Talking to Moses

Hazel loves to Skype Hester so that she can see baby Moses. He is cute. And we loved seeing his little personality.

I hope this is the end

When you start your day in the dentist's chair at 7:00 am to get a 2 1/2 hour root canal that got complicated and resulted in not being able to open your jaw very much, it can only get better.

Right?

Better late than never. Right?

I know that this is a year late. We'll just call it a happy first anniversary to hester post (even though I'm late on that as well). Anyway, all the pics in the slide show are also on flickr. Most of these pictures went into the album that I created for Hester last summer of her wedding.

Thoughts on motherhood

Rainy days make me wish my kids were home with me all of the time. I love these kinds of days. They feel cozy to me. But they would be more enjoyable with my family home with me doing cozy things, homey things like reading, playing games, building forts to hide out in, or elaborate toy cities, watching movies, making cookies, sewing, or playing quietly. It's days like this that I wish I homeschooled all my children and that they could be with me always. Don't get me wrong, I love a good by-myself-day as much as the next mom, but mostly I love being with my kids. (It also probably explains why I take my kids on long road trips where we can be all cooped up together in the car for weeks on end. It's just one of the reasons anyway.) Though I work hard to teach my children independence and give them opportunities to do things on their own and to grow, I really enjoy being able to watch over them, to give them comfort, encouragement and love. I guess it's all part of the growing up process - for them and for me. And so I send them off every morning and look forward to their return at the end of the day. I guess that might just be a little bit how our Heavenly Father feels about us. He has sent us here to grow and learn. He watches over us and waits for us to return home to Him. So, in the meantime, I will enjoy the privilege of being a mother. I will keep my children close, while still letting them learn and grow. I will do my best. And I will savor the moments I have with my children as we all work on returning home.

General Conference Weekend

I love General Conference weekend. It's usually a little bit more relaxed and we enjoy spending time together to listen to the prophet. I always hear messages that seem just for me. The kids still request that we play conference BINGO. Although Hazel is the only one that actually plays. The others just want the candy. But, it's not a big deal anymore. Since they are older they listen without the BINGO game to keep them focused. The Legos come out and everyone listens and plays quietly.

I loved the second speaker today for the morning session (of course I can't remember his name). His message about trials being the pruning that the Gardener desires us to endure so that we can be what he wants us to be really got to me. Also the metaphor that raising easy children versus challenging ones is like being enrolled in Parenting 101 versus Parenting 505. I really related to that one. I hope to I can graduate from that 505 class some day.

Today we got up early to take bluebonnet pics. It was overcast, which is good so that everyone doesn't have to squint, but makes for kind of gray pictures. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow in different flowers. I'll miss this tradition. Hopefully there are wildflowers all over in Kansas as well.

Good Dog

I was watching the movie Marley & Me the other day and choking up at the end. It reminded me of Copper. Copper was a maniac dog. She drove me crazy. But I sure do miss her. We had to say good-bye to her last June. I know that it has been nearly a year. But it's was a harder decision to make than I bargained for.

Copper came to live with us the same week that Isaac was born. She was about 3 years old. She was a beautiful dog. She had so much energy. Anytime the front door was opened, she ran for it. We chased her down in the car quite a few times. She ate anything that was left out: whole loaves of bread, entire roasts, an entire unopened bag of hershey's kisses (she did spit out the wrappers on the carpet). Twice, in one week, she got sprayed by skunks. That was not fun. But we discovered that if we rubbed Mexican vanilla into her coat, it overpowered the skunk smell, and we had a vanillaroma dog every time it rained for months afterward.

Copper kept the kitchen floor clean. It took me months to figure out why I had to sweep so often after she returned to live with my parents when Isaac was 2 or 3. She would eat all the food the kids dropped during meals. When she left, the kids still dropped food, only I had to clean it up because she wasn't there to eat it. Copper loved to ride in the car. She loved to go after the ducks in the pond; although, she never could even get close to one.

Copper hated thunder and lightening and fireworks. She would run around and bark. The year before she died, she lost her hearing. So the thunder didn't bother her so much anymore. But she could still see the lightning flashes. Whenever there was a storm when we weren't home, she would hide. One time, one of the boys was using the bathroom soon after returning home and Copper jumped out from behind the curtain in the tub. Quite startling. We joked that she was such a smart dog that she knew where the safest place in the house was during severe storms. The bathrooms were one of the few places in the house without windows so she couldn't see the lightning.

Things were frustrating and difficult the last few months of Copper's life. I was hoping she would last until summer, so Dad could see her again. But her quality of life was diminishing. It was hard to see her get old. Saying good-bye to her was hard. Someday we may get another dog. But for now, we'll just remember Copper. She was a good dog.

Spring Break

We went to Lawrence, Kansas for spring break a couple weeks ago. We went to visit Nate, to relax, and do a little house hunting. We woke up to snow on Monday:

So we kind of stayed in at the hotel and watched some TV

and swam in the pool.

We celebrated Pi Day (3/14) with some terrific pie.

We did a little house hunting and found this:

We think it's a zonkey.

Mostly we just relaxed, watched TV, read books, played video games, watched movies, swam in the pool, ate out, met new friends, and had a nice time.

On the way home we met a nice Kansas Highway Patrolman.

At least he only gave me a warning.