Original Lyrics by Lydia :-)

SO, Recently our ward had a visiting teaching conference. It was fun and entertaining and hopefully, I'll be able to get back into my "Good Visiting Teacher" groove soon.
I was called a few weeks before and asked for any suggestions I might have for a fun silly song that would go with the visiting teaching theme.
Well, most of my sheet music is in a four drawer file cabinet in a storage unit, back in the states. SO, I asked for some time to think about it. I looked through the one drawer of music I did have and let the creative wheels spin a little. They don't get exercised NEARLY enough any more, but it was fun to try my hand at it again. What I came up with was new lyrics to two songs I like.
I LOVE the music from "Enchanted," and so I took the "Happy Working Song" and put a visiting teaching spin on it. It's actually the one we used, and I ended up singing at the conference. I think it went well. It was well received and got lots of laughs and smiles.
I forget how much fun I have singing fun stuff for people. I always hoped I'd have an opportunity to sing some "Enchanted" music some time, and made it happen (with a little ingenuity. hee hee)
So, I have included the lyrics to the "Happy Visiting Teaching Song," and I've also included the other song. It's a spin-off of "Orange Colored Sky"
I hope you like them!

Happy Working Song (From “Enchanted”) with a visiting teaching twist.

Come my little friends, as we all sing a visiting teaching song
Merry sisters voices clear and strong
Come and roll your sleeves up, so to speak, and pitch in.
She may need help cleaning her kitchen, or just feel she belongs.

Trill a cheery tune, as you show up with your message from the ensign
And leave a magnet for the kitchen
Oh what joy comes from, your visiting teaching.

Just keep visiting without fail, spreading joy around you
Bringing sisters homemade bread, or even Hersheys will do.

How we all enjoy letting loose with a little adult conversation
There’s no need to hurry off and run
It can be such fun, just visiting teaching.

Oh, how strange a place to be
We’re here in Germany, so let’s enjoy it.
And, as long as we are here,
I guess some new friendships could help with some deployments
Hey enjoy it.

You can do a lot, when you’re got such a fun calling to embrace
It’s okay if there’s no make-up on your face
We adore each sister we determine
And since none of us are vermin, we can be a happy throng.

Singing as we help with your little things
There’s so much more than just meals to bring
Jump right in, and make sure you allow yours in.
And help us with our visiting teaching song.


ORANGE COLORED SKY (visiting teaching style)

I was walking along, minding my business
When out of an orange colored sky
FLASH - BAM - Ala-ka-ZAM
My visiting teachers had come by

I’d been sick with the flu, Dirty dishes galore
When out of the orange colored view
FLASH - BAM - Ala-ka-ZAM
My visiting teachers became part of my zoo.

One look, and I yelled “Oh no!”
“My house is beyond a mess”
But they scrubbed and they cleaned, shared a message I need
They did it all with a smile and I knew all the while, I’d been HIT!
This is IT! This is it!

I was walking along, minding my business, when a purpose came and hit me in the eye
FLASH - BAM - Ala-ka-ZAM
They were true friends who brought joy and love
I knew that it’s a calling sent straight from above
FLASH - BAM - Ala-ka-ZAM and Good bye!
(spoken: "See you next month!")

And the Flavor is. . . . . . . .

We saw the Doctor yesterday, and she said that there is a 95% chance that we are having a . . .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
girl!


That's right: We will have our very own little Brady Bunch. Though, I have to say, I think I'm way tougher than Carol Brady. First of all, I am actually giving birth to all six of mine, AND I have NEVER had a housekeeper. (OR way cool station wagon! :-)

We're excited though. It's a little weird for me though. Growing up with four brothers, and Paul having four boys in his family had me feeling that WE needed four boys. AND , I always seemed to understand boys better than girls, so I just assumed I'd have more boys than girls.
That said, I love how delicate and adorable my baby girls are. I love to dress them up and watch them giggle. And I love sister relationships. Come to think about it, I love to just sit back and watch my children interact with each other. I love the parent/ child relationship, but there is also something totally magical about sibling relationships. Sure, there are arguments now and then, but what a wonderful thing it is, to have siblings to grow up with and REALLY NOW just how crazy and silly your parents are. Ha ha.

Life is good.

Easter Weekend 2010

We just got back last night from our first overnight trip "away from home" while in Germany (as a family). We were able to go on a family retreat to Garmisch, Germany at the Edelweiss lodge ( a military R & R site). It is right in the alps, and absolutely breathtaking. It's also right by the Austrian border. We unfortunately, did not cross the border this time, but will definitely in the future. :-)

We DID however get to go visit some amazing sites. We arrived on Friday, and swam in the great hotel pool, then had a class to go to (as part of the retreat). While Paul and I had a class, the kids had their own and had a blast. (jumping houses, crafts, games, etc.).

On Saturday morning, we went to see the Neuschwanstein Castle AND the Hohenschwangau castle. (Have fun saying THOSE names). The Neuschwanstein Castle was the model for the Cinderella castle at Disney. It is absolutely beautiful! There were no cameras allowed inside, so my pictures are from the outside, but seriously, it was amazing. Every room was painted with murals throughout. Every inch of wall AND ceiling was painted intricately, showing scenes from favorite stories of the king (Ludwig Dunkel). The throne room had over two million tiles on the floor creating a mosaic masterpiece. And the VIEW from the castle was amazing too. It was a decent hike to get up to it, but SO worth it. Kind of funny that the hike (and tons of stairs in the castle) did not even phase Paul or the kids, JUST ME :-) I was the only one breathing heavy (good practice for when this baby comes, right?? :-) ha ha). They all did great. Paul has been chuckling at my hobble of a walk the last two days though (evidently LYD is not used to so many stairs. ha ha)

About a 1/2 mile away on a different mountain side, was the Hohenschwangau castle, which was the childhood castle of the king. It was way fun as well, AND lucky for me, had MORE stairs. :-) I have pictures posted on my facebook page for whoever is interested. That night, we went swimming again, and to our second round of classes.

On Sunday, yesterday, the kids were THRILLED that the Easter Bunny had gotten the email I sent about our location change for the holiday (wink wink), and brought goodies to the hotel. ALTHOUGH, the homemade easter baskets we made out of lunch bags got left at home (oops by mom). We found out that plastic bowls work JUST as well (That's twice this easter that I improvised Easter baskets).
The Hotel hosted an easter egg hunt for the kids and they enjoyed it. (though, I sometimes laugh at the differences of cultures. Many of the eggs were filled with candies, with NO wrappers. Americans are ALL about individually wrapped candies, and evidently, the germans are okay with whatever.)

Also in the morning, Paul and I got to enjoy the spa facilities at the hotel (He got a massage, I got a facial: So cool and relaxing).

THEN, we loaded up and headed to Dachau Concentration Camp (by Munich). It was packed, with literally THOUSANDS of people and SOOO many different languages and cultures. It was interesting to feel the solemn mood there though. There was a quiet respect that emanated from everyone. The displays were so interesting and heartwrenching. The older three kids especially found it fascinating. They wanted to stop to read everything and wanted to talk about it and tell us what they just learned. Unfortunately, our two hours there was just not enough time. It would take many many hours to see all the displays and read all the information they had.

It was a neat experience to be there. It's hard to describe how it truly felt though. I found myself near tears many many times.

We are so thrilled that we are getting to see and experience some of these historical sites.

A little funny side note: While coming out of one of the buildings, a teenage boy stopped to hold the door open for Paul (who was pushing the stroller with Tim). When Paul said "thank you" He said "You're welcome. No problem." with very good english, and so Paul said "Where you from?" The boy said "Idaho" and Paul said "No kidding. What part?" It turns out, he's on a school trip from Boise. Paul got a good laugh out of that and told him he was from Meridian. It's such a small world sometimes.

To sum up our weekend, we saw some amazing stuff, and got home safely. I was reminded how very much I like having a second parent along for these trips. (It's been QUITE awhile since Paul got to take an overnight trip with us)

Oh, and on Thursday night, we had our FIRST campfire in Germany (in our backyard), complete with messy messy smores (I really hate those things: But the kids LOVE em).

And THAT sums up our last week! Have a great week!