Story Monday 2

I realized that if I put the story text in the sidebar, anybody who missed the beginning of the story would be out of luck. So it's back again as a post.

Late Winter 1854

February 5 – The winter of ’54 has been long and dreary. Snow piles blanket upon blanket on the ground until you’d think it would last forever. This confines all of us to the house except for my twice-a-day trips to the barn to care for the animals. Sarah is heavy with child, due most likely around my birthday in March, and little Maggie keeps us both lively and on our toes. Perhaps I feel the bias of fatherhood, but she really is a marvel. The other night, Sarah and I were sitting by the fire enjoying the peace of a quiet, shared moment and the crackling fire. We both thought Maggie was asleep, but suddenly she sits up in her tiny bed in the corner of the room, and in all seriousness, announced to us with her four-year old wisdom that someday she was going to be a princess! Where she gets these ideas, I don’t know, but little does she know that she already is one. Mine. What a girl!

February 10 – Another snowstorm quarantined us to the house. I am so glad I spent extra time last Fall filling in those chinks in the wall. The winds often rage outside and the snow flurries about the windows, but my small family is snug and safe.

February 12 – Maggie woke up this morning with a fever. She wasn’t quite herself throughout the day. We weren’t sure from one minute to the next if she would be crying or quietly playing. I did my best to comfort her at bedtime knowing how tired Sarah was, and finally Maggie fell asleep in my arms after hours of rocking. Neither Sarah nor I have any idea what is wrong with our little girl. The snow makes it impossible for me to leave the house and get the doctor, and I feel so helpless to know what to do. We are hoping that a good night’s rest will make a difference. Sarah and I knelt in prayer this evening before supper to ask the Lord to watch over and heal our little Maggie. I feel certain that things will be all right.

Story Monday

My ever-encouraging brother Brad suggested that I begin to write a story and leave weekly installments on my blog. I'll take his suggestion but begin with a story I wrote about 12 years ago.

The Humble Tree

The day spent revisiting the old homestead had been full of memories of years long past. It had been a good idea to come back. Happy, laughing moments with my three brothers and parents had filled my mind all day long as I wandered through the rooms of our home, explored the orchard behind the barn, and gazed over the landscape I had so often studied as a young girl. Now, with steps more tentative and careful with time, I found myself following the lazy, trickling stream west of the house. It was a path I had taken daily and the familiarity of it flooded my old-woman heart with a desire to run and skip.

The oak tree still stood in the farthest corner of the grassy field, almost as a sentinel, skirted by a crudely-built fence, its leafless branches beckoning to me as if they had been waiting. Yet I could hardly climb the old oak now, even if I had wanted to. It was enough just to see it and touch it--the limbs now gnarled with age, much as my own hands. I suppose this was the real reason why I came today. My absence had indeed been long, but it seemed only as if it were yesterday that I was scurrying up the knotted and textured trunk to the lofty branches above the ground. And there I would sit for hours on end, reading…thinking…dreaming. Mother always knew to look for me first down at the Humble tree before searching anywhere else.

“Aah, the Humble tree.” I quietly murmured as I fingered the pattern of the bark. I hadn’t said it aloud for years. Kind of an odd name for a tree, especially if you were going to name a tree at all! But, that’s what it was called, even years before I claimed it as my own.

My first memories of the Humble tree were from my father reading my great grandfather’s journals. My brothers and I would sit at night huddled around the fireplace as Father unfolded story upon story of Jamison Clark’s life. My favorite, of course, being the story of the Humble tree. As I grew older, I took to reading the journals myself and read them constantly. So often, in fact, that I could recite them nearly word for word. Perhaps, even yet, my mind could recall his words, for in his own voice the Humble tree story was best told and understood.

My Little Sicky

I didn't mean to get the full on snot shots, but that's what we're dealing with. Anytime I hear Kristen sneeze, I grab a kleenex and head for the living room. She's been watching Shrek all morning-she even got excited to see the little Shrek babies.

P.S. You know she's sick when she ASKS to have her nap. Poor thing.

Cruise Director Amy

So, yesterday I find these postings around my house. Are we not having enough fun around here? Obviously not enough to suit Amy's tastes. Maybe it was a not-so-subtle hint to her mother that she has been sick far too long... Chris asked Amy if the meatball fair was where we threw meatballs at each other. She looked at him with an oh-so-patronizing look. "No Dad, they're for eating."

What's that supposed to mean?

So, Chris and I were watching Extreme Makeover last night. I commented that Ty was looking pretty haggard. Chris responded, "Yeah, he's looking old--looks like he's 40." Frankly, I think Chris will deny that he wasn't really thinking when he said this--that it was more of a Freudian slip. He'll say that he just wanted to see if I caught that whole "40" joke or not. Are you kidding me?!?

Send your healthy vibes this way

I thought I was getting better last weekend and then all of a sudden on Monday the nasty germs swooped down and settled in to my throat and chest. I'm starting to get better, but have sounded as though I have a bad addiction to nicotine. Chris has been fighting the germs for the past couple of days too, but I think he just might be victorious over them. And then last night Kristen wakes up after being asleep for a couple of hours barking like a circus seal. Great.

Gotta add a funny thing though. I bought Chris some Airborne to try. It's fizzy for those of you who have never tried it before. He had the tablet fizzing away in a glass of water. Misha looked at it and said, "That looks like a hot tub full of pee."

I Hate Being Sick

Enough said.

Kristen-isms

Kristen has some pretty cute sayings lately. She wears pullups at night that are adorned with Disney Princesses. We call them her princess panties. She has a preference, as well, as to which princess she wants to wear. Right now her favorite is Sleeping Tooty (Sleeping Beauty for those of you who don't speak Kristen). Not sure why she can't say beauty since she often remarks that something is "beauful". But then it might come out more like Sleeping Booty!

She has learned to tell her sisters to "zip it" and it is usually right before we say prayer. Hmmm, Chris, where'd she learn that?

She says "hud" for "hug". My favorite moments are when she grabs me by the neck and says, "huddy, huddy." For some reason, her blanket has become her diddy. Not sure why but I guess she likes the way it sounds.

She has finally figured out how to say "water". For the longest time it has been "daughter." I'll add more of them as I think of them, but frankly, I'm drawing a blank. She is cute and funny though. Honest.

Here's another one. Bubble dum. She washes her hands with foaming soap and it is bubble dum along with the chewy stuff she'd like to put in her mouth.

Tagged

4 Jobs I've Had
1. Mom
2. Editor for "I Love Remembering" scrapbooking magazine
3. Community Education Director
4. Summer Recreation Program Director

4 Movies I Watch Over and Over
1. National Treasure (mostly because my kids do, but it pulls me in everytime)
2. Anne of Green Gables
3. The American President (that and Dave always seem to be on TV)
4. You've Got Mail

4 Places I Have Lived
1. Colorado
2. Provo, Utah
3. Rexburg, Idaho
4. Stirling, Alberta CANADA

4 TV Shows I Like to Watch
1. The Amazing Race
2. Shark
3. House Hunters
4. Designed to Sell (Most shows on HGTV)

4 People Who Email/IM Me Regularly
1. Christopher
2. Angela
3. My brothers
4. In-laws

4 Favorite Foods
1. Oatmeal with walnuts and honey
2. Qdoba grilled veggie naked burrito
3. Olive Garden salad and spaghetti with meat sauce
4. Tirsa's Salsa

4 Places I'd Rather Be
1. Home (I'm a home-body)
2. Oregon Coast
3. Hawaii
4. On vacation with Chris

4 Things I Look Forward to
1. Getting taxes back this year
2. Spring
3. Christmas
4. Buying new furniture

A Little Too Independent

Kristen loves boiled eggs, though only the whites. I peeled four of them for her for lunch and thought that would be sufficient. Apparently, it wasn't. After running to the basement to talk to Chris for a minute I came back upstairs to find Kristen standing on the counter retrieving another egg for herself. She looked at me and said, "I want more eggs."

Another favorite moment in the toddler stage for all of my girls has been when they finally say "I love you" without being prompted or just out of the blue. Kristen's comes out as "I lol you." That's a good kind of independence that makes my heart melt.

Kudos to Chris

My husband pulled it off. You'll have to read his blog to get the whole story, but suffice it to say, he has now surprised me twice in the past three years! I love a good surprise.

Outing the Tooth Fairy

Misha has had a loose front tooth since well before Christmas. We gave her the ultimatum last week to loosen it up and get it ready to pull or Daddy was going to have a go at it with pliers. That was enough to scare-I mean motivate-her into a little tooth-wiggling action.

Last night after dinner I do the touch test and sure enough it is ready. Misha's not, but the thought of Daddy and pliers is enough to make her open wide. Out it came without too much difficulty. So later as she's getting ready for bed, I remind her to put her tooth under her pillow. She asks, "Are you the tooth fairy Mom?"

"What?" I respond.

"Are you?"

"What makes you ask that? Did someone at school say something?"

"No," she replies, "I just thought of it."

I ponder a moment, wondering if she is ready for the truth, or if I should perpetuate the lie further. Finally I say, "Yes, I am the tooth fairy."

"I knew it!" she exclaims exultantly. "Can I tell Amy?"

Hmm, Amy loves to believe. It is just a part of who she is. I think if she thought about it hard enough she'd realized the truth on her own, but she doesn't want to. However, I realize that Misha can't keep a secret and the tooth fairy is outed whether I want her to be or not. Frankly, I'd rather they know because now maybe we can come up with a fun "My tooth came out" tradition.

So, when Amy walks into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Misha looks at me and asks, "Can I tell her?"

"Sure, why not."

"Guess what, Amy, Mom is the tooth fairy."

"Really." Amy's not quite believing Misha and looks at me to confirm. I nod my head.

"Man!" Amy says. "Next you're going to tell me you're Santa Claus too."

"No," I say reassuringly, then think, "Not yet. There's still time enough for you to believe."

Anyone out there have any fun "My tooth came out" traditions?

Great Friends

Thank you to my friends for the wonderful breakfast birthday surprise. You guys are great. I am thankful to be surrounded by amazing, inspiring, thoughtful women. So much more to aspire to in the next 40 years.

Another Misha-ism

Misha and Amy were having breakfast at the counter yesterday morning. Amy in her usual fashion was trying to get Misha to do something. Misha, of course, didn't want to do her sister's bidding and said, "You're forcing me and that was Lucifer's plan!"

Amy became all indignant and whined to me, "She just called me Lucifer." Now that I was present and a witness to the argument, I recalled Amy tattling a few days prior that Misha had called her Lucifer. I had "strongly cautioned" Misha not to ever say it again. So this time around, I could see how the conversation was going, and replied, "No, she didn't. She said you're trying to force her to do something she doesn't want to do. That's different." Amy can't see beyond thinking she was being equated to Lucifer and huffed off.

And I have to appreciate the logic and wisdom of my six-year old.

She's Thinking...

This morning as I was helping the girls get ready for church, Misha asked, "Can you sin and have it be a good thing." I responded that it wasn't likely. She thought for a minute and then asked, "What if you push someone but it saves them from getting run over by a car?"

Snowplows

For those of you who have seen the movie "Air Force One" with Harrison Ford, do you remember the scene at the end of the movie when the F-15s deftly swooped in to surround and protect the U.S. President after he transferred to a new plane? That's the kind of the feeling I had on Friday evening.

Chris had a meeting in Lone Tree that night. The drive there was fairly uneventful except for the traffic which delayed his arrival by 30 minutes. While he was in his meeting, I drove with the girls to Target to find new shoes for Kristen. Within 20 minutes of our arrival, a light sprinkling of snow had begun, and Chris called me at Target to say that he was done already. We made our purchases and headed back to pick him up. The snowfall intensity increased within one mile, and I was happy to cede back the driver's seat. We drove to the mall for a quick dinner. I had the feeling that we should at least drive for 30 minutes north to see if the storm eased up any. It was late and the girls were hungry, so we didn't. The girls weren't too happy to have made the trip past Denver to just turn around and go home again, but when we left the mall there was more than an inch of snow on the ground and it was coming down fast. There was no question that we were headed home. The flakes were huge and beautiful yet the prospect of a long and treacherous drive home was not thrilling.

The cars on the freeway were moving slowly along which I was grateful for. We had been northbound on the freeway for only a couple of minutes when we saw a multiple car pileup in the southbound lanes. And just as we passed the accident we saw more flashing blue lights ahead of us. Gratefully it was from a snowplow just making its way onto the freeway. Cars slowed and parted as not one but three snowplows moved into formation in front of us. It was awe inspiring really as they choreographed into position in front of us. A goose bump moment if you will.

Spiritually speaking, I would relate it to the topic spoken of in church today, "Be still, and know that I am God." There were a few drivers who weren't happy with the pace the snowplows set and manuevered around them. For those of us following the snowplow, I think we were all happy to let them lead the way. Our way was well lit, the snow was cleared, and we were being careful. You could just tell that the snowplow drivers knew what they were doing and had done it before.

Incidentally, the storm eased as we drove further north and by the time we reached home, there was only a light skiff of snow on the ground. The second moral of the story, heed the first intonations of the spirit.

Chris and Kristen

Do they look related or what?

Misha's New Do

Misha has been wanting to get her hair cut for awhile now. Every time she pulled a turtleneck over her head, she would see her hair all tucked in and think how cute it was. Finally I took her to get it cut yesterday. I think she looks adorable.

She also tells me that with her new do, she has a new name. Introducing Dakota Eagle Kline. Dakota because she likes the name, Eagle because she says she has an eagle eye. Dakota. Misha. Whoever you are, you're looking pretty cute.

Nuthin' to Sumthin'

So Kristen is picking up very quickly the concept of how not to be in trouble. When I find her playing in water in the sink, climbing in the pantry, scaling my desk, or whatever equally mischievous activity she might be doing at the moment, I ask, "What are you doing?" Her reply has been, "Nuthin'" and then she continues on as though she has absolved herself from any wrongdoing. My usual response is, "Oh, that's not nothing, you're doing something."

Last night after dinner she was searching for a treat in the pantry. I came upon her and asked, "What are you doing?" Her reply, "Sumthin.'" I had to laugh.

I did it!

Kristen struggled to get her jacket on yesterday afternoon as we were leaving. Finally I hear her exclaim, "I did it!". Sometimes you just have to let them bask in their accomplishments without pointing out that it isn't quite right.

 

Maestro Misha

Misha loves to create, build, redesign, knot, etc. These pvc pipes were originally marshmallow shooters that Chris made for the girls. Kristen pulled them out last week and started playing with the pieces. The pvc pipe quickly became her activity-o-fun for the week, that is until Misha realized the potential. She kindly left a few pieces for Kristen to play with and then commandeered the rest. The result--a kazoo. No joke, it sounds just like a kazoo. Okay, maybe the jokes on me because I get to listen to it when she's home from school, but I guess it's better than the drum set she wanted for Christmas.

Blockbuster

Holy cow! We went to Blockbuster last night to rent a movie because we had a gift card. We hadn't rented from them in years and were in shock at the rental price. $5 each!!!!! Perhaps we didn't know our options and they just socked us for as much as they could, I don't know. Perhaps they just want people to join their online rental club and you get a better rate that way. What I DO know is that we will stick with Red Box for renting or just wait until our turn comes up at the library from now on. By the way, if anyone wants to watch "The Nanny Diaries" come on over, we're set for a movie night until the 19th.

Not as funny...

Well, I don't have anything nearly as funny as Tami's "A Bum with some Poop." Read Tami and Caleb's blog if you want a good laugh. There's a crazy phenomenon associated with blog writing. If my kids do something funny, they'll hear, "Don't move. Let me get the camera." Alternately, if they do something bad, they'll hear, "Don't move. Let me get the camera." with the understanding, of course, that they're still in trouble after I take the picture.

Really, though, the great thing about this whole blogging scene is that it has:

1) given me greater motivation to be more dedicated to keeping a history of my family's life. Let me digress a bit and say that bloggers love comments. I used to be a lurker myself. I read blogs but never bothered to comment. There are no rules that say you HAVE to comment, but you know, I love it when people do. It's like getting mail, email, or a phone call. Who doesn't like that? So for those of you who don't comment, try it. Better yet, start your own blog, and I'll be sure to reciprocate.

2) inspired my husband to start journaling as well

3) given me a connection to my friends that I rarely get passing in the halls on Sunday with kids in tow

4) helps me keep in touch with people who live far away

Any other ideas?

Snow shoeing

One of the items on my Christmas wish list was a pair of snow shoes. I guess Chris didn't realize that I had been snow shoeing before because instead of snow shoes, we went snow shoeing. A good plan because we both had a great time. To be honest, we could have done the hike in boots, but snow shoes added an element of adventure to our sometimes routine life. We actually hiked from Bear Lake to Alberta Falls-we usually hike to Alberta Falls at least once in the summer time. This offered a great change of perspective. For one, the falls were completely frozen and snowed over, along with all of the streams we traverse in warmer seasons. We ate a lovely power bar lunch in the winter wonderland and began our hike back to the lake. This time our hike was uphill. Ugggh. My heart never beats that fast on my treadmill. We weren't quite ready to be done when we got back to the lake so we decided to hike around it. I walked on water that day. Okay the lake was frozen over, but you have to agree it sounded good. There was a groomed trail on the actual trail around the lake but we decided to stay on the lake where the snowshoeing was more real-no path just powder to trudge through.

We both had a fun time. We probably overdressed for the occasion--my four layers plus a lined jacket to Chris' two plus a lined jacket-but it was fun and a great way to get in an afternoon of exercise. So maybe next time I ask for snow shoes, we'll both get a pair. There is no doubt that our children would NOT enjoy the experience; they won't be getting snow shoes any time soon.

Ten years so different

Christopher and I were able to get away for a night in Estes park on January 1st. My parents kindly agreed to watch our girls-you didn't have to ask us twice if we wanted to go. The town itself was pretty quiet, though at least half of the stores were open. We perused the sunlight-bathed, south-facing side of the street and then reluctantly crossed over to the shady side. Our leisure walk in the balmy 20 to 30 degrees changed to brisk window shopping.

We ended up in an equipment rental store. We planned to go snowshoeing up by Bear Lake the next morning and thought we would have to return on Wednesday morning to pick up our shoes and poles. Not so, we were fortunate in being able to rent our equipment and save a trip back to the cold "south side".

Our dinner offerings were rather limited though we did find a cozy place to eat-"The Other Side"-not too far from the condo where we were staying. Another couple arrived shortly before we did and had requested a window seat next to the fireplace. I asked to be seated in front of the fireplace and quickly realized why the other couple wanted to be off to the side. THEY DIDN'T NEED THE EXTRA HEAT!!!! We talked and tried not to notice them kissing. They kissed as much as we talked. Chris mentioned a time or two that they needed to get a room. Just as the couple was about to leave, they stood to take pictures in front of the giant wreath in the dining room. Chris volunteered to take a picture of them together, and these were their words, "Thanks, we're on our honeymoon." Enough said. Just at that time, Chris' phone rang and our girls were calling to share good news!! "Kristen went potty all by herself!" We left the dining room and the comfort of the fireplace to rejoice in the blessed news.

And that's when I realized that ten years makes a big difference. I'd like to see that couple ten years from now. I don't think they'd be quite so different from us--they'd spend their evening talking about home, family, children and life in general and would make a big deal if their two-year old was getting the whole potty thing. Kudos to them for beginning their life together in such a love-filled way and for being a great reminder to the rest of us to not always rely on a fireplace to generate a little heat.