Pumpkin Patch

Sock's preschool went on a field trip to visit a pumpkin patch.
(they have those in the desert? Why yes, they do!)

The pumpkins were all cut and ready to be selected. Socks found his nubbly one right away. Pencil could not pick just one. He loved them all, and hefted, tossed, or otherwise man-handled about a million of them.

Family Vacation

My husband swears he remembers awesome road-trip family vacations from his youth. He says the siblings co-existed in the car and traveled happily to destinations aplenty.

I think he's been borrowing some of his patients' hallucinatory meds.
I think road trips are basically evil, but I am only the Mom, so perhaps not the expert to be consulting. I'm not fond of the fighting, or whining, or...you know, the driving.
(I'm not mentioning the packing, or unpacking, or loosing things, or... let's not continue this list!)

Zen Fly Master

The Doctor is the Zen Fly Master.

Living in Central America under the tutelage of small 9-year-old girl zen masters can do that to you.

He can, with his bare hands, swat a housefly out of thin air, rendering it stunned (or sometimes dead).

He also accomplished the 'black belt' of Fly masters tonight.

Sweethearts!

Dinner conversation at my house.
Socks: "Mom, when I big I be a dad. And I have a diffwent you for a mom."
"Are you going to have a sweetheart? What will she look like?"
"See have bwown haiw. And peetss skin wike me. and owange eyes. I have fwee boy kids. and two giwol ones."
"Oh that sounds nice!"
Grapes interrupts:
"Hey, I'm going to have a sweetheart too! He'll be 6'. No, 6'5". 'cause i'll be tall like Aunt Kelsey (who is nearly 6') and he'll have dark brown hair. And tan skin. And green eyes.  And I want 2 kids. No, 4 kids. two boy twin babies. And a 16 year old girl. oh, and another girl. She'll be 3."
"That's a good plan too, Grapesie."
I turned then to ask Pencil what he thought of the sweetheart idea. He just said, "no!"

Having Kids Changes You

I'm afraid I've been thinking. (a dangerous pastime, I know)

And I realized that I am not the girl I once was.

I'm also not yet the girl I intend to be, so I'm somewhere in the middle.

I used to make my bed every day. (ok, lets be honest, I used to sleep on top of my made bed with an extra blanket so that it was automatically made when I got up)

Knock your Socks off

This is an old picture (from his 4th birthday... It's just so cute with the

 snitched frosting on his chin and the grin a mile wide!) 

Socks has the funniest little personality. He has had me in stitches as of late.

General Conference

This weekend was General Conference. Twice a year, the leaders of our church gather together to spend two days sharing messages of the Gospel. Messages of hope and peace, of encouragement and of gentle reminders to be better. I was prepared with questions, and I truly felt that I received answers. It was a special experience this time. I loved being able to listen and ponder and feel like there is a purpose in the pressing forward.

There is a General Conference Book Club at 'Diapers and Divinity' that posted these questions. Here are my answers.