Setting Alarms in My Sleep

Our back-to-school schedule has started, which means that we're all a little sleepier than we've been in a while.   It seems like every time I sit down for more than 10 minutes, my head starts bobbing.    So usually I just try to avoid sitting that much.  That tactic hasn't been working that well lately though, since the last couple of weeks I've been plugging away at this 1000 page tome (Truman) for book group.   

It's been a real struggle for me.    By me employing a myriad of anti-sleep techniques, that included reading and walking at the same time, frequent jumping jack breaks, eating constantly, and sitting on an exercise ball, I did make it to page 729.    That meant that at least I could participate reasonably intelligently at book group last night. 

I sat down to finish the book today, but immediately started nodding off.   Since I wasn't quite as motivated to stay awake anymore now that book group was over, I decided that I would just allow myself to nap for 20 minutes, then I'd get back to it.    

So I decided to set an alarm on my phone, to make sure I didn't accidentally sleep too long.    Instead I fell asleep with my thumb on the "add alarm" button.  

 I awoke to a text message 3 minutes later and found that I'd set 15 separate alarms  during my short little nap.     

I guess I'm sure as heck going to  be wide awake at 3:02pm tomorrow.  

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Wizard of Oz

It's been a dream of Ellie's and Emma's to get involved in theater.   They participated with the Savior of the World production back in the spring, but since then they've been itching to do something else.  We've looked into community theaters, but haven't found one that was a good fit yet.   So, when friends of ours decided that they were going to do their own theater camp this summer, we were all over it.   Basically it was a week of super intense (6+ hours a day) of practices and two performances at the end of the week.    Ellie and Emma were thrilled to be able to participate and I was thrilled that the instruction quality was high and the time commitment very manageable!   

They performed Wizard of Oz.   Emma was Auntie Em and had a few lines and a solo.   Ellie played several small roles (a munchkin, an apple tree, an Ozzian, an optimistic voice).  It was a great experience for both of them and whetted their appetite for more.   I am very much not a performer whatsoever, so it was an eye opening experience for me to watch and I am grateful to have such talented friends and acquaintances that can help my children to have these kinds of experiences.   The quality of the performance was actually quite high and it was so fun to watch them get out of their comfort zones and SHINE!     

Keeping Up

Random update in pictures:

I have no idea how to blog creatively anymore.  It takes a lot more out of my brain and heart than I expected to keep a missionary feeling connected.   I feel like all the energy I used to put into putting together a blogpost, now goes to sending letters and packages to Cami.   Not that I was actually blogging creatively before Cami left on her mission either, but now all hopes of it seem dashed.  

While she's in the MTC I've been writing "DearElders" to Cami just about every day, writing a real snail mail letter at least once a week,  and trying to get her a package per week.    Her companion gets packages nearly every day, which I totally can't keep up with, so I figure I can at least keep her mailbox full of letters.    Of course, all this will come to a screeching halt when she takes off for France on September 12.    The "DearElders" will be no more and the packages will definitely stop, except for special occasions, since international shipping rates are so high.    That's why I figure I should give it my full effort now, while I can.  After that we'll be left with emails, which she can only check once a week, and snail mail letters which will cost 2.5 times the amount to send.  

Well, so here's a random update on our lives in pictures.   Totally not interesting or exciting, but it's a glimpse of our lives right now.   Emma also leaves for England on Monday and school starts on Tuesday, so life is about to change once again!  

Monday night peach fest.
2 batches of peach jam + 1 batch of dehydrated peaches + 1 bag of frozen peach slices.

Random sunset on the way home one night (taken out the window of the moving car)

Face timing with Jack, Lincoln, and Ben!   

Saying goodbye to the Elders.  I brought them the same little packages I made for Cami's MTC district.

Ellie made strawberry lemonade from scratch (even squeezing the lemons)!

Emma had a little friend come over, so they could bake a healthy treat together.   Healthy meaning no grains and no sugar. 

Ellie and a friend make cupcakes together

A chicken and berry salad Emma made for dinner.
It was absolutely delicious!

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Letter to Cam #5

Dear Soeur G.,

Well, it's raining buckets and buckets here and it looks like we are going to end up being brushed by the edges of a hurricane this weekend.   Hurricane Hermine (NOT Hermione) is a category 1 hurricane and is supposed to hit land at Florida soon (probably already has by the time you've received this).   They were worried that DC would take more of a direct hit from the remnants, but the most recent forecasts predict that it will go further out to sea.  Basically they say it's just likely to be a bit of a blustery rainy weekend, which is a bummer for the last weekend before school starts, but thankfully it's unlikely to be anything too big here.  

I took the kids school clothes shopping today and ADAM PICKED OUT STYLISH CLOTHES!!!!!! He didn't buy any gym shorts or t-shirts whatsoever and actually picked out button down shirts and some nice Levi slacks.   I was very surprised and impressed.   It cost a lot more to outfit him than when he solely wears shorts and t-shirts, but, hey, he looks good and it makes me smile that he actually is starting to care.    :)

I have no idea how closely you read my Dear Elders, but I was wondering a few things:

1.  How did the meet-up with Ash, Caroline, MK, Karly, and Janessa go?   Ashley mentioned that she started crying immediately when she saw you.  Were you okay?   Was it a happy meeting?  

2.    So, how was the bread and jam?   Was it totally dried out?    Did you like the pectin free peach jam?   I think it turned out more like an apple butter texture, but I loved the flavor.  I think I will probably go pectin free from now on for flavor purposes!    

3.   Please send us your travel plans as soon as you receive them.   We're excited to hear about the details! 

4.   I want to hear more about your sister trainer responsibilities.   How is that going?  Is it a lot of extra work?   Or just a fresh change of scenery?         

 FYI...... I am sending the phone to you today, which means you should receive it early next week.   I will have it charged and all set up and programmed with our phone number.    I will also send directions on how to use it.   It should be easy peasy and we will look forward talking with you while you're the airport!

Well, WE LOVE YOU and can't wait to hear from you!

Have a wonderful P-day!
Love,
Mom

Random pictures:  

I saved $7 in postage by putting the smaller box inside the Priority Mail box when I sent your bread.   It kind of cracked me up.

A yummy fruit salad that Emma made for breakfast one morning.  The mangoes, in particular,  are SOOOOOOOOOO  GOOD right now.

My slow progress reading, "Truman" for next week's book group.   I'm on page 205 out of 992 pages.

Take a closer look at the picture of Logan and Adam and you'll see this cicada shell on his shirt!  

quiz answers

All of the following are TRUE, except.....?  


1.  Glen, Emma, and I all gave talks in sacrament meeting this past Sunday.
TRUE!   Glen's was on the blessings of the temple, Emma's was on journal writing, and mine was on the blessings of family history.   

 2.  Ellie was also asked to give a talk in primary.
TRUE!   I did request hers to be postponed for another week though.   Three talks at once was definitely enough for us.

3.  I pretended to catch a Pikachu (pokemon) in the middle of my talk.
TRUE!   I did it as an attention getter and definitely took people off guard with it.  I also quoted Siri.    I think a few people probably think I'm weird now, but on the bright side,  every 10-year-old boy in the room was paying very close attention to my talk and I did get this email, so there's that too.  

4.  I've lost about 10-lbs in the last couple of months by cutting down on foods with high fat (cheese, butter, nuts, red meats, etc)
TRUE!   I've been having issues digesting fat lately, so I've cut it way down and have lost weight in the process.  I think it's going to end up being a long-term dietary change for me.  

5.  I sit glued to the computer every Friday afternoon waiting for Cami's P-day emails to come through. 
TRUE!   I'm rather obsessed.

6.  A bunch of girls from our ward/stake accidentally ran into Cami at the Provo temple yesterday.
TRUE!  Apparently they were trying to meet another missionary from the stake and happen to run into Cami too.   I haven't heard Cami's reaction yet (since it's not her P-day), but I imagine she was excited to see them.  

7.  Emma leaves for her study abroad in England in ONE WEEK!!!!
TRUE!   I can't believe that we'll be down TWO kids for the semester.   It's going to be lonely around here.   She is so excited though! 

8.   Emma and Ellie were both performers in a tri-ward production of "Wizard of Oz"
TRUE!  Stay tuned for an entire blogpost  dedicated to it soon.

9.   Back to homeschool routine starts next week!  
TRUE! And I can't decide if I excited or dreading it.

10.  I now hate blogging.  Can't stand it.
FALSE!   It's been almost 10-years since I started and I still can't shake it.   

Everyone wins.  You're awesome! 

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True or False Quiz

All of the following are TRUE, except.....?  


1.  Glen, Emma, and I all gave talks in sacrament meeting this past Sunday.


 2.  Ellie was also asked to give a talk in primary.


3.  I pretended to catch a Pikachu (pokemon) in the middle of my talk.


4.  I've lost about 10-lbs in the last couple of months by cutting down on foods with high fat (cheese, butter, nuts, red meats, etc)


5.  I sit glued to the computer every Friday afternoon waiting for Cami's P-day emails to come through. 


6.  A bunch of girls from our ward/stake accidentally ran into Cami at the Provo temple yesterday.


7.  Emma leaves for her study abroad in England in ONE WEEK!!!!


8.   Emma and Ellie were both performers in a tri-ward production of "Wizard of Oz"


9.   Back to homeschool routine starts next week!  


10.  I now hate blogging.  Can't stand it.


Comment with your guess and stay tuned for the correct answers, pictures, and fun details to be posted soon!  

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Family Pictures 2016

Back when the kids were younger, it wasn't too hard to get pictures of the whole family together.   If nothing else, we'd stop strangers and ask them to take photos of us on vacation.    Once kids started leaving the house though,  it's gotten harder and harder to get everyone together, for informal snapshots or professional photos.   The last professional ones we'd done were from 2012, when Spencer was still bald from his cancer treatments.   With Cami leaving on her mission, I really really really wanted  to capitalize on the brief window with everyone home and get new ones taken.   

Luckily the photographer we wanted was able to get us in.   She was fantastic and made us feel so at ease!   

I am not very good with fashion and colors, so I spent way too much time, effort, and money (all the while still trying to finish up Cami's mission shopping) trying to put together the perfect matching outfits.     Too bad that we picked the hottest day of the year to get them taken.  It was 100º+ and humid, humid, humid that day.   The photographer had to bring rags for us to wipe the seat droplets off our faces between shots.       In the end, though, I was very happy with how they came together.  

Here are a few of my favorites:   

Letter to Cam

For today's blogpost, I've decided to just include excerpts from my letter to Cami:

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Dear Soeur G.,
Happy P-day!    So, first thing's first.   I am actually in town this Friday, which means that I can be much more responsive today than I've been the last two P-days.   It's my intention to keep the afternoon pretty open, so that if you need my response to anything, hopefully I can be on it pretty quickly.  

Second, why on earth is your cell phone not set to go automatically to "do not disturb" at night?    As you can imagine, almost nothing is happening with your cell phone currently.   It's used for Ellie's daily snapchats, taking pictures once in a while, and the occasional pokemon adventure (for Ellie), but generally it stays put away in the top of my closet the vast majority of the time.   So, imagine my surprise when last night your phone starts ringing in the middle of the night!  Dad and I have had our phones set to automatic do not disturb for quite a while now, so we're used to never even hearing a mail ping, yet alone a full blown ring.    It took quite a while to get to it at the top of the closet and of course we missed it (and we assume it was a wrong number anyway), but, man, it sure was hard to sleep again after that jolt of adrenaline.    It is now set to "do not disturb" and will stay that way for at least 18 months!

Random DC number that called on YOUR cell phone in the middle of the night.

It's your third p-day today, which means that you're almost half-way done with the MTC now!

The tomatoes are growing like crazy in our garden and we have been thoroughly enjoying them in all their fresh deliciousness.  I know I already told you this, but I'm totally obsessing about the panzanella I'm going to make for the missionaries for tomorrow night's dinner!    Hopefully there will be lots of great families in France that will feed you freshly grown produce straight from their gardens!    Or at least that there'll be lots of little markets where you can buy fresh produce and eat simple, healthful meals....like panzanella.  :)

Perfectly imperfect tomatoes from our garden.

Today we picked up a bushel of fresh peaches that we ordered straight from an orchard.  I was quite excited to dive into dehydrating and jam making tonight, but, alas, not a single one of them is ripe yet.   I am hoping that they don't all ripen this weekend, which will make it harder to give them the attention they need before they go bad...which happens far too quickly with peaches.

The bushel of peaches we ordered came in this cute basket.   Too bad none of them are ripe!

Random tidbit:  I was going through a box in the basement and came across my journal from my freshman year at BYU.   Some of it is pretty mortifying, but ask me nicely sometime in the future and I might let you read bits of it.  :)

My visiting teachers came over today and shared a message about strengthening families.  It's interesting that this has been the topic du jour lately, as it's the theme of our youth lessons for the month, as well as our sacrament meetings.    

“The home is to be God’s laboratory of love and service,” said President Russell M. Nelson, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Our discussion really focused on the word, "laboratory" and how apt that seems for us as parents.    We're constantly trying to figure out what "chemical reactions" work and don't work with each kid and it's an ongoing process of experimenting---with every day things, like discipline and how to interact with each child, but also spiritual experimenting and learning how each child feels the spirit in their lives.     Anyways, it made me think of how imperfect we've been as parents and how impressive it is that you (and your siblings) are where you are, in spite of us!   How grateful I am for the atonement and forgiveness and for a lot of "lab notes" along the way--in the scriptures, from our leaders, from other people who've been down our path before, etc.  

And it made me think about how you're embarking onto a journey into a giant French speaking laboratory soon.    A place where you'll have the opportunity to experiment on His word and learn to do His work in your own way.   In a  way that only you can do.  

We love you and are so proud of you.   Have a wonderful week!  

Love,
Mom


PS  Here are a few other random pictures:

This is a lovely flower we found while out on one of our evening walks.

 

This is what Emma will wear in next week's production of the "Wizard of Oz".  
She is Auntie Em.  

This life-size poster at the library almost gave me a heart attack when I saw it out of the corner of my eye and for half-second thought that a group of people were glaring at me.    Ellie, of course, loved it!  

The Baptism

The main reason for our weekend in Philadelphia (besides seeing the temple open house) was to be a part of my nephew's baptism.    

It was so fun to have so much family in town for the occasion!

Including 10/14 of the Crain cousins.   

I also very much loved the Baby Ben snuggles I got to enjoy. 

Glen couldn't get the time off of work, so he just joined us for the day.   

I loved being able to spend time with my parents.... 

and token British brother, Matt. 

I also enjoyed the opportunity to photobomb my brother, Pete, who was reluctant to have his picture taken.  

Ever since our trip to Europe, in which we each packed all of our belongings into a backpack only, I've been kind of obsessed with packing light.   I loved the freedom of not having a ton of stuff to tote around on our adventures.    I may have taken it a bit too far this time though, as I totally forgot to pack dental floss, mouthwash, toothpaste, hairbrush,  pajamas, and I was short one outfit.  In other words, I slept in my clothes (that I had to double up on wearing anyway), never brushed my hair, and had to brush my teeth with Emma's organic toothpaste.    I did end up going to a store for some dental hygiene stuff, especially since Adam also forgot his toothbrush, which with him having braces was too disgusting an omission  for me to ignore.