Not a basketball

 

Lilly is waiting with her mother for a new little sister.

Waiting

 Kelsi is due to deliver.

The kids were all excited to help make pies and treats for the Thanksgiving feast. This family makes very good pies and thinks about what and how to make them long in advance of the day. As a result there were five pies sitting on the counter for the dinner. Two pecan pies (Kelsi's favorite), a pumpkin pie courtesy of Jayson, a lemon meringue by Kelsi and Lilly, and chocolate silk pie from Nathan's favorite chef's recipe. 

Kelsi would love to have her baby girl any time now.

We had the usual delicious turkey stuffed with Kelsi's mom Dani's special recipe. Gravy that Nate made with whipped, mashed potatoes. Broccoli salad, green bean casserole, and a pistachio salad that should have been on the dessert shelf, along with homemade rolls ruled the bottom counter.

Kelsi sat on the couch and also had a nap but would rather be having a baby.

It has been so fun to talk, play, and enjoy the children even though all of them have a touch of illness. One has an ear ache, one had a fever, and the other is slow and falls asleep. None of them ate a lot. But amazingly none of them have been cranky, whinny, or rude. They all seem to be getting. better quickly.

Kelsi is ready.

It will be yummy leftovers for supper tonight. The boys with Grandpa and dad are watching some world soccer games (sure happy to see Ghana in the rankings) and the grandmothers and Lilly are on the computers playing jigsaw puzzles and reading. Life is good.

We watch Kelsi.

Are We All Four-year Olds?

 Yesterday Maria came to clean our house - always a wonderful day! I had an interesting experience with Makynlee my four-year old granddaughter who is not sophisticated or artful, just a typical child.

I had come home late and asked Maria on her way into another part of the house if Jeffrey had paid her yet. She said no. When I went over to the sideboard to pull out my wallet, Makynlee wanted to see and know what I was doing. I showed her the money I got out to pay Maria. She asked if she could do it. I said sure. Maria came in with buckets, brooms, and mops in her hand and set them down. Before Makynlee could hand over the money, Maria went upstairs to finish off some vacuuming. I told Makynlee she could either hold on to the money or set it on the counter until Maria came back down.

Interestingly, Makynlee elected to hold on to the money and then decided to inspect Maria's work in the rest of the house. She found Isla's room not cleaned up and was going to tell Maria about it until her mom stopped her and told her that Maria didn't need to clean Isla's room as Isla had been sleeping in it when Maria came and nothing had been put away and it would have taken Maria far too long to clean her room when her time was better spent cleaning out the bathrooms and such. When Maria came down the stairs, Makynlee handed her the money.

I reflected on the "natural man" tendency of Makynlee to be the "inspector" because she was holding the money. She hadn't even thought of inspecting Maria's work until she held it in her hand.

I started thinking about callings in the church. When people hold a calling, they suddenly feel it is important for them to inspect work done or how lives are lived when they actually have been given God's grace to give to others. There is a "natural man's" tendency to be in charge, to interpret actions and lives instead of just transferring the blessing God wants to give. What if there is no one to stop them and explain what is really going on in a situation? 

Are we acting like four-year olds in our church callings?

Fever Bright

It was an interesting morning.  I came down at 9 to watch Isla while Julia studies for her last two classes until she gets her degree. She is under pressure even though she is an online student because if she doesn't get all of her work in by the 23rd, she will have to wait until April to graduate. That means she'll have to pay more to turn her work in later. The kids in class rooms in Provo, have until December, but the online students have to be at the connivence of the professors - who probably want to mitigate how much work they will have in December.

I made granola, muffins, and chocolate cookies - all without gluten for Julia's sake. Isla was puttering around helping out once in awhile doing her thing -- then whoooweee!  She had diarrhea that smelled up the house. It was a note of warning sign.

Makynlee's school called and said she had a fever and to come pick her up. Julia stopped her studies to pick her up.  Wow, Makynlee's cheeks were very bright and she was listless. She drank her juice, but didn't want anything else. Julia gave her pain reliever but something happened on the dispenser delivery and Julia had no idea how much actually went down her throat. Julia went back to her studies. Makynlee laid on the couch and would fall asleep, wake up, moan, and go back to sleep. 

Then Isla had diarrhea with more rank smells. Ah, the joys of little ones. Julia took over at lunch time, though I noted she kept her computer and notes with her. When I came back down a while later, Julia told me about Isla deciding to change into her swim suit - and have another blow out diaper. Way too fun for Julia - not. 

Isla's cheeks were getting the same ruddy hue as her sister's had been earlier. She has been crankier and cries easily today. It has been so enlightening watching Julia take very good care of her sick girls and yet go back time and time again to get her school work done. I respect and think of her highly for the efforts she has done in both her school work and parental work. 

Bright cheeks giving the warning sign

Amazing what a little pain reliever did for her!

What a trooper Julia is! She studied in her bedroom, the kitchen, and then on the couch with the girls around her. I hope so much that she is successful!

Am I the Last to Know?

On our last trip to Utah, I talked with my sister-in-law about odor issues. Ever since Menopause-with hot flashes that lasted half a day with a horrible sweat, smells have been an issue -- and since coming back from Africa it seems to have increased. I was asking her if anyone had ever invented a bar that did more than mask or just seal off sweat until you wash up and have stinkier odor than before.

She said yes, since I asked, there is a bar or cream that has been invented that neutralizes odors. It is called Lume´ and doesn't mask odors. When I talked about it with my daughters -- they already knew about it. When I talked with another sister-in-law, she knew about it. When I talked with my friend, she knew about it. 

So just in case you do not know about this really cool deodorant I can give a testimonial of about three weeks that the solid stick really does neutralize sweat and other odors from all my folds and pits!  I am so happy to not smell body odor an hour after I shower. I have only used the unscented kind though I have heard about different flavors they have. This one works!

Website: https://lumedeodorant.com/