Because He Lives!

Remember one of my New year's resolutions was to join the ward choir? Well, I did and the blessings are tremendous. I am no fabulous singer by any means, but the music is SO beautiful and I love the people in our choir. It's so fun!
Right now we are practicing a song we are going to sing on Easter Sunday. It was written by Sally Deford. She's from Colorado Springs, so she must be cool! I found a sound bite here . It is so amazing... I can't even sing it, I just sit there and listen to everyone else and cry. This song just keeps going through my head over and over. What a blessing! I am so thankful for our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know He lives and He loves us.

"Because He Lives"
by Sally Deford

Because He lives; because He rose in mighty triumph from the grave
I put my trust in Him, and seek to follow Him in faith
Because He lives

Because He lives, I shall find strength to stand against the tempter's power
He is my refuge and defense in every troubled hour
Because He lives

Chorus:
Because He lives, I can bear whatever burden may be mine
I am encircled in the arms of love divine because He lives
Because He lives, He will banish every shadow of my pain
Every sorrow will be swallowed up in Him
For in His hand is healing for the weary soul
This I know because He lives

Because He lives my heart is filled with peace amid a world of fear
And through the blindness of the night, in Him I rest secure
Because He lives

Because He lives there is no task so great that I cannot endure
I bear no heartache that His tender mercy cannot cure
Because He lives

(Repeat chorus)

Because He lives I will fear no darkness
Because He lives I will walk in light
Because He lives I will praise His kindness
Because He lives hope shines ever bright
Because He lives I will seek His righteousness
Because He lives I'll follow where He leads
Because He lives I shall conquer even death
And I shall live because He lives!

Because He lives I will rejoice in Christ and glorify His name
And with the willing voice of gratitude proclaim: My Savior lives!
Because He lives He will banish every shadow of my pain
Every sorrow will be swallowed up in Him
For in His hand is healing for the weary soul
This I know, because He lives

I am really looking forward to conference this weekend.

Leaving a legacy?

Well, there's this skirt my Mom gave me and every Sunday I want to wear it and every Sunday I pull it out and think: Dang! I need to iron it! So one SATURDAY, I wrote a note to myself on the fridge and actually pulled out the ironing board and iron.. and ironed my skirt. YAY me! I was so proud. And then after the first twenty minutes of Beck wriggling on my lap in sacrament it was wrinkled again, but hey, I did iron it. And it felt good. I think I've ironed enough for a few years now.

The kids were fascinated by this bizarre ritual. Kaia said, "Mom, what are you doing?! Why? What is that? Can I help? Can we do that to my clothes?" Okay. So I NEVER iron. REALLY. NEVER. Even, Zeke said, "Yeah, I guess you don't iron much..." Nope, I don't. It's been YEARS. Really.

Oh yeah, and then there's dusting... let's not even go there. Let's just say, I don't need a message board... I could write messages to my family in the dust on my TV and nightstands and bookshelves. I loathe dusting.

Here's the deal, I'm really not a good housekeeper. I only do things if I like doing them. For example (say it like Hermione):

laundry (yeah, it's creepy)
vacuuming (stress reliever)
baking (obvious)

So any of you out there... can you somehow help me LIKE ironing, dusting, washing dishes, mopping, changing litter boxes? I'm always making my kids do the chores I don't like. I remember doing those same chores when I was growing up... Mom, is there something you should tell me? And I always vacuum, because it's fun! Mom always vacuumed too... hmm.

Anyway, I've noticed lots of my friends don't like doing laundry. Of all the things people complain about on their blogs and Facebook and such... a BIG majority complain about doing laundry.

Well, this is my "secret" to enjoying laundry. Now I can't promise you will enjoy it, but it will make it easier and you'll always have clean clothes. At least I think so. There's this cool chic called The Flylady. I subscribe to her daily emails to help me keep track of my house. Now, I obviously don't do all the stuff she tells me, but I really like her solution for laundry.
She calls it: "No more Mt. Washmore!"

This is my laundry pile, but I am so "persnickety" I must confess: this is several loads of clean clothes piled up just for the picture (I can't handle too much dirty laundry sitting around!) Yeah, I might seem crazy, but it's a great blessing! Here's the trick: the Flylady says to do one or two loads of laundry EACH day. That means washed, folded, AND put away. Done.

I don't have a "laundry day". And I don't ever have a huge pile of dirty laundry taking over my basement. But I always have clean clothes. Now, there's always a full basket or two of clothes that needs to be washed, but when I do one or two loads a day, I'm always making a dent in it.

Another reason I like doing it this way is when I used to have a set "Laundry Day" (mine used to be Monday several years ago), it seemed like something would happen that day that prevented me from devoting my entire day to laundry. The kids would get sick or I needed to run to the store or something. I don't know about you, but with 4 children, I couldn't devote one day to anything!

Anyway, the Flylady and her routines have been a HUGE help to me. I like the idea of doing a little bit everyday and it all adds up. It does. I just need to stop ignoring the email reminders to dust my house!

Oh, and this is totally random, but I when I was little, there was an awesome cartoon I loved to watch called "Hong Kong Phooey" I loved it! A Karate Master/Super Hero dog and his sidekick, Spot, a smart cat who really does all the work. Anyway, my dear hubby ran across an AWESOME cover of the Hong Kong Phooey theme song. It's from a band we like, "Sublime." I love the reggae and ska punk influence they put into it. I can't get videos to work on my blog for some reason. Zeke's going to help me figure it out when school is done (NEXT WEEK, by the way!!) But here's a link. It puts me in a good mood every time! I love how music can do that. (P.S. Just for the record, I think the band could use some shirts, but hey... they're having fun, right?)

Have you seen her?

I always have a song going through the back of my mind. Today it's "...Have you seen her? Tell me have you seen her?..." It's an old song by some band called "The Chi-lites". But I remember hearing a remake when I was in high school. My "googling" revealed it was Mr. MC Hammer of course! I was thinking him or Bobby Brown, New Edition, Boys II Men, or maybe Rick Astley? (OH KILL ME, Please NO! Not him!) It's kind of a cute song. It popped into my head when I was trying to think of a title for this post. Anyhoo...

Every night before I go to bed, I check on each of my children. I want to make sure Beck and Kaia have covers on them and they're actually in their beds. I also check on Gabe and Zoe to make sure their lights are off and they're not reading anymore or playing chess (I've found them around midnight once or twice in the middle of a game!) I like to see my children sleeping, it reminds me how precious and beautiful each one of them are to me.

Last night, I went to check on Kaia and I couldn't find her anywhere!! It really scared me for a minute. She wasn't in her bed. I couldn't see her in her room (granted it's a total mess right now, anything could be in there!) I checked everyone's rooms and the couch... no Kaia! I went back to her room and noticed a strange lump on the floor:

I pulled back the blanket to reveal Miss Kaia fast asleep! Not sure what she was doing with the ice cream bucket on her head. She colored a bunch of flowers and taped them on top of the bucket. I wonder what she was dreaming about...

This is so Kaia! :)

Lookin' for fun and feelin' groovy....

you know that old song from Simon and Garfunkel? "Slow down, you movin' too fast, you gotta make the MORNING last. Just kickin' down the cobblestones, lookin' for fun and feelin' GROOVY!" yeah, something like that.

I took a nice hot bath after I got the kids off to school this morning. ahhhh. Ever since my bath, that song has been going through my head. I am so thankful to have HOT WATER :) Some days, a girl just needs a hot bath.

Read a great book. My friend, Nancy, let me borrow it: "I didn't plan to be a witch" by Linda Eyre. I didn't think I would like it, but it was a great little parenting book and a quick read :) I am so thankful for good books and good friends.

It's cold and rainy outside and I have a MILLION things to do, but I feel good. :)

I finished Zoe's costume yesterday (I'll post some pictures as soon as I remember to take some with Zeke's phone.) Kaia's will be done today or tomorrow. Oh, how I love to sew. I am so thankful to have a sewing machine.

I'm going to do Art Appreciation for Zoe's class today. It's a lot of fun. We're doing Origami today. We're making Halloween Pumpkins. I tried it this morning and it was so easy :) I would post a picture, but I don't have a working camera at the moment. Go see the link. Very fun!

I'm also shopping for a new garage door. Yeah, I'm spoiled. I want to get it done before the snow comes so I don't have to scrape windows or load my kids in the van outside. I am so thankful that we can get a new garage door.

Oh, by the way, have you ever eaten Spumoni ice cream? Zeke and I tried it for the first time last week and now it's our new FAVORITE! Pistachio/chocolate/fruit/nuts -- good stuff, weird, but very good and chewy and the kids don't like it so there's always some for us. Now that is groovy!

The Reason

You know that great song from Hoobastank,
"The Reason"?
Every time I hear it, I think of Jesus.
I know that might sound silly,
but the words describe exactly how I feel.

I'm not a perfect person
There's many things I wish I didn't do
But I continue learning
I never meant to do those things to You
And so I have to say before I go
That I just want you to know

I've found a reason for me

To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is You

I've found a reason to show
A side of me you didn't know
A reason for all that I do
And the reason is You

My name is La5cy (the 5 is silent)

Ok, imagine for a moment, that you're the kind of person that loves music. I mean really LOVES music of all kinds. You especially enjoy ska, punk (as long as it's clean), alternative, 70's rock, 80's hair bands (YEP!) and even David Bowie. Imagine that you're the kind of person that enjoys watching movies where the underdog comes out on top, where there's a cheesy love story, a good dash of comedy, and an "old-fashioned" happy ending. AND!! Reach down deep inside the imagination center of your brain.... imagine that you are a person that likes Vanessa Hudgens. Ok, are you imagining all of these things? Are you wondering what sort of weirdo could possibly like all that stuff?! Well, believe it or not, this weirdo is ME!

Zeke and I watched the movie, "Bandslam" over the weekend. We liked it SO much, we watched it the next day with all the kids! (I rarely watch a movie twice in a row.... rarely) Now, I'm not too critical when it comes to movies (picky, yes! critical, no). I don't follow the Oscars, I don't watch movies just because people say, "You have to see this! The cinematography is spectacular! The special effects are amazing! The acting is phenomenal!" I watch movies that make me laugh and cry all at the same time AND make me feel good when it's over. (And just for the record, "I am Legend" is NOT one of those movies...)

WARNING! This paragraph contains thoughts from the "parent" part of my brain... This movie even has great life lessons like: standing up for yourself and others, never giving up, loyalty, forgiveness, honesty, hard work, stepping out of your comfort zone, and pursuing your dreams.....

This movie also features a great ska-inspired cover of "Everything I own" from the band, Bread. (enough said)

Anyway, there's a scene where the main character gets "lips-on" training in how to kiss a girl. He then, takes this "training" and attempts to employ it on the girl he really likes. Yes, I'm a sentimental, mushy, romantic, cheesy person, but it was SO sweet! And the second time we watched it was even better! Gabe and Zoe were watching it with us, as well as two of their friends... I enjoyed watching their reactions to this attempted kiss more than the movie itself. Do you remember your first kiss? I do! And my stomach still gets butterflies when I think about it.....