General Womens Conference

Last night, I felt so blessed to have Kirsten come with me to watch the General Women's Conference at our Stake Center. 

A part in Linda K. Burton's talk stood out to me. She quoted the prophet Mormon saying, "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God..."

Sister Burton then said, "He knew who he was and what his mission was and was not distracted by the evil that surrounded him." 

Do we know who we are?

I know that if we come unto Christ and follow Him, we too can know of our divine heritage as children of God and the vital work He has for us to do.

Second Symphony Performance

This afternoon we enjoyed hearing Steven play with the San Jose Youth Symphony for their second concert of the season. This time around, the conductor wanted the Intermezzo group to learn pieces that are slow. Apparently it is harder to play a string instrument slow while still making it sound good. 

We listened to them perform:

Symphony No. 73 "La Chasse" IV. Presto by Franz Joseph Haydn

Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky

and

Scottish Air and Reel by Susan C. Brown

Steven loves playing in the symphony. He is currently practicing a couple of pieces for an upcoming audition for next season.

Self Soothing

I'm feeling more free these days. For the past couple of weeks, I've been working with Loni on falling asleep on her own. Right now she'll cry for about 10 minutes in her crib before falling asleep. If she is crying hysterically after 20 minutes, than I know it's a failed attempt. At night, she doesn't cry at all. 

Generally, Lonetta is such a happy baby. She gives her smiles freely, but you have to earn a laugh from her. 

Favorite Hobby

The Laurel class invited all the Young Women and their mothers for a fun game night. Our first task was to fill out a "How well do you know your daughter/mother?"questionnaire. It was fun to read Kirsten's responses with regards to me. One of the questions was, "Favorite hobby". She wrote down, "watching children". This simple observation meant the world to me.

Sadly, I have noticed an increase of opinions that are negative towards motherhood. For example, during the previous presidential campaign, Democratic National Committee political consultant Hilary Rosen stated that Ann Romney had "never worked a day in her life." Do you remember this? Ann responded, "I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work."

To disregard the value of motherhood is to disregard the value of children, and of families. Motherhood is hard! It is a full-time job that never ends. It requires all the physical, mental, and emotional strength a body can muster. We've all heard the quote that children don't just raise themselves. They don't learn to work hard on their own. They don't learn values and morals on their own. They have been entrusted into the hands of mothers and fathers by our loving Heavenly Father. By choosing to stay home to raise my children, I am investing my time, talents, and energy to ensure that they are loved and taught their divine potential.

Thank you Kirsten; for reminding me of my divine role of being a mother...

To watch children.

Elephant Ears

The Phoenicians are a fascinating people to learn about. They were expert ship builders, sailors, glass blowers, and were famous for their beautiful purple dye out of snails called murex. The Phoenicians sailed all around the Mediterranean Sea, trading and starting colonies. One of the most famous cities was Carthage, built on the northern coast of Africa. It started out as a tiny village but soon grew to be a huge city where merchants came from different countries to trade their goods. Rome wanted to trade with these countries but didn't want Carthage interfering. So, Rome and Carthage fought with each other for many, many year. These wars were called the Punic Wars. 

One interesting story that emerged from this war was about a Carthaginian general and his elephants. Hannibal saw that the battle between Carthage and Rome at sea was a stalemate. So while the two navies fought with each other, Hannibal took his army and 40 elephants around the Mediterranean Sea by land and surprised the Romans by coming down over the Alps in Italy. The Roman soldiers fled in terror. Most of them had never seen an elephant before. And these weren't ordinary elephants. They were specifically trained for battle. When they were told to attack, they spread their ears wide out to make their heads appear larger. Their heads and ears were painted red, white, and yellow. Some pulled carts full of armed Carthaginian soldiers shooting arrows at the Romans. The Romans who were brave enough to fight back, mounted their horses to attack head on. But their horses were stricken with fear and bolted.

Kirsten loved hearing this story about her favorite animal. A fun activity to go along with this history lesson is to make elephant ears using a can of biscuit dough. She rolled them out in the shape of ears and fried them in a pan of hot oil. They were then coated with a cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Yum! Very tasty. And easy to make.

Backyard Camping

 Kirsten and Dave-o went camping in our backyard. I'm so happy that Kirsten doesn't mind doing these kind of things with her little brother. 

 When it was nearing bedtime, Kirsten said that she would bring a book and a flashlight into the tent. I suggested she just bring her Kindle. She was aghast at my suggestion. 

"But MOM! You never bring electronics on a campout! It wouldn't be camping if you did." 

 Sitting around a fire, roasting marshmallows, and eating S'Mores was also done to authenticate the camping experience.

Now Dave-o wants to sleep outside every night.

Hooray for the First Day of Spring

Despite continued wintry conditions in much of the United States, California has enjoyed spring-like weather for some time now.  However, today officially marks the beginning of my favorite season.

For me, spring brings the blossoms, poppies, strawberries, the sound of buzzing bees, driving around town with the windows down, sweet smells from my jasmine, and the end of school. 

To celebrate spring, Kirsten made a birdcage out of wire hangers. She wrapped torn fabric strips around the wire and glued spring inspired accessories to it like, birds, butterflies, and flowers.  

Colors of Filoli Garden

Spring is in full bloom. Mom Zinn invited us to see the beautiful colors of Filoli's Garden with her.
Before we could start our walk, I had to take care of Loni who had a HUGE explosion during the car ride to the gardens. The pooh was everywhere. The cleanup required almost an entire case of wipes. 

Dave-o was our tour guide. Mom Zinn gave him the map and he told us where to go and where not to go. 

Field of daffodils

Magnets, Volcanoes, and Ancient Rome

These past couple of months Kirsten has learned about magnets and magnetic Earth. She made a compass using a needle, piece of cork, and magnets.

Volcanoes 

(She baked strawberry tarts to go along with the lesson.) 

The pie crust is Earth's crust and the filling is the magma. 

And currently, Kirsten is studying Ancient Rome. She made sand playdough and used it to build a Roman archway and aqueduct.

Recipe for Sand Dough

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of play sand (found at any hardware store)
• 2 cups of cornstarch
• 4 teaspoons of cream of tartar

Directions:

• Combine in saucepan and whisk together. 
• Add 3 cups of hot water. Place the pot over medium heat and stir constantly until you cannot stir any longer.
• When it is too stiff to stir, take off the heat and let it cool for 10 minutes. 
• Knead it slightly and put unused dough into a re-sealable bag until it will be used. 
• Soak pan for an hour to wash out the dough residue.

The Big 04

 Lonetta has spent this last month with a runny/stuffy nose, drainage, and a bad cough. This has of course gotten her sleep routine off course. Sleeping through the night is a memory in the past and nap times are short and interrupted with fits of coughing. 

Right now, she is at the end of her illness and seems to have returned to sleeping through the night. 

Even though Loni has felt under the weather, she still has lots of smiles and sunshine to spread around. She really is a joy to have. 

It's tough work, but rewarding.

She is now reaching for things.

Lonetta's four month stats:

 Height: 2 feet (33%)

Weight: 12 lbs 14 oz (24%)

The Big 40

I couldn't have asked for a more perfect birthday.

David took the day off to celebrate this milestone in my life.

While James and Justin were at college, the rest of us spent the afternoon in SF.

The majority of the time, we spent enjoying Fort Funston. This has always been my favorite beach. You can meander along many different paths that hug the coastline. Or, you can explore the bunkers. If you want to meditate, there are many areas along the cliffs to hide away. Or you can hike down to the beach and look for sand dollars.

We did the latter.

David told the kids that we couldn't leave until they found 40 sand dollars (intact ones). I thought this task would be impossible since I usually only find a couple with each visit. 

However, the tide was low and gentle. In the end, we went home with 52. 

(I think I'll frame 40 of them.)

The first thing Dave-o did was take his shoes off and roll up his pants.

Before heading home, we visited the tulip garden in Golden Gate Park.

Once home, David worked hard at putting the finishing touches on my Orange Chiffon Cake.

It was AMAZING! Best cake ever!

(If you're interested in the recipe, click here.)

I'm not 40...I'm 18 with 22 years experience.