Not ready for this yet...

So I am for sure not going to leave the kids with Andrew all day again. Don't get me wrong - he's a WONDERFUL father, and does a great job with the kids... HOWEVER - he teaches them things that I don't want them to do! Good things, but things I'm just not ready for yet.

Prime example: Two weeks ago, I came home from work to find that Andrew had taken LeGrand's pajamas off and he had discovered traction on our wood floor. He was crawling. And now, it makes no difference what he's wearing, he's figured out how to get around without worrying about the traction.

Today - I came home to find that Andrew had taught LeGrand a NEW trick. He now goes UP the stairs. We stay behind him so that he doesn't fall, but again... something I was NOT ready for him to learn. After all - the little guy is still in his sixth month of age! The girls weren't crawling until seven months; I'm pretty certain that it was closer to ten months when they decided to learn the stairs.

Add to the adventure of the stairs and crawling, I caught LeGrand climbing onto a box yesterday. May I say again... NOT READY FOR THIS!!!!!!!!!! I thought for sure I'd have a few more months to not worry about what he's getting into. I should really stop thinking.

And that other tooth? It's broken through. I wasn't ready for teeth yet either. He's such a little smarty pants. Next week I'm expecting him to be running. Possibly teaching a class at the local university. At the rate he's going, I wouldn't be surprised if he was standing on his own. He is pulling himself up onto things and standing there very well - if only he'd slow down a little bit. I'd be perfectly O.K. with that, I must admit.

As for the other children - Margaret is still a "wheatie pie", but now she's also a little Einstein. Savannah is getting marvelous grades in school and still loves it - although she has asked me when spring break is. I'm not sure if she's trying to get out of school, or if she thinks that we'll go somewhere during spring break.

In other - and more positive news - Andrew will be working at the Portland Oregon Temple during the closure. And so will I. We're trying to figure out what we'll do with the young ones during the possible overlap (and if there's not an overlap, we're trying to figure out when we're going to see each other over the three weeks of shutdown). Me, I'm just glad that he has work. Thank you for your continued prayers for and in our behalf.

Now to answer Patience's questions: During the ice storm, we had wind and the weight of the ice break multiple branches off of our gorgeous trees that line the driveway. They littered the driveway to the point that we couldn't use the majority of the driveway. They are now sitting on the burn pile waiting for us to be able to burn them. That's first. Second, I'm wishing that life could slow down a little too.

I do want to mention quickly how pleased I am that our children are so willing to help... Andrew and I took the family to the church tonight for Family Home Entertainment. We cleaned the building (mostly the bathrooms - which were stinky... and the chapel and the dirty drinking fountains), and the girls were such good helpers! Margaret and Savannah both just tagged along with us as we cleaned. I have memories of going with my family to clean the chapel - I'm almost embarassed to admit that I probably wasn't the greatest of helpers; certainly I was NOT as enthusiastic as my children were to help this evening. I'm sorry Mom and Dad... I'll do better next time.

And that's the news from Farm Stahronthehill... Where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average. And this particular Mom just wants the baby to stay the baby for a little longer.