Fonz and Futility

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . Joy waking up sick this morning.

. . . spending a lot of time on a dinner that turned out so lousy I had to throw it away.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . Joy being excited that Christ resurrected today. On Friday we showed the kids a cut-out picture of Jesus, and a piece of white cardboard cut in the same shape as His body. We put the picture in a box representing His body in the tomb, and we put the white cut-out on a shelf above, symbolizing His spirit going to Heaven. This morning Joy was thrilled to find that the box was empty and the Jesus's spirit and body had reunited (i.e. been taped together). It was the only part of this day that went according to plan, and while I wish the family gatherings had work out, this little celebration of the Savior's Resurrection was more important than all the fun we missed.

. . . playing chess with Joy. At one point she warned me not to go near her side or she'd get me with "the fawns." Phillip asked if she meant "pawns." I kind of like "the fawns" better. Or perhaps she meant "The Fonz"?

Stuck in Park

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . my car refusing to shift out of park. Thank goodness it waited to break until we were outside our building, instead of back at the grocery store. That would have been a long walk home.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . escaping the Trader Joe's parking lot with our groceries and our lives. That place is a zoo on any afternoon, but the day before a holiday it was a madhouse.

. . . neighbors offering to loan us their car so we can visit family tomorrow. Bless them.

And another thing . . .

. . . I've noticed that, while Daniel asks me "Why?" at least one hundred times a day, about virtually any request I make of him, he feels no compulsion to answer that question when it's directed at him. I'm not sure if he even grasps what that word means; perhaps he just uses it as a delay tactic to make me keep talking instead of making him do what I ask him to do.

Anna and Tin Tin

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . imbibing the cuteness of my sweet, smiley baby.

. . . watching a fun movie with my sweetie.

Shower and Squeals

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . Anna squealing with excitement when the front door opened. She has already learned to associate that phenomenon with Daddy arriving home.

. . . chatting with friends at a baby shower.

. . . making Anna giggle.

. . . hugging my kids.

. . . hugging my sweetie.

Gloves, Tomatoes, and Unruly Locks

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . discovering that the garden center only seems to stock gardening gloves in "Munchkin" and "Smurf" sizes. Are my hands abnormally huge, or do glove makers just not have a realistic notion of how large women's hands are?

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . seeing purple blossoms appear on my sage plant.

. . . Anna giggling at Joy's antics.

. . . buying a few veggie plants for the borrowed garden. I'm trying four different varieties of tomatoes; we'll see how they compare.

. . . seeing Daniel's unruly bed head when he got up from his nap. His hair looks perfectly normal when he gets up in the morning, it looks crazy when he gets up from naps.

Love Family, Hate Cleaning

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . cleaning our snake's tank. Bleh.

. . . starting to clean a mountain of dishes.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . finishing that mountain of dishes.

. . . seeing Joy smile when I told her, "I love you."

. . . Phillip giving me a hug.

And another thing . . .

. . . Daniel has learned the word "Why?" and he says it all. the. time. Joy continually bombards me with questions, too. It can be exhausting, but I know in ten years I'll wish she was asking more questions about the whatever's weighing on her teenage mind.

. . . this evening I asked my family what had made them happy today. After everyone had answered, I realized that we had all shared something that involved another member of our family--Phillip and Daniel going to the store together, Daniel and Joy playing in the courtyard, etc. We have our share of squabbles, but it warms my heart to know that our favorite memories of the day were made together.

Fog and Conference

This weekend's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . driving down a mountain in very thick fog. I was going to be driving on my own (Phillip had a conference at school yesterday), and I debated whether we should just stay at the cabin for the night. When I prayed about it, though, I felt a peaceful assurance that we would get to Pink Grandma's house safe and sound. There were a couple dicey moments when we couldn't even see the lines on the road, but I stopped and prayed for help, and my prayers were answered.

This weekend's favorite moments included . . .

. . . hearing the inspiring words of a prophet and apostles.

. . . being with family.

. . . eating lots of treats.

. . . Anna staring up with wonder at tree branches moving in the breeze.

. . . Daniel hollering "Amen!" from another room when a talk ended. We hadn't realized that he was listening.

. . . hearing a couple talks that really speak to challenges our little family is facing right now. After the session Phillip and I went for a walk and agreed to study them in more depth this week and discuss how to apply them.

. . . hearing a speaker relate that when President Monson's daughter comes to visit, he always says, "Look who's here! And aren't we glad! And isn't she beautiful!" That sounds so like him. It must warm her heart so to be greeted with such enthusiasm and love. I want to be a parent like that.