Wacky Wednesday

I brought a few new books for the kids when Steve and I went to spend time helping out after Ari's birth. The Berenstein's Bear book was pretty lame, but Halle and Zach both really liked "Wacky Wednesday" and "Have You Seen My Dinosaur?"

We planned to take pictures and make them wacky, but this is as far as we got. Given my photoshop skills, we may get no further.

Playing Princesses

One of Halle's favorite things to do is to play princesses.

As you can see, she has Barbie-sized and miniature versions of the same dolls. Here is a bit of our play time:

Halle: I'm on a motor cycle. Do you want to ride it?

Ariel's up here. Come on. Eric get down.

Me: How do you jump up there? Halle: Be careful

Me: How do I get down now?

Halle: I'm falling. Ariels' waiting for Eric. Let's walk to the ocean.

Here's a glass. It doesn't break. Do you want more? That one's dirty. You need a new one. This is Kool-Aid. Let me poor. You want another cup? We both have Kool-Aid. I spilled it on you. You like water better. Hand me the cup. I need to put in back on. You haven't drinked it up.

Me and Eric are going to go here. Look out the window. Be these dolls.

Me: Let's go on a lovely walk to the garden.

Halle: Not without us. Hold my hand. Open the doors, Rapunzel. Tiana and Belle are here. I want to come in. I've been waiting. Open the doors, Rapunzel. Now! Is everyone in?

These are fancy shoes. Woo. I like them. They play Ring around the Rosies. We need another doll (to play Ring Around the Rosies).

Sit down. I'm the teacher. [She gathers all the dolls and lines them up for her class.] We need all the princesses. Come on. Ok. Ok. Ok. Everyone clap your hands like this. Fly like me. Belle, come here. Everyone listen. We have a dance. Dance with me.

I can't find the beast. Where is Grandpa?

Old People in Church

Ali spoke in church today. It was senior day - for high school seniors to visit the ward for the first time. She gave her top ten reasons for coming to a YSA ward:

10: Church always starts 5-10 minutes late

9: Sacrament meeting is so quiet you can hear the cups drop - and an occasional cell phone.

8: Any activity you go to has lots of treats.

7: You don't have to sit by old people who snore in church, unless you are sitting by Brother Allan.

It was pretty cute. Since it is Steve's 63rd birthday today, it is particularly appropriate.

Come Back

Shandy spoke today as part of the RS presidency in the YSA ward. When she was called to the presidency, one of the major focuses was to rescue the less active. She said, "When I first came to school, I left the church for a year and a half. Visiting teachers and ward members never gave up on me. Finally, I came back because I knew they cared about me." Then she told the following story:

When I lived in Provo, I taught kindergarten. Derrek was a repeat kindergarten student. He didn't have many friends and didn't feel comfortable in class. One day he was trying to cut out the sun for a picture. He kept cutting off the rays, so I told him I would cut it out for him. I had him get a cup of water to clean up the paint brushes between colors. As he got back to the desk, he spilled the water all over. As I was cleaning it up, I had him get a cup of paint. Instead of a small cup of paint, he brought over the gallon container. He tripped and spilled yellow paint all over himself and the carpet. He was devastated and ran from the classroom. I didn't know what to do. My classroom is a mess and one of my students has left. I felt I should call the office, but something told me just to find Derrek. I thought, "No, I cannot leave the class unattended, I need to get help." Again, I felt I should just go find Derrek. I lined the kids up against the window and said, "Watch for me, I'll be coming back. I'm going to find Derrek. He is missing."

I left and started looking for him. It really wasn't so hard, as he left a trail of yellow paint. I found him sitting behind the dumpster crying. He thought I would be mad at him because he kept messing up. I told him that I was not mad and wanted him to come back. He stood up and gave me a big hug - so now both of us are covered in yellow paint. As we walked back to the classroom, the kids saw us and started screaming, "You found him. You found him." They ran from the classroom and surrounded Derrek. When they saw he was crying, they all started crying. It was so tender.

I kept hoping no one would drive by and wonder why we were all outside in tears covered with paint.

She continues, "That touched my heart so much. There are always those who are waiting for us to come back. There are those who will share in our joys and our sorrows."

It was a sweet message.

What a difference time makes

We had a birthday party at Miskins yesterday for the twins. After dinner, we were playing outside. Chelle and Halle were playing "hide the duck". Chelle was counting and Halle hid the duck in the middle of the front yard, in full view. I decided it needed to be hidden better, so I sat on it. Halle was so distressed and insisted that I move off of the duck. Chelle informed me that they always hid the duck in plain view. The next time it was Halle's turn to hide, she put the duck over in the neighbor's yard and sat on it, proud as can be. What a character.

What are the chances

There is a gal in our YSA ward who was formerly a member of our home ward. Jade would always come sit by me, until she got engaged to a member of the ward in November. For the past few months, neither she nor her fiance have been coming to church. Her parents are completely opposed to the marriage. The wedding was scheduled and cancelled twice, once after invitations were addressed. Her mother comes to RS (in the home ward) and cries through most lessons. It has been a very difficult time for both of them.

On Tuesday, Steve was supposed to go to the church to interview Ali for a temple recommend for baptisms for the dead. Since he shouldn't be in the church with a member of the opposite sex without someone else there, he asked me to tag along. Little did we know that the bishop would be there for an interview with Jade's boyfriend. Jade was with him, but the interview was not with her. What are the chances that Jade and I would both end up at the church with nothing to do but visit with each other? I somehow think that was supposed to happen.

Brooke

First thing in the morning Brooke crawls in our bed to read Wacky Wednesday. Minutes later Drew joins us. After a while, preparations for school begin.

Brooke:  Why are you still in your nightgown?

Me:  I'm drying my hair.

Brooke: Give me that.  I'll dry your hair. [She dries my hair for a while.  She leaves and comes back with toothpaste.]

Me:  Why do you have toothpaste in my bedroom?

Brooke: Grandpa's in the bathroom.  I had to sneak in and get it.  Grandpa's harrier that you are.

Me: Really? Where?

Brooke: Everywhere.  When you finish drying your hair, you need to do it. [I start reading my email on my ipad.  Brooke decides to help by clicking on the next email for me.  I've never read email so fast!]

Me: Brooke, you need to leave so I can get dressed.

Brooke: Just give me that (the ipad) and i won't even look up to see you.

Me: you can take it in the other room while I get dressed.  (She almost fell getting off the bed.). Oh, don't hurt yourself.

Brooke: I meant to do that.

[I could hear her in the hallway laughing and saying,   "I took a picture." Actually she took lots of them. Don't be alarmed. The deformed one is just "mirror" mode.]

Drew

Today was the day for the bubble machine. The adults were supposed to be weeding while Drew played, but I never seemed to make it weeding. Drew and I played. I took notes on our conversation. When he asked what I was writing, I told him I was doing my homework.

Drew: Grandma, come on. Pop them fast, not slow - like this. Look, look, look. How many bubbles are there? There are 2000 bubbles. Let's take a break. Oh, no. More bubbles in the grass. Off the grass, you bubbles. Two thousand bubbles are coming out. Pop them. [Running, dancing, flailing his arms, and jumping.]

Now I'm going to stop the bubbles. [Singing as he runs around.] More bubbles.

I'll do my pose [reminiscent of dancing with stars].

Me: Oh, my camera needs to be plugged in. It says low battery.

Drew: Go plug it in. Then you can come and just watch me. Grandma, come over here. I'm going to do the pose at the very beginning. Hurry, Grandma. Come watch.

Me: Do you think maybe I should help weed a bit?

Drew: No. Can we go somewhere else? Up here [in the jungle gym]. We have to go. Bubbles will be up here. This is the bubble castle. You will be the queen. I will be the princess. I will sleep up high. You will sleep below. Come on - in the bubble kingdom. Come on. Hurry. This is the bubble kingdom.

Moms and Dads watch movies before they go to sleep. You should watch a movie. When you weren't looking, the princess slides down the slide.

Grandma move. Look behind you. Actually, I sleep in the twisty slide. I won't go all the way down. Now, I'm awake. I already ate breakfast. When you were doing your homework, I slipped down. My shoes are too slippery. Ouch, that hurts.

Me: I'm watching a movie.

Drew: So its bedtime? I sleep in the twisty slide remember?

Drew: Let's play something else. Grandma, can we play hide and seek? I take all the turns of hiding and you take all the turns of counting. Go find me. Search everywhere.

Me: [after counting to ten, but not moving from my spot] Is he in the apple trees? Is he in the garden?

Drew: Are you up in the castle? You have to come down. You have to search everywhere, not just in the castle.

Drew: Here I am. I was hiding in there. Now I hide, you count. You'll get a turn after I hide.

Me: Found you.

Drew: My turn. You count.

Me: [after counting to ten] I bet he's under the slide.

Drew: I'm not.

Me: I bet he's in the castle.

Drew: I'm not. I'm here. Over here. Still my turn. You count again.

Me: [I keep counting past ten.]

Drew: Say "Ready or not, here I come."

Me: Ready or not, you will be caught.

Drew: No, ready or not, here I come.

Me: Ready or not, you will be caught.

Drew: Okay, Catch me.

Me: I can't find you.

Drew: I'm in the twisty slide.

Me: No, I don't think you are.

Drew: [Squeals] I am.

Drew: Put down your homework. Let's play tag. You are first. [We play tag until we are breathless.]

Drew: Let's play monkey. We have to climb. Put down your homework. You have to help me cross the monkey bars. [I do]

Me: Who is going to help me?

Drew: No one.

Such a darling boy. So full of life and energy.

Remembering Mom

This was a gift from my Mom to Steve. “Old teachers never die. They just lose their class.” The handmade gift hung in his office until he retired from USU in 2012. It represents her thoughtfulness and her gift giving talent. No one loved to give gifts more than Mom. Christmas was her favorite holiday. She never tired of it. She bought gifts months ahead and continued the shopping until the night before. In her old age when lung disease and lack of stamina made navigating the aisles challenging, she acquired unique gifts from QVC and catalogs which came to the home by the armful. Growing up in Birdseye Utah, she was accustomed to getting treasures via mail order and she used that eye for quality (and ever willing credit card) to select gifts from her recliner. She charged so much, she had her Visa number memorized.

When the neighborhood kids came to play, she would send them home with an unusual container, a new pencil, or a plate of cookies. It was hard for anyone to leave her home without having something placed in their arms. In the summer, it was garden produce. After Sunday dinner, it was a plate of leftovers. At Christmas it was her homemade chocolates. If she found a unique kitchen gadget, she would buy it for you. Often, she’d call to have us drop by after work to pick up a pie (or caramel corn or cinnamon rolls) she had made for us.

After she and Dad became empty nesters, their basement apartment became a gift to grandkids or married children while students at USU - a scholarship in kind. For years running, that apartment was home to some lucky relative who enjoyed her ready laugh, her enthusiasm for life, and her love of cooking for others.

Her generosity extended to faceless others as attested by the stack of donation requests she still gets in the mail, though she has been dead four years. Her selfless legacy continues as a gift to all of us.