Sunday, November 29, 2009

Blah and then Enlightenment

Lately I have been feeling really 'blah'. I haven't been motivated to do much of anything. When I get this way I look for inspiration from either the scriptures or from a wonderful magazine that my church puts out called the 'Ensign'. I get to read what the apostles and prophets have to say on so many topics, and every now and then I'll find one that was meant just for me.

I've had this June issue of the 'Ensign' since, well...June. And I know I have skimmed through it then, but tonight when I picked it up there was a talk in there that really hit home. The article is entitled "Our Refined Heavenly Home" written by Elder Douglas L. Callister of the Seventy. He spoke of ways that we can make our homes reflect our heavenly home. He touched on the type of language we use, the literature we read, the music we listen to and the type of art we have hanging in our homes. Just by being more choosy in these areas we can make our homes a heavenly home.

I am the worst about having the television on. I don't even watch it half the time, I just like the noise. And I'll admit that I use it from time to time as a babysitter for the kids when I have chores around the house to do. I even used to say that my kids learned their numbers 1-5 because we have a 5 disc DVD changer. Pathetic, I know. In Elder Callister's talk he posed the question,

"Could our society today produce an Isaac Newton or a Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? Can 85 channels and uncountable DVDs ever fill our insatiable appetite to be entertained? Do any unwisely become addicted to computer games or Internet surfing, thereby missing the richer experiences of great reading, converstaions, and enjoyment of music?"

I can tell you that in my house if I keep going the way we are going then there is no way a Newton or a Mozart could come out of here. I have had the feeling to get rid of the television, or at least scale back t.v. time for a long while now. I'm admitting it now that why I haven't done it is out of fear. I am afraid that I will not have anything to do with the kids once they have been snapped out of their digital comas. I read so many other blogs where mothers are having adventures with their little ones and I freeze up with the doubt that anyone would have any fun, or heaven forbid, I wouldn't have any fun.

Theo suggested reading more books and listening to music. I used to love listening to Classical music, and I still do. But there have been times when I want to play my music and all I get is gripe from the kids because it bores them. To lessen contention I usually back off and turn on "Yo Gabba Gabba". Elder Callister mentioned something that is making me change my mind and now I want to be more adamant about having the kids musical horizon broadened.

"If a young person grows up on a steady diet of hanburgers and french fries, he is not likely to become a gourmet. But the fault is not with fine food. He just grew up on something less. Some have grown up on a steady diet of musical french fries."

I love that! "Musical French Fries" Yes!!! Today is all about entertaining the masses with empty lyrics and mundane tunes. I like what Handel said after recieving a compliment after a performance of his famous Messiah,

"My lord, I should be sorry if I only entertained them-I wish to make them better."

If only all performers and entertainers were like this, to make the listener a better person, not how popular they can become. And I am being the enabler by purchasing or listening to these 'musical french fries'.

I want and need to give more to my kids. Of course there will still be some fries on the side, just to keep it fun. But the main course should be hearty and thought provoking.

If you have any fun, educational, thought-inducing and imagination-building ideas I would love to hear any. Starting tomorrow the t.v. stays off.

Monday, November 2, 2009

A Happy Halloween and a Funny Photo

Like a knucklehead our camera's batteries died right when we get to the ward chili cook off party. I managed to squeeze just enough battery juice out to get one shot of Hannah in her Little Red Riding Hood costume. Isn't she adorable! I thought I did have another shot of all the kids together, but apparently my camera gave all it could give and gave out while I was pushing the button as they grouped together for a photo. Ah well, I guess those images will remain in my head at how cute the rest of them were. So in the meantime I decided to just post some other pics of Hannah just because she is so stinking cute!
I got this romper at Target for $5! I love it so much! And look at that bow! Can I use any more exclamation points? YES! She is that precious!!!
This is my all time favorite pose. I got a wig for Emma because she wanted to be Ariel, then she wouldn't put it on and Theo ended up using it for his Pirate costume (which was AWESOME! Sorry, no pics of that either. :( ) But we had a ton of fun with it when I brought it home. Everyone tried it on, but Hannah was the only one who I thought resembled E.T. after Drew Barrymore's character dressed him like a woman. She even has the walk down. It was the funniest thing ever!

We had a great time Trick-or-Treating. We went to my parents neighborhood since ours is still under construction. There were so many people there that really got creative with their decorations, and even a few Haunted yards, one in particular scared the be-jee-bers out of the kids. It was one of the best Halloweens to date. I hope everyone had a great holiday as well!