Art in the Snow

One of my favorite things about Christmas is snow. I realize that there are many places in the world that don't have snow this time of year -- in fact, I don't know how Australia does it in the middle of summer! I guess if it's what you're used to...but BBQing for Christmas dinner just seems wrong somehow...grin. And this comes from a born and raised Californian who didn't grow up with snow...

The first time it snowed after I moved to Utah, I was thrilled. I sat in our front room and gazed out the large windows, watching each flake fall in fascination. It was totally amazing to me, seeing each frozen flake of water and knowing that apparently none of them were the same.

Some while ago, I came across a site that showed actual photographed snowflakes taken by Wilson Bentley. He was obsessed with taking pictures of snowflakes, taking the first photographs of snowflakes in 1885. I love the quote on his site:
"Under the microscope, I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated., When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind."

I feel like snowflakes are a gift of beauty.

I like to go outside while it's snowing and let the flakes land on my coat so that I can try and see their intricate designs.


Some of the snowflakes I've used in this blog come from SnowCrystals.com which generously allows me to share them with you as long as I mention them...so I've mentioned them! grin. They have a wonderful selection of photographs of snowflakes, and galleries to view.

As children we were always making snowflakes out of paper. I think everyone knows how to fold the paper and cut intricate designs, opening it up to hang the flakes on the windows. If you still like to make snowflakes, there's a site that allows you to do it on the computer. It's called Snowdays, and it's created by PopularFront.

While I realize not everyone likes snow or is fascinated by snow flakes, perhaps you can have some fun with them.

I think snow is Heavenly Father's way of cleaning the world for just a little while...bringing us some purity and making the world sparkle with beauty for all to see. Since today we got the first snow of the Christmas season, I hope you enjoy it! I sure have.


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World's Best Mother-in-Law

Now it may sound like I'm trying to make points or do some brown nosing here, but I'm really not. She really is. This woman has done nothing but try and help us our entire marriage. I'm not saying she's pushy (but she'd be the first to admit she sometimes is) I'm saying she is concerned.

When she married, her husband was 9 years older than she and a recent convert. They struggled really hard because he had been married before and had child support. The ex was always taking them to court to increase the amount of that payment, but she was such a good organizer, that it could never be awarded because the judge would know exactly what their income and outgo ratio was.

She had 5 children that she raised on basically a shoe string, sewing their clothes, remaking clothes from their father for Sunday, canning everything she could, growing everything they could. When they had a chance to sell their house and move to a bigger one (the one we live in now...grin) she pushed the move because they lived really close to a canal, and my husband almost fell in when he was a baby.

They did a lot of the work on the house themselves (and never really stopped...lol), remodeling and remodeling until the house really doesn't resemble the original very much. I have to say I have mixed feelings about it...the original house had more bedrooms! grin.

When my husband was in school, she decided to start working. My father-in-law finally had a stable job, but it wasn't a very high paying one and she knew if she wanted any kind of life after retirement, she needed to work too. She started out as a secretary, and then moved to the educational system. By the time my hubby was graduating high school and going onto college, she was working on a masters degree. She ended up being an administrator and making quite a name for herself in the high school circles for being a good teacher (people STILL remember her) and vocational advocate.

When my hubby and I got married, we were able to have a house because of her. (Many times we wonder if we should have done the apartment bit -- but hindsight is always that...what if) It was a small house with two bedrooms, but it was perfect. They had started a remodel on it because it had been in bad shape -- so we inherited the remodeling bug.

Throughout our years of marriage, there have been many different times when we've been in financial difficulty, and she's always been there, able and ready to help us. She has handled all of that aspect professionally, there is a line drawn between family and money -- but it all works out to the satisfaction of both parties.

Recently, their ward has been encouraging the three month supply. (I'm sure that sounds familiar to most of you!) In fact, since her ward is mainly made up of retirees...they have asked them to help their extended family get theirs in. In contemplating that job (she has 5 children with 31 grandchildren and innumerable great grandchildren -- she has since been widowed and remarried a man who has several children of his own) she decided that instead of taking a long trip this fall (she loves to see the fall leaves and has been quite the world traveler most of my marriage -- when the twins were born she and her hubby were in China...grin) she would help her children and grandchildren get their three month supply during the case lot sales.

We were the beneficiaries of this project, and went shopping with her on Monday. Man oh man...we weren't the only ones; the girl at the cash register said they had 9 carts come through! But when we added up all the one's my Mother-in-law had purchased for the past week, she had already done up to 11. (We had three, stacked high)

As we got home and ended up piling the items in our family room because the storage room hadn't been cleaned out yet -- our project over UEA...sigh -- I reflected upon how much she has given us, and helped us over the years. She may not be a saint, but she's getting there, and I know we are most grateful that we know her and have her in our lives. And not just because of what she is able to give us. She's a sweetheart and my children are very thankful to have their Grandma!

So, here's to you, mom. It's not mothers day, it's not any special occasion other than we want the world to know that we love, appreciate and thank you for all you do.

SWAK!

Housewife's Olympics

As I was contemplating this blog and watching the Olympics, I had to run upstairs a few times to get things ready for dinner. As I did so, it occurred to me that there should be a housewife's olympics! How many things do we accomplish that are physical and graceful everyday?? LOTS!

Unfortunately, only those with children would be allowed to compete -- not that I have anything against those who don't have, can't have or do not want, children -- but only those that do could possibly understand all the nuances of the events.

We'd probably need a separate Olympics for those without children -- they would probably run along the lines of scheduling (hair, nails, work and shopping all within one afternoon, etc. grin)

So anyway, here are the events as I picture them (and I limited several of the events items to families of 4, since the thought of dealing with items more than that seems to send people into wide eyed panic):

Grocery Shopping:
Milk Jug Carry -- (how many jugs of milk can you carry in one trip without dropping and looking graceful at the same time?)

Bag Carry -- (how many plastic vs. cloth (eco friendly) bags in one trip without dropping, cringing, dying, etc.)

Cart Filling (how much you can fit in one cart without dropping, crushing or tipping -- smiling all the time)

Coupon/Bargain Hunting -- (the most coupons used in a shopping trip, the best bargains in the store, etc.)


House Cleaning:
Fastest Dusting (how many rooms can you dust in 30 minutes)

Window Cleaning (inside all -- outside of reachable without ladders)

Vacuuming Queen (all carpeted rooms in 30 minutes or less and adding dance to your event brings even more points)


Laundry:
Quickest Sorting (not just darks and whites, but warm and cold -- items for family of 4)

Quick fold and sort (all clothes out of the drier, folded and sorted to owners -- family of 4)

Sock Match (how many socks can you match together in 5 minutes - family of 4, one weeks worth)

Home Exercise:
Stair Aerobics (how many times up and down stairs in 20 minutes without breathing hard or clinging to the railing)



Garden Stretching (how far can you hoe without over balancing, weeding from your waist)

Leaf Raking (How much can you rake in 30 minutes)

Lawn Mowing (using a push mower, how fast can you mow a slightly sloped hill, 20' x 30' and make it look easy)

Milk Jug Press (how many times can you lift and lower two full jugs of milk in each hand?)


Multi Tasking:
More than one task -- make the team, your female.
More than three, Bronze
More than four, Silver
More than five -- Gold!



Shopping Queen:
Car Parking (how close to the doors can you park?)

Cart Maneuvering (how often do you pick a cart that has a squeaky wheel or turns to one side...how well are you able to dodge other shoppers?)

Store Lapping (how many times do you go around the store?)
Everything in one lap - GOLD!
Two laps, Silver
Three laps, Bronze
Four laps...you have ADHD and need a friend to keep you in line.

Of course, this idea brings sooo many other types of Olympics to mind. We could have the men's Olympics, with sports watching or playing, couch potato sitting, etc., and we could do teenager Olympics, where they compete for how long they sleep, complain, and play the Wii...grin.

I guess competition is an ingrained thing, and the more we compete, generally -- the better we get at whatever we do. My daughter asked why there weren't athletes that competed in more than one thing; such as why they didn't do swimming and track, or gymnastics and something else. I told her that everything was so specialized now, that they trained differently for every single sport.

There are a few crossovers, such as in swimming and diving, but I guess that it's a related aspect and doesn't cause too much problems. I like the idea. I mean, it's kind of like the Gymnastics allaround, isn't it? They compete on more than one apparatus.

I'll bet you can come up with additions to the Housewife's Olympics. I'd love to hear them...



For more info or to order tickets click here...


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