Spring is springing...

I must proclaim Fall as my favorite season.  I love the red and gold leaves on the trees and the chill in the air.  I love the spicy smell of baking and apple cider, pulling out my jeans and thick socks after months of bare legs and flip flops, and feeling snug and cozy in front of a fire with the promise of Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner.  But most of all, I love the relief in knowing that the brutal Texas heat is finally over. 

However, no one can resist Spring!  After months of brown grass and leaves, beautiful bursts of pink and purple, white and yellow, and green, lovely green, are popping up everywhere.  The sun is warm but the breezes are still cool and the lovely smell of spring rain seems to linger in the air.  I've spent the last 16-20 weeks in cozy hibernation but now I feel as lively and energetic as the plants in my garden that are growing at an alarming rate.  I often find myself ambling, lap after lap, around my yard, taking in the beauty and colors that are blooming all around.   Each day I love to see what new bud has opened or what new sprout has emerged from the soil.  And while I know that the sweltering Texas heat is right around the corner, threatening more and more each day to overwhelm me with it's menacing strength, today it's Spring and my peach tree is blooming!

Hush Little Baby, don't say a word...

Olivia was babysitting Enzo and at one point he started crying, so she sang him the "Hush Little Baby" song.  He stopped crying and came up with his own adaptation.  She wrote it down and it goes like this:

If that song is to loud, Mama's going to buy you a drum.
And if the drum was too loud, Mama's going to give you a play cup.
And if that cup is too flat, Mama's going to buy you a friend.
And if that friend is trying to kill you, Mama's going to buy you a book.
And if that book doesn't have any pictures in it, Mama's says you're still a sweet kid!

Our little bird family

 Today, we celebrated Ellie's 10th birthday.  We don't do big parties (they are a lot of work and just make me uncomfortable!), instead, we'll take the birthday girl and a friend or two, out to do something fun.  This year Ellie wanted to take her best friend, Savannah, to Amazing Jake's.  Its a huge place full of video games, laser tag, a rock climbing wall, miniature golf, and an all-you-can-eat pizza and pasta buffet (Ellie's favorite!).  First, we all took a turn at the climbing wall (terrifying!), then the girls went off to play while Scott and I played miniature golf and video games.  After awhile, we met the girls in the movie room where they were eating lunch and watching "The Lion King".  Savannah commented on how it was interesting how animals show love for each other.  I said that it's true, they don't hug and kiss like we do.  They show love by taking care of each other, like a Papa bird flying off to find food and bringing it back to the Mama bird who is sitting on the nest and in fact, we often show love the same way, by caring for one another. 
  Flash forward to home.  We've had dinner and we sang and Ellie blew out the candles on the cake.  She's already opened her new game from Savannah and the nail stuff from Mom and Dad when Olivia runs off to her room and returns with a brightly wrapped box.  Scott and I looked at each other, wondering what it could be.  Ellie opened the box and out popped Atlas, Olivia's pet rat, with a pink ribbon tied around his neck.  Ellie looked up, not understanding, and Olivia, smiling through tears, told her to take good care of him.  We had no idea she was planning to do that and we were all moved by her loving generosity.  Olivia explained that she at least had her horse, Toby, and she wanted Ellie to have something to love too.  Ellie insisted that she could not accept Atlas because he belonged to Olivia.  They finally decided to share him but we were all so touched by her gesture.  Savannah piped up, saying, "You know what you said about birds taking care of each other? I'm so happy for you! You're a little bird family!"  Indeed, and what a joy it is!

Pixie

Ellie's sweet Pixie, died last night.  We noticed something wasn't quite right with her and she passed shortly after, very peacefully, while Ellie held her.  Ellie is sad and misses her very much, but she kept saying things like, "At least I got to hold her" and "I just felt like I should hold her a lot this morning and I'm glad I did."  Her perspective is good and she said she has learned what it feels like to lose someone you love.  We are all so thankful that this sweet little creature was a part of our family.  She was a perfect little friend for Ellie and she will be missed by all of us.

A rat and a sister's love

Tonight we had a scary moment. Ellie's beloved rat, Pixie, seemed to be choking.*  In tears, Ellie and Olivia brought her to me while my friend, Elizabeth, and I were finishing making dinner.  The Sister Missionaries had just arrived and we were making gnocchi, a family favorite.  I struggled to get her into a position where I could look down her throat and finally I was able to peek into her mouth. I tried to find the culprit, but I couldn't see anything.  It really looked like Ellie's little pet was dying right before my eyes and there was nothing I could do!  So Scott scooped up Ellie, rat and all, and carried her over to the chair, and they began to pray.  Almost immediately, Pixie began to settle down.  Her gagging stopped, and she lay very quietly, but still breathing, on Ellie's chest.  We were all very shaken up and afraid that it might start again.  I know, I know, a rat.  But Pixie and Ellie are something special. 

When Ellie first got Pixie, Pixie was extremely shy and didn't want to be held much, which is unusual for a sociable creature like a rat.  Ellie was hurt and concerned that her rat didn't like her and that they would never be friends, but I encouraged her to be patient and persistent with her affections.  She spent the next several weeks, sitting by the cage talking to her and giving her treats, encouraging her to come out.  I know she was discouraged many times, but she kept at it.  Sure enough, after much waiting, Pixie's favorite place to be was tucked in the front of Ellie's shirt or up her shirtsleeve.  All Ellie has to do is open the cage door and lean in and Pixie scrambles up her chest and into her shirt, snuggled up under Ellie's chin.  She'll stay there for hours while Ellie reads or works on schoolwork.  And Ellie loves her!

So when her baby was in distress, like the sweet mommy she is, Ellie spent the next hour and a half, holding and comforting her rattie.  Olivia, never left her side.  She sat and wept with her little sister, playing comforting hymns, and even ran to get a camera, just in case these were their last moments together. 

It was so touching to witness such beautiful sisterly love.  I kept thinking of the phrase, "mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those who stand in need of comfort..." (Mosiah 18:9)  She truly was sharing in her sister's grief and wanted nothing more than to make it all better.  I feel so blessed to be the mother of these amazing little girls!

Elizabeth cried with us, and the Sister Missionaries had asked if maybe they should go, but Ellie wanted them to stay.  Each of them went over and spoke words of comfort and hugged her.  I asked her about it later and she said she was glad they had all been there and that it made her feel better.

It was a great lesson of faith and prayer.  Ellie said she prayed the whole time that Pixie would be okay, but most of all, that she won't suffer.  As sad as she is at the prospect of losing her beloved friend, she is more concerned for Pixie's comfort and welfare.  We are continuing to pray that Pixie will be well, but with the knowledge and comfort that Heavenly Father knows all of His creations and watches over them. 



*I don't want any animal lovers to accuse me of being heartless, so let me say, Internet searches show that the best thing to do for a "choking" rat, is to leave it alone and let it work it out on it's own.  Trying to assist it can only make things worse.

Butterfly Ellie

Recently, Ellie began her oral metamorphosis.  We knew that she would require more orthodontia than Olivia because, like her mother, she was an avid thumb-sucker for many years (*cough* both of us were 8 *cough*)!  But she is on the road to recovery.  I know that many people would be shocked and dismayed at the realization that I allowed such a damaging habit to go on for so many years.  To those people I would say, you have no idea what you're talking about.  Only a former thumb-sucker or the parent of a devoted one can truly understand what it is like.  A very good friend of mine was once told by a psychologist, with regards to her daughter's thumb-sucking, that later on she could either pay for orthodontia or therapy.  I voted for the orthodontia.

  Here is Ellie before she started the journey

That's Pixie, her rat, on her shoulder.

The first step was to widen the narrowed palate with an expander.  It is a medieval-looking torture device that is glued to the upper teeth and turned each day by a "key", widening the upper palate. Here she is after 1 month of torture, I mean, treatment. 

Note the hillbilly gap in her front teeth.  Apparently, it's quite fashionable these days.

Today, the orthodontist put 4 brackets on her top teeth to straighten them.  Now, she and Olivia match.

She chose pink bands.

She is adapting very well and hardly complains about soreness.  The expander was much trickier to eat with and caused a lot more discomfort, so adding this probably seems like no big deal.  She did comment that her mouth seems very crowded right now.  The next step will draw those four teeth together to close the gap.  The expander has to stay in for 9 months while the gap it created in the bone of the palate fills in.  Then she'll have retainers to hold things in place while the rest of her baby teeth fall out.  After all that come the real braces.  We still have a long way to go, but I don't really think she'll turn into a butterfly because she never was a caterpillar to begin with.  :)





 

I'd like 12 squirrels, please.

Enzo is just one of those kids.  He has boundless energy, can quite literally talk your ear off, is very much a singer and dancer, will dash in from another room to remind his sisters that "we do NOT say stupid!", often speaks with some sort of accent, is always the first to want to "help" when I'm cooking, is the most friendly and outgoing of all my children, but most of all, he loves squirrels and the number 12.  No, I mean he LOVES squirrels and the number 12.  I have no idea why or where this passion came from but it is bordering on obsession.  He's very silly and frequently substitutes the word "squirrel" for just about any word in a sentence or song.  It can also be rather embarrassing when we are at the store and he tells his new best friend, the checkout clerk, that he or she is a "squirrel face".  I find myself blushing and awkwardly trying to explain that he loves squirrels and that it was, in fact, a compliment.  Usually it's unnecessary because his friend was already laughing, but still.

His love of the number 12, can be equally entertaining.  For instance, at our church's Ward Conference on Sunday, they were reading the names of the leaders of the church.  Most kids tune it out and I assumed Enzo was too, until they said "And the members of the Quorum of the Twelve..." and he piped up with "Oooooh! 12!"  It's like a reflex, I say "12" he says "Oooooh! 12!"  Wait a second, I bet I could use this obsession to get him to do all kinds of things like "Go pick up 12 toys", "Get your shoes on in 12 seconds", "Sit down and buckle before I count to 12".  I could probably use the squirrel thing to my advantage too; "If you stay in your chair, it will make the squirrels very happy", "Don't shoot darts at your sister or the squirrels will be sad", "Hurry and get in the car or the squirrels will eat you!".  Well, maybe not that last one. 

Say "squirrels!"