From one exciting thing to the next...

Have I mentioned that our life is a whirlwind? We just go from one exciting thing to the next.

On Monday night, Joseph ran the 1600 meter run in the JV District Track Meet. He and his teammates Eddy, Hayden and Braden, decided to run the race fast, and to stay together, which they did. All four stayed in a pack at the front of the race. On the last 200 meters, Joseph kicked it in, and went from 4th place to 1st. When he started to do that, all of a sudden I remembered the camera, and I started fumbling around trying to get the camera ready. This is the result - yes, the one second video.

At this point Joseph is in 1st and Braden in 2nd. In the next ten yards, Braden passed Joseph up and finished just a shoulder width ahead of Joseph (but it's fun to see him ahead in this video!)

FACT: On the race last Friday, Joseph was at least ten seconds behind Braden, Hayden, and Eddy.
FACT: Joseph's PR last Friday was 5:00 minutes flat, and in this race he got 4:53!
FACT: Although Braden beat him, it was so close that it didn't really matter, and what he really cared about was beating Hayden, one of his best friends that he's never beaten before. :)

This was a really exciting race for Joseph! He was exhausted at the end. He really gave it everything he had. He said he started to see black around the edges of his eyes after the race was over. Congratulations on being 2nd in District for JV in the mile!

Peter lost his tooth finally!(He glumly reported to me just now that the tooth fairy hasn't come yet. No comment.)

On Thursday afternoon we sent Joshua off on a Tour with the Madrigals. They went to northern Idaho - to Silverwood, where they sang in a Festival, and then went to an amusement park on Saturday. He said they had a great time!

The Varsity District Track Meet was held on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, Joseph ran the 3200 meter (2 grueling miles). I didn't get to see it, because I was being the responsible Mother and taking Peter and Libby to 4-H and milking the cow (ha ha), but Bruce was able to be there. He said Joseph and Hayden ran the whole race together, and Hayden beat him by just a step or two. Joseph previous PR in this event was 11:35, and in this race he got 10:51! Hayden told him later that he just kept thinking to himself, "I've got to beat Joseph", so he would go faster, and then Joseph would go faster, so they really pushed each other! To say this was a tough race is an understatement of course. I've heard Joseph say about a dozen times since then, "I'm never running the 3200 again!"

That night I had Joseph take a hot bath with Epsom Salts, and a few drops of the essential oils of lavender and lemon. I wanted his muscles to recover, because he was to run the 1600 m the next day.

On Thursday night, Libby called her friend Taylor to see if she was really "going to Washington with her for the weekend." She had told me about it earlier, but I thought it was just something that the girls had cooked up when they were playing - you know how kids do. Well, Taylor's mom called later in the evening and said that they really were going to Washington (state) for the weekend, and although they hadn't planned on it, they saw no reason why Libby couldn't come with them. So I hung up the phone and talked to Libby about all the things she would miss if she went. Without hesitation she replied, "I'm willing to miss all those things. Now where's my packing list?!" She was so excited.

She went up to pack her clothes with Mary's help, and soon she was downstairs again with Mary. Libby said, "Since I'm not going to be here on Sunday for Mother's Day, I want to sing you the songs that we were going to sing." I was amazed that, one, Libby would even remember that she would miss Mother's Day, and two, she would figure out a way to make it better. I'll always remember that thoughtfulness! And my word, I've missed that girl this weekend. She is a little sunshine in my life! I can't wait for her to get home. But she's had a great time in Washington, riding horses, roller skating and having a ball with her friend.

On Friday afternoon, Jesse's piano teacher, Jeff, offered to give Jesse some pointers on accompanying on the piano, as she is trying out for the Middle School Talent Show, accompanying her friends Bailey and Paige singing A Beautiful Disaster. I took all three girls to his house, and spent a wonderful hour listening to them practice this song. Jeff is truly an artist, and he taught them how to improve the musicality in the piece. Bailey and Paige have beautiful voices, and Jesse is doing a wonderful job accompanying them. They decided on the way home that their "band" name would be PB&J (for their first initials). I thought that was fun!

After this I dropped of the girls at a friends' party and Bruce and I went straight over to the second day of the Varsity Track Meet. It was fun to visit with Cori, Scott & Gaigh, Clark and Mary Jean, and Dan and Iris. When it came time for Joseph's race, he was slated in the slower heat. When we went down by the starting line, he came over to me by the fence and said, "I need a hug before I race." So I gave him a big hug and told him to say a prayer.

He was running in this heat with his friend Adrian, also a teammate, whom he has beaten throughout the year. He and Adrian took it out fast, with a 1:06 on their first lap and leading the pack. By the 3rd lap, Joseph started to worry about not going faster than Adrian, because he had beaten him all year long, so he tried to pass him on the last curve of the third lap. When he did that, he said he got really tired, and then Adrian passed him again. They ran the last 100 about one yard apart, and at the finish line they came across the line in the same second, with a time of 4:51! This was Adrian's PR by a long shot, and he and Joseph are such good friends, that I think Joseph was happy for him and didn't mind being beat by him either! So in all Joseph's races, he came in 2nd, (well in the 2 mile it was 2nd to Hayden, who he was running with), but in each race, he got a PR.

Here are Joseph's times in the mile throughout the year:
5:25, 5:07, 5:00, 4:53, and 4:51. He got better each time he ran the race! This is pretty exciting considering he's only a freshman. He ended up getting around 13th or 14th in the Varsity District!

So on with the whirlwind...

On Saturday morning, we went and picked out Mary and Peter's 4H lambs for the Fair.



Here is Slobberface, growing and doing well.
On the way home from getting the lambs, we stopped at the local farm & feed store to buy some feed for the lambs. I made the mistake of sending Bruce inside the store, with Mary and Peter, unsupervised. The result?Of course, you guessed it. Two little bunnies. When Bruce got in the car, I said, "What do you have to say for yourself?" Ha ha. It's a joke between us. I was the one, after all, who went in the same store and came out with 4 chicks. Seriously, though, Bruce said earlier in the week that one of his best memories of a child is the little bunnies that he had.

But my word, if these bunnies aren't the cutest things ever. On the left is Peter's bunny Thumper, and on the right is Mary's bunny named Carmel.Here they are with Peter on the trampoline,And with Mary.And here they are being admired by all the Primary kids at the Ward Mother's Day Breakfast.Thank you to these fine bretheren - Ralf, Lane, Todd and Jesse, who cooked our breakfast! We love these guys and their families so much. They are the salt of the earth.And Joseph and Jesse eating it!
Saturday afternoon we had the local Soccer Club End-of-the-Year Celebration, and enjoyed visiting with our soccer friends. We live in a GREAT community. I love it.

We're not through with the whirlwind yet!

Saturday night, Jesse had her Dance Recital. One of these days, I'll get better at digital photography.I had at least a dozen people come up to me and/or Jesse after the performance and comment on how Jesse literally "lit up" the stage, and how well she engaged the audience with her smile. She really did perform wonderfully - she's so fun to watch when she clogs!

Joseph performed also in a "couples dance" with Paige, and Jesse danced with Dane (center stage).They did a great job, and had fun doing it. Afterward, Dane gave Jesse these flowers, which was a very gentlemanly thing to do.
I've had a wonderful Mother's Day! It started at about 4:30 this morning with a call from Josh that he was ready to be picked up from the high school after returning from the bus tour. I said to Bruce, "Rock, paper scissors (to see who goes to get him)." He was kind enough to say, "No, I'll go get him. You tend to fall asleep on things like this." After Bruce picked him up, Josh came in to our bedroom, laid down on the bed and started telling us about the Tour.

When we told him about the Dance Recital, Josh asked if Dane was nice to Jesse, and we said, "Yes, he even gave her some flowers after the dance." There was a pause, and then Josh said, "That's too nice." ha ha

I've had a wonderful Mother's Day! Bruce and the kids made me a delicious breakfast. The tradition is that they get everything ready, and then one of the boys comes up to escort me down. This year it was Peter. They also turn on an arrangement "Love One Another", by Kurt Bestor, which is the song that was on when Jesse, Mary, Peter and Libby were born, so I love it. It makes me cry every time I hear it. I enjoyed so much reading the sweet notes from the children and opening their fun presents. Thanks guys!

Quick update on the garden. It didn't grow very much in the first couple of weeks, but has started to take off with warmer weather.We also had about 13 pea plants come up. Not many, compared to how many seeds we planted, but hey - at least we have something - which is better than we had last year!

And remember the birds in the nest in the barbeque?Their eyes are open now, and the bones for their wings are starting to grow. One of these days I'll get a picture of the mama bird, who always seems to have a worm in her beak. The blue cloth is from some pajamas that Jesse made. Peter put a scrap of that cloth around the nest, and the mother bird arranged it so it would go under the birds.

I want to leave with one last thought, and that is that motherhood is something that for us as women is an essential part of our very nature. In every stage of our lives, children or no children of our own, we need to be developing the qualities that truly make us a "mother". I hope sincerely to do that!

I love both my own dear mother, and also my sweet mother-in-law, both of whom have given me absolutely sterling examples of what mothers should be. I owe so much to my sisters, who are great mothers, and also my fabulous friends, whom I have learned SO MUCH from. I love you, and thank you!!