Taking a stand

Last year I did alterations for 2 young women getting married.  One of the ladies' mom just wrote to me asking if I do alterations and what I charge.   Rather than say "oh, no problem" or "I can't to anything because it's all I can do to read FB and keep the kids alive..." I wrote this reply:

T, Y is a better sewer than me. I can do some things, but mostly my work is a little messy. Doing the sleeves for T's dress was easy, but zippers are actually really sewn in there good. I never put zippers in anything I make because they are so fussy! I don't want to leave you high and dry though. So if there's something you need done, I'd charge $10. Like hem a skirt or take something in, or make a jumper into a skirt... Clothes are so inexpensive now a days, that it's sadly worth fixing it unless it's something you really love. I usually just dress my kids in thrift store stuff and hand me downs (and I'm only a little self conscious about that). Funny that even as I say clothes are inexpensive, I still almost never buy anything new. Sorry to write a novel : )
Best,
E
So there you have it ladies (I don't think any men read my blog...).   I have officially said that my time and talents are valuable.  Now,  to get some pants on lP.

 

failure avoidance (graphic content)

I like when my kids watch media that it should at least not teach them bad things.  We've been watching the Phantom Tollbooth which P gave me for my birthday.  It is the bomb for educational musical with great life messages.  I'm transcribing it out because it doesn't have subtitles and I really want G to have the benefit of all the great messages.  This is one of the songs:
 

Time is a gift

Time is gift, fleeting and swift,

Ticking and tocking itself away,

Itself a way of saying better beware,

Time is a gift, precious and rare,

Take it and make of it all you can

Use all you can, there’s not a moment to spare,

So, take a second to look around,

See a sight, hear a sound,

Time ticks hastily away,

Take time to save it every day!

Time saved, in the nick of time,

Is golden time.

Take a minute to concentrate,

Analyze, Contemplate,

Take an hour and change the fate of the world!

Time is a gift, given to you,

Given to give you the time you need,

The time you need to have the time of your life!

I was recently defending Dora to my neighbor (the one who is not doing much with her life and takes her dad, who supports her, completely for granted.  But she did give her baby up for adoption so I think that is good).  She stated that Dora doesn't really do such a good job of teaching Spanish.  I said that Dora isn't supposed to teach Spanish.  It teaches kids to memorize steps, respond on que, and celebrate a "mision completa!" also known as a job well done.

Yesterday a boy was visiting and wanted us to like Sponge Bob.  He previously told me that his sister just had a baby with her "boyfriend, I mean fiance, or whatever".  So when he tried to use her liking Sponge Bob as proof of its appeal to intelligent/mature people, I was unconvinced.

I know I have been given opportunities that most people never have.  I am so grateful for my husband and children.  My thought of the day is that you should not do things that have life long consequences (aka have sex) with someone you don't have a life long commitment from.  How selfish!  When the choices are killing a baby of a jerk, or birthing the baby of a jerk and consigning that soul to a life largely determined by the genetics of their parents... it's horrifying that women don't demand better.

Aphorisms

I had some goals for the summer.  They were not huge, but just some daily direction.  One was to go to the park at 10 daily.  We've done pretty good with that one, often meeting up with awesome people.  Another goal was to have the kids stitch their names.  We tried to do that with needles and cross stitch web, but it was a little ambitious.  Sunday we used plastic web and plastic rope (gimp, boondoggle), and it was a success!  Even better than a success, the plastic rope is glow in the dark so the children have had continued enjoyment from having them at night.

I'd been wanting to have the children memorize things for a while.  I wanted G to have something to recite to practice specific speech targets in a sentence.  And I wanted M to be signing specific phrases more clearly than she usually does.  Her sign is less clear than G's speech.  Just last week I learned to spell Aphorism, so we could start memorizing some : )

A penny saved is a penny earned.
Better safe than sorry.
Don't bite off more than you can chew.
If at first you don't succeed, try try again.

passe

M mentioned that she's glad that blogs are not so popular now because it's hard to keep up with them all.  The trick of that is that now I don't have anything to read!  I wonder what the cycle of it is and when the book about it will be published.  Have people who used to blog gotten tired of it?  Or maybe people decided that it wasn't fun, or a good idea to put so much up on the web? 

Thank you for those of you still writing.  I enjoy seeing that a new post is available, like a new book by my favorite authors.  A new view into your distant lives.  I miss you friends and family. 

Pioneer day

I'm organizing a Pioneer Party tomorrow for the 2 wards in our building.  I'm gun-ho to have a party because I want my kids to have a party to go to.  And I'm hoping others will come too.  The president from the other ward just got back from UT and won't be able to make it.  She talked about how in UT everything is so different.  People just go to the activity and it's in their neighborhood and they don't have to travel so far to get to church during this time when there is so much going on.  I thought it was ironic to say it is too far to drive 15 minutes to the church to celebrate the Pioneer trek across America. 

But it's just a party.

27 months

I was reading about baby Veronica being ordered back to her adoptive parents.  I'm so glad for them, and so mad at the bio-dad.  As I read the dates when he took her from the only parents she'd known, I thought of lP who is about that age.  How dare he snatch her away.  How abusive.  If he wanted a kid, he should have gone an adopted one himself.  Even if he really, really wanted her, he should have worked something out with the adoptive parents, to be in her life, if that would have been good for her.  Instead she's spent the last 18 months deprived of her parents, and possibly being spoiled rotten during a really important developmental stage.

Being a mom

http://www.estheremery.com/2013/05/12/happy-mothers-day-where-theres-a-will-theres-a-way/

I read this post and thought about how I do my best to replicate my childhood.  The kids are learning to be frugal.  To value intelligence.  To love the savior. 

And people are going to look at me and wonder if all the kids are mine.  And they're going to say things that come across my wavering convictions like nails on a chalkboard. 

I love being a mom.

blessing

 B got blessed this week.  I was able to get this cute picture of him Saturday Night.  Good thing too because Sunday was busy like crazy.

 P did the activity for FHE.  He's so cool.  He taught the kids the magic of paper-clip chains. 

They kept making them until the whole box was linked up.

Out and about

 lP loves having her picture taken.

 M's hair is finally long enough to touch her shoulders.

 And braid!  I thought she'd have cut it by now but she is trying really hard to grow it out.

 We went to Gainesville and then to High Springs to float the river with the P family.  I love that tradition.

 They had clear skies until the last 50fl of river.  Grandma L and I hung out at the car with bB.  We only had a few sprinkles and a lovely breeze.  Then when the family returned it started to pour.  Luckily we already had our amazing umbrella set up.  Thanks Mom!

P built this bike rack!  Now the kids can park it and keep it from taking over the whole garage.  Nice!