A Tale of Three Hymns

As you may remember, I'm the primary music leader in my ward (for those not familiar with my religious vernacular, I teach music to the children at church) (my qualifications for this job are: none). The Come Follow Me - for Primary manual suggested singing "How Great Thou Art" as part of the lesson this week, so today for singing time, I taught it to the kids.

They LOVED it!

They were rowdy as heck, but when they sang that song, they sounded better than... well... pretty much any other time I've had them sing. I even had one kid raise his hand and ask if he could sing the chorus as a solo (I'm still trying to decide whether he was serious). It kind of makes me hope that some of them will someday say, "I love the song 'How Great Thou Art.' I learned it in primary!"

We'll see...

Anyway, I, for one, have always loved "How Great Thou Art," which got me thinking about some of the other hymns that I really like. I don't have a "favorite" hymn, but I have a few contenders. Here are a few hymns that are dear to me, and some of the reasons why.

The first is "I Need Thee Every Hour." 

I really started to develop a love for the hymns when I was in seminary. My first year of seminary, I had a teacher who was a musical prodigy. He was the first person I ever saw play a piano like this:

Jon Schmidt - not my seminary teacher

(but I wouldn't have complained if he had been)

Since my teacher played the piano so well, we always had superb accompaniment for all the hymns we sang in class (we also had some pretty amazing improvised musical numbers based on popular songs, such as "I Want You Baptized"-  an impromptu parody of "I Want You Back" by NSYNC. OUr teacher could sit down at the piano and play anything. Oh to have that gift!) 

After that year, all of my seminary teachers were non-musical and depended on the students to play the piano. Most of the piano players in my classes stuck to the simplest hymns, and that put "I Need Thee Every Hour" in the regular rotation. At first it was just any old song to me, but as I sang it more often and started memorizing it through repetition, the words started to mean more to me. Then as I grew into adulthood and started facing new adversities and learning more about the Atonement, I began to better understand the sentiment of needing the Savior every hour. 

Favorite lines:

I need the every hour, stay thou nearby. 

Temptations lose their pow'r when thou art nigh.

"In Humility Our Savior" is my favorite sacrament hymn. I don't have an experience or story to go along with this one. It just grew on me over time. I’ve always liked the harmony in this hymn. When we sing it in sacrament meeting, I'm all...

Favorite lines:

Fill our hearts with sweet forgiving;

Teach us tolerance and love.

Let our prayers find access to thee

In thy holy courts above.

I also really like “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,” which is where the melody for “In Humility Our Savior” comes from. I once had the opportunity to sing it in a choir for stake conference.

Another hymn I love is "Abide with Me; 'Tis Eventide." 

The first time I heard this song, I was at my grandparents' house during General Conference. Several members of my extended family were there watching. My grandpa kept nodding off and snoring pretty loud, which gave everyone a good chuckle. Then the Tabernacle Choir began singing, "Abide with Me; 'Tis Eventide," and my grandpa began singing along with them in his sleep but eventually roused enough to think he'd been awake the whole time and finished the performance. 

I confess, my first time hearing the song, I thought, "Wow, this is nice and boring," but I could tell from my grandpa's singing that he really loved that hymn. From that point on, I thought of it as my grandpa's hymn.

Then when I was in my twenties, I had a difficult experience with my employment, and I was considering quitting my job. It was a really hard choice to make, and I struggled with it for weeks. Finally, one night, I was on my knees trying to pray about it, but I had no words. I didn't know what to ask for. So I just stayed on my knees crying and sang, "Abide with Me; 'Tis Eventide" in my head because that's what came to it. It was all I could do. 

It's been a very tender and special hymn to me ever since. 

(The next morning I walked into work and quit my job. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done. Three months later, I started a new job that was an absolute joy and blessing to me, and I believe the hand of the Lord was very present in getting me that position). 

Favorite lines:

Abide with me, 'tis eventide. 

Thy walk today with me 

Has made my heart within me burn 

As I communed with thee.

There are many more hymns I love, but these are some of my tops. I'm always excited when I get to church, and there's a song I love on the program.

Music... it is good.

Things from the Past Week That Made Me...

Happy: doing laundry in my new high-capacity washer. I used to have to do 18 loads a week to stay on top of our laundry (it rarely happened). Now I only have to do 9! Same amount of laundry; significantly less time.

Terrified: when I opened my oven and a Pyrex dish exploded at me. I was baking some butternut squash to make Tomato Bisque, and things went awry.

Grossed out: when Zoe puked all over the kitchen floor at my in-laws' house.

Confused: watching hair tutorials. My mind can't make sense of them. There are some braids I've been wanting to learn for years (having three daughters and all), but I can't comprehend hair tutorials. Example.

Mad: when I'm trying to play Solitaire on my phone, and an ad comes up that never has an X to close it. I have to close out the app entirely to get it to go away. Grumble, grumble.

Laugh: Eva loudly yelling 'penis' in her sweet, little voice repeatedly on Saturday night. Scotty and I had to control ourselves as we explained to her that she can't yell 'penis,' but as soon as we were in a different room, we both lost it.

Eva: Comedienne Extraordinaire  

Inspired: finishing the Book of Mormon again over the weekend.

Cozy: wrapping my cold feet in my favorite heating pad.

Rejoice: a bowl of vanilla ice cream with berries on top. You know when you eat something, and it's, like, ten times better than you imagined? That was my bowl of ice cream.

Tired: running the kids around from place to place. Sitting in the driver's seat for hours on end is exhausting. Wednesday is my biggest "run around" day, so Thursday is usually a welcome respite.

Geek out: playing back to back games of Wingspan against Scotty and Nicky and then watching a few episodes of Lost  wherein we learn the fates of the Oceanic Six.

A little Sayid humor for you

Valentine's Day Re-Cap

My kids didn't have school on Friday, which meant we had to got to spend Valentine's Day together. Sometimes when my kids are out of school, I attack the day like I'd attack a teriyaki char burger from The Habit. Other times, I lock myself in my room while my kids spend all day fighting, Then when Scotty gets home, I take out all my parenting angst on him.

On Friday, I took the teriyaki char burger approach.

I took my kids out in public and everything!

But first, let me tell you about my tragic Valentine's Day accident. I had good intentions of staying up late Thursday night and decorating my kids' bedroom doors with hearts and loving messages. I also had some fun heart-shaped balloons I wanted to blow up and scatter around the living room floor.

Well... I forgot.

So Friday morning at 6:30 after I got back from my morning walk, I was trying to discreetly blow up balloons in my bedroom. The balloons looked best when they were blown up as big as possible, therefore, maintaining their heart shape. As I was working on a balloon, I grew confident that I could put just a little more air in it.

Yeah... it popped. It made a loud BOOM! which woke up all my kids. The balloon whacked me in the face and snapped both my eyeballs. I fell over backwards on my bed and notified Scotty that I was going to die. It hurt for about five minutes, but I maintained my vision, so there's hope for me yet.

A little later in the morning, we went to the Church History Museum to check out the new children's exhibit "Temples Dot the Earth."

It's really cute. The Church History Museum is free, so keep that in mind if you live nearby and need something to do with the family. 

From there we walked over to Scotty's work for lunch. The cafeteria was giving away free chocolate-covered strawberries, so my girls were ecstatic. We also got free drinks and free fruit. As we were finishing up our lunch, a senior sister missionary came up to our table and insisted on buying ice cream for the kids. It warmed my heart and made me laugh. "I'm a grandma, so I need to buy these kids some ice cream!" she said. 

After lunch the kids wanted to go to the Disney Store, so we walked over to City Creek and scoped out the Disney merch. Then we went to Claire's where they were doing a big clearance clean-out, so I let the girls each pick out six items to buy. 

By the time we left the mall, it was 2:30 in the afternoon, and I was pleased that we'd stayed busy enough to waste a typical Friday's worth of school time (Nicky gets out at 12:30 on Fridays, and my girls get out at 1:15). 

On the way home, I stopped at the mailbox and found this gem from my friend Lynsie. 

For my best bosom buddy -

Q: What did one saggy boobie say to the other saggy boobie?

A: If we don't get some support soon, people will think we're nuts!

Stay lifted and toned my friend!

And that is how Lynsie won Valentine's Day. 

When we got home, I let my kids watch some TV while I read a book for a few minutes. Then I had my kids decorate some foam hearts (the ones I was going to decorate their doors with), and we went to my mother-in-law's house to "heart attack" her front door. I knew she was home, and I knew she'd catch us, so I texted her beforehand and told her to ignore us. That way my kids could enjoy the illusion of completing a "secret surprise." We even did an elaborate getaway where I drove the van away as fast as I could with the door still open. The kids bought it! They think we are sneaky as can be!

When we got home, I made some mashed potatoes to take to my mom's house. My mom hosted Valentine's Day dinner with my brothers. I had my first experience with crab legs. 

My verdict: I can't work that hard for food!

Scotty says that if we ever have crab again, he'll do the work for me. Now that's true love! 

We had a great day full of love and fun activities. 

Then I remembered that my kids still had three days home from school (insert distressed emoji face). 

Love Questions

Since tomorrow is Valentine's Day, I thought I'd pay tribute to MY LOVE (that's Scotty - just to be clear) with a couple's questionnaire.

----------

How did you meet? We met at church. More specifically, youth conference. I was 12, and he was 15. Our ward went to a ropes course, and we were in the same group. Scotty didn't really catch my eye, though, until I was a much older and wiser 14. Red more here.

Who was interested first? I would say me.

What was your first date? We went to a restaurant called Pardners (now closed) for Scotty's high school graduation. His mom and step-dad took us. Does that count as a real date? Probably not. But in our upbringing, we were discouraged from dating before age 16, and I was only 15, so therefore... parents. Haha! Then we went to Scotty's house and watched Summer of the Monkeys. Which is a movie I never in my life would have picked to watch (now I have a long list of such movies that my mother-in-law has made me watch throughout the years).

How long have you been married? Almost 17 years.

May 9, 2003

Who said 'I love you' first? He did.

Who is taller? Scotty is 6'2" and I am 5'7".

Who is more impatient? Me.

Our first Christmas (married)

Who is more sensitive? Me.

Who's louder? I don't think either of us is very loud.

Who's more stubborn? Me again.

Who falls asleep first? Scotty. No question.

Halloween Two Thousand Something

Who wakes up first? We alternate.

Did you go to the same high school? Yes, but not at the same time.

Where do you eat out most as a couple? Probably Thai Delight and Red Robin.

Where is the farthest you have traveled as a couple? Eastern Caribbean on our honeymoon.

One of many Disneyland adventures

Who is more social? We are probably equal, but we socialize in different ways. I do more organized socializing while Scotty is more social with servers, cashiers, etc.

Who is more competitive? We are different in the ways that we are competitive, but we are equal in the amount of competitiveness. The worst disagreements of our marriage have involved board games.

Who is the neat freak? None of the above. We are not neat freaks at all.

Who hogs the bed? Scotty and his gigantic body pillow! (He will argue this. He is wrong).

2012

Who does the laundry? I do 75%, he does 25%.

Who drives when you are together? Scotty. He's a control freak when it comes to driving.

Who is the first to admit they are wrong? I'm never wrong, so this question is non-applicable.

Me doing my "I'm never wrong" jig

Happy Valentine's Day, my friends!

I would pay someone to bring me ice water in bed right now (and ten other random facts)

Fact #1: This week has been really busy. The "B" word. Eek! But really, there has been a lot going on this week. Some of my obligations wrapped up today, so Friday is going to be pretty chill. I'm looking forward to it. But Saturday and Sunday are going to be pretty packed with things. Good things, but things nonetheless.

Fact #2: This morning I stabbed myself in the finger with an exacto knife. It was a brand new blade and sharp as can be, so it went through my skin quickly and precisely. The puncture was really tiny, but it was deep, and it bled a lot.

Fact #3: I was using the exacto knife to cut out a cardboard detective I made for White Ribbon Week at the elementary school.

Fact #4: Scotty seems to believe that I cut myself a lot.

Scotty might be right. But don't tell him that.

Fact #5: Zoe's dentist appointment went okay on Tuesday. She had six teeth pulled, and her mouth bled for the rest of the day (some of which ended up on my throw pillows). Bleeding from the mouth was a little traumatizing for her and for me because it brought back some anxieties from when her tonsils hemorrhaged, but by Wednesday, everything was great! The cash from the tooth fairy definitely helped Zoe in her recovery!

Zoe in a post-sedation haze

Fact #6: On Monday we got quite a bit of snow here. Many school districts called for a snow day. Our district didn't, but they did call for a two-hour late start and didn't take attendance. 

We were mean and made our kids go to school. Scotty was able to work from home, so he did all the driving in the truck. Otherwise I would have kept the kids home.

Fact #7: The power went out at Nicky's school shortly after he arrived, so Scotty went back and got him and our two neighbor girls. Daisy and Zoe stayed at school all day. There was an average of five kids per class. Preschool was canceled for Eva.

Fact #8: After school there was plenty of time to play in the snow.

Workouts for dads

Fact #9: My friend Christie's birthday was a few weeks ago. In trying to find her a birthday gift, I stumbled across a Fat Thor pin on etsy. Christie loves Chris Hemsworth. Actually, "loves" isn't a strong enough word. There might not be a word for what Christie feels toward Chris Hemsworth. When we went to see Endgame, and it showed Thor having "let himself go," Christie grabbed my arm and didn't release her death grip for about ten minutes. She was laughing so hard that after the movie, the people down the row from us stopped us and told us how they couldn't stop laughing at Christie. 

So, of course, I had to get her the Fat Thor pin. 

Fact #10: But just to make it all the more fun, I spent a week collecting all the pieces I would need to dress up like Fat Thor and meet Christie at Cafe Rio for lunch. 

I sat in my car waiting for Christie to arrive... lookin' all fine... like this:

Nothin' weird going on here

Then when Christie pulled in the parking lot, I jumped out of the car and struck my best Thor pose... 

...and she didn't even look at me!

So I had to run across the parking lot to find her. 

Good times. Now let me know if you need to borrow my beard or my belly. 

Currently {February 2020 Edition}

Reading: The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow. I'm about 50 pages in. I'm having a hard time getting into it, but I try to give books at least 100 pages, so there's still time.

Listening to: The Book of Mormon off and on. I am aiming to finish it again by the end of February to earn an Honor Bee before they are obsolete. I alternate between reading my physical copy, reading on my phone, and listening to the audio. I do whatever works best for my schedule each day. 

Eating: Chick-Fil-A. There has been an abundance of free food offerings in recent weeks that I just can't refuse. Give me all the chickens!

Buying: A couch for the basement. This is big news! The purchase has been made, and the couch is on the premises. However, the basement is not done. We had to buy the couch though, because it's from Costco, and we had to get it while they had it in stock.

Watching: Veronica Mars (second time).

Singing: "Lost in the Woods" from Frozen II. It just cracks me up - Kristoff channeling his inner Chicago.

Stressing about: nothing right this moment because I'm ahead of this week's projects. However, that could change at any moment. In fact, it will change any moment because I'm pushing the limits on getting up and getting ready today (it's 6:43 a.m). I need to pack Nicky's lunch for school, and he leaves in a few minutes. Then I have to get all the girls ready and head out early to drop Daisy and Eva off to other people so I can take Zoe to the dentist to have six teeth pulled.

Ok. I'm stressed now.

Craving: nothing. That's weird.

Playing: Minesweeper. Scotty downloaded it on his phone which made me want to download it on my phone, and now I'm reliving my childhood in the best of ways. I am also loving my new board game, Wingspan.

Annoyed by: my kids. I love them so much, but they annoy the heck out of me.

Excited for: this.

Dreading: the time it takes for Zoe's sedation to kick in before she has her teeth pulled. Oi! I am paying the extra money for sedation since she had so much trauma with her tonsils. I feel horrible that she has to have more work done in the mouth. We have to get those teeth out, though. I've post-poned it too long.

Grateful for: shelter, food, and transportation.

(Pretend I included some fun pictures and gifs. Gotta go!)

The Kids Right Now

Nicky

Nicky pays the price for photobombing Zoe's 

picture at Midway Mania

• Just turned 13
• Is the most polite basketball player of all time (including giving the ball back to the other team after stealing and saying, "Oh, I'm sorry. Here you go!)
• Is the same height as me (5'7") and checks everyday to see if he's passed me up (be patient, boy. It will happen)
• Has an obsession with what he calls "groovy music" and is always playing
• "Let's Groove" by Earth, Wind, and Fire
• "I Want You Back" by the Jackson 5
• "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benatar
• Loves playing "Just Dance" and will play for hours if allowed (and I allow since it's physical activity)
• Doesn't seem to share a lot of interests with his peers, which is fine, but I worry about him not having friends or feeling like he's part of a community
• Continues to think he is our financial adviser and is constantly making commentary about how much things cost and whether we should be spending money (it drives us crazy)
• Is learning some of our more intricate board games and catching on pretty well. He even gives us a legit competition 
• Seems to be enjoying studying the Book of Mormon as a family this year. He and I have had some great discussions
• Has done very well to independently handle his school responsibilities 
• Draws very clever comics (I got him a blank comic book for Christmas, and it's so fun to see what he comes up with)

Daisy

Daisy has reached the "can't take a serious photo" 

phase of growing up

• Is 10 years old
• Sings all the time (sometimes this is how I find her in public bathrooms)
• Got to go skiing for school (a perk of being a 4th grader)
• Worries a lot and asks tons of questions
• Wants to take over my church calling (I always have to remind her that I am the music leader and she is not)
• Is a really good student. Her teachers have always said she stays on task and is kind to everyone (complete opposite of how she is at home)
• Thrives when she's in charge
• Is always gushing about how "cute" things are, especially animals

Zoe

Zoe living her best life 

• Is 7 years old
• Gets to go to primary activities now and absolutely loves it
• Is back in speech therapy and enjoys the one-on-one attention
• Is obsessed with penguins
• Won't say prayers or read scriptures with us but writes "I love Jesus" everywhere
• Has been behind in her reading skills but made some great progress this past week as something finally clicked!
• Set a goal (for primary) to read 100 books and is on 22
• Loves strawberries and Nutella
• Really enjoys first grade and gets very excited about things she gets to do at school
• Needs a lot of orthodontia (which I keep putting off because she is still traumatized from her tonsils. Ain't no one going near that mouth without a fight) (we are going with the most conservative care plan possible for her circumstances, but it will still be intense)
• Lets me do her hair sometimes but usually undoes it as soon as she gets to school
• Asks all the time if she can take ice skating lessons

A portion of Zoe's penguin collection

Eva

Oh yes, she's sassy!

• Is 4 years old
• Asks everyday if it's her birthday (it's going to be a long three months)
• Asks all day long if she can watch YouTube (the bane of modern-day parenting)
• Gets away with so much because she is the youngest (I truly believed I would never treat my kids differently based on their birth order. Ha!)
• Never eats her dinner (or any other food we prepare for her)
• Drinks way too much milk
• Is very cranky after school
• Has really long hair