Darais Days – Page 321 – Documenting our family's life one day at a time.

Quick Post

It’s getting late, so I’ll mostly focus on pictures (Abe here):

I had a great day a work, listened to Huckleberry Finn in the car and went on a great run at home.

Lily had a great time playing with the girls, got to see some more Downton Abbey and made a delicious Samon supper.

Lydia has been darling and extremely well-behaved.

Mary has been super cute and shouting the few words she knows at the top of her lungs “No!” “Buuh!” (for bird) etc.

We are all loving the weather and we spent time eating, painting, playing and enjoying icecream outside. Pictures!!

A picnic, a final, and some really gross pictures

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.

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. — 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! — 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. — 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? — Chicken Galantine–who knew disgusting could reach such heights?

Not much to report

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!

Church, Friends and Sunshine

It is very late and I get up quite early so I will be brief. Today was a fantastic day. Everyone woke up late (I think we are all sluggish from allergies), but we made it to church before the end of the first meeting. In Elder’s Quorum, I learned about the power of the Book of Mormon while Lily tended Mary in nursery. Eventually, Lily was able to slip out, so we both met up in our gospel doctrine class where we learned about the story of Ruth and Naomi in the old testament. Lily made the great observation that Christ and David were decended from Ruth and both displayed incredible faithfulness, loyalty and devlotion just as Ruth did to Naomi. Sacrament meeting was mostly dominated by Lily and I taking care of the girls and minimizing screaming.

After church we ate and then Mary went down for her nap. During that time, Lily continued getting some R&R to get over her bug and enjoyed Downton Abbey and I read scriptures and learned some very neat things. Specifically I learned that to fully embrace truth, we must often unlearn things we thought were true in the process (to make room for the truth and to not contaminate it by mixing it with falsehood.) Truth cannot be fully operative in our lives if it is constrained by competition with falsehoods were are also holding onto.

When Mary woke up, I took her into her bedroom where Lydia was watching Veggie Tales on the laptop. Lydia was so sweet to Mary when Mary entered! Lydia said, “Mary, come here! Come sit with me in this tent, here I will make a place just for you. I have your special pillow right here Mary. Mary, do you want to come in the tent and watch the show with me?” Mary obliged and joined Lydia in her tent (see below). Lydia was so excited to have her buddy, Mary, watch the show with her and it touched my heart to see her enthusiasm to spend time with her sister. Sure, it devolved into crying on both ends within fifteen minutes (Mary thought the laptop was a touch-screen, which it wasn’t and Lydia was very distraught about Mary’s misuse), but Lydia’s initial intent was very touching.

Later in the afternoon we all went to Bobby and Ashley Bassett’s home where we had dinner with them and Caleb and Marissa. The food and story telling were all great. We exchanged stories fo how we all met our spouses, where we grew up etc. and it was all so delightful. Dinner was an amazing Mexican casserole with Crepes for desert and the rolls Lily brought for our contribution were fantastic.

Well, so I guess I wasn’t so brief. Writing is fun!

A Nice Saturday

Lily woke up early to go to school where she made chicken and pork sausage, which she thought was disgusting. She did, however, manage to enjoy being there. At home, the girls slept-in until 9:00 which was great for me because I’ve been feeling very fatigued with my allergies kicking in. When they woke up I fed them and then we played around the house and I fed them again. Abou that time Lily came home and we all ate together. Mary then went down for her nap and Lily and Lydia plugged into their respective Ipads.

Lily has been absolutely hooked to Downton Abbey and Lydia wathes kids’ shows on netflix (Thanks Clark and Swathi!). I can see why Lily is so hooked because I’ve watched some of it with her and it is really engaging. I particularly like the character Mr. Bates. Lily announced this evenening that she has watched a whole season of Downton Abbey in one day, which is true, although each seaon only has about six or seven episodes.

While Mary napped I made great progress on a personal writing project I’m working on and then we all got up and went to Costco. We’ve wanted to go for months and we finally made it! My favorite thing we got was our four pound case of strawberries, Yum!

Back at home we ate chicken, blueberries and chips outside for dinner. Afterwords I took the girls to the park while Lily rested and watched more Downton Abbey. I’m really glad she got to kick back today. She has so many demands during the week that she didn’t have any chance to recover from being sick. I hope the R&R she got today will help her get over her bug and be ready for the week ahead.

Pictures!

Lydia has been eating at least three bannanas. This is the stash we bought to get us through the week!

Discouraged by organized

I felt kind of discouraged today. I’ve been keeping track, and I went on antibiotics at the end of April/beginning of May because I had had a stuffy nose since January. After barely a month of reprieve, it feels like my sinus infection is back for good. I am trying not to feel depressed, especially since I know as trials go, this is pretty minor.

Abe didn’t have a great day either, and his allergies are hitting pretty hard.

I baked muffins with Lydia this morning and then it felt like we spent a lot of time eating outside at various times throughout the day. In the afternoon, Lydia begged to paint, so I took the girls to the basement so Lydia could paint. After that, I collapsed on the couch with the girls and watched Peter Rabbit until Abe came home–an hour early! Hooray!

We foraged for dinner and I disappeared to the basement to iron and get laundry done. When I emerged, I found Lydia sulking in her room after her seventh tantrum today (I counted), Mary playing with her binkies in her pack’n play, and Abe passed out on the floor. He mumbled that he’d hit a wall, and I took that as my cue to lie down (again) until we all decided it was time to do something with our lives.

Abe and I spent the rest of the evening organizing the girls’ clothes and sorting old/seasonally-inappropriate clothing into bins. We have been on an organizing kick lately, and it felt sooooooooo good to have that done.

When that project was done, it was already 9:40pm, and so we thought it wise to send our tired children to bed.

After Fablehaven, I am in the mood to get addicted to something again, so I think we’re going to watch Downtown Abbey now. I’ve never watched it and am really excited.

Here are a few pictures I took of Mary encroaching on Lydia’s territory:

Fablehaven frenzy

I just finished the Fablehaven series, and I have to say, the author got better and better with each book. In the afterward, he says that himself. My mind is currently racing with the end-of-the-world battle, fairies, dragons, and all sorts of fun fantasy things, so it’s hard transitioning to what actually happened today.

Let’s see. I took the girls to the library for baby book club, and afterward the librarians gave all the kids ice cream. The girls ate theirs outside under the waterfall/fountain. I should have brought my camera because they were both pretty dainty about eating. Mary climbed on a chair, crossed her ankles, and licked pretty evenly. Every couple minutes she would extend a hand for me to wipe because the ice cream kept dripping down. Lydia loved being wiped down too, and I was so focused on them eating as cleanly as possible that I expended half a package of wipes to that almost impossible end.

After our library excursion, Mary took a nap while Lydia and I ate lunch. During her quiet time, I started finishing the last book of Fablehaven. Abe bought it for me yesterday when I found out that every single library copy in the entire system was checked out.

I struggled to control my temper again today with Lydia, but I keep praying for help. I feel like that’s helped me do a bit better on the front end and make faster, more effective repairs on the latter end, too. Today I definitely had repair work to do, but with God’s help (and with the frank forgiveness only three-year-olds can offer), it turned out okay.

After dinner, Abe took the girls on a walk to the playground while I read my book. Here are the pictures he sent me:

HUGE thank-you’s to Candace, Clark and Swathi (after the mundane).

This is going to be a quick post because I am addicted to Fablehaven and am currently on the last book in the series. I want to get in as much as possible before Abe’s bedtime hits and we turn into pumpkins for the night, so a quick recap:

I took the girls to the library and grocery store. Lydia and I baked brownies and made lasagna. Ina came over for dinner, and we ate outside. I’m still sick.

Abe had another great day at work.

Here are the pictures:

Our air conditioning is not working again. I hope Mary doesn't get too hot in those leggings (I need to do laundry and sort her clothes to find her summer pj's!). — Our air conditioning is not working again. I hope Mary doesn’t get too hot in those leggings (I need to do laundry and sort her clothes to find her summer pj’s!).

After dinner I walked into Lydia riding her horsey who also happened to be singing "Step in Time." — After dinner I walked into Lydia riding her horsey who also happened to be singing “Step in Time.”

Mary got new squeaker sandals and is in love. She wears them all around--her favorite is to jump in them and make big squeaks! — Mary got new squeaker sandals and is in love. She wears them all around–her favorite is to jump in them and make big squeaks!

Also, I am officially the luckiest person in the world. My friend, Candace, (who, coincidentally should get a part-time job as a fairy godmother, or at least earn an official title like World’s Most Generous Friend) got me this amazing genealogy game her mother-in-law invented! I am working on gathering info on the ancestors we want to include. I can’t wait to play it! If you ever read this, thank-you and I love you, Candace!

As if that weren’t enough to put me over the moon, Clark called tonight and told me that for my birthday, he and Swathi are flying the girls and me out to New York the same weekend my mom is visiting them!! And it just happens to be the weekend Abe is flying solo to Puerto Rico to hang out with his college friends for a wedding. I was planning on staying at home to mope, but those plans just got happily interrupted. Another title that needs to be bestowed: World’s Best Brother and World’s Best Sister-in-Law. I love you, Clark and Swathi!!

….and back to the fate of the world (according to Fablehaven).

Sibling Rivalry

Abe blogging here trying to make things a little easier on Lily since she is still very sick. She is so sick that she drove to school tonight before her class to take care of a financial aid appointment and tell her teacher she would have to miss due to illness. Apparently her teacher was not so forgiving during their conversation because she ended up staying for all of class. She definitely has less flexibility because of all the class she missed due to our trip. But, she just got home and I’m happy to report she made it through!

During the day, Lily read book 3 of Fablehaven, ate cupcakes with the girls outside for breakfast (reminding her of a Bill Cosby skit about chocolate cake) and babysat for Sarah (who has the most well-behaved kids in the world). During class she had her knife skills test and she passed!

As far as my day, work is going very well, but the pace is very dizzying. It’s not just my pace, it’s the company’s pace. We are trying to double revenue and staff every year. I started 5 months ago when the company had 400 people and now they have about 500 people. Everyone everywhere is running around working as fast as possible to try to make history at building an extremely successful tech company. Our quotas are aggressive and there is literally no time to come up for air. I absolutely love it, but today I felt the strain of the pace a little more than usual, I think possibly because my allergies were kicking in.

At home I played with the girls. Lily and I have put a lot of thought and prayer into Lydia because she has been such an emotional and behavioral mess lately. She cries all the time and refuses to do anything we ask. The challenge for Lily and I is to know how to respond (and to have the strength to respond the ways we think we should). Well, tonight I didn’t get any major epiphanies about how to help Lydia, but I think I learned what all of her distress centers around. Do you remember a few blog entries ago when Lily mentioned how with Mary’s new rule that she only gets binkies in her crib, she climbs in there multiple times a day sometimes for hours? Well she did that tonight. She climbed in and proceeded to read a book for twently minutes while she joyfully sucked her binky. At that point (with Mary effectively removed from existence, trapped in her crib), Lydia became the most angelic well behaved girl. She’d say please and thank you and oblige any time I told her we had to do something else or that play time was over. I couldn’t believe it! As soon as I retrieved Mary from her crib (she can climb in, but not out) Lydia resumed her screaming, crying and throwing toys.

I think I’m going to try to give Lydia a little Mary-free time each day. I think she needs a little space!

Pictures!!!

Lydia told me that she had a playdate with Nathan and he was very nice and she (Lydia) was super sweet — Lydia told me that she had a play date with Nathan and he was very nice and she (Lydia) was super sweet

Hannah talks really well just like Lydia and she's not even 2 yet! — Hannah talks really well just like Lydia and she’s not even 2 yet!

Lily made the salad towards the front and spent the rest of the time on her knife cuts mid-term

sick day and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRANDMA!!!

Another sick day for me. I decided to skip school tonight in the hopes that by tomorrow, I’ll be a little better. I was better today than yesterday, so at least we’re headed in the right direction!

Because I was sick, we did not leave the house today. Thank goodness Mary took two naps! When she was awake, I spent a lot of time doing the usual: feeding the girls, reading to the girls, cooking with Lydia, baking with Lydia, and letting them play outside.

Well, Lydia didn’t play outside. She stayed in the front hall and screamed while Mary and I sat on the front stoop and examined ants and flower petals. I told Lydia she had to go potty before going outside, and she just didn’t want to. I probably should have relented, but I was not in the mood to clean up accidents, and she had gone so long without taking a trip to the bathroom that I felt sure she would have an accident if she didn’t go soon. Sometimes, I just don’t know how to handle Lydia–or I do know, but I don’t always make the most patient choice. It’s something I’m constantly praying on.

After Abe came home, we ate dinner outside, and then I retreated back to bed. The best thing about being sick is that I have recently become addicted to the Fablehaven series, and even though I’m having trouble breathing and feel feverish, I forget all that while reading. The first book wasn’t great, but each book seems vastly better than the last.

I only took one picture today:

The girls spent quite a bit of time watching the garbage trucks this morning. There was also construction on the street, so that occupied them while I devoured Fablehaven (and took a picture). When I was little, we lived in Rome, and my dad made a big deal about the garbage trucks. We used to gather on the porch and cheer "refuti!" at the trucks whenever they came by. This felt kind of full circle--the girls thought the garbage trucks were some kind of parade. — The girls spent quite a bit of time watching the garbage trucks this morning. There was also construction on the street, so that occupied them while I devoured Fablehaven (and took a picture). When I was little, we lived in Rome, and my dad made a big deal about the garbage trucks. We used to gather on the porch and cheer “refuti!” at the trucks whenever they came by. This felt kind of full circle–the girls thought the garbage trucks were some kind of parade.

Also: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRANDMA!!! My dearest, sweetest grandmother turned 96 today. We love you so much, Grandma! Sloppies!!!! (That’s an inside joke…)

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