Best

In front of the high school there is a large marquis that posts information and announcements. Everyone in the town of Suwanee sees it when they drive by.

For the last couple of weeks it has read:

Congratulations

Star Student: Jeffrey Angel

Star Teacher: Mrs. Shumway

This is very cool because both of these people go to our church and they are very wonderful, talented individuals. Dallin said they announced their names over the intercom at school. The LDS students at North Gwinnett are very well known. I guess they just kind of stand out and it's pretty much general knowledge who all the Mormon kids are. They are high achievers and involved in everything from band, chorus, art club, athletics, computer club, drama, math club, and the list goes on. After the announcement Dallin's friend wanted to know why Mormons were all so talented. Then he said that he wants to have a half Mormon baby when he grows up so that it will be smart and talented. As I have thought about this comment over the past few days I've really wondered why Mormons are so talented and such high achievers. I found a great answer in the February Ensign. We have always been taught to "lengthen our stride" and to always be improving. It's just ingrained in us to achieve our full potential. We want to be successful and we have been encouraged to use our talents for good and to always work on improving. President Hinckley said, "Just do the best you can, but be sure it is your very best." That pretty much says it all. I'm very thankful that the LDS youth at North Gwinnett are letting their lights shine through their academic achievements and extracurricular activities and showing their best.

Dishes

As I was cleaning up the kitchen after dinner Easton was helping by putting the soap in the dishwasher and turning it on. I was hand washing the pans by hand. We discussed how cool it was that someone invented the dishwasher. Here's a bit of our conversation--you'll love this Mom!

Me: You know, Grandma didn't have a dishwasher growing up.

Easton: She washed the dishes by hand?

Me: Yes

Easton: Did she have a sink?

Me: Yes

Easton: Oh, that's good.

Faster!

Dallin participated in another track meet this past Saturday. It was an all day event from 9-6 with quite a few schools participating--never did get the accurate number on that. Dallin ran two cool events this time, the 4 by 800(that means a relay with four guys running for those of you who don't know track terms) and the Distance Medley Relay which was a really long distance race with four different guys running. I love watching the relays! Dallin did very well. I cannot believe these guys come out running and seriously sprint for two whole times around the track. They really push themselves. Dallin's team took fifth place in the 4 by 800. The coach said Dallin did extremely well on his part and is seconds from getting his mile under 5 minutes. Maybe at the next meet.

There's a shot of my cute little Dallin. I love that he has blonde hair. I can find that golden little head of hair anywhere in the crowd.

Dallin's team placed fourth in the Distance medley. They were so close to getting third--it was ridiculous! He got ribbons in both events. You get a medal for 1,2, and 3rd places.
This video clip is of the DMR (Distance Medley Relay) on the last of Dallin's part. He is trying to maintain his third place lead. He has one more lap to go at this point. .

This is a shot as he is fighting to keep his lead before he hands off his baton to the next runner on his team. I love watching them pass off the batons. It's such a cool sport that requires so much physical and mental stamina. I am learning to appreciate and understand the hard work that these athletes put forth.

Ahhhh!!!!!!

Just thought I'd let you know....our renter backed out. So here we go again. I'll clean my house tomorrow in hopes that we have traffic coming through over the weekend. I did enjoy my stress-free week of no cleaning, but that's over.

Running Again

Dallin had his first track meet of the season yesterday. It was an away meet with one other school. He ran two events: 1600 meter (1 mile) with a time of 5:02 and the 800 (1/2 mile) with a time of 2:13, placing 4th. He looked great in both events and was very happy with his performance. Since this is the first time EVER that he has run track it was a great meet for him. We look forward to improvements throughout the short season. There is a huge meet with 20 schools on Saturday. Should be cool to watch the amazing athletes. Dallin getting pumped up with another teammate.

Standing and waiting for the start.On your mark......

Get set.......GO!!!!!!!!

Snow Day

It's official. We had our first snow day of the year in Georgia today. I was shocked to be watching the news this morning and hear that Gwinnett County schools were closed. Just thought I'd share some pictures from my yard of what a snow day looks like in Georgia. Pretty serious stuff, don't ya think?

This is right by the side of the house in the shade. Look at all that SNOW!

A little bit of snow in my flower pot. Wow! It's just incredible.

A view from the front porch looking out onto the street. Look at all that white stuff piled up. The backyard view. It's going to take days before it all melts.

Blue and Gold

Only two more to go! Two more blue and gold banquets to go to for Easton and then I don't have anymore for the rest of my life! What an exciting time of life for us. Friday was Easton's first blue and gold banquet as a Cub scout. Oh, the sloppy joes and chips were fabulous and the skits were unusually funny. The awards ceremony went on without a hitch. But, I have to say the highlight of the evening was Easton winning second place in the cake decorating contest. We always seem to do well in this event (history will show that Dallin and Landon both took awards in previous contests) and really let the creativity flow. The theme was "America" so we chose to make a baseball hat cake--you know, baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet. Easton was thrilled with the event and had fun "helping" me design a cake. And I'll have you know that I didn't have a cake mix in the pantry and wasn't in the mood to go to the store so we actually made the cake from a recipe. It was way better than a box cake. Who knew? We weren't cake people growing up so we never ventured into that part of cooking. Actually, I'm still not a cake person.Easton shows off his second place ribbon. First place was a cake with a mountain range made out of rice krispies and other cute stuff.

Big News!

Drum roll please........Our house has officially been rented. Hallelujah!!!!!! We have to be out by April 1 so the mad dash to find a place is on. We'll keep you posted.

Hot Spot

"Move over."

"I was here first."

"I want the hot spot too." Oh, the hot spot. Every home has one. The favored spot on a cold morning. In our house the "spot" is behind the love seat in the family room over the heater. We have a bazillion heater vents in our home but I guess this one is the best. Every morning Easton lays on top of it and covers himself with a blanket. If it's a weekend the spot is used on a first come first serve basis by all of the boys. Words are exchanged and sometimes it is shared.

When living in Connecticut the hot spot was the kerosene heater in the kitchen or the hallway. Whenever the heater was blasting you could find at least one of the Homer kids warming their cold hands and toes. We would gather around and share time together. Even Mom would hang out with us. You could adjust the flame to make it really hot. I loved watching the flames dance in the glass. I have fond memories of my childhood "hot spot." It not only warmed my outsides, but my insides as well. My heart was warmed as time was spent together with siblings. We always stopped at the hot spot after coming in from a cold outing. Standing, warming, talking, rubbing hands together and laughing.


Growing older I still can appreciate the hot spot. I love watching my children cuddle in warmth--bonded by the heat. And my favorite hot spot now is when I steal Stephen's heating pad that he uses for his back. If he leaves it for a moment I capture it's warmth until he returns. Then he says I can use it if I need it. Knowing he will share his hot spot with me warms me up on the inside.

Ebony and Ivory

Landon and Dallin participated in a very interesting cultural experience yesterday. They were invited to participate with the Stake YM choir to perform at the Gwinnett United Ebony Society's annual Black History Month Reception. "Interesting" is the word that comes to mind to describe it. They sang a rousing version of Called to Serve and then Dallin sang a duet with one of the Elders in our ward. The people in the audience were dressed in colorful, bright outfits with hats, matching shoes, and JEWELRY!!! Lots of shouting and hallelujahs throughout the program could be heard. The pastor who was to give the opening prayer couldn't make it so they announced that Elder K would be giving the prayer. It was surprising to see a cute little blonde missionary walking to the podium to give the invocation. He started by saying how grateful we were to be meeting for this....blah, blah, blah. "AMEN! Uh huh!" Throughout the entire prayer comments were made by the audience. Elder K said a fabulous prayer and was very composed considering the fact that he isn't used to shouts of hallelujahs being called out why praying. From there it just got more interesting. I've included a picture of the keynote speaker--a loud, energetic preachers wife dressed from head to toe in black and gold! She was quite the woman and really got the crowd going!!!!! I kept watching the boys in the choir--their facial expressions were priceless. We enjoyed songs being sung by an all-black Baptist choir. The program was long and definitely an experience unlike anything I've ever been to. Nice that our boys had a missionary experience and helped to build bridges in the community.

Dallin warms up with Elder K.

The keynote speaker dressed in her finery!

Dallin and Landon getting ready to perform.

Ihop morning

Monday morning I suggested to Easton that he have blueberry waffles for breakfast. He agreed. I was in a creative mood and made Eggo waffles topped with blueberry syrup, whipping cream and fresh blueberries. What a treat for Easton! Well--that's the new breakfast trend for the week. Everyday Easton has had yummy blueberry waffles. Better than IHOP!

I have enough fresh blueberries to last until tomorrow. We'll have to come up with something new and exciting for next week. Maybe we can just go back to a basic bowl of oatmeal.

Here we come!

Piano practicing is done for Landon. Homework is done. Guitar practicing is done for Dallin. Now we are ready to watch American Idol!

Homework

Last night's homework for the evening was a little stressful. Easton was to write a paragraph for his spelling words--the topic was "Something you would wish for..." Well, as an adult things were just rolling through my brain. World peace, better economy, and a little closer to home--selling of the hoouse, Stephen's back getting all better, being together as a family and a little extra money can never hurt. Landon thought more money would be great or to wish for everything because then you just could have everything. For Easton this topic was just too much. He couldn't think of anything he wanted. We kept giving him ideas that we thought he would grab on to. Nothing. He was so frustrated and visibly upset. After an hour of stewing he finally settled on the topic of "not moving to Alabama". He just wanted to stay in Georgia. His supporting sentences included because I have lived here my whole life, because I know everybody, and because I have a good school. I had my eyes opened last night. Easton seems pretty content with life. He doesn't want. He is just happy with the way things are and that's good. Are we happy and content? What do you wish for?

Calm

There's a feeling in the air--strange. It's the feeling you get when there's a nasty storm brewing. The air is stale, no movement. No breeze. Nothing. A dimly lit sky hovers over the earth. A calm before the storm. You know it's coming. You wait and wait for it to hit.

I'm living in the calm of an eminent storm. I know it's coming. The signs are there. People come, at least two a week now. They wander through my home, scrutinizing everything. Analyzing colors, floor plans, the yard, the unfinished basement. Is the refrigerator staying with the house? The skies in my life are changing color. It's coming. And I'm finally ready.

Bring on the clouds, the rain, the lightning and hail. I'm ready to face the storm with umbrella in hand and my galoshes on. I'm prepared for the moment. The cupboards are clean, closets organized, garage neat. The weather's about to change around here. When the clouds burst and we begin to bustle around with energy I'll let you know. Right now--I'll just enjoy the peace and stillness and wait.

Life Lessons-Part II

There are so many lessons and "ah-ha" moments in life. Thought I'd share a few more lessons that I have experienced lately.

1. It's hard to get rid of your baby's clothes. Lately I have been scouring closets, drawers, and the basement for all unwanted and unused clothes that my children have worn during their short little lives. I used to find great joy and satisfaction putting Dallin and Landon's clothes that they had grown out of into a box to save for Easton to wear when big enough. It wasn't difficult to save the clothes. The difficulty now comes when the youngest child grows out of something. I hold the used items tenderly and stare at them--looking in the past for the memories attached with those gently used pieces of clothing. An old jacket played in, toe-scuffed Sunday shoes, tattered jeans that ran outside, cuddly Christmas jammies, a favorite cozy sweater. I hug them tight. I want to hang onto those pieces of clothing and never let them go. I want to put them in a box where I can save those memories and save the bits of childhood from my children that are disappearing more quickly than I want. It's been hard to let go of the tangible things from their lives. But I will now value my boxes of pictures even more--the memories will always be there and now, so will my clean closets!This is Easton's FAVORITE sweater right now--if it's clean he's wearing it. I can see Dallin in this also--he used his money to buy it from Old Navy. It was one of his favorites too!

2. Boys always leave random utensils in containers of food. I know this sounds a little strange but when you have boys around you will discover the truth of this little tidbit. I cannot count how many times I have opened a container of sugar, chocolate milk powder, peanut butter, or leftovers in the fridge and found a spoon or fork just sitting there. Just this morning I was sneaking a bite of leftover chocolate cake from Sunday dinner. I peeled off the shiny foil to reveal a large serving spoon! What's up with that?!? Surprise. Oh, and big boys do it too.

3. College is really expensive! Blessed be my Dad for helping me get through college financially. I had no idea how much college cost until I sent my daughter off to that place two thousand miles away. And it costs way more than just room and board, tuition and books. I knew it cost a little because I helped defray the costs with my 20 hour a week job. Thank goodness for that. But, seriously--it's shockingly expensive.

4. The rule is that you don't wash your Sunday glasses until Tuesday. I was wiping down the kitchen counters this morning getting things all spiffied up for all the house hunters that will be coming today (I wish) and noticed yesterday's goblets sitting there in a nice little neat row waiting to be washed. The entire kitchen was clean except for the glasses. It's so silly but they never seem to get their much needed hand washing until Tuesday. Why can't I do them on Sunday or Monday? How hard is it to actually get the soap out, fill the sink with water, run a clothe over them and set them to dry--or even dry them yourself and put them away. Maybe I'll try that next week. Right now I kind of enjoy knowing that I have something to look forward to on Tuesday.

5. You are not going to go to jail if you cut the tag off an appliance. Why do I always feel so guilty about cutting the government tag off an electrical cord? I stare at the one on my hair dryer every time I use it. I can almost repeat what it says from memory--"Do not remove this tag, under penalty of law". What does that even mean? Are the electrical cord tag police going to come knocking on my front door and arrest me if I take the scissors to it and remove it? Last week I cut the tag off my Kitchen Aid. Nobody arrested me. I felt empowered.

6. I shut the door when using the bathroom when I am home alone. Okay, I know this one's a little strange. I realized this morning that I do that. Do you do the same thing?