The hated tree

Today we said goodbye and good riddance to a gigantic, horrible tree that we have hated from the day we moved into this house two years ago.

Picture about 6 more branches this size all over the tree--it pretty much covered that whole large window. This was at the very end, when there was just one more large cut to go. Hallelujah!

 Not only did it shade a big portion of our backyard, making us unable to plant anything that needed sun to grow (yeah, most things), but also it was loaded with small, red leaves that dropped all over our yard and patio all year long. You can't even believe how annoying those leaves were. Sweeping them up was like doing laundry or cleaning a house with a toddler --the minute you finished sweeping them, there were more dropping on your head--wind or no wind, these leaves were falling off. I don't know how there were any left on that gigantic tree.

Proof of the constant mess on our neglected patio

It was a huge, overwhelming job, but Jeffrey was up for the challenge. He really did most of the work--I hauled away the branches and helped with the rope but he gets credit for all the cutting. We have officially cut down about 8 large trees in the last two houses we have lived. Hopefully this is the last for a long time. We hope to pull out all those ugly bushes, plant some grass and I want a few more garden boxes now that the sun can shine on this side of the yard.

Fullympics 2012

I live in a house of competitive big and little boys. We have thoroughly enjoyed watching the Summer Olympics these past two weeks, and it has inspired much Olympic-themed play around here. 

• Froggy taking a rest after completing his events on the imaginary uneven bars
• masking tape to mark long jump attempts 
• medals all in a row
• beanbag toss: so far quite the hit at the Fullympics 2012
• A little Michael Phelps-style warm-up and "take your mark" on the pillow blocks
• It's a photo finish in the running 100 freestyle!
• Everyone's a winner: Go Fullers and Go USA!!

Summer Bingo

The idea for summer bingo was originally inspired by this post back in 2010, and last year we added it to our summer routine. Like many things, my older boys were excited and gung ho for the first little while, then it wasn't as exciting. But when I brought the first card out the week after school ended this year, they couldn't wait to finish every square. Things have slowed a bit, but I still like having it around to say, "what's on your bingo card?",when they tell me they are bored, or they want to earn money.

The rules I adopted for ours go like this:

SUMMER˜ BINGO 2012

RULES of PLAY

1.      You must be dressed, morning chores done, scriptures read and breakfast eaten before starting Bingo activities.

2.      You will receive a new bingo card each week. Squares in green earn an immediate ticket

3.      Mom or Dad will give you stamps/stickers so you need to let them know which one you’ve done.

4.      Each time you complete 5 in a row, you receive a ticket.

5.      You get one free stamp/sticker each week

6.      The maximum amount of bingos you can get per card each week is 5.

7.      HAVE FUN!

REDEEM TICKETS

1 ticket –                    bag of chips

                                    one can of soda/bottle of gatorade

                                    coupon good for mom or dad to do one of your jobs

2 tickets –                 $1 to fun money

                       30 extra mins of electronics

              (maximum screen time per day is 1 hour)

3 tickets –                 rent a Wii game at redbox

BLACKOUT             date with mom or dad

           $3 to fun money

Funny & surprising: the gatorade has been the biggest draw.

this was another post that was helpful last year when i came up with the cards & rules. the things i put on the cards are things i want the boys to do anyways, mixed in with some fun and funny ones. i try to change them up each time i make a new card. included every week is finish saturday jobs by 9:30 am--how boring is that? lol.

Summer, Summer, Summertime

Busy, fun summer so far:

 

 Trip to Portland Rose Garden (amazing, as usual)

Olympic Track Trials with the Suttons

 Happy Birthday to Jeffrey

 Ride on Frontrunner with Fuller cousins to see Church Museum & City Creek in Salt Lake 

Family Reunion in Midway

 Lovely visit with Great Oma and Opa Muelleck

 Tubing on Jordanelle

So glad we still have a whole month to play!

Mercy

In parenting, if I have learned anything, it is that you learn as you go. I find myself at each new stage with growing children feeling challenged, frustrated, and looking for any help in any form.

One thing with which I struggle is in finding the balance between having high expectations for my children, but also showing mercy when they fall short of those expectations. Being mortal, they are not perfect, and will fall short. I cannot reasonably expect that they will even go through one day without making a mistake. None of us will. We all live life trying our very best, while making many, many mistakes along the way.

When I find myself in a specific parenting challenge that seems impossible, I try to stop and think about how I am parented from above. How does my Heavenly Father handle this situation with me, his child? God, being God, is bound to high expectations and standards. He cannot deviate from these, and expects his children to follow. But He is also endlessly merciful and patient, and wants in every situation to extend this mercy and patience to his children.

These quotes by Joseph Smith, found here, (pg. 428), give me great insight into this struggle:
"God does not look on sin with allowance, but when men have sinned, there must be allowance made for them."
"There should be no license for sin, but mercy should go hand-in-hand with reproof"


This taught me to see that I can and need to set high expectations for my children in our home and in their lives, but when they fall short (and they will), I need to be forgiving, merciful, & long-suffering, just as God is with me.


"I do not dwell upon your faults, and you shall not upon mine. Charity, which is love, covereth a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8)

Garden 2012: Part 2

These pictures were taken one month apart. Check out the raspberries up against the house!! They are growing like crazy, and if every blossom we see right now yields a raspberry, we will have a banner year! This is good news for the husband who loves raspberries like no other fruit, and was disappointed in the 15 total we got last season. It is also great news in general for the garden, because there are bees galore on the plant, and this means they might stick around to pollinate the other plants that always desperately need it--squash & cucs-- later on.

The broccoli is, however, not doing well. I might just have to give up on broccoli after two bad years. It turned out spindly and tall, with one tiny little head on each that was only one bite. With that kind of yield, I would say it is not a good use of the garden space and, thus, it might just get kicked out of the rotation. Sad, because broccoli is one of my favorite veggies, and I really would love to grow it well. I need to do a bit more research about it.

We have had an unbelievably dry May, which is thrilling for the gardeners. The ground has actually been warm and dry enough to put in the warm weather plants. Tomatoes are in the ground (no picture yet), bush beans are planted, spinach, carrots, and peas are growing and I am on the lookout for some good variety of cucumbers that will actually grow, as that was another crop that was a dud for me last year.

Firmness & Boldness

In Mormon chapter 2, we read about a group of Nephites who are in the midst of fighting many battles with their enemies.These particular Nephites were a wicked and unbelieving group, living in the city of Shem, being led by the young & righteous army leader/prophet, Mormon, when, in verse 22, it says, ". . .they (the Lamanites, their enemies) began to come upon us again."

This word again, really stood out to me as significant, because it made me realize that, just as these Nephites had faced the same types of battles with the Lamanites over and over again, so do I face the same kinds of battles in my own life over and over again. Some of my most recent battles include:

1. discouragement (I recently wrote about waging a war against it, but I haven't won the war yet)
2. confusion about how to raise & nurture my children in a challenging world
3. being overwhelmed at the sheer amount of: food that needs to be planned, bought, put away, cooked, served & cleaned up daily, clothes that need to be washed, folded & put away daily, children that need, demand & deserve individual attention daily, and many, many other tasks that face me every single day.

I know that it is valid and perfectly normal to feel these things, but it is not okay to allow myself to be beat up, daily, by these challenges. So what can I do about it?

What did the Nephites do, even in their state of ignorance and willful disobedience?

They looked to their righteous leader, Mormon, who, in verse 23 says, "I did speak unto my people and did urge them with great energy that they would stand boldly before the Lamanites and fight for their wives, and their children, and their houses and their homes."

v.24 - 25: "and my words did arouse them somewhat to vigor. . .that they did not flee from before the Lamanites, but did stand with boldness against them. .  .and we did stand before them with such firmness that they did flee from before us.

My ability to stand before these particular challenges with firmness & boldness, and look to my leader, Jesus Christ, for encouragement and strength will be the determining factor in the way I face these battles and not allow them to beat me. I know that as I choose to do things each day that will bring peace to my heart, I will be:

1. energized & happy in the face of discouragement
2. given specific instructions through the spirit to know how to help & encourage each of my children in their specific needs and situations
3. blessed with the ability to see mundane tasks as essential & necessary for an organized, Christ-centered home, and to see that completing them, daily, with happiness is a great way to serve those in my home.