A Singing Get Well Card

Today Shad got a get well card from my sister.  This sister is really good at sending awesome cards and  her birthday card for Shad's 2nd birthday was a hit as you can see in this photo.

The card sang the Woody song - "You've got a friend in me" and it sang it's heart out until it died. Since his first singing card made such an obvious impression, he has received a few more cards that sing.

Shad opened the get well card today and let his uncle read part of it to him, but then he needed to hold it in his hand and refused to let anyone else hold it, look at it, or finish reading it.  As he examined it for a while, all of the sudden he announced, "Hey, it doesn't sing!"  He opened it and closed it and opened it and closed it and then looked at me with disappointment.

Well what Grandma can let her sick grandson be disappointed?  As he slowly opened it one more time I sang a truly inspiring, rousing and creative "Get well, little buddy, get well."

He closed it and opened it again, "Get well, little buddy, get well.  Get well, little buddy, get well. Get well." and closed it.

This continued for a while with a variety of renditions of the same words.  Our favorite being the staccato, one syllable at a time, version as he quickly opened and closed the card repeatedly.

Some of my family members may think I have been held hostage in a hospital room for too long and lost what good sense I still had, but I say if I can get a belly laugh and spontaneous giggles, I'll gladly embarrass myself again and again.

That get well card worked wonders and I definitely felt better.

Today I am thankful

that Shad was the only patient in the PICU.  Not only does he get lots of personal attention from the nurses, but that means that there isn't another mother or grandmother sitting next door with her heart in her throat worrying what the day will bring.

for all the people in our lives who think of ways to brighten our days.

that the son-in-law and oldest daughter were able to get out and go shopping for a little while today and that they let the youngest son tag along.  We had a quiet, peaceful afternoon in our cozy little room and I think they enjoyed the outing.

He's Back!

My oldest son has been fighting a bad cold and cough for a while now. That, paired with a disappointment concerning his future educational pursuits, has caused him to be unnaturally solemn and very quiet over the weekend. I was extremely happy this morning when he started the day singing songs from Annie. The sun may be going to come out tomorrow, but I felt like it was already shining today when I got my loquacious son back. Sometimes his younger brother complains about his singing, but my home just doesn't feel quite right without it. Welcome back boy!

One Year Older

Tonight the hubby and I attended a Luau

in honor of the 50th birthday

of our neighbor, friend and bishop

as well as the 50th birthday

of the state of Hawaii.

It was fun to spend time

with lots of good friends

visiting and eating Hawaiian Haystacks.

One of my favorite parts of the event

was singing "Happy Birthday".

At our Arizona family birthday parties

the birthday song singing

is usually a painful experience.

I have a hard time figuring out

if we are all very horrible singers

or if singing off key

is just a beloved family tradition

that we want to preserve.

Tonight however "Happy Birthday to You"

actually sounded happy.

In fact, we sounded so good

that the honoree requested an encore.

We then endeavored to see

how many Primary Birthday songs we could come up with.

"You've had a birthday; shout "Hooray!"

We want to sing to you today.

One year older and wiser, too.

Happy Birthday to you."

"This month is such a special one;

It's birthday time for you.

We'd really like to celebrate

your happy day with you.

Zip-a-dee-ay and heigh-dee-ho,

Here's something we can do.

We'll sing a song that we all know,

Happy Birthday to You!"

"'Feliz Cupleanos'

that's how they say it in Spain."

I thought this one was especially appropriate

since the bishop served his mission in Spain,

but that's the only line

we could remember from the song.

We also couldn't skip

the old favorite

"Happy, happy birthday bishop dear.

Happy days will come to you all year.

If I had one wish then it would be

a happy, happy birthday to you from me."

It's amazing to me the flood

of warm memories

that these silly songs

bring to my mind.

Thoughts of enthusiastic actions,

specific individuals

singing with all their hearts,

little children growing older and older

each year until they left primary

and moved on to young womens

or became priesthood holders.

Oh, so many, many happy moments

and special people I remember

all because of some birthday songs.

Today I am thankful for

primary music.
old friends, and I'm not referring to someone turning 50 because I no longer consider that old.
one clean window.

Choice

Tonight some of the youth in our stake performed a concert
featuring the Kenneth Cope musical,
"Greater Than Us All" .
All of the youth were invited to participate in this evening
and encouraged to participate in this evening
and cajoled to participate in this evening
and still some of them chose not to participate.

Now I understand that some people really aren't singers
and this is the excuse that my youngest son used on me
but I live with the kid.
I listen to him sing with the radio.
I listen to him sing with the computer.
I listen to him sing with the TV commercials.
I listen to him sing with his brother.
I listen to him sing with gusto.
The boy sings.

I wish he would have chosen to be a part of the program
and I guess he was in the long run.
He was a member of the audience
and we all know the audience is an important part
of any successful production.

I am sure that I am like most parents.
I want what is best for my children.
I want them to have spiritual experiences.
I want them to learn to serve.
I want them to enjoy spending time with their peers,
ones who have the same beliefs and values that they do.
I want them to develop their talents.
I want them to work hard to accomplish a goal and feel good about it.
I want them to fill their time and their heads and their hearts
with so many uplifting things
that there isn't room left for anything else.
I want them to be happy.

Unfortunately, sometimes the things I am convinced
will ultimately bring them happiness
are not the things they choose to do.
Sometimes letting my children make their own choices
is the hardest thing in the world for me.
This was basically a benign choice.
While I think my son would have benefited from the experience,
I don't think he placed his eternal exaltation in jeopardy
by choosing not to.
There are times when that is not the case.
Sometimes I question why Heavenly Father
feels so strongly about each one of His children
having the opportunity to make their own choices.
Sometimes Satan's plan sounds pretty good to me.

As I also sat in the audience tonight
and listened to the beautiful music being performed
and pondered on the words that were being sung
and the messages that were being taught,
the words and the messages and the spirit
began to seep into my heart and my soul
and replace by disappointment and remorse
concerning my son's participation.

I once again realized some important facts.

I may not fully comprehend why agency
is so infinitely important to our Heavenly Father
that He was willing to lose one third of His children
before they even had a chance to come to earth and
receive a physical body because of it.
I may not know why being able to choose is so valuable
that our Heavenly Father was willing to allow His beloved Son
to atone for our sins and die on the cross
and that Son, my eldest brother,
was willing to do just that,
but I do know that it must be because,
I also know that our Heavenly Father
is a loving parent, not unlike myself,
who wants what is best for His children.
He wants us to have spiritual experiences.
He wants us to learn to serve.
He wants us to enjoy spending time with our peers,
ones who have the same beliefs and values that we do.
He wants us to develop our talents.
He wants us to work hard to accomplish a goal and feel good about it.
He wants us to fill our time and our heads and our hearts
with so many uplifting things that there isn't room left for anything else.
He wants us to be happy.
And yes, the things that he knows will ultimately bring us happiness
are not always the things that we choose.
However, our loving Heavenly Father has provided
a way for each one of us to make choices,
benign or not so benign,
and still be able to be happy in the end.
He has provided someone greater than us all
to make everything all right
if we will choose to do what is right.

I also know that I need to teach my children
and encourage my children
and set a good example for my children
but ultimately the choice is theirs.
My choice needs to be to have faith in Heavenly Father's plan,
even the parts that I don't totally understand.

Sometimes I Want to Scream

My kids use to have a tape that we listened to A LOT.
It was "Safety Kids"
by Janeen Brady and
was produced by Brite Music.

Knowing me I probably still
have it in a box somewhere.

One of the songs on this tape
was about what to do if a stranger
was trying to abduct you.

The words went something like
"Sometimes you have to Scream.
Open up and really yell."

Although I haven't been in danger
of being kidnapped anytime recently
This song somehow reflects how I feel today.

"Sometimes I want to Scream.
Open up and really Yell!
Stomp my Feet and
Throw a Fit.
Yaa-aa-aa,
Sometimes I want to Scream."

And the interesting part is
I really don't know why.

I just feel like having
a lay down on the floor,
kick my hands and feet,
scream at the top of my lungs
two-year-old temper tantrum.

Maybe it's time to request
a release from nursery.

Today I am thankful for
a husband that listens to me rant and rave and just nods and smiles.
A son who lets his dad borrow his truck to drive to work
A roommate that lets my daughter borrow her car to drive to work.

My birthmonth gift to myself today was a bag of Reese's Select Clusters - peanut butter clusters with pecans, peanuts, and caramel. I had a coupon and they were free. Free is good, much better than the clusters were, in my opinion.