The Beginning of Blending

So we're into Phase 3 of this Blending Families Experiment. My kids with his kids. My girls and I arrived Thursday with our kitten. During daylight hours we are with David's family. His cat and our kitten haven't developed tolerance or respect for each other, but all of the kids have. I attribute this smooth transition to the fact that everyone of the 7 kids wants this big family to work out. They each seem eager to live in a home with a Dad and a Mom and have lots of brothers and sisters. Another helpful fact is that our kids are not spoiled. They easily share and get along well with each other. During the past year, I have been working to soften my heart and to train myself to love more easily, deeply and carelessly. I realize my heart is forward and venerable in this new condition. His kids are so easy to love! I really believe I would love them so much even if my heart were smaller, pushed in deeper and harder like it had been in the past.
My girls are usually joined at the hip and feel that they NEED each others' companionship even on bathroom trips. In the past couple of days though they have practiced more independence. They feel loved and secure in this big family. Yesterday David and I sat on the couch with the baby while the six others plus a neighbor friend played/worked quietly in small little groups in the same family room. It didn't feel like I thought 8 kids would feel or sound like.
Saturday, after chores, we took both our identical vans to get a live tree. I can't tell you how comically relieving it was to be the helper, not the leader in sawing and drilling to prep thetree for the stand. This was one of those times when I pictured myself completing a task with my previous husband. It is beautiful to have a capable, loving, and patient partner. Last night our family of 9 sat around the dinner table in love and gratitude. After dinner, I took the oldest girls along with their friends to a movie while David stayed home with the younger ones. It was reported that they did kids' yoga and spread blankets out for lots of bedtime stories. I love him!! The kids adore him too!

Snow Saturday Slumber NO

We knew it would snow when we fell asleep. In my mind the first snow landing on a Saturday meant snuggling down deeper in my warm bed for at least 30 extra minutes.

To them, it meant SNOW PLAY!!

At 6:45 AM, I bundled them up in the snow pants and gloves (that I got for a bargain at the end of Spring last year). It was dark and I told them to stay in the yard while I started laundry and breakfast.

Only 5 minute later did I realize I needed to grab something from the garden shed and drop it off at the Coombs' house around the corner.

I bundled myself up and headed outside. No girls in the front yard. I had just been in the garden shed and didn't see them in the back yard either. My heart raced. They had run off on Halloween night and were awarded tough consequences--How could they do this again?!?!?

The only place I thought that they would go would be to the Coombs' house where I needed to go, so I calmed down. I was hoping that my girls weren't ringing the doorbell at 7 in the morning on a snowy Saturday, but I could picture it.

Arriving at Coombs, my heart sank when my girls weren't visible. It was still really dark and everything was quiet. Back to my yard, I investigated the footprint in the snow. The markings proved that they had, in fact, walked out of the yard down to the corner and then the prints stopped. Did they cross the street to walk three blocks to visit the horse pasture and check on the horses in the snow? Did a StRaNgEr take them?!?! It was at this moment that my "freak out" turned on. At the corner, I pulled out my phone and looked up the number for the police department--I knew not to use 911, even though this was, in fact, an emergency. I prayed a quick prayer to calm down and guide my actions. As I began dialing, I heard their voices. I ran to the driveway to my laughing daughters. I pulled them close and and asked them why they disobeyed and left the yard. Emerson said, "We walked to the corner, but remembered the rule, so we've been playing in the backyard the whole time."

I'm so thankful for these girls. I can't imagine life without them. I know life without them would include snowy Saturday sleeping in, but I don't like to sleep in anyway.

The Doctor Visit

Today we welcomed a doctor to our 3rd grade as a launch to the health unit on the Skeletal system. He brought a huge skeleton and pointed out joints and named about 30 bones then he asked a few questions, but realized he just needed to let them ask the questions.

The questions and answers made me laugh, so I started taking notes during the discussion.

Doctor: What are your bones made of?

Student A: Wood

Doctor: No actually it's in something we drink?

Student B: Milk--Bones are made of milk.

STUDENT QUESTIONS

What's your butt made of?

How do you get disease?

Can you pop your knuckles?

Is it bad to twist your arm really weird?

How do your eyeballs stay in?

Does your tongue have bones?

Later in the day one girl told me that it was really weird that the doctor thought that the "finger" was the biggest bone in the body. I explained to the class that the thigh bone is the largest bone and is called the "femur"-- more than half of them though he said "finger".

I like being the observer occasionally. Funny kids. Patient doctor.

Train Ride to the Salt Lake Temple Square

The train ride was a reward for doing chores for many days in a row.
Our favorite place was in the Children's Book of Mormon exhibit. We danced Latina Dances with big screen demos and mirrors.
The agricultural play was a favorite spot too. The girls went through all the motions of getting the vegetables and eggs to the play kitchen and then to the dining table for me to sample--delicious!!

Fishing from Nephi's ship was exciting to watch too because the girls know the story so well that they took turns being Nephi when his brothers tied him up.

We loved the temple grounds too. They kept reminding me to be reverent because a temple is more special and important than even a church.

She's helping me become what I can become

Two months ago I was being challenged repeatedly by my eldest. She was driving me to exhaustion in parenting. She was generally well-behaved but occasionally turned defiant and extremely irritating to her little sister and to me. One Sunday in church she was so naughty during the sacrament that I started to cry. She stared at me and then, get this, laughed at me. That afternoon, the girls took a nap and I turned to read the ancient account of the ressurrected Savior visiting the inhabitants of Ancient America. At this particular part that I felt I needed to re-read, He called the little children to Him. He ministered to them and blessed them one by one. I felt that I needed to read that part to remember how much He loves them and how much I should feel honored to take care of His little ones. (Even when a particular little one nearly drives me crazy once a week)

That night I dreamed that I was in Ancient America, I was dressed like a Nephite Woman

and I was surrounded by a multitude of others excited by Christ’s appearance. He was calling the little ones to Him. I was thrilled. I don’t know where Kamryn was, but I know Emerson was with me, hand in hand, I would not let her go until she was blessed and healed. For some reason at the beginning of this dream I saw Emerson as being broken and needing to be “fixed”. I felt such an urgency to get her to the front of the line, but I was also trying to be patient with all the other good people around me. When it was finally her turn, He smiled at her and helped her sit on a big boulder for her blessing. As soon as she was settled, His eyes locked with mine and He didn’t release His smiling stare until the blessing was over. He blessed Emerson that she would learn how to love others by watching her mother. He blessed her that she would become obedient by watching her mother and that she would learn how to repent and to become what He knew she could become by watching her mother. I choked up and my heart jumped into my throat. I was shocked to realize how much I needed Emerson. I need her not to be fixed, but to help fix me. He knew I could do it. He knows I can love more, obey more and change more. He locked His eyes with mine to give me the hope and love that I need to move forward and parent with courage.

He was calling the Little Ones to Him. He calls us all to Him. We’re still Children.

He knows us. He loves us. We are His Children. He gives us what we need. Often we need our children much more than they need us. Emerson has been continuing to "fix" me and shape me into what I know, and He knows I can become.