Oh Happy Day

Yes, he did chip his front tooth the day before his Eagle Court of Honor.

Now we just need to finish those pesky merit badges;-)


PS For once, this doesn't qualify for a small and simple thing!  This night definitely felt like a great thing!

Eating and Sleeping

Joseph has been eating and sleeping a ton.  Like he could probably sleep in until 10 or 11 if he wasn't going to school.  We may have discovered the reason:

As a side note, I love out growth chart.  It is one of the few things I ever made at a RS super sat that I have really, really enjoyed.  The kids look forward to our yearly marking.  I just have to remind them that there is not much glory in passing me up!

The Trick

Soon after Paul and I got engaged, our ward had a talent show.  For his talent, Paul got up and started to juggle.  I started to hyperventilate because I had NO CLUE that Paul could juggle.  I remember sitting there thinking, "He can juggle.  I am going to marry him and he can juggle, what else don't I know?!!!"  I am happy to say that everything I have ever learned about Paul has been a delightful surprise: "oh you can juggle? oh you can pull apart a dishwasher and tell me that yes it is really broken and then put it all back together?"  And now you ask why this story?  Because I always have to tell the back story- right Mom? :-)

I have watched Paul juggle many times since that fun day 16 years ago.  Have you ever watched someone juggle?  It can be pretty complex.  The last month or so I have started to imagine myself juggling.  I imagine it this way: on any given day I am juggling a minimum of 6 balls, sometimes more.  Most of the time, I am doing a great job keeping the balls moving consistently and well balanced.  Sometimes I have to reach further for a ball that may start to move outside the path.  I am doing a pretty basic pattern to keep everything moving, but many times I am throwing some pretty spectacular moves to keep things going.  You catch my drift.

About a month ago I realized that it felt like all of my balls were in the air at the same time.  We are waiting to see where things will land.  Here is a short list: we don't know where 4 of our children will attend school next year, I need to find a piano teacher/s for 5 of the kids, Nathan's tonsils are severely enlarged and we need to figure that out, etc.  There is nothing big, just a lot of unknowns.  I am not especially worried about where things will fall- it is just an interesting sensation to be watching all these different parts of our life and wonder what my juggling act will look like a few months from now.

For some reason I keep thinking of this quote:

Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he's been robbed. The fact is that most putts  don't drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just ordinary people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. . . .
 
Life is like an old-time rail journey—delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.
-President Gordon B. Hinckley (quoting Jenkin Lloyd Jones).   

Despite the unknown, despite the energy it takes to juggle, I am grateful everyday that this is my life. 

And now I'm found

OK, this shape-o-ball key chain is really the cutest thing ever.  Ever.  It even has little shapes inside.  I don't usually think things are really, really cute, but this is really cute.  I got it years ago and it disappeared in our last house- a victim of two very busy little kids.  Now those two are teenagers (Rachel is close enough to count!).  We were cleaning house and rearranging furniture and Paul decided to open up the bottom of the couch and get the things out that rattle around when you move a couch.  Ta da.  There it was.  10 years later.  How is it possible that we have lived in our house for 10 years?!

Time flies on wings of lightning;

We cannot call it back.

It comes, then passes forward

Along its onward track.

And if we are not mindful,

The chance will fade away,

For life is quick in passing.

'Tis as a single day.

 Improve the Shining Moments, Robert Baird

Higway

I know it is hard to read this sign, but it reads:
Trucks Entering Higway

Then someone noticed their mistake and put a little carrot mark with the "H."

It makes me laugh every time we drive by.