Illumination

I enjoy learning. Life is all about learning. Every day I learn new things that I did not know before. Lately, I have begun to focus more on my education. I will likely start taking classes again in the near future, especially since all of my children will be in full-time school next year. But for now, I am focusing on ways to educate myself, by branching outside of my normal realm of taking in information. 

One of the reasons I am doing this, is because of a blessing I received from my dad. I was basically told to step outside of the comfort zones, of my own educational habits. I need to "shake-up" my brain like a game of Boggle, allowing new words [new ideas] to fall into place, from the alphabetic [information] collision. I need to resurrect brain cells, that have long been decaying, in the graveyard inside of my cranium. 

This little brain of mine, needs a wax and shine. 

I explained it more, in a Facebook post on the Widow/ers site... 

I am so grateful for guidance directly from the Lord. I had Sammi write down my blessing, so I can remember what I am supposed to do, as it was a very specific blessing, directing the course of my future. Meanwhile, I am supposed to focus on stretching my logical mind, and my imagination. I have actually enjoyed reading novels, and playing logic games. I suppose I just needed to know that such things are good for me, personally. We are on this Earth to stretch and grow, and I am always open to improvement and edification, if it makes sense to me. So, if you need me, I will have my face in a book, or I will be trying to get a higher score on my brain games. Ha! 

I have a lot of thoughts right now, but how about we just get down to some pictures... 

Here is Henry ready to color some eggs for Easter. 

We got a new bunny. He is the best pet! He does not bark, or bite, and he mostly stays in his little cage. He gets to hop around, and be held a lot. I mentioned this in a comment, and yes, we did give our dog back to the breeder to find a new home. The puppy was too much for our family right now. The stress from the destruction in her wake, was starting to make our whole family crazy. We can handle a bunny though. And William loves animals, so we had to find a furry compromise.

Sammi enjoying the bunny on his first day in our home.

Easter time!

He is a dwarf bunny, and will always be very small. We are still trying to settle on a name. I call him Chicken Nugget.

Some sweet friends brought over flowers on April 1st, to remember the day Charles went to Heaven.

Have you ever colored in the color therapy books? It is pretty therapeutic!

I took the kids on a walk/run up the foothills for FHE a couple weeks ago. It was so beautiful up there. A little cold, but we stayed warm by moving.

The sunset was worth it.

We still have to push Henry in a jogger stroller when we go running as a family. He is the only one who can't quite keep up. He gets out sometimes and runs with us.

Sammi Sunshine.

The flower trees smelled SO GOOD. I made everyone stop and inhale the intoxicating smell. It is really such a magical aroma.

Isn't van Ormer such a cool last name? I love trying to explain how to write it out, and often the "van" part is left off, and people think our last name is just Ormer. The name "van Ormer" is with a little "v," a space between the "van" and the "Ormer," and it is a big "O." But sometimes, even I smash it all together, and capitalize it. I do love the last name, however, it has given me some trouble when looking for van Ormer ancestors. I am still not sure where the van Ormer line originated from? I think there was a family name change somewhere along the way. I am hoping my children -- who are direct descendants -- will be more inspired to break through that wall, and find some answers.

I just love going out and walking around with my family.

William started with Safety Patrol at school. He really wanted to do it, and so far, he has enjoyed it. He enjoys helping people across the crosswalk. The school parking lot is perhaps my least favorite time of day. That place is a zoo. I am going to avoid it next year, but this year Henry is in Kindergarten, so I have to go right to the door to pick him up.

I am trying to get my backyard in order for summertime. I love to have lights, tiki torches, and some jazz music, and I create a little haven for summer nights. I love summer nights! Notice my new hammock under the tree... this is my new pondering place. So far, I have gone there to read, and fallen asleep twice. It was heavenly sleep. Maybe I will ditch my bed, and replace it with a hammock. The leaves are just starting to come out on the tree.

Here is an example of the brain games I have been playing, on an App called Lumosity.

Sammi is getting ready for Prom. She put the word out on our ward Facebook page, and so many people offered to help find her a dress from their closets. A few people even gave her dresses to keep! She is going with the blue one for this Prom, and saving the pink one for when we have some time to add sleeves, or find the right covering for the top, to make it modest. Sammi has always been really good and easy with modesty, and I am grateful.

Sammi is also in full crazy-town mode as a junior preparing for college. All of the college-prep begins in the junior year. She just took her big SAT test today, and she is exhausted from it. She is my first child, so I am learning the ropes with her on how to handle letting a child grow, and fly away into the big world. It is not an easy transition, and, of course, made harder since she is my only girl, and I will miss her like crazy when she is no longer living at home.

It is also hard to come up with rules on my own, as a mother. With teenagers, there are times where hard choices need to be made with dating, driving, dances, etc. Yes, there are church guidelines on some things, but then there are the finer details that are not written. And that is where I rely on guidance and inspiration from God to help me know what to do. Personal inspiration is required for individual families, and individual family members. I absolutely need the guidance of God to guide my family, and HIS children.

It would be nice to have Charles around to counsel with, and make decisions with. Because around here, I am the master of the house, and what I say is law, no questions asked. (OK, maybe I allow for some law-questioning, if the questioning makes me realize I was wrong.) But, there is no going to dad, with puppy-dog eyes, begging for a better solution. Puppy-dog eyes don't work on me. No sir. I am immune to such displays of dog-baby tactics. (Except when it comes to Henry. Henry has this way of bending my will to his, with his smile. He is the baby of the family, and you know that is a tremendous advantage to him, when it comes to persuasion.)

Anyway, being a mom is hard. I love it. But it is hard sometimes. Don't ever let anyone tell you motherhood is not hard. It is crazy hard. And crazy good, too. But there is a lot of crazy involved, make no mistake about that!

Motherhood is managing madness, marinated in maternal-love; the maternal-love marination, makes the madness of Motherhood mostly manageable.

Say that 10 times fast. :)

April showers...

We have been doing a little painting in our home. And we have been dejunking and getting things in order. I have been watching the show Fixer Upper, and it makes me feel like I should rip my walls down, and paint every room. On one of their shows, they said they turn, "Crappy into Happy," and that is what we did with the boys room. (I was wondering where all the spoons went... I found them. In their room?)

William helped pick the color (with some guidance). The color turned out really nice, better than I expected! William helped with all the painting, and we all helped with the room cleaning, because the boys room was a little out of control with too many toys, and extra things. (Spoons?) Sammi also painted her room, but she is still putting that back together. I do need to tackle a very high stairway, and so I need to get the proper tools before attempting that. Thank goodness for Youtube videos, that show you how to fix almost anything!

We played Apples to Apples. The game can be pretty fun. Henry ended up putting in random cards, and he was often the winner. I am normally pretty good at this game, but I was dealt a bad hand. Apparently, the good cards were in Henry's hands.

We found another use for the paint roller... it works pretty well as a back massage tool!

Henry and I fell asleep in the hammock, on Sunday afternoon. I carefully got out from under him, and he was so cute in his little cocoon.

It is really hard to capture the bunny's cuteness in a picture. But, really, he is so small and adorable. The only downside to owning a bunny is cleaning the cage, but that responsibility falls to William, since it is "his bunny."

Sunday sleep.

My windshield was hit by a rock, kicked up by a Semi-truck. It was on the way back to Idaho, from my last Utah trip. It created a crack, so I had to have the windshield replaced. Aargh.

It was fun watching the guy remove my windshield, and then he put on a new one, right in front of my house.

Just enjoying the sunshine.

Hooray for spring!

I love the beauty all around.

A few weeks ago, we went to Utah to see my parents, after they returned from their mission in Boston. During that trip, we also went to see, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." Daniel and I went to see it before, when we were in Utah another time, but I just had to take the rest of the family too! The music is so powerful, and we all loved every minute of it. Even Henry sat through it, and enjoyed it. But he had seen the Disney movie a bunch of times, so he knew the story. And the music is played and sung daily in our house.

Sammi was SUPER excited.

A couple of happy kiddos.

The new Hale Theater in Utah, is a really beautiful place.

We went to visit Nan, where we played games, and we listened to recordings of my Grandpa singing. He had a radio show in Utah back in the day. He had a very beautiful voice, and was a talented pianist. It was so sweet to watch Nan listen to her husband's voice.

Four generations.

Nan's Easter decorations. This area is set up for every holiday, because, well, she is Nan.

One of her coloring creations. Nan is most certainly a Child of God. I believe that Nan must be one of God's favorite children. ;)

Nan and some great-grandchildren.

Random dinnertime at my brother's house.

Something was funny?

These two cute boys love playing together.

I think Henry enjoys having a friend smaller than him.

Hugs before going home to Idaho.

Another picture with the bunny.

Another FB Post...

And this... this illuminated tree is glorious, and right in front of my house. The only trouble is it only stays pink for a little more than a week, and then the wind blows all the beautiful blossoms away. I wish it would stay pink and smell sweet all summer. I often go outside at night, just to inhale the smell. The other night it had rained just a little. The rain fell gently, kissing the blossoms, creating a paradisiacal perfume. The mixture of rain and blossom, blended a fragrance worthy of adorning the angels who inhabit the hills of Heaven.