Long Thoughts

Some thoughts are short
They enter our minds and are gone
Barely registering
Glancing off our consciousness
Before flitting away


Other thoughts stay awhile
Some for a day or week
Others for a time determined by the needs of our lives,
The problem that must be solved,
The project that we want to finish,
Or the season of our lives.

A very few thoughts stay
All our lives they haunt us
Or they support us through thick and thin
Inspired by the essence of who we are
Or who we want to be.


Long Thoughts mold who we are,
Who we will become
But they are not indelible,
We can change those that hold us back,
And nurture those that bring out our best,
As long as we take the long view,
Of who we want to be.

Shout Out to Cake Wrecks

You know how some mornings it is hard to get going? Or you wake up in a funk and you just aren't sure if it is worth getting out of bed, never mind taking a shower, brushing your teeth, blow drying your hair and presenting yourself to the world? (No this morning wasn't like that, but I certainly have my days.) Well, one of the things that helps put a smile on my face, and pushes me into the absurd world that has become my life, is Cake Wrecks.



What you may ask is Cake Wrecks? It is a collection of the craziest and most beautiful cakes ever. But mostly it is a collection of some really bad mistakes made by cake decorators, that can give English teachers nightmares, and make the rest of us smile. I don't think Jenn will mind that I stole a few pictures of my favorites, since really I think you should go to her blog and look at the hundreds, maybe thousands of really badly decorated cakes there. She also tells great stories and has witty comments to go with them. For my favorite, click here.



One more plug, so that she hopefully will find this a good thing and won't sue the pants off me is that I also own her book, (you can buy it here or at any really classy bookstore) which not only I have enjoyed, but it is a good way to keep children entertained on long car rides as they laugh at some, and then ponder over why others are funny.

The Craziness of Moving

Instead of whining about all the craziness, mishaps and frustrating things that come along with moving, I figured I would share some of the sillier moments of our move over the last ten days. In the picture above you can see me just home from church, we are in a new ward which so far we love, in shoes that had a heel break about halfway through church. Of well, I made it through church and still had a smile on my face. (The shoes went in the trash right after this picture!)


Unpacking boxes that you didn't pack took on special fun for Scott when he ended up with a bunch of hats and scarves he didn't know he owned. In a fit of laughter we took pictures, and then decided to create a "snow stuff" box that we can pull out when the snow starts to fly next fall/winter.


All of the kids have been a big help during the time that we have had them. Kat especially wanted to check the top of the basketball hoop to make sure there weren't any items that had been missed. They also were a big help with picking out gloves to help move wood. So far the gloves are still in their packaging, but I am sure they will get plenty of use over the next year.


Michelle, at the end of a long packing day let me put pigtails in her hair while she was talking to Lanie. Lanie gets huge "best friend points" for keeping all of us sane as we each needed a sounding board when things got frustrating. I only wish he got to be here for more of the hilarious giggles that erupt when we are all tired and something strikes us as funny. We will have to save up lots of funny things for July when he is here!!

So, yes it has been a long, hard slog to get everything from three houses sorted and moved and we are still working on integrating all of the households. Today though, I wanted to focus on the fun that can happen, even in the middle of long days filled with stress. I think that is where we truly find moments of pure joy!

Sweet girl.....

Maddy loves eating sausage as long as she can dip it in ketchup!!

While she was there we went shopping for some new shoes. She is now a super-fast runner, which is why the only good picture I have of them is when she is in her car seat.

Here you can see the shoes, kind of, and the sun glasses she fell in love with on our shopping trip.

More Maddy.....

Maddy mugging for the camera! (Sorry it is a little blurry,)

For her birthday, I got her a puzzle that is putting together shapes that fit together to make cupcakes. She is still figuring it out, but we had lots of fun playing with them.


The group family gift for Maddy's birthday was a wagon so she and her daddy can go for longer walks together than her short legs would usually be able to go on. This is the first time we tried it out and we went to the park to swing. (You can see a picture of her on the swing in the previous post.)

A week of Maddy....

(Doing stickers with Maddy.
We made lots of posters that Maddy put up around the house.)

Okay, over the next week I am going to put up some of my favorite pictures of Maddy from my recent visit with her. It was great to see her, and just get to spend time hanging out, playing with puzzles, swinging on swings and singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider."

(Maddy loved to swing at the park by her house.
We tried swinging together and Maddy also was brave
and tried swinging by herself.)

Maddy is a happy, wonderful little two year-old!! I am so glad to get to be her momma!

A look back and forward

I wrote this poem a while ago, during a migraine that happened during one of the hardest times of my life. Today was a difficult day, and I went back and edited this poem. I am sharing it more as an anthem for others who may be struggling right now, and who need to know that they are not alone. We all have times when we feel that there is little we can do but survive. After a long winter, when the flowers start to bloom, sometimes surviving is enough. In looking back at that time, and forward to seeing Maddy in less than two weeks, I offer this poem.

Constant blinding pain

Flowing through your veins

Building up in the capillaries

Flowing through the synapses

Stopping for a while to pressurize

Creating blockages of the mind and heart

Cascading views bring the colors of agony

Flooding along the energy lines

Meridians of darting, slamming, drudging pain

And none of it is mine; it all is simply my legacy

To the children I love more than life

And to whom I leave nothing but the slaughter of their nerves and minds.

I love you, and hope that my pain will somehow shield you,

Or at least teach you how to survive it.

Uneven ground

Daisies side-by-side,
Triplet flowers of darkest blue.
No one would mistake them for nature's work,
And yet they are natural in this dream world
Where daisies turn navy, to make matches
Red hair and brown mingle in whispered secrets.

Twin nymphs smile their excitement,
Hoping to catch a glimpse of fairy dust,
Wondering if the fog hides pixies, magic and butterflies,
Winking at the solemn guards
Who hide nervous dreams of their own.


Hiking boots tromping along a trail,
Longer than the lives of those living.
Connected to generations of those who have walked the uneven ground,
Following dreams that were mere wisps when they started,
Solidifying into lives of earnest endeavor,
That create impossible flowers against brown hair;
So four more wood sprites can find their way out of the woods
On this morning's hike.