Follow the Prophet

Chorus
Follow the prophet, follow the prophet,
Follow the prophet; don’t go astray.
Follow the prophet, follow the prophet,
Follow the prophet; he knows the way.

This weekend is general conference and it seemed very appropriate that Neal was teaching the kids to sing Follow the Prophet in Primary for the month of March.  We liked the idea of dressing up the kids as the different prophets but thought it would be a hassle to bring a ton of props so I made posters.  To try to make them as church approved as possible, I tried my best to make them look like the pictures suggested in the March Friend magazine (pictured above).  I have a long ways to go with my artistic skills but they turned out to be fun. 

Not to make fun of the prophets or anything but our kids faces suggests certain captions and I’ve included them in quotes and italics so there is no mistaking that this is Jackie speaking and not the church ;)  I’ve also put down the verses of the song to go with the pictures.

 

“There’s nothing like a life-time of back-breaking labor to make a person HAPPY!!”

1. Adam was a prophet, first one that we know.
In a place called Eden, he helped things to grow.
Adam served the Lord by following his ways.
We are his descendants in the latter days.

 

“RIGHTEOUS!!”

2. Enoch was a prophet; he taught what was good.
People in his city did just what they should.
When they were so righteous that there was no sin,
Heav’nly Father took them up to live with him.

 

“Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?!?”

3. Noah was a prophet called to preach the word,
Tried to cry repentance, but nobody heard.
They were busy sinning—Noah preached in vain.
They wished they had listened when they saw the rain.

 

“Who’s your daddy?”

4. Abraham the prophet prayed to have a son,
So the Lord sent Isaac as the chosen one.
Isaac begat Jacob, known as Israel;
Jacob’s sons were twelve tribes, so the Bible tells.

 

“After all we’ve been through, you are worshipping a CALF?!?”

5. Moses was a prophet sent to Israel.
He would lead them to the promised land to dwell.
They were slow to follow, or so it appears.
They were in the wilderness for forty years.

“Peek-a-boo!”

6. Samuel was a prophet chosen as a boy.
Hannah promised God her son would serve with joy.
In the tabernacle, Samuel heard his name;
He was called by God and answered, “Here I am!”

“Did you just see that? What a rush…”

7. Jonah was a prophet, tried to run away,
But he later learned to listen and obey.
When we really try, the Lord won’t let us fail:
That’s what Jonah learned deep down inside the whale.

 

“Yep.  Still here.”

8. Daniel was a prophet. He refused to sin;
So the king threw Daniel in the lion’s den.
Angels calmed the lions, and the king soon saw
Daniel’s pow’r was great, for he obeyed God’s law.

 

“I make this look good!”       

9. Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to return.
He blesses us with prophets who help us to learn.
President Monson humbly leads God’s Church today.
As we heed his words, we’ll walk a righteous way.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir Concert

My dad is fabulous (pictured above, just follow the blue arrow)! We attended his concert in the Scotttrade Center in St. Louis and it was so much fun!  What a rough day for the choir though – they had to be at the St. Louis Arch by 6am to get a group photo before the weather got too unbearable. Ninety-ish degree weather in humid St. Louis is bad enough without having to wear a hot tuxedo and stand outside waiting for helicopters to fly around and take your picture… What troopers they were!

My dad is so crazy though – that night he took his phone up into the stands with him and texted us during the concert. 

Amazing vocal and instrumental solos going on there too (no solo from my pop though, he is very much a bass) and some very entertaining moments to boot.  It was a great night! 

Thanks for spending a little time with us over the weekend Baba!  We love/miss/and are proud of you!

I think we might have a little guitar enthusiast in the family

My bro-in-law J and sister C were good to spend time with Aedan.

Aedan sure perked up when they brought out one of their guitars.  Aedan was so excited to play it!

 

Here’s a little video of Aedan jamming with uncle J!

 

Everybody loves a good rebel

Aedan has become his uncle S's littlest fan - Aedan has been talking about him nonstop lately. Aside from uncle S's natural coolness, he has a mini motorbike and he plays guitar, instant winners in Aedan's mind. So here is Lil' Cool on the "baby motorcycle" and pics of him playing some of his favorite instruments.

Grandma introduces Aedan to the baby motorcycle which has been collecting dust in their basement. Apparently these things are illegal - uncle S was gifted this from a former employer. I have been told it runs on a lawn mower engine and that it is really loud once it gets going.

Aedan is loving all the attention from Uncle S!

We had a chance to see Uncle S play with a band for his ward talent show. It was loud but it didn't scare Aedan away - I could tell he was planning on asking his uncle to let him play with the instruments...


I've thought for a long time that if Aedan were to choose an instrument to play it would be anything percussion. He really has a good sense of rhythm already :)


And here is a video of Aedan explaining the ins and outs of the baby motorbike...

Behold Your Little Ones

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently helped out with our Stake Primary Leadership Training meeting and my major responsibilities were putting together a folder with all our handouts, making dessert (did the Daring Bakers Eclairs again), and putting together a presentation for new curriculum (new nursery manual and 2009 CSMP) and addressing any Sharing Time/Singing Time needs. As my general duties in our Stake Primary presidency, I have been assigned to be a "consultant" of sorts for all music and Nursery needs which works out perfectly because those are my favorite parts of Primary!

While we were setting up for the meeting in the Primary room, Aedan would frequently go up to the podium and fold his arms and bow his head to say a prayer in the microphone and he did this several times with an incredible reverent manner. Just yesterday, Aedan got behind me and put both hands on my head and said, "Close eyes mommy" and then started to say a prayer, trying to give me a blessing by the laying on of hands. Now while he does not yet have the priesthood authority to perform blessings, I am amazed he picked that up and recognized all the little bits of it. He recently saw Neal help give a friend a blessing before she had her baby and something about seeing his daddy serve and perform Christ-like acts really stuck with him.

I've had a lot of time to focus on the music aspect of Primary, keeping myself busy with making CDs of the CSMP music for each unit, occaisionally playing the piano while visiting some units, meeting with the music leaders. I would really like to put more emphasis on Nursery now and with the new Nursery manual, Behold Your Little Ones, I feel like Nursery is finally getting some additional attention church-wide. First off, Nursery is one of my favorite places to be on Sunday. I love it and it really makes me sad when people don't realize the importance of the Nursery class and view it as a "glorified babysitting" calling. I think we often don't realize how much kids this age are actually absorbing.

I love the title of this new manual, "Behold Your Little Ones" which comes from the Savior speaking to the Nephites in 3 Nephi 17:23 and the spiritual thought we chose to focus on complimented this theme nicely. Again, a worthwhile read, M. Russell Ballard's Great Shall Be the Peace of Thy Children talks about the significance of the word 'behold'. He says, "Notice that He didn’t say “glance at them” or “casually observe them” or “occasionally take a look in their general direction.” He said to behold them. To me that means that we should embrace them with our eyes and with our hearts; we should see and appreciate them for who they really are: spirit children of our Heavenly Father, with divine attributes"

Nursery is the first class of Primary and it provides a chance for children ages 18 months to 3 years old to learn basic truths about our church and the gospel and to really learn what being a child of God is all about. I'm sure many parents of toddlers can agree with me when they say that it is amazing the things they learn in Nursery. I know I need to do a better job at letting the teachers know how much we appreciate them. Aedan comes home and says things and sings songs that I know he learned in his Nursery class. So thank you to all of his teachers, both current and past!

This new manual is wonderful and I can see why they recommend that each family with Nursery age children should have a copy in their home - it works great for FHE and it is so incredibly easy to use. I am hoping they redo all of the manuals to be like this manual. Each lesson is in two pages or less and right by the lesson is your visual aids and an activity to copy and print. All the music for the lesson is written within the lesson, any tips to help the lesson go smoothly is written right in the margins... I love this manual! Buy one, I promise you won't regret it!

And for anyone actively using this manual for their Nursery calling, be sure to read the introduction very thoroughly as there are a few guidelines that have changed for Nursery. The obvious ones are that we are to use church-approved materials only in Nursery (ie. anything published directly from the LDS church, including music) and no set times for each activity but still keep a general schedule (snack, lesson, playtime, etc). These are the church's guidelines, not mine although I fully support them. Watch the introductory video online, it is pretty good too.

Sing us a song, you're the piano man!

Aedan has a new friend on loan!  Our good friends Miriam and David were given this cute little Schoenhut Toy Piano as a gift for their baby boy (who was born yesterday! woot!) and they felt like they didn't have space for it until they move next year so they were so kind to offer it up for Aedan's use.  Now we've had a piano for longer than we've had Aedan so piano's aren't exactly new to him but he fell in love with this one as soon as he saw it! 

This pic was taken in our front room but we've since then moved it to his bedroom next to our other piano.  Now he claims we have an "Aedan piano and a Daddy piano".  For some reason he really likes the bench and carries it around the house.   I was a little hesitant to take it at first because Aedan has his moments where he doesn't care about being gentle... but he is really enjoying it and it makes such a pleasant sound!  It kind of sounds like chimes of a clock if that makes sense. 

Well here, you might as well see him play it

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! Aedan has got back in the groove of things in church and went to nursery without me staying (yay!) and Neal made me a fabulous sandwich for lunch so we are off to a good start! I suspect there is more though... It has been rainy and a little cold so the bbq will have to be postponed.

I've been wanting to do more of illustrating Primary songs for Aedan and thought this would be a good day to share one with you!

Mother, I Love You by Lorin F. Wheelwright.

Mother, I love you;

mother, I do.

Father in Heaven has sent me to you.

When I am near you,

I love to hear you

Singing so softly that you love me too.

Mother, I love you;

mother, I do.

I want to help you because I love you.

I want to mind you;

I want to find you

Happy and smiling because I love you.

Mother, I love you;

I love you,

I do!

Thank you to all the wonderful women (many more that aren't pictured here) that have made and continue to make our lives complete! We love you all!

Striving for Harmony in the Home

I am so grateful that I grew up with music in the home. I started playing piano when I was four and cello when I was eleven and while I would like to say that I have done a good job at keeping up the skills, I just can't. We have a piano and I have my cello here and I just don't get around to playing either very often. I know I should, if nothing for the fact that Aedan loves music, even when I play a few sour notes.

Rather than mope about it here, I thought I'd share some of the musical happenings that actually do go on in our household. You've already had a taste for Aedan's love of disco music, and you have had the chance to even hear him sing/participate in song a few times over.

However, it was apparent early on that he had great interest in musical instruments. (10 month old)

For his first birthday we bought him a really fun assorted percussion kit that came with a CD and he loves to listen and march around playing his little tom tom or triangle.

He even got a Chinese drum rattle from his Hong Kong relatives. (1yr old)

His most recent instrument interest has been the harmonica. Just before Christmas we had some of Neal's family over at our place and we had a little holiday program where each family was to do something festive and Neal's dad/Aedan's grandpa played Silent Night on the harmonica.

And ever since then, Aedan has referred to a harmonica as a "grandpa" and I haven't had the heart to correct him. He sure looks up to his grandpa and he begs to play a harmonica just like his grandpa. So I finally bought a Blues Band harmonica that is small, affordable, but very easy to play. It has such a beautiful tone (no sour notes!) and I love how excited he gets when he plays. He even likes to applaud himself. I should have him play at our local bookstore and set a little tin cup down so he can start his college fund... What do you think?

We look forward to the many years of music we can experience in our own family and the great blessings that can come from having music in the home and a song in our hearts!

"Where daddy go?"

This is the first thing Aedan has said every morning this week. Neal comes home tomorrow after a grueling trip to present a poster of his research at a bioconference. The conference is held at a ski resort near the Denver area. Work and skiing apparently go hand in hand there.... We miss him though and we know he has worked hard to get there! So we dedicate this blog to the Neal in our lives.

My daddy is my fav'rite pal

And I help him ev'ry day.

It's plain to see I want to be

Like him in ev'ry way.

(Children's Songbook, My Dad)

Pictures from top to bottom: Neal (Popeye with out his muscles at that moment) and Aedan (sweet pea) from Halloween 2006, the boys fishing in Utah July 2007, their feet enjoying the gulf waters in Florida Jan 2008, the boys both mesmerized by the sports channel August 2006.

Since he has been gone, Aedan has invented a new unit of measurement. Things are no longer big or small, they are either daddies or babies. He prefers to have things daddy-sized - daddy carrots, daddy treat, daddy trains - and it is obvious to him that baby size is no fun. While he may view bigger as better, this also suggests to me that he admires his daddy and wants to be like him, no more of this 'baby' stuff.

We've been working on this all week and this is as far as we've gotten - hope he enjoys it:

You are going to have to pardon my singing here but this is Aedan doing actions for Daddy's Homecoming from the Children's Songbook.

We love you Neal!