grateful

Tonight at Young Women's we planned our activity around "modesty". After a silly fashion show and then a great highlight of an Ensign article by Elder Hales, we had "Supe" come and talk to us on a return missionary's perspective on modesty. Saying it was beyond great does not do justice for the job he did. He brought 3 females and spoke about the impact they have had on his life by always being modest. As a female I was inspired. As a mother I was overcome by gratitude. When I looked at my daughter and recognized the effort she puts into being modest I again felt grateful. As I looked at our Young Women assembled and knew they too work hard at being attractive first in the eyes of the Lord and then in the mirror and last in the eyes of the world, I again felt blown away with thanks for their influence and example. To see the blessings of happiness come to my daughter as she makes good choices is the greatest paycheck of motherhood. I almost feel like singing, I am so lifted. I do recognize the difference of being touched in the heart and being touched in the head so I will not break out in song or dance but I will say, I love my life. Being a grandmother is fulfilling, fun, and frantic. Being a mother is daunting, at times defeating, but mostly delightful. Evolving from a self centered person to someone who recognizes where all good comes from is inspiring. Being grateful stumps me when I see how many people aren't. So, what are you grateful for? Nicole, firemen? Rickell, sleep? Megan, children with a mastery of correct anatomy? Bob, me misplacing the debit card? Anyone else...?

big brother award

Mrs Morris gave Bentley a "big brother award" and he totally deserves it. He is quiet, gentle, and loving with baby Mattix. He is the best big brother any little guy could wish for.

child for sale-cheap-super cheap-okay...I will pay you to take her.....just don't bring her back until she's under control.

Okay, so I never would consider getting rid of her but how cute would she be posted on e-bay? I could totally trade her for a watch or harley or something equally useless. But if I did, what would I have to think about as I go to sleep at night or wake up in the morning or pretend to listen to my husband talk? She is the craze in my crazy, the fun in my funny and the bungee in my peanut butter sandwich. Gotta love you chloe. (for Chloe, anything with bread is a bungee-who knows why.)

this is how Bentley rolls

"Grandma, I will help you clean up. I can do it all myself. No, don't help me. I can do it." Can these words truly come from the full blooded sibling of the human tornado, Chloe? They could be considered rock and roll. She rocks like a 10.2 earthquake and he rolls with flow. As I pull my hair out over Chloe, Bentley follows behind saying sweet, calm comments. So Mattix, what does the future hold with you? Will you be a little of both or something entirely you? We will wait and see but I am relieved my weeks "vacation" is almost over. It is exhausting "taking it easy".

how did I lose my "motherly instincts" ?

In the amount of time it took me to spread peanut butter and honey on two slices of bread, Chloe pulled food from the cupboard, bread off the counter, pulled the lid off of flour and spread it all over the floor. The irony of it all is that she is "cleaning" it up with her shirt that I took off of her so she could not get it dirty while she ate. I know my linoleum is ugly, but I do not think flour is the answer. The sad stuff is that I was right there by her but had my back turned. I won't be doing that again.

I would feel much better if she could look the tiniest bit sorry. I think I can detect a touch of pride in her body language. After trying to guilt her out with a little "grandma style" lecture, she happily chirped "mess, mess, mess". I think I will take Mattix and let her mommy keep her. It will be easier to create breast milk than to teach her how to play quietly.

Does Chloe think of Mattix as crime?

Today I had to leave Rickell on her own for a while with the wild circus animals while I went to the doctor. I dropped Bentley off at preschool and felt only slight trepidation about leaving Rickell to take care of Chloe and Mattix. The truth is, Rickell is doing great. Whenever I show up, she has the kids fed, bathed, dressed, and usually, happy. So why do I feel I need to take a week off of work to "help" her? Because of that sweet, kewpie faced child with the long eyelashes and pouty lips named Chloe. She is hell on earth, fire in ice, mayhem in Eden, and any other phrase that is contrary to the circumstance. She lovingly tried to poke out Mattix's eyes, feed him potato chips, and toss matchbox cars into his crib. I am not sure why she makes me so nervous. When I returned to Rickell's after 2 hours, I was shocked to find that she had tried to take a bite out of that sweet little dude's forehead. Perfect dental impressions left on his face. The sad thing, I am not surprised. I am confused as to why his mom could be so surprised. Her gray matter must have come out with the afterbirth because she did not see this coming. Seeings how it could be months before he can defend himself, I worry a bunch about Mattix surviving Hurricane Chloe.

go figure

Chloe spends almost every waking moment tormenting her brother. He likes his toys lined up in order so she messes them up. She eats his food, knocks over his towers, stands in front of his cartoons, and hits him when she gets in trouble. So it justified a picture when she woke up and climbed on the couch, laid her head in his lap, and went back to sleep. Underneath all of her sass, she has a sweet side. Go figure.

The tupperware head feeds the miniature horse

As we headed out to Grass Valley to ride the 4 wheelers, luck was not smiling at us and a sheriff had a car pulled over giving them a ticket. Since we thought the sheriff may not see the safety advantages of Bentley's helmet, we detoured off of the road until Mr sheriff man had moved along. Grandpa Bob could not just let Bentley be content with feeding the miniature horse, he wanted to show he was a true Wyoming Cowboy and pretended to ride the horse. (If you look close enough, you can see he did not actually put his weight on the horse) I just can't take him (Bob) anywhere. Bentley was only mildly amused.

Bentley's redneck helmet

We promised Bentley a ride on the 4 wheeler and failed to bring a helmet to Pine Valley. Jesus, always thinking outside of the box-sometimes too far outside-took some of "grandma-grandma's" tupperware and padded it with paper towels. He then taped it onto Bentley's head with masking tape. He used rubberbands to keep Bentley's glasses on. He swears it was better than nothing. I wish we had thought to make a DOT sticker for the back.

Chloe has to keep up with her brother

When Bentley got in the stream, Chloe could not be outdone. She followed him into the water and would not come out until he did. She did not enjoy it-in fact if you look closely you will see the tears in her eyes. She is stubborn like no other and she planted herself in the middle and I had to carry her out. When Bentley was throwing rocks and pinecones in the water, she did as well. When she ran out of natural things to throw, she threw in her hat and bug net. I think she enjoyed watching me chase them down the stream. She also tried throwing her sandal out the window while we were driving. Thankfully it hit the lip of the window and stayed inside. Monkey child!

Bentley's "ice blocks"

I brought my bag of outdoor necessities to the Whipple trailhead for our little "hike". Bentley took the binoculars very serious and kept a sharp lookout for animals. He calls them his iceblocks. After trying a few times to correct him, I gave up and they are now "iceblocks". Chloe even calls them that. He holds them backwards more often than not and then dipped them in the stream to "clean them" so he could see better. He also compared Bell's leash to Indy's and said Bell's had pokanuts. That is a Bentley word for polka-dots. The dude is constantly scared of the water but I could not get him out of that stream. It was darned cold and he was oblivious.

first water dog hunt for Bentley

Bentley's cautious (politically correct phrase for chicken) nature prevented him from catching the spirit of water dog hunting. If you are unfamiliar with this, it is a milder version of alligator wrestling. Bentley saw the mud and decided that "Grandma Marcie" could go in the water to net the critters. I talked long and hard trying to highlight the thrills he would be missing out on. I sang praises to the simplicity of scooping them into the nets and then depositing them into our viewing container. He said he wanted to watch. I set Chloe on a rock and told her to stay put. I stepped into the mud mixed with cowpies, a lovely combination, and spied a fine specimen. I very smoothly netted the critter and attempted to remove myself from the muck. The muck had other ideas and refused to release my tevas from it's grip. As I put my seldom used leg muscles to work to show the ground who was boss, my foot came lose from the shoe except where it remained tethered around my ankle. This resulted in me doing a face plant into the sludge and Chloe, who seldom follows instruction but this time had remained seated where I left her, was splattered with dripping slime. She cried and carried on. The child usually celebrates dirt but this time she was put out. The good news was I retained the water dog in the net. The bad news was Bentley was creeped out by the water dog. He said that he did not like the "swimming lizards" and would not hold the container for a picture. He agreed to let me set it by his feet. I won't give up hope on him. Maybe next year he will cowboy up. Speeking of cows, he thought they were "nasty" for using the bathroom outside. He wanted to go back to the cabin to his mom and as we drove he told me in a very gentle voice, "You smell really bad, Grandma Marcie". I guess swimming in cow ponds will do that to you.

I miss the days when a mutt was a mutt- not a designer label dog. however, I have to admit that the pughuahua and labradoodle were cheap entertainment. my dog Indy was happy when grandpa and grandma's pine valley neighbor's dog came to play with rickell and jesus's dog. my dog, (a regular mutt consisting of part greyhound and part border collie-would that make her a grey border?) was losing patience with Bell bugging her. she sat back watching the two spasmoid dogs rolling around like a high school wrestling match. you can decide if that would be a high school sweetheart wrestling match or the athletic event. either way, I am thinking the two stuck up mutts may replace chicken fights.