That does it.

If we stay here in this messy house we will all die.
I'm waiting for my new theme songs to burn to a disc. It needs to come too.
It's so good.
I'm gonna go eat one of my favorite lunches and hit up a thrift store or three.

I'm taking the sidekicks.
Of course.


Maybe magic fairies will come clean my house while I am gone.
Maybe I'll figure out a new name for my line since my favorite one is taken by someone who doesn't even have a shop.
Maybe you'd like to dress like a mermaid too?
Maybe I'll magically get better after I eat some good food.
Maybe we'll find what we are looking for.

Maybe I'll get feeling like myself again.

Maybe we should have left already.

BYE!

Sicklies

This is our third sick day in a row which means we had to opt out on swim lessons again and cancel a much anticipated trip to "the dinosaur museum" with Grandma and Papa this afternoon.

I always have hesitations of self-doubt when canceling a normal day for us.... am I making the right choice? But it is always the right choie to not infect others right?

So, in order to avoid the somewhat depressing boredom that was yesterday we made a list of what Ambrose thinks we should do today...

Allow me to translate:

1. Build a fort
2. Make peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
3. Watch The Little Mermaid
4. Dance and sing on the family room rug
5. Play with all the Toy Story "critters" and "creacters" (Characters I am guessing... I've just been informed that critters are small and "creacters" are tall. Duh.)
6. March in our own parade
7. PBSkids.org

So, yeah, we've got a lot to do.

Fort's already done.

Oh and I got my top and bottom done the other night for our service project:


Very simple, very fast, very nautical.

Ok, I better go make some cookies. Aloha.

Individuality in Mormonism

My kids are making forts and watching Barney so I'm going to attempt to type something out really quickly that has been on my mind.

*And before I get started, let me just say that this is my blog and therefore I reserve the right to delete any hateful comments. You don't ever have to agree with me, of course, and I've never gotten a "hate" comment on my blog before, but it could happen.*

Are you nervous about what I am going to post now? HA! Calm down. It's just my thoughts... oh wait, maybe be nervous after-all. Here goes...

Ambrose is getting to a somewhat surprisingly philosophical age. One day he indignantly questioned me for about 20 minutes about why I didn't have the Priesthood. He just didn't believe that I didn't feel left out or even care. I don't understand the women who get hung-up on that and feel maybe theirs is a bigger issue, like, maybe their fathers/husbands are just chauvinists and they need to get more chances to do what they want in their lives. I feel upset for them in that regard as well. That is absolutely pitiable and wrong. I doubt anyone really envies the responsibilities of the Priesthood, but perhaps they do feel powerless and that is an easy complaint to make in that regard. To those women I would just say, consider the power that comes from a person who actively facilities the carrying-out of a blessing in the life of a loved one. Men and women can do that and that is what counts. That seems even more effective to me anyway. How did I get here?

Sorry, back on topic.

The other day in the car Ambrose and I had a conversation that went something like:

A: Mama, I love you most in the whole world. (He was a little giddy because I was taking him to the movies. A rare treat in our house.) You're my precious mommy.
Me: I love you too and you are my amazing Ambrose. Did you know that there is no one just like you in the whole world? Pretty cool huh. Only one Ambrose just like you!
A: But I want to be the same as everybody!
Me: Really? All the time?
A: Yeah.
Me: Even if everyone is smoking?
A: Uh, no. Not then.
Me: Even if everyone is being mean to someone who needs a friend?
A: No not then either! (He started laughing at this point.)
Me: Even if everyone is going to church?
A: (senses a trick) Yeah, then I want to be the same.

I guess I just had this on my mind, because living in an area that is so densely populated with Mormons is a new experience for me these last 7-8 years and this idea of individuality subconsciously pervades any area like it. I saw it in Rexburg, Idaho and I always sense it in Utah.

So many people are so similar in their core beliefs that everyone is dying for any stab at uniqueness. They'll take what they can get too:

-The Mormon with outlandish and sometimes painfully awkward clothing choices
-The Mormon with political beliefs that they may not actually believe
-The Mormon who wears the fact that they seldom keep the Sabbath day holy like a badge of honor
-The Mormon who has a past and is going make sure everyone knows about it
-The Mormon who hates everyone who is happy
-THe Mormon who seems to look for reasons to be offended by their "clueless" neighbors and ward members
-The Mormon like me who is amused by all of this so much that she blogs about it at the risk of sounding extremely judgmental, thus negating her entire purpose for posting it in the first place....heh heh
-The Mormon who is dying to be in a leadership position so much that all their interactions feel like a political campaign

etc, etc, etc

I guess my point is that it is all pretty harmless until we feel like we need to be so different from our "cookie-cutter, do-gooder, normal run-of-the-mill happy" LDS neighbors that we lose sight of why we are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the first place.

If you are an adult member of this Church, chances are you have felt the whisperings of the spirit and you know how sweet that is. You know that you need faith, but that you also need knowledge and it is up to you to find out the answers for yourself.

A solid testimony is YOURS, is unique, is personal and makes you who you are. No one will ever have the same one or be just like you. It is personal and makes you a true individual.

I love that I know this is true.

I'll spare you

I'll spare you a whiny post about:

-how my kids were both magically sick the day of their "well-child" annual check-ups
-how Asher "tossed his cookies" ALL OVER the waiting room at the doctors office
-how I was so shocked I just tried to catch it in my hands (???) and so a passerby cleaned him up until I could come to
-how Ambrose was amused and chipper the whole three-hour fiasco of a visit until the very end when he had to get a TB shot, two vaccinations in his right thigh and one in his left annnnnd
-how I had to hold him and his arms down for all of it while he foamed at the mouth and thrashed like an angry shark
-how he yelled, "I DO NOT LIKE YOU ANYMORE AUNTY WHO LIVES AT THE DOCTORS OFFICE!" to the poor nurse after
-how Asher climbed up on the chair behind me and clung to my back sobbing while all this was going on
-how I bribed them both with large amounts of candy that I had to deliver on after even if one had puked and the other didn't deserve so much as a lick
-how Asher cried for his shirt the entire time, which obviously was collateral damage of the whole catastrophe
-how once they both silently ate their candies at the pharmacy they were totally fine

Yeah, I'll spare you a post about all that.

Society Service!

Calling all society sisters!

Kahuku hospital needs our help!

They are in dire need of lap quilts for their long-term care patients. My ward has the goal to provide at least 12 of them for the hospital and I told them we would help!

No pressure if you can't, but if you can they are asking for "cheerful" fabric quilts. You don't even have to make it super complicated and fancy, but the dimensions of the top and bottom need to be 3 feet by 3 feet when the quilt is completed and that can just be as simple as a 3' x 3' piece of fabric for top and bottom.

I'm thinking about doing large squares for my top and one big piece for the bottom.

This would be a great way to
1. get your feet wet if you have never attempted quilt piecing before
2. use those scraps you have no idea what to do with
3. use your talents to help someone in need

If you have batting and want to finish the quilt that is great, but if you just want to create the top and bottom and drop that off or mail it to me make sure I get it by July 5th since the ladies will be putting batting in all the quilts and quilting them together the night of the 6th.

So anyone in? Please? :)

Email me if you live far away at stephaniexrobertson(at)gmail(dot)com if you need my mailing address! Or if you live around here, just drop off your cheery print 3'x3' top and bottom or finished quilt as soon as you can!

Hooray for the very first My Cup of Tea Sewing Society service project! Let's do this!


(Photo)

Ala Moana Beach Park

For the last day we just took it easy at Ala Moana beach park with the pop-up shade, a cooler full of delciousness, fun friends and great weather!


















Aloha 'Oe Stay-cation 2011. You filled the empty void of not being able to go home this summer nicely. I miss you friends and family on the Mainland, so very much, but I will see you next summer and in the meantime I am here so I am definitely going to look on the bright side and enjoy! Back to real life now...

Waikiki Aquarium and a roof-top pool

Thomas was trying to ignore a bad cold all week and finally gave in on Thursday so we let him have a quiet house to sleep in all day and had fun with the Parkers again. Can't beat a day of fun that costs under $10 total. Love being a Kama'aina in Hawaii. We should really take advantage of this stuff more often!






















Swimming amongst the high-rises is pretty awesome. Ambrose amazed me with his new swimming skills!





After this vacation I would very much like to buy an underwater camera like Matti's. Look how cool!



One more day of these stay-cation pictures...can you take it?