Because we got to bed at such a wonderfully reasonable time last night, I didn’t mind waking up at 5:15 to go running. I ran around the track behind Ensign Elementary School, and from the track there’s a gorgeous view of the entire Salt Lake Valley. While I was running, the sun rose over the mountains, and, well, it was thrilling.
Then I came home and got ready for the day. The girls have been sleeping in lately, which generally is wonderful, except when we have places to go. Today we rushed breakfast so we could make it to story time at the library.
Another reason we are late everywhere. The girls get distracted en route to the car (a thirty second walk).Lydia was really excited that Mary has teeth. Mary has had teeth for a while, but I guess Lydia didn’t notice until today.On the way to the library, Lydia loves to push Mary in the stroller.Story time at the library. Today the kids all got bee hats (today we had an insect theme) and mini kazoos!
On the way to the library, we met an artist headed to the Salt Lake Arts Festival. She makes purses, and her purses were so beautiful that I decided to drive to my school to pick up some free tickets. (I volunteered at a catering event a while back, and all the volunteers got tickets as a thank-you.) Since we were already in Draper, we headed to Ikea for lunch.
Ikea smile.Ikea frozen yogurt. We made a mess on the window…
After Ikea we went to the post office to pick up Abe’s birthday present to me–a replacement iPod for the one we lost over a year ago. Then I did a couple more errands before heading home.While Mary napped, I called all the babysitters we know until Abe’s cousin turned out to be free. I have an unlimited yoga pass this month, so I woke Mary from her nap, dropped the girls off at Abe’s cousin’s house and headed to yoga.
Then we came home and got ready to go to the Arts Festival.
These are the purses that convinced me to add a three hour errand to the day in order to get my free tickets to the arts festival. I just read a talk this morning on materialism, and the phrase “We need to recognize when we have enough” ran through my mind while I was looking at these. I don’t need more than one purse, but if I had unlimited resources AND hadn’t read that talk this morning, I might have gotten one. They were so pretty.The arts festival.
We got to hear Rhapsody in Blue at the festival. Mary squirmed a lot.At the end of the festival. We left just as it was starting to rain again.
All in all, it was another busybusybusy day. I’m hoping for a slower pace tomorrow!
I took a million pictures today because it felt like we did a million things. The girls took a bubble bath first thing because I knew Lydia was going to ballet today, and I wanted her hair tight and out of her face. Also, the girls smelled. I didn’t get pictures of the bath because I didn’t want them to drown while I ran for my camera.
Instead, I took pictures of them on our way to the gym:
Before we left the house, we said a prayer and then practiced our prayer poses. The girls have been completely irreverent lately and just run around playing during prayers, so I decided we needed practice. Posing for the camera always incentivizes them.I spent almost two hours at the gym today, and the girls were great! They made these hats in the child care with Bailey. She’s so sweet–she bought them snacks with her own money today. I didn’t realize we could bring snacks (what about the other kids??), so I tried to feed them before dropping them off. Unfortunately, my kids eat frequently, so that wasn’t enough.Lydia was shy and only wanted to go in if she could hold Ada’s hand. She spent most of the class following Ada around. The rest of the time she was sitting on the floor in her own little world while everyone else danced.Lydia in ballet with AdaOn our way to the library, the girls found some great seed pods on the ground.
Mary wanted to be part of Abe’s puppet show for FHE. We did a lesson on how God’s house is a house of order, had a puppet show wherein the puppets learned to clean up, and then we spent the rest of the evening cleaning.She really, really wanted to be in the puppet show.Lydia was content to watch.This is a motion shot. I thought Abe had brushed it out when I saw the picture, but he said this happened naturally when she was coming down the stairs.
But it’s dramatic without Abe’s help.
This morning I resolved to photograph every activity of the day, but alas, I failed in my resolve. Lydia and I baked banana bread before ballet, and it was so messy there was no way a camera could have gotten safely involved.
Also, Abe is in the shower enthusiastically singing “Accidents happen” from Elmo’s World. Parenting does things to you.
This morning, after I visit taught Marilyn, we went to play group at Red Butte Gardens.
racing to the three bears’ houseLydia and Brooke pushed their sisters, Mary and Annie, all around on their strollers. Annie and Mary are just weeks apart. It was pretty cute.
feeding the ducksTinah posing. Doesn’t she look like Fancy Nancy?
After naps, we spent the afternoon doing errands. I promised my friend, Rose, I would find her a sushi mat–but they were nowhere to be found! I ended up being late to my Primary meeting (I just got called Sunday as first counselor in the Primary) with no sushi mat for Rose. (There was a sushi class in the gym at the same time as my meeting.) It all worked out, though, because the teachers brought sushi mats for everyone. Where they got them, I have no idea. Maybe the bought out all the Salt Lake stores and that’s why I couldn’t find any mats. At any rate, I ended up with a free sushi mat, and the Primary presidency is very laid back. No one cared that I was late–phew!
Also, mom, aren’t you the first counselor in your Primary? I can’t believe I haven’t talked to you since Sunday. We’ll have to chat tomorrow.
Another also: Mary learned how to climb out of her crib today. It’s actually kind of nice, because instead of crying until I come get her, she just climbs out and entertains herself. On the other hand, trying to get her to bed was a nightmare…Lydia came out at one point crying, “Mom, I have an idea! I have an idea! Let’s put a door on top of Mary’s crib! And if she still climbs out, we can put lots of doors!!”
A third “also”: I have pictures from the weekend that I am just posting now:
Cadence and Lydia going to church together.I am holding the door (and holding Mary like a sack of potatoes).
Here are the pictures Abe took while I was in my meeting:
I got up at 5:10 so I could pick up the babysitter and get to yoga in time. After that, I got the kids ready and took them to the Aviary to meet up with Jen, El, Spencer, Laddie, and Natalie. The children were so cute and excited to see the birds–and more ducks, of course!
I came home exhausted and lay in bed for a while surfing the internet. One of the blogs I read annoyed me, and I made a rather nasty comment to the author (who I do not know). After I did that, I felt so terrible, and actually I’ve felt bad all day. I did send the author a heartfelt apology, and she was very nice about it. I felt grateful for human forgiveness today, although I’ve also felt terrible all day long that I did something that hurtful to such a nice person.
On the bright side, Abe and I are in love with our Hyde Park tenants. They are the nicest people, and Abe has been raving all day about his conversation with them. They are an older couple who are living there for the summer to be close to a new grandchild, and they are so sweet. They actually thanked us for the opportunity to fix up our condo. Abe couldn’t believe his ears. In fact, he’s talking about how much he loves them as I type.
After I had somewhat recovered from my bad behavior and its aftermath, I loaded the kids up and headed to Provo. Abe’s work team had a dinner at his boss’s house, and I really enjoyed meeting his coworkers.
I practically fell asleep driving home, and I cancelled the babysitter for tomorrow morning. I think I might sleep in…
Sorry to have been out of commission for so long! Friday was my birthday, and it was so fun-packed that I didn’t have any energy to blog by the end. The girls were so sweet to me all day. Lydia kept wishing me happy birthday and let me sleep in as a birthday present. I asked her if she could entertain herself so I could sleep longer on my birthday–selfish, I know, but she was so sweet! She went potty, brushed her teeth, and played quietly while I slept an extra hour. Mary also kept saying, “Happy! Happy!” to me all day long. That’s how she says “happy birthday.”
Lydia wanted to help Mary get dressed in the morning. Mary appreciated the help.Lydia and I baked this on my birthday.Mary spotted the cake upon awaking from her nap, and she refused to eat anything else.
Abe and I used a groupon to go to Cucina Toscana for dinner, and it was wonderful. Suzanne was an angel and baby-sat for us all evening. We were so grateful!
beef carpaccio.house made gnocchi in a stupendous tomato sauce, and a mind-blowing spinach lemon ravioli and a mornay sauce.a truly terrific Cesear.Sea bass with calms and shrimp.duck with macerated figs and spinach
On Saturday, I got up at 5:30 so I could go to yoga. Then I came home and we all went to the pool for a swim.
We got to the pool and realized it wasn’t free swim time. The lifeguard was so kind and let us put the kids in a swim lesson that was going on –for free! Mary and Lydia both learned to float, jump in, and kick!
Then we met up with Karin and Jay for lunch at Gourmandise. I have been dreaming about their creme brulee oatmeal ever since I got it when I went to breakfast with Aria a while back. Daydreams were fulfilled.
Mary cuddled with Karin for such a long time. We finally had to take her and try to make her eat something, but she looked pretty content here.Jay relaxing at Gourmandise.Lydia picked out this cookie after lunch. That’s a mouse cookie. It’s a chocolate truffle coated with ganache on a lemony cookie base with a bit of raspberry flling.Mary eating her half of the mouse cookie.
Then we went grocery shopping, took a nap, and got ready for our dinner.
Mary “drove the car” with Abe while I grocery shopped.
I made a ton of food, but whenever we have guests I always think we’re going to run out of food. Whenever my parents threw parties growing up, we would eat leftovers for weeks; my dad never wanted to run out of food at a party. I think I inherited my fear of running out of food from him. Anyway, I made Jamaican jerk steak, kasha (threw it out because I did it wrong and replaced it with cous cous), carrot salad, roasted veggies, balsamic blackberry gingered strawberries, corn on the cob, and chimichurri sauce. Candace brought Harmon’s bread and Emily brought a marvelous fruit salad. Unfortunately, I was having so much fun with everyone that I forgot to take pictures. Abe did manage to take a picture of the cake with his phone (Gourmandise had a Groupon for cake!):
Gourmandise had a Groupon for a birthday cake. This was a chocolate truffle raspberry cake. It was to die for.The girls played outside before our party.
We had to set up an extra table for the party since we had seven grown-ups and five kids. While Abe was taking down the table, he sliced off a good portion of the padding on his finger. He cut off the flap with a scissors, and it’s still bleeding (a full twenty-four hours later). He spent most of last night in excruciating pain. I was up until midnight talking with Candace, and I didn’t realize how much pain Abe was in until he called me up because he was struggling so much. I felt so sorry for him! Today it’s not as painful, although we’re going to douse it in hydrogen peroxide soon, and I’m sure that will be torture for him. Say a prayer for Abe.
We got to church half an hour late today because I was prepping for our post-church picnic.
After church we had a picnic today with Ben, Candace, Cadence, Bentley, Aria, Stephen, and Balu.The girls loved playing while we ate.
After our picnic, Candace and Ben drove back to Idaha. I hated to see them go and felt really lonely and sad with the house empty. I wish Candace lived closer.
I treated my sorrow with a nap, and when we woke up, the house still felt empty. We called Mike and Paige at that point and asked if they could come over to help us finish off the million pounds of leftover food in our fridge. They were wonderful and came. We spent hours discussing the disciplinary council of Kate Kelly and John Dehlin. It was really cathartic, and I felt like I learned a lot from the discussion.
Liv ate some pink paint today.Mary somehow got covered in marker while we were getting food out for dinner with the Andersons. Her face matched her dress.
Mike pointed out that Utah twilight lasts hours, and we enjoyed it all evening. It was a perfect night. This June has been so glorious.
Aside from taking my girls to story time at the library and then going to the gym for a swim, I literally cleaned all day long. Well, I took a forty-five minute break to play the piano, and I fed the kids a couple times, but other than that, all I did today was clean (and bake cookies). I don’t think the house has ever been this clean, and I feel so happy! The only thing I wish I’d done is mop all the floors, but at least they’re all swept or vacuumed.
I have another final project to do tomorrow, and there’s nothing I hate more than doing school work in the middle of a mess. I anticipate highly enjoying my project tomorrow thanks to today’s efforts.
And, best of all, my friend Candace is coming in tonight and will stay the weekend with us! She got a mini-pass to the Alt Summit to hear Martha Stewart present. I was supposed to buy a pass and go too, but I never had my wallet with me when I was at the computer, and by the time I finally got around to it, the event was sold out. I was bummed. But at least the good news is that, as I mentioned before, I have a final project (and a final exam) tomorrow. I’m pretty sure I would fail both if I were going to see Martha too.
Here are today’s pictures:
The girls woke up and wanted to build a nest for themselves in their princess tent. They had a blast.I told Mary to say “Hi Mommy!” She opens her mouth pretty wide when she says “hi”.The girls were really affectionate with each other this morning.
Oops! (A tumble.)We have gotten our money’s worth out of this dress. Lydia wears it at every opportunity.
Mary makes life pretty easy for everyone by putting herself in voluntary time-outs so she can have her binkies. She’s only allowed to have them in her pack-n-play, so she spends a lot of time like this.
Also, I’m linking to my favorite Christian song of late. It’s called “Build Your Kingdom Here,” and this is what got me on the Christian rock kick.
I went to the gym today, and Mary stayed in the child care the whole time! I can’t say how liberating that is–I can actually work out now! It’s an option!
Other than that, it was a rainy day so we stayed inside a lot. I had a lot of work to do for school because tonight was the last night for Garde Manger. All we did was clean the kitchen, but I had a bunch of stuff due.
Abe had fun with the girls tonight. Lydia has been an angel these past couple days, and we can’t get over how easy and delightful she’s been. This morning she got dressed, brushed her teeth, used the potty and washed her hands all by herself–without me asking! I couldn’t believe it. She’d actually gotten half way through that routine before I woke up, so she woke me by saying, “Mommy! I got dressed all by myself and now I’m going to go brush my teeth and use the potty!” I was both dumbfounded and delighted.
Lydia and Mary got in a hug fest while Abe was watching them, so he ran to get the camera. By the time he got back, Mary wanted out, but Lydia wanted to keep posing for the camera. The following pictures document Mary’s attempt to escape Lydia’s death-grip pose:
In other news, it was really cold today–and it snowed in the mountains! The sky was unbelievably beautiful; I almost drove off the road on my way home because it was so distracting. I didn’t take a picture, but I thought it was notable enough to mention. There was even a full rainbow at one point. I missed Lake Michigan when I first moved here, but the Utah sky feels like it performs a similar function in my life as the lake did in Illinois.
Happy Father’s Day to the greatest dad I know! I think the kind of dad Abe is was epitomized today at Red Butte Gardens. We had gone there after church for a picnic, and Lydia really wanted Abe to go through the vine tunnels with her. Abe enthusiastically followed her, and he tried to convince me to join by saying, “Look, Honey! These are perfect for grown-ups, too! All you have to do is squat really low, grab these bars, and hop your way through.”
I am so glad the girls have Abe, because I’m just not that good a sport.
I give thanks every day of my life for Abe. He is such a genuine, kind, fun, funny, enthusiastic, optimistic, loving person. I could trot out a hundred more adjectives to describe him, but I have a feeling that wouldn’t quite do him justice. Anyway, Mom and Grandma, you both already know what a fun and wonderfully creative dad Abe is. He’s the best.
Here are the pictures from today:
We had a picnic at Red Butte Gardens right after church.Mary eating her lunch at the garden.Abe took this picture in the tunnel after he had hopped through quite a bit of it. As you can see, it was a short tunnel.
We celebrated my birthday tonight at the Miner’s.
Lydia refused to join the pictures because she was standing watch near the cakes and goodies.We celebrated Grandpa Miner’s birthday today, too!Balu and Mary cuddling.
Lydia was excited to sit on a chair that was “just her size.”Lydia bat the ball twice!The boys wrestling while Lydia hammered a roc.Bapa and Mary playing.
Pretty much a typical Saturday here. I went to cooking school in the morning and made up one of the classes I missed. I’m failing my Latin class because I’ve missed so many classes, so I think after today at least I will pass.
Then Abe and I recovered from the week while both girls took marathon naps. When everyone woke up, we headed to the pool.
After we came home, we ate dinner and then I did some errands while Abe put the girls to bed. I think we’re going to try to watch The Book Thief right now, so I’ll post the only two pictures we took today. Mom, remember how Lydia has always hated the sun in her eyes? I think one of her first sentences involved communicating to us that the sun was in her eyes while we were all on a walk on 12th avenue together. Anyway, she is very attached to her sunglasses because they solve this problem for her. This is before and after our swim:
Oh, and I forgot to mention to Grandma how the girls love their pillows and blankets she made for them. Lydia loves her pillow and blankets so much that she won’t even allow us to put any other blanket or comforter on her bed. She has also dismissed her former pillow. Mary loves her blanket and pillow just as much. She moves around in her sleep, but she always seems to bring her pillow with her–her head is usually on it when she wakes up. They also play with the pillows and blankets during the day. Usually the pillows and blankets make it all around the house before ending up back upstairs on their beds. Thank-you, Grandma, for those gifts! They are very loved–just like you!!
I love June. It is my favorite month of the year. The weather right now makes me so, so happy. Sometimes I wonder if I have a touch of Seasonal Affective Disorder because when I read my childhood journals, half the time I think I might as well be reading a daily blow-by-blow of the weather report. At any rate, the good weather has been lifting my spirits all month long, and today we celebrated by going to Red Butte Gardens.
After we got home, we headed straight to the home of Abe’s friend, Andrew Walker. He and Abe have been trying to get together for over a year, and we finally got around to it tonight. It was so nice to visit with Andrew and his family, and Andrew told us amazing stories about his dad, who is a church historian. Apparently, before President Hinckley died, he wanted the whole story of the Mountain Meadow Massacre researched and told in its entirety.
Andrew’s dad was the first professor in the history of BYU to get a two year leave to write the book, and he researched every single fact surrounding the massacre. He studied all of the original documents out there and unearthed secret journals in the process. Every single sentence that he wrote is meticulously documented in the footnotes of his book, which comprise two-thirds of the final work. I can’t wait to read the book, and hearing his account of what actually happened cleared up a lot of questions for me.
Here are the pictures I took today (mostly from the gardens):
Braving the snake fountain.“Hi Fishies!” Mary was especially enthused by her encounter with the fish. She kept begging to go back. I was afraid the girls would slip and fall in. Next time they’re not going to wear their jellies!
Lydia needed frequent breaks from all the work of pushing the stroller.
The Three Bears’ Cottage.We pretended to have tea inside the cottage of the three bears.
