I Laid Two Eggs

Grace and Merritt were pretending to be dragons on Sunday (as we had just seen the very funny "How To Train Your Dragon" on Saturday and it was fresh in their minds) and wanted to start out as eggs. Grace came to get me and said, "You are the mommy dragon. You need to lay two eggs!" I was highly amused by this pronouncement and game to try, so I "laid" some eggs...


which then began to hatch...


and finally I had two darling baby dragons!

Rainy Days

Rainy days make me feel lazy...like I don't want to get out of my warm bed. But, children need to be fed and ferried to school and the floor isn't going to vacuum itself (more's the pity). Coping with being cooped up requires some serious creativity, which is why children are so great - they have loads. Grace found a treasure and we killed quite a bit of time doing this...


What's not to love about jumping on bubble wrap? It involves jumping and popping noises which are, when combined, very satisfying.

Next we played hide-and-go-seek, which basically involves me counting, the kids hiding in the same obvious place every time, me elaborately acting surprised at finding them in said same hiding place, and the kids screaming in laughter. It's good for the soul.

Then Grace and Grant decided that Merritt's dinosaurs were dirty and needed a bath in the sink. I stayed out of that activity, except to clean up the mess at the end (and peel off about twenty soggy layers from the toilet paper roll).

By this time school was out, so we picked up Merritt. He wanted us (meaning he and I) to play Duel Monsters. I have only myself to blame that he likes Yu-gi-oh! I mean, I used to watch it a couple of years ago...yes, I watch cartoons. Don't you? I actually think that a large part of my fascination with the show was the outrageous hair-dos. It seems to be an actual requirement for the characters. Case in point:That's Yu-gi, Joey, and Kiaba. I couldn't begin to explain why Yu-gi has three colors of hair or how one would get lightning strike thingies going on in one's do. That is some serious bedhead.

Anyhoo, our Duel Monsters game consists of drawing monsters on doodle boards...so much cheaper than buying cards! I was doing pretty well (by well I mean I actually was remembering some of the monster's names without being prompted by Merritt), but then Grace wanted in on the action. She created the fearsome monster "Sun Angry Legs" which apparently eats grandparents. She made one of them (a cranky looking sun with long rays) and then decided that it needed a family, so she drew some more. I laid down and laughed while Merritt stalked off in disgust, his grand schemes momentarily derailed. It was a good sort of rainy day yesterday...I was highly entertained.

Weird Things

Weird things in nature...

Carnivorous Sundew Plant

Duckbilled Platypus

Weird Things in the Ocean...

Goblin Shark

Lionfish

Weird Things in my House...

Plate-lickers!!

What's the deal with that anyway?

What is thing we all seem to have for food? It is the answer for everything. Feeling happy? Celebrate by eating. Feeling sad? Get some comfort food. Feeling homesick? Cook something your mom made when you were a kid. Wanna get healthy? Eat good food. Wanna be hugely fat? Eat fatty food. Wanna be smart? Eat brain food. Welcome someone to the neighborhood...with food. Say thank you...with food. Say I love you...with food! It's all about the food people! I told my visiting teachers that my mother had a mole removed from her neck that was diagnosed as a malignant cancer. (It required further cutting but, thankfully, no other treatment.) A few hours later one of them returned to my home with this...


I was so touched...I felt loved because she made me food. And not just any food - beautiful chocolate food. (Amy says that anything tastes better if it is heart-shaped and I must say that I think she's right!) Today, I found out that a lady whom Chad home teaches just lost her mother. I took a page out of Amy's book and made her a cake...chocolate of course. It's the power of food, it fixes things. I think it is something about the time it takes to cook or bake something, the thought that goes into the meal or decadent treat, and the time spent considering someone else and their situation be it happy or sad that makes food the ultimate emotional fixer upper. I like to think of it as a tangible (and tasty!) expression of love.

Painful Lessons

I've heard it said that pain is the gift no one wants. Nobody wants to be in pain, unless you're a masochist and that's another story, but pain does have a lesson to teach, a gift to give if you're willing to be open to it. I first injured my back when I was 20, then was in a bad bike wreck at 22. My back finally crapped out on me at 24 and that was my introduction to wrenching physical pain. A diligent chiropractor got me up and running again, but my first pregnancy brought it all back and I've been battling this demon ever since. Last week, in the horribly strenuous process of making a bed, my back gave out again. It was so amazingly painful! I was bedridden, walking made me sob, I could barely stand long enough to change Grant's poppy diaper, and I didn't know what I was going to do. How could I be a wife and mother, be dilligent in my callings, or accomplish the things I desire to do if I couldn't walk, stand or even sit? For the first time, however, I didn't question what was happening...the pain and the situation were what they were. I got on my knees and the first thing out of my mouth (which surprised me a little) was, "Thank you for this opportunity to learn." And I finally saw that pain is indeed a gift and a teacher. Here's what I've learned in the past week:

1. Pain turns our heart to Christ.
- For however many steps it took for Him to understand, feel, and bear all the pains, sorrows, sins, disappointments, and afflictions of my life, He walked in my shoes. If the pain I experienced caused me to almost pass out at the doctor's office, I can easily understand how taking on the pain and sins of all of us caused Christ to sweat "great drops of blood."

2. Pain helps us be more compassionate and less likely to judge.
- "The Lord seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." (1 Sam. 16:7) When we experience pain in life it can open our heart to the idea that others are feeling something similar. Instead of looking on the outward actions of someone's life and judging them harshly, we can extend mercy and kindness because they may be hurting.

3. Pain is a doorway to greater blessings.
- If I hadn't had this experience, I wouldn't have been searching for help close to home. I wouldn't have asked the Lord to guide my thoughts, wouldn't have had the Spirit help me recall a forgotten conversation I'd overheard which then led me to medical help that has produced miraculous results. The Lord wants me whole because I have more work to do, and now that will happen.

4. Pain allows us to feel God's love.
- The tremendous spiritual help I've received this past week reinforces my testimony that God is mindful of me, that He is an anxious and loving parent desirous of granting much needed blessings.

5. Pain provides opportunities to render service.
- My husband, my children, and my parents all came rushing to my aid. Their tender and loving care could not be more appreciated. Especially big kudos go to Chad who was mother and father and nursemaid all rolled into one.

6. Pain helps increase appreciation for life's little things.
- The first time I was able to sit up was a revelation - what a wonderful thing it is to sit! When I could walk to the bathroom by myself I wanted to throw a party. When I was able to contribute to the household maintenance by folding laundry I wanted to weep with gratitude. It is the small things of life that make it a such big, wonderful experience.

The last thing I learned is that it is really only fun to be in bed if you choose to be there. Enforced bed rest is the pits. :)