Our new pets.

We enjoyed a brief stint with the kindergarten class hamster last summer. And that is about the extent of our experience with pets. That is, unless you count the children. I've cleaned up my fair share of poo and pee. And barf. We have wood gnawers, paper chewers, food-right-off-the-floor-eaters, middle-of-the-night-yelpers. Gosh, who needs a pet? I've got four of them.

Which is why, at least while the kids are young - a pet will never grace the halls of our home. Or backyard. And if you think I'm a hardliner, you should hear Tim's take on the whole idea. It's through the roof, I tell you.

My kids are well-informed of our stance on the pet issue. Hence, the unbridled excitement when we got these in the mail:


Yes, they're chrysalids right now. But, we got them as wee little caterpillars who ate, breathed, and excreted all in the same container for 7 days. We then carefully moved them to their new habitat and voila! Butterflies in another 7!

Wanna know the best part? (Well, besides the fact that there's no poop to clean up?) Within a week, we can set them free! Fly away butterfly, fly away!

Lucky duck.

I'm not one for being cheesy. But I am completely brimming with love for my family that it begs a blog post. I could gush about each and every one of my kids, who I might remind you, drive me absolutely bonkers. But I blog enough about them. This post is dedicated to my husband. He is a good man. After a string of failed relationships with guys with whom I thought myself compatible, I married the one who altered the trend completely. You see, I was always drawn to type-A personalities. In fact, I think every single person I had ever dated up until I met Tim has since become either a lawyer or a business executive. Tim convinced me that opposites really do attract. We share many qualities and interests - frugality, a strong commitment to God and family, politics, thoughtful conversation, and strategy games. But beyond that, one might never have expected us to end up together. Or stay together, as the case may be.
But, as we approach our 9th anniversary this summer, I reflect upon the gift of wisdom bestowed upon me the day I decided to marry Tim. Our differences have invited us to change less desirable traits to accommodate the other in ways that have shaped me (and him) into much more balanced, likeable people. For instance, I learn to be sensitive, while he learns to forgive. I learn to stop and smell the roses, while he persists at completing most of the work before play. I guard my tongue while he tries to avoid bottling up his emotions. And so on, and so on.
And isn't that what life is about? Learning and growing, and becoming better? He is my perfect match because he stretches me in ways that a mirror personality never could have. I am so grateful for the moment of enlightenment that directed me to Tim. I look forward to many more years of learning and growing, becoming better, and enjoying, too.

Obligatory blog post.

I'm afraid today brings only a disappointing blog post about how I have no time to blog. Gardening, church service, piano lessons, soccer, swimming, organizing, cleaning, shopping for hardwood, screening tenants for our rental, volunteering at school, Joy School and everything associated with having four adorable children... man, how did I ever get so busy! On the bright side, I've been up and working out every day at 6 a.m. for over two weeks now! I'll be looking hot again in no time. Or maybe just feeling hot. And sweaty. Either way, consistent exercise is good, right? Right.
I'll catch up one of these days.

Long overdue.

These are my favorite quotes from General Conference:

It is unworthy of us as Christians to think that those who suffer deserve their suffering. Easter Sunday is a good day to remember that our Savior willingly took upon Himself the pain and sickness and suffering of us all—even those of us who appear to deserve our suffering. - Dieter F. Uchtdorf

A good woman knows that she does not have enough time, energy, or opportunity to take care of all of the people or do all of the worthy things her heart yearns to do. Life is not calm for most women, and each day seems to require the accomplishment of a million things, most of which are important. A good woman must constantly resist alluring and deceptive messages from many sources telling her that she is entitled to more time away from her responsibilities and that she deserves a life of greater ease and independence. But with personal revelation, she can prioritize correctly and navigate this life confidently. - Julie B. Beck

The scriptures enlarge our memory by helping us always to remember the Lord and our relationship to Him and the Father. They remind us of what we knew in our premortal life. And they expand our memory in another sense by teaching us about epochs, people, and events that we did not experience personally. None of us was present to see the Red Sea part and cross with Moses between walls of water to the other side. We were not there to hear the Sermon on the Mount, to see Lazarus raised from the dead, to see the suffering Savior in Gethsemane and on the cross, and we did not with Mary hear the two angels testify at the empty tomb that Jesus was risen from the dead. You and I did not go forward one by one with the multitude in the land Bountiful at the resurrected Savior’s invitation to feel the prints of the nails and bathe His feet with our tears. We did not kneel beside Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove and gaze there upon the Father and the Son. Yet we know all these things and much, much more because we have the scriptural record to enlarge our memory, to teach us what we did not know. And as these things penetrate our minds and hearts, our faith in God and His Beloved Son takes root. D. Todd Christofferson

Parents should be vigilant and spiritually attentive to spontaneously occurring opportunities to bear testimony to their children. Such occasions need not be programmed, scheduled, or scripted. In fact, the less regimented such testimony sharing is, the greater the likelihood for edification and lasting impact. “Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man” (D&C 84:85). - David A. Bednar

Thirty-three and counting.

Sometime in the past week I celebrated a birthday, although I say celebrate with a slight degree of hesitation. All in all, it was a wee bit of special interspersed with a whole lot of normal. But what would one expect from a 33rd birthday? So let's talk about the special:

1. Waking up to my husband making whole-wheat waffles for breakfast.
2. A constantly swept floor, thanks to a thoughtful mother-in-law.
3. Several offers to make birthday cake, denied by me, due to a junk-food overkill on our vacation. Heck, had I let someone bake me a cake, I might have requested broccoli as a main ingredient.

And that was pretty much it. My kids barely joined in for a perfunctory rendition of the Happy Birthday song. Perhaps they were confused by the absence of cake and candles. And presents.

The most laughable part? When we finally retired to bed, Tim rolled over to tell me that, in case he had forgotten to mention it that day, I had "X" amount of dollars to spend on new clothes. Charming, I tell you.

Let's just say that if gifts and fanfare are what you're looking for in a birthday, don't come home from a long trip the day before. You'll only be disappointed. Thankfully, gifts and fanfare are lost on me, which is why I can joke about the lack thereof on my 33rd birthday. I married a great man who is everything I need and I have four beautiful daughters who inspire me to be the best I can be. I went to bed feeling overwhelmed and humbled by the multitude of blessings in my life.

P.S. Even though I don't "need" people to do thoughtful things for me on my birthday, I enjoyed every last birthday wish that was sent my way. I guess facebook is good for something - thanks guys!

Easter.

We celebrated the "commercial" aspect of Easter on Saturday, as usual, leaving us Sunday to lounge around watching General Conference. The kids were kind to us and Tim and I remark each year that Conference seems to be getting better and better all the time. Or maybe I'm just getting fewer and fewer interruptions. Either way, my spirit is renewed with determination to be an even better woman, wife, parent, and neighbor. Happy Easter!

Like riding a bike.

It had been over ten years since my last visit to a ski resort. They placed an extreme skier's only sign next to the chair lift the led to some of the easiest runs on the mountain. It was April Fool's Day. I knew better. I had skied Brighton enough times to remember where the green circles and blue squares were. Because even ten years ago I preferred such terrain to the nail-biting black diamond slopes of Snowbird. At least then I could handle those runs if I stumbled across them. Not today. While Anna spent her first hours on the mountain in ski school, I skied non-stop and have never felt my almost 33 years so poignantly. And it wasn't because I no longer got "picked up" by some ski bum in the lodge or on the lift. I am old. It's time to wake up.

Spring breakin'.

What a vacation! We enjoyed a few days with my family at the beginning of the week and finished it off with Tim's family. And friends - we visited friends galore - which we rarely get to do while visiting Utah - and there were still more that we missed! Let me just insert here that I am so grateful that my husband served his mission with such great guys who also happened to marry women I admire wholeheartedly. Thanks for letting us barge in on you guys!
In response to a recent dinosaur "kick" are kids are all enjoying, we visited the BYU Museum of Paleontology and the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. My favorite part was when Lily corrected Grandma Jackson's pronounciation of "trilobite". Then, off to the zoo, swimming, skiing, fast-fooding... what more could anyone ask?













Then, as we entered our driveway, I caught a glimpse of these. Blessed be the hyacinths for hanging around long enough for me to come home.

And now, as expected, I need a vacation from my vacation.

Should I worry?

To some parents, these quotes might be troubling. Some parents, including me.

"Mom, I don't like Jesus. What did he ever do for me?"

"Mom, I don't want to get baptized when I'm eight."

"Mom, church is boring."

"Rachel, the bad people won't hurt you if you're bad, too."

If she were my first child, I would be freaking out. As it is, I'm a bit concerned that all the truth we've been teaching her has fallen on deaf ears. But I believe in agency. So we'll keep teaching truth... and let her govern herself.

Birthday girl.

I'm over a week late, but with spring break/General Conference/Easter behind us and a killer week ahead, I decided to seize the moment before one week late stretched into three. So... my baby turned seven! We've officially moved into big kid territory now. Admittedly, it's with only a slight tinge of regret, since Anna has blossomed into a (mostly) eager-to-please, helpful, obedient, happy child. Though she still has her struggles, I am so proud of her and the person she is becoming. She truly has a desire to do what's right and all I can hope for is that I don't do something in the coming years to screw it all up. Bless you, Anna. You've come a long way since those early colicky days in Wymount.

Age seven is big at our house. It's accompanied by an increase in chores (and allowance - hooray!), an opportunity to earn a set of leather scriptures by reading the entire Book of Mormon before getting baptized (at age eight, in our church), and (I'm still waffling on this one) the first real discussion regarding the birds and the bees. Wish us luck. Oh, and happy birthday Anna Banana!

A couple of days before her birthday, I won this cheesecake at a Youth/Scout auction and decided that two cakes in one week was far too many. So I dressed it up a bit, whipped together a delicious strawberry sauce accompaniment and voila! Scout auction winnings turned birthday cake!




Still, I felt the girl deserved something her own so we made rainbow cupcakes for her to take to school. They were a big hit.




By special request, she got to play XBox with Dad for the first time ever.