ReMARKable Quotes from 2009

Mark: Can you open the garage door?

Mom: No, I don’t want you running around the neighborhood.

Mark: I will WALK!

(4/6/09)

Mark: Are my dreams still in my room? They were not good dreams. They are bad dreams. Something was happening and I came into Mommy’s bed and said, “Mom, my room is a scary place.” Then we made some muffins.

(5/15/09)

Mark: Mom! Something is wrong with your bed! (The bed was not yet made.)

(5/09)

Mark: Where are my little markers?

Mom: I don’t know.

Mark: Maybe they rolled into a little mouse hole.

(5/15/09)

Paige: Don’t fall asleep, Mark.

Mark: Because I look weird when I am asleep?

(5/09)

Mark: Oh my goodness. Look at my eyes! They are not wet anymore!

Mom: Does that mean you are happy now?

Mark: Yes! I am! (jubilantly)

(5/19/09)

Mark, looking at some art: A long time ago in a land far, far away I did that.

(6/25/09)

Mark: I’m a little grown-up and I can prove it.

(6/24/09)

Mark: Am I too young to pull the car out of the garage by myself?

(10/09)

Mom: How about you come and play with playdough while I make dinner.

Mark: Would you like a little boy to accompany you…that lives in our family…that is me?

(11/13/09)

Mark, storming into the kitchen: Mom, please arrest my brothers.

(12/21/09)

Mark: I want to still keep my Legos when I’m rich and a big daddy-kid.

(12/28/09)

A Decade of Family Pictures

For a pensive kind of gal like me, I have to be careful when I dabble in memories. Some regret inevitably comes along with the smiling memories. It’s been a good decade overall, and full of lessons. I wouldn’t change any of the essential elements of the past ten years… BUT… If I could do it all again, I would change my hairstyle for the 2000 family photo and I would spend more time with Richard.

Happy New Year, everyone. Kiss your family and hold on tightly to them. They are everything.

2000

I had surgery #2 this year and was teaching New Testament each morning in our house for seminary and preparing to get braces. Paige was 4 and Daniel was 1. Richard was working at National Instruments.

2001

I’m wearing braces. I had surgery #3 in July. Richard worked at N.I. and I was a Cub Scout Den Leader. We began homeschooling Paige.

2002

Timothy was born on December 20. I was the Relief Society President. Richard was at N.I.

2003

Richard raised Timothy while I ran around as Relief Society President and homeschooled Paige. Braces were off!

2004

Paige was baptized, I continued serving as R.S. President, Richard continued to raise the children.

2005

We moved to Sahuarita. Richard began work at Raytheon. Daniel began kindergarten (2 children to homeschool). Grandpa John passed away. I was 4 months along with Mark in this picture!

2006

Mark joined our family. We moved into our current home. Richard was in the bishopric. Paige began studying ballet with Miss Michele. Paige and Daniel began piano lessons with Mrs. Albertson.

2007

Richard worked at Raytheon and in the bishopric; Daniel was baptized. Homeschool continued forward.

2008

Paige turned 12. Timothy began school, making 3 children to homeschool. Richard was released from the bishopric.

2009

Richard on high council at church and working at Raytheon. We found homeschooling adventures aplenty. This photo was taken at Newport Beach.

December Playbills

Today I came across the programs from our month’s adventures. Now that I have an electronic copy of these, I can throw them away. Isn’t technology grand?

December and June are my months of excavation. I dump out the drawers and files and baskets and try and make sense of it all. Some days it feels like the mail is the enemy… an endless supply of papers invading my house. I learned long ago that the mail must be dealt with every day or pretty soon we become candidates for some talk show on Hoarding.  I still haven’t learned to throw away personal letters or cards. I hoard correspondence in carefully marked boxes in my closet. If you write me a good e-mail, I’ll print that out and save it, too. We’re all allowed a loony habit, aren’t we?

In the spirit of things, I cleaned out the Cub Scout closet at the church tonight. There were newspapers from 1999, a comforter, lumber, countless dried up glue sticks and 20 skeins of yarn.

It feels good to be free from excess… for now, anyway. When June comes I’ll be amazed again at how much paraphernalia we’ve accumulated.

Christmas snapshot

Believe it or not, we didn’t take many photos of our Christmas. We have two and one I won’t be posting. I’ve taken a break, not sure what to share about our lives around December 24-25. Here are a few of my memories:

My favorite moment: Mark, listening to the reading of the Christmas story, silently and carefully handing out Nativity characters to each of us at their mention in the story.

My biggest surprise? My own bookstore: a Kindle. It took my breath away. I may not be keeping a blog anymore; Too much to read.

Most wistful moment? Realizing Paige didn’t receive any toys this year; just clothes and teenager things.

Most beautiful carol? Oh Holy Night, sung by the King’s Singers

The gift I didn’t buy: a new piano bench for Richard

Gift that required the most effort: Caroline’s I Spy Quilt

A cherry on top: a sweet-sounding rental violin on which to fiddle

Books I’ve read over the past few days: A Christmas Carol, The Importance of Being Earnest, Little Women

Nativity Puppets

Using my Aunt Kate’s concept from the nativity blocks she gave our family about 14 years ago, I occasionally make these felt nativity pieces for friends. This time, my friend was looking for something she could use for a puppet show on Christmas Eve, so I glued craft sticks to the backs. I think they are cute. The little ones love to hold them, crookedly and charmingly.