Yesterday my toddler absconded (today's ten cent word) with my spatula while I was flipping pancakes. Bright eyed he started marching around the kitchen with his prize.
"Spatula Mommy!" he chanted. I was a little taken aback that he knew that word and prounounced it so perfectly. Matronly pride expanded. He's a very clever boy. No...he's brilliant! How many times has he heard me say that word? I don't recall ever using it in his prescence. He must have a photographic memory! I start to picture him leading a band of pint sized intellectuals, running a hand through his Einstein-esq hair.

Meanwhile...the pancakes are burning.
Ten seconds later he walks up to me and raises the spatula carefully upwards, a sponge he's found on the counter resting on it.
"Mommy? You want crabby patty?"*

Oh.

My child isn't brilliant. He just watches too much TV.

*for all you exemplary mothers out there who don't park your children in front of Nickelodeon at 8:00 a.m. so you can read in bed and extra 20 minutes...a crabby patty is what Sponge Bob flips at his job at the Crusty Crab. If you don't know who Sponge Bob is...well, I can't talk to you anymore.

Ok...who's going into the volcano?
Clearly some drastic measures must be taken. The weather gods have been angered. I wonder what sacrifice will be necessary to pry Winter's greedy mitts off the forecast and usher in some balmier fare. These are not images you'd expect of the end of May, and yet...

The flowers I planted so optimistically on Saturday

My daughter wearing my coat...the one I thought I'd put

away for the next six months!

A little eavesdropping never hurt anyone...

Every week I take my oldest son and his friend to Karate. I get great insights into the nine year old mind by listening to their conversations. I make sure the radio is on so they don't think I'm listening but not so loud that I can't hear. This was one of their most recent exchanges...almost verbatim.

J: Dude, did you know that Obama is trying to make it so no one can have guns?

B: No way!

J: Yes he is. You know what that means?

B: What?

J: Our military guys are gonna have to use bows and arrows!

B (with great concern): Dude, that's never gonna work against tanks...

Crash Site
Tow Yard

I'm posting this for informational purposes.

A lot of you have asked what happened. I don't really know. I was in the very back with my oldest son. I had just closed my eyes since everyone had settled in--watching a movie. I heard screeching, heard the impact of us hitting something and then the squeal of tires. I saw us turning in circles and then we were rolling...several times. F looked at the van yesterday at the tow yard. We think the rear of the van was airborn for awhile since the front sustained the most damage. I asked my Aunt later if she thought we rolled a lot and she agreed, saying she felt like it would never stop. As soon as the van came to rest of its side, I unclicked my kid's seat belts and gathered them into one area of the van and did a visual inventory. Lots of crying but no bleeding that I could see. I asked if my mom was alive and she said she was. She was stuck in her seat belt, suspended above my Aunt in the front. At that point I began frenetic prayers that some one would come because I couldn't reach either of them and couldn't get out of the van. A minute later the faces of some very startled men peered through the broken glass. They were able to cut mom loose and move her out of the van and then my Aunt. I handed my toddler through the window, then K and then J. One of the men on site was an off duty nurse so he got my Aunt on the ground, J too since he had a huge knot behind his ear and my mom taken care of. Mom, Auntie M and J were loaded into ambulances and the rest of us waited with some very nice firemen. It was a tense time since I'd really wanted to stay with my son, but one of the guys reassured me that if his injuries had appeared life-threatening, they would have flown in a helicopter. My toddler kept pointing at the mess and saying, "Mommy! Our van broken!"

Of all the scenarios I run through in my mind, none of them have us all surviving. There were so many things that could have been different. We were protected. Mom broke a rib. Auntie M is still in the hospital and is having surgery on her broken shoulder today. She also broke her leg. J had a CT scan at the hospital and was discharged that day. The rest of us have bruises where our seat belts restrained us. They are absolutely beautiful tattoos and I am grateful to have them.

Thanks to all of you for your offers of help, your prayers and for listening. The kids and I are all still rattled. F had to deal with a very emotional woman on the drive home yesterday. I didn't want to get into the truck...let alone drive. I did for maybe an hour before I burst into tears on some curvy roads. All I wanted was to be home and out of a moving vehicle. For a little while my excursions will be within city limits!

I'm Dreaming of a White...Easter?!?!

A chilly easter egg hunt and marshmellow peeps for breakfast!

It's Easter in the Intermountain West!