Painful

At 7:30 this morning, the black hole in my stomach and the huge lump in my throat were unbearable. Being ripped apart from my sister, brother, and niece as they drove down my driveway and left for home, actually hurt. We got to spent 2 weeks together and it is splendid how many memories can be made in a short 14 days. My house now feels empty and lonely. I hate it. I SO very much want to be with them forever. Thankfully about 15 minutes after they left, Adri called me from her cell phone to see how I was doing. I felt relieved to be connected again, but it only took seconds before I was a blubbering, sobbing baby. I told her how it felt weird to be without them and how I couldn't stop replaying all the stuff we had done together over in my mind and how cut off and removed I was feeling. Thankfully, by the end of our conversation, the pain of separation wasn't consuming me anymore. I think I'll be okay. :) I think one reason it's so hard is because I know I probably won't get to see them for another whole year. I'm selfish I guess. I want more than that.


When Adri came out last summer she stayed for 5 weeks! Oh, the fun! When she left, she gave me a card and I gave her a card. Inside of those cards, we had each recalled the specific highlights of our time spent together. (kindof funny that we BOTH did that :) ) So, last night she and I agreed that we needed to write up the 2010 highlights. It's a good one and as soon as she sends me a copy of the list we compiled, I'll add it to this post. For now, some pictures of the last two weeks.

Kid-isms

**When Will came home from school and I asked him what happened at school that day, he responded that their class had had a visit from an author who wrote a book about a Christmas Train. Then he said, "It's about a real story that really happened a long, long, long, time ago - before the dinosaurs were even invented!"

**Jessa and I were looking at one of the children's picture books of the Book of Mormon when she pointed at a man with dark hair and a dark beard holding onto the rod of iron from Lehi's dream. She said, "I know who THAT is. That's Jesus. . . " Thinking she was done, I told her, no, that wasn't Jesus. She said, "I know. It's Jesus's. . . Apossible!"

**Jessa was lying on the floor while Jeff and I were looking on the computer at some banking stuff when out of nowhere she says, "I wish I would die today." Jeff and I looked at each other. What was going through her little head that made her say such a thing? Jeff asked her, "Why do you wanna die today?" She explained, "So I don't have to die anymore." Did she wanna get it over with? After taking a second to try to process her train of thought I said, "But if you die today, you'll miss your birthday on Sunday." She thought for a second then said, "I'll just ask Jesus to take me to my birthday."

Hee-Hoo bird

For as long as I can remember, I have been tormented by a the call of the phantom:

"Hee-Hoo bird"

From Idaho to Wisconsin I've heard this bird tease: "Hee-hoo. . . Hee-hoo. . . Hee-hoo" and I have always wondered what kind of silly bird made such a ridiculous sound. Well, . . . a couple of nights ago my family and I were at the hardware store. We were headed to the checkout when my children spied a tiered circular bin full of stuffed animals. They were drawn by unseen forces to begin inspecting them. All the sudden, I started hearing birds songs coming from the bin. Turns out they were toy birds that when squeezed made the corresponding bird call. And, THEN, I heard IT! "Hee- hoo. . . hee-hoo. . . " I'm sure my gasp was heard clear across the store when I lunged toward the bin of birds and cried, "What bird just made that noise!!! It seemed like we must've squeezed every bird in that bin before Jessa finally squeezed a black and white little birdie that made the familiar sound. She was very pleased to have been the one to find it and handed it to me. I felt like I had just won a contest. I scanned the tag looking for its name. In tiny letters at the bottom of the tag it read, "Black-capped Chickadee". So there ya go. Funny thing is, I'm still calling it the "Hee-hoo bird".

Stitches

Will was standing on top of the "island" in our kitchen reaching for a paper on a ledge. The table he was standing on slid out from behind his outstretched body and he collided with the the sharp wooden edge of a pantry door. He immediately began to scream in panic and pain and exclaimed, "I'm bleeding! I'm bleeding! I don't wanna die!" He WAS bleeding ALOT!! Without even looking to see where he was bleeding from, (mostly because I wasn't sure I wanted to know), I picked him up and rushed him to sit in the bathtub with a towel to his head while I found dad. Jeff came running in and told me to call his sister who is also a First Responder for Emergency Calls in our area. She said she'd be right over and while we waited for her, Jeff removed the towel to see where the blood was coming from. Will had a gaping wide hole right between his eyes! We knew he was going to need stitches. Our kitchen looked like somebody had been shot. Tracy came with her F. R. bag and agreed that we needed to take him to the ER. We took a moment for Jeff to give Will a blessing then I called Amy to watch the girls, found my purse and was ready to go. Jeff couldn't find his wallet. We quickly looked all over the places we thought it could be, but didn't find it! Jeff thought he maybe lost it in the woods while he was cutting wood. Nice, stress on TOP of stress! Amy came and got the girls, and Will, Jeff, Tracy, (the experienced emergency handler), and I all hurried to the van to head out. Will sobbed off and on the whole ride there. When nobody spoke to him he was quiet. When anybody tried to talk to him he got upset. After we registered at the front desk, an ER nurse took Will and Jeff back to a room and Tracy and I waited. For over an hour. Finally, when I decided that it had been plenty long enough, I went up to the desk and asked if I could go back to check on my son. She said I could. I don't think I'd taken more than five steps when Jeff came walking out carrying Will. Apparently, a little over an hour gets you 9 lovely stitches. When we got home, Jeff found his wallet under a blanket on our bed- hooray-. Will stayed home from school the rest of the week and the stitches came out 5 days later. NOT FUN! I do not care to ever have to do that again. Family, please keep all your bones in one piece and your blood on the INSIDE, thank you.

Kites with Grandpa

Grandpa is always coming up with fun things to do with the grandkids. He picked up some kites and one Saturday he came over to fly them. MAN was it WINDY!

Easter

We invited all the cousins over to our house to color eggs this year. They always have fun when they get together.

Easter Sunday was also Jeff's birthday AND General Conference this year! Busy day! The Easter Bunny came to our house and then later that day, Grandma Gene organized an egg hunt for the kids and I enjoyed watching their excitement as they ran around discovering colorful plastic, candy-filled eggs. They were told there were 10 eggs for each child and it was neat to watch them help each other, (after they'd found all of their own first, of course :) )

Will's Birthday

Will is 6! Honestly, time goes so quickly. We went to The Golden Corral for his special dinner and he delighted in eating swirl ice cream with gummi bears on it for dessert! His dad seemed to think it would be a great idea to get him an air-soft rifle, so he and dad have had some fun doing that. He also likes the Bakugan cartoon, (which he gets to watch maybe once in a month), and has begun collecting the cards and the balls. He got some new balls for his birthday along with a guitar, some Mighty Beans and some cool new art supplies.

Will is tall for his age and we suspect he'll hit at least 6'2''. He loves to learn and has AMAZED me with how quickly he is learning to read. He's reading everything now and really surprises me. I'm quite a proud momma!☺ He is a careful and cautious kid and worries more than you'd guess. A few times now when our family has been out and Dad has gone in somewhere by himself, (to make the errand quicker), Will will start to get nervous and tell me he's really worried about Dad and wants to go check on him. This apple didn't fall far from the tree. I can remember being the same way and being sure my parents were dead if they weren't back by the time I thought they should be from wherever it was they were.

He has a hard time waking up for school, but for some reason can wake up even earlier on no-school days to play the Wii. I can already imagine the mornings when I will have to help him wake for early morning seminary.

When he sets his mind to something, he is a very task and goal-oriented boy. Each child in his Kindergarten class was asked to create a trap to try and catch the Leprechaun that "visits" school this time of year. That consumed Will's thoughts and talk until it was completed. Now, it's unlocking new races, bikes, and characters for the Mario-Kart game. I hope that drive will propel him to accomplishing great things as he grows.

It's strange to think of how this strong, smart little boy used to be such a small, helpless little peanut. I'm thankful to have him in our family. He teaches me as much as I teach him. I love him forever.