Summer Fun

Emma's primary teacher told us that when they asked if the kids were doing anything fun or going anywhere this summer, Emma sadly said, "We're not going anywhere or doing anything." I laughed. That was just Payne kid code for, "We aren't going to Buffalo this summer and nothing else counts for anything." We do love Buffalo and we often drive out there, about once every two years. Last year we went for most of the summer. But Buffalo is not in the cards this summer. John can only take the drive about every two years and all our extra money went elsewhere this year.

So I sat the girls down the day they got out of school and asked what they wanted to do. We ended up making a schedule of sorts for the summer. I know that I always want to do a lot in the summer but if I don't plan it than we just sit around all summer. So our schedule goes like this:
Movie Monday (Scera movie tickets)
Library Craft Tuesday
Wii Wednesday
Movie Thursday (Scera movie tickets)
Outdoor Fun Friday
State Park Saturday
Each morning the girls have a different room to clean, and if they get it done, eat breakfast, and get dressed then they get to do the fun thing for the day. It has worked pretty well so far, but we're only two weeks in and the first week was soccer camp.

So, I'm pretty sure it will never be as fun as Buffalo, but I think the girls are having an all right summer. Here's to summer fun!!

Ruth's Quote of the Day

Today Kate, Mary, Emma, and Ruth all started BYU soccer camp. John took the older girls in the morning and I took Emma and Ruth in the afternoon. When they were picking up their shirts, Ruth, as usual, struck up a conversation with the t-shirt gal. At some point the lady asked how many brothers and sisters Emma and Ruth had. Ruth said, "I have one brother and (big pause) I don't even know how many sisters." Emma didn't seem to know either. The ladies laughed and I told them 4 other sisters, but apparantly too many.

Reading With the Kids

I used to read to the kids every night before I sent them to bed. We read all the Junie B. Jones books, and the Magic Treehouse Books, and the ABC Mysteries. The kids loved it and so did I. But it just kept getting harder and harder. The books that I wanted to read to the older kids were too long for the little ones and the picture books for the little ones were a little too simple for my older kids. For a while I tried reading some for each level, a couple of picture books for the little kids, and a chapter of a longer book for the older ones. I still liked reading to the kids but this method took soooo long and by the end I was always yelling at someone to stop screaming or grabbing my head or something or I was desparately trying to keep my eyes open and not fall asleep. I felt like it defeated the purpose of feel good read-aloud time. It was too hard, so I just stopped.

But I missed it. I missed talking to the kids about the books and discussing the stories. I felt like I hardly ever read to the little kids (I read a ton to Kate and Mary when they were little, I couldn't think of anything else to do). And I missed keeping up on the different series for kids that was easy to do when I was reading them for bedtime.

So I started little again. I began reading to Ruth, Lily, and Adam before naptime. But instead of reading to them all together, I read a short story to them individually, while they lay in their beds. I let them choose, and if they chose a chapter book, I would only read one chapter. I remembered how much I really enjoyed reading to the kids when they weren't being so crazy. And I felt that maybe it was offsetting some of the times when I was frustrated and got upset with them for being crazy during the day. Hopefully, it gave them something good to remember me for.

And then when our baby Hope died, I realized I needed to spend a little more quality time with each of the kids. But I also realized that it would have to be something that I enjoy or it wouldn't last. I love to read. So I asked Kate, Mary, and Emma if they'd like me to read them books at night. I told them that they could pick whatever book they wanted, but that I was only reading a chapter a night. They seemed surprised, but they each wanted to do it. They chose books and we started doing it.

I just go around each night and read each of the kids a story or chapter as they are laying in their beds. It still takes a long time, but the kids aren't being crazy (usually) and I'm moving around so I hardly ever fall asleep. And I think that sometimes it actually helps the little kids to fall asleep, because they listen to their own story and then to the story of the sibling they share a room with. And with Kate, Mary and Emma, I've been able to read some books that I've wanted to read and just haven't found the time for. Finally, it has also given us a few minutes each night for them to talk to me if they want to. I also started reading a story from The Friend (in place of their regular stories) on Sundays and we've had some great gospel discussions.

I have to be honest and say that I only average about 3-4 times a week of doing this. Other nights I have things I have to go to, or sometimes I'm just too tired. But overall I've felt really good about the whole experience. I still kind of miss the fun of being able to discuss a story with the whole family (I've got some great stories about things the kids have said while reading stories as a family) but I'll have to give that up for now. It has also reminded me how adaptive you have to be as a parent. What works one time may not work the next month or the next year. You just have to enjoy whatever it is while it works, and be willing to change when it doesn't.

One funny new development is that Kate has decided she wants to read me excerpts from things she's reading. That's fun too. And nice (but I can't promise I won't fall asleep).

Well, I'm finally finishing some of the books I've been reading them and I can't wait to see what they choose next.

Blogger's Quilt Festival: Emma's Quilt

The first quilt I ever pieced together I made for my third daughter, Emma Rose. I have done a lot of cross-stitching in my day and I went at it from this viewpoint. My mother-in-law had showed me how to do your basic nine patch, so I got some graph paper and planned how to write "We love Emma", replacing squares in the nine patches with a rose print (for her middle name Rose) in a cross-stitch fashion. I cut the squares in the nine patches about 2" and I cut them from all the scraps I had. I cut scraps from pretty much every fabric I had, which included scraps from dresses, pajamas, and blankets I had made for my other daughters, several things I had made for my husband or fabric he had ( including some Buffalo Bills fabric because he is from Buffalo), and fabric that my mom had saved over the years from things she had made. I cut the rose fabric for the letters and the borders from a dress I started in high school and never finished. I made the heart in the center from some furry fleece left over from a stuffed animal I had made for the girls. Then I machine quilted it just doing stitch in the ditch.

When I made this quilt I had no understanding of colors or patterns. I just wanted to make a quilt for my daughter and use the material I had. I mixed fabrics I would never mix now and I put together fabrics I probably wouldn't now, but I love that quilt. I made this quilt 5 years ago, and I've learned a lot about quilting since then, but I know that the important things about quilting are still the same, sharing a heartfelt creation with someone you love. I also discovered in this quilt that I could be creative and create my own patterns and that I could personalize any quilt that I made. That is my favorite part of making a quilt--making it unique and personal.

I think that the Blogger's Quilt Festival is an awesome idea and I'm glad I stumbled upon it. If you'd like to see some great quilts, check the festival out with the link above.

Goal Update 2

I think I've gotten out of my writing groove but maybe this will get me back into it.
Read 105 books this year -- Right now I've read 20 books, 1/5 of the way there. Unfortunately, we're almost half way through the year. Oh well. My reading count could pick up soon for two reasons. First, the library's adult summer reading program starts on Friday. The more books I read, the better the chances I have to win prizes. This is a good incentive for me. Secondly, I've been reading each of the girls a chapter from a different book before they go to bed a couple of times a week. I'm almost done with all the books and I'm counting them. It has been a good time with the girls and the books have been good.

Index 10,000 names--So far I've indexed 2700 names for the year. My indexing has dropped off the map. For some reason I'm having a hard time getting back in the habit. I'm going to try harder though because I know it is both rewarding and worthwhile.

Finish my 200 projects by Sept. 1 of next year--I'm at about 84 right now and I've gotten back into sewing so that has been fun. Sewing and doing projects are some of those things for me that help me feel good and like I'm accomplishing something.

Complete the $200 DMBA health challenge--I have successfully completed the first two DMBA challenges and am half-way through the third. For finishing the last one I got a great apple cutter and John got 2 free smoothies at Jamba Juice (which he gave to me because he no longer eats that sort of stuff). Very fun. I've kept up on my walking and find it very relaxing and therapeutic (which is what the current challenge focuses on).

Post on my blog once a week--I've kind of slacked off on this one too. I'm having a hard time getting excited enough about something to write about it. But I think I'm getting better.

Write in my journal at least 5 days a week--I've kept up with this goal for once. I think writing in my journal and reading my scriptures have gotten me through the last few months with my sanity intact. I'm grateful that I got into this habit before the baby died because like I said, it has really pulled me through.

Read the Book of Mormon and the Old Testament reading for the year: I'm doing well with the Book of Mormon and have challenged the kids to read it too. I also got the seminary manual for the Old Testament and have been working my way through it. I do better with some kind of structure in scripture study, especially with the OT so this has helped a lot.

Try to be nice to my kids and have fun with them--Tuesday nights are still on and I have been trying to read to them more (something I enjoy doing with them) so I think things are going OK. Hopefully, we'll be able to do some fun things as a family this summer. I'm trying to figure out some kind of schedule for the activities so that we actually do them, maybe a Wii day, a reading day, an art at the library day, a visit family day, movies days, etc. We'll see how it goes.

Random Project Update

I have been working on quite a few things lately but I keep forgetting to post them so here are a few pictures of the things I've finished lately. The first three are pictures of the last few quilt blocks I've finished for my quilt block of the month class. And the last two are of the tag quilt I made for my niece. This time I made the embroidery on the front also be a pocket. I really liked how they all turned out. I really like making things.

Payne Family Comic Book Store

The first Saturday in May every year is Free Comic Book Day. This has become a Payne family tradition. We have gone every year for at least 5 years. John is a huge comic book fan and the girls love it. This year we were really on the ball and went when our local comic book store first opened. We had looked online the night before so we knew what family friendly comics were out there and we were able to get one of each of these. The girls were super excited. They came home, vegged out on the couch and traded comics (read then trade).

I'm not sure how it happened, but then they started writing their own comics. From Kate all the way down to Lily, we had a comic book making machine. Prompted I think by the comic book store's large boxes of $0.10 comics, the girls decided to create their own comic book store of home made comics, put the comics in boxes and then invite neighborhood kids over to shop. They have gone all out. Kate is even putting ads for Mary's comic in her book (so true to free comics, where half of the comic is advertisements). Ruth is the most excited about the comic book store, at least she talks about it the most, and she has finished about 3 so far. She has it all figured out. And Emma worked all week on a pretty detailed cover for her "Super Pink Girl!" issue 1. I've read it and it is very funny and very Emma.

I find this whole thing very amusing. I am not a huge comic book fan. I think I'm not visual enough or something. Reading comic books kind of gives me a headache. But I am fully supportive of everyone else's obsession. And if you're in the market for comics, you might want to talk to the girls.

Learning Languages at the Library

Here is my plug for the library. Our library is AWESOME!!! It has great programs, the people are pretty friendly, they have really fast self-checkout so you don't actually have to talk to anyone if you don't want to, and they have a great website where you can renew books online and search online. I also love their big collection of book club sets that our book club uses. It is so convenient.

But I just discovered one more reason to love the library. The library has access to a lot of online tools that I, as a library patron, can also access online at home. I've used netlibrary before, where you can download audiobooks for free and I like it but there is not a ton of selections.

Ahhh, but the newest tool that I've discovered is Powerspeak. Powerspeak is an online foreign language course website that I can use free through the library. I didn't know they had something like that. Emma is learning Chinese in school and the school has a link where you can also use Powerspeak, but it is the elementary school or high school version. The library's is the adult version and I really like it. Just this morning I've worked through about half of the first lession in Chinese. The website also offers courses in French, Spanish, German, and ESL. I decided to work through the French course along with the Chinese because I used to speak French a little and I kind of miss it. I also have a French niece who doesn't speak a lot of English. So I worked through about half of the French lesson 1 as well. The website just has you register with your name and a password and then it will save your place for you as you login and logout each time. I am really excited. I'm thinking of having the kids do it this summer so they can learn a little Chinese too, or whatever language they are interested in.

What a cool library I live by. Oh, and some of the other programs that I love at the library are the mother-daughter bookclub for girl 9-12, the summer adult and children's reading program, the Children's Book Festival (coming up on May 15, so great that you don't want to miss it!!), and the annual Literacy Symposium. And my favorite part about the library is that everything, or almost everything, is FREE which is the right price for our family. So if you live by me, go check out the library.

Literary Shout-outs

I've been thinking a lot about reading and the effect it has made in my life. And then I thought about different people that I associate with different books. So, here are a few shout-outs to some of those people.

Emma Patterson (Farnsworth) first suggested Pride and Prejudice to me in high school, the start of a life-long passion. To know Darcy is to love Darcy.












Laura Farnsworth (Hansen) and I used to lie on her bed and talk about the Anne of Green Gables books. We really liked Gilbert. (We also watched The Scarlet Pimpernel over and over but I don't think we ever read the books.)











My little brother only read 1 book growing up: Where the Red Fern Grows. I also used to read him Edgar Allen Poe stories on the way to my grandma's on Sunday. His favorite was "The Cask of Amontillado".











My sister Michelle read Fury and the White Mare to me when I was little. I loved it.










My little sister Heather got me to read the Harry Potter books. She was in high school when they came out.











I never would have read Justice League of America, Volume 1 without my super husband John.










My mom named me Tara and her favorite book is Gone With the Wind. She denies any connection but I've always had my doubts.












I'll never see Junie B. Jones books without thinking of our old family password, "When ponies attack!" or the revealing confession that Kate made during the reading of Junie B Jones is a Beauty Shop Guy.










I'll never forget hiking Mt. Timpanogos with my college roommates after reading Woman Warrior for my Asian Literature class.










That's just a few and I'm sure I'll remember more later. But I'm grateful for all the books in my life that remind me of people I love.

Mary's Blog

Mary has a new blog. Over spring break Kate was updating hers and Mary wouldn't leave me alone until I made one for her. (We skipped the no TV week thing.) It was funny because she was very meticulous about the color scheme and design. It was a fun activity. Mary and Kate spent about 2 hours one day working on their blogs, so that was good. There's a link on John's blog (I'm link illiterate). It mostly has books she's read, like Kate's, but her first entry is hilarious. You should go there just for that.