The Miracle of the Shamrock Shakes

My sister-in-law Noma wrote this and graciously allowed me to post it on my blog.  This is one of those awesome, faith-promoting experiences that will be passed down through generations in our family (and other families as well since she has shared it with a ton of her Seminary students over the years).  Every time I hear "Shamrock Shakes," my thoughts automatically think of the blessings of obedience and that the Lord really is aware of our needs and desires.  Thanks for sharing Noma!  You are a gifted writer and story-teller.

On occasion this time of year, teenagers tag me in pictures of them drinking Shamrock Shakes. It's time to share this Cody Seminary tradition with the FB world. Twenty-six years ago, Derrik and I were dirt poor newlywed college students, both completing our senior year at BYU, working, and barely surviving financially. We were sitting in church, and a lady stood up and gave a talk on tithing. She told a story about a person who was @ $56.32 short on rent, but she acted in faith and paid her tithing anyway. The next day she looked in the kitchen garbage and saw a white envelope. She opened it and found.... $56.32!! Did this story spark a little cynicism in me? Oh, yes. I leaned over to Derrik and mumbled, "We're poor, and we pay our tithing. Why don't I ever find money in the garbage?" (Not a proud moment.)

The next day was President's Day, so there were no classes. While Derrik was reading the newspaper (which must have been free, because we couldn't afford a subscription) I walked by and saw a 1/4 page color ad for Shamrock Shakes. I had never heard of them, and I was completely smitten and infatuated. I suggested to Derrik that we celebrate our holiday by going to McD's and getting a Shamrock Shake. He reminded me of the hard truth that we were poor college students and couldn't afford to run off to McDonald's on a whim. I knew he was right. So I sulked my way to the kitchen and started cleaning. As I went to take the garbage out, I grumbled, "Yeah, I pay my tithing and I can't even afford a Shamrock Shake. Why don't I ever find money in the kitchen garbage?"

Garbage in hand, I murmured my way outside to the apartment dumpster. As I threw the garbage into the dumpster, a movement by my foot caught my attention. I looked down, and I was standing on a $10 bill. I bent down and picked it up. It was a windy day. I looked up and down the street to see who might have lost it. No one was outside. At which point I lost all dignity as I ran into my apartment waving the $10 bill over my head, yelling, "Derrik, Shamrock Shakes! Shamrock Shakes!" We indeed got our Shamrock Shakes that afternoon (in addition to Big Macs and fries)!

This unconventional experience reinforced some great lessons. First, Heavenly Father is completely aware of the least of us down to the smallest details, and He cares. He knows us personally. And He hears our murmuring. (After the minty nirvana left my tongue, I was somewhat spiritually embarrassed by my behavior.) Next, we are blessed for obedience, even if our hearts need to make some progress. And finally, I know He has a sense of humor. Because I can only imagine how much fun it was arranging for me to stand on that $10 bill, knowing that hundreds of Seminary students would be subjected to the story at least annually.

The Barf Song - "Let It Blow"

I know I have a strange sense of humor and this might prove it.  Two of my boys had the flu last week so I wrote this parody to describe my experience.

This should be sung to the tune of "Let It Go" from Frozen (click here to hear the original song)

Let It Blow (a flu inspired song)

The barf blows right in the toilet tonight
Not a wink of sleep is seen
A sickness of isolation,
And it’s smelling quite obscene.

Tummy is growling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn’t keep it in, heaven knows you tried

Don’t let them in, don’t let them see
Be the good mom I always have to be
Clean well, don’t smell, run to and fro
Oh this just blows

Let it go, let it go

You can’t hold it back anymore
Let it blow, let it blow
Hit the bowl and not the floor

I don’t care
I want my boy okay
Let the flu be gone,
Your barf never bothered me anyway

It’s funny how some sickness
Makes everything seem small

And the illness that controls you
Won’t last that long at all

It’s time to see what I can do
To get you better from this flu
No snacks, no drink, no food for thee
Empty!

Let it go, let it go
My poor baby’s up all night
Let it blow, let it blow
I just want you to feel all right

Here I stand
And here I'll stay
Let the flu be gone

Your vomit’s spewing from your mouth onto the ground
Your stomach’s spiraling in messy upchuck all around
And one thought originates like a barfy blast
We’re never going back,
This blast is in the past

Let it go, let it go
And we'll rise at the break of dawn
Let it blow, let it blow
Will this keep going on

Here I stand
In the light of day
Let the flu be gone,
Your barf never bothered me anyway

Church Humor - Bishopric Pun

Here's a little humor for any of my LDS blog readers out there....

Since it was Mother's Day, my husband taught my Primary lesson on Sunday and I was able to just sit and listen.  It was about Edward Partridge who was called as the first bishop.

Here's the conversation:

HUBBY:  Who was the first bishop in the church?

BOY: I know, I know.  BISHOP RICK

Okay, I'll admit that I had to pretend I needed a drink of water and I went out in the hallway to let my laughter out.  Best part was that the boy was completely serious!  Get it, "Bishopric" and "Bishop Rick!"  It still makes me laugh!

Teacher Appreciation - Test Survival Pills

I designed these fun, fake prescription labels to put on real pharmacy bottles that I collected from a friend and then sanitized.  We will fill them with MnM candies and give them to the teachers right before the big standardized testing begins.  I think they'll love them!

Note: Our school nurse was not happy when we passed these out.  She wants to make sure kids don't think pills are candy.  Some of our aides were passing the candy out to the kids on the playground which was totally inappropriate.   So if you pass these out, have the teachers keep them away from the kids to avoid confusion and by all means don't pass them out to kids.  Someone was having a brainless moment when they did that.

"Let It Go" Christmas Song (to the tune of "Let It Snow")

This little song came into my mind tonight when I was starting to stress out about all the Christmas stuff (and normal every day stuff) I have to do.  I tell ya, it is hard to work full-time and be a mom/wife/friend/daughter/sister/church volunteer/school volunteer/neighbor, etc.  There are only so many hours in a day and I feel like to find more time I need to steal from my sleeping hours.

With the shortage of time, it probably doesn't help that I decided to compose this little poem tonight.  But it made me happy, and only took me 10 minutes to write it, so I indulged.

At any rate, here's my little poem.  If you can relate, enjoy!

Poem - Summers in Arizona

Isn't our little dog cute!  My boys dressed her up to survive the Arizona elements.

I'm not sure who wrote this poem, but it really is true in the summertime!  I do love the sunsets, the summer thunderstorms, and the warm night swimming here in Arizona, but when we go out during the heat of the summer day, I ask myself what on earth I was thinking when we decided to move here.  Luckily, the awesome people make up for the hotter-than-heck weather!

The devil wanted a place on earth

Sort of a summer home.
A place to spend his vacation
Whenever he wanted to roam.

So he picked out Arizona
A place both wretched and rough
Where the climate was to his liking
And the cowboys hardened and tough.

He dried up the streams in the canyons
And ordered no rain to fall
He dried up the lakes in the valleys
Then baked and scorched it all.

Then over this barren desert
He transplanted shrubs from Hell
The cactus, thistle, and prickly pear
The climate suited them well.

Avoid Paralysis by Analysis

I heard the phrase "Paralysis by Analysis" from a friend the other week and it was like a lightbulb went off.  We all have someone in our life (family, workplace, church callings, school, etc) who is unable to function effectively due to over-analyzing everything.

I am a fan of thinking things through, but when you think and think and analyze and analyze for an inordinate amount of time, you really become frozen in that pattern and don't actually get anything done.  So no matter how great the thoughts are, they are pretty pointless if you don't turn the thoughts into actions.

I am also a big fan of getting things done.

I made this little sign for a certain relative of mine, hoping it will help him (he'll think it is funny, but true).  I printed it out and put it in a little black picture frame that I bought at the $1 section of Target a while back.  Did I mention I am also a big fan of the Target $1 section?

If you are an over-analyzer, I hope this helps you.  If you live or deal with someone who suffers from this condition, maybe this will help you have patience as you realize that this is a serious condition, right?

Now I'm going to get something done before I think about it too long....

Humor - "People Farting"

Went through my kids' school work, saving some things and chucking most of it. 

I came across this little gem.  Really?  Does my son really have to keep mentioning "people farting" so much in this unit on sound? I shudder to think what he'd write in a unit on smells. Life with boys.

Ding Dong Ditching

For Family Night, we are going to go DING DONG DITCHING!  We bought individually wrapped Ding Dongs at Costco (around 24 for $5.99).  Put them in a bag, slap on this fun note, and then put them on someone's porch as you ding dong ditch.  My boys are very excited for this new tradition.

Feel free to use and share the sign I created.

Update - We went Ding Dong Ditching and it was a huge success.  Kids and teenagers alike thought it was super dooper fun and clever.

A Little Pool Humor

Unhappy Consequences of Dialing 912

In the midst of our Super Bowl party yesterday, I received a phone call from the police department.  They asked me if I had dialed 911 and if I had an emergency.  Of course I hadn't called the police, but I had a sneaking suspicion that one of the dozen neighbor kids playing in our backyard had goofed around and dialed it on our outdoor phone.

I went outside and hollered, "Who dialed 911!?"  In unison all the boys said my youngest son's name.  I brought him into the house to discuss it.  His defense?  "I dialed 912!" which made all the adults burst out laughing.  We thought he must be trying to cover his tracks and stay out of trouble.

Analogy - Your Car Door's Open

Loved this analogy on my friends blog about communicating with each other.

"Sometimes we hear what we think about ourselves, not what is actually being said...."

Click HERE to read the entire post.

Kid Humor - Nosebleed grossness

Question: What do you call it when you have a sudden nosebleed that pours all over? Answer: A "Flash Blood" (like flash flood). Yep, that's the term my son thought up and it made me laugh!

Kid Humor - Glad to be a Dad...

My teenager asked me yesterday why I never just sit around and do nothing. I explained to him, in detail, how my entire day was filled with taking care of things for my kids from morning until night. His response? "That's why I'm glad I'm gonna be a DAD and not a MOM!" ;)

Kid Humor - Who burped first?

My youngest son asked me who the first person was who ever burped. I said, "Probably Adam and Eve."

He quickly replied, "Probably ADAM!"

Kid Humor - Those dang church shoes!

My son said "I think I have internal bleeding on my ankle" ... after wearing his church shoes too much today :)

Chicken Killer?

Babysitting a friend's "bird dog" + one careless husband = one totally dead chicken, one injured chicken, a sobbing child, an angry wife, and a remorseful and somewhat terrified man.

Poor Scotty was traumatized after losing two of our chickens this week. We'd been watching the Jensens' dog, Maddie, for five days and all had gone well. We knew she loved to catch birds so we'd been vigilant about keeping Maddie away from the chicken coop all week. Then we made a fatal error. Or should I say Thane did. After being warned repeatedly about Maddie, Thane came home fro a business trip and then the next day let Maddie out in the yard unattended for 30 minutes while he swam. Maddie broke through the coop, totally killed our little brown chick (Bren)and injured our black and white chick (Tacky). The two big chickens (Scout and Mally Moe) hid up top and stayed safe. The white chick (Snowball) seemed unharmed but died later that night in the cage. She just laid down and started breathing slowly and then died in the middle of the night. Scott was so mad at Thane that he took back Thane's Father's Day card that was homemade by Scott (he later gave the card back to Thane). Scott cried his eyes out and then cried himself to sleep at night. It was a traumatic experience. Now I have to joke about it and I told Scott that we'd name our next chickens "Puppy Chow" and "Chicken Nugget." He thought my humor was bad. We bought three new black chickies that Monday and we called them Thing 1, Thing 2 and Thing 3...

"Things to say when I get angry" List

I found this little list in my 8 year old's room. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry! P.S. "Oh Crap" is not an acceptable phrase in our house, but I'm losing that battle I guess.

Mario Kart Mixup

This video was created by my husband and two of our sons. Pretty creative! I love it when they do creative projects together.

Cock-a-doodle-doo Moments in Life

I attended a field trip with my son to the Renaissance Festival a few months ago as a chaperone. I told him he could have a little money to buy a fun snack or a souvenir. Most of his friends bought things like whistles, crafts or junky fair food. What did my son choose? A live chicken!

I'd secretly wanted to raise chickens so I agreed to let him buy it. We gave the guy at the petting zoo area $5.00 and he in turn handed us a small chicken in a box. Since we'd taken the school bus to the festival, I was forced to smuggle our new fowl home. After all, the school district had simply said, "No weapons" on the bus. They hadn't mentioned anything about livestock. The students and teachers all knew about our little chicken smuggling escapade, but they kept quiet as we rode home with me sitting directly behind the innocent bus driver. My theory is that the students were happy to be in on a secret mission which involved an adult pushing the limits in regards to school rules.