Snow Days

It's funny how my view of snow days ping pongs back and forth from pure excitement and anticipation to disdain about yet another interruption of our daily schedules... During the month of February, we have experienced a little over a week's worth of snow days due to school closings..... at first I was excited as I looked out the window and saw the opportunity to play with the kids in the newly accumulated snow (I think there is roughly two feet of snow blanketing our yard), building snow forts, having snow ball fights, building snowmen, sledding, etc. These are things that I took for granted growing up, but for my children are new adventures and things to be conquered and mastered if only on a rare occasion. Not only was it fun to cut loose and just enjoy the mounds of fun that we had, but the break from our hectic daily schedules and the gallons of hot cocoa we consumed were just what we needed. Regretfully, the mantle of being the guardian of our family schedule and the knowledge of how difficult it is to resume overcame my visions of delight which eventually turned to dread and admittedly even panic over the last day and a half of school closings due to snow - truly it was a test of my very being having all the kids home with, "nothing to do!" We managed however, to make a game out of shoveling the driveway for the hundreth time and found even a little time to enjoy some activities indoors that we haven't recently had time for and even got a little extra sleep. Needless to say while I have enjoyed the lazy snow days, I am hopelessly behind in so many things, but then I have to wonder if they were even that important in the first place. Score one for me for keeping up with all the winter attire laundry and for being able to find enough stuff for us all to be out in the snow for hours without freezing or getting frostbite! However, looking back, I wish I would have given myself over more to that pure childish amazement, wonder and pure delight and just enjoyed our snow days......I'm headed into a game of Settlers of Catan - the last activity of our snow day weekend and then it's back to our regularly scheduled program - wish me luck!!

Resolutions - Starting Again

I felt a little more justified in making one of my New Year's resolutions - to post to this blog once a month- since one of my favorite blogs that publishes weekly projects for parents and kids went to a monthly post for 2010...so here's to resolutions and the chance to begin again. I have to say that I'm happy for all of the times during the year I feel like I can start anew...like the beginning of Spring after a long dreary winter, or the beginning of a School year and the opportunities it brings. People like me need more than one shot a year to resolve to do better!

Another resolution I have is to be better in tune with my kids and those around me by acting on prompts I get to do a little something extra or lend a hand. As I was getting ready for Church today, I was quietly praying to myself throughout the morning that my worship would be meaningful and that I would be influenced by the spirit and just feel more in tune and find a way to keep that resolution. Well....right in the middle of the sacramental portion of the meeting my youngest, J, starts chanting "Perry, Perry, Dufenschmertz...Perry, Perry, Dufenschmertz!" I quietly looked around to see if anyone other than me had heard the absurd chant. If they did, they weren't letting on. So, instead of trying to quiet J, I found myself starting to laugh. I tried to hide it but, J, noticed, of course! He thought he was SOOO amuzing that he started chanting louder and faster in between giggles and prods from his brother to keep going (AHHHHHHHHHH!)

Needless to say the rest of my worship was not as meaningful as I had hoped....I guess I'll try again next week. Not all was lost, however. There was one redeeming thing about my worship today. I was able to substitute as a pianist in Primary for someone that was ill. I was reminded that there are signs and evidence of Christ's love for us all over the place, we just need to take the time to recognize them. I'll try that this week - taking time to notice.

Hey - Look Another post!

October 12, 2008

Here we are at the very beginning.....298 miles into it....a total trip of 2,398 miles!! We did it!!

O.K., several of you have inquired - very politely I might add, as to when I was going to do another post.....well here it is!

We've had a very busy summer and fall learning about The Nielsen family. We drove to Utah AND BACK (80 hours round-trip with all 7 of us in the car!) Dallin thought it was great, but woudn't mind shortening the driving some. Brent, Ryan, Elizabeth, Mary, and I assume Jacob, do not want to do it again - ever! Perhaps I was a little ambitous in planning such an excursion for our little band, but in years to come (it might be a decade or more) we'll all look back on this trip with fond memories. We had such a great time with cousins, aunts, uncles, and of course grandparents....the hardest part was getting in the car to start the drive home to NJ knowing that it would be a while before we saw our families again and of course the 40 hours of car time ahead. I think we gained a greater appreciation for the beautiful state we live in and all that there is to do here. Our drive through the mid-western area of the country was filled with corn fields, soybean fields, corn fields, corn fields, cows and oh, yes....corn fields. We got in on the "World's Largest" outdoor Rodeo in Wyoming and felt it necessary to outfit everyone with authentic cowboy/girl hats! We spent some time "behind the scenes" of the rodeo and got up close and personal with some of the bulls, calves and horses that were part of the events. We followed that up with a trip to the Days of '47 Rodeo in Utah and watched as cowboy after cowboy got bucked of horses, and bulls. I think it's safe to say that none of our children have aspirations to be a cowboy or cowgirl (we'll count our blessings!). We saw and did so much I won't bore you with all the details, but I must say there is nothing like family. The Lord really knew what he was doing when he sent us here to be part of families.

While in Utah we got to see our newest cousins on the Nielsen side of the family. Twins, Avery and Courtland Bills, born July 3rd and as cute as can be. I got to spend some time caring for them for a few mornings and that was a pure delight and treat! I will admit I'm quite sure I couldn't have handled twins and I'm glad that I was broken in as a mom one child at a time. (I'm sure my kids are too).

On a different note. We've also spent a great deal of the summer trying to figure out what has been going on with Ryan from a medical and educational standpoint. I counted up the other day how many tests and evaluations he went for over the course of the summer. In a 10 week period he underwent 12 tests and evaluations for medical or educational things. One thing I can definitely say looking back, is we are so blessed to be in NJ. This area is rich in resources for medical and educational assistance. I wouldn't wish anyone problems, but if you have any....this is the area to be in!! We're still trying to nail everything down, but we feel that we're making progress little by little with Ryan and hope one day we'll have the answers that we need to make his life as carefree as possible. I have to also say thank you to everyone that has kept us and Ryan in your prayers. There is real power that we feel from your prayers and well wishes. Again, we feel truly blessed to have such great friends that we have chosen or have chosen us as family here in NJ.

BTW - I think this should count for at least 1 or 2 months worth of postings, but if you don't hear from me for a while...feel free to gently nudge me for another exciting chapter of the NJNielsenNews.

Hi World

This is my very first attempt at BLOGGING....I will have to find our Christmas picture from 2007