Grandma

My sweet, wonderful grandma died earlier tonight. And what a saint she has been through her entire life. I am so grateful, for her sake, that she is free from her poor, sick body, but I also mourn for those of us she left behind. Life just won't be quite the same without her around. She was truly an angel on earth.
But, amidst my troubled heart, my kids have kept life in perspective. As the end drew near, I forwarned my girls that I would most likely cry more than they were used to when Grandma was gone, but whe I first heard the news, my first reaction, aside from shock--I have been dreading the phone call for so long, it hardly seemed real when I heard--was happiness for Grandma's release. I passed the news on to my girls and Becca immediatly asked, "Mom, why aren't you crying? You said you would cry." I told her that she would certainly have a chance to see the tears, but was definitly amused by her candid response.
The other reality check I had was when we were getting ready for family prayers. Becca was praying, and I told her that instead of praying for Grandma, we should probably pray for Grandpa and the rest of the family, since we are all so sad right now. Becca replied, "Well, I am kind of sad, but it's a good thing Grandpa is still alive. He gives me treats, so I'm still pretty happy.
Watching my girls' simple faith, knowing that we will be together as a family again, and since their concept of time is so poor, it is really more accurate in the eternal sense, that we will be together again soon makes me a little bit stronger at this selfishly-sad time.

Fall Family Fun

Well, fall is here and we are loving every minute of it. The weather is cool and crisp, and we are spending as much time as we possibly can outside. I think that fall has to be my favorite season with the following as a partial list of some of my reasons why:

• Football Season--I love going to football games; dressing in the school colors and cheering for my favorite team
• Raking and more importantly JUMPING in autumn leaves
• Apple Picking and apple baking--pies, cobbler, crisp, applesauce, apple cider, YUM!
  
• School Starting--Not that I want to get rid of my kids, there is just something exciting about the beginning of a new school year.
• Hiking through the mountains to see the changing leaves and kick up some crunchy leaves
• Pulling out the cold-weather clothes
• Taking the kids to the pumpkin patch
• Hay rides
• The sweet crisp smell of the air
• Harvesting the garden (meager as it may be)
  
• My birthday
• Hunting for Monarch Butterflies on their southern migration
  
• Swinging in the Apple tree
• Watching a movie outside on the "BIG-BIG" screen
• Picking out Halloween costumes
• Going to a Farmer's Market
• Carving Pumpkins and roasting the seeds
• Making Homemade Doughnuts
• Watching the wind blow the dried leaves up into the air
  
• Listening to songs about the fall--"See you in September" and "September Morn"--who could beat Neil Diamond?
• General Conference
• Fall Picnics
• Canning--This one I have mixed feelings on--I really like canning, but it is a little tough with my three little "helpers" under foot.
  

Eau de Toilette

I am currently stuck between a rock and a hard spot...or should I say a messy and a gross spot. Ellie is still in the last-second I HAVE TO GO POTTY NOW stage, and Sarah is in the "cool--a small body of water just my size--perfect for playing and drinking" stage putting me in the which is worse stage: continually cleaning potty-training accidents because there is a lock on the toilet, or discovering my daughter slurping from a toilet-dunked wash cloth. YUCK! I have done my best to keep the bathroom doors closed, but it is a futile attempt. I caught Sarah playing with a wash cloth, cup, and wad of toilet paper in the toilet just today, and once I even loudly told Becca to "stop playing in the toilet" when she was using it, thinking it was in fact Sarah.
When Ellie was Sarah's age, she too had a bathroom fettish, but rather than taking water out, she was more interested in putting things in. For example, one day she managed to stick ALL of my hot curlers in my bathroom toilet. Greg had to take the toilet off to get them back out, and then tried three times to put it back together before we finally called a plumber to fix it. So, although taking water out definitely has the gross factor, our budget is grateful for the fact that she hasn't tried putting anything in...yet.