Happy belated 4th! We were so exhausted by the time we got home that I am just now blogging.
In the morning while I was at yoga, Abe and the girls had a flag hunt. The girls would hide flags and then go find them, over and over again. In fact, that’s what the three of them are doing now as I type:
Hide and seek with the flags. The flags are hiding and everyone else is counting. Also, the girls are still wearing their 4th of July dresses today because they slept in them last night. We may or may not change them before tomorrow–if they wear these for three straight days, they could wake up on Sunday all dressed for church!The flag hunt yesterday morning.Abe fed them breakfast.Mary pretended to be on the phone a lot (I’m gathering, since Abe took a million photos of her in this pose).Abe got the trunk of the car open for the first time since May (it was stuck) and retrieved my anniversary present! We forgot to take a picture of me wearing it yesterday. I’ll wear it tomorrow and take a picture.
After I got home from yoga, I watched How to Train A Dragon with Lydia. Abe and I watched it Thursday night and loved it, and it was fun to watch with Lydia. Afterward, Abe gave me a massage and the girls helped. Mary loves to pound my back with her little fists. It’s really cute.
Then we went to the Darais picnic down in Provo. We picked up Balu on the way there.
On the way to Provo for the picnic.
At the Darais picnic, there was a lot of reposing going on.
There was also a fair amount of rolling down hills.
Lydia waiting to “catch” mary.After the hill-rolling, the girls sat like this for a while.
After the picnic, we headed to Sugar House Park for fireworks. We got a great view, and it was a beautiful night. By the time we got home, Lydia and I were asleep, but Mary was still as excited as could be. She was the first person to wake up this morning. I think yesterday was a happy day for her–and everyone!
Kate showed up at 8:30 so I could make it to 9 am yoga this morning. I think I might have pushed it too hard in yoga because for the rest of the day I just dragged. For example, at one point I dumped all the laundry on the floor in the girls room with every intention of sorting and folding…and instead, I just sat there playing with and reading to the girls. I finally got around to the laundry at bedtime. Six hours later.
In the interim, Abe came home and we did errands. We had what felt like social hour at the grocery store. We ran into Abe’s old friend, Abe’s first grade teacher, my visiting teacher, and the mother of some of the kids in Primary who gave talks last Sunday.
Blueberries outside of Sprouts.The girls rode this ancient merry-go-round outside of Rite Aid for a quarter. Might as well have been Disneyland–they loved it.
Then we came home and had s’mores for dinner, much to Abe’s chagrin. But I pointed out the girls had eaten a ton of raw snap peas before our errands, and they’d had a ton of berries and crackers on our outing. I couldn’t picture them eating much more substantial food, plus I couldn’t wait for s’mores. We were supposed to go camping tonight, and when the reservations didn’t work out, the one thing I was sad about was the prospect of missing out on s’mores. The electric coils on our stove top were a fine–superior, even–substitute.
Lydia was our official s’more smusher. She smushed the graham crackers together after I slid the marshmallows in between.
Mary wasn’t interested in s’mores. She got really excited about her ice water, though.
Lydia has had nosebleeds in the middle of the night two nights in a row. Her bed is right over an air conditioning duct, and I wonder if that’s why. At any rate, Abe and I are exhausted and hoping she doesn’t have one tonight. It’s a little hard to drag ourselves out of bed, clean the blood and start a load of laundry at 3 am every night. I’d love it if we could break the habit tonight.
And a fireworks show just started in the valley. It’s so exciting to be able to watch from my desk–time to wrap this up!
This morning I hustled the girls through breakfast and out the door so we could pick up Rose, Tainah and Seve. We headed to the Aviary for a quick, early morning bird watch.
Feeding the ducks, a favorite activity of each child involved.
Then we raced to pick up Kate, a babysitter, so I could make it to yoga. We were late, though, so I missed yoga. I consoled myself by swimming at my favorite outdoor pool in Salt Lake. It was glorious. One of my favorite parts was this older gentleman who swam in my lane (it was a larger end lane) with his head out of water and his eyes closed. He swerved all over, and I almost bumped into him a couple of times. He was darling.
I took a fifteen minute break after my swim to lie in the sun and look at the mountains. The pool feels like it’s right under the mountains, and I felt so happy. I prayed a lot, although I kept losing focus because the sunshine and mountains were beautiful and distracting. I ended up with a sunburn.
Then I picked Isabella up and dropped Kate off. I ate a hurried lunch with Mary and left the girls with Isabella so I could go to my first dentist appointment in two years. Affordable babysitting has changed my life.
After the appointment, I raced home again to pick Lydia up. We have been losing so much stuff in the Darais household. So far we’re missing: two sets of house AND car keys, my phone, and Lydia’s ballet clothes. I couldn’t find the clothes anywhere, so with twenty minutes to go before her lesson, we dashed to Target, bought new clothes, arrived at the studio, changed Lydia into her new clothes, and ran to her class–two minutes late.
They make it hard to see the kids so the parents won’t gawk and distract the kids. I gawk anyway (through the blinds). Lydia’s the only one in a black leotard.
Lydia followed directions better this time, but she reminds me so much of myself. I feel like I spend a lot of life feeling like I have no idea what’s going on. That’s basically Lydia in ballet, most of the time. The teacher had to give her special instructions at several points because even though she tries to pay attention, she day dreams and gets distracted. As I watch her, I feel so much empathy. I remember when I was in marching band and the band leader called me out for marching my own routine in the middle of half-time. I guess spacing out runs in the family.
Then we came home, cooked and ate dinner, bought a fridge for our Chicago condo, and went to Gourmandise for treats (I had another Groupon). The total for our treats was $17.77, and the cashier pointed out that this was a very patriotic total! Then we went to the park to play and eat our treats.
Treats.
Mary’s chocolate meringue is bigger than her head. She dropped it in the street at the end of the outing and was quite distressed.
Mary took her cookie everywhere with her–even down the slide.
She was so dizzy afterward. Her eyes kept going back and forth, and she fell down no less than three times. Abe and I about died laughing.
Throwing seed pods.
The house next to the park. This is the childhood home of Richard L. Evans, apostle and founder of Music and the Spoken Word. I loooooooove this house. Every time we play in the park, I peer over the hedges into the side windows–and the side of this house is even more charming than the front, but I haven’t figured out how to photography it with the hedge in the way.
Tomorrow I leave for yoga at 8:30, which means that bedtime should be…now.
This morning Isabella came over so I could go swimming, and then we all went to Jump Around Utah to celebrate Sophia’s birthday.
They had more fun on this slide than anything. Oh, the irony.Mary headed to rescue her friends from the “hurricane room.”Bounce.Isabella and Mary did this slide over and over again.Whenever they slid to the bottom, Mary would cry, “GAIN!!!” (Again!).My favorite male one year old.
After that, I fed the girls and then Kate, another new babysitter, came over while I went to yoga. I have been an absent mom lately. But my unlimited yoga pass expires in a month! I still feel guilty, though. Anyway, after yoga, I came back, showered, and cooked dinner.
Eating dinner.
Afterward, the girls played a bit before I headed off to my Primary meeting. They look bedraggled because I haven’t done anything to their hair since yesterday morning.
Lydia exclaiming, “Guys, it’s beautiful out here today!” This is after only one day of not doing her hair.
Here’s how clean and tidy they looked yesterday morning:
But tonight I was literally scrubbing grime off of Lydia’s face in her bath. It’s amazing how dirty kids can get is such a short period of time–and we went swimming yesterday, too! That grime basically accumulated all today.
While I was at my meeting, Abe took the girls on a walk to the park.
Lydia’s natural expression. Mary’s natural expression.Natural expressions part 2.Natural expressions part 3.
Abe and I have a lot to give thanks for today. He had a fantastic day at work and I had a wonderful day at home. Well, actually, I spent a lot of the time at yoga because Abe’s cousin is now on the babysitting market, and she charges the same rate as my gym childcare. Lydia has begged me to let Isabella babysit her, and even though I was initially hesitant because Isabella is slightly on the young side, I finally relented.
When I got home from yoga, not only was Mary peacefully napping, but Lydia and Isabella were happily chatting away in Lydia’s clean room. That’s right. Isabella and Lydia cleaned while I was at yoga. Isabella found her way to my heart strings today. I should have snapped more photos of Lydia hugging Isabella, which she did spontaneously and with great affection multiple times, but I was just too busy trying to do laundry and deep clean the house. Isabella hung out with us for the rest of the day, and when Mary got up, we all went to the pool for a little bit.
Then we came back home and ate dinner. Abe took the girls to buy a present for Sophia’s birthday party tomorrow, and I stayed home and “cleaned.” (I actually spent most of the time eating banana bread.)
We held FHE when Abe and the girls returned. I gave a little lesson on the flag and then we drew pictures of the flag on Sophia’s wrapping paper.
This morning was my first Sunday in my new calling. I enjoyed the Primary, although I am a little overwhelmed at the prospect of learning everyone’s names. I also am not quite sure how to make myself most useful, but I’m sure that that will become clear in time.
We left church soon after Sacrament meeting (our last meeting) because Mary was inconsolable. We came home, ate, took naps, and then had a family council. Abe loves to plan for the week, and he really wanted to plan as a family. This is what it looked like:
A little hectic.
We Skyped right afterward with Clark and Swathi. The sound on my iPad broke last week, so Skyping is a lot more complicated now. Nevertheless, it was great to chat with Clark and Swathi. We love them so much.
Then we headed to the Miners’ for birthday celebrations.
Playing badminton outside.
Katie played while holding Mary. Impressive.Abe discussing how much he loves his job and why.
Frankie.Waiting for the birthday festivities to begin.We moved Lydia under the counter so she could see the action.We celebrated Clint’s birthday. He and Heather live in Phoenix but were in town. It was great getting to know them better!Charlie and Henry trying to blow out the trick candles once and for all.It was Steve’s birthday, too. Henry helped blow out the candles.Mary clapped.Steve with nieces and nephews.Siblings.Steve with his parents. The cutest picture of the day, I think.Examining seed pods afterward.And throwing them.This is a picture Abe took yesterday after the market (that I forgot to post).
Today was another 5:15 am day. I have an unlimited Bikram yoga pass for a month AND today is the last Saturday that my studio offers a 6 am class. There was no way I could miss it! After that, I came home, showered, scarfed down one of Abe’s fabulous pancakes, and took the girls to the market. (I had to wake Abe at 5:30 to help me find his car keys, and so he needed a nap.)
Lydia pushing Mary to the market. Mom, can you see the stickers you sent them on their dresses?Lydia and Mary each got to pick a rock for a quarter.The sweet, kind men at the rock stand let the girls have some rocks for free, too.Watching the trapeze.Lydia swinging at the playground.We ran into Nathan and Hannah (and Gregory) at the market! Not pictured: We also ran into Karin and Jay.
After the market, we came home and rested for a minute. I had to play the piano for a baptism at 12:30, so it was a quick rest. Abe was really sweet and gave me a shin massage because yesterday’s 10,000 steps gave me shin splints. Pathetic, I know. With the greatest reluctance, I cut the massage off and headed over to the baptism.
The baptism was absolutely wonderful. I sat down with Jessica Felix (who got baptized) afterward, and she told me her amazing conversion story. She kept referring to how wonderful “that Mormon book” is and even quoted passages to me–spontaneously, with great enthusiasm. She was incredibly inspiring. I’m so glad she’s part of our ward family now.
After I got home from the baptism, I discovered the girls eating a big lunch.Abe set this out for me. Sweet man.
Then it was errands and a wedding. Abe’s cousin got married today, and since we couldn’t make it to the sealing this morning, we headed up to their reception in Midway tonight. Midway is so beautiful. For a minute, I thought maybe we should move there…and then I thought about how cold it is (it’s up in the mountains) and how Abe would have to commute through a canyon everyday. No thanks. But as the setting for a reception (it was at Susie’s aunt’s house), it was perfect.
Lydia painted Isabella some pictures a couple days ago and put them in an envelope. She was so happy to give Isabella the pictures today when we carpooled en route to the wedding.Watching Isabella open her pictures.On the way to Midway.So Pretty.Walking to the reception.
Isabella and Lydia on the bench while the rest of us went through the line.
Susie made these darling flower garlands.
In the line.Dessert table.I’d never had dippin’ dots before. They’re cold! And tasty.The house had a beautiful, Martha Stewart-worthy garden.This was the biggest, most healthy looking rhubarb plant I have ever seen.
Pretty cake.Eating their dippin’ dots.
Under the mistletoe.
The gorgeous couple.
Sadie is one week apart from Mary, and you can kind of see a resemblance, I think. Her mother and Abe are cousins.
Since the reception only had desserts, Abe and I took the girls straight to Whole Foods afterward and filled up. Lydia kept running around saying, “I’m so healthy! Who’s a healthy girl??? Me!!! I am!!! I’m so healthy!!”
At whole Foods.
We also discovered that Mary looooooves pepperoni pizza. Since we were so late, Whole Foods sold us a leftover pizza for a discounted price. We didn’t break it open until the car ride home, and Mary went totally nuts. She can’t even say three syllable words yet, but in the middle of the ride she said, “pah-pah-roh-nee” and pointed vigorously at the pizza box. She ended up eating an entire slice by herself.
I comforted myself about the late hour on the way home by thinking, “Oh, well. If we’re fifteen minutes late to church tomorrow, no big deal.” And then I remembered that I have a calling now that requires me to get to church on time. Sorry to say it, but darn. Guess I’ll get to bed ASAP so the morning isn’t quite so painful.
Yesterday my Fitbit died in the middle of the day, right before I was about to hit 10,000 steps! I worked so hard at that, and I kept working all day (unaware that my Fitbit had died), so I was very disappointed to learn that none of my effort was recorded.
This morning I decided to try for 10,000 steps again, so I packed the girls in the jogger and walked (with the occasional jog) to Misty’s house. Her house is on the other side of the canyon and at an entirely different elevation, so the walk helped me meet my goal. Hooray!
Before we left, Mary discovered all the flowers Ron and Shirl left in the back. She was delighted.It was overcast in the canyon.
Once we got to Misty’s house, the girls had a fun play date. I always love visiting with Misty, so everyone leaves happy.
Misty has a trampoline. The girls had so much fun.
Mary and Max, my favorite couple.
Lydia and Sophia took turns pushing the car, and Mary stayed on permanently as the driver.Mary was sound asleep by the time we got back.
After I got home, I put Mary down for a nap and read books with Lydia until Ina came over to babysit the girls. She is our family’s angel; not only does she babysit for free, but she honestly loves our girls to pieces, and we know they’re in great hands. I went to yoga and did grocery shopping, and by the time I got back, it was time to make dinner. Ina took the girls to her house to play with her animals while I cooked, and then she returned right before Abe came home.
Ina gave the girls “capes” and they ran around saying, “supergirl!” the whole time. Well, Mary said, “Super gah!”Eating dinner.
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.
