Its been an insane few weeks.  I really would like a break, but I constantly remind myself of the miracles that we have witnessed, and how very blessed I am to have Ryan home.  As I fixed up this home, I would daydream about him living with us, and coming home to be with us.  I am grateful that he is here.  Our lives were so difficult being separated, and I am so grateful to be a whole family again.
     So, most nights, well many nights, Ryan is campaigning.  And the days are longer and so he is out working more.  I have been busy trying to juggle kids, and I also feel like I need to go with Ryan when possible.  Dill has kept me busy as all get out during the day, and yet some days she chooses to go with Ryan to the ranch.  We are also winding down the school year.  We are in those last few weeks, and so the kids have had a ton of field trips, activities, and I can only imagine that concerts will be coming up.  Jamie attended a soils convention last week in Oklahoma.  She came in 16th in the entire nation with over 400 kids participating.  She beat out everyone in the valley, and I am extremely proud of her.  Jerusha made the VVHS drill team, and I cannot say that I am surprised, but I am extremely grateful for her talents, and she is extremely excited.  Jazz did a report on the Constitution this week, and of course, Ryan assisted her with that.  She passed out pocket Constitutions, and handed out star cookies.  Her teacher was very impressed, and discussed possibly having her present this at a parents night.  My kids are doing so well with Ryan back in their world.  What a huge blessing.  I am so grateful.  Sage was also chosen as the FFA president for the 2018-2019 school year, and she was called to be on the seminary council.  With all of the horrible trials we have been through, the kids have turned to the one source that can heal, and turn trials for good.
     So Dill has been a bossy pants lately.  As difficult as all get out.  Three year olds are, in my opinion, the most unreasonable.  The are old enough to have their own opinions and they usually have strong and unreasonable desires.  She is picky about everything, and she doesn't want to be left out of anything that anyone is doing.  If we do take her along then she complains about the conditions of whatever it is that we are doing.  I often tell her that she is like an old crabby boo lady. She was extremely mad the other day because she had scrounged the bone off of our roast, and felt very strongly that it belonged in a museum.  I just could not fathom what the people that ran the Mesquite museum would think, if I walked in there and demanded that the bone off of our roast be displayed.  I refused to do what she wanted, and she was way mad.  But...the other day, Ryan was supposed to create a piece of art to submit to a museum in Las Vegas for the campaign.  Of course, he did not get it done, and so he submitted a watercolor that Dill completed.  Rainbow Waterfall, did go up for auction, but did not sell.  I am ok with that though, because I can display it.  It really is a good little piece of art.
     We have been having a huge problems with bedtime and really sleep time.  Moroni and Dill got very accustomed to sleeping with me while Ryan was away.  Now, it is just way too crowded, and so I had told Dill that if she slept without mom, she would be awarded with a balloon in the morning.  Well, she did it one night, and so I blew up a pink balloon for her, and she was super excited.  Chlo asked for one too, and she hasn't slept with me for a long time, and so I consented to give her one as well.  But, when Mo woke up, I could not give him one because he had made me get him to bed, and then he had come and got in bed with us.  He bawled and bawled.  I told him that he could easily earn one the next night, by simply sleeping on his own.  He did earn one the next night, and Dill did not, so then we had her bawling all morning about her lack of balloon.  I explained to her how she could earn one.  She just cannot do it.  She gets sad or scared in the night, and I usually end up sleeping with her in the chair.  So, once again, Mo ended up with a balloon, and Dill bawled.  Last night, they both decided that the balloons were just not worth it, and they both demanded a spot to sleep in our bed.
     Along with all of these school trips, Sage, Jerusha, and Jasmine have ended up at Disneyland.  Sage was kind enough to bring a bag full of chocolate coins for the kids to share.  Dill ended up getting handed the bag, and that was a huge mistake because at that point, she did not want to share and felt that Sage had given them to her alone.  It took a lot of talking to get her to finally share them around.  A week later, she was really having remorse over those dum chocolate coins.  She hated the fact that they were gone, and that she had chosen to share.  All of these important lessons about sharing and caring were completely lost on Dill's desire for chocolate.  Luckily Jazz brought her a bag and passed them out.  That seemed to satisfy her to some degree.  Sharers remorse is real in Dill's world.
     So, Ryan had a booth set up at Mesquite Days.  A few booths down was a few people selling Hermit Crabs.  Oak saw that and simply had to have one.  He begged and bargained, and just would not give it up.  So, he finally earned the money by making future promises of future work and bought a Hermit crab.  It is a quiet pet that supposedly only eats once a week.  We shall see how that works out.  Jamie also brought Dill a kitty home, and that poor little thing has been loved, and wrapped in towels, and fed meat, and milk, and it has been wrapped in a doll carrier.  It better get those nine lives that are promised, or it might get loved to death.