Some Before & Afters Plus a Little Religious Propaganda

Well, here are the "before" pictures.

We were too tired from shopping, cooking, crafting, eating, chatting and laughing to take an "after" picture. I don't think it would have been a pretty picture even if we'd had the energy to take one.





We pulled out the old video tapes while in Oregon. The ones we have from when my Dad RENTED a video camera for a day. They were amusing to say the least. No one knew how to focus the thing, so most of it is blury. It was such a novelty to us that most of the kids spent the majority of the time talking directly to the camera, saying, "Dad, watch this, watch this." My dad spent the enitre time narrating what he was filming. We got to see my grandma and grandpa as the young grandparents we remember from our childhood, it was very....tender...is the word I would use. Watching the tapes also triggered some memories from childhood. One in particular was when we were adding onto our house in the early 1980s. There was a big stack of plywood on the concrete floor of our new addition, and we (the children) thought it would be so fun to use the stack as a stage. So we climbed up, and mom turned some music on, and we sang and danced and jumped around and had just plain fun until, of course, somebody got hurt. My younger brother fell off and hit his head on the concrete corner of the fireplace hearth, gashing his forhead open and sending us all to the emergency room. I've always remembered this experience, but what I'd forgotton what the MUSIC we were singing along with when we were dancing. This weekend it came back to me. Do any of you remember this music from the early 1980's?

This is what the cover of the tape looked like.




This was the music that was playing while we were "performing". It was some classic, feel good about your religion kind of music. Click here to play the actual, "I'm a Mormon" song. The lyrics are pretty hilarious. There were also some songs on the tape that were a little,um, gender specific I would say. Here are the lyrics to the song I remember the most.

When I grow up I want to be a mother
And have a family
One little, two little, three little babies of my own
Of all the jobs, for me I'll choose no other
We'll have a family
Four little, five little, six little babies in my home
And I will love them all day long
And give them cookies and milk and yellow balloons
And cuddle them when things go wrong
And read them stories and sing them pretty tunes
When I grow up if I can be a mother
How happy I will be
One little, two little, three little babies I can love
And you will see each sister and each brother
Who look a lot like me
Four little, five little, six little blessings from above."

Anybody wonder now why I always thought I wanted six children? The puzzle is really starting to fit together now! I guess I'd better get off the computer now though, I really need to go make some cookies so I can give them to my six little babies. And, I'd better go right out and get some yellow balloons...what will happen if something goes wrong for one of my children and I don't have a yellow balloon? How will I be able to fix it?

P.S. As a warning to my siblings, I've been entrusted with the video tapes. They are currently at my home, being converted to DVD. You will all be getting a copy. I do promise, however, not to post any of the video on my blog or youtube. Maybe I should extract the same promise from all of you before you get your copy.