Erickson Epistles: January 2022

Dear friend,

January was a promising start to 2022. We enjoyed a few snow days and a lot of family time.
Boyd is the most committed kid when it comes to snow forts. He will spend hours outside in the freezing weather meticulously building and perfecting his fort. He continues to love legos, koalas, and soccer. He's excited for outdoor soccer to begin again in the spring. Academics seem to come easily for him, especially math and he is loving the "Keeper of the Lost Cities" series. He loves taking care of his things and is very particular about only wanting to wear white, black or grey clothing.

Joy's world is neon in color. Each day she comes home from school, throws her backpack on the floor and passionately declares, "this is the best day ever" or "this is the worst day ever" respectively. She lives life to the fullest and is always ready for a party. She has been experimenting more in the kitchen lately and it's comical how disastrous some of her adventures have been. So many messes! She often comes home from school reporting on new crushes. Joy received hair chalk for Christmas and it seems to have permanently dyed her hair. And let it be documented that this girl loves wearing a dress with no underwear. If we haven't asked her to put on underwear today, you can bet she isn't wearing any. She is getting so good at reading and still loves ballet. She is always up to play with anyone and is an awesome big sister to Rose. If she thinks there is even a chance she offended someone she loves, she is on the floor bawling. One highlight:

Joy: Mom, I can’t go to school tomorrow.

Me: Why not?

Joy: I’m so sick! My back is swollen. My throat is swollen. My tummy is swollen. I’m so sick!

Me: Oh, I’m so sorry! Why don’t you come sit on my lap and we can read a book.

Joy: OK. (She goes and finds a book and brings it back to me.)

Joy: Mom?

Me: Yeah?

Joy: What does “swollen” mean?

Rose is so expressive. Here are a few highlights from her this month:

Me: Rosie, I love you.

Rose: I know. My dad loves me.

Me: Yeah, and your mama loves you too. LOTS!

Rose: I know. My daddy just loves me a lllllliiiiitttttllleee bit more.

Rose: Come play “eye spy” with me while I poop.

When I am trying to get a lot of stuff done, I often ask myself out loud, "what am I doing?" to stay on task. Three times in one more morning as I stopped to ask myself that, Rose always responded, "waiting for my dad". Yes, that is what we are all doing.

Rose: Mom, come on! I have to go poop!

Me: Yeah, you can go on your own. Just call me when you need help wiping!

Rose: No! I need someone to see my funny faces when I poop or I won't want to push hard.

One day Rose had been particularly challenging at the library and as I swooped her into my arms and headed to the car, she hollered back to her older siblings, "you better get my books or my dad will punch you."

Rose continues to see her father as the solution to everything. When someone says, "it's cold in here," Rose responds, "my dad will make it warmer". When someone says, "it's dark outside," Rose responds, "my dad will make it lighter". When someone says, "I don't have one of those," Rose responds, "my dad will get you one". When someone says, "my shoes is untied," Rose responds, "my dad will tie it".

That "someone" doesn't even have to be speaking to Rose. Rose and I were picking up some groceries and we were in the same aisle as to ladies having a private conversation. One said to the other "yeah, but I don't know his name." Rose walked right up, stood between them and loudly declared, "his name is Elias!"

Smith has been loving his mop of a hair-do lately but when we finally convinced him to cut it, he had to admit he liked it. Smith continues to be our ninja warrior. He started with the competitive team this month and seems to be thriving. He meets for two hours twice a week and is the youngest kid on the team. The oldest is 18 so he has asked us a few interesting questions at pick-up. ("We heard a song that said 'I want your body so bad'...what does that mean?" and "What does it mean if someone says he's not a he or a she?"). We've had good conversations and luckily his best friend from school is the second youngest kid on the team so he has a buddy there. He has loved the flour game and always requests it on family game nights. He is a riot to watch movies with as he runs out of the room whenever it gets "too scary", "too lovey", "too awkward", "too tense", or "too cute". He has a tender heart and a real knack for music. He is always playing different tunes and he is quick to pick up on his songs yet he still can't read music, he just memorized everything.

Summer continues to be a crafty little sweetheart. One days she surprised me by folding all the laundry, another day she left up-lifting notes around the house. She has gotten more into style and doing her hair. She continues to love swim team and has done great at trying basketball for the first time even though she doesn't love it as much. It has been so exciting to watch her beat personal records at her swim meets. She has made a great group of friends and throws the most darling parties for them. She still loves cooking, sewing, school, and reading.

Elias continues to be the best. I love him. We all love him. His annual trip to South Africa was a reality check for us since we have gotten used to having him around so much during Covid. His girls can talk him into pretty much anything and he loves having his kids around, even when he is exhausted. Church is keeping him busy but it was fun to see him interact with all the primary kids. Unfortunately his knee doesn't seem to be recovering so we may be due for another surgery.

I'm doing well. I am going through all the training to begin volunteering with hospice. I'm on my fourth year teaching gospel doctrine and continue to love reading, especially biographies. I kept a record and I read 104 books in 2021. One of my first books this year was "Wildflower" by Drew Barrymore so after my friend and I went to her talk show in the city.

One Saturday we enjoyed an awesome family day in the city. We had brunch at Anne's home with her family and then walked down to the temple and the Big Apple Circus where we enjoyed a great show.