Of Good Report

So Taylor gets sick. A lot. For the last several months he has been sick more often than not. When he is not sick he is silly and quirky and funny and we all love it (we probably wouldn't appreciate it as much if we didn't have the days and weeks of silence). When he is sick he quietly withdraws. He doesn't even talk much and when he does he almost whispers and he doesn't even move his lips. We have yet to figure out how his illnesses are attached to his voice and his lips. Perhaps he is working on his ventriloquism skills. Anyway, when he is ill we talk about the real Taylor being "absent." When he is well we all do a happy dance and shout, "Taylor's back." Last night was no exception, but it was especially joyful. Destry and Taylor who were both under the weather. Destry has had shingles for three weeks and Taylor has had his usual for a week. They attempted to go to the General Priesthood meeting. (Spencer went to Panguitch with grandpa for ...

A couple of weeks ago Sarah was sick and missed a day of church and a few days of school.  I don't usually take kids to the doctor until they have been sick for at least two weeks, but after ten days I felt like she needed to go.  She did have a sinus infection as I suspected, but also the beginnings of pneumonia; I'm glad I didn't wait any longer!  She got on an antibiotic and is doing much better.  However, she is having a hard time going back to school.  It has been a struggle to get her ready in the mornings and she has been crying at school too.  So today her teacher and I decided I would make her a chart so that she can earn happy faces each time she gets ready for school without a fuss and when she is happy at school.  She will earn a Lalaloopsy doll she has been wanting when the chart is filled with happy faces.  I hope it works.  She is generally happy and I don't know what has gotten into her.  She shared her germs with her sis...

So, every night when I listen to Emma say her prayers she always prays that we will not suffer from any "harm or wrecksion."  I wouldn't have even known how to spell this nonword until I finally decided to ask her what she meant by that.  After she told me I thought, "well, that makes perfect sense now."  She explained to me that means that we won't have anything get "wrecked."  Ok, now I know.

Every human being is an individual.  Everyone knows that.  Even identical twins have subtle physical and personality differences.  Teachers vary, just as their students vary, just as snowflakes vary.  Think of that.  No two snowflakes are exactly the same.  Think of a teacher with a classroom of 35 students.  Think of the number of teachers any given student has throughout his/her elementary, secondary and college years.  Teachers come and go like the ebb and flow of the tide.  Many do so without making much of a difference in the landscape of a child's life.  Others leave a beautiful ripple extending a lifetime.  Still others leave a damaging scar on the heart of a child. Teachers are authority figures.  They are experts.  They are ignorant. They are loving and spiteful; passionate and dull; caring and ambivalent; influential and forgotten.  To a first grader they are a god. ...

I was planning on writing this tomorrow because that is Emma's birthday, but it looks like it is going to be another long night of blood testing so I decided to make good use of my time.  We had a party for her tonight and she got sung to at church, so it seems ok to write about my darling 10 year old daughter tonight.  Ten years ago tomorrow night I was holding my first baby daughter in my arms.  She was my easiest delivery and a sweet, sweet baby.  I felt like I had my hands full with a toddler and a preschooler to care for as well, but she was definitely a welcome addition to our family.  Her big brothers loved her right away; Taylor would shake her hand and say, "welcome, Emma, welcome."  She has a tender heart and is a hard worker.  She is very organized and responsible.  She loves animals and the outdoors.  She likes to play basketball and has a good shot.  She is petite and beautiful.  She grew her hair long so she could ...