15 minutes ago:
I cut the kids each a piece of fudge (Chocolate orange fudge tastes like Christmas and I can't stop myself from eating it. Which is neither here nor there, but I said it anyway.). After she finished hers Evie asked if she could cut herself another (I was feeding Spencer). I said yes. She asked, "A sensible piece or what?" I looked over her shoulder at where she was holding the knife poised to cut and I said, "Yeah, that's a sensible piece." She replied, "So. . . bigger than that?"
20 seconds ago (as I typed that last paragraph):
David screams "SPENCER'S UPSTAIRS!!!" A minute ago he was down here with us and then suddenly he was upstairs in my bedroom. He "learned" (i.e. started trying, a few days shy of 11 months old. I tell you, my kids are not overly adventurous) to climb the stairs two days ago. We are vigilant (obviously. . .) about not letting him. Our stairs are terrifying: hard wood, foot-wide gaps between the rails (you can see in one of the pictures here), even all around the landing at the top. We need to do something about it. Like get a gate.
10 minutes ago:
Looking through David's books for homework I noticed they were all covered in crumbs. I helped him clean out that nasty backpack on Monday and today it's all full of crumbs and wadded papers again, so I very calmly and patiently (ahem) ask him what on earth happened. He replies, "It's not my fault, mom! I did not put ANY crumbs in there!"
Then I look through his English homework (they're learning how to tell time, or rather translate it "It's a quarter past two.") and see that probably 40% of the words he's written are misspelled. This is awful and much worse knowing that he was copying off the blackboard. As I point out some mistakes one by one, he says, every single time, over and over, "That's how my pani (teacher) wrote it!" He's such a punk.
This afternoon/evening:
Greg is gone. After getting home from driving back from Germany on Sunday, Greg decided to make a 4 hour round trip journey on Monday to visit a church leader who's having some life struggles. Today, Wednesday he is making a 6 hour round trip drive to a training meeting/fireside. Tomorrow he's agreed to participate in a discussion with investigators: 4 hour round trip drive. On Friday he drives 5 hours to Wrocław for a meeting and from there flies to Prague for an area meeting on Saturday. Sunday he conducts a training meeting back in Wrocław and Monday teaches a class on church history at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, before coming back home. (Hours given are just the drive, not including meetings.)
That's some driving/meeting/teaching/etc.ing. A good way to spend the week after spending a week at the temple.
Right this minute:
I quite love my family.
14 comments:
The way that you write about them, I quite love your family too :)
It seems your family is awfully lovable. But I bet you miss Greg. I have a hard time when my husband is gone that much and you remind me to have a good attitude. It isn't as if he isn't doing good things!
1) I really want some of that fudge. And not just a sensible piece.
2) Why is it that the more children one has {thus making it harder to watch the} the faster they learn to do the dangerous stuff?
3) What a lot of driving! You must miss Greg like crazy!
4) Your family is awesome.
I love hearing the sacrifices saints have to make in other countries. Makes me feel like we sacrifice nothing in the States.
I'm fairly certain it's illegal to write about chocolate orange fudge and not post a recipe....just sayin.
I'm really craving that chocolate-orange fudge now!
And your whole family is adorable.
Question: How does one make a living AND do assignments with 4 and 5-hour drive time? Amazing.
Such a sweet post...earned some big smiles here.
Our house is seriously gated as Claira learned to climb stairs at 7 months. She was climbing stairs before she was even properly crawling. Oi. Even so, gates get left open FAR too often around here. I found her in the upstairs shower stall yesterday having a grand time.
I want fudge now.
And I was wondering the same thing as Charrette. My goodness.
I admire you so much! I don't know how I would manage! And you'll be blessed for it, of course, but the blessings often come in ways that don't correlate with the sacrifice (so, no, you won't have a fairy godmother appear on your doorstep to clean your house and take care of the kids nor will a bundle of money to pay for the gas land on the doormat) but there WILL be blessings, oftentimes they are things we didn't even know we needed. (I'm making orange/chocolate mousse sometime very very soon.)
I am amazed at the time you give. Not just to your family, but to your church members. My husband is in a calling that takes him away twice a week, but the drive is so close (two minutes). It really makes me appreciate how important those things really are and how wonderful a supporting wife is. You're awesome Lisa (and a great example...thanks)!
p.s. I really want some of your fudge! Mmmmm. =D
Wow! Greg really is awesome! You guys make a neat family.
I was going to ask "is it wrong that all I got out of that piece was a craving for fudge?" But after seeing your other comments, apparently, it is not. YUM.
You and Greg and your dedication to church service is so so admirable. Big blessing in store for you guys.
It's sometimes easy to feel sorry for ourselves (not that you are doing that) when our husbands are gone for long periods of time due to church service. But I always remind myself, "At least he isn't out drinking and carousing!" Yes, many blessings are in store for you. And I can tell that the recipe for orange chocolate fudge is in store for me. I have a recipe for chocolate orange cookies that is also quite delightful.
I have no confidence in his pani to spell english correctly. I have full confidence, however, that David didn't put a single crumb in his backpack. And I have every confidence that With all 4-5 of the other family members keeping an eye on Spencer, he will remain alive long enough to see his aunt in the United States.
As for the blessing that will come from Greg's back-to-back weeks of church service, a story:
A friend in our new ward had just moved into her house a few months after us. She had lost her wedding ring in the move. (exactly why I never but never remove mine except to clean it and put it right back on while still wet)
She had done everything in her power to find it and to report it as a missing claim with her moving company, etc, and had finally resigned herself to it's loss.
Last week every time I talked to her she was highly stressed with a week of non-stop church service, something every single day or night, all leading up to this morning when she had to have her family packed and out to the airport for the holiday travel they had planned.
When she called last night, an hour before the youth were to descend on her home for a fireside, she asked if I had frosting to lend. When I said yes, and how was she surviving? she said she was of course overly busy but the happiest she'd been in a long time. She had found her wedding ring. It was in a box she had searched many many times. I told her I was pretty sure it was her blessing for her week of service.
So Lis, I quite love your family too. And I can't wait to get done with the turkey and stuffing so I can get on to slush and fudge!--also asking for a recipe here...
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