Trying to Throw your Arms Around the World

Sunday was the girls primary program. It revealed my girls true colors.

Emma, in true Emma fashion, tripped mid-program in her seat and got hurt. The world came to an end and she BAWLED-you know, the high pitched crying for her mommy on volume 10. I met her in the aisle and we went out to check the wounds. She was done. Under no circumstances was she planning on finishing out the program. Between mom and dad-nothing NOTHING could even remotely tempt her in the slightest to go up and do her part. She is my head-strong damsel in distress who needed to snuggle for the rest of the program. Yes, she ended up with crackers from the nursery leader who was sitting behind us.

Sophie, who can be a little bashful and "slow to warm up" to strangers, had the first part of the program. She had it memorized, but you could BARELY hear her. By the end, she was the loudest and most proud singer and her second part was executed loud and clear. She is completely and totally "into" her "performances." The entire ward is captivated by Sophie because, without question, she is the most entertaining girl in the primary.

I love these girls.. and am so proud to be their mom :)

Since school has started, I have been tweeking the girls routine to get it just right. One of the things that I have done differently this year is to implement morning and evening reading time. It has been such a sweet time for us. I decided to dedicate a little section on the bloggie to let you know what we've got our noses into. We are just over half way in this halloween book and the girls keep begging me to read more. It is a silly /fun read.

I lost count of how many peach pies i made this summer. I luv Love LOVE peaches and my grandma's recipe for fresh peach pie is my favorite dessert. As we get deeper into fall, I realize the peach pie season is drawing to a close... I am already feeling withdrawl.

I went to the SYTYCD 2008 Tour last night at the E center with my sister, my neice, and a few folks from my cousin's family. Let me tell you... I appreciate good talented dancers with amazing choreography. I could write about this forever...(like y'all didn't know that) so I will spare you and put up my a variation of my favorite solo of the night. Go GEV!! :) Yes, I stood up, screamed, and whoot whooted over this one..


If anyone has a chance to get to this event on tour, I highly recommend it. 3 hours of cool cool stuff.

My bff and I went to lunch to Training Table yesterday. In case you forgot, #24 Turkey Sandwich and an 1/2 order of cheese fries with ultimate dipping sauce never gets old. :)

This is such a weak attempt to get caught up, but at least it is something.

As a mother, I often think about what is most important to teach my girls in life and how to do it. I really like the quote "When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands and stick together" which is taken from the book listed in the title of this post. Ever since I have been a little kiddie, I've tried to extend myself to show love and support. At times I care so much that it becomes a fault to over accommodate others and don't pay close enough attention to the traffic. I know... DOIYYY... Nonetheless, I usually choose to stick together with others to show I really care, even if they are different than me, sometimes I am not really wanted there, sometimes I really don't want to be there, or I know I might be made fun of because of it...which is hard. Sometimes I really come up short, but hope that what I teach and how I live will somehow workout for Sophie and Emma in life.
Anyway, I was thinking...Why did I get choked up when Emma and Sophie started school this year? Is it just the milestone? My own response..I think it was hard to send the girls off this year knowing that I am a out of the loop with "on the scene supervision" at school if something goes wrong on the playground for multiple recesses, in the classroom, or stick up for them if for some reason they are bullied. I wonder if others maximize on a teaching opportunities and if my girls are accepted among classmates. Let's face it, we all know that girls (and boys for that matter) can be very mean.
I believe the down right dirty, dirty mean article Heather Mallick wrote this month about Sarah Palin, no matter if you support her or not, is a perfect example of mean girls in adult form. I guess you can say she didn't backstab in this article.


I don't want my kids to be the ones that instigate mean-spiritedness or hang around friends that are like a terrible Queen Bee leading the wanna bee's along into mischief. Girls can be tricky and I have personally seen and know girls that pow-wow together to find reasons why it is important to intentionally exclude or be mean to another. These girls simply have no idea or care about how hurtful and damaging it can be, especially when the dialog of conversations or actions surface to the excluded party, which happens.

Life can be complicated when unfair judgements are made and then emotions and actions get stirred up. I believe this happens because of limited knowledge and maturity.

So how can I teach my girls to not participate in mean-spirited or emotionally damaging activities at a young age? To help them choose for themselves to apply the law of love and kindness, yet not put themselves into danger or open themselves into doing something ridiculous? What can I do as a mother to teach them what I believe is CORE to a better way of living: find healthy ways to apply inclusion, love, and reaching out to others independent of race, religion, smell, status, socio-economic status, or physical appearance ALWAYS. It's tricky! (and can be hard for me some days) So far, I haven't had to face this issue with them, but I'm sure it will come.

I believe that teaching this particular concept will be a long process reinforced over numerous years, with multiple events. Since I don't have to solve this one today, I ask that we girls stick together on this one and I welcome any suggestions or ideas on how to counsel and provide appropriate solutions to those odd girlie situations. Anyone? :)

Recently, I returned from a humanitarian trip to Bolivia. Despite my delay in posting about this experience, it was a time that will be cherished for a lifetime. Many people have asked me why Bolivia?

Bolivia is considered to be the poorest country in South America and the expedition of which I took part encompassed many aspects of humanitarian work. I was involved with the construction of a school, planting gardens for families, participating in a health clinic, dispersing clothing, soccer balls, and hygiene kits to families, school kits for students, and a fundraising event to further the work in this country. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. Here are some pics so you can get an idea of what I was involved with.



What have I learned...

This trip primarily taught me one thing. It is important to take care of one another.

1) Take care of your family
2) Take care of your community
3) Take care when you recognize there is a need
4) Take care of US as a human race, to treat people humanely, to be more kind, to be more loving, to be more generous, to be more grateful, to be more compassionate and give to those that need it without judgement.

Many people that I interacted with were struggling with providing the BASICS for their family. We really have it so good. Some didn't have bathrooms. Some children's only clothes were the uniform to wear to school, and it was ratty at best. Some couldn't afford toothpaste. Others in the same community were better off. Yet during the time I was in Bolivia, I saw this community reach out knowing that certain items needed to go to specific people because they were more in need. They wanted to take care of their own...but unselfishly wanted to make sure that others were taken care of, too.

What were the moments that touched me most:

1) Giving a little girl named Elizabeth (7 yrs old) a used kids soccer uniform donated by my friends. Her response: She litterally jumped and leapt into my arms, squeeled, and gave me a monster velcro hug surpased by none. She said thank you a million times with the biggest smile you can give. This reaction typifies the most joy, most gratitude, most unhibited love I have ever seen. Anyone that saw this experience was brought to tears. She is one of those children that has one outfit (a school uniform.) To my friends that helped me with dontation of soccer jerseys...Thank you, thank you, thank you.

2)Planting gardens with Bolivian women. We knocked out a ton of gardens one day and it felt so good to know that mothers can soon provide a healthy meal for their family. It was so humbling to know in a short amount of time, their children don't have to rely on the "snack" they get at school for the only meal for the day.

3) Choosing glasses for those that participated in the health clinic. After getting their eyes checked, the patients came to me with their vision prescription. If any needed help, we wrote a thank you letter for the opportunity to get new glasses. Then, we shuffled through and selected glasses that would work. I was able to place them on their face. It was rewarding see and hear their reaction to the newly discovered better vision. One woman told me that my face was the first clear face she had seen in 80 years. I was a goofy girl that required glasses by age 3 and have a daughter that required glasses before age 3. I can appreciate the importance of this work.

4)Some of my favorite gifts exchanges.. a boy without an eye received the nicest pair of shoes. New uniform pants and glasses given to a boy who was frequently teased. (He had cross-eyes and hand me down school pants which were so big that, despite an elastic band, had to constantly have one hand around the waistbant to try and keep them up.) Backpacks stuffed with school supplies given to the top students of the school. In exchange, the little students proudly and loudly sang their national and city athems. They ran to our bus chanting gringo and anxiously (and sometimes over-anxiously) greeted us with large smiles and warm hugs.

5) Our hotel was located in the high hills of a jungle. The views were absolutely breathtaking. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to in my life.

6) My time in Bolivia quickly reminded me of my time and experiences in Brazil from about ten years ago. Both are really meaningful to me. On my last day, i was able to chitty chat with two brazillian women that walked 3 miles to get their eyes checked. Talking with them in portuguese was a little piece of heaven.

7) Bolivian food.. yum.

Funny experiences...
1) The children at the elementary provided a program for us the last day. The grand finale dance was performed by four girls (two dressed like a boy and two dressed like a girl). This dance was entirely surrounded around "sneeking peeks." The song begins with a boy singing that he wants to lift up the skirt of a girl (while the 2 boy dancers try to lift up the 2 girl's dancers skirt). The girls laughingly push their skirt back down while singing "no." The girl sings if you try to do this then pull down your pants (while she tries to pull down his pants). Need I say more? cookoo!!!
2) The teens in my group toilet papered my room. They were so awesome and we had such a great laugh over it.
3) Day one, we have a new uninvited roommate in our house, a frog.
4) I saw Miss Bolivia perform at a fundraising event with a really famous Bolivian Band. I was seated at a table located in front of center stage. I nearly gave my napkin to the hoards of men that left their tables to come up (some with a camera) to stare and drool and stare and drool and stare and drool during her flirtatious performance with the lead singer.
5) There was a teenager (who perfectly impersonated Napolean Dynamite and Nacho Libre the entire trip) that is vehemently against drinking anything with caffeine in it. Since we could only drink bottled water, most locals and restaraunts offered soda to drink. Coke is a staple in Bolivia. It became ridiculous when a variety of bottled soda was ordered or offered that somehow a coke ALWAYS ended up in front of this kid. He always freaked out. At the school performance, the community wanted to give us something to drink...they whip out a tall bottle of coke and the most wimpy plastic cups. I just busted up.
6) Our hotel was in the thick of a jungle. On my first night, I heard the loudest racket just outside my window. Of course I am alone in the bed freaking because I wonder what kind of animal is sniffing me out as prey. I am thinking that it is wrestling with its latest victim and I am next on the list. Could it possibly be a python, a bear, or some weird monster? After about a half hour, I hear a moo. Yes, a lonely cow got out of a nearby pasture and was roaming around. Yes, I had the same question...Why in the HECK is a cow pasture near our 5 star hotel in the middle of the jungle? That's Bolivia. :)

Now what? For those that live in SLC, there will be a GALA fundraising event for Ascend in late September. I was assigned to purchase 40 items from Bolivia for this event to auction off. There is some cool stuff. I will post more details about this when it gets closer.