Today was Ammon’s 100 day at school, so he got to wear the shirt he and I made yesterday with 100 legos on it. He was so excited, and he later told me everyone at school (except Phoenix who is not nice to him) circled around him to admire his shirt (If I understood Ammon correctly).
I had one of the most intense work days I’ve had in a long time. By the end of the day, I was almost in an exertion shock, but it was fun feeling so engaged and moving the needle on my territory. Lily was also super busy on her end. She did the whole morning routine since my day started with a 7:30 meeting, and then she dropped off Ammon at school, then dropped off Mary at school, then dropped off Clarissa at Ballet, then took Lydia to the dentist to have a cavity filled, then picked up her mom, picked up Clarissa from Ballet, dropped off Lydia at school, then brought Georgia home to hang out, then later drove Georgia home and picked up all the kids from school. I was very plugged into work, but it was a delight to see Georgia briefly when I came upstairs quickly for some food.
I worked until just before 6 which is about when Lily left to have dinner with her friends Charity and Mikayla. She loves them! I picked up Lydia from ballroom dance, and then took all the kids out to eat. We were trying to decide where to go when Clarissa announced she had to pee and started making squealing noises like she was about to burst that stressed the heck out of me. I’ve had her make those noises and then wet her pants, and I’ve also had her make those noises and then either declare she doesn’t have to go, or forget she has to go once she gets home, or try to go and nothing comes out. It’s a highly unreliable signal, but it sure gets my cortisol up.
If nothing else, Clarissa’s squealing did help us make a dinner decision. Ihop was super close so we went there to eat and let Clarissa use a bathroom. She did not seem in a hurry to go once we walked in the restaurant.
The kids were totally crazy at Ihop, and I didn’t like what I ordered much, but I still had a good time. The kids were not bad, or rude, they just had immense amounts of happy energy that was hard for them to contain, and I kept shushing them especially since everyone else in the restaurant seemed to be whispering as though we were in a library. The food took a very long time to come, and so we made up ways to pass the time. When Lydia went to the bathroom, I said if the food wasn’t on the table when she got back, I would stand on my head. When Mary went in the bathroom, I said if the food wasn’t there when she got back, I would tell Lily I changed my name to pineapple. The girls got a serious kick out of this, and since the food wasn’t on the table in either case, I delivered on both promises when I got home, much to the girls delight. The outing culminated with Lydia and Ammon being energetic and knocking over Lydia’s gravy which got all over the floor. I cleaned most of it, and apologized to the waitress. At that moment, I announced that the donuts we were all looking forward to were no longer happening because they were too wild in the restaurant.
At home, the kids all got in their pj and brushed their teeth and we danced. Lydia also had a great time petting Basil’s belly. Do you think he’s enjoying it?
Then Erika came over. She’s a BYU student harpist who we just hired to help train Clarissa and Lydia. I played legos with the other kids during Clarissa’s lesson, and then put Clarissa to bed, chatted with Lily and finished up tasks at my desk. Here is a video of what Clarissa worked on during her practice:
Also, there is currently a lot of sadness and concern all around about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.