Kept an eye on Sally

During family prayer, DH noticed 3-year old BBG opening her eyes and motioning to no one to close eyes and fold hands. Afterward, he asked me what she was doing. I said, "Oh! You haven't met Sally!" Sally is the new girl that our dear daughter has invented. She only appears during prayer time. Apparently, this smart girl had figured out that everyone has to close their eyes during prayer except for mom, who keeps her eyes open to tell everyone else to close theirs- ironic, yes?

Well if BBG can't seem to keep her eyes closed, she devised a way to justify this- she's making sure that "Sally" is keeping HER eyes closed and arms folded. See? All better.

When I shared this hilarious tidbit with my mother, she mused aloud about what would happen if I informed BBG that since I was watching all the children during prayer, I would keep an eye on Sally too, so BBG can close her eyes. I tried it. Surprisingly, she was willing to let me, and even laughed that I was wise to her. Smart cookie!

Snickered in Silence

You have never seen rage until you have seen my husband yell at a puppy for pooping, yes, ... on the lawn!!!!

This is not a new pet peeve (pun intended). Dear Hubby used to drag poor Shazdeh and stick his nose in the poop whenever it was outside of the invisible circle where he was supposed to poop. Mind you, this was the sweetest, most docile, 130 pounds of fur you will ever meet. People who admittedly don't like dogs, liked Shazdeh. Unfortunately for him, his only fault was my husband's biggest gripe.

My argument, in defense of the dog that I had before a husband and kids, was that he was just too old and shouldn't have to change. I realize the irony since I DID manage to get my too-old-husband to turn a doorknob to shut a door and to leave the room before blowing his nose. So I guess I could have worked on getting a dog to limit his Executive Wash to a section of the yard.

But seriously, now we are trying to train this new pup to poop in the "invisible circle"? This is what we got the dog for in the first place- to present the children with abundant opportunities of feeding, walking, grooming, training, and, dare I say, picking up endless logs around the yard. Picking up poop builds character.

If pooping all over the yard is Ceja's only flaw, I've picked another great family dog.

3 Things

1- That I have all my fingers
2- my son's injury wasn't worse
3- that my son seems to have learned the difference between "brave" and "stupid"

3 Things That I'm Grateful For

1- that I live close enough to my mom to "pop over"
2- home made Mothers Day cards
3- a good laugh

Started Children in Rehab

I just realized that my four oldest children are addicted.

The kids have been coughing for over a week. I usually buy the sugar, high fructose corn syrup, red dye #5- free cough drops. This rogue cough would not be abated by anything natural. The only way I could fall asleep at night was to secure a chemical-ridden treat inside my cheek and suck away. When the kids started coughing, I would break the drops into smaller pieces and put them in a container by the bed for them to suck on during the night. It really helped.

Now the coughs are slowly dissipating. But the requests for cough drops are still going strong. Who knew that Halls mentholatum cough drops would be the downfall of my family? I figured, "At least they aren't asking for candy." Wait. They are the same size, color and sugar content of candy, just with the vaporizing essence of menthol. My kids are addicted to candy that clears their sinuses.

We are just one step away from street drugs.

Prayed First

I'm a little behind on posting because of the funerals, sick kids, and this:


We have been without a dog for a little over a year. Now, you might be like my neighbor and scoff at me, "What are you thinking? Five kids AND a dog?!?" Yes, I thought the same thing as we drove the hour and a half to get her.

I have been seeing my otherwise sweet kids turn into selfish, whiny brats this past year. If I have them get up earlier than 8:00 on a weekend, it's as if I put them on the rack. My neighbor informed me that it's natural, "Kids are naturally selfish." Well I don't think I have to let them wallow in it. Therefore, we got a dog so they can take care of something else before they think of themselves.

We had to start with a puppy so my girls can grow with her and not be afraid as they were with our last dog. I wanted an Australian Shepherd because they are quick learners, can handle hot summers and cold winters (something I felt so guilty about with Shazdeh being a Husky in the hot Utah summers.) Aussies are also good with kids if they are raised with them.

Now a name. She looks like she has eyebrows, so we looked up "eyebrows" in other languages. Nobody liked Augenbrauen (German). French and Swedish interpretations were just as painful. The Spanish word for "eyebrows" is "Ceja", which is pronounced "say-ha". I thought it was cute and changed it a little. The vote was unanimous to name her Ceja, pronounced Asia with an "S" in front, "s-Asia".

Then the REAL work began. I had to be the where-to-poop trainer, the get-off-her-leg grabber, and the nipping-the-heals nipper. It's been a month and she's doing really well. The kids are coming along as well. It is as every mother knows; it takes longer to train a child than to just do it yourself.

If I hadn't prayed about getting a dog now, the type of dog, and whether it was best for our family, I would have broken down long ago. That goes for getting married and having each of our children too. I would have waited indefinitely until I felt I could handle it. Then, I would never have kids. When you feel that something is right, you also have the support of heaven through each difficulty.

This has been a good experience, and I am seeing the benefits of having this new responsibility in our family.

3 Things That I am Grateful For

1- Rain, no more snow (for now)
2- Safe return of loved-ones
3- when my son leaves me notes that say, "Thanks for helping me in my hardships," after we worked on a biography assignment for hours. So sweet.

3 Things that I am Grateful For

1- renewed relationships
2- sisters, lots and lots of sisters
3- children's birthdays

3 Things

1- walks to the park
2- that my husband fills in for me (holding a fussy baby, kids' field trips, laundry, and so much more) when other priorities take my time and energy
3- songs that fill your heart

Finally Realized I am Loved

I have always been an odd duck. I'm kinda kooky and that's after I've mellowed over 30 years.

When I was younger, my grandma and almost every other adult would rather have my other sisters stay with them. My mom would try to soften my hurt feelings, but I knew that I was too talkative, too straight-forward and too opinionated to appease most people.

While planning my Grams' funeral, I have felt even more insecure and inadequate. Thankfully, I shared these feelings with my brother. He spent a lot of time with Grams and she shared thoughts with him that she didn't share with others. He told me things that Grandma said to him about me. That we were alike; second daughters, "black sheep", out-spoken. But the most important thing that he shared was that my Grandma had expressed how much she loved me.

I had heard these words from her towards the end, but I didn't internalize them because I wrote them off to the thankfulness of an old woman who was just grateful for someone to help her to the bathroom. Now I hear from my brother that her words were sincere, and the agedness just took away her inhibitions to share those feelings.

But the best proof that I found was while looking at my pictures. It was right before me all the time. The picture of my Grandma from my last post was a picture taken by me. She is watching me take a picture of my daughter (she didn't know I had her in the picture too.) The look in her eyes is such love. And she's looking at me.