Past Adventures

I have been reminded that I have done some adventurous things in my life. It'll make me look like a very interesting person if I list them all together:

1. Had the "top layer of cells scraped off my eyeballs while I watched" (PRK) surgery. By the way, I can FINALLY see clearly today. . .hooray!

2. Went on Pioneer Trek twice. When my partner swooned when trying to kill our turkey, I quickly jumped in and killed it, plucked it, cleaned it, and bled it myself.

3. Went on a 18 month mission to North Carolina. Lived on Harker's Island in a single wide. . .enough said.

4. Drove through the Cotswalds, entrusting my life to my husband as he drove on the wrong side of the road and going the wrong way down a one-way street.

5. Went kyaking and salmon fishing in Alaska.

6. Took a propeller plane ride and landed on a glacier on Denali.

7. Went on a date with a pilot who let me fly the plane. We ended up in Jackson Hole for dinner.

8. Braved the heat down in Lake Powell. Drove a waverunner through 4 foot waves during a storm.

9. Drove through Yellowstone in whiteout conditions. Sharing the road with a herd of buffalo.

10. Drove over the Devil's Backbone in Southern Utah. The most adventurous part was staying over night in Tropic.

11. Stayed in a stinky old hotel in Paris. We had ants in our bed on the 8th floor. The police knocked on our window (8th floor remember) in the middle of the night.

12. Ate pickled pigs feet on a dare.

What adventures have you enjoyed in your life?

Adventures

I'm really a chicken when it comes to high adventure. I've never rock climbed, bungee jumped, snow camped, or hang glided.

However, the more I learn about the world and people in it, the more adventurous I'm feeling.Two shows on TV have helped in this adventure surge: Man vs. Wild with Bear Grylls and 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. Bear Grylls is crazy. We just watched him try to survive in the Auzzie outback with a flint, knife, and a canteen of water. He drank his own pee, ate a huge spider and caught a python for dinner. I don't necessarily need to do what he did. But just the idea that he was out there experiencing life and going with the flow, doing what he had to do. . .I was inspired. On the other show 1,000 Places. . . a young married couple has put their life on hold to travel the world. I watched them in Whistler, Canada, zip-lining through the trees (that's something I want to do). I watched them buy a sari in India and enjoy that country's unique architecture. I want to experience these kinds of things and enjoy the variety this world has to offer.

Here are the adventures I want to go on in my life:
1. Travel to Canada, Hawaii, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Greece, South Africa, Central India, and Japan.
2. Zip-line in Whistler
3. White-water Rafting
4. Parasailing
5. Scuba Diving
6. Flip a House
7. Go on a safari
8. Build a log cabin
9. Go sailing
10. Do the mud run in CA
11. Visit every state in the USA
12. Swim with dolfins

You Do It, Mom

Yesterday morning, I told Jess and Chloe that it was time to clean their room. They ran downstairs and started practicing their instruments. When I went down to remind them to clean their room, Jess told me that since she was too busy practicing, I could clean her room for her. After just doing the laundry, cleaning the kitchen, making an art project with the girls (you get the picture), I was a little angry with this idea. Instead of getting mad, I decided to get even, through a Family Home Evening lesson. I spent the rest of the afternoon, not cleaning their room, but putting together this lesson for them. It turned out great and hopefully they got the message. Feel free to use this lesson for your kids.

Scripture:
I will perform that good thing which I have promised (Jer. 33:14).

Story from an old Friend Magazine:

Kate looked at the kitchen table covered with dirty supper dishes, trying to decide where to start. “It’s hard to believe that summer’s almost over,” she sighed as she started to stack the plates.

Becky said. “It’s our last week of summer vacation, and we still haven’t gone to the water park. Do you think Mom will take us there if we ask?”

“Maybe,” Kate said as she carried the plates to the sink. “But I know that Mom’s really busy this week. And we did a lot of fun things this summer.”

Kate turned to Becky. “Will you please help me with the dishes?”

Rolling her eyes, Becky opened the dishwasher and was starting to load the dirty dishes, when their mom came in.

“Thank you for doing the dishes,” Mom said. “I appreciate all the work the two of you do.”

“No problem, Mom.” Kate smiled.

Becky said. “Can you take us to the water park this week, Mom?”

She thought for a moment, then said, “I’ll make you a deal. I have some errands to run tomorrow morning. If you two will clean your room while I’m gone, I’ll stop and buy tickets to the water park, and we can go when I get home.”

“That would be great!” Becky exclaimed.

“It’s a deal,” Kate said.

The next morning Kate jumped out of bed and ran downstairs. Mom had already left. “Good morning,” Kate greeted her dad.

“Are you ready for your breakfast?”

Kate nodded and followed dad into the kitchen. “Becky and I are going to clean our room. Then Mom is going to take us to the water park.”

“That’s what mom told me,” said Dad. “Would you please go wake Becky.”

“Sure.”

“What’s the big hurry?” Becky grumped when Kate tried to talk her into getting up.

“We need to eat breakfast and start cleaning our room.”

“No, we don’t. You heard what Mom said. She’s picking up the tickets while she’s out. She’s not going to tell us that we can’t go after she’s already bought the tickets.”

Kate frowned. “But we made a deal.”

“If you’re so worried, you clean our room. Tell Dad that I’ll have breakfast later. Right now I need to figure out which swimming suit I want to wear.”

Kate trudged back down the stairs.

“What’s wrong?” Dad asked.

“Becky says she’s not going to help. She thinks Mom will let us go even if we don’t clean our room.”

“What do you think?” Dad asked.

“We said we would clean our room,” said Kate, “so that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Well,” said Dad, “you’ve made your decision, and you’ll have to let Becky make hers.”

After breakfast, Kate marched to her room and looked around, trying to figure out where to start. At first she was angry at Becky for not helping, but soon her thoughts turned to the job that she was doing.

When Mom arrived home, Kate was organizing her pajamas in her drawer.

“Where’s your sister?” Mom asked.

“In the backyard,” Kate answered.

“Isn’t she helping?”

Kate shook her head.

Just then Becky appeared in the doorway. “Hi, Mom,” she said cheerfully. “Did you get the tickets?”

“Yes I did,” said Mom. “Did you help clean your room?”

“I was just coming to help.”

Mom shook her head. “Don’t worry about it.”
Mom added, “You can finish cleaning it while Kate and I are at the water park.”

Becky’s mouth dropped open. “What do you mean?”

“You didn’t keep your end of the bargain, so you may not come with us.”

Becky couldn’t believe her ears. “But didn’t you already buy me a ticket?”

“Yes. But did you keep your promise?”

Becky hung her head. “No.”

“Why not?”

“I thought that you’d let me go anyway.”

“You made a choice. You’ll have to live with the consequences.”

Tears streamed down Becky’s face. “That’s not fair.”

Mom put her arms around Becky. “I know it isn’t what you want,” Mom said, “but it is fair.”

Becky watched out the living room window as the car pulled away from the house. “I blew it, Dad,” she said.

Dad nodded. “You made a bad choice. What you need to do now is learn from your mistake. If your mom had taken you to the water park, you would have thought that it’s all right to not keep your promise. And it isn’t. Now, I have a deal for you, if you are interested.”

Becky looked up. “What is it?”

“If you’ll go finish up your room, when you’re done, we’ll bake some cookies for the family.”

“Chocolate chip?”

Dad smiled. “Chocolate chip.”

“It’s a deal,” Becky said, heading toward the door. “And this time I mean it.”



Application:
I need your help every day. This is a big house and if I were the only one cleaning it, I wouldn’t be able to do anything fun with you. Your jobs every day are to get dressed, put your jammies away, make your bed, practice and help put away your toys.

What are some other chores you like to help with?
Why should we help mom around the house?
Why is mom so happy when we help her?
How do you feel when the house is clean?

I’ve come up with a plan to help us keep on track each day with our chores. Here is a chart to help us remember what we need to do every morning before we get to play. These stickers go on the top by your names and tell what your chores are. Once you do that chore, move that sticker to the flower part to show that you are done. After all five chores are done, you get a Good Job Coupon. You can use your coupon during rest time to have computer time for a half-hour or you can save up 10 coupons for a new book. Sometimes you might earn an extra coupon if you’ve done extra jobs or if I see you helping when I haven’t asked.


This lesson went great, especially when I let them color my illustrations to the story. They woke up this morning and were itching to do their chores. I know the magic will fade away, but hopefully the incentives of a new book or computer time will remain strong.