Slogging through

Last night was rough. Abe and I got to bed around midnight, and two hours later Lydia woke up from a nightmare. I had those all the time growing up, and I really appreciated that my mom always came to me when I was scared. So we do the same for Lydia, and Abe heroically got out of bed and comforted her. A mere two hours after that, Mary woke up sobbing from a poopy diaper and fire-engine red diaper rash. I changed her diaper and put her down, but the ordeal was so loud and messy that Abe got involved; by the end, I was wide awake and did not fall asleep again until right before Lydia woke us at 7:30 with the news that she had peed and pooped in her potty. (By the way, Lydia had no accidents again today and kept her bed dry all night. Go Lydia!!)

So I had trouble being motivated today. I ate too many brownies, let Lydia watch hours of kiddie shows on DVD and the iPad, and stayed engrossed in my own book way after the girls were done with afternoon nap/quiet time. (That means I read my book to myself for an hour while they did whatever the heck they wanted nearby.)

During Family Home Evening,  we read from the Doctrine and Covenants about establishing a house of order, and then we promptly tramped down to the basement to organize. Basically, cold weather will be upon us soon, and I want to do crafts with the kids down there without feeling that we are being ambushed by entropy. Hence my proposal for our FHE activity. (Abe did all the work while Mary and I cuddled on the couch. I love my husband.)

Before FHE, I did get some other stuff done. I took Mary (and Lydia) to the doctor when Mary’s diaper rash started bleeding. SO sad. And I cleaned the basement, did laundry, cooked dinner, wrote in my scripture journal and, of course, cleaned the kitchen. Considering I feel like I have been slogging through mud all day, that’s not too bad, right?

I found this after breakfast. Minnie Mouse was taking a bath in Lydia's water cup.
I found this after breakfast. Minnie Mouse was taking a bath in Lydia’s water cup.
Mary's teething, and she had a terrible diaper rash today. So she was fussy, but let me tell you, I think I fell in love all over again today. She was just over-the-top cute, and we spent a LOT of time cuddling.
Mary’s teething, and she had a terrible diaper rash today. So she was fussy, but let me tell you, I think I fell in love all over again today. She was just over-the-top cute, and we spent a LOT of time cuddling.
Here are my over-the-top cute children fighting in a not-so-over-the-top-cute way for a toy.
I mainly took this picture to show Lydia wearing something other than pink. Also, I spent a bunch of time this morning trying to master this ridiculously easy hairdo, but I failed miserably. But I am proud that I have managed to learn how to do the Dutch braid headband thing.  This is huge, considering I could not even do pigtails properly two years ago.
Lydia's new favorite way to watch DVDs.
Lydia’s new favorite way to watch DVDs.
My sage friend, Misty, shared this tip with me: Throw away broken crayons! If you think about it for a minute, you, like me, might also come to the conclusion that Misty is Socrates in disguise. And you, like me, might want to do as I did today, and take that awesome advice.
My sage friend, Misty, shared this tip with me: Throw away broken crayons! If you think about it for a minute, you, like me, might also come to the conclusion that Misty is Socrates in disguise. And you, like me, might want to do as I did today, and take that awesome advice.
Here's the pasta puttanesca I made for dinner. It wasn't that great, actually. I mean, it was okay, but considering the cool things that went into the sauce (LOTS of anchovy paste! Kalamata olives! Capers! FOUR cloves of garlic!), I was kind of disappointing. Either that, or I was not really in the mood for pasta puttanesca tonight.
Here’s the pasta puttanesca I made for dinner. It wasn’t that great, actually. I mean, it was okay, but considering the cool things that went into the sauce (LOTS of anchovy paste! Kalamata olives! Capers! FOUR cloves of garlic!), I was kind of disappointing. Either that, or I was not really in the mood for pasta puttanesca tonight.