Author: Abe Darais

Playdate and The Children’s Store.

Playdate: Today we all went to church and ate again at the Flying Biscuit Cafe. While waiting for it to be our turn at the cafe, we caught up with Soren because he had a birthday yesterday. He had a great birthday party playing sports and playing at the arcade and he had a taco bar and a cookie cake afterwards. We also caught up with Georgia. After lunch at the Flying Biscuit, Ammon had a playdate with a boy from his school and the White Memorial Presbyterian church that we go to. It was a beautiful Sunday!

The Children’s Store: After church, Lily and I mostly spent our time working on tasks. When we wrapped up our efforts, we were invited by the kids to come see their stores. We went to Lydia and Mary’s room to learn that the entire thing had been transformed into a market. The kids had been working for hours to create the crafts to sell at their stores. Lily and I had so much fun shopping.

I ran out of money, but I wanted to buy more things. The kids allowed me to put on a puppet show to earn more money, which they generously paid me. After the show, I was able to buy more things.

Then we all put on a puppet show together. while Lily recorded and watch. It promptly came to a halt when Basil started vigorously started licking my face and I was not in a position to stop him.

Take two on the puppet show. It was a great 15 minute show about a shy Cinammon Bear who is shy about going to her first day of school. The bad Fre-Shavacado principal only makes things worse by declaring that no one is allowed to use the restroom. Then Cinammon Bear makes friends with another stuffed animal who also insists she is a bowling ball. Then those two friends accidentally see the principal using a bathroom, and the principle is embarrased for his/her hypocracy and reforms. Then they all have an afterschool activity which involves befriending a tiger and almost getting eaten by a snake. It was quite the story! You can watch below!

We all had the most wonderful time. I needed the laughter. I’ve just been so focussed on tasks and problems to solve lately. I was also so amazed by our children’s creativity and ability to create beauty and play together. Lily was also very touched, stating it was one of the happiest days of her life and that she felt like she was in heaven on earth.

We then ate all together around our newly delivered dining room table. It was so nice to have a family meal altogether. We had fun and engaging conversation and then we all got ready for bed. There is lice going around the kids’ school so everyone treated their hair. Lily spent time helping Clarissa with her hair, and I just gave Ammon a haircut. Today was a truly happy day.

Stilton!

Stilton! Today we traveled to meet some cats. Lily has been researching Siberian cats because we saw mouse droppings in the house and we want to ensure there is never a mouse in the house. She has targeted Siberians because they produce less of the protien that causes typical cat allergies. Lily found a delightful breeder, and they (Morgana and Jessie) met us in Lumberton which was about an hour and a half from our house. We arrived before they did, so I had fun on the playground with Ammon and Clarissa, and then, when they arrived, the excitement really began. We came mostly to see a grown female cat, but they also brought a kitten and large male named Stilton. Clarissa promptly fell in love with the kitten, and everone else fell in love with Stilton. The breeders told us all about him: how he is not aggresive and never causes problems, how he is so cuddly and lazy, how he cries if he is not fed on-time, how he hangs out on the fridge and taps people as they go by, and how he just loves to be loved. His blue eyes are breathtaking. They called him the amorphous blob. He is big, gorgeous, and sheds a ton. He’s shedding his Spring coat so clumps of his hair were litterally flying off in the chilly wind as we stood and talked. We could tell the breeders had also fallen in love with him because Jessie said he was dredding the day they would introduce Stilton to potential buyers, and when we were falling in love with Stilton, he made a genuine plug for the kitten, “she’s very cute too!”. Lily and I decided on Stilton. We are concerned about his shedding, but Lily thinks she will find joy in brushing him every day. Because he is a male, we are also concerned he might spray, but that seems like a low likelihood since Stilton is getting neutered next week before he’s fully sexually mature (the breeders say he’s old enough to be impregnating other cats, but he’s a late bloomer and “barely knows he’s a male”). Also, Mary assures us that Stilton is so lazy, the effort involved in spraying would surely dissuade him from ever doing it. He may or may not have the energy to catch a mouse, but his scent will be everywhere and the exterminator assured us that would be enough to scare any and all mice away. We are also a bit nervouse about a cat harming our furniture and drapes, but again, that’s another positive for Stilton as it just doesn’t seem like he will be up to much mischief as he likely wont be up to much of anything at all, ever. We don’t get him quite yet because the breeders need to give him his rabies shot and get him neutered, but we will get him a week from now. We love you Stilton and we are so excited for you! Ok, admittedly, there is one person that is not perfectly excited about Stilton. As we were driving home, we heard Clarissa quietly crying in the back seat with her head tucked into her knees. She had said earlier that she wanted Stilton, but she did that to be agreeable since that is who everyone else wanted. But she had actually fallen in love with the kitten she was holding. When we asked her to share her feelings, Clarissa said, “my life is changing and I want that change to be a kitten.” She was not tantruming or manipulating at all, just meekly processesing her grief. And we were all so struck and touched by it that we genuinely almost changed our minds to get the kitten. We ultimately decided Stilton was the right choice, but our hearts truly ached for Clarissa who really wanted the kitten! We ate at BoJangles on the way home and decided it was some of the best fast food we have ever had. Yay Southern food!

  • This is the kitten Clarissa fell in love with

Celebrating Valentine’s Day with Lily

Today I got off of work early and Lily and I both went to a Bikram yoga class together. No one else showed up to the class, so we got a private class from the delightful instructor, Nina. Afterwards, we came home and showered and then we went to dinner at Poole’s Diner. We really enjoyed the date together, although we were not wowed by the food. At home, we were going to play Wingspan, but we both were too tired and we went to bed. Before falling asleep, however, I gave Lily an Atlas of North Carolina, as well as a poem I wrote for her about her being my Atlas. She truely is my Atlas in so many ways. She shows me the world, guides me, comforts me, gives me adventure and makes me happy. It was so fun to have so much time with my Valentine today!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Today Lily took the kids to the park after school.

We did not make Valentine’s Day plans because Lily and I are celebrating Friday and we thought we had a harp lesson for Lydia and Clarissa tonight. Turns out we did not have a harp lesson, so the kids enjoyed their Valentine’s candy and I watched Bluey with them for almost an hour. It was a low key, but very enjoyable evening.

Clarissa’s Gift for Lydia, Our Sunday Outing and the kids playing.

Clarissa’s gift for Lydia: Here is a really cute videa about a gift that Clarissa is making for Lydia:

Our Sunday Outing: We had a wonderful outing today. First we went to the Methodist church, which was a very positive experience. We were invited by our new friends and neighbors, Tom and Lib Campbell, and they were so kind to look out for us, and show us around when we arrived. The sermon was wonderful and it really impacted me. It was about how we can be honest with ourselves about what needs to change and embark on a journey of self-transformation with God. Afterwards, we helped pack bags of food for children who need more food. The whole experience was very rewarding. After church, we all went to eat at the Flying Biscuit. It was delicious and Ammon was very proud of his coffee creamer tower that he made while waiting for the food:

We checked out shops like Sephora while we were in the plaza and grabbed this photo:

We also went to an incredible antique story that everyone had fun in. Ammon and Clarissa were very good and got compliments from the store manager. Ammon got a couple of star wars figurines, and the girls got a nice piece of doll furniture to share. What a wonderful outing!

Kids Playing: One of my favorite things about our children is how they play together. Tonight Lydia organized everyone into a beautiful game of imagination. Here is a video Lily took to capture some of it:

Clarissa’s Bed and Raleigh Dump:

Clarissa’s Bed: To our benefit, the lady who sold us the house left behind a lot of furniture, including a king size bed. We decided to put it in Clarissa’s room so that it could convert easily to a nice guest room. This has been fun for both Lily, who has loved making the king bed look beautiful with bedding, and also Clarissa, who seems to love her giant bed. Here are pictures of her enjoying a fairy book on her big beautiful bed:

  • This picture was taken a couple of days later

Raleigh Dump: Lily found mouse droppings in the garage on or by the steps, and that (combined with Georgia’s and our concern that bugs would get in her things in the garage) accelerated our cleaning of the garage. Today, I picked up a Uhaul truck which Lily scheduled and threw all of our waste from the move in it. After it was loaded, Lydia joined me going to the dump. We chatted about the book she is reading (Emma) and other fun things, and we both thought the dump was very interesting. It was extremely smelly, had tons of seaguls (and even some bald eagles!), and was generally an intersting site to see:

At home, I put almost all of Georgia’s things in our garage in matress bags, so it should now be a much less interesting place for mice and bugs!

My Trip in Utah, Pullen Park and my Birthday Dance

My Trip in Utah: I’m still in Utah, and today I had dinner with Georgia and spent time with Courtney and Matt. It’s been a great trip. Yesterday I also had dinner with Georgia, went shopping and spent time with Daniel Olsen. It’s been busy, but very happy. I’ve also been enjoying work. We’ve had large leadership sessions and I really appreciate the way my manager uses the time to direct us in working sessions that result in tangible decisions, direction and action-items. So far I’m really liking my new role.

Pullen Park: Today Lily took the kids to Pullen Park. It looks like they had a lot of fun!

My Birthday Dance: When I got home, I shined and waterproofed my chukka boots and Ammon and Clarissa helped me, which was fun. Then all the kids performced a birthday dance for me that Lydia choreographed and directed. I loved it! I was so touched. They practiced a lot and really gave me something special!

Lydia’s Craftiness:

Lydia’s craftiness: Lydia is very talented. She crocheted this mask in class and Lily and I were both very impressed. Tomorrow she and her siblings will share with me a birthday dance she choreographed and directed and in a couple days she will start on a giant famly tree project. I love her creativity!