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Sunrise

I was up a lot last night with Lydia, and she finally just joined us in bed in the middle of the night. We cuddled a lot, and when I woke up this morning, we both watched the sun rise over the mountains together. When I got up to brush my teeth, Lydia kept me posted on all of the new colors appearing in the sky. At the end, I asked her what colors there were and she said, “Mom, it’s just purple now.” How true! Once the sun rose, the sky was the lightest shade of early morning purple. Anyhow, these pictures were taken before that point–when there were lots of colors still rioting in the sky. Here is my other window. In real life, Mt. Timpanogas (pictured) appears much crisper and clearer, but the camera fuzzies it up and I am not camera savvy enough to know how to get it to focus on the mountain.

I decided to focus again on the girls today. The house isn’t finished, but who knows when it will be. In the meantime, the girls really need attention, and it felt so luxurious to do nothing but play with them, work with them, talk with them, and laugh with them all day (or at least until I had to leave for class).

Here’a a picture from yesterday that I forgot to post. Abe has been really busy at work and very tired as he recovers from the last six months. Tonight while I was at school, he lay on the floor of the girls’ bedroom and napped deeply while they played around him. I imagine they played in a similar fashion to how they did yesterday (pictured below).

Feats to repeat

A little scared by all the spending we’ve been doing for the new house, I figured one way to cut back on spending is to stay home all day. The other half of the equation was to keep busy enough that my iPad didn’t tempt me either, and it worked! The grand total I spent today was $0. Now if I can just repeat this feat more often, things will turn out hunky dory.

In my time at home, I focused on house projects–and Lydia! She has suffered so much from our neglect during this move, and while Mary has been every bit as neglected, Lydia is a little bit more emotionally sensitive…basically, she needed some attention. So today Lydia and I cuddled together, played 8 rounds of bingo together (she won every time–may her luck hold out like that for the rest of her life), baked cookies together, and read together. By the end of the day, she was so sweet. I basically baked the cookies while she hugged me the whole time. Again, a feat occurred today that bears repeating.

We got a very nice visit from our Bishopric tonight, and I feel very happy about our new ward. This is the friendliest community we’ve ever lived in.

Pictures:

I read and sang "Good King Wenceslas" to the girls tonight, and Mary decided the song was worth dancing to. She convinced Abe to join her. — I read and sang “Good King Wenceslas” to the girls tonight, and Mary decided the song was worth dancing to. She convinced Abe to join her.

raking and decor pics

On Saturday I observed with mounting alarm that our neighbor was cutting her lawn. It hit me that mowing a lawn is not only a 6 month a year affair–it’s December, and our neighbors are still at it! Add to that the fact that our lawn is a disaster of leaves, and at the time of my observation, we didn’t own either a mower or a rake. Oh boy.

My neighbor’s wondrous machine appeared to suck leaves up as it mowed. Too bad I didn’t think of buying something like that on Black Friday, so today I went to Lowe’s and bought a rake.

After two hours of raking, my front lawn is 3/4 of the way raked. I finally gave up because Mary’s hands were so cold from playing outside for two straight hours that I feared for her circulation. I estimate that if we continue to use my rake, we only have about four more hours of raking to do. Hopefully it snows soon and covers up those darn leaves!

I did take a picture of Lydia with one of our cats. Did I mention we now have two? She named the one in the picture Francie, and Lydia is her happiest, best self with Francie.

Mom and Grandma, per your request, I took pictures of the Christmas decorations.

I know it looks like we decorated our tree with Halloween bats, but those are felt silhouettes of black bears that I cut out last year when I went through a make-woodland-themed-felt-ornaments craze.

I bought a palm plant today. Placed next to the snowman display, it provides a subtle allusion to Olaf (the snowman in Frozen who loves summer). — I bought a palm plant today. Placed next to the snowman display, it provides a subtle allusion to Olaf (the snowman in *Frozen* who loves summer).

Grandma, I apologize for Mrs. Claus' bedraggled state. Lydia played too roughly with her last year, and so now I need to fix her. — Grandma, I apologize for Mrs. Claus’ bedraggled state. Lydia played too roughly with her last year, and so now I need to fix her.

Another one of your decorations, Grandma! We love it.

Mary points to this creche and says, "Nana's creche. It's very special." — Mary points to this creche and says, “Nana’s creche. It’s very special.”

Grandma, can you spot your decorations on the bookshelf?

Sloowww Sunday (thank goodness)

Today nothing of note happened. At all. We are so thankful.

We got everyone ready for church at a leisurely pace, walked there and back in the beautiful weather, ate, napped, and read lots of books to the girls. At one point, the girls lost interest in one of the Christmas stories (a lovely tale about Santa substituting a whale for his reindeer when the latter all came down with the flu), and so Abe read the rest of the story to me. We sat around admiring the tree and generally giving thanks for the slow pace.

Tonight will be the first time we all hit our bedtimes in forever. Hooray!

All ready for church (on the new basement couch, which is currently overlaid with a Christmas quilt). I forgot to record a Lydia anecdote from a couple days ago. She asked for some food, and I responded by asking, “What’s the magic word?”. In an exasperated tone she said, “*Please.* Mom, why do grown-ups always forget the magic word?”

On the way home from church. It turns out 11 am church is hard on Mary, who demands her binkies and nap at 12 noon daily. During sacrament today, she turned to us at 12 pm sharp and said, "I want my binkies and nap." When those were denied, she had to be gently escorted from the meeting, as her tears and screams were drowning out the testimonies. — On the way home from church. It turns out 11 am church is hard on Mary, who demands her binkies and nap at 12 noon daily. During sacrament today, she turned to us at 12 pm sharp and said, “I want my binkies and nap.” When those were denied, she had to be gently escorted from the meeting, as her tears and screams were drowning out the testimonies (it’s a busy meeting in our ward, and testimony meeting ran over by ten minutes).

new furniture set-up

We were up until 2am getting the house in order. Our table and basement love seat arrived yesterday, and we are so excited (and exhausted). I took a lot of pictures yesterday, so I’ll just post those and let those narrate the day’s events.

The girls actually scared Bazi away with their antics. Hopefully she comes back tomorrow!

This looks sweet, but Mary was chanting, "Kill 'nakes, kill 'nakes" the whole time. The first time we visited the house, the girls pretended that there were snakes under the deck. Mary has had fun pretending to kill snakes ever since. — This looks sweet, but Mary was chanting, “Kill ‘nakes, kill ‘nakes” the whole time. The first time we visited the house, the girls pretended that there were snakes under the deck. Mary has had fun pretending to kill snakes ever since.

While I was at school, Abe built a fort with the furniture packaging and ate dinner with the girls underneath.

Abe enjoying the fruits of his labor. Both tables were beasts, and we were so proud of ourselves for getting the one in the garage and getting this one in place.

Orienting in Orem

We met Chelsea at the Orem library today. I got there just as the first story time was ending–but no matter, at the Orem library, they have two story times in a row! I was so impressed by the library and felt really happy about how child and family friendly our new community is.

Other than that, I spent most of the morning trying to convince Mary to put off her nap. Finally, ten minutes before preschool started, Mary had had enough. She threw a huge tantrum screaming for her binkies and nap, and she even made three mad breaks for her bed. It was so cute and pathetic. Tomorrow isn’t a preschool day for Lydia, so I’m going to let Mary sleep as much as she wants.

In Abe’s life, today was a landmark day because he biked to work! He was over-the-top excited about the whole experience, and I feel reassured because he bikes decked out it reflector lights and neon reflector clothing. His commute, formerly the bane of his existence, actually made his day today.

Class was good tonight. I was scared to make sorbets and ice creams because I was sure I would mess up the recipes. My luck has been waning lately, so I stuck with recipes I felt more confident about (pizzas and poached pears).

Pictures:

Mary was very affectionate with Lydia today. She would give her hugs and cuddles and say, "I wuv Wydia!" ...Tonight Lydia came out of her room sobbing because she was tired and trying to sleep, and Mary kept trying to cuddle with her (and therefore woke her up). This captures a moment where the cuddles were more welcome. — Mary was very affectionate with Lydia today. She would give her hugs and cuddles and say, “I wuv Wydia!” …Tonight Lydia came out of her room sobbing because she was tired and trying to sleep, and Mary kept trying to cuddle with her (and therefore woke her up). This captures a moment where the cuddles were more welcome.

Lydia played outside with Bazi for a long time today. She made Bazi the prince and she pretended to be the princess. Here she is smiling for the camera and urging Bazi to do the same.

While I was at school, Lydia slept through the whole ward Christmas party. Abe put her down on the floor and she didn't wake up once. — While I was at school, Lydia slept through the whole ward Christmas party. Abe put her down on the floor and she didn’t wake up once.

Mary saw this as an opportunity for free cuddles.

A flurry of activity (at the end of the day)

We took it easy this morning, but we ended the day with a whirlwind of unpacking and organizing. The girls were up past 10 pm because my project was in their room. I have been meaning to get all of their toys and clothes completely unpacked for days, but Mary sleeps so much that I just can’t seem to get it done. (That’s my excuse, at least.) Tonight I got all of their boxes unpacked and sorted, and I am crossing my fingers that the late bedtime means the girls sleep in tomorrow.

Our new dining room chairs came! I need to take a picture, but they look kind of strange with the old dining room table. The chairs are perfect by themselves, though. Mom, you will like them. They are very light, comfy and have rubber feet so they won’t scratch the floors.

Here’s a picture of Abe and Lydia rolling up the rug so they can put the chairs in place. (At the time, we thought the boxes were full of the new dining room table, so we moved everything to get ready for that, and then we realized the boxes contained our chairs.)

And here’s one of Mary eating ice cream while we all slave away!

Nativity

Here is a summary of Mary’s day:

She slept the whole day. Yesterday Lydia woke her up from her nap, so I guess Mary needed to make up for lost sleepy time. She threw a tantrum right after breakfast because I wouldn’t let her nap right away, so I gave in. In total she took a nap at

9:20 am Wake up

10 am-11:50am NAP

1pm-2:15pm NAP (in car, in grocery store, at home)

2:30pm-6:15pm NAP (Lydia woke her up).

It’s a rough life.

Lydia had her first day of her new preschool today, and she seemed to like it. We made a last minute decision to pull her out of Challenger and enroll her in the preschool around the corner. It turned out to be a great decision–I was running very late today, and we still made it in time!

Chelsea, Derek, Camden, Carter and Liv all joined us for dinner tonight. It was so reassuring to know we have friends we love so close by! Chelsea found out about a live nativity that takes place the first Monday in December (today), and so after dinner we all headed out there. It was a beautiful experience.

The night was clear and not too cold, and we all had to walk through various stations of Christ’s birth. At each station people in costume would read scriptures, bear their testimonies, and lead us in Christmas hymns. One really striking visual image occurred near the end when a whole choir dressed as angels sang hymns. They were standing on really tall hay bales with spotlights on them, so it looked like they were in the sky. Lydia watched with mouth agape. We also really liked the man who played Joseph. He actually got teary delivering his part, and what he had to say about Jesus was so moving.

And now we are happy and exhausted. I actually just fell asleep while typing, so that’s my cue to sign off.

Yay for 11 am church

Church was great today. Our new ward is over the top friendly, and it is much, much smaller than our last ward. It will be a lot easier to get to know everyone because of that. We also walked to church, which felt luxurious. Our ward boundaries cover only four blocks (!!!!! — such is the density of Mormons in Orem!), so we left 9 minutes before church started and arrived before the opening hymn finished. Aria gave us a wonderful jogging stroller the other day which made that possible.

Everyone except Lydia took absurdly long naps after church, and when we got up, we drove to Lehi to visit Abe’s cousin who was recently in a biking accident. When we were done, we came back home, ate dinner, and enjoyed the first leisurely evening we’ve experienced in our newly cleaned home.

Here are some pictures I took this morning. We have church at the best time ever: 11 am!! That means we all get to sleep in AND we all still have time for an afternoon nap. I hope our schedule stays the same in January.

Sruthi gave Mary a dress that looks like an Elsa dress, and when Mary's other Elsa dress got milk on it, the only way I could console her was by showing her Sruthi's present. Mary refused to take Sruthi's dress off for the rest of the night and made us put it on over her pajamas. It was the end of the world when I explained she would get too cold wearing that to church, but here she is before I broke the bad news. — Sruthi gave Mary a dress that looks like an Elsa dress, and when Mary’s other Elsa dress got milk on it, the only way I could console her was by showing her Sruthi’s present. Mary refused to take Sruthi’s dress off for the rest of the night and made us put it on over her pajamas. It was the end of the world when I explained she would get too cold wearing that to church, but here she is before I broke the bad news.

Introducing Maher Shalal Hash Baz, our cat.

Abe and I just finished cleaning every single room in the house. We are so excited because we can now wander through the entire house and admire livable space! Before now, there were piles of boxes and junk in various places, and now they are ALL gone. It feels so liberating.

The other things of note today: Clark and Swathi went to the airport, which means we are all alone again. Mom and Balu left yesterday, and so now the house just feels empty.

Abe took the girls to Petsmart this morning to get a cat house and some cat food. We inherited an outdoor cat with this house, and we’ve decided to feed and shelter him (in a cat house outside–don’t worry, Mom!) so he can survive the winter. I am so excited to have my own protector against rodents! I named him Maher Shalal Hash Baz, or Bozi for short. His name comes from the book of Isaiah and means “destruction is imminent” or “he hastens to the prey.” A perfect name for my guard cat.

Anyway, Abe took some pictures of the girls at Petsmart, and that’s all there is for today.

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