Plateaus

Every once and a while you get so that you seem to know the kids well enough to anticipate and avert possible 'trouble spots' for the day or perhaps the kids seem to know well enough the boundaries and care very little to push past them. Whatever the cause of it, I like to think of these brief periods as plateaus in motherhood. I tend to feel relatively confident in my growing skills as a mother and the children seem fairly happy with all the activities and content in my affection for them. Mind you, the operative word is 'brief'. Not too much time passes when once again I'm reminded that my children are their own little people, long before the Lord gave them to me, and I am still getting to know them and they likewise are learning to get to know their own likes/dislikes/energy or tolerance levels, etc. Before I'd torture myself with trying to figure out just what it was that turned our meandering pace into bucking bronco ride, nowadays I'm much more okay with it. I think I'm just learning to enjoy the quieter moments and see the little person I've been given and viewing the more rocky periods as a chance to learn more about them - or myself which has often been the case.

Anyhow, we managed to have a couple of fun days in a row at school, the zoo and Imagination Avenue.





Market day at Isaac's school, where their gardens were harvested and the children could sell and buy flowers, popcorn, veggies and chips with tickets they had cut themselves from construction paper.



Isaac's latest story started with George the Caterpillar from Eric Carle's story.

I managed to get a culture pass for the zoo, which meant it was a free trip - can't beat that! Keila loves animals and was a little incensed when I said they were only to look at and not to touch. When she saw the size of the typical animal, she wasn't so keen on petting anymore! ;0) Isaac wasn't so enthralled but enjoyed pretending he was an explorer just like Diego.



Isaac has the best conversations with Keila. In his very grownup voice, he explains his latest plan. This one was about digging the pumpkin out. Apparently he was delegating to a rather reluctant participant.






Finally something safe to pet! I love the shot of Keila giving the lion a kiss on the nose. The one with the wild boar is where she's rubbing it's ear, something similar to what we do to Sunshine, our rabbit. For whatever reason, it makes Sunshine shudder and then clean her face and ears afterwards.



A real animal to pet?! At long last! Keila is in heaven.

This baboon loved sitting by the window observing the absurd humans that laughed and gawked at everything she did. I suppose we did look a little ridiculous, but when do you get to see the animals at a zoo so close up? So I insisted on a picture. Isaac reluctantly moved close enough for a quick shot. The one of Keila was my attempt at what I've seen professional photographers do. Somehow they can hold the camera away at arms length while, get a perfect shot while never once looking through the lens. I was holding Keila at the time, she objected to being close to the baboon, so this was a pretty good attempt, despite the glare off the glass. I just have to chuckle at how distraught she was in the pictures since only minutes before she was mad I wouldn't let her crawl over the fence to touch the zebras!




After our morning outing, they came back in the afternoon to play happily on something Isaac terms the burrito bed. Looks cozy to me!

Mother's Day/Week

There is a major benefit to having a child in preschool ... Mother's Day turned into more of Mother's week and I enjoyed a giant peppermint heart, chocolate dipped strawberries and a darling craft from my little boy. Kent was a smart man and let me sleep in until 9am .... 9 AM!!! That's crazy for me, especially since I'm up at 6 the latest usually. I was very tired and if that wasn't a glorious enough gift, I got a massage from him too - TWICE!! The family conspired to get a card and flowers for me and we had a wonderful weekend together.



Obviously the chocolate dipped strawberry didn't last long enough for me to take a picture! ;0) I find it amusing that the peppermint heart has some teeth marks in it. I think Mrs. McMurry had a time of convincing some of the little ones that this was to be saved for Mom! LOL!

While I know at times this holiday bears both the best and worst thoughts, I've come to see it as a celebration of womanhood. The nurturing and love that we inherently share with one another that makes us feminine and divine. Isn't that what is truly a mother? So on this day I am grateful for all the women who have influenced me in my life for good, who have inspired me to be better and find joy in my role in God's plan. Here's to all women, all mothers!

Second Tri

Last weekend I got the chance to do some bonding with the women in my ward. Through the initiative of some of the ladies, we got together and did our own triathlon. It was great! It didn't have the intensity of something you pay out the nose for, but there was definitely the camaraderie and unity of reaching for something that would make us better. The swim was in the apartment pool and was 400 m, the bike route was planned out and people chose to do anywhere form 10-12 miles. The run was also set out and we could choose from 2-3 miles. Volunteers came in the form of friends and husbands who laid out Gatorade, water, fruit, watched bikes and time us as well as took pictures. It nice to say that I've done more than one sprint triathlon and I think I'm beginning to consider doing one annually. Nutty, huh?! ;0)




The wind that day was absolutely KILLER!!! I've been running for years here now in AZ and I never had it blow that hard. In training I've only biked about 6 miles at most, but I chose to do 12 that day ... I swear I had a black and blue imprint on my rear for several days after!




The amazing and beautiful women who organized and did the event with me! Maria Bingham, Rayna Boyak, Sarah Allred, Nikki Waite, Camille Lister, Laurie Ball, Lyndsee Norlander.

Click Clack!

I remember being young and thrilled with my first pair of high heels. It's not so much that I was a girly girl, but rather I liked the idea of the sound they made as you entered on a hard floor. It was a subtle way to draw attention to the feminine. Something I think Keila has discovered and loves as well!



As she walks in them she giggles and says, "Click, clack!" Femininity is definitely inborn!