October Morning at the Farm

$8.98=Infinity

Nine years ago, whilst Emma was a little babe, she and I went to Sam's Club.

I splurged ($8.98) and bought this book:

Little did I know at the time how wonderful this book would be.

Little did I know how it would become a fundamental part of each of our five babies' babyhood.

Little did I know how it would much it would be loved, worn, read, re-read, dragged around, chewed on, used as a toy (apparently it makes a great Barbie tent!), tossed, torn, and clutched.

Little did I know how many hours I would spend pointing at objects in this book and naming them for the attentive child sitting in my lap.

Little did I know how each of my babies (or toddlers) would sit contentedly and peruse the pages of the book, babbling quietly to themselves.

It has a lot of fabulous pages, such as the wild animals page, above, or one of several food pages, below.

This book has been torn to bits on numerous occasions and retaped every time. I am not exaggerating when I say that I have used at least one entire roll of packing tape on this book's repairs over the years.

Lately, it has suffered a heavy toll. Already weakened from the advances of three previous children, it currently encounters the daily onslaught of two very active toddlers.

The most recent injury was severe:

Tonight I lovingly taped it up, yet again.

And before bedtime, with the book back on the bookshelf, Isaac threw down the three books I had selected and immediately dragged "Word Book" over to Mommy.

The twins and I then sat and pointed at pictures for quite some time, relishing our favorite book that is back in action again--at least until the next injury occurs.

When I am old and grey, this book will still be around--on a shelf, or in a box, or maybe just under my pillow.

Maybe then, when I'm sick and weary, I will have my children tuck my blanket around me and sit beside me. Then they'll pull out this book, and together we'll point at the pictures and marvel in the simple pleasures of our lovely world.

Friday Afternoon

Last Friday afternoon.

What were your kids doing?

Mine were:

decorating the butternut squash,

and playing in an empty trashcan--

a new one, lest you fear for our health--

all quite delightedly.

(Oops again, blurry pictures. That's what you get when you don't check the camera settings before taking the pic!)

Yesman

Meet Yesman.

(Sorry--blurry picture.)

Everyone needs a Yesman in their life.

Now I have one.

A good friend of mine gave me Yesman yesterday, for my birthday.

The tag on Yesman reads, "No matter what the question, the answer will always be yes!"

Touch his long, pointed nose, and Yesman--his earnest eyes wide in response--will nod vigorously back at you in agreement.

"Yes. You are right, Jen. You are wise and correct and always supremely right." ;)

"Yes, your dinner was the best I've ever had, even though your kids didn't eat it."

"Yes, your twins are particularly crazy today."

"Yes, your hair looks amazing."

"Yes, your house will sell in the spring."

Yes, yes, yes.

Yesman is the ultimate go-to guy for positive thinking.

Yesman now has a place of honor on my living room bookcase.

If you come to visit, I might let you ask Yesman a few questions of your own.

H1N1

As I mentioned in a previous post, we have had a recent bout with H1N1, or swine flu.

Emma and Clara both had it. One day in Clara's class, nearly half the class (10 children) plus the teacher were sick and out of school.

At home, we soothed, comforted, washed, sanitized, scrubbed, prayed, and waited. Waited for someone else to get sick.

We are still waiting.

Meanwhile, I have noticed something in the last week.

Flu. The Flu. The Flu Virus. The H1N1 Flu Virus.

Thoughts of it, whispers of it, are in the air--on people's minds--posted on doors, desks, billboards. (There were four flyers posted between the front door of the elementary school and the front desk of the office!) Flyers and emails. Major news headlines. Masks and hand sanitizer. Talk of vaccinations to be delivered and administered.

All of these things are necessary, I suppose, but there's a very definite degree of paranoia surrounding this mysterious, novel virus.

In the end, we discovered, it's just the flu. You get it, you feel horrible for a few days, you may unfortunately pass it on to a few people, and you get better.

That's my take on H1N1.

(Of course, tomorrow my little twinners may get it, and I'll take this all back :-) )

(Update on 26 October: We all eventually got it. It hit some of us worse than others, but we all recovered, and we all survived.)

Drama, or Life As We Know It

The last few weeks have been full of drama.

But I think the "drama" is just normal life in a busy household.

It's all a big, busy blur.

Several major household items died. As Nathan will tell you, "Our dryer is a piece of toast." The poor kid is still waiting for his unusual breakfast of dryer toast. And Brian spent his day at home yesterday replacing the folding ladder into the attic.

I canned salsa for the first time, thanks to the encouragement of my friend Cindy. I didn't take a picture, but trust me, I have salsa. Lots of it!

Madeline experienced her first double ear infection of the season, with more to come, I'm sure. She had eight last winter. I pretty much begged for a referral, and she will be seeing the ENT late in November.

On that note, I went to the pediatrician four times in eight days, with random assortments of children and for varying reasons. All of the reasons for going were quite legit. But I'm ready for a hiatus.

Brian is in the throes of interviewing for fellowship.

Sweet Clara turned seven last week. Seven years. Amazing. She didn't have a friend party this year, but instead she got to take two friends out to dinner with her and her family to celebrate.

Here she is, candles and cake. I am such a cake-decorating disappointment. At least I used purple and pink sprinkles.

Nathan and I also went on his annual preschool field trip to the apple orchard.

The twins were old enough to appreciate the hay ride.

Isaac, Madeline, and I also had a memorable encounter involving the mountain, the apple trees, lots of slippery mud, and a stroller that wanted to sliiiiide....

Here is Nathan at the orchard.

Today during General Conference he pointed his finger like a gun at the TV and proceeded to make shooting sounds. President Monson was speaking.

We then had a teaching moment.

Later, during our Sunday walk, he told me that "when the babies die he can ride in the wagon again."

Oh, my!

We had another teaching moment.

Can anyone find my sweet little boy and return him to me?

Finally, Emma and Clara have had swine flu for the last few days. They appear to be on the mend.

We're still waiting for them to oink.