Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Olivia and the Nemeny.

Masterpiece by Olivia.
Courtesty of ClipArt.
I survived speaking in church.
My chest was actually tight up there like maybe I was going to have a heart attack. But I just decided to go with it and if I dropped dead it would add some excitement to the meeting.
It's the most interesting thing -- I can honestly say I rarely if ever have difficulty standing in front of people, I guess because of years and years of practice -- except at church. Then it's... scary.
But I lived through it.
Add the excitement and fun of singing time squared, and I was out for the count on Sunday. The Double B kindly made dinner but made me sit at the table to eat with the family (something about family togetherness or something). I don't remember much about it except the Double B patting my leg and murmuring "They're only trying to help." So... yeah. Mother of the Year there.
And then we watched 'America's Funniest Home Videos' over and over again on Netflix and I don't remember what happened for the rest of the day.
Being the music leader in primary is really a darn good time. I am already loving it... but then, what is not to love? You get to boogy to awesome primary songs for two hours with funny people. But it makes me t-i-r-e-d like a baby chicken afterwards. I'm hoping I become less sissified in the future.
Here's hoping.

Yesterday the father of the household and I sat our kids down to talk about Memorial Day and what it means. We talked about some of the wars that have been fought and why, and how thankful we are that there have been brave men and women willing to sacrifice so much so we can be happy and free. The Double B's Dad is a WWII veteran. He is 87 years old. The Double B is 31. We think this puts the Double B in the running for youngest Baby Boomer ever. My husband the Baby Boomer then told the kids some of the stories of what Grandpa B experienced in the medical corp in the South Pacific. Sometime during the dialogue Olivia got up and started rummaging in the paper and crayons cupboard. She sat down and got to work. When she was done, she asked if she could show the whole family something. It was a picture of her smiling, with an "nenemy" in the background, holding a gun, also with a happy little smile on his face. She said she was thankful those brave men protected her from the "nenemies."
Okay.
She then redrew her picture for the her best quality work and asked me to tell her all the letters in "I love you men -- soldiers." Which she promptly wrote at the top of her picture since she's got a lot of practice at following letter prompts -- one of her grand passions.
Basically, it's a masterpiece.
As soon as I high-jack the picture uploading mechanism back from the Double B's tyranny, I'm putting it up here. Because this you must see.
Or at least that is my ambition.
She and K.J. asked to sing 'I'm Proud to be an American,' and then we went and picked our prettiest roses to take to the cemetery to put on the graves of my children's great-great grandparents and on the grave of a woman who inspired and impacted my life.
The Double B then had a few hours of intense frustration and mumbling as he replaced the brakes and rotors on the family vehicle, and then we had a very great time barbecue-ing with family, visiting and laughing, and looking at pictures from central Utah. My grandparents headstone looked so beautiful, and that made me happy. Because they are awesome.
A happy Memorial Day.

But still.
The best part for me was definitely the "I love you men -- soldiers" part.

Being a Mom is cool.

The End.

2 comments:

Elise said...

I imagine you are an awesome primary music leader. That's my calling, too, and let my tell you - those first few Sundays were EXHAUSTING. It bears mentioning that I am not a singer or an entertainer. This is entirely out of my comfort zone.

I find it totally amusing that your husband is a baby boomer. Doesn't that entitle him to some special old fogey-type treatment? Like, does he get a discount at the movies?

You are such a good mom to teach your kids to honor veterans and all that. I'm MARRIED to a veteran and we barely even remembered the holiday. I feel like a turd. So thanks for that. ;)

Jen said...

I can testify that you will get used to it. I forgot about that exhaustion phase, but I remember it now, too. It will pass.