Today was the dedication of the Ogden temple, and that was broadcast all around Salt Lake. We didn’t have church because there were three dedicatory sessions instead. Abe and I swapped babysitting with the Andersons so we could go to a session together. It was an uplifting experience.
At home, we babysat the girls while the Andersons went to their session.
We had some 3 year old naked time. They felt averse to clothing.
Abe set up an extra pack ‘n play for Liv’s nap, and Mary took a ride in it.
I had no idea that Mary had grown so much! We set up the bigger pack n’ play in her closet for her naps. Clearly, this one is almost too small!
Mom, we are getting so excited for your visit! We can’t wait to see you soon!!!
Today was a good day for both me and Lily, but I think it is fair to say we are both exhausted. There was in incredible thunderstorm at 4 in the morning that was impressive, but also unfortunate as it shaved more time off of our already limited sleep.
Work went well for me. I’ve already hit my quota for the quarter which is nice, but I’ve already set my sites on next quarter and I’ve been working very hard. By the time I got home, I was completely pooped.
Lily had a good day, but she had her own mountains to climb. Lydia was in a particularly difficult mood today and Lily also woke up feeling sick and exhausted. She basically cleaned every square inch of our home yesterday so I’m not surprised she needed a little recovery today. The day did start out fun for her by having Rose and her children over for breakfast.
For dinner, we had Tom and Suzanne over for dinner and Lily did a repeat of her wonderful egg-salad sandwiches that she did yesterday. After dinner, we all went to the park. Enjoy the pictures!
Agh, only one picture today, Grandma! I was going to take a picture of Lydia in the outfit she told you about, but I had to get dinner ready and she changed out of that too soon. I did get a picture of dinner, though:
We had red lentil and lime soup with Greek yogurt, saffron rice, and a tomato/cucumber salad. I made lemon bars for dessert, but, thankfully, they were a disaster. I wasn’t even really tempted.
Tom had to do church stuff, but Suzanne came over for dinner. We had a lot of fun with her and discussed one of my favorite topics: The Second Coming. Mom, did you know that President Hinckley announced in the General Conference right after September 2011 that the prophecies of Joel had been fulfilled? Suzanne told us, and I looked it up here. It was very exciting. Abe and I are thinking about postponing our end-of-the-year Disney trip and buying food storage instead…
I was pretty tired today, so other than bathing the girls, taking Lydia to preschool, feeding everyone and cleaning up, I just lay in bed sleeping and reading. I have a ton of laundry to fold and a lot of toys to sort, so maybe tomorrow I will finally get around to that!
Oh, I did one fun thing, though. I was reading All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenting, and the author cited research that said most parents would prefer housework over spending time with their kids. Feeling guilty, I put the book down, rounded up Lydia and had a “cocoa and cookies party” with her. We ate cookies, drank cocoa, and talked. I learned more about preschool during our “party” than I have in all the time I’ve drilled her about it in the car! It was fun.
Mom and Grandma, we loved talking to you today. We love you and miss you so much!
After I steam cleaned and vacuumed all of the floors this morning, I figured I had earned a vacation for the rest of the day, so I finished The Mists of Avalon. I’m glad I got through it, but I’m also glad I’m done! That fictional world was a little too crazy for me, and I’m glad to be firmly back in my own paradigm.
In the late afternoon, Lydia asked me when I was going to “wake up” since I had been reading in bed for hours. I decided I could read just as well outside, so that’s where we spent the rest of the afternoon.
The Andersons invited us over for dinner, which was wonderful because I was busy reading and hadn’t prepared a thing.
Lydia was tired. When we unloaded her from the car, she curled up on the grass and tried to go to sleep.Paige made delicious pizza. I was carsick from reading in the car and didn’t think I was hungry, but this made me want to basically never stop eating.
Then we went to Tom and Suzanne’s for FHE. They read to the girls a ton, which the girls loved. Abe did another puppet show–he’s the best at those!
Then Lydia begged to come home and go to bed. She has preschool tomorrow, so I was very amenable to her pleas.
I had to do sharing time for the first time today. Last night I had so many qualms about that and other aspects of my calling that I almost decided to ask to be released, but then I decided to stick with it and endure. Sharing time wasn’t a complete disaster, and the time went by faster than expected.
After church, I got to see Maria again! It was so rejuvenating to visit with her again. I should have taken a picture.
After dropping her off at the airport, I came home and made dinner before Fallon, Audrey, Vera and Eli came over. We only got three pictures today.
A Bon Appetit recipe for tuna melts, tomato salad, and Izze.I made chocolate chip cookies, and Mary liked hers.Eli liked his, too.
I basically talked to Fallon for hours. She was so fun. I got a lot of friend chatting in today, and it was really, really nice. That kind of keeps me going these days, it seems.
Now I am really excited to get to bed at a reasonable time and start off the week well-rested. Tomorrow my floors need SERIOUS attention, not to mention the mountains of laundry, sheets and other cleaning.
This morning, while Lydia was at dance, Mary, Abe and I shared a cup of cocoa and strolled through the lovely neighborhood near Lydia’s studio. We went to a yard sale and walked to a park, although by the time we got to the park, it was time to turn around and go pick up Lydia.
On our walkMy ideal house, right in the beautiful neighborhood we explored. Too bad we can’t stay in Salt Lake forever…Lydia before ballet
Lydia during the tap dance part of her class
After dance, we came home and hung out in our yard. Anique came for a visit and to pick some apples.
Fleur and Lydia eating apples.
Then we went to the Avenues Street Fair.
After the fair, we headed down to Provo for a birthday party for Olivia. Elsa was there! Then we came home, I planned my Primary lesson, and grocery shopped for the week. Now I can’t wait to get back to The Mists of Avalon.
This morning while Lydia was at preschool, I took Mary to the library.
After reading down some more fines, we attended story time. It was fun watching Mary. I am used to Lydia, who just watches everyone and doesn’t really participate. Mary got really into all the actions the kids were supposed to do, and it was really cute.
Then we spied on Lydia at school. She and her friend, Audrey, were walking around the playground during recess together. I loved watching them making the playground rounds. They were adorable.
After I put the girls down, I got a call. The person on the other end of the line said, “I have tickets to Funville!” Before she could finish, I angrily responded that I wasn’t interested and that it was my kids’ nap time. Bang.
Um, oops. It turns out that person was my dear friend, Maria! She was calling because she and my other dear friend, Lauren, were heading into Salt Lake to visit me. They are staying in Deer Valley for conferences and will head back out to their respective parts of the country this weekend. Time with them is a precious commodity! Thankfully, Maria called me back and explained that she wasn’t a telemarketer…and I felt really embarrassed. For the record, I don’t normally hang up on telemarketers, but I woke up sick this morning, and my patience level was at a flat zero all day. I have officially learned my lesson to be nicer on the phone.
Anyway, seeing them was so, so fun. I loved every minute.
Apparently, I was the only one who didn’t figure out where to look.
Then I retreated to bed to nurse my cold until Abe came home. After he got home, we raced to get ready to meet the Pe’as for the State Fair.
I have never fully explored the fair, and I have gone every year since we’ve been in Utah. It happens in a giant field right next to my gym, so it’s not far away at all. Anyway, I probably saw more tonight than I ever have. Abe and I also ate our very first funnel cake, which was delicious.
We enjoyed spending time with the Pe’as so much. They are such a fun, kind family.
Lydia wanted a pony ride. This is the first time she stayed on the whole time. She grinned the whole ride long.
Eldon sweetly bought all of the kids ice cream. In this picture you can see, from left to right, Natalie, Mary, and Spencer. Laddie and Lydia didn’t make it onto camera.Jen and I!
And now I am going to retire to bed and feel sorry for my poor, sick self. On the upside, I checked out The Mists of Avalon today and love it. I haven’t read a book since the beginning of summer, and I’m excited to read again!
I didn’t sleep enough last night AND I overdid it on the chocolate mousse, and I think my sugar-compromised immune system couldn’t handle it. I woke up feeling sick, and since my kids have both been battling colds for over a week, I decided to call it a stay-at-home day and skip Lydia’s last swimming lesson.
Reading in the morning. Mary was trying to read the book to herself and was doing a pretty great job, especially considering she specializes in sentences three words long or fewer!After naps, Lydia had fun bedecking Mary in all sorts of silly things.Attempting to get the belt to fit Mary.Some leftover tears are still on her cheek because Lydia wanted a turn with the glasses.Putting on these glasses provided endless entertainment to the girls. I love their sense of humor.
We did a lot of movies, reading, piano playing, song singing…and more movies. At 5 pm Aria and Paige rescued me from an evening of digital entertainment and came over for a play date.
Misting in the hose outside.
Sweet Baby Enna. Aria and her kids just got back from over three weeks in France, and Enna has grown so much since I last saw her!
I had the kids help me bread the eggplant that I turned into eggplant Parmesan for dinner. Abe and I had a wonderful time talking for dinner. We kept mindlessly feeding the girls whatever they wanted so we could talk longer. We don’t get to see each other at all on Wednesdays, so it felt like we had to catch up. Next semester I have class Wednesday and Thursday, so we’ll go those two days without seeing each other at all. So sad.
Anyway, I think I am going to bed early to try to get rid of this bug. We have a birthday party to attend tomorrow, so I can’t have another stay-at-home day. In fact, I’ll have a really rushed morning because I have yet to buy and wrap the gift!!
Lydia begged me to have a play date with Sophia today, and since Misty’s play group was having a picnic at noon, it worked out. Mary loves Sophia too, and after the play date on the way to the library she kept saying, “Mama, Fia!!” (“Mama, I saw Sophia today!”) They had fun.
Then I had my final for Garde Manger tonight. It was stressful because I was running late, but I managed to turn everything out, and the chef really liked it!
I made the tuna tartare canapes on the silver tray in front.One of my beet salads.This was my sample plate for the chef. It looks sloppy, but I was running late because I was the only person who had to make forcemeat yesterday (I was gone when everyone else did that), so I got behind in my prep work. That’s what my final chicken galantine looked like when sliced. There are also the two tuna tatare toasts, and some breakfast sausage. The sauce is a balsamic vinaigrette that I dipped my beets in.Six of us made this food in an hour and a half. Well, we prepped yesterday, but still–it felt like a ton of work!
Finally, I thought I would include pictures I forgot to post Saturday. While I made my practice galantine Saturday, I thought I’d take pictures to show how gross the process is:
This is what sausage looks like before it’s cooked. Feel free to swear it off forever. We spread this nastiness on a chicken skin, throw internal garnishes in, roll it up, poach it, and then try to fry the sliminess away.Chicken Galantine–who knew disgusting could reach such heights?
Today was not super eventful for either Lily or myself. I had a pretty typical day at work and Lily had a pretty low key day and enjoyed more Downton Abbey. She reported that the girls were very happy and well-behaved today.
When I got home, I changed into athletic clothes and went straight to the park with the girls. I jumped rope while I watched them climb on the playground and was a very joyful experience all around. When I finished jumping rope, we went to the other bigger playground that requires my closer supervision.
At home we had chicken and cheese quesadillas outside, with of-course a bannana on the side for Lydia. Today she and Mary were both pretending their piece of bannana was an elephant trunk, and they were both making awsome elephant noises. It was so cute!
Then it was bath and bedtime for the girls. Right before going to bed, Lydia announced that when Mary turns three she would be able to sleep in the toddler bed with Lydia. It was so nice to see this declaration of sibling adoration, especially since our playground outing completely melted down when Mary was playing with the jump-rope and Lydia fell apart because she then wanted to play with it.
After Lydia’s declaration, Mary jumped in the bed and they generated some cute photos!
Abe set up an extra pack ‘n play for Liv’s nap, and Mary took a ride in it.
