Today I went for a jog/walk in the morning because a) my husband is awesome and urged me to go, even though he had to watch the kids, get ready for work, and pay bills all at the same time b) it was my favorite type of weather outside: slightly overcast in the 70’s (?? — whatever temp it is when you don’t need a sweater but you can still run without feeling like the heat is out to get you).
- The clouds were being especially dramatic. Because I am always sure The End Is Near, I thought the formation of the clouds meant there was a tornado forming, but actually the clouds just wanted to be swirly and big today.
Then I cleaned the house for two hours while Mary napped and Lydia did…this:
This is the room post-clean-up. You wouldn’t have wanted me to take this picture before then.
During my clean-up, I: vacuumed the entire downstairs, scrubbed down the kitchen, disinfected the upstairs bathroom, straightened up everywhere and organized the kitchen closet.
You might think this is the before picture, but you would be wrong. The before picture was so bad that I didn’t think to take a picture–I just started cleaning. (We have limited closet space in this house, so this closet really works hard, poor thing.)
Then Lydia announced she was hungry, so I quickly fed her pizza and applesauce before our play date with Sarah, Nathan and Hannah. She was still in her pj’s when they arrived at 11, and so I had to change her into actual clothes during the play date.
I love Hannah. When she was born, I was still pregnant with Mary, and I remember hoping that my baby would turn out half as sweet and cute as Hannah!
Mary woke up half way through the play date. We have started doing her hair in this top knot, and when we take the elastic out before her bath, the hair stays exactly the same! We have to double check each time to make sure we actually took the elastic out.
After the play date, I picked up Lydia’s room for the first time in two days. I could almost hear the toys and books thanking me.
After our play date, I fed the girls lunch, cleaned the kitchen (again), cleaned Lydia’s room, read them a couple books and put them down for naps at 3pm. Then I read my scriptures, wrote in my journal, worked on the blog, wasted time on the internet, and read a little from the book, Far From the Tree by Andrew Solomon. I read the chapter on criminality and how parents deal with kids who turn out to be criminals. I sincerely hope that cross is never mine to bear.
Then Mary woke up, so we played and read books until my brother and sister-in-law called. They wanted to video-chat with the girls, so Lydia woke up and we all chatted for a bit. They are the most doting, sweet, and affirming aunt and uncle ever, and the girls just love them. When tech problems interrupted our chat, Lydia kept asking if we could keep talking to “Uncle Cwark and Aunt Swafi” (Uncle Clark and Aunt Swathi).
After that, we piled into the car to return Nathan’s toys he had left at our house and then went grocery shopping. Then we came home, and as we were pulling into the drive, Lydia rhymed! She had been singing the “We dove in the ocean” song, and the verses all rhyme with the word, “tide”. So as we were pulling into the drive, Lydia made up this verse completely on her own: “We dove in our ho-ome and want to go inside.” I was so proud of her!
Then we ate dinner and too many graham crackers with Nutella (Abe had to work late tonight and did not come home until after bed time). Then I did a cursory cleaning of the kitchen and hauled the girls upstairs for their baths. About half hour into book time before bedtime, I ran downstairs to get Mary’s bottle, and on the way up I heard the sweetest conversation I have ever heard in my life. Mary had crawled to the baby gate and was crying at the top of the stairs because I was gone.
Lydia said, “It’s okay, Mary. Mama will be back soon. Do you love your mama, Mary? She is so nice. See, I told you she would be back soon.”
I about died of happiness right on the spot. After hearing that, it was kisses and cuddles and singing and rocking and more kisses and cuddles (and almost as many books as Lydia wanted) until bed time. I still have to clean up the kitchen again, but I will do so with a light heart tonight. I am so happy to know my love is reciprocated!