Star of the Week- Daniel

I'm starting a new tradition around here: Star of the week.

Don't kids love it when they get to be the star in school? I'm thinking  it's a pretty nifty idea to point the spotlight on someone and let them shine for a bit in our home.

This week's star is Daniel!

Name: Daniel Lincoln Kingsley. (He's named after one of my favorite Biblical heroes, Daniel, and one of my favorite modern people, Grandpa Lincoln LeCheminant. Grandpa Lincoln is one of the kindest, most loving people I've ever met. He's also named after Abe Lincoln, one of my favorite Presidents.)

Age: 7, although he's counting down days until his 8th birthday. Literally. He keeps reminding me how soon his birthday is coming, even though it's still over 180 days away. Eight is a Big Deal around here. That's when he can choose to be baptized, that's when kids in our family get to start enjoying gum, and it's when they can choose to start fasting once a month with the family. we celebrate this birthday with a huge feast and party to commemorate his baptism.

Best Feature:His laugh. It sounds like bubbles erupting from deep inside of his chest. It's delightful to hear and absolutely contagious!

Grade in school: 2nd

Favorite subject: PE, because sometimes they play games. His favorite game is Crab Tag.

Favorite thing to do in his free time: Read books, mostly Calvin and Hobbes.

What he wants to be when he grows up: "I want to be one of those guys that gets paid to test out new ice cream flavors." I think he just invented a new job description. Good luck with this one, buddy!

Favorite Talent: Playing the recorder. He memorized the haunting melody to "If You Could Hie To Kolob" and it sounds beautiful. He is very musically-inclined and loves to sing, play the piano, and play the guitar. He seems to be always humming or singing or whistling.

Favorite book: Calvin and Hobbes. I can't tell you how many nights he falls asleep with these books on his pillow after staying up late reading. Those poor books are sorely abused from frequent perusals.

Favorite color: Blue, Green and Gold

Favorite food: Spaghetti and meatballs. Ramen noodle soup is a close second, except he prefers the Thai version with a name we can't spell with English letters or pronounce. We pick it up from the oriental market in Austin. It's much better than normal Ramen- it comes with dehydrated veggies, chili oil, and lots of flavor.

Number of kids he wants when he grows up: 3

One more thing he's really great at doing? Reading!
He's at the top of his class for Reading, and he loves to read books several grades more advanced than him. He ALWAYS stays up late reading books in bed.

This year he has grown to be so much more responsible. Without me asking him to do so, each night he diligently packs his lunch for the next day, packs his backpack, and sleeps with his shoes on so he can leap out of bed and be ready to go. (I try to talk him out of sleeping with shoes on, but he is determined to do so. I figure it doesn't harm anything to let him do it, so he does it. He sleeps with his blanket pulled up high under his chin so his feet can stick out from under the bedding. Silly boy.)

He is also very empathetic. Daniel is so thoughtful and is regularly volunteering to rub my feet or brush my hair or bring me a cold drink. He's so generous with his time and really tries hard to make people feel loved.

We are so glad to have him in our family!

We love you, Daniel!!

The Animal Whisperer

Daniel feels such a deep connection with animals. He has a special gift with creatures, and he's always drawn to animals as if he's pulled by an invisible string tugging him in their direction. 

He can't help but pet any creature he finds, like the summer he mortified me and played with monstrously huge Texan spiders. He giggled and let them crawl all over his head, arms, and chest. These spiders had a 6 inch leg span. (Shudder!) To watch Daniel, you'd think these spiders had all the charm and appeal of new puppies. 

Another occasion we went to a zoologist show. The presenter called Daniel up to the stage and put a huge live scorpion on Daniel's head for several minutes. He loved it.

Today he told me, "I often wish I was a chicken." Trying to stifle my laughter, I asked him why he felt that way. He responded, " The feathers are sooo soft and I've always wanted to hatch my own eggs!"

These photographs capture him perfectly.  He's often found by himself quietly cuddling with a cat in bed or cradling a chicken in his arms. This is what Daniel finds joy in the most.

At night he carefully brings his favorite cat, Severus, into bed. Severus sleeps on Daniel's pillow, with blankets loving tucked around his furry body with all the gentle care of a concerned parent. Severus purrs loudly for hours while he cuddles with Daniel each night.It's so fun to check on my children in the middle of the night and see Severus still lounging on the pillow, happy as can be. 

Daniel is so happy to live on a farm and be surrounded with animals every day. Life is so good for him here! I am filled with joy when I watch him interact with his furry or feathered friends. 

Little Things and weekend plans

This post is just about life's little things. The little things that make me happy. The little things that make life interesting. 

Daniel loves his bike! He rides it everyday (as long as it's not raining). He REALLY loves to ride bikes with Daddy on the quiet, scenic country roads in our neighborhood  The bike is too small for him and it's made from pieces of different bikes. See the front tire? It's spray painted black to cover the previously pink paint....we reused the wheel from a thrift-store princess bike. Daniel doesn't care. He's just happy to have a bike, and -boy!- does he ride it everywhere! He takes his trusty bike all over the property, racing with Matthew to see who can off-road across the yard the fastest.  His birthday is next week....maybe it's time to upgrade his bike to a brand-spanking new one? 

I LOVE how colorful our farm eggs are! I feel a little blush of joy each time I glimpse these rainbow eggs perched on our counter. The wire basket they sit in is shaped like a rooster, isn't that perfect? It was a gift from a dear friend and I think of her every time I see it. I started selling our pastured eggs this month in town. Our chickens are happy to forage all over the pasture in the dappled shade under our oak trees. They don't even respect fencelines, so they head over to our neighbors regularly until the neighbor's dog chases them home. 

Look at the gorgeous colors the eggs are naturally made each day! I feel like it's Easter with those green eggs smiling at me. It's almost a shame to crack them open. My favorite eggs are the dark brown ones. We call them 'chocolate eggs'. Who wouldn't want a chocolate omelet for breakfast? Mmmm.

This shot was taken at the Dinosaur Pit in Austin's Nature and Science Center. Daniel is such a kind big brother. He's often found doing creative things to help Diego explore the world or enjoy life. I love moments like this.

And I just love this picture. This scene totally warms my heart. There's something magical to me when an innocent baby explores part of their world. It reminds me how wondrous life is every day.

Sarah and Matthew are heading to the regional competition for Destination Imagination tomorrow morning. 

We'll be gone before the sunrise and returning home hours after sunset. They've worked hard for four months preparing for this competition. 

Earlier this week our team was very chaotic at our team practices, especially when our scenery kept falling apart any time it was touched. Frustrations! I'm not allowed to solve any of their problems, so it was really neat to see them pull together and work as a team to fix their unexpected mishaps on stage. 

I've been amazed at the personal growth they've each shown this year! They've learned some amazing life skills, made wonderful friendships, and had a good time creating their presentations for the Challenge. Sarah and Matthew are already talking about doing it again next year. 

Now we're off to bed so we can rise bright and early for the competition. 

They are competing against 14 other teams. Yikes! That's so many!

Wish us luck!

Nature and Science Center

My kids beg me to find excuses to drive into 'the Big City' just so we can visit this magical place.

What is it, you ask? In a nutshell, it's an educational complex nestled in the heart of the sprawling metro park in downtown. 

It has a mini nature museum (which is all hands-on for kids...the 'awesome' points just skyrocketed for that detail), a small zoo, nature paths to explore, a dinosaur dig for kids to excavate giant fossils, and educational activities. Did I mention it's all free?

If you time the trip just right (which we make a point of doing), you can catch the professional Naturalists who staff the center.

They host a super-nifty area called the Trade-In desk.

Kids bring treasures they've found in nature (sea shells, fossils, rocks, bones, bugs, etc) and learn more about it with the Naturalists. 

Here Sarah shares some of her recent findings from our pasture- some animal bones. She was able to learn what animal each bone came from and what type of bone it was. 

Can I just say, we LOVE the Naturalists here.

 They never just straight-out tell a child what the object is. They help the kids discover for themselves all the information they can. 

Instead of saying, "That's a raccoon/possum/deer/cat skull", they show the child a dozen different skulls and ask them to find out which one their sample matches the best. When they have a match, they learn what animal it belongs to. Then they discuss in detail what every little orifice is for, or why the teeth are shaped the way they are to accommodate dietary habits, or why the eyes sit on the head a certain way, or a million other details about zoology you ever wondered. 

Our kids love the exploration process here! Here Sarah and Matthew review their notes to figure out what animal they discovered.

The naturalists make exploring nature a grand adventure with their contagious enthusiasm, and even grown-ups enjoy listening to the details. 

Kids can trade in their treasures for points which they use to 'shop' the Naturalists' store. 

The store is a wall of shelves stocked with all the treasures other kids have brought in (see the background in the pic above? That's part of the store.)

Here Matthew and Daniel deliberate over potential prizes to cash in their points for. This is the hardest part of the visit as they agonize over their choices. Which is better: polished rocks or fossils? A huge cow skull or butterfly collection? Should they just save points for a bigger prize the next time we visit? 

Usually my kids have collected animal skulls, turtle shells, and various antlers or horns. 

For years Sarah also had her heart set on getting the most expensive prize- a preserved butterfly collection.

For years she had been saving up points for this goal.

Today was the day she finally earned it. 

We have one VERY happy girl.

Dragons and Superheros

This is the world of imagination where the boys spent the afternoon.

Matthew is a dragon (see the fire erupting from his mouth?) attacking a city (notice the buildings engulfed in fire?).

I love the red firetruck and firemen battling the flames. See the little firefighter climbing bravely up the ladder to rescue a screaming citizen from a burning building?

Three firemen on the ground are desperately trying to quell the flames (although I'm not sure how they managed to get their hose to spray in three different directions at once...)

Daniel is SuperDan, flying to the rescue in his blue cape and protecting the city with his red-hot laser-vision (see where the lasers wounded the dragon? The details they think of are interesting.)

The awe-struck citizens on the street are pointing and exclaiming, "Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's SUPERDAN!"

Boys are awesome.

The boys and Jane Austen

Last week in family prayer, Matthew said, "We thank Thee that we could watch Pride and Prejudice today."

Who could have guessed my boys would enjoy a six-hour Jane Austen movie? Not I.

I was floored to hear Matthew analyze the characters with Sarah.

Over the dinner table they had a debate discussing the following question: Who would make a better husband: Mr. Bingley or Mr. Darcy?

Matthew pointed out that Mr. Bingley was more at ease with people and therefore would have greater social prospects for their future family. Matthew also pointed out that Bingley is sincerely friendly and cheerful, unlike Darcy's frequent sour expressions and awkward conversations.

Sarah defended Mr. Darcy by saying his fortune was greater and his house more beautiful. She conceded that earthly wealth does not make a good husband, but pointed out Darcy's anonymous service and generosity as evidence of his good character. Her trump card was Miss Darcy, the younger sister. Georgiana Darcy is so friendly and kind, and Sarah was convinced she would be a delightful sister in law. "Besides," she stated in her closing argument, "No one is worth marrying if you have to be stuck with the Bingley sisters. They are so awful!"

Daniel agreed with everyone's arguments and couldn't decide which husband would be better.

Grinning sheepishly he said, "Luckily I don't really have to decide since they're not real. And I'm a boy anyway. I pick to marry Jane, she's the nicest."

I'm tickled that my children are learning to love one of my favorite stories from one of my favorite authors.

Lessons from the Baseball Diamond

Nathan and I decided to expand our children's cultural experience.

What's that you say? Aren't we cultured enough?

Oh sure, we celebrate the Indian Holi Day with feasts and powdered dye fights.

We like to make sushi, Russian borscht and piroshki, Turkish food is a delight, Mexican cuisine is a main stay in our menu rotation, and Indian food reigns supreme in our kitchen. 

We love to do British tea parties. (Herbal teas, of course.)

Our favorite music albums are sung in Turkish, Italian, or Russian. 

Our favorite books are written by British authors such as Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, A.A. Milne, Lucy Maud Montgomery, and C.S. Lewis.

Nathan keeps a large collection of books written in Russian, and subscribes to a Russian magazine each month. 

(He lived in Russia for 2 years on a mission for our church.)

We take our kids on field trips to see the professional ballet and opera every year.

We adorn each room in our our house with rugs and art from Turkey.

My absolute favorite shirts are Indian kurtas. I love wearing them! They are so comfortable and modest (Shopping for modest clothing in Texas is a joke. Everything is sleeveless, transparent, or has a plunging neckline. No good for a Mormon mommy!)

And finally, the best kicker of them all:

Our roosters. 

They are named Luciano Pavarotti (my favorite opera singer), 

Papageno (our favorite character from Mozart's Magic Flute opera), 

and David Bowie (British pop star... the rooster just looked like him. Imagine David Bowie's character from the Labryinth....that's what our rooster looks like.)

Culture enough? Nah.

 We needed to spice things up by including something iconically American. 

Professional baseball. 

I know it's hard to believe- but here's the confession: I have never watched a baseball game, not even a high school baseball game. 

I was excited to introduce our 'littles' to this sport. 

There's cracker jacks, cotton candy, hotdogs, and soda. Cheering and laughing crowds.

What's not to like? 

Well...

"Everything", according to Sarah.

She hated it. 

Dan hated it. 

Matt tried not to hate it, but didn't actually like it either.

Diego had his first taste of soda pop and thought life was perfect, but didn't care about the game.

Nathan and I were not impressed. We tried gamely (pun totally intended) to make it interesting.

We left before the last inning.

We learned an important lesson:

Take us to an opera any day, but sports just isn't our thing.

Home Schoolers Field Day

I had one of the more embarrassing parental moments of my life during this field day competition. Before we get to that, here are the brief details of the day.

Sarah had registered to compete in a regional home schoolers field day. Daniel was out of public school for a doctor's appointment, so he was able to come along and participate as well.

We picnicked under gorgeous oak trees and reunited with home school friends. Sarah and Dan engaged in the obligatory whining-about-the-heat before scampering off to play and compete.

We cheered for each other and had a wonderful time. Daniel came away with a first place ribbon and a third place ribbon.

After stirring up some confidence, Sarah collected one first place, two second place, and three third place ribbons.

After all the events finished, there was a ginormous game of Red Light/Green Light with ALL the kids ages 5-18. They took up the entire soccer field to play this with 200 kids. We had 10 adult referees. It was a colossal competition.

Daniel's dramatics took center stage when he gave up on the entire game and flopped face-down in anger and tears. I tried to help him feel better and invited him to come have a cold drink in the shade with me. He just yelled and wailed and ignored any consolations of logic or compassion.

I tried for 5 or 10 minutes to help him feel better. It wasn't going anywhere. Knowing I couldn't physically carry him off the soccer field, I cheerfully told him I was going back to the sidelines and he could join me for snacks whenever he chose.

When I reached the spectating parents on the sidelines, I sheepishly explained what was going on. Daniel laid stubbornly in the middle of the playing field, laying face down and absolutely still. Oh what a battle of wills he was having. Too bad for him I wasn't playing....he was only battling his own mind I guess.

After several minutes, he was noticed by the game referees. Several medics ran to his side, thinking he had heat exhaustion or an injury. How embarrassing. Have you ever pretended a child wasn't really YOURS? I tried that.

Unfortunately they asked Daniel who his parent was. Then they came over the loudspeakers calling, "Will RENAE KINGSLEY come to the field? We need RENAE KINGSLEY!"

Oh how embarrassing. I quickly explained that it was only a tantrum, and the medics laughed good-naturedly (they were all parents, too). I still felt humiliated and burned with shame.

Diego definitely enjoyed the entire show. Isn't he riveted?

Daniel Tackles the Wall

(Editor's rant: Yikees. Old news again. I'm just not organized enough to keep up to date on this blog. It has something to do with the fact that our dial-up takes for-eh-ver to upload any pictures. I really do hate to post a story without its pictures....and I really do hate spending so much time uploading the darn things. I know, I know, old news is terrible. I needed to record this for my own documentation, so you can skip reading this one. I promise not to hold a grudge.)

Daniel had one wish for his birthday party: he wanted to go rock climbing and bowling. He never gave a thought that his cast might hold him back, and he didn't let that slow him down. 

Nathan and I served as the cheer leading squad for each child as they took turns bowling. Nathan was so enthusiastic and animated. It made me giggle every time he cheered. The kids just soaked up all the attention like little sponges. 

After a round of laser tag, Dan was ready to tackle the rock climbing walls. He was so eager to give it a try. Dan has always been the most acrobatic climber in our family. I was hoping he wouldn't be too disappointed and frustrated by the hindrance of his cast. He couldn't bend one arm at all, so I was a bit apprehensive.

It turned out Daniel adapted quickly to climbing without bending his elbow. He scaled up the wall faster than Sarah or Matthew. Look at him go!

He made it to the top several times and rang the bell triumphantly. He loved this activity so much and climbed all the courses in the beginner section. 

Then he watched the adult 'regulars' climb the advanced walls. He was determined to give those walls a try, so he convinced Nathan to take him into the crowds of experienced climbers and hook him up to a difficult wall. I couldn't believe how much he enjoyed himself.

After rounds of bowling, laser tag, climbing, and mini-golf it was finally time to head home. 

For a long time Nathan and I had been planning on installing a rock climbing wall in the boys bedroom. I kept thinking we shouldn't build it until the boys were older....but now I'm thinking we can install it much sooner. They were in their element today.

Emergency Date Night

Today was *Fun*.

I'm glad I can think clearly during an emergency, sometimes.

Today we went to the park while we waited to pick up Matthew and a friend after school. Daniel was playing on the slide while I cleaned out the van. While I threw away garbage, I heard Daniel start screaming. Loudly.

(I must admit, I didn't think anything was truly wrong at first. Dan is famous for his melodramatics. Remind me to tell you the story about his tantrum/hyperventilating/thrashing on the floor/screaming over some sticky fingers. He kept gasping, "I can't LIVE with sticky fingers!" while shaking his hands in the air emphatically. With Daniel, that behavior is pretty much par for the course.)

I calmly walked over to him to access the damage, mentally preparing my soothing words that whatever was wrong that was really not worth screaming about.

His arm was hurting, so I tried to move the bulky long sleeve out of the way to discover the scrapes. As soon as I gently held my hands on his arm, I could feel the bones wildly out of place. Yikees.

I had two thoughts at this point:

1- Poor boy! What a terrible mother I am to have thought nothing was actually wrong! I should have intuitively known something was seriously wrong. He must be in so much pain!

2- DRAT! The last thing I need is an expensive ER bill. Goodbye, house project #2 (installing a wall and front door where our garage door currently stands. Sigh. I was so looking forward to this project being finished. Oh well.....).

I picked him up (minus one sneaker, which was left under a slide....I hope it's still there tomorrow!) and carried him gingerly to the van. Of all the days to be without my cell phone, this was it. Nathan had taken it to work.

Shielding my eyes and scanning the park, I saw a lady jogging two dogs on the opposite end of the field. Jogging as quickly as flip-flops allow (which looked pretty comical, I'm sure), I begged the use of her phone to place some quick calls.

Unfortunately we still had to pick up Matthew and his friend from school, so poor Daniel had to cradle his arm while we collected our boys from school and sped home. (I'll admit, I really did speed. That's a big deal for me.) We made a quick stop to deposit our children at a neighbor's home and get some pain killer for Daniel. Then we began the long drive to the hospital.

A thirty minute drive can take forever.

Along the way, Daniel started losing consciousness. At first I was grateful that his body's natural defenses were shutting his brain down as a coping strategy. Then I thought perhaps he was going into shock.

He wouldn't wake up while I jiggled him, so of course I began to worry. I pulled over and woke him up, explaining what shock was and asking him to stay awake and talk to me during the drive. He was so good to try so hard to remain conscious and talk to me.

Luckily the ER was virtually empty when we arrived. The x-rays showed his bones both broken and crazily out of place. Daniel was so angry that they had cut off one of his favorite shirts, and the hospital gown they provided him was not nearly adequate in his mind. He was not impressed with the astronaut print on the gown.

Here are some brief moments from our 5-hour stay in the ER:

When the nurse was putting in the IV line, she directed Daniel to focus on the television instead of her. His weak reply was, "I can't. It's playing Sponge Bob, and that's not allowed at our house. It's too stupid."

Later I flipped through channels to find what interested him. When the doctor came in, he glanced at the TV and asked Daniel in a surprised voice, "YOU picked this? What six-year-old chooses to watch Food Network?" Daniel just smiled. (He takes after his daddy on that preference. They watch recorded episodes of Good Eats together.)

All the nurses and doctors commented more than once how tough he was. He didn't cry and they were surprised at his comprehension of the procedures. I kept explaining to him what was going on and he'd provide his own opinions. For example, he didn't want to wear the obligatory oxygen mask, so he said, "I have enough oxygen in my blood! I'm breathing just fine! Do not put that thing on me!"

While we waited for the x-rays to be taken, I played with his hair and held h is hand. When I moved, he quietly said, "Mommy, will you please hold my hand longer?"

I was able to watch the doctor set the bones. It was fascinating, although unnerving, to hear the bones pop during the procedure.

After we left we were starving hungry (we left the ER at 9:00pm and had been away from home since 3:00) so we had a rare treat and went through the Chick-Fil-A drive-through for dinner to eat on the drive home.

Gasp! I know, I know. Fast food is usually ultra-taboo for us. (If you want to know why, read the books titled "Omnivore's Dilemma" and "Fast Food Nation". It will cure your fast-food cravings in a jiffy!) We were so hungry I actually didn't care about my personal food politics. Well.....I should say there's one exception: I'm never hungry enough to visit McDonalds. Ever.

Daniel was so delighted. He said matter-of-factly, 'This is like a mother-son date. Except that I have a broken arm. This is great! I love date nights!"

Day in the snow

Are words really needed? I think not.

The day my life changed forever

Yesterday I aged 5 years in one day. 


Daniel was missing.

He didn't come when I rang the bell for dinner, which is unusual. I realized I hadn't seen him for a long time, so I began searching the house to discover where he might be curled up with a book or asleep under a pile of blankets. A cursory glance of the house didn't yield any results, so we all began searching deeper and calling for him loudly. I checked under every bed, under every couch, in every closet, inside the dryer, even in baskets of clean laundry to see if he burrowed under the clothing. There was nothing...but it was likely he was playing outside in a far corner of the property. I checked all the barns, sheds, and chicken coop and turned up no sign of him. I had been looking for him for almost an hour. This is when I began to feel worried.

Nervously I called my neighbor on the phone. "Did Daniel by chance come over to your house to play without my permission?"

She replied, "He tried to earlier but I asked him to go home and get permission first."

He had never came to me to ask permission. The conversation between Daniel and my neighbor had happend much earlier in the afternoon. That was the last time anyone had seen him.

Our property is completely fenced in, so Daniel would have to walk along the road for a long distance before he could reach our gate and enter the yard. It would be so easy for a passer-by to pause and kidnap him. Usually I go outside and watch my children walk along the road until they reach the safety of our gate, but this time I didn't know he was out there. He was gone. Every parent thinks this will never happen to them, but suddenly it was happening to me. My mind was racing with all the terrible possibilties and I began to tremble as I dialed 911. Darkness was falling rapidly, making it hard to search outside.

I continued to search the house, the garage, the vehicles, everything I could think of where he might be while I talked with the dispatcher. They dispatched 6 deputies out to our home, but it would take a long time for them to arrive. They also said a helicopter with infrared cameras was on its way to help search in the dark. The dispatcher told me I shouldn't have waited so long to call 911....the longer Dan was missing the farther away a kidnapper could get, reducing the chances of finding him. My neighbors searched their property with flashlights in case Daniel had stayed to play in the groves of trees. When they found nothing, they volunteered to begin driving along the country roads looking for him in case he wandered off and became lost.

Inside my house was utter chaos. Children were alternating between praying for help and searching in more hiding places for Daniel. Diego was hungry and crying for food, but there was no way on earth I could handle sitting still and feeding him, so I asked Sarah to feed him pinches of bread. We knelt for a quick (but very heartfelt) prayer begging the Lord to protect Daniel and help us find him.

I called our bishop, asking him to contact local ward members to come help in the search-and-rescue efforts. A calling tree began to notify friends that we needed help, but our friends are all scattered across the countryside so they wouldn't begin arriving for another 15 minutes. I also called my mother-in-law with this quick message, "Please pray for our family! Daniel's missing and the police are looking for him, he may have been kidnapped- we don't know. Just pray for him, we need all the prayers we can!" Left with that unnerving message, she began to call all our extended family to ask for immediate prayers for Daniel. I also called Nathan on his cell phone and told him what was going on. He wouldn't arrive home for another 30 minutes.It was a living nightmare to be dealing with this situation alone...without my other half, my strength, my dear husband.

I couldn't leave my house and help search for him because officers were calling me on the phone, asking his description so it could be posted to police departments across the state. Weeping quietly I took his photo out of a frame so they could use it in identifying him. I felt numb...my actions were strangely mechanical. Daniel had been missing for several hours. My heart was full of silent prayer the entire time, begging the Lord to watch over my son.

While I updated an officer, my sister called to chat. It went something like this: "Hi Renae! Is this a good time to talk?" I spoke quickly, "Actually no. I have to go, Daniel's missing and the police are here." What a great conversation, right? She began calling more extended family to update them.

This was all happening so quickly, but it seemed to take an eternity. In this moment, I learned a powerful lesson. I realized that I would happily trade anything for my son's safety: my possessions had absolutely no value compared to him. I didn't care if I had to sell everything (even our home) and live in a tiny apartment for the rest of my life. Family matters more than anything. It's strange how crystal-clear this thought was in my mind.

Another strange occurrence was the 'movie' playing in in my mind. People speak of seeing their life flash before their eyes. Oddly I was seeing Daniel's life flashing through my mind. His fistfuls of feathers, his love of animals, his cherished rock collection, his passion for music, his gusto for life.

I was talking with an officer outside when Sarah and Matthew came running out of our home shouting, "Daniel's here! We found him! We found Daniel!" Words can't possibly describe the relief and joy that washed over me. Maybe 'washed' is too gentle of a word. It's more like I was hit by a tidal wave of relief.

We ran inside and found him inside the tiniest cupboard on one of our bookcases. I never would have thought he could possibly fit more than half of his body in there. He evidently had crammed his body in this cubby and closed the door on himself, then fallen asleep. I believe the wood muffled our calls when we were looking for him.

I learned several things in this experience. Most importantly, I was given a powerful eternal perspective. My life seemed crystal clear, with all threads of doubt or indecision wiped away. I knew that God would lift me up if this burden was too heavy for me to bear alone. Event though my heart was breaking when I thought Daniel was stolen, I knew I could rely on our Savior's atonement to heal my pain. I realized that Christ doesn't only heal the affliction resulting from sin, He has power to heal any anguish from any infliction.

I realized on a deeper level how important my children are to me. The 'stuff' we own is all icing on the cake of life, but it's all worth absolutely nothing eternally.

I also was taught a powerful lesson of peace from my sweet husband. After he arrived home, he held me close and spoke soothingly. He pointed out that even if Daniel had been kidnapped and died, our family was sealed for eternity in God's holy temple. We know we would have been with Daniel again. It's amazing how much this comforted my heart.


God lives. He hears our prayers and knows our hearts. Surprisingly, I'm thankful for this harrowing experience. The Lord has taught me so much. Most of what I learned cannot be framed in words....it was a spiritual schooling.


Your family matters. Make sure you let them know.


Cherish every moment with your loved ones. You never know when your time with them will be gone.

Sunny Moments

Dan enjoys a music lesson from Daddy

I was blessed with a wonderful day full of life's little sunny moments today. I'm so thankful for life's little joys.

Daniel and I took the van for scheduled maintenance. We sat on the pavement in front of the van and watched the process while I taught him the little I know about engines and how oil functions in the engine. To Dan's delight, the mechanic in the pit waved to Dan from under the car, then the upper mechanic brought over the new oil filter for Daniel to sign before it was installed. Dan was so proud to have his signature incorporated in our vehicle. The mechanics brought parts of the van to us and explained to Daniel what they do. They also secretly gave me a discount for the services- which I didn't realize until I checked the receipt after we left. It was so nice of them!

While we waited for the van work to be finished, we explored a little grassy meadow next to the store. We picked dandelions and had contests to see who could blow the most seeds off in one breath. We giggled and enjoyed the sunshine and the butterflies. We played for an hour together, watching the little bugs scurry about in the grass. I'm so happy for little moments like this!

We went to a park and hiked in some undeveloped oak woods. It was so fun to explore the little creek and listen to the water babble on it's journey. The birds were calling loudly above our heads and the breeze made the leaves dance on the trees. There's something so fulfilling in wandering around large trees, out of site of the houses.

We watched squirrels dig up hidden nuts, then Dan dug in the dirt with a stick to find more. It was like looking for pirate's treasure to him.

I feel so blessed to have a day like this with my son. We found such pleasure in life's little joys. It makes me want to move. To the country. 

Daniel's gum story

Today was a long day. Days that are full of errands just seem longer than usual. It seems to drag out longer when I have my three darlings in tow on a sweltering day. I feel so bad for them. Being dragged to five different parking lots and stores is just not fun, so I don't blame them for getting cranky.

Poor Daniel. He gets tired and hungry the fastest. He also gets bored the fastest. Daniel has such an interesting personality, and this is one of his biggest characteristics: when he's bored, he makes noise. Lots of it. It's overwhelming how loud he can be, singing songs he's making up on the spot and making animal noises at the top of his lungs while he dances in circles.

That just reminded me of a story of him. We're going to take a detour from the story I was GOING to share, to this one. It's better.

We were doing a home improvement project: installing lighting in our front room (honestly, who builds a home without ANY lighting in the main room?). I've been trying to learn how to home projects myself, so we went to the local hardware store to buy wall-mounted lighting that I could install. I had no idea what I was doing, so I needed to talk with a store clerk so he could explain how to do this project. We were there for over an hour trying to special order the fixtures I liked. Daniel was a ball of pure energy. Here is a snippet of the his conversation (imagine the speech occurring so fast that he doesn't seem to pause for breath, then you'll have a good replica of his voice in your head):

"Mom, look at those boxes! There's a lot of them. If I push the shopping cart into them, they move! Look at them go! Tim-ber! Look, they all fell. Wasn't that so fun? Mom, look at those lights, they're pretty. Can we buy those lights for our house? I want this one in my room, and Sarah can have this one, and HEY, you're not looking. Look over here. Look at this light right here, the one I'm pointing to. Can we buy this one? Please,please,please? Why not? Can I push these buttons? What will they do? Mom, look at these buttons. What do they do? Stop talking to that man and look at this! I'm going to push it. Wow! Look at all the lights turning on and off, this is so cool! What happens if I flicker it faster? Hey! How come I can't touch the button any more? I don't want to sit in the shopping cart. Don't put me in the cart! Can I play with your purse?" (and on and on....he didn't stop talking for over 30 minutes. Literally.) The clerk was trying really hard not to laugh.

I was frustrated and really needed to focus on the information the clerk was telling me, so in desperation I gave Daniel a piece of gum. (As a family rule, gum isn't allowed in our house until the children are 8 years old....so this is a big deal) I told Daniel he could only have gum if he could chew it quietly and keep his mouth shut. This is the monologue he had while I was pushing him through the store, trying to follow the clerk to a new section of hardware:


"Thanks for the gum Mom, but I don't have to keep my mouth shut. Look! I can chew my gum and talk at the same time! Just like you! You chew gum and talk at the same time, and I'm big like you! I'm growing so fast that I'm not like a baby any more at all. I'm so good at it that the gum won't fall out of my mouth like you thought. I'm really good at chewing my gum and talking just like a grown up! I could do this all day! Thanks so much for the gum! *gasp* Mom, STOP! Where's my gum?! My special gum is GONE! It fell out somewhere, and it's not in my mouth and I can't see it anywhere on my lap. *Bigger gasp* It must be on THE FLOOR! Oh no! Now my gum is dirty! Mom, we have to go back and look for my gum! Someone  will step on it and get it all messed up! Let's go find my gum!" 

As we passed all the other customers, I noticed them all stepping lightly and looking at the floor, trying to avoid smearing gum on their shoes. They were chuckling while Daniel panicked over his precious gum.

What an entertaining boy he can be.

I'm so happy to have him brightening my life.  On days like this I am particularly happy to enjoy him when he's sleeping and cuddling with me.  He adds so much intense flavor to our family. Even though I often feel overwhelmed by him, I can't imagine life without him. Our house would be so boring if he was gone.

May 6

My day in pictures. Some are courtesy of Daniel.

I decided that I needed to get rid of my mantelpiece....I've had the same decorations up since the first of December.

What can I say? I love the Christmas season and I grasp on to the last remnant of decor and let it linger....for months. I finally decided to welcome Spring into the home with flowers. Who doesn't love fresh flowers on the table? It's so cheerful and colorful. The downside is the expense for fresh flowers each week. I'm too thrifty to justify that regular expense, so this week I bought silk flowers that won't wilt as the weeks pass. Floral arranging is definitely NOT my forte. I snuck a look through a book on floral arranging and selected two arrangements I liked, then I just copied them.

Instant cheer added to any room. I love it.

This one is my favorite. 

I lost Daniel in my own house. I realized I hadn't heard him playing for a while. I checked the bedrooms for him, and couldn't find him. I checked again, calling his name, and couldn't find him. Feeling frantic, I ran through the entire house one last time, calling him. I found this: 

Funny. I promise I didn't pose him like this. He was sound asleep under all of the couch cushions with this book by his feet.

When he woke up, he begged me to let him play with my hair. There's no cuter hairdresser than this, I'm sure of it.

Matthew really wanted to go spend his birthday money at the bookstore. He remembered a book he liked on a trip months ago. I was surprised he remembered. We looked high and low for the book, even though I explained that he might not have enough money to buy it.

 I love his face when he found his book. It cost $11 and he had $11.50. This was one very elated boy. He told me, "I really wish I didn't have to go to school tomorrow. That's a WHOLE DAY of missing my book!"

 It pleases me to no end that my kids choose to spend their money on books. When I have money, I buy books. IF there's any money left, it might go to buying clothes and food. 

Morning Conversation

This morning Daniel drew something that looked like an amoeba with a stick . In eagerness he asked me to guess what it was. I didn't have the faintest idea of even where to begin guessing, so I asked for a clue. Giggling, he said, "It lives in the ocean...." I guessed a swordfish. A jellyfish with one tentacle. Laughing in anticipation he said, "Here's another clue, it's a little bit like a unicorn, but it's not a unicorn" Was he really talking about a narwhal? It seemed unlikely, but I guessed the narwhal, and he jumped in pleasure and said, "You're right! It's a narwhal! You're smart!" Where did he learn about narwhals?