Cookers Licenses

A few days ago, I was at work, Tommy had to run a couple errands, and Mesa was home with the boys. The boys were having one of those kinds of days,....the kind where you are surprised that either one survives long enough to get a bath that night! Mesa didn't know what to do, and out of frustration, she tries a separation method. She took the underdog of that particular fight (Jared) and had him come to the kitchen to help her cook supper. Both of my little boys like to cook, so Jared lit up and was thrilled to get to help.
Of course, that means Morgan got jealous and wanted to participate. Mesa was trying to keep the boys separated, so she told Morgan he couldn't help this time because he didn't have a "cookers license." (Imagine the look on Jared's face as he smirks at morgan for not having such a coveted item.) Morgan, of course, WAS devastated to learn he didn't have such a thing and had to sit out this time. When I cam home from work, I got to hear all the cranky details from all sides. I had hoped it was over now that parents were home,.....

.....it was not......

I've heard bickering for the past few days about "cookers licenses" and who deserves one and who doesn't. Yesterday, poor Morgan was still licking his wounds over the lack of a license and he asked me if he could take his cookers test to see if he was ready for a license. It was Sunday night, all meals were done, ..... I let him cook some hard boiled eggs. He did it by himself with me talking him through it from the sofa. He did just fine and we enjoyed them as a snack. Morgan gleamed with pride as only Morgan can do.

But now Jared hasn't gotten to prove HIMSELF yet, and he is jealous. *sigh* I can never win.
This morning I let Jared help me cook up some breakfast. He cooked the grits (something he isn't a fan of) and we served them up at the table. Jared got his bowl and added butter, salt and pepper. He ate it up as if it were chocolate, and asked for another helping! I was truly surprised by that! After we finished clearing the table, here comes that little smirky face saying "did I pass?"

These two boys tried their best to give me a deadline when I should have their licenses ready for them. I guess in some way it worked, because I've spent a couple hours tonight literally DRAWING cookers licenses for my boys. These aren't clipart, they are actual drawings I did using Paint Shop Pro. I'm pretty pleased with how they look,...and if you notice, Morgan's has brown hair and Jared's has blond hair. I think the boys will really like these when I print them out and present them tomorrow :) Now I'm wishing I could laminate them too! Maybe I'll do just that!

The Christmas Elf

December was a hard month. I spent it sick. At first, I wasn't upset about that because I've not been sick since last year. About the middle of the month, my laptop crashed. Now I'm feeling sick. Actually, I managed to google up a virus in my avid search for clip-art. It was quite the nasty bug apparently, that came with friends. All those friends began eating files and disabling functions. I began to panic and called my brother in law (who I am SO thankful for!) and told him all about it. He says just bring it and he'll see what he can do. He was so calm. I want some of what HE takes!

By the time we got to Tennessee, the stress of life had managed to intertwine itself very neatly into my immune system and leave me quite defenseless. Daddy has a new dog, and evidently allergies can progressively get worse with repeated exposures,.... so I became instantly ill and stayed that way till we left.

On Saturday, we stayed with Catherine for a little longer than everybody else. I always love that time when its just us. We have such a different friendship as adults than we ever dreamed of as kids. Dave spent that whole day cleaning off viruses from my poor laptop. Late that night, he tells me it's clean, but it's a little handicapped. He says he'll reformat it and see if that helps, but chances are that its time to get a new laptop. So we leave it with him overnight to let him finish his magic and we head back to Mama's house for the night. The next day, we planned on going home because I was SO sick. I went to get my laptop from Dave, and find out just how bad it really is. I get back to Mama's and find Tommy's legs so badly swollen I figure it's best to stay there one more day to get his legs eased up and more rest in me. So I turn on my laptop to work on the Christmas gift I couldn't give yet,.... and find ALL my pictures from 2002 through 2011 are GONE. Now I'm devastated....and I started to cry... cried my eyes out. I just couldn't shake it either. If someone mentioned it, the tears came back. It was almost my last straw and I was feeling like I would need some medical intervention because I was headed to a bad emotional place. It occurred to me that this was Sunday and Manti's p-day is Monday. That meant I would be on the road and miss the chance to email back and forth with him. BUT,....I could send him an email and he could respond, and that would be SOME form of contact I could live with.

I went upstairs, got on Mama's computer and started an email. I told Manti all about my feelings. I told him how devastated I was and how much I hated life making me feel this way,... all the things you are NOT supposed to tell your missionary. Then I said to him that I knew all this was just bad feelings and that I had faith in him to teach me something better. I asked him to please tell me the good things about his mission, so that his happiness could be mine too. I asked him to tell me what was in the scriptures that build my strength and tolerance back up. I told him I knew I would be ok, but hearing that HE is ok and more than ok would be just the medicine to help. And i sent it.

The next day I got an email. It had pictures in it, and it had scriptures in it (telling me there must needs be opposition in all things) and it had comforting words just for me. He eased my feelings with his words and pictures. It was the birthday present I had needed. Only it didn't come from Santa,.... it came from the Christmas Elf....