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.
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.
I designated today my Get-Well day, and since I couldn’t go back to sleep after Abe left, I started at 5:30 by nestling in a cozy chair and reading…for the next fourteen hours. I did feed the kids a couple times and take care of their basic necessities, but other than that, they were on their own.
I am currently engrossed in The Mists of Avalon. Fourteen hours later, I am only halfway through it (page 446 as I type), but it is fascinating! Since I couldn’t bear to put it down, I didn’t manage to snap pictures until I sat down at the computer to do homework and blog.
Chase with Daddy!Trying to escape from Daddy…and, as you can see, the bed isn’t made because I was in it with my book all day. Lydia and I never made it out of our pajamas…Naked babies after the bath.
The only other thing of note was that Abe had an amazing work week!! He hit his quota early, and it looks like he’ll double it in the next week. Go, Abe, go! We’re so proud of you!!
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!
Today started out slowly, and that gave me a chance to work in some good hours at the piano. Mary demanded a nap as soon as she finished breakfast; when I pushed back on the idea, she threw herself on the floor, kicked the oven and screamed, “Nap! Binkies! Amiwals! (‘Animals!’).” I caved. 9:30 nap it was, and as the rest of the day progressed, she got grumpier and grumpier. Next time she tries to take a nap four hours early, I will put up more resistance.
After her nap, we took Lalitha on an errand and then ran an errand ourselves. We came back home and I folded laundry for an hour while the girls played “tea party” in the bathroom. It was flooded afterward.
Then I cooked like crazy until the Andersons joined us for dinner.
I stuffed peppers with some of that market corn, market tomatoes, scallions, cheddar, and homemade bread crumbs. They look messy, but they were really yummy.I bought a GIANT candy stripe beet at the market and cooked it in the pressure cooker tonight. It had a milder flavor than regular beets. Maybe I cooked it too long, or maybe it was old. After I bought it, I noticed the leaves were old. I learned my lesson: Next time, I will check the leaves before purchasing beets!We had a song night for FHE. This is the girls dancing to “Once There Was A Snowman.”(The snowman melts in the song.)
I spent an hour on the treadmill this morning, but the rest of the day revolved around food. I completely undid whatever good that treadmill pain did this morning. We didn’t leave the house because I spent the whole afternoon preparing for our dinner with the Deems and Shala (some teachers in the Primary).
Lydia helped me a little with the baking. We made Martha Stewart’s lemon poppy seed cake, which takes approximately a million steps to do correctly.
In between the four layers of luscious cake, there is a whipped lemon curd filling. Mom, I am making this for you when you come out. I had to give the rest of the cake away to our neighbors because I would have eaten it ALL if it stayed in the house.
In addition to making the cake (which involved: Two rounds of sifting, completing a 1-2-3 batter, whipping egg whites to fold into the batter, making lemon curd, refrigerating curd, whipping cream, whipping cream and curd together, cutting cake into layers, putting curd in between the layers, refrigerating layers + curd together, boiling a corn syrup mixture, mixing that with more whipped egg whites, and–finally–frosting the cake!), I also roasted some lamb that I got on sale at the Farmer’s Market last weekend, made three pounds of mashed potatoes (don’t ask why I thought we needed so many), steamed broccoli, roasted garlic, minced a ton of herbs from the garden, prepared mint water, and cleaned every area of the house the guests would see.
You would think the Queen of England was visiting! But actually, what really happened is that I was just in the mood to cook and bake all day. I found baking with Lydia to be both fun and stressful, and my resolve to not yell was tested and found lacking several times during that process. But even still, I was doing exactly what I wanted to be doing, and everything turned out great (if I say so myself).
The best part, of course, was the actual visit. The Deems are in their late 70’s, and they’re still going strong. We found out their career revolved around a local lingerie chain that used to be the local equivalent of Victoria’s Secret. Shala was also full of interesting stories. She’s from Orderville, Utah. Prior to meeting Shala, I had always assumed Orderville was an LDS myth. It’s not! It was the town that managed to live the United Order longer than any other Mormon settlement, but the order fell apart when one young man from Orderville visited Salt Lake and bought a pair of pants that was different from what everyone else had. That was the start of the disintegration of the United Order. Prior to his Salt Lake visit, everyone wore the exact same style of overalls. After his visit, people wanted to start wearing different things, and it became impossible to live the United Order any longer.
Anyway, Abe is asleep, and so I better wrap this up. Mom, I’m going to get you Mary’s measurements soon. We had to put the kids to bed right after everyone left because Abe had to go do some Elder’s Quorum stuff–we didn’t have time to take her measurements. It was so great talking to you. Love you!
Misty told me this morning that there was a reptile show at the library, so I decided to bring the kids. The only thing is, now that I am trying so hard to be the World’s Nicest Mom, I can’t figure out how to get Lydia to listen. I sat on the steps for half an hour repeating, “Lydia, honey/love/darling/sweetie-pie/babycakes/sugarpop, can you please put on your shoes?” Thirty-five minutes later, she finally complied, and we arrived to the library just in time to see people streaming out. We’d missed the show.
What a great opportunity for a natural consequence, I thought! “Lydia, honey, we missed the show because you wouldn’t listen to Mommy and put on your shoes. Isn’t that sad?”
“Well, Mommy, the reptiles are scary. I don’t want to see reptiles.”
Um, okay. I guess she won all around.
Playing blithely outside the library. No natural consequences, today!
In all seriousness, though, I’d rather miss a million shows and feel powerless and frustrated than know that my daughter feels scared and shamed and sad, which is how I felt when I got yelled at on Wednesday. So Project World’s Nicest Mom continues, and I’ll just have to learn to be more creative and resourceful when it comes to teaching my kids to listen.
After the library, we came home for lunch and quiet time. Afterward, I played play-doh with Lydia for an hour and half while Mary slept on. (Mary took a four hour nap today. It made me nostalgic for times not-so-long-ago when that was just her norm.)
While playing play-doh, I called my mom. Mom, thanks so much for talking with me. I really needed to talk to you, and it was so great to feel loved and understood. Thanks for everything you do for me! I love you.
Anyway, after Mary woke up, we all went outside to pick tomatoes and play in the sprinkler. Mary doesn’t like to get dirty or wet (which character trait seems incongruous with her otherwise adventuresome spirit), but she’ll get wet if I hold her hand. Lydia held the hose and Mary and I raced through a couple times. After about three runs, Lydia asked if we wanted to get wet again. I hesitated, and Mary yelled, “Nooooo!!” We spent the rest of the time drying out in the sun.
In the meantime, Lydia, my little not-so-adventuresome child, loves to get wet and doesn’t seem to notice or care when she’s dirty. She was pretty happy.
Distressed by her dirty hands.Gesturing emphatically that her hands are dirty. This is a problem, people!!She also didn’t appreciate getting her feet dirty. She wanted me to wash them off about twenty times–but not get any other part of her wet (except her hands, which she also wanted washed).OUT! (She wants out of the dirty garden.)
Where’s the snow?
Abe and I also went on a date, tonight! We saw Maleficent. Mom, you would love this movie. I don’t know why, but I love it when movies make me cry. This one definitely did. I asked Abe to give this to me for Christmas–I can’t wait to watch it again!
No 911 calls this morning, and it was a peaceful follow-up to yesterday’s stress. I still feel silly about being so quick to call 911, but I keep telling myself better safe than sorry.
Isabella came over and watched the girls while I worked out and then swam. When I came home, we went to the library for new books. The girls collected prizes for the summer reading program, and then we came home for naps and quiet time. Lydia actually napped today!
She woke up when Sophia, Max and Misty came over for a play date. Waking up from naps is a delicate process for Lydia…but having Sophia over to play with made her transition much easier. They love playing together, and I love talking to Misty, so a play date with Misty and her kids is just optimal for everyone.
After the play date, Mary wanted a turn in the dress.
Here’s how Lydia felt about that.
Mary decided the dress was too cumbersome. The two reconciled.
Mary calling Nana and Grandma on the phone.
After our play date, I scrambled to make dinner. Abe insisted on taking a picture.
It seems that ever since starting cooking school, I’ve been too busy to cook at home. Abe was wowed by a salad. I felt remorseful that expectations have sunk so low that a salad elicited such effusive praise. Well, compared to mac ‘n cheese or spaghetti with bottled sauce (the usual, it would seem), I guess this was a step up. Sigh.
Then I went to my Primary meeting. I was just starting to warm up to the calling–I loved the cub scout car wash, and I really enjoyed attending Primary on Sunday…but the meetings. I struggle. I hope/pray that with time I can learn to enjoy them more AND contribute more. Tonight I contributed nothing. At one point, I looked at the clock and let out an exasperated sigh without even realizing what I was doing, and afterward I was soooooooo embarrassed. Yikes!
I came home to discover Abe and the girls Skyping with my mom and getting ready for FHE.
Skyping with Nana.Lydia did a fashion show at the beginning of FHE. Mary is crying because she wants to participate. I forget why she couldn’t.Abe taught a lesson about Moroni building walls to protect his people.Lydia was riveted by the story of Amalikiah. She named her post-FHE popsicle “Amalikiah” and wanted us to tell her over and over again why Amalikiah was so mean.We can build our own strong walls with prayer, reading scriptures, and going to the temple. Here’s Abe teaching Mary about prayer.
And finally, some pictures Abe took while I was at my meeting:
At 5:54 am I awoke to the sound of the front door slamming. Abe leaves for work at 5:30 these days, and so I was terrified that someone was in the house. I crept to the stairs and heard light switches going on and off in the house. Convinced there was someone inside, I called 911.
Twenty minutes later, a team of six policemen swarmed the house, only to discover…nothing. I felt so dumb. But I honestly did hear the door slam, and I heard another door slam right before the police arrived. Since Abe and I are missing two full sets of keys, we had all the locks changed today just to be safe. Abe has promised to deadbolt the door behind him when he leaves for work.
To be honest, I still haven’t quite recovered from the adrenaline rush that accompanied lying in bed whispering on the phone with 911 for twenty minutes. It was terrible. I haven’t felt safe since. Also, I’m stressed out that I call 911 so much. This was my fourth call in two and a half years. If I operated 911, I would stop responding to my number’s calls. “Oh, it’s just the hystrionic lady in the Avenues who always thinks she’s under attack. Let’s respond to someone who actually NEEDS help…”
The only times I’ve forgotten the scare today were 1) visiting teaching Marilyn this morning and 2) having dinner with my mission friend, Jen! She’s from France, but her husband is American and they’ve been living in D.C. for the past five years. Jen was a director at Miriam’s kitchen during that time, and the experiences she shared uplifted us so much. We were so inspired by Jen and Chris’s passion for community and homeless-outreach.
Now that they’ve moved to Salt Lake, I’m looking forward to spending more time with Jen. She was also mission companions in Las Vegas with one of Abe’s high school friends, and so for our next get together we’re going to invite the Maudsleys over for dinner and let Katie and Jen reconnect. It’s been almost ten years since our missions!
Here’s a photo Abe took at the end of dinner. Chris was also taking pictures, and Jen and I are each looking at our hubby’s phone.
Today was a little crazy at church. Abe and I had a meeting with the stake president wherein Abe got a calling that will take a lot more time. I knew this meeting was coming, and secretly (or actually, not so secretly) I had been hoping Abe’s new calling would translate into a release from my new calling. I really miss going to Sunday School, and I’m slightly allergic to meetings that happen on any day other than Sunday. (Not activities, just meetings.) No such luck.
Anyway, the whole point of Sunday School is to make us better disciples, and disciples serve without complaint. So I guess Sunday School won’t avail me anything if I can’t learn to serve happily. That’s my current goal. Paragraph number one is a fantastic indicator of all the progress I’ve made on that goal.
I visit taught today for a couple hours, and when I came home, everyone was awake and playing on the lawn.
Lydia put on a puppet show behind the bush.
Abe and I contemplated calling friends to come over, but we were still exhausted from Friday’s lack of sleep, so instead we just played with the kids all evening. We played, “Sleeping bunnies” for the better part of forty-five minutes, and Mary still couldn’t get enough. She jumps up and down like a pogo stick every time the bunnies wake up, and then she shouts “Gain!!” (Again!!). We acquiesced approximately one million times.
Then we played hide and seek. Originally, I intended to lie on the couch while Abe played hide and seek with the girls, but Abe begged me to play and told me I could hide on the bed. I took him at his word; almost all of my hiding spots included lounging under a blanket. It was actually really funny because even though I was hiding in plain view (albeit under a blanket), Lydia and Mary would come up and check all the spots around me and still not know where I was. It was so funny and cute. They eventually found me each time because I couldn’t help laughing when they were so near and yet so bewildered.
We then spent the rest of the night reading to the kids and trying to work up energy to get the kids ready for bed. After we put them down, I read Abe a bunch of excerpts from, Carry on Warrior: Thoughts on Life Unarmed by Glennon Doyle Melton. I loved the book, and we both got some great laughs from the excerpts.
Now we’re going to try to go to bed early to make-up for Friday.
Also, as a post script, this is absolutely the most beautiful summer I have ever experienced weather-wise. The weather here is gorgeous. I can’t get enough of the open windows. Yay, beautiful weather that makes life feel good even when my natural state is not quite there!!
Then Lydia begged to come home and go to bed. She has preschool tomorrow, so I was very amenable to her pleas.
