East

But as I lay back in Neddy's lap, my eyes idly fell on some breeches of min that Mother was just beginning to work on. There was a great ugly tear in the backside that I had gotten sliding down a small waterfall earlier in the day. My near drowning at the bottom of the waterfall had left me more subdued and tired than usual. I closed my eyes sleepily, drawn into Neddy's description of Thor swinging his mighty hammer as he crossed the rainbow bridge. When I opened my eyes again, I saw that the rip in my breeches had disappeared.

I sat up, wide awake. It was magic.

It might be thought odd that I had never noticed Mother sewing up a hole before, but usually she saved her mending for later in the evening, the peaceful time of day when I was asleep.

I was by her side in a flash, all trace of sleepiness gone, the Bifrost bridge forgotten.

"Do it again," I demanded.

"Do what?" she asked, bewildered.

"Make a hole go away."

She smiled and picked up another piece of mending. She showed me how to thread the needle, then neatly stitched up a small tear in Sonja's smock.

I watched, avidly, and then said with conviction, "I want to."

This is the excerpt from East by Edith Pattou that completely got me hooked. I mean, come on, sewing is magical! Any book that admits it, has to be good. This book is a retelling of the Norwegian fairy tale "East of the Sun, West of the Moon." If you enjoy reading fairy tales, I believe you will enjoy this book.

Happy Easter

I hope you all enjoyed a splendid Easter Sunday. I directed the Ward Choir in several numbers this morning in Sacrament Meeting. I could have only had us perform 1 song, but really, there are so many Easter season songs to be sung, so we sang 6. My absolute favorite was "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" from the Hymnal Plus book - the purple one. Our organist rocks! My second favorite was "Behold the Saviour" with lyrics by Samuel Wesley. In doing some research on this song, I discovered that it was published in the "Manchester Hymnal" in 1840. We sang these beautiful lyrics with a haunting tune in a minor key (it never resolved!):

Behold the Savior of mankind
Nailed to the shameful tree!
How vast the love that Him inclined
To bleed and die for thee!

Hark, how He groans, while nature shakes,
And earth’s strong pillars bend;
The temple’s veil in sunder breaks,
The solid marbles rend.

“’Tis done!” The precious ransom’s paid,
“Receive My soul,” He cries!
See where He bows His sacred head!
He bows His head, and dies!

But soon He’ll break death’s envious chain,
And in full glory shine:
O Lamb of God! was ever pain,
Was ever love, like Thine?

We also sang "Let the Mountains Shout for Joy", "That Easter Morn", "Canon in D" by Pachabel, with lyrics by Noel Goemanne, and "Come, Jesus Holy Son of God" by Handel. It was heavenly music. I am truly blessed to work with such a wonderful choir.

This week, I made ties for Roderic and Hyrum to wear that matched the dress I made for Sabrina. We headed down to the Boise Depot for some pictures at dusk. I just had to show off my handiwork.

Happy Birthday Sabrina!

10 years of Sabrina E Gibby! My life has never been better. What a darling girl she is.

She's got my mouth

Malauna's mouth in October 2001

Yesterday, I got to take Sabrina for a consultation with an Oral Surgeon. Let me give you some history: Her 6 year molar on her left side (tooth #19) never grew in. It may be ankylosed (stuck to the bone). Her 12 year old molar is starting to grow in, at an angle. Her jaw bone on the left side is smaller, by about a quarter inch, than her jaw bone on the right side. Her wisdom tooth looks fine. She will most likely get tooth #19 pulled and have braces guide the 12 year old molar into a new position. The question is when will her treatment start.

It sounds so familiar.

My six year molar on my right side broke through the gumline, but never grew any higher, it was ankylosed. I had it removed in 2001 to prep for a double Osteotomy (jaw surgery). I got to be in braces for 5 years. Now I have crowns and bridges in my mouth so my jaw doesn't have undue stress by me chewing on only one side of my mouth.

The thing is, when I mention to the Drs. that I think her mouth irregularities are genetic, they look at me like that is highly impossible.

Family Movie Night

Yesterday morning, Sabrina pulled out the VHS tape that documents her life from December 1999 to April 2000. All the children had a great time watching Sabrina as a baby.

At dinner time, Roderic wanted it to be his turn to shine and watch a movie about him as a baby. I pulled out the VCD I made about his first birthday and it didn't work in our DVD player (bummer), so instead we watched the DVD that I made about Ryan's trip to the Netherlands in 2004. As we're watching the slideshows of the pictures Ryan took, Roderic said, "Mom, I think we need to sell this house to live in a windmill." And maybe that is exactly what our family needs.

Feeling Light-Headed

When I reminded Ryan that I was getting a drastic haircut this morning, he decided that he needed to take some before and after pictures.

Before and After

Heidi says my new swoopy bangs should sexily hang across my forehead with a far part. Otherwise I'd look like a little girl. And since I'm in my 30s, I need a age-appropriate hairstyle.

Hyrum is Hungry

Hyrum wants 'damdahyers'

Translation anyone? Graham crackers. He wants Graham crackers. And he's quite frustrated that it took me such a long time to figure out what he was saying.