reading to my children – Page 14

House bound

Lydia woke up this morning the sickest I’ve ever seen her (except for when she had an ear infection). But even though Lydia was the sick one, Mary was the needy child today. I think she gets upset when I’m away at school, and the day after she gets mad when I do anything that doesn’t directly involve her.

The following evidence of that demand indulged:

And then she tripped over her feet and cried for an hour and a half. I held her for most of that time, and the only thing that stopped her crying was when I took pictures of her tantruming (is that a word?) on my legs and showed her the results.

Lydia was pretty low-maintenance all day.

Abe had another good day at work, and I wasted massive amounts of time online when I wasn’t feeding or attending to children. I really need to start practicing again, since I stopped after cutting myself a month ago in school. Maybe tomorrow…

Too. many. carbs. (in class tonight)

This morning we had a play date with Lalitha and Eden:

Mary was so sleepy, but she was mesmerized by the dancing, too.

Then I fed the children, set Lydia up to paint in the basement, and put Mary down for a nap. Then Lydia took a nap.

Representation of what happened during quiet time. I drew pictures for preschool tomorrow, called/researched local preschools for an hour, lesson planned, and did homework. — Representation of what happened during quiet time. I copied pictures off the internet for preschool tomorrow, called/researched local preschools for an hour, lesson planned, and did homework.

Then I went to class. Tonight was carbs night, and in addition to all the carbs we cooked, the chocolates class next door was sending over their midterm projects. I feel so sick right now. Time for a shower and bed.

Dona nobis pacem

The girls watched “Let it Go” from Frozen for a little bit this morning.

Then we ate breakfast and read books until it was time for Institute. Today Institute featured some artist who has studied how Joseph Smith looked in life, and so the talk was slide-centric. Unfortunately, Mary was pretty tired and sad, so we ended up leaving early.

Then we came home for naps. I could have done so much during their nap marathon! Instead I wasted massive amounts of time online and just dozing off. But after their naps, Anique and Fleur came over for an impromptu play date. I should have taken a picture since Fleur and Mary are almost the same age, and they were so cute together. Next time.

Abe came home in time for us to head over to the Jewish Community Center for their preschool open house. We love the JCC more than ever, but it seems to be the most expensive preschool around. Gulp. Good thing we saved! The other good news is that we get a student discount since I am in school, so that’s great. And Lydia loved the preschool. She didn’t want to leave and talked the whole way home about how much she wanted to go there.

Then we came home, had FHE, and watched more of the Olympics. The ladies’ short program was tonight, and I am so glad we got to see it.

On a different note, we said many prayers for Ukraine today. One of my friends posted an excerpt from the Book of Common Prayer on Facebook, and I had never read anything from that before. It was beautiful and so relevant. A phrase she posted later has been ringing through my mind ever since: “Dona nobis pacem.” That’s what I hope to fall asleep praying tonight.

Loads and loads and loads of laundry (and some other stuff)

This morning I took the girls to the park for our ward play group.

Mary noticed her shoe strap had come undone. Also, the girls LOVE to hold hands whenever we go anywhere.

Lydia helped fix Mary's shoe strap while Mary's negligent mother looked on and took a picture. — Lydia helped fix Mary’s shoe strap while Mary’s negligent mother looked on and took a picture. Also, see Lydia’s hair? That took me approximately forty minutes this morning. I saw a girl with this hair do yesterday and really wanted to try it on Lydia. Next time I will make her hair more wet before I attempt it.

The rest of the day was spent feeding kids, napping, reading my book, and folding approximately five huge loads of laundry (basically the girls’ entire wardrobe and more than half of our clothes, too).

Anique and I did our soup exchange yesterday, which was the greatest blessing because I had no time to cook tonight.

Then I went to my Relief Society meeting. I’m on the humanitarian division of the committee, and so we picked which organizations we’re going to help this year.

Then it was Smith’s for food, and now bed.

Midterm part 2 and a love triangle

I spent this morning trying to get homework done. I can’t remember much more that happened today, honestly. I think I fed the kids a bunch, read some in my book, played with the kids, and went to school. That’s about it. I didn’t even get a chance to talk with Abe at all, so I have no idea if he had a good day or not. He sent me a super sweet Valentine’s email, but he didn’t mention how his day went in it, so I’m guessing it was good? I hope it was good.

Here are the pictures I took this morning:

We have a love triangle at our house. That is Lydia's cat, Tabitha. Now, Tabitha isn't THE cat that Lydia's obsessed with, but Tabitha's in second place. Mary, however, has developed a recent fondness for Tabitha and carries her around whenever she gets a chance. — We have a love triangle at our house. That is Lydia’s cat, Tabitha. Now, Tabitha isn’t THE cat that Lydia’s obsessed with, but Tabitha’s in second place. Mary, however, has developed a recent fondness for Tabitha and carries her around whenever she gets a chance.

Mary fell asleep at lunch with a graham cracker in her mouth. I ran for my camera, but by the time I got it, the graham cracker had dropped to her lap. She was a little sleepy today.

Abe's aunt, Christina, sent us some Valentine's cookies. I took a bite of mine before I realized that my camera was literally right in front of me. The cookies deserved a photo, don't you think? — Abe’s aunt, Christina, sent us some Valentine’s cookies. I took a bite of mine before I realized that my camera was literally right in front of me. The cookies deserved a photo, don’t you think?

At school today, we had the second part of our midterms. I made a bechamel sauce, minced parsley, did one tomato concasse, and spent about two and a half hours making mayonnaise by hand. Did you know you can break mayonnaise even after it’s come together? I sure didn’t. After an hour of beating, I got impatient and broke my mayonnaise with a couple big squirts of oil. Drat. I think I gave myself carpal tunnel, but another hour and a half later, I managed to rescue my mayonnaise.

Play date, soup and FHE

This morning I sneaked in a trip to the library and grocery store before our fun play date with Paige, Ada, and Liv.

Here are some pictures from the play date:

We did a lot of art: painting, coloring, stamping, and playing with chalk.

Paige brought over some polymer sand that was incredible. It looked and felt like sand, but it cleans up like cotton candy--a no mess kind of sand that just makes you marvel at technology. — Paige brought over some polymer sand that was incredible. It looked and felt like sand, but it cleans up like cotton candy–a no mess kind of sand that just makes you marvel at technology.

Then the girls were so worn out from the fun that they took a three hour nap. Hallelujah. I read a chapter in my book and then proceeded to do the same.

By the time we woke up, I just had time to make some soup, feed the girls dinner, and eat the last piece of last week’s cake before Abe came home.

We finished up with a Family Home Evening lesson on what it means to be children of God. Of course, we ended by playing parachute…

Early Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine’s Day! Well, it was for Abe and me. We celebrated early since babysitters are booked on Friday. Pre-date, the day was so relaxing. Lydia was exhausted from all the highs of yesterday and took an almost three hour nap. Mary slept too. Abe got home by 5:15 and we left on our six hour date right away–which just might be the longest date we’ve ever been on.

Here are the pictures from early in the day:

Mary dancing (before her outfit change post-messy meal).

Playing "fish, fish, fish, fish, FREEZE!" We learned this game yesterday, and Mary especially loves putting her hands together and pretending to swim like a fish. — Playing “fish, fish, fish, fish, FREEZE!” We learned this game yesterday, and Mary especially loves putting her hands together and pretending to swim like a fish.

And from our date:

We went to a restaurant called Cedars of Lebanon. The food was amazing. I would love to work here (part time) and learn how to make that yummy food sometime down the road!

Then we tried to go see Saving Mr. Banks, but it was only showing in Layton, and we were late. So we saw Catching Fire instead and have talked nothing but rebellion, revolution, and fantasy lit ever since.

Olympics obsessed

Church this morning was incredibly inspiring and uplifting. In Relief Society, we had a lesson on adversity, and then in Sunday School, we talked about Noah’s Ark–and again, hit upon the theme of adversity. The whole time I was thinking about Malcolm Gladwell’s recent book, David and Goliath, wherein Gladwell argues that people who suffer great adversity or battle huge disadvantages in life sometimes find the key to their success in those very problems. Noah probably suffered a lot of loneliness and social isolation during the course of his long, long life–but he also walked with God; I wonder if that experience of isolation helped solidify his relationship with God, since God was his refuge.

Speaking of social isolation, we were hermits today. The Andersons invited us over for dinner, but we reluctantly said no because we thought we were going to Suzanne’s family party tonight. I realized too late that I didn’t have time to make the dish I promised to make if we attended, and so we just stayed home and watched the Olympics instead.

I love the Olympics. In the next life, I want to figure skate. I hope there’s a rink and some patient coaches waiting for me in heaven. In the meantime, Mary watched the screen and alternated between lifting her arms in triumph and trying to balance on one leg. Maybe I can be one of those scary moms who lives vicariously.

Here are the pictures from today:

I heart matching (ha! there are hearts in their dress...and Abe's punning has rubbed off on me). — I heart matching (ha! there are hearts in their dress…and Abe’s punning has rubbed off on me).

After we ate lunch, Mary napped and the three of us headed to the basement to make Valentines for preschool tomorrow.

Abe rearranged the treadmill yesterday. I was complaining (again) about how difficult it is to find time to work out, and so now I can! This way I can see the girls, and there's even a TV monitor set up on the wall so I can see what they're doing in the part of the basement that's out of eyesight. — Abe rearranged the treadmill yesterday. I was complaining (again) about how difficult it is to find time to work out, and so now I can! This way I can see the girls, and there’s even a TV monitor set up on the wall so I can see what they’re doing in the part of the basement that’s out of eyesight.

And now back to the Olympics. I don’t want to miss the ice dancing pairs!

Midterms, Abe is happy, and our little Olympian

I have to get up really early tomorrow, so just a quick post. I had the first part of my midterm today. I think I made my small dice carrots too small, and I had SERIOUS problems with my hollandaise. Grandma, you taught me to make hollandaise, and I’ve loved it ever since, but the thing is, when I make it at home, I make it in your double boiler. Making it in a mixing bowl over a big saucepan is much more awkward. I scrambled my eggs twice before I finally coaxed them into a sauce.

Abe blew it out of the ball park today at work and doubled his quota at the call center. He is super excited and feeling a little relieved. Today is the second day in a row that he’s surpassed his quota, and he’s feeling blessed and even happier (if that’s possible) to be at his new job. When I told the girls that Daddy had a great day at work, Mary raised both hands high in the air just like she does at the triumphant ending of the book, Potty (where the baby succeeds at going potty and gets to wear undies).

Here are today’s pictures:

Exhausted from feeding my children every two hours from morn until night, I announced today that there would be no meals between breakfast and lunch. This is what ensued. — Exhausted from feeding my children every two hours from morn until night, I announced today that there would be no meals between breakfast and lunch today. This is what ensued.

A little later, they are happy as clams.

Mary is demonstrating her mount/dismount move she's been practicing non stop for the past two days. This is the first step of her mount. — Mary is demonstrating her mount/dismount move she’s been practicing non stop for the past two days (this set-up is next to my bed, which I have occupied almost non-stop for that same time). This is the first step of her mount.

Lydia spent a solid hour coloring her new scripture. Memorizing it was a whole 'nother story... — Lydia spent a solid hour coloring her new scripture. Memorizing it was a whole ‘nother story…

TGIT

Today was another sick day, sort of. I don’t really feel super duper sick, but sick enough that leaving the house was a non-option. I ended up skipping class, too.

I finished The Two Towers, which left me hungry for the last book in the trilogy. Since I don’t have it on hand, I finally, finally picked up Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling, a book I have moved with me and placed near my bed since 2003. I don’t know why I haven’t reached over and actually read it in these past eleven years, but today I finally started, and I love, love, love it.

The girls napped at different times today (Mary woke up as I was tucking Lydia in), so right now I am ready to go straight to bed. From 2pm until 7:45, I did nothing but cook, clean, and feed and clean up the children over and over and over and over and over and over and over.

Here are some pictures from the day:

She tried to show Nana how the printer has this funny piece of plastic that moves when you touch it.

Back to Nana. She loves talking to Nana, and I promised my mom I would post some of the many (I took more, believe it or not) pictures I took during our conversation.

I baked a cake today. The cake itself fell apart, but I sort of glopped it all together and let Lydia go to town with the sprinkles.

Abe gave the girls potty seat rides after their baths. My favorite is how he has Lydia's pre-bath underwear in his back pocket. Also, I never got around to making my bed...maybe because I spent every spare moment in it? — Abe gave the girls potty seat rides after their baths. My favorite is how he has Lydia’s pre-bath underwear in his back pocket. Also, I never got around to making my bed…maybe because I spent every spare moment in it?

Mary backs onto the potty seat and sits very carefully down. Her favorite books right now are all about the potty--maybe because of these rides. — Mary backs onto the potty seat and sits very carefully down. Her favorite books right now are all about the potty–maybe because of these rides.

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