Now that the kids are back in school I played catch up on errands and chores. It is hard to mop the floor when all the kids are home, it’s like cleaning up a tornado while it’s still wrecking havoc. Speaking of tornadoes, while we didn’t have one, I was a bit terrified we would have one. Honestly I have never really been afraid during a tornado watch or even warning, but on Tuesday, I had to go pick up Harvey and his friend from preschool and I was quite terrified. The visibility was pretty awful and debris was flying all over the place. My neighbor texted me and asked if her trampoline had flown into my yard yet. Luckily, it hadn’t, but our baseball net and flipped across our own yard so my reply was, “Nope, but it may be my stuff I’m collecting from YOUR yard after this wind!” Fortunately, both of us kept all of our belongings on our properties, but that didn’t prevent a tree limb from smacking into the side of my van on the way home from preschool pickup. Harvey’s friend, Emmy, kept yelling, “This is crazy!” and Harvey’s year and a half nap/bedtime routine of sleeping to water noises meant he went to sleep while I sat at the edge of my seat, my knuckles white as they wrapped around the steering wheel. We were all safe and my car didn’t get damaged from the tree limb, but I was grateful to be home. Aside from the crazy weather, we’ve had a good week! I had a lot of errands to run on Monday and wasn’t feeling great so I knew if I waited too long before Harvey and I got lunch, we’d both be hangry so I took him for a mommy-and-me date to firehouse. I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up and he said, pointing to me, “YOU!” while I was touched, and it a lot of ways he will be like me, I’m sure he will do something similar to his dad. Max has followed Andy’s love for computer programming and spends HOURS learning, studying, and working on computer code. I am honestly impressed with his grasp, his drive and focus. Maverick is really fascinated by the medical side of Andy and frequently asks for stories and pictures from Andy’s work days, but the jury is still out if he wants to go down the medical path. He definitely gets his dad’s goof ball side but perhaps there’s a bit of me in him too. He’s really loved taking piano from our neighbor and is fairly diligent at practicing. Beverly is definitely my daughter. She has been really nurturing towards her brothers and even helped make lunches a couple of times this week. Sometimes her nurturing can be a bit overbearing in Harvey’s eyes, but Bev and I are just doing our best to keep a house ;). Beverly got student of the month from her Kindergarten teacher and this was what her teacher sent to me:
“Hi Mrs. Jackson! I just wanted to share with you that Beverly is January Student of the Month! She is a role model student, and I am so proud of her!! She always follows directions, tries her best, and is eager to learn! She is also kind to everyone, and her sweet smile and positive attitude brighten up the room! Thank you for sharing your sweet girl with me every day!”
We’re very proud of her hard work!
We finished the week off going to church two days in a row. Saturday, we got to attend our friend’s baptism. His name is Lenz. He’s originally from Haiti. I have really grown to love his wife, Martha, and I shed a tear when I heard he had made the decision to be baptized. This has been a long road for this family. I know Martha probably felt such joy as he made those promises to his Father in Heaven. The spirit was so strong at his baptism. I walked in to a very full primary room (and it is a large room) and then turned to see even more people streaming in. There was nearly standing room only. The love for this family really touched my heart. Then as he entered the waters of baptism, despite a bit of chaos with so many people and children, I could not escape the beautiful feeling I had as he came up, clean and committed to this new path. Harvey ran back to his chair by me and said, “I want to go in there!” Not sure if he felt the spirit too or if he just wanted to go swimming, but it made me smile.
