The YMCIA

There was a loud knock on my door early this afternoon. When I went to see who was there, I found only a thick, white envelope waiting for me. The front was blank, there was no name or address written on it - so of course I opened it up immediately.

This is what I found.

(click on the picture to make it larger)

The second envelope contained this letter:
I drove to my first destination and retrieved the bag which was waiting for me. It contained 2 window wiper blades and a new rear-view mirror, as well as another envelope.


Inside the envelope was this next step:

The only drawback here was that there was no disk in the bag. However, undaunted, I drove to my next destination and repeated the words I was told to say. They assured me that a disk had already been delivered and handed me my next envelope.

I hopped onto the freeway and headed toward my next destination, a Village Inn restaurant about 30 miles away. Once I arrived I called the number at the bottom of the page - but the YMCIA agent must have been busy because I got his answering machine which revealed his name as 'Jace'. I tried again, this time connecting after a few rings. "Is this Mrs. Black?" he asked. I verified my identity and he then repeated, "Please stand by" a few times between noises which sounded like a car door being opened, running, numbers being dialed, and some objects being moved around. He then asked for me to name the restaurants to the north and east of my location before reading me my next set of instructions.

I was told that I needed some serious intervention, so the YMCIA had flown in one of their finest agents to be my personal assistant in order to accomplish the rest of my tasks. I needed to drive to the airport and then proceed slowly around the pick-up area, looking for someone in a red jacket who would recognize me.

When I got to the airport, this was the first red-jacketed person I saw:
I drove past him slowly, making eye contact and smiling, but he just turned away and looked toward the airport.

No dice.

So I continued on, driving slowly, until I found...

My mother-in-law! They weren't kidding when they said she was the best in the business. She is the best at EVERYTHING she does, and someone I respect immensely and consider a dear friend. To say I was excited would be an understatement.

She handed me another envelope, which contained this:


So, off to Zupas we went for lunch and then to a few grocery stores to purchase a week's worth of food. We returned home, unpacked the groceries, made dinner, and now I am writing this post.

I am dying to see what else is in store. What is this elusive YMCIA?!

Quick Quips

Hubba: Can we start wearing our short-sleeve pants since it's warmer?

Little O: Mom, those socks are boo-tiful!
Me: ?? I'm not wearing any socks...

Curly: Can I try doing fasting?
Me: Sure. When?
Curly: How about right now? I'm pretty full from breakfast.

Hubba: My leg-wrist hurts.
Me: Can you show me?
Hubba: (points to his ankle)

Me: (after Little O finishes a crying tantrum) Why were you so sad?
Little O: I just had to cry drips out my eyeballs to the floor.

On Temper Tantrums

Being a 3-year-old boy can be so tough sometimes.

Today Little O was eating his lunch when Baby X came along and tore off a bite of his sandwich. Oh, the humanity! There was no consoling Little O. A new sandwich would not be the same. His other sandwich was now defiled. What is a boy to do?

How about this?



It seems so obviously irrational, but he doesn't see it that way. It's just his way of handling things.

You know what, though? There are times when I'll get myself all upset about something and then I just let it fester. There are no possible solutions, and I don't want to talk about it. Over time that feeling of anger or sadness grows like a festering cancer on my happiness and in the end the only outcome is the continual feeding of my increasingly negative attitude.

I wonder if there's something to the whole tantrum thing. I think it might actually be better sometimes to just put myself in a corner to kick and scream and cry and yell and work all of that bile out of my soul until I've gotten myself into such a frenzy that I collapse with exhaustion and finish it off with a nice, long nap.

Maybe these tantrum-throwing kids are smarter than we think.

Maybe they're on to something.

Spring Break

Over the past week the spring weather has been gorgeous. The kids have been playing in the backyard until the sun goes down. ElemenoB sits on the lawn to do her homework. I've enjoyed some long walks and even took the littlest kids to the park one day so we could all just soak in the sunshine.
The littlest ones and I were looking forward to a picnic lunch at a park within walking distance later this afternoon.

But then, at about 6:40 this morning, Mother Nature decided to bring us some of this:


If April showers bring May flowers, what does April snow bring?

A typical finicky Utah spring.

40 More Acts of Kindness

quote here

I was thinking today over the last month and how much I loved my birthday and I started to think of all of the kind things that others did for me to make it awesome. There were a lot! I wondered if I could think of 40 things in order to make another list of 40 acts of kindness - and I totally did.

I hope I don't embarrass anyone by naming names. Just accept the fact that you're awesome and OWN IT.


1. Hubba's teachers at church invited our whole family over for pizza and treats (because he asked them if they would).

2. My little brother Chip brought me lunch when he was in town working.

3. The Relief Society sent me a birthday card.

4. Our friend Barbara fed us some corned beef and cabbage stew on St. Patrick's Day.

5. Barbara gave us a crockpot full of leftovers to enjoy for dinner the next day, too.

6. My oldest 3 kids did a lot of babysitting while I ran around doing things for my birthday.

7. The Young Women at church sang me a happy birthday song.

8. My sweet friend Jan fed me dinner and sent me home with a birthday bag filled to overflowing with things that made me smile.

9. Jenny, in true awesome fashion, gave me enough duffel bags to double my donation for kids in foster care.

10. My favorite neighbors across the street, Ashley & GaeLynn, brought me a plate of delicious cookies.

11. Chip and his wife Becky gave me a huge box of magazines to help with my donation to the hospital.

12. Allen let me sleep in!

13. My friend Jenny (who knows me so well!) gifted me a tray full of eclairs along with a movie to enjoy as I stuffed my face with them.

14. My Facebook friends left me an overwhelming amount of happy birthday wishes.

15. My dear friend Michelle gave me a whole plethora of fun, crazy, brightly colored socks.

16. Chip and Becky (yeah, they're pretty awesome) gave me a whole trunk full of scrapbook supplies to donate.

17. Allen made breakfast and got the kids sent off to school.

18. I received a birthday card in the mail from my Uncle Earl.

19. My mom sent me a happy birthday email.

20. My funny friends Natalie and Rachel brought me a bag filled with things I'll be needing in my 40's (a hairpiece and some reading glasses, see below) - along with some delicious cake bites.


21. My littlest kiddos wrote me sweet birthday notes.

22. Coolister rode his bike home so he could be here when I blew out my candles.

23. Chip carpooled to Salt Lake City with me (he drove) for an interpreter workshop.

24. Chip bought me some One World Cafe lunch after the interpreter workshop.

25. Beth, Amber and Amanda brought me a fun (and tasty!) cupcake from the Sweet Tooth Fairy.

26. Our friends Bill & Rike treated us to a night at the Hale Center Theater to see Xanadu (SO FUNNY!).

27. Our awesome friend Dave taught All-a-Boy how to make crepes so that...

28. All-a-Boy could make me breakfast in bed, all by himself.

29. All-a-Boy then made crepes for everyone else's breakfast, too!

30. My oldest brother, Toby, sent me a happy birthday email.

31. Our friend Ben brought some KFC for a group of us who were helping a friend get moved.

32. Another friend, Korey, walked home to get some water bottles to pass around after we ate Ben's KFC.

33. ElemenoB made dinner for the family quite a few times.

34. One of the kids folded and put away the laundry without being asked.

35. Coolister changed Baby X's diaper without being asked when he was home for a visit.

36. Thumbelina made me a darling button bracelet.

37. All-A-Boy gave up his ticket to Beauty and the Beast at the Capitol Theater so that I could go with my oldest 4 girls.
38. A stranger complimented me on an outfit I was wearing.

39. My pal Jacqui gave the elementary school kids a ride home more than once which meant I didn't have to load up all of my littles to do it myself.

40. A sweet older gentleman at the store told me repeatedly what a darling family I have (when I thought they were being less than darling) and helped me remember what a great stage of life I'm at.

Life is grand! I could have kept going beyond forty. I need to make the time to count my blessings more often.

(Just) Stop It

I made this little reminder based off of an awesome, much needed talk given by Dieter F. Uchtdorf yesterday. I'm tempted to print it off and post it everywhere I go as a reminder to just STOP IT.

Come Listen

photo here

I always look forward to the General Conference that our church holds twice every year.

I learned something in high school that I will never forget, something that made me so excited to listen to this semi-annual conference every time.

High school aged youth who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints attend an optional religion class called seminary in addition to their school courses. In my area this class was taught at our church in the early morning before school began. During my senior year my teacher issued us a challenge about a month before the conference was to happen. She promised us that if we had any questions about our life or needed guidance on a specific problem or issue, that if we would pray about it every day and ask for help, we would receive an answer during General Conference. I am embarrassed to admit this, but I was going to prove her wrong. I thought, how in the world could every person's questions be answered? How could every person hear what they needed?

I accepted her challenge. I prayed daily about the things I needed answers for. And when conference came, she proved me wrong. I got the answers I was looking for. I remember how amazed I was.

As time passed between conferences I decided it must have been a coincidence. So I tried again, with a new issue, praying for answers. And again, it worked.

Since then I have done this every time. I have even become bold enough to make the promise to others, too - it works! Think and pray about your problem or issue ahead of time and answers will come during Conference.

Go ahead and try to prove me wrong.

40 Planned Acts of Kindness

Happy birthday to me yesterday!

The leader of our local church congregation has encouraged us over the last few years to find the time to perform planned acts of kindness for others. I love the idea of random acts of kindness, but planned acts of kindness? Even better.

I love the feeling I get when I do something nice for someone else. Allen had asked me a couple of times what I wanted to do for my big 4-0 this year, and as I thought about it a plan came to mind. For 39 years my birthday has been all about me. And hey, that's awesome! But I thought it would be even awesomer to do something for someone else. Better yet, a lot of somethings. When I told Allen of my plan to perform 40 planned acts of kindness for others throughout March, using whatever money he would have spent on a birthday gift for me, he agreed.

I decided that I wanted to have my kids help out as much as possible so that they could experience that addicting, happy feeling that comes from doing kind things for others. I also planned to have all 40 things done by midnight on my birthday, March 26th.

Here's what I did.

1. Spent some time flying kites with our new friends at RAH.

2. Donated duffle bags for children in foster care (Thanks ~J!).

3. Bought candy bars for my cashier and bagger at the grocery store.

4. Made and gifted St. Patrick’s Day necklaces to the residents of Trinity Mission Care Center.

5. Gave a friend a much-deserved gift.

6. Bought some fun cupcakes for our friends at Medallion Manor.

7. Donated 3 boxes full of books to my kids’ elementary school’s library.

8. Donated 1200 swagbucks to the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

9. Donated a ginormous box full of fun magazines to our local hospital (Thanks Chip & Becky!).

10. Gave money to a homeless person.

11. Hid Easter Eggs filled with small prizes all over the place.

12. Brought flowers to a friend.

13. Donated a little extra to one child’s classroom fund.

14. Left quarters in the candy machines at the mall.

15. Nominated a very deserving 1^st grade teacher for a district award.

16. Donated to a cute girl collecting money for the American Heart Association.

17. Left a bag with some change in it on a vending machine.

18. Gifted a new pair of stripey socks that I loved to a fellow sock-loving friend.

19. Took some treats to a friend.

20. Posted happy quotes in random places (elevators, street signs, people’s cars).

21. Donated to a friend's Walk for a Cure (Breast Cancer Awareness) campaign.

22. Bought a grocery gift card and asked the cashier to give it to whoever he thought could use it.

23. Bought some “Free Ice Cream” coupons from our favorite grocery store and passed them out in the store/parking lot.

24. Donated some peanut butter and cereal (2 of my favorite things!) to Community Action.

25. Busted out my sewing machine and made a purse like ElemenoB’s for a friend who commented on how much she loved it.

26. Made a donation towards finding a cure for FOP.

27. Put out the neighbors' garbage cans the night before garbage pick up.

28. Picked up trash and trash cans that had blown all over the neighborhood during a wind storm on garbage pick up morning.

29. Donated some needed items to Kids on the Move.

30. Left treats in the teacher’s mailboxes at the elementary school.

31. Made a gift for a friend.

32. Paid for the car behind me in Wendy’s drive-through.

33. Took a gift to a well-deserving friend.

34. Sent Red Vines to a pregnant lady in Canada who is craving them.

35. Left “Crayon Bombs” (boxes of Crayolas with this quote attached) around the city.

36. Took pictures for people at the lookout by the Salt Lake City Temple on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

37. Purchased a STF gift card and taped it to the front door for the next customer to find.

38. Let my kids ride the crappy rides at the mall that I never want to pay for (paid for 2 other kids, too!).

39. Took some dessert to a dear friend.

40. Put together and donated birthday bags for Juvenille Justice Services.

Without going into details on each planned act of kindness (each one could be its own post, really) and the effect that so many of them had on me, I will say one thing - this was easily my best birthday, EVER.

Forty years feels pretty good on me.

Quick Quips

Coolister: Doesn't tuberculosis have to do with your wrists? Oh, wait... that's carpel tunnel.

Princess: Something smells like farts!
Hubba: Yeah, it's All-a-Boy's breath.
All-a-Boy: Whatever! It's your hands!

Curly: Mom, what does deformed mean?
Me: It usually means something looks different than you're used to. Like Quasimodo's face in the Hunchback of Notre Dame - his face was kind of deformed.
Princess: Yeah, sort of like Mom's. (pause) I didn't mean it like that!

Curly: (While saying a prayer) ...and please bless us to have a great prayer - if we even have a prayer...
Me: (whispered) Curly, you're saying the prayer right now.
Curly: Oh, right.

The following conversation took place through the bathroom door.
Little O: Mom? Mooooom? MOOOOOOM?!
Me: WHAT?!
Little O: I needs-a get my pay-ants on.
Me: Put them on, then! I'm in the shower.
Little O: Do they go on this way? (pause) Or this way?
Me: Um... that way.
Little O: This way?
Me: Yes.
Little O: Thanks, mom!

Foreign Exchange Program

(17-year-old me with Corinna von Rad, friend and exchange student with the perfect 80's name, from Germany)

You've all heard of foreign exchange students, right? I'd even guess that most of you have met an exchange student or two. Well the photo above is misleading, because that's not even what this post is about. (And seriously, how could I resist posting about someone with a last name like von RAD?)

What I want to tell you about is foreign food exchange packages! Have you heard of them? No? Well that's because I MADE THEM UP! (Sorry to shout, it's just VERY exciting.)

My recent post which mentions the treats that Allen brought us back from London sparked a conversation between my online Canadian pal Jerri and I. She has a friend who is preg-o and craving Red Vines - which are not found in their neck of the woods. This evolved into our plan of sending each other a package filled with delicious treats that are not available outside of our countries.

I took a poll on my Facebook page, asking what sorts of things I should request from Canada (Ketchup chips? Really?) and sent her a list to choose from. Jerri asked her friends from the states what they missed the most and sent me a list as well.

I sent this package off:
And got this one in return:
Repeat after me, friends: awesome. Remember the last time you got a fun package in the mail? Remember how happy it made you feel? It's addicting, that feeling.

It would really be a shame to end this awesome program after just one package exchange. I bet there are even variations of things we could trade between states! (Fry Sauce, anyone? Perhaps an Idaho Spud bar?)

So who's next?

p.s. Thanks, Jerri!

Homeschooling Hubba

A Hubba Haiku:

Always curious
the whole world is his classroom.
Who wants to sit still?

I wanted to post an update on Hubba. I was so excited to tell you about how we got a phone call from the school - a GOOD call - to let us know that Hubba had earned a blue ticket (these can be exchanged for prizes) and was being recognized for great behavior. We made such a big deal about this at home - we were thrilled to have such good news and see that Hubba was making progress! Well, wouldn't you know it, the day I sat down to write about our happy news the phone rang again. It was the school.

Hubba had a substitute teacher while his regular teacher was doing some testing for the day. Hubba made a burping sound (obviously fake) and the substitute asked him to stop, but he continued to do it because it was making some other kids (and Hubba) laugh. A parent helper who is familiar with Hubba also tried to get him to stop. This was when the realization hit that he was going to get in trouble - so instead of settling down, he ran from her. Not a good choice.

The principal's secretary called and let me know what had happened. I talked to Hubba over the phone and then they let him return to class. I talked to Allen, frustrated over why Hubba would choose to do this at school. Did he like the attention? Making others laugh? Probably both. But he is smart enough to know that acting this way is going to get him into trouble and Allen and I both agree that it should not have to be the teacher's responsibility - or the substitute's - to deal with his antics in a crowded classroom.

We decided to take him out of school and homeschool him for the rest of the week.

As I drove to pick him up, I thought over what I needed to do to make the week a learning experience. I didn't want him to be miserable, but I also didn't want him to love being at home so much that he might see it as a reward for his behavior at school. I remembered how much he disliked worksheets over the summer and decided he would have plenty of them to keep him busy.

That first day he only had a half day of school left, so I had him write letters of apology to the sub, the parent-helper and his teacher. This took the rest of the school day because he wanted me to tell him what to write and I refused.

After complaining about it for almost an hour he got to work and drafted some great letters.


Day 2 was filled with worksheets on counting money, writing practice, reading comprehension, putting things in alphabetical order and writing his own short stories. When he finished these, he got to read.


Day 3 was worksheets on the countries in North America, learning the difference between grams and kilograms, writing in his journal and making his own book about how to catch a leprechaun. When he finished these, he got to read.


Day 4 was our last day. Hubba was excited that it was a half day at school, which meant he would have less work to do. He didn't even complain much when I gave him a pile of worksheets that had to do with St. Patrick's Day.


We reviewed some math facts (estimating, the difference between inches & centimeters, pints, quarts & liters and grams & kilograms) and he took the same math test his class was getting.
We still had about an hour left and I was out of ideas so I had him teach Curly and Little O how to estimate measurements using different items from around the house.


They both loved "having school" and Hubba was a great little teacher. I marveled at what a smart, fun and engaging kid my little boy was growing up to be.

Monday morning came, and Hubba was happy to get back to his regular classroom. Me? I was happy to get dressed before noon.

I learned a few things from this experience, especially an appreciation for all that teachers have to do to prepare for and teach a whole classroom full of students each day.

As for Hubba, he's going to be just fine. He's a 7-year-old boy with a precocious personality who likes attention (what 7-year-old doesn't?). We'll work on that and just take things as they come, one day at a time.