Learning about others

There is a private Catholic school in our neighborhood.  The other day we drove by and the kids were out at recess.  Eric, from the back seat, says with surprise,  "I didn't know Catholics played soccer!"

It cracked me up.  I thought, it's probably much more frequent (outside of Utah) that someone might say "I didn't know Mormons played soccer!"

Yes, they, and we, are people too.

What I've been thinking about....

A couple of months ago some neighbors of our decided to move to St. George.  3 days later this young father, Kevin, suffered a major brain hemorrhage.  He was flown back to SLC and after tests and surgery, it was discovered that he had 12 brain tumors and one large liver tumor.  The cancer is Stage 4, terminal -- a couple of weeks ago he started chemo and radiation.  They're hoping this will keep him alive for a while.

This family is so cute -- his beautiful wife lives life with such faith, and has the most genuine smile.  His kids are the similar in age to mine -- we used to car pool the kindergartners together.

The medical costs have been expensive, of course.  They do have good insurance.  But some of the more daunting costs are those of long-term care.  He is at home with his family now, and doing quite well as he learns to live with partial paralyses.

Anyway, one effort to help with costs is an online auction where many friends and businesses have donated items.  There are some great things -- including some great gift cards.  I also donated some cards and quilted items.   Knowing that my skills are not on a professional level, I'm hoping the recipients won't be disappointed!  :)

I wanted to let you know of this auction so you can bid if you'd like to.....but just now I discovered that the auction ended yesterday!  oops!  I didn't notice the end date, and I we were having too much fun at Sister's Weekend to send it out over the weekend.  Bummer.

There is another way to help, though -- there is a drive where you can just donate money.  To do this, go to: http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/kevin-norris-family/49342

You can check out details on their lives -- it really is inspiring:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kevin-Norris-Cancer-Battle/156251287869758
Reminds me to be grateful and brave.

I'll end with a few pictures of the kids primary classes -- someone in my ward started a "Team Norris" thing where she's asked people to take pictures holding "Team Norris" signs to show their support.  Our primary did this.  See if you can spot my kids:

Spring Break - The Zoo

We stayed home for Spring Break.  It ended up being pretty productive.  Brian took off a couple of days of work.  One day we did some yard/garage clean-up.  Another day we went to the "local zoo."  (Each time we're going to the zoo, Eric corrects us by saying "You mean the local zoo?"  I think that's what they were calling it at school in preparation for a their fieldtrip.  :))

It was Tanner's first zoo trip.  He loved it!  He could have watched those animals all day long.  At one point he was face-to-face with a chimpanzee for several minutes.  They were just staring at each other.  So cute!  Unfortunately it was too dark for a good picture.

Easter 2013

We had a low-key Easter this year.  Spring Break was the week before, so I had hoped to go to Rexburg.  But Mom and Dad were not in town, so we hung out at home.  On Saturday the kids enjoyed an Easter Egg Hunt in our backyard.  The weather was beautiful.  

Sunday morning the kids found their Easter Baskets -- surprisingly the Easter Bunny forgot the traditional chocolate Easter Bunny.  I had to smile at how things get so much more.....unplanned?  hurried?  Lax?....... as the kids get older.

Brian attempted to take pictures of the boys in their new church clothes.  You can see how well they cooperated -- Tanner wouldn't let us take off his Superman sweatshirt all day.  And he decided he needed to wear his "Ho! Ho! Ho!" hat.  The older boys were just being goofy -- there were only a few pictures that someone's not doing bunny ears.  Now that I think of it, bunny ears are quite appropriate for Easter.  We should have encouraged it!

Mr. Scared

Andrew turned 8 this year.  This meant he was baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The weeks coming up to the baptism were a little stressful -- not because of big preparations or something, but because Andrew was not very excited about the attention he would be getting.  

But on the day of the baptism he was in good spirits.  This was probably due somewhat to the kindness of family members and friends who were so excited for him.  At the baptism he was a bouncing ball of energy.  But he was still nervous -- telling a few people, "You can just call me Mr. Scared."  It was pretty cute.

Three quilts

I just got back from the quilter's -- I picked up 3 quilts.  My 2-year-old has been carrying around our camera, and now I can't find it. (Smart of me to let him carry it around, I know.) So I took these pics with our video camera -- they aren't that great.  But I'm posting them anyway.

The first one, my BOM quilt that I did at a local quilting shop.  I was most excited to see this one, but also worried because I had a plan for how I wanted it quilted, but at a suggestion of the quilter I changed my mind.  Not her fault, but I should have gone with my first instinct.  Turns out -- I don't love it.  Bummer.  I hate having spent all that time and money and not loving it.  Anyway, here it is:

The second is a pendant quilt -- my first time doing applique.

 And the third is a baby girl quilt for which I got the material for a few years ago, in hopes that the baby I was carrying would be a girl.  Turns out, it was another boy.  But I eventually finished it -- maybe I'll just call it a really small spring quilt.  I should have cropped it so my bedspread wasn't showing.  (:

Andrew's quilt

I just finished a quilt for Andrew's birthday (shhhh....he doesn't know about the quilt yet.)  My boys have asked me for quilts before, which makes me happy.  This is the first I've made.  I've always struggled to come up with something that I think they'll like....and like for a while.  For example, a couple years ago Andrew would have loved anything Superhero.  Today he would be embarrassed to have a Superhero quilt.  I couldn't convince myself to spend time and $$$ on a quilt that they might hide away in a year.

So the conclusion I came to was to
1- make a simple quilt that wouldn't take me a lot of time and
2- choose one fabric that they'd love and find coordinated pieces to go with it.

Turns out, I love how it turned out.  I chose "Star Wars" hoping it'll have a little more staying power.  (We all know adults who still love Star Wars.)  I just did 5 wide strips of fabric, added a reverse applique "A", and had it quilted in swirls and diamonds.  I love the diamonds, particularly on the corduroy section.

Anyway, that's a lot of talk for such a simple quilt -- but here it is:

Tanner Communicates

I mentioned in a previous post that Tanner isn't talking much.  He's 2 1/2 and has been communicating through gestures, facial expressions, yells, and grunts.  We currently have him in Speech Therapy, and it's too early to tell if it'll help much.  Anyway....Tanner and I had a funny "conversation" yesterday:  

I was trying to convince him to read a book with me and then take a nap.  As we sat in the chair he was no settling down, so I started humming a lullaby, hoping it would convince him to sit still.  

As soon as I started humming he must have recognized that I was trying to lull him into nap time.  So for a brief second he started to shake his head and yell.  Then he suddenly stopped, looked at me, held his finger to his lips, and very seriously said "SHHHH."

It was so cute -- and even though I wish he could have said "Stop humming, Mom," the fact that he used a common gesture and sound, made me happy.  He's so funny.  

Too much candy

I've had a tooth ache for several days, and this afternoon I'll finally be going to the dentist -- along with the rest of my family as they have check-ups.  I'm nervous to see how many cavities (and possibly a root canal for me) will be necessary.  ):  We don't have the greatest teeth.  Well, Brian has great teeth, but so far the rest of us don't.

So yesterday in the car I complained about my achy tooth to Eric.  This was his response:

Eric:  Maybe you eat too much candy.
Me:  Maybe.
Eric:  I don't eat too much candy.  (side note -- he LOVES candy.)
Me:  You don't??
Eric:  Mom, I go to school for 3 hours every day!  I don't eat candy the whole time!
Me:  Oh, right.
Eric:  Andrew goes to school 6 hours without candy!
Me:  Wow.
Eric:  Maybe you should get a job so you don't eat so much candy.

Sadly, I thought, getting a job wouldn't stop me from eating candy.  

Grandma's Doily

Is that how you spell doily?  Not a word I see in print very often!  Anyway, I just wanted to share a picture of my living room wall because I finally filled the empty space in the middle!  My grandma  made this doily years ago.  A few weeks ago I finally took it in to get it framed.  It turned out just how I hoped.

Grandma lived across from the street from us when I was growing up.  She died when I was on my mission 17 years ago (SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO!  Wow!)  Anyway, I'm grateful to have this wonderful reminder of a good, strong, and kind grandmother.

Eventually I hope to have a larger TV hung on the wall just below the doily.  Then perhaps we'll move the piano and instead put a console table there.  Then we'll have a really great looking picture wall.  (: