What's New

We usually don't have much to report over here.  The "And what's new at your house?" question is often a little difficult to answer.  There is certainly newness--every day is a new adventure--but not always of the sharing kind.  In the last month, though, we have a few noteworthy happenings to document:

• Maren is potty-trained!  And, I should quickly add, I had almost nothing to do with her near instantaneous success!  She was done with diapers, ready to be a big girl in another official way, and essentially handled it all herself.  I shouldn't be too surprised about that either--that is the way my little miss does most things.  I offered the panties, a lot of moral support by way of sticker chart, chocolate chips, and much cheering, and that was all she needed.  She had about four accidents total, and by the end of day five was telling me every time she needed to go to the bathroom.  We are now about one month into it, and she is very confident, and still very motivated all on her own.
• My mom came for 10 days for "no-particular-reason-but-she-does-wonders-anyway" trip.  She did several wonderful little make-my-house-pretty projects that I had nothing to do with, except to be amazed by her many talents.  We found fabric, and she made these pillows and cushion for my living room.  Then we bought flowers, and she made a lovely arrangement over the piano.  And, we talked, and talked, and talked, and talked, which is even more lovely than house projects. 
  
    
• I checked off another bucket list item last month, "Play my clarinet in public."  There are four ladies in our current ward who play the clarinet (including me), so I thought it might be fun to do something with one or some or all of them in our annual late February talent show.  I got brave and initiated the idea, found the music, and then made an official commitment to play.  My embouchure is sad after all the years of non-playing, but after practicing as a group every Wednesday night for six weeks, I had enough endurance to play our two pieces.  I was definitely the weak link in our group; the other two ladies in our trio have played more consistently than me in stake music events.  But, I did alright.  We made it through, and I thoroughly enjoyed the camaraderie of group playing.  Huzzah for making a goal, and accomplishing it.
• Currently, we have a resident artist in our ward. She supports her family with the art she makes, and has her work in galleries all over the west, and is starting to be accepted at galleries on the East Coast as well.  She is a fabulous, dynamic, exuberant, deeply compassionate person, and I feel so grateful to be her friend. On Thursday nights when she isn't traveling, she hosts a pastel class with several other art-loving ladies in our area.  We get together and talk, laugh, and make art.  It has been the highlight of my winter, and has given me that much needed creative outlet without children.  We have been following Jackie Simmonds Pastel Workbook: A Complete Course in 10 Lessons.  I must note, that we simply use her step-by-step instructions to recreate what she has already created, so is not original art, but still very instructive and enjoyable.  Here is one of my drawings: 

•  And finally, Ezra swallowed a quarter on Friday.  Why?  I haven't the foggiest.  We never have money out and available, but when Ezra and Maren starting fighting over who got to go in the favorite swing first, I resolved it by flipping a quarter.  Ezra picked the eagle side, Maren was heads.  Later that day, Ezra and Maren helped me wash dishes, got soaked, and had to go change.  In less than two minutes after they went upstairs, Ezra came downstairs sobbing hysterically because he had swallowed the "eagle money" accidentally.  We called the pediatrician, and when Ezra was complaining of his "swallow ball" hurting when he was asked to eat some bread, the nurse advised us to go to urgent care and double check its location.  Wonder of wonders, our children's hospital has a north campus that is an easy 10 minutes north of us.  We were bumped up to the top of the list and were seen very quickly.  Ezra was so, so scared, wouldn't look anyone in the eye, and teared up if anyone asked him questions.  Maren chimed right in several times, and told the whole story!  Eventually, we went to radiology and had two x-rays taken.  The nurses and radiologists were as good as gold, and by the time we got to the x-ray room, Ezra was giggling.  This head profile picture came up first, showing that the quarter was not lodged in his throat, which could have meant immediate emergency surgery (whew!)  When the second picture came up, I had to chuckle--yep, quarter in tummy--we are here for a reason!  The whole afternoon was unexpected, but so, so positive.  I have never seen such a lovely, energetic, sweet group of doctors and nurses.  Ezra is not brave in unfamiliar situations, but they set him at ease, and helped him feel relaxed.  A quarter in a stomach is not ideal, but not problematic; in most cases it passes on its own without any complications.  As we exited, Ezra and Maren were both gifted blue Gatorade, goldfish crackers, and stickers.  They were tickled, and the quarter was all but forgotten.