A Few Photos from the Past Week

This week's quote.
Bruce and Savannah strike a pose on Sunday afternoon.

Veronica doing what she does whenever she doesn't have homework--reading a book.

Joe with his friends, Isaac and Dylan, right after the community haircut. I pulled out the clippers, both boys got permission and we cut a lot of hair.

And I do mean a lot of hair. Most of that came from Isaac. Once again, I stink at taking before pictures.

Getting Organized 2010

So my goal for 2010 has been to get some of my black holes cleaned out and organized. I wish I always remembered to take before and after pictures, but I always remember when it's too late. Anyway, so far this year I've done the furnace room, the food storage room, the entertainment center, pictures, files and bookshelves. I've made about four trips to DI and have shredded about ten boxes of old paperwork we've hauled around through move after move after move.

I've been sick, so this smaller job has been my most recent bit of organizing--just the plastic and rag drawers. But it's something!

Twenty-five Years and I Still Miss Him

Bruce Daniel Higginson

1969-1985

Twenty-five years ago today, Bruce died in a car accident. Twenty-five years. It was a day I'll never forget. Little details are burned into my mind.

Since then, a quarter of a century of Christmases, New Years, and Family reunions. Brother-in-laws and sister-in-laws he never met. Thirty-nine nieces and nephews have been born.

So many earthly experiences he had to postpone. So many times I wish he were here.

I wonder what he'd be like. Would he still have hair? Would his freckles have faded? Would he be serious or funny or both?

Who would he have married? What would he have done for a living? How many children would he have had? What would he have named them?

Even now, twenty-five years later, I cry. I miss him. I love him.

I look forward to someday seeing him again.

Field Trip To Camp Floyd

This is Joe with his favorite teacher of all time, Miss Sechrest. Joe's class went to Camp Floyd, out past Cedar Fort. This is where the military was stationed when they were sent by President Buchanan to keep the Mormons from uprising. Since the Mormons weren't actually uprising, there was nothing for them to do except build up the camp, and then be bored, so there was a lot of drinking and fighting that went on out there. It was an enjoyable field trip.
The kids got to learn about military formation and how to hold and fire a gun during drills.


They got to dip candles, do a pony express relay (with stick horses), make adobe bricks and tour the commisary, hotel and school.

Usually when I go on field trips, I'm assigned four for five kids, including my own. On this field trip, I was with another mother (who was standing out of earshot on the phone doing business most of the time) and we were assigned 20 kids. Yes, I said 20.

We ate a sack lunch and had a great time. Joe is a great kid!

INSPIRING!

So thankfully, I was referred to a wonderful message by Elder F. Enzio Busche, that he gave at a BYU devotional several years ago. The message gave a series of quotes that he tries to live by--a philosophy of life that can't help but improve his life and give it more meaning. I was REALLY touched by all of them and decided I want to try to make them more a part of my life and my family's lives. So I spent the morning printing off the quotes on nice paper and then framed them. There is one framed on the table where we enter the house and one in the kitchen. Hopefully this will help us all memorize them and get them engrained in our lives.

Each week I'll switch them out for a new one. Hopefully everyone will feel inspired by them and they'll help us focus on eternal things.

Thanks to those of you who brought this amazing talk to my attention!

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS--AROUND THE HOUSE

So this morning I was working on laundry and was once again reminded of a couple of laundry products I love. That got me thinking of what other household products I use regularly and am thankful for, so I thought I'd share. Maybe you already love them or will want to give them a try. Let me know what you think! SHOUT Color Catcher

When I get behind on laundry, it is easy to come up with a full load of whites or a full load of darks or towels. The trick is when I'm a laundry hero and I don't have a full load of darks or whites. That is where these come in handy. They let me do a combination load that keeps me caught up and doesn't ruin anyone's clothes. FYI--I always do towels/rags separately. They tend to make clothes look worn faster and sometimes shed towel fibers onto clothes that are a nuisance at best, disastrous at worst. I actually ruined a sweater drying it with towels. These are found in the laundry aisle.

BOUNCE Dryer Bar

I've tried Bounce sheets, Downy Balls, and every other dryer sheet I could find, all trying to find something that would help with pesky static cling. For awhile my static cling was so bad that my pajamas would actually spark in the dark. This has been my solution! The dryer bar lasts for a long time (I got the four month bar) and has cut down our static cling to almost nothing.

Just a note: The little tape things on the back to attach it to the dryer didn't work. Since I often dry clothes at night, it was quite irritating to hear the whole bar and base flopping loudly around in my dryer. My solution was was to adhere the base to the dryer with adhesive velcro--one side on the dryer and one side on the base. Haven't had a problem since.

DAWN Direct Foam

I've never had good luck with dishwashers completely cleaning dishes unless I practically wash them first. This stuff is great. A sponge (that can then go through the dishwasher), one squirt of Dawn Direct and the whole load of dishes are cleaned and ready to be sanitized. Easy and it lasts a long time.

EASY-OFF Glass Cooktop Cleaner

My glass cooktop is pretty and high-tech looking, but I actually cook on it--a lot--so I was having problems keeping it looking clean and well, high-tech. This product is great. I spray it on. Let it sit a few minutes and then clean it up. Much better than soft scrub and tedious scrubbing!

SWIFFER Dust & Shine

I purchased this product to clean the leather furniture that we bought from the classifieds. It was desperately in need of a good scrubbing and this said it cleaned and conditioned leather. It worked great for that but then I noticed on the back that it says it works for granite as well. I tried it and I LOVE IT. It makes my granite countertops so shiny and beautiful, they're almost like mirrors.

DIRT DEVIL Hand Vacuum

I have a lot of carpeted stairs in my house--sixteen plus a landing going down and eighteen plus a landing going up. I use this on the stairs and it is so much easier than hauling around a big vacuum. (Even better is sending a 10 year old with the hand vacuum down the sixteen stairs and a twelve year old up the eighteen stairs. It makes for a perfect little chore for the kids.)

EUREKA BOSS Pet Fresh Vacuum

We like our dog (some more than others), but I don't think I could live without this vacuum. When we needed to get a new vacuum, we looked at consumer reports to find out which one handled pet hair the best and the best one in our price range was this (we could have gotten a better one for around $1000.00. Can't do that!) It works great, is easy to dump out the dust and the filter can actually be sprayed off in the sink and dried making it cheap to operate.

So these are a few of my favorite household products. If you have any great suggestions, let me know! Happy cleaning!

BUILDING, BAKING & FLOWERS

So my window looks pretty and springy, even if there is snow on the ground outside.

Joe and some of his friends enjoy birthday cake.

Veronica and Savannah making strawberry freezer jam. They enjoyed an afternoon of baking, making two kinds of muffins, fudge filled squares and freezer jam. It was kinda nice to stay home over spring break. We planted a garden, visited grandparents and cousins, baked, and relaxed.

Joe built a roller coaster and another amusement park ride with his Knex that he got for his birthday. He does a great job of building and really focuses.

Bruce and Travis worked during the spring break. Bruce was happy to get lots of hours in. We're glad he likes his job.

I got really sick the last couple of days of spring break. Travis and I were supposed to speak in church on Sunday and by Friday night I had NO voice. I got a blessing and was able to speak, but went home miserable after sacrament meeting and yesterday found out I have a sinus infection and ear infection--and again, very little voice.

I woke up at 4:00 a.m. unable to swallow or sleep, so I went downstairs, planned May's Webelos, filled out the 2010 census for our family and got pictures ready to blog. I'm really tired.

The kids weren't very excited to go back to school, but thankfully its almost over. We're really looking forward to summer.

Happy Birthday, Dear Joe

Ten years ago today (April 7), at 7:30 a.m., our lives were blessed with a beautiful baby boy. He still blesses our lives.Joe is an amazing kid. He's a great friend to everyone--friendly, inclusive and thoughtful.
He sings ALL. THE. TIME. This can be annoying at times, but most of the time I'm just glad to know he's so happy.

Joe has a great smile and an infectious laugh. When you hear him laugh, its hard not to join in.Joe would rather play than eat, sleep, or go to the bathroom. Sometimes he runs in on a dead sprint because he's waited until the last possible second to go because he's having too much fun to be bothered. We usually have to insist that he sit down and eat something.

Joe is co-ordinated and fast. He loves sports, even though, on occasion, he's a little bit too competitive. (I wonder where he gets that trait.)Joe is loving and affectionate--just what a Mom needs and loves.

Joe is a good kid. There was a time when I constantly heard from his school teachers how social and talkative he was and then on Sunday, I'd hear from his Primary teacher how perfect he was. I asked him why he couldn't be as quiet at school as he was at church and he said, very seriously, "Because church is Heavenly Father's house." You can't argue with that.

Joe is smart. He loves school, he likes to read and he loves learning.

"Joseph, how can we ever say all that we want to about you. We're so glad that you came our way. We would have perished without you." We love you, Joe. Our family wouldn't be the same without you.

Easter, General Conference & My Conference Weekend Project

As happens on occasion, General Conference weekend was also Easter. I figured there would be some amazing talks centered on the Savior and the resurrection and I wasn't disappointed. The testimonies were powerful, the music was beautiful and it was a perfect way to commemorate the most important event in the history of the world. I also loved the messages to mothers and parents.

One thing I love about conference weekend is that I can listen to the talks while accomplishing something. Sometimes it is handiwork, sometimes a scrapping project, sometimes it is just coloring with the kids.

This conference, I decided I was going to tackle one of my organizing projects for the year--twenty years worth of family pictures as well as two missions worth of pictures and an album of wedding cake photos. So from two fruit boxes of loose photos, as well as some old, falling-apart photo albums, I started. I spent about eight hours on Saturday and about seven hours on Sunday. This is my finished project. I now have eleven albums, one photo box of loose photos and one photo box of negatives.

Awesome 80s Dance

So Bruce and Veronica had an Awesome 80s dance at the high school. They both had a great time. Veronica and her friends went all out. Too bad I didn't keep some of my 80s clothes for her. I had the dubious distinction of being the mom that all the girls wanted to do their hair. Should I be bothered or flattered by that?

Savannah wins a N.O.V.A. Award

N.O.V.A. - Nurturing Opportunities, Values, & Accountability

The American Fork Police Department has been visiting the sixth grade for a good part of the year. They do team-building activities, teach life lessons, and have a lot of fun. One of the main assignments the kids had was to write their own personal constitution. At the graduation ceremony yesterday, a student from each class was recognized for their outstanding constitution. Savannah won the award for her class. Great job, Savannah!

MY N.O.V.A. CONSTITUTION

Savannah White

One of the standards I want for myself is to always try my hardest in everything I do. I know I can do hard things if I try my hardest. I want to work hard in school so I can go to the college of my choice. I want to always stand up for myself, my family, and my religion.
One of the things I value is my family, especially my older sister because she’s a great example to me in every way.
Opportunities I want to take that will lead me to the path of excellence is to learn as much as I can. I will work hard to develop my talents.
Things I want to avoid are drugs and anything near drugs. I will stay away from the dangers of the media and away from people that aren’t doing the right thing.

St. George Weekend

We enjoyed a little weekend trip to St. George last month. It was quick, but enjoyable. We went to a Colbie Callait concert with Grandma and Grandpa Rindlisbacher, hiked a nice trail, went out to dinner and had a great time.

Veronica's friend Bryce joined us. Bruce was on the trip as well, although he didn't join us for the hike. He was seeing the barber.