Head vs Heart

My head tells me it's a good move.

He'll be a police officer, something he's wanted his entire life.

My heart doesn't want them to go.

My head knows she'll be happier being close to her family,

My heart wishes it was us.

My head knows they are only half of a days drive away

But right now my heart hasn't caught up with my head

They just left today.

It's what the man says

I want to swim in the hot tub, why can't I swim too? whined my niece's two year old son. 

Because it's the rule.

 But, naming his siblings, they get to swim, why can't I? 

I'm sorry honey,  come to the edge and lets put your feet in, 

Just as he scoots to the edge of the hot tub to dangle his feet in the water a young life guard walks over and reminds my niece the rule about small children not being allowed in the hot tub. 

 Pregnant with her fifth child, she gives the young man an exasperated look and told him perhaps her son would listen to him if he explained the rules.

Making quite an impression on the little boy, he finally got it. 

'The man says no.' 'The man say's no.'

 Over and over he would repeat, 'The man says no.'

Months later my niece and her family were visiting my sister in California who happens to have a hot tub attached to their pool.

My niece enthusiastically showed her youngest son the hot tub and told him he could go in.

The man says no, he replied.

But grandpa is the man now, ask grandpa.

With all the courage and hope his two year self could muster, he looked at his grandpa and asked,

Man, can I swim in your hot tub?

'YES! his grandpa answered.

Jumping for joy the little two year old shouted, The man says YES! The man says YES! 

Then the whole family broke out in unison, 'The man say's YES! The man says YES!

The not so convenient store

Running on fumes I pulled into the nearest gas station to quench the thirsty car. 

 It wasn't the tidiest of places. The pumps were worn and old giving the impression they haven't been used in a while, but the traffic of people coming in and out of the store indicated things aren't always as they appear. The place definitely was open for business.

Despite the urge to drive on I had no choice but to fill the tank at this run down service station.

I popped open the little door to the gas tank from inside the car, got out to start pumping gas when I read a sign on the pump, 'No credit cards, pay inside.'

Yeah, not going to happen so I pulled forward to the other pump which happened to be credit card friendly.  I swiped the card, entered my zip code and pressed YES for Safeway member. I don't usually care to use my Safeway points because 99% of the time I gas at Costco. Actually 99% of the time I shop at Costco so why I decided to use Safeway points is beyond me, I don't even know if I have any accumulated.

OK cancel that except the pump won't let me cancel, it wants me to see the attendant who happens to be inside.

Moving on to the next pump. Again, I swiped my card, pressed NO for Safeway member, YES for receipt and successfully filled the car. To my disappointment the receipt did not print at the pump, it wanted me to see the attendant.....inside.

The lady seemed confused as to why the receipt wouldn't print - she could see on the computer screen my transaction so she called for the owner Mr., some Chinese name, who came over, looked at the screen and said - don't know, no receipt. 

No receipt?  Really? 

I asked the lady if she could give me a hand written one. She wrote it for $30.00, the amount she saw on the screen. I knew I spent 30 something but wasn't convinced 30 even was the right amount.

I took the hand written receipt but before I left I walked over to the pump and saw it was for $34.17 so I went back into the store told them the correct amount. They once again looked it up on the screen and saw I was right.

Guess what, they were able to print the receipt.

When life gives you lemons......make lemon bars

I know what we could make. My mom has a really good recipe for lemon bars.

 Perfect! Lemon bars it is.

Our youth group of young woman ranging in age from 12 - 16 were looking for a way to help with a funeral of a lady in our church who passed away of cancer. It wasn't the first time our girls wanted to do something for her. Before her passing we would go to her home and sing, hold her hand and listen to her great wisdom. 

She fought her battle with grace and dignity.

The day of the funeral I had brought the lemon bars and placed them on the dessert table, then stayed to help with the luncheon after the service.

A few other ladies and I kept ourselves busy by replenishing the food and catering to anyone in need of help. While in the kitchen a nine year old boy poked his head in. I asked him if he would like anything and even tried give him some cookies but he declined and left.

As the luncheon was coming to an end and we were cleaning up, the same boy came back. Again I asked if I could help him with anything. This time he piped up and wanted to know if there were anymore of those treats with the white powder on them.

The lemon bars?

Yes, it was the lemon bars he wanted. I offered him the tray and he took two, one for each hand and left the kitchen.

 A little while later, he came back. With powder sugar on his face and clothing he proceeded to give me a half eaten bar from his sticky hand. He continued to mention that his mom said he couldn't eat anymore lemon bars.

Apparently he felt it was his duty to return the treat from whence it came, in this case being me.

I felt a giggle come on but didn't want to embarrass the boy so instead, I thanked him and gently guided him to the trash and told him he could place the rest of his lemon bar in the garbage.

First day of school

Coming in from the playground the children immediately headed for the sinks and began washing their hands. Their teacher, a new hire for the first grade students, though new to teaching, but not new to the school told them, "We're not washing our hands now, we need to move on to the library."

As I was listening to this conversation my mind brought me back twenty years when our new staff member was just a wee little Lassie. I remember watching her play around the soccer field while her dad, a policeman in our community, coached my five year old son's soccer team.

Not only is she all grown up, but now teaching in the very school she attended. 

As she tried to herd the children away from the sinks and down the hall to the library, one very smart little Missy told her, "It's what we always do." The teacher questioned her, "Wash your hands before library?"

In a tone indicating this was not new information she responded, "Uh, yeah."

I couldn't help but smile as I walked back to my room, our new teacher learned her first lesson today.

Greeting the parents and students as they were walking to the building I saw a dad with his two young sons. The boys had their hair combed, wearing crisp new clothes and each carrying a backpack. 

It was apparent they were ready for their first day of school, but ignoring the obvious I said, "All ready for school?" 

No response from the children, but the dad replied, I am.

We could all smell the stench permeating from the hallway, some kind of nasty sewage smell that no one should be smelling at anytime, let alone on the first day of school. The poor custodians were working hard trying to figure out what it was and how they were going to fix it.

The sewage pipes were clogged backing up the bathrooms and causing the toilets to over flow.

They were diligent is fixing the problem but it took most the afternoon to do so. I asked the exhausted custodian how he was doing.

Letting out a sigh," Ready for the day to be over."

Taking one for the twin

They're almost two. Not that I know this because their birthday is in three months, rather anyone who has experience dealing with toddlers can read the signs.

 Independence, check. pitching a fit when they don't get what they want, check.  Throwing themselves on the floor and crying without tears, check. Rules don't apply to them, check. The list goes on making soon to be two year olds, very transparent.

Their parents have introduced 'time out' as a behavior plan when

alternative ideas don't work. You know the ol', 'Hey look at this or, heres a fun toy. Wouldn't you rather play with your truck than mommy's phone? I know you want to splash the dogs drinking water but let's do something else instead.

One of the boys was having a hard time with some of the rules and decided to test his mom with a full blown fit. He threw himself back, very carefully as not to bonk his head, and started screaming.

His mom didn't buy into the tantrum and, in a matter of fact tone, asked if he wanted a 'time out.'

Hearing the threat from another room his twin came to his defense. He laid his toy on the floor, went to the time out spot and sat down.

What toddler does that, quits playing and voluntarily sits in time out for his brother? 

I'm baffled and amazed even at such a young age, 21 months to be exact, when toddlerhood is all about, 'me', they express a genuine brotherly love for each other giving,' being my brother's keeper' a whole new meaning.

Summer summary

A tough year of preschool, I couldn't wait for the last day.

 As the finial bus pulled out,  I shouted HOORAY!

Trips to Idaho, I didn't take heed. 

After these two moved to town, there wasn't a need.

They fill my Grandma cup in ways I can't explain,

                                There's never a dull moment, they surely entertain.

     Our church did a Trek, reenacting the pioneers

                                        Pulled handcarts, through rivers, up hills 
                                                       and across the frontier.

           Then came the wedding, our youngest did marry.

          With family and festivities, it was quite extraordinary.

         I found time to ride my bike and horse,

    Bask in the sun, 

 quilt,

sleep in, of course.

In the neighbors back yard under a starry sky,

friends gathered to watch a movie about dragons that fly.

It's hard to see summer come to an end,

In less than two weeks preschool begins again.

No sticks, just stones

My son and his wife have a beautiful Welsh Corgi, named Zoey.

She is the best family dog. She love's the twins,  the goats, the cat and I'm sure she'll come around to the chickens. Perhaps she enjoys running after them just to see if her short little legs can keep up. Despite her love of the farm life and family, what she is very passionate and quite obsessive about is chasing rocks.

The girl will seek out, find the best rock, in her doggy opinion, and drop it at your feet hoping you will throw it for her, over and over again.

The only time she's done fetching the stone, is when you are finished throwing it.

When she started having bladder problems my son's wife brought her into the vet

to have her examined. They tried changing her diet, giving her antibiotics and even an anti-inflammatory but nothing seemed to help.

This last trip to the vet they finally took an X-Ray.

white oval spot below the spine

What the found nesting within her bladder is a huge stone, the poor girl.

The dog who is obsessed with rocks actually manufactured one within her own body.

Go figure.

Here's your sign

Hey, hey stop your whining. 

What is it? What do you want?

Out of the two boys there's one who is very motor driven and very tactual. He explores with his body, feeling, tasting and intently staring at things that move. He loves to take in his environment and internalize it.

The other twin loves being read to. He'll plant his little bottom in your lap and listen as you read book after book. 

He likes to imitate the animal sounds and is always asking, "What's that?'

With this little social bug, he wants to communicate and the only way he knows to get your attention is by whining.

'What's that?'

With my preschool training we continually tell the kids, 'There is no whining in preschool, use your words."

If they don't have words, we teach them basic signs for what they want.

Naturally I wanted to do the same with our little twin so I started with the sign for 'please'.

The motivator, my phone.

He loves playing with my phone - or should I say, talking to Suri.

"I'm sorry I didn't get that." Suri would reply.

Blahhh, blahhh, yahhhh, nananana, he would repeat.

When I would take the phone away he'd start to complain, so I began showing him the sign for please by rubbing his hand on his chest.

Please?

It wasn't' long before he was applying the sign 'please' not just for the phone, but anything he wanted.

Seeing how fast he caught on, we began teaching him other signs.
Sometimes when he's really trying to communicate he'll run through all the signs he knows, hoping one will get what he wants.

Grandma can I have your phone?

Please?

I'm a firm believer communication is the key to limiting the 'terrible two blue's'
They know what they want, it's when they can't express it is when
 the tantrum sets in.
By teaching babies to sign your helping their communication skills to grow. Once they start talking, the signing begins to fade.

Independence Day

Food, festivities and fireworks are all part of celebrating the 4th of July.

 We live in a great nation, it's true.

It's also true, between the twins one of them happens to enjoy eating much more than the other. He's not picky and double fists his food as he shovels it into his mouth. What I love about watching him eat is listening to the cute sounds he makes, ummmm, ummmmm as he continues to shovel.

 The boy clearly loves meal time. 

His personality is that of a little firecracker. Like a flint burning before setting off the explosion pretty much sums up this lil man as he plays. Although he's can be full of the dickens, he has the attention span to accomplish what he set's his mind to.

When he was learning to roll over, crawl and even walk he never gave up until he had it mastered.

I especially loved watching him learn to walk. Over and over he would pick himself up and try again. If he received a few bumps and bruises along the way he just shook them off and kept at it until not only was he walking, but running.

His brother followed suit but was never as patient with himself as his over achiever twin.

With the 4th of July being a holiday my son's family spent the day together swimming and planning to partake of the festive food down at the fairgrounds. Before they headed out it was important for the boys to stick to their schedule and take their afternoon nap.

With the house quite, my son and his wife decided to nap as well. 

A few hours into their slumber my son's wife woke to the sound of doors opening and closing.

A little alarmed she jumped from her bed and saw one of the boys bolting from his room.

Not only did he managed climb out of his crib asserting his independence, but he let freedom reign as he ran down the hallway giggling as if he was quite pleased with himself.

He couldn't have plotted his escape more perfectly, celebrating the 4th of July with his own sense of independence.

A day to remember

June 24th, 2014

in thePortland Oregon Temple

Our youngest son and his beautiful bride were married.

The reception took place at Multnomah Falls on a gorgeous

sunny day, which for Oregon, is saying a lot. 

Brothers

His oldest brother, sister in law and nephews.

Everything ran perfectly smooth and was so beautiful, 

her family couldn't have done a better job.

It truly will be a day to remember.

Then came the open house.

 I called it an open house but in reality it

was a garden reception.

I rented a tent for shade as our lawn doesn't have any.

The tent builders came the day before the open house to set it up.

So far, so good.

The weather was predicted to be in the 70's  with some cloud cover - even better.

In the early morning the forecast was right on target, so like busy bee's my mother, sister and I and many of my friends began preparing for the event.

My sista

My mama

I left my sister and mom to slice and dice the veggies and fruit while I headed for town to take care of some last minute errands.

My amazing friends had their own assignments. Flowers, salads and food were all being prepared.

In the afternoon we began decorating and everything was falling in to place.

Just as we were finishing up, the unannounced rain, accompanied with wind blew in.

We quickly gathered everything we could and began putting them under the tent. Pictures, the cupcake table, the sign in book, the Apothecary jars filled with candy. To say the least, if it was out, we gave it shelter.

After a wild and frenzy time of trying to keep everything dry, the weather gave us a break and things began to look up.

 At least we did and saw a promising sky.

Our neighbor and her son were a huge help, not only did they assist in saving the decorations, they helped in bringing them back out again.

It wasn't until we had the tables looking lovely and ready for the guest is when the clouds decided to test our patience.

The wind and rain came back for another round.

Back under the tent, the tent which was ordered for shade, everything went.

More neighbors came over to help my Mother In Law dry the chairs.

Who woulda thought? Rain was not in the forecast.

Finally, 15 minutes before showtime the joke was over and the weather behaved.

Guest started arriving. Food was served, the bride and groom looked spectacular 

and the evening was wonderful.

I couldn't have been more pleased

 and once again,

it is a day I will never forget.

Pick a card, any card.....

Paying for an oil change, tire rotation or anything else which applies to the car's general up keep, use this card. Hair appointments, lunch with the girls, shopping, pedicures, general up keep which applies to me, use another card. Costco has a special card all in it's own, the American Express.

I feel like a dealer shuffling cards but it's far better than the alternative - cash or check. As long as I give the husband the receipts so he can keep me straight, or at least the bills, he's a happy man and I can continue to draw from the deck which I call my wallet.

Last Saturday I had a few stores to shop in before hitting Costco for a carwash and gas. Old Navy was the last place I was in when I pulled out a credit card to pay for  my purchase. The clerk needed some I.D. so I once again drew from the deck and pulled out the American Express card which has my picture on it. The clerk was satisfied and I was on my way.

I continued on to Costco, the final stop of the day, to wash my car and gas up. The American Express card was readily available since I had just used it as a form of I.D. Badda Boom, Badda Bang, get er in, get er out, get er done, errands complete.

It wasn't until the following Wednesday I was back at Costco for more gas and another carwash, just for the record,  my car gets a wash twice to three times a week - that's the beauty of a monthly pass. It's then when I noticed I couldn't find the regular American Express card. No worries - I have a back up - the business version, but I was slightly worried.

After fumbling through my purse with no results, my brain began retracing the cards last whereabouts and Saturday was the only day I could come up with when I last used it. This time, I throughly went through my purse, clothes pockets, the car, anywhere I could have misplaced it.

Finally, I had to bear the news to the husband, I had lost my card. I figured he would cancel it and a new one would eventually come in the mail.

A week later the husband and I had some Costco shopping to do.  I gave the cashier my business American Express to pay for the purchase. He swiped the card and with a funny look on his face he said the card has a hold on it.

Wait a minute, a hold? I went into full detail on how I lost my card so the husband had to cancel it which perhaps also cancels out the business card yadda, yadda, yadda. All the while the husband kept shaking his head no. Made sense to me but before I could question him on why he didn't agree, the cashier solved the mystery and said my missing card was in their hold box.

What? In their hold box?

As the husband and I were walking out of the store I asked him why he didn't cancel the card. He explained it wasn't showing any activity and figured I would eventually find it.

I believe it wasn't me who found the card. Either someone happened upon it and turned it in, or maybe, just maybe the card had a few tricks up it's sleeve and performed the greatest disappearing act of all time.

A Lucky Star

His coughing is getting worse. His lungs are congested, he hacks up phlegm and despite his efforts to play his favorite game of tug of war, a coughing spell consumes him in a matter of minutes.

We understand there isn't a cure for his ailments, it's just part of his condition so our goal is to make him as comfortable as possible. Through trial and error, the veterinarian finally found a medication which offers him temporary relief.  When his prescription ran out, I brought him to the clinic for an over all check and a blood test to see how his vitals are tolerating the medication.

As the vet examined Archie, he tenderly stroked his head and looked into his blind hollow eyes and told him how he fell under a lucky star. He proceeded to say not many people would give him the care he needed.

I was over come with emotion listening to the vet talk to my dog and, while holding back my tears,  I was thinking we are the ones who were blessed with the lucky star when Archie came into our lives.

We had no idea what lay ahead when we brought our Archie home 5 years ago. He seemed like any other playful puppy until his health began to spiral downward.  Through test, X-rays, medications and more vet visits than any dog should ever encounter, Archie has kept his crooked arthritic tail wagging. He bays loudly at dinner time, finds mischief around every corner, wrestles with his mates, destuffs a toy in a matter of minutes, and brings you his rope for a game of tug-of-war.

Not only is he a joy to have around, he's proven a happy, exuberant, positive attitude  can trump failing health.

 When he gets disoriented and bumps into a wall or door or whatever is in his path, he shakes his head and presses forward until he reaches his destination. He'll seek you out, put his head in your lap, lay on your feet, hides his toys under the couch then paws and scratches until you recover them. Once you think he's content, he'll push his toy back under the couch and begin pawing and scratching all over again. It's another one of his games, like a kid in a high chair who keeps dropping a toy expecting you to retrieve it - over and over again.

The husband refers to him as, 'The finest hound dog around," or 'his wonder dog.'  It's true in every sense of the word and I believe Archie understands exactly what he means.