A few random things from this week

1. I have a bruise on my palm where I poked it hard with a finger during Primary while teaching a song. Weird.
2. Not one but TWO of my kids closed a prayer this week by saying, "With the name of Jesus Christ" instead of the traditional "In the name..." ASL uses "with" instead of "in" because if you think about it, "in" is a strange word to use. 
3. I went to the park with a friend on Thursday. It was 75*F and sunny - it's the sort of day that makes me not hate living here! (As opposed to hot and muggy summer days, which do make me hate living here. But these pleasant winter days redeem the area in the court of public opinion. At least for the next 6 months...) When my friend arrived, I yelled to Sam, "Hey, Sam, say hi to our friends!" Sam looked shy and hid. I apologetically signed, "Sam likes to hide..." Then I realized that I might have just signed, "Sam likes turtles" instead...and my brain is trying to remember the difference between the two signs. My friend signs back, "Yes, he's hiding" (or was that, "Yes, he's a turtle??") and I look up and see that he's wearing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sweatshirt - he IS a turtle! He's a turtle, and he's hiding! So it doesn't matter which one I signed! Ha ha! I'm saved! It was a pleasant feeling.
4. Jane, my 9-month old, is starting to copy everything we do. Vocally, she can produce a scream that accurately imitates her 2-year old sister. Oh joy. But she's got more skills with her hands, and she totally signed "more" at dinner the other day. It was so cute! I'm noticing that if she's not hungry, she generally won't go to the effort of copying me, she'll just squawk to get out, so we seem to be actually communicating here. Which is really amazing to me.
5. Lige (13) led the music today in Sacrament meeting for the first time. He did wonderfully! But he/we were nervous leading up to it because he has a habit of making a funny face when he's concentrating (with his tongue half sticking out the side of his mouth), and he kept forgetting to keep his face calm. He practiced and practiced all week. Last night at dinner, Marriner asked Lige if he was ready, and Lige said he was a little nervous. Marriner consoled him, "You will be just fine. And if not, it will be really funny, and that would be fine, too." Give that man the Dad of the Year award! :)