some old ones, and each of our three scholar classes have more than ten students each! It really is going to happen! We will be having a Key of Liberty class, a Biology lab, and a Great English Literature class (Taught by me. YAY!). It's all coming together, and I feel a great deal of relief. Honestly, I'm so glad this is my last year in charge! I want to get back to mentoring, my real love.

Wednesday was full with all the busyness of mutual, scouts, and Activity Day, and this week will be the same. I'm still an Activity Day leader, and trying to breathe new life into it for me and these new girls. I have taken a break since Fiona was born, and we're starting up again this week.

Bonny had an audition of sorts at a new studio on Thursday. It's quite a drive for us (It's right by the Southern Estates area), but it sounds like they loved Bonny, and had a wonderful atmosphere and feeling. She is so excited! She's planning on trying out for the Nutcracker production this year-- at last!!! I am wary about the amount of rehearsals and driving, but we don't have Shakespeare this year, and I know it's her turn to do something that is just HERS.

This kids-growing-up-business is not fun for Mom, I'll tell you that!

On Friday, Lliam and Bonny went to work for a family in our old ward in the Burrow. (Though they've moved, too.)

They helped the family clean and paint in their parents home. The old folks have passed away, and the family is looking to update the house so they can rent it. They did a good job, and the H-- were pleased with what they did. Bonny and Gavin headed over there this morning to work some more.

Bonny also went babysitting that night from about 5pm to 8:30pm. She is working HARD to get to Europe! I am so, SOOO proud of her.

Saturday was my 40th Birthday.

OUCH.

I spent most of the day teaching people how to mentor Shakespeare. (10am to 4pm) It was fun! In fact, J--'s mom was there. Yes, SHE is mentoring Shakespeare for QuEST this Fall. LOL! I guess J-- comes home in January, and she will help direct their show this Spring.

Strange business, yes?

Saturday night, we had a lovely Italian dinner, and then yesterday we had my birthday cake. (Angel food cake with real whipped cream and raspberries. YUM!) Daddy got me the new Vocal Point album, and a costume drama movie called "Belle."

Here are the links for Morganne-- sorry Brennan! ;-) :

Vocal Point- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVA3iYJ_H5Y
Preview for "Belle"- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiI8PNdvkhY

Yesterday, Dierdre gave her FIRST talk in Sacrament meeting!!! She did an AWESOME job, and so many people stopped to tell me how impressed they were. She spoke on Repentance, and had wonderful scriptures, conference talks, and personal experiences to use. I did not help her one bit! It was all her! I was very glad that Lliam decided to come to church and support Didi.

The Spirit was sooo strong through all our meetings. It was a wonderful, wonderful Sabbath day!

And here we are on Monday morning. I have no idea whether Brennan will get this today-- Labor Day! Daddy gets to stay home from work, and everyone got to sleep in.

And I get to write my wonderful missionaries. :-)

I love you both so, so dearly. I am SOOO PROUD of you and all you are doing!!! You are setting a wonderful example for all your younger siblings. And I APPRECIATE that so much!!!!!!!!

Lots of love, hugs, kisses, and glowing proudness,
Mom

July in Full Swing

Just another July morning at our house!

It was actually a pretty slow and hot week for us here in AZ. Let's see...

It was the little girls' last week of swimming lessons. They have had such a great time, and it's been strange to have the house quiet in the mornings-- weird, huh? I don't think Eryn ever got her face wet, but they tried! Avalon did get brave, and went all the way under the water. I think it was a fun and exciting opportunity for them to have something that was all their own.

The little girls at swimming lessons

Lliam spent a lot of this week at S---'s house. They are really working hard to get a band going, and I'm happy to have him spending time with a good family. He's helped them with dinner and even went to an extended family gathering with them.

Lliam and his friend, S--, making dinner

There's a lady in our ward here that I actually grew up with in good, ole Ammon! We went to girls camp and school together, though I didn't know her all that well. (I was close friends with her big sister. She was in Wade's high school class.) She ended up spending some time in Idaho this summer, and actually ran into Granna and Morganne at the humanitarian center in Idaho Falls, where they and Grandma Nielsen and Aunt Colleen and Uncle Jim work as missionaries. It was awesome to have her bring me back a picture of Granna and Morganne! :-) The Humanitarian center is such a special place-- I wish we had one here in AZ! 

Granna and Morganne working hard at the Humanitarian Center

I forgot to mention that last week Daddy and I went to a 40th anniversary production of Saturday's Warrior. I cried-- okay, ugly sobbed-- during the song "Didn't we love him?". I had forgotten how emotional that part was going to be for me. There is nothing more difficult than watching a child make choices that you know will harm their spirit!

Bonny has been working all week on redecorating her room. Actually, she's been working on it for weeks, but finally got paint to finish painting it this week. We moved Grayse into Bonny's room, and Eryn down to share a room with MacKenna. So far, it's been working great!

Bonny and Grayse in their beauteous room.
(All design and work done by Bonny!)

Bonny is so excited to be planning a trip to Europe with a homeschool group next Spring. She has started saving every penny she makes, and has worked hard teaching ballet and babysitting to earn what she needs. I am VERY excited for her to go, too! Lliam says he wants to go, but is still looking for a job. We'll see-- it would be so awesome for them to both go!

Everyone is doing well and Ronan's war wound has healed. Pa came down for his (kidney transplant) surgery, but they had to postpone it, because he's had a terrible sinus infection. This morning when he called, he told me they may not operate until the 21st! So Pa's just staying with Ann and Dan, and Lliam is on hold for being his caretaker until then, it sounds like. We'll keep you updated on that.

My 92 year old Grandma Nielsen with my cousin's daughter at her baptism

Earlier last week, sweet Grandma Nielsen had a pretty bad fall in the middle of the night, and spent the night on her knees, until her hospice caregiver came the next morning. :-( So, the family has all rallied around to call her every night to check on her. She has a strong testimony of the importance of missionary work, and so she is doing what she can, even for her great-grandchildren on missions, including keeping their pictures up on her refrigerator. I have a wonderful grandma and love her VERY much!!!

And now, for some more pictures of the precious people in our family!

Fun and happy Fiona

Davy likes cereal!

I love Eryn's toothless grin!

Silly Grayse

MacKenna has a contagious smile.

Ronan tinkering, as usual.

Lovely Dierdre is really growing up!

Love, Mama Rachel