Spoons and Forks

We ate dinner with my in-laws last Sunday.  We had a delicious dinner, and (of course) dessert afterwards.  Dennis was eating his ice cream and broke the plastic spoon he was using, which happens a lot with plastic utensils.  Morgen, sitting next to him, burst out "These are the worst forks EVER!!"  Well, yes, since they are actually spoons...

Lovely weather

This is how I spent most of yesterday afternoon: sitting on my front porch and knitting.  The weather was lovely and warm, but not too warm.  I could smell flowers blooming and see bees flying around.  It was a beautiful break.

Then I had lunch, and pulled out one of our jars of elderberry jam.  We (when I say "we," what I mean is "everyone except for me") picked elderberries about 2 years ago.  Jared & I juiced them and made lots of jam.  And because my mother taught me well, I labeled the jar lids "10-2011" and "elder" because "elderberry" wouldn't fit.  Then I had to go do something not in the kitchen, and when I got back, Jared had finished labeling the jars.  Only he was more creative with his labels:

yep, that says "deacon."  There were several other jars with interesting labels, too**:  "sister," "high priest," and "teacher." I love my husband!

Oh, and the jam is excellent, of course.

Also, a bit of a brag on my kids.  First, W.  He's kept a 4.0 for the first 3 terms of 9th grade.  If all goes as expected, he should finish out 4th term with a 4.0 as well.  Monday night we attended a "honors award ceremony" and he got a certificate and his picture put in the paper.  Hooray!  He's worked very hard this year to earn those grades, and we are all proud of the effort it took.

M had two pieces of artwork on display in her school's "Hot Arts Festival."  She is becoming an excellent artist, and was thrilled to see her work included in the display.  I am so excited to see her get this recognition!

H just finished a "mini-society" in his classroom.  He and 2 friends figured out what they wanted to sell at their business, made flyers and coupons and a store-front sign, and then made the products they sold.  H says they did very well :) and I'm proud of his hard work and cooperation.

Jared is training hard this month.  And I am knitting lots of things, and trying to remember to water the garden.


** an "elder" is the title we give to our male missionaries. it has a rank in the priesthood, so men can also be elders without being missionaries.  the women missionaries are titled "sister."  "high priest," "deacon," and "teacher" are all ranks in the priesthood as well.

Plan of the day

I am a list person.  I do much better goal-wise if I can write down what I want to accomplish, then cross them off as I finish them.  However, it is rather easy for me to get really excited and write down ALL the things, forgetting that I only have 24 hours in my day.  Also, I have these kids (and sometimes a husband) who will plan things and forget to inform me, throwing off my schedule.  So, I have started making lists I will actually follow, which has two benefits.  I can write down things like "eat popcorn for lunch" because I KNOW I will get that done, AND I get to cross it off :) later.  Also? It takes up visual room on my list, which convinces me I am being productive every day.  Which feeds my desire to finish things on the list, making me a more productive person in reality, and has the added benefit of adding humor to my sometimes dreary days.

This is a compilation of some of the things that I've put on my recent POTD (plan of the day) lists.  Please note that, while I may have done several of these things in one day, I have not (yet) done ALL of them in one day.  :)


up.
eat chocolate bar and cherry coke for breakfast  see, i totally did that and then wrote it down because if it is on the list, i MUST do it!
wrap teacher appreciation gift for younger son
explain to younger son why taking a bag of already-popped-popcorn to school for his teacher may not be the best way to show his appreciation for her, even if popcorn IS her favorite snack.   done, but i'm not sure he believes me
meditation this is code for "read a page of scripture,then pray that everyone survives the day"
kids off to school.
♫ la, la, la ♪  this is code for "fun!!!!!!!!!" which can be anything, really, depending on my mood at the time of reading.
internet- look for a fish-shaped pattern on Ravelry and get lost in the wonder of it all for 2 hours
shower
dress
knit on something fun today.
fold and put away my laundry
ignore oldest son's laundry, which is sitting glumly on the couch.
exercise
rejoice that my strategy of ignoring oldest son’s laundry actually resulted in it disappearing from the couch before i got up this morning!!!  this is an ongoing rejoicing, btw
eat popcorn for lunch
make kids get into the car.  be sure to act a little bit angry or annoyed.  don't answer when they ask where we are going.  drive to movie theater and see [insert really cool movie title here]
laugh at their faces when they realize they're not in trouble.  
make oldest son cook dinner so i can knit more.
:) knit while waiting for soccer practice to end
BED.

See, that's the kind of list I can do every day.  Well, maybe not the coke for breakfast part.

Signs of Spring

* the furnace only turns on in the evening, overnight, and morning.  during the day it is quiet, mostly!
* there are buds on everything!
* our garlic and onions are sprouting, and the raspberries have little green leaves.
* the sun is coming up earlier every day.
* my online competitive knitting group is gearing up for another three months of crafting.
* i've been weeding.
* the front porch is freshly swept and chairs are set up.
* we moved the bikes from the basement to the garage.

look: baby lilacs!