Once there was a snowman, tall, tall, TALLLL

SOCCER continues to be the thing.

Morning Boy is comfortable in goal.

 He works hard,

 gives it his all

 and makes some impressive saves.

meanwhile: LIFE

It's been a week since we launched Sweet Mesquite into the western frontier and missionary training. I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about her OFTEN. We haven't heard anything yet; we're eagerly awaiting the first report and know that it will be full of good things. Meanwhile, life on the home front is so full, that we hardly have time to stop and fret.  I'm reading a few good books in between activities--I love audio books while I'm tripping around town in my taxi-van. The garden is planted! We're enjoying a colorful late Spring. There are lilacs on my dining room table, and I can smell them in every other room of the house, they're so wonderfully fragrant.

Spring soccer is underway, and our red-shirted goalkeeper is my favorite part of being a spectator. 

 Rooney performed in the High School POPS concert and won an award for her outstanding musicianship. It may have been the last time she'll be playing the tenor sax in a High School ensemble because she has so much more she wants to fit into her schedule before she graduates in a couple of years. If it was her last performance, it was a good one.

 T.B.B.E. (the best baby ever) flew in for a visit.

 I enjoyed nibbling as much of him as I could.

We also enjoyed a visit from the party bus of New Hampshire.

They don't travel lightly, but my sister makes it look like a cakewalk. I nibbled some of her busy boy, too.

 We broke out Angela and have been tripping around town in the warm sunshine and fresh breezes.

(we got in a few rides before Mesquite left)

 Leeli's AAU season has come to an end.

She played with a great group of girls and was lucky enough to have my co-hort, the other Mrs. Swiftcomb, for a coach.

Not driving to Danvers and Lowell twice a week sure made it an easy season for me.

 There's MORE! Building a deck, repairing a pool, painting bedrooms, teaching seminary and piano lessons, staying on top of the yard work, house work and laundry... it never stops.

A crazy, chaotic home is my comfort zone. 

Springing forward by the second day is rough.

what was lost is found: cubing edition

There were a few days of elevating levels of panic this week. The Rubik's cube disappeared. And somebody's 10 year old fingers were having cubing withdrawal. We backtracked, thought about where the previous few days had taken it, searched every nook and cranny and could NOT figure out where it had gone.

Until the laundry fairy got caught up a bit.

There was a happy reunion.

snow day: take two

Leeli got tired of playing in the snow.

Let's face it.

It's HARD to play in the snow when you're wading through powder that's thigh-high. So she checked an item off her bucket list 

(and off her pinterest board):

Unicorn Poop Cookies.

 Can't make this stuff up.

There was much rejoicing.

And snap chatting.

 There was also sledding at Cherry Hill.

It's not AS fun when there's three feet of powder to work with, because there's a lot of flipping and snow in the face.

But we laughed and helped brush away the stinging cold and didn't stay as long as we would have on a bright sunny day with packed trails.

Digging snow tunnels in the yard is a favorite.

 And a game called "find the mailbox."

The plow knocked our mailbox off the post as it passed by. It was lost in a VERY deep pile of snow.

These two eventually found it.

 There was enough snow and hot chocolate to keep everyone happy.

You decide

There's a lot of stuff going around out here in cyber world about why the Patriots won their big game on Sunday; some of it good and some of it not so good. Only you can decide for yourself why this is the case. But while the rest of us were busy with life, this faithful ten year old fan was getting his game on in our New England kitchen, and made a hot bean dip for the occasion. I'm chalking the win up to a devotee and his dip.

in case you think you're missing something

It's been about a week and a half since I discovered the dryer wasn't working. Actually, it seemed to work, it just wasn't DRYing anything. The heating element has died, I have deduced, and, in a laundry-dependent household such as ours, I celebrate the hard-working longevity of such a thing.

Since we're still living life at a minimum of 65 mph, we are currently adorning our mantel with cool patterned socks and color coordinated buntings made of the laundry variety, instead of researching our future dryer options.

(your strong and biased dryer testimonials welcome in the comments section below)

Morning Boy is starting to perk up enough to have moments when he claims to be bored. I'm grateful. He still sounds like a smoker when he coughs and is found resting on the couch when he thinks no one is paying attention.

Enrique has been pronounced flu-FREE and has flown off to UMass to jump both feet into his final semester as an undergrad.

I miss him already.

meanwhile

the fever climbed on board the next child host.

He missed three days of school.

on friendship

 The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that “friendship is one of the grand fundamental principles of ‘Mormonism.’” ¹ That thought ought to inspire and motivate all of us because I feel that friendship is a fundamental need of our world. I think in all of us there is a profound longing for friendship, a deep yearning for the satisfaction and security that close and lasting relationships can give. Perhaps one reason the scriptures make little specific mention of the principle of friendship is because it should be manifest quite naturally as we live the gospel. In fact, if the consummate Christian attribute of charity has a first cousin, it is friendship. To paraphrase the Apostle Paul slightly, friendship “suffereth long, and is kind; [friendship] envieth not; … seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; … [friendship] never faileth.” ²

MARLIN K. JENSEN

Of the Presidency of the Seventy

the keeper saves the day

In the very last game of the Fall soccer season,

 this keeper worked HARD

 defending the goal, despite an onslaught of attempts on net.

 The opponents played TOUGH

 and Morning Boy stepped up his game like nobody's business.

 It was a close game, and at half time the teams were tied.

 Both sides worked HARD in the second half.

 There was some intense back-and-forth 

 and some terrific saves.

 I was biting my nails and the keeper couldn't keep from jumping up and down with anticipation as he watched the game from his spot in front of the goal.

 Morning Boy LOVES the game of soccer.

 He's become a valuable contributor to his team.

In the end, they won by one point.

 It's nice to see the boys actually working as a team.

 The season ended on a good note.

 We can't wait for the next big game!

running cross country

It's been a Fall of running across the country. In the space of two months I will have flown across the United States and back again three times. I'm about to gain a daughter and officially don the title of Mother-in-law. I'm getting ahead of myself. Meanwhile, here on the home front, Morning Boy of the fourth grade has been running almost everyday for the Middle School. He was excited to run on the cross country team and has been happily engaged in this activity without a cheering section for almost a month: life has been competing for my attention. This week I was finally able to see him race.

 He's pretty serious, and tries to best his time from previous meets.

 I'm a big fan.

Perfect TEN.

It's not a small thing to consider how quickly a decade can go by.

Our caboose turned ten today.

At 12:05 pm.

Ten years ago at noon I was on the operating table waiting to see our little boy, who we were told might not be born alive, or would most likely not live much past his birth. 

Here's the short version of why we consider our Morning boy to be our miracle:

At the first and only ultrasound during my pregnancy with him, the ultrasound technician spotted four choroid plexus cysts, or pockets of fluid on his brain.  We were told that these cysts were most likely a marker for a condition called Trisome 18. It was a frightening few moments that turned quickly into an opportunity to exercise our faith. Since this was fairly early in the pregnancy, Mr. Dub and I decided quickly not to spend our energy for the remaining four and a half months worrying about something over which we clearly had no control. I did NOT go home and look things up on the internet. I did not have any further testing, and I made up my mind that we were NOT going to despair over something that we could do nothing about.  We DID share our story with only four individuals who we knew would guard our secret as sacred, and who would be able to help support and sustain us during a busy and uncertain time.  We decided no one else needed to know, and no one else needed to worry.  We made plans to have our family close by at the time of delivery.

And OH! did we feel tremendous JOY when our last little guy was born healthy and strong. He is a gift. I'm grateful for EVERY.SINGLE.MINUTE of the last ten years.

 Today, he enjoyed phone calls from loved ones

 A new tin lunch box he's named Reynaldo

 Big sisters at home who mix things up a little

 Good friends who make us laugh

 (we are happy to return the favor)

and a made-to-order chocolate chip cookie ice cream cake.

HAPPY Double Digit BIRTHDAY M.B.!!

XOXOX