Eli, the JoySchool Graduate, and my Surprise of the Day

I can't believe that I have yet another Joy School graduate living in my house with me! They are by far, Joy School graduates that is, some of the best little people I have ever met. Tonight was Eli's Joy School graduation, and it was just perfect. Due to the lovely MAY snowfall that we had today, we ended up indoors. Before the big night began, while we were still home I noticed things warming up a bit outside, and was determined to get my new backyard tree in the ground. We, Dad, Jr, and Misi and I, had tried to make way with digging the hole on Saturday, but decided the ground could use a dang good soaking. We weren't getting anywhere with that hard rock filled ground. Imagine my surprise when the water was still sitting in that dang hole even after the snow fall today. Seriously. All rocks in this Orem ground. Someone shoulda warned me last year before I decided to plant 7 trees total since last fall! I probably woulda done it anyway. That halfway dug hole was calling my name all weekend. So while Line bathed Ane, Malia bathed Eva, and Eli and Lose bathed themselves for the big graduation night, I headed out with my shovel and a lot of determination. I now have 3 mega blisters on my right hand and something is wrong with my actual hand...I can't grip things like I should be able to. But I did it! It's in the ground, and tomorrow I'm gonna finish covering it with some nice bark. Yay! A tree to shade, hopefully within the next 5 years, the swingset. I was so excited about it, only to have Malia tell me, "Mom, by the time it's actually shading the swingset I'll be 12 and probably won't be swinging anymore." To which I replied, "That's fine. Then I'll be the one to pull the hammock under the tree and relax in the shade with a nice book...". She quickly realized her error of thinking, and now has big plans, as do all of them, for sitting in the future shade of our back yard. Grow tree, grow!

Eli picked out her dress for her big night, and did her hair all by herself. That's her thing these days...doing her own hair. Lose, too. And actually, Eli's been doing Ane's and Eva's hair for them, if they sit still long enough for her elaborate plans. It's too cute. I'll have to take pictures of some of her creations. Here she is with some of her JoySchool group from this year.

I knew that I would have a time of it trying to video, take pictures, and corrall Ane and Eva all by myself, so I gave the job of videotaping to Malia...should be interesting to watch. And I gave the job of photographing to Line. She quickly grew frustrated that she couldn't catch Eli not moving. I personally like these ones the best.



Eli was such a big girl with JoySchool this year. After her Daddy died she really struggled with being anywhere I wasn't. She had to overcome that fear on a weekly basis, and I am so happy for her that she was able to make it through the whole year. The Joy School moms were so understanding, and had more than their fair share of screeching and pawing after me walking out the door, and they never once complained about it. See how happy this little face is? She's happy because she's proud of herself for making it through despite her pain. She told me so...



I followed the example of another JoySchool family and decided it was a great opportunity to take a family photo. I knew that yes, I'd rolled up my mud covered jeans from digging my tree's new home, and yes, I hadn't showered that day since we started out the day with an 8:00 am dentist visit, and yes, some of the girlies didn't want to be in the picture. But, these opportunities are too fleeting, and especially pictures of us together.

It hurts to see what's so obviously not there...which brings me to my surprise of the day. As I was gathering the girlies to leave, I walked past all the daddies standing in a circle visiting with one another. That in and of itself didn't catch me off guard. It was seeing one of the Dads standing there, so nonchalantly holding his 5 month old in his arm like an extra appendage. His stance reminded me of the same way I've seen Naki stand a million times, and it was shocking to not see him standing there, holding one of ours and visiting with his friends. I had to catch my breath, and remind myself that these moments are surprising, but are also a blessing. I hadn't thought of that image of him for some time, and it was a gift for me to see him in my memory so clearly at a time when I'm struggling to remember images of him that used to be so commonplace.

I know that all you JoySchool Moms aren't going to be complete fans of this picture, but I had to put it here in my journal, to always remember the angels that God gave me at this impossible time in my life. These ladies made it possible for me to focus on surviving instead of worrying about teaching this year, or even removing Eli from Joy School all together. I will forever remember that gift that they have given to me. Their kindness inspires me to someday give the gift of kindness to others in a similar way. I love each and every one of them for loving me and Eli so very much this Joy School year.

My Personal Greenhouse

All of this is inside my house and my garage...









...because of all of this.




On the way home from the dentist this morning the girls and I saw SO many trees with broken branches, some huge sections of the trees missing. It took me a minute to make the connection, but I rushed home as soon as I could to check on my baby trees planted just last fall. They really needed me. Although I admit to acting without thinking, not uncommon for me, I ran up to each tree and grabbed it's trunk and shook hard to get all the snow off of their sweet little baby branches. Yes, I got several snow showers. When I got back in the car, Eva exclaimed that I was too wet to be in there. Hey. At least those little trees were saved. The maple beside my house on the east side still hasn't popped back up straight, but nothing's snapped and so I'm hoping that it'll recover. The snow doesn't seem to be bothering these two monkeys.

Snow?

Someone make this insane weather stop! I just planted all my annuals, and am not happy about the snow mixing with them. The plants I bought for the front of my house plus the other annuals I haven't planted are all tucked away in my garage. They aren't happy about it! I have to fill up my watering can a bazillion times today so I can go water them all. C'mon, snow. Go away!