More Cole-isms

1. During a Family Home Evening lesson recently we talked about integrity. Integrity, I said, is doing the right thing even if no one is looking. Cole said, "Wow! I never heard of that trick before." This is very funny coming from Cole. He's an expert sneaker. He takes very literally statements like: "Don't ever let me catch you..."

2. Cole: Mom, when we get to heaven will we know everything?
Me: Yes.
Cole: Alright! (running off) Talmage, I've got good news!

Small Miracle

I think I've mentioned before that when we go for a family swim, Trace occupies himself patrolling the deck. His personal mission is to throw all objects into the pool. The brothers call this a game of "dropsy." Last weekend after a really great family swim I looked into the pool and shouted, "CAMERA!" Trace had dropped the digital camera into the pool and it had been there for who knows how long. I'd left it on some bales of cedar bark on the deck. I removed the battery, which had died earlier in the evening, and Clint put it in his shop on a shelf near his dehumidifier. And wonder of wonders--2 days later it works completely. Phew! We were so not ready for another $500 kick in the wallet.

1st Day of School

Ah...the boys are back to getting education on a full-time basis. Here is Tal on his first day of 3rd grade--feeling a bit spun up.
Cole, on his first day of first grade looking cool as a cucumber.
And here's Jack on his first day of pre-school, aka "Car school" as in a school you get to by car, rather than by bus. Since we signed up in March, Jack began begging daily to go to car school. Now that the day is finally here, you can see he's got his business face on. He takes this school stuff seriously. And he absolutely loved it.

Homesick

I think this may be the first year in our married life that I will not have gone home to visit. I've been feeling a bit bummed as I've missed in this month alone: The missionary homecomings of my first two nephews to go on missions, My parent's missionary homecoming, two baby blessings for a niece and nephew I haven't met, my brother's family sealing to his adopted Chinese son, whom I haven't met, and three family reunions. Boo hoo. But in reflecting about it I realize how lucky and blessed I am to love everyone in my family! They are the coolest people I know in the world and I feel so lucky to be related to them! I will try in this next year to be really cool and accomplished like them so that we have lots to share when we next get together.

In the meantime I realize a bit of the blase comes from the Memphis summer which is either drizzly or sticky hot. And have I mentioned we had our second tornado last week? The kind of excitement most could do without. :) I hope my friend Vicky forgives me for sharing, but I always think if her son, Troy, who spent his early childhood here, when he heard we were coming here he told Talmage, "Memphis is the worst place in the world to live!!" The tornadoes really left a scary memory in his mind.

But now for one of the good sides of living in the Mid-South. I've been teaching Church history in Primary this year and Clint has been teaching a Church History institute class to the Stake Single Adults. Living on the banks of the Mississippi and just below Missouri really puts some of those stories into context. For example, yesterday I taught my kids about Zion's camp and how as they camped between the forks of the Little and Big Fishing Rivers a thunderstorm came up that raised the river 40 feet and prevented a mob of 300 from crossing the river to attack them. I asked my kids if they've seen a storm like that--nods of 'yes!' We have frequent flash flood warnings in this area. A medium storm will raise the rivers 20 feet. The water can really come down around here! In addition members in this area frequently vacation to all the church history sites as many of them are within a days journey. We're hoping to do that as a family while were here as well.

So here's hoping to bloom a little more, while we're planted here.

Smash-nosed Supervisor

I was mowing the lawn last week like a bad mom. The bad Mom part was the part where Dad wasn't home and the kids were inside tending themselves. I'd rather have them inside than outside getting digits mowed off. Still every time I dumped the grass bag I stepped inside to have a listen. The first time I walked up to our front door I saw Trace with his little face smooshed against the glass of our left side light window, watching me, and grinning ear to ear. The rest of the time I was in the front he didn't budge. He seemed to think he really needed to keep his eyes on me. You never know what trouble parents might get into these days. Then I started with the back lawn and when I turned to face the house, there was Trace layered between the kitchen glass and the blinds, smooshed nosed and grinning at me and watching me like a slow tennis match going back and forth across the lawn. It was glad to have a little supervision, and It was nice to always know how my baby was doing.

PTA Rabble Rouser

I had a bit of a sweat fest this week. My kids go to a very new school and it's still a bit cold an sterile and not entirely welcoming to parents. Last year I tried unsuccessfully to be a regular volunteer in both of my boys' classes, but it didn't work out. So this year I signed up to be the Parent Tutor chair person. I made up two versions of calendars for the teachers to use for their parents to sign up at back-to-school night. I made a Parent Tutor Handbook and I made a bunch of posters for every hallway in the school encouraging parents to volunteer in the classroom. This morning I gave a presentation to the faculty encouraging them to use the parents in the classroom and showed them how the handbook I made will encourage parents to not be a nuisance while they're at it. I had a really great response. Many teachers came to me and expressed gratitude for the support. I just hope it makes a difference. Tomorrow I'll be at the school for 8 hours doing a sales pitch to all the parents who walk by. I really miss my wonderful school in San Diego! But since I can't have that, I'm going to bring some of the good things I saw there, here to Memphis.

Clint's Stay-cation

Do those boys look equipped, or what? Sunglasses, camelback, bike. Oh yeah, forgot the helmets at home. Oops!

Clint took last week off of work. Apparently his job is a bit stressful. His description: "It's like taking a college mid-term all-day, everyday, without any chance to prepare." Guess those teleconferences with D.C. get old. So he took 1 of the 8 weeks of leave he has saved up and took it easy at home. At first I was all over that free time with trip planning--how about Nauvoo? St. Louis? But ultimately we just decided to do a fun family thing each day here in Memphis, and relax. We went to the Gelato Cafe on Monday, a disappointment--but at least we got out of the house! Tuesday we went to see G-Force 3D, the boys loved it. Wednesday, Clint and I went to see Harry Potter and loved it--plus loved the rare non-temple date! Thursday we took the boys to Shelby Farms Park and biked around Freedom Lake (1.67 a lap) two times. The boys have come a long way! The new skill we had to teach Tal was, stop and wait for the family when you can no longer see us! Clint and I took turns guiding Jack or pushing Trace in the jogging stroller while sort of keeping up with the older two. I can tell I haven't run in a long tme because that was a faster pace than I was prepared to run! Jack still is not an official bike rider. He can go about 10 yards at time before he goes all wobbly. He's still not got the focus to go straight ahead, "Look at those ducks!"--veer! "Why is that man in the boat talking to me?"--wobble! But he's still young, maybe next year. Meanwhile I'm thinking about putting those training wheels back on for the sake of my poor aching back! I don't recall what we did Friday and Saturday, but I know we all feel a lot more relaxed and Clint feels a bit less stressed this morning as he heads back to the grindstone.