Ugly Mug Exchange

An Ugly Mug Exchange is similar to an Ugly Sweater Party or a White Elephant Gift. The only exception is that guests are exchanging mugs instead of sweaters or white elephant gifts. 

 The mugs should be inexpensive and unique. I usually find the best "ugly" mugs at thrift stores, such as Deseret Industries, for about fifty cents each. They are fun to browse through and pick out without feeling any pinch in the purse.

Almost any mug will work for an "ugly" mug. One party a friend of mine walked away with a cat-shaped mug. Santa mugs, pink princess mugs, or mugs with funny sayings are usually popular too.Even a syrup "mug" works.  Seldom are the mugs really ugly. They are usually decorative in someway. Just keep it fun and simple.

Bring the mug wrapped to the party. You will need one for each person participating. Have all the guests sit in a circle, so they can easily view the gifts in the center. You can either start at one end of the circle or have each guest draw a number. Start at the end of the circle or have the person with number one go first. The guest chooses and unwraps a mug. Then the next person can either steal his mug or choose another mug to unwrap. You proceed through everyone one at a time. Each person can either steal someone else's mug or choose a new one to unwrap. When someone steals a mug from a previous guest, they can either steal a different mug (not the same one back) or unwrap a new one. Being the last person has the advantage of choosing from them all.

When everyone has a mug, then you can celebrate with hot chocolate and ice cream. Scoop ice cream right into your new mug and pour hot chocolate over it ... yummy! You could choose to celebrate with hot cider, punch, root bear floats, or some other party favorite.


An Ugly Mug Exchange is a fun, inexpensive party game for all ages. They can be themed: pick mugs that are only a certain color or a certain size. Some of the best parties, however, are left open for everyone to pick their own unique style of a mug to contribute. There are a lot of crazy designs for the finding that can later create laughs or a frenzy of stealing. In the end, everyone walks away with something new to take home.

How to catch a Long Horn calf

We live on a small farm with a few calves, chickens, rabbits, dogs, etc. This has been a long-held dream of ours and about eighteen months ago we made the dream a reality. All of our children have been able to use their own money to purchase and then learn to care for a variety of animals. This has provided multiple learning opportunities and, for the most part, has been a very positive experience.

A couple of weeks ago, one of our teenage sons, Jared, decided he wanted to try raising a long horn heifer. He found a herd of long horns not far from us and made an offer on one of the recently weaned calves. She was about 7 or 8 months old with horns stretching out only a few inches. Based on past experience an Angus heifer, he thought he would befriend her and eventually tame her enough to handle on our little ranch. However, we soon learned that Long Horns are a bit of a different breed.


After making the purchase, we backed up the trailer as far as we could to the barn and then made a path lined with hay bales stacked 3 bales high. This put the hay a little over the fence line and we thought she wouldn't be able to jump it. Watch the short clip to see what happened.

After jumping the hay, we all ran to the side of the house thinking we could scare her back in the right direction. But she wasn't about to cooperate! Instead of heading back to the pasture, she lowered her head and went straight for us with her 3-inch horns. We ducked out of the way. She turned and chased our daughter, Sarah, for a short distance and then found an opening in the fence and disappeared. Jared lamented, "There went $450."  We searched everywhere in vain.

Finally, she was spotted across the street behind a radio station. We hurried to the building, but once there we didn't know how to catch her. Calling the previous owner, he said he always just cornered them in the corral. Well, there was no corral, just open grass behind the building and a small shed. No place to corner her. Next we called animal control. They agreed to send someone. "Good," we thought and decided we would just have to wait until help arrived as we had no clue what to do.

After some waiting, we called them again. Nobody had even left their office yet. A few minutes later a police officer called to see if we had caught the calf. He said he was sitting in his office and would give us a few more minutes to try to catch her on our own before coming out. His exact words, "I'm not much of a cowboy, so I probably won't be much help."

So much for animal control!

We brainstormed who else we could call for assistance. Returning to our street, I knocked on one of the doors of our neighbors. Luckily, her son and one of his friends were home and they had roping experience. With enthusiasm they grabbed their ropes and headed over to the calf. 

Chasing her, they finally pinned her inside someone else's corral and looped their lassos on her. Then one of them strangle-held her into the trailer to get his rope off and ran out as the door shut behind him. She was caught...after about two hours of freedom and wasting most of our day. We returned her immediately. The owner wasn't surprised. He said the last time he sold one of his Long Horn beauties, the buyer chased her with a motorcycle, horse and truck without success. He finally had to shoot her to catch her. I'm glad we didn't have to go to that extreme. 

At the end of the day, we gathered around fast-food leftovers and laughed. We were tired and frayed, but so much of life is about perspective. One of our children said, "Isn't this why we moved here? To have these kind of adventures?" Well, maybe not exactly. But it is a bonus. 

Conclusion: never buy a Long Horn ... and if you do, bring a lasso and be prepared to run.

Paperless Schools

In the October 2014 issue of Time Magazine, the article "The Paperless Classroom Is Coming" discusses President Obama's goal to have every school online by 2017. Fortunately, his term of president will be finished before that date. As a nation pushes to integrate computers for students, the flood can surge and drowned the innocent minds of future generations if no dams are built.

A computer is a tool. In the article, a teacher named Matthew Gudenius says he "always saw computers as a tool, not a subject." He continues by explaining that a mechanic doesn't go to a wrench lab, so why do we have computer labs? Put the computer on the students' desks and in their hands for all their academics. Bravo!

However, a mechanic does not use a wrench for everything. If he did so, he would not be utilizing all the tools in his tool box and would not be as successful completing his tasks. Can you imagine him pulling out his wrench to patch a tire or screw in a headlight? Ridiculous. Yet, in classrooms many students are expected to do just that.

With a slide show, Gudenius introduced the idea of paperless schools. "We don't care about handwriting," he says. The common core doesn't require teaching cursive and penmanship is no longer important. Sure, teach the children to read and type and how to punch numbers into a calculator. Using a brain isn't required anymore. Everything is online already anyway.

The future generation will be known not as illiterate (as long as they never need to read handwritten documents from the past), but instead will be known as illegible. If they do attempt to write something by hand, the words will slur and scribble like a kindergarten child. This isn't their fault. They were never taught to write in a digital classroom. How could they when a doodle pen is the only tool they were given?

The illegible generation will instead communicate in texting code. LOL - get it? Quicker, easier, and less brain work as long as you've learned all the acronyms. Spelling isn't required.One alternative some schools are applying is for the kids to learn to identify letter groups (like aw, au, oo, etc) and sort their words into the groups. This is how they practice spelling. They don't really have to remember the spelling, just get the sorting correct. This will ensure they can write the word close enough for a spell checker to identify. Let the computer do it's job, right? Don't expend any more energy in the learning than is essential.

The Time article does explain there is some skepticism. "The Association of Pediatrics has been warning parents for years to limit screen time for their children, but now the screens were filling up the school day." The article continues, "Optometrists warn that a steep increase in blue-light exposure from screens could lead to eye problems later in life. Early studies have also shown an increase in physical ailments - sore backs, dry eyes, painful necks - among kids who are asked to work most of the day on computers ..."

Yet, the nation as a whole may not be listening. Instead of using computers as just one more tool in the toolbox to be used with prudence and care, schools are getting rid of all other tools (pencils, paper, etc) and flooding their rooms with digital devices. All the subjects are being completed online. Play a math game, listen to a history video, type in an essay. Why waste time with a pencil?

Writing by hand versus typing into a computer is important to understand. Several studies have shown that writing by hand connects to the development of the brain and increases learning significantly. Learning to write, cursive in particular, actually helps children become smarter while a computer screen with already neatly formed letter denies them this opportunity. Read more about some of these studies at what's lost as handwriting fades and at why writing can make you smarter.

However, writing by hand isn't just good for the child. The baby boomer generation benefits also when taking the time to write by hand. Memory increases, cognitive skills improve, and motor skills remain sharper simply by using the writing tool instead of the computer tool. Read more about this at benefits of writing by hand.


From the website charlotte observer, this quote is found "Psychologists at Princeton and UCLA have reported that in both laboratory settings and real-world classrooms, students learn better when they take notes by hand. This does not necessarily stem from the distracting effects of computers. Rather, writing by hand allows students to process a lecture’s content and reframe it. This can lead to better understanding and memory encoding, according to the New York Times." 

A computer cannot replace the tools of pencil and paper. Computers are just one tool and should be placed in the toolbox once in a while. Overuse does not mean better use. 

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/09/18/5183643/remember-the-value-of-writing.html#storylink=cpy

Mom time

Two acronyms I like to attached to the letters: MOM. These little saying help remind me what is important as my role in motherhood.

The first is M.o.M. standing for Maker of Memories. Mothers are the Maker of Memories. Often, they are the ones planning and scheduling and finding activities for the whole family. In other words, they create the memory opportunities and help determine what kind of memories those will be.

Just a few days ago, I obtained discount tickets to Lagoon - an amusement park nearby. I chose to take two of my children, Sarah and Hyrum. Soon after we arrived, however, I discovered that they both have very different tolerance levels for the rides. One water the fast, high rides. The other felt terrified of going very high.

As we watched my son ride his favorite ride, water splashing on him as he controlled the amount of height, my daughter lamented that we wouldn't be able to go on some of the rides she wanted to go on. I realized we had a choice to make.

I said, "We can choose to be upset for all the rides we can't go on with him. When the day is over, we will be grumpy and upset. We won't have any fun." She agreed this wasn't what we wanted.

I continued, "Or we can just be excited and have fun with him. He can watch us go on some rides without him and we can watch him go on other rides. Remember, he is one of your best friends and that you wanted to come together."

We agreed to just have a good time. We went on some of his rides, even though we didn't always want to, and in turn he either watch us without complaining or even braved a few rides he didn't initially want to go on. In the end, they found some rides they both liked equally and we had a great time. So much starts with the decision to make a good memory. That decision starts with Mom, the ultimate maker of memories.

The second is m.O.m. which stands for me, Others, me. A few years ago, I wrote an article about this idea. The first little me is for private, personal time for mom in the morning. I read my scriptures and exercise. The second little me is for private, personal time in the afternoon or evening. I do an activity I enjoy as a creative outlet, such as my writing or piano practice. Both of these little me times are essential.

The O stands for Others. Motherhood is service-hood. Service to family, to neighbors, and most importantly to children. They are the Others in her life that are first priority. I love having the opportunity to serve them and nurture them and love them. Giving of myself to them, brings joy.

However, motherhood is not slave-hood. When I had baby #7 last spring, I transitioned into a zone of life I had never experienced previously. I became busy .... not I'm too busy to go shopping or too busy to hang out with friends ... I became ultimately busy at a high-pitched level. I stopped writing, I stopped playing the piano, I hardly had a moment to pick up a book. I have teenagers that still need me as a chauffeur, I have younger ones that need constant help with school assignments, and I have little ones that still just want to be held most of the time. Plus, I still had the budget and the dishes and the laundry and ... well, the list can go on. Meltdowns started happening frequently.

I began to ask myself what I was doing wrong. I always wanted a large family, so why wasn't I enjoying it more. Then I remembered. I had stopped giving myself the little "me" time. Life had become so busy that I didn't feel like I could give myself "me" time. Even now, there is a very long list of things I need to be doing. How could I break away?

Yet, I had to give myself so rejuvenation time.  Just giving me those little moments, a short time in the morning and another in the afternoon, is the best prescription I could have received. After only a few days of allowing myself to "fill up" my creative energies, I began to feel happier and thus give more cheerfully. The meltdowns stopped happening. I could handle the driving, the crying, the needs, and the wants of others without feeling crushed. Life is still busy, but I can hold onto the reigns.

As I gave myself this time, I realized that I was also giving indirectly to my family. The children and my husband were affected daily by my attitudes and stress level. If I felt I could handle the demands with a smile, then they seemed to get through them as well. Mom sets the tone. The saying "If Mom ain't happy, nobody is" -- is true. Giving yourself "me moments" isn't selfish. Giving yourself "me moments" - short ones - is essential for a haven at home. When refreshed and rejuvenated, you can give more fully to those around you.

Creating Calm

“The eye of a hurricane and the eye of a tornado share one thing in common, that being the air circulation around them moves in a counterclockwise direction. Hurricanes are much bigger than tornadoes, and their eye or center is much larger also. The eye of a hurricane can be several miles across, even as much as 50 or more miles in diameter, while the eye of a tornado may be only a few feet or yards in diameter. Winds in the eye of a hurricane are light and variable, becoming almost calm as you approach the center of the eye. The center of a tornado is very chaotic, and not well-defined. Theoretically, the wind speeds at the center of the tornado approach zero also, but the area is so small and irregular that it is difficult to observe.” http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/wea00/wea00005.htm

In other words, a tornado has chaotic winds even at the center. A hurricane, on the other hand, is filled with a great calm that stretches for several miles. Mothers are that eye. Usually, they are the ones to set the mood and establish the tone of the home. To have a peaceful haven as a home, mothers must have a peaceful calm core.

The winds and storms of life can whip around a home with increasing speed and furor, but the home will remain a calm haven if the mother is setting a tone of peace – if she is the eye of the hurricane. She is the heart of the hurricanes of life for her family.

Stopping the hurricanes swirling around our homes, may be impossible, but with the help of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we can create a haven - an eye of calm amid the storms of life.