From Chaos to Order

I finally have a few moments (before I fall unconscious into my beckoning bed) to post some pictures of my classroom. Much of August was spent putting together my new 3rd grade classroom. I have decided to avoid moving to a new classroom next year at all costs. It was a lot of work! I thought for sure I would have it done a week before school started, but.... well..... the best plans sometimes go awry. Here are a few shots of the chaos stage -

The next pictures were taken about an hour before our Back to School Open House. Yeah, I cut it a little close. And I won't even mention the box full of papers that need to be filed that I stuffed in a cupboard and that are still there. And here is the magical transformation -

The Smell of Postum

Tonight I poured hot water over Pero drink powder and the smell drifted up immediately, exactly the smell of a different hot drink from my past: Postum. And Postum always reminds me of my grandparents.

When I was about 7, my grandparents spent a couple of summers living in our basement apartment in Springville. I loved to go downstairs first thing in the morning and have breakfast with them. And breakfast included postum. With a lot of sugar and milk, I really liked it - it was almost as good as chocolate milk (which didn't get very often but which I loved). Whenever I think of the taste of Postum, I also think of the taste of Grapenuts cereal and grapefruit, two other staples of my grandparents' breakfast table.

I love how a smell can bring back a host of memories and emotions.

Sisters' Shopping

My sisters and I had a rare treat on Monday morning - about 6 hours to go to breakfast (hooray for Kneaders french toast!) and go clothes shopping.

The main reason we went clothes shopping was for my older sister. She is a writer and has an interview with an editor in September to discuss her book. She wanted some "power clothes" - business-casual. Since my younger sister and I have watched our fair share of "What Not To Wear" episodes, she allowed us to be her fashion consultants. We imparted many a fashion gem gained from Stacy and Clinton.

We had fun, acted a little silly trying a few things on, and we actually all came home with a little something new, and my writer-sister had two full outfits, including jewelry.

The best part of the day was time to talk as sisters and friends without little ones interrupting us every couple of minutes. It is such a blessing for all of us to live within a reasonable distance so we can spend time together regularly.

We finished off the day with a trip to Yogurt Bliss for frozen yogurt. We have all vowed to do this more often - providing we can talk "Grandma" into babysitting all 6 kids again!

Five and Oh, so Alive!!

I'm sure that if you've read even a couple of my blog posts before, you know that since I don't have children of my own, my nieces and nephews fill in the gaps. In particular, my two nephews who live close by get a lot of attention from me and I am once again going the act the part of a proud "mother" to highlight one of these sweet boys.

Friday was my nephew's 5th birthday, and various aunts and uncles plus 4 cousins visiting from Blanding, created quite a party atmosphere.

Despite the ongoing thunderstorms throughout the week, we planned on an outdoor swimming party. Our faith was rewarded with sunny skies, although it WAS a bit windy.

The lazy river was the biggest hit - all of us could float and drift around and we didn't have to worry too much about little ones wandering off.

After about an hour, the two youngest kids reached their cold threshold and teeth began chattering before we got them wrapped up in enough towels to make the goosebumps go away.

Back at Grandma and Grandpa's house, we had gourmet spaghetti, garlic bread, and fresh-from-the-garden broccoli (my sister's garden - not mine - if you've seen the couple of plants in my house, you'd not think for a minute I had a garden).

My talented sister once again pulled off a super-creative birthday cake as she fulfilled her son's cake request - a construction truck crane. (Too bad you can't see in this picture the detail of all the little cake parts - genius!)

There is something about the synergy created by kids who get together and are playing and having fun.... the energy and noise of 6 kids can fill 2 floors of the house - plus the backyard. Love (and a little fighting) bursting out the seems. Family... gotta love 'em!

Answer to a Prayer

I re-read a talk by Elder Jeffrey Holland last night and discovered that from beginning to end it was filled with good reminders. I was deeply touched, and I felt like I should share it, as I think that all of us need this counsel from time to time. After all, who among us doesn't struggle with a broken heart, loneliness, discouragement, disappointment, and fear from time to time?

"Broken Things to Mend"

Read it. You won't be sorry.

Landlocked Doesn't Necessarily Mean Ocean Deprived

You don't have to wait for your next vacation to California or Florida to go to a pretty cool aquarium. There is one "just up the road", relatively speaking.

Yes! --Utah has an aquarium. My nephews and I discovered the Living Planet Aquarium today on our weekly date (and no, our summer "dates" are not all about the spoiling - I am investing.... these boys may be the ones to take care of me in my old age).

So, anyway, we made the trek up to Sandy, my expectations quite low because, well, I have recently been to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium in California. Amazing. And also, the admission price for the Living Planet Aquarium is quite low. But I was pleasantly surprised.

The boys were super excited - as you can see.

We spent 3 1/2 hours in the Aquarium, traversing the Utah, Ocean, and South America exhibit areas. There were a lot of interesting aquatic animals, including sharks, jellyfish, penguins, crocodiles, rays, coral, and many kinds of fish. We even got to pet the sting rays and starfish.

We arrived soon after it opened, and it wasn't very crowded. We were usually able to get right up next to the tanks.

My nephew took this picture of a tiger eel.

We ate in the little cafe there, and prices were not too bad. Plus the atmosphere was cool.

So, the verdict? Great bang for your buck. I recommend it.