Transfers, Tornadoes and Teaching

News from Danielle ~ I've been asking her a million questions lately and I'll share some of her responses for those that are interested in her world.  ;)

I'm doing super well!! 

It's transfer week this week....

and I have news! 

Sister Stradling and I are STAYING! 

AND we're picking up a third sister on Wednesday...Sister Hendrix! 

How exciting is that?!

I'm in Virginia, right outside of Winchester, in Stephens City area.

Danielle expresses each and every time we hear from her just how much she loves this area and all those she is serving and serving with...she is the happiest I have ever seen her!

I LOVE being able to see where she is and wish so much that I could be there soaking up all of the amazing history that is surrounding her.  I need to remember to ask her if she has been able to check much out...I'm thinking not, that girlie is busy as ever sharing her love with others.  Guess we'll just have to take a trip back when she returns home to us!!!

General Conference was great. 

I received SO much revelation for my area ... 

holy cow we're about to be busy!

It was really weird being a missionary though! 

I'm used to comfy clothes and whatnot haha :) but it was still good. 

The french toast was good....but nothing like crepes :) 

It was a little strange not having our Miss Muffer girl around to help us eat up all the Conference Crepes...I told her I'd be sure to make her up a special batch when she gets home...I think I ate her share!

On Saturday morning, I received a text message from Sister Goutchkoff with sweet notes of Danielle...it was such a wonderful start to our Conference Weekend.  We couldn't have Danielle with us, but it was so nice to hear from those who are with her.  On Monday, I asked Danielle about her, not certain of who she was and how well Danielle knew her...her response was precious!

Sister Goutchkoff is THE BEST! 

She's the Relief Society President and takes such good care of us. 

I love being in their home. 

Her family is from France, and she promised to make us crepes soon :) yay!! 

It is a beautiful thing to know that others love our daughter and are being so good and kind to her!

I get updates on my phone about the weather where danielle is, so I frequently check in to make sure all is well...after asking her about tornadoes in her area...this was her reply ~

It's stormy here, but nothing scary. 

A few miles away there were some pretty high winds that  tore some shingles off a roof, but we are totally safe and fine :) 

Tornado-shmornado!

I'm a missionary, we're safe :) 

Highlights!!! 

Vincent is our new investigator. 

We taught him once on Sunday, and he LOVED IT.

Monday we went back and finished teaching the Restoration, and he decided that he wanted to be baptized on November 9th! 

He is so great! 

Since then we have taught him several times in members homes, and he watched conference with us yesterday. He has such a strong testimony and it's beautiful :) 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK! 
During a long meeting about the needs of those we are teaching, 
"Have you ever BAKED tater tots?" *blank stares* "It's so good." *dying laughter* "You get a freezer pizza and bake some tots and then put them on the pizza and roll it up." 
Yep. Boys will always be boys.

Doesn't she just leave you with a smile on your face???  Love that girl...

In Search of a Well-Balanced Life

Sustaining a comfortable balance while homeschooling is NOT easy, but it is possible! 

I've had friends comment that they wish they could be more efficient . . . 

my reply to that is, 

“Being a mother isn't always efficient! 

There will be good days, 

there will be not-so-good days; 

life will get in the way! 

So, relax, hold on and keep smiling--you will make it!”

There is a lot required at our hands, and it can feel overwhelming and unconquerable at times. 

We wonder how to keep it all together, 

how to make sure the kids are getting all they need 

(and deserve from us), 

how to balance the school work and the house work, 

how to keep the mountains of laundry to manageable small piles, 

how to put healthy, nutritious meals on the table 

THREE. Times. A. Day! 

Also, how to be a great wife, a great mother, a great visiting teacher, a great friend . . . 

and how to have any time at all for ourselves and for our sanity!

I want to share a couple of thoughts with you to help you achieve this balanced life we all desire.

As mothers, we spend our days running from the child most urgently in need 

to the next most-urgent event, 

and on to the next 

and the next 

and the next . . . 

In the midst of all the craziness, we tend to lose sight of the big picture. 

It’s hard to maintain your balance when you have tunnel vision. 

Widen your focus; 

keep your eyes and heart open to what is most precious, 

and you will be living that 

Well-Balanced, Intentional Life 

that we all want, 

but that looks different for each of us!

A couple of thoughts that I always keep tucked in the back of my mind to keep me focused and on the right track are:

~Mothering must come before Math 

and LOVE will always be more important than Language Arts.

~In the end, what will matter most, will be the relationships you have with your children . . . 

their secular education will not be your first concern.

~ No child ever died because they couldn’t find clean socks or underwear!

We wish only the best for our kids; 

because of that we add in various activities and obligations to our daily routine. 

While this is not a negative necessarily, if we choose to add too many things to our plate, the load begins to feel burdensome and our attitudes may wind up reflecting a touch of negativity. We start feeling a little out of whack and long for a day away or a week away from the challenges of an overwhelming routine. 

This feeling of “needing a vacation” is a red flag for me; 

it is my first “a-ha moment” indicating that I am hitting critical mass and need time to reassess and restructure to find balance.

When planning all those amazing and educational activities for your kids, don’t forget about leaving time to take care of you and your relationships. 

We have the tendency to get so caught up in wanting to provide the very best for our kids that we suffer personally.

How do we create change? 

How do we find and maintain balance in our lives?

Grab a piece of paper, get a cup of tea, and sit for a spell . . . we've got some work to do.

If you could make your life look any way you want it to, 

what would it look like? 

What things would you want to include? 

Start at the end by writing your goals, 

and then figure out what you can do right now to start on the path that will end with you achieving them. 

Imagine it,

 dream it; 

then write it and even draw it! 

It is all part of the process to help you live it!

Start that “Wish List” for your life . . .

Do you wish for more time (real, enjoyable time, hanging-out-time) with your kids?

Do you wish for more time with your spouse? 

With your friends? 

With yourself?

Do you wish for time to do a project or two? 

What would those projects be?

Do you wish to read a certain book? 

Do you wish to go explore and uncover the wonders that surround you? 

Do you wish to start a new business? 

Do you wish for time to read your scriptures each day? 

Do you wish to take a yoga class? 

Do you wish to teach classes? 

Jot it all down . . .

By jotting down our wishes, 

we create a list we can prioritize and from that--make a plan. 

Intentional Planning time is a fabulous thing to do . . . 

as you look at your wish list, 

you can dictate what you do each day, 

so go for it . . . make it amazing!

Use this list of priorities over and over—

change it, 

add to it, 

but never give up on it. 

It is part of what restores peace and balance to your mind and your heart.

We all have our “Own Way” of how this will look . . . here’s a suggestion for you if you are struggling with creating your own:

Consider breaking your day into blocks of time ~

Early mornings /Late Morning to early afternoons /Afternoons / Evenings

Consider plugging in one or two priorities from the wish list you created into each space 

. . . STOP . . . 

I said to plug in ONE or TWO, only! 

Be good to yourself!

Early morning might be a nice time for you to fill your own cup; it might be time for a little relationship building one-on-one with a certain child who needs your undivided attention, or it might be time for planning and preparing for the day.

Late mornings to early afternoons will likely include schooling your kiddos; 

remember to be gentle on yourself and don’t add in 5 other things during this time. 

Be PRESENT IN HEART AND MIND with your kids during their time. 

I promise the time will be well spent, and you will all walk away feeling pleasantly happy.

Your Afternoons might include a few household chores and dinner prep, 

maybe some time for playing with your kids; 

(Make your play time with them memorable...

BE CRAZY...

LOVE EVERY MOMENT...

SHOW THEM BEING WITH THEM MAKES YOU SMILE!)

or it may be the time for running kids to lessons or activities, or a brisk walk in the fresh air.

Evenings might be the perfect time for relationship building, 

time to work on things your heart needs, 

and maybe a little blogging time or reading time.

These blocks of time DO NOT have to stay the same each day . . . 

and these are just ideas for how to create a little balance in your life.

I think you’ll find that if you take the steps to set some priorities and intentionally make room for them in your life, you will be more peaceful and less frazzled in this ever-busy life we are all living. 

Be willing to let things go, 

and trust yourself. 

Part of creating a balance, is not trying to keep everything in the air at once.

During our DHSA Homeschool Mothers' Meeting for October, I talked with all the sweet moms about what is on their plate, what load are they responsible for...

we wrote them down on balloons 

~ enough to fill the room 

and then together we tried to keep them all in the air...

I finally asked them to just let them go 

BE willing to let some things drop...

with the exception of 

one 

that I continued to hold in the air...

The most important one we must consistently keep going 

and be so careful to be mindful of is the "ME" balloon...

our families are counting on us, 

we keep the balance and the focus for our families,

so we must remember to take care of ourselves first 

so that we are able to give and keep giving and keep giving...

Wishing you a beautifully balanced life!

((((Hugs)))))

Osmosis and Naked Eggs

Science Experiments are a FAVORITE around here!!!

Want to know a little more about OSMOSIS??? 

Or "Awesome-osis" as my kids would call it!

Okay, then join us in making a "NAKED EGG"!

Simple Supply List:

A Jar

Apple Cider Vinegar

An Egg

In a few days, you'll need:

A clean jar

Corn Syrup

Let's get started!!!

How to make a Naked Egg

A “naked egg” is simply an egg that no longer has its shell... 

The shell will be gone – yet the egg stays intact, held together by two fragile membranes just inside the shell of the egg.  

The shell of an egg is made up of calcium carbonate. 

When you place your egg into a jar filled with apple cider vinegar, you start a chemical reaction that dissolves the calcium carbonate shell. This is due to the acetic acid in the vinegar;  it reacts with the calcium carbonate in the egg shell and releases carbon dioxide gas that you will begin to see as bubbles on the shell.

Are you ready to check it out???

Grab your jar and gently place the egg inside and cover with apple cider vinegar...

your egg will most likely start to float...

don't worry if it is not completely covered, it will work out just great!  

Then cover the egg either with the lid to the jar or with a piece of aluminum foil.  

Then stick it in the fridge and prepare to be patient for the next few days.

The only job you will have over the next number of days will be to just gently swish the egg around, check out the bubbles (remember the carbon dioxide gas we talked about...it's happening now) and take careful notice of what is happening to your egg...the shell is beginning to disintegrate and float around and may form a layer of "stuff" on the top of the liquid.

After a few days of soaking in vinegar, you will end up with a pretty cool Naked Egg. 

Be sure to notice that your egg is a bit bigger than when you first started. 

This is because some of the vinegar (and some of the water in the vinegar) has moved through the membranes to the inside of the egg. The membranes are semi-permeable and allow water to move through them. This is called osmosis.  (For a better understanding of how osmosis works...check out the info at the end of the post)

When you remove your egg from the vinegar, you may be a little surprised at the new texture...it feels quite "rubbery"...

we did the Bounce Test to check out just how rubbery and tough our naked egg had become...but before doing the Bounce Test, we were curious to see if we could shrink our egg and cause it to shrivel up.  

So can YOU Shrink your Egg???

You bet...

all you need to find is a liquid that contains a very small amount of water...

corn syrup is a perfect match for such a job!

Time to grab your next round of supplies ~ you will need a clean jar or glass and enough corn syrup to cover your naked egg.  

 Now, the waiting time starts again...
give it a day or two (we did two days) and see what happens!
When we pulled ours out, it was still very much intact, seemed MUCH more fragile and looked a little baggy, shrunken and raisin-like.  
How did this happen???
Well, corn syrup has very little water content, so the water inside the egg begins to move across the semi-permeable egg membrane to equalize the water concentration. Again, that’s osmosis at work. You could leave your egg inside the corn syrup until it shriveled up to look just like a big raisin with the yolk inside.

And IF you are as crazy as we are 

and you just cannot seem to get enough of this Naked Egg Experiment...

just reverse this process again by tossing 

(No Don't Toss, gently 

place your egg inside a clean glass again) 

and cover with water...

The water will do its magic again and move across the membrane filling the egg with water and in a couple days your Naked Egg will be nice and rubbery...

leading you to another fun experiment to try out...

The BOUNCE TEST!!!

We didn't video the 1inch drop up to the 6 inch bounce test...but decided after a while that we NEEDED to have proof of just how amazing this naked, rubbery egg was...so here you have it!!!

(side note:  As I've watched the video a couple of times now, it occurred to me that I have one very interested son...he made it up to the front of the crowd and was DETERMINED to save the egg from impending doom...only to be told to stop many times...lesson to me (as Mom and Teacher) ~ some kids just feel things so much more intensely than others, embrace it and love it...they are special and unique and I am lucky enough to be his Momma!)

Click this link to check it out!

For further clarification on Osmosis, read below:  Sorry, that I don't know who to give credit to for these words...but to whomever, thank you!

It's diffusion of water through a semi-permeable membrane (a membrane that's semi-porous) from an area of low solute concentration (less stuff in the water) to an area of high solute concentration (more stuff in the water). Or in other words, water will flow from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure. 

Here's a way to look at it, that'll be helpful for you. 
A hypertonic solution is a solution that has lots of stuff in it. What happens when you have lots of stuff in the water? Well you're going to have LESS water. Right? A hypotonic solution is a solution that has less stuff in it. When there's less stuff in it, there's going to be a lot more water. 

In nature everything needs to be balanced, something called equilibrium. Whenever you place a cell in a solution that is hypertonic (lots of stuff in it), the solution is obviously going to have less water than the cell. So what happens is the cell's water flows outwards into the solution to balance out. Because all the water flows out of the cell, the cell has little water left and so it shrinks in size. Another way to think of it is the water went from an area of high concentration (the cell) to an area of low concentration (the surrounding solution). 

If you place the same cell in a hypotonic solution (a solution that has less stuff and more water), the cell will then have more stuff in it than the surrounding solution. Because the cell has more stuff in it, that means the water in it is less than the surrounding solution. In other words, the amount of water in the solution is higher than the cell. So the water flows INTO the cell, causing it to swell up. Another way to think of it is the water went from an area of high concentration (the surrounding solution) to an area of low concentration (the cell).

And the Miracles Continue!

News from Danielle...oh and lest I forget!  You MUST have the chance to see proof that this girl of mine ate a CHEESEBURGER...too funny!

I received this sweet note in my inbox and just have to share it with you.  ;)

"I have recently had the great pleasure to meet your daughter who is serving in our ward now, in Winchester, VA!  What a wonderful young woman she is, and she has been such a blessing already to our ward family and to my own family, as well.  (We have a 5 yr old daughter, Darby, who ADORES her!)
 
This picture that I have attached for y'all is special... 
can you tell what she's eating??  
Yes, that's right, a HAMBURGER!!!!  
Not a veggie burger or a tofu burger, but a BEEF PATTIE filled hamburger!  
We had to take pictures of her taking her first bite, and then I'll send you another of her as she actually chewed and swallowed it!  
She ate the WHOLE thing, too!!!!  
Poor thing, we are going to make a meat-eater out of her yet... she's already had a grilled chicken salad at our house, too!!!
 
I hope that y'all enjoy these, and I hope one day to meet y'all!  
I am ever grateful for the special young woman that you raised so well!"

I just have to say at this moment that I sure miss my sweet Danielle...I wish I could just wrap my arms around her.  Feels like such a long time since I've seen her or heard her voice.  BUT she is doing amazing things and as one of her friends mentioned this week ~ "She is out changing lives."  And she is...I hope one day to meet these special people who are watching over, caring for and feeding our little girl!"  Thank YOU!!!  And I cannot wait to hear Danielle, I just know she's going to be saying "Y'All" ... makes me smile just thinking about it! 


And now on to the letter of the week from this sweet girl!!!

Miracle of the week!
The lovely Sister Stradling and I were out in Middletown this last week right around dinner time and were STARVING! But we didn't want to go back to Stephans City for dinner yet because we had a few more people we wanted to try and see while we were already there. We had just left the home of one of our less active members, and we had a great time with her. She is so sweet, and hopefully soon her life starts looking up for her :) We had planned to invite a few others out to the ward dinner we had that weekend, and we just couldn't leave! So we decided the best choice would be to go to the Dollar General to pick up some goldfish crackers; Whales, to be specific. And hey, only spending 50 cents on dinner is always a good deal:) 
As we got to the cashier, I KNEW I needed to talk to him, but I was at an all time loss of words 
(rare... usually I can't stop talking...) 
and I couldn't even remember how to say "Hello." 
But Heavenly Father had other plans. 
The Cashier looked at our tags and said, "You know, I've been looking for a church." 
Well fancy that! We have one!
Our first lesson with him was POWERFUL. 
I was crying through part of it. 
He said he's been praying for three weeks straight to know what church to join, and when he saw us, he knew. 
When we set expectations with him, he said, 
"I want to learn how to come closer to Christ; I want to join your church." 
Needless to say, he was so excited to accept the invitation to be baptized. 
He also expressed how he wants to serve a mission, and that he's already helped two of his friends come to know Christ. 
Holy cow. 
He's amazing, all he needs is three Sundays at church and a few lessons, other than that, he is all ready to go!
Does God prepare His people?
Indeed he does. 

We also have another lady, Miss Kathy, who has been going through some hard times. We haven't had a chance to teach her much, but this week we finally were able to! 

She was having a 

BAD 

BAD 

BAD day, 

and was angry as all get out. 

We listened to her rant for 45 minutes, 

and then finally she asked us what she should do. 

It's amazing what prayer can do for the soul. 

When we explained to her that Christ knew EXACTLY what she was feeling and that He loved her enough to take away the anger if she would let Him, everything changed. 

We sat in a circle with her and her two grandsons, and we each took a turn praying. 

She went from hot anger to absolute peace in less than a minute. 

Afterwards, she asked us to come back the next day and start teaching her. When we got there, she had a billion questions and wanted to know everything. We started her out in the Book of Mormon, and as we explained how it goes hand in hand with the Bible and can help her live a happier life, she was so excited to read it. 

I know this gospel blesses families and individuals. 

I watch it EVERY single day. 

And there's no doubt in my mind that this is where it's at. 

If I could express to you the pains that people have explained to me, it would blow your mind. 

Horrid circumstances, 

histories wracked with abuse and neglect, 

problems that take a lifetime or longer to overcome- 

everything is always resolved, 

always healed, 

always always always made better 

through the Gospel and Atonement of Jesus Christ. 

It really is amazing. 

On Saturday was the General Relief Society Broadcast (for all of the women in the church.) Bishop and Sister Knecht (some of the most amazing people on earth!) invited us over to watch it with them over ice cream (how could we say no to that offer??) and at the VERY last moment we decided we needed to call a girl named Maria who had just moved back into the ward and invite her to come with us. Turns out, she and her boyfriend Sebastian (who we are teaching) decided that they would come (again, who says no to ice cream?) and it was really neat! He got a little Jealous that it was only for the women (although he did feel special being among the few men who watched the whole thing) and said he couldn't wait to watch the other sessions, especially the Priesthood session (which I'll be watching for the first time because he asked us to watch it with him.) 

During the session, he sat on the flood drawing. 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"Sister Lytle, I drew you a picture of Jesus, surrounded by angel bunnies." (picture proof coming soon. It's magnificent.)

The trees here are all beginning to turn colors. AHH! It's so pretty! Someday, I'll send home the video we took while driving down one of the super pretty streets in Winchester, and I'll take another one of the same street as soon as all the trees turn :)  It's stunning here!

Love you all!

Sister Lytle