Summer Rain

It poured today, the third time in a week. We need the rain after the way Utah's being scorched!! Reed was outside, and ran in shouting, "Mom! Mom! You GOTTA see this! It's AWESOME!!" He was drenched and grinning ear to ear. So I had to take pictures, of course. I decided the easiest way to show those pictures would be to combine them in one big collage....pardon me if it's not as well-done as it could be--the boys have their first ever dentist appointments today, and I was trying to finish the photos quickly enough to have time to spare. Anyway, I just loved watching him play in the rain, and remembering my sisters and our fun times in the August downpours of Colorado.

7 weeks

Savanna is seven weeks old today! Even though I've done this newborn thing twice before, I'm still again amazed by how fast they grow these first couple of months. When she was born, I had a bin full of 0-3 months clothing that were way too big for her. And now, every day I find at least one something from that bin that fits her to a T. Her little arms and legs are filling out, and she smiles every day. She coos and kicks. She eats more and sleeps longer at night. She looks around her with new interest and lights up when I walk in the room. I can't believe that in a week she's going to be two months old.

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Reed likes to ask "What would you feel" questions. This is because he hears Phill asking me hypothetical questions: "How would you feel if we bought a house, Rae? How would you feel if we moved to St.George, Rae? How about this, Rae?" So Reed has asked me some of the strangest questions, really wondering how I would feel in purely hypothetical situations....among his questions:

Reed: "Mama, what would you feel if we had a big, big, big, big dining room?"
Me: "Um...that would be great!"
Reed: "You got yourself a deal, Mom!"

Reed: "Mom, what would you feel if we had a diner in the basement?"

Reed: "What would you feel if the police come'd to our house?"

Reed: "What would you feel if I cleaned the whole house myself?....Well, I did."

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I find it particularly telling to note Jaxon's newest phrases and sentences in the weeks following Savvy's arrival:

"Look at me!"
"Look at that!"

Maybe he's really only asking for more attention because he himself is starting to pay attention to neat things around him:

"Oh, wow!"
"That's cool!"
"That's cuuuuute!"
"S'funny."

I went grocery shopping with all three children yesterday, with no Phill. They were complete angels. I felt like superwoman. Even if I don't have another day like that for a long time, I had yesterday. Yay for me....

Here's to hoping today improves. Jaxon has had dish soap in his eyes since last night. His countless tears have done nothing to get it out.

moving

This afternoon, I found myself sitting on the daybed of (my friend) Robyn's 7-year-old, sharing a sandwich and salad with Robyn and surrounded by taped-up boxes. There were boxes in place of the kitchen table, boxes on the couch cushions, tape and scissors in each room. Odd, isn't it, how moving seems to displace everything in such a way that you find yourself doing very funny things? Eating lunch on your 7-year-old's daybed, sleeping on a mattress in the livingroom, unpacking toys from a box on your kitchen floor, finding the kitchen dishes in a box in the bathroom....

I have relocated every two or three of my twenty-three years. This month, I find myself at the other end, in the unwelcome position of being the one to send my friends off....not the one to be sent. First to go was Abby, leaving Orem for (first Japan and then) Florida. Every time I think about "going north to see Abby", I get a little pang of heartache remembering that Abby isn't north anymore! And on the 14th, two of my dearest friends, Robyn and Camilla, will leave--one for Richfield, Utah, and one for Flagstaff, Arizona. I already feel lost, and being at the other end of relocation this time, I'm feeling antsy to relocate. Thinking that somehow, if I'm leaving, too, then it won't matter that I'll be lonely. (Because I planned it.) As if life's difficulties are easier when you plan them....silly notion. They're still hard. You just get a chance to prepare. If your preparations make it easier, great. But the difficulty is still there. I sound bitter, don't I? I'm not. I'm sad.

* * Happy 4th of July!! * *

I googled "4th of July" and found some cool images. The first one is a parade in Cedar City--we're known as the Festival City for good reason; there's a celebration for eleven out of the twelve months! The other pictures are some of Phill, since I tend to appreciate even more his service to our country when Independence Day rolls around.

Why can't everyone be nice?

Telling Reed that there are dangers in the world is one of the hardest parts of being a mother. I hate--hate--to have to tell him sometimes that things that seem okay really aren't okay. He was shocked when I told him once that there are dangerous strangers who might tell you their puppy ran away, just to get you to go with them. I felt like I was mean for telling him that! But I know I have to protect him. He certainly has that 4-year-old trademark lack of friendship boundaries. He wants everyone to be his friend! He can't imagine why there would be those who act like friends in order to hurt someone. I feel almost like I'm putting out some spark in him by teaching him that not all people are deserving of his friendship. I'm not depressed today about this, just....pensive. And perhaps a little melancholy. I found a book on Amazon.com, in my efforts to find something to help me teach him, and the title almost made me cry: