Young Bard

When Everett is playing alone, he has started to pretend with a couple of toys and sing a whole story about them. When I was doing dishes the other day, he came up with a song that had to have been about fifteen minutes long.

Since I am in the Primary now, I get to observe Everett there almost every week. It was surprising for me to learn that he doesn't participate much in the singing time. He sits, listens, and observes, but rarely actually sings. He is eager to help with things other than singing, like holding a picture or doing the motions. This past Sunday I learned something about him. He thrives in the spotlight. He piped up that he knew a song. The music leader decided to let him come up and lead it. He sang every word. His whole body was animated and his face was bursting with excitement. (For Everett, singing usually involves running around and "dancing".) I LOVE to see him like that. I wish I could inspire that kind of enthusiasm for the rest of singing time, but I can see that this little boy is a performer and find myself wondering where in the world this came from.

When I was younger, I was painfully shy. I still have a lot of performance anxiety, though I have improved a good bit over the years. I hope that Everett never grows out of his exuberance and gregariousness.

One thing that he has grown out of is his blanket. The other day, he informed us that it wasn't his anymore. It was one of his sisters'. His blankies have been put away for some time. (He was so attached to his blankie that I cut it in half so I could wash half of it at a time.) This one has mainly served as a cape. I will never forget the day he wore it to the park, along with his turtle goggles. Wouldn't it be nice to never worry about things like what other people might think of you if you wore a cape and turtle goggles?

Everett's Special Day

I decided to give each child a "special day."  Everett's was yesterday.  We began the day by making him a special hat.  When people ask his name, Everett always gives his full name and states that he is "four and three quarters".  His hat was to be light blue, have a tent on it, and say "A special day for Everett Ives Campbell".  Before breakfast, we all sang "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow".

Along with other pampering activities throughout the day, he helped me bring in the tomatoes and peppers from the garden.  (We also watered the garden and Everett.)  He rinsed all of the tomatoes for me.

For dinner, we had hot dogs and pancakes, at his request.  Then the kids and I went outside and everyone "helped" me set up the tent.

After the girls were in bed, Everett and I made s'mores and got everything ready.  He and I spent the night in the tent.  It was a lot of fun.  And in the morning, the air mattress was still inflated enough that only my hip was touching the ground.  I'd say it was a very successful special day.  I love my sweet boy!

I don't know what I'm going to do for each of the girls, but their days won't include camping.  I'll wait until they're a little bit older for that.  I loved camping out with my mom in the back yard when I was little.

I did it by myself!

I realize that I sound like a little kid.  The truth is, I'm really proud of myself.  I did water-bath canning by myself for the first time.  (Pats on the back, toots of the horn, etc.)  Our garden has been a great blessing this year, producing a little more than we can eat, and in most cases, not quite enough to can.  I've been giving some away, and have frozen zucchini, Swiss chard, and peppers.  Everett and I pulled so many tomatoes out of the garden yesterday that I decided I should try to can them.  For years, Sherry Eismann has been teaching and helping at canning get-togethers at church.  I never would have had the gumption to try this without first doing peaches, pie filling, and applesauce with her.

So yesterday I took these (minus most of the peppers and the cherry tomatoes)

and turned them into these.

I never would have thought that so many tomatoes would make just one batch of sauce.  This is going to be the best tasting spaghetti sauce ever--no matter how it tastes!