Wedded Bliss

March 21st 1998

14 years ago, James and I were married.  We were told there in the temple how fast it would go by.  It was hard to believe then, but it really has flown by.  

I asked the kids a few questions about marriage and this is how they responded:

Q: How long have Mommy and Daddy been married?

Logan: 40 years.

Taylor: Forty Hundred years!

Taylor: You know what's the best part of getting married?  You get to dress in fancy clothes.

Q: How old do you think Mommy was when she got married?

Logan: 14

Taylor: 12

Logan: 29

Q: How old was Daddy when he got married?

Taylor: 40

Logan: Let me think. 32

Q: Where did Mommy and Daddy get married?

Taylor: Where?

Logan: Salt Lake City Temple.  I mean Portland Temple.

Q: Do you think Mommy and Daddy have a good marriage?

Logan: Yes

Taylor: Well, do you?

Q: What makes a good marriage?

Logan: I don't know.

Taylor: Kisses

Logan: I have no clue.

Taylor: and Hugs

Q: Do you want to get married someday?

Logan: I don't know.

Taylor: Yes (nods her head)

Q: Where do you want to get married?

Taylor: Portland Temple

Logan: Oregon Temple.  The one we live closest to.

Q: How old do you think you'll be when you get married?

Logan: 25

Taylor: 30

Logan: 35

Q: Logan, what do you think the person you're going to marry will be like?  

Logan: I have no clue.  I don't want to guess.

Q: Do you think there's a little girl out there who's going to be your wife someday?

Logan: Yes

Q: Taylor, what do you think the person you're going to marry will be like?

Taylor: Strong. Handsome. And kind.

Q: Have you thought about this before?

Taylor: Yes.

Q: Do you think there's a little 5-year-old boy out there who's going to be your husband? 

Taylor: or 6-year-old.  Or if I don't find anyone like I said, I'll just marry Cade.  (The boy across the street again). 

Maybe we should discuss marriage more often in our home.

M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I

Taylor is an author.  Her first book, a non-fiction about the Mississippi River.  

That was fun, teaching Taylor to say, M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I.  She had trouble remembering how many S's to put in.  It ended up being M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I.  Whoa, there!  Not so many S's, Missy. 

So without further ado, here's her book.   

So what do you think?  I think her penmanship has improved since the first pages.  And her drawings too, for that matter.  She's having lots of fun with it.  She's been working on it for several days and is already planning her next book.  (It will be a fictional story).  

Logan even got excited and wanted to write a book of his own.  I let him pick any topic he wanted.  He chose "Weapons of War."  I'll share his book with you when he finishes it. 


Today, being Sunday, James fixed lunch after church.  This has just become our Sunday tradition.  Most of the time James won't even let me in the kitchen to help.  He tells me to go sit down.  I love it.


So today, James was fixing lunch, Taylor was setting the table and Logan was asked to empty the dishwasher.  He didn't want to and asked his dad, "Why doesn't Mom have to do anything?!?  She's just sitting on the couch looking up stuff on her iPad!"  (I happened to have just sat down and was looking up a recipe, but I guess that didn't matter to Logan).


Of course James had my back.  He reminded Logan that I'm constantly doing stuff around the house and taking care of everyone.  Thanks, Babe! 

It's also our Sunday tradition to talk about what we learned at church as we eat the nice hot meal James has made.  So I asked Taylor what she learned in Primary today and expected the same old answer of "I don't know" or "about Jesus."  Instead she says, "Some lady helped me pull my dress out of my underwear."  Oh, well, that's different.  Apparently, she'd walked all the way from the bathroom to the foyer with her dress stuck in her unders, until some lady took pity on her.  

I was baking brownies while we ate lunch and so by the time we were done eating the kitchen and dining room were smelling pretty good.  James said, "Something smells yummy and delicious."  Taylor piped up, "Me!"   You smell yummy and delicious?  

What a day!  I hope you've all had a marvelous Sunday as well.





 







 

Magical

We just finished up a fun book.  It's called Half Magic by Edward Eager.  

It's about four siblings, three girls and a boy.  They're on summer vacation, but aren't excited about it at all.  Their father had passed away when the children were younger, their mother now works full-time and their babysitter/slave driver, Miss Bick promises to keep them busy with housework instead of trips to the lake and picnics like all their school friends.  

Then they find a magical charm and their hopes of an adventurous summer begin.  They just have to figure out the "rules" of this magic charm, like the fact that it only grants half of their wish. All the while, the children have interesting, unexpected adventures in medieval Camelot and the Arab desert, as well as in their very own town. 

This book was written in 1954, so some of the terms are not used anymore or have different connotations than they had back then.   I also found out that there are several books in this series, so we're waiting for another to come into the library for us. 

My kids give it 2 thumbs up, anyway.  

Books are magical to our family.  The kids, especially Logan, love to have me read to them at night.  They lay in their beds and listen quietly.  They get excited at all the right places and laugh at the funny parts.  It's wonderful.  And even James, when I think he's studying or reading something on his own, is actually listening to the story too. 


Whenever I stop reading for the night, I'm sure to hear a chorus of, "Keep reading!  Keep reading!"  Sometimes they convince me to continue, 'cause I love reading to them as much as they love hearing a good book read to them. 
 

Once Taylor was wearing a dark brown and white striped shirt.  When James saw her, he said, "You look French.  Can you say, 'ooh la la'?"  Taylor refused, but then she went and told Logan, "Dad forced me to say, 'ooh la la' but I didn't want to 'cause I'm not French.  I'm a little bit of Spanish and a lot of English!"  

Uno, dos, tres, four!


The other day when the kids were outside playing, I heard Taylor say to Logan, "Want to race?!?  I'll let you win, if you race me!"  So they both took off running as fast as they could.  Logan won easily.  


Then I heard a surprised Taylor say, "You're really fast!  This time you have to let me win."   Sometimes taking turns winning is the only way for Taylor to keep up.  

A week or so ago, I was talking to Logan about something he'd been doing.  I think I said something about it being a talent of his.  Then Logan told me he has 7 talents.  "Well," he said, "I have more than that, but the rest haven't been unlocked yet!"

I know it's been awhile since this happened, but Logan was stung by yellow jackets last summer.  Apparently, it's still on his mind though every time he sees a bee fly by outside.  The other day, he told me he likes winter for two reasons, "First, I look good in pants, and second, all the bees and yellow jackets are dead!"  He said he wished "everyday could be winter."  

Happy Spring everyone!

Taylor's Princess/Ballerina Tea Party

Taylor had her little Tea Party the other day, on the 1st actually.  It's just taking me awhile to post about it.  I had to teach a lesson in Young Women's, in church three days after the party.  That was freaking me out for awhile.  Then I had a book club, four days after that, for a book I hadn't started yet.  So now that that's all over, I feel like I can breathe and relax a bit, I mean blog a bit.

So anyway, Taylor's little party was a great success, I think.  The girls all dressed up, twirled, ate and played.  They all got along well and had fun, so that's what I'm basing the success on.  

I was so busy twirling with and serving food to the girls that I almost forgot to take pictures.  It's a cryin' shame, I know.  So here are the few pictures I did get. 

After the girls did some twirling and prancing around the front room we had our tea party with crackers and cookies and chocolate milk.  Then they all went up to Taylor's room to play.  That's when I realized I hadn't taken any pictures.  So here's my attempt to remedy that.

Then, after all her friends had gone home, I had to give Taylor more cookies and chocolate milk so she would pose for me, as if she were having her tea party with all her friends there.

I did catch some of the twirling action though.

Taylor and her friend, taking turns showing off their ballerina skills.

"This is a twir-wal, twir-wal, twir-wal."

Taylor told me she had a good time.  She said her favorite part was the tea party.  And she has decided that we need to have a tea party every week!  

I don't think every week is necessary, but it was so low-key and easy, I think we will have to do it again sometime.  Maybe then, I'll get some decent pictures.