Eli's Van Gogh

This kid, I tell you what! 

Rylan Says...

After I got home from my morning run, Rylan asked, "When you go running, do you run somewhere, or just up and down our street?"

I said, "I run somewhere. I run in a circle."

Rylan said, "When I go running, I run in a square."

**********

And a bonus one from Cole...don't tell him I posted it.

Inspired by a comment my friend Jessica made in Relief Society on Sunday, I said, "Hey, boys. You know how our family motto is 'Be kind?' I think we should change it to 'Work hard and be kind.'"

Cole said, "Can we change it to 'Work hard and be awesome?'"

Meal Plan Week 15

Week 15 of the Peters Family Band 15-Week Meal Plan

This is the last week of our meal plan. It's also actually last week's menu (I forgot to post it last week). This week, we'll be starting over with Week 1.

Breakfast Options:

• oatmeal, granola, toast, grits
• yogurt, smoothies, or milk
• cold cereal on the weekend

Lunch Options:

• cheese sandwich, tuna sandwich, egg salad sandwich, peanut butter sandwich, quesadilla
• strawberries, blueberries, peaches, bananas
• water or watered down juice

Dinner

Monday:

• biscuit pizza
• salad

Tuesday:

• black bean nachos
  

Wednesday:

• black bean burgers
• tater tots
  

 Thursday:

• fettuccine alfredo
• salad

Friday:

• deviled eggs
• toast
• kale or swiss chard from the garden

Saturday:

• I don't cook on Saturdays. We typically eat leftovers, pancakes, or order take-out.

Sunday: (Michael cooks)

• chili with beef
• cornbread
  

While Michael's Away

Michael and I have this ongoing argument where he says, "You're always stealing the covers." And I say, "I do not. I barely move when I sleep." And he says, "Every morning when we wake up, all the covers are on your side of the bed." And I say, "I don't know how they get there, but it's not because of me."

This week, Michael was gone on a business trip, so I was able to get some photographic evidence while sleeping solo:

My side of the bed.........................Michael's side of the bed

Notice how the covers on my side of the bed are all rumpled up, and the covers on Michael's side of the bed look like I just made the bed. I do not steal the covers!

(I bet you were thinking this was going to be some kind of cheesy, lovey-dovey Father's Day post. Wrong! Winning arguments is way more important!)

On Women and Mormons

For the past couple of weeks, in between laundry and bread-baking and housecleaning and child-rearing, I've been reading the Feminine Mystique. Ironic, no?

So I've had women on my mind a lot lately - women in general, but especially women within the LDS church. We get a bad rap for being old-fashioned and repressed. From the inside, that's never how it feels, but it's true that in many ways, Mormon women are still living out the lives of the 50s housewife. In general, we marry young, have lots of children, and stay home to raise them.

The thought that keeps running through my mind as I've read the Feminine Mystique is that none of my LDS stay-at-home mom friends have ever said to me, "Being a stay-at-home mom is such a dull, purposeless life. I feel like my brain is turning to mush. Sometimes I wonder...Is this all?" But apparently, that was the question running through the minds of housewives across the country in the 1950s. I've wondered, Were Mormon women in the 50s asking that question too? Do Mormon housewives nowadays feel more satisfied than those in the 50s did, and if so, why? Does our religion give purpose to staying home, enabling us to avoid that discontent? Do we feel less discontent because most stay-at-home moms nowadays, even Mormons, return to work eventually? Or perhaps my stay-at-home mom friends are wondering internally Is this all? but never vocalizing the question because of cultural stigmas?

As I've pondered the role of women in the church and in Heavenly Father's plan, I've come across a few websites and articles that I found interesting, and I wanted to share them.

• I learned about the Mormon Women Project awhile back, forgot about it, and then remembered it again. I was going to link to some of my favorite interviews, but honestly, they're all good. The most recent one is amazing.

• One of the women interviewed on the site above writes a blog called Women in the Scriptures. Did you know that there are nearly 600 women in the scriptures? I had no idea. 

• On Mother's Day, the blogger above wrote a post about our Heavenly Mother, linking to a recent article published in the BYU Studies Journal titled, "A Mother There: A Survey of Historical Teachings about Mother in Heaven." I believe Mormons are unique among Christians in that we believe in Heavenly Parents, a Mother as well as a Father. We don't talk about our Heavenly Mother often because we don't know much about her and we don't want to speculate about her, but we still love and honor her. The article linked to above is an inventory of quotes from various church leaders from Joseph Smith to the present day about our Heavenly Mother. I especially enjoyed the final two paragraphs:

"The Heavenly Mother portrayed in the teachings we have examined is a procreator and parent, a divine person, a co-creator, a coframer of the plan of salvation, and is involved in this life and the next. Certainly, consideration of these points reinforces several unquestionably important LDS doctrines: divine embodiment, eternal families, divine relationality, the deification of women, the eternal nature and value of gender, and the shared lineage of Gods and humans. Far from degrading either the Heavenly Feminine or the earthly feminine, we feel that these teachings exalt both.

"In acknowledgment of this, we can think of no more fitting conclusion than the words uttered by Elder Glenn L. Pace (First Quorum of the Seventy, October 3, 1992–October 2, 2010) at a 2010 BYU devotional: “Sisters, I testify that when you stand in front of your heavenly parents in those royal courts on high and you look into Her eyes and behold Her countenance, any question you ever had about the role of women in the kingdom will evaporate into the rich celestial air, because at that moment you will see standing directly in front of you, your divine nature and destiny.”"

• One of the quotes in that article is from President Hinckley, and I enjoyed it so much, I looked up the original source. This is a fabulous talk about being a Daughter of God.

Another Big Project... on a House We Don't Own

My next-door-neighbor has the same house as us only blue and with gold lamps and knobs instead of bronze. And where we had a mud pit in between our porch and shed, she has a concrete patio. I've coveted that concrete patio for the past three years, and finally this year I decided to put in a patio of my own.

The idea was to do something cheap, easy, and not permanent. By laying the patio tiles in a checkerboard pattern, I didn't have to level the ground. In between the tiles, I planted thyme and chamomile, which supposedly can both be stepped on without damaging them. Finally, I gifted Michael a grill for Memorial Day/Father's Day.

I love my patio so much!

Meal Plan Week 14

Week 14 of the Peters Family Band 15-Week Meal Plan


Breakfast Options:

• oatmeal, granola, toast, grits, strawberry muffins
• yogurt, smoothies, or milk
• cold cereal on the weekend

Lunch Options:

• cheese sandwich, tuna sandwich, egg salad sandwich, peanut butter sandwich, quesadilla
• strawberries, peaches, bananas, or applesauce
• water or watered down juice

Dinner

Monday:

• chicken pesto pizza
• salad

Tuesday:

• nacho salad

Wednesday:

• cheesy pinto bean bake
• kale

 Thursday:

• mostalada
• corn

Friday:

• egg salad sandwiches
• coleslaw

Saturday:

• I don't cook on Saturdays. We typically eat leftovers, pancakes, or order take-out.

Sunday: (Michael cooks)

• roast chicken with mashed potatoes

Slip n Slide with Cousins

Just a few weeks after the birth of their new little boy, my brother and his family decided to take a road trip along the east coast from Georgia to Connecticut. When he first texted to say they were coming to visit for a couple days, I responded, "Traveling with a newborn? You are brave!" But after they'd come and gone, I decided that they're actually geniuses. Except for the crying in the car part, they're bringing their baby to relatives who've been dying to meet him and who would be happy to give mom and dad a break now and then. Plus, they get to skip the housework and the cooking for a few days and focus on caring for their little guy. It's a mostly brilliant plan (except for the crying in the car part).

A visit from cousins meant it was time to break out the slip n slide.




 I was happy to see that their baby is cuter in person than they'd made him out to be.


 But he wasn't a big fan of the slip n slide.


P.S. You see all those weeds in the background? That's because Michael never mows.