Newton

Newton is gone now. Melody and I took him to the vet this past Tuesday for euthanasia. He was 17 1/2, blind, deaf, and not himself. He slept most of the day. He was losing bladder control and losing weight--he only weighed 9 pounds at the end, (down from 12.) We brought his little body home wrapped in a blanket and in a little coffin provided by the vet. John had dug a grave last Saturday, and we laid Newton to rest in the backyard.

Melo and I are having a hard time, but we're choosing to remember that Newton is better off, and he left us many good memories. He used to say family prayers with us, and jump up the instant someone said 'Amen.' He would beg for the chance to ride in the car or take the kids to school. He would barkingly challenge any dog who walked on the canal, no matter the size of the other dog, and if he got off his leash, he would run to challenge the dog in person. Newton got some funny looks from the big dogs he tried to take on. He would chase his toys, and succeeded at disemboweling various stuffed animal toys. Newton was never allowed on my bed, but sometimes would jump up anyway while I was still asleep in the morning and sleep beside me, or at my feet, until John found him and shooed him away.

John said he had a propeller butt because of how fast his little tail would wag. And when he had a poodle haircut, with the puffball tail, it was especially cute. Newton slept with each of the kids in turn, except Sarah I think. As one child left home, he would move to the next bedroom, ending up spending several years with Melody. But then he started slowing down, and couldn't get up the stairs as easily. Since the kids moved out to BYU, Newton has been sleeping upstairs, and John or I would let him out in the middle of the night as needed.

Newton was a part of our family for all but the first four months of his life. We always hoped he'd live long enough for Melody to graduate, then long enough for Billy to get home from his mission, then...it was time to let him go. He was my sweet puppy, my company, my extra presence in the house. I miss him. Alot. But it's ok. He was ready to go. As I talked to him on his last morning, and asked if he was ready to go, he actually climbed into my lap! He hasn't done that for years. Then I felt bad that I had to tell him it wasn't til the evening. Like I said, he was ready to go. He was probably ready a fair while ago, but I wasn't.

Thanks, Newton, for waiting for me to be ready. For enduring the pain of your joints long enough for me to get used to the idea of you being gone. Sorry if I made you suffer too long. I hope you're having a grand time somewhere. Thanks for being our warm little body of love.

Warning

One of these days you'll be reading the obituary for our little dog, Newton. Just a warning. Plus, I'm trying to prepare myself.

Latest Quilt

I've kind of settled into a routine of making sure each of my kids have a hand-quilted blanket for their first boy and first girl, and then the baby quilts are pieced and machine quilted after that. This is the quilt I finished for our youngest grandson.


























I have two more grandsons coming in July, so hopefully I'll have two more baby quilts to show off before then.

Capturing a Smile

Capturing those first baby smiles is one of the most challenging things a Mom/Grandma can do, but we never stop trying! Jacob is growing and growing, and last week I managed to photograph a few variations of his increasingly frequent smile. Jacob is about 6 weeks old in these photos, I think. Sarah wants copies, but I'm posting them first--ha, ha!

Homework Soundbites

This is a quote from my homework for the week. I thought it explained pretty well the basis of this whole course on emotional health facilitation that I'm taking.

"By understanding how our minds work and how decisions we have made in the past affect our present time, we can take charge of our own programming. We can correct our scripts and renew our minds."

For me, understanding how my mind works includes a realization that I have been living life with behaviors based on decisions I don't even remember making: decisions that were made from a very young, immature frame of reference; decisions that are a natural byproduct of experiencing life. Identifying and sorting out all those decisions and the resulting behaviors is helping me get to the bottom of, as well as overcome, the last remnants of my depression. These days, I'm glowing!

Conference Bingo, Updated

Last month, the LDS Friend magazine had a page devoted to a Bingo card with pictures related to topics usually addressed during General Conference. I was especially gratified to see it because we used to do that when our kids were little--handmade, laminated Bingo cards that lasted many years and were then passed on to a sister-in-law for even more use. Those Bingo cards helped our kids sit through hours of Conference, and even listen a little in order to fill in their cards and receive the desired reward for each Bingo achieved.

Today, while listening to a radio talk show on the way to church, John heard another family's way of encouraging listening and Conference participation. This family prepared 15 treats ahead of time--one for each member of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Whenever one of those men spoke, the family ate the designated treat together. They tried to assign treats according to the name, occupation, place the man was from, or some such clue. For Elder Cook, they served cookies. When Pres. Uchtdorf speaks, they have German chocolate cake. Elder Nelson is honored with something heart healthy because he was a heart surgeon, and so forth.

I'm posting this here on my blog because not only do I think it's a great idea, and a new way of doing things, but also because all the people I want to tell this to will probably read this post, and maybe even a few others! I was always anxious for new ideas for helping children participate in Conference. Maybe some other young mothers out there are looking for new ideas, too. And, sometimes, reading someone else's ideas brings on a burst of creativity that allows us to come up with things uniquely our own, but very helpful.

General Conference is a time of amazing learning opportunities, but definitely a challenge when little ones are involved. Here's to new ways of learning and successful outcomes!!

Book Report

As part of the curriculum for my Emotional Healing training, I have to read quite a few books. I just finished one called THE FIVE LOVE LANGUAGES by Dr. Gary Chapman. Rather than discuss it with you, I'm going to be presumptuous enough to post my own book report. (I have to do a short book report on every required book I read.)
Here goes:

Reading The Five Love Languages was quick, fun, and entertaining. One of my daughters and I took the profile test together to discover our love languages, and I had even more fun teasing my spouse and asking about his. I’m looking forward to reading The Five Love Languages of Children. However, as I pondered on what I’d read and how to apply it, I decided that some information was missing from the book. Dr. Chapman never addressed the idea of learning to accept love in a ‘foreign’ language. He, in no way, encouraged his readers to realize that our spouses may be working very hard to express their love for us. Dr. Chapman puts all the responsibility on the individual husband/wife for letting the spouse know he/she is loved. He never addresses the possibility that the spouse could learn to recognize the love language of his/her partner. I think this is a sad exclusion.

Maybe I’m just fortunate to have been raised with the teachings of recognizing the efforts of others, or of truly trying to live the golden rule. I’m aware of many other teachings from various child-rearing experts and marriage counselors that say we should always verbally express our love, and that hugs and physical touch are necessary for human thriving. Various religious leaders encourage their congregations to realize that acts of service are evidence of love. I believe there is individual responsibility for recognizing the efforts of one’s spouse to communicate his/her love to you.

That said, and after another fun discussion with my spouse, I think Dr. Chapman does have a good thing going because there is a great deal of comfort in knowing that I have effectively communicated my love to my spouse. I want to be sure that my husband knows how extremely much I love him, and for that to happen, I need to know and speak his love language. Dr. Chapman has provided an easily read, interesting book to help couples understand each other and express their love to each other appropriately. So, I will be passing this book along to my children and their spouses, and also instigating some fun dinner table conversations about the topic of love languages.