Got Wheat? What to do with Wheat Storage

I finished teaching my wheat class last night and thought I would send you guys my handout.  I am definitely no expert, but I sure learned a lot experimenting the last couple of weeks. 

 

Misleading Morning Sickness

Good morning all!

I'm so awful lately with writing, but my hope is that now that Katie is moving up and on with life (& out of the house) that she will re-motivate all of us to be better about writing.  KATIE that means we want to hear from you too!!!  I want to hear about all of your new adventures with your job and your adult life, okay?  It's a in the Whicker contract when you leave the house.  You are required by law to write once a week.  Seriously.  Real consequences will follow if you do not abide.

I've been just a pathetic mess for the past few weeks.  I have to take it one day at a time, sometimes by the minute depending on how bad I feel, but today I woke up almost feeling normal!!  Unfortunately I realized I did not take my prenatal last night (I have to take it at night because it makes me feel so gross), which may be why I'm feeling good HA!  Oh the irony.  I'm going to make the most of it today though by starting off with an email.

Sam has also been under the weather this week with a high fever.  I finally took her in yesterday and it was confirmed viral as I suspected.  We haven't had strep in forever (knock on wood), so I suppose that's a silver lining somehow.  Either way it's been a long few days just sitting at home....I don't like sitting all day, it's terribly monotonous and boring ;)  Have a real itch to get moving, maybe I will go on a walk/jog with Sam if she feels good enough, we shall see.

I had a wonderful mothers day filled with lots of love, lots of chocolate, and my very favorite letters.  I just have to say the letters these kiddos write are the ABSOLUTE best part of mothers day.  Someday I am going to take all that the kids wrote and put it into a book because they are sometimes hilarious and other times the most tender hearted.  I adore everything about them.  Attached you will see the two Kaylee wrote me this year.  One of my favorite parts of the "all about mom" is the fill in the blank, "My mom looks prettiest when she_____."  Kaylee wrote, "My mom looks prettiest when she is nice."  HAHAHAHA!  I'm sure I am much better looking when I am nice vs when I am not!  And then the one that struck a cord was "I love my mom more than me."  I mean what little kid would fill in that way?  More than candy, barbies, etc, but HER?!?  Such tender soul that Kaylee.  Her letter was also about as tender as it could get.  She could hardly STAND to wait to give it to me and before I could walk straight after getting up she handed it to me with the biggest grin on her face.  Just BEAMING with light. 

Audrie started swim last week and is absolutely loving it.  She swims every day after school for about an hour and is grouped with the 11-12 year olds because she's so big and fast.  Those big feet are finally coming in handy!  I'm just thrilled that she is enjoying it so much.  I need to get a picture of her while at practice just for documentation.  Maybe I can do that today.

Tyler has been going strong with basketball and they are still undefeated.  They have the first of two playoff games this weekend, so hopefully they can keep up their streak!  The last game was really fun to watch, lots & lots of great plays.  In fact the ref came over by where we were sitting (as the game was happening) and under his breath he said, "this has to be the greatest game ever played in the history of this league."  I'm not sure he intended for us to hear it, but I certainly told Tyler and he held his head just a little higher after that.  It will be sad to end the league as we have thoroughly enjoyed watching him play.

Tonight he gets inducted into the NJHS (National Junior Honor Society).  It requires 10 hours/year service and a high GPA.  Hopefully he can manage the GPA as I think it has to be 3.84, which is doable, he just needs to get more organized.  Have I mentioned he struggles in that department? Hahahaha....It will be good for him although he didn't want to do it.  He's such an underachiever sometimes!!  Makes me crazy.  Being so smart definitely has its negative sides- he doesn't have the drive to work hard because everything comes so easy to him.  I don't know how to teach him that lesson.  Any suggestions?

Kaylee is thriving in school.  Ms Social butterfly and doing really well albeit her spelling and math are still her weakest points.  Hopefully we can help maintain what she has learned this year so next year won't be difficult.  She is enjoying gymnastics a lot and I am often seeing myself in her as I watch her.  Some of her mannerisms and shy tendencies definitely remind me of me when I was her age; not to mention those teeth of hers.  They are JUST like mine were.  Super duper crooked.  Phase one of braces may be coming sooner than later.

Andy is doing well.  He's growing in so many ways and I am so grateful for his patience with me as I go through this gross phase of pregnancy.  He is struggling loving his job right now, ready for a change, but upon praying about it was told it is not time yet.  We will see what the future holds! 

Oh and the BIG secret is we booked a DISNEY CRUISE!!!  I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT IT!!!  Seriously I haven't been this excited about a vacation for as long as I can remember.  The kids don't know though so it's a big surprise- DO NOT SAY A WORD to them okay?  We talked Andy's parents into coming with us, so it will be super special.  If anyone else wants to join us let me know- I think we should plan on doing this as an entire family someday.  August 14 is our sail date :)

I better run- sure love you all and am so grateful for you all.  I feel like I've been off grid for a while and I am desperate to get back on.  Hopefully as I enter this last week and a half of the first trimester I will start feeling better and have a more normal routine.

Changes are Happening

Don't have time to write much, but wanted to show you what we've been working on.  Check out the youtube video (that I don't have sound to, so don't worry there is nothing wrong with your computer) and pics below.  Also I am no expert at making these so you may have to intermittently pause to read all the captions!  

Hope this brightens this gloomy Monday! (at least it's super gloomy here!)

PS.  Please know that this was shot in REAL TIME.  Thus the reactions are true reactions as things were being revealed.  There are some pretty fun faces once it is understood that the last chalkboard was placed and the camera immediately started shooting.  

Alligators, Grandma's and Aunties

It hasn't been quite two weeks since I have written, I think I need an applause :)  I'm trying to be more consistent...I think we could use a sister on a mission to whip us all back into shape.  Katie? 

Mom has been with us for the last week and it was so great having her here.  She was a trooper doing everything I needed to around the house and errand wise.  It was a lot of fun to have Lyndsey and Mom at the same time.  I cherish these moments.

Mom and I went on a walk on Monday and while walking around our little lake/pond I started telling her about how Andy saw an alligator in it one time like 9 months ago, but I had never seen it before in my daily (2x) riding around that lake.   By the time we got to the other side of the lake I looked into the water and lo and behold there was an alligator!  I couldn't believe the coincidence!  We got a couple of pictures and hoped that he would still be out there when I went to pick up the girls from school. 

On the way home from school we had our usual school posse, but it just so happened to be P-day for the missionaries, who were all playing Frisbee on the green space by the lake.  So we had a whole herd of people following us on our bikes while leading them to the ultimate Texas experience of seeing our alligator.  I'm sure it was a sight to be seen!

We made it to Cade's baptism and HolliMae's blessing last Sat/Sun and even got to see Daddio!  It was great to spend some time with him, Mom, Lyndsey and the Ford's; kind of a preview of our family reunion.  Loved it.

The Ford's trekked down to our neck of the woods this weekend for Easter and General Conference. We had mass chaos as usual when our posterity collides, but it was all good fun.  We swam (even had a two on two BB game in the pool with Mom- which I'm sure ended in a few bruises from Tyler.  Sorry mom, but you are better than you give yourself  credit for!), played volleyball which is always a lot of fun and ate a lot of food...half of which is still in my fridge!  YAY for left overs; it's what's for dinner :)  We went to see the newest version of Cinderella which was we LOVED.  It was just so clean and had such a great message, I loved it.  I am very leery of many movies, but this one I would love to have in our home.

Tyler starts basketball this Saturday which will be great for him.  He needs things other than his desire for electronic gaming time to fill up his time.  He is actually talented athletically, but lacks the confidence...I wish I could just hand him that!  BTW this 5foot 7 inch 12 year old of mine is so dang cute with babies.  He has ALWAYS loved babies and been great with little kids, but seeing him in action with the newest little just melted my heart.  I will attach some pictures.

Audrie is having another milestone that I almost hesitate to write because I don't want to jinx it (silly I know)!  She has been reading a book unprompted by anyone, of her own free will from cover to cover...all on her own.  THIS IS MONUMENTAL.  She has been found reading in the car, in her bed, and is actually doing it sequentially (usually she skips around and reads a little here and there).  Years of prayers are being answered.  I just hope she keeps it up....I keep buying her more books in the series just to keep her motivated.  When she finishes this book we will have to party!!

Speaking of partying we celebrated Lyndsey's birthday this past week.  It was so fun to be around her during her birthday!!  I think I can count on one hand how many times I have been around during her birthday since she was 7!  The best part was we got the not only celebrate with Lyndsey and our clan but Mom was there too!  We went to a great Mexican restaurant to honor her Mexican culture from her mission (which was delish).  We ate so much no one was able to manage to eat the cake we had 'made' for her when we got home.  Her birthday balloons are still floating around the house! 

Coincidentally Audrie had her reading STAAR test (state testing) that same day.  We had so many accommodation set in place that I was hopeful that she would feel super calm, relaxed and confident.  I was anxious all day (remember her graduation to 6th grade depends on her passing this), and finally when it was time to pick up the girls I RACED on my bike to talk to her.  She was happy as a lark when she started conversing with me (I was hopeful this was a good sign).  I started asking her a million questions and she answered saying "I was done so fast, like at 10 o'clock", and "I asked myself after I finished my test, 'why am I alone with this teacher again?' 'Oh yeah I was supposed to read it outloud!'"  Both of which made me nervous....she gets extended time (usually it takes her all day to finish) and the whole point of her being one on one with the teacher was so she could read the reading passages OUTLOUD.  So I'm not sure what to expect, but I am not going to lie I am glad it's over!  What is done is done already and she will either have to take it again or they will let her be "placed" in 6th (and lose her elective). 

HollieMae has Arrived!

We've had a great couple of weeks!  First and foremost I was able to witness the birth of HolliMae Ford in the early morning of March 8th.  It truly was an amazing event to be apart of.  I have never been around to see any of my nieces or nephews be born, so the fact that it to me until Cami's 5th to finally be apart of one is a long time.  There is something quite spiritual, divine and majestic as you watch a life go from in the womb to in the world.  I will never forget the feeling I felt as she entered this earthly life.  It has made me sit back and reflect upon my own purpose and what course I am on....something that I feel we all need a little reminder of ever once in a while (some of us more than others ;-) ).  I am so grateful for the fullness of the gospel.  Seriously. So grateful.

The week prior to HolliMae's birth was spring break.  We had our good friends the Bush's visit from Dallas and loved seeing them as always.  They are such good, good people.  Unfortunately one of theirs fell ill while here, but we made the best of it despite it all.  We went to the Bluebell factory, we heated the pool all week (just got that bill- eeek!) and the kids swam EVERY DAY of spring break despite the cruddy weather.  It truly was gloomy, rainy and cold all week.  Bummer.  Glad we were in good company or I may have gotten a little gloomy myself.  Tyler started throwing up Wed but recovered really quickly and miraculously no one else got it!  Thursday night I fevered all night with a major headache and back ache.  It hit so hard so fast that I was certain it was the flu.  I went in that morning and sure enough I was flu type A positive.  I've never had much success with Tamiflu, but I am sure it did it's trick this time as I was almost normal the following day!  I had to nap for several days afterwards, but man it was awesome.  Again no one else got it accept me.  LTM's for sure.

Due to our illnesses we didn't get back up to Conroe until past Friday.  Mom had been in town for over a week and we hadn't even seen her, but we didn't want to share our crud with their family, so it was a good thing. 

It has been so grate to hang out with Mom, Lyndsey, Cami and the new babe.  Seriously.  I love family.  Love, love, love them. 

Lyndsey came down from Cami's neck of the woods for spring break to house/dog sit for a family in our ward.  She lived in a mansion for a week.  Some of my kids still seem to be confused as they talk about Lyndsey's house, hahahaha.  So Lyndsey the expectations are set very high when my kids go to your next home :)  

She moved into Tyler's room and everyone is just LOVING having her here.  Tyler is particularly goofy around her.  He acts like he does when he's around a girl he likes!  So he must think she's pretty Hot stuff.  It will be sad when she leaves, but I know she is anxious to wash her hands of the Houston ISD.  I would be too, but I'm guessing she will have some bonds formed that she didn't even realize were forming once she leaves.  Serving people that are hard to love always seems to create some love.

We have been full swing ever since the break ended.  The kids are in the depths of STAAR preparation (the state standardized test), which I loathe.  We need all the prayers we can get that Audrie will pass her tests....this is supposedly a pass/fail year....if they don't pass they don't move on, etc.  If that does happen I will definitely fight it, but I'd rather not fight a fight I don't need to.  When we go up to Conroe this weekend we would like Shane and Dad to participate in giving her a blessing in regard to this test and her troubles in general. 

I feel that we've hit a milestone in this relay of dyslexia; that is truly how I feel it has been since her diagnosis.  Trying our hardest to keep up with the school curriculum while we do what we can to assist, teach and remediate...all while she is running.  But recently I have felt very strongly that we have done all we can, intervened, taught, tutored, etc.  Now the baton has been passed on solely to Audrie.  All the tools are in place, all the rules and strategies have been taught she simply has to apply them when doing her work.  Something that she isn't doing well right now.  So that has become my specific prayer; that she will apply the rules she has been taught.   If you feel so inclined, we can always use prayers for her.

I am still beaming after heading the news from Ali- TWINS- I just can't believe it.  For all those who don't know I have said for YEARS that if anyone has twins it would be Ali....and low and behold it happened.  Unbelievable.  Maybe those kiddos and I had a little thing going on in the preexistence ;)  I'm trying to convince them to move down here!  I can be the permanent nanny of all these babies!  My arms so ache for littles as my little turns into a big girl. 

Here is our latest Sammy funny from today:

As we enter the store Home Goods Sam asks "mom, when you eat a lot do you make babies?" I giggle as we step through the automatic doors and respond, "um. no honey." To which she replies as we enter the store in a loud and complexed voice for all to hear "THEN HOW DO YOU MAKE BABIES?"
I love her. She always keeps me laughing.  Always.

Camping and Hiking Fun

I feel like I haven't written for several weeks.  I have had it on my to do list, but just haven't taken the time to sit down. 

It's been a good few weeks filled with some drama and emotional moments, but mostly fun times.

Lyndsey came down last weekend to visit us and brought Adelle and Brinley. I was so ready and excited to have some family around and then my tummy started hurting within an hour or so of them getting to our house.   I ended up throwing up and being absolutely miserable all night long.  Have I mentioned I absolutely HATE throwing up??  I would rather have almost any other sickness than tossing my cookies.  For real.  By morning I was feeling a little better, but moped around with zero energy and slept on and off all day long.  Monday morning I was feeling more normal and Cami and Cade came down to join the fun.  I still wasn't 100% but we managed to have a decent time :)  I felt bad that everyone came down and being such a poor host.  Unfortunately the weekend was all kind of a blur !  Whatever this bug is it has taken all week to fully recover, but fortunately NO one else got it.  Blessings indeed.  Attached is a picture that I took while laying on the couch of everyone playing a game...while I longed to be apart of it....hahahaha.  Woe is me.

We had a big meeting last week where the stake was split and a new stake was created.  The new stake takes our stake President and one of his counselors so there will be an announcement of the new stake presidencies today during the general session of stake conference.  We are anxious as we are hoping they will announce a new building to be built because we are now down to ONE building for our ENTIRE STAKE!  That's insanity!  Really, we are busting out of our seams already! 

6 hours later.  Home from church, full belly and children currently not asking for anything- nor do I hear any crying/whining/fighting off in the distance :)  YAY!  So I will finish my email.

My wrist is really bugging me so this email may be shorter than anticipated :(  (I've been doing  stairs too much at the gym- I have to learn to not lean! My wrists can't handle it).

This weekend Andy took Audrie one  hiking/camping overnighter with Shane, Brinley and Cade .  Audrie had a blast!  Andy enjoyed himself too :)  Tyler was on a campout as well that night with the boy scouts so it was just Sam, Kaylee and I at home.  We decided to make the best of it and go to Goodwill to see what we could find.  They both found purses/bags and I found a plethora of great books for Audrie and I to read.  Lynds- I was thinking that kind of place would be an awesome way to build up your classroom library!! 

I gotta end.  My wrist can't take anymore!

Imperfect Oranges

I have been waking up for weeks with the primary song "Families can be Together Forever"....not sure why, but it has been a wonderful reminder that we are eternal families :)

My heart has been full and I have been feeling an immense love for my family and others around me.  I taught a lesson on agency last week and one of my object lessons was how we are constantly being manipulated into a masterpiece, and like clay every choice we make affects the outcome of the sculpture of who we are.  I feel like my sculpture is being manipulated and because of that I feel changed, in a wonderful way.  The older I get the more I am realizing and recognizing the love truly is the Lord's language...in our actions in our words and even in our thoughts.  The more I feel this and the more I recognize this the more love I feel infused in my heart.  So FAMILY please know that I love you.  We aren't as good as keeping up with everyone, but I think of you all often and feel a great love for you <3 div="">

This week has been just as busy as always :)  My friend talked me into doing a step class with her....and we all know how coordinated I am.  The instructor was quick to ask who was new for and came up to me and started telling me all about the wonderful studies that have shown how using your mind in controlling your steps and having rhythm has been proven to help you ward off dementia and other mental issues in old age.  Well, lets just say I am a HOPELESSLY lost cause.  It was comical.  If what she says is true let this be a warning to my children: I will lose my mind, no questions asked.  Hahaha, still makes me giggle.  I'm sure the instructors intent was to tell me how good this was for me, but little did she know how horribly I would fail :)

Sam got 4 shots this week.  Poor girl.  I explained it all to her, even told her she would get a shake afterwards, all of which caused a enormous smile and big bright eyes.  She had no idea what I was saying when I referred to "shots".  The first poke her eyes nearly popped out of her head as she gave me the shocking look of "MOM! How could you let them do this???"  So sad.  But such a necessary thing that which I am very grateful for!

Random little tidbit, but this is truly an insight into the mind of Tara.  I am always thinking about things like this...maybe it's strange, but it may be a direct consequence of teaching YW for so long, not sure...so while we were eating lunch yesterday I gave both Sam and Kaylee a clementine.  I have a love/hate relationship with oranges.  I find a lot of the time when buying the most beautiful oranges that often they are dry and tasteless. So honestly I don't by them as often as I used to.  But lately they have been SO delicious and I knew they would eat them, but upon following up on Sam I noticed she hadn't even peeled her orange but was wanting to be done.  I asked her "Hon, why don't you eat your orange?"  To which she replied, "Because it has THAT on it." (Pointing to a large blemish on the skin of the orange).  I sighed and rolled my eyes and then Kaylee chimed in saying "Sam, just because it has that on it doesn't mean it tastes bad.  It's what's on the inside that counts."  I followed up by saying, "Yes Sam, it is SO sweet.  Sometimes the most perfect oranges on the outside taste awful on the inside."  She proceeded to unpeel the orange and realized what we were saying was true.  As I reflected on that conversation I thought how wise my sweet Kaylee is and what a wonderful metaphor that was.  I began thinking of the lesson I taught when I was RS pres about the parable of the peach tree.  How it is not the quantity of the fruit we produce, but the quality and that in fact having TOO much fruit on our branches can hinder our growth because of the lack of focus on nourishing our roots.  We have to reflect and prune our trees so that the fruit we do produce is amazing!  

I received a phone call from a "Living Scripture Video" representative that was trying to upsell me on what we were already receiving.  He was trying SO hard to find something he could sell me on by asking questions like, "When you get home from church do you sit as a family and relax watching videos?"  To which I thought for a second, (trying not to be annoyed), and said, "You know Sunday's are never a day of rest for us, they are actually one of the busiest days of the week!"  I lost interest in the conversation and hung up with him, but I have been thinking about my response ever since.  I've been asking myself, "why isn't it a day of rest?  Isn't is supposed to be?  We are SO busy with church responsibilities and meetings!"  The conclusion I came up with was the Lord meant it to be rest from our daily labors, such as our every day work, and that by serving Him we are gaining "rest" in the eternities. Like Alma talks about repentance and following the commandments "...that they might enter into the rest of the Lord their God."

Anyway, I have to end.  It's time to get the last minute things together for church.