An Apology

I have to apologize for my lack of posts the last little while.  Its been a traumatic couple of weeks at our house. 10 days ago my dear father-in-law, Dee Henderson, passed away unexpectedly. He had been in the hospital for several weeks, but we all expected him to make a full recovery. We knew it would take some time, but we were waiting as patiently as possible for his body to heal. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. He suffered a cerebral bleed and passed away peacefully.

He was a great man.  He was a great example of kindness to everyone, generosity and Christlike love.  He will be deeply missed.

Dee was a great source of musical inspiration to my kids.  He encouraged them to practice their instruments and even gave them their very first instruments.  Colton was given a saxophone, Bailey a clarinet and Brandee a violin.  He was always full of encouragement when the kids didn't want to practice and he made them feel like they were the best musicians in the world!  I loved to hear them "jam" when they got together.  Dee would provide the kids with music a month or two before he would come to visit.  So the kids would practice and do their best to be ready to spend a afternoon playing with and learning from grandpa.

Dee wasn't my husband's father (he passed away in a car accident 18 years ago), rather a step parent, but it never felt that way to us.  He loved us as if we were his own children and we loved him like a father.  He was always there when we needed advice and encouragement.

Now it's up to us to move forward with faith in God's plan.  Faith that families can be together forever and that rather than being lost, Dee is preparing for the time that our family can be together again.  It's up to us to follow Dee's example and try to live as the Savior taught and love as the Savior loved.  It's what he would have wanted.

Homemade Barbie House

I hope all of you had a very merry Christmas! Ours was filled with fun, family, gifts and of course, food.  I know, I haven't posted hardly any of the delicious treats and meals I've made, but there's a good reason for it.  I've spent the last few weeks building a Barbie house for my girls.  Let me tell you, it was no small undertaking.  I have nearly 100 hours into it, and I didn't get it completely finished.

Normally, I'm not much of a crafty person.  I don't have the creativity or vision, not to mention the patience, to make something out of nothing.  But this year, I didn't have a lot of choice.  This year was a lean Christmas.  We didn't have the resources to buy what my kiddos wanted, so I made a lot of it.  I can't pass off homemade gifts on my older teenage kids.  It just wouldn't fly.  You can't be cool using something your mom made and there's no way under heaven I could have pulled of a passable guitar, saxophone case or long board.  Its just beyond my skill.  ;P  But somehow, I managed the Barbie house.

I got the structure of the house from a dear friend that made it for her girls about 12 years ago.  She was building a new one for her grand kids and wanted to get rid of the old one.  It ended up being a godsend for me.

So off I went to Home Depot for supplies.  I really thought this was going to be a pretty hard project, but it wasn't.  It was just time consuming.  I had to strip the frame down to the bare bones and my fabulous hubby built a balcony on the house complete with spindles and columns.  (Did I mention that he's amazing?)  Then a few coats of paint and it looked almost like new!

To decorate the rooms, I had my dear friend Amy help me Modge Podge scrapbook paper on the walls.  It was easy and cheap.  In fact, it took longer to choose the paper we wanted to use than it did to put it on the walls.  There are so many great patterns and colors of scrapbook paper that you're only limited by your imagination.

Isn't that the cutest little hand sneaking into the picture.  That's my Boey!

One of the most time consuming parts of the whole project was building the furniture.  I built 2 sets of bunk beds with comforters (which was probably overkill, but with 4 girls sharing the house I would rather be safe than sorry!), a larger bed for the master bedroom, a coffee table, an ottoman, painted dressers, towel rack and china rack, fridge, stove, kitchen counters, dining table and chairs, bathroom vanity and couch and love seat.  It was a lot of work and I didn't quite finish everything, but I gave them everything I could on Christmas.  The rest I'll finish up this week and sneak in later.  I'd still love to make a crib and a porch swing.  Just not right now.

I can tell you that even though this project consumed my December the look on my girls' faces on Christmas morning was worth every minute of my time.  They didn't even want to open the rest of the presents.  They would have been happy if they hadn't received anything but a second hand Barbie house.  For me it was a labor of love with rewards that are out of this world!

The glue on the couch hadn't quite dried yet!

Making the Case for Family Meal Times

Meal time is the most important time of day for our family.  Everyone knows that at 6 pm the Wii, the TV and the ipods get turned off and put away, and everyone gathers around the table for our evening meal.  It doesn't matter if we are having pizza or a Thanksgiving-esque meal, everyone is expected to be there.  Its where we take a breather and catch up on every one's busy lives.  We plan out the next weeks or days calendar, share stories from our day and get to know each other better. 

According to recent surveys, less than half of the families in the United States actually sit down to a meal on a regular basis. Yet, studies report that family meals are strongly related to the development of adolescent mental health and stability. A Harvard Medical School study found that there are nutritional, as well as social, emotional and academic advantages that occur in children when families share meals together.

So why are family meal times important?

Family meals provide opportunities for adults to model table manners and nutritious food choices.

Eating together encourages adult-child communication skills such as listening patiently to each other and expressing one's opinion in a respectful manner.

Mealtimes provide a setting for moral and intellectual discussion where family values are shared.

Since children thrive on routines, family meals foster a sense of security and stability.

When children help with meals, they learn skills such as shopping, setting the table, preparing food, serving food, and cleaning up.

Family meals can foster family traditions and enhance cultural heritages.

So now that we know its important, how do we actually accomplish it?

Think of meal time as a celebration.  Even if all you're celebrating is that everyone  made it through another day.  Life is short, so it doesn't matter if we are eating macaroni and cheese with mismatched forks.    What does matter is that meal time is relaxed and enjoyable time together.  We should be cheerful and happy to have time to spend together.

Plan for quality meal time conversation.  Parents should guide the conversation in positive directions.  Allow each family member to have a voice.  Everyone should be able to share what is on their mind and contribute to the conversation.  Discuss books, movies, share a joke or talk about the kid's day at school.  Just keep it positive.  There are plenty of other times to discuss and find solutions to problems.  Meal time is a great time for teaching children religious principles.  Our family scripture study is always right after dinner.

Create loving meal time traditions.  Some of our favorite meal time traditions include having each child take turns planning and helping prepare a meal.  Because of our large family and our tight budget we don't eat out often.  Instead, we have "Restaurant Night".  We use tablecloths and cloth napkins, light candles on the table and have a couple of the kids play the part of the servers.  We always include a tip at the end of the meal.  We practice using good manners and it is a lot of fun.

Make mealtime a family commitment.  It is important for family members to make an effort to be home for dinner, if possible. If any family member is consistently absent from dinner for any reason, it may be time to make changes or adjustments that will allow family members to have at least one meal together during the day, if possible. It takes lots of unhurried time to nurture and enjoy our families. Children grow up, and parents grow old. There is not enough time to put off loving.