The Dust Settles...S L O W L Y

Sometimes I have to post, just because I'm sick of seeing/thinking about my previous post.

So, I'm sitting at my computer, in a quiet house, without the burden of "I have so much to do and not enough time to get it done!" on my mind. I do still have so much to do (unpack mountains of boxes), but I'm in no big hurry. We're planning to stay in this house for a long time. And it's feeling nice to take a break.

We took a walk around the neighborhood this evening. I made a real dinner (Doug helped) which we ate, at the normal dinner time, around our own dinner table, on real dishes. How long has it been?! And I even baked cookies!

It's starting (just starting) to feel like normal life again, by golly!

Except for one thing: Doug and I have been asked to be in charge of the Webelos. And that definitely doesn't feel like "normal" life to me!

Reality Check

I don't often watch that one reality show about a certain couple who has twins and sextuplets, because I find it either boring or obnoxious. But a series of events (I needed to relax after the kids were in bed, and I also needed to braid Katelyn's hair for her, so I turned on the tube, and my Tivo is disconnected because it's having issues, so I was left with live t.v., and that show was on...) led me to see a teaser about their threatening divorce.

Can you imagine?...

So even though I had to bore myself for half an hour watching the kids' birthday party, and commercials in between (I really miss my Tivo), I had to stay tuned til the end to see what they had to say about their broken marriage.

I found it very sad, and very interesting.

When questioned by the producer about the future of their marriage, both parents (who refused to look at each other or speak to each other, and who constantly rolled their eyes at each other's comments) repeatedly emphasized that everything they do is for their kids, and how they want the best for their kids, and so they plan to do everything in their power to protect their kids.

And here's what I'm thinking:

Before they had any kids to focus on, they made commitments to each other. And then they brought 8 children into that commitment.

So, Overwhelmed-but-Good-Intentioned-Parents-Turned-Celebrities, don't think that you're looking valiant by voicing your dedication to your children, when simultaneously you're abandoning the commitment that you first made to their other parent. I realize that the children are young and vulnerable and needy, but sometimes to one's surprise, and even sometimes to one's frustration, spouses need nurturing just as much as little children.

There have been times when I've caught myself in this dilemma, and have struggled to put into action what I know to be true, that my role as wife shouldn't be displaced by my role as mommy. Being a mother to young ones can be so consuming!

But as Doug and I watched this sad t.v. episode end, he commented to me, "That's sad. It just makes me want to hold you closer."

Get it? Seeing trouble in that marriage made him want to hold me close. Not our children.

I don't want to forget.

Lucky Me, Lucky Me, Look at what I'm drippin' with...

JACKPOT!

thank you, ksl.com

Normal is Coming

I'm dying to post about something besides moving and all its rippling effects on my life.

Unfortunately, there's nothing else on my brain these days. Just the move.

It's coming soon. Soon, as in I'm in the middle of it right now, and within 10 days, there will be nothing more to move.

Only unpack and organize. And clean.

I'm sure you're as anxious as I am.

Oh! Here's one thing I can tell you that's sort of unrelated to moving. I had a couple of mishaps while doing yard work last week. One was embarrassing, the other was disgusting.

Embarrassing:
I was mowing the front lawn, and then sweeping up the grassy front walk, when all of a sudden (I can't explain it), my mouth had a conflict with the broom handle, and the broom handle won. It left me with a fat lower lip, cut on the inside, and purple on the outside for the following week. No one asked about my injury. I hope it's not because they assume Doug is a wife-beater.

Disgusting:
While mowing the back lawn on Saturday (yes, it took me two days to get all the lawn mowed), I noticed a bunch of gray feathers a couple feet ahead of me, and as I pondered where they came from and took two more steps, I heard a big CHUNK-A-CLUNK from the blades of the mower. Oopsie. Then I noticed all the flies swarming around the feathery mess, which I had just mowed over. And I also noticed the aroma. It was not pleasant. I had to call on Doug (who, by the way, is NOT a wife-beater, in case you were afraid to ask) to rescue me from that mess. My hero!

In conclusion, I'm going to relinquish the lawn mowing duties back to Doug for a while. At least for one mow.

Why I Love My Visiting Teachers:

Last month, their visit included this:

Dinner for my family, in honor of my birthday. (The flowers and a "Scentsy" candle were just for me.)

This month's visit involved some true service.

On Sunday they gave me two days' notice that they would be coming this morning to help me with some weeding, and I didn't need to necessarily be there if I had other things to do.

They arrived before I had even cleaned up the breakfast dishes, and stayed and worked-- up to their elbows in dirt, worms, weeds and thorns-- until lunch time.

And they're coming back to continue the job on Thursday.

It tells you a couple of true things:

1. I have really great, thoughtful Visiting Teachers.

and

2. This house we're renting is surrounded by way too many flower beds!

A couple of these bags were from my endeavors last week. (Remember when I found the Easter egg?) But the rest are from this morning's weeds. And there's more where that came from!!!

Mixed Messages

She actually hung this on the study door Sunday morning while I was creating my Mother's Day post. I'm pretty sure the "keep out" was directed towards her sisters, and intended to offer me some peace and quiet. :)

Moments in Motherhood

Some of my favorites...

Getting our first peek into the womb...and finding out it's a girl! (and another girl! and another girl! and another girl! and one more girl!)

Pregnancy (for the most part), and birth.

Babies.

Blessings and baptisms.

Making special birthday cakes for my cuties.

Reading board books with toddlers who are just learning to point and name objects.



Singing.


The "Streaker Stage", when they strip themselves bare in the most embarrassing situations. (Incidentally, this always just precedes or coincides with potty training--one of my least favorite motherhood moments! So it's good that their cute little birthday suits make me smile at this stage of life!)

First talks in Primary.

Crying (couldn't even hide it) when we met our first child's first school teacher-- Not only because my baby was growing up, but also because I fell immediately in love with that kindergarten teacher, and I was so thankful to her for being so wonderful, and so excited for Katelyn to begin her school adventure, knowing she would love it so much.

Making Halloween costumes, dressing up, and fancy hair do's.

Bath time.

Nap time.

Prayer time.

Reading scriptures early in the morning with Katelyn. Finishing the Book of Mormon with her that way. (As I thought about it this morning, I realized that we started this habit just when she was getting to that pre-teen phase of really testing my patience. I think starting our day together this way has been the key to turning that mother-daughter dynamic around. Blessings...)

Water skiing behind Grandpa's boat.

Family bike rides.

Helping my daughters learn to cook.

Seeing my daughters love their little sisters.

Watching them giggle with their daddy.

Thinking about my daughters and their opportunity to be wives and mothers someday; hoping they have the desire and the opportunity. Knowing it's my responsibility to foster that.

Thank you, Mom.

Thank you, Grandma.

Thank you to all women who have influenced my journey for good.

Happy Mother's Day.

Dreamer

When I wake up in the morning, if Hannah is not sleeping on the floor next to my bed, that's unusual. She comes to my room complaining of bad dreams at least every other night lately. She has to wake me up, even though it proceeds the same way each time. I tell her she can sleep on my floor, so she grabs a pillow and blanket and curls up there, and we both sleep for the rest of the night that way.

Yesterday she was telling her little neighbor friend about her bad dreams. And the friend simply replied, "When I have a dream and I wake up, I just close my eyes and go back to sleep because I want to see the rest of the dream."

So this morning, Hannah came upstairs from her own bedroom and told me,

"I had the weirdest dream last night, but it was so long, I couldn't even tell ya. It was so long it took the whole entire night. And I didn't even wake up because I wanted to see the rest of the dream."

Maybe peer pressure is all it took. We'll see.

What if...

...while you were weeding the flower beds in your backyard, you came across this:

Would you eat the candy?

Would you be encouraged to keep on weeding, hoping to find more treasures?

This little blue egg was innocently overlooked a couple of weeks ago, but it made me think: What a clever trick that would be to reward and encourage kids for doing jobs like weeding. If I were that kind of a mother...

Happy Birthday!

W C at the Y

What I learned during the past two days:

• Friends are fun. (I already knew that.)
• Doug is amazing. (He took care of the girls and also painted our new kitchen, while sort of working from home.)
• Eating yummy food at some of my favorite restaurants is nice, but doing it for six meals in a row has its consequences.
• Spiritually feasting for two days, on the other hand, has nothing but positive consequences.
• My memories of living in on-campus housing during my freshman year of college are mercifully pleasant...so why does it smell like a hamster cage now?

Can't wait for Women's Conference 2010.