When Queens Ride By

Here is a link to this wonderful short story called, "When Queens Ride By" written by Agnes Slight Turnbull. If you take a few minutes to read it, you will not regret it!

This story tells so beautifully the feelings I often have as a wife and mother. It was nice to be reminded that mother's important role in the family includes more than just the mundane tasks involved in caring for the children and "home-making" but also bringing joy to the ones that surround us. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I did.

Duck Happenings

I didn't know you could learn so much from a duck. Duck? That's right! We are the proud owners of a cute little duck - well, not so little now. But we got him when he was only a day old. Some neighbors gave him to us and we just love him - he actually belongs to Curious George.

We were given two ducks to begin with. C.G. named them "Peck" and "Dot". "Peck was the runt of the litter - so to speak. He was smaller than Dot and a lot weaker. He hatched the same day we got him. The neighbor took him away from the mother because she didn't want her to kill him (ducks will often do that if they have too many). This mother duck hatch about 15 eggs I think! Here's a picture of peck when he was only a few days old. Isn't he adorable?
Anyway, we lost Peck after a week - he died on the fourth of July. He just got sick and died. It was really a sad time. The next week we got another duck to replace Peck. This one was over a week old, wild and very large compared to Dot. He ran away the minute he got out of the box and it took us over an hour to get him back. Then he ran away again and when we finally found him, he was dead. That was another sad time. C.G. cried a lot during these two incidents. It's hard to watch your kids go through these experiences, but it's really good for them. It helps them learn about life and the life and death process.

We decided to not replace that one, so now we just have Dot. C loves him. Dot follows C around like he's his mother. It's so cute to watch.

I say "he" but we really don't know if that's true. In fact, we are hoping it's a "she" so that she'll give us eggs to eat. We've heard duck eggs are good. We'll see I guess.

Dot is about 7 weeks old now. He is going through "adolescence" where his quiet little peeps are turning into quacks. It's been fun to watch. He's growing wings and getting a little more scared of people. All except C.G. He still lets him pet him and hand feed him. He's still his mama. :)

The duck has been a great confidence builder for C. C loves that he follows him around everywhere. Another good thing the duck has brought are the "duck visitors." That's what C calls them. We live in kind of a quiet, older neighborhood where there are not a lot of kids C.G's age. There are some girls down the street and they happen to love animals. When they found out we had a duck, they've been visiting almost every day since then. C.G. loves the attention and it has been a great learning experience for him. After they "see" the duck, the duck visitors usually stay and play with C for quite a while. It's been a very good thing.

So anyway, we've been working on building Dot's cage. It took a while, but we're happy with how it turned out. Here's a few recent pictures of him in his new cage.

Sweet Uplifting Video

I loved this little video. I'm not sure where it originated, but a friend sent it to me. It was a good reminder of the love that the Savior has for each of us. I loved the music and the beautiful child's voice.

Bandaids

Jesse Bear is at that age where he falls A LOT! With summer in full swing and his little bare knees we've had a lot of "Boo Boos" and bandaids. The other day I was looking at a book with him and he kept saying "Banay, Banay" and pointing at these frogs. I couldn't figure out what he was saying until I realized the frogs had red bands across their knees. Of course! He thought the frogs had bandaids on their knees!

You Go First

You know who made my day today? A little boy - probably 3 or 4. I didn't know him. We were hiking on a narrow trail back from a beautiful waterfall. We were tired from hiking and camping. A little grumpy, maybe. You know how things are camping with little kids - dirty clothes and fingers, crying kids throughout the night, mosquito bites, toddlers almost falling into the fire, dirt-encrusted food, not enough cups or plates or diapers or whatever, and I could go on and on. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy camping, but camping with small children is a little stressful for me. I guess I just worry too much or something.

Anyway, as we came to a point where this little boy and his dad were hiking toward us I heard the little boy say to his Dad, "wait, Daddy." Then he and his dad moved to the edge of the trail and the boy turned to us, gave us a huge smile and said, "You go first." I couldn't help but smile after that. I'm still smiling about it actually. That kind gesture this boy showed us brightened my day so much. It reminded me once again that kindness really does make a difference. Aren't children so often the best examples of this? I've seen it in my own kids too. So many times when I want things to be "fair" my children remind me that it's better just to be nice. When I find myself trying to take my fair half out of the trail in life I hope I can remember that little boy and step aside for other struggling travelers.

The Message I Needed

I love the July Ensign - I've already read the whole thing! I just wanted to share with you this little story from it that touched me so much! I've thought about this a lot since I've read it and it has brought a lot of peace to my heart. This story helped me see more clearly how the work of a mother fits in to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Was I Living the Gospel Fully?

By Carolynn R. Spencer

Carolynn R. Spencer, “Was I Living the Gospel Fully?,” Ensign, July 2009, 71

My scripture study would have to wait. All three of our sons had awakened—and much earlier than usual. The youngest, Caden, then 18 months old, was screaming in his crib. I went into his room and saw instantly that he was sick.

Thus began a Monday of one challenge after another. At one point, shortly after I had changed Caden’s clothes and tried to feed him, he flung a large jar onto the floor, spilling applesauce everywhere and sending shattered glass across the kitchen. As I was cleaning up the mess, I thought about all the things I wasn’t getting done: family history, service, home storage, missionary work.

“How in the world can I do everything I know I should be doing when I am barely managing the basic tasks of my day?” I wondered. By early evening I was exhausted, but I set aside discouraging thoughts during dinner, family home evening, and the boys’ bath and bedtime routine.

Finally, with the children in bed, I sat down to do what I had not had time for earlier. I picked up the May 2006 Ensign, which was open to a talk by President Henry B. Eyring titled “As a Child.” My eyes fell on a passage I had previously marked: “To keep the blessing of [changed natures] in our hearts will require determination, effort, and faith. King Benjamin taught at least some of what that will require. He said that to retain a remission of our sins from day to day we must feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, and help people spiritually and temporally” (Liahona and Ensign, May 2006, 17).

Immediately, I again felt that I wasn’t living the gospel fully. I wondered, “How can I feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, and help people spiritually and temporally when I can scarcely take care of my own family?”

That’s when I experienced an overwhelming feeling of divine approval. It was so clear, precise, and tangible that I knew I had to write it down so I wouldn’t forget. I could see my day replay in my mind—full of feeding the hungry, doing laundry to clothe the naked (I changed Caden’s outfit multiple times), gently caring for our sick baby, helping our five-year-old prepare a family home evening lesson on missionary work, and then discussing the power of example with my family—in other words, helping people spiritually and temporally.

The impression flowed with such an overpowering feeling of peace that I knew the Lord was telling me He had accepted my offering. In caring for my family, I was fulfilling the admonitions of King Benjamin and President Eyring.

Happy Father's Day

Curious George was supposed to be napping this afternoon. We didn't push it too much because he's beeen taking pretty good naps the last few days. Well, he came in while Brandon and I were working on our family history projects and asked for some tape. We didn't think too much of it because he likes to draw pictures and hang them up all over the house. He came back a few minutes later and said he needed lots more. We gave him several more pieces. We forgot all about the incident until I went in the bathroom a few hours later. Curious George had decorated the bathroom with toilet paper!

"Happy Father's Day, Daddy!"

Don't you just love four-year-olds?