Burning Hearts and Married Cake

 It seems that my little girl is growing up entirely too fast.  Sometimes she says things that are mature beyond her 4 years and sometimes she asks questions that I'm pretty sure are mature beyond my "mom" years.  Like the other day, for example, when out of the blue she said, "now mom, tell me again how it is that moms and dads get together to make a baby."

Last night I was talking to her after the boys in the house went to sleep, and we had some "deep" conversations.  She took a little sip of my Pero after I had warned her it was hot and then quickly grabbed her chest and throat and emphatically declared, "whoa, that gives me heart burn!!" She also told me a bit about her little love life explaining that she thinks she is in love with Nash (a cute little boy in her preschool class).  We talked a little bit about how you know if you're in love with someone and what qualities to look for in a boyfriend.  Soon she was talking about how "Sammy and Ty love each other and when they get married they are going to have 21 children (says Tyler lol) and they are going to have married cake.  And Sammy's going to shove the  married cake into Ty's mouth and then all over his face like this (imagine Kylie acting this part out of course)."  Then she told me that "when Mariah and Max get married they will have 4 children all at once and Max will take care of the 2 boys and Mariah will take care of the 2 girls and then they will have 10 children."

Today at my mom's Kylie was saying again that she is in love with Nash and how he chases her around and tries to kiss her as well as possibly touch her inappropriately, but that she doesn't let him do that.  As my mom and I were trying to explain to her that she should never let boys touch her there and should tell her teacher if they do, Brandt piped in with fist raised saying, "I'm going to find him at school next week and give him a good reason not to do that ever again!"

While I really don't want my almost 8 year old second grader to beat up on a preschooler, it's nice to know that he feels that part of his role as an older brother is to protect the virtue of his little sister.  I hope she will value that protection as she gets older-it's something that I always wished I had growing up.

Vocal Point

Ever since Shaun showed buddy a video called "Brave" by BYU Vocal Point during one of their counseling sessions, we've been hooked.  The kids and I have seen all their You Tube videos about a million times and still love them.  We had the opportunity to watch them perform at the Bear Lake Middle School last night from the front row (very strategic on my part since Brandt doesn't seem to get as overwhelmed and anxious if he's on the front row instead of surrounded by people).  Some pretty momentous events occurred during the concert including Brandt losing a tooth, Kylie being sung to on one knee by one of the VP members, and Brandt dancing during one of their songs and one of them coming off stage to give him high 5. Kylie was so super embarrassed when she was serenaded in front of everyone, but later she said they were all singing just to her from the stage the whole night, which is probably what it felt like on the front row.  We were all impressed with their voices and talents, and a highlight was Adam's beat boxing.  Brandt wants to BE him! Afterward we lost Brandt for a bit when he made his way out of the auditorium ahead of us all in order to get in line first to get his poster signed.  He then went through the line again with Kylie and me so he could get his CD and VP shirt signed.  The guys were all so friendly and talkative with both of the kids and were giving them high 5 and knuckles and letting us get pics with them.  Even McKay Crockett (director and former member of Vocal Point), who was busy with clean up, took time out to talk to buddy and give him his autograph. I wonder if they understand the magnitude of the influence they have on those who follow their music, and if they know that their genuine kindness in person makes the testimony they share through song that much more powerful.   It was such a fun night and we can't wait to see them perform again!

A Shocking Experience

Tonight I am thankful to still have a husband!

We have a little closet by the back door where we keep all of our other keys, matches, pocket knives, etc., so that Brandt can't get into them.  The key to the closet has been hidden just inside the cover to the water heater timer.  Today when Bryce grabbed the key to pull it out, he got the shock of his life when he apparently touched a bare wire with the key.  Thankfully, it tripped the breaker so he only got minor burns compared to what could have happened. His fingertips and the key were obviously blackened, but what can't be seen in these pictures is that there is a chunk out of the end of the key that was actually blown away.  We are SO very blessed!

Whisper

Blessings often come at unexpected times and in unexpected ways.  Often times they come because of the goodness of Christ like people who serve others with love and kindness.  Bryce and I had been struggling for weeks with how to approach the Grizz situation with Brandt, and Bryce had finally decided that we couldn't put it off any longer and went ahead and made the arrangements for him to go to his new home.  A few days before this was to happen and before we had mentioned anything to the kids, Stacey Transtrum "happened" to post on Facebook that they had a horse for sale because they had too many.  When we talked to Stacey about her and explained why we were looking for a new horse, we all felt that she would be the perfect fit for buddy.  Clair said that she was ours free of charge as long as we would let him borrow her to pack on when needed.  Stacey's cost was a bit higher, though-a hug and a kiss from one of her favorite little boys.  My heart is still bursting with gratitude for neighbors who are so thoughtful and who genuinely love my family. We were able to go pick her up two days before sending Grizz on his way. Brandt fell in love with Whisper as soon as he met her, of course, and he loved Miss Stacey's explanation of why she named her Whisper.  She told him that Whisper always put her nose right up to her ear like she had a secret to whisper to her.  Brandt was thrilled that she nuzzled right up to him the first time they met and he quickly started bonding with her.

 Brandt ended up being really upset and "sick" the morning Grizz was going to leave, so we let him stay home from school until afterward.  He was able to give Grizz a hug goodbye before he was loaded in the trailer, and then went directly to the field to cry to and love on his new friend, Whisper.   Brandt has had a very difficult week emotionally since finding out Grizz would be leaving with extreme ups and downs, anger and sadness, and violence and acting out, but we are starting to understand better that these are all the ways he expresses his sadness when he really doesn't know how to cope with it.   What an amazing blessing it has been to be able to have Whisper be here for him in order to make the transition a little less painful.

Today Bryce took some time out to saddle Whisper for Brandt and let him ride her for the first time.  Bryce led him around the driveway and yard for a bit and then Kylie got a turn.  Whisper was super gentle and calm with both of them.  Then Brandt decided he wanted a turn by himself, which made us a touch nervous because she hadn't been ridden for two years according to the Transtrum's.  I made a round on her in the field (with buddy's way too small for me saddle-too bad someone didn't get pictures of that as I'm sure it was entertaining) and then we decided to let him go for it.  He did his ritual asking of his horse to take care of him and give him a good ride before getting on, and it worked because she really did take good care of him.  He was so happy and proud of himself, and once again I was just so thankful! Thankful for his safety and happiness and the horse (and her previous family) who helped make it possible, and mostly thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who saw fit to bless us with Whisper.

Goodbye Grizz

Growing up on a farm lends many opportunities to witness the circle of life.  It never gets easier to say goodbye to the animals we love. In fact, it gets harder as I hurt for my children in addition to myself.  Every year when we sell the calves, I hate the way those poor mamas cry when we take their babies away from them, and it's hard to listen to them bawling all over town as other farmers are doing the same thing. There were quite a few "pet" calves over the years that were bottle fed and friendly who didn't go down the road when it was time to sell because my tender hearted dad just couldn't see them go.  Unfortunately, because farmers depend on the paycheck in the fall, most of the calves have to go.  I still try to only think about the part where the calves are taken to a place where they are given lots of feed and are fat and happy but not what happens after that.  Even harder than saying goodbye to calves has been saying goodbye to dogs and horses.  I remember several cases when a dog or horse was injured and had to be put down and my dad would cry just as much as we did.

The hardest goodbye I've witnessed yet happened in the past couple days when we told Brandt that his gentle giant Grizz would be going to a new home.  He had x-rays a couple years ago and it was discovered that he has navicular bone disease, which is progressing despite corrective shoeing and occasional easy riding only.  Bryce explained to Brandt that we needed to send Grizz somewhere where his feet can be taken care of so he can't hurt anymore.  Jason was going to help Bryce take Grizz to his new owner this morning, so last night the kids went out to spend some time with him.  Buddy asked me to bring my camera out and take pictures of him saying goodbye to his special friend so he could always remember him.  That little boy has had some special moments with Grizz, and it was almost more than I could handle watching them together for the last time.  Brandt then had the idea to cut some of Grizz's mane to keep, so I braided a small section of it and then cut it for him.  There were a lot of tears shed, and I'm sure it won't be the last of them.  By the end, though, Grizz kept nudging buddy and Kylie and loving on buddy like he always does, and had both kids giggling and happy.