She Loves to Laugh

And as a follow-up to the Mary Poppins post....

I thought you might get a kick out of this video of Emma. I wasn't kidding when I said she's REALLY into Mary Poppins. This is her interpretation of the, "I Love to Laugh" song. She's bobbing up and down a bit, but that's mostly because she is imitating the bouncing and floating from the movie. That high-pitched laugh.... is Em. Complete with the hand over the mouth.

Hope you enjoy it!

She loves to laugh!!

Life Lessons from Mary Poppins

Obsession. That's the only word to describe it. Certain ones of my children will get obsessed with something, (usually a video), and will watch incessantly, to the point of complete memorization.

I think my kids get it from me. No kidding: I once had the Oakland Temple Pageant almost completely memorized. Don't believe me? How about this, from 1985:

Pioneer Girl 1: "Maybe it's the will of the Lord!"
Pioneer Girl 2: "But why would the LORD put all the CUTE boys in the OTHER wagon train??"

Just ask my best friend, Loralyn, who sat through two weeks of performances right next to me in the balcony choir. Oh yeah, I knew the whole thing. (One day, I'll tell you about the wonderful experience of performing in Temple Pageant. Unbeatable!!)

Emma Jo, has a new obsession. It's Mary Poppins. She absolutely LOVES it. She was starting to sing along on only the second viewing. She even has her favorite lines to repeat, like Mrs. Brill's, "... and don't stoomble on the way out, dearie!", and Mary's, "Cheeky!" As a result, we watch it ... a lot. Well, if I'm going to watch something that much, I'm going for all the bonus features too, so I've listened to the actors' commentary, read the subtitles, and had the pop-up fun facts on as well. Maybe I'm as sick as she is.

And really, the whole movie does have a decided message: spend more time with your children. That's the bottom line. Then there are the other messages and life lessons that are woven throughout that film. Some are subtle, and some are not-so-subtle. So here's my take on Life Lessons from Mary Poppins. It's longer than I intended, and there's even more that I haven't touched on, maybe some that you can think of, too. Here it is, in no particular order:

✏ To start off, the saying, "be careful what you ask for, you just might get it" comes to mind. Jane and Michael wrote a great advertisement... very specific. And Mary answered the call!

✏ Be prepared. Mary Poppins packed lightly, but had all she needed in her carpet bag. Not sure if I'd carry around a potted plant, but having a light could be handy. And I'd love to know where I can get one of those tape measures!

✏ A spoonful of sugar really does help the medicine go down. And the corollary: In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. Finding the fun can sometimes be a challenge, especially for the uninspired. But how much sweeter is life when we add that spoonful! Michael was even ready to pass up an outing in the park, just to be able to tidy up the nursery again.

✏ Don't let your own plans get in the way of helping another in need. Mary Poppins dismissed her shopping list for the day, and headed straight to Uncle Albert's when she found out his predicament. Never mind that that message came from a dog.

✏ Expand your vocabulary!! A really good word, used at the right moment, is..... well, ...... supercalifragilisticexpealidocious!!

✏ Don't cry over what can't be fixed. When the rainstorm washed away Bert's drawings, he shrugged it off and looked at the bright side: his next means of employment.

✏ Never pass up an opportunity to go dancing on the rooftops! Or flying a kite, for that matter. Even at the end of a long, tiring workday.

✏ "With your fist holding tight, to the string of your kite....." Hold tight to your dreams!

✏ Keep your promises. Mary Poppins did not promise to always stay with the children: That's a piecrust promise. Easily made, easily broken. Promise what you know you can deliver on.

✏ You can't always trust first impressions. Mrs. Banks chose Katie Nanna because she thought she would be firm with the children. She looked so solemn and cross.
George Banks: "My dear, never confuse efficiency with a liver complaint." (In the books, Katie Nanna smelled of barley-water. Could be the reason behind the liver complaint!!)

✏ The theme of the tuppence comes up repeatedly. What is tuppence? Literally, it's two pence. Two pennies. A minuscule amount. It can be used for any number of things. But if you use it to bless others (Feed the Birds), or bring some happiness (with tuppence for paper and strings, you can have your own set of wings, with your feet on the ground you're a bird in flight, with your fist holding tight to the string of your kite) ...... how much better will your life be? It is such a small investment of your own time and money that can be such a huge blessing to others.

✏ As a side note, do we really appreciate what the women's suffragettes went through to gain votes for women? They felt, "our daughters' daughters will adore us" and that we'd be grateful for their sacrifices. Take every opportunity to vote.

✏ Everyone can use a great theme song. (Did you know each main character has their own theme.)

✏ You can have fun & spice up your wardrobe, without looking like a clown! I love the bright coral coat lining, the orange petticoats and off-beat shoes that Mary wears throughout the film. You can look sophisticated and conservative on the outside, but on the inside.........!!!

✏ Money doesn't buy happiness. Who was Bert, after all? A jack of all trades. He was a one-man-band, a sidewalk screever, he alluded to selling hot chestnuts, and most obviously, a chimney sweep. In those days, a chimney sweep was one of the lowest of positions in life. Bert's attitude, though:

"Now, as the ladder of life has been strung
You might think a sweep's on the bottommost rung
Though I spends me time in the ashes and smoke
In this whole wide world there's no happier bloke."

In the dirtiest of trades, he was not dissatisfied with his life. Maybe it helped to be a very lucky chimney sweep. I like to think that I married as close as I could get to it: the hearth products business has been good to us, overall. And we sell brushes and rods, too!

✏ Remember the part where Bert, Mary, and the children watched the sun set over London from the top of the tallest building? The best view, after all, is the view from above. Heavenly Father sees the big picture. And once in a while, we get a glimpse of it, too.

Perhaps you have some other thoughts on Life Lessons. If you've been with me for a while, then maybe you remember my Johnny Lingo post from a while back, too ......

(And I bet you're going to go back and watch Mary Poppins now, huh!!)

Elder Walker

This was not the next post I had intended to write.

Yesterday afternoon, while the girls and I were at their softball workout, Alyssa got a call from a friend of hers. This was the first news we heard that a missionary in Jamaica had been killed.

With that scary thought, we quickly looked online (one of the rare times I need internet access from my phone)for more information. We had received Brandon's email as usual yesterday, with no indications of anything unusual. Another blog I follow does mention that several of the elders had gotten together for a game of football.

While it is possible that Brandon may have been there, he is actually in Yallahs, a small town about 1/2 hour's drive east of Kingston. We don't know if he also went to Kingston that day. Brandon knew and was friends with Elder Walker, but had not served as companions with him. He sent us this photo of himself with Elder Walker, last September:

At the time, Brandon was either in Linstead or Kingston. (It was near a transfer day, so I'm not sure.)

We are so very sad about this, and our hearts go out to Elder Walker's family, friends, and the missionaries in Jamaica. They are in our prayers. The following is the statement issued by the Church:

"Our hearts are heavy with the news that Elder Jermaine Luther Walker from Kingston, Jamaica--serving in the Jamaica Kingston Mission--was killed today. He was hit by a stray bullet while he and seven other missionaries were returning to their apartments after a preparation-day activity. It appears the van they were in was caught in the crossfire as local police were pursuing another vehicle. Elder Walker was immediately driven to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Although shaken, the other missionaries in the van were reported in good condition. Our thoughts and prayers are with Elder Walker’s family and all who knew this fine young man."

When a young person dies, it is always a sad thing. I can't help but also think that when Elder Walker crossed over to the other side, he must have gone straight into the arms of our Savior. It is a blessing to have the gospel in our lives and be able to be comforted by that.

Minute to Win It

Recently, the youth in Alyssa's class in our ward at church agreed that it would be fun to have weekend parties for playing games together. After a kick-off that was a birthday party, they moved on, and this weekend, Alyssa volunteered to host a party at our house.

Alys did some research to find some Minute to Win It games, and here's some of what she came up with, in no particular order:

First.... ping pong basketball. The backboards are clipboards attached to the kids' belts. Their teammate had to use ping pong balls to hit the backboard and [hopefully] get as many ping pong balls into the "baskets" as they could (we used ice cream buckets, but wastebaskets would be better because they're deeper.) Those with the clipboard could help maneuver them, although it didn't seem to make much difference!!
Another game used a popsicle stick in the mouth, and stacking 6 dice on the popsicle stick -- and had to hold for at least 3 seconds. Not bad, not bad.......

The really challenging game: "Glass Road Truckers". In only 60 seconds, they had to stand 8 bottles and a drinking glass in a row, upside down, with a shot glass on top of the drinking glass. And THEN they had to blow a ping pong ball across this line, and into the shot glass at the end. It was definitely not easy!!

(We used Jarritos bottles: it's a made-in-Mexico soda that we made the kids hurry and drink so we could use their bottles!) But after taking a long time for setup, Darcie managed to get her ping pong ball in with only one try! Showoff!!

And finally, it's not a game night at our house without a rousing game of "States". I can't believe I haven't already explained this. Disclaimer: this one can get a bit violent........

For this game, each person chooses a state for themselves. (Up to 50 could play, but it gets a bit difficult with more than 25, really.) One person - the hitter - stands in the middle with a rolled-up newspaper. The object is NOT to get hit with the newspaper. So when someone calls your state name, you must call another state before the hitter nails you with the newspaper. If you call the name of another state, then the hitter can hit THEM. If you don't call another state before they hit you, then you're up. You become the new hitter and the previous hitter sits down in your place. It's a lot of fun:

Other extenuating rules:

You must speak up: no whispering a state name.

If you call the state of the person who IS the hitter, they can hit you and you're up.

If you call a state that's not being used, the hitter can hit you and you're up.

Once you as a hitter get to sit down..... you MUST call the name of a state before you sit. Otherwise, the new hitter can immediately hit you, and you're up again.

Hit only the knees of the person, and not excessively. It IS a game.

Some strategy does come in to play, like when the two players continually call each other's state, or when everyone agrees that Someone needs a turn in the middle, so they all call his state, no matter who he calls.

The game is over when the newspaper is shredded to bits and completely unusable. Whenever the extended Huffakers get together, we try to include States sometime during the gathering. In fact, Brandon mentioned that he recently taught the game to some Jamaicans, and I believe they rather enjoyed it!! (Be sure you're reading his blog for updates.... he only has FOUR MONTHS left! http://www.huffakermission.blogspot.com/ )

The kids had fun at Alyssa's party.... and next weekend, I believe they already have one scheduled. At someone ELSE'S house!

Cinderella Lives!

In case there was any doubt -- Emma is our little princess.

Apparently, to reinforce this concept, Santa brought her a box of princess dress-up clothes:
Like all princess attire, these clothes are VERY pretty, rather flashy, and a little bit scratchy. And though each dress has a matching crown, Emma has only one favorite -- and it came from a Young Women's activity that Alyssa and Darcie attended in November!

Brandon tells me we're spoiling her. We don't start out with that intention.... it's just kind of a by-product of having a baby later in life. Especially when you've already gotten rid of so much of the childhood paraphernalia that the older kids used.
She is snuggling on my lap as I write this, wrapped in a homemade quilt, with messy hair and probably a full diaper. And as flashy as those Cinderella moments are -- it's the real moments like this one that mean the most. Her comment when I went to set her down was, "Go see Momma? Ok!"

I will treasure these moments while they still last.

P.S. We got a kick out of her late last night: we were sitting around the dining table, when we saw a tiny hand reach up onto the peninsula counter..... and snag an oatmeal cookie right off the rack, without so much as asking. What a funny kid!!

Good Idea? Bad Idea.

Some projects run in the background. Like a program running on the computer that isn't featured onscreen at the moment. That would be an accurate description for the current project, which is the spare bedroom.

It's the "old craft room", and is soon-to-be Darcie's bedroom. The plan is to give Emma her own room (Darcie's old room), and give Darcie a bigger bedroom. Also running in the background, is the ongoing new craft room (old playroom) makeover.

In the interest of making over the craft room on a skeleton budget, I had a brilliant idea. The laundry room, which is also desperate for a makeover, but hasn't even made it on the remodeling radar yet...... had a great "vintage '70's" light fixture in it. It would go perfectly in the new craft room:

So, Todd was great (as usual) and moved it in there. I loved the yellow flowers, and (shh, big secret)... the craft room has a yellow theme. What could be better???

And then, I turned on the light.

Eww!!!

Those great yellow flowers are my undoing. Shining light through them made the WHOLE ROOM dull and yellowed. And not in a good way. If color tones didn't matter, it could be considered a nice warm glow. But in the craft room, where I WORK with color...... it's a fatal flaw. So, I'm heaving a big sigh, tucking my frugally creative tail between my legs and have to ask Todd to, once again, change the light fixture in the craft room.

On the up side..... Darcie's new bedroom had two identical fixtures. One went into the laundry room (hello, light!!!).

The other one, I will ask Todd to put in the new craft room. An advantage is that they use more light bulbs, resulting literally in MORE light. Plus, it won't be yellow!! Maybe Goodwill could use a yellow light fixture......

Darcie's new bedroom is getting two new fixtures. We customized them by painting the fixture base a gray that goes with the new paint colors in the room:

And all's well that ends well.

Watch for more posts coming, both on Darcie's new room, and also the craft room makeover, which is coming along nicely (as soon as I can tackle the MASSIVE pile of stuff-to-be-filed!).

Twisted New Year (2011!)

Happy New Year!!!

1-1-11!! One-One-Eleven!! There's something special about this day!! Let's hope this year is a good one. I, for one, have some plans for making this next year a great one!

For this family blog, I've always tried to choose the best photos to share with you. This blog post, with photos from our New Year's get-together, will also show you what I have to GO THROUGH..... to get some good photos.

Because our family is just a little twisted........

(Darcie tried on Alyssa's now-broken glasses, and pronounced her "REALLY BLIND!") The kicker is.... Alyssa threw out her last contacts, only has the glasses, because the new contacts and glasses are still on order!!

And before we get a nice sibling photo like this one:

We get a wacked out one like this one!Cameron, who is overdue for some photos on the blog, really gave Mom a nice smile:

AFTER I'd already snapped THIS thrilled look:

I was lucky to get this shot of Alyssa & Darcie......

--- When you consider that THIS is the alternative!!


But I'm glad that we can have some fun together, and even Todd will get in on it......

So, FUN is the order of the day. I hope this little glimpse into the reality of our lives has given you a bit of a giggle. Because, when it comes down to it.....

We are really happy together!! May your New Year bring health, prosperity, and much happiness to you and your family.

HAPPY NEW YEAR from THESE Huffakers!!!

P.S. As these photos were taken at or near midnight -- Emma slept through it all quite well!!