Jr. Achievement

(This blog post was orginally written on Nov 30, 2010)

 Jr. Achievement is a non-profit organization which brings schools, business communities, educators and volunteers together to teach kids key concepts about work, careers, entrepreneurship and financial literacy.  

The Children's Museum of Utah partner with the Jr. Achievement program and offer an exceptional hands-on experience for 5th and 8th grade children in Utah. 

At the Children's Museum of Utah, the entire 4th floor becomes a Jr. Achievement town, with store fronts, government offices, restaurants, etc to create a community in which they can have a true hands-on experience in opening and running a business in a interconnected community atmosphere.  It was a fun, high action day!

I volunteered to help.  The business I helped in was Merit Medical.  Here is Brandon, the other parent volunteer taking a moment to prep the staff before their day began.  Our job was to advise and assist as needed, but to let the kids run the businesses themselves.

This is Nick, our CFO busy getting things ready for our business to open.  Oh, so many things to do!  Create a business loan application, print up the first set of payechecks and throughout the day handle all of the accounts payable and receivable, deal with the IRS.  This boy was very busy the entire day.  Whew!  I think he was glad he was still a 5th grader and not an adult at the end of the day.  

This is the Town Hall Meeting.  The mayor JA City introduced each CEO of each business. Each CEO gave a short speech introducing their business.  

There's my son!  He had a great day doing this.  His job was at Qwest.  What a fun busy day. Jr. Achievement is Great!

(This blog post was originally written May 2010)

**Jonathan's Heart-to-Heart Talk**

He wants to protect me and doesn't like it when I am sad because it changes everything around here. I don't like to see him sad either.

I've shed tears over this.

When I am sad, it alters the atmosphere in our home. I knew this before, but I didn't fully realize how true it was until I saw my big, tough football-playing son get emotional while discussing it. I suppose I have been pretty sad at times… I have to admit that raising six boys can be challenging and hard on my feminine psyche. Sometimes, I find myself needing to excuse myself and take a timeout in my bedroom. There are moments when I set a poor example of how to handle stress.

It’s a heavy responsibility to be a mom.

A lovely woman in my ward once asked me, "How do you do it?!" I replied, "Well, I try to get enough sleep and just keep going." Often, I find myself wishing I didn’t need to sleep at all. Just imagine what I could accomplish!

It’s true that the mother of a family sets the tone and spirit of the home. My attitude, happiness, and approach to day-to-day stresses greatly impact the happiness and contentment my children experience. When I am sleep-deprived or overwhelmed by stress, it becomes difficult to maintain a positive attitude toward the daily tasks and challenges I am "blessed" with each day. At times, it feels like a heavy burden and, honestly, a bit unfair to have such a significant influence.

My Idea of a Perfect Afternoon...

(This blog post was written on June 8, 2010)

Eric playing away on the piano, everything he could think of...for a good hour...
Jonathan working very hard on a school project with a buddy from class...
Jacob and Michael playing with several friends
Scotty jumping on the trampoline with Mary his little friend who lives next door.
Jacob practicing piano

The house filled to the rafters with friends and activity...

Laughter spilling into the kitchen from the backyard while a bunch of little kids jump on the trampoline.

Lots of laughter and talk..

Dinner cooking in the oven making the whole house smell really good.

Michael and Jacob whizzing by with their friends moving from one activity to another with great energy and speed ..from the front playing basketball to the backyard for jumping on the trampoline.

Everyone engaged in something good with someone...no fighting ..no sitting in front of a screen of any kind.

And why was this the perfect afternoon for me? I analyzed myself why this scene would fill me with such deep contentment and happiness and I realized it was because this reminded me of the home I grew up in. In the Crowley house there was always a lot of things going on and everyone was welcome anytime. We had lots of visitors of all ages and everyone was always welcome. There was much connectedness with others, much laughter, much music, many projects, someone working on something (usually taking up the kitchen table) There was always something delicious cooking in the oven for dinner in the late afternoon.

 I guess it is a sort of productive chaos that makes me happy. Chaos...who knew this would make me so happy?

The Funny Things This Boy Says.

Scotty "What's That?" pointing to a DVD  To which I said, "that is a DVD.  A whole movie is on that."  He says "what an idea!"

April 2010 Conference--WOW!

I was so so so moved by this last Conference.  I am so grateful for the inspired leadership of this church.   Although topics are not assigned to the speakers, it seems like every conference the talks come together into one harmonious message meant for us specifically at this specific time.  I believe they speak the words our Heavenly Father wants us to hear.  How thankful I am for the protection and guidance they offer.

This conference seemed to be a warning: a call to every mother, father and grandparent to protect their families from the increasing evils of this world.  It was a call to bring our families to Jesus Christ so we can enjoy peace and safety in an increasingly troubled world.  We were also taught a lot about the role of adversity in our lives and how to deal with that.  I soaked in every word and have been pondering them a great deal.  We are working hard to apply this prophetic counsel.

Speaking of prophets.  I am so thankful for President Monson.  What a wonderful, loving, humble leader he is.  I love and appreciate them all.  I know they are prophets and apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ and this is His church.  I am so thankful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

As broken and insufficient as I am, I consider myself a follower of Jesus Christ...who despite my shortcomings offers me an open loving hand to help me slog along this path of life. Through His atoning power I can be healed, lifted and forgiven.  I am so thankful for the precious truths I have.   I would love to share them with the world.

The messages from these talks will guide me through the next 6 months.

I can't wait until we receive the General Conference copy of the Ensign.  I plan on reading and marking and totally and completely assimilating those inspired messages into my heart.

Just for Fun

For Such Is the Kingdom of God..

Last September, Eric was asked to help out at "Special Needs Mutual" by being a counselor. I finally went with him last night to see what he does there. I was unprepared for the strong spirit I felt there. I stood in the doorway and cried. I felt in awe of the "celestial" pure souls who were there enthusiastically singing in whatever way they could and learning about the Gospel. I will write more about this later. But, I am so glad Eric is involved in this...so grateful.