Thankful Thursday

I have not posted Thankful Thursday for a while but today I thought it was a good idea. Today was the Special Olympics Unified Track and Field day. Caleb and Cayden both went and competed for our school. I wa quite surprised that Cayden participated because the first thing that he said when he woke up was "I don't want to go to the Olympics." He was fussing about it all morning bu then when we got there he ran the 100 meter dash (so did Caleb) and they both did the javelin throw. When it came time to do the 50 meter dash Cayden flat out refused to do it. They did not make him of course so he sat out but atleast he did the other 2 events. So now why I am thankful. I have gone with my boys the last few years and I always drive my car because I am not a fan of the school bus. We got there earlier than the school bus so we had to wait a few minutes. As we were waiting I saw lots of different schools coming in with their kids. This event is for handicapped kids-whether it is mental or physical-and also some non-handicapped from their schools. I saw a few kids in wheelchairs and one that had to wear a helmet to protect their head. I also saw a blind boy with the stick being helped by one of his classmates. The first race we saw of the day there was a little girl probably 4th grade with Down Syndrome who ran her little heart out even though she came in last. I just had this overwhelming sense of gratitude that my kids can see, and run and play even though they have their own struggles. Cayden was asked by the modified PE teacher to participate in these games and she wanted Caleb to come and help with moral support. Cayden almost needs modified PE but they have not tested him yet to see if he qualifies. Even though he has his developmental delays and struggles so much in school he still is progressing and retaining which some of those kids may never do. There is a thought that says if everyone laid out all their problems and struggles on a table that we would most likely want to take our own back and not someone elses. I did not get good pics of the races and I missed Caleb's 50 meter all together because it was just utter chaos on that last race and they did not go in the order they were supposed to but the kids had a good time. I am also thankful that I can go with my kids for these things.

Ode to My Kitchen Aide

The Adams household suffered a terrible loss Sunday evening when their (who am I kidding I am the only one who loved this little piece of heaven disguised in steel and black enamel!) beloved Kitchen Aide unexpectedly suffered a major heart attack Sunday evening. (sniff sniff) We have been through many ups (the bread actually rising) and many downs (many failed attempts at bread). I have enjoyed experimenting with you dear Kitchen Aide on banana muffins and the age old debate as to which is the best kind of chocolate chip cookie-the thin and crispy or the chewy and gooey. I will sorely miss our pizza dough making days when I tried valiantly to keep you from throwing yourself off the counter onto the floor. Alas, I could not save you this time though even though I salvaged the cinnamon rolls by borrowing a Bosch. (Is Bosch a bad word to say around the Kitchen Aide) You had a short life of a little over 3 years-maybe 4- can't quite remember but don't fret even though your memory will still hover over us like the wafting scent of broken zucchini muffins that lingers throughout my house, you will soon be replaced by your 6 quart capacity brother who dang well better not kick the bucket after a measly 4 years! (Um I think I am a little bitter about the demise of my trusty sidekick) Love you my traitorous Kitchen Aid! RIP! Anyone have a Kohl's coupon?
P.S. The Zuchinni Bread recipe does not work well when trying to make muffins. Still tasty though while mostly crumbs and bits and pieces. Any thoughts on how to turn that recipe into a muffin recipe? They were really flat and stuck to the pan like crazy even though I sprayed it with Pam.

Parable of the Purple Bunny and Other Stories Starring Cayden

Cayden has done some pretty amazing things in the last week or so. Easter Sunday was our Fast Sunday because of Conference. We were sitting on out bench and Cayden was sitting by Don who was sitting by me. He leans over and says to me
Cayden "Mom, you go up there."
Mom "Go up where?"
Cayden 'Go up and bear your testimony.'
Mom "Why?"
Cayden "You have a testimony."
Well how do you not go after that? I thought that was pretty sweet!

This Sunday morning we had another experience with him. He had gotten 2 of those bendy plastic rabbit toys at school and one of them was missing. He had been playing with them all week and so he was looking all over the place trying to find the purple one. He even brought in a book that was purple so that he could make sure that I knew what color we were looking for. He was outside for 20 minutes, then he was under beds, upstairs, looking in the bathtubs etc. He was pretty sure they were around the trampoline but we looked 3 times and they weren't there. I was trying to get ready for church and had wet hair so I told him we would find it after I got ready for church. A few minutes later he comes in with Connor and tells me that he said a prayer to find his toy. So now what? Do I have enough faith to believe that the Lord will help this little boy find a silly plastic toy? When he came in and told me that he said a prayer he said "Ok mom, go outside." I said "Sweetie I don't think that they are out there because we already looked." He said "But I said a prayer!" quite emphatically! I said I know honey and we will find them." But he just knew that they were outside and that because he said his prayer they would be found. I still was not ready for church but we went back outside. They were still not there. At first we thought that they may have been run over by the lawn mower but as there were no body parts laying around the backyard we had to keep looking. If you know how my house works, it is usually me who does the locating of missing shoes, lunchboxes, Ipods, plastic bunnies etc. I knew that I had to help look and that it may be that the spirit would tell me where those toys were. Sure enough-after I was finally ready and I went to help him look-and get him dressed for church-the boys were looking in different places that I told them to look and then I remembered that they had all been to Overton in the Suburban and that was the last that I had seen the runaway rabbit. I said to Caleb-go look in the Suburban. Rabbit Found! We said a prayer thanking Heavenly Father for helping us find them and I thanked him in my heart for answering a sweet little boy's prayer. I'm sure that there were bigger and more important prayers being said that day and the missing bunny was not one of the top ten pressing matters at the moment but it was important to this little boy and important to his mom that his prayer was answered! I did have the faith to believe that even if that rabbit had been chopped up by the lawn mower, Heavenly Father could put it back together for my child. I even told Don that while I was rushing to get ready for church so that bunny hunt could start in earnest. I am so grateful for these sweet learning and humbling moments where the spirit testifies of the truth and gladdens my heart.

One more-Tonight Cayden said the whole dinner prayer on his own from start to finish. He has never wanted to say it all by himself and so he says "Dear Heavenly Father, and then a little quieter to me with one eye open he'll say "Help me" then I will say something and he will repeat it after me. If I pause at all he will say "help me". Tonight we told him that he could do it all by himself and that he knew what to say. It was such a sweet prayer. He thanked Heavenly Father that dad can work and that mom can make us dinner. He was so proud of himself and we were too. It is a huge milestone that he will do it on his own. We knew that he could and tried to get him to before but he just never would. He always says We thank thee "dor" this "dood"-because he has such a hard time with certain letters. I am so glad that he is progressing. It takes him much longer to do certain things but he is doing them-we just have to give him the time that he needs. He wanted to say all the prayers the rest of the night! Silly Boy! These are the reasons I am a mom and I have not run screaming off into the desert.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

Kevin Bessey, Cody Adams and Sterling Waite-these boys are all in our ward.

The tat!

The last week of March the Moapa Valley High School put on the play "A Dark and Stormy Night". Cody is not actually in the theater class but a lot of his friends are and they needed someone else so the teacher asked him to be in the play. He only had a few lines and those were at the very end of the play but they were the pivotal lines and he did great! He was a Portuguese sailor turned nurse named Euphemio Porter. He sounded like Indigo Montoya from Princess Bride. He even had a tattoo painted on every night. One night it said "Mom", one night it said "Team Monson" and the last night it said"Marissa"-one of the girls in the play. Here he is at the end of the play. The play was great and really quite funny! The kids that were cast in the different parts were perfect and they all did a really good job! Cody has decided that he wants to be in theater next year.