Being Tone Deaf...

My father's family are gifted musicians.  My grandpa, Clarence LeRoy Bentley, died when my dad was 8, but before that he was a coal miner and a singer.  Singing at clubs in Pleasant Grove and entertaining.  My Dad sang a lot as a boy and won a local contest for singing MacNamara's Band.  So music is in my blood I suppose.

All growing up my mother is a self proclaimed "tone deaf" individual.  I inherited this trait from her.  I came this conclusion because when I was in primary my friend Angela turned to me during singing time and said, "Stop singing off key."

I was crushed!  Had I been singing off key, what was off key anyway?  Well at the tender age of 9 I vowed I would NEVER sing again.  Silly, I know that now, but I thought at the time, if I can't even tell that I'm off, how will I ever know when I am on?  And being off key really irritates some people and in my weak mind it seemed the only honorable option :)

Years of lip singing during primary and young women's, my deep secret was well hidden.  I could not sing and no one was going to laugh at me for it.  Oh the pride of youth.

Then one day, I was at the piano and I played a D and just by chance my voice matched and.....

I HEARD IT!!!!!!

I was finally singing the right note and I knew it!

I was almost in college and I finally could do what most could do as sunbeams.

I played the note again, that trusty D, and this time I was off and I couldn't get back on.

So I hammered that D again and again and again until I could hit it with only a little wibbling around.

I started singing VERY quietly at sacrament, and I realized how much more fun it was.

I still struggle to stay on pitch, but now I have found if I tug my right ear in just a bit I can even sing without the piano, almost on key.

So here is the take home for me that came through today...

We are born a bit tone deaf to the voice of the spirit.  I feel like I have gone for years not knowing if I was in or out of tune with the spirit.  Not to say I couldn't sing the right words...I'm always good at knowing the lyrics, but to truly be in tune and know it.  That is what I am striving for with the spirit.  So I am going to prove the Lord and diligently seek him so that I can sing his words.... on key!!!!  But learning from my childhood folly I know practice is the "key" (pun intended)

I have great faith that I can learn the delicate tones of the spirit, just as gifted musicians can hear the subtle variances in pitch.

There is a second part of the story...

I shared my pitch discovery with my mom and said, "Mom, If I can do this, you can too, just sit with me by the piano and let me help you find the note"

She agreed

We had to go to a low G for her until I matched the piano key to her note.  She teared up.

"Can you hear Mom?" I asked in earnest.

"I think I can!" she said smiling

You see there is no end to things you can do if you are willing to just try.

So I am going to play my spiritual D until I KNOW and not just think I know that the spirit and I are in Harmony :)

When you tell one lie....you turn into a goat

I know I looked so innocent as a child, you would have never thought that I would grow up and tell a LIE!!!!

It happened one beautiful Saturday afternoon.  Jared and I were gearing up to feed the picky eaters.  We were searching the refrigerator for something healthy, easy and enticing to feed the kiddos.  As I went through the fridge I notices a yucky old bag of noodle soup...so I threw it away, pleased that it would not have a chance to mold in my fridge or get spilled on accident.

I began cooking and Jared said to me,

"Where is that bag of noodle soup?"

AHHHH I thought, he wanted that, I don't want him to know I just chucked it, as that would seem to be very wasteful, neither did I think I wanted to go grab it out of the garbage can...so....

I LIED!

"Oh, I ate those for lunch"

Then he said, "No, it was just right here, I just saw it, what could have happened to it..."

I became very uneasy...because when you tell one lie it leads to another.  I had to choose, lie again? or fess up in front of the kids...

Oh the pressure, the pain, the humiliation!

So...I fessed up

"I'm sorry!  I just told a lie."

BLUSH BLUSH

BLUSH BLUSH

At first the kids stared with open mouths, then sweet Hazel came running over, "It's okay mommy, we still love you!"

So we used it as a GREAT lesson about what to do when you have told a lie, we said a prayer, I repented, and we talked about what would have happened if I had kept lying.

So we laugh a little at Mommy when we sing that song, "When you tell one lie..."

Jared even made up a bedtime story about it...so now we say,

"When you tell one lie you turn into a goat..."

Yeah, don't ask, Jared's stories are really entertaining :)

Toothless sisters :)

We just can't seem to hold on to our teeth...yay Hazel!!!!

 Haze joins the ranks of the toothless at our house.  Little Eliza-Jane follows me around asking me to feel her tooth to see if it too might be "starting to get loose?"

The drawing craze

The kids, especially the 3 oldest girls are in a drawing craze.  It's the first thing they want to do in the morning... I just thought their drawings were too cute not to be saved somewhere....so here is their mini art gallery!

Time flies

So time has really flown and gotten away from us this year.

 Lucy is a walkin' sorta talkin' lovable little screecher :).  Do not take her on long drives in the car, she never sleeps (even if she is dog tired!), but she does screech and almost cause accidents.  The other kids just plug their little ears and endure.  Other than that small factoid she is a sweet little cuddly girl.  She has Dadd-eee wrapped around her little finger.  Daddy was her first word and still is her favorite.  She also loves to yell, "MITT!!!!", which means "open it!"  She is terrified of anything with eyes, dolls, stuffed animals etc, but her greatest all time scary thing is the vacuum.  Whenever she sees it she quivers with fear, points to it and cries, "That! That! That!" and she will not move to me even if she can see me.  She is completely paralyzed with fear...very sad.  The older kids protect their small dangerous toys, like legos, with stuffed animals, knowing full well Lucy will not trespass these scary little  "thats!"

Eliza Jane is growing fast.  She told me the other day, "Mommy, I'm a toddler, and toddler wibble" and she did this cute little snowboarding wibble, "But they don't fall over!"  She has become fascinated with Orca WHEELS.  I love it!  She says, "Mommy play with me, you be a crab and I'll be an Orca wheel (whale)"   Daddy is really good about helping her cope with reality, because if she ever gets hurt or embarrassed she plugs her ears and says "I already know, don't talk about it!!!!!!"  So Jared beats her too it, when she makes a mistake he laughs with her and says " DON'T TALK ABOUT IT, I ALREADY KNOW!!!!!!!!"  This usually is rewarded with a cute chuckle from her.  Very spicy, very cute, very independent little toddler that wibbles, but doesn't fall over...he he he

Little Hazel Beth is growing up so much.  She will start kindergarten this fall...wowzers!  She loves being noticed and loved.  She is my little helper who is almost always willing to help me clean.  We package a lot of bows around this place, and Jacob made a sign one day when he was tired of bows.  The sign had a drawing of a bow with an X on it.  He posted it where Daddy could see.  Hazel took note and made a drawing of a bow with a green check and put it on the window (we are still trying to get the sticky off), but her sweet act of kindness didn't go unnoticed.  She is an incredibly fast runner.  Jared and I were watching her run the other day and couldn't believe her quick stride...I guess you have to be a fast runner when you are the middle child.  I love that little sweetheart!

Miriam...ah, little Miriam :)  She is the one who always wants to be held and carried (yes, my 7 year old begs to be held).  She likes things just so when it comes the the textures of her clothing.  When she wears somethings that is super comfy, she calls it her "droopy drowsers".  The other night when we were getting ready for bed her clothes were irritating her and she was very grumpy and hid under her covers... she wiggled about a little.  Then she poked her face out and said with a smile, "When things aren't going your way, the best thing to do is fuss!"  She has her front 4 teeth missing...eating is a challenge, but she loving the fact that it means she's growing up.  We wouldn't survive without waffles with whip cream and yogurt!

Jacob, the leader of our little pack, is anxiously get ready for the pinewood derby this year.  He has invented a word to describe how he feels...NERVITED! (nervous and excited put together).  He is getting to the age where Mommy really relies on his helpfulness.  He is a deep thinker and often asks very thoughtful questions, especially right before bed.  He loves reading and I was a bit worried because he does not like writing.  It's like pulling teeth to get the writing done.  I finally told him that if he could show me "proper good writing up to my standard" I would back off and he wouldn't have to spend so much time writing.  He sat down (on the computer, because he can't stand to write by hand when he is free writing) and wrote out a beautiful piece about his baptism.  I was amazed that all that talent had been hiding.  Now we just need to find out how to make it enjoyable for him.

Jared and I are finding a new love of studying the gospel.  We fight over who gets study time on Sunday :)  Now we just have to put what we learn into practice.  Everything seems so easy when you read it, but actually doing, that is the hard part ;)