Dollar Bills on the Door: An Advent Assessment

So, I thought I'd bring a little dose or reality and a little closure to my previous post of our Christmas advent plan.  Keep in mind that I'm dealing with 2 teenagers. . . enough said right?  Anyway, more often than not, my kid's doors would look like this:

After a while of letting things build up, they'd disappear.  I'm really praying they weren't lying to me and that none of the bills lined their own wallets. 😏 But they did report on how they used their door-dollars.  Giving away included purchasing toys to be donated to operation home front, surprising a little girl at the grocery store with a dollar bill, leaving them on windshields of cars and giving money to local homeless individuals.  

At the end, they'd both saved up a bunch that we planned to donate at the Light The World vending machines on temple square, but they were all closed/out-of-order that day, so the money went to help a homeless pet owner, and a homeless woman reportedly suffering from Crohn's (wow - what a horrid combination). 

Even if they didn't have life-changing experiences with the dollar-bill-on-the-door experiment, it at least made me conscious of how I was choosing to help and serve every morning as I taped the bills to my kiddo's doors.  Did we change the world?  Nah.  Did it give miraculous, life-changing help to someone?  Probably not.  But it did soften my heart and alter my perspective, and it was a memorable way to anticipate the celebration of Jesus Christ - He who gave all.  

I'd love to hear how any of your experiments turned out!

Dollar Bills on the Door: An Advent Experiment

Like a lot of folks, we have tried all sorts of Advent calendar activities.  Through the years, we've tried all sorts of festive countdowns:

• We've had the small treat or gift each day that rotates through the family members.  
• We've read a scripture about Christ each day.  
• We've read an inspirational Christmas story every day.
• We've donated small gifts to a neighbor in need of a little TLC.

And yet, as my kids are in the teenage phase of life, I wonder if I've failed to raise my children to be generous, giving adults.  Fingers still crossed as I remind myself that teenagers aren't fully baked yet. Man parenting is a recurring act of faith!  And so with those thoughts percolating in my head as Thanksgiving approached, I had an idea.

Everyday from December 1st to the 24th, I will tape a $1 bill to the door of my kid's bedrooms.  The first day will also contain this note:

Our advent activity this year will be an individual experience in giving.  Every morning you will find a $1 bill taped to your door.  This money does not belong to you.  You may not keep it.  You have to give this away to someone in need.  You can slip the bill into a friend's locker, leave it at a grocery store checkout for the person behind you, or even leave it on a car windshield.  But you must give it away.  You may also choose to save the $24 up and give a larger, more thought-out gift to someone you know who could really use a little help and a little love.  On Christmas day, you must report on how you gave away your bills.  Hopefully this will not just give you insight into being more generous, but give you an idea of one of the Savior's parables of the talents.  What you give away and share with others becomes a greater blessing than selfishly keeping it to yourself. 

Love, 

Mom and Dad

I don't care if they will slip it to a homeless person on a street corner, or leave it in a vending machine for the next person to use.  I just want them to have more opportunities to think outside themselves and give to another person.

I am reminding myself to not expect anything besides grumbling and griping.  I highly doubt they will have a life-changing experience, but I hope they learn at least a little something.  If nothing else, it will fill their memory banks with stories to tell their future children about their strange mother who did weird stuff like taping money to their doors during December.  I for one have already had a bit of a mental shift already and we haven't even started.  I'm thinking of how on a daily basis to give something to those around me. As one my favorite hymns says, "Because I have been given much, I too must give."

Gardening: Gotta Get Growing!

My gardening season starts in January. Yes - January - even though living in a zone 5 means that we are still in the middle of winter. January's the magic month when seed catalog start showing their hopeful faces in an otherwise dreary mailbox. I suppose you know you're a gardening-nerd when your leisure-time reward is snuggling into a comfy hair to read seed catalogs. 

Come February, I have my orders planned out and placed and wait in anticipation for the spoils of my seed-catalog-shopping-splurges to arrive. February is one of my favorite months because the days get noticeably longer, there's usually a thaw - during which I love getting out to prune my fruit trees - and my stockpile of seeds starts to grow. 

Then March comes and it's show time. Time to get growing. Time to hydrate peat pellets and get those seeds started. 

And for those of you that might claim you have no space to grow anything - I found the perfect little solution at my local home improvement store: narrow seed starting trays that hold 12 peat pellets. Perfect for getting a jump on a patio garden. In my case, they fill the gap between my large trays nicely (heaven forbid any space should be wasted). 

About this time I ask my intrepid spouse to till the garden. We both know it's probably too early, but he does it to humor me. This early tilling does help work in the layer of fall leaves we've piled on and allows the soils to dry out so that when he tills the following weekend, it's ideal for my early spring planting. 

So what exactly do I have planted? Here's my breakdown for indoors and outdoors thus far:

Outdoor (direct sow) 

Peas (little marvel and sugar snap)

Scallions (green onions from seed)

Spinach

Butterhead lettuce

Corn salad (this is new for me this year - if it's an epic fail, I'll resow that area with other salad greens.)

Indoors (on shelves that span a basement window with grow lights mounted)

Marigolds (seeds harvested from last year's flowers)

Zinnias (seeds from last year's flowers)

Herbs (loads of basil, some cilantro, etc)

Petite sweet peppers

Patio strawberries (not sure this will work - but the seed catalog suckered me in)

Amaranth (two kinds - love lies bleeding and a tall variegated)

Strawflower (seeds from last year's flowers)

Coleus (seeds from last year's plants - first time I've tried non-commercial coleus seeds so we'll see)

Trailing petunia (again - first time harvesting these seeds so I'll be curious to see how they work)

Cauliflower Veronica (spiky chartreuse kind)

Nemesia poetry mix (I'm always looking for shade flowers)

Awaiting their turn in a separate box are all sorts of pumpkins, squash and gourds. As for the rest, I'll be spending plenty at the nurseries in about 6 weeks. 

I always try to save a few unplanted seeds so that in a couple weeks I can go back and resow those pellets that haven't germinated. 

In the meantime, I'll be making daily visits to check on my indoor and outdoor gardens to watch for the first signs of life. Does a body and a spirit good!  So go on and get growing!  

Beekeeping: R.I.P. . . . again!

I've been anxious all winter to know how our hives have been weathering the winter. So last week, my husband and I went over to see if we could see evidence of life without disturbing the hives. Generally, in wintering hive you'll see a few dead bees outside the entrance - as they "bring out their dead" (anyone catch the movie reference?). Also, you can sometimes hear a slight hum if you put your ear against the side of the hive box. Well, sadly, there were no signs of life in any of our 3 1/2 hives. Oh My Lanta!!!  Not a happy thing. We assumed that the nuke (that's the 1/2 hive) wouldn't overwinter, but seriously!??! It's more than a bit discouraging. 

But, after venting our frustrations a bit, we ended up ordering 1 packet of Italians and 1 packet of Carniolans. We might try moving one hive to a different location to see if there is something extra harsh with their current location. As for the batch of hives in North Ogden, only one out of three of those hives shows signs of life. I suppose that once the weather warms up, my hubby can get a better idea of what happened as he cleans out the hive-carnage. Let's just say that beekeeping isn't for the faint of heart or weak of attitude. 😜🐝

Living the Dream (aka Best Laid Plans)

So, I was excited about our family home evening lesson this week. I'd prepared it the week before and thought it would be an inspirational and timely message for the fam. Ok, right there a red flag should go up. Not that I shouldn't be inspired when preparing FHE lessons, I just need to remember that my inspiration might not transfer to my kids during the lesson. It wasn't a hit. I found myself muttering under my breath through clenched teeth, "living the dream!" 

(The only trace that we had FHE was a fuller wastebasket.)

Ah well, at least I'm in good company. I love what Elser Bednar had to say about this recurring, yet frustrating issue:

"Sometimes Sister Bednar and I wondered if our efforts to do these spiritually essential things were worthwhile. Now and then verses of scripture were read amid outbursts such as “He’s touching me!” “Make him stop looking at me!” “Mom, he’s breathing my air!” Sincere prayers occasionally were interrupted with giggling and poking. And with active, rambunctious boys, family home evening lessons did not always produce high levels of edification. At times Sister Bednar and I were exasperated because the righteous habits we worked so hard to foster did not seem to yield immediately the spiritual results we wanted and expected."

He went on to say:

"Sister Bednar and I thought helping our sons understand the content of a particular lesson or a specific scripture was the ultimate outcome. But such a result does not occur each time we study or pray or learn together. The consistency of our intent and work was perhaps the greatest lesson--a lesson we did not fully appreciate at the time." https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/more-diligent-and-concerned-at-home?lang=eng

SOOO TRUE!!

I've decided that it's not just about teaching kids, or showing them consistency, but rather it's a test. Heavenly Father is waiting to see if we will continue to push against that rock that doesn't move by having weekly, less-than-edifying family nights and scripture study. 

Once I realized that family night isn't just about my family, it's about me demonstrating repeated commitment to the Lord, I can actually find success on Monday nights when everyone huffs out of the living room to "cool down" after FHE. 

And I'll be able to say, "living the dream" while shaking my head and smiling (albeit somewhat ruefully) instead of grinding down my teeth. That's a win!

Beekeeping: winding down for fall

So in an effort to bolster our hives as much as we can before we let them go on their own until spring, we are starting to feed some of our weaker hives. We are  going with jar-feeders instead of traditional hive-top feeders. 

We put these on in the morning, and by this evening they had drained about half of the sugar syrup. We also have some pollen patties on the struggling hives 

Stay tuned for the next phase: sugar boards. 

Beekeeping trials and tribulations

So, there's been a dearth of beekeeping posts and it's not due to lack of adventures in the apiary - quite the reverse is true. Unfortunately, our adventures have tended more toward the hard-knocks variety instead of the easy-peasy types. 

Ash has requeened about 6 or more times - all but one queen were raised by him. We have had hive losses, queen losses and even a laying-queen hive that we managed to requeen.  

Here are just a few recap photos of a learning/experience-rich, honey-poor season. 

Marking one of our new queens with a blue paint pen (this year's color). 

Queen cells on a brood frame. 

Old, empty queen cells. 

Treating hives for mites. 

There's obviously a liter haven't documented this summer. It seemed like every hive check presented a new problem to solve. There was so much swapping and reswapping of brood, queens and nukes, that we could hardly keep track. We are just hoping to get some healthy colonies to survive the winter and maybe next year we'll be able to get back to honey-making. If any fellow beekeepers out there run into some weird challenges with your apiary and need a sympathetic ear - we're your folk to go to. ;) 

Beekeeping: Early Mite Treatment

So before we put our honey supers on, Ash decided to do a quick treatment for mites.  A friend and fellow beekeeper had some mite trouble already this year and we thought we'd avoid any problems since it will be few weeks before we do another big hive check.

Afterward, we put on our queen excluders and honey supers and on our newest hive, we added another deep:

Since I spent 20 minutes staring at the openings of the hives waiting for the mite treatments, I got an up-close-and-personal look into bee activity.  I watched as bees came out to defend their hive from little beetle-like intruders.  They tried biting them, and then ended up pushing them off the edge of the platform.  Since it was evening (best time to treat for mites because you catch the largest percentage of bees at home inside the hive) I watched the bees stand on their "front porch", put their tushies in the air and fan their wings like crazy.  This was their way of calling bees to come home by wafting their queen's specific pheromone scent.  I still enjoy helping Ash with the hives, although it is a bit stressful for me when one of our girls gets smashed between hive boxes.  I think I'm too soft-hearted to be a super efficient beekeeper.  ;)

Time With Kids is Too Valuable to Let Slip By: Summer Plan 2015

Confessions of a Planner
Ok, call me uptight, but I'm the first to admit to being a planner.  Don't get me wrong, spontaneity can be fun, but when it comes to filling your memory bank with life experiences, I'm all about a plan.  Every summer I ask the kids what they want to do, see, learn or accomplish during the summer months (it usually spills into October) and we compile our Summer Plan.
Planning the No-Plan Days
The kids get 1 "lazy day" for each summer month.  This means, they sleep in as late as they want, don't have to practice the piano or do other chores.  They can lounge about as they wish.  (Yes, this is how we planning-types appease the kid complaints that their friend's moms never make them do stuff like this during the summer.)
The Basic Routine
Otherwise, the rest of the days we stick to more or less of a routine.  We get up to have family prayer before my husband leaves for work, and then they can go back to bed for another hour or so (as we hit the teenage years, the wake-up time is getting a bit later).  All the regular chores remain in place: laundry, housecleaning, cooking once a week, emptying garbages, dishes, etc.  with the addition of a weeding assignment in the yard that must be weeded (and checked) every 2 weeks.  We try to get the work and chores done in the morning so the kids have the afternoons free to hang out with friends, earn money or whatever.  Reading is a big part of summer as well, and we usually have some sort of reading competition or reward activity. (Plus their grandparents pay them for book reports. . . spoiled kiddos!)
It's Intentional
I try to make sure that the kids are involved in learning homemaking skills such as sewing, baking, canning, etc. so we plan those "training sessions" in as well.  If I was just concerned about getting the projects done in an efficient manner, involving kids would never happen.  So this way I intentionally make the focus on training them, not achieving a perfect outcome or end-product.  I no longer make my 15 year old boy do full-on sewing projects like when he was younger, but the occasional mending project fits the bill nicely for his training.  We've done ironing days also to train and hone their ironing skills.  By now they're pretty good at ironing, so we don't include that in our plan anymore.
The Crux
My hope is that besides training my kiddos to have good life skills, I'll also fill their memory banks with some really fun experiences and traditions.  So, without further ado, here's the plan for summer 2015:

Beekeeping: Start of Our Second Season

It has been too long since I've posted on our beekeeping adventures.  We lost both hives over the winter.  One hive was weak going into the winter months and the other froze during a couple artic-blast wind days we had after Christmas.  Even though hive loss is common, I still felt like such a bad bee-parent!  So we ordered 2 packets from Deseret Hive Supply and were excited to start again in April.  (Yes, Ash was the one to clean all the dead bees out of the hive.)  This year the queens came premarked in our packages.  Blue dot is the color of 2015.

I love having a marked queen - makes spotting her so much easier.  Ash has learned how to mark a queen - a video of which he will hopefully upload soon to our youtube channel.  Ash has adopted the practice of marking the hive box with the color of the queen to help keep track of which hive has which age queen without having to open it up and find her.  A little dot on the corner will keep track of the bee-history.

Ash has been taking care of his family's North Ogden hives as well.  One out of the three hives survived the winter, so we ordered a couple packets from IFA which weren't delivered until May.  When he went to install them during his lunch break, he found that one of the empty hives had new occupants - a swarm had moved in!  That was a pleasant surprise - free bees!  So he took the packet back to work and stored it in his office until he came home.

Luckily, I had painted the peach hive boxes and so he installed the packet in our new peach hive here in Kaysville.

If you are wondering what the little brown and green boxes are doing there - they are nukes that Ash has filled with splits of bees he took from the one hive that survived the winter.  It was doing so well early this spring with all the warm weather that the hive was growing rather rapidly.  He decided to try his hand at raising some queens with the help of a coworker.  It worked wonderfully and we now have 2 nukes (like a bee condo instead of a house) with 5 frames full of bees.  He can use these to help populate some of the new packet hives, or if a queen dies, we have one ready to go.  When we were checking these nukes when the new queens were just hatching, we could hear some queen "piping".  It's a special and distinct noise that the queen makes to call the other queens - kind of like a lethal game of marco polo since the queen is trying to locate the others so she can kill them become queen bee.  Yeah - it's quite the drama - Shakespeare eat your heart out!
Even though Ash ends up doing most of the North Ogden hive care alone after work, I do try to help with every hive check I can.  I finally got to see him mark a queen using a mesh-covered peanut butter jar lid and a crayola paint pen.  I had to include this photo of a cute gal on my arm during a hive check.

Because of the cold, wet May we've been having, all the hives have had a rather spotty brood pattern:

Hopefully, once the weather dries out and warms up, the brood patterns should fill in more uniformly.  It will be interesting to see how the swarm hive does in comparison to the packet hives.  My raspberries are happy to have bees around and we're excited for another adventurous season of beekeeping!

Countdown to LDS General Conference: 1 Day to Go

So by now, your schedule should be free, DVR set or whatever it takes to be able to watch conference.  It is a faith-building experience that is not to be missed.  Share conference with a friend, family member or co-worker that you think might need a little boost.

Let your faith show as you Watch LDS General Conference and share it with others - tomorrow!

Countdown to LDS General Conference: 2 Days to Go

Some may look at this old boat as run-down, broken and now useless.  I see it as just about the most charming little tugboat ever!  When you look in the mirror, don't give Satan the satisfaction of seeing only your mistakes.  You are a beloved child of God - and as such, you have divine potential.  Say that to the mirror on your next bad-hair day, or hard-life day.  

Choose wisely who you listen to.  Listen to living prophets as you Watch LDS General Conference in 2 days.

Countdown to LDS General Conference: 10 Days to Go

General Conference just seems to get better and better.  Nothing compares to listening to the words of living prophets and apostles.  In anticipation of general conference April 4-5, 2015, I decided to post some of my favorite quotes from past conference talks.  Because praying for actual rain has been in my thoughts lately, I thought I'd start with this one.

Need a little help getting through your "rainy" patches? Watch LDS General Conference in 10 days.

Countdown to LDS General Conference: 9 Days to Go

One of my favorite places to scramble over rocks that have not been washed away is in Arches National Park.  It's beauty is breathtaking, but after putting this quote to this picture, it will always inspire me to be a bit stronger and live a bit closer to the Spirit.

Become a stronger rock by making it a priority to Watch LDS General Conference in 9 days.

Countdown to LDS General Conference: 8 Days to Go

I know of so many friends and loved ones that have lost someone close to them in the past few months.  This mossy cemetery in Alaska was a somber reminder of the temporary nature of this mortal life. This quote is especially poignant for all of us at one time or another.

Need a little reminder of the right perspective?  Watch LDS General Conference in 8 days.

Countdown to General Conference: 7 Days to Go

This is one of my favorite photos - I think we took in in Alaska.  The photo however is beside the point.  The point is that life is hard and often seems unfair.  Still, we can choose to keep swimming and come out stronger, or choose to stop swimming and drown spiritually.

There are less painful ways to strengthen your faith as well - like choosing to Watch LDS General Conference in 7 days.

Countdown to LDS General Conference: 6 Days to Go

I love watching conference with my family (and knitting as I listen - let me tell you that a few rows twice a year means I might just finish the fisherman's sweater before I die).  Another place I love being with my family is the temple.  Being righteous in the temple isn't hard at all - the test is when you come home.  

Find inspiration to strengthen your family and home as you Watch LDS General Conference in 6 days.

Countdown to LDS General Conference: 5 Days to Go

I love both this quote and this place.  This is a local fishing hole (where I've yet to catch a fish), but fishing is really just a footnote.  I love the peace and love that I feel here.  The same goes with this quote.  How much peace can we find when we truly internalize this truth!

Find peace and reassurance as you Watch LDS General Conference in 5 days.

Countdown to LDS General Conference: 3 Days to Go

I know, again with the moving vehicle thing - so I'm no photographer.  I loved this shot because it sort of captures the hectic pace our lives can take.  And above all the noise and traffic and deadlines and bills, we would do well to remember this:

Feel Heavenly Father's love for you personally as you Watch LDS General Conference in 3 days.

Countdown to LDS General Conference: 4 Days to Go

Ok, so taking a photo out the window of a moving vehicle never turns out well, but I just had to capture the amazing effect and atmosphere.  We were driving up the coast of northern California and a big fog-bank rolled in.  We could hardly see anything, and as we drove through this very murky and almost spooky-looking, primeval forest, the sun started to penetrate the gloom.  It was really neat and I thought it would make a great analogy for the power of prayer to work miracles in our lives.  He, the Son, can always dispel the gloom if we will but ask.

Seek for your own miracles as your prayerfully prepare to Watch LDS General Conference in 4 days.