Detours

The route we normally take to school is blocked by construction. We have a couple of options for detours. One is a little longer, but the speed limit is faster. This is the route I normally took, believing it to be faster. The other day I timed both routes. Suprisingly, I was wrong. It was the shorter, slower route, with more turns and stops that was faster. Significantly! I have been thinking since of the life parallels. Sometimes I face the challenges of life by pushing myself to go harder, faster; to do more and sleep less. This experience helped me to realize that sometimes it is better to slow down, take a more direct route, and focus on the things that are most important. It reminded me of a talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf. Here is a great video that highlights part of that talk "Of Thing that Matter Most." The complete talk is here.

Night Run and Dinosaur Bones

The kids and I have been running a mile loop around our property every day. It is alot of fun, and good exercise. We went on our run around dusk this evening. Rebecca came running back towards me after rounding a corner at the fartest point of our property. "Dinosaur bones!" she exclaimed. "I found dinosaur bones up there!" Ben was immediately pulled into the excitement and the two of them sprinted back to investigate. "Can we take them to school? Can we show them to our science teacher?" they begged. It was then I had to break the news. "I'm sorry, kids. These are not dinosaur bones," I told them. "How do you know? Whose bones are they?" Should I tell them? I wondered. "They are the goat's bones." Rebecca screamed. Ben looked even more fascinated. I relived the experience of the night LaMonte buried our poor goat in the freezing rain almost 8 months ago. The boys collected the bones and are planning, still, to take them into science tomorrow.

Donkey Trouble

Our donkey has been limping, recently, so we broke down and decided to call a vet. A vet and another man from "Country Care Clinic" came out this afternoon. Eeyora (the donkey's actual name...I just call her "Donkey") was not about to let them mess with her sore leg. She kept running-hobbling-away. It was incredibly sad, especially because she is so sweet and has such sad eyes. Meanwhile the goat was trying to eat the man's straw hat everytime he crouched down to coax the donkey over. Notice the absence of a hat in the pictures. Finally they had to rope her and tie her to a post so they could examine her leg.

From then on, Donkey forgot she was a donkey and decided she was a bucking bronco. I could not believe our sweet sedate little pet could jump so high! Observe the beads of persperation in this picture. Turns out she had an abcess on her hoof. Poor girl! While I am typing this post Jacob is streaking around the house determined to be naked. Maybe I'll try roping him...it worked with the donkey...just kidding!

Hectic Morning and Blogging

This morning I took the kids to school since LaMonte had an early meeting. After dropping them off, I went to Target. To my dismay, the battery was dead in our van when we came out. Here we are stranded in front of Target in our Mercedes/Lexus hybrid.

Ok, so it's REALLY a '96 Ford Econoline with no hubcaps and the remnants of the works "First Baptist Church of Lancaster" on the other side. Close cousins. Luckily...or not so much...this is not the first time I've let the battery die. (Or the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th--I'll stop there.) So, I happened to know that the AutoZone down the road would come and bail us out without charging us. The man who came to help us was very kind and I committed to become a faithful AutoZone shopper, again. Then we were off to Aldi's where the adventures continued. It was Jacob's first time to go grocery shopping without being strapped into the cart. Big mistake!

He was determined to "help" get the groceries, meaning he kept throwing random things into the cart. ie. cereal, coffee biscuts, olives, salad dressing, etc. Here he is trying to throw in a mango while Kevin is screaming. I managed alright, putting everything back (or so I thought) and trying to distract him until he found the footballs. That's when things really started going downhill.

He was not about to part with it. "No! Mine!" he exclaimed as I gently tried to coax...to pry...to yank it from his determined little fingers. I was at a critical decision making moment. Do I just buy the dumb ball to avoid the drama? "Oh, no!" hollered the voices of every parenting instructor and author in my mind. "You will be positively reinforcing bad behavior!" "Oh yeah!" I countered...in my mind of course. "Guess what is going to happen when I manage to get this ball from him and the baby starts screaming again?!" In the end, it was my cheap side that won out and I got the ball away from him. The screams that followed could probably have shattered thin glass, or at least have made it quiver-a little. Surprisingly, what got me through it was thinking about writing this post on my blog when I got home. Somehow, having this blog made two potentially frustrating experiences seem much lighter.

Kevin and LaMonte. I am so lucky!

Piggy's Dirty Nose

This morning Jacob noticed that Charlotte had a dirty nose. (From rooting up our lawn!) He ran and got a rag. He walked up to the pig who watched him warily, wondering if this offerring was something good to eat. When he got too close, Charlotte ran off into the bush. Jacob chased her calling, "Piggy! Nose! Piggy! Nose!"

Her curiosity or her stomach finally gave in and Charlotte let Jake get close enough to find out what he was all about. As soon as Jacob started rubbing on her nose with the rag, however, Charlotte shot off squealing like it was Bacon Day. Jake chased her for awhile then decided to move on to his favorite outdoor activity...playing with the water spout. Good thing it's laundry day!

Weekend Fun

This weekend we went to Kansas City to visit family and to go to the new Kansas City Temple. I took Sarah, Jacob, and Kevin up on Friday night so Sarah could have some time with her cousin, Savannah and to give me a little more time to visit with my parents and sisters.

Here's Jenny and Jeff in their new home in Overland Park with Jacob. (Their house is gorgeous! I love the floors and cabinetry.)

Here are Sarah and Savannah. They are so cute together! That evening we went to Amy's new home in Blue Springs for a picnic in their backyard. I really enjoyed visiting with my nephew, Braden. He is such a remarkable boy. He's good looking, smart, funny, and easy to talk to. Watch out ladies...he is going to be quite a catch! Amy's kids are all just sharp, good kids. I spent alot of time over the weekend thinking of ways to get closer to them.

Here are Braden and Tanner fishing in the pond behind Amy's house.

LaMonte met us at Amy's Saturday morning with the rest of the kids. Here are Rebecca and Sarah helping Amy in her front yard. Jason was also helping alot.

The kids had so much fun fishing. Here are David, Ben and Max then Keith and Bradon. Isn't this pond amazing?!

We enjoyed a fun picnic in Amy's backyard.

Then LaMonte and I went to the temple. We had a wonderful, peaceful experience. While we were there, the real fishing excitement started with some big fish!

Here's Ben and my dad then Cody and Rebecca. Apparently, Becca had the biggest catch of the day.

"No, I don't want to touch it!"

Even Sarah caught a fish. Jason helped her. What a great big brother!

Bit of Heaven

This morning I am up with my little Kevin. The house is quiet and peaceful. Everyone else is asleep, with happy memories of a wonderful visit with family in Kansas City. (I'll write more about that later.) As I have been holding my little one, my mind has drifted back to before I was pregnant. We thought we were done having kids. I was tired of being pregnant, which for me is like putting my physical and emotional health on a hormone driven rollercoaster. Then we moved to this farm. Our kids started going to an amazing school. LaMonte's job was working out very well. Our situation seemed so idealic, I started wondering if it would be possible...if it would be wise to have another baby. Most important of all, I wondered what God would want us to do. I felt painfully aware of all of my weaknesses and shortcomings. I was equally aware of the grace and miracles that have come so abundantly to help us provide for so many children. So, we prayed, we planned, we budgeted, we prayed some more. The answer came. The Lord did not expect us to have another baby. It would be difficult. Yet, if we were willing and wanting to bring another one of God's precious children into our family, a way would be provided. And so with faith, hope, and a few nerves we decided to invite another baby into our family. A few months later I was starting to wonder what we were thinking. I was sick. I was tired. This was not how I wanted my children to remember me. I worried if we had made the wrong choice. I was painfully aware of how we must look to others. All of my weaknesses seemed to come bubbling up to the surface. I struggled to keep up with the many demands of life. I prayed fervently that I would have the wisdom and strength to meet the needs of my children and to continue to provide them with the sweet and loving memories I so desparately wanted to fill their childhood. Answers to my prayers surely came, but mostly in small and simple ways while I continued to carry the physical and emotional burdens of being pregnant...again. I noticed, however, that in my time of struggle, I became much more compassionate towards my husband and children in their struggles. I became more sympathetic towards others and less critical. As the pregnancy progressed, my energy level increased. Time and time again, I felt strengthened beyond my own natural abilities to care for my children znd to help others in need. Now, here I am holding my little angel and trying to remember how our family could have ever felt complete without him. This week he started smiling. Looking into his precious eyes as he smiles up at me is like looking into the windows of heaven. Kissing his soft cheeks and cuddling his warm body leave me feeling as though I have been blessed with something that is more than just "cute." I feel truly as though I am in the presence of something divine. I feel a sense of love and wonder that surpasses anything else I have experienced. I look back on the struggles of pregnancy which now seem like such an embarrassingly small price to pay for this opportunity which is so priceless. Would I trade these experiences for a glowing career, exotic travel, or greater financial freedom. Definately not. I do not know who actually reads this blog. I hope I do not offend anyone, as I know our child-bearing decisions are not typical and not even possible for most families. This post is so I will remember and my children will know and never forget that none of them were brought into this world by chance or with regret. I love each one of them more than words can say. I believe motherhood to be the greatest calling, the greatest career, and the greatest fun I could ever hope for. I thank my God for allowing me to experience this piece of heaven on earth.