Why I will look forward to Sunday's

After Jay and I were first married and we had moved to Utah, I was asked to help with the children's music on Sunday's in Primary. Primary is the organization in our church for kids ages 3-12. 

I was terrified. I cried every Sunday. I was always so so nervous. I would get up and quietly whisper what we were going to sing, and then timidly wave my arm, and try and get my voice above a squeak. I stood very still hoping that I would not be noticed.

Finally after a few weeks of this, the Primary president pulled me aside and said. "Alisa, you just need to smile, and the kids will smile back." I had been feeling so intimidated that I could not even look the kids in the eye and smile. Her comment kind of shook me out of my dreary state and I started to smile, and wouldn't you know I started to enjoy what I was doing. I was still nervous but I could get through a Sunday without crying. Then we decided to move. My last Sunday came and  I was saying goodbye and one of the kids came up with the most worried expression and said "but who will sing with us now?" It knocked me down! I felt like I had finally gotten comfortable in my calling- and now I was leaving. It was all over.

I hoped for the opportunity to do it again someday. In our church there are not paid positions. So it was not like I was going to go apply for the job. I tried to apply the same idea of smiling and just doing what needed to be done to other things I was asked to do. But I hoped, and hoped that I would get to do it again.

I was asked a couple of months ago to sub for our primary music leader. I did it for 2 Sundays and LOVED it. I could hardly wait to get to church to sing with these kids. I hinted loudly to anyone who would listen that I would love to do this if they ever needed help again.

Well I get my 2nd chance! I was asked to be the music leader.

One would think that I would not have any worries after having done it before, and wanting to do it so badly again. But I did get just a tiny bit nervous. I started thinking about how I really don't know how to lead music. And how would I come up with ways to keep the kids interested. I started having doubts.

As I was reading over the music book and some other information I came across this and I think it is what qualifies me to be able to do this: 

"You do not need to be a skilled musician to use music in your teaching. If you are well prepared and you enjoy singing, the children will enjoy and learn from the music you use."

I am not skilled, but I can prepare, and I do love to sing. I just have to remember to smile.

I am so excited!

Tucker's Sunday Reds

Written fall 2011-

Tucker loves the color red. How and when we pick our favorite color I do not know. But for Tucker his favorite has always been decidedly red.
Our kids (and their Dad) have always had striped/crazy socks. Mostly they are dressier socks and not their everyday wear. They each have several (or many!) to choose from. Over the last two years Tucker started only wearing a red striped pair of socks to church. When we would get his clothes ready the night before those were the ones he would lay out. Or if we did not get the clothes ready the night before (oh the pain!) he would fall into a heap on the floor in sadness if he could not find the right red stripes. One Sunday I told him to just pick a different pair of socks and he looked at me with a look of disbelief and said, "But I only want to wear my Sunday Reds."
So Sunday Reds they have been called ever since.
This year I looked and looked for a new pair of Sunday Reds as a gift for his birthday. The older striped ones were turning into ankle socks. Hooray! For his birthday he opened up a new pair!

-eating a Popsicle out on the church lawn after a Saturday practice for the children's primary program- 2011

Spring 2014

Red is still Tucker's favorite color. He will pick an item based on color. Except for socks. Because. You know. Boots.

Sunday Confessions-

Our church building is finished. We are now back in our real building- and our church time slot has changed from 2-5, to the most wonderful time of 10:30-1:30.

I laughed at myself today when I re-read what I wrote. True that I am not a morning person, but now I know that it is easier for our family to just get up and get ready and go. Not wait around.

Here is the confession: When our time was later I just kind of gave up being on time. Getting everyone re-ready for the day, in Sunday best was a little difficult after having a lazy morning. If we were ready to go, great, otherwise I was not going to stress about it. I decided I was no longer going to be a grumpy Mom. So we would just be late.

Then our Bishopric changed. Jay was released from his calling as a counselor with the stake and now serves as counselor in the Bishopric over our ward. That meant that he started attending our ward again, and I was caught. Uh-Oh-someone would actually notice that we were late. Every. Single. Sunday. And that someone who would say something to me about it.

Now with our schedule change I think its enough time to sleep in a little, and then get ready and go. No more waiting around and being late. Today my goal was to be on time. And we were.

It was so good to go to church earlier in the day and be leaving church at the time we would have been leaving for church a few weeks ago.
I loved being back in our own building.
It was good to have Jay in our ward. To be attending church semi-together.
I LOVED having a Sunday afternoon nap.

Yup, I think I am going to really like 10:30 church.

Sunday Confessions-

Last December Luke lost the mate to his new Sunday shoes. It was a Sunday evening and we had an appointment with our Bishop. Everyone was dressed in their church clothes and when we got to the church Luke only had one shoe. The right one. He was certain he had left the house with both of them. Did the left shoe fall out of the car on the way? How would that have happened? Who knows? I only know that it has not appeared.

I have held on to the remaining lone shoe in hopes that its match would suddenly appear. Like maybe from under the seat in the car, or behind clothes in the closet. Just in case I found its missing mate, I put the right shoe at the top of the shoe holder on the back of the door. If the left shoe were to re- appear I would know where its mate was.

A few Sunday's ago I was so glad that I had hung on to that one shoe and that I knew where it was. I felt I had defeated the plans of the shoe thwarters. Luke could not find the mate to his current pair of shoes. As luck would have it that day he was missing the right one! I went to the back of his door, grabbed the lone right shoe and sent him on his way.

Never mind they were two different styles. They were both brown!

Never mind they were two different styles. Luke didn't care!

The lonely left-behind-shoe saved the day.

Sunday-2008 Adventure

SUNDAY-JUNE 1
We have friends that live here in CA that we met while living in Utah, that lived closer to where we were staying than we thought. We were able to connect with them, attend church then go to their house for lunch.
We have such fun memories of Mike and Pepper. Jay met Mike at BYU in the newsroom of The Daily Universe. I was pregnant with Savanna and Jay brought Mike over for lunch one day. Over the next few years, our friendship grew- We had Jack and Mike started dating Pepper. They got engaged then married, and our friendship continued to grow. We would put our kids to bed, and they would come over to play
The Neverhood until 2 or 3 in the morning. We had so much fun together. Time went by- We moved, they moved. We have still kept in touch, (but not nearly as much as we would have liked) But we have never seen them with their 3 children. Finally on Sunday, we were able to see the Buhrley's as parents of 3! They have a son thats 5 also, and they hit it off from the start. The Buhrley's had been saving us a bench behind them at church, and we got there right after church had started. Their son was a little bothered that we were sitting on the saved bench, and kept saying you need to move, That is for our friends. I leaned up and whispered, we are your friends. He looked at Luke and said "I am 5" and Luke loudly said "Hey I am 5 too!" and that was that. Instant friendship!
After church we went back to their home, and had a wonderful lunch and yummy strawberry shortcake. The kids played and played while we caught up.
Although about 6 years or so have passed since we have been together, it did not feel a bit that long.

That night after we got back to the Reeds we had a delicious dinner with them and a fun nights activites.


After reading my post about cherry pie, Tom told Karen that we needed to have one- so after dinner we all shared a yummy cherry pie. Then the kids put on a program for us. Savanna had put together a cute lineup of songs, and practiced with the boys, and even made programs.
It was a fun to watch them perform. And a great end to our Sunday. But that was not all! I went and got Tucker to bed, and then everyone else went frog hunting with the neighbors! They walked down to a creek and chased after the bull frogs-and came back so happy. Good and tired, falling asleep before their heads could reach their pillows.

What to eat Wednesday-Breakfast in Bed 6

Recipe #6 from my Breakfast in Bed experiment

Well- last week, I mentioned that I had a delicious What to Eat Wednesday for today. Oh, and this one will not disappoint ... but I have no photos. Not a one! The first time I made this I did not take a single photo. Rare ... but I knew that we loved them so much I would for sure be making more.

That was before I tried to buy another can of pumpkin. I had no idea that there was a pumpkin shortage. Did you? Well apparently there is. No cans of pumpkin at the stores that I shop at. I checked over and over. I even walked to one with the sole intent of getting pumpkin. The shelves were bare!

(I do have a picture of that!)

So I am a little worried about this. No pumpkin? What will we do? I joked with someone that I guess I will have to process and can my own. I have not processed pumpkin in about 18 years. (Ouch, that hurt to type that- it seems like such a lonnnnnng time ago!)

Anyone know how to do that? I am not joking.

So ... I went back and forth about posting this without photos. It pains me. But I decided that by some chance someone might have some pumpkin in their pantry this would be a good time to pull it out, check the expiration date and give this recipe a go. It's a really good use of that rare can of pumpkin.

On a dismal Sunday evening in the middle of September we were having somewhat of a grumpy ride home from church.With our later Sunday schedule, and not being prepared ahead of time with dinner, we quickly came up with a plan.

It was one of those rare occasions that we were all in the car together and had no meetings that night either. We decided to pretend it was Christmas and have breakfast.

The kids were all on board and quickly unloaded and hung up their Sunday best and set about preparing for Christmas.

Savanna took over the kitchen table and set the stage. Luke wrapped "presents" while Jay and Jack and Tucker took care of the rest. I decided that waffles would be fun and remembered seeing some in "the book." Thankfully I found a can of pumpkin in the cupboard and figured I would go ahead and try this one out.

In August we went downtown for a traveling exhibit of a Disney remake of the classic, A Christmas Carol. It was a whole train. A real train that came on the tracks all the way from Los Angeles and heading all the way to New York. It was a series of cars that you walked through that had all kinds of memorabilia and sneak peaks, and how-it-was-made features. At the very end we entered a train car and we all just swooned. It smelled just like Christmas! It was that perfect final Disney touch.

Well, we (our family) felt it all over again this Sunday night. The smell captivated more than our noses. We achieved that Dinseyesque sense of everything being happy and right with the world.

All in a waffle.

Pumpkin Spice Waffles
3 eggs
1 cup milk
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup all- purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a large bowl, beat eggs, milk, butter, sugar, and pumpkin. Add flour, baking powder, salt. nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon; mix just until smooth.

Heat a waffle iron and grease if necessary. Bake waffles in hot waffle iron until golden brown.

SPT-ice cream

she photographs on tuesday/self portrait tuesday

Here is the last "element of summer"
for the month of July
Ice cream

Our family loves ice cream, (doesn't everyone?)
and I buy it at least once a month for our traditional Rootbeer Floats on Fast Sunday.
My family had floats every Sunday growing up, so I brought that into our family, but changed it to one Sunday a month. (You know there are just sooo many treats to have and I just could not have floats hogging every sunday!)
We buy the big container at Sam's (it would be Costco if we had one) and I try and make it last as long as possible.
That is the one thing with ice cream- portion control. Everyone always thinks that somebody else got a bigger bowl, and someone wants a different bowl.
This last year my mom gave us these cute sundae cups.
They are perfect for our family. She did not know she was solving a problem, but she did!
Now everyone has the same size cup- and a nice size portion. (not soup bowl size portions!)
There are always the same amount of cups to clean up though-

Go here to see what others thought-

lost and found summer 2011

We have a set of cabinets that are identical upstairs and downstairs. Inside each set is a laundry hamper. We have always used the upstairs one for laundry and the downstairs one has rotated between a dress up bin and dirty laundry holder.


Today Savanna took out the drawer above the hamper to take into her room so she could load it up with all of her extra pens and pencils.


I don't know why, but something about seeing inside through the open drawer hole made me curious. How does that hamper pull out and what is behind it?


HOLY COW!


There was a whole load of laundry behind the hamper. I could not reach it with my hands. I had to get one of our firepit tools- the long "tongs" to pull everything out.


What was behind there?
12 pair of underwear (including 1 pair of "training pants")
5 pairs of pants (including one size 2 T khaki Sunday pants-it has been over 2 years since anyone has worn a size 2 T. 2 pair of size 5 khaki Sunday pants that Tucker will be able to wear this fall)
4 pairs of shorts
8 shirts (including a shirt of Savannas from 2005 in a size 8)
2 pj pants
1 pj shirt
8 socks (two of which make a complete pair, and 1 adorable baby striped sock that I kept its lonely mate to for the last 4 years & 1 "Sunday Red"of Tuckers that has only been missing for 2 weeks)

I was astounded by all that was behind the hamper. It made me wonder what was behind the one downstairs.

Not as much, but just as amusing.
1 knights shield
1 superman hand
1 batman dart glove thingy
2 shirts
1 raccoon mask

I have laughed and laughed about this all day. You know how "they" say that things get lost in the wash? Our stuff never makes it to the wash!

When Jay got home and I showed him all the things that I had discovered. He laughed too and said it was kind of like a time capsule!

I think I will start checking behind the hamper more often.

Our Easter Weekend

Very long post- lots of photos- I guess you could call this a Grandparent post- something that family would want to see, but maybe not others...

*crazy maniac shopping for shoes for everyday wear not just for Easter Sunday-(but finding sunday shoes would have been nice too)

*easter egg run- (you know, kind of like the land run, except you grab eggs instead of land-and it seems to be just as competitive)

kids with their registration bracelets for the "egg run"

* helicopter dropping eggs from the sky and how wind whipped we were and how Tucker was so afraid.




*How some of our kids did not get any eggs because there were just so many kids and their parents (it probably did not help that most kids are more aggressive than ours)




*How Tucker describes the helicopter and the eggs

*A great friend dropping off a darling gift for one of the kids baskets- just in the nick of time!

*Saturday last minute fast shopping for things for the baskets (it was the only alone moment that I had to do it!)

*Pizza dinner with friends and getting home late

*staying up with the kids to make easter cookies

*staying up later to find pants, shirts, skirts from neglected laundry piles and ironing them

*staying up way later and preparing surprises for after church then having fun creative time after all the work was done

*creating things while listening to the house shaking thunder

*going to bed just as Jay was getting up to finish preparing for his speaking assignment

*waking up and enjoying our morning all together as a family

*opening the oven to find the Easter cookies


*breakfast by candlelight

See the Easter cookies on the plates?
(I was surprised with all the storms and humidity that they turned out so well and did not fall- they really did turn out hollow!)

*not worrying about taking any photos before church


*attending church with Jay to the Ward that he was speaking in and how totally quiet it was-(it was a student ward- no other kids there but ours) and having church in the cafeteria

*thoroughly enjoying watching Tucker sit up on the stand with Jay and only having to manage Luke sitting next to me (Savanna and Jack sitting just fine as usual)




*hearing Tucker sweetly say Amen, then again in a growling voice

*listening to a wonderful talk about what we give our time to, and relating it to Easter-and Christ and his Atonement

*getting to hear Jay's testimony about Resurrection and the assurance that we will all live together after this earthly life


*coming home and checking to see if the Easter bunny had been here
(Our first year to do this - I love, love love, having the Easter bunny come after church! So thankful someone shared this tradition with me!)

*circling the block one more time- silly us, left the doors locked, so we had to unlock the back door and leave a carrot for the bunny

*Luke running in to check and yelling that yes indeed the bunny had been to our house

*Luke finding half eaten carrots by the back door

*Everyone being excited about their baskets



*Tucker getting so excited to see what all this was about- and running around the room to check out what was in everyone's basket









*Tucker getting one piece of candy in each egg- he loved the jelly beans!





*long naps for the youngest and oldest kids

*Jack realizing that he had "Peanut Butter Jelly and a Baseball bat"- (Reeses egg, jelly beans, and the bat)
*candlelight dinner

*followed by me dropping the camera in the sink

* followed by a fire during candlight dinner from a linen napkin being discarded onto a candle-

*Jay fixes camera so I can take photos of Luke sneaking into photos of me and my mom

*photos of me and my mom with my arm trying to keep Luke out of the photo



*end of the day snuggles with the youngest one and a long sleep