Teeth and other tidbits

Things here have been crazy lately, and so I haven't been posting as regularly. I know that must be a bitter disappointment to you all, so I have some random bits of life to share:

1. Dallin lost one of his big front teeth. He has a theory that he learned from Junie B. Jones, I think, that the Tooth Fairy recycles baby teeth. She cleans them off, and puts them into other babies' mouths. So Dallin thinks that Hayden surely is growing in his old tooth somewhere.

2. Which leads me to tidbit #2. Hayden now has two teeth on the bottom, and almost four on top. It's hard to see them, but there they are . . .

3. The other day, Daphne said, "Watch Mommy! Watch me forever, okay, Mom?" What she meant was "Watch me forever," as opposed to looking for a second and then going back to folding laundry, or washing dishes, or picking up clutter, thereby missing the special trick she's showcasing.

4. Our Dishwasher is broken. It has been out of commission for two weeks now. I realize now how much I take those kinds of things for granted. I have been spending lots of time chained to the kitchen sink washing, and washing and washing the dishes, and thinking deep thoughts like, "Shouldn't my fairy godmother have arrived by now . . ."

5. Sean . . . what to say about this one? It's a good thing I love him, because today he woke Hayden up from both of his naps after he'd only been asleep for about half an hour. I was so mad. Then tonight while Arthur had to work late, and I was hosting a baby shower, Dallin & Daphne ran downstairs to inform me that he was flooding the bathroom. Yep. He sure was flooding the bathroom giving all his bath-toys a bubble bath in the sink. I was sooo mad.

(looking very innocent)

6. Dallin has awarded himself a Caldecott Award for a book he is writing entitled, "No, Sean, No!" (pretty similar to the Caldecott-Award- Winning "No, David, No" by David Shannon.)

7. I don't usually get this personal, but I experienced a tender mercy of the Lord today that I wanted to share. So you need the background information to understand why it was meaningful to me. Lately I have been feeling overwhelmed and inadequate. Happens to the best of us, I guess. :) I'll blame it on my dishwasher for now. And my four little blessings might be part of it too. I feel like I'm killing myself trying to keep the dishes clean, and the clothes washed, folded, and put away, and the children nourished and happy and thriving, and safe, food on the table, diapers changed, toys picked up, church stuff, mom's preschool, music lessons, and everything else in between, and I'm just not doing any of it well. Anyway, the last few evenings, I have found myself in tears because I feel like "butter scraped across too much bread." I just feel discouraged. (I need to read Pres. Uchtdorf's talk--it was so great.)

Anyway, to get to the point, today I was practicing some music for the Messiah, and I was singing "He Shall Feed His Flock." (For those who are not familiar with Handel's Messiah, the text is all scriptural.) I was singing along, "He shall feed His flock like a shepherd, and He shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in His bosom," and then I came to this part, "and gently lead those that are with young" the first time I sang this line it didn't really sink in, but the music repeats, "and gently lead those, and gently lead those that are with young." And as I sang that, I realized the Savior was speaking directly to me through this scripture. I felt the spirit witness to me that my Savior is mindful of me and my young children. He is mindful of my efforts, my strengths and my weaknesses, and He will gently lead me. I am thankful for the tender mercies of the Lord, and that he does succor his people according to their need. I am thankful that he was mindful of me and spoke comfort to me through music and his words in my time of need.