Full House

"Oh dear," declared Mom as I held her to brush her teeth tonight. "Oh dear," has become her favorite phrase. She repeats it at least 20 times a day, for almost every occasion. When I ask her what is wrong she routinely replies, "Oh, nothing." She is not one to complain. But I can imagine how difficult it must be for her to be so dependent upon us for help with just about everything. Once in awhile, she mentions her sorrow over this. I have taken to not responding much to that. What can be said that is a comfort except that we don't mind. How can she not not like her present condition? Perhaps there is some eternal benefit for her in experiencing this. Or perhaps the benefit is ours. Or maybe it is a little of both. Enduring now is the challenge.

As mentioned previously, Ben and Jessica are moving into a new home this week. So their four younger children have been staying with us. We had such fun together their first day, Tuesday. The little girls slept downstairs with Audrey and Cliff. We put the two boys to sleep in our new wall bed, in our study. It all went beautifully. The boys went right to sleep. So did we. I awoke about 1 AM to two soft brown eyes staring at me. "Grandma, I'm thirsty," 4 year old Zachary told me. So I got up and got him and drink and re-tucked him into bed. I was almost asleep when Mom blew her whistle, calling me to help her. "I need an tissue," she said. I gave her one and went back to bed. I was almost asleep when in came Zachary again. "William is sleeping in my spot and there's no room for me," he told me. So I got up and moved William and tucked Zach back into bed once again. I must tell you that I was very patient with all these interruptions. After all, I had a good night's sleep the night before. I was just settling in yet again when our alarm went off at 4:30, signaling our wake-up call to get ready to go to the temple. I felt amazingly good throughout the day considering my night.

But Wednesday night was a bit more stressful as Zachary exposed me to another set of bedtime problems. I could go into details of that night's challenges but suffice it to say that I didn't get much sleep that night either. So by Thursday night I was pretty scrambled. I slept like the dead that night in spite of Zachary's nightly concerns. I know I've gone on and on about my nights but I should admit that our days were pretty fun. The boys played and played. Baby Abigail has decided to like me and she became my little shadow. I loved it.

Every day was full to the brim but especially Saturday. It was our yearly Easter Egg Hunt. I know...it was early but the only day everyone could come. We had two hunts: daytime for the under eights and nighttime for the eights and older. I decided to have the older kids hide the eggs for the little ones and the little ones helped me hide the eggs for the older ones. It worked well. The clouds parted Saturday night, allowing a full moon to light the egg field for the older kids. Each egg had reflector tape on it to catch the attention of the hunters when hit with their flashlights. It was fun! After the night hunt, everyone went home! All that was left was the three of us and...the mess.

Putting Mom to bed tonight (Sunday) seemed such an easy task after five days of caring for Ben and Jessica's four children. In spite of the work I really enjoyed having them here. I believe I am in the happy position of loving the chaos of many bodies and also loving the peacefulness of having few.

Pictures: Top is Abigail eating waffles...her request for breakfast. Next are William and Zachary really getting some kicks out of their bubble bath. The younger kid's Easter Egg Hunt is next, then Reed and baby Bruce just after the hunt. Rayne is at the bottom. She was home from college for spring break. She graduates this year!