Author: lilydarais

On Wednesday, for the first time perhaps in a year (or maybe ever?), ALL FOUR KIDS slept in. As in, it was 7:30 and Abe and I just happened to wake up peacefully. Well, not that peacefully since Abe is supposed to be at work by 7:30, but still. It was better than usual.

Who knows how long they all might have slept if I hadn’t idiotically made the exact same mistake I made last year and assumed that school started again today. I did the exact same thing last January 2nd! I was so mad at myself. I woke up the girls and Abe drove them to school, only to discover it was closed and now he was more than half an hour late to work. He was so sweet about this, but I felt stupid.

It was really nice to have the girls home, though. They have been enormous helps in potty training Ammon. Honestly, they have done a lot of the hard work. On her own initiative, Lydia runs him to the potty, makes sure he wipes, flushes and washes his hands, and she cheers enthusiastically for every bit of progress he makes. Mary is the self designated sticker dispenser, and Ammon runs to her for stickers each time he goes. She loves giving them out. They have been amazing.

I also cooked dinner for the first time in forever. I made a curried lentil soup, heated up some Finnish pastries, and roasted some curried carrots, onions, cauliflower, and currants. Then I cut some grapefruit for dessert since this is supposed to be our year of health.

After dinner we all went to Ammon’s room for scripture, and then Abe and the older girls and I all watched the 4th Harry Potter movie together. Lydia is very conscientious and was very concerned at its PG13 rating. Abe and I explained that we were providing the parental guidance, but in retrospect maybe it was a little too scary? The girls seemed fine, though. Hopefully we didn’t make an irresponsible choice.

After that I gave the girls their nightly massages that I started giving them about a month ago. And then Abe and I studied scriptures together. It was a great day, and I just wish I had a picture to go with it!

On Tuesday I went to yoga and Abe went on a run. After that I caught up on blogging for hours while the kids watched TV for hours. Ammon was still potty training and regressed to being very sad about it, so the tv was a good distraction.

Abe shot this photo while I blogged and everyone vegetated on the couch:

When Abe and I woke up on New Year’s Eve, we decided to potty train Ammon. We have been talking about potty training for a year, but since Abe had two days left at home before having to go back to work, we decided to just go for it and train him. Ammon HATED this idea and cried and screamed a lot. At first Abe offered him a way of saying “no” but tried to bribe him into the idea, but as soon as Ammon heard that there was an opt out, he started screaming, “I SAY NO!!! I SAY NO!!! MAMA, I SAY NO!!!”

So I took him to Target and we did something less intimidating than jumping straight in. We picked out potty treats, potty juice, and a potty seat. This somewhat placated Ammon, but as soon as we got home, he started crying again. However, once he got on the potty and we all cheered for him, gave him stickers, and showered him with praise, treats, and juice, he started to get excited.

He spent the rest of the day doing a GREAT job. I think being over three is a great advantage, because he only had two or three accidents and went to the potty successfully ten times. We were so proud.

Pictures:

After the babies were in bed, Abe and I watched Loving Vincent, which blew us away. The girls stayed up playing and watching Harry Potter. I went to bed after that, but Abe stayed up and took the girls outside at midnight to bang pans and shout “Happy New Year!”

On Sunday Abe and I got the kids ready for church, and we got there in time for the sacrament and one outstanding talk about the meaning of worship. Then we went home, packed, and got ready for our trip home.

On our way to the airport we stopped by Saltwater State Park and let the kids play on the beach before our plane trip.

On Saturday my mom and I went to Hand and Stone for massages. The massages were awesome, but I had an unpleasant exchange with my masseuse that, to be honest, upset me for the rest of the day. I was upset at her and at myself for being upset. But my body felt awesome! The hot stones were incredible.

Uncle Steve and Aunt Pam came to visit, so most of our day was spent visiting with them. After the kids went to bed we stayed up really late talking and laughing. We laughed so much I woke up laughing on Sunday morning!

On Friday Abe and I spent a long time trying to find a trail along Wayerhouser Way. We finally found a good one. It was raining, and poor Clarissa was soaked in her stroller. But she slept through a lot of the run, though. When she was awake, she got to see gorgeous Pacific northwest scenery, so maybe that was some small comfort?

After we got all cleaned up, Soren, Mary, Lydia and I took the bus to Seattle while Clark drove everyone else down in the car. We beat everyone by half an hour, so the kids rode the carousel before we went to the Sheraton to get in line for the gingerbread houses.

Everyone else joined us while we were in line. We waited an hour to see the Whoville themed gingerbread houses on display:

After the gingerbread houses, we were all tired and hungry, so we headed to the nearby mall and ate at Pike Place Chowder. The food was AMAZING.

After that I took the older girls and Soren on the bus back to Federal Way. We beat everyone back, so we took another bus to the nearby Target for cocoa and cookies while we waited to be picked up.

And then we came home, ate dinner, put the kids down, and did puzzles until past 1am in the morning. They were so addictive!

Aside from Christmas day and Sunday morning, Abe and I ran together almost every morning of our Seattle trip. On Thursday we did repeats on the hill next to Clark and Swathi’s house. The road was right out of a picture book with its greenery, and Clarissa was so good and slept in her stroller for most of the time.

After that, we hung around the house until the afternoon when we took a trip to the nearby Seattle Bonsai Garden. It was a perfect outing. Everything was so green and peaceful, and we loved looking at each bonsai. The kids got out their energy chasing each other around, but the girls were actually also really interested in the stories behind the various trees. At one point, a curator came and asked us to stop the kids from dragging their feet in the gravel. Then he, Clark, Abe, and my mom started discussing bonsais. Abe and Clark decided that they want to make bonsais their new hobby. He must have been very persuasive about the benefits of growing bonsai, especially considering Abe and I can’t even keep succulents alive.

In the evening after the kids were in bed, Abe and I left to go on a date to the Seattle Art Museum. We had a wonderful conversation there with one of the guards who had lots of thoughts to share on Jackson Pollack.

These are some of our favorite pieces:

After that we drove to Capitol Hill and had dessert at Hot Cakes. I got the most amazing butterbeer probably on the planet, and we both were utterly defeated by our teensy lava cakes. Neither of us could finish them because they were so rich. So we took them and a bunch of other treats home. It was a wonderful evening.

On Wednesday Swathi had to work and Balu had things to do at home, but the rest of us drove down to Seattle and walked to Pike’s Place market. We went to my favorite store there, Piroshky Piroshky, and my mom treated us all to TWENTY-ONE piroshkies. The sad thing is that we ate probably half of them on the spot.

Then we walked through the rest of Pike’s Place market and took two elevators down to the Seattle Aquarium.

Then we drove home and got home right in time for my friend, Julie, and her four kids to join us for a dinner cooked by one of Clark and Swathi’s chefs. It was so delicious and so fun to see Julie! It was also crazy having ten kids run around the house, but Swathi was such a sweet host and even enjoys the chaos that naturally happens when that many kids get together. I was grateful for a chance to see my friend and get to know her kids a bit better.

After the excitement, we put everyone to bed, cleaned up, and nostalgically watched Home Alone together.

On Tuesday morning Swathi and I went on an early morning Christmas run around her neighborhood. It was fun running in the Seattle air past all of the lit houses. That was one of my favorite parts of the whole day.

After we got home and ready, the kids all jumped on Balu to wake him up. He was the kids’ favorite thing about Seattle and was so fun with them the whole time he was in town. I couldn’t believe how much patience and energy he had for them!

When everyone was ready, the kids opened their family presents:

After presents, we all played baseball outside and ended with s’mores around the fire in Clark and Swathi’s backyard. It was pretty magical.

After all of this outdoor excitement, we had mushroom lasagna and put the kids to bed. Then the rest of us lounged around enjoying the hygge feeling of being together by the fire.

On Monday we were up at 3am and got everything and everyone loaded in the car within forty minutes. Against all of my worst fears, we had a really easy time at the airport and a relatively easy flight. Clarissa slept the first fifteen minutes in my baby carrier on me, and after she woke up Abe entertained her all the way to Seattle. Thank you, Abe.

When we got to Seattle, we couldn’t believe how fresh and clean the air was. Clark and Swathi live in a forested area, and the air was incredible. We spent a lot of the rest of the day breathing deeply and napping.