Lydia’s birthday, round 2

After church today, we napped. Lydia was watching Veggie Tales on the iPad when suddenly I awoke to hear her having a full-blown conversation with someone on the iPad. I asked Abe who Lydia was talking to, and in his groggy, half-asleep state he replied, “Nape.” I asked him who “Nape” was, and he told me that he was tired but that Lydia was definitely talking to Nape. By this time, I was waking up a little more and realized that Lydia was Face Timing with Clark and Swathi. They called while we were sleeping, and since Lydia was on the iPad, she answered their call.

A few minutes later, we all called and chatted with Clark and Swathi, and this time Abe joined us. He was still barely awake, but he was awake enough to know that we weren’t talking to Nape.

Then we picked up Balu and headed to the Miners’ for birthday celebrations. We haven’t seen Balu in a long time, and it was great to spend time with him again. Lydia had a blast having a second round of her birthday, but you wouldn’t know it from the solemn way she opened her presents and whispered her thank-you’s. She didn’t crack a smile once, but when we got home, she could barely sleep because she wanted to play with all of her new presents. We compromised by letting her sleep with six new books and one of her birthday cards.

She also made her own cupcakes for the Miners’ gathering today. Usually, I try to control parts of the baking process that can get messy, but today I figured, what the heck? They’re her cupcakes, and she should be able to do whatever she wants with them. I ended up helping with the frosting just because she kept tearing up the cupcakes she frosted, but really, she did (almost) everything else.

IMG_7043 IMG_7050Having fun at the Miners’:

Okay, okay. Initially she was zonked on the couch because she didn't nap today...
Okay, okay. Initially she was zonked on the couch because she didn’t nap today…
But she woke up!
But she woke up!

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Daddy-daughter date, Mommy-Mary date.

This morning our competition team didn’t meet, so I celebrated by taking myself straight to Instacare. The doctor figured out right away that I have a sinus infection. She didn’t waste any time; even after I tried to tell her I was a little scared of taking antibiotics because I got C Diff last year, she interrupted and told me that I had nothing to worry about. I guess they run a tight schedule over in Instacare!

By the time I arrived home, Abe had started making pancakes, and he was just about to help celebrate the cat’s birthday. Every couple days Lydia announces that it’s Puss’s birthday, but today she was especially insistent that we celebrate. We indulged.

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Then I practiced and gave Mary a piano lesson. Lately I have been too sick and tired to give Lydia lessons, but Mary is easy. I just helped her play “Twinkle” over and over. Abe took pictures.

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Then we all ate lunch and took naps. Well, Lydia played on the iPad, but everyone else napped. Lydia had a meltdown when her headphones stopped working, so Abe got up and helped her. He then bought his plane tickets for his friend’s wedding in July. He ran into some snafus and, long story short, discovered that you can cancel your ticket if you call within twenty-four hours. Phew! We are so happy for that policy. He’ll try again next week.

I dragged myself out of bed to practice for the second half of my culinary fundamentals final next Thursday. We have to make chicken chardonnay, mashed potatoes and glazed carrots. I swapped out the carrots for green beans tonight, but maybe I’ll practice the carrots on Wednesday. My final last night tested a ton of knife skills and required me to make cream of mushroom soup and broccoli hollandaise. I accidentally scrambled my hollandaise in the thirty seconds it took me to take my plate out of the oven and arrange the broccoli on top, but I didn’t have time to redo it, so I just kind of smoothed out the globs and prayed for the teacher’s mercy.

I also have a test on Monday that certifies us for managerial positions in a food establishment. I really should have studied today because that test covers a ridiculous amount of material, including the scientific names of a bunch of different food borne illnesses that I can never remember or keep straight. Maybe I’ll find time on Monday…

But back to today. Qualtrics sent Abe’s work team to the Jazz game tonight. Because I’m pretty sure a basketball game might just bore me straight out of my mind, Abe took Lydia on a daddy-daughter date. She had a blast, although when she met Abe’s co-workers she didn’t respond to any of their attempts to engage in conversation. Abe explained that she is shy, and explained to Abe that just yesterday I gave Lydia a long lecture on not talking to strangers. She was just following instructions.

Talking to her cat for twenty minutes and describing her evening. "Yeah, Puss, I'm at the arena. We're at the Jazz game. Talk to you later!"
Talking to her cat for twenty minutes and describing her evening. “Yeah, Puss, I’m at the arena. We’re at the Jazz game. Talk to you later!”
Watching the game. Abe said she locked in and pounded popcorn the entire time.
Watching the game. Abe said she locked in and pounded popcorn the entire time.
Almost smiling. When asked what her favorite part of the evening was, Lydia replied, "They winning!" Apparently, it was an exciting win.
Almost smiling. When asked what her favorite part of the evening was, Lydia replied, “They winning!” Apparently, it was an exciting win.

mar22pic4Meanwhile, I spent the evening trying to catch Mary up on all of the things she’s missed out on because she’s a second child. We cuddled and read books, built towers, ate felt food and FaceTimed with my mom and grandma. She didn’t want to go to bed, so I got to rock and sing to her. We usually don’t have time to rock or sing to the girls before bed, so this felt really nice. She wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me big kisses–right before she started slapping my cheeks and giggling…

I’m excited to go apply some Vick’s before bed. I love that stuff–it’s the difference between breathing and not breathing for me. Here’s to sleeping through the night!

It’s sunny again

This morning over breakfast, Lydia turned to me and said, “Mama, what is it when I want something that Mary has?” I answered by telling her the word jealousy and explaining the concept a little bit. Lydia paused and then told me that Mary is a good sharer (which, for all of her hair-pulling antics, she really is). I agreed and then suggested Lydia could try to share more with Mary.

We ended the day full circle with Lydia screaming and crying on the ground because she wanted the pencils Mary had during our FHE craft. After a long post-tantrum cuddle, I asked Lydia what she was feeling, and she told me she was jealous. At least she knows, right?

The only eventful thing we did today that I don’t have pictures for  is institute. We attended institute for approximately twenty minutes, at which point Lydia announced she was hungry and wanted to go home. I didn’t protest because the presenter was basically just summarizing Mark chapter by chapter. I was hoping for a little more commentary and a little less straight summary.

So I came home, fed the girls, and got a two hour nap in. Afterward, Lydia wanted to have a play date with Ada. I thought it was a long shot since it was already 3 pm, but it turned out that Paige was free! So we had a fun play date:

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IMG_6998 IMG_6997 IMG_6995 IMG_6994 IMG_6993Then we had dinner and FHE, wherein we talked about gratitude and wrote a thank-you note for the Valentine chocolates our neighbor gave us all the way back in February…

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Tantrum.
Tantrum.
The tantrum increases in intensity.
The tantrum increases in intensity.
Recovery.
Recovery.

IMG_7011 IMG_7016 IMG_7013IMG_7010 And then it was peek-a-boo before bed:

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Lots of eating [out]

We had so much fun with David, Karin and Jay at dinner that we accidentally stayed until 11 pm. We were the last ones at the restaurant, and now it’s almost midnight. In light of our desperate need to go to bed, I really just want to throw up pictures with captions and then go to bed.

Except! Except that I forgot to take pictures of my lunch with Misty, and that was a huge highlight of the day. Abe took a long lunch from work and took the girls to nearby IKEA for free food (kids eat free on Tuesdays) while Misty and I had our lunch date.

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Misty and I went to my school’s restaurant, and the theme today was “Spring.” I forgot to take pictures of the food or the menu, but it was all very yummy. The starter was ahi tuna with rhubarb salsa…except that we couldn’t discern where the rhubarb was, even though we searched, searched, and searched some more. The second dish was a salad with bagna cauda (again, couldn’t quite figure out where that was) with a salad and bread stick. It looked pretty fancy. We ordered different entrees, and then had molten chocolate cakes with white mocha ice cream for dessert. The menu was set, and I am now really looking forward to my restaurant class where we get to put together these menus, plate them, and serve them to actual people. In my present class, we throw out most of the food we make because there’s never enough time to wrap it up to take home.

Strangely, the rest of the day felt fun and productive too, although I’m not sure how that happened because I’m still sick, queasy, and easily tired. I think the girls were just more self-sufficient than usual, so I got to get more done with less effort. Plus, Mary napped from 2 pm until 6 pm, and Lydia napped from 2 pm until almost 4 pm. That probably helped.

Then Abe came home and I frantically folded laundry until the last minute, when we picked up David and headed up Mill Creek Canyon to meet Karin and Jay at Log Haven. There’s a gorgeous waterfall right across from the restaurant, and the ambiance of the restaurant felt really…nice. The best part was just the conversation, but the food was amazing too. I should have taken a picture of my entree, but alas, I started eating before that could happen. We did, however, take a shot of Abe’s beet soup starter.

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mar18pic6Happy (belated) birthday, David!

Sick but not sad

Still sick here. I can’t wait for summer. Abe and I both slogged through our days, but the girls were in pretty good moods today. That was a blessing, because I spent a lot of the morning working on my power-point for a school presentation today, and I practiced. The competition is coming up soon, and even though I’m planning on withdrawing after the first round so that I can attend a family reunion, I still want to do my best. All that to say, the girls were very patient with me today because I could have scored a lot higher in the attentive-mom department.

The girls entertained themselves, though. Mom, that’s one of the dresses you got for Lydia’s birthday. She loves it. it’s her BEST twirling dress, and she specifically requests it so she can twirl.

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I did listen to Lydia tell me stories, though. That was so fun. Lately I’ve been making up stories for her about her cat because that allows me to exert minimal physical effort and yet still feel like I’m kind of on the job. Today I got the pleasure of being the audience while Lydia told me stories…mostly about a little boy who died because he didn’t listen to his mommy. Every time she concluded with his death, her eyes would get really round and she’d nod knowingly.

Pleasure abated slightly at that point. Maybe I am too vigilant about pointing out the potential hazards all around all the time. “Lydia, do NOT run across that parking lot because you could get hit by a car and DIE.” “Lydia, do NOT hang on that bookshelf because it could fall on you and you could DIE.” “Lydia, hold mommy’s hand while we walk on the sidewalk because there are driveways in front of us and you could get hit by a car and DIE.” Also, in the spring we get ants and then we spend a lot of time killing ants. There’s too much death in her life, it seems. Tomorrow I’m going to take a break from homework and ant-killing and instead point out all the new little plants and the baby partridges we have in the neighborhood. Perhaps a little more focus on life and beauty will give Lydia some new happy endings for her stories.

Speaking of happy, tonight on my drive home from school I listened to the radio, and one of my favorite pieces came on. Holst’s Jupiter turned a sleepy, windy commute into an actively joyful, at times downright glorious experience. I have a copy of it somewhere. Maybe I’ll play that in the background during my life-is-also-happy discussion with Lydia.

Staying on the topic of happy, I came home to discover my friend Paige had dropped off a plate of chocolate chip cookies. I dropped out of our preschool group this morning because I just feel too overwhelmed right now, and she kindly brought over a good-luck-on-finals treat with a super sweet note. I felt so happy eating my favorite food in the whole wide world, chocolate chip cookies, and reading her note. That really topped my day off in a terrific way.

And tomorrow is going to be a fantastic day! Misty and I have a lunch date, and in the evening Karin is taking us to Log Haven for David’s birthday! (He’s in town!) Wow. A double whammy of fun. I can’t wait. Better go to bed so I can wake up and have it be tomorrow already.

Here are the pictures Abe took while I was at school:

Mary Berry.
Mary Berry.

Then he asked Lydia to smile and look at the camera. She couldn’t manage to do both actions simultaneously, but she did get down a succession:

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sick Sunday

Abe and I both woke up sick again. Boooo. But even though Abe was up all night coughing, he somehow still had energy to take both girls to church. For my part, I was feeling queasy and exhausted, so I stayed home. Apparently, at the end of church Lydia called her cat on the phone and continued to chat with him for the next twenty minutes:

“Hi cat! Oh, yeah? Uh-huh. Okaaay, because we’re cwossing the street now. Oh-oh-oh-oh!! Yep! Talk to you later!” (etc.)

Abe then went back to church to get trained on the new teaching style the church is promoting. He came home sooooo excited. Teachers are now only supposed to talk eight minutes or less, so the classes will be driven by questions and discussion. Our only regret is that we love listening to our Sunday School teacher, Larry Perkins. He asks a lot of questions, but he also tells wonderful stories that illustrate doctrine so beautifully. We could listen to well more than eight minutes of him. In almost every other case, though, we’re excited for the change.

I stayed home and read some commentary on the New Testament and then switched over to watching a ton of interviews surrounding Elizabeth Smart. I checked out her memoir yesterday and could not put it down–I finished it at 11pm last night, and all morning I could not get her story out of my head. She is such a beautiful, resilient person, and I admire her strength, courage, and example in making a difference for others. I would now count her among my top heroes, and I could not tear myself away from all of the interviews on Youtube.

The vindictive part of me also enjoyed watching Brian David Mitchell get interrogated by a Salt Lake City Police Detective and an FBI officer. I didn’t watch the whole thing, but the Salt Lake detective was obviously LDS and knew his scriptures; when Mitchell tried to pull his pseudo-religious crap out, the detective called him on it in a way that made me want to stand up and applaud. I’ve always had trouble with the idea that some people are evil through and through, but after reading about Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee (who fed her children their pet rabbit for dinner and smiled while they ate it), I have finally decided that there are people who are completely shut off to anything good.

Back to the events of today. Abe played with the girls all day. He crafted with them, took them to the park, fed them, and played chase-and-throw-the-babies. He told me that today he felt like a kid again, and that he never anticipated how fun being a parent would be. I think it’s fun because he makes it so fun. He’s such a terrific dad. And husband. And person. I’m a fan.

Even though I basically lay in bed all day, I still feel sick and tired, so I will wrap up. I didn’t take any pictures today, and I don’t think Abe did either. I also can’t remember the last time I showered, so I’m going to go take care of that now…

Ants and the Rohirrim

The girls went down for naps and quiet time super early today, and instead of doing homework like I should have done, I read a couple hours into The Return of the King. It turned out to be an apt read; while I was feeding the girls an after-nap meal, I killed about a dozen ants in my kitchen. I couldn’t help but think about Tolkein’s description of the Rohirrim in battle–specifically, I thought about how they sang as they fought. I didn’t feel like singing while I was killing ants, but the glimmer of satisfaction I felt helped me understand that initially bewildering passage a little better.

After the girls were fed, I took them outside to play:

20140314_153844 20140314_153856 20140314_153916 20140314_154659 20140314_154607 20140314_154651Then I took them to the library, grocery shopping, the gas station, and back home. Abe arrived shortly after we did, and after dinner he bathed and chased the girls while I cleaned the downstairs and practiced. I was supposed to go to school tonight, but I’m feeling kind of icky and a brand new cold has introduced itself at our house. I am trying to avoid getting sick yet again.

Oh! I forgot to mention that while I was at school yesterday, Abe cleaned the whole house. I came home and fell in love with my husband all over again. It was soooooo nice, especially since I never feel like I have time or energy to clean these days. I hate the messes that accumulate, and having them gone has felt like THE greatest luxury. I’m going to try to be better at staying on top of the messes since today I enjoyed my mess-free life so much more than my regular mess-filled life.

The Daily Grind

Quick blog today.  Lily is still on her way home from school and it is almost midnight.  Yikes!  I’m sure the reason she is late is because she has a big heart and she is giving rides to her classmates in need.  She is so wonderful.

My day was a bit of a roller-coaster, but overall very good.  My department is having a competition to see who can perform the best and I am pretty squarely in the middle of the pack.  I sometimes get discouraged about my mediocrity, but it helps to remember how amazing everyone around me is at Qualtrics.  They truly hire the best and I am so fortunate to be surrounded by such wonderful people.

I don’t know too much about Lily’s day.  When we talked on the phone, she spent most of the time listening to my frustrations and giving me a pep-talk.  She is seriously so supportive and perfect….o-k, I’ll stop gushing.  I’m just so blessed to have someone who is always willing and capable of being my cheering squad when I need it.  I truly love her.

But this is what I do know.  She had a piano lesson with Lydia.  Mary completely refused her eye-drops today.  Lydia napped.  Lily just got home and told me she absolutely loved cooking class today.

Pictures!Crying while Lily does her homework

Crying while Lily does her homework
Mary under the bed
Mary under the bed
Lily's plate from tonight.  Isn't it great!  She says her secret is to copy the photo the teacher provides exactly.
Lily’s plate from tonight. Isn’t it great! She says her secret is to copy the photo the teacher provides exactly.

Another amazing plating job by Lily.  This is from last week, but we just now got it to load.Another amazing plating job by Lily. This is from last week, but we just now got it to load.

Last day with mom–a pretty one, at that!

Today we all slept in after yesterday’s birthday festivities–and it didn’t adversely affect our punctuality at church, since today is BOTH daylight savings and stake conference. For stake conference, our stake meets at the Tabernacle at Temple Square, which is an incredible experience. Sitting in that historic building by itself would have been wonderful, but having served my mission at Temple Square, I felt an added measure of enjoyment.

Abe discreetly took this during conference.
A discreet shot of conference.

 

Mary slept on a bench for  the first part of conference.
Mary slept on a bench for the first part of conference.

One of our speakers was 102 years old, and she was the granddaughter of both President Heber J. Grant and Joseph Fielding Smith. She herself was the General Young Women’s president at one point and was the impetus behind the restoration/building of many church buildings, including the Beehive House, the original Joseph Smith Farm in Palmyra, and the Church History Museum. She told some wonderful stories from her life, and we were all impressed that at 102 years old she could still “rally the faithful.”

But my favorite part of conference was when we learned about our new “forty days of holiness” program. For the next forty days, members of our stake will read through the entire four gospels and 3 Nephi in anticipation of Easter. It’s kind of like Lent, only we’ll be reading about seven pages of scriptures a day instead of giving up something. I am so excited to get started, so I’ll post pictures and start already!

Eventually, the girls couldn't handle conference, so Abe took them outside and let them play on the square.
Eventually, the girls couldn’t handle conference, so Abe took them outside and let them play on the square.
Mary wanted to push Lydia home.
Mary wanted to push Lydia home.
She made it pretty far.
She made it pretty far.
We took a walk after dinner, and the girls fell asleep.
We took a walk after dinner, and the girls fell asleep.
It's been an exciting weekend.
It’s been an exciting weekend.

Most of all, we will miss my mom soooooooooo much. But we know she’s going to another happy spot, and we are happy she and Grandma have each other for company. We love you, Grandma!! We’ll give Mom lots of hugs and kisses tomorrow to give to you when she gets back.

Mopey Monday

I stayed at preschool this morning. Misty had the kids make “giraffe skin” out of yellow paper, cut sponges and brown paint. Afterward, we took the kids out to the back yard to play.

preschool 3 preschool 1Then we came home and I gave Lydia another piano lesson before lunch. Her technique is really coming along, although I was a little impatient today and our lesson ended in tears and hugs. I had a little bit of an emotionally down day today, and I felt so bad for taking it out on Lydia.

Abe wanted to take me out to Smashburger to celebrate my cooking competition on Saturday, so we met him there before school.

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While I was at school, Abe was home with two very melodramatic girls.

This was after Mary got put in her crib for not behaving, and Lydia was denied a princess puppet show because she refused to clean up. Misery loves company.
This was after Mary got put in her crib for not behaving, and Lydia was denied a princess puppet show because she refused to clean up. Misery loves company.
But they did have a princess hair night again.
But they did have a princess hair night again.

Then Lydia attempted to knock Mary in the head with the iPad. Thankfully she missed. While she was being disciplined, Mary ran around the house naked. When Abe found her, this is what he saw:

She was typing code into his laptop.
She was typing code into his laptop.
Lydia perked up and joined her.
Lydia perked up and joined her.

Guess my night learning about different dry heat/wet heat methods to cook food was pretty tame in comparison. Abe’s downstairs running off the evening’s stresses on the treadmill, and I am just about to try to forget mine by picking up my book.

Oh! Mom and Grandma, I am about to post some pictures from yesterday onto yesterday’s blog. Abe forgot to email me some cute pictures he took from his phone. I’ll just tack them onto the end of yesterday’s blog.