Trek!

Well, the girls are off to trek today.  After a later night of last minute packing than the Scoutmaster any of us would have liked, and a few unexpected challenges, the girls and I were up at 4:00am to drive up to LBJ National Grasslands.

It took them about 30 minutes to get ready and load the Jeep.  Then we drove over to pick up a friend, and met everyone at the church to caravan all those kids to their pioneer home for the next three days.  That big group of youth was surprisingly alert and peppy despite the pre-dawn hour.  There was definitely some excitement in the air!

As soon as we left the parking lot at 5:30am, the torrential rain started.  Fortunately I had some really good natured, chatty kids in my car who played games and kept me entertained and distracted from the weather.  Driving in the stormy dark isn't my favorite way to travel, especially when headed into unfamiliar territory.  We finally made it to their muddy, wet destination at 7:05am, only 5 minutes behind schedule.  Hooray for caravanning!

I had thrown my camera in the car because...well, I always throw my camera in the car...and because I wanted to be sure to get pictures of the girls decked out in their pioneer clothes.  Unfortunately, I left my SD card upstairs on my desk at home.  Thank goodness for iPhones.  

Yep, those are crutches you see in that picture of Emma. Late Saturday night, she and some friends were playing and she did a little leap for joy that it was finally summer.  She fell mid-leap, and landed just the right (or wrong) way on her left foot to break it.  And just like that...her expectations for summer have shifted a little.  She has a fractured metatarsal in her left foot; not a clean break, but enough that it will require crutches and a boot for the next 4-6 weeks...during which, trek, Beehive Camp, the Allen Celebration, a flight to Utah, the 4th of July, and EFY will occur...among other things.  

But, as usual, this little girl has the immovable resilience of a pioneer.  She decided she was going on trek, with or without a fully functioning pair of feet, and she insisted that we ask for a medical exception to let her go.  The doctor at the ER said absolutely not.  Friends and family advised against it.  Everything in my head said we shouldn't let her.  But, a priesthood blessing and a kind trek medical specialist changed my perspective a little.  The whole purpose of trek is to help these kids feel like they can do something difficult.  It's designed to take them out of their typical, comfortable, air-conditioned environment and immerse them in something completely different.  And by Sunday evening, as I watched Emma haul herself, her boot, and her crutches up and down the stairs countless times to finish packing, I realized that if anyone can do hard things, it's Emma.  She is determined, resilient, stubborn, and relentless...just exactly what you need to be on a Mormon pioneer trek.

I met her Ma and Pa this morning when I dropped her off.  They are kind and wonderful, and happen to have a son who recently spent three months on crutches with a boot.  I'm sure there was some inspiration involved in that match.  I made sure Emma had all the things I thought she would need to be comfortable for the next three days.  I talked to trek leaders, ward leaders, medical staff, and her sisters, and made sure everyone knew to be aware of her.  (I am more worried that she'll try to do too much than that she'll sit and complain.)  And two hours later, I got back in my car and drove home, and tried not to think about all the possible dangers of my daughter, with her newly acquired and still unstable crutches, maneuvering around in the mud.   

I am so proud of all of my girls for going on this expedition.  I have high hopes for the potential for spiritual strengthening, bonds forged between youth and leaders, and their connection with the people who came before them.  But mostly, I just want them to have a successful experience up there in the wilderness.  I want them to come home on Wednesday night, flop on their beds, and marvel at what they have accomplished.  

I'm so grateful for the opportunities my kids have to learn and grow.  I'm grateful for challenges that make them stronger.  And I'm grateful for the people on this trek with them who make it possible for me to sleep at night without worrying about my girls.  

Super Easy Dinner

It's so hard to plan dinners around here in the summer because I never know who's going to be around to eat them.  Megan and I made these delicious things earlier this week and surprisingly, everyone was home for dinner...with a few friends.  Maybe that's the trick to draw my kids into the house...make fast, yummy dinners!

This recipe was ridiculously easy.  I looked it up on Pinterest, found most of the ingredients in my pantry or fridge, and whipped up the whole thing in about 30 minutes...perfect for hungry teenagers who think they don't have time to eat.

Step 1:  Melt 1/2 stick of butter and 4T olive oil in pan.  Add 4 cloves minced garlic (yep, four!)  Turn down the heat after everything is melty and add some spices (oregano, basil, parsley, crushed red pepper flakes...just a pinch is plenty) and stir until combined.  Let mixture simmer for about 5 minutes and then brush about half of it onto two halves of a French bread loaf.  (You'll use the remaining melty stuff in the tomato sauce.)  Add a layer of grated mozzarella cheese.

Step 2:  Bake the buttered, cheesy bread halves in a 400 degree oven for 5 minutes.  They won't even be brown when you take them out, but the melted cheese will set the bread a little more so the sauce doesn't make it all soggy when they cook.  It's the best trick EVER!

Step 3:  Make the sauce.  You can do this while the bread is cooking, it's that fast.  Add one 14 oz can crushed tomatoes to the remaining buttery mixture and bring to a boil.  Tomato sauce bubbles really fast so I just left it on medium high heat for the 5 minutes that the bread was toasting in the oven and it was plenty of time for the oil and butter to combine with the tomatoes.  

Step 4:  Take bread out of oven.  Spread a thin layer of the tomato sauce right over the top of the melted cheese layer that's already on the bread.  Add whatever toppings you want.  Add more grated mozzarella.  And put it back in the oven for about 10-15 minutes depending on how toasty you want it to look.  

Final Step:  Take it out of the oven.  Cut it up.  Enjoy!  

I served this with a big green salad and that delicious watermelon from Tuesday and it was perfect!  Fast, easy, and didn't heat up the entire house.  Since we had extra teenagers, I doubled the recipe and made one all cheesy, for me, and one with pepperoni for the meat lovers in the house.  

Watermelon

I tried a few weeks ago to bring home a watermelon and sneak it into our fruit rotation.  It wasn't ready though.  It was deceptively red, but not even a little bit sweet.  Such a huge disappointment.  

And then today at the grocery store, Megan and I saw this...

so we thought we'd try one.

It was perfect!  There may still be two whole days of school left before summer officially begins, but this delicious watermelon makes it feel like it's already here.  

Hooray for piles of watermelon in the stores.  Hooray for watermelon that actually tastes as good as it looks.  Hooray for summer!

Trek Music

I snuck into the trek music practice tonight to hear how things were coming along...

Holy cow!  These kids are amazingly talented.  They've only been practicing a few weeks and they sound really, really great!  And what a huge group they've gathered.  There were at least 30 instrumentalists and singers working on This Little Light of Mine...many, many violin players, 5 ukuleles, 3 guitars, and 2 bass players (one of whom was a little camera shy tonight.)

I'm so immensely grateful for leaders who go above and beyond what they've been called to do and think up ways that these youth can have the best experience possible.  Trek preparation, I'm sure, is a monumental task.  But someone stayed up one night and thought, "We should have all these talented kids bring their instruments and add music to the experience."  What a brilliant idea.  I'm grateful for leaders who lose sleep over my kids.  I'm grateful for people who are bringing air conditioned trailers to accommodate all the instruments.  I'm grateful that all three of my girls get to participate in this pioneering effort.  And I'm SO grateful that I happened to be at the church tonight to sneak in and hear them play.  

Hope

Trek is coming up in a week.  

Three girls have to be outfitted in authentic pioneer clothing (or something close to it) and be prepared to hike for several miles a day in the heat of an already too hot Texas June, and also try to spiritually connect with their pioneer heritage.  That is a lot to ask of a 14-, 15-, and 17-year old girl when all they really want to do is get their finals over with and hang out by the pool all summer long.  

Craig has been supportive of this youth activity since it was presented several months ago.  The rest of us have been slower to get on board.  

It's the last week of school and the people in our home are restless, impatient for vacations, and a little bit testy.  When Craig suggested to the girls last night that they start packing their things for trek, no one really jumped at that opportunity.  The whole night was moderately frustrating for all of us.  

And then this morning, I noticed the tiniest glimmer of hope on the table upstairs...

Someone has decorated her hat for trek!  That means someone is thinking about trek and is picturing herself walking on a dusty trail with a really cute hat!  That means someone isn't apathetic about it.  And that means someone is moving, even if it's just in tiny steps, toward embracing this upcoming experience.  

And that made me exceedingly happy this morning.

Hooray for small steps, happy little surprises on a Monday morning, and hope.

Memorial Day Weekend Road Trip

Have I mentioned that Craig is slightly more adventurous than I am?  All he needs to spark a road trip inspiration is a couple of blank days on the calendar, a functioning vehicle, and some hotel points...and poof! the opportunities are endless.  A couple of weeks ago, when he looked at the calendar and realized that there was nothing scheduled for Memorial Day weekend, he suggested we go on a road trip.  My initial reaction to those kinds of ideas is always to think up some legitimate reason to say no.  I have no idea why I do that...  
But I have also lived with this man long enough to know that I've never been disappointed when I've followed his madness adventurous spirit.

This weekend, we drove 1526 miles, stopped in 10 cities, visited 4 church history sites, slept in 3 hotels, and listened to 5 million songs on satellite radio.  We definitely maximized this three day weekend.

Friday after school, we packed everything, rented a minivan (ours is no longer trustworthy on long trips,) and made a quick stop at the Freshman Center talent show to hear Megan sing before heading to Tulsa, OK (modified first stop since we weren't able to leave right after school...four hours closer to our REAL first stop...Independence, MO.)    

Oh, did I mention that we didn't tell the kids where we were taking them?  Craig gave them four days'  advance notice, told them to pack both casual and churchy clothes, to bring a pillow, and that we would be back on Monday night.  Oh, the faith of those kids...there is NO way I would have let him talk me into that.  

The catalyst for this impromptu road trip was the girls' upcoming Pioneer Trek in June.  They will spend three days re-creating the Mormon Pioneer Trek from Illinois to the Salt Lake Valley.  Our entire stake has been preparing for this trek for quite a few months.  All the youth have been assigned to a Ma and Pa so that they can travel with a handcart in a family group.  We've gathered authentic (well, as close to authentic as Goodwill makes possible) pioneer skirts and bonnets (or they might wear cowboy hats) for the girls so they can feel like real pioneers.  They're taking family ancestor names with them so they can think about someone who was an actual pioneer (not necessarily one who walked across the plains, but who may have blazed a trail significant to our family.)  Craig really wanted them to be prepared not just physically, but spiritually, too.  

Saturday:  Independence and Kansas City, MO 
We stopped at the Visitor's Center in Independence and learned a little bit about the history of the church and the circumstances that brought the original Mormon pioneers from New York to Ohio and then into the Missouri territory in the 1830s.  We also stopped at the Kansas City Temple to add to Savannah's temple tour, and then ended our day at Liberty Jail.  I loved all the sister missionaries we got to talk to on Saturday.  It had been a busy day for them, but we managed to time our visits between the crowds so we had a little extra time to ask them questions.  Amazing girls.  Amazing spirit in both visitors centers.  

This is the international headquarters for the Community of Christ church.  I know very little about their church, but we sure were intrigued by the interesting architecture of this building.

Kansas City, MO Temple

Sunday: Nauvoo and Carthage, IL 
We stayed in a hotel in Keokuk, IA on Saturday night and then got up on Sunday morning to attend church just across the Mississippi River in Nauvoo, IL.  There is an 8:00 sacrament meeting for visitors and the full time missionaries, but we knew we would never make that, so we opted for the 10:00 Nauvoo 1st Ward meeting.  What an interesting ward that must be with their constant influx of visitors every week.  We talked to a few of the residents and they said that during the summer months it's typical to have the overflow filled to capacity every week.  How on earth do you prepare for a congregation that triples in size three months out of the year?  Everyone we talked to in that ward was warm and friendly, though, as if it wasn't a common thing to have new visitors every week.  We spent some time after church taking pictures in front of the Nauvoo Temple and visiting some of the restored buildings in that historic little city.  After Nauvoo, we drove a few miles to Carthage, IL to visit the jail where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred in 1844.

We had such a great day in Illinois.  I could have stayed there another couple of days, I'm sure.  Every time I leave that place I think that there never seems to be enough time to tour all the homes and buildings and talk to all the missionaries.  

On Sunday evening, we started our drive back toward Texas.  We drove through beautiful stretches of farms and rolling hills.  I tried to take quick pictures with my phone out the window as we were driving, but if I could have stopped at every single old barn and taken more time, I would have loved it.  There really are remarkably beautiful places in the United States.  

On Monday, we continued our long drive home and took a slight detour through Branson, MO, just to see if we might want to come back someday.  

Um...YES...gorgeous mountains, tons of family friendly activities, shopping, and music THE OSMONDS!  Yep, even without the giant chicken, I'm pretty sure Branson would be an absolute YES for me.  Maybe for our next holiday weekend??    

It was a crazy, whirlwind trip, but it was surprisingly unrushed.  We just did what we could and saw as much as we were able to see.  There were no high highs or low lows.  It was uneventful but extremely memorable.  I always resist these road trips, but I realized when I was in the middle of this one that I really LOVE them.  I love having my whole family cooped up in a van or a hotel room for three whole days.  I love seeing places I've never seen.  And I love that there are no lists or demands or chores when you are captive in a moving vehicle for miles and miles and miles.  All there is to do is talk, and think, and take pictures.  What a perfect way to spend three days.  

Summer Goals

Well, the list is up!  That means we're one step closer to summer. 

I LOVE the unscheduled, lazier days of summer, sleeping in a little, and mostly playing all day, but I also like a little structure and some plans, too.  Craig and I started helping the kids with Summer Goals years ago when they were little.  We encouraged them to have a few things they wanted to accomplish during their break as well as some fun things to look forward to.  The kids have made homemade popsicles, hosted a movie premiere party, and opened a lemonade stand in past summers with the help of those little lists.  Planning is a good thing.  Lists are good things.  And combined with a little flexibility and some spontaneous fun thrown in, a few goals make the summer so much better.  I think it's a good thing to be able to look back at the end of a summer and see that's it's been fun...and productive.  The kids still have their individual lists, but we've added a FAMILY SUMMER GOALS list to the kitchen also, mostly to keep us motivated when the summer seems endless and everyone starts to get bored.  (Although with our schedule this year, I'm not sure we've left much time for boredom...)  We sat the kids down earlier this week and asked them what they wanted our summer to look like.  We let them toss out anything and everything, and we mostly included it all on the list.  We may not do all of those things (like Lagoon...blah...I'm kinda hoping we don't have time to fit that in) but it's nice to have some direction to the lazy days and weeks ahead.  

Have I mentioned that I'm REALLY looking forward to the end of the school year?  

smoothies for breakfast...visits to the pool...early morning walks instead of early morning seminary...lots of picture taking opportunities...family vacations...

Hurry up, summer.  I wish you'd just get here already.  

Quiet Spaces

These are the things I've heard this week...

"I have rehearsal until 6:30 and then my concert starts at 7:00, so can you just bring my dress and my bass to the school with you when you get me?  Oh, and I might need some dinner..."

"We wrote the wrong amount on the check for my letter jacket.  Can you get online and make the remaining payment?...it's due today."

"Can you pick up Megan for me?  I have to be at work earlier than I thought."

"I can't take the cookies with me to RS because I'm going there straight from work.  They'll be sitting in the car for 2 hours!"

"Can you come to the school and take pictures of our choir rehearsal from 4:00-6:00 today?  I need more pictures for the slideshow."  
"I brought the wrong flashdrive to school.  There are no pictures on this one!!"
"Can you help me download a song off of iTunes for the choir slideshow?"
"Do you know how to put music with pictures and make a slideshow out of it?"

This morning, as I was driving two kids to school and receiving a text from another one that she had left her textbooks at home and could I please bring them because they need to be turned in today, I felt a little bit like this...

It's only Wednesday and already I feel like we've crammed a week's worth of stuff into the past two days.  This is the time of the school year that always seems to sneak up on me.  Things need to be signed and returned, dry cleaned and paid for.  Projects need to be completed.  Pictures need to be turned into slideshows.  Field trips and parties need chaperones.  And talents need to be shared with family members and friends.  And all the other things that occur in a normal week still have to happen...like dinner, and Cub Scouts.  Thankfully Craig is home which means an additional driver, a calm demeanor, and a technology expert. 

It is a priority for me to try to keep our regular lives as uncluttered and minimally scheduled as possible, but inevitably this time of the year is filled with chaos, to do lists, and a lot of rushing around.  Today it is making my head spin.

There is too much to do to have the luxury of being quiet for very long, but I made myself carve out a tiny little quiet space today anyway.  And here's what I heard...

"Therefore continue your journey and let your heart rejoice; for behold, and lo, I am with you even unto the end."  D&C 100:12

Sometimes I think that means He's with us until the end of our mortal journey.  Today I'm pretty sure it means that He's just with me...in the chaos, managing the requests, keeping me mindful of things like dinner and sleep, and reminding me that the end of this school year will not necessarily be the end of my mortal journey...hopefully.  It was a brief thought, but just enough to get me out of my head and happily back on the journey, which today will mostly be spent in my car getting a few more things checked off of that never-ending May To Do list.   

I'm grateful for tiny little spaces of quiet amid the chaos.  I'm grateful for this stay-at-home mom career that I chose.  I'm grateful for kids who are engaged and involved.  And I'm really grateful that June is just around the corner...

Quantity

Do you know what I really, really love?  Taking pictures.  

But as much as I love photography, I haven't quite mastered the skill of it yet, which is frustrating.  You'd think, as often as I carry my camera around with me, and as much effort as I put into taking pictures, that I would be great at it by now.  But I'm disappointingly not.  

A few weeks ago, I realized I hadn't taken any pictures of McKay's football season, so I grabbed my camera and decided I would just shoot everything. Instead of taking my usual handful of pictures, I opted for the Quantity Method and took hundreds.  The more pictures you take, the more likely you are to get a good one, right?  (I borrowed that method from someone else, but I'm pretty sure he isn't the first to use it.)  I left that day with about 200 pictures of little boys in yellow shirts running around after a football.  And after about 2 hours of editing and deleting, I ended up with a handful that weren't terrible.  

On Monday when Emma needed pictures for her choir slide show, I tried the same thing.  Quantity.  I spent 2 hours at the school and took almost 300 pictures in a gym full of kids I didn't know, most of whom didn't even want their pictures taken, in an effort to get an adequate representation of each one in the slide show.  Hours of editing, an impatient Emma watching over my shoulder, and two flash drives later, we ended up with a pretty comprehensive slide show presentation.  But she only ended up using about 10% of the pictures I took.  

Before, that would have been mildly discouraging.  90% is a pretty miserable failure rate.  

But now, I am more sure of a few things:

• Taking pictures in a gym is ridiculously hard.  
• Moving children are ridiculously hard to photograph.
• People who don't want to be photographed are ridiculously hard to photograph.
• Editing is a magical thing.
• Nobody cares about the failure rate.  Nobody ever looks through my iPhoto trash nor do they even know it exists.  And if I delete all the bad pictures, that makes my failure rate 0%, right?
• Not one of the photographers I admire and want to be like someday woke up one morning and magically started taking great pictures.  Everyone has a trash pile.  

I love wandering around with my camera.  I love capturing moments and then writing about them here.  I love looking at the world as if it were a photo opportunity.  And I love accidentally getting an amazing shot of something.  

Eventually I hope to be a better photographer.  Eventually I hope to have my end results match my intentions.  Eventually I hope that there is more skill involved in the good shots instead of luck.  Eventually I hope that I'll have to take fewer pictures because I'll be better at this little hobby and I'll have a higher percentage of good ones. 

The good thing is that life is long.  The future will be filled with lots of opportunities to take pictures, and if I keep carrying my camera around and keep shooting stuff, the Quantity Method at least ensures that I'll keep getting a few good shots.