Yum

What did you do on January 21st?

It was such a beautiful day here in Texas.  We have had a mild, mild winter (which I think is great, considering the summer we went through).  So, on a whim, here's what we did--

Foil dinners with roasted apples for dessert!

 Emma thought it was a bit hot still, but the dinners of sausage, potatoes, carrots, onions, and bell peppers were so yummy!

 Caytie and I definitely approved.  (Can't see too much of my growing tummy, but my pregnancy is showing in my face...)

 Tessa's grin sums it up--and that was before the apples filled with buttery, sugary goodness!

If it wasn't a school night, we would have pitched the tent, too, for a sleep in the backyard, though a bit of a chill came as the sun went down.  We're enjoying this beautiful weather!

End of December pictures

 Happy birthday to me...a couple days late, since someone had to go and get appendicitis...  Anyway, the flowers from my sweet friend and the ice cream pie I made were still fresh enough for the late celebration.

Here are some Christmas morning pictures.  (They got new jammies and robes this year.)  The plan was to just look through the stockings before getting ready to leave at 8:30 for church, but they all got up early enough (hooray) to open all the gifts, too.

 We had made and decorated gingerbread cookies on Saturday, in order to have some for Santa that night.  For previous years, we've taken a treat to the local fire station and police station during the week before Christmas, but a lot of things got put off this year (since someone had to go and get appendicitis...  [Despite these comments, I really am not upset about it; his timing was actually pretty perfect, if you have to go and get appendicitis.]).  But since we had the cookies finally made, and all the presents open already, we packed up a couple gift boxes of the cookies and took them over to the fire station right after church.  It was so great!  The firemen were so appreciative.  We meant to just quickly drop them off and leave, but they invited us back for a tour of the station, and let the kids climb on the truck and get stickers and all sorts of fun things.  We were there for about an hour.  We then tried to take some to the police station, but the office was closed, and we didn't want to go knocking on back doors where we didn't belong, so...we ate those ones.

Later in the week, since the weather was so beautiful, I took the kids to the Dallas Zoo.  This was the view while we ate lunch:

 These goats (below) are fairly new.  They named them after cities in Texas, and the spotted one (which you can barely see, since it moved as I took the picture) is the one named after our town.  Caytie looks wary, since she had just seen what happens after goats eat a lot of food.  We thought some were pregnant, but the goat girl told us that they are just fat from eating too much.

 A peaceful moment, after I made them stop throwing dirt into the tank:

 I was pleased that we had a good day at the zoo, even without everyone's favorite guy along.  We really missed Ben, but the kids really stepped up for me, and my 23-week pregnant body.  (We had a much needed talk about quickly obeying and buddies before we even left the car.)

Speaking of buddies, these two had a lot of fun in the costume box one afternoon.  I love the angry eyebrows.  Can you tell that Tessa is smiling under there?

Anyone want to come play with us?

Arise and Shine Forth

A first for me for the new year--

source

I get to work with the Young Women at church!  (Specifically, I am the Beehive adviser, with 10 girls in the class, so far.)  This is the first time that I've had a calling with the Young Women since I was one myself, and now that I'm a week into it, I am really, really excited about it.  These girls are great.  And they will be good practice for when my own girls are 12 and 13...  

I know already that I need to improve on my personal technology, since we send text updates about activities and a third of the girls look up scriptures on their phones instead of books, and I have really kept myself behind on upgrading my phone to participate in these kinds of things.  Ben will be happy; he keeps talking about different phones or plans I can get.  I think what I really need to do is just keep my phone out of my purse, and keep it charged, and actually give people my number (and maybe learn it myself!).  Maybe.  I'm still thinking about it.

The title of the post is the theme for all youth worldwide this year.  It seems silly to admit, but I kind of wondered if I haven't had a calling with the youth yet because I wasn't really..."cool" enough (and they probably don't even say that anymore).  I got some great advice from our wonderful Young Women's President, who reminded me that I was called to be the teacher as I am, and to "arise and shine forth" as I am.  My Beehives and I will be working on it together.

Opinion?

I don't often ask for comments, because I don't comment often on others' blogs, but...

What is your opinion about letting your child quit something that you know will be of value to them?

Specifically, one of my daughters has been taking piano lessons for a year and a half.  It is slow progress, and it is very difficult to get her to practice daily.  Her brother and sister have an easier time overall, and though they resist, they enjoy it once they learn a piece.  This daughter does not enjoy it, and never sits down "just to play."

I know that learning music is helping her brain development and her concentration, and it will be of great worth to her in the future...but I think that right now, both of us are at the end of our patience, and for the sake of keeping the household and our relationship on good terms, we may be done.

Anyone have any experience, or advice?