Catching Up . . . Kind Of

We’ve spent a fairly good portion of our married years living within a very short distance of Mike’s parents. A happy thing for many reasons, but one thing I know our kids will fondly remember even years from now is their grandpa showing up at the door on his way home from somewhere or other with some little food surprise for us. A crate of oranges. A packet of mini cereal boxes. A gallon of chocolate milk. Corn on the cob from a roadside stand. A big box of factory-reject ice cream sandwiches. (Oh those are a hit you can be sure: a Fat Boy missing a top, an ice cream bar with not one but TWO popsicle sticks coming out of it. It’s the stuff of kids’ dreams.)

The other night Mike and Daisy stopped over at Mike’s parents’ for a minute. They were sent home with a big bag of salted peanuts. It’s just like that little barrel of meal. No matter how many we eat, the bag never gets any smaller – which is good because I shall never tire of Anders saying, “Mom, could you hatch me a peanut?” They are kind of like . . . chicks coming out of eggs, I suppose. (???) Or maybe they aren’t, but it’s rather darling all the same.

My little Goldie girl loves so much to be involved in things. And she just . . . finds these things and involves herself (like joining the ward choir)! It’s such a . . . I don’t know how to explain this . . . a relief? So satisfying? It has something to do with having a lot of kids and really not being able to involve them in a million things (for both our sanity and our finances), but then discovering I’m not shortchanging them so much as I might fear because they actually find things to pursue on their own.

Of late (and in relation to the pictures below):

All of her own accord (for three years running) she’s written stories to perform at her school’s story-telling festival (she typically won’t even let me see her story until the performance). This year she placed second at her school and so was able to go and perform with national story-tellers at the Egyptian Theater.

She applied to be a peer leader at her school and, as part of her duties, helps in school assemblies. Most recently she was a mouse during an assembly. As is typical of her, she went off and created a little costume for herself with nary a bit of instruction from me. Also, she recently decided to make a cake for the cake-decorating contest at her school on Dr. Suess Day. Again: all baked and frosted and decorated with her hand-crafted little Truffula Trees with none of my involvement.

What else to tell around here. Hmm. . . . Abe continues to practice driving (and filled the gas tank for the first time recently). Our chickens are laying eggs again. Summer seems to use me and Daisy interchangeably for her mom needs. And . . . more things needing posts of their own.