I can't believe I'm having this conversation!

Not too long ago Isak, Becca and I were out on one of our daily roadtrips when, from her seat behind me, Becca asks, "Mom, who can I marry?"

My response was that of probably any mother of a five-year-old. "Becca, you don't really need to worry about that yet. It will be a lot of years before you get married."

She responded, "I know, but I just want to know WHO I can marry."

Deciding to play along I said, "Well, do you know any boys your age?"

She and I both began to list boys that we know who are her age. Being a five-year-old, her world is still quite small, so the list was only about five or six boys long. She considered some of them more seriously than others, but was generally not pleased with the selection.

In an effort to ease her mind I told her that because it will be a lot of years before she gets married, she is bound to meet many more boys that she can choose from.

The conversation ended, but she was still clearly unsatisfied with her marriage possibilities.

I couldn't believe I had just carried on a conversation with my five-year-old daughter about her marriage prospects.

I was reminded of this conversation tonight when, once again, Becca found a topic of conversation that I was just not prepared for.

"Mom, who is the cutest of the Jonas Brothers? Nick?"

"I really don't know, Becca. Who do you think is the cutest?"

"Is Nick the middle one?"

"I really don't know, honey."

"Yeah, I think Nick is the cutest."

So now I'm wondering, what kinds of questions is she going to ask me when she is 15?

Blessings

Several months ago I was called into the stake Young Women's presidency of the newly formed Indianapolis West Stake. As part of that responsibility I was involved in planning and was able to attend Young Women's Camp and Youth Conference this summer. I can't even begin to explain the blessing that this has been in my life, but I will try.

The greatest blessing has been just simply spending time with the youth and feeling their enthusiasm and witnessing their susceptibility to the Spirit when they are all together. I am constantly amazed with their openness to their leaders, to one another and to the gospel. I hope they realize how incredibly amazing they are!

Another great blessing has been the opportunity that my preparation for these events has given me to experience the power of the Spirit in my own life. I have become increasingly aware that when I try to do things on my own, I struggle, and often fail. But when I allow the Spirit to guide me, the path before me is clear and I am able to fulfill my assignments successfully.

Also among the many blessings that I have received this summer through my association with the youth is the association that I have had with other leaders. I am continually impressed by the desire of the leaders of our stake to help the youth understand how truly special they are and the Spirit with which our activities and events are organized. I am constantly being lifted to higher ground by the examples of those I work with.

As I have seen the blssings flow into my life over the past few months I am in awe that I have been given this opporunity and that my Heavenly Father loves me enough to bless me in so many significant ways. With the blessings that I experiece as a wife, mother, daughter, friend and servant of the Lord I find that very often my heart if full to the point of overflowing.

More Ear Tubes and No More Tonsils

On August 8th Isak went in for surgery to have ear tubes put in and his tonsils taken out. Do you remember that Becca just had this done a couple of months ago? Becca is always such a trooper when she doesn't feel well and she handled the recovery from her surgery remarkably. I didn't expect the same from Isak, and rightfully so. Not only is he two years younger than Becca, but he is also a little less tolerant of pain and discomfort.

The day of the surgery he did quite well, but only because he had an allergic reaction to the morphine that they routinely give to help patients as the wake up, so they gave him Benedryl. Loaded up with morphine and Benedryl, he was pretty at ease for the rest of that day.

The day following the surgery the story changed. Tylenol with codeine (which we didn't use with Becca at all) became ever so important in our home over the next few days. I felt a little uncomfortable giving it to him so much, but they gave us a huge bottle of it, so they must have been expecting that he would need it, right?

After the first week he started to improve noticeably each day and by the end of two weeks he was back to being his fun, silly, active self. It takes experiences like these to help me really appreciate having healthy and happy children.

Besides gaining perspective and appreciation for good health, the other benefit of having a child have surgery is lots of snuggle time. And Isak is the snuggliest snuggle bug I know.

Kindergarten

A highlight of our life lately has been Becca's transition to being in kindergarten. The Saturday before school started our family went on the traditional school shopping trip, purchasing new uniform outfits and the requisite items on the supply list.

The day before school started we carefully packed her backpack with all of the supplies that she would need to deliver to her teacher the next day.

After lunch on Tuesday, August 12, I drove Becca to school. We arrived early and Becca sat watching the clock waiting for "1-2-1-5" to appear so that she could go into school. Much to her disappointment the teacher didn't appear until "1-2-2-0". She eagerly jumped out of the van and lined up with the rest of her class to go to kindergarten for the very first time.

At "1-2-2-1" I pulled away from the curb at the school and started to cry. My baby - my long awaited, miraculous, angel baby - was starting a new chapter of her life. At "1-2-2-2" I called her daddy to tell him what a big girl she was and to share my joy with the one person who loves her as completely as I do.

At "3-2-0" I walked to the bus stop. When I was still a few houses down from the bus stop the bus arrived. Becca appeared and broke into the fastest run I'd ever seen her run, squealing "mommy" the whole way. When she reached me she threw her arms around me and my heart swelled with love for her and with appreciation that, although she has grown so much so fast, I am still her safety net, the one she runs to with delight.

Summer - In Retrospect

Due to a camera glitch I can't yet access photos taken earlier this summer. Hopefully we will get that glitch figured out, but until then, I'm going to begin blogging our summer in reverse. Otherwise, I will get so far behind that there will be no cathcing up!

Husband Tag

This is exciting! It's the first time I've been tagged! Here goes!

1. What is your husband's full name?
Jeremy Isak Matis. The spelling of Isak is a shortened version of the Finnish name Isakus. He is named after a great, great, great (I don't know how many greats) grandfather who was credited with introducing Christianity to Finland.

2. How long have you been together?
10 Years. Jeremy proposed in July 1998.

3. How long did you date?
We officially dated for only 3 weeks before he proposed, but we had been friends for 3 years prior to that.

4. Who eats more?
Probably me. Jeremy has his bad days when he eats a lot, and I have my good days when I don't eat a lot, but I think that I consistently eat more than he does.

5. Who said "I Love You" first?
I thought it first, but I'm not sure I said it first. That would have been way too bold for me. I'm pretty sure that I waited for him to say it before I went out on that limb.

6. Who is taller?
He is...I always had issues with the thought of dating someone shorter than me. But then again, Jeremy always had issues with dating someone older than him, so I guess those things don't really matter when you fall in love with someone. I guess I just got lucky that he is taller than me.

7. Who sings better?
He is better at reading music than I am and has a nice voice, but I think I have a better voice. I'm also more humble. :)

8. Who is smarter?
Jeremy knows more than I do. Does that make him smarter?

9. Who does the laundry?
Me

10. Who does the dishes?
Me

11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
As you sit on the bed, Jeremy sleeps on the right side. We tried switching one time, just for the heck of it, and neither one of us could sleep.

12. Who pays the bills?
Me

13. Who mows the lawn?
Me. Jeremy used to do it, but when he started dental school, I took over.

14. Who cooks dinner?
Me. But honestly, we eat out a lot too. Eating out is my coping mechanism since Jeremy has been in dental school.

15. Who drives when you are together?
We take turns, but he drives more than I do when we are together.

16. Who is more stubborn?
Me, I think. But he can be awfully stubborn too.

17. Who kissed who first?
He kissed me, but I asked him to. Kissing him would have been way too bold for me.

18. Who asked who out first?
It's hard to say. I think that by the time we actually started dating we were so comfortable with each other that we just did everything by mutual agreement.

19. Who proposed?
Jeremy proposed and it was totally unexpected. As I mentioned before, we had only been dating officially for 3 weeks. I was sure that we would get married, I just didn't expect the proposal to come as quickly as it did.

20. Who is more sensitive?
Absolutely me, but Jeremy does have a sensitive side that he keeps well hidden.

21. Who has more friends?
Probably me. Being a woman I just need a lot more people to share my life with. Men are just more independent, I guess.

22. Who has more siblings?
Jeremy has 2 sisters and 2 brothers. I have 1 sister and 1 brother.

23. Who wears the pants in the family?
I keep things going from day to day and make a lot of the minor decisions, but when it is something big it really is a collaborative effort. And sometimes I just get tired of making decisions and refuse to do it.


Okay, I tag Jill, Monica and Cynthia. You're it!

I really am a princess

You Are Jasmine!

Independent and adventurous. You don't want much; just to break out of the guilded cage society has put you in and experience life to the fullest. Following orders isn't really one of your strong points, and you would rather live a life of poverty than being forced into something that you hate.

Which Disney Princess Are You?