Sunday Questions

I started a new tradition with the kids recently when I
acquired a new blank journal. I have started doing interview questions with them on Sundays, and I record the conversations (mostly in question/answer form) in the journal. I thought you might like reading some of our entries. Tonight's questions were about me, Mom.

1) What is something your mom always says to you?
"Good job." (Shark), "I love you" (Didi), and "To always do your chores" (Goldie).

2) What makes your mom happy?
"Me cleaning my room without whining" (Shark), "A clean house" (Didi), "Saying nice things to her, and always doing our chores" (Goldie).

3) Where does your mom spend most of her money?
"On us kids" (Shark), "At the grocery store" (Didi), "Tithing" (Goldie).

4) How tall is your mom? [actual height: 5' 5"]
"Five foot nine or Five foot six" (Shark), "Um, really tall" (Didi), "About 15 feet" (Goldie).

5) If your mom was a cartoon character, who would she be?"
"Some smurf person" (Shark), "Ariel" (Didi), "Spongebob" (Goldie).

6) What is something your mom does that you wish she would do more often?
"Buy more video games for me" (Shark), "Hugs & kisses" (Didi), "Play games and paint with me, all the time" (Goldie).

7) What makes you proud of your mom?
"Her just plain loving us" (Shark), "She makes really good cards, and cleans the kitchen really well" (Didi), "Playing playdough with me when I had a blister on my finger" (Goldie).

8) What did your mom learn about in college?
"I have no clue" (Shark), "racquetball" (Didi), "writing and coloring and keeping the peace...and lots of good stuff" (Goldie).

bonus questions, from a previous week...

1) If I gave you 50 cents, what would you buy?
Shark: "First I would do tithing. And I don't know how much it costs, but if it's 50 cents, I'd get Bertie Botts' Every Flavor Beans".
Didi: "Something really cool. Some bubble gum, or a squishy, spikey toy."
Goldie: "Um, pay 50-hundred dollars back...[giggles...but seriously...] "a ballerina toy".

2) If I gave you $500, what would you buy?
Shark: "First, a Gameboy D.S., and a car. Maybe a Z06 corvette".
Didi: "Some yummy food, or some nice toys at the store. Maybe a Snoopie, or Webkinz."
Goldie: "A fancy pair of shoes, a fancy dress, and a snow globe".

3) If I gave you all the money in the world, what would you do?
Shark: "First, I'd pay tithing. Second, I'd buy 100 mansions, a ferari, 400 bookstores, and libraries. And the rest, I'd give to poor people."
Didi: "Share it with my family and some of my friends, so we could buy things we need."
Goldie: "I would get a pink jewel that's shaped like a pink ectagon." [that's right, ectagon, not octagon. She was sure about the shape] : )

Made me smile...

Here are 4 cute things that my kids have done lately. They aren't necessarily "ha ha" funny, but they're things that have made me smile. TOOTIE: doesn't eat baby food anymore, but likes very few foods. He won't eat a lot of things that I thought most toddlers would like: no macaroni or any kind of noodles (too squishy--and it's fun to watch him squish them with his pointer finger in disapproval), no Cheerios, no cheddar cheese... I think it's funny though some of the things that that he does love to eat: bran flakes (plain, dry), and his favorite seems to be whole green beans. Only if they're fresh or frozen though (and cooked), no canned beans for him (too squishy). He doesn't like cooked peas (what kids do?), because they squish. Today though I discovered how to get him to eat peas--if I give them to him frozen, straight from the freezer, they crunch, and he loved them! He kept coming back for more. Hooray for eating more vegetables!   GOLDIE frequently asks if the things she sees on TV and hears about in stories are real (dinosaurs, vampires, monsters, cartoon characters, etc.). The other day she asked if the actors in Ghost Whisperer were real people. I said "yes, those are real people". Goldie demonstrated her understanding when she explained to the rest of us, "Heavenly Father saw these people in the show and he thought they looked really good, so he decided to make some real people who looked just like these guys". Huh? In other words, Heavenly Father must watch TV, because when he sees actors that he likes the looks of, he'll decide he should make some real people to be in the world that look just like those in the show. Oh, so that's where He gets his ideas from! DIDI: Yesterday she was told that when she turns 8, she'll be challenged in her Activity Days group to start memorizing the Articles of Faith. She came home and memorized articles 1-4 that afternoon! Great job! And onemore thing...DIDI has turned out to be quite the hopeless romantic, just like her mom. She gets giddy whenever Edward Cullen's name comes up anywhere (even though she doesn't know anything about him except that I get excited about the books and the movie), and she loves to watch kissing scenes in movies, just like her mom. I didn't realize that would be one set of footsteps I'd be leaving for my girls to follow...oh well! SHARK: In a primary meeting yesterday the question was posed by a bishopric member, "why do we get baptized?" Other kids gave answers such as, "because it's a commandment", "so our sins can get washed away", etc. "Anything else?" they asked...SHARK raised his hand and offered the following additional insight: "So our transgressions can dissipate". The other bishopric member grinned and commented, "you're blowing me away, Shark. 'Dissipate'? I'm going to have to get my dictionary out!" I laughed and laughed.

I'm singin' in the rain

Here's an excerpt from a letter I just wrote to my friend. I thought you might like to read it too. ...Did you all know I am taking voice lessons again? I love it. I am only taking once a month, because that's all I can do right now,, but it's ok at my level of experience. My accompanist is a friend of mine, and she said I should pay her in cards! How cool she is.

(So, how is your singing practice going?)-- I think singing practice is going really well, thank you! I'm enjoying it. I think it would be nice if I could meet with my teacher more often, but... I've been practicing 2-4 hours a week anyway, and I love the improvement I'm feeling.

Did I tell you that I've joined another choir?  I heard about them recruiting new members for a performance they have coming up; they're going to perform Handel's Messiah in April! I love singing that music so much, and am so excited about the concept of doing it for Easter instead of just Christmas, I just had to be a part of their
group. I was fortunate that their rehearsals (Sundays from 4-6) and concert time (April 2) were times that I could manage. I recruited some members from our ward choir, too. It's a small group of only about 30 members, and I really like the director a lot, and that's one of the most important things for me. The Symphony Chorus that I'm in is also now getting ready for a May concert, starting this week, so from now through April 2nd I'll be rehearsing with two groups.

I have been selected to be the soloist to sing "Rejoice Greatly Oh Daughter of Zion" in the Messiah concert, which in my opinion is THE soprano solo of the whole work, which makes me feel super cool. Woohoo! For my Symphony Chorus concert I don't have any solos, but the morning after that concert in May, I am driving down for one more concert in California with my old choir, where I will be the featured soloist in the song "Weepin' Mary", which my husband arranged for orchestra, solo soprano, and chorus. It's my favorite song to sing. That is going to be a super fun concert, too. I am learning all of their music on my own so I can join their choir too (not just for Weepin' Mary). We're doing almost all John Rutter and Mack Wilberg music (won't it be great if Mack is there? I know he and the director of the CA choir are good friends). I'm so excited that I get to go. Did I tell you that a friend of mine here has agreed to go with me (and will be bringing one of her kids, one of Sharky's buddies), just so that I can make the drive and not be on my own? I'm so grateful to her. I'm definitely having a great time with singing, and have so much fun stuff coming up.

I'll write more in a separate letter. I have extra time to write today because I'm home from church with one sick kid (Didi), one kid who pretended to be sick to get out of going to church (Goldie), and one baby who will be happy to get his nap on time since we're letting him skip too (Tootie) : ).

Love!

Jenna