Birthday Week

 

My new struggle is finding a routine with all our changes. So far this schedule is "working" for me: get up at 6:30, see older kids off, clean/scriptures until 7:30, wake up girls to get dressed, wake up Everett at 8, drop kids off around 8:35 (they are quite enjoying sticking their heads up through the sunroof!), head to gym for 80 minutes, daily chores (Monday shop, Tuesday laundry and piano lessons, Wednesday fold laundry, Thursday deep clean kitchen, Friday various errands. The day goes much quicker than I anticipated! Once I get home from the gym it is almost lunchtime and boom kids get home around 3 and then 3:45. This week was a little discombobulated because we celebrated two birthdays! 

Phillip's birthday felt a little anti-climatic because he was advanced to the priesthood back in January, usually the 12th birthday is special because of that ordinance. He chose to get a mountain bike with gears and a new helmet for his birthday. He really wanted a Lego, I used my birthday money to get him a Harry Potter Lego and a fun wand. After school we drove to Costco for his favorite cheesecake as a special birthday outing. His lunch time is at 10:00 am on Wednesday, I did not make it to eat lunch with him, dang! That is an early lunchtime. Phillip requested Belgium waffles, berries, whipped cream, and buttermilk syrup for dinner. Oh my, we tried bananas with the buttermilk syrup, that was a match made in heaven. We drove out to the church orchards to pick peaches for the cannery. Did you know that picking peaches is a very itchy experience? All that peach fuzz caused our skin to itch on arms, legs, necks, and faces. We had our row of trees picked free of fruit in under an hour! The church will allow pickers to glean fallen fruit from the ground, I was pleased to come home with 4 large bags of peaches to make into jam. On our drive home we told stories about his birth and younger years. We had lots of funny stories and laughs to enjoy! Phillip opened up his 4 other gifts, he loved the box of Dr Pepper Cream Soda!  Happy 12th to our awesome Phillip Anson Call. 

Thursday the kids and I ran several errands after school. Phillip needed a drumline kit to practice on for music. To rent a practice pad, stand, sticks, and glockenspiel for the year was $355, conversely to buy the kit was $375. We now own a percussion practice kit. Yay. May our house be filled with more loud noises. We went to DI next, Mia wanted to find a Monster High doll to upcycle. It's a fun trend I actually want to try out as well. The doll is deconstructed and remade with new paint, hair, and outfit. She found a doll in awesome shape! I was on the hunt for serving trays and a new Clue! game since the the kids lost the pieces and some cards. Score! I found a special edition Clue! for just $2. We stopped at the Dollar store for our year supply of wrapping paper, tissue paper, and $30 of other items we didn't really need. I quite enjoyed that particular afternoon.  

Evelyn's birthday was on Friday. She had her outfit picked out for a month or more! She was up early, we had time to curl her hair. She got to open up a gift before school of a llama necklace. After the gym I picked up cupcakes for her class (apparently, that is not cool in Middle School) and glowsticks as a little fun gift. I also got her a Happy Meal and enjoyed lunch with Evelyn at school. I rushed home to make her cake. She wanted a rainbow cake with frosting. I enjoyed the challenge of making my first jelly roll cake with 6 different colors of cake batter. I followed all the instructions to ensure the cake did not crack...it cracked. She came home from school crying because her teacher had her stay inside for recess because she did not finish her spelling test. I'm working on getting the rest of that story, since Evelyn's story is a bit skewed. Our ward hosted a family picnic and game night. We enjoyed playing lawn games and visiting for a couple hours. We left a bit early to celebrate Evelyn's birthday. Evelyn wrapped most of her own gifts a couple weeks prior. She was with me when I thrifted some doll accessories and picked out a couple items from Target. The only surprise came from Claire's, a couple packs of earrings (one outer space theme, llamas) and 3 chokers. Everett grabbed her birthday crown pulling her hair right before we sang Happy Birthday, that was a very sad moment. She recovered enough to enjoy her song and cake. Phew, that cake was sugary, way too sweet. If there is a next time, I would use whipped cream as the frosting. Ambree and Evelyn spent the rest of the evening playing dolls with all the fun new accessories. It was also our turn to clean the church. We showed up at 9 pm as requested only to find it was already cleaned, those assigned went right after the picnic and cleaned from 8-9 instead of 9-10 as requested. After a brief inspection I noticed the nursery bathroom was quite smelly. We worked as a team and quickly remedied that, boom! Done. Happy 8th birthday to our spicy Evelyn!   

Justin and I went to Lumber Liquidators looking for new LVP flooring. We refinanced over the needed amount, there is enough money now to replace the current dark wood floor...yay! We chose a medium gray/white/brown toned plank. Hoping it will lighten our house tremendously and keep the dirty floors less visible. 

I've had a lot on my mind this week. Elder Holland spoke to BYU faculty on Monday. His speech was delivered with tears in his eyes and a tremulous voice. I listened to his speech 6-7 times trying to figure out the big deal. The church's LGBTQ community is outraged and calling for retribution over his comments. I heard nothing but love and concern! Things Elder Holland did say: 

1. BYU is subsidized with tithing money, it is a church school. It's mission is to act as a bridge between faith and intellect.

2. Regardless of orientation we were asked to build the kingdom of God with a trowel in one hand and defend the church with a musket in the other hand. 

3. BYU should not be used as a platform to promote agendas (like the valedictorian coming out as gay during graduation) because it opens the door for other groups to air their platforms

Members in the church and the LGBTQ are blowing his comments out of context. The Fisk family from Gilbert left the church over his talk, the last straw for their testimonies. Reading through comments and such about Holland's talk gives me major concerns about our current situation. Goodness, we can fight for God and still be united. Thursday I listened to a commentary given by two gay church members. Their opinion was that to be gay is the only identity that is considered a sin by the church. That because of their identity they cannot reach the Celestial Kingdom. Satan is working so hard, if he can plant a seed of doubt about one's identity then he can convince that person to doubt their origin. If you don't know you are a son or daughter of god then, well, who are you? 

Another situation on my mind is the entire COVID immunization situation. The prophet pleaded with members to get the immunization. It's been a struggle to change my perspective and see through a different lens. My current thought is: we were commanded, done, do it. To keep temple and church worship open this is a hoop we must jump through. I cannot say if the vaccine is detrimental or not, in my mind it was more of a political statement. Immunization cards and control are making way in our current society. One more way to divide instead of unite. 

Lastly, our American forces pulled out of Afghanistan without notice. Within hours the Taliban took control over the country. American soldiers and Afghan women, men, and children are dying each day as a result of the military's swift removal. What agenda does Biden have? Goodness. Jared said the Army left so swiftly that even their equipment was left behind. Now they cannot retrieve even their communication equipment, which is a major security breach. The Taliban probably has access to the military communication radio codes.