The Spirit of Christmas

What do I do to have the Spirit of Christmas in my home?  I pondered this question and then felt very inadequate, because I wasn't sure I did anything special to have the Spirit of Christmas in my home.  I put up my decorations and tree as early as I can (often before Thanksgiving).  I turn on the Christmas music because I love the songs.  I purchase a wrap gifts for my children and family.  I make Christmas goodies to give to friends and neighbors.  We read the nativity story from Luke.  I began to realize that all of these traditions are part of what brings the Spirit of Christmas into my home.  It becomes a special time, different from the rest of the year.

A week or so ago, Cami (age 5) re-created a Christmas Nativity scene by placing nativity stickers on a doorhanger.  The Nativity characters were haphazardly arranged all over the place so Troy asked for an explanation.  "This," said Cami, pointing to the star, "Is the star.  And this is the donkey, eating the star."  "Well," asked Troy, "What are these three guys doing over here?"  "Those guys are fixing the barn," replied Cami.  "And why is baby Jesus way over here, by Himself?" asked Troy.  "He just wanted to crawl around in the hay," Cami answered.

Only a child would understand what baby Jesus was like.  Only a child would picture Him wanting to crawl around in the hay.  We adults just want to place Him in the manger and have Him stay there, just as we prefer our own children staying in bed.  I love viewing the world through the eyes of a five year old. 
Interesting to think too, that the wisemen were fixing the barn.  Shouldn't we also be looking for the needs of others at Christmas time along with handing out plates of goodies and gifts.  Service should be our goal all the time, but especially at Christmas time with so many who are lonely or lost.  What will I give?
 
President Monson once said that we only need to remove the last syllable and the Spirit of Christmas becomes the Spirit of Christ.  True joy comes when we serve others and in serving, we emulate the Saviour.  The Spirit of Christmas should be found in us all year round.

Grandmas

I have to grandmothers:  Grandma Pearl, my mother's mother and Grandma Witt, my father's mother.  When I was born, my dad called his mother to announce my birth.  She asked "Did you name her after me?"  My dad spontaneously replied, "We sure did;  Collette Elizabeth!"  And this is how I got my middle name.  My first name is Grandma Pearls last name:  Collett.

Grandma Pearl wore pink pantsuits; Grandma Witt wore flowered dresses.  Grandma Pearl grew roses; Grandma Witt grew vegetables.  Grandma Pearl had a dog named Mickey who did tricks; Grandma Witt had a dog named Red who ran and ran.  Grandma Pearl wore lots of jewelry; Grandma Witt wore none.  Grandma Pearl collected dolls; Grandma Witt just had amazing knicknacks. 

My Grandma Pearl's whole name is Pearl Angeline Dover.  She was a musician.  She played piano, learned to play the organ on THE organ in the tabernacle on temple square in SLC.  She really wanted to play in the Utah Mormon Symphony, so she got an upright bass and went to rehearsals, where she watch someone play and learned.  I believe it was the prophet Heber J Grant, who would excuse himself from whomever he was talking to to go lift his favorite bass player onto her stool so that she could reach the instrument. Grandma Pearl was refined, talented and always lovely.  Her bathroom had lavendar powders and creams.  She did all sorts of handiwork.  She sewed.  (She sewed my wedding dress...) She learned to paint and left us a legacy of paintings. 

Grandma Witt was very different from Grandma Pearl.  She was a farmer.  She could grow beautiful gardens.  She never had much, but could make do out of anything. She was funny.  She could tell the funniest stories.  She was a mother to Phyllis, my aunt with down's syndrome.  She cared for Phyllis until she died.  She wore flower dresses.  I'm trying to remember if I ever saw her in a pair of pants.  She could talk back to my dad, which was funny, because no one else could!  We loved going with mom to take Grandma to the grocery store.  We always stopped for an icecream cone before we went home.  Her name is Mary Elizabeth Smith.  Her second husband was a Witt and that is why we called her Grandma Witt.  She always had bonbons in her bedroom, which we kids would search for when no one was watching us.

My grandmas were very different...  I used to think of them as Beverly Hills and the Hillbilly...  but I think now that I'm older, that they had many similarities.  They both faced adversity head on.  I never heard any complaining (other than health complaints) from them.  They both had trials and difficult times.  Both women loved their grandchildren deeply.  Neither ever really doted on us, but we knew they loved us.

I miss my Grandmothers...

This Boy

This boy used to be my baby.  Now he is nearly 19.  This boy used to take 20 minute naps and eat everything in sight.  He started singing at 9 months.  At a year, he could sing "Folsom Prison Blues".  He built Legos, threatened to shock his younger brother and built "a tower to the Lord" out of all my kitchen chairs and stools.  All this before the age of 4.

At 6, he told his 1st grade teacher he didn't understand why there were signs on the road for slow children?  Why couldn't those kids be faster?  And when she asked him why he didn't do an assignment, he told her he was in "La La Land".

Pokemon, Soccer, then paintball and B-B guns.  Then middle school and a guitar for Christmas.  He took piano; didn't like it.  Played violin in the orchestra...  Did really well, til we realized that he couldn't read music.  He played by ear.  So we got him the guitar.  He taught himself to play over Christmas Vacation.  By the end of 7th grade, he formed THE BAND.  Those four boys played and played.  Robbie kept on singing. They got really good.  You can listen to one of my favorite songs here:

http://www.myspace.com/music/22476216/songs/70979549

High School brought 4 years of Cross Country and some Track on the side.  Run, Run, Run. First job, first date, driving, gray hairs (for me) and lots more of THE BAND.  In my basement; 2-3 times a month, or more.  Talent shows, then playing at places like the Cretin, The Boulevard and even the Knitting Factory.

Graduation.  Recording 4 original songs.

And now my baby boy is working and saving his money.  He just got called to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Paris, France.  He didn't do so well in French at the community college.  Not so well at all...  But the Lord REALLY wants that boy to speak French.

My baby boy who talked at 9 months, could swim before he could walk and who threw himself passionately into this big old world is leaving home to preach the gospel; to have the most amazing experience of all his life; to grow spiritually, mentally, emotionally.  This is what happens to baby boys, just so you know.

Food For Thought...

     I have a four year old daughter who won't eat ice cream, Oreo's, candy, chocolate or even a bite of  birthday cake.  When I tell people that, their first comments are "Wow, I wish I could refuse to eat that stuff."  Yeah, me, too!  She also won't eat much of anything else.  For the longest time, her diet has consisted of Quaker Oatmeal packet with an extra handful of quick oats, mixed with hot water and a container of Gerber 2nd food apple/blueberry mix (Breakfast... every day...  Won't eat cereal, eggs or toast).  Lunch, if I keep reminding her to finish, usually is a plain peanut butter sandwich.  She will eat Chicken nuggets and french fries, cheese, crackers and ham.  Dinner, almost always, is Gerber 3rd foods Chicken Noodle.  Yes she is four and still eats baby food.  We hoped for 3 years that she would grow out of this...
     Now maybe this just sounds like your typical picky preschooler... Perhaps....  And maybe you think I have somehow created this monster (but I have raised 5 other children, all who went through picky stage and all who try new foods....) 
     But consider this:  We were at a restraunt one night and ordered Chicken strips and fries for her.  Because this was a nice restraunt, the waiter brought all of us appetizers and brought her a small bowl of mixed fruit (watermelon cubed, cantalope, grapes and strawberries).  Cami was petrified.  She threw herself at me and buried her head in my lap.  She sobbed (silently), her shoulders shaking.  I quickly realized that she was terrified that she would have to eat this fruit; I convinced her that it was not for her, but for sharing with her brothers and sisters.
     She calmed down; and after a bit, began giving the pieces of fruit to her brothers and sisters.  She then ate a Chicken strip and a few fries.
     For a long time, I thought perhaps she just couldn't eat certain foods  Even as a two year old, she would put crackers in her mouth and mull them around til they softened and she could swallow them.  It would take her 30 minutes to process a one inch slice of bacon.  By the way, she love love loves salty foods...  She currently weighs about 34 pounds and is of a normal height for her age.  She gets most of her nutrition from Pediasure and those type of drink products.  She refuses to drink juice.
     But here is the key:  She has severe GERD (reflux) and the effects of that have made her very afraid of food.  Many "Failure to thrive" children receive g-tubes...  Cami was a labeled "failure to thrive" when she was one and a half..  but she would eat SOMETHING and she would drink that pediasure...  What I am learning now is that she, like other severe GERD kids and g-tube kids, has a deep fear of food.  She needs to control what goes in her mouth so that she won't have pain and she won't gag.  You cannot convince her to eat anything...  She has to decide on her own.  In just the last few months, she has started telling me she is hungry... before that I wonder if she even felt hunger pains.  One professional health worker told me that most kids rate their favorite food as a 10 on a scale of 1-10.  Cami's favorite foods are just a 4... In other words, she doesn't have much interst in eating and taste isn't playing a huge part... texture is.
     So we are going to the Achieve center in Spokane, where, for the first time, I have found speech and occupational therapists that are familiar with this type of eating disorder (painful to call it that, but it is what it is) and are working with her to help broaden her horizons when it comes to food. 
     The first few times at the center, when an unfamiliar food was placed before her, Cami would turn away quickly.  She wouldn't even look at it.  The therapists would play with the food (ie: whip cream, jam) and encourage Cami  to draw in it.  As they've continued to work with her, we are implementing a kiss it or lick it strategy.  When Cami eats, she is given her familiar food along with something she hasn't tried before.  She immediately says, "I don't like that" or "I don't want that" and we say, "It's OK.  You don't have to eat it, you just have to kiss it or lick it."  If it's something salty, we encourage the lick.  But no other pressure...  She even kissed her first ice cream on Jordon's birthday!  It's baby steps, for sure.  But at least it is a step closer to eating her first bite...
     It's been painful, as her mother, to watch her and not understand why...  We were sent to every specialist in town, from gastro-intestinal ot genetics, but no real understanding until now.  I hope this is the answer, because sometimes I get tired of trying to explain why my four year old won't eat that sucker you just gave her, or why she is still eating babyfood, or why she has no interest in that candy bar that has been offered to her that most four year olds would be thrilled to have....

Breakfast in Bed

Happy Mother's day!  The tradition at my house is that I wake up first and then I have to stay in bed (which is very very hard for me), while my hubby rouses the children and herds them into the kitchen to prepare my "Breakfast in Bed".  Now you may find this very sweet and you may even like to have this yourself, but let me just say that it is a bit awkward.  I mean, 6 kids pile into the bedroom with sleepy smiles, wishing me a happy mother's day.  They deposit homemade gifts and cards on me, along with a large tray full of breakfast items.  They stand around staring at me while I take my first bite and then they disperse quickly to go eat their own breakfasts!  I am left alone in a bouncy bed with a tray full of food and water and juice, expected to balance it all on my legs and not slosh anything.  Then I have to call to them to come get my tray, because I am afraid to switch positions, for fear of spilling.  And, by the way, I don't like to eat breakfast first thing in the morning.  I usually wait until around 10....  So if I leave something untouched, I hear about it...  "Didn't you like the eggs?  Didn't you like the toast?"

All the same, I wouldn't change it.  I just find the "Breakfast in Bed" thing a bit over-rated.  Today, my cute girls asked my favorite question:  "When is it kids day?"  And Robbie told them my favorite answer:  "Everyday is kids day!"  "So," asked the girls, "Why don't we get breakfast in bed?"  So I will make them breakfast in bed....

I am so blessed to have 6 amazing children.  So blessed to be a mother to three wonderful boys and three beautiful girls. This is all I ever wanted.  Thank you to my wonderful husband who is my partner in all of this!

Cows.. Horses... Sheep EIEIO

We are building a little farm. About three years ago, we traded 3 lake view/access building lots for a beautiful 20 acre piece of Spokane County. One day, we'll build a house on it, but in the meantime, we're building the farm. It started with the horses, of course. Then it turned out that we could cut and bale over 130 bales of hay, so we decided to add to our animal collection. Last year we raised 5 pigs and 3 lambs for 4-H. Then Troy bought a steer and a heifer. The steer jumped the fence, the heifer was frightened to death, we placed 430 pounds of hamburger in our fridge and Troy swore he'd never have bovine's again.

That lasted less than 6 months. March 30th, he brought home a 5 day old Black Angus calf and a 2 week old Hereford Heifer. We named them Jaxie (after Rob's friend Jackson) and Isabella (after Cami's best friend from pre-school).

When calves get sick... Let me tell you... 2 inch boluses (pills), trying to shove those down a calf's thoat?? Not fun. Last Saturday. Troy brought home calf number 3. A beautiful Red Angus (possible Seminole cross?) we named Sammy. But we call her Red Bull. She was less than a day old when we got her and she is like a bull in a china shop. She wouldn't eat at first, so I straddled her and fed her between my legs. Now she won't be fed any other way. She bumps my legs and rear, like I'm her mother.

So on to the sheep... We have two ewes, a momma to twins and an auntie. The auntie is very very large and smart. She can open gates and apparantly can open the barn doors. The two of them, and the babies let themselves into the barn last Sunday and ate themselves sick on the grain. So try giving sheep 2 2-inch boluses two times a day... Just saying... You use a long plunger type stick that can hold the bolus and you jam the bolus down the throat more than 2/3's of the way, then press the trigger, then hope they swallow.

And then today, Troy planted 50 lbs of potatoes (Yukons and reds) and a long row of onions... That's my farmer husband... Just saying... I really like him. I always wanted to marry a farmer.