Awareness Test

This was on Alex's blog...and I loved it. So, I wanted to share it with you.



I had to watch it twice!

Easter

Easter is so much fun! I have been "horning" in on Richard's family for many, many a year. There is nothing better than an Esplin Easter in Orderville. Thank you Esplins! (Alex... I don't think I've seen you for years! No fair to try and use school as an excuse.)

We traveled down on Friday... and stopped at Janett's. Jesse was kind enough to saddle up his horse and give our kids rides. Nothing but fun at Jan's, I tell you what.









The big Easter Egg-stravaganza begins with the dying of eggs. Thanks to WIC I was able to store up seven dozen eggs... but I cracked quite a few. Susan threw in three dozen boiled eggs and a dozen raw eggs and we colored them all. I love being around Sue's boys because they are so much help. Jacob, Logan and Isaac were pretty much in charge of the dying of the eggs and I felt like I could just sit back and relax. Nice... Then we must fill the too many plastic eggs with the two much candy. Susan and I always go way overboard. But, there were plenty of eggs and plenty of candy for the others who just show up at Grandma's expecting there to be candy and eggs... and there was.... and all was well. When all is ready the little kids (six or seven and younger) find the eggs down at Grandma's house. B thought he was too old for this, so he helped R find eggs... she had more eggs than she needed! The older kids go on a treasure hunt. Daniel did a great job with the treasure hunt and it is fun to watch the kids run all around. The treasure is their Easter baskets. Good times, good times.



Next comes the pot luck lunch. Yummy baked beans and salads, fresh rolls and brownies. Always scrumptious. Just when you think it is time for a nap... we hear that everyone has already left to go to the sand dunes. We load up the shovels, eggs, blow dart guns and all of the kids to head out. The ramp is elaborate and a work of art. Jumps, diverting paths, tunnels... it is all there. We had fun rolling dozen after dozen of eggs down the super speed way.



Once the eggs are all broken the egg war breaks out. Generally the war stays away form the women folk. This year it came dangerously close. I blame that on the youngest couples who still think hitting your true love with an egg shows how much you adore her. Last but not least comes the blow dart war. The participants line up from tallest to shortest, then every other one steps forward to make teams for the first round. After everyone gets shot, they play again, and again, and again. Pretty much until all of the little, little kids are crying and screaming. S wet her pants, R was crying because she couldn't get all of the sand off... It just makes it easier to go home. : ) When we got back to Susan's house we ran right to the shower. Wow, I am grateful for running water! Then we get to chat and eat leftovers all night long. Sunday they monsters were all dressed up and we went to our favorite ward in Orderville (don't tell the other ward).



Our monsters are all so very handsome. Thank you Susan. We had such a great time. I do hope the Esplins never hold a meeting to figure out how to reclaim their own family holiday. We love the Esplin Easter! When I explained the festivities to Ana, she was amazed. I would like to dedicate this tunnel to Ana. It was built by Logan and help... The eggs would spin once or twice before they went on through. It was sweet.

Reading

My neighbor Bonnie told me the other day that she thinks I use reading as an escape. I have been pondering that, and I am afraid she is right. I have read at least 12 books during the month of March (see link to "Books I've Read" over on the left). Being so busy with my little monsters I am afraid that is baaad. I shouldn't be spending so much time reading. It is like an addiction... and I do want to escape, a little. It has been a long, hard winter. That is my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Any advice out there? I am trying to use the advice that DiAnn gave me, through Isaac Newton... "An object in motion stays in motion"... also true is "An object at rest stays at rest until acted upon by an outside force." So, if you are sitting on the couch it is going to take an extra amount of force to get you up and going. However, if you are busy... it is easier to stay busy. The laws of Newton help me remember to get busy, sometimes.

Humillacion

In Spanish the word humillar means both to humble and to humiliate. I have had some pretty humiliating experiences lately and I have been hoping that they at least serve to make me a more humble person. I will share mine, then you must share yours... so be thinking.

The other day we were invited to a birthday party by a family with three boys. We bought a gift for the oldest boy, Lester, and went to their house for the big she-bang. I was asked to give the prayer and I blessed the food but also had to throw in what a great boy Lester was and please bless him as he grows... blah, blah, blah. As soon as I said "Amen," Lester pipes up and tells me it is not his birthday, it's Ryan's birthday. That would explain Ryan's name on the other gift I saw... and the cake. Synapses firing a little slow there?

E got home from the NASCAR races all fired up and more a Jeff Gordon fan than ever before. He purchased a #24 flag that hooks to the window and proudly hung it off of the window on his Durango. The only problem is that I drive the Durango to the gym. I didn't really notice the flag until I was on my way and it was pretty embarrassing, but it was still a little dark so I didn't think about it too much. On the way home was a different story. I could see the shadow of the flag flapping in wind, mocking me. I am sure that everyone around me noticed the NASCAR flag flying proudly, and I was ashamed.

Here is an experience that Ana had in her ward in California. She was in the hall at church on a weekday (she is the YW president don't you know) and saw the sister missionaries. She noticed that one of the sisters was new to the area and she was on crutches. Ana, the kind soul that she is said, "Oh, what happened?" Then she looked down, down, down and noticed that there was only one leg sticking out of the dress. Horrified she hears the sister missionary start into the story of how she had lost her leg because of cancer.... .... Funny? I got a kick out of it.

Citizenship

He did it! HE DID IT! We have almost jumped through every hoop and filled out every form necessary for E to become a citizen. He passed his test. Hurray!

Preparing for the interview was by far the worst part. He has been studying for a couple of months at least. We also had to take in the following documents:

• his green card
• his ID/drivers license
  
• his passport
• my birth certificate
• our marriage certificate
• proof of residence and our union
• birth certificates of all our children
• a copy of our taxes from the last three years.

We took everything in and they only looked at the first two.

Getting ready in the morning, he decided to wear a suit. He said that if they deported him at least he would arrive in Honduras in something nice. All of these jokes about getting deported were kind of getting to me. One would like to think they wouldn't deport him, or would they. They can actually do anything they like. So it was funny, but not really.

We took the whole family and I think our kids served their purpose. The interviewer saw them and maybe he recognized how much they needed their dad.

They quizzed E on his name, my name, our children's names and he did well. Then they had him read sentences and write sentences to prove that he speaks English. Last but not least they asked him 10 questions about our history/government.

1. What do the stripes on the flag represent? (The first 13 states.)
   
2. Who was the first president of the United States? (George Washington.)
   
3. Who elects the President of the United States? (The electoral college.)
4. How many Senators are there in Congress? (100, two from each state.)
5. Who is the head of the Executive Branch of the U. S. Government? (The President.)
6. What were the original 13 states? (Virginia, Massachusetts, Maryland, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Georgia.)
7. Who said, "Give me liberty or give me death"? (Patrick Henry.)
   
8. What holiday was celebrated for the first time by American colonists? (Thanksgiving.)
9. Who is the Commander-in-Chief of the United States military? (The President.)
10. How many times may a Senator or Congressman be re-elected? (There is no limit.)

All of the questions he answered appropriately and the guy told him he passed. Then he had to sign a paper saying that he would go to war for the U.S. if he was called up. And that was it. When he walked out he just said, "Piece of cake." All that is left is the oath ceremony. They said they will send us a letter three weeks before the ceremony, so who knows when that will be. Not within the next three weeks at least. I think I need to throw a party when it is all done. You are all invited!

We celebrated by eating at Chuck-a-Rama and going to the zoo. We do love the zoo.

Painted Ladies

The goosies got into mama's makeup. They actually impressed me with their skill. They got the lipstick on the lips, the mascara on the eyes and the eye shadow close to the eye lids.

Science!

What a great day. I started off the day at the gym reading my brand new book, The Mormon Scientist by Henry J. Eyring who I believe is the son of Henry B. Eyring. I just got through the acknowledgements, the introduction, the overview and a smidgen of the first chapter. It is so amazing! I came home so happy and uplifted.

Then I took B to set up his very first science fair project. I was feeling really lame because we did it just this last week... but it looked nice and I think it was great for a Kindergartner. He won a blue ribbon in his category and a bronze medal out of the 1st and 2nd graders. He was the only one from Kinder. Weird, eh, can't figure that one out.



We, as a family, are so very proud... look at Sarah hugging him. Here is a video of B explaining his project. The volume is really low, so hopefully you can hear it.



I'm so proud my buttons are bursting, and not because of all of the Easter candy either. May I just add that I love Reeses (both Di and the peanut butter/chocolate specialists).

Another bit of great news that Ticee shared with me is that Friday Night Lights will be back! On the same happy note Ana is having her ultra-sound tomorrow. What do you think, boy or girl?

Photographer

My kids are so adorable. You should have seen them Sunday, all dressed up. I found some $7 dresses on Walmart.com that are to die for. I really want to document how adorable they are, but I do not have any luck or skills in that area. I couldn't get my monsters to hold still at the same time... or to look at me. S was determined to hold up the picture she had made in Primary. R and L thought she looked cool so they held their arms out. B loves his stuffed animal so much he thinks it should be in every picture. I don't know why that tiger drives me looney. B makes little noises and tells me what the tiger says. He also rubs the tigers paws up against me. Grrrr...

Anywho, I took about thirty pictures and not one of them is great. I just want a picture of all of my monsters, in all of their glory... at the same time.

Here are the answers to the citizenship test. You tell me, but I think #93 is a little manipulative... and weird.

ANSWER SHEET
1. Red, white, and blue
2. One for each state
3. There are 50 stars on our flag.
4. The stars on our flag are white.
5. There are 13 stripes on our flag.
6. The first 13 states
7. The stripes on the flag are red and white.
8. 50 states
9. Independence Day
10. Independence from Great Britain
11. We fought Great Britain in the Revolutionary War.
12. George Washington
13. George W. Bush
14. Dick Cheney
15. The Electoral College
16. The Vice President
17. The supreme law of the land
18. Amendments
19. Twenty-seven amendments
20. Executive, Judicial, and Legislative
21. Congress
22. The Senate and the House of Representatives
23. Congress
24. The citizens of the United States
25. There are 100 Senators in Congress, 2 from each state.
26. 6 years
27. The answer to this question depends on where you live.
28. There are 435 voting members in the House of Representatives.
29. For 2 years
30. The President
31. The President is elected for 4 years.
32. The Supreme Court
33. To interpret and explain the laws
34. The Constitution
35. The first 10 amendments to the Constitution
36. The answer to this question depends on the state where you reside. To learn the capital of your state, go to http://www.firstgov.gov and select the state government link.
37. The answer to this question depends on where you live. To learn the name of the Governor of your state, go to http://www.firstgov.gov and select the state government link.
38. The Speaker of the House
39. John G. Roberts, Jr.
40. Virginia, Massachusetts, Maryland, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Georgia
41. Patrick Henry
42. Germany, Italy, and Japan
43. Alaska
44. Two full terms
45. A civil rights leader
46. A candidate for President must
• be a native-born, not naturalized, citizen,
• be at least 35 years old, and
• have lived in the U.S. for at least 14 years.
47. Each state elects 2 Senators.
48. The President nominates judges for the Supreme Court.
49. There are 9 Supreme Court Justices.
50. To gain religious freedom
51. The Governor
52. The Mayor
53. Thanksgiving
54. Thomas Jefferson
55. July 4, 1776
56. That all men are created equal and have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
57. The Star-Spangled Banner
58. Francis Scott Key
59. 18 is the minimum voting age.
60. The President
61. The Supreme Court
62. Abraham Lincoln
63. The Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves.
64. The Cabinet advises the President.
65. George Washington
66. George Washington
67. Hawaii
68. The American Indians/Native Americans
69. The Mayflower
70. Colonies
71. Congress has the power to declare war.
72. The 15th, 19th, 24th and 26th amendments
73. The Constitution was written in 1787.
74. The Bill of Rights
75. All people living in the United States
76. The Preamble
77. Congress
78. The White House
79. Washington, DC
80. The rights of freedom of religion, of speech, of the press, of assembly, and to petition the Government
81. The President
82. November
83. January
84. There is no limit.
85. The Democratic and Republican parties
86. The President, the Cabinet, and departments under the cabinet members
87. The Bill of Rights
88. Form N-400 (Application for Naturalization)
89. A Republic
90. For countries to discuss and try to resolve world problems or to provide economic aid to many countries
91. To obtain Federal government jobs, to travel with a U.S. passport, or to petition for close relatives to come to the United States to live
92. Yes, the Constitution can be changed.
93. The right to vote
94. The President’s official home
95. The place where Congress meets
96. There are 3 branches