My Least Favorite Role

I'm up again with a sick little Em. Poor girl. She has gotten sick a lot more than the others, probably thanks to being number three. She seems especially prone to fevers. It makes me nostalgic for the days when I was a mom of one with a baby who never got sick. At least that I can remember... It also makes me remember how sick my poor kids were when we went out for Scot and Tara's wedding. That was my first real experience with sick children. Maggie was terribly ill for three days. And then everyone got a twenty-four hour bug after that. I remember little Kate was barely a year and got it in the night. After her first couple bouts, she was so exhausted she would stand up, throw up, and fall back asleep in near fluid motion.

Dr. Mom is definitely my least favorite role. I hate trying to guess if it's serious enough for a doctor's visit. I hate the not sleeping and trying to quarantine germs. And most of all, I hate seeing my sweet baby feeling miserable.


Luckily the weekend wasn't all bad. For one, we found Little Belle. She had been missing for quite some time and Kate had been getting rather worried about her. She was in the umbrella stroller, of course.

And because our small mid-west town knows entertainment, we got to celebrate Kansas Day in style with this group, the "Doo-Dads," (not to be confused with a term for random stuff), as well as a martial arts group (which I erroneously kept referring to as ninjas), and a competitive jump rope team, the only one in Kansas mind you, the Jumpin' Jacs, who, as it turns out, also do birthdays....I know a lucky, soon-to-be 29-year-old.

Emily couldn't help but jam, despite the fever.

No really. I know she looks sullen, but she was swaying to all the music and clapped enthusiastically after each number.

I think this was better than the NYC guitarist (whose name I cannot remember), definitely better than Mr. Stinkyfeet (though he had a way with the crowd, I couldn't get past the name), but you'll have to ask Mike if it was able to surpass the cowboy poetry reading he and his dad went to a few months back...

January 23rd

19 years ago today, I was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

7 years ago today, Mike made me celebratory enchiladas to celebrate my baptismal anniversary. (He was working for that first kiss. And he's sweet like that.)

90 years ago today, my grandpa, Sylvan Dean Wanlass, was born. My favorite memories with him are summer days, walking to the library and stopping for slurpees or ice cream. I was always impressed how he could gulp his down without getting brain freeze.

(I couldn't find the binder with his picture, but if I find it tomorrow, I'll post.)

I celebrated today by setting off the smoke alarm with the steam from my shower, thus ruining Emily's nap and my quiet time. Rats.

Happy birthday Grandpa!! I miss you.

Looking at Fish and Other Simple Pleasures

Today was a nice day.

Mike tucked me back into bed while he was getting ready to leave for seminary. I let him because that Emily-girl was up in the night and I was holding her hand for nearly an hour. Through the bars of her crib. In the cold, dark night without a sweater. I know I should tell her to grow up all ready, but it's nice to be needed. And it really is nice to be tucked in.

Emily woke while he was gone, but I tricked her into going back to sleep next to me until 8:30. It's kind of sweet once in a while to wake up next to a warm Emily. Really sweet. So I enjoyed it and we had a lazy morning.

The girls and I spent a good long time at W-lm-rt* looking at the fish and buying a few necessities.

Kate played with my hair while I was wasting a few minutes on the computer and whispered sweet nothings like, "I like your hair" and "You're so pretty, Mommy." So are you Kate, so are you.

Maggie sang me praises at dinner: "I love the yummy sandwiches because they have meat on them." "Can I have more of these delicious potatoes?" and "You always make the best dinners, Mom." I do, don't I? Except the days I don't make them...

I even got three hours to myself to meet with the lovely ladies at church and discuss food storage and upcoming Primary events. I should assess how we are doing on the water supply. Apparently a two-week supply for five people is a mere 70 gallons.

All this more than made up for the fact that we missed story time (and we are religious about it) and I forgot my wallet at home when I was at said store and didn't realize until we were checking out, which meant dragging the kids in and out of the car an extra time while we ran home for it.

*Besides the fact that I like Target better (doesn't everybody?), I grew up in a Price Club/Costco family. Price Club was the original membership club and eventually merged with Costco, who was started by some guys that left Price Club to start their own warehouse store. My dad has managed for Costco since it's Price Club days, thus I always hesitate to admit that I frequent a competitor (Walmart owns Sam's Club) as it makes him (and me) a tad uncomfortable. But hey, I live in a small town in the mid-West. I have to hit it about once a month. And I must admit, it has grown on me. Ours rarely have the lines most are famous for. But don't worry. We hit Costco too.

Sunday Services

Last week, as we were getting ready for church, we got the message that, due to icy roads, church was canceled. Maggie immediately remembered a Friend magazine article called "Pretend Primary" that we had read about a little girl named Sophie who has to stay home sick from church. In the story, the little girl decides to pretend to have church at home. Kate especially loved the story and we had to read it several times.

Maggie was thrilled to have her own chance to pretend church. She quickly lined up her stuffed animals on a bench, dragged over a bar stool to use for the podium, and pulled chairs over for her and Kate to sit in front of everyone, as if they were on the stand. She didn't miss a detail. At first she had a weight to use for the microphone, but she insisted on keeping it tilted and her wrist got tired, so a block was a better fit. She and Kate started giving talks before I could even sit down on the "pew." They each gave several. I pulled out my phone and recorded some of them. (I was trying to hold out a little longer on the smart phone wave, but my parents surprised me with an i-Phone for Christmas and I am loving it. And no longer have to fight envy of Mike's. Anyone want to facetime?)

They have the process down, I would say. The talks ranged in topic from sacred to secular--the funniest was a reading of Fat Cat by Dav Pilkey. But no matter the subject, each talk ended with an amen. Even through my chuckles, I was moved by my sweet little girls and their budding testimonies and love for Jesus Christ and His church. And pretty impressed with their speaking ability, if I do say so myself. Enjoy! (Just to warn you, parts are pretty quiet, so you will probably need to turn your volume up. And sorry about the quality. Blogger uploads at very low quality. I should upload to vimeo or something.)

As you can see, the speakers at church today had a lot to live up to.

My Life Is a Party

Here's my case:

1. If I want a tic-tac, I can usually find one on the floor, thanks to an impromptu January Easter egg hunt organized by Maggie.
2. Balloons are also easy to come by. There is at least one bouncing around most rooms in my house.
3. I am frequently handed a homemade "invitation." Unfortunately, I can't read any of the pertinent information.
4. There are some sweet dance moves to be seen around these parts. Not to mention acrobatics.
5. Homemade confetti abounds.

Why is your life a party?