Toddler Realism

The nursery leader in our new ward related this to me:

For snack time in nursery the children were eating

goldfish crackers. The teachers were saying that the

goldfish would swim around in the children's

tummies, round and round and round.

Adara didn't buy it because she knew better. She told them that after goldfish go to your tummy, they don't stay there and swim, they go down to your intestines. So much for encouraging creative play in young children -- Adara's already all fact and no fiction.

And now, here's a grandma-pleasing memory of Naomi at church: She picked up my cell phone, and as soon as she put it up to her ear, she started saying, "Nana, Nana!" :) Guess who Naomi calls most often on the telephone?

(Intestine illustration credit: http://www.after50health.com/diseases-of-the-colon.html)

Labor Day

More Fun Thoughts

While we were still in Pittsburgh, Adara was having quiet time (in the hopes that she'd fall asleep). After awhile, I checked on her and found that she had been playing with "the light thing" (electrical outlet). She reported that someone had kicked her when she was playing with it. I'm glad she didn't make anyone in there mad enough to do more than kick!

And here's a thought I had awhile ago, concerning a discussion I had well over a year ago with some women (young and experienced) in the Church. As the teacher of the young women's class, I felt responsible to teach that the woman's primary role is to champion the cause of home and family. Sadly, I was less tactful with my wording when I was teaching, and conflict ensued.

Although I agonized over the situation for months at the time, it has been only recently (and seemingly out of the blue) that I have formulated a more practical and realistic (i.e., less idealistic) idea of the situation. The new formulation would say, in effect, that the decision to commit oneself to strengthening homes and families need not exclude the decision to pursue academic or professional interests. I believe it is not healthy to repress these desires entirely, but that some degree of modifications to our plans may be necessary if we are to pursue both family and career.

For example, my chosen profession is in publishing (though education has always been a contender for the top choice as well). Because of my individual circumstances and my personal temperament, I have chosen only minimal involvement in this profession for the time being. I enjoy my monthly publishing adventures, however modest they are, and it helps to remind me what my professional goals are.

Sometimes I do long for more time to pursue this path. But I'm sure that time will come soon enough. And for now there are plenty of joys to relish and plenty of challenges to learn from in the situation I am currently in. There will be time for more (eternally speaking, if not temporally.)

Isaiah

We've been reading 2nd Nephi in family scripture study. Straight from the Book of Mormon, without much censoring, but with lots of commentary and explanation. I'm pretty sure Adara understands the gist of what we're reading (which may not be that much less than what Jon and I understand of it). One day when she was playing with Jon, he grabbed both her hands and held her tight and she yelled,

"Unbind me!"

Then, a few nights ago, she offered the family prayer after the scripture study ended. One of the things she prayed was, "Thank you for the nice people and for the mean people and for killing them."

Bahamian Cruise

The pictures will probably speak for themselves, so I'll make this short. Our cruise started at 4 p.m. Sunday and ended at 8 a.m. the following Sunday. We stopped at Nassau, then a private island owned by the cruise company, and lastly in Grand Turk. The cruise itself was relaxing for me -- pregnant mother of two toddlers: I slept a lot. Next time we take a cruise, however, I'd like to stay awake more and participate in some of the activities. The few I was able to attend were quite fun. I think my favorite was the towel animal demonstration. Well -- here are the pics.

Nassau beach. I braved the water, Jon went snorkeling, but the girls refused to get within 30 feet of the gnarly waves (some were at least 6 feet high).

Hotel Atlantis

Naomi actually wearing sunglasses and choosing not to remove them. To Naomi's delight, however, the hat was lost when we left the beach.

Half Moon Cay.

Even the tiny waves here made Naomi nervous. She wasn't happy until I took her into deeper water.

This was Adara's favorite stop -- plenty of water toys, shallow water that she walked into up to her neck!, and nearly non-existent waves.

Bored on board.

Towel Animal.

Adara, on her bunkbed. Every night after dinner she asked if the staff had put her bed down. Simple joys.

Grand Turk.

I didn't take any pictures of the ocean, since Jon and I went alone and were both snorkeling the whole time. But this is an example of what most of the buildings looked like on this hurricane-ravaged island. Apparently, the government / constitution of the area is also currently not in force, which I'm sure makes matters even worse.

Those were the highlights. That's two items to check off the bucket list: snorkeling in the Bahamas and taking a cruise.

Return to Normal Life

I am pleased to report wonderful amounts of relaxation at the end of the Bahamian cruise. As it is late, I will dispense with uploading pictures for now. Except for one, perhaps, which we took on our drive down to Charleston (where the ship was embarking). The picture below is just one example of the types of things we have taken enjoyment in while we have lived here in the south.

And speaking of living in the south; we have finally received confirmation that we will be leaving the hospitality and slow pace of North Carolina. By the middle of next month we will be on our way to the cold and hurried north: Pittsburg, to be specific. How long we will stay there is anybody's guess. As soon as Jon finds a more permanent position, we will go there. And, since he has completed four interviews within the company with no success, he has begun to look at other options.

It's a bit exciting to think of the possibilities -- but stressful for Jon to face so much uncertainty and rejection. So if anyone has any clout with the Man Upstairs, we'd appreciate any good words you might send in for us.

Best Friend Gratitude

What's been on my mind a lot lately is how happy I am to have Jon in my life. He has been working super extra hard to do his regular job, plus interviewing for a new position in the company (in 4 different cities around the eastern U.S.). And when he comes home, he often helps make dinner, puts the babies to bed, and washes the dishes. Sometimes I wonder what I've been doing all day when he comes home and does all that for me. :)

So for Mother's Day he bought the family a vacation on a cruise liner headed for the Bahamas. He's never going to be able to top that Mother's Day gift, but at this point I'm not too concerned. The mere prospect of sharing eight full days with Jon in a place where everyone expects you just to sit around and relax sounds fabulous. Granted, the children will be with us, but since Jon's idea of relaxing is much the same as the children's ideas, I won't be too bothered.

The last time I had a truly relaxing vacation (by my standards of relaxation) was when I spent the night in a cabin with five of my sisters. We talked, made our meals, and cleaned up, talked some more, maybe slept a little, talked, ate, etc., etc. Nearly two full days of nothing much more than talking. No need to find adventure in the world "out there" -- plenty of fascinating life experiences to be explored within the realms of our sisters' psyches.

Two of my sisters have featured more prominently in my life lately, probably because all three of us have been pregnant at the same time. (I say "have been" because Dolly's baby was born a week ago.) My sisters have been friends to me to a much greater extent than my mother was, which, tangentially, is probably why I have never felt much interest in Mother's Day. I'm a mother twice over, but often I feel that the beautiful children in my care are more like sisters to me than like daughters. Younger sisters, of course, with whom I have been charged responsibility and authority to discipline, but sisters nonetheless.

I rarely get weepy when reflecting on my relationships, but as I contemplated my sisterhood with my children, it brought tears to my eyes. I wonder if someone has invented "Sister Appreciation Day"?