The School Talent Show

This is E and R performing Cinderella's "The Work Song" at the school talent show.

Happy Mother's Day

First, Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there, especially our Moms and Grandmas.

Here are some of the lovely things I received today.

This is by R so I am going to write the original and the translation.

"Mom so swet and sbeshol and cind She hefol and funy Mom yor onle min. I love you I love you Love R"

Mom so sweet and special and kind. She's helpful and funny. Mom your only mine. I love you! I love you! Love,R

"My Mom is ..." a poem by E.

"My mom is happy, smiling all day

My mom is nice, caring for my family

My mom is a chef, cooking everything

My mom is sweet, helping my family

My mom is an actress, pretending is her thing

My mom is adventurous, planning a lot of trips

My mom is a couch potato,watching lots of movies

My mom loves flowers, planting them in her garden

My mom is great, that is why she is unique."

H is harder to post. She can only write her name, but I have cards with those two circle figures with arms and legs and her sprawling signature. Here is a poem from a card that has her hand print on front.

"Mommy I love you

For all you do

I'll kiss you and hug you

Cause you love me too

You feed me and need me

And teach me to play

So smile cause I love you

On this Mothers Day."

Here is the thought I give myself for Mother's Day.

"Recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction." -Elder M. Russell Ballard

Like today!

Family History...

For school, E had to fill out a family tree of her four generations. She only needed their names and ethnic origins. It should be easy for an active member of the church to fill it out, right?

Oops, I have no records of my genealogy at my house at all. I filled out what I remembered then I emailed our moms. They gave me some information, but I needed more. So, I emailed Grandma Z. She got right back to me. That was great I had the whole Z line, but I needed to know about the Hs and some J Crew information. I called JR and asked if he had any idea about his family. He didn't but he figured out a solution... http://www.familysearch.org/

It was a miracle! Our whole family's information was there. It took a little bit of effort to find it, for example my grandma is listed on the site but no spouse and just her parents. If you type in her husband's name it has his family for generations.

I really enjoyed it. It was great finding the names. I could only imagine the joy of finding a new name to add to the family. Maybe my heart is turning!

(or I want all my aunts and uncles to read this and fill in all the information)

Thankful it's not my calling anymore!

This morning I went with a group of ladies to clean the church. This reminded me of my old calling. It use to be my calling to coordinate the cleaning assignments for RS and then I would care for their children while they cleaned. Our ward would be in charge for one month once a quarter. Not a big deal, right?

Oh, today reminded me of why I am thankful I don't have to do that anymore. First, we get there and tried to decide who would clean what. There was no list of jobs anymore. I tried to remember the jobs plus we were informed that there were new ones too. Everyone thought I should watch the kids like I used to. So, I took the group of ten kids under the age of 5. It really was okay, but there was this one little guy that bawled the whole time (about 1 hr 45 min). Plus, entertaining, keeping them from looking for their mom, etc... that many kids for that long just takes it out of you. I am so glad I don't have to do that every Monday this month. Next week I do have to go again, but I am cleaning not watching kiddos!

Speaking of memories, while I was cleaning coordinator I was also RS pianist. I am glad I don't have that calling anymore as well. I know, you are thinking you are Primary pianist now it's not that different. Of course, there is the obvious Primary songs are easier then hymns. Well, there are other differences too. Let's face reality, I am not a good pianist! So, this is how people handle it in RS. "Oh, I know you are uncomfortable and this hymn is hard. Would you like me to play?" or "Don't worry it gets easier." Then there is Primary's reaction. I had just tried to play "Baptism". I could only play the right hand with people singing. A young girl came up to me, "Oh Sister Z, you play so beautifully!"I thought I should open this girl's eyes to the truth "You know I am not very good and made a lot of mistakes." "Well, I just wish I could play as well as you. You were so lucky to have lessons when you were little." Yes, I am lucky that I had lessons and even if I play horribly I can share the talent I do have with someone who appreciates it. (Even if every time the Bishop hears me play he ask if I have a piano at home. ) I am thankful to be the Primary Pianist right now!

Mom's Retirement (Grandma Maggie)

On Thursday,my mom retired!
She has been a banker for almost 20 years. It was a day to celebrate.
Here we are together at an Open House at the bank.
(No mom, I decided the wine bottle picture is just for us. She received 2 from customers. We teased her for not talking about her church life enough.)

We flew in our sister and surprised Mom.

We had a family party while my sister was here. R helped me with the cake. She said it should be a tire since Grandma was reTIREing.

The original members of the J. Crew

Grandma Maggie with her four Chickadees

Mom, I finally got it posted. Enjoy!

PS One of my friends pointed out that my Mom is too young to retire. I thought that was nice of Mindi to give me a gentle suggestion to be a good daughter and set the record straight. My mom is not 65! (if you want to know her age I wrote it back in March for her birthday post)

I'm okay, but...

I am feeling better, but this is what my couch looks like.

Poor girls!

Sick of being sick

Okay, I haven't been off the couch since Monday night and the first thing I do; blog. Okay, not the first. I convinced the girls to take a bath and I heard a conversation like this. "You can't pee in here. It's a bath!" "You'll get it on all of us if you pee. This isn't a shower." (that comment didn't make me too happy either) The conversation went on long enough for me to realize I was going to have to step in.

SO, I am off the couch. I cleaned up dinner. (Thank you, thank you to Stephanie for feed my two youngest lunch, keeping H until dinner, getting us dinner, and picking me up decongestant). I am blogging and then I am heading to a new location...my bed.

I hope no one else gets this flu thing that is going around. It knocked out my hubby for 3 1/2 days. Now, he is on a business trip. Of course. I think I am over the worst of it. I haven't had any chills for a few hours. If this doesn't make sense, forgive me. My brain is not functioning at it highest level. But I wanted contact with the outside world.
NO MORE SICKNESS HERE, PLEASE!