Happy Birthday, MOM

I'm taking a page from Mandy, I love it when I read her last few years on Mom's birthday. This is for you, Mom. . .

73 Things Mom Taught Me
1. It’s easy to smile, they’re contagious, and it makes everyone around you happy.
2. Be positive, don’t dwell on the bad things that happen in your life. Deal with them, but keep your attitude positive.
3. Learn to love everyone, accept them for who they are, don’t try to change them, you can do it.
4. Keep a prayer in your heart, always.
5. Do the best you can and don’t compare yourself with others because you’ll come out behind.
6. Pie crusts can be patched and still taste wonderful.
7. Let your kids play in the mud, water, & sand. It’s good for them and a little dirt never hurt anyone.
8. Housework will always wait, but kids and family can’t.
9. Sing while you cook and clean.
10. A kiss and a band-aid make everything feel better.
11. In the end, family is all that matters, it’s all you really have.
12. Learn to laugh, it makes life more fun.
13. Mothers and Daughters can be best friends.
14. You don’t have to be wealthy to feed a crowd. The best meals are simple.
15. Love your spouse, even when you don’t agree with them.
16. People are much more important than things.
17. It’s better to hold your tongue and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
18. Step out of your comfort zone once in a while, it’s good to do something new.
19. Always keep an open mind, you can change your opinion if you learn different facts.
20. Sisters are the best, most available, loving, and forgiving friends you can ever have.
21. It’s never too late to learn to play cards.
22. When your husband asks if you want to go somewhere with him, drop what you’re doing and go with him.
23. Picnics can be spontaneous.
24. Grandchildren are a piece of heaven on earth.
25. Take meals to your neighbors often.
26. Brothers are the best, most available, loving, and forgiving friends you can ever have.
27. You can hurt or be in pain somewhere else as easily as you can hurt at home.
28. You’ll get through your trials, it will always get better.
29. A baby’s first bath at home is best if given by Grandma.
30. Make your home as inviting as possible. It doesn’t matter if you live in a mansion or a log cabin.
31. Learn something about your ancestors, what traits you have that they passed on to you.
32. Love and accept your children’s spouses.
33. Good friends are invaluable. Keep up with their lives.
34. Sleep when the baby sleeps, no matter what time of day it is.
35. Learn to can fruit, vegetables, and meat, and do it each year. The bottles are so nice to look at when you’re finished, they fill a fruit room and feed a family.
36. Sewing can be a therapy, it can be fulfilling. Making clothing for your family is a valuable skill.
37. Lefties can teach Righties to tie shoes, crochet, and knit better than Righties can.
38. Dress up in costume on Halloween once in a while, just to surprise your family.
39. Mom didn’t tell me how to live, she showed me.
40. Talk to people you haven’t seen for years when you see them, no matter where you are.
41. Let the neighbor kids play at your house, you’ll know what they’re up to.
42. Compromise to keep the peace. Swedish or Norwegian pancakes can become Scandanavian.
43. Sometimes it’s important to go to Parent-Teacher Conferences just so you can tell the teachers how great your child is.
44. You can turn a visit from the kids into a party in a few minutes, a few phone calls and they’ll all show up.
45. Learn to cook for a crowd, it builds character and gives you more confidence.
46. Make and keep traditions with your family.
47. You don’t have to worry about how much milk spills if you use a quilted tablecloth.
48. Dance with your partner every chance you get.
49. Plant and weed the garden as a family, do the irrigating, harvesting & canning together as much as possible.
50. You can always share what you have.
51. Sometimes you have to find an excuse to get together.
52. Encourage your kids to take band, choir, or orchestra, even for a little while. Find money to rent the instrument from somewhere.
53. You still are intelligent even if you can’t help your 6th grader with math.
54. Home-baked bread is the best comfort food. You just have to knead it for 3-5 songs on the radio. There’s always a loaf to share with a neighbor.
55. Some of the best family times are spent around the kitchen table.
56. Your children will always be your babies, and you will always be willing to help them, no matter how old they are.
57. Your family is never too old to read to. Libraries are exciting places to visit. Every child needs his own library card.
58. We’re on this earth for such a short time of our existence, what’s all the fuss about?
59. A wise wife will never spend all the grocery money, but save a part, even a little, for emergency use.
60. The ability to cry is a gift.
61. Nothing is wrong with using a bread maker.
62. Learn to love home-making tasks; cooking, washing dishes, cleaning and doing laundry, it makes your life more pleasant.
63. Don’t ever learn to use the snow blower because then it will become your responsibility.
64. Young children enjoy loading the dishwasher if you challenge them to do it in 2 songs on the radio, or make it a contest.
65. Let your children make play-dough and tempera paints. Butcher paper is an inexpensive canvas.
66. A wrong turn on the road isn’t necessarily a mistake, it can become an adventure.
67. You don’t always have to tie quilts inside. Under the shade of a tree is sometimes the best place to be when you’re tying with your family.
68. It’s important to write things down about your life and what you know. You won’t always be around to say it out loud.
69. Kind, quiet service makes you feel great & it improves your own life.
70. Showing people your goodness is a lot better than telling people about how good you are. It’s also a lot more believable.
71. Wear a coat if it’s cold.
72. Toss wrinkles clothes in the dryer with a damp towel for 10 minutes. It saves hours of ironing.
73. A crock-pot makes a mediocre cut of meat very moist, tender, and taste wonderful.

Fun Scarves

I saw a great idea for recycling T-shirts...make scarves! Megan and I got creative with the cloth, scissors, and started cutting, stretching, and tying. What a neat idea, so easy, not much time or effort.

I looked out the window and what did I see?

It was great to see the kids outside playing four-square. It reminded me of a few years ago when each stall in the parking lot was full of kids and Aunt Mandy taught them how to play Democracy Ball. That way everyone got to serve and they all rotated squares.

Girl's Superbowl Party 2011

Oh yeah, we can follow the Superbowl game! As it turned out, Uncle John went with Brent to do a burial in California, they left this morning. They're on the road as the game started. Aunt Mandy came over to party. Ryan and Drew both had other plans. . . So the girls got started making pizzas, Chicken Spinach Alfredo, Canadian Bacon Pineapple, and Pepperoni Ham Alfredo. No Meat Lovers for us, no way.
Mandy prepped us on what to pay attention to, the coin toss, which team starts first, how many Star Spangled Banners are performed, keeping track of the score, TDs, even which quarter we were in and how much time was left. You see, she had a job to do, and do it, she did!
Brent broke his foot on Friday night, so John did most of the driving. He can't drive and text at the same time, well, not safely anyway. So while Mandy and I were blogging, Mandy would text Brent, he would relay the message, and text back. Mandy is such a talented woman, she was also keeping Nash in the loop of the game while giving me tutorials about blogging.
Megan and Lena followed the game, commercials, and kept Bella entertained. Overall, it was a fun, entertaining time.

~Family fun night~

October 2010, the Israelsen Family Fun night was a great time. We had dinner and made ornamental pumpkins from 2x4's, tole paints, leaves, glue, and fun. Everyone had fun, good company.

DC Sept 15, 2010

Our third day of the trip, starting to get tired, got blisters on my feet, Brent is tired. We're 10 years older than the next oldest people, and 25 years older than the rest of them! Wow, what a trip, we're having fun though and learning a lot.

DC Sept 14, 2010

Today started early. We left at 7:00 to be to the Willard Hotel to meet Rob Bishop for a tour of the White House. We had to have security clearance prior to getting tickets. Bishop gave us trivia and information about all the places on the way to the White House, very interesting. We got a guided tour, couldn't sit down or move around on our own.
Then we went to the Ford Theater where President Lincoln was shot and read all about that, even saw the box where he sat when he was shot. That was informative.
We were all dragging by then and had a full schedule in the afternoon. We found a Potbelly Sandwiches place, ate lunch and felt much better.
Next was the Pentagon to visit Bret Lambert, an assist secretary of Defense Department. He talked a lot, we asked him questions that he sometimes answered, sometimes skirted around. Brent asked him about a paper that he'd written and he was "surprised" that we got it because it wasn't public. Brent didn't back down though, and he finally sort of addressed Brent's question.
We then met with people from Bob Bennet's office about other issues, they really listened. During this meeting, the senate was voting on the issues we were talking about. I kind of felt hopeful after this meeting.
Funny how one meeting gives you hope, the next one you can feel like there's nothing you can do to change anything. It wears me out. No wonder I don't like politics.
We went into the Supreme Court Building for a tour, beautiful statues, all marble walls and floors. Washington DC is very elegant, the buildings are ornate and symbollic.
Elliot came here for a choir tour during his Junior year. We're seeing some of the places that he came home and told us about. He really pays attention, I remembered a lot of things he said about different places.
We met with Senator Orin Hatch about ATK. Funny, when he asked us if we had questions, he'd stop us after 3-4 words then give his own answer without really listening to what we STARTED to ask and go on to his political agenda. His office prepared binders for us about what he'd accomplished and insisted that we all took one for ourselves, even though two of us were spouses and didn't need them.
We tried to get in for a tour of a building, and after they'd passed all of us through security, they told us that the building was now closed. Brent has metal in the soles of his shoes, so he has to take them off every time he goes through a metal detector site. He is getting tired of it... The rest of us just laugh though.
After dinner we met Rob Bishop for a tour of the Capitol. He was a great tour guide, knows a lot of information, explained a lot of rooms and decor, symbolisms and history. It was fascinating to go to where the senate had just been on C-span TV, where the congressmen meet, the House and the Senate rooms, and different areas. All marble, gold-leafing, and elegant sites. We got to stand on the center of the center of Washington DC, saw beautiful statues, took the underground sidewalks to the buildings, and toured until 10:45pm. We were beat when we got home. What an exciting and wonderful day we've had together. I'm so glad I get to share it with my sweetheart.