A Silly Song for Mother's Day

My mom never considered herself a musician, but she blessed her children's lives with music. She sang to us, took us to concerts and provided us with piano/voice/flute/trombone lessons.  We knew music was important to her, especially when she told us childhood stories of carrying her heavy accordion on the bus on the way to her lessons.

When she miraculously awoke in the hospital we all sang together. My mom loved to sing hymns and Primary songs, but our favorites were always the silly songs.  Now I get to sing them to Lavender and my granddaughters!  One of Lavender's favorites is "Mairzy Doats."  She likes it when I sing to her, but she loves this old video from the Lawrence Welk show.

It really is a cute song.  Here are the funny and confusing lyrics:

Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey 
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you? 
Oh, mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey 
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you? 

If the words sound queer and funny to your ear, a little bit jumbled and jivey 
Sing "Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy" 

Oh! Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey 
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you? 
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?

So Happy Mother's Day to my sweet mom.  Here are a couple of previous  Mother's Day posts and best of all, mom lovingly commented on each of them. It is a treasure to have her words on my blog.

Thank you to my husband and children for giving me the opportunity to be a mother.  They have given me so many wonderful gifts over the years. (Be sure to click on this link if you want a good laugh!)

Finally, happy Mother's Day to all of the women and mothers in my life. I know that I am a better mother because of each of you. I am grateful for your examples.  I wish I could give you each a lanyard! 

Hidden Camera

I want to get back to blogging regularly!  As a trial run, here is a short video of Lavender singing the "clean up" song while she puts away her Duplos.  I have to be really sneaky because whenever I pull out the phone or camera, she immediately stops whatever she is doing!  We sure are loving this cute girl, even if she is a bonafide two year old!

A Gift I'll Always Remember

I'm usually pretty strict about Christmas presents. Sometimes I let the kids choose their own gifts, especially when it comes to clothes, but I always take them home and wrap them up. They don't get to open presents early, except for one gift on Christmas eve. I choose the present to be opened and somehow it always turns out to be pajamas!

Fortunately, Marianne is not such a stickler.  In fact, she gave me one of my Christmas presents early.  She asked me to reserve Monday night and told me I would be receiving a gift.  After I put Lavender to bed, I came downstairs to find Marianne's music stand set up in the living room.  A few minutes later, her flute teacher, Cheryl, arrived and the two of them gave me the most wonderful gift.  I was feeling generous, so I shared my gift with John and the boys.

All four of us were treated to a beautiful Christmas mini-concert.  Marianne and Cheryl played some lovely duets including:
It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas
The First Noel
What Child Is This
We Three Kings
Home for the Holidays

The music was so beautiful and it was such a pretty scene with them playing next to the Christmas tree while the lights reflected in their gleaming flutes.  It really was a dream come true to hear my daughter play the songs of Christmas so beautifully.  I am grateful she has such a kind and thoughtful teacher. Thank you Marianne and Cheryl for one of the best gifts I've ever received!

A New To Do List

Elder Aaron emailing from the church in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Elder Aaron emails us each week. I almost always get a fairly long email and he often sends an email to the immediate family.  This week John and I both got very short emails of a couple of sentences, but Marianne and Evan both received long emails.  Evan asked his big brother for advice about what to do in his spare time.  Aaron replied with a long list of ideas.

I thought I would share it with you in hopes it might spark an idea for you or for a family member. Sometimes we just need a little inspiration to get started on a project!

1. Learn how to operate ham radio and talk to people over the radio. 
2. Write in your journal about meaningful experiences in your life. Write about your goals, what you want to accomplish, and who you want to become. Take a video logs of yourself answering these questions. 
3. Play the piano. 3.5 Take voice lessons 
4. Find a service that lets you video chat with deaf people and practice ASL with a native speaker. Or find deaf people in Poway and practice with them. There has to be a deaf group somewhere in Poway. They would probably be impressed that you're striving to learn their language. [Marianne & Evan are taking an ASL class at the community college.] Don't worry if you can't communicate very well just practice. 
5. Interview Grandpa about his life and record the interview by video and/or audio. Have him record stories from his life. How did he join the church? How did he meet grandma? What were his pastimes as a teenager? What are his memories of his parents? 
6. Learn about computer hardware and build a computer. 
7. Work out at Brother Killen's house. [A friend with weights and equipment we can use for free.]
8. Seriously research universities. Why would you want to go there? What do you want to study there? What do you want to do when you graduate? Will you go to graduate school? 
9. Start taking a picture of yourself every day. By the time you're 25 you'll have a photographic history of growing up. That would be awesome! 
10. Have Dad teach you about financial stuff and develop a financial plan for your life. 
11. Play with Lavender or plant a garden with Evan. 
12. Build a password scheme for your different accounts. 
13. Make your passwords stronger than they are now. 
14. Check out the original papyrus for facsimile no.1 in the Book of Abraham on josephsmithpapers.org. 
15. Plan a Family home evening and carry it out. 
16. Work on your Eagle Scout project. (This one doesn't apply to Marianne directly. Maybe it can be "Help Evan with his Eagle project")
17. Convince Mom and Dad to take the family to a Jewish worship service on a Saturday. Find a good synagogue that would be happy to have you. Study a little about Judaism before you go. It would be a good cultural experience. 
18. Take principles from chapter 3 in Preach My Gospel and learn what other faiths believe about those principles. If possible, ask a real person. Write a paper about it. Do Roman Catholics believe in a premortal life? What do orthodox Jews think about baptism? How does the Islamic perception of God differ from your beliefs? 
19. Take pictures.

Did you know Elder Aaron will be home in 15 days?!  The kids told him we can visit a Jewish synagogue together after he gets home.

Can't wait to see him in two weeks!

This and that

Elder Aaron and his companion found an apartment, so he doesn't have to sleep on the couch anymore! They had to move in with other elders at the last minute to make room for all the new sisters serving in Toronto.

I had a date with my sweetie to the symphony.  It was one of the best performances ever.  We enjoyed Bach, Schumann and a Concerto for two pianos by a modern composer, Poulenc.

Brianne started ballet lessons. She is the cutest little ballerina ever.

I went wheat-free this week after reading this book recommended by a dear friend. I had been praying about my health and wondering what to do.  Just a few hours later we were finishing a conversation when she said, "Wait, I have to tell you about this book."  The results have amazed me.  I have much more energy and none of the cravings for snacks and sweets.  We shall see how the weight loss goes.

Lavender took her very first steps just a month ago and now she is running around everywhere.

Marianne and Evan dissected a sheep brain with their cousins as part of their biology class. Their Uncle Brian is a great lab instructor.

I got to go the temple this week!

Marianne's Big Week

The first week of February was an exciting one for Marianne!

On Monday, February 4th she graduated from TJYC.  What is TJYC?  Thomas Jefferson Youth Certification is an incredible scholar project.  It is 3 semesters full of demanding reading, focused writing and hours of discussion.  Each student works with a personal writing coach on a weekly basis. TJYC scholars study the lives of great men and women throughout history.  They read biographies and study original documents.  They give powerful speeches that teach and inspire others.  They complete an in depth research project on a subject that they feel will help change the world. Each semester the scholars have written exams and an oral exam before an audience and a board of examiners.  The scholars study world views, principles of government and landmark Supreme Court cases. They apply all they have learned to current events and even write a personal manifesto   Finally, they research and write a law brief and participate in a mock trial before a panel of attorneys who serve as judges.  This project requires 20-30 hours of study each week and the scholars who complete it are transformed!

Marianne has done all of this and it has given her a great foundation not only for college, but for the rest of her life!  Here she is with her graduating class of eight students (one of the boys is not pictured).  The class started out with fifteen students.  Two moved and five others dropped out during the course of three semesters.  It really is that challenging!

Marianne enjoyed having some of her best friends (including her cousin Emma) in the class.  Here she is with her lifelong friend Natalie.

Marianne was fortunate to have her Aunt Lacy as her writing coach.  She also had two wonderful mentors for her class.  A huge thank you to Becky and DaNell for everything!

On Tuesday, Marianne took her driving exam.  It was rather stressful for her because the day before her driving instructor cut her final lesson short and our car was in the shop for repairs.  But everything came together and Marianne passed her test and got her driver's license!

On Sunday,Marianne played a flute duet in Sacrament Meeting at our church.  They gave a lovely perfomance of "All Creatures of our God and King."  What a beautiful way to end a spectacular week!

 

Silly Songs

My mom often sang to us as we were growing up.  She told us that she learned most of the songs from her Grandpa Ras.  She always sang, You Are My Sunshine and My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean, but the songs we liked best were the silly ones.

One she sang to us was called Sweet Violets.  You can actually buy it on iTunes sung by Dinah Shore!  The lyrics are funny because the rhyming words you expect are cut off.

There once was a farmer who took a young miss
In back of the barn where he gave her a...
Lecture on horses and chickens and eggs
And told her that she had such beautiful...
Manners that suited a girl of her charms
A girl that he wanted to take in his...
Washing and ironing and then if she did
They would get married and raise lots of..

Sweet Violets
Sweeter than the roses
Covered all over from head to toe
Covered all over with sweet violets

The girl told the farmer that he'd better stop
Or she'd call her father, and he called a...
Taxi and got there before very long,
'Cause someone was doing his little girl...
Right for a change and so that's why he said:
If you marry her, son, you're better off...
Single, 'Cause it's always been my belief
Marriage will bring a man nothing but...

Sweet Violets
Sweeter than the roses
Covered all over from head to toe
Covered all over with sweet violets

The farmer decided he'd wed and he'd wait,
And started in planning for his wedding...
Suit which he purchased for only one buck
But then he found out he was just out of...
Money, left in the lurch
Standin' and waitin' in front of the...
End of the story which just goes to show
All a girl wants from a man is his...

Sweet Violets
Sweeter than the roses
Covered all over from head to toe
Covered all over with sweet violets

Another funny song my mom sang to us was The Billboard Song.  We even sang it together in the hospital, when God gave us a few extra minutes with her.  We laughed and sang together as a family.  Later, her kids and grandkids even sang it during the luncheon after the funeral.  She would have loved it.

There are lots of different versions online, but here is the way I remember the lyrics.

One day as I was walking on a dark and dreary day,
I came upon a billboard and much to my dismay,
The sign was torn and tattered,
From the storm the night before,
The wind and rain had done its work and this is what I saw,

Drink Coca-Cola cigarettes, chew Wrigley’s Spearmint beer,
Ken-L-Ration dog food makes your complexion clear,
Simonize your baby with a Hershey chocolate bar,
And Texaco's a beauty cream that's used by all the stars.

So, take your next vacation in a brand new Frigedaire,
Learn to play the piano in your winter underwear,
Doctors say that babies should smoke until they're three,
And people over sixty-five should bathe in Lipton tea. Hey!

My mom  had nice voice and often sang in the choir.  But after her cancer treatments, her voice wasn't as strong.  She told Marianne that she didn't like to sing in church anymore because she "croaked."  All I know is that her voice always sounded beautiful to me!

It kind of looks like Mom could be singing in this picture, doesn't it?!

Can You Do the Satoosee?

My mom was a woman without guile.  She lived close to the Lord and somehow managed to maintain a sweet innocence throughout her life.  I will never forget the time we found mom singing and dancing to a popular song on the radio.  We were embarrassed to hear her singing along and one of us told her, "Mom!  You shouldn't be singing that."

"What do you mean?" she innocently replied.

"Did you hear what they're saying?"

"Yes.  It says, 'Sa-too-see tonight.' See, I'm doing the Satoosee!" she said while demonstrating a dance move.

She was rather surprised when we explained, "Mom, the song is called 'Seduce Me Tonight'"

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of mom doing the "Satoosee."  This silly picture will have to do. I believe she was showing my aunt how people dressed at Venice Beach.  Her outfit is funny, but as usual, much too innocent.

In case you're not familiar with the soundtrack of "Flashdance," HERE is a link to this great hit from the 80s.  Don't worry, there are no "Seduce Me Tonight" pictures or video.  Music only.

Sweet Sunday - A soft answer

Spreckles Organ Pavillion

On Monday we went to an organ concert in Balboa Park for Family Home Evening.  We arrived a little late, but we got an incredible parking space and found great seats near the front.  The weather was perfect and we ended up sitting near 24 LDS senior missionary couples.  Evan caught their attention by reading and marking his scriptures.  He is reading The Book of Mormon in 30 days during August and he wanted to finish his 18 pages before dark.  During intermission we chatted with the missionaries and they shared their homemade cookies with us.

This peaceful scene was interrupted when a homeless man staggered across in front of the stage. He was obviously drunk and he was bold.  He made eye contact with anyone who dared to look at him.  I turned my gaze elsewhere, grateful that he wasn't near enough for me to smell him.  A few minutes later, the organ society began presenting awards to three young organists.  The homeless man began clapping and cheering loudly despite his slurred speech.  He was loud and obnoxious and it surely made audience members uncomfortable.  A security guard approached him and apparently asked him to quiet down.  This made the man angry and he began yelling and swearing. A volunteer came over to help and asked the man to leave.  In response he began screaming and using more profanity.  He got really angry when they threatened to call the police.  It was an unpleasant situation and I wondered if our lovely evening was ruined.

Then the president of the organ society approached the three men.  I couldn't hear what he said, but the homeless man began speaking more softly.  They talked for a minute and soon I couldn't hear the homeless man at all.  I watched the gentleman put his hand on the homeless fellow's shoulder.  He gently guided him to where the refreshments were sold.  He got him a cup of coffee and something to eat.  He walked with him and helped him find a place to sit.  Then he quietly went back to his own front row seat.

As I watched this scene, I was reminded of the Savior.  I knew he would have handled the situation in a similar way.  He would have treated the homeless man as a person--an individual with feelings, not as an annoyance to be dismissed or a disturbance to be dealt with.  I am grateful for the example of the president of the organ society.  He surely understands the wisdom found in Proverbs 15:1

"A soft answer turneth away wrath; but grievous words stir up anger."

Crazy Things A Good Mom Does

I'm not sure if these prove that I'm crazy or that I'm a good mom.  Take your pick.

Evidence #1
So, we've come up with a name for the baby.  What do you think of Flipper?  Okay, not really.  But it should be her nickname.  She gets in the perfect "ready to be born" position for a day or two and then during the night she flips into a breech position.  We are trying several methods to convince her to keep her head down, but the funniest one is playing music down where her head it supposed to be.  It's not so bad when I'm in the car.  I just hit shuffle and put my phone on the seat when I sit down.  But at home my family thinks I am really weird.  Marianne is a good sport though and has been choosing music she thinks the baby will like.  This morning it was September by Earth, Wind and Fire.  It actually did wake her up and get her moving.  Now if we can just keep her moving in the right direction!

Evidence #2
Elder Aaron has been a missionary for four months now and I kind of feel like THIS.  So when Aaron mentioned a couple of Korean books that would be really helpful "if they're not too expensive," I set out to find them.  The first one was easy to find and inexpensive.  The second one I had to order from Seoul Selection.  And that isn't just a catchy name.  It is in Seoul, Korea.  It was reasonably priced so I placed my order.  As I was checking out, I realized that the shipping rate from Seoul was a bit more than I expected.  But hey, what mom doesn't want her missionary son to have the best in Korean grammar books?!  I figured it was kind of like contributing to the church missionary fund.  To make matters worse, I mistakenly thought that shipping rates to Toronto would be about the same as to New York.  Just take a look at the map.  Wrong.  Next time I have a package for my missionary, I might just fly there and give it to him in person!

Fill in the blanks

My Mom taught my brother Scott and I to say "I'm sorry" and "I forgive you" at a very young age.  These statements had to be made sincerely and followed with a hug.  Later my Dad taught us how to deal with stress and pain by forgiving others.  He told us to follow this formula:  say "I forgive  [name of person] for [whatever happened],"  Sometimes this was a process that started with "I forgive Joe for being a total jerk and stupid idiot" and progressed to "I forgive Joe for hurting my feelings when he teased me about my new haircut."  Even better was when you could finally add, "I'm grateful to Joe for being my friend."  (For the record, no one named Joe ever teased me about my hair.)

So the pattern is:  I am grateful to _______________  for _______________.
Today I want to fill in the blanks by sharing a few of the people I am thankful for and why.

I am grateful to:

Brooks for making the most comfortable shoe on earth (even if it is ugly).
My mom for being steadfast and immovable in her testimony of Jesus Christ..
Bryn for her great faith.
John for holding my hand and walking beside me for almost 25 years.
My body for allowing my worst pregnancy complications to be only heartburn and aches and pains.
Evan for his enthusiasm and energy in playing the piano.
Heather for her endurance and sense of humor.
Muff (and her family) for caring for grandma as she approaches 90.
Molly for starting the family tradition of walking lots of miles while pregnant.
Aaron for giving up solitude and the great outdoors in order to serve the Lord.
Carolyn for lifting my Dad from the pit of loneliness.
Amazon for making the Kindle so I can carry my library with me at all times.
Marianne for getting up for seminary day after day even when she hasn't slept well.
Cows for making milk that becomes cottage cheese.  (I'm still craving it!)
Mormon for abridging and organizing the Book of Mormon.
Moroni for not making Ether the last book in the Book of Mormon.
Ryan for being my guinea pig and letting me practice my momskills on him.
Brianne for looking like her daddy, but improving on it with her curly hair.
My Dad for always believing in me.
Costco for selling beautiful flower bouquets at a great price.
Sheree for being my example and showing me what is possible.
The calendar for telling me that Christmas is almost here!
Leighton Anne for sharing her sweet smiles with me.
Jenny for walking thousands of miles with me over the past 15 years.
Everyone who actually reads my blog!
My Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ for all of the above and for many more blessings I didn't mention.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our Musical Weekend

Friday
Evan and John went to the symphony to hear Liszt's piano concertos.  Marianne was watching the movie Gandhi with her class from our commonwealth school and I was home alone listening to the rain.

Saturday
Evan performed a piano solo "Machines on the Loose" at the Popular Music Festival.  He also won the door prize:  A Charlie Brown Christmas CD, which he promptly put on his ipod.

That evening he performed with the San Diego Mormon Youth Choir at the Vista Stake fine arts festival.  Marianne, John and I got to go play with Brianne, Leighton and Molly.  Actually it was John and Brianne who played on the playground while the rest of us sat and talked while Leighton napped.

Sunday
Evan sang with the San Diego Mormon Youth Choir at an interfaith choir festival.  Marianne and I were home sick with colds.

Monday
Marianne and Evan sang with a homeschool choir at a Veteran's Day concert at a local middle school.

I thought it was funny that all of these musical events were scheduled for the same weekend!  I also thought it was funny that only two girls performed in the popular music festival. Thanks to the teachers, conductors and musicians who made it all possible.  And thanks to my sweet husband for driving everyone around where they needed to be.

Our Life in Lists

Finished:
1 bouquet of flowers ordered
2 loads of laundry
3 closet shelves organized
4 packages mailed at post office

Music enjoyed:
Moonlight Sonata on piano
Now Let Us Rejoice on organ
Eric Clapton on ipod

You Tube videos watched and discussed:
Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech
Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall" speech
Fall of the Berlin Wall

Books read from:
The Book of Mormon
Key to Algebra
Hershey's Chocolate Lover's Cookbook
The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe

Ingredients for the perfect FHE:
Casual discussion of dreams and goals
Frisbee at the park until we couldn't see anymore
Mint chip & rocky road ice cream

Easter Weekend Highlights

Getting to visit with my brother Scott and my sister Jenny
(Love that cheesy smile!)

Our Easter egg dyeing extravaganza.
Thanks to my awesome sister-in-law Denise!

All the beautiful colors!

Spending time with my Dad!

Having Aaron come home from BYU!
Cammi is happy too.
Celebrating Molly's birthday!

Visiting the cemetery, singing "Did Jesus Really Live Again"
and hanging Easter ornaments in the tree near Mom's grave.

Cousins

More cousins

and even more wonderful cousins!


Watching my sweetheart play with our beautiful granddaughter.

What a weekend!

Not So Ancient History

**Don't forget to read THIS POST and comment to win a CD+DVD**


Yesterday, I walked 4.5 miles.

The day before, I finished reading the Book of Mormon.

Last week, we spent our spring break in Arizona.

We love vacationing with family (especially while wearing sunglasses)

I got to visit my friend Tammy, our friends Stuart and Malissa,
as well as a candy factory! Here are the kids hard at work.

We also toured Frank Lloyd Wright's home and architecture school.
His blend of form and function is beautiful and amazing!

We also explored music and instruments from around the world at
the fantastic Musical Instrument Museum.
My favorite part was the Experience Gallery that was completely hands-on.
We tried a nickelodeon, drums, bells, ukeleles, harps and this huge gong!


But the best part of our trip was attending the
Easter Pageant at the lovely Mesa temple.


The music, dancing and acting were phenomenal
and the costumes were spectacular.


But Evan's favorite part may have been eating the
giant 3 pound bag of popcorn!

My Week

I have finally entered the 21st century. I got an iphone. I've never even had an ipod before, so that's been my favorite part of my new phone. I am also having fun with the camera and the Hipstamatic app. So here's a view of my week . . .

Much of our week was spent on Two Gentlemen of Verona. We did two shows on Tuesday. First we performed for a small audience at a local charter school. Most of the kids were young, but they giggled and giggled and it was fun to see them "getting" Shakespeare. That night we performed at a church for mutual night. We had a huge audience--about 150 people. It was mostly teenagers and they were a really fun audience. They laughed like crazy!

Two shows meant a 12 hour day with lots of loading and unloading. Here I am carrying part of our set to the van. Why does it still have the price tag on it? Hope it wasn't visible onstage! Shonda looks very calm in the background. It's good to have calm people around!


Here is my friend Sheree's van fully loaded. She is an expert at fitting in everything and using blankets as padding so that nothing gets scratched.
We also got to spend some time with sweet Brianne this week. Here she is signing "more"


She already knows how to pose for the camera!

And speaking of posing, here I am with a rubber ducky. I think I must have been tired after all those performances.


My final picture was definitely not posed. It should be titled "Frustration". I think I picked the wrong week to insist that Evan increase his practice time.

Congratulations to . . .

* SHONDA who won my giveway! Shonda is a wonderful friend, blogger and mom who homeschools her 4 children. Shonda, please let me know what size (S, M, L or XL) shirt you want. They are ladies sizes and are a fitted style.

* RYAN who turns 21 today. Happy Birthday Ry!


* EVAN for a high score on his piano Certificate of Merit testing and evaluation!

* MARIANNE for getting several paying jobs making her delicious cupcakes!

* THE OLD GLOBE THEATRE for an amazing production of Jane Austen's EMMA. I have read lots of Austen's work, but I am not a big Austen fan. The novel is okay, but I LOVED the musical. The writer and composer Paul Gordon is a genius. The play was so funny that I had to see it twice! I brought Marianne the second time. HERE is a very short preview and HERE is a short news story. The set and rotating stage are very cool and the music is gorgeous.

Where I Want To Be

Don't forget to enter my giveaway. Click here and leave a comment to enter! Now back to our regularly scheduled post . . .

I know I am blessed to live at a time and in a place of great abundance. And yet, I see so many people around me suffering. Suffering from depression or illness or betrayal or other trials. Most of the time I can't do much to ease the suffering. All I can do it listen and express my love. Why do people have to suffer? It is pretty rotten. Today I heard something that made me think about suffering in a different way.

Jeffery R. Holland said,

When suffering, we may in fact be nearer to God than we’ve ever been in our entire lives. That knowledge can turn every such situation into a would-be temple.

Regarding our earthly journey, the Lord has promised, “I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up” (D&C 84:88). That is an everlasting declaration of God’s love and care for us, including—and perhaps especially—in times of trouble.

I guess anything (however rotten it may be) is worth struggling though if it brings us nearer to God. That's a pretty amazing place to be! It reminds me of a song. Listen to it HERE

Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!
E’en though it be a cross
That raiseth me.
Still all my song shall be

Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!

Though like the wanderer,
The sun gone down,
Darkness be over me,
My rest a stone,
Yet in my dreams I’d be

Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!

There let the way appear,
Steps unto heav’n;
All that thou sendest me,
In mercy giv’n;
Angels to beckon me

Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!

Or if, on joyful wing
Cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot,
Upward I fly,
Still all my song shall be

Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!

Sarah F. Adams, 1805–1848

Obsessed

On this momentous Saturday, I should probably be posting something patriotic about Abraham Lincoln or wishing Happy Birthday to my Grandpa with whom he shares a birthday. Instead, I want to tell you a story.

This morning I drove Evan to a practice at his piano teacher's house. We seemed to hit every red light on the way, which gave us plenty of time to people-watch. At one intersection Evan and I noticed that the car next to us had something interesting going on with their rear view mirror. We looked a little closer and realized that someone has an obsession with car air fresheners like these:

Evan started counting and got up to 13 before we headed down the road. Why in the world would someone have more than 13 air fresheners in their car? We decided that something must smell realllllly bad in there! Or maybe it is part of a larger collection. On the Little Trees website there appear to be 84 different fragrances available!

Whatever the reason, Evan and I had a good laugh over it. It made me very grateful for my son and his sense of humor. As I waited in the car during his practice, I felt even more grateful as I sat listening to a neighbor practice the drums in their garage. Thank heavens none of my children ever wanted to play the drums!!

Sweet Sunday - Come Follow Me

One day at church a young mom came over to tell me a story. She told me that she was puzzled as she watched her 3 year old daughter and finally asked, "What game are you playing?"

Her daughter replied, "I'm playing Primary."

As the mom continued watching, she suddenly knew exactly what her daughter was doing.

"You're pretending to be Sister Hartz, aren't you?"

As she told me the story she explained, "She was doing a great impression of you. She had your mannerisms and everything."

That little Sunbeam was the one doing the impression, but it really made an impression on me! I realized that lots of eyes were on me, watching my every move. Were my words and actions worthy of emulation?

Today in nursery I had a similar experience. We were singing songs together and I realized that some of the children were watching me to see what actions they should be doing. I noticed lots of little eyes watching me very closely.

Do I always keep my eyes on the Savior? How would my life be different if I always looked to Him and watched Him closely? The scriptures tell us that's exactly what He wants us to do.

Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me. D & C 19:23

Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. D & C 6:36