Grandma in Training

I watch my friend Mel's little guy during the Sunday school hour. Mel is in primary and Milo is teaching Sunday school so I get to be the lucky one that gets to play with Reed for an hour. Lately, he has been quite active and I don't actually get to sit in class for long. He likes to walk down the hall with me. He really likes to go in while I set up the relief society room and he gets to play the piano. Well, yesterday he was quite content sitting on my lap. We looked at books, ate gold fish crackers, played with his stuffed frog. He was smiling the whole time. I thought.....wow.....I may get through the entire class. Then.......IT HAPPENED. He started grunting.....bubbling noises from below began. Then I was hit with this horrid smell. He looked up at me with a huge grin. I knew it was time for diaper duty. What? No diapers in the bag Mel gave me. So, I carried him down to the primary room and poked my head in and said "Hey....it's time for diaper duty." She came out and took him.....and then we discovered that diapers can leak.....all down your leg. He was a mess. Mel opened the container of baby wipes that was in her diaper bag and discovered it was empty. She held it up and said to a newlywed in the hall. "Bad parenting" We all laughed. Mel finally took Reed home to clean up the mess. I didn't see any of Reeds little present on my skirt....but the odor was there and I kept getting a whiff of it the rest of the afternoon. I kept asking Scott "Do you smell me? Do I smell like poop?" He said he couldn't. So, either he just didn't want me to leave him in combined Relief Society/preisthood meeting.....or he really couldn't smell it.....but I swear I could. As I was leaving Mel caught me in the parking lot. She said "I'm so sorry. It was even in his shoe." What a mess. I just laughed. It is good training for becoming a grandma. It has been quite some time since I did the leaky diaper thing. I'm thankful to have Reed to help me practice.....I'm a bit rusty. Have to get that gag reflex under control......ha ha.

HAPPY 23rd BIRTHDAY KEVIN

Ten reasons I love Kevin so much

1. Kevin is a great older brother. Looks out for his younger siblings.

2. Kevin thinks outside the box. I'm so glad that he studies things out and thinks them through and can form his own opinions and conclusions.

3. Kevin is one of the smartest people I know....and the best part is he isn't conceited about it.

4. Kevin is AWESOME with the elderly. After Melba died Kevin would go over to grandpa's everynight and just talk to him. He probably knows more about grandpa than any of us.

5. Kevin trys to stay fit.....something that I don't aspire to I'm afraid. He just ran a half marathon.

6. Kevin has a soft heart. He probably cries in movies as much as his mommy.

7. Kevin is very accepting of differences.....I think he even celebrates them. I am very proud of him for that.

8. He is very respectful of his mother. He has always treated me with love and respect.

9. He loves the Lord and has a strong testimony.

10. He fell in love with Stacie and their marriage has blessed our lives.

Happy Birthday my boy. I love you!!!!

Rock a bye baby

I'm going to be a grandma!!!!! Carolyn told us Friday that she is pregnant. We were all so excited to get the news. Carolyn and Brent are thrilled. Scott laughed when we went to Walmart lastnight and I went straight to the baby section. Hey.....I'm going to be a grandma.....that's my job.....to spoil that baby. I can't wait to start shopping. There is so much more cool stuff than when I had babies. Congrats Carolyn and Brent. You are going to be great parents.....and your baby is going to have an awesome grandma!!!

The Prankster

Scott got called to be the ward mission leader last Sunday. I was very excited about his new calling. I love having the missionaries over and it is always so much fun getting to know them. We are going to feed them breakfast on Sunday mornings before their meetings. That will be nice.

Well, I was quite the prankster when I was a young woman....and the target of my pranks most often was the missionaries. My friend Leanne and I liked to pull as many stunts as possible. Some of our more famous ones were sneaking in their place while they were gone and soaking down their p-day clothes and putting them in the freezer. There was the time we saran wrapped their car and then tied it up with a beautiful bow. I think our best stunt was when the elders moved they had a basement apartment and you had to go down a stairwell to get to it. A bunch of us girls saved newspapers for a month and we completely filled the stairwell with crumpled up newspaper. It was glorious. It took them quite a while to be able to reach their apartment.

Now.....don't think all of this went unpunished. They retaliated several times. I had my letterman's jacket stolen in the dead of winter and was walking home from school with my jacket that wasn't near as warm when the missionaires drove by.....and Elder Armstrong was wearing my coat!!! UGH! Then there was the time that my dad looked out the window as we were headed to bed and saw that the car had been turned around in the carport. So, we went out and after about 30 minutes of careful manuvering we were able to get it back in the right place. When we woke up the next morning the car was sideways again. My dad thought it was some of my friends. Nope......zone conference in town and 8 elders just picked up the car and turned it around. They sat and giggled in the bushes across the street as we manuvered back in place. Those turkeys.

So, with Scott's new calling all sorts of possibilities cropped up in my mind. Well, it hasn't been a week yet.....and I've already started. This one was just to easy.

Elder Farnsworth called yesterday and I said "What have you done?" He said "I broke my bike." "How did you manage that Elder?" "Well, Sis. Jackson....when you are riding really fast and you hit the curb sometimes it can bend your back wheel." After inquiring to make sure he was okay I asked what I could do to help him. He told me that he had borrowed a bike from the Bakers but it was Anne's or Jills. He wondered if we had a bike to borrow. Now, I know I should have been sympathetic and compassionate.....but seriously.....this was going to be to easy. "Is the bike pink elder?" He answered in a quiet voice "Kind of purple....but it is a girls bike Sis. Jackson." I told him that it was a good thing he goes home in a month so he will only have to suffer humiliation for a few more weeks. He could tell that I wasn't to concerned about his problem.

Well, lastnight they stopped by and it was dark when it was time to head home so they left their bikes here for the night. Now come on! You should never make it that easy! So, when Elder Farnsworth arrived this morning to retrieve his bike it had pretty purple streamers hanging from the handlebars and a pretty decoration in his spokes. If he is going to have a girls bike it might as well be really pretty!