Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Quote of the Month
Talking to Jessie about how it's her turn to change and wash the sheets - Tillman walks past and says conversationally, "Yeah, I think I peed the bed again." - as if this happened days ago - and he wants Jessie to get on that. ...and then he just walks away. ???
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Save the Planet - Eat Your Food!
(This is a Soap Box thing for me)
When people talk about saving the planet they usually want to talk about driving your car less, wind energy, organics, re-usable shopping bags.... but I've been gnawing away at something else recently. So, in the spirit of Earth Day....No, actually this sort of fits in a more inclusive category for me - requiring an observance of its own: "Quit Being So Spoiled Day".
Here's the thing, as a country/western culture we consume a lot of stuff, I think we've established that. One sure measure of our oppulence is the number of picky eaters among us. Kids & adults alike. To me this shows a serious lack of understanding about where food comes from and the rules of graciousness. I have strong opinions ...I make fun of myself for being kind of a food nazi when kids eat over ("In our house we TRY it"). And my kids have heard on NUMEROUS occasions: "There are people starving in the world." Which brings me to my next point. I was listening to the radio a week or two ago and listened to this guy say basically, "Yeah, the 'economic down-turn' is tough...but there are a lot of people in the world who have it worse. They actually starve to death." The University of Arizona did a study in 2004 showing that on average, American households throw away 14% of the food they buy - $590 worth a year. When you add food producers into the equation the number goes up to like 40%, wasting millions of tons of food and huge amounts of money. There are programs out there attempting to chanel some of that wasted food (mostly from mass food producers and restaraunts) to places where it can be used. But what about on a personal/household scale? Maybe along with our attempts to use less of everything else we should try to only USE what we need of food and EAT what we use. (Been on a cruise? Yikes.)
It really all comes down to a sense of gratitude. When I was in high school my Dad took me with him bow hunting. We rode around on horses for several days looking for deer. When one of the guys killed one we all gathered as he skinned and cleaned it. I had never been on a hunt, and I was a little worried that I would be squeamish - never be able to eat meat again. Surprisingly, as I watched him carefully work over the animal - I felt this sense of reverence - among all the people there. It was amazing.
While studying in Russia in 1995 I stayed with families living a very different lifestyle than the one I knew. They offered me their food - some of it strange to me, some of it hard to eat. But that food represented a sacrifice, a gift to me. It would have been SO wrong for me to reject it.
We have grown so prosperous, and food is so accessable that we have become disconnected from it's use, it's meaning, and a proper sense of thankfulness. My kids tell me about how certain school mates throw away apples, bananas, etc. without eating a bite... regularly. ??? That's crazy - and wrong. What have we become that we show so little reguard for the plenty we've been blessed with? I can't help but think that we'll be accountable.
No dessert until you've cleared your plate!
http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Financial-Industry/US-wastes-half-its-food
When people talk about saving the planet they usually want to talk about driving your car less, wind energy, organics, re-usable shopping bags.... but I've been gnawing away at something else recently. So, in the spirit of Earth Day....No, actually this sort of fits in a more inclusive category for me - requiring an observance of its own: "Quit Being So Spoiled Day".
Here's the thing, as a country/western culture we consume a lot of stuff, I think we've established that. One sure measure of our oppulence is the number of picky eaters among us. Kids & adults alike. To me this shows a serious lack of understanding about where food comes from and the rules of graciousness. I have strong opinions ...I make fun of myself for being kind of a food nazi when kids eat over ("In our house we TRY it"). And my kids have heard on NUMEROUS occasions: "There are people starving in the world." Which brings me to my next point. I was listening to the radio a week or two ago and listened to this guy say basically, "Yeah, the 'economic down-turn' is tough...but there are a lot of people in the world who have it worse. They actually starve to death." The University of Arizona did a study in 2004 showing that on average, American households throw away 14% of the food they buy - $590 worth a year. When you add food producers into the equation the number goes up to like 40%, wasting millions of tons of food and huge amounts of money. There are programs out there attempting to chanel some of that wasted food (mostly from mass food producers and restaraunts) to places where it can be used. But what about on a personal/household scale? Maybe along with our attempts to use less of everything else we should try to only USE what we need of food and EAT what we use. (Been on a cruise? Yikes.)
It really all comes down to a sense of gratitude. When I was in high school my Dad took me with him bow hunting. We rode around on horses for several days looking for deer. When one of the guys killed one we all gathered as he skinned and cleaned it. I had never been on a hunt, and I was a little worried that I would be squeamish - never be able to eat meat again. Surprisingly, as I watched him carefully work over the animal - I felt this sense of reverence - among all the people there. It was amazing.
While studying in Russia in 1995 I stayed with families living a very different lifestyle than the one I knew. They offered me their food - some of it strange to me, some of it hard to eat. But that food represented a sacrifice, a gift to me. It would have been SO wrong for me to reject it.
We have grown so prosperous, and food is so accessable that we have become disconnected from it's use, it's meaning, and a proper sense of thankfulness. My kids tell me about how certain school mates throw away apples, bananas, etc. without eating a bite... regularly. ??? That's crazy - and wrong. What have we become that we show so little reguard for the plenty we've been blessed with? I can't help but think that we'll be accountable.
No dessert until you've cleared your plate!
http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Financial-Industry/US-wastes-half-its-food
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
What's going on?
Random updates -
Sully began to crawl, actually army crawl, Sunday. He's still pretty slow - but we can now say that he's semi-mobile. I've decided that the same developmental switch in his brain that flipped for crawling also controls the ability to spit. He spends about 2 hours every day spitting... which is pretty cool (especially when you're within range). But the face he makes while he's doing it is priceless. It looks more like a "bathroom" face: flushed (no pun intended) with intense concentration. The other kids LOVE it, and they spend quite a bit of time coaxing him to spit more. So, they stand there face to face with him spitting back and forth. I've told them I don't mind his spitting - but theirs is too much. I'll try to get a video of that.
Mike's big news of the week is that he won his first ESSAY CONTEST. (Seriously, he's proud of this.) He was poking around this website, www.snowshoeutah.com, and noticed that they were hosting a contest to win snowshoes, gaiters, poles etc. for the best entry about your favorite trail or why you want to start. Mike gave it shot, telling how he got all of us snowshoes for Valentines Day but that he was just skinning up his old telemark skis to go with us - and that he'd like his own. Anyway, of course they loved it. He's stoked. He'll pick up his new equipment tomorrow. Check out his moment of glory on their site.
Grace will be in the St. Patrick's Day parade down town. She'll be dancing with her little Irish Dance class (the Shamrocks) afterward for anyone who wants to come. Sat. March 14 - 9:00 AM at the Gateway. She's pretty excited.
And, on a little more serious note: as a non-contentious response to all the "Big Love" hubbub I'm posting this sweet video the church put out. It's cool how the church can turn something so lame around, giving people an accurate glimpse of the purpose and experience of temples. So, if you haven't seen it...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x_-TQivCx8
Sully began to crawl, actually army crawl, Sunday. He's still pretty slow - but we can now say that he's semi-mobile. I've decided that the same developmental switch in his brain that flipped for crawling also controls the ability to spit. He spends about 2 hours every day spitting... which is pretty cool (especially when you're within range). But the face he makes while he's doing it is priceless. It looks more like a "bathroom" face: flushed (no pun intended) with intense concentration. The other kids LOVE it, and they spend quite a bit of time coaxing him to spit more. So, they stand there face to face with him spitting back and forth. I've told them I don't mind his spitting - but theirs is too much. I'll try to get a video of that.
Mike's big news of the week is that he won his first ESSAY CONTEST. (Seriously, he's proud of this.) He was poking around this website, www.snowshoeutah.com, and noticed that they were hosting a contest to win snowshoes, gaiters, poles etc. for the best entry about your favorite trail or why you want to start. Mike gave it shot, telling how he got all of us snowshoes for Valentines Day but that he was just skinning up his old telemark skis to go with us - and that he'd like his own. Anyway, of course they loved it. He's stoked. He'll pick up his new equipment tomorrow. Check out his moment of glory on their site.
Grace will be in the St. Patrick's Day parade down town. She'll be dancing with her little Irish Dance class (the Shamrocks) afterward for anyone who wants to come. Sat. March 14 - 9:00 AM at the Gateway. She's pretty excited.
And, on a little more serious note: as a non-contentious response to all the "Big Love" hubbub I'm posting this sweet video the church put out. It's cool how the church can turn something so lame around, giving people an accurate glimpse of the purpose and experience of temples. So, if you haven't seen it...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x_-TQivCx8
Monday, March 9, 2009
For Angie's Birthday
Here we are taking a rest after snowshoeing up the trail below Timp.
Just after Mike took this shot we watched an avalanche up on the slopes of the mountain way up behind us. That's when we decided we'd gone far enough.
...later...we came back down the trail and found this cool amphitheater - the kids LOVED exploring it. Mike had to try a few tele turns on this little hill above it.
We had a great day.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
The Sullivan Sisters 1984
I think we had just finished having a water fight in the back yard. Castlerock, Colorado - 1984.Saturday, February 21, 2009
Snowshoes for everyone!
For a Valentine's Day / birthday gift Mike surprized us all with new snowshoes...very cool (MUCH better than last year's birthday gift - the Wii - which I had on my list of things NOT to get). So, President's Day we spent up by Donut Falls with some friends trying them out.
Outhouse Jumping!
Woo Hoo!
Also - we did a modesty fashion design activity with the Beehives with newspaper. My favorite was the Obituary page bermuda shorts (no disrespect intended). It was awesome.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Gratitude
SUNSHINE
I taught the Young Women's lesson on Sunday entitled "Finding Joy Now" - could not have been more timely for me. One of the suggestions for the girls was to keep a gratitude journal... and I thought "I'm sure that will help..." So I made an entry that night - included such things as: watching the boys ride bikes together in the sleet of spring, my parents stopping by just because - and staying to chat, Mike did NOT get layed off last week, Grace determined to do most of the crafts in our family craft ideas book, Grace's Mr. T impersonations ("Suckah"), cooking dinner with Jessie, Sully reaching his arms up in the air and squeeling, the bond Mike and I have, the fortress of the gospel.
Gratitude is such amazing medicine.
"Suckah"
(only Grace would juxtapose A-Team and American Girl) Friday, February 6, 2009
The odd moment of silence
I don't know where all the kids are --- but I'm not going to find out (for at least the next 30 minutes). This has been sort of a tough week. Do you ever feel like no matter how hard you work you just can't avoid critical mass-pressure, the point where you explode? It seems to happen all too often to me.
Added to the usual nightly stress of homework, baby, dinner and bedtime without Mike, there's been way too much on the plate. Plus Mike's had lay-offs this week at work, keeping him occupied and both of us a little nervous. Add in too little sleep... & you have a recipe for an epoch melt-down. I just got worn out. SO - last night I spent some time crying ... more accurately: having a tantrum. Sometimes something has to give. I feel like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - calm, happy & everything under control one minute, and several hours later (after the kids have come home from school - and I'm in the middle of pandemonium,) some crazy lady, yelling at everyone, occasionally in tears.
I'm not sure what the answer is. But I think finding it is what being a parent is all about. Once we've learned that secret we win. In the mean time we work at keeping our heads above water - and with any luck not scar (or scare) our children permanently.
Last night after the storm subsided I sat down with Jessie to talk and reminded her (and me) that there are no perfect families. Hopefully we're improving - (drama like that is too tiring).
Added to the usual nightly stress of homework, baby, dinner and bedtime without Mike, there's been way too much on the plate. Plus Mike's had lay-offs this week at work, keeping him occupied and both of us a little nervous. Add in too little sleep... & you have a recipe for an epoch melt-down. I just got worn out. SO - last night I spent some time crying ... more accurately: having a tantrum. Sometimes something has to give. I feel like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - calm, happy & everything under control one minute, and several hours later (after the kids have come home from school - and I'm in the middle of pandemonium,) some crazy lady, yelling at everyone, occasionally in tears.
I'm not sure what the answer is. But I think finding it is what being a parent is all about. Once we've learned that secret we win. In the mean time we work at keeping our heads above water - and with any luck not scar (or scare) our children permanently.
Last night after the storm subsided I sat down with Jessie to talk and reminded her (and me) that there are no perfect families. Hopefully we're improving - (drama like that is too tiring).
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