A Letter to My Future Children (when I was 20)

I have been going through an old journal from when I was almost 21, and had already received my mission call. For some reason, in the middle of all the mission-prep stuff I was involved in, I wrote this letter to my future children. I thought it was pretty good for a 20-year-old. I thought I'd share it here.

My Dear Children,

I don't know who you are, or when I will get to meet you, but I know that you are up in the Spirit World, anxiously awaiting your opportunity to experience earth life. I wonder if you are watching me, silently whispering your hopes for me and your dreams. Am I everything you want your mother to be? Perhaps not. By the time I am your mother, perhaps then I will be. I hope to be. That is partly why I've chosen to follow God's plan for me in serving a mission. The experiences and spiritual lessons and growth I gain from my 18-month service will help me to become a good mother.

I want to be the kind of mother you can talk to; take your troubles and worries to. I want to be wise and kind. I want to teach you of your noble heritage as spirit children of God.

If I could speak to you now, and give you advice about life on earth, I would tell you to hold fast to the truth. Listen to those whom God has chosen to teach you, and above all, be obedient to God. Surround yourselves with things that are good and clean, pure and uplifting. I would counsel you to choose carefully those things you allow to influence you. Remember that clean thoughts are the beginning of a clean life.

Satan is very real, my children. He will test and try you. He will not try so hard to influence you when you are strong and your testimonies firm. Rather, he will wait until you slacken up a little, when you decide that you don't have to try so hard to obey. That is when he will tempt you, for if he can get you to disobey just once, he has a passageway to your soul.

In earth life you will find that there is a constant conflict between the body (which I will help create for you) and your spirit, which is the literal offspring of God. You will find that the world teaches you that it is more important to perfect your body than to refine and build upon your character, or spirit. Though we are counseled to clothe our bodies in cleanliness, and always be neat and orderly in our appearance, we must not place that above our spiritual progression. Both are important, and in this life we are commanded to overcome the "natural man." That is to say, control and make a servant to you those natural urgings and appetites our earthly bodies have. Part of the reason we fast once a month is to let our bodies be aware that they are in subjection to our spirits.

There are two ways a person can attract other people. One is the way you are physically, the other is the way you are spiritually. Though you can attract someone to your physical beauty, if there is nothing more than physical attraction, the relationship will dwindle, and ultimately perish.

The things of the spirit, on the other hand, are eternal in nature. If you can increase your spirit, and develop a high, righteous and noble character, one that is worthy of a child of God, then you will find that as you reach out in love and service to your fellow earthlings, others on similar spiritual planes will be attracted to you, and want to be near you and want to be like you. This attraction is of a higher order than that of mere physical attraction, for the relationships established under a familiarity of spirits will endure all that is physical and temporal, and will last throughout eternity.

Love,
Your future mother

Peanut Butter Popcorn

I made this yummy treat for an Enrichment activity last night. I've had several requests for the recipe, so I thought I'd include it here.

Peanut Butter Popcorn
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 quarts popped popcorn

In a 3-quart microwaveable bowl, combine corn syrup and sugar. Microwave on high 2 minutes or until mixture boils.
Stir in peanut butter and salt. Immediately add popcorn, toss to coat. Microwave, stirring three times, five minutes. Cool. Store in airtight container. Makes 2 quarts.

My President's Day Surprise

How nice it was yesterday to spend time together as a family. Lisette prepared a special FHE lesson about the Netherlands. We also had dutch food for dinner. Since we have dutch ancestry, my mom was a great resource for show and tell items from the Netherlands. Lisette did a great job. Mom even had made a native dutch costume, which Lisette wore as she made her presentation.

Earlier in the day, however, things were not so rosy. Michelle, who had surprised us by coming home for the weekend, was doing laundry in the basement (typical college student, eh?). On one of her trips down there, she said, "Oh no! Mom! You'd better come see this!" Well, I knew I'd better come take a look.

My laundry room is small. There is room for a washer and dryer, a folding table, and not much else. We had laundry baskets, both clean and dirty, in the small walking space in front of the washer and dryer and under the folding table. Since my kids help with laundry at our house, there were also clothes on the floor of unknown levels of cleanliness. It was into this flotsam and jetsam of laundry that the gallon-sized bottle of liquid laundry detergent fell, broke open, and spilled almost all of its contents.

For some reason, there is no drain in my laundry room floor. There is one nearby in the water heater closet, but that obviously was not the low spot in the floor! The good news about that is I was able to reclaim much of the spilled soap. It took me a few minutes of pondering to decide how to deal with honey-textured soap all over the floor. I knew if I added a lot of water, I'd end up with lots of bubbles. Didn't want that. What I ended up doing was grabbing a funnel and rubber scraper from the kitchen. Bit by bit, I scraped the soap off the floor and into the funnel. It took a long time. I knelt on a towel and leaned forward for most of the job, which I have learned today is a great way to work out your glutes!

Meanwhile, Paul worked on the taxes. All day. That's all he did. I'm really glad he's willing to do it.

The Faith of a Child

Ben has a weekly homework packet. He brings it home on Mondays and has to turn it in by Friday. He usually finishes it Monday or Tuesday and turns it in at that point. This week he finished his homework Tuesday, but lost it. I thought maybe he'd turned it in, but he insisted it was lost at home somewhere. We've been looking for it for three days.

This morning I asked him about it again, and suggested he might have to ask his teacher for another packet. I was scurrying around getting things ready to take the kids to school. When I turned back to where Ben was, he held his finger up to his lip and said, "Shhhh. I'm praying to find my homework." I figured it couldn't hurt, and went out to brush the snow off the car. When I came back in, he said, "I found it!" "You found your homework?" I asked, "Yes," he said, "It was under a pillow on the couch." I was amazed. I told him he must have a lot of faith. "Yes, I do," he said.

My Take on the Twilight Books

Last night, at Ward choir practice, the 11-year-old next to me was telling me all the things she liked about the 3rd book of the Twilight series. I listened to her talk about how Bella had been kissed by Jacob, and Edward's reaction to it. She asked if I had read the Twilight books. I told her I had read them all.

I also have observed that nearly all of the young women I work with have read the Twilight books, and refer to them as their favorite books. One big exceptions is my own 14-year-old daughter.

For the record, as I said, I read all 3 books. I enjoyed them very much, particularly the first one. They were well written, and had memorable characters. I would recommend them to my adult friends.

So, this is my issue. These books are not, in my humble opinion, appropriate for young girls! I really wonder what these young girls' mothers are thinking. Have they read the books themselves? I realize there is a huge, cult-like Twilight mania that has hit our fair state, but would you, as a mother, feel good about letting your pre-teen or teenaged daughter read books that contain the following situation: the main male character regularly sleeps overnight in the same bed as the main female character? Not only are they not married, they're still teenagers (ok, I realize Edward was over 100 years old, but he was posing as a teenager, and, really does it make it any better that she's sleeping with a 100-year-old?). I don't care that they never had sex. It still isn't appropriate, and I don't want my impressionable young daughter thinking it is.

The main female character, Bella, is a pretty passionate person, and she is forever trying to seduce her boyfriend. She practically begs him to "do" her. She claims she can't help herself. I realize that females have appetites, but do I really want my daughter thinking it's good to try to seduce the boys she knows and likes? Remember, Bella's not married to the guy. Do I want her thinking she really has no control over her passions?

And, that's not the end of the inappropriateness. In later books, the main character is engaged to one young man, and still seriously interested in another, even kissing him, as my 11-year-old friend noted. Now, I realize the reason why this relationship continued (not to give anything away). I read the books. The problem is, would someone as young as 11 realize that it's not proper behavior for real girls?

The biggest objection I have of all is the author's description of the honeymoon scene in the 3rd book. If the scene described in the book were in a movie, it would be rated R, no question about it. If R rated movies are not okay for our young daughters (or us either, for that matter), on what planet is a rated R book okay?

I think we need to be careful what we expose our young girls to. I have no problem with them reading the books as young adults, when they are less impressionable, and have had some normal experiences with boys. Please, let's be as wise in what we allow our young women to read as we are in what we allow them to view and do.

And that, is my humble opinion.

Ben is 7

Ben opens a new game for the Wii.

Ben enjoyed celebrating his 7th birthday a couple of weeks ago. It is hard to believe he can be so aged. Next year we will be seeing him get baptized.

Ben loves being the center of attention. For gifts he got a slip-n-slide, an Uno game, a new game for the Wii, a flashlight, and sundry other things. He chose sweet and sour chicken for his birthday dinner, which he would eat every night if given the choice! The cake he asked for was one with colorful sprinkles mixed in. The frosting also had sprinkles, and believe it or not, his dad found ice cream with sprinkles in it too!

We celebrated with Grandma and Grandpa, and our local Aunt and Uncle and cousins as well. We all had a great time, but nobody had a greater time than our guest of honor, Ben.

25 Random Things About Me

This is from Facebook, but I thought it would be fun on a blog. Becky did this before me. So, enjoy the list, consider yourself tagged, and write your own list on your blog.

25 Random Things about me

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, the 2nd of 9 children, and lots of foster siblings. Lots.

2. I have dabbled fairly successfully in many artistic ventures, including, but not limited to: quilting, counted cross stitch, embroidery, sewing, knitting, crocheting, oil painting, quilling, papier machet, jewlery-making, scrapbooking, card-making, drawing, face painting, animal-balloon sculpting, etc.

3. I love ballroom dancing, and took 400-level dance classes at BYU.

4. I love animals and as a kid I wanted to be a veterinarian. A cat allergy, which I later outgrew, dampened this hope.

5. I am severely allergic to honeybee venom, as of 2007. I carry an epi pen, but have little or no fear of bees.

6. I love springtime and flowers.

7. I am a USU extension master gardener course graduate, and have done some advanced master gardener studies. My teacher was Larry Sagers. I set up the observation beehive at Thanksgiving Point's children's garden as an advanced master gardener project.

8. I learned to play flute in grade school and performed in the BYU Marching Band at the 1981 Holiday Bowl.

9. I am embarrassed about my teeth and wish I could have braces.

10. I am quite frugal and actually use my food storage, including the wheat--I'd be happy to take it off your hands if you don't want yours!

11. I love to make things. When my oldest was little, she thought I could make anything.

12. Beautiful things make me misty. This seems to be getting worse as I get older.

13. I love neatness and order but don't like housekeeping.

14. I hate planning meals and often get into cooking ruts. Most days I don't know what's for dinner until well into the afternoon.

15. I spent over 12 years either pregnant or breastfeeding.

16. When I would bring a new baby home from the hospital, I always had another child still in diapers waiting at home (except, of course, the first baby). I have seven children.

17. I was a beekeeper for several years with my husband, which I loved. This ended in 2007. See #5.

18. I love good smells. My favorites are cinnamon, baking bread, warm honey and vanilla.

19. I love chocolate and nuts together. Love them. Love them. Love them.

20. Ice cream is my weakness. Especially with chocolate and nuts (see #19).

21. I want to be an fiction author. I was an English major at BYU my first year there. Never should have changed my major....

22. In 2007 I sold a (true) story to the Friend Magazine. Still waiting to see it published.

23. I have worked as a secretary, seamstress (alterationist for a dry cleaners), MTC teacher, small business owner and burger flipper. Favorite job was MTC teacher.

24. I love to knit and have an online store where I sell knitted stuff.

25. I dislike being late, loud noises, bad smells, cooked green peppers, lemon merangue pie, getting up early and women being negative about men.

Old Picture

This was how Karen looked in 1977. The bangs are a bit crooked due to home barbering. The glasses were recommended by the nurse at the optometrist office. They were almost stylish back then....

Ever Have One of Those Days?

We've all had them. Those days when nothing seems to go right. Everything you try just seems to blow up in your face. You feel a little fragile. You're at your wit's end. You've just had it. You feel like you're falling to pieces.

Well, hang in there. Things will get better.

Muffy's New Movie

My sister was over on Saturday to help celebrate Ben's 7th birthday. She brought her video camera and got some great footage of Muffy playing a unique version of tug-of-war. Our laminate flooring is very slippery! Check out the YouTube movie in the video section on the right to watch the action.

What Retirement Savings?

Yesterday we got the quarterly report on Paul's 401K retirement savings plan. The money has been invested in the stock market in various recommended mixes. Well, folks, it wasn't good news. We had heavy losses, as I'm sure everyone has. It has so far set us back 4 years of investing. If it continues we simply will have nothing left to retire on.

We are so grateful we still have time left before Paul retires! If we were close to retirement, it would be such a dire picture. I'm sure the retirement age will have to go up. We are also grateful that Paul has a job. So many people don't and my heart and prayers go out to them.

Homemade Bread Bowls

Last night we had a really extra yummy dinner. I decided to try making my own bread bowls to go with the cheesy potato soup I'd planned on making. They turned out marvelously well! They taste so much fresher than the ones you buy in the store--and they're so much cheaper!! The picture shows the roll in a bowl, but you can put it on a plate instead. Some of our kids hollowed the roll out too much and created thin spots and holes that the soup spilled out of, so you want something under the rolls.

I used a recipe from my sister that was for hamburger buns, and I just made fewer and larger buns. I process everything on the dough cycle of my bread machine, but you could do it by hand if you wanted. Here are the recipes:

BREAD BOWLS
Makes 6

1/2 cup milk, warmed
1/2 cup warm water
1 egg
3 1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons rapid rise yeast (or one package)
2 Tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon margarine

Put all ingredients in bread machine on dough cycle. Form into 6 balls. Place on greased cookie sheets. Let rise until double, about 20-30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Cool rolls, then cut the tops off in a wedge shape, with the knife held downward at an angle. Then hollow out, leaving about 1/2 inch thick edges. Pour in hot soup. Scrape the sides of the roll and dip in the hollowed out pieces while you eat your soup. Enjoy!


CHEESY POTATO SOUP

Serves 4
4 potatoes, diced
1 onion, chopped
1 quart water
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup white flour
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon seasoning salt (optional)
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon chives, chopped (optional)

Fry onions in a little oil until translucent. Combine onions, potatoes and water in heavy saucepan. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. In heavy skillet, melt butter or margarine. Add flour; cook and stir until mixture bubbles. Remove from heat; stir in milk. Return to heat and cook and stir until thickened. Stir mixture slowly into potatoes; cook and stir until thick. Add cheese and seasonings. Serve with chopped chives (or parsley).

I'm a Little Teapot

I had an Etsy customer ask if I could make a teapot hat. It sounded like a fun challenge, so I gave it a go. Here is the result:




I think it would look cute in lots of different colors. Ben just had to sing the teapot song while wearing the hat. Can't you just see a pre-school class performing the song while wearing the hats?

Can You Believe This Sunset?

I love having a front-row seat to see beautiful sunsets. It's hard not to take tons of pictures!



Isn't God the greatest artist?

Getting Older

The other day, Ben looked at me and said, "Mom, your hair is turning white. you're getting older." Paul came to my defense and said, "No she's not. It's not turning white." Ben said, "How old are you, Mom?" I said 45.5. He said to Paul, "See? She's getting older!"

Well, I've got news for you buddy,
SO ARE YOU!


Ben at about 7 months


Ben at about 3 years


Ben today, almost 7

Christmas 2008

We got a white Christmas this year! It snowed and snowed. Christmas night there was a blizzard. I'd never seen so much blowing snow! It was a complete white-out. Ben blamed it on Dallin, who prayed for a white Christmas.



Here are our stockings all hung by the chimney with care. Doesn't it look cozy? I love our picturesque fireplace!



On Christmas Eve, the kids acted out the nativity, complete with appropriate hymns. We had to scramble a little for costumes. The chairs are left over from Monday's huge Dupaix family Christmas dinner party. We had 39 guests!



In keeping with the holiday spirit, Baby Cakes and Muffy set aside their differences and signed a truce. Actually, they've gone beyond that and are best friends now!



We love being close to extended family! Grandpa and Grandma came and spent Christmas Eve with us. We had a yummy ham and potato dinner and acted out the first Christmas.


This is what Muffy looks like underneath all the fluff. She's enjoying (not really) her first bath at our house. Is she cute or what?


It's Christmas morning! It's so fun to torture the kids by making them wait on the stairs for pictures before they can open presents! It's a tradition I'm passing along. And, you know they'll do the same with their kids!


Is there a wrong reason to "go green?" I was motivated not so much by environmental responsibility as just not wanting to deal with all the wrapping paper mess. In past years, when our family was smaller, we've over-filled two garbage cans with Christmas paper. In our last house we'd light a fire and burn the paper as we opened gifts. This year we have a gas fireplace, so I sewed up a bunch of fabric bags for our gifts. It is so nice not to have a huge pile of paper and ribbons to throw away. The bags worked great, and best of all, I can use them again not only for Christmas, but for birthdays too!

The World's Cutest puppy Lives Here Now, Too!

I bought Paul a little Shi-tzu puppy for an early Christmas present. She is adorable! We named her Muffy. At first Babycakes the kitten would have nothing to do with her, but now they're best of friends and play together often.

We are working on paper training Muffy, and so far things are going pretty well. She is held almost constantly by the children, which she seems to enjoy quite a lot!

I've been meaning to post these pictures of Trina. Her YW group went to a beauty college and got their hair done. Most of them got up-do's. I think Trina's looks gorgeous!!

The World's Cutest Kitten Lives Here

This is the latest member of our family. Her name is Babycakes. Michelle and her roommates rescued this little kitten when her mother, owned by a roommate's sister, abandoned the entire litter. Babycakes was the runt of the litter and was sickly. The girls nursed her back to health, adminstering antibiotics and milk replacement. Michelle brought her home at Thanksgiving time. We had a local vet check her out. She is in very good health now, although she's a little underweight.





Babycakes has quickly wormed her way into our lives and hearts. She is very playful and fun to watch. She has a thing about shoes. Since she is so small, she can't be an outside cat until next spring, so she occupies the sun porch at night. She has regular play dates with the other two kittens (who look ginormous next to her!) so she will learn normal cat behaviors.



Here she is, with eyes all aglow, in our cozy family room.





This gives you a perspective of how tiny Babycakes is. She is sitting on the futon on the sun porch here.

A Calling For Karen

So, after 2 1/2 months in our new ward, I finally have been extended a calling! In fact, as of last Sunday, I've also been sustained and set apart...as the Mia-maid advisor in our ward.

This is a new venture for me. The only calling I've had in the YW organization is beehive advisor when I was expecting my first baby. I don't remember anything about it, and I wonder if we even had any active beehives in that ward.... So, this is one calling I have no experience in.

I checked the church website to learn more about my calling and discovered that my calling doesn't officially exist! It seems in basic wards, the YW presidency takes care of pretty much everything. I realize that wards have a lot of freedom to adjust the program is needed for their particular situation. I also realize that lots of wards have advisors for the YW classes. I just wish there were a little more info out there about what exactly I'm supposed to do. I have been told that training is forthcoming, and that I can expect to teach the girls every other Sunday. I also have high hopes that I can go to girls' camp! Yay!

The entire YW presidency was changed Sunday. Fortunately, the new president and her 1st and 2nd counselors have had experience in the YW organization. Hey, at least someone knows what they're doing!

For now, I view my position as an accessory to the presidency, particularly the 1st counselor, who is over the Mia-maids. I was also told by the bishop that I was to try to become close to the girls and set a good example for them. My pleasure!

We already had our first activity--a rather last minute outing to the local high school's production of Beauty and the Beast. One of the Laurels from our ward was in it. It was very crowded, a little stressful keeping track of all the girls (we lost one for awhile), but quite enjoyable and very well done.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!