Saucy

We often feed William food after secretly slipping in additional ingredients like spices, butter, sauces, and so on. He enjoys them without realizing we have improved what he is eating. He thinks he eats plain rice and toast, but they usually have butter added (in an effort to fatten him up a little). He prefers plain pasta to tomato sauces, though he LOVES pesto and alfredo. But sometimes we still toss his pasta in a light tomato sauce.

Recently at dinner, Will ate all of his plain pasta and wanted more, but he had eaten everything we had cooked. We suggested he could eat the other items on his plate, but we were not making more pasta just for him. He continued to insist that he needed more pasta.

We then brought out some leftovers from what he had eaten just two days before. It was pasta lightly tossed in a garlic tomato sauce. He noticed the sauce and refused to eat it proclaiming, “I only like plain pasta, not mixed with tomato sauce.”

“Will, you just ate this the day before yesterday and loved it!” we exclaimed.

“I didn’t eat this! I want plain pasta,” he insisted. Though, we can assure you, it is exactly what he had eaten two days previous and more than one helping to boot. We tried to convince him that he had indeed eaten that exact pasta with the sauce, with hopes that he would just accept the fact eat it.

Frustrated, Will promptly stood up and walked away from the dining table. He returned with a piece of plain paper and a pencil and began writing. “What are you writing, Will?” we asked. He just kept writing without uttering a single word.

Once completing his composition, he folded the paper in half, wrote his name on the front, sat down, and ate the rest of his dinner without touching the tomato contaminated pasta. When we asked what he had written he mumbled with a full mouth, “it is a reminder for me. It is going on my bedroom door.” After asking a few times, he finally let us read the note:

Remember to never eat pasta again 
until Mom makes you plain pasta with salt!

A Child’s Prayer

Lucky is such a cute black cocker spaniel. His face draws you in, with those deep brown eyes. Lucky does not just wag his tail, but he wags the entire lower half of his body. He wags so fast and crazily he can hardly walk at times and it is a wonder he can stand on his hind legs.

As much as we love Lucky, he can be frustrating. His desire to remove the stuffing out of everything seems to be an addiction. His toys and dog beds have all fallen victim to this insatiable need of his. Lori walked out of the family room the other day to see balls of fluff all over the hallway floor surrounding a now deflated dog bed. At her wits end, she declared in a tense voice, “Lucky, you need to stop destroying your beds!”

Will dashed into the hallway, quickly offering words of wisdom, “Mom, I know what you can do. You can pray for Lucky to not do it and then you won’t be so frustrated.”

“Is that what you do, Will?” Lori inquired.

“I pray when I am worried or scared about something and it works for me.” Will continued to explain, “Like the other night I was afraid that there would be a flood here. So I prayed. And there wasn’t one!”

Drowning Concerns

In June, we visited the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA. We had a great time with Grandma Pitt, sister Sheryl, several of Sheryl’s adult kids and grandchildren, and our friend Dante.


Will loved the day we spent there. He repeatedly visited the petting pools where he could pet sharks, manta-rays, starfish, sea anemones, jelly fish and other fish and sea creatures. We fed birds and visited every single exhibit, making sure not to miss anything. Will was even chosen to be the helper for the seal and sea lion show (he is always quick and enthusiastic to volunteer for such things).

Near the end of our day, we watched a cool presentation about the melting glaciers and ice caps around the world and the predicted affect that could have on the planet and the land we live on. Will didn’t seem to be paying attention and gave his usual, “it was great,” when I asked him what he thought about the movie. Later that day he approached me and a few days later he talked to Lori concerning the presentation. He had a genuine concern for all of our friends and family who lived on the coasts of California and felt we should invite them to move to Utah.

Our hearts were touched by the concern he had been carrying with him since visiting the aquarium.

Lesson to us: William is paying far better attention that we think he is and he holds on to things he hears, and ponders them. I must admit that this makes me more than happy.

The Mohawk

Yesterday, as we drove home from our Cinco de Mayo dinner, I spotted a tough looking motorcyclist sporting a mohawk. I pointed out the burly cyclist to Will because he seems to have a fascination with that particular hair style.

“Awesome!” he cried.

Lori started to inform Will that he will never have one and I quickly hushed the comment. I’m thinking if we put a verbal ban on his adolescent desire for what he sees as a fun Mohawk, the seed of rebellion is then planted in his mind. I can clearly imagine Will crawling into his bedroom window instead of walking through the front door because of his newly unispiked hairstyle. I think Lori saw what I was thinking, so she resumed with a different approach.

Lori: I don't like mohawks.

Will: You don't like them?

Lori: I don't like how they look on people. Do you like how they look or do you want one?

Will: I want one.

Lori: No. Not on my watch.

Will: So you are saying it's not ever gonna happen?

Lori: Yes. That's what I'm saying.

Will: We'll see about that.

Seed of rebellion firmly planted and sprouting.

Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point

Saturday we met our friends Sarah and Terry Price and four of their kids, T, Sam, Rachel and Rebekah at Thanksgiving Point for the Tulip Festival.  We hadn't seen them in such a long time, we had a great time catching up and enjoying the beautiful scenery!

the lovely Sarah Sue

 purple tulips.. always a highlight!

 Will spent a good portion of the day running from

Rachel and Rebekah... he loved it!

 Sam, Will and Rachel

 Thanks to T, who had quarters, they were

able to buy fish food and feed the Koi

 Will has a fascination with water...

one day he will put his face in it :)

 Will, Rebekah and Sam

 Will's favorite spot at TP is the Secret Garden

where he can play in the fountain.

... a good day!

Education & Priorities

Will was talking about which university he will attend. He is 7. He is thinking about his advanced education. I'm pretty sure I didn't know anything about advanced education when I was 7.

The discussion turned to the possibility of BYU (he could go to any respected institution as far as we are concerned). He liked this idea because he could live at home. Our hearts are warmed by his desire to be near us, but we figure in a few years he may not want to be so near his parents. Lori asked if he would want to actually live in the dorms with his friends, but he figured it would be nicer to live with us.

After a few moments of silence Will inquired, “Mom, is the BYU Creamery closer to our house or the dorms?”

“Well, it's closer to the dorms,” she responded.

“Hmmm, then that’s tricky.”

At least he knows what his priorities are.

Heartbreakers

Early in the mornings, Lori takes me to catch the bus. On the rare occasion that William is awake at that dreadful hour, he goes with us, but he usually stays home with Jennifer, Tana, and Lucky.

Will has been told that he must go down to the car with one of us in the instances he wakes up. He cannot just walk down to the car on his own just in case we do not see or hear him and the worst occurs (just the thought tightens my chest and gives me shivers).

This morning Will woke up and starting coming down the hall as I was rushing down the stairs to the running car, where Lori was waiting for me. He was a good boy and did not go down to the car alone. He did go into the library where the bay windows hang over the driveway below. He banged on the windows, crying, tears streaming down his face, and yelled for us to let him go along as we were pulling away from the house. We neither heard nor saw him.

Lori arrived back home and found Will sitting in the family room chair with puffed red eyes and a quivering bottom lip. With a shakey voice, he told her what had happened. While typing this, it breaks my heart as I consider how he was feeling.

Will and Lori now have a plan, should this happen again. He is to flash the lights off an on in an effort to get our attention. In the mean time, I will tip-toe as light as possible in the mornings to allow him to sleep as much as we can. I love to have him with me, however, his evening moods are not so cheery when he rides along to catch those early busses.