Ever After
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  • August17th

    Love in a Bowl

    Posted in: Lori

    Chicken soup.

    Simple.  Comforting.  Love in a bowl.

    When a friend, sensing an unspoken need for help, brought dinner in a few weeks ago, I was embarrassed.  I felt guilty.  I tried to talk her out of it.

    Surely her schedule was just as busy as mine, her kids just as needy, her laundry just as dirty.

    She didn’t ask if she could bring dinner in.  She insisted.

    A true friend.

    Kind.  Thoughtful.  Charitable.

    The next time I sense that someone needs help, I’m not going to “ask,” because they’ll invariably say “no.”  I’m just going to “do.”

  • August17th

    What mother, after watching Mary Poppins, wouldn’t long for such a nanny to care for her children?

    Wanted: A nanny for three adorable children

    If you want this choice position

    Have a cheery disposition

    Rosy cheeks, no warts!

    Play games, all sort

    You must be kind, you must be witty

    Very sweet and fairly pretty

    Take us on outings, give us treats

    Sing songs, bring sweets

    Never be cross or cruel

    Never give us castor oil or gruel

    Love us as a son and daughter

    And never smell of barley water

    If you won’t scold and dominate us

    We will never give you cause to hate us

    We won’t hide your spectacles

    So you can’t see

    Put toads in your bed

    Or pepper in your tea

    Hurry, Nanny!

    Many thanks

    Sincerely,

    Ariana, Vivi & Tad Tolbert

    Oh, dear Claire, our very own Mary Poppins.  You weren’t a magical answer to a clever newspaper advertisement.  You were an answer to prayer.

    The children miss you, but most of all, I miss you.  You made our month-long vacation to Utah truly that–a vacation!  (Except for the week that you were at BYU Volleyball Camp.)

    You bathed my children, changed poopy diapers, wiped poops and peeps (Vivi go’ed!), played with them (the kids, not the poops & peeps), fed them, put them down for naps, tended them while your mom and I went on frozen yogurt and quilt shop excursions, and most of all, you loved them.

    Claire1

    My sweet, beautiful niece, thank you for helping to restore my sanity.  You are, like, practically perfect in, like, every way!  TRUE FACT! 🙂