Look Mom! Look!

Cooper was so excited to show me something he had found in his cereal. "You have to come see what I found in my cereal!" I was busy making lunches for the other kids so I asked over my shoulder, "What did you find?" "No Mom! It's a picture. You have to look at it!" I walked over and looked at this arrangement of cheerios on his spoon. My early morning brain was trying to find some sort of picture in the circles. "Mickey Mouse!" I exclaimed. It was the best I could come up with. "Come on Mom. It's Jesus!"




Hmmmm. . .
I'm just not seeing it.
But he started my
day with a mile wide
smile!

A Mighty Bear gets his props!

Davis earned his Bear badge a couple months ago. He finally received recognition and his paraphernalia at our last Pack Meeting. He is expecting one more arrow point at our next meeting as well. I love that Brent and Davis are so ambitious with this. I love that they do it together and I love that Davis sets an example for all nine year olds to look up too. As a matter of fact, I know a few Boy Scouts that would benefit as well.

Sorry! A boasting mother can be annoying, can't she!

Three things I love

!! 1 - 2 - 3 !!

Cooper and I grabbed a bite of lunch today while we were out and about. We were sitting down and enjoying the meal when a little girl (maybe 5 or 6) came in and started to climb on all the seats and benches. Apparently she wanted to leave her mark. Her grandparents immediately started hollering at her and quite the scene erupted. It seemed to go and on. I was uncomfortable as I'm sure everyone else was as well. I felt sorry for the little girl. I felt sorry for the grandparents. You could tell that this wasn't just an 'off' day or that this was a rare occurrence for them. It seemed that this was LIFE for them. I had a huge lump in my throat as I thought about all that may have occurred in this family's life to bring this about. I was sad. I looked at Cooper as he observed the "not easy to take your eyes off of" explosion. He was sitting nicely and behaving well. Finally the sad little family left in a rush of yelling, kicking and dragging. My vision was blurred when Cooper looked up at me and whispered, "I think that little girl is sad." I nodded my head. No matter how much I swallowed, I couldn't get rid of the lump in my throat. I felt grateful for my little family. We aren't perfect by any means but by and large happiness is at the forefront of it all.

What is it about batter bowls and beaters??

IRRESISTIBLY YUMMY

AND 100%

CHILDHOOD GOODNESS!!

Cooper could hardly wait for me to get the brownie

batter into the pan so that he could have this

delightful indulgence all to himself.

Big sis and brother were at school.

And beaters are best when shared with Grandma!

Maddison is two years old and my mom is sixty years young!

A little drama

As corny as it may sound I just have to say it:

Brent is my Sam.

I know, I know! Corn!

You may recall this easy to love character from The Lord of the Rings. He was Frodo's faithful companion and served him tirelessly. Even when Frodo was mean and hateful, Sam never wavered (okay, once he ditched grumpy 'ol Frodo but he did return and save his life) and walked the perilous journey to Mount Doom with him. I happened to catch the very end of The Return of the King late last night with Brent slumbering beside me. After making it through last week with Brent standing ever ready, I was reminded how lucky I am. And he proved himself again when a laundry basket that seemed bottomless, was miraculously empty.

Okay, so I'm all for a little drama but I'm such a sucker for a happy ending!

Moments

Homemade bread and jam are just about as close to heavenly as you can get but a warm embrace of pure love is what clears the skys and brings heaven into view.

Rainy shoulders

I know this isn't news for anyone but just my own musings. Sometimes life feels like a downpour! It comes down hard, fast and relentlessly. Coming up for air seems impossible and so you just keep your head down and lean into the onslaught. At times like this it is hard to look outside myself. I'm not very good at finding the rainbow amidst the storm. Such were my selfish thoughts last week when I read my cousin's blog. The 'weather' in her neck of the woods was similar to mine. She said I could share with you. She lives on a large farm and among other raindrops falling down upon her she wrote this:

When I went to get the mail today, I was noticing how badly the alfalfa needs to be cut and how ragged the lawn looks. I was wondering what we are going to do about the Johnson grass in our garden plot and how we are going to afford the fencing that we want to put in so we have more pasture land. I looked at the weeds choking the electric fence line and wondered when we would ever have time to kill those off and get the electric fence working again. I wondered what possessed us to think we could handle a farm. I guess it has just been one of those days.
I came in the house and did something I hardly ever do--I turned on the tv. There was a talk from the 2006 Womens Conference on the BYU channel and the speaker told of a time when she was praying to have her burden lightened because she just couldnt carry it any longer. The Spirit whispered to her that she was praying for the wrong thing. She needed to pray for stronger shoulders to be able to carry the burden.

I was grateful to read Melanie's words. It was a slice of the rainbow I needed to see. And one of the wonderful things about being 41 years old, I do know that weather patterns like this come and go. I also know that a heavy rain is cleansing. It washes the dust and dirt away. So as the rain falls I'll look through the pelting drops and pray for stronger shoulders. What a beautiful perspective. Thanks Melanie.

Tagged again

Here's what I'm supposed to do: list 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 surprising facts and then tag 5 other people.

JOYS

1. Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk (I've noted this on my blog in several other places. It must bring great joy!)

2. music, music, music

3. the fact that when I stand wrapped up in Brent's arms, I fit exactly under his chin.

FEARS

1. the dark

2. being alone

3. drowning

CURRENT OBSESSIONS

1. Edward

2. Lifesavers - the orange mint ones!!

3. ER - the final season begins September 25th

SURPRISING FACTS
These are no surprise - I'm such an open book!

1. hate to dust

2. love a good laugh

3. love good a read

I'd love for anyone to play along but I'll officially tag only one - come on Collette! You can do this! I'm here to help if you need it.

My birthday song

Here is a link to find the #1 song that was rockin' the airwaves on the day you were born.

On my birthday it was "Penny Lane" by the Beatles.

Leave a comment on my blog and let me know what your official "birthday song" is!!

After a big day

Great conversations should always begin

with a yummy treat and a glass of cold milk.

Ours did!!

Here we go again!

Another school year!

This year Maddie heads off to 8th grade.
I vow to enjoy this.
Next year means high school
and I feel quite faint when I
let my thoughts go there.

Davis is off to conquer 4th grade.

Both were excited and full of confidence

when they headed out the door.

A kiss for both and there they go.

Kindergarten for Cooper.

Is it possible that he is ready for this?

Or is it me - yeah, it's me.

I don't think I'm ready for this.

We walked hand in hand to school.

He was holding on pretty tight

but then again, that might have been me.

After waves and hugs of good bye

he got in line and listened very carefully to the

teacher's instructions. . .

which were to stand tall and straight like a pencil

and to put a bubble in your mouth and hold it there

while they walked to their classroom.

He walked away tall and straight as a pencil.

He glanced over his shoulder at me a few times

but then again, that could have been me.

When I in awesome wonder. . .

Walking through these groves of giants
made me feel like a tiny dot on the
timeline of eternity.

Pictures do not do it justice
but I tried to capture a little
of my AWE.

Words of a beautiful Hymn floated through
my mind and whispered to my heart.

The Giant Redwoods are meant
to be experienced by everyone.
Put it on your list of things to do.

As an afterthought. . .

This picture is my favorite although I

couldn't decide why.

I do now.

I love the path through these trees.

It looks as if I could follow this beautiful path

right into the arms of my Heavenly Father.

I think my mom would love this picture too.

He has a way. . .

The day before we left for California I was at the computer
and on the phone at the same time.
Multi-tasking!! Busy!! Getting stuff done!!

Davis comes in with this little art project he had just
whipped up and tapped me on the shoulder.

Without interupting me or saying a word out loud,
he pointed to the pink swan and then pointed at me
then he pointed at the blue swan and pointed to himself.
He walked out quietly.

My heart melted and again I realized how lucky
I am to be this child's mother.
He was sent to me with a heart
bigger than life.

I hope I don't mess it up!