September Roses

This is such a beautiful story. I checked it out so I could read it to Rychen P. but he wasn't interested at the time, so I read it silently while he was busy with something else. It's a good thing I wasn't ready it aloud because I just sat there and cried quietly to myself for a few mintues, reliving 9/11. Why did I become emotional? I don't know. There was something significant about the twin towers. Were they not a symbol of our nation's pride? our success and accomplishments over the span of our history? And appropriately so, our enemies attacked us right at the heart, and we lost our pride. Has our country not been changed since then?

A few months after 9/11, I found this scripture:

And it came to pass that ... the great and spacious building was the pride of the world; and it fell, and the fall thereof was exceedingly great. And the angel of the Lord spake unto me again, saying: Thus shall be the destruction of all nations...that shall fight against the twelve apostles of the lamb.

- 1 Nephi 11:36

The Book of Mormon was written for us in the last days, and many prophesies apply both to what was specifically referred to at the time of the prophesy, and also to events in the last days (the writings of Isaiah are also multiple-fulfilled prophesies). There are patterns throughout the book of righteousness and prosperity, and then the downfall of peoples because of their pride. Literature is full of this theme; it's called the "tragic downfall" that comes with a certain character flaw in each tragedy, most often pride and rigidness in our own ways. As we know, pride is the ultimate way to "fight aginst the lamb," as our will is the only thing in our control, the only thing in the Universe that God cannot control.

What pattern has our country taken? We were once a righteous, God-fearing nation. We were indeed a "promised land" where freedoms were established and the Restored Church could come forth. We flourished. And after relishing in our bounteous blessings a bit much, we became prideful. We became lustful and wicked, living after the manner of the flesh. And thus began our downfall. The prophesied downfall that would preceed the second coming...

I am excited to study the Book of Mormon to find more patterns that apply to us. I'm so grateful for it as a book of scripture, specifically written for our day, giving us warning and teaching how t overcome the adversary and stand true amidst tragedy.

Joe's apostasy sketch

Well I just thought this was so cool, so I wanted to share :) My brother Joe is currently serving an evangelical mission in Brazil. Here is a sketch he drew to show the pattern of apostasy through the dispensations. It's in Portuguese but I think it's pretty self-explanatory if you're familiar with the scriptures.

Running update

Thursday I ran/walked 1.75 miles in 20 minutes. A nice route with a steep walk up a hill, and then jog down the gradual down-hill mile from Doaks Ferry to Wallace, back over Brush Hills. I had the brilliant idea to take 20 minutes to get out and start my day right, during the time Rychen comes back from seminary and makes his breakfast before heading out to work. I think I'll do this 3 days a week. I only have 20 minutes but it will be fun to see how I can increase my mileage within those 20 minutes. So, peeps, I will be out running like clockwork, 7:15-7:35! 

Friday I decided to mix it up, and did 20 minutes on my own inside--a mix of dancing, kickboxing, and squats to some great upbeat tunes like Gwen Stefani, Madonna, and various dorky stuff from 1991. Yep, that's my mix. Ha ha! 

This morning I was feelin GOOD! I got up and did some yoga, ate my ten oranges, and headed out for a 3-mile run/walk - goal time 25 minutes. I even set the timer, I was gettin' all ready to make myself proud and post it all over Facebook! But not ten minutes later and I start having pelvic floor issues (gotta love childbirth.. Just kidding, it's worth every sacrifice) so I have to walk, and I have to go find a bathroom. Stop by Becca's house, she's not home. Go over to Orchard Heights park and use the potty. Didn't really solve my problem. Walk up Orchard Hill, I mean Orchard Heights, feeling discouraged. Wishing I had just stuck with running six months ago when I gave it up. It stinks to start over! Pass Kim's house and stop to chat with her and stretch. Then I felt better (emotionally and physically) so I got a burst of energy to run home. Yay. I got home, Rychen and the kids clapping, relieved that I am finally home, 30 minutes after I was supposed to be! 

It took me an hour to walk "jog" 4 miles. But I did it! And darn in, I am going to keep doing it! I'm not going to give up this time. I'm a Jones and I want to be a family member in the friendly competition. I am going to track my March miles and beat you guys, Courtney and Logan!! hee hee :) 

I am giving myself 3 weeks to make sure I am serious and to see what level I am at.  Then I will start signing up for races. I want to be in a picture with Andrew, Carol, and Rychen. I want to be a Jones runner. And darn it, I am going to get to that finish line, even if I pee my pants!

Moo Baa La La La!

This was Rychen P's favorite book when he was Elisabeth's age, and now she is loving it too! Today I got her to repeat after me "Moo," "Baa" and "La la la," and got quite the chuckle at her tongue-twisting attempt at saying that last one! I got a flashback of Rychen P. doing the exact same thing - with his tongue protruding awkwardly, trying to imitate me. She does it the exact same way as he did!! This is so funny, it made my night! 

Next time you see Elisabeth, ask her to say "La la la!"

Scripture memorization

On Sunday I gave the family a challenge. Anybody who memorized a scripture by Thursday (today) would get a treat. I memorized D&C 88:67 and Rychen P. memorized the First Article of Faith (Rychen says he has no recollection of this challenge. Hmmm). Anyway it was a struggle to get Rychen P. on board (he gets focused on the prize so much that it demobilizes him. Seriously.) which drove me crazy. This boy learns by rote ALL THE TIME. He has many many songs memorized, and nursery rhymes too, and quotes random things he's heard almost every day. But somehow it was asking so much of him to learn a 2-line verse. But I persevered! And now, I'm happy to announce, if you ask him what mormons believe about God, he will tell you word-for-word Joseph Smith's answer to that question.

While working with him, I was curious to test my own memory of the Articles of Faith, which I passed off as a Merry Miss, back when there was such a thing. (SIXTEEN years ago!!!) My results: I can recite every article of faith word for word except #6, and I could not even recollect what that one is about. I haven't looked it up yet.

(P.S. Do we believe in being subject to Presidents, even in the last days???)

OSU Lambing barns

Today we took a drive to Corvallis to see the lambs at the OSU lambing barns. Rychen thought it was OK but Elisabeth was absolutely enthralled! She would have just stood against the gates, staring at those sheep forever.

 

It's fun to visit Corvallis here and there--we've probably only been back 3 times since we moved away. I LOVE CORVALLIS, my heart is still there. I wish we could move back! There is just a different feel there, it's so gorgeous, it's just the right size, there is great shopping (to me, at least) and great parks, great trails, great people, amazing library, lots of families wearing their babies, breastfeeding, biking with trailers, the advantages over Salem just go on and on.

 

I miss our wards in Corvallis! We got to visit with two old friends, the Betts family (pictured here at the lambing barns) and the Becerras. It's so crazy that I met Kara when she was pregnant with her daughter (Rychen had just been born) who is now 4 1/2!! Seems like yesterday. Ahh...

me too

Okay I think I'm ready to get serious about running now. Yes I am going to join in on all the Jones fun, except without all the fun Nike stuff. I'm a budget runner, I guess. Rychen and I are putting together our own 5K race next month for anyone who wants to join (originally intended as a homeschool family event) so let me know if you're interested and we'll keep you posted when we have a date set. So anyway that gives me approximately 4-5 weeks to get ready. Tomorrow I start!

And no, I don't have any schedule or clue as to what my short-term goals are. Is that really necessary? hee hee... My goal is to not pee my pants this time.

Update on Rychen

Rychen is 4 1/2. He is a very intense child--emotionally, mentally, and physically. He used to be mellow but in the past 6 months or so has become pretty hyper. He's a total chatterbox, needing to be the center of attention all the time. He's just so social, preferring to be with people so much that I have to make him go play quietly in his room by himself at some point each day. He's got some weird quirks about him (I've mentioned before he has Asperger Syndrome to some degree...not much now that he's eating mostly raw foods and we eliminated his food allergies) and that can either make him "the annoying kid" or the most endearing, charming fellow you've ever met. Luckily most adults think he's the latter. They say how smart he is, how clever, how enthusiastic--way too much for us at home! He is a handful but a lot of fun. I wouldn't have it any other way. He keeps me on my toes, and I am learning so much from him. He's also my special buddy as we have so much in common, and both of us are such overzealous people.

Rychen is so curious and asks a lot of questions. This makes teaching him easy. Usually we look things up online to learn, and occasionally I get a great idea for hands-on. He's been asking about evaporation so I told him we'd learn about it. I boiled a cup of water and we talked about the steam rising, and felt how moist it was. We measured the water before and after to show that some had disappeared, and talked about temperature, clouds, and rain.

Learning is interesting with him. With Rychen, it's his way or the highway. I cannot tell him "Sit down, we're going to learn about this right now." Oh no, that would be too easy and simple. If there's something I want to teach him, it's gotta be a trick or a bribe! Usually I give him some choices and he gets to choose. For a while we did "something" for school every day when Elisabeth took her nap. Then we focused more on my reading aloud to him and less school activities. I used to make sure that he read to me each day, but he was beginning to fight it so I decided to let it go for a while and read aloud to him. But I can see how quickly he is picking up on reading, as several times each day he voluntarily reads words in his environment. He's also starting to read books aloud to Elisabeth.

Since he's such a chatterbox, the best way to teach him is to talk. Then talk some more! This goes for scholastic topics, gospel topics, dietary topics, behavioral topics, pretty much anything I want to teach him. We take a lot of walks so those are great times to discuss any given topic. If he doesn't have any questions, we practice math. He is quite good at math and has figured out certain patterns and tricks on his own, without me teaching him. There are a few math games we like to play, like guessing the secret number (higher or lower) or incorporating a physical response (like he gets to "punch" me as many times as the answer to the problem).

We've been very involved with friends and community activities, and I intend for this to be a big part of his childhood.Since he is so social (and I am more of an introvert) I have needed to arrange plenty of playdates for him, park and recreation time, library time, and attending whatever age-appropriate events are happening in town.

So what is he interested in right now? Sports, dancing, and mainly physical activities like that! He says he likes baseball the most, but he is quite talented at basketball, frisbee, scooter and skateboard (he won't touch his bike). Also lately he has started to practice sprinting, as he has fun timing his short runs and doing it over again to beat his time. 

He enjoys art from time to time - painting mostly. He was never one for crayons. He certainly loves art through music, he's very musical. He's a very expressive, passionate dancer.

Today he started a preschool music class, which will be weekly. He really enjoyed it. It's a group piano class where the kids learn the solfege through singing, and then play by ear. The kids sing together and then take turns practicing form, bowing, playing notes, and solfege exercises on the piano.  

We've made the decision to homeschool, now that kindergarten registration time is upon us and we're not joining the fun. I am really excited to see what this boy can do, of his own accord, what topics he will choose to pursue, and how his person will be shaped in the next few years as he discovers his interests and focuses on exactly what motivates him at the time. I am so delighted and privileged to be the one involved with and witnessing this process first hand.