hodge-podge: (noun) any jumbled mixture; mess; medley

In no particular order, these are the things that have been on my mind the last couple of days...

**Like my dear sister Rae, Conference this weekend did not go as expected. Saturday actually went very well. I was so impressed with the girls. Autumn watched the first half of the morning session and then both Autumn & Heidi played outside while Esther slept. And they played outside through the other session as well. Esther stayed in with Eric and me and was happy about that (thankfully) since we provided some good distractions.

But, I am so grateful that we could watch from home! Today did not go as smoothly. Not by a long stretch. Granted, the girls still did very well for their seven, five, and two years. I keep imagining our little family at the chapel trying to watch four sessions and I know we would have made it through only one. What a blessing to be at home and watch one all together and then for Eric and I to be able to watch what we could while the girls did other things.

**Yesterday Eric was frustrated and snapped at Esther. She walked over to him, put her hand on his leg, and said, "Daddy, calm down. Calm down Daddy." Who's the parent here? The frustration was quickly forgotten as we laughed at the reversed roles. Whose kid is this?!

**And earlier this week Heidi asked me, "When are we going to Japan?" (That's where Grandma & Grandpa are and we visited them before moving here.) I explained that G & G will be moving back to the States next summer and that we won't be making another trip to Japan. We talked about how they'll probably live in the Northeast close to Oma & Opa and about how long it would take us to drive to see them. She then said, "But Uncle Phill, he lives far away on a mountain." Hah hah! Awesome. Of course, he doesn't. But he does live in a state where there are mountains and that must be one of the things she remembers most from our time living there. Funny kid. Autumn then added, "But Heidi, if we visited Uncle Isaac it would take us 5 days to get there. And dad would have to drive the whole way. And we would have to bring 3 plus 3 plus 3 plus 3 plus 3 meals."

Funny, funny kids.

And I am so glad to be reminded of these things as I'm typing. Because I've left this post 10 times to say, "Stop licking that frosting bowl-Keep the fridge closed-Get out of the bathroom-Please stop flushing the toilet-No you can't play outside-Everyone GET in the living room and SIT DOWN!"