As for Me and My House...

Companion

2011-04-04T12:12:00.000-07:00

I watched General Conference with the kids this past weekend. The dad was in DC on a business trip, so I made the cinnamon rolls and prepared and monitored the Conference Bingo sheets with the younger kids on my own this time. Since the comfortable places to sit in the family room are fewer than the number of people needing to use them, I also decided to try letting the bigger boys watch on the big tv in the playroom, then report to me after each talk. (One of the boys paid better attention and got more out of the talks than I think he ever has before; one snuck to his room and read The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It's not a bad thing to be doing, but it's not what he was supposed to be doing, either, and he missed out on some really important lessons. He soon joined the rest of us downstairs.)

As conference came to a close and I discussed the things we had heard and learned with the kids, I started to reflect on the things I learned not just from what the speakers were saying, but also the things that were personal messages for me to learn straight from the Spirit. I wish I had a way to write them down immediately and exactly as they came to my soul. For now, I am just glad to be able to try to put some of them into words a day later. I hope I'll always be able to remember these feelings I've experienced.

For example, I remembered how very much I love Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Each of the Apostles is unique and each of the speakers had something special to add that most certainly touched each listener in his or her own way, but I have a tender place in my heart for Elder Holland. I used to think it was because I've met him, because I have special memories of visiting with and admiring his sweet wife, or because I know and adore his clever & compassionate son, gorgeous & kind-hearted daughter-in-law, and beautiful grandkids. The more I consider, however, the more I realize my admiration for him is a much deeper thing. He's that apostle who speaks to my soul most directly, I think. When I was trying to recount to Michael (my out-of-town husband) what I'd heard and learned from Elder Holland, all I could really say was that his message was powerful. Powerful is a feeble, human word to describe what I felt, but that was the closest I could come to putting a word on it. I also tried to express to him the overwhelming love I felt as I listened.

I felt love for Elder Holland, for all the Apostles, and certainly for President Thomas S. Monson, but there was something else going on. I felt an even greater, stronger love coming the other direction. I felt a powerful love coming from behind that podium, out of that Conference Center in Utah, through the satellite signal, right out of my tv, and straight to me. To my kids, my whole family, the neighborhood, the town, state, country, and whole world, but specifically and definitely to me. I think in that moment I might not have been very surprised if we had seen Elder Holland actually burst into a bazillion pieces of light that could shower each and every living person. That feeling was a rare and beautiful thing which I was blessed to have filling my soul. I wondered if other people felt it, too. I hope I will remember it and perhaps even be able to draw from it in times when I'm faced with my personal struggles.

As I write this entry, I realize that I've felt something similar from Elder Holland on another occasion. When we lived in Gaithersburg, MD (in the early 2000's) he was the visiting authority for one of our Stake Conferences. I sang in the choir, so I listened to the talks he delivered in each of the two sessions we held to accomodate all of the wards in our area. I won't go into the specifics of what he said or how each meeting went, as there's no way I could sufficiently convey the messages he shared with us or the Spirit that was present in each session. For now, all I can say is that I was amazed at how different the tone was from one meeting to the next. His first was almost jovial, filling me with a light, bright, optimistic and hopeful spirit. The second was intensely deep and almost - for lack of a better word - pained. There was definitely love and still hope in that second session, but more of a comforting, consoling hope. I sat behind him and a bit to his right, so I looked out onto the same congregation as he saw. I soon realized that I wasn't SEEING the same thing he saw, however. He saw and felt something very personal in and from each of the individuals in the room, I believe. The Spirit spoke through him to each congregation in the way each needed to be addressed. My testimony grew in many ways that day, not the least of which was in my reaffirmed sustaining of this special man of the Lord.

Are you still with me? I haven't even gotten to the reason I started writing this entry - the point of today's title. I mentioned Conference Bingo way up there in the beginning of this post. This game is one tradition we've practiced during every General Conference for approximately 10 years. We make a 5x5 grid of blocks for each child, mark the center block with a heart and the word love, then let them use our bank of special words to fill in the 24 remaining blocks. When they were pre-readers, we gave them a stack of pictures that illustrated the words so they could fill in their grids in a way they could understand. We've used a variety of markers and rewards over the years, including but not limited to mini marshmallows, pennies (other coins being the rewards), balls of scrap paper, pebbles, plastic and glass beads, regular and mini-M&M's, and... you get the idea. I've decided that an important word has been missing from our word bank. Can you guess what it is?

As President Monson was closing the Conference, the word 'companion' kept coming to my mind. Like an exercise we'd done at the GO Center (a gifted & talented program I attended in my elementary school years) where we chose one word and wrote a story using as many thesaurus-researched synonymns for the term as we could, I thought of how many ways we use 'companion', especially in a Church context. Each missionary is never without his or her companion. I have been paired with several precious companions as I have fulfilled my role as a visiting teacher over the years. The Book of Mormon and The Bible are companions, both testifying and telling stories of our living Savior. I try to keep the Holy Ghost as my constant, comforting companion. I always hope that my kids will each have that companion, as well. Leaders at many levels have counselors who are their companions. President Monson clearly has an abiding and tender love for his wife, his eternal companion. Especially then, I missed having my own eternal companion at home with us. When October's General Conference comes around, I'm going to recommend that the kids place this important word on somewhere on their grids so we can all be sure to listen for it. Maybe I'll even give a bonus treat when someone gets a BINGO with that word in the line-up. I think it's even worth a Reese's egg!

Beach Memories 2008 - Pine Knoll Shores

2010-12-30T08:16:00.000-08:00

One more project started, but it's one that may not be finished any time soon. My higher-level (Premier) membership with this company is about to run out for now and it's really not in our family's budget for me to pay out that extra money. Paying the extra access fee opens up lots of unique and beautiful artwork, but it also makes every project that much more expensive - and all of these projects already cost quite a bit of money, time, and mental energy. I love this theme, though, and even though I don't have time to finish this project before access to the art expires, I had to at least put in some of my family's pictures from our trip to Pine Knoll Shores, NC so I could see how the project has the potential to look. Maybe I'll get the chance to finish and print it some day. For now, I'll enjoy looking at just this part that is in place.

Epic Go Fish - Disney Style

2010-12-30T07:43:00.000-08:00

This project idea came from the templates on the Heritage Makers site. Once I got started, I could barely pull myself away from making these little individual pieces of art. Although I had more ideas and more pictures I could've used, I had to make myself stop and publish before I lost my last few remaining credits. Now my family (and about 15 of our closest friends) will be able to play the biggest and most expensive ever game of Go Fish while looking back on some of our fun moments at the Disney parks and in Disney-related productions.

2010-12-03T11:39:00.001-08:00

I tried making Christmas cards online this year. I think this should show a preview of one of the many I made - the one I decided to print in greatest number. I hope it shows the whole thing. I like that this design let me put pictures on the outside and the inside of the card. I also liked the selection of available templates, along with the speed of having the design already be mostly prepared.

With Love Blue Christmas 5x7 folded card

Make a statement with Shutterfly Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

The Proclamation - Personalized

2010-11-16T09:22:00.000-08:00

http://myldsmemories.ziblio.com/share/p/3005392992795556

This is the first project I've tried with this company. I really like the very specific templates they have. It was easy to navigate as I took advantage of a great sale offer and quickly created this book. (Organizing my pictures is what took the greatest time investment.) I rearranged the order of some of their clipart quotes (which are based on the Proclamation, but I can't get the link to that Proclamation to work here) and changed some of the picture layouts and sizes to suit the photos I wanted to use. So far, I'm liking the service this company can provide! I think it may influence the pictures I think to take at certain events, even, and the way I think about documenting special moments in our family.

High quality comes with a large investment - in more ways than one.

2010-10-30T16:55:00.000-07:00

These projects are ready to be ordered, processed, and sent to me, at long last! Keeping in mind that every single element you see on any of these pages was specifically hunted, placed, adjusted, sized, shadowed, angled, and approved by me, please take a look at the treasures I've been making for my family. Similar products from other companies cost much less to purchase and definitely involve a much smaller time and energy investment. Others do not, however, allow this level of personalization, nor do they produce the same quality of family heirloom. If I had unlimited funds, time, and energy, I would make hundreds of photobooks and other fun projects on this site. As it is, I am crossing my fingers and hoping that these last few projects will process correctly and I will finally be able to breathe a sigh of relief at their completion.
CARDS:

BOOK (8x8 Spring Break/ Family Time-share History):

LARGE BOOK (13x11 Our family's farewell tour of California from just before we moved away):

Since these seem to be posting correctly, I'll post one more book. It's a repost, actually, because it didn't work right when I first tried it over a year ago and because, well, I love this one.
DAUGHTER BOOK:

I enjoy Twilight, but is it college credit-worthy?

2010-09-21T12:48:00.001-07:00

My family would tell you that I'm a fan of all things Twilight Saga. They'd be right. It's not all perfect and not all presented the way I would have liked to see it, but I can't get over loving the stories. I shook my head, though, when I first heard that there's an actual college course being offered that is based on the series. Then I decided that I'd actually read about the course before I jump to any conclusions.
http://www.examiner.com/twilight-in-national/twilight-college-course-up-and-running

Now I'm thinking that it's an interesting concept. If there are women's studies courses and almost countless other sorts of specialized courses that are designed to get people thinking, discussing, and being actively involved in reading and the learning process, who am I to say that this idea couldn't be valuable? I know I enjoy my book group meetings and would love to talk about the issues these stories spark in my thinking mind. I love finding opportunities to stick up for values that I see in the books and that I feel are vitally important. In fact, I might even be inclined to attend the class if it were available where I live. (Well, at least in my dream life where I'd have time, money, and a family situation so I could do things like take any courses at all, much less this specific course.)

In the meantime, I'm planning to peek in on the class occasionally through the online component. I want to see if the investment of time and creative thinking and writing that got this course off the ground result in equally valuable learning and discussions.
http://seducedbytwilight.wordpress.com/

2010 FamTog 04 fix

2010-09-10T10:59:00.001-07:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

2010 Families Can Be Together Forever Book

2010-09-06T19:06:00.001-07:00

First - I didn't delete the book. Maybe it's not showing up because I changed the title. If you click on the link below where the book should be, though, you can see the book and then you can click to view it full-screen.

Second - I don't see how they're making money on these books when they keep sending me codes for free ones. Even with a few extra pages plus tax and shipping, I'm spending less than $15. I've got so many projects going on already that I can barely keep up with them on my daily lists (picture me trying to keep a table full of the proverbial plates all spinning and you've just about got the right image), but I can't resist taking a few hours and filling in a free book. I especially love the way this one turned out. I'd love to make a bigger version of it with the dates and occasions all marked (which I could only do in a program like Heritage Makers; these less top-of-the-line programs don't have that capability), but for now I'm happy with being able to match family pictures with the ideas in one of our favorite songs and have the book in our hands. I hope you like it!

Click here to view this photo book larger

A Princess book for not-so-traditional Princesses

2010-06-30T17:35:00.000-07:00

When I first browsed through the names and brief descriptions of the various princesses, this was the one who most appealed to me. I wonder what combination of answers caused me to match with her.

2009 PromLand Amphitheatre 01

2010-06-18T09:36:00.001-07:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

One project almost complete, several hundred left to go...

2010-06-01T14:07:00.000-07:00

I used to have a poster in my bedroom with a picture of an elephant (of course) and a caption that read, "The farther I go, the behinder I get." That statement seems to be even more true of my life these days than it did back in my middle school days when I ordered the poster from a class book order. As I complete the very few projects I can say are actually finished, the tasks still waiting for me seem to have grown exponentially. For that reason, I am making myself rejoice in the completion of even one thing. (I still need to find a better version of the map of California, but everything else is finally pretty much finished.) I'm forever making to-do lists for myself and now, as I prepare to joyfully draw a line through this project, I've got to share it. (Now let's just see if the share method works!)

Just in case, here's a link to the book I've made about our family's Farewell Tour of California.
http://www.heritagemakers.com/projectBrowserStandAlone.cfm?projectId=938783&productId=59&projectSponsor=258277

Testosterone shortage and pleas for a girly-girl vote

2010-03-24T13:50:00.001-07:00

In a family with three boys, it would be natural for our fourth child, a girl, to be a complete tomboy. The reality, though, couldn't be farther from the truth. All the testosterone seems to have been used up on her three big brothers, leaving our little one to be a complete girly-girl. Hello, lip gloss and hair bows, dreams of modeling and dancing. Now we talk of hairstyles, clothing, and always the coordinating accessories. Make way for American Girl and Barbie, Littlest Pet Shop and Loving Family dollhouses, and most certainly for Fancy Nancy.

Here's a site I visited because we are such huge fans of the Fancy Nancy books.
http://www.bookweekonline.com. Vote now for Robin Preiss Glasser!

The stories are clever and splendidly entertaining, but the illustrations are what makes these books so magical, fantastic, and absolutely gorgeous. (Note that I am trying to use my fancy words.) Illustrator Robin Preiss Glasser is nominated for a 2010 Children's Choice Book Illustrator of the Year award for her work in Fancy Nancy: Explorer Extraordinaire! You can help her win by voting at the Children's Book Week website I've posted above.

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

2010-02-02T18:06:00.001-08:00

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

2010-02-02T17:41:00.001-08:00

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

2010-02-02T17:37:00.001-08:00

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Family photos - Ancestors

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

2010-02-02T17:28:00.001-08:00

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Family pictures - Free family tree program

If we're asking what material thing(s) we'd like for Christmas...

2009-12-18T10:11:00.000-08:00

Here's hoping it hasn't been discontinued by the time we can afford this. This has been my dream set for at least 5 years and I still LOVE it.
Estates II Bedroom Set by Fairmont Designs, 784SET. Furniture XO

Here's the Mule Chest. It's got hidden compartments and all kinds of fun features. I've got the whole set all mapped out in our bedroom. There's a place and a need for every piece. It would all fit perfectly. We need furniture, but I especially WANT this.

2009-12-15T08:28:00.000-08:00

A beautiful depiction of the most important story ever...
(A skillful eye will find my townsperson daughter near the beginning and my King son near the end.)

Snapfish: Share Photo Book popup

2009-12-01T12:01:00.000-08:00

Snapfish: Share Photo Book popup: "http://www2.snapfish.com/projectshareewelcome/l=5127517013/p=22111259697645235/g=114194982/cobrandOid=1000/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/otsc=SYE/otsi=SPBKlink/"

A new photobook for an old reason - a special offer about to expire, of course.

2009-12-01T11:43:00.000-08:00

Let's see if this one works. When I first posted about photobooks, I couldn't find a way on this particular photo & photobooking site to share the things I'd made. Now I'm checking to see if this new option works on the blog. Cross fingers...

Ok, well, I inserted the link. Why doesn't it work? This really should be easier.

2009 Myrtle Beach, by Marian Salyer

2009-11-17T07:42:00.001-08:00

I know it doesn't count as a blog posting, but it's something. It's a tiny look into what we did this summer, since I haven't posted since spring started.
Click here to view photos

We know there's a plan, but sometimes need to be reminded.

2009-05-30T14:58:00.000-07:00

Rather than have her color in her princess, fairy tale, or Barbie coloring books, I'm trying to create things that my daughter can do quietly during our main Church meeting that will help her to stay focused on the point of our being there. Using the practice I've gained in my research (see previous post on digital scrapbooking), I've made a special book. It still needs some work - I've got to add little dates and information here and there, move a sticker or resize a picture or two, but I'm getting excited that it's starting to look like something and I need to share it. The words are the lyrics to a sweet song by Vanja Y. Watkins. I'm curious to see how this photobooking website will post the preview, as this is one of the things I want to be able to do.

Here's a link to it, just in cast it's not working here:
http://www.heritagemakers.com/?event=projectBrowse&projectId=ef6d5087-5633-4110-b437-bf08b63b8a37&productId=1&projectSponsor=258277

We are creating memories - and trying to figure out the best way to preserve them.

2009-04-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

Have you seen that commercial where the digital picture characters are all crammed into a limited space and one of them eventually has to be zapped because another more important picture is being added? I'm pretty sure my memory cards sparked the idea for that t.v. ad. I can't begin to guess how many pictures we have sitting in digital file form on memory cards and flash drives, on CD's, and in our computers' memories. In the spirit of trying to journal, trying to document the events in our lives, and trying to give my kids the magic of remembering, discussing, and treasuring the things we do together, I've been working on using the pictures we've never seen in print form to create personalized memory books. Now I am finding that this kind of thing can be quite consuming in many ways and downright addictive!

I suppose we can blame this spurt of creativity on the fact that I've had pneumonia and complications from newly-diagnosed asthma for almost a month now and have been confined to my bed (and my laptop) more than I normally would be. Perhaps we could point toward the fact that I've been sort of laid off at the theatre because there was not enough demand for the owners to be able to employ me for a while and I no longer have that creative outlet. Maybe this could be a result of my husband being in Hawaii and then on other business trips for the greater part of the last month (yes, including the time when I had the worst of the pneumonia.) No matter the instigating factors, the end result is the same. I am finally producing something tangible and, if I do say so myself, doggone good! I love seeing and sharing the storybooks I have created with our pictures!

To make this entry useful for the general population, I'll share some of the thoughts I've been mulling over during my recent (if relatively limited) experiences to provide a bit of a review of the services with which I've been experimenting. Each of the sites I have tried has some good qualities (some more than others) and each has some drawbacks. The following evaluations and comments are completely my own opinions, based on my own circumstances. I do not receive any kind of compensation for any of my observations, nor do I intend to cause any harm or damage to any of the companies involved. (The companies are welcome to read and consider my comments, if they wish, to get a feel for the way unbiased, real-world people are thinking about their services and products.) These are just things I've been considering as I have been trying different ways of translating our memories into print form.

My favorite storybooking site for quality and the end product is Heritage Makers. It has, by far, the most embellishments, options, backgrounds, styles, and general bells and whistles of any site I have tried. The possibilities for page layouts and personalizations are almost infinite, since the user can (and must) place and adjust every picture and every piece of anything on every page. Of course, this technology involves not only more labor but also an extra cost. The HM site is the only one I have worked with that charges a monthly fee for access to more than their basic resources. The end result is definitely a better-made product than the others, with sewn bindings (instead of glued), acid-free pages, and overall archival keepsake quality.

What I am finding with HM is that some of the bonuses are also the very things that become drawbacks. With infinite possibilities also come the aforementioned extra costs, as well as countless decisions, processes, and technical things to figure out and try to learn and remember. Because there are so many things the user must adjust, there are several toolboxes/storage areas that take up screen space and must be moved from place to place and/or opened and closed in order to access the work space. This site involves a definite learning curve and requires regular practice to keep up with the technology. For me, all these possibilites translate to more time, which is one of my most limited and costly resources. They also lead to greater frustration and more second-guessing than I have felt with the other companies, as well as to a longer interval between project start and actually being able to order, receive, hold, and enjoy the end product. When the possibilities are practically endless, it's hard to feel like I've explored all options and put everything the way I want it.

Time is also more of an issue with HM because the "credits" for products that a customer purchases ahead of time (say, in a promotional combo package or when the site is having a sale) have an expiration date. (This fact is not mentioned much when a person is making a purchase, by the way, and I do not remember it being clearly written or emphasized on any order form.) For people whose computer files and pictures are very organized and who have a firm grasp on both their visions for their projects and the technology involved, this may not be much of an issue. For our family, however, the time pressure has become a huge issue. I purchased several credits for items in May and June of 2008. I did complete one beautiful, priceless (to me) keepsake storybook in the first month after I opened the account. I love it so much and it came out so close to being perfect in every way for my purposes that I can hardly imagine ever making another one that I would love or appreciate as much. My other pictures are not quite so accessible or organized, but I thought I had plenty of time to work on the projects bit by bit. My husband, however, was notified that he was losing his job in the second month after I purchased the credits. His new job pays less than the other, so our funds are even more budgeted than they were before. Even if I had been able to complete the projects, we could not have paid the additional amount necessary to have the items shipped to us.

Our time for such projects has also been more strictly budgeted because I started working outside of our home and he started traveling more. To complicate matters, our computer had unplanned issues and eventually our monitor and scanner became useless. We, of course, have not had the resources to get a new monitor and have only recently been able to install one that works. Our home computer still has issues when I try to upload pictures to and navigate the HM site, but I have not yet been able to determine if this is a consistent problem with HM or if the problem lies more with my computer and my connection to the internet.

I did not know all these roadblocks would arise when I purchased most of the credits, but I am, nonetheless, going to have to do something with the projects or my investment (which is greater than it would be with the other companies I have seen for similar, if lower quality, products and services) will be lost. The months of premium membership for which I paid, but was unable to use, are a complete loss. What I have learned from this experience is that I cannot purchase from this company just because it holds a sale - no matter how great of a sale it is or what I dream of being able to do with the sale items - or because a friend hosts a show. I have to make rational decisions based on what is best for my family at the time and what resources I have available. If I am going to purchase items from this site in the future (which I am sure I will), I will have to have my files and ideas organized and my time set aside so that I can complete the project in a timely manner. I will also have to consider the cost of adding the premium membership to the price of the item credit that I purchase, as I cannot justify maintaining that pricey membership in the hopes that I will be able to work on projects regularly. That hope is just not realistic for my family's situation at this time.

Let's move on to another site. I'll do Snapfish next because this evaluation is the really easy. For picture printing, I have always been happy with the services and quality Sfish offers. As far as photobooks are concerned, however, I have not been impressed with it. The options for backgrounds are most limited, and embellishments are nonexistent. The whole process is relatively quick, mainly because there are not many options from which to make choices. Uploading pictures to the site is quite fast and well-organized, and the book-building process is easy to navigate. The pictures fit into a basic number of layouts and a few set sizes of windows. I cannot comment on the quality of the actual printed book because I have not yet ordered and received mine. I will add pertinent information here when I upload the remaining pictures (delayed, again, because of the problems with the family computer as well as by my general lack of excitement with the options they offer) and finish the last couple of pages in the book. (Their discount promotion ends in the next few days, so I will definitely have to submit my project soon.)

Another website I could use to turn our digital picture files into tangible book form is Kodak Gallery. I had forgotten about this one until it sent me a notice that I hadn't bought anything in so long that it was about to delete my stored pictures. As it turns out, a small photobook would fulfill my purchase requirement for the year. I thought Snapfish had the most basic program out there until I tried to make a book through Kodak. Just about the only choices to make here are the size of the book (I am trying the one for which I have a discount code), the design for the covers (both the same, chosen from a small selection) and the design of the pages (backgrounds all the same w/ limited variety and layouts.) I will post about the quality of the final product when my little photobook gets here.

As evidenced by my last couple of posts on this blog, the remaining company I have tried and will mention is Shutterfly. I have used this site for photo storage, picture printing, and Christmas card production over the past few years. Although one of the cards I made a couple of years ago printed much darker than I expected, all the other cards and prints I have purchased from them have arrived exactly as they looked online. As a member of their site, I receive regular emails and sale ads, one of which included a code for a free photobook. (Free book with paid shipping.) When I gave it a try, I had limited computer function and was not able to fully explore the options available on their site, but I did easily and quickly put together a basic photobook that arrived at my home within just a few days.

This photobook brings our family a lot of joy. (As I mentioned before, we barely have any pictures that are actually printed, so this whole group of themed pictures in book form is outstanding!) Its construction is not what I would describe as high quality; it is not going to be coming apart any time soon, but the binding is glued instead of being sewn and the book arrived in a simple cardboard mailer and plastic envelope, as opposed to the gift/protective sleeve that was also included with the HM book. The book only cost me what I paid for shipping, after all, and it has been well worth that amount. This promotion was also a success for Sfly, I think, because it got me looking at the product and giving the process a try. Now that I have learned a bit more about this part of the the website (time investment being pleasantly little as Sfly is a place where I already stored photo files for free and the site and this book-making process are incredibly fast and easy to navigate), I have figured out what errors I made in my haste to complete this first book before the discount code was no longer valid. I have also figured out things I like and dislike about this website.

Shutterfly's system has a very easy-to-access variety of backgrounds, edge styles, and preset layout options for their pages. There are not as many options for the covers, but the options they do have work well. I like that I can generally find a background and a basic picture edging I like for most of my purposes. Sfly does not have nearly the number of themes and choices as the premier version of HM has available, but it has considerably more than Sfish and Kodak. I especially appreciate the layout options for 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5+ pictures and the ease and speed with which any of these choices can be placed, changed and viewed. As I think about all the projects I have purchased and the ones I have actually completed, I am sure this one element has been the key reason I have been able to slap together so many Sfly projects so quickly.

With convenience comes limitation, of course, and I would be remiss if I did not mention my frustration with the way that so many of the layout options do not use up enough of the page space (I want to be able to see more picture and less background a lot of times) and do not allow me to make individual pictures bigger or smaller than their preset dimensions. While this program does allow me to combine text - a good selection of fonts, even - with my pictures, the size and space limitations are a factor again. Personalization of the photobooks is also limited because the website does not offer any embellishments or ways to place anything outside of the preset layouts. Without going to an outside website for templates and using a photo-editing or publishing program to embellish photos and then uploading the whole product to be placed into a Sfly book, there is no way to raise the keepsake or heirloom status of the books I make on Sfly. The end result is usually a fun, touchable, portable memory book, but not so much of a replacement for a real scrapbook or other specialized storybook.

To summarize, my experiences have taught me that Snapfish and Kodak have a way to go before their photobooks would be my first or even second choice, but I am glad to see their efforts at offering this type of product. I am excited to have learned as much as I have about Shutterfly's photobooks and other photo products and most especially to have an easy way to post the virtual products I create to my blog and other websites. I am thrilled that I have been able to combine various promotional discounts to order and quickly receive a variety of actual products from Shutterfly, as well. Although their layouts are not all completely space-efficient, they do not offer embellishments, and the available themes are not unlimited, the advantages are that the workspace within the site is convenient to use, the creative process is easy to learn, understand, and navigate, the backgrounds do come in a decent variety of styles, and the layouts and storyboarding options make it possible to put together fun books in a relatively short time. I also appreciate the fact that I can work on Shutterfly products a little bit at a time and store them as works-in-progress or just as fun projects at no additional cost. Heritage Makers delivers the ultimate quality of product, but also requires the greatest investment of time, energy, and finances. This is truly the place to go for heirloom kinds of keepsakes. They offer such a variety of embellishments and themes that there must be something to appeal to any person's style or needs. This company also makes a variety of other photo gifts and products which I have only seen on their site, as well as offering a template gallery (the majority of which templates are only available to their premier members) which can help members to jump-start various projects. I have found them to be the gourmet meal of photobook making or storybooking, as they call it. While I am not able to use their services every time, I am most thrilled with and moved by the product I receive when I do make the required commitment to and investment in a project with Heritage Makers.

We are remembering how much fun Disneyland and Walt Disney World can be.

2009-04-24T11:45:00.001-07:00

I have been at it again. Actually, this book is just a modified version of a previous one I created and posted. (See below.) The earlier one is the 8x8 proportion, should someone be curious. This one is a slightly adapted 12x12 version. I love them both and wonder if and when I might be able to purchase this big one and see it in person. Wouldn't she get a kick out of it?! Until that time, I will enjoy sitting at the computer and flipping these virtual pages with my daughter.

Click here to view this photo book larger

WDW Characters LILY

2009-04-23T08:06:00.001-07:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

NSSHP 2007 Book

2009-03-09T19:28:00.001-07:00

Our family went to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World in 2007. It was the best trip we've ever taken to Disney, according to my oldest boys. Just the fact that these teen/pre-teen boys had such a blast and were willing to admit it told me that they REALLY loved it. We have loved listening to the event music from it and talking about it so much that I wanted to put some of our pictures together and make some kind of memory book about it.

When Shutterfly sent me a code for a free photobook, I knew just what I wanted to do with it. They've got some fun Halloween backgrounds, so it went together pretty easily. The kids are thrilled that they have a book they can look through to see shots of so many of the fun things we did. I, of course, look at it and wish I had been able to place things a little bit differently or remembered to write one thing or another on certain pages before I published it, but I have to admit that I'm quite thrilled to have it to look through and share with friends and family. Besides, when I combined it with other things I needed to get from the site (I print pictures through them) and with other discount codes, the whole book was totally free and we got a back-up copy for a great price. I love free things - free things that we actually like and use - almost as much as I love a great vacation!

View Project at Shutterfly

We're playing Tagrit!

2009-02-28T20:52:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged, and around my house that means we're playing tagrit. My daughter coined that particular phrase, using the term over several days before I figured out exactly what she meant. She lives for the fleeting moments when her three big brothers will play with her, and tagrit is a favorite game. Tag, you're it = tagrit in little-girl-trying-to-keep-up-with-big-brothers language.

Now I'm playing a different kind of tag - one that brings less physical benefits (I really should be playing the real tag game, or anything that would have me running or getting more physical exercise than my current chasing and transporting my kids regimen), but is stimulating, just the same. It seems to be pretty popular among those who join me in being connected to their computers for escape and amusement purposes, as well as for all the enriching and socially satisfying benefits. I've been blog-tagged by one of my oldest friends.

Here are the rules:

(1) Share 6 non- (though not necessarily un-) important things about yourself on your blog.
(2) Tag 6 blogging friends to then do the same.
(3) Let each person know s/he’s been tagged by leaving a comment on his or her blog.
(4) Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

After much consideration, I decided I’m thinking way too much about which 6 things to write and should just go on and write something already.

FIRST FACTOID:
I use this one whenever we have events where we do one of those getting-to-know-you activities and have to tell a few things that are true about ourselves and some that are not, then others have to guess which are the true statements. No one ever gets this one right.

I paid for much of my college education with a soccer scholarship (of sorts) from our men’s soccer team. Two of my favorite men in the world (Mike "Bert" Berticelli and Chris "Rico" Petrucelli) were our coaches. After I worked for them during my Freshman year, one or both of them arranged for me to receive work-study pay for my job as their statistician and manager. They didn't have to do it; I loved the game, the team, the coaches, and the experience. I didn't ask them to pay me for the work I did, but I'll be forever grateful that they offered. They made all the difference in my life. They allowed me to quit the job I held at a department store, which meant I didn't have to waste all that time driving to a neighboring town to work and be so disconnnected from campus. They gave me not only a way to justify spending all that time at the soccer office/stadium and with the team, but more importantly gave me a kind of confidence and priceless memories that I cannot imagine having built any other way.

The same year I graduated, these coaches moved up from positions as Men's Soccer Head Coach and Men's Soccer Assistant Coach at our college (Old Dominion University) to build successful programs as Men's Soccer Head Coach and Women's Soccer Head Coach at Notre Dame University. They both went on to make soccer - and the world in general - better places in many ways. To me, they'll always be the guys who saw more in me than I saw in myself and who treated me like I could be someone important when they were under no obligation to do so. I've worn my little gold soccer ball charm on my necklace almost every day since Coach Bert gave it to me just before my Senior year.

Here's a link to a poem Coach Mike Berticelli, former Old Dominion University & University of Notre Dame Head Men's Soccer Coach, NSCAA Vice President of Education, and NSCAA Director of Coaching Emeritus wrote about Youth Soccer coaches before his untimely death in 2000:
http://www.rysc.org/mike_berticelli.htm

SECOND THING YOU MAY OR MAY NOT WANT TO KNOW:
I love the ocean. I love learning about and watching ocean animals, studying ocean science, teaching about the ocean, doing ocean-related experiments, sitting next to and listening to the ocean, sorting through seashells, and taking pictures of my kids at the ocean. I think I could watch the ocean churn, roll, and foam for hours on end. I do not, however, enjoy swimming in the ocean. No matter how shallow or deep the water, every minute I'm in the ocean is spent imagining how many of those ocean creatures could possibly be lurking in the murky waters immediately around and below me. I used to love ocean swimming, always marvelling at the power of the swells and waves and the way the tides affect the direction we end up going. Some time in my grown-up years, though, I lost my tolerance for the mystery and the possibilities of things that could invade my personal space. I don't know if it's correlation or causation, but the change seemed to have possibly come around the same time as the summer when I had a horrible case of shingles that followed a nerve around my abdomen and back area, swam in the ocean, and suffered agonizing pain from the sand and salt water rubbing under my swimsuit and into those patches of blisters.

THIRD THING THAT'S ON MY MIND:
I have a kind of love/hate relationship with numbers and patterns. They calm me. When I'm feeling overwhelmed or stressed, a few games of Free Cell or Sudoku will help me step back and feel like I can put things in order. On the other hand, my need for patterns can be nearly paralyzing. I've been known to count the parents standing in a line on sign-up day at school, then move myself back the correct number of people to make sure I get a carpool number or lunch number I can wear without feeling like the Earth is spinning out of control. The last time we got a new cell phone, I literally broke into a cold sweat while we waited for the randomly-assigned phone number to appear on the computer screen. I begged the man to let us change if, just by chance, the new number would be some random jumble of numbers. He first thought I was joking, until he saw how wide my eyes were and how close I was to crying. My current number crisis is the order in which our new health insurance company has assigned our member numbers. They've made my husband first, then put the rest of us in alphabetical order. Dolts. How could they? Don't they know that the universe might split into pieces if, after the main policy-holder, the rest of us are not listed in descending age order?

FOURTH THING, IF YOU'RE STILL WITH ME:
I'm a rule-follower. I stop - fully stop - at all stop signs, even in empty parking lots. In the past, I could not stand to drive at any speed above the posted speed limit. Even now, I gasp if I look at the speedometer and realize I'm driving 5 or more miles per hour over the speed limit. I've been a rule-follower all my life. I have always imagined that my parents know this about me and made sure, when we were young, to ask just the right questions if they needed to know who did what while they were out. I know how to use creative phrasing and answer parts of questions, but if I'm asked a specific question, I will undoubtedly spill the beans.

FIFTH THING I'LL MENTION.
Tomatoes. I don't like them. I want to like them. Every year I think, "This will be the year I like tomatoes!" Then I try them and, lo and behold, I still don't like them. I like looking at those cute little grape tomatoes and putting them on my family members' plates. I like making tomato sandwiches for my husband and daughter. I am fascinated by the big, huge tomatoes where each slice is the same size as a piece of bread. I especially like the kind of sandwich I make for them with toasted cheddar cheese. They look so delicious! You would think I would at least like that kind. I don't. ... Maybe next year?

SIXTH THING (NOT REALLY NON-IMPORTANT, BUT ON MY MIND A LOT THESE DAYS.)
I love musical theatre and performing music. I didn't realize until just recently how much I enjoy it and how much I wish I had not been so painfully shy in my youth. I could have been so much better at it if I had let myself grow to my full potential when I had such instruction available. I grew up in a town where we had opportunities that were hidden gems for the musically or theatrically inclined. Our Fine Arts Center was where I went to ballet and tap classes, tried several art/craft experiments, sang in a Youth Chorale which was led by an outstanding woman and produced several highly-talented individuals, and watched my parents and siblings participate in plays and operettas. (See my previous blog post about "Tradition.") I sang in choir at church for most of my life, as well, which probably started because my mother was the choir director for much of the time.

Our show choir director and our theater teacher in high school ran programs in which I consider myself lucky to have been able to participate. What fun! What culture! What a creative learning ground I had available! During my college years, however, I only participated in one bit of musical theatre. My then-boyfriend/now-husband is blond and I had some experience with singing/acting, so we signed up to earn extra credit by participating in our Theater Arts professor's production of "Cabaret" in the local community theatre. Through that venue, we met a unique and extraordinary group of people. That was an experience I would never trade! Oh, the stories we could tell!

Our family's more recent theatrical venues have been infinitely less - um - seedy. For several years, we did more watching of musicals - from "The Lion King" and "Mama Mia" on Broadway (and "The Lion King" Broadway tour in Atlanta) to various high school and puppet performances of "The Wizard of Oz." (I even found out that one of my former students is currently a character in Disney's touring version of Lion King!) We all sang, danced, and acted together for the first time when we dipped our toes into the waters of theater again and participated in a historical reenactment kind of pageant two summers ago. The soundtrack was pre-recorded, but we did spend many hours in the car practicing the songs so we would look like we were singing the right things and so our fellow actors wouldn't be driven away when we sang along during the show. (That Pageant, "The Promised Land", is growing and now moving to an outdoor theatre a few hours away from us. We're planning to audition for it, though, and will be using this coming summer's vacation time to participate in it. http://www.beaufortobserver.net/Articles-c-2009-02-04-231685.112112_New_owners_breathe_life_into_deserted_amphitheater.html) We also accompanied our oldest son while he did the Trek this last summer. (It's a pioneer reenactment/ challenging journey kind of thing that youth in our church have the opportunity to participate in every few years.) We didn't follow him and his wagon, but the rest of us were actors that he and the other groups encountered in vignettes along the way. Through our Church associations, too, I ended up adapting the script and songs, then singing and acting in an inspiring production of The Parable of the Ten Virgins. That experience was a standout moment in my life.

We got fully back into actually participating in musical theatre slowly, and originally to satisfy our middle son's passion. He has always been a charmer and entertainer, full of wit and will. When we moved to NC, we were looking for something for him to do that would help him adjust to the new area and find something he loves here. He did a few plays with FACT (Franklinton Area Community Theatre), but we really wanted to sign him up with a children's theatre camp/group a friend runs. We finally made that leap this past summer. He had such fun acting in Willy Wonka, Jr. that his older brother decided to try it, too, when they did Fiddler on the Roof, Jr. (Again, see previous posts on Tradition and Another Op'nin.) By the time they did School House Rock, Jr., we were fully committed and I had a new job!

Saying that I'm working again outside of our home is quite a big thing for our family. Aside from the fact that I can provide the boys with this cultural experience and the family with a bit of extra income, I'm also able to use my teaching degree some and my love for expression through art and music. (The reasons I left teaching involve more than just the birth of our first son, but the PTSD/anxiety are a whole other tag subject I won't go into at this time.) I'm now able to spend major quality time with all three of my boys, as the young son has even joined us in our current production. I can't think of any way I would rather spend their childhood and my time. My youngest child, my daughter, is even being exposed to the theatre in a way that is quite similar to my experiences with my parents' plays when I was little. She spends hours at the theatre with me, watching me create and transform sets, hiding-and-seeking in magical corners, and singing and learning everyone's lines along the way. (She's fully prepared to step in as understudy for any of 4 characters in the current show, should some emergency arise where we'd need a 4-year-old to fill in.) I hope this turns out to be as much of a treasure to her as my memories are to me!

We are celebrating "SnObama" Day.

2009-01-20T14:28:00.000-08:00

Here in our little corner of the South, today was a day like no other. After all, it snowed! I find it fitting that our area got more snow today than it has in at least 5 years, more snow than it has in any of the years I have lived here. Coincidentally, the history of our country changed today. How fortunate that my kids have something to crystallize the event in their memories. Our world was blanketed and has emerged anew.

My oldest son's January 18th comment about the man we would see inaugurated as our 44th President gave me serious pause. (He is the one who decided we should call today "SnObama Day", but that's not the comment to which I'm referring.) He said, "I don't see why people are getting so worked up about it, Mom. Isn't he just a guy?" I felt suddenly awash with the conflicting emotions, among others, of satisfaction and confusion.

I've been wondering, lately, if I've done a decent job of teaching my kids about racial issues, especially in the context of our history and our country. I've always tried to teach them that everyone in the world is equally important to our Father in Heaven, regardless of race, financial situation, religion, lifestyle, location, or any other differentiating factor. (As a parent, of course, I think my own kids are the most amazing and valuable people on the planet. What I'm talking about here is something different.) I cannot say that I have wanted them to be "colorblind", but instead that I want them to know that every person's heritage is a treasure - a story to be valued and even celebrated. The phrase they will tell you that I repeat to them is that no one in the world is any better than they are, just as they are no better than anyone else. I want them to value the history and heritage that comes along with each different person, but not prejudge. I want them to believe that they have just as much potential, right, and responsibility to do great works as any other person does.

"Only a people does it." It's a phrase I grew up hearing. Way back in the 1970's, my parents put down a vinyl floor in one room in our house - fitting, cutting, and placing it on their own. My mother was somewhat proud of their accomplishment and told her mother about it. Grandmother said, "You did it?" Mother replied that she had. Grandmother said, "Only a people does it." Mother tells me that she meant that if other people could do it, there was no reason they couldn't. Although it had the potential of deflating my parents' pride in their accomplishment at that moment, our family has used the phrase over time to remind us that there is no reason that we cannot accomplish whatever we decide we want to accomplish. I guess I come by it naturally.

Today, we played in the snow. We made snow angels, threw snowballs, tried to build a snowman (the snow was too powdery to build much more than a lump with sticks poking out of its sides), rode boogie boards and sleds down snowy hills, and then came in the house to see history in the making. Today, we watched a man rise to the high office of President of the United States of America. In a country where he once would have been valued as less than a human because of the blood that runs in his veins or the place where his father was born, we saw a man fulfill the dreams of thousands. Today, we bowed our heads over our lunch of soup and hot cocoa while our new President and our nation's leaders bowed their heads over an inaugural luncheon.

In the words of Reverend Lowery, "(Let all) who do justice and love mercy say amen, say amen, and amen!"

We are enjoying the heat!

2009-01-03T07:50:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note for those who are concerned and in expression of gratitude to those who have lent us their prayers and support: The heat is on! Woo hoo!

We are having "another op'nin' of another show"!

2008-12-15T12:52:00.000-08:00

First, I have to admit that I am late in updating the blog this month. My tardiness has a lot to do with those fleas I was thinking about last month, most directly the fleas of my husband's drastically increased travel schedule (which comes along with the blessing of a new job & paycheck) and the flea of the increased demands on my time (which comes along with the blessing of a job for me with a bit of a paycheck, a creative outlet, and special time spent with my kids.) One of those topics now leads me to today's blog entry title.

We opened another show! This one was a bit different because I have been the official assistant director. This is my new job! During "Fiddler" practices (see the Tradition blog entry) I was staying at the theatre to conserve gas and gas money, then helping with the painting because I could and because my friend (the theatre owner) needed the help. This time I had more definite hours, more specific duties, and the bonus of a bit of pay. As with the first show, though, the most valuable thing the boys and I have gained is time spent in the car and at home as we sing together, discuss ideas about their acting choices, and talk about my memories of growing up during the 70's.

The 70's theme is a direct result of the play the kids are putting on: "Schoolhouse Rock, Jr." What a surprisingly fun show! We seriously considered not signing up for this session because we weren't really sure how Schoolhouse Rock could be turned into a play, but we are so happy we did it! Amazingly, the theatre owner/director was able to adapt the script to include solos for all 16 principal cast members. Having recently worked on adapting a script myself (for our women's group's - Relief Society - depiction of the Parable of the Ten Virgins) to accomodate the talents and needs of 12 women, I have a healthy respect and admiration for Miss Debbie's dedication to showcasing the talents of so many kids in one show.

Here is a picture of S1 at practice. His hair is almost as long as the girls' hair around him, but he's clearly the boy in this shot.

Here he is in his costume, just about to go on stage. (We tried slicking his hair back to make it look kind of like Danny Zuko's. I think I should have used more gel and less wax.)

Here's S2 (in the red shirt) running through his part during practice while the director shows the rest of the cast what to do as they face and respond to his character.

Here he is in his costume. How fun is this Mr. Kotter wig?! What a good sport he was!

Here they are with the main characters in the cast. The chorus kids were wearing tie-dyed shirts and fun jeans, but weren't in this shot because we wanted a closer picture of the main group.

Here's a kind of fuzzy shot of our family after the version of this show where my boys were in the chorus.

Some fun shots from the cast party. Along with other music, the kids like to sing and dance to songs they've done in previous shows. Some kids have been doing shows at this theatre for 6 years and dozens of shows, so there are always lots of requests.

Here's a shot of my work as it progressed:

Here's the way the set looked the way I preset the main area just before the show started:

This is my mural of the Capitol building in Washington, DC.:

It's always a little bit heart-breaking to paint over the last show's scenery, but then it's exciting to start designing and see if I'm able to make the new set make sense. Before long, I guess we'll see what I need to paint to help bring "Beauty and the Beast" to life for the kids!

We will be thankful - even for the fleas in life!

2008-11-11T20:13:00.000-08:00

Corrie ten Boom's story The Hiding Place contains one of my favorite reminders about the Lord's direction to us to be thankful, as much for the annoying or even painful parts of life as for the blissful times. Her sister insists on giving thanks in her concentration camp prayers, even for the fleas with which they must contend in their barracks. The sisters eventually came to learn that the fleas were what kept their captors out of their barracks, thus giving the devoted pair the opportunity to read and study the Bible together. Corrie's sister had told her to be thankful, even for the fleas; her life was forever blessed for those fleas!

So we're acknowledging our family's "fleas", but we are going to continue to give thanks for them. Some of them bring blessings we can feel and see right away; some will take more patience and faith than others. All will be for our overall experience and eventual good ... we hope.

So let's talk about the relatively little, more tangible things first.

* Our cars. Grrr. Fleas, both of them! Imagine me in the rain, running back and forth from side to side of the car, trying to get the key to work in just one of the locks. Imagine my 4 kids waiting for me to get any one door open so we can squish into the car, where the heat may or may not be working but will surely not be working well, the door-open indicator light will stay on even if I've re-slammed and checked every door, and countless other non-inspection-passing problems will loom. None of this even takes into the account the fact that this car is quite painful for me to even sit in, much less drive. My back issues scream at me the entire time I'm sitting in this car. But at least we have it. We have a second car to cover us when the minivan won't start (which it has been doing quite often - so much so that we had to further stretch our budget to include the purchase of a new battery) and when the daddy needs to take the minivan on one of his many out-of-town scheduled work trips. We are definitely blessed to have a mechanic who we love and trust and who will work our needs into his hectic schedule so often!

* It's been unusually cold here in the last couple of weeks. Nights have been in the low 30's until this week. Several days didn't get a whole lot warmer. We haven't had any heat in our house, unfortunately. Friends at church offered to help us pay for someone to fix it when they heard about the situation, but we decided it's really not such a bad thing for our boys to know that hard times can actually be hard and that we don't always get what ever we want right when we want it and just because we want it. We've just been bundling up more, sitting a little closer to each other, and being thankful for the more normal weather we've had this week.

Then there are some less tangible, but deeply impactful situations for us to deal with.

* I took a job! I'm working at the theatre where the boys are performing. It's also run by my friend, so my friend and fellow church member is also my boss. I'm the assistant director in the current play (which started a few weeks ago and will wrap up on December 20th - and I take it on like I have nothing at all to do with my time during this particular season. Lol.) I do get some income and I also get BOTH of the boys' tuitions included - woo hoo! I also love the time I get in the car with my big boys. Most of it is spent singing together or talking about things they are very happy about, which is priceless time when they're such grumpy adolescents on a regular basis. My schedule is horrifyingly overwhelming these days, but I'm hoping the boys will one day know that I put in all this time and work to give them the gift of this experience.

I get the right of first refusal for the next play, too, which is going to be AWESOME. We just recently applied for all 3 of the boys to be in that one. This theater thing seems to be infectious - in a good way. More about this job's effect on our lives in a moment.

* Another good news-bad news thing is that my husband got a new job! He's excited about this company and that's a good thing. I want him to love what he does, you know? They can't match his last salary, but we're hoping that other benefits and the possible bonus will make it at least comparable. The company is based in our neighboring state and he'll have to travel there and throughout his territory regularly, but he'll be based out of our home. His territory is every state between NC and TX that touches water. Clearly, he's going to be gone a whole lot more. None of us is very thrilled about that.

That takes me back to my job thing. With the dad being gone more, I'm trying to figure out how to do MY job without having my two younger kids become too much of a nuisance at the theatre. I will have to take them with me some nights. This should be an interesting juggling act! As I wonder which would be the fleas in this case - my kids or the job - I realize I'm going to have to say neither, actually, since I wouldn't wish away either my kids or this opportunity under any circumstances I can imagine. I'm glad I've at least temporarily got the option to take the kids with me sometimes when I do this job.

* I'm also giving a lot of time and energy to a play we're doing at church. We'll be performing for the women's groups (called Relief Society) from my ward (church members who go at the same time I do and live in the same geographical zone) and my SIL's ward. It's the biggest deal of the year for us, and the biggest production we've ever tried to pull off. We're going to do a portrayal of the parable of the Ten Virgins. I've adapted and rewritten the script twice already, cast 11 parts, and dealt with 12 women's needs, schedules, and feelings. I'm also going to be acting and doing the first solo I've ever sung in front of this large of a group. Although it's emotionally and physically taxing, I think the spiritual rewards will be worth the work.

Every glass is both half-filled AND half-empty, right? Even glasses that are almost empty have something to offer. Glasses that are empty once held something that can be remembered and appreciated.

We are building a TRADITION!

2008-10-11T11:14:00.000-07:00

Phrases I never would have guessed I'd say to my boys:

"Stay in the car and sing, boys, while I run in and buy you some lipstick."

"You didn't have enough mascara on last night, son. We'll have to put on 2 layers tonight."

"Do you prefer the long-wearing lipstick, or just the lipliner?"

Based on our activities over the last few weeks, the list could go on and on, but you can get the general idea from these statements. No, I'm not teaching my boys how to properly and tastefully apply daily make-up. I have been putting make-up on them, however - to more than a mild amount of protest on their parts! Stage make-up was a requirement, though, as the boys have starred in a local children's theater workshop production of "Fiddler on the Roof, Jr." My oldest son (we'll call him S1) portrayed Tevye and S2 (I bet you figured it out already, but I'll point out that this means my second son) played the tailor Motel Kamzoil (or Camzoil, depending on the source.)

S2 as Motel (rhymes with bottle)

S1 as Tevye - before beard. (We put the beard on him at the last possible moment so the tape and spirit gum wouldn't irritate his skin any more than necessary.)

Words can hardly express what this experience has meant to our family! In fact, there's no way I could properly document every feeling and important moment that has transpired, but the whole thing has been such a blessing for us that I have to try to get some of it described in writing.

Let me say now that my siblings and I grew up in a town where we were lucky enough to have an amazing Fine Arts Center. We attended dance, drama, and art classes there over the years, but mainly the three youngest of us (my next older sister, my youngest brother and I) were part of the Youth Chorale and our parents performed in several Broadway-quality operettas. At a young age and over several years, I watched my parents participate in such exciting productions as "Mikado", "H.M.S. Pinafore", "The Wizard of Oz", and "Fiddler on the Roof" from plush theater seats, as well as from the wings and storage areas off to the sides of the stage.

Here is a shot my brother recently dug up. He and I are on the front row of these groovy singing kids. I don't know when this was taken exactly, but it had to be some time in the 70's.

Here is a shot of (my younger brother along with) my dad as he practiced for his part as Lazar Wolf. He played this part in "Fiddler on the Roof" beautifully, even growing the only beard I ever remember seeing on his face so that he would look authentic. (At the time, I was about the age that my S2 is now.)

Of course, to me, my daddy was always Tevye. When Tevye sang about his little bird, it was supposed to be Daddy singing about me. When Hodel sang to Tevye, it was supposed to be my song to my dad. My mother was part of one of the families (they grouped the whole cast into families, except for Daddy because his character being a widower is an integral part of the story), but I knew she had a more operatic, leading lady voice than anyone else on the stage. I went to most of the rehearsals and watched the whole show - 11 magical, sold out performances - from the wings.

The significance of this story in our lives didn't end when that production closed. When I was married, we had a ring ceremony at our church building. My parents sang "Sunrise, Sunset" during that ceremony for us. They also sang it at my dear friend's wedding. (This friend is so special to me that her name is one of my daughter's middle names.)

Twelve years later, when our family was moving from Georgia (relatively reachable from NC) to California (where we thought we'd live for the rest of our lives - too far for most of my NC family to travel), my father quoted to me from this story. He reminded me that when Hodel is going off to Siberia to be with her intended, she says, "Papa, God alone knows when we'll ever see each other again." Then Tevye responds, "Then we will leave it in His hands." Daddy had had a stroke several years ago and was no longer a big traveller, so he knew he'd never fly out to CA. He was telling me the same thing Tevye told his daughter. I still cry when I hear the song from this scene, knowing it echoes the way I've followed my husband through all these moves, as well as the indescribable bond between my father and me. Just writing about it makes me have to swallow a new lump in my throat.

So now this tradition of ours has come full circle. S2 has been an actor in several musical productions both at his previous school and in theater groups. S1, however, is the athlete and Scout leader in the family, so I was more than a little bit surprised when he announced that he was interested in joining this camp. Not only did he want to participate, but he wanted to audition for the role of Tevye! My surprise only grew when he opened his mouth and sang BASS at auditions, making him the only child in the cast of 24 kids who does not have a soprano voice. For him to find his voice at this time and for BOTH of my older boys to be participating in this production of this particular play right now is heart-warming beyond words.

In case you're wondering, I was at the auditions because I'd volunteered to paint the set. (When you see the set's artwork in the backgrounds of pictures, that's my work!) We are conserving gas as much as possible these days, so I wanted to make myself useful while I was waiting for the boys during practices. Once I started helping, I discovered how much I enjoyed being involved in that artistic outlet! I loved working with the adults who made the play possible, as well as with all the talented kids. On the boys' audition night, I had to choke back tears and hide blushes of pride as my two boys sang and acted their hearts out, earning them the roles they'd wanted and the roles for which their individual personalities could not possibly be better suited. Neither of them is ready for Broadway just yet, of course, but they both put their whole efforts into getting these parts!

Here are my boys with my parents. Tradition, tradition... TRADITION!

Opening night was S1's first time on stage, in front of an audience, delivering lines (and lines and lines!) of dialogue and performing solos. My sister was able to attend that night, as well as some girls from S1's class at church. I suppose I should have warned him that the girls were in the audience. He didn't miss a beat when he saw his aunt in her seat, but the sight of the girls made him forget an entire line of dialogue. He recovered his character quickly, though, and finished the play wonderfully.

S2 never seems to be nervous about going on stage. (This attribute he does not get from me!) This character, in particular, was quite natural for him to portray. His comedic timing was especially helpful. His only opening night blunder was forgetting to put the wedding ring on Tzeitl, his bride. (He is still a pre-adolescent and a boy, after all.) The rest of his missteps and near-falls were scripted, or at least planned in advance.

The boys with their aunt (my sister):

S1 with those (distractingly cute) young women:

Last night, for their second performance, my boys had 10 family members in the audience! Since the entire place holds only slightly more than 60 audience members, it's clear that our family had a great showing. The show was especially exciting for me because it was the first time I sat down and watched the whole play from the audience section instead of on the green room monitor or from some painting position. My husband, S3, and D4 were finally able to come see the show they'd heard rehearsed so many times at home. My brother and his wife practically moved mountains to find a sitter for their young daughters so they could be at the theater for this performance. Two of my nieces were also there - one who is 5 and loves to watch Topol's version of the play on DVD, and one who is her high school's Student Body President and delegated one of her responsibilities at their football game so that she could not only watch and support her cousins, but also drive my disabled parents to the show! (I know this is an improperly long sentence, but that grammatical structure helps to show how much we recognize and appreciate her sacrifice.) It is nearly impossible to get our extended family in one place at one time any more, so the boys were thrilled to be able to share this experience with so many of their relatives over these two days!

The whole bunch at the play last night:

Since this cast puts on only two shows before they all switch parts and perform two more times in different roles (except for S2, since the cast is slightly short of boys to fill all the boy character slots), the second night of the play (last night) was closing night for S1's Tevye. It's a bittersweet time around our house today. He hummed and subtly danced the Bottle Dance as he stepped onto the field at his soccer game this morning. (I note here that this was an early game - an early game a little over 1/2 hour away from home, no less, and he'd insisted on going to the ice cream place with the cast the night before. Oy!) As we walked back to the car after his team had won their game (woo hoo!), he had already begun to sing, "If I Were a Rich Man." We talked on the way home about the mix of feelings actors and crew experience any time a play ends. I think my oldest son and I have talked more, and more deeply, during this last 1&1/2 months than we did for the entire several months preceding it. That development, alone, is priceless to me!

In an increasingly difficult time for my family, this play has surely been an indescribably special experience for us! (You'd get a kick out of my boys and me singing along with the soundtrack as we drive all over town for the various things we do. My 4-year-old daughter can even sing "If I Were a Rich Man" most of the way through!) What an inspiration! What a blessing! What a gift! What a TRADITION!

We are having our own last supper, of sorts.

2008-09-11T16:57:00.000-07:00

I just made dinner for the kids and me. I made some for Michael, too, but he is staying at his office quite late today. He's cleaning out his office, to be exact. After all, tonight is the last night before he goes in for his last day at his current company.

We're hoping this lay-off or whatever it's supposed to be called will lead to an even better opportunity. He had such high hopes for this company, but we see now that some things were not only never going to progress, but were actually changing for the worse.

Does that mythical company where hard work and talent are rewarded by gratitude, increased trust, increased pay, job security, and - dare to dream - possibly a little bit of recognition even exist? He doesn't do what he does for the recognition, by any means. He does what he does because he loves it. From the sound of his evaluations, his business contacts, and his trainees, it sounds like he does it extremely well, too. It's just hard to see him being subject to the whims of the business world. In his heart of hearts, he wants to be with one company for the rest of his career, building a program from nothing and making it the most outstandingly effective, best run program the pharma or mental health field has ever seen. He used to think he wanted to be a vice president or CEO of one of these companies, but he's since decided that he probably isn't heartless enough to do what they do so often.

I don't think I'll post all the details of how this particular loss came about. I'll just write the basics of what's happened. A couple of weeks ago, Michael called me from his office. He sounded absolutely sick; I could just imagine his face looking ashen and his head and shoulders hanging low. He had the feeling he was about to lose his job. His immediate superior at the company had denied that anything was going on, saying that he had no problems with the job Michael was doing. Still, we're sure he was given this prompting for a reason, so we began to prepare for the worst.

The most painful part of this experience for him has been his confusion over the whole situation. How could he get the rave reviews and evaluations he's been getting, but then have his legs cut right out from under him? If he hadn't pressed his supervisor that next Monday and finally told him that he KNEW something was going on, we don't know when the company would have broken all this to Michael. As it turns out, the man was planning to have Michael teach this last group of trainees, then make his last day the same as the last day of the training class. That brings us back to tomorrow.

So tomorrow is his last day. He's not being fired. He didn't do anything wrong. In fact, he's been doing an excellent job and has received excellent feedback from trainees, from employees in the field, from outside contacts he's worked with on behalf of the company, and from other supervisors. The company is just going a different direction and won't be needing the service he provides any more. They want someone else to do the small part of his job that they'll continue to need - someone who can also do another job for which Michael is not qualified.

Still, the whole thing just feels creepy. He only knows of one person in this office of dozens who knows that he'll be leaving at all, much less that tomorrow is the last time he'll be in that office. Can you imagine their confusion when they see him go home tomorrow, leaving an empty office behind? No farewell luncheon, no gold watch, no expressions of concern and good luck for Michael and his family. Conveniently for the company, they won't even have to pay out his end-of-year bonus, most of which he has already earned. Conveniently for his supervisor, the guy isn't even going to be in the office tomorrow. (We suspect that before Michael had pushed for information about is own fate, the supervisor had planned to have the HR woman hand him a severance package agreement just after all these trainees were supposed to leave tomorrow. As it is, they barely got it to him before his last day.) Why is this feeling like such a shameful thing when he didn't do anything wrong? Are they afraid the other employees would revolt, demanding that he be kept on or they'll all walk out? (Not likely, but somewhat of a satisfying fantasy.)

He is pretty sure his semi-replacement is already hired and is just waiting in the wings to occupy his office. In fact, he's completely sure because some dolt at the conference he was supposed to attend next week has recently sent an email with the new guy's name on it to Michael's email address. Duh. It seems the new guy is coming on just in time to get a free trip to San Diego!

So we'll say we're on to bigger and better things. I've been helping rewrite and adjust his resumes and objectives so the things we highlight are geared toward the different jobs for which he's been applying. (Not easy to do when you've got training classes to teach just about every minute of your last 2 weeks.) It's fun to see him getting excited about the possibilities at these new places, seeing how his particular set of qualifications fits so uniquely into some of these job descriptions. It's good to see him have hope that he may find that mythical company one day. Most importantly, we keep praying for the wisdom to know which of these opportunities (and others that may be yet to come) will turn out to be the right one, the strength to make it through whatever we have to go through until he gets a new job, the confidence to proceed with whatever changes we may have to make, and the patience to have it all happen according to the Lord's timetable rather than our own.

We are remembering when 9-11-01 became just 9/11.

2008-09-11T16:34:00.000-07:00

It's one of those era-defining questions. Where were you when United States astronauts landed on the moon? Where were you when JFK was shot? Bobby Kennedy? Where were you when the shuttle blew up? (I remember that one, by the way.) Where were you when September 11, 2001 became just 9/11?

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I had planned to take my 2 younger boys and take the Metro into DC to pick up some tickets at the MCI Center for an ice show we wanted to go see. I slept in a bit later than I'd planned, though, so I was walking out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my hair when Michael's almost frantic call came in. He told me to turn on the television because something very weird was happening. None of our lives would ever be the same after that.

If I had been in DC when I had planned, the 2 younger boys and I would have been stranded while my oldest (then in 1st grade) was being delivered home as quickly as the bus could get him there. All the schools were closed right away and all the kids were taken home. All Metro trains were stopped. Whether we had been on one of the trains or just planning to use one to get back home before the oldest's customary arrival time, I don't think we would have found our way out of DC very easily that day. You see, we lived in Gaithersburg, MD at that time and our area was within that no-fly zone around Washington, D.C. that became eerily quiet in the days and weeks just after the attacks. We had a friend whose uncle died in the Pentagon crash. We heard the stories of local people who were lost in the blink of an eye.

We are still a blessed nation. Sometimes I miss the flags that waved on every single car that drove by for the next several months. If it's this painful for me to remember the way the whole world seemed to shift that one day 7 years ago, I can only imagine how the immediate families of all those hundreds and thousands of people who died must be hurting. I'll do today what I have done every 9/11 since that day and say a quiet prayer for all those families.

We are deciding why we should blog.

2008-09-11T13:11:00.000-07:00

I've considered the idea of blogging on and off for some time now, but obviously didn't decide to do it until today. Why blog? Why today?

It might have something to do with an email I received and to which I responded today. A woman whom I admire incredibly much has a speaking assignment coming up this weekend. She wanted to include some examples of, "How small acts can make a big difference," and asked the ladies in the ward to send her any stories that came to them.

I wrote one example for her. Before I'd finished writing about that one, another came to my mind. As I wrote about that one, another popped up, then another. You can tell where this is going. If we sit and quiet our minds, then let ourselves ponder the things we've experienced, we can recall all kinds of small acts and big differences we've witnessed.

Here are some of the things I listed:

1. A certain leader bore her testimony to the sisters in Relief Society. (A women's class/organization that meets during the 3rd hour of our Sunday church meetings. The worldwide group is one of the largest and oldest women's organizations in the world.) She told us that she was thinking about the sisters in our ward (local church) one night, trying to remember each of our names and listing them in her head. She was somewhat disturbed because there was one sister she knew she was leaving out, but could not remember her name. She prayed for each and every one of these sisters. The next morning, the missing sister came to her mind.

It may sound like a small thing, but it touched my heart deeply to know that someone cared about each and every one us, individually and as a body. It reminded me that our Savior knows us as individuals, as well, and has people here who act in His name, in our service, and on our behalf. When ever I hear the Irving Berlin song that goes, "When I'm worried and I can't sleep, I count my blessings instead of sheep and I fall asleep counting my blessings," I think of this sister. I often think of her example when I can't sleep, as well, and I try to use those opportunities to pray for individuals who may need an extra something at that time.

COUNT MY BLESSINGS (Instead of Sheep)
(Irving Berlin) from the 1954 movie "White Christmas"
« © '57 Irving Berlin Music, ASCAP »

When I'm worried and I can't sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings.

When my bankroll is getting small
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep counting my blessings.

I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds.

If you're worried and you can't sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you'll fall asleep counting your blessings.

[ ... ]So if you're worried and you can't sleep...

2. When we lived in GA and I was having a very painful and scary miscarriage, Michael called our Bishop's wife to ask for advice. Within a few minutes, her car pulled up in front of our house and I heard her footsteps running up our front entry steps. She held my hand, rubbed my head, and talked me through the pain (I didn't know it, but I was having labor contractions) until the ambulance came to help me down those front steps. (I couldn't make my legs move.) While Michael rushed me to the hospital, she stayed with our kids and kept everything calm at home. At one of the most difficult times of my life, I felt completely surrounded with our Savior's love through the service this sister provided.

3. When I was pregnant with my daughter and we were relatively new to CA, a kid hit me with a bike and broke my ankle. My husband worked out of town a lot and was out of town when this happened. Our Bishop's wife came to the soccer field where it happened, took my kids to her home so her daughter could look after them, stayed at the hospital with me, called a Priesthood holder to give me a blessing, and made sure we all got home safely that night. The relief, support, and assurance she provided were priceless and indescribable.

During my recovery, I was supposed to stay completely off my feet for a period of time, but I kept trying to handle things in the house by myself. A sister in the ward volunteered to make sure my oldest son got to Scouts each week. She lived in our neighborhood and it wasn't much out of her way to take him, but it was hugely important as it showed my son that his Church activities are important and it kept him current with what his class was doing. One night when she was dropping him off after Scouts, she snuck into my kitchen and filled a section of my refrigerator with Lunchables. What a relief she provided me! My youngest son was with me all day while the other two went to school during that time, so her lunches made it possible for the little one to have meals that I would not have to get up to prepare for him.

4. We lived in CA - far away from family - when my daughter was less than a month old and Michael lost his job very unexpectedly and suddenly. We were trying to make it through those months on our own (with lots of prayer), but things were starting to get worrisome. We got a call one afternoon that said, "You need to go get some things that are outside in your driveway." When we got out there, we were shocked, touched, and humbled to find all kinds of food and supplies that had obviously been bought at Costco and were tailored to our family's needs. (Diapers, pancake mix, meats, cereal, oatmeal, bread, on and on.) We never found out who did this amazing thing for us or how many families had participated in some small way.

I can't even describe the feelings our family experienced as we lived off those supplies for a good chunk of the time until Michael got his new job. Our boys were all young, but they were old enough to remember the family home evening lesson we'd had on tithing the very week before Michael lost his job. They were sure we were being extra-blessed because we had been obedient to Heavenly Father's instructions. They felt like everyone in our ward had participated and was looking out for our well-being. Since that time, we have also tried to pay that kindness forward, providing support and service to others whose needs we see as often as we possibly can.

5. When a family in another ward lost their young son last year, several other ladies and I went to the family's house during his funeral so that we could give the house a thorough cleaning. I hope that we made it so the family had one less thing to be worried about during such a difficult time in their lives.

6. Before the funeral of an infant who died, our family spent several hours cleaning and preparing the church building. We've cleaned the building as a family before and since, but this time we talked to the boys particularly about the things the family might be feeling - both uplifting and heartbreaking - and the fact that we were trying to make the building as clean as we could so that nothing would take away from their family's time to say good-bye to her.

We will eventually share about Trek!

2008-09-11T11:42:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite pictures that I took during our Pioneer Trek this past June/July. Trek is something I definitely need to blog about. I hope our kids gain a new appreciation for the experience they had there every time they think about it again. I know I do.

We will serve the Lord.

2008-09-11T11:18:00.000-07:00

I had to finish it. For reference sake, it is a scripture from the Bible, found in the book of Joshua, the 24th chapter, 15th verse.

"... choose you this day whom ye will serve; ... but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

We're trying. We really are. I want to keep a record of the ways that we're trying to teach our kids how important unity and service really are. I want our kids to know how very blessed their lives are. Of course, it will help for me to have that reminder, as well.

I stink at journaling - at least I do until I try to write a short email or online group post about something that has happened in the life of my family. Then, when I'm typing, I seem to blurt out everything I've been holding inside. I'm hoping I will be better at journaling if I do it in this format. Time will tell, right?

My parents have always said I have a very hard time letting go of people. I don't disagree. I am not very good at expressing it all the time, but the people who come into my life are so very important to me that they become a part of who I am. My brain is constantly filled with thoughts of others, wondering about their lives & current situations, prayers for their well-being. I hope this format becomes another way to stay in touch with the people who mean so much to me.