One day last week Owen spotted this giant dice up at the top of Porter's closet and asked if we could play with it. We got it out and played the dice game for our preschool time that day, and for the last week Owen has been playing it almost every day with anyone he can find to join him.
(We take turns rolling the giant dice, then record which number was rolled, and keep going to see which number wins)
It is just cardboard and duct tape and paper, but I've kept this dice up at the top of one closet or another for more than 10 years now because it just has such a sweet memory for me.
When Jordan and I got married, I was twenty years old, teaching middle school full time (floundering through my first year) and also going to school full-time finishing my last year at BYU. (Jordan proposed on one of the first few days of school... I think he once said he thought if he waited much longer I'd be too wrapped up in my own crazy life!)
When we were dating, I was in school full time, working in the Engineering Advisement Center, and teaching summer school for my summer practicum. The coordinators had worked hard to create a curriculum for us to use as we worked on helping our small classes improve their reading skills and such. Except that my little group turned out to be extra little and were not quite ready for the curriculum that been developed. So each day I'd come up with a plan for the next day of what and how to teach these sweet 5 and 6 year olds. Which meant that each day, I'd wake up super early and head to Spanish Fork to teach. Then I'd go to work through the afternoon, classes through the evening, and homework and lesson planning till I could no longer stay awake.
And sweet Jordan found whatever chance he could to be a part of those back-to-back busy days. :)
These dice were just one of many late night projects he stayed up helping me with. I can remember spreading out all of my work across the front room floor of my Alta apartment and working with Jordan there beside me helping in whatever way he could (like making the giant dice) until curfew hit and he'd have to go and I'd finish up alone through the late night hours.
I remember at some point in our marriage (probably related to new baby sleeplessness) thinking something like 'how can Jordan put up with me always so tired and frazzled...?' and then thinking 'that's the only way he's ever known me!' :)
So it's been fun and happy to have this little reminder out of my sweet Jordan and how he's always loved so much to help me however he can. And fun to have this sweet little thing be such a happy thing for Owen too.
