The Poet in Our Family

Scott has developed a knack for writing poems. Every week Scott is assigned to do one free-writing assignment in his 5th grade class; either a story, poem, or short essay. Scott has written quite a few poems during the past year, and we have compiled a file of his work on our computer. I think he's very talented and that he should continue writing. He's definitely inherited his dad's writing genes.

Here are a few of my favorite Scott poems:

Rats

By Scott North

Rats, rats, I love rats.

They are cute and fuzzy, just like cats.

Rats, rats, they are fun.

They like to steal from everyone.

Rats, rats, they love to eat.

They leave little crumbs on your sheet.

Rats, rats, they are fine,

And I’m happy that they’re mine.

The Sun and Stars

By Scott North

As I was walking home on the rough cement, hearing my footsteps, leaves crunching, birds in their nests cuddling with their chicks. The sun was touching the mountains. Then the sky turned pink, purple, dark blue to black. Stars were winking at me and I saw the constellations. There was the Milky Way, and the full moon came out. I was a few more steps to my house. Then a cool breeze blew in. It was almost eight o'clock. I went inside to brush my teeth and get dressed in some pajamas. I went to my cozy bed ready for the next day.

A Poem about Cats and Rats

by Scott North

I love cats,

I love rats.

Cats are fun,

Rats like to run.

Cats purr, purr, purr.

Rats whisper.

Cats are soft,

Rats are soft.

Cookie
By Scott North

One Easter day my step-mom, Becky

Knocked on my door.

She said a white rat was turned loose.

I went to go look for it,

And soon I did,

And it was a girl.

Then I looked for Becky.

We decided it would be Cookie.

Homework

by Scott North

I get homework every day!

Even Saturday and Sunday!

Oh, that’s too bad.

Aren’t you sad?

No, I’m not, you see,

Because my teacher Mrs. Applebee,

Has chocolate for work.

Monday white, Tuesday milk, Wednesday regular, Thursday dark.

Pop! Darn, it was only a dream!

Too bad, instead my teacher

gives me ice cream.

Batman

by Scott North

The Batman is feared.

He has never been cheered.

He is in his cave.

He goes into Gotham when he hears the Batwave.

He fights villains bad,

And Commissioner Gordon is glad.

Limerick

By Scott North & Michael Moreland

There was a beautiful mouse

Who lived in a vacant old house.

There was an old rat,

Who was a big brat,

And fell out of the chair and went splat.

My 29th Birthday

I got a van for my birthday! Woo hoo!

Or really, that's just how it turned out. Brad and I had been looking for a Honda Odyssey for a few months and we just happened to find a really good deal right before my birthday, so everything turned out quite perfectly for me. I will be the main driver for this van, so it really was the nicest birthday present I could have hoped for.

I ended up having some major allergies on my birthday, due to the pretty spring blossoms taking over the valley, but I still managed to have a fun time. Brad took me and the kids to our favorite ice cream creamery, Leatherbys. Emma and Scott chose some interesting flavors for their floats. Emma picked peppermint candy ice cream with Sprite, and Scott picked a chocolate peanut butter ice cream with root beer. Brad and I shared our classic favorite: Woody's Family Special.

It was a lovely birthday! Mmm... that ice cream was good!

Photographs: Enjoying Springtime

Saturday, April 18th: The Jordan River Parkway

Sunday, April 19: Family Photos after Stake Conference

Flower Photos by Scott

Monday, April 20th: Family Home Evening Outdoors

We are so happy that spring is here!

The Batgirl

Emma has become a huge Batman fan. Her enthusiasm for Batman has reached a whole new level, and so far I do not see an end in sight. She loves getting comic books, chapter books, and "Batman: The Animated Series" from the library. When she's home from school she basically focuses all of her free time on Batman. She spends hours on her new superhero, and has pretty much left the world of Disney Princesses, kittens, makeup, jewelry, and Barbies behind (at least for now). I'm sure she still likes all of these girly things, but they have definitely been pushed aside for now.

Since Emma doesn't really own many "non-feminine" items, Brad and I decided to get something special for Emma to help her express her new found passion: a Batgirl costume. Emma LOVES it! She's been wearing it indoors and outdoors; having a great time playing the part of Barbara Gordon.

I love my little Batgirl. I think she's becoming more and more like her daddy all the time.

Photos by Scott North

Little Rat Blessings

My family loves rats. That's just how we are.

Scott and Emma are especially fond of our pet rats. We currently have three pet fancy rats in our home: Cinnamon, Cocoa, and Checkers. They are all getting a little old in rat years, so Brad and I have been preparing the kids for the possibility of rat funerals in the near future. Both children love the rats, but Scott especially takes death hard, so when our little Cocoa began showing signs of nearing the end of her life, Scott was heartbroken.

Scott began monitoring Cocoa's health frequently when we noticed her health declining. He tried giving her the most comfort as possible but despite Scott's efforts, little Cocoa continued to slide downhill. Right before Scott and Emma left to Eagle Mountain to spend Easter with their mother, Cocoa had pretty much hit rock bottom. She was eating less, she was extremely weak, she was unable to grasp things with her paws, she couldn't keep her balance, and her feet were constantly bleeding due to her biting them for unknown reasons. We separated her from the other rats and put her in a smaller cage to keep her safe and comfortable. I was prepared to take her to a vet to get her put to sleep if need be.

Scott and Emma left for Eagle Mountain on Wednesday afternoon and I was left alone to tend to the rats for the next five days. I had pretty much given up hope on poor little Cocoa, because being around rats and other small animals for so long, I knew that the chances of her recovering were slim to none, mainly due to her age. Scott called me several times while he was gone to get updated news on Cocoa. I remained as honest as possible, and told Scott to be prepared if Cocoa passed away while he was gone.

I continued trying to feed Cocoa soft foods by hand and giving her water, even though she seemed so close to death. I checked her regularly. On Easter Sunday, I went to see her as usual but was greeted by an unusual sight. Little Cocoa was standing on her hind legs looking at me with big black eyes, eager for food and water. I opened the cage and she climbed out as if nothing were wrong. I picked her up and immediately noticed that her feet had completely healed from her bites. I stuck her on top of the cage to see if she would fall over (as she had done before), but surprisingly she stayed perfectly still and looked at me as if to say, "Okay, what now?" I put her in the cage with the other rats and gave her a tomato slice. She grabbed the tomato out of my hand and began biting into it furiously as if she were starving. Cinnamon, the dominant rat, came to check out the tomato, but Cocoa harshly turned her back on Cinnamon and continued to bite into her dinner. She seemed perfectly normal and healthy.

Cocoa's health improvement may seem little in the large scheme of things, but it was a blessing that meant a lot to Scott and Emma. They were thrilled to have little Cocoa alive and well when they returned home on Monday evening. Not only had their precious little friend survived the weekend they were gone, but she had recovered as well. They value her life and the joy she brings to our family even more.

An Early Easter

This year we decided to have Easter early, since Scott and Emma will be with their biological mother for Easter break. We decided to have Easter on Monday night, April 6th, for Family Home Evening. This is the second time we've done this, and it's something I want to continue doing while Scott and Emma are still young and have to deal with alternate parent-time holiday schedules. We create many good memories and traditions this way.

We started off the night coloring and dying Easter eggs while the Easter bunny (Daddy) hid the plastic candy-filled eggs in the front yard. Scott and Emma traditionally make one "ugly" egg out of the batch of dyed eggs every year. The goal is to make one egg as weird looking as possible, using all of the color dye at once. The kids think it's hilarious!

After dying eggs, Scott and Emma went on their Easter egg hunt. It was great seeing Emma at Scott's egg-searching level now, finding just as many eggs (if not more) than Scott. It was enjoyable watching them have a good time.




After the egg hunt, we came inside and had a spiritual FHE lesson on Easter while the kids ate their Easter candy. We wanted to make sure the lesson focused on the true meaning of Easter since the children will most likely not go to church on Easter Sunday. It helped that we discussed Easter briefly after General Conference. There were a few wonderful talks that focused on Easter and the Atonement during the Sunday sessions. I wanted to basically go over the week that led up to the first Easter with the children. We dicussed Palm Sunday, Passover, the Last Supper, the Atonement, Good Friday, and Christ's Ressurection. I used pictures to go over these spiritual and historical moments with the children, and Scott and Emma were genuinally interested and asked many questions.


Having to deal with alternating holidays every year is difficult, but I am grateful that we can still create family traditions and have many fond memories, even during the times when the kids cannot be with us. Scott and Emma eagerly look forward to our family traditions every holiday, and I know they find security in our constant stability. The memories they create with us will last a lifetime.

HAPPY EASTER!

Love,
The Norths

The Highlight of My Day: March 2009

Something good happens each day. Here's what happened in March:

March 1, 2009: I introduced Scott and Emma to "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." Scott surprised me by sitting through the entire movie. Emma LOVED the music and wanted to watch it again.

March 2, 2009: We went to the library as part of FHE, then Amanda came over with her kids. Brad had a wonderful time introducing Amanda to U2's newest album, "No Line on the Horizon."

March 3, 2009: My mother-in-law is recovering well! She's walking up and down the stairs now, much to the relief of Emma. Emma has been worried and concerned about her grandma since the operation.

March 4, 2009: I went to my OBGYN appointment today. I ended up driving my mother-in-law's car, which scared me to death at first. The appointment itself went well. My baby is 25 weeks along; happy and healthy.

March 5, 2009: We had "Magic Wok" Chinese food for dinner. Yum yum!

March 6, 2009: Brad and I went to our marriage institute class tonight. The topic was on conflict management. I loved spending the extra time with my Bradley!

March 7, 2009: I went out to eat with Brad at Hires today. The food was great! We ran errands before picking up the kids in the evening.

March 8, 2009: Brad and I went 24 hours trying to be more positive and not criticizing others. Turned out well! It was a little harder than I thought it would be.

March 9, 2009: We had FHE with Bruce and Loralee's family tonight. We had honey-ham sandwiches for dinner, and we played a fun game (that has no name) with the kids. It was a charades/Clue/telephone type of game.

March 10, 2009: Brad and I took the kids to the library tonight. Brad's meeting in SLC was canceled (again), which meant he got to spend more time at home with us.

March 11, 2009: I got done my visiting teaching for the month! Hooray!

March 12, 2009: Scott and Emma got amazing grades this past term. Both are very good students and I'm so pleased with them.

March 13, 2009: I went on an awesome date to Leatherby's! I love my hubby!

March 14, 2009: Brad and I took Rosie to the dog park today for the first time. She was a little overwhelmed and overstimulated, but we could tell she loved it. We'll take her again soon.

March 15, 2009: Brad and I joined a choir for Stake Conference. We practiced for the first time today.

March 16, 2009: We went to the library for FHE tonight, then we dropped off some DVDs at Loralee's house.

March 17, 2009: I made green pancakes and green eggs for breakfast this morning. The kids loved that and ended up having a great St. Patrick's Day.

March 18, 2009: My belly is getting huge! I feel very pregnant!

March 19, 2009: I'm making updated 8x10 pictures for Brad's mom to put up in her hallway.

March 20, 2009: Today we had glorious spring weather on the first day of spring! Scott and Emma went to play outside with friends for the first time in a long while. Everything was beautiful!

March 21, 2009: We went to Ab's Drive In for lunch today, and later we went shoe shopping. I got some really nice shoes! I made chilli and cookies for the ward chili cook-off tonight. All four of us attended.

March 22, 2009: Today I gave my talk in Sacrament meeting with the YW Presidency. I did a great job and received many compliments. Also, today is the first day of my THIRD TRIMESTER! Hooray! Only 84 days left to Lizzy's due date!

March 23, 2009: My sick little Scott-boy stayed home from school today with a cold. To make things a little more fun, I offered a game of "Tomb Raider" for him to spectate, which he absolutely loves to do.

March 24, 2009: Brad and I took the kids to see my mother-in-law in the hospital. Emma was a little hesitant at first; worried that Grandma wouldn't be the same, but she was pleasantly surprised. Grandma is getting better! We want her to come home soon!

March 25, 2009: I had my mother-in-law's Lexus today, so I was able to run some much needed errands. It's nice having a little bit of freedom.

March 26, 2009: I made a yummy taco salad bar for our family dinner tonight. It was a huge success! Mm, mm!

March 27, 2009: Scott and Emma did not have school today, so I took them with me to get a cute baby bassinet, and then we played at a neighborhood park.

March 28, 2009: Brad finally got his haircut this morning, and I bought a maternity top and a new maternity swimsuit for my plump figure. Cute!

March 29, 2009: My mother-in-law came home from the hospital today! Brad and I spent an hour with her watching "All Creatures Great and Small."

March 30, 2009: Tonight we had a family home evening on honesty. Brad made up a scenario in which four children were telling the same story but had four different versions of it. The challenge was guessing who the liar was. Interesting.

March 31, 2009: Scott called me "Mama" when he came home from school today. That made me feel good.