Spring Fever!

I rearranged my living room today...This happens roughly every six months. It's a sure sign that I'm feeling restless and unsettled.  Some women change their hair color..I rearrage the furniture. It could be the time of year. School lets out soon and the summer fun and summer speed will begin, but I'm sure it's deeper than that. It's that old impatience and thirst for change that gnaws on me every now and then.
I heard somewhere that Americans are basically hard wired to look for greener pastures. The pilgrims came here in search of it, and generations after them moved here for a new start and better opportunities, and that desire has been passed down to us. So you see, I'm not discontent. My wander lust is genetic!
I keep singing "Little Purple Pansies" to myself , but sometimes I just want to get out of this town! Sometimes this little corner of the garden seems full of weeds and I want to move! There are things that I love about Woodruff, things that you can't find anywhere else, but there are a lot of things that I could do without.
So what's keeping us here?
I feel needed here. That's one reason. There is a lot of good that needs to be done. I can't deny that I love feeling useful and valued. There are so few people here that can do what I do, whereas in bigger places people with my abilities are a dime a dozen. As much as I want change, I don't like it. Making a new start sounds exciting, but it's painful too.
I know that we won't stay here forever. I can feel that there are other things in store for us, but what?  And when? I've never wanted to put roots down here.  Since the beginning I've thought about moving, but it never seemed right. Is it right now? I don't know, but it does seem closer.

A disjointed, all over the place, random post

!     I spoke in church today. I always get super nervous, but I'm always grateful for the things I learn. Um.. and I    always cry. Even when it's a dry topic. It was not a dry topic today.
@    Today is my wonderful Mother's birthday. We had her over for lunch and used a table cloth and our best china. Love you mom!
#      My little brother cracks me up. He was doing Strong Bad impressions while we played blockus.
$     My mom and I are plotting to buy a boat and cruise Lake Powell and Havasu. Preferably one that doesn't require man power (read husband power) to load and start. We're becoming quite independent these days due to the many nights that our men have to spend on the rez.
%    Our garden is growing! We threw caution to the wind and planted early this year and are crossing our fingers that we don't get a late freeze.
^       I love my husband more than I thought possible. I am truly blessed.
&      I love my children. The other night we all went to the park around sun set and played tag and blew dandelion seeds everywhere. It was one of those moments when you are overwhelmed with deep, real, satisfying joy and you know that you are doing what heaven intended.
*       I'm leaving in half an hour to attend a girls camp meeting. I asked the YW what exactly a cabin mom does. Cool cabin moms bring fun stuff to do and let the girls stay up late. Boring cabin moms sit and read and yell at the girls when it gets late. I plan to be a moderately cool/boring cabin mom with an added measure of annoying enthusiasm about early rising. If I remember correctly YW leaders are supposed to have annoying enthusiasm for early rising.  

The Babies!

May was in a play called "Go Fish" She was an adorable crab with oven mitts for pincers. Great job May! She is missing her two front teeth and has more on their way out. She is doing well with her reading. She likes to help with scripture reading every day.
Ellen decided she needed a hair cut and chopped a chunk of hair right in the front and some of her pony tail.  I cut bangs to cover the short spot and gave the rest a trim. Ellen was crying at first when she realized how bad she looked, but she really liked the new do. She is so strong willed. It seems like a constant power struggle sometimes, but she always surprises me with bursts of sweet thoughtfulness.
Thomas enjoys singing in church. He often sings along with the hymns and makes up his own words. Tonight he was singing Ringle Bells (Jingle Bells). He likes to have everything where it belongs. He puts things away without being asked and sometimes he gets upset when things aren't right. He likes to repeat the last word he hears with a questioning inflection.  Thomas, let's go home.  Home?
Lilly likes to talk about her Dada all day long. She also growls a lot when she's a little unhappy. She loves grabbing everybody's hair, especially Mathan's and Thomas's. Jewelry is also one of her favorite things. She love to pull on and taste necklaces and finger diamond wedding rings. She has a taste for the real thing. Plastic beads just don't cut it.

Stuff and Nonsense

*We attended our stake conference this weekend and have enjoyed it very much. The kids made it through the first hour fine and the second hour with only two trips out. Pretty impressive, no?
* Ben and Amy and Anna and Carl came down for a hurried visit and we went to see Andrew as Mayor Shinn in The Music Man. May stayed home from school so she could spend the day with Isaac and Hyrum.
* Andrew was absolutely amazing. I mean he stole the show. We were so proud of him.
*The weather has been manic as usual. Hot sunny and breezy one day and cold snowy freezy the next. I guess winter is having one last hurrah.
* I've been rereading Mere Christianity. It makes a lot of sense the first time and more the second. It's amazing how different parts of a book stand out and change as you go through different stages of your life. It's like you're reading an entirely different book.
* The Tooth Fairy almost blew it the other night. May kept stirring in her sleep and I had to hit the deck a couple of times before I found the tooth. It didn't help that most of her body was on the pillow.
* I'm looking forward to the next few weeks! Spring Break, General Conference, and the Easter pageant make the cake. Easter egg hunts, new dresses, and sleeping in make the frosting.

I am ashamed!

Remember how the little crustacean on "Finding Nemo" says, "I am ashamed!" when he gets caught cleaning the tank?   I love that! Instead of a trite "sorry," he says, "I am ashamed," with conviction and a french accent to boot.  So . . . I am ashamed of my inconsistent posting and rather than trying to catch up, I'll just post a few recent pictures and some news.
                                                  
 This is our own Lilliputian. (Gulliver's Travels) We love her dearly. She's rolling and scooting all over the place and enjoys solid food very much. In fact if you hold her and a piece of toast at the same time she will swipe it with surprising coordination and speed. She also enjoys being taken out of church for happy, loud baby talk.

 Little May is losing teeth. Yes, my baby May is growing up so fast! She, not Ellen, is our Eleanor. (Sense and Sensibility) She is calm and logical and wants to do everything correctly and sensibly, with an occasional outbursts of emotion. She is a great student and we are so proud of her! She has taken to calling me M-O-M instead of mom.

Tom Bombadil (The Lord of the Rings) is a jolly fellow. Bright green his beanie is and his boots are yellow . . . well red. Thomas likes to wear a tie all day these days. Another of his favorite pastimes is snuggling up to Great Grandma Ida, sharing her blanket, and popping packing bubbles with her. Lately, he has been heard to heave a huge sigh of relief after the sacrament meeting closing prayer and say aaaaamen!

Ellen, not May, is our Marianne. (Sense and Sensibility) She says her heart is very colorful. She is loud and long in her moments of anger and despair, and profuse in her praise. She often says, "Mom, you're the best cooker, EVER!" She continues to insist on wearing dresses everyday and I continue to insist that she wear a shirt under the sleeveless ones.  When she forgets to put on a shirt or when she gets in trouble she asks, "Do you not love me?" I tell her that I love her no matter what. Maybe I'm too harsh for her delicate sensibilities.

 

 No rest for the wicked! I'm staying busy with my babies, the library and Young Women. It's shaping up to be a busy year in YW with some major activities that require a lot of preparation.  In October we will be hiking 22 miles to the temple in Snowflake and being baptised and confirmed for a person in each of our families. For most of the young women the research will be no easy task, because they have been members for many generations. This, plus girl's camp, the Easter Pageant, and possibly a trip to Salt Lake and the Manti Pageant are being planned.  It's going to be a crazy summer with reunions, the summer reading program and maybe (fingers crossed) a trip to see David and Valerie and Yellowstone. And this . . . . .

is the man who is going to babysit! Right honey?  Mathan? . . .

SEE?  Christmas really did happen even if I didn't blog about it!

Mathan really is the man who keeps us all happy and sane. He has been working hard on a big project out on the reservation, which means he's gone a lot. Thank Heaven for the work, and thank Heaven for three day weekends!  In his spare time Mathan is enjoying his ham radio. He upgraded his licence and bought a high power radio and now he can contact people around the world. He is working on a better antenna for the radio too.  You know, when he's not busy with his four callings and his position on the water board.

Well that about does it. All I'm missing is literary characters for Mathan and myself. Hmm . . .

Come Unto Him!

1. I wander through the still of night,


When solitude is ev’rywhere—

Alone, beneath the starry light,

And yet I know that God is there.

I kneel upon the grass and pray;

An answer comes without a voice.

It takes my burden all away

And makes my aching heart rejoice.



2. When I am filled with strong desire

And ask a boon of him, I see

No miracle of living fire,

But what I ask flows into me.

And when the tempest rages high

I feel no arm around me thrust,

But ev’ry storm goes rolling by

When I repose in him my trust.



3. It matters not what may befall,

What threat’ning hand hangs over me;

He is my rampart through it all,

My refuge from mine enemy.

Come unto him all ye depressed,

Ye erring souls whose eyes are dim,

Ye weary ones who long for rest.

Come unto him! Come unto him!

Great Expectations

This is exactly how I feel when I sit down on New Year's Day to make a list of goals, and my problem is the same as Pip's. I love the feeling I get when I take stock of my life. The rub is actually doing something about it!


At certain times — meaning at uncertain times, for they depended on our humour — I would say to Herbert, as if it were a remarkable discovery:
"My dear Herbert, we are getting on badly."
"My dear Handel," Herbert would say to me, in all sincerity, if you will believe me, those very words were on my lips, by a strange coincidence."
"Then, Herbert," I would respond, "let us look into out affairs."
We always derived profound satisfaction from making an appointment for this purpose. I always thought this was business, this was the way to confront the thing, this was the way to take the foe by the throat. And I know Herbert thought so too.
 We produced a bundle of pens, a copious supply of ink, and a goodly show of writing and blotting paper. For, there was something very comfortable in having plenty of stationery.
I would then take a sheet of paper, and write across the top of it, in a neat hand, the heading, "Memorandum of Pip's debts;" with Barnard's Inn and the date very carefully added. Herbert would also take a sheet of paper, and write across it with similar formalities, "Memorandum of Herbert's debts."
 The sound of our pens going, refreshed us exceedingly, insomuch that I sometimes found it difficult to distinguish between this edifying business proceeding and actually paying the money. In point of meritorious character, the two things seemed about equal.
When we had written a little while, I would ask Herbert how he got on? Herbert probably would have been scratching his head in a most rueful manner at the sight of his accumulating figures.
"They are mounting up, Handel," Herbert would say; "upon my life, they are mounting up."
"Be firm, Herbert," I would retort, plying my own pen with great assiduity. "Look the thing in the face. Look into your affairs. Stare them out of countenance."
"So I would, Handel, only they are staring me out of countenance."
But there was a calm, a rest, a virtuous hush, consequent on these examinations of our affairs that gave me, for the time, an admirable opinion of myself. Soothed by my exertions, my method, and Herbert's compliments, I would sit with his symmetrical bundle and my own on the table before me among the stationary, and feel like a Bank of some sort, rather than a private individual