An Easter Declaration

I Super-Glued My Fingers Today or There Isn't Any Tape Left in the House

On the day of my last post, I remember looking at the calendar and all we had packed into it and thinking, "Wow. This month is going to blow by." And then I blinked and here we are, 3 weeks later. To me, the month is over, even though we have a whole week left. My kids are on Spring Break this coming week and it seems like time off like that always gets past us with very little accomplished. The last break we had was filled with pajama-clad, shower-less days. I hope this one doesn't go quite that way. I also worry about so much time off, because by the end I'm just a referee, breaking up scuffles and trying to remind my boys that they have manners. In addition to that, we have a little one who joined our family last summer, and Saturdays never seem to allow for her nap. She loves her big brothers and insists on being a part of all the goings on. Spring Break means an entire week of Saturdays, and I'm not looking forward to a cranky baby who simply cannot take a nap when the kids don't go to school.

There is a glimmer of hope, however. Part of the morning, I had the boys help me sort through their dressers today. Anything too small was pulled, and they got rid of anything they didn't wear, either. Some clothes were reintroduced ("Oh, yeah! I remember that!") and all were folded neatly and returned to the drawers that now close with out shoving and finagling. They were willing participants, which got me to thinking, maybe they can help me spruce up the house a little each day. I think I'll call it "Spring Break Cleaning."

I know, you are dying to know, "What about the super-glue?" That's where this comes in. When we moved to this house several years ago, one of the drawers in my oldest's dresser got broken. The clip that connects to the drawer slide got ripped out by someone who didn't know how to get the drawers out the right way. We fixed it up for him and it seemed to work just fine. About a month ago, however, the clip came off again, making the drawer fall out every time he opens it. So, while we were cleaning out the dresser, I decided that it was time to try and fix the drawer again. A few poorly placed nails and some super-glue, and we are all set. The clip is holding and so is the drawer. But my fingers managed to get a nice coating of super-glue on the tips in the process. I did NOT glue them together, although that does happen most times I use super-glue. But somehow, the tips of three fingers ended up with the sticky stuff. It is a strange and annoying feeling, having glue coating my fingers. It is not the same as when they've been glued together and I pry them apart. Some of it flaked off during my shower later, but it's still there, still annoying.

The other reason I think that Spring Break may not be quite as bad as I thought? There hasn't been one squabble yet. My younger son figured out how to fold paper and put the printed sides (my kids' drawing paper is used on one side) face to face and then tape them, making a book with clean paper on all visible sides. So the two of them have spent all day (minus chore time) making their own comic books. They are frequently drawing comics and making books, but this style is new. They wrote and drew all day, helping each other with ideas, spelling, and drawing. And now the tape is all gone. They have since found a giant glue stick, and they are using that for their upcoming comic books. It's been a pretty good day.

In other news, we tried out a few Cheerios on our little one, and it cracks me up the faces she makes. She prefers is at the front of her mouth and she chews it with her front gums and one tooth. If the Cheerio manages to make it to the middle of her tongue, she doesn't know how to handle it, and sits there drooling with her mouth open and tongue hanging out. It may still be a little early yet for Cheerios, but she enjoyed herself.

Oh, the Places You'll Stand

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

You're on your own. And you know what you know.

And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go."

--Oh, the Places You'll Go!, By Dr. Seuss

Every year in our LDS youth group for girls ages 12-17, Young Women, we put together an evening we call New Beginnings. This is a chance for the 12 year old girls (and their parents) who will be joining us to see what we are all about. It's a celebration and an evening of fun. This year, the Church-wide theme for all youth is
Stand Ye in Holy Places and Be Not Moved.

We like to take the theme and work it into the New Beginnings. Our secretary was doing some online research, trying to find some ideas for our night. She happened to stumble upon a website (hatchpatch.com) that detailed one woman's ideas for New Beginnings in her ward. She was doing a Dr. Seuss theme, which she called "Oh, the Places You'll Stand!" With only a month to plan, create, and execute our New Beginnings, we discussed the idea and decided that we would love to take this idea and make it work for us, too. We selected guest speakers, located the books, put out invitations, and rounded up the girls to help us create some awesome decorations.

In the Young Women program, there are 8 Values that the girls learn about and apply in their own lives. For New Beginnings, a book written by Dr. Seuss was selected for each Value, and a specific quote that related to that Value was pulled from each book. Our Presidency and a few invited guests dressed in Seuss-inspired attire and presented the Values.

Faith Horton Hears a Who
"Don't give up. I believe in  you all.
A person's a person, no matter how small."

Divine Nature The Sneetches

"That day, they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches.

And no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches.

That day, all the Sneetches forgot about stars and whether

They had one, or not, upon thars."

Individual Worth
I Wish that I had Duck Feet
"AND SO...I think there are some things I do not wish to be.
And that is why I think that I just wish to be like ME."

Knowledge I can Read with My Eyes Shut

"The more that you read, the more things you will know.

The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."

Choice and Accountability Yertle the Turtle
"That plain little turtle below in the stack,
That plain little turtle whose name was just Mack,
Decided he'd taken enough. And he had.
And that plain little lad got a little bit mad
And that plain little Mack did a plain little thing.
He burped!
And his burp shook the throne of the king!"

Good Works The Lorax

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,

Nothing is going to get better. It's not."

Integrity Horton Hatches the Egg
"I meant what I said and I said what I meant.
An elephant's faithful - one hundred percent."

 

Virtue I had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew

"I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind.

Some come from ahead and some come from behind.

But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready, you see.

Now my troubles are going to have trouble with me!"

Our President finished up the night by presenting this poem. (written by another Jill, not me)

We gave the girls a copy of the poem with a magnet on the back so they can hang it in their lockers. At the conclusion of our evening, everyone was delighted to eat Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes (they took me all day to make!) and Beezlenut Splash to drink (two flavors of cubed jell-o in 7-Up). Everyone had a great evening, and it was a neat way to start off another year. It was a fun idea, and we were thrilled to find it.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! And thank you for the lessons you left behind.