Benjamin

I've got to brag about Benjamin for just a minute, humor me, k?  Benjamin is one of my favorite people in the whole world.  Each of my children are so very different and so I love them for different reasons. Benjamin is such a combination of opposites.  He hits and kicks when he is mad, but he is so cuddly and full of love.  He is overly serious at times, and other times he is a big goof.  He can be quiet for hours at a time, or talk your ear off.  Is is stubborn, funny, a hard worker, and an engineer at heart.  He loves numbers, puzzles and his little sister.

Today we played Lego's and he talked my ear off.  Then he turned around and tried to wrestle his sister to the ground.  He pretended to be Pikachu, kicked me when he got mad, the told me all about his favorite snack as if nothing had happened.  Sometimes he is so confusing, but I can't help but love him so much.  He thinks he is so sneaky getting out of bed.  I go back there and find him curled up in bed "hiding."  He is a finisher.  Today he volunteered to clean the toilet for his chore, bless his heart.  Then the toilet brush broke.  Did he give up?  No way!  He cleaned it with a rag, by hand, then cleaned the outside.  After I told him he was done he told me all the spots he had missed and asked me to watch him finish.  Then he came in and helped me clean the kitchen just so he could wipe off the counters.
He stops me in my tracks and wonder what is going on, he reminds me to take time to stop and appreciate the world around me, he has such tender moments, such a sweet smile.
My sweet Benjamin has a very special place in my heart.

Tribute to Jen

This is going to be so hard to write, but I wanted to get my thoughts out.
This is my friend Jen.  She died Tuesday.  I can't believe it.  I still expect her to call and ask to come over, or to text me and ask if we can go shopping together.  My heart hurts.
I only got to know Jen for a little over a year, but I feel so blessed.  I learned so much from her.  She was such a great example of Christ like love.  She was always smiling and always thinking of others.  The Saturday before her surgery we went out for a girls night.  We went out to dinner, saw a movie and went shopping.  She was trying to decide if she would need a head scarf, but in the next breath she told me about her friend who had dogs and couldn't get out to get them dog food, could we take her some.  That was Jen, every time we went to the store she was thinking of someone else's needs.  Her friend with cats would like that cat litter, it was on sale she should get it for her.  Did I need baby bottles?  Let's get some dish washer detergent for her friend who is home bound, no, lets get two.
Every time one of her sisters went though baby clothes she would ask me if I needed any, did I want more baby bottles?  What about a swing?
We got to be visit teaching partners for most of the time I knew Jen.  We are both big talkers and we would sometimes compete.  I learned to listen, she had some amazing things to say if I would stop talking long enough to listen.  She loved the gospel, you could just feel that when you were with her.  She taught me a very valuable lesson about being kind.  She taught me that you will never regret being kind.
Love, that is the one word I would use to describe Jen.  She loved everyone, especially kids.  She would tell me about the kids she taught in primary years ago, the ones that are now teens, she would tell me about her nieces and nephews, it was obvious that she adored them.  Then she would tell me that she was always talking about my kids.  I know I can't put it into words well, she just loved people.  She loved them for who they were, she loved all of them, not just parts.
I will miss her coming over to talk, to play with my kids and hold my babies.  The day she died I cried because she wouldn't get to meet my Abigail.  Then I thought, "she will get to meet my baby before I will, give her a hug for me Jen, give her some of your love."
When my neighbor called to tell me Jen was dying I thought "Ok, she will have a strong healthy body and get to be with her mom, that is good."  I was ok for about an hour, and then no amount of logical thinking made me happy.  I'm not sad for her, I am happy for her, but I am so very sad for me.  I will miss her so much.  I am sad for my kids, for the world that does not get to have her anymore.  She is almost constantly in my thoughts, I find myself talking to her as I do the dishes, just like I used to.  I find myself looking out the window, looking for her and missing her.  Life without her seems a little less bright, a little less happy.  But then I think of the hope and joy of the atonement and gospel and I can smile through my tears.
I'm sure this is all jumbled and scrambled, just like my thoughts, but I could not pass up the opportunity to share my tribute to Jen.  For those that knew her and those that didn't.  I am eternally grateful to have had Jen as my friend and for all that she taught me.

Tall tales

 I recently read somewhere that when little kids begin to lie it is because they are starting to use their imagination.  That intrigued me, and also made sense.  Very small children are very honest.  I generally frown upon lying, but occasionally a lie comes along that is so epic, it falls into the category of tall tale.  This is the story of one such lie.

Glen came home from school today and told me he had been taken out of class for testing.  I was excited because I had heard about this testing and I wanted to know what they had tested him on.  When I asked him what they tested him on he relied that he did not know so I tried a few more specific questions.  

 "Did they test you on math?"
"Yes."
"Did they test you on reading?"
"Yes."
"What did they have you read?"
"A book."
"What was it called?"
"I don't remember."
"What was it about?"
"Oh!  It was about a Penguin and a Polar bear.  It was a made up story.  So there was this Penguin and this Polar bear and they were friends.  One day they touched and they fused together.  Half penguin, half polar bear.  Then it was called a polarguin.  And then there was a bird and a lion and they touched and fused and they became a griffin.  I really liked the griffin."
"What about math?
"Oh they made it fun!  They gave me a graham cracker, but they said not to eat it yet.  Then they gave me a knife, it was sort of sharp, but not very sharp and I didn't cut myself and they told me to cut it right like this-"
"In half?"
"Yes!  Then they told me to cut it again into fourths, then again diagonally.  Then they said I could eat it.  And I was all really fun, but I made it all up."
"You made it all up?"
"Yes, everything I just told you I made up."
I was totally floored.  That boy totally had me going.  I really believed they had him reading that book and doing that math.  I still cannot believe that he just made that all up on the spot.
And that my friends, is Glen's tall tale.