Fragrance of Home

My honeysuckle, once on death's doorstep, is thriving. It numbers in the top 5 of my favorite floral scents. I list them in no particular order:
honeysuckle, orange blossoms, lemon blossoms, plumeria, the deep red rose bush from my mother's garden. Four of these five were abundant on my parent's property as we grew up. In spring the air was perfumed and heavenly. Honeysuckle covered one hillside. As a girl I liked to play detective. Naturally I would put long white socks on my arms to serve as gloves and head out back with paper and pen in hand. First stop, honeysuckle hill. I would pick the flowers, pinch off the bottom, pull out the pistil and suck off the nectar. Nothing was better. I loved that it was homegrown. I've always been a sucker for the novelty of picking something to eat out of one's own yard, a trait I credit to my father. I then would blow air in and out of the blossom, okay, yes I think I was pretending I was smoking. It is shocking and I am not proud of the follies of my youth. But thus it is. It seemed the right thing for a detective to do. From there I went on to solve the world's mysteries. I just sampled one of my honeysuckle, not as good as my parents' but the sweet smell will always take me home.

A condition called TWO....

After several days of constant screaming....really loud screaming...and a long sleepless night, I finally convinced myself that Brock must most certainly have an earache. I rushed him into the doctor the next morning so excited to pick up a prescription that would restore order to my home. The doctor asked me what was going on and I, half asleep, muttered some unintelligle mumblings about way too much screaming. She checked his ears and then apologetically told me his ears looked great and this is what you call "two." Dejected, I left the office with no meds. My $15 copay purchased me two sugar free lollipops for the boys. At least I got something! Brock is learning screaming lands him in his room alone and we are making mild progress. Kedrick is thrilled to see his brother getting time-outs. Finally, justice. I'm sure I have sustained some hearing loss.

Slaps and Kisses

We have finally entered the stage where our boys will actually play pretty good together. One morning, they just started playing on their own. I showered, did the dishes, read my scriptures and then sat down on my bed confused. I felt so relaxed and in control...it was completely foreign. The key is they both must be rested and well fed. If not, they are screaming at the top of their lungs and hitting each other. Yesterday I couldn't hardly pry them apart as they tried to attack each other. Gave up and just put them down for a nap. As soon as they woke up they were all giggles and smothering each other with kisses and hugs. I love seeing them get along!

Kedrick is 3!

I can hardly believe Kedrick has turned 3! Were I of the inclination to put him in preschool, he could be going to preschool this year. Were he of the inclination to use a toilet, he could be potty trained. It is the beginning of the end. My boy is going to leave me. I am in no rush. I love being his mother. He is so full of life, love and enthusiasm. Eager to learn. Has a memory so amazing I'm afraid his brain will be all filled up before he is five. A perfect older brother, except of course when he sits on his brother's neck. Quick to comfort family members when we are sick or sad by bringing a toy or blankie. A transportation guru. My little assistant cook. A budding gardener. Plants need sunshine and rain and a lot of love to grow (love and rain both fall out of the clouds). Reasoning ability beyond his mother's. He is my sunshine, my little sweetie.

Kedrick expressing his "about to open presents" excitement.

Unfortunately he was taken with flu the night before the big day. He managed to have a few good hours on his birthday, just enough time to squeeze in a cake and presents before he started feeling bad again.

Kedrick requested a train cake on tracks this year. I did what I could. He was appreciative beyond words and admired the cake for some time noting all of the details. "You made the cake I wanted Mom?" I really felt like a hero. He chose the engine for himself and designated which train cars the rest of us were to eat.

We had a fun time watching him open his presents. He stopped to play with each one before he would move onto the next.

His Aunt WuWu braved the germs and came to celebrate with him. She took all the pictures. It was so fun to not worry about trying to take pictures the whole time. Thanks WuWu!

Half Love

I thought I had done a pretty good job of helping Kedrick adjust to the adition of his new little brother until we had this lunch conversation the other day:

Me: I love you Kedrick!
Kedrick: No! No you can't!
Me: Yes I can and I do, I love you , I love you, I love you!
Kedrick: (visibly agitated) No Mom! You love Brock. Dad loves me.
Me: I love Brock and I love Kedrick. I love both of you and so does Dad.
Kedrick: No, you love Brock and Dad loves me.

this goes on for about twenty minutes...then exasperated Kedrick tries to reason with me:

Kedrick: You can't have us both Mom. You can just have half Mom. Like this (showing a chopping motion). Not both. You can't have all of us. You can just love Brock and I love Daddy and Daddy loves me. That's it mom. You just can have half!

We'll have to work on that transition a little more!

Reasons for Cake

Yesterday I went to Wal-Mart with the wee ones. Anxious to be done with the experience I was naturally looking for the quickest way out. I spotted a short line, but the cashier looked like someone who would be slow. I went to a longer line and then decided to return to the slow cashier. She was indeed slow but worth the extra time. She commented on every item and entertained the children. She gave me the health status on the 300 plus workers at her location. I was purchasing vanilla frosting. She asked if I had tried the cream cheese. She was quite passionate about it. She makes a cake one time a year, chocolate with cream cheese frosting to celebrate her husband's alcoholic anniversary. This is his 30th sober year. She is proud beyond words of her husband. She taught me a lot about marriage in those few moments. I would like a piece of her cake.

Wrapping Up Christmas

Some years I have such a hard time letting go of the holidays. Judging from the fact that my tree and lights and everything else are all still perfectly in tact, I guess I'm having post-holiday trauma disorder or something. We are the very last house in our area with lights. I used to be a strict "decorations down by Jan 1" sort of a girl. Kevin said I should wait until the day after. Well one day leads to another and now I am starting to fear we will be all decorated for Christmas in July if I don't get my act together.

We managed to visit both of our parents (Arizona and Utah) over the holidays. The boys traveled better than we expected, though I'm not signing up for any long road trips any time soon. Kedrick got to ride on Grandpa Bunker's forklift and Grandpa Miller's tractor all in the same trip! Can life get any better? The boys weren't exactly used to playing in 30 degree weather so we had a lot of quality indoor time. A highlight for me was watching my brother, Kent, single handedly tame the brood of nieces and nephews by convincing them to have a sleep competition. Kent, with a smile on his face, is very difficult to say no to! We got to see my parents' new home! When we walked in the door, I finally understood why they have ditched us all down here in San Diego for Toquerville. The views are stunning and their home is a dream.

Kedrick with Grandpa on Kubi.

Kent taming the youngins. Notice resistant Kedrick to the far left. Kent even got him down eventually!
Aunt Annie taking the boys for a dump.