A Penny for My Thoughts

The Return of Pi POD

2012-01-28T23:14:00.000-07:00

Today was Utah's Lego League State Championship. Team Pi Pod came back as the returning champs, but I don't think they had very high expectations for the day, as far as winning went. They wanted to do another year because they enjoy each other so much and it is great fun.

The day began early with the parade of teams.

Their first of three robot runs was their highest and it let them hold onto the 2nd place robot score out of the 52 teams competing.
Here is a long-ish video of 2 robot runs if you're interested. It's not very obvious what to look for but there are several different missions the boys programmed their robots to complete on a table of lego obstacles.

The boys were pleased with their judging session on Project presentations. There are also team work and robot design and programming judging sessions. But the teams don't know anything about their scoring or standings, except for robot performance, until the awards ceremony at the end of the day.

There are awards in several categories and then 2 overall champion awards. Pi Pod won the 2nd place champion award and they were thrilled! A Utah team is not eligible this year to go to the World Festival in St. Louis; instead, one of the champion teams will get to go to Legoland California to compete and one will get to go to Legoland Florida. Tough choice! The 1st place team gets to choose first, so we don't know yet which it will be for Pi Pod. But very fun either way!

We had a very enjoyable day hanging at the U. The hats that Abe and Cannon are wearing were a handout from another team named Lego Bistro. They won an award for best project and two of the boys are in our ward, so we were very happy for them.

Here's a picture of Cannon, just because I love him and I think he's really cute.

I love him, too, and he is YUMMY!

Abe and I had a fantastic birthday date last night.

Here's a little video of them winning their award.

January is Not So Bad

2012-01-27T10:39:00.000-07:00

We are almost to the end of January (I hear you cheering). I've got nothing against January-- I save my blah feelings for February. Nevertheless, I understand that there are many who do not love January. I've put together a little list of what I am grateful for to counteract any January blues.

1. Abe's birthday is TODAY!!!! He is 37 and we have a hot date planned-- a play at Hale Center Theater and then dinner at P.F. Changs. To quote a little Black-Eyed Peas, (because you know how up to date I am on the music scene) "Tonight's gonna be a good night!" Abe is still my favorite person on the planet, and I do believe I am his favorite. Then the children, but then Mitt Romney. And I'm okay with that order.

2. I live in a relatively safe and honest community. Case in point, I can leave my keys in the ignition and leave all my doors unlock while I take my little boys into Walmart and my car is left undisturbed until I return. As happy as I am that my car was still there, in hindsight, it really wasn't a good decision. I will try really hard to not do that again. Oops.
I don't think I think very clearly when I am go to Walmart because the last time as I was heading back out to my car I parked my cart next to my car and tried over and over to unlock it. I was so confused when the van suddenly started on it's own. I thought, "What is going on? I don't have one of those fancy 'start you car with the press of a button on your key chain' cars!" I looked at the driver's seat and lo and behold-- someone is sitting there. Yeah, it was not my van.

3. I am grateful for reasonable, realistic expectations. For several years now it has seemed to be too much for me to make sure all members of this family are dressed anew and groomed neatly every day. I don't want to say I've given up the quest, but let's face it-- I hit the mark on Sundays and I think that is acceptable. There are days I forget to comb my hair. If you see me with a rather unkempt ponytail, there is a good chance my lovely locks have not made contact with a brush that day. (How have I come to this?) It is not uncommon for Cannon to wear his clothing--regular daytime clothing or pajamas for 48 hours. I am happy to encourage him to wear a super-hero outfit overtop his pajamas because then I am not reminded of what he's got on underneath. Meanwhile, Faith still changes her clothes 4 times a day. I figure between the two of them we average a proper amount of clean clothing.

4. Friends. I am always grateful for friends. Book club friends, piano friends, home school friends, church friends, exercise friends, sister friends, long-distance friends family friends, couple friends. Bethany recently asked me if my friends were as important to me as her's are to her. I explained that with adults, it is different. I don't need to get together with my friends a lot to play. For me, they are a support, they think the best of me, they are on my side, they want to best for me and vice versa.

"It is a good thing to be rich and a good thing to be strong, but it is a better thing to be loved by many friends." --Euripides

5. Tomorrow is the end of an era. Clark's final PiPod Lego League state competition is tomorrow at the University of Utah. It is bittersweet. For the last 3 years the experience as nothing but positive and a HUGE blessing to Clark and our whole family. Very, very grateful.

6. Grateful to be able to home school my children. I enjoy them. I enjoy the rhythm of the day. Which rhythm as been interrupted by my blogging at 10:00 in the morning. Time for me to go crack the whip!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ABE!! I LOVE YOU!!

Why Can't the Americans Learn to Speak?

2012-01-25T22:12:00.000-07:00

Listen, I love America as much or more than the next guy. I cry when I sing the Star Spangled Banner. I'm big into the Pledge of Allegiance. The Fourth of July is one of my very favorite holidays.

But let's face it. There is nothing lovely about the way we speak. I feel such envy when I listen to the English speak. And it's not just the way they pronounce their words-- its the the way they phrase things and the order of the words. It is just lovely. So soothing. And so correct.

I am now teaching my fourth child how to read. There are words in the "American English" that do not make any sense. Why do we pronounce "been" as "bin"? The English don't do that. I bet English children have an easier time learning to read since they pronounce words as they ought to.

I cannot get enough of BBC broadcasts or Masterpiece Theater. Pretty much the only things we get from Netflix are English period dramas. My latest favorites: Downton Abbey, Lark Rise to Candleford, Sherlock, Cranford.

I don't play tennis at all, but I quite enjoy watching (listening to) Wimbledon every summer. I don't watch any other tennis tournaments, but I love Wimbledon.

Even as I write, my family is joining me in watching the BBC souvenir William and Catherine wedding coverage DVD. I got it from the library and I was so excited because we were on our St. Louis trip and I didn't get to soak in all the wedding festivities.

As the DVD was getting started they had a BBC reporter interviewing a group of young ladies from several different English speaking countries-- South Africa, Canada, Australia, and yes, even the great United States of America. Why did the reporter have to let the American speak. Painful to my ears.

I'm sorry to be so harsh, but there it is. William and Kate were just pronounced man and wife. Lovely. Just lovely.

A Smattering

2012-01-22T17:46:00.000-07:00

I don't like to go this long in between posts because it's harder to get started again, but here is a smattering of what's on my mind

Operation: Get in Shape Girl is going well, but it takes a lot of time and thought and energy. I have now lost 30 pounds since the middle of September. I exercise 6 days a week morning and night-- so I do think I've earned every one of those lost pounds. They sure were a lot easier to gain than to lose! That being said, I quite enjoy the exercise and am considering running a half-marathon on March 31st. Anyone interested in joining me?

You can only have so many "top priorities". The thing is to not get down about what you are getting done or doing well. I have to remember that if other things were my top priority I would be getting them done. It's not that I can't clean my bathrooms or do fun art projects with the kids. It's just that that isn't my focus right now.

The children in Primary today were rather naughty. It wasn't much fun and I didn't particularly enjoy it. Perhaps the sheen of the new teachers has worn off for the kids and now they are seeing what they can get away with. Today, it seemed like they got away with quite a bit.

Abe and I love to watch Downton Abbey on PBS Sunday nights. Oh, happy day--it is Sunday night!

Clark gave a great talk in Sacrament Meeting today on keeping the Sabbath Day holy. But Downton Abbey is okay, right?

George had an ear infection this week. Clark had a nasty-bad sinus infection that took him out of life for the entire week. Both boys seem to be recovering. When babies get sick that get exponentially harder to take care of. When bigger kids get sick they get much easier. Clark is so gentle and mild when he's sick. I do feel badly for him... but...
No, no, of course I don't want my Man-Child to be sick. But nor do I particularly enjoy taking the brunt of 12 year-old mood swings.

Last night Abe took the kids to Walmart. I was busy preparing tasty victuals for my family to eat and I suppose they all wanted to get out of the house. With her own money Faith purchased a $5 pink and purple golf club set. Now, if it had been me, I'm sure I would have forbidden such a purchase. I know-- I'm so mean. But whereas Abe saw a fun harmless toy for cheap, I see a matched set of weapons for children to fight over and damage property.
Need I mention there has been much fighting over the golf clubs already, even thought they clearly belong to Faith. Cannon and George just don't have any respect for property rights yet.

Elinor tested for her purple belt in Tae Kwon Do on Saturday. She did great and she LOVES Tae Kwon Do. There is a Japanese cartoon called Avatar that we can watch on Netflix. To say Elinor loves this show is an understatement. Actually, all the kids love it and and they quote it ad nauseum. Clark regularly reminds Elinor that it is not real-- there are no such things as air benders or water benders. Occasionally, I'll overhear and episode and I'll realize, "Oh, so that is where Elinor has heard that phrase or tone of voice or inflection of words."

Elinor did have a better week with getting her stuff done each day and didn't have to miss any days of Tae Kwon Do. Which is good for her, because this is what she loves.

And I agree, num-chucks are fun!

Breaking a board with your kicking is really fun!

I am currently reading Middlemarch by George Elliot. I'm very much enjoying it, although I'm not getting through it as fast as I'd like. Just not enough time for reading. Once again, I remind myself that if reading was my top priority I would get it done. Dang all those dishes and laundry!
The other day Bethany asked me if I like being a mom. I told her I liked it very much. She asked if there was anything I didn't like about being a mom. I told her that it isn't so much anything I dislike. I don't really mind the dishes and laundry. It's more that there is so much I would like to do that I don't have time for. I must remember that eternity is a long time and I'll have time to do every good thing, eventually!

Hey There

2012-01-14T22:45:00.000-07:00

"Hey, there ladies. I'm Cannon."
Bethany and Elinor set up a photo shoot for Cannon and Faith.

There is a little black twisty thing on a lamp that turns it on and off. Cannon had untwisted it and lost it. When Abe realized it was missing and he was unable to turn the lamp on he called out, "Does anybody know what happened to the little black twisty thing?"
Cute little Faith responds, "Oh, I know where that is!"
And sure enough, she went straight to it. How does she do it?

Thursday night (January 12th) we went to a Twelfth Night Shakespeare banquet. Clark is a part of a Shakespeare class taught by our good friend Andrea Flynn. The kids, ranging in age from 8-16 put on a skit with several scenes from Shakespeare plays they have done. It was great fun to see Clark and his buddies reprise their drunken monster scene from The Tempest from a couple of years ago.

Elinor was the Dr. from MacBeth.
When the kids have 20 days of getting all their "stuff" done they get to go on a date with Abe or I. Today, Elinor and I went out to lunch together at Wingers. Unfortunately, we were seated in an area of the restaurant with a lot of TVs. Elinor is like a moth to the flame when the TV is on, so the conversation was less than rewarding since I couldn't really get her attention away from the screens. Next time we'll have to take a quiet walk by the river.

From my very brief research, I believe Mario Kart was one of the most popular video games in 2008. We are a few years behind the times and we just got it for Christmas. But it is fun and we're playing it too much. Abe and I enjoyed a night out with our friends, the Butterfields, last night.

I love this man for many reasons, but tonight the top reason was how he played with the little kids, even though he had a head ache. The big kids were all gone to different activities and so it was just the little ones.

Helicopter is the Daddy special!

He really picks up speed.

Abe was a little saddened to realize it has been a while since he's worn through the knees of a pair of jeans by rough housing with the little kids. He figures he was down on the ground playing a lot more with the older kids. It's all good though, because these little ones have the older ones to play with them a lot. No one in this house is starved for someone to play with!

Yo!
Peace out.

At the Car Wash

2012-01-14T21:23:00.001-07:00

I don't wash my car very often.

As in, I haven't washed my car in about 3 years.

When we bought our minivan in 2002 is was a really nice car. It had lots of bells and whistles and automatic everything and such. It has been a very comfy and reliable car for the last ten years. Forgive my pride, but for many years as I drove around town I was confident that I had a nice set of wheels.

Nowadays, when I taxi my people around the valley I am ever more conscious that my van is getting older. The automatic doors have long since become manual. The automatic door locks make a horrid grinding noise. The passenger side sliding door won't open from the inside. The DVD player has had the same movie stuck in it (Veggie Tales: Jonah) for the last two years. Maintenance and breakdowns are more frequent. However, I purposefully only think happy, grateful thoughts towards my van. I don't want my van to get hurt feelings and seek revenge on me someday by not starting when I need it most.

Anyway, for several years I didn't really think it necessary to have a sparkly, shiny, clean car because I had nothing to prove. It just was a nice car. Kind of like how a very wealthy person can get away with wearing junky "vintage" clothing and messy looking hairstyles. They don't have to prove anything with nice clothes and perfectly coiffed hair. They just are.

It took me a while to see that I couldn't rely on the merit of my car anymore. It was getting older and run down and and perhaps I needed to start doing something to enhance it's value. I couldn't discern between the dirt and the rust. I needed to make more of an effort to keep the inside cleaned up, and heaven forbid, it was time to visit the CAR WASH!

Last week I took Cannon and George with me and paid a visit to the Sparkle Express Car Wash. I splurged and bought the fancy pants car wash that involved some actual human elbow grease. I like to think that one of the reasons I haven't washed my car very often over the years is that all of my children from the age of 12 months to about 4 are terrified of the automatic car wash. I realize I could wash my car at home with a bucket and a sponge, but that seems like an awful lot of work and extra laundry when I consider that everyone would want to be involved and everyone would get soaked. And as I write that I realize I am probably depriving my family of a good Mormon Ad family time moment, but, oh well.

But I digress. Back to the children being terrified. They have been genuinely frightened, as Cannon and George were this time around. But it's not just them. I try to cheer and smile and say, "Oh my! Isn't this exciting? Look! The car is taking a shower!!", but secretly I do not enjoy the experience. Mostly because I'm convinced I am going to miss the little grooves that you are supposed to drive your wheels into and then somehow I'll totally mess up all the gears of the car wash and it will stop working right when my car is in the middle of it and the giant brushes will just keep washing and slapping the car and the kids will be screaming and I'll have to get out of the car and...

You can see I have issues.

Anyway, my car cleaned up real purty. It isn't as old and beat up as I thought it was. All that automatic stuff on the inside still doesn't work but I think I gave my van the equivalent of a face lift. It looks at least 3 years younger!