Monday is not a holy day

So I read this really great article in this month’s Ensign and I committed myself to read the Book of Mormon for 30 minutes a day. This is how it went this morning:

Verses read before a tantrum was being screamed: 2
Amount of time with a child crying: 28 minutes
Average number of children crying: 1.5
Minutes before one child climbed on me: 1
Minutes before both children were on me:5
Minutes before children were trying to hit each other while on me:1
Times I lost my temper before turning hypocritically back to the scriptures: 2 in the first 5 minutes
Minutes before I went and hid (in the bathroom): 8
Minutes before a child was raging outside the door:2
Minutes both children were raging and kicking outside the locked door with the fan on: 2
Minutes into the 30 min that children were deposited into their beds: 14
Minutes into the half hour that I gave up and turned on the computer for this blog: 22
Minutes before Simon came out and gave me a hug: 5

So I don’t feel as guilty as I had that I haven’t been accomplishing very much scripture reading—but this just proves how much our home really needs it . . . til tomorrow—not giving up!

My Harry Potter contribution

Which Hogwarts house will you be sorted into?

Since we're waiting for our book in the mail, and waiting on the movie until our kids can handle being left for 3 hours (or are grown up or it comes out on dvd, whichever comes first) HERE is my contribution to the Harry Potter mania! Our friends found a quiz to sort which house you're in. I was close to being a Ravenclaw.

The Best News

My big bro Aaron and fabulous Amy got engaged last weekend!!!

Carpe Di-worm!

It was a rainy day. We didn't sleep well, with all the thunder. We dragged ourselves out the door to drive Mark to school. We walked back to the front door after, wondering how we would fill this day. When, alas!, there it was:

We watched him for about five minutes and I could tell our day was looking up. The kids didn't really need to go inside and get changed out of their p.j.s; they didn't really need to keep from getting wet. Being the one who's been on the earth the longest, I knew it fell upon me to be the first to touch the worm. I don't mind worms, really, but it always takes a minute to get the guts to do it the first time after a few months (or years)!

Soooo, TX worms are much more muscular and slimey than the Idaho variety. The thing was flopping all over the place like a catfish, getting some pretty good air, and I couldn't get it off the sidewalk. The kids were squealing and would reach down and touch it's belly and all three (two kids and the worm) would go berserk. We ended up helping that one into the mud with a stick.

I locked the front door back up and we spent the next hour worm hunting, mud fishing, and learning to say "worm" in Chinese/Korean/some other asian language: "cho yu-on". We have a neighbor lady who loves the kids and can only say "hi. hi. hi." and "byyye!" She gave them some pretzels, which saved the intrepid explorers, since we hadn't had breakfast either. Simon found another worm pretty early on--"Jimmy"--which he walked around holding as eagerly as he holds my hand. Here's Jimmy in his temporary home--til Simon decided a few hours later that he looked sick and let him go.

A day well spent . . . so far. One of my favorite reality quotes:

"Find joy in your children. Don't overschedule them or yourself. You may not be able to take them on exotic vacations. It doesn't matter. When the day dawns bright and sunny, take an excursion to the canyon or the park. When it's cloudy and wet, read a book together or make something good to eat. Give them time to explore and learn about the feel of grass and the wiggliness of worms." ~ Marjorie Pay Hinckley

***Lest you think all is rosy, a child did cry through the making of the end of this post. I made her food to eat, she just wouldn't have it. Any suggestions for a child that prefers to moan through her mornings, refuse nearly all food, and finally eat and cheer up around noon?

You will need to eat this.

Hello all my dearly beloved. I have something that you need to make this week. You are not supposed to pass this by. It is called Moo Shu Pork Pockets. You are thinking that is a boring title, I know. I passed by it for over a year myself. Desperation and complete boredom with everything I have ever cooked caused me to try it. It has the best ingredients and a neat look. You will be preparing a regular weeknight dinner and then suddenly feel romantical thoughts as you roll the pockets up for your Date. You realize after not much effort that it's going to be really good and the kind of thing people with time and resources and taste make. You make this and your night becomes instantly a Date Night. And I quote Mark (as I set down his plate) "Oh wow, I've been waiting 5 years for you to cook something like this! You've finally done it." [Two disclaimers: 1-He thought it was fried. 2-Mark always raves about my cooking. So for him to put this as the ultimate dish of our marriage . . . big compliment.]

Oh, you are thinking, sure, the grownups will eat it, but a tortilla with bean sprouts and ground pork with gingersnap crumbs and etcetera is not going to cut it for the childrens. So, enter, the Jasmine Rice Sundaes. Also, they should have 1/4 of a Pocket, appetizer style--they'll eat something from it. And they'll be excited that you've given them a sharp implement (i.e. toothpick) without any coercion.

You will need to acquire a few new sauces possibly. But it will be good for your family. Hoisin sauce--this is an Asian dipping sauce that your family needs to have access to starting tomorrow. Also, duck sauce (don't worry, those who are slightly vegetarian inclined like me--its main ingredient is apricots). Toasted sesame seeds. All affordably priced at Fiesta--which is an entirely different endorsement post that I'll make soon.

Thanks Rach--any thing she concocts gets a green light to change things up on our dinner table. Let her take you on some culinary risks!

OH, AND ON CLOSER LOOK YOU NEED TO CHANGE THIS RECIPE A LITTLE FROM THE LINK!: MY BOOK SAYS USE A CAN OF WATER CHESNUTS (drained and chopped) in with the ground pork instead of the cabbage/coleslaw. also, it did not have the cabbage inside the tortillas. hey, you go with what you want, ok?

I'm so glad when my mom comes . . .

She's coming tonight. For four days. Oh happy DAY!!!!!

Publication numero uno!

Here it is ladies and gents! Mark (and BYU colleagues) have their research published this month (Mark is the second author). Their photo even made the cover of the issue. Scientists' merit is measured by the number of times they've been published, so off we go! The research focused on creatures called cuttlefish, native to the Atlantic and Mediterranean--familiar to the lay man as the donors of those little bone things that pet birds like. For more, go here.

Blog Theory

Hi. I'm developing some theories about blogs. One theory (that is almost a fact, from the random samples I've done) is that people read more than they write. So after scanning all my favorite blogs this morning and finding nothing new I thought I'd better avoid another tag frenzy by writing something fresh on mine.

How blogdom is like a small town (in a good way):

• In a small town, everybody knows who your "people" are. Where you come from. Who your grandpa is. What your parents look like. What you've liked since you were a kid. You have a history--it's not just the now and small talk of a three month acquaintance. Since bloggers are writing for their family and friends and selves, all of this starts to come out. Knowing what some of my ward friends' parents look like helps me know the friend better and my parents can know the families we run with here (assuming they go past our page).


• When anything noteworthy happens in a person's life, the town knows; either from standing on the curb watching the ambulance (and filling each other in) or from watering the neighbor's plants while they're gone for a wedding, etc. Now, the blogger gets to decide what is postworthy. But once they do, people can know better what's going on in the many spheres of their life: in their mind/spirit, family, relatives, interests. Because no one's going to go systematically through the ward list and say "hey jenny, i had a no good very bad day. here's details. k-i've got to go call mary . . . and nancy . . . and olive" and on down.

People are able to love you better when they know what's going on with you.

So those are my thoughts . . . now readers (and writers) of blogdom, go add yours. ;)

***Children were mildly harmed in the making of this post. They were watching t.v. and not getting their breakfast before 10am . . . Yikes!