Halloween 2010

Halloween is my favorite holiday, and Leah and David are my favorite kids. Put the two together, and this is what you get:

If you're unfamiliar with the children's show Yo Gabba Gabba, Leah is dressed as Foofa (described in the theme song as "pink" and "happy," a pretty good description of Leah anyway) and David is dressed as Plex ("a magic robot"). If you haven't seen the show, you should tune in sometime. It's an acquired taste for some, but the four of us appreciate its good values and quirkiness.

We now have enough candy to last us until next Halloween (unless we do something creative like regift it to other unsuspecting trick-or-treaters or try to pass it off as Christmas candy for the stockings).

David's Greatest Wish

While David and I were waiting in the pick up line at Leah's preschool the other day, we had a good conversation about our future baby. First of all, any time we've asked the kids whether they thought the baby would be a boy or a girl, David has always said it is going to be a boy and Leah has always said it is going to be a girl. Naturally! So, David was talking about his hypothetical baby brother as we waited for Leah the other day. He was insisting that we name the baby David. I lightheartedly drew his attention to all of the reasons that would not work so well. ("When I yell 'David' up the stairs, how will you know which David I need?") He quickly decided another David would not be the best idea. I asked him what other names we might use for the baby, and he said "Sarah?" to which I replied that, yes, we had been thinking about the name Sarah if the baby is a girl. He said something along the lines of "Oh, a girl named Sarah? Maybe we'll have a boy and a girl." I told him that would be great, but explained that it would probably be a boy OR a girl.

Fast-forward to this afternoon. David heard me finalizing some baby-sitting with my sister, Aubrey. She has agreed to watch David and Leah while Jeff and I meet with our adoption worker. I had told David earlier today that he'd get to play with his cousin Jacob on Wednesday because Mommy and Daddy were going to go to Indianapolis. While I was on the phone with Aubrey, David asked if we were going to Indianapolis today. I reminded him that, no, we'd be going on Wednesday. Both kids wanted to know why we were going to Indianapolis, so I explained we were going to meet with our adoption worker. I told them the adoption worker would help us when we adopt our baby. I was quick to say that we weren't getting our baby on Wednesday (I knew that would be the next question). David looked at me with his big, blue eyes and a serious face and replied, "Well, could you please tell him that we need a boy and a girl?" I gave him a squeeze and told him I would but that I still wasn't sure it would happen. ;-)

I'm glad the kids are excited about the new baby. I can't help but notice how excited they are when they get to be around their younger cousins and other babies and children at church and play group. They are just in awe, and I think that's really cool!

Playing With Food

I'm the kind of mom that doesn't mind too much if her kids play with their food as long as a) they're still eating it in the process and b) they're not making a huge mess I have to clean up later. So, this morning I wasn't too fazed when the kids were making shapes out of their mini waffles at breakfast. A bite here and a bite there created such exciting things as a fish, a snowman, and a truck.

Leah's final creation was a bit more difficult to decipher. I could only describe it as looking something like a llama doing an interpretive dance (Jeff thought I said Obama doing an interpretive dance!). I told Leah so, and she was quick to inform me it was a boat. I could totally see that after she started moving it around the surface of the table and making boat noises. ;-) I only wish I'd gotten pictures of their creations.

Adoption Training

Yesterday was our latest adoptive parents training—this time, in the Nashville, Tennessee area. It’s usually been in Indianapolis, Indiana, or Louisville, Kentucky, but our agency is planning to open a new office in Nashville, so our agency director has had his area of responsibility increased while he prepares the area and trains a new director, down there.

As members of FSA (Families Supporting Adoption), we generally attend these conferences every six months, or so. The classes are always great, and the kids love hanging out and playing with the other attendees’ children. This time, we were also asked to participate in a session on grief and loss, which was really great: we discussed not only the grief and loss of infertility (which is an issue shared by most adoptive parents), but also the grief and loss experienced by both birthparents and adoptive parents, throughout the adoption process. Having been through it before, both we and Leah’s birthparents know it’s absolutely worth it, but sometimes the things that are most worth doing are also the hardest to do. (Ask any parent!) ;-)

On a personal note, I’m thrilled to be back home and finally have nothing in particular coming up, to take me away. After two weeks’ vacation in New Jersey and Maryland, a week working on site at a client’s office in Georgia, a long Saturday in Illinois, and now a weekend in Tennessee, I’ve probably traveled more in the last six weeks than in the last year before that! Of course, I suppose when “our” birthparents (whoever they may be) finally contact us to come pick up our new child, I’ll be right back on that car and/or plane, and absolutely ecstatic to do so. :-D

Vacation 2010

I finally have a few pictures ready to share from our vacation last month.

On the second evening of our vacation, we went to dinner at IHOP with Aunt Jaci, Uncle Justin, a family friend named Jay, Grandma, and Pop. IHOP features a clown who does face painting, temporary tattoos, and balloon animals on Friday nights. There is also a "special visitor" each Friday. That week it was Diego. David kept alternating between whining that he wasn't close enough to Diego and being terrified of Diego, all the while refusing to get a tattoo or face paint. :-/ In true Leah fashion, she was all for everything. She got a beautiful easter egg tattoo, some butterfly face paint, and a balloon creation. The clown mistakenly assumed Leah would want a butterfly balloon, but Leah set her straight pretty quickly and requested a princess. All of the adults in our party watched in awe as this talented clown twisted the balloons into something that actually looks like a princess!

When we first arrived at the family's little beach house (or bungalow as we sometimes call it), the kids were incredibly excited. They couldn't believe they each had their own tv and alarm clock in their rooms!

Leah made her room her own just a little bit by unpacking her clothes and putting them in the drawers. This is so Leah, and we thought it was totally cute.

David got a bit confused and kept asking why we had moved into a new house. He then proceeded to sweep the floor.

More to come! (And at this rate I'll still be talking about vacation 2010 when vacation 2011 comes around :-P )

A Little Too Gunshy

I hope to have pictures from our vacation to share soon, but until then, I thought I'd share a story from our vacation.

Both kids are going through that lovely stage right now during which they blurt out their observations about the world around them before censoring them (because, hey, they just haven't learned to censor, yet). I, for example, have been informed more than once recently that I have a big butt and belly. I don't mind that so much as when the observations start branching out to people outside our immediate family.

We were at a restaurant recently, and David made one such observation. A man wearing ill-fitting clothes passed our table, and David cheerfully exclaimed "Someone has the biggest belly of all!" Thankfully, the man didn't seem to hear him, but we had a little talk about how it's not nice to talk about how people look.

Leah, as I mentioned, is going through the same thing. On our way to NJ she said, at the top of her voice, "Ewww, cigarettes!" as we passed a man smoking at a rest stop. I don't know how he couldn't have heard her. Eek! So, I again took this as a teaching opportunity and explained that, yes, cigarettes are yucky, but that it was rude to talk about it in front of people who are smoking. I explained that while I hoped that she would never choose to smoke because cigarettes are unhealthy, sometimes people do choose to use cigarettes and that we shouldn't point out unhealthy choices that people make. On another occasion, we were in a store, and Leah noticed a young man dressed in some traditional Middle Eastern clothing. We were far enough away that he didn't hear her, but she said "That boy is dressed silly." Again, I explained that people all over the world dress differently and that it wasn't nice to talk about how people dress.

It is no surprise that I was a bit exasperated when we were sitting at a restaurant on the way to NJ and Leah made another loud and rude observation. She said, "There's a girl over there with a crazy tattoo on her face!" Jeff and I were both seated so that we were unable to see said girl, but we quickly shushed Leah and reminded her that it wasn't nice to talk about how people look. In my mind I was envisioning a young woman with a lot of body art on her face. A couple of more times throughout the meal Leah said things like "There's the girl with the crazy tattoo again." I was starting to get really frustrated that Leah just couldn't seem to drop the subject!

We went on to finish our meal, and as we got up Leah said loudly AGAIN "There's the girl with the tattoo!" As I started to remind Leah again not to talk about how people look, I looked over where she was pointing. It turns out that the whole time she'd been talking about a little girl, probably about 7 years old, with her face painted! I felt just a bit sheepish. I still think it was important to remind Leah not to talk about the way people look, but I also see the importance of having all of the facts instead of making assumptions. Honestly, I had cut her off each time she was trying to tell me about the girl because of the assumptions I had made. Had I just let her explain a little more, we probably could've avoided having multiple outbursts about it.

That's the great thing about parenting, both the parent and child can learn from the experience. ;-)

She Needs Her Privacy

At ages 4½ and almost 3½, respectively, Leah and David still generally share a bath. Thus, it is particularly humorous that immediately preceding this evening’s bath time (while David was running around naked), still-clothed Leah ran into the bathroom and demanded that he stay out. The reason?

“You can’t be in here when I’m changing into my nothing!”

Three-year-old Logic

A conversation between me and David, about two minutes ago, in its entirety:

Me: “David, please give that back to Leah.”

David: “But she’s not screaming for it.”

How can you keep a straight face to that?

She's growing up!

The next few weeks will bring some changes in our little Leah's life. First of all, some friends of ours have invited her to participate in hula dance lessons, and she will have a performance on September 4th. Leah has always loved dancing and has looked forward to the day when she can take formal dance lessons. We had intended to have her start dance lessons with another good friend from church earlier in the year, but, as happens so easily when you let it, time got away from us. It will be nice to see how she does with these lessons so that we can determine whether it would be good to have her continue. She is so incredibly excited! As soon as she found out when her first practice was going to be, she walked up and told anyone who would listen, "I'm going to learn how to hula dance on Thursday at 4:00!"

When we return from vacation in a few weeks, Leah will also start preschool. I'm having little mommy twinges about letting her go since this was to be my last year with her all to myself, but I know she will absolutely love it. Besides, I'm sure David could also benefit from a few hours a week with mommy all to himself. ;-) It has been quite the ordeal trying to determine which preschool we want to go with. There are quite a few in our area, so at least we had some choice. It got a little overwhelming at times. We have almost certainly decided on one, though, and we will be visiting to make that final decision and hopefully get Leah enrolled sometime in the next week.

I've had a few moments lately when I just haven't been able to figure out where the time has gone. One was over the weekend when I came across some pictures of David from early last year. While I love the stage he's in right now, I found myself longing to relive those earlier days, too. I had a similar moment with Leah this morning right after she woke up. I asked her to come to me. I picked her up and held her like a little baby. My mind brought me back to some of the first times I held her as a brand new infant. My mind couldn't grasp what all has happened in those almost 5 years! Was there ever really a time that I wasn't a mother? A time when I cried in anguish because I didn't know if I'd ever be a mother? Oh, how our lives have been so richly blessed in these 5 years. Nothing compares!

I've never been that great at preserving personal history. Blogs like this one have probably come closest, but I *gasp* really don't have a baby book for either of the children, for example. As such, it is so hard to recreate in my mind those days when my children were younger. I could tell you the more general things like Jeff changed jobs when Leah and David were "x" years old, but I so miss the specific feelings, thoughts, sights, sounds, and smells of an earlier time. I was telling Jeff how I hope we get to re-live (even if just in our minds) our favorite parts from this life after we die. I know that specific moments from my children's young lives will be among those.

See Jeff and Anna Run

Jeff and I did a 5K this past Saturday. It was Jeff's first one, and he seemed to have fun. It was my second official one, and I was happy to see that my time was a little better than last time. We had hoped to do better, but we had several things working against us. Mainly, I'd been laid up much of the week with a horrific toothache. Thankfully, I was MUCH better by race day, but I had lost a lot of sleep earlier in the week. I just didn't have the stamina and energy I'd been enjoying in the weeks leading up to the toothache. The race was also held later in the day than Jeff and I tend to run, so the sun was higher in the sky. This made for one hot run! We're still proud that we finished, though, and it was a really fun and different thing to do as a couple. My sister, Becca, also ran, so it was fun hanging out with her before and after the race. She's been at this a lot longer than we have, so we didn't stick together during the race. Anyway, I hope this is the first in a long line of races Jeff and I do together.

Melting My Heart

Sometime last night, Leah made her way into our room with her sleeping bag and spent the rest of the night, sleeping on our floor. When I woke up in the morning (Anna having already gotten out of bed), my little girl climbed into our bed and snuggled in, just holding me as tightly as she could. Talk about the best feeling in the world….

Anyway, given opportunities like this, I always make a specific point to tell my children how much I love them and how wonderful they are. This time, on a whim, I also posed a question: “Leah, why are you such a good girl?’

Her response: “Because you taught me to be.”

Wow. Just… wow.

Not Enough Dora to Go Around

A few days ago, Leah tore a page out of her Dora the Explorer coloring book and starting putting stickers on it. Somewhere along the line, this picture somehow wound up on my bedside table, and a scan (in case you hadn’t guessed) can be seen at right.


This morning, as I walked into my bedroom, I came upon Leah explaining the picture to her little brother. She was pointing out that there were three stickers featuring Dora. “That,” she explained, “is because there are three Doras: one regular Dora, and two robot Doras.”


And isn’t that just what the world needs?

Reflections

Nothing makes me feel better than the squeezy hugs and sloppy kisses my kids give me each day. There is nothing more sacred than the love and trust I see in their eyes. There is nothing more awesome nor more terrifying than being the center of an innocent child's world. I feel so blessed and privileged to be a mother to these special children. They are my world!

God Bless America!

We had a great time with family over the weekend. We had lots of goodies at Mawmaw and Pawpaw's house, including a birthday cake for my sister, Aubrey (her birthday is the 4th of July). The kids (and some of the adults!) had fun playing frisbee, bubbles, t-ball, and soccer. At dusk we all packed up in our vehicles and headed to a local church for a fireworks display. It was rather impressive, especially for a small operation. David eventually decided he'd rather sleep on Jeff's shoulder, though I'm not sure any sleepage actually ever occurred. Leah "oohed" and "awwed" over the fireworks. She commented on how colorful they were and mentioned that she liked purple the best because it was the most colorful. ;-) We all went home that evening smelling of sunscreen and bugspray! A good time was had by all.

A Day of Firsts

This past Saturday was a day filled with firsts. We started the day with a bus ride. I had heard the day before that the city bus service offers a trolley bus tour of key points of interest for free on Saturday mornings. In true JeffAnna fashion, it started out as an adventure. First, we weren't sure we were going to make it on time. We did, thankfully, arrive with 5 or so minutes to spare, but my Punctuality Senses were definitely tingling. About 10 minutes later I started getting a little nervous that I'd read the pickup time wrong. We were 5 minutes past the appointed time, and there was still no bus. :-/ Thankfully, someone pointed us in the right direction. It turned out the bus was picking up passengers on the next block because of road closures for another event later in the day. So, we all boarded the bus for David and Leah's first bus ride! We didn't get to hear much of what the tour guide was saying because the bus was so loud and he didn't have a microphone, but we all enjoyed the ride nonetheless.

The bus dropped us off for our next "first." This was the first time this season that we went to the Farmer's Market. We had a nice leisurely walk as we perused the vendors' offerings. We couldn't pass up some fresh apple turnovers or cashew brittle! Jeff picked up some homemade summer sausage (one of his favorites) as a sort of Father's Day gift from Anna. It felt nice to be out in the fresh air.

Next, we took the kids to the local university Memorial Union. Along the way, they enjoyed another first—a very echoey walk through the underground tunnels from the parking garage to the Union. By "echoey" I mean that David and Leah took turns saying "echo!" to see just how much echo there was down there. Just as we were entering the Union, Jeff had an idea for another first later in the day. The Union has a bowling alley in it, and the kids had never been bowling before. ;-)

We walked around the Union for a few minutes taking note of what had changed (which was a decent amount!) since the last time Jeff and I had been there. We settled on a little shop we were somewhat familiar with for lunch. As we dined on our hamburgers and chicken fingers, I realized that none of had socks on. Why was this important? Well, we were pretty sure we'd have to have socks to wear those attractive bowling shoes. :-P

We had a big decision to make: Drive all the way home and get our own socks or drive to the local Wal-Mart to buy some new socks. It was a tough decision, but in the end, we decided to drive home for our own socks. We figured that way we could check at home for any coupons and call around to the various bowling alleys around town for the best deal.

We did get a pretty good deal for the bowling in the end, so all was good. On the way in, however, Leah announced that she hated bowling and didn't want to go. This is the way of the four-year-old. Almost daily we hear how she dislikes this or that thing that she's never tried. We gently remind her that she couldn't possibly know if she likes this thing or that thing because she's never tried! Anyway, it turns out she LOVES bowling. We had the place to ourselves, which made me feel a lot better since I S-T-I-N-K at bowling and get easily embarrassed about it. Leah even beat me once. After two games of bowling, the kids were more than ready for a rest and so were mommy and daddy.

We really enjoyed all the firsts. That is one of the fun things about being a parent: getting to see something for the first time again through your child's eyes.

Adventures in Garage Sale-ing

What's crazier than trying to run a garage sale with two preschoolers? Not much! LOL!

Seriously, we did have a good time doing our garage sale last Friday and Saturday, but I do think I earned a badge in Heat & Humidity Survival and Leah earned her badge in Young Sales-Laydship with the lemonade (and cookie and freezer pop) stand. David earned new pins for a badge he already earned long ago: New and Creative Ways to Make Your Mother's Heart Stop. This mostly had to do with him messing with things he had no business messing with and doing all he could to make sure said item made it almost into the road with him on it/in it. That's David!

Little kids amaze me in their ability to get excited about just about anything. The kids were thrilled to do their lemonade stand, including all of the steps to get it set up and going (they're good cookie baggers). Several people asked them what they were going to spend their money on. This question was generally met with a "deer in the headlights" stare. I'm not sure it had ever occurred to them that they'd get anything out of the stand beyond the joy of serving their customers.

As I mentioned above, Leah was quite the little sales lady. She had no qualms about asking our customers if they would like any cookies or lemonade. After a while, however, she got a little discouraged at hearing so many "no, thanks" (I was a little surprised so many people could resist my sweetheart….), so she got a little too aggressive in her approach for my liking. It was totally cute, but I chose to use it as a lesson in social skills. She took to following people down the driveway and asking if they were sure that they didn't want any lemonade. I'm sure people recognized that she's 4-and-a-half and cut her some slack for that, but I don't want to raise an obnoxious, pushy person, so I gently stepped in. I told her it was fine to ask people once if they'd like anything from the stand, but she needed to wait until they were at least in the vicinity of the stand to ask. Being the intelligent child that she is, she caught on right away. She didn't return to sweetly asking people if they'd like something, though. She took a more manipulative approach; when anyone cared to glance at her or came close to the stand, she'd make sure she said loudly enough to be heard, "Boy, that lemonade sure looks good" or "Man, it's hot out here. I'm thirsty!" or "Cookies are a good treat on a hot day." I couldn't help but giggle. I figured she'd had enough of a social lesson for the day, so I let it slide.

In the end, we did make a little money, and we got rid of some things that have been sitting around for a while, including our air hockey table. We were thrilled to sell it to some friends from church since we know their grandsons will really enjoy playing with it. As I like to tell everyone, it had been relegated to a laundry folding table here. :-/ I cried like a baby after a couple of ladies (one obviously in the third trimester of her pregnancy) bought the kids' Intellitainer (kind of like an exersaucer). I just had to keep reminding myself that we weren't getting rid of it because there will be no more babies in our home. The kids had just worn out the electronic part of it, and it was silly to keep it if we could have something just as good that would take up less space. *sigh*

The weekend would not have been complete if we hadn't taken some time to peruse the other garage sales in the neighborhood. As such, I'm not sure we didn't actually increase the number of toys in our home, but maybe the kids will at least play more with the items they acquired than they did with the things we passed on to someone else. ;-)

It's The Little Things

Many times it is the little things that I find to be most special about the relationship I have with Jeff. A knowing look here, a finished sentence there (although, I'm usually accused of interrupting him!).

One of the things Jeff has done for me over the years is make me various mixes of music. They started off as mix tapes, but we've since moved on to CDs. ;-) One of these mix tapes was actually one of the first gifts he ever gave me when we were dating. We're now approaching 30 of these creative compilations, the most recent of which I just received a couple of weeks ago.

I appreciate how much thought he puts into these projects. It's not simply some of his favorite stuff thrown on a CD. Oh no; nothing of the like would ever satisfy Jeff's appetite for creativity and perfection. He painstakingly creates artwork for each CD, and the music itself adheres to some kind of theme. Recent examples include one on which each song represents a different genre and one on which each song is somehow related to the previous song. The latter was a fun one because I got to try to figure out how each one related to the previous.

Of course, I enjoy the music, and I enjoy getting presents, but the most significant part of it all is how much time and effort he puts into these mix CDs for little, old me. He loves making me smile and laugh. I honestly think some of the best moments in his life have been seeing my face the first time I see what he has made for me, and that makes me feel more loved than probably anything else in the universe.

Grandma and Pop

I finally have my laptop back, so I'll be playing a little catch up!

Grandma and Pop (Jeff's parents) drove out to spend a few days with us on Monday May 17th. As usual, their visit was packed with lots of fun stuff!

We went out for pizza and Monkey Joe's Monday evening. Leah, in typical fashion, made a friend while we were at Monkey Joe's. However, I'm not sure the friend considered herself Leah's friend. It wasn't clear from my vantage point whether the girl was trying to run away from Leah or if she was leading Leah to the different jumps a little too quickly. ;-) Either way, Leah was happy.

Tuesday we spent most of the day at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. That day was especially fun because Jeff took the day off to go with us. We ate our sack lunches in the museum cafeteria. That was followed by the obligatory cotton candy. We spent some time at the Etch-a-Sketch, Barbie, and Bob the Builder exhibits. We also rode on the vintage carousel and spent some time in the playscape (a cool play area with a water table area, a sand table area, and other types of play areas). We finished up the adventure with some Dairy Queen on the way home.

Wednesday we went to our local zoo. They have several new exhibits this year, so Leah and David wanted to show the new animals to Grandma and Pop. We got to see a Wallaby Joey stick his little head out of his mother's pouch. The kids also loved crawling through the tunnel under the river otter exhibit and watching the otters swim around. David was especially intrigued by the prairie dogs digging a new hole for their home. Pop loved watching the bald eagles. Jeff didn't get to spend this trip with us, so we still need to go as a family to show him the new exhibits. The kids had a great time playing at the nearby playground after we'd covered all of the zoo exhibits. We finished up the day with a trip to one of our favorite restaurants and some games at Chuck E Cheese's. Leah and David had their favorite meal: pancakes and bacon. Everyone is always amazed at how they gobble up every, single bite! The final treat of the day was a trip to Cold Stone Creamery.

Thursday was Grandma and Pop's last day with us. They took the kids "out" to breakfast at their hotel's fabulous breakfast buffet. Jeff and I took the opportunity to go out for breakfast just as the two of us. It was a nice break from routine, but I did find myself wondering how the kids were doing, etc. It turns out they did a great job of stuffing themselves. ;-)

We're all looking forward to Grandma and Pop's next visit in early July. I'm sure we'll have plenty of adventures then as well. Thankfully, we have time for our sleep schedules and waistlines to recover before then. ;-)

I will post photos as soon as a) I figure out how to get them from the camera into the computer myself, or b) Jeff has/takes the time to do it for me. :-p

Recent Quotables

David and Leah say something hilarious (at least in our opinion) almost daily. Here are some of their recent quotables.

David "The Holy Ghost isn't in the car." (This was sung over and over on our way to an appointment)

Leah "I can only do big jumps on Wednesdays."

Leah "I can only open the bathroom door by myself once a day."

David "Leah, there's a barking spider on you!" (This was quickly followed by sound effects, and, no, not the kind you're thinking of. Apparently, barking spiders say "Eeeeeeeeee, bark, bark!")

David "Jesus put a lollipop in my throat and it went down the drain. Now it's in my belly." (his explanation for what made him choke)

Leah "Uh-oh! It looks like the Holy Ghost is playing on our swings again." (the wind was blowing them around)

David "Mr. Birdfeather!" (This was the one and only peep we heard from him on the baby monitor all evening. It was spoken in a British accent, and accents always make things funnier!)

Leah "I'm only doing the windows, the floor, and the roof!" (said while trying to stall bedtime and convince daddy to help her build a Lego house)

Leah "I hope my doll's hair doesn't look too dorky."

Mother's Day

I feel blessed every day to be a mother, but it was nice to have a specific reason to celebrate today. The absolute highlight of the day was getting to hear Leah sing in church today. I was afraid she was going to miss the opportunity because she announced that she needed to go to the potty right before (or at least what we thought was right before) the children were supposed to go up for the performance. Thankfully, she said she could wait for a little bit. I normally don't make her wait, but there were clues that she was just bored and trying to get out into the hallway. ;-)

The kids first sang "Mother, I Love You" in Spanish. I know her Spanish wasn't perfect, but Leah sang out loud and strong, without hesitation. The sincere look on her face is one of the most precious things I've ever seen. The children moved on to "Mother, I Love You" in English. Leah didn't miss a beat. The children finished up with "A Child's Prayer." For those unfamiliar with the song, it has two parts. The first part serves as the first verse; the second part serves as the second verse; for the third verse, both parts are sung together (the children's choir split in two groups to do this). This type of song can be challenging for children, but Leah held her own. I could tell she was very focused on singing her part just right. It brought me to tears. I just couldn't believe that I am the mother to such a precious, talented little girl! After the song finished, a lady from two pews back said loud enough for us to hear, "Anna, you have a star there!" I couldn't do anything but giggle at that point because I am so happy to be Leah's mom.

In other Mother's Day news, the kids made me some lovely gifts. One was a flower with a tootsie pop in the middle of it and Leah's little handprint attached to it. Leah informed me that the flower and the handprint were for me, but the candy was for her! :-P David thought the tissue paper flower arrangement he made for me in nursery was a toy for him, so we had a bit of a tantrum on our hands when I explained it wasn't a toy at all. I guess we need to have a little lesson on sacrifice and giving cheerfully! ;-)

Family Activities

I love it that the kids love being involved in our family activities. They cheer when they realize it's Monday, and they get to participate in Family Home Evening. Usually, they get to pick the songs ("Follow the Prophet" and "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" are some favorites) and say the prayers. Leah has even taught the lesson a couple of times (imagine a 4-year-old trying to teach about the Resurrection; it was quite touching, but also quite humorous!). They love to help plant and water the flowers and vegetable garden. David especially loves to help mommy make dinner, and sometimes pulls a few extra ingredients out of the pantry. ;-) It makes me so happy that they love being together as a family. I hope this love runs deep so that it extends later into their childhood and teen years. A girl can dream. ;-)

Anna's Birthday

All four of us had a great time on my birthday. We spent most of the day at Turkey Run State Park, which included a gourmet picnic lunch and hiking. We, of course, had to get Dairy Queen on the way home. We also tried to go to the local zoo, only to be disappointed when we walked through the gates a minute after it closed. Apparently, their evening hours don't start until after Memorial Day. The kids had a great time playing at the huge playground at the park instead. We finished up the day with a delicious meal at Cracker Barrel. I love spending time with my three favorite people!

Love Unfeigned

I know we don’t do good deeds so that we can go around flaunting it, but I’m just so proud of my kids that I think this one just has to be mentioned.

As I’m sure you all know, there was a major earthquake in Haiti, about two weeks ago. (If you’ve missed this, you must have been hiding under a rock somewhere.) Thousands, perhaps millions of people have been giving their time and money to help the survivors in this already impoverished nation to recover from the immeasurable devastation.

As with most disasters, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was among the first on the ground, sending out not only medical teams but hundreds of tons of food and other supplies. But in the midst of such total destruction, there’s always more needs than can reasonably met, so the call has gone out for more.

Anna and I had been planning to make a donation anyway, but my darling wife saw this as an opportunity to help our children. When she told them what was happening (in terms a four- and almost-three–year old can understand), they immediately caught the vision and volunteered to share some money from their own piggy banks, to help others so desperately in need. This morning, before Church, I helped them each remove a dollar from their piggy bank, which they excitedly placed in separate envelopes (each with the appropriate offerings form) and gave to the bishop.

And again Alma commanded that the people of the church should impart of their substance, every one according to that which he had; if he have more abundantly he should impart more abundantly; and of him that had but little, but little should be required; and to him that had not should be given.

And thus they should impart of their substance of their own free will and good desires towards God, … yea, and to every needy, naked soul (Mosiah 18:27-28).

Thank you, Leah and David. I love you, and I’m so proud of you!