Around Here.

It's been another sleepless morning... I was awake at 4:50 today. I've decided that it's hot flashes/night sweats that wake me up, and discomfort at being utterly-overheated-from-the-core that keeps me up. Ugh. I have somewhat recently had a doctor-directed change in hormone therapy and I'm trying to adjust as gracefully as I can muster.

Yesterday Bill kindly posted this on my FB page... thinking he was posting on his own.

(Link to this awesome message here)

We've had the "mistaken FB identity" problem a lot lately around here. Since Bill and I often use the same computer, we forget to confirm that we are logged into our own FB page before posting... or responding to private messages. Just the other night I noticed I had a few messages, and after wondering why someone had sent a message of a somewhat personal nature to me but quickly responding anyway, I discovered I was on Bill's FB and that the message was meant for the Bishop. Ooops. I quickly messaged the person again about the innocent mistake, and then told Bill when he got home. He had seen the messages but said that he doesn't use FB to respond to Church-related personal messages - a phone call or email are his preferred response avenues. 

That's okay, I'll do it for you.

And you can make me look good by posting a great spiritual thought and a fabulous link.

Ha ha.

Mar started volleyball. C team (yay). I attended her first game the other day in Castle Rock.

 It was a much better first game than last year, but there is always room to improve. Mar played great and is really enjoying it. I'm glad to have a good start to her 8th grade year.

A note about dress codes: much to my delight, our middle and high schools are cracking down on their dress codes. The middle school has always been pretty good at it (can't say the same for high school), but this year they are even better. It's been "tradition" for the volleyball team to wear their jerseys to school on game day. Mar has always worn a shirt under her jersey at school, but most of the girls don't. Mar mentioned that there was a little drama this week on the first game day concerning the fact that the jerseys-without-a-shirt are NOT in alignment with the school's dress code. She, along with 3 others, were the only ones with a shirt underneath. (A non-member friend of hers was wearing a shirt under her jersey and one of the teachers asked her if she was Mormon. Nice.) Mar wondered if the school would still allow it since it was a "team" thing. NOPE. Yesterday they all were asked to bring a plain white shirt to practice to decorate - their new game-day attire at school. 

A win for modesty!!

For YW this week we had a value-color paint war.
Here are the the girls Mar's age pre-war,

mid-war,

and post-war.

Mar came up with an ingenious way to watch her favorite shows while in the shower.

I'm not sure if I should be happy about that.

During a short break in my work day yesterday I came home to this:

My favorite no-bakes. Delicious and NOT ugly - more like a sight to behold. Seriously made my day.
Thanks, baby!

Love Fest.

I have a lot on my mind today.

Maybe that's why I woke up at 4:15am and couldn't get back to sleep.

After about 30 minutes of trying, I decided to be productive and started filing and tucking away a bucketful of Lolo's memorabilia. We spent a good part of yesterday going through her room, piece by piece (and that girl has collected a TON of pieces over the years), in preparation for the BIG MOVE next week. Oh my, did we have piles! I eliminated a pile or two quietly this morning while the rest of the fam slumbered.

I don't have much time this beautiful Sunday morning, so this post might be a bit discombobulated, but for whatever reason I feel compelled to share.

Today is my sister's birthday.

I will not disclose her age, but I will freely share that I have been told by a very sweet, honest, elderly lady that my {older} sister looks like my daughter.

Good thing I'm a Grammy and can handle looking {old}.

We haven't seen each other for almost a year, so I'm hoping to catch up with her in Provo (I'm loving our plaid in the Provo pic above, circa 1973) as we help our beautiful daughters move in at BYU. Lolo and Rach will be living in the SAME BUILDING (totally by luck). I am super excited that those two cousins will be so close.

Happy Birthday, Jill! I love you and am so grateful to have an amazing sister like you.

(I'm hoping to get the chance to chat with her later on, but know that she's just as crazy-busy as I am. And our quick conversations are really never quick. Fingers crossed it will work out today!)

Since I didn't get through my Laurel lesson last week due to some timing issues, I'm extending it through today. You really can't talk too much about chastity (seriously, the girls love the topic) and preparing for a temple marriage. I have been a bit surprised about the questions the young women have, and about what they aren't really sure about. (None of the 14 girls in my class last week knew what the word fidelity meant.) I'm trying to cover these topics as thoroughly as possible so fewer questions remain.

Because I had a little less prep this week, I used some time this morning to put together a handout.

A word about handouts. I kind of get the feeling that in the culture of the Church there are those who believe that handouts are a waste of time. Time that should be used in prayerfully studying and preparing for a lesson. I'll come right out and say that I occasionally feel judged for making them. Like I'm trying to "out-do" someone else, or hopping on the bribing bandwagon. Let me just say that I have always been prayerful and careful in my study and preparation for ANY lesson I am teaching. But I ENJOY making handouts. I loved receiving them as a youth, I loved them as a young mother, I love them now. I believe the YW I teach appreciate a thoughtful handout, and I love them and want to serve them.  And I certainly don't judge anyone for NOT making handouts.

Maybe I feel the need to justify because I've made handouts two weeks in a row. Certainly not that typical (although we recently started a different teaching rotation so I teach for an entire month at a time rather than once or twice a month).

Here's the handout from last week:

 You can access the PDF here.
I had the plastic rings from YEARS ago, and was super excited to think of a good use for them now that Mar is WAY beyond the age where they would work for a party favor. Rebecca and her fam were in town visiting, so she kindly helped me tie them together (and let me use her beautiful diamond ring as part of my object lesson, since I lost mine years ago). Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Love that.

These are my handouts for today:

You can access the PDF here.

These little bags are full of chocolate kisses.
We've had quite the discussions on kissing the past few weeks, at church AND at home.
In the For the Strength of Youth it says,
"Before marriage, do not participate in passionate kissing..."

From The New Era: "...There are good reasons why you should be discriminating and self-controlled in your giving of affection... Kissing is more stimulating than satisfying; consequently, it invites more and more..." I'm hoping to help clarify, since "passionate kissing" seems to be subjective.


I also need to post some quick pics of mi amor:

Love that little bambino.
Can't wait to see her next week!

Happy Sunday!

Framily.

We've had a new addition around here: Michaela!

She is living with us while she finishes up high school at LHS.

She's framily.

(I don't care if Sprint used it first, I LOVE the word.)

She headed off to the first day of her last {half} year of public school
(she'll be done in Dec).

The beginning of the end.

I also snapped a pic of Mic with Lolo, but swore I wouldn't post it.

Lolo was feeling particularly frumpy in her pjs, bedhead, and make-up-less face next to this red-haired beauty. I told her the pic would be for memory's sake only, so I'm keeping my word.

It's nice that Lolo will be around for the next couple of weeks while Mic settles in and gets acclimated.

It's gonna be a great year!

8th Grade.

I can't believe my baby is an 8th grader.
It's my last year of middle school. Ever.
Hallelujah.

I'm going to think optimistically that this is going to be a great year
(even if 8th is my least favorite grade).

Mar is super excited.
Back on the 4th, we attended check-in.
She practiced perfecting her smile for pictures.

This morning she got up bright and early to head off to the first day.

Such cutie-patooties.

We had to snap a quick pic with Lauren, who had been visiting over the weekend.

Her big sis Michaela will be chillin' with our fam for the next few months while she finishes up her senior year of high school. I think Mar's grateful for the extended transition to a one-child household.

I'm praying it will be an awesome day for her.
Let's start this thing off right.