I’m sure that you’re familiar with the fable of The Tortoise and the Hare. The slow, steady turtle wins the race against the speedy yet distracted rabbit. I really try to remind myself of this as I raise my dear Ariana.

To say that I am a Type A personality is an understatement. I thrive on competition and despise inefficiency. And so I often ask myself how my own flesh and blood could be so unlike me.

Homework assignments that should be completed in 15 minutes take over an hour. And it’s not like she’s not smart. She gets it. She just seems to enjoy the journey more than the destination. Admirable, in theory, but not in practice. At least not for me.

And so rather than go into the room yet another time to try and light a fire under her, I type.

And I press the keys HARD.

And I move my fingers FAST.

And I take DEEP breaths.

And I press my lips SHUT so that I don’t say the wrong thing . . . something that I will regret after the hustle of the bustle of the day is past . . . and she is sleeping sweetly in her bed . . . and I am left to my thoughts . . . engaged in a GE Six Sigma Black Belt plus/delta session in my mind.

GOD, grant me the
Serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change
Courage
to change the
things I can
and the
Wisdom
to know the difference.

One of the most beautiful and enriching things in my life is to watch my two girls interact. The bond that they have with each other is amazing. In fact, one night last week we had Vivi sleep in our room because she was running a fever. In the wee hours of the morning, Vivi woke up and fussed a little bit. Instead of calling for Mommy or Daddy, she called out for “Guppy” (or “Buppy” in Vivi-speak). And last night as the girls went to bed, Bryan and I overheard the sweet sounds of Ariana singing her sister to sleep.

These are the moments and memories that buoy me up when the other demands of motherhood seem too great.

Thank heaven for little girls!

Miss Vivi has become quite the talker in the last month or so. Not to brag or anything, but I’m convinced that she must be a genius. 😉

Of all the words and phrases that she can say, none is more dear than this one:

[audio:http://tolberts.org/lori/Audio/vivitalk.mp3]

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so I’ll let these speak for themselves.

P.S. She may look like her daddy, but she’s got her mommy’s sweet tooth.

I suppose that it is normal for a child, as she gets older, to try and negotiate with her parents over nearly everything–a later bedtime, fewer chores, more privileges. So, it should come as no surprise that, instead of simply celebrating a birthDAY, Guppy scored a birthWEEK that then turned into a birthMONTH. I caved pretty easily. It seemed logical that since she is such a good kid (and she REALLY is) that celebrating her birth for a short 24 hours was simply insufficient. Plus, it has been a really busy time for our family, so I welcomed the extra time to try and pull together a party, etc.

We celebrated Guppy’s actual birthday with special family friends, the McFaddens. She also lost another tooth. I think this is the 2nd year in a row that she’s lost a tooth on her birthday.

A week and a half later, we hosted a fun swim and pizza party for Guppy and a few of her friends. Everyone seemed to have a blast.

Ariana, I love you and am so proud of you! You are growing up into such a beautiful, caring, obedient daughter and are the best big sister that Miss Vivi could ever have.

Happy BirthYEAR!

Even though the call was issued more than a month ago, the title still doesn’t sound quite right. That’s not to say that I don’t think that Bryan will be a wonderful Bishop of our newly-formed Frisco 6th ward. I’m just still in shock and haven’t quite adjusted to having him gone so much. And even when he is home, he’s sometimes not REALLY home; his mind is elsewhere, or he’s on the phone, or on the computer, or meeting with someone in the other room. He has even fallen asleep reading church handbooks.

But in true Bryan fashion, he is trying so very hard to make it easier for us, and I love him for it. And I know that the blessings our family receives as Bryan serves in this capacity will more than compensate for the sacrifice. But on the first Sunday afternoon that Bryan had to leave for meetings instead of spend time with us, it was still hard for all of us. Miss Vivi cried. I guess that’s one of the privileges of childhood–You can cry when you feel like it, no matter who is watching.

(For those readers not of our faith, the LDS church is primarily administered by lay clergy. Bryan has been asked to oversee our congregation of 300+ members for the next five years or so).