Great Moments in Music: The Barney Clean Up Song

No matter what people have to say about the big purple dinosaur, I have to say that Barney has a rockin' clean up song. Or, that is, he used to. My days with preschool kids around are long enough ago that we sang the catchy song he sang in the early seasons of Barney and Friends:


Clean up, clean up,
Everybody everywhere,
Clean up, clean up,
Everybody do your share.


It's a simple song, with a singsongy tune, but boy does it work on preschoolers. At that age, cleaning up is just another game for them. Sing the song and they know what to do! In fact, if you don't sing the song for them, they'll sing it for you. One little boy I used to babysit was still learning to talk, but his "mee mup, mee mup" was pretty unmistakable when it was time to put the toys away.

I've been serving in the nursery at church for the past several months, and guess which song sticks the best when it's time to pick up?

And with all my recent exposure to Barney's "Clean Up" song, what do you think the first song was that came to my mind the other day when we fixed the car and reached the point where it was time to put the tools away? You guessed it. All my husband did was say, "Let's clean up now," and the song just sailed from my lips. I'm sure it raised morale immensely.

Everyone has their own opinions about Barney, and I do have to say that I haven't missed watching his show since my son grew out of it years ago. (Actually, it would be pretty scary if I did miss it.) But something I love about Barney and Friends is how they make cleaning up part of the game. They have fun, sing songs, and they clean up before they go. It goes to show that even little kids can learn big things if they're taught in a way that resonates with them.

Tetris (fake) Movie Trailer

Just when you thought you were having a bad day, you look up in the sky and...

Your day just got a whole lot worse.

This is a trailer for a totally fake movie based on a totally cool video game that would totally not make sense in the real world. Enjoy!

Free Kindle Ebooks Saturday May 26!

I'm sharing this message from Rachel Ann Nunes. I know I always love a good deal on books, and you can't do better than free! --Katie

This Saturday, May 26th, kick off your summer with FREE Kindle books by two best-selling authors!

What better way to celebrate the start of summer than by stocking up on books? This is the perfect opportunity to get that Kindle you always wanted—or download the Kindle app for your iPad or computer and read for free!

A Bid For Love – a heart-stopping contemporary romantic suspense novel by Rachel Ann Nunes. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003PDN5EC/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=rachelcom-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=B003PDN5EC

The Captain of Her Heart – an intensely romantic historical novel set in the Revolutionary War period by Anita Stansfield. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0084TTWXA/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=rachelcom-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B0084TTWXA&adid=0VC3P0QCSQC5CCATCZWD&&ref-refURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rachelannnunes.com%2FRecommendedBooks.php

Join us any time on Saturday May 26th, and pass this on to friends and family. Make sure you mark the date on your phones and calendars because you don’t want to miss it!

(To download the books in England or another country, go to the Amazon site for that country and search for the books.)

Visiting Teaching, California Style

Last time I posted, we were living securely in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. We aren't originally from there, and have no family there, but had been there for several years and had made a home of it. We owned a house and enjoyed serving in the ward there.

As of this writing, we have been living in San Jose, California, for nine months. My husband took a new job here, so we moved. Of course the actual moving was more complicated than that, but the concept is pretty straightforward: New job. Move.

Much as I didn't want to move to Wisconsin in the first place back in 2004, it broke my heart to drive away.
We really threw ourselves into our church callings in Eau Claire and grew to love the people there. But it has struck me that no matter where you are or which people you serve, it is all part of the Lord's work.

This was particularly clear to me as I went visiting teaching for the first time in our new ward. I'd had a great route in Eau Claire, and had built some lasting relationships with our sisters. But as I went on my first visits in San Jose, I had this underlying sense that this visiting teaching was only pretend. After all, visiting teaching for me meant going with Lisa to visit Virginia, Jane, and Dianne on a Friday afternoon in Eau Claire. In San Jose I was with a bunch of strangers.

But there was something familiar about it as well. The gospel was the same. The Spirit was the same. Even though I didn't yet personally know the sisters in San Jose, we could still come to a meeting of hearts as sisters in the gospel.

I still miss Lisa as my companion and good friend, and I miss visiting with Virginia, Jane, and Dianne. But if I were still in Wisconsin, I'd never have had the opportunity to work with Nancy as my new companion. I wouldn't have gotten to know Amy, Jenn, Margaret, or Julie. I wouldn't have had the chance to pray for them in their trials, or to learn from them and enjoy their company. I wouldn't have been able to learn how to magnify my calling as a visiting teacher from Nancy's steady example. I wouldn't have made these new friends.

I don't know how long we will stay in California. But I do know that the work of the Lord is the same wherever we go. Individuals and circumstances differ, but we are all children of the same Heavenly Father and part of the same work. The work is the same.

Two Seminary Classes and a Funeral

It's just one of those days. Today I subbed in early morning seminary, came home, couldn't find my phone, went back to church to look for it, came home again, got everyone off to work and school, worked on the home study seminary assignment to hand out to my class tonight, assembled a batch of funeral potatoes, stuck them in the oven, dressed for a funeral, went (with the potatoes) to said funeral, played the organ at the funeral, and came back here to a messy kitchen and a home study seminary assignment that still needs work.

So what am I doing now? It starts with a B and rhymes with "clogging." :-P

Actually it has been a good day in many ways. It probably looks like I'm always subbing in early morning seminary, since that's what I was doing last time I blogged, but in reality we have a very good early morning teacher who is almost always there--except for when she's sick or out of the country, which almost never happens. Except now, of course.

So it's a rare treat for me to get to teach the early morning kids. And today we got to read the "best" chapter of the whole Book of Mormon--3 Nephi 11, where the Savior comes to the people in the Americas. I hate getting all teary when I bear my testimony, especially to a bunch of teenagers who just look at me funny, but what an awesome opportunity to testify of the reality of our Savior and the truthfulness of the prophecies of His coming.

The funeral was for a great man who had given countless hours of service to his family and to members of the Church (and to others, I'm sure). One of his lasting legacies to our congregation here is the chapel we use today that was built under his watch years ago when he was bishop.

And home study seminary...These kids are the coolest of the cool. They don't just show up in the morning and sleep through class. They do homework and read the scriptures on their own. I know they're reading their scriptures and thinking about the material because I see what they write on their homework.

To add to this...I just got a phone call from a dear friend from college. It was fun chatting with her for a while. (I know I'm warped today because I would never, ever normally call anyone a "dear friend." "Good friend," maybe. "Old friend," yeah, I'd use that too. But "dear friend"? What's with me? Am I going to start talking about everyone being "special" now??)

Anyway, it's natural to kind of surf along on a spiritual high, given all the opportunities I've had today to serve. It is also unfortunately easy to feed that little voice in my head that says, "But what about me? I'm spending all this time helping other people and doing church work, but when do I get what I want?" Right now that voice is being quiet for once. Maybe that's the kind of thing Joseph Smith meant when he said we should "waste and wear out" our lives in the service of God.

I don't doubt that the little impish "me me me" voice will come back; it always has before. And I don't mean that we shouldn't take care of ourselves and our own families as we serve others. But right now I am happy and at peace.

Good and Bad

There are a few things running around my brain (yeah, that's a first, isn't it?) that I think I can sum up by describing the good as well as the bad about them.

1. Our temperatures have been inching into the 40's. That is, they're on their way up from temperatures in the 20's and lower.

The good: It's warm! Spring must be coming! The snow is melting off! The roads are clearing off! It is so amazing to see the streets in our neighborhood again, after having them covered with ice and snow all winter.

The bad: The low temperatures still get below freezing, so places where the water pools from the melt-off get really icy. And of course those are the places the dog wants to go when I walk him.

Bottom line: But I can't complain much. Except for those areas (admittedly, they're all in the best walking spots) the roads are clear and dry and beautiful.

2. We're learning the song "Follow the Prophet" in Primary.

The good: It's a fun song with a great message, and the kids love it. And to shake things up, I taught them to stand up every time we sing the words "Follow the Prophet." That gets their wiggles out.

The bad: I've discovered that I am not as good at sitting down and popping back up when we sing "Follow the Prophet" as I used to be. Actually, last time I tried to pull myself out of my seat in time with the music, I'm sure the chair pulled back. Where did those Primary kids get all their energy?

Bottom line: Common sense says that the Primary chorister (me) can't jump up and down all through the song anyway. Someone has to hold still and lead the music. That's what I'll tell everyone, anyway.

3. Subbed as the early morning seminary teacher today and brought bread, fresh and warm from the breadmaker, for a treat.

The good: The bread was a hit.

The bad: Bread makes crumbs. Crumbs have to be vacuumed. Also, the tables have to be cleaned up and broken down on Fridays after class.

Bottom line: I should have thought of all this before I dismissed the kids and let them all run off.

More good: My teenage son did not run off. I was his ride home. He helped clean up and vacuum. Also one of the dads came back and helped with the tables.

More bad: Teenage son expects to be handsomely rewarded now. I think he is already handsome, so I'm not worried.

4. Still reading books for Whitney Award academy voting.

The good: Having a marvelous time! And I've picked up a few books that I wouldn't have otherwise, which has made the adventures that much better. I've been reading and experiencing and feeling some new things and getting out the same old rut I always seem to be in. And I have to say, so far I'm really impressed with the quality of these books. I think LDS fiction as a whole has come a long way.

The bad: Getting in a new rut? Reading too many books?

Bottom line: Always trying to keep a balance, and always thinking I should be able to do more than I really can. But sure loving the reading. :-)

God Is Good. So What's Wrong With Me?

A few years ago I was asked to play the piano at a baptism at our church. This wasn't anything out of the ordinary; our ward was historically a high-baptizing one, and when you're one of only a few ward members who play the piano, you have to expect to help out with these things sometimes. This one was scheduled for a Saturday afternoon, but since our family didn't have anything else planned I didn't think it would be a problem for me to hop over to the church for an hour to play for the baptism.

Well, the problem came when I remembered the baptism in the morning, but flat-out forgot about it by the afternoon. And it wasn't as if we were doing anything important or special; I was just hanging out, and then looked at the clock (which now said the baptism was half over) and it suddenly dawned on me that I was supposed to be somewhere else.

It is not a good thing to miss an event where you were supposed to play the piano, because that leaves the other people stranded. If you were scheduled to give a prayer, and missed the meeting, someone else could probably give the prayer. But it isn't always easy to come up with someone else to play the piano at the last minute when the scheduled pianist flakes out. So I wasn't feeling too good about myself as I quickly changed into a skirt and flew off to the chapel. I'd really, really blown it this time.

But, lo and behold, when I arrived, there was someone else at the piano. Another piano player in the ward, Sister W., had gone just to watch the baptism, but (as she told me later) she felt like she should bring her big hymn book along. Sure enough, her services were indeed needed at the piano. So she played everything as it had been planned, and the service went quite smoothly. Despite my shortcomings, the Lord in His tender mercy had provided another pianist.

Which has always left me wondering. . . why was Sister W. the one who received the inspiration? Why wasn't I inspired to look at the clock sooner, for example? Frankly, I don't have any good answers for that one. It might be that He did prompt me to get myself to the baptism on time, but I was so busy goofing off I didn't catch it. Or perhaps I was angry about something and was not receptive to the Spirit right then. Then again, there may have been a reason why I needed to be home at that time instead of at the baptism. (If so, I don't know what it was. But it's possible. We don't always know.) Or there may have been a reason why Sister W. needed to be the one who played at that baptism.

Learning to heed the promptings of the Spirit and allowing the Lord to work in our lives is one of those vital things that we must learn here on Earth. And yet as we do so, it's so easy to start adding our own interpretations and conclusions to what we receive: I'm supposed to do this thing because of this reason (which the Lord never actually stated, but makes sense to us). Or, because I have this problem, and I'm trying to live the way I should, God should help me fix it this way. And sometimes we can get pretty frustrated when we want--or expect--to see the hand of the Lord in our lives in ways that it just isn't being manifested.

The thing is, unless God tells us, we don't always know why the Lord does some things or why He asks us to do certain things. We may come up with reasons that make sense to us, but in the end, we just don't know. We may expect that God will bless us with a certain insight or wisdom or reward or answer because it makes sense to us, but what is our limited vision compared with God's? He sees the whole picture. He knows the end from the beginning, and His wisdom and perspective are infinite. We only see a small portion of the whole, and without God's help we are limited to our own meager understandings to make sense of it.

But if we truly put our trust in the Lord, and humbly heed His promptings, we need not fear. Things may not work out as we would have chosen for ourselves with our limited understanding, but He will make all things work together for our good.

And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. (Doctrine and Covenants 122:7)