Tiny Poem Tuesday: The Weight of Snow

Tiny Poem Tuesday: Corona Virus edition
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I felt the weight
of snow
bending the hyacinths
as I brought my
first baby home,
full of love
and bewilderment;
the scent of witch hazel
and the smooth skin
of a newborn's neck
swirling around our little
nest, the fluttery chest
echoing my own
determination to live.

Now, as then,
topsy turvy time,
reckoned by
which window is
currently best for
sunbathing,
wondering when
was the last
time I brushed
my teeth.

mfs 4.2020

Happy Birthday Ella!

Happy Happy 26 to my eldest! She has been such an endless source of joy (after she stopped screaming!) and now she is getting ready to welcome her own sweet baby. Love you, Ella! Wish we could be together to celebrate!

Graduation!

I had to skedaddle up to Rexburg and miss one of the training days to attend Ella's graduation!  I can't believe that I have a child old enough to graduate from college!  I drove up with my mom and then we met Matthew and the kids who had driven the north route from Illinois.  Everyone was tired, but it was a beautiful day and all of the talks were great.  We wanted to go out to dinner afterward which was a huge mistake.  There was nowhere to go!  So we ended up in Idaho Falls and got home way way too late!  We survived! 
 

dance and skype

The girls are dancing in the dining room today because I suddenly sold the dining room table (since yesterday) and now it is empty.  I had been halfheartedly trying to sell it for a few months and then someone wanted it today and came and took it away.  I thought it was pretty, but it was a little too precious for what we use it for.  It would sag on the side while we were doing crafts and come apart in the middle while we were trying to keep the Settlers board together.  But I had decided to just live with it and now I have to find another table!  I might have wanted to get a white table, but it wouldn't look very good with the sideboards so I guess I'll just get wood color.

Did I mention that Lucy and I might be going to Guatemala in July?  Too bad we don't speak Spanish. 

The girls had their dance recital on Saturday.  I didn't get one pic of Lucy in her costume!  Sometimes I am so lame!  But I got one of Ibby and some of the girls outside.

We were able to skype with  Ella yesterday for Mother's Day so that was great!

my girl!

Happy Birthday to my girl! I can't believe I have a daughter who is 20!!! I feel like I'm still in my twenties (well, not when I first get out of bed in the morning). My favorite quote from her letter this week was when I asked her what she was planning on doing for her Birthday: "I'm going to tell my investigators and then invite them to my party at the church. Then when they're there I'm going to be like let's watch my favorite movie. You've probably never heard of it because it just came out today!! (conference)

slip sliding away

It's warming up around here -- I think it is up to 35˚ already -- ooh, balmy!  Outside it is all drip, drip, dripping with the occasional CRASH! as it avalanches off of the roof.  Warning of the day:  Don't stand too close to the house.  It has been above freezing for a few days so it is quite amazing how much snow there still is.  Our alley is an exciting place for a two year old boy as he jumps from puddle, to ice chunk, to raging rivulet, then back for a few more stomps in the puddle for good measure.  My main worry at this point is that the ice and snow being contained on our patio like a swimming pool will decide to drain itself right into our basement since the ground is probably too frozen to be very accommodating and absorbing.  I feel good times ahead.


So a fun result of all the melting is the ice that subsists in the early morning.  Ella drove to seminary this morning, but then came home and asked me to take them to school.  I said no, because then I would also have to pick her up.  I'm efficient and forward thinking like that.  She said it was slippery and she didn't want to.  No, I said again.  Finally, she slowly admitted that she had hit another car on her way home from the church.  They were stopped at a stop light and she just slid right into them.  Well, of course she now had my full attention and I could totally understand why she didn't feel like driving anywhere else.  Fortunately the guy she had hit got out of his car and said he couldn't see anything so it will end there.  She also hit a car in a parking lot on Saturday, but it was not scraped or dented, merely scuffed so I think we'll be okay.  She left my phone number, but I haven't heard from anyone.  The worst part, since our already lofty priced insurance won't be increasing, is that she is now even more freaked out about driving than she already was.  She hates to drive!  How weird is that?  When I turned 16 I couldn't wait to be out on the open road and rushed to the DMV on my birthday.  Ella just hmmmed and hawed and finally six months after her birthday I announced, "I'm taking you to get your license this afternoon."  She screamed and claimed I hadn't given her enough warning, so two hours later I suggested we go then.  "No way!  I have to be prepared for this."  "Okay," I calmly replied, "Let's go next Friday right after school."  Well, that turned out to be not very smart since apparently Friday is the busiest day at the place that, at the best of times, seems to be a lacking in the efficiency department.  So we waited.  Got called up to talk to people who are trained to be disinterested and unfriendly (no smiling!  focus on your face having as little expression as possible!).  Wait some more.  Take a little test.  Finally it is time to have the driving test and the most grumpy looking woman I have ever in my long life encountered walks from the back room.  This is her last test of the day and she looks ready for it all to be over.  "Good luck!"  I call and then add, "To both of you!  ha, ha, hmmm."  Okay, not even a crack at a smile.  I wait.  Ella comes back and says, "Let's go now."  "Did you pass?"  I ask as we rush out the door.  "No, I told you I would fail." Oops, I had assured her that she was a good driver and there was no way she wouldn't pass, but given the traffic around the DMV and the state of the tester, I wasn't really surprised.  I didn't know how I was going to get her to try again, but then someone suggested I take her out to a little town about 35 miles away where the small town folk are friendly and there is no traffic to speak of.  I whisked her up from school the next day and we had a nice journey out into the corn fields.  We had virtually no wait, a perfectly agreeable woman took her out for the driving test, and it was all over in less than twenty minutes.  When I asked how the test went Ella said, "There were no other cars, no people, and not even one stop light."  Perfect.  So now we have another driver, but she doesn't like to, purposely doesn't bring her license with her so she won't have to, and is now a little spooked.  


Phin has been very quiet while I write and then just brought down some of Ibby's Valentine candy so I had better go investigate.

What We've Been Doing

::annual mommy tea party

::silver and scones

::watercress sandwiches ~ an essential

::downy heads » POP-pies  (picture taken by Lulu)

::dancing queen

::painted ladies

Flailing

Yesterday I delivered vegetables and Clark wrote "Mary at the mansion" on my delivery list instead of plain old Mary. It was funny how many people saw us in the newspaper! Last night at the school carnival, loads of people were talking about it. If my neighbor was in the paper I would never be the wiser. So our fame lasted two days. Back to vegetables -- at the first delivery I fell down someone's front steps! My feet slipped out from under me so we had the whole spectacle of shoes soaring through the air, skirt flying up, and me landing with a heavy thump on my tailbone. The woman who lives at the house came running out and felt quite helpless as I sat to catch my bearings (and even had some tears). Baby was crying in the car so as soon as I was able I wobbled over, tenderly sat down, and slowly drove away. I started to think how my life would change. I have so much to do every day, I just wanted to go home to bed, and I have just started exercising regularly! Of course, I already feel quite a bit better, walking and sitting aren't too bad, just picking things up, etc. So, as usual, I always suffer from the gloom and doom complex and think everything is going to be worse than it really ends up being.

Twice a week I pick up three kids from preschool and take them to their respective daycare facility. Phin is getting so that he recognizes that we are at their drop-off spots and knows that I will be getting out of the car without him for a minute. He starts crying even as we first drive up and I think that is so smart of him that he can identify where we are! I was telling Ella what a genius he is and she said, "If he was so smart he would know that you're coming right back so he doesn't need to cry every time." She has such a candid perception of life. Another example of his intellect is that he has started playing peek-a-boo by putting his hands on his forehead or over his ears, etc., but never his eyes. He thinks he is doing it right and throws up his hands, opening his mouth in a wide smile. It is so utterly adorable I wish that you could all see it -- never fails to amuse.

First and Last

Oldest girl just turned 15  -- I have such tender feelings for my first baby!  I feel like our time with her at home is "far spent" so I want to enjoy the next few years as much as possible.  She wanted a "pastry" instead of a cake, so I found the easiest one possible and it was really good, if not quite as pretty as an actual birthday cake.

And youngest boy turned 1 last week.  Whoa!  That year couldn't have rushed along more pell-mell and I don't see things slowing down anytime soon.  For some reason I always feel like in two weeks I will have more time.  What on earth am I thinking?

And he finally got a much needed haircut.  What a handsome boy  -- oh, who just woke up.  Ciao!

girls

::Ella and Ibby at the "Cinderella" ballet

::Lucy as the rabbit in "Alice in Wonderland"

::more pictures at the ballet and Ibby's birthday