My how time flies

You know that blog entry a while back . . .

with these three cuties

(Three of the Flock)

Well, Sydney was the only one of the three

who got to come along to the cemetary

on Memorial Day Weekend

She's back!

Same gravestone

Same girl

Definitely NOT the same size

Can you tell

which one of the three babies above she is?

Cousin Chick Chat Part 1

Fun day of gathering

(Grandma is reading the list of names Emma wrote down for her......

each person's name who had been there at some time that day

There were 40)

Here is the hearty after-midnight crew

Grandma was such a sport

She stayed up as late as the rest of us

Hard to get my brain to read the time on my watch

Something like 2:30 AM

The dining room game gang

Nanette has an infected tooth and chipmunk cheek
Ouch!

Then.....and......Now

Sometimes looking at

then

and

now

is

startling

Look at the beauty of this little boy

Check out the cushy little wrists

Can you believe this is our preemie baby from November?

'Stache Patrol

As cousins gather for the weekend, we did a little shopping

Emma honed right in

Found herself a Wanted poster

with just the right amount of 'stache

It was love at first sight

Gentleman Smith came home with her

Alisha, Emma and I had a pre-chick-chat adventure today

shopping at Real Deals

We even checked out the gowns, crowns (and staches) at the Costume Shop on Chinden

Looking forward to tomorrow

Family dinner gathering at Grandma's

cemetary visit

evening chick chat

Bring on the chocolate

New Rule

I declare . . . .

As I talked to some of my teachers yesterday, I said,

I'm putting out a new rule for parents:

It's not OK to make it worse!

just sayin'

A First for Me

Check out the sweet face of Jackson

This boy has grown up a lot since this shot

but the picture I took of him this week

is still in my phone

This week he provided me with

a FIRST:

My FIRST chance to watch a T-ball game

What a blast!

The picture on my phone

that shows him catching a warm up ball.....pretty cute

but my ability to download from my phone

well . . . . it's just not happening

My impression of my T-ball experience:

This may have been my most enjoyable view of sportsmanship

Gamboling lambs in purple shirts

Baseball caps that nearly covered their eyes

Being late in the season, they now have some clue about the gist of the game

Most of them are joyful in their play

It is apparent they love to run, throw, swing, and try to catch

Parents cheer the efforts of EVERY child

no matter which team

When Jackson was up to bat, he gave his swing serious effort

and

he lowered the bat to wave to his former preschool teacher, sitting at the edge of the field

As short stop

he had his eye on the ball in some moments

and

sometimes he frolicked and rolled in the grass

oblivious to game play

and happy

Looked like the best of sports to me

Reflection on the past

Spring, Clouds and Memories

As years go by

I seem to love spring

more and more

(One reason could be

it signals the approach of school's end:

light at the end of a 9 month tunnel of heavy scheduling)

Yet it's more than that

It is a link to God's world and provision of such beauty for me

I love having light at the end of the day

Even light at the beginning of the day

(no longer have to wear my reflector jacket in the dark morning)

The smell of blossoms as I walk the neighborhoods

Color poking up from the ground

Grass magically showing up green

Rainbow in the clouds

That reminds me of a difficult and precious season in my life:

The first season I started paying attention to the clouds

I was a single mom with six young children. My car was a drab beige clunker --but paid for!---with a driver's door that flew open when I turned right....unless I remembered to secure it with a piece of rope. It was the best I had.

I was tightly focused: if I could just finish my university classes. Then I could search for a full time job, trading in my 3 little part time jobs.

Money was spread thin. I operated from the envelope method. If the category envelopes in my purse were empty, I was done spending.

I discovered cloud's rich bounty. As I traveled across town to a cleaning job or to class, I would notice the sky and pray out my concerns to Heavenly Father.

Help me know what to do. Hold my fear. Bless these precious children of mine. Cushion them from the buffeting of this season. Help me to focus, to concentrate, to keep my face toward Thy light. Help me have the energy to make it through this day. Help me to step beyond fear.....to walk in faith.

I began to notice the variety and splendor of the clouds each day. Such color. Such texture. Unending art in the sky----from God. Just for me, in that moment. I chose the clouds as a symbol for God's gifts to me. Every day I glanced to the sky, curious what I would see.

There was no shortage in His Bounty. No empty envelopes in the richness of His creation.

There were moments of assurance that He knew me. He was aware of my dilemnas. He helped me take tiny steps forward. Tiny steps into the dark of my unknown. My tears would flow as I chatted with Him.

Thank you, Heavenly Father. You have made such a beautiful sky. I can make it this day.

Thank you . . . . Thank you

Three of the Flock

This is back in 2009

It still tickles me

The spring of the baby girls

Like lambing season or something . . .

We had a baby girl once a month....February, March, April

Sydney makes One

And then there were Two

Sydney on the left is @ a month old

Maliah on the right is 24 hours old!

Oh the blessings

And then there were THREE

Sydney and Maliah, then Daisylyn on the right

Three baby girl cousins

So fun to watch them grow

So cute

So different from one another

Oh my, we miss Maliah since she moved south to warm Arizona

and we can't get 3-some pictures very often

Early crawl/walk/run stage here

And some smashing baby blues, too!

HELP!

Daisylyn might be saying,

while Sydney chomps down this Halloween night

You've heard of show-and-tell

This is lookin' like chew-and-yell!

We miss you, Clawsons! Love you guys

Just sayin'

Girls and their Babies

Karen and Tim's girls

came to play

while Karen ran the Race for the Cure

Here are Kaitlyn and Audrey

after wrestling with the puppies

The girls seemed to have a lot of

mothering

they needed to do

for the baby dolls that live in my home

I've long thought that the home is really a laboratory for life

I've been pondering a lot lately about being a mom

and learning to be a mother

so

it was fun to watch

these little girl's

nurturing practice

Sometimes you grab.......er trade infants

Every baby needs some love
even
the super hair-do ones


Sometimes my job was to
say yes
to wrapping them
tight
in soft love flannel

Baby dolls were gathered
from
all parts of the house
This one
with red-head pigtails
usually sits on my bed
as a touch of whimsy in my room
Embraced in a love-lock by motherly Sydney
this baby boy
seems resigned
to his fate
of sweet love

Just for You, Mom

Before I took this beautiful bouquet to my mom

this is the only picture I got

because my camera

is apparently taking its last slow breaths

There the arrangement sits

in a place of honor

beside the bag of spinach

Jocile,

I thought you'd like to see

what you and I gave mom

She was surprised and quite pleased

I think she liked the pink carnations and pink roses, especially

She read and reread and reread the card I wrote for her

I passed along your message of love for her

The written word is what she clings to these days

I also took my boom box over

with my rehearsal tape and

sang her a solo

I am singing a song called "As A Mother" in church today

So I rehearsed it for her

Because it was not a familiar song to her

I think she had already forgotten that I sang

by the time I left her Friday evening

Oh well

I think she enjoyed it

in the moment

My Dream Come True

From the time I was just a little girl

what I really wanted to be

was a mother

Looking at these pictures brings me great joy.

I love their spirits

their talents

their personalities

their uniqueness

the time I spend with them

the memories of have of them

and

I love

their mates

and the grandchildren

they have added to the family

I have realized one of my greatest dreams

Happy Mothers' Day to me

Yes, indeed