About William (Great News!!)

Becky sent an update soon after she arrived in Ghana. According to her, William's burns have been properly cleaned and bandaged and he is starting to walk again! She said that he is very eager to get back to playing, and is very appreciative of everything being done for him. THANK YOU all for your kind words, generous donations and prayers. You have made a big difference in the life of a little boy. Please continue to pray that William and his sister will find their forever family very soon. According to the Ghanaian requirements, you must be 20 years older than the children, which means any of you over 31 are good to go! Yeah, a few of you are going to have to give up the whole "29 again" gig too. You're not fooling anyone.

My Little Farmers

You've really got to love living in a town with a feed/farm store. We are guaranteed an hour of free entertainment during chick/duckling season, and bonus time if it is also vegetable/flower season. Yesterday I took the littles there, and we wandered and giggled and said "aaaaaaw" a thousand times. Her Highness fell in love with the pink cowboy boots. We walked through the garden area and learned just how many varieties of tomato plants you can grow. They have so many that they alphabetize them! So, the Princess wants to grow cucumbers and Toad wanted to try a crazy dark purple bell pepper. We do not have the best track record with growing vegetables. Our best year yielded two zucchinis. Not two plants, two bushels or two pounds. Just two zucchinis. They were big and delicious, but at some point you have to admit defeat. I embraced it long ago, but the kids haven't quite caught up. So we'll be babying our little cukes and purple peppers this summer. Do you think Peter Piper picked any Purple Peppers? The kiddos are also hoping that our mysterious pumpkin patch appears this year. We carved pumpkins in the front yard a few years ago and the next two summers we had a gorgeous "magical" pumpkin patch in our flowerbed. Apparently the things we plant unintentionally do very well! Last year, not a pumpkin to be seen. They all thought it was because we dug up a lot of that bed and built a wall, so the seeds were afraid. All I am going to admit is that I am fairly sure that there are pumpkin seeds in the right spot this year. None of the kids read the blog, so they'll be just as excited this year when the vines start winding around our fountain. There is something to be said for letting them believe in magic for one more summer.

I learned far more today than I taught.

This morning I had to speak in church. If you know me at all, you are well aware of my feelings on speaking in church, especially when other people are there looking at me. Ironically I was speaking on Faith, and mine was shaky all week as I thought about getting up there. I didn't feel like I had much to say on the topic, since I am often the one who has fear instead of faith. I am sure that the Lord gave me the words I needed, because I said a lot that was not in my notes and left out a lot that was.

Then I went to teach my 9 and 10 year old class. These kids know their stuff better than I do most of the time. Giant spirits in little bodies. In sharing time, the children in my class and some of the other classes taught by their examples. One girl spoke of her older brother, who is autistic and nonverbal. She related a dream that she had where he spoke to her, and said that she looks forward to the day when she can have a conversation with him. She said, "I have so many questions I would like to ask him." Tears! Another girl stood to share her testimony. She is a beautiful, sweet girl who has some difficulties. She was very reluctant to speak until her father told her to look to the back of the room at her dear friend, who sat with a smile on her face the entire time. Then the rest of the class welcomed her back to her chair with smiles and high fives. More tears! Another class sitting behind me, all raised their hands to volunteer to help with singing time, then when chosen a boy said "We just all raised or hands for B (their classmate with autism) so he could come up." ALL of these children know what is right and how to be, and they just did it, all of them, without a thought to who was watching or whether it was cool to show love for a classmate or a brother or a friend. I am humbled by their examples and I am blessed to know that my children will grow up with friends like these.

Speaking of Dogs. . .

If you take your adorable little dog to your adorable little daughter's adorable little preschool to show her to the class, guess what will happen? Remember, it is rather warm here today, so you will probably leave the adorable little dog in the car, which is running, so she can enjoy the A/C. This is so you can make sure that all of the preschool kids actually want to meet the adorable little dog without screaming or having an allergic reaction. When you go back out to get her, you will notice that the doors are now locked. Adorable little dog, whose feet are just the right size to hit the door lock button, is still inside, with your purse, cellphone and keys. You will be tempted to say a not-so-adorable word. Then you will remember that you have OnStar! This magical button will allow your car to be unlocked from some mysterious location. You will ask the friendly OnStar operator to do it again so you can watch this time (she can lock the doors too, I swear). And it will be so cool that you will forgive the adorable little dog. Adorable little daughter will be mad at you for making her leave her beloved school, though. THANK YOU ON STAR! and THANK YOU, C for picking up the Toad from kindergarten, driving to my house to get the spare keys, and not yelling at me when we didn't need them after all.

Shameless Advertisement

If any of you are local and have a dog, know a dog, or just enjoy dog treats, please come see us at the Utah Humane Society on Saturday from 10:00am to sometime in the afternoon. Bugs will be there with his Amazing Dog Treats. There will also be an agility course for your dogs to try out. We watched several dogs run the course last summer and it was a lot of fun. We love the UHS! They gave Bugs a big boost last summer by inviting him to give out samples of his treats at their summer event. The volunteers took it a step further by insisting on paying him for the treats. Then they lobbied for the fees for whatever dog he wanted to be waived, when we were ready to bring one home. So, that is how Buddy came into our lives and how Landon got his start as a Doggie Chef. He went on to totally kick my butt at Town Days, selling double what I did. It wasn't fair, though. The kid has dimples AND freckles!

The menu will include his AMAZING Cheesy Biscuits, Buddy's favorite Peanut Butter Bones, Wheat-Free Rye Crisps (with mint) and carob chip muffins. He is giving out free samples!

Bugs will give half of the money he makes this time to the UHS since they "took good care of Buddy until we could find her." He and Buddy are so cute together.

Utah Humane Society
4242 South 300 West
Murray, Utah

An AMAZING update!

Go see what Jessica has to say this morning:
http://sugarhousemama.blogspot.com/2009/04/thank-you-thank-you-thank-you.html

THANK YOU!! The words are inadequate, but you have blessed the life of a little boy who will not forget it.

Making a Difference

"Never doubt that a small group of committed, concerned citizens can make a difference in the world. In fact it is the only thing that ever has"
~Margaret Mead

Donations are "pouring in" for William, but the need is still so great. We only have a couple more days before Becky will need to order the medical supplies that she is taking to Ghana with her. Follow the links below if you wish to donate, and please KEEP PRAYING! William needs a strong body that will heal and he and his sister need a family. If anyone would like to know more about them or see pictures, please leave a comment or send an email. I would LOVE to help bring them home.

Update on William (read the post below this one first!)

The latest update on William and the supplies that are needed: (this is from the nurse who will be going to Ghana and training the staff at Luckhyill to continue his care)

"My main concern now is the actual wound supplies. I know people have been donating money. That is SO great! We'll use anything we get to buy the cases of supplies we need. Lois should be calling me to update me about how much money we have. Please encourage more donations! If people are uncomfortable donating money, please tell them to order the Kerlix and Telfa pads that Jessica has linked on her blog, some can be purchased for as little as $1.00. They can send them directly to my house. I can't even begin to explain how many bandages he is going to need for me to really make some progress with those wounds. Any extra money that is donated will be put toward buying him extra food to fatten him up!

I'm SO overwhelmed by the outpouring of support. God is moving people to help this little boy that is on the other side of the globe. That is a true miracle."

If anyone wants to donate or order the bandages, please email me or leave a comment and I will give you the addresses you need. THANK YOU!

A Little Boy Needs Help!

There is a boy at Luckyhill, where Little Sister lives, who had a terrible accident. He needs all of our prayers for healing and safety, and quite a bit of medical attention that is just not available to him right now. Follow the first link for the story and the link below for a small update. If you can help in any way, please please do. If you can pray, please please do. He is Landon's age. Suddenly my boy who I just wrote about being so grown up is little again. I see the pain in William's eyes and I know how stoic and "big and bad" 9 year olds try to be, but they're still just little boys. The pictures do show his burns, so be ready. If you have questions please leave a comment under this post or email (or call) me.

William's story and pictures:
http://martinofamilymemories.blogspot.com/2009/04/please-help.html

update:
http://sugarhousemama.blogspot.com/2009/04/update-on-little-william.html

My friend who is going to Ghana to care for William's burns:
http://fullplatemama.blogspot.com/2009/04/moving-mountains-for-little-boy.html

Hoppin' Down the Bunny Trail

After the kids woke up way earlier than usual, ingested an unauthorized quantity of candy, went to church (today was not a good day to be a Primary teacher!) and came home (still bouncing off the walls) I forced/bribed/suggested that they should come outside for some Easter pictures. We do this every year and it is a lot of fun to compare the pictures with previous years. The children do not share my enthusiasm for this tradition. When I loaded these onto the computer I was taken aback by how much they have grown and changed in the past year. I notice it most in the oldest and youngest, who seem to have become much more grown-up and poised versions of themselves. My family is beautiful, in my humble and unbiased opinion. But WOW are they ever growing fast. I also look at the pictures and feel like they aren't *quite* right. Little Sister should be in them too, and next year she WILL be! As I was calmly (ha!) negotiating with Her Highness this morning to get her hair into an acceptable style, I realized that soon I will have two little girls to get ready. I cannot wait! Apparently I was sorely mistaken in thinking that bedhead is NOT the perfect hairdo for Sunday morning. Thank you, Princess, for straightening that out for me.

On a completely different topic, I am so blessed to have the technology that allows me to listen to and watch General Conference while I prepare Easter dinner this evening. We were traveling last weekend and missed all of conference. I was so grateful to find the entire conference already online in video and audio formats.

He Must Have Lived in Utah!

From another blog that I follow:

"The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day.
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You're one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
a cloud comes over the sunlit arch,
And wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you're two months back in the middle of March."

- Robert Frost, Two Tramps in Mud Time, 1926

I am allergic to snow.

It has been snowing all day, I have been sneezing all day. There has to be a connection. In the name of good health and saving trees from being turned into tissues, can we please call an end to winter and move on to Spring? That would be great, thanks.