Happy 4th, mostly

We got to do lots of social stuff this week because of the 4th. Unfortunately, my depression was a little out of control in a new and different way. I was feeling SUPER antisocial. Leaving my house and being around people sounded like a special kind of torture all week. Of course that decided to flare up during the week when we had tons of people to see. I'm sure there were a number of people wondering what was wrong with me and I apologize to all those people. It wasn't you, it was me.

Two of Steve's sisters were in town Monday and Tuesday. Joe and Cindy and their family decided to camp Monday night at Payson Lake. Nobody else wanted to camp, but we were all up for a campfire with hotdogs and marshmallows. People brought two different kinds of oreos, chocolate covered graham crackers, regular graham crackers, cookies and cream nutella, hershey's chocolate bars, peanut butter, and of course marshmallows. Gourmet smores bar right there. I even found some gluten free graham crackers and had a couple. I recommend cookies and cream nutella. Yumm! Cecily got filthy (she made dirt angels with her cousin at one point) and loved every minute of it. Everybody smelled like campfire when we got home, so even though it was nearly 10pm, I made them all shower because I'd just washed sheets that day. Didn't plan that very well, did I?

I loved the sunset on the way home. These pictures don't do it justice.

My kids also loved the free-range cows, so I had to take a picture of those, too.

Tuesday, since I'd just washed my hair and was feeling anti-social, Steve took the girls to the Provo Rec Center with Heather and her boys. I went grocery shopping. I probably should have just stayed home and relaxed, but we needed a few things and since I had to drive to Spanish Fork to get them anyway, I couldn't not get all the stuff we needed.

That afternoon, we had a barbecue and then hung out at the Watts' until it was dark enough to do fireworks. I mostly hid in a corner and listened to a book. But Steve played games and the kids played and played and then watched Disney's Tarzan for the first time. At dusk everyone went down to the parking lot at the end of the Watts' street to do fireworks. I struggle every year with doing fireworks as a big group. Our tradition growing up was to always do fireworks just as our little family. Our parents almost never accepted invitations to do fireworks with big groups because they didn't like the chaos. I guess i don't like the chaos either. It took me a few years to realize why I was struggling though, and by then, it was already a tradition that our girls loved. I tried to sit for a while, but it was just too stressful and I ended up taking Cecily home early because the noise started to get to her.

Wednesday, we were supposed to spend with my family, but with my mom's hip surgery, there wasn't really much we could do with her, and everything we could think of to do with Ben's family was outside and it was supposed to be 100 degrees that day. Plus there was my party-pooper depression going on and I didn't want to sit around and play games. So we ended up inviting our friend Camber and her daughters over for a crepe breakfast and then had dinner with Ben's family (super nachos--mmmm) and a few small fireworks after my parents arrived. Some parachutes, smoke bombs, sparklers, and ground flowers. Ben lives too close to the mountain to do any aerials at his house, so it saved us money and we could leave before 11pm, so it worked out.

While Camber was over, we needed something to do, so I got out my beads and we made necklaces. The girls all made one and I made a red one because I didn't have anything red that fit me and I wanted to be patriotic.

Cecily had preschool graduation Thursday after lunch. She hasn't been doing preschool for over a month now, but since it was online only, they had random times that they scheduled graduations throughout the valley. I forgot my phone when we went, so this is the picture I got after we arrived home.

We picked up Camber's daughter, Cassie after the graduation, so she could come have a sleepover. It was supposed to be a double sleepover--first she comes to our house and then they went to her house the next night--but when Mira was still awake at 11pm (after being up until at least 10pm every night this week, which is an hour past normal go-to-sleep time) and Cecily decided to get a nose bulb and use it to suck up my perfume and spray it all over her bedroom, they lost the privilege of having a second sleepover. They desperately needed to go to bed early and I knew they wouldn't at a sleepover.
There were a lot of tears over that, but it was a good thing. Cassie stayed until Camber got off work on Friday and we let them play again on Saturday, so it didn't end up being much different except for the sleep thing.

Friday, I had my second pregnancy check up. It's always comforting to hear the heartbeat and know the little human is still doing well. I was hoping to get a gender ultrasound soon because I am dying of curiosity, but the doctor said he waits until 21 weeks for the next ultrasound. That's six weeks from now! I could pay $55 to get one this coming week and I so so want to, but Steve doesn't want to spend the money. Boo.

Ceci ended up getting sick on Saturday with fever and sore throat. Probably from lack of sleep. So she and Steve, who was also feeling under the weather, didn't go to church today. Mira made me take a picture of her hair though. And then she took some selfies. I can't get over her eyes.

work and fun and summer sun

I sometimes get tired of being busy. but usually only when I don't get enough alone time to recharge my batteries. I think I would go crazy (even more so) if I didn't always have something to do. This week was nice because I didn't have every minute of every day packed with activities.

Megan's family was here Saturday through Tuesday, but they had a lot of things planned with friends this time around, so we saw them for a few hours on Monday and Tuesday. The kids made ribbon wands with Nana on Monday and we played some Heads Up (a game app that's like Headbandz).

Tuesday we got to go bowling at BYU and checked out games and books at the bookstore for a while.

I HAD TO finish up my application for renewing my teaching license on Monday, because it was supposed to be renewed by Friday. (I don't procrastinate at all, what are you talking about?) I found out Monday that the principal that was going to sign my application had complications with a surgery and wasn't going to be into school until the end of July. So I had to go to a different principal, and unlike the first, she wanted me to have all the proof that I'd done the hours printed out and taken to the school with the application. So I had to contact the writers conference that I go to and have them send me documentation. That took until Tuesday, and then I got it signed and sent in. Lucky for me, it only took the state two days to approve my application. Whew! Nothing like cutting it close. :)

The girls also had another make-up for gymnastics that day and I had my online critique group chat.

We had nothing on our calendar Wednesday. What freedom! Steve had game night that night, so I knew I had to make sure the basement, where they play, was clean. Then Emilia's friend, Tehani, who moved to Eagle Mountain half-way through this last school year, said she could do a play date. It's about a 40 minute drive from here to Eagle Mountain. It ended up being longer because I was listening to a book on the drive and totally missed the exit by 2 exits. (Oops.) Since she was going to be gone most of the day, I set up to have one of Mira's friends come over, so the other two would be entertained. When I got home from dropping off Emilia, I started some gluten free bread. I'd gotten a new cookbook that was supposed to have a recipe for the best gluten free bread you've ever eaten. One has to at least try that right? Unfortunately, the bread is supposed to do a slow rise in the fridge for up to 5 days! That's a lot of waiting for good bread. If this stuff isn't the best thing since ice cream, I'm probably never going to make it again. It took me over an hour to put the dough together and get it in the fridge (the starter had to raise for 45 minutes before I could add the other ingredients). When that was done, I needed a break, and I ended up falling asleep on the couch for an hour. But when I woke up, I was so frustrated. I'd really wanted to get some decluttering done that day. Our whole house needed a good decluttering, and since all my girls were occupied, I thought it would be ideal circumstances to work on a project. But it was already 4:30 and I didn't want to make a huge mess before Steve's game night. But, I decided I could clean out the small space under our stairs in the two hours before he got home. I had to. The space under the stairs is right next to the basement family room. The guys wouldn't even be able to walk into the room if I didn't get it done. About an hour in, I got a text from Tehani's mom saying Emilia wanted to come home. Ugh. All that I had accomplished so far was to get everything OUT of the closet. It would take me 45 minutes to an hour (one way!) to go get her during rush-hour traffic and the guys would be arriving before I could even get home, let alone clean up my mess! Then I remembered Eagle Mountain was sort of on the way home for Steve. And luckily, he was willing to stop and get her. After I had that figured out, I managed to build two makeshift shelves to hold water and get everything back into the closet or put away somewhere else or tossed in the trash before 6:45. I was super impressed with myself. And by 7:30 when Steve and Emilia arrived, I'd gotten the entire play room cleaned up, because that was going to be my project for Friday. Dinner was easy (and late!) that night: French toast.

Thursday, I was worn out. I think I overdid it a little on Wednesday. I can't even remember what I did that day. It probably would have been fine, but--some of you don't know this--I'm pregnant. And I had to do some lifting to get boxes of books out of my way along with cutting wood and doing a lot of bending. I'm 14 weeks along this week. Below is my belly picture. The belly doesn't look that big in this picture, but I already feel huge. I'm not used to having that space being taken up!

By Friday, though, I was ready to do some more decluttering. I went through the play room and got rid of all the stuff the girls don't play with. For example, they play with Barbies, occasionally, but they had two boxes of Barbies and all their accessories that got rifled through and dumped on the floor and dragged everywhere every time they got them out. And I really only saw them play with one or two of the Barbies each time. So we got rid of like 16 barbies, and half of the clothes they'd collected. We did the same with their MLPs. The girls were so good and got each of them dressed and accessorized and bagged up ready to be sold at the garage sale they desperately want to have. Then we all needed a rest. But before dinner, I worked with Emilia to clean her room. Which took us almost an hour and a half. I swear that girl is a teenager some days with her backtalk and penchant for living in a pigsty. I found a sock that had been missing for over a year at the back of her closet.

Then after dinner, I did the same with the younger girls and their room. Theirs wasn't nearly as messy, thank Heavens. Man was I worn out Friday night!

But to reward the girls and I for working so hard (with almost no complaining!), and since it was only supposed to be in the low 80's, we went to the Tracy Aviary--another of our Visit Salt Lake pass venues. The aviary was about what I expected it to be, but Steve said it was way more fun than he expected. We all enjoyed watching the flamingos fight and pick on each other (and sit on their fake eggs--the real ones are being incubated by slightly more careful zookeepers), get up close with peacocks and toucans, and watching a zookeeper feed the vultures and learning about them, playing grab the stick with spoonbills, feeding the ducks, and talking to the Macaws. Steve got one of them to say, "Hello!" "Hi, Picasso!" (that was the bird's name) and take turns with him fake laughing. I thought the cutest bird was definitely the burrowing owls. You should look them up. They are adorable.

There is a peacock in the background of this picture, but it's a little hard to see.

Spoonbills

Pelicans

Toucan

Other rare and strange birds

After the aviary, the park that the aviary resides in had a food-truck face-off and there were about 30 food trucks rounded up. It was a really expensive meal for us, but we got some tasty barbecue, stone-fired pizza, a teriyaki bowl, a funnel cake, and a raspberry dessert crepe. We wouldn't have been able to get that much, but one of the food trucks was the one run by our neighbor and he gave us three free pizzas. We were all worn out after so much sun and walking and crowds. I fell asleep by 9:45!

Today we get to have dinner at the Watts' and see the Strattons who are in town for the 4th. It should be a great evening.

Swimming lessons take over your life

I took a picture of the keychain that Emilia made for Steve last week and forgot to put it in last week's post. So here you are. It's Star Wars themed and perfect for Steve.

We had swimming lessons this week. Every day at 9:30 am. When I signed the girls up, I thought 9:30 would be a good time to allow everyone to sleep in, but be early enough to not impinge on the rest of the day. I miscalculated. Apparently when Cecily swims for a half an hour every day, she needs to sleep later than 8:45 am. Because by Friday, she was completely unmanageable. A description of the highlights of our day (from Facebook):

--Cecily was throwing a tantrum on the way to swimming lessons, screaming that she would NOT eat the dry cereal she had begged me to bring with for her breakfast and that instead she would only eat cookies. I ugly screamed back, "I'd rather you starve than give you cookies!"
--Then after I dropped her sisters off for the lessons she was supposed to be at, but which I wasn't letting her go to because she'd been so horrible all morning (it was 9:30 am), she jumps out of the car at the parking lot stop sign and books it the other direction. I have to hop out of the car and chase after her while construction workers stare at my wonderful parenting.
--We had to drive home because I'd forgotten towels (because someone had been screaming at me for ten minutes before we left) so I planned to hurry and get them and let Cecily go to the end of her lesson if she calmed down and listened. She just kept arguing with me though, so finally, I brilliantly told her, "You are not going to win! I am bigger than you and heavier than you and stronger than you and more stubborn. So I'm going to win! Stop fighting me!" Her response? "Not until you turn this car around!"
--Later, we went to get Sno Cones because I'd promised them the day before that we could get them. But...I hadn't had time to shower yet, so I gave them money to buy the shaved ice and then we were going to drive home and eat them. Mira asked why we couldn't just eat them there and I told her it was because I was dirty and smelly. Cecily pipes up, "Mom, you always smell bad. Even right after you take a shower. 😖
--As soon as Mira steps in the car with her cone, she drops tiger's blood shaved ice on Emilia's seat. I yell, "Hurry! Brush it off before it stains something!" And Emilia proceeds to brush it further into the car. 🤪😵

I love Mira's sense of style. So I documented it.

We worked more on our custom ponies this week. We actually were able to cut the hair off and pull it out without locking ourselves out of the house even once. We also started the painting. We need to paint the eyes and the eye masks and the spots on Ladybug.

One night, my mom asked us to run to Joanne's to take advantage of a great sale. She is still mostly out of commission recovering from her surgery, so me and Mira and Emilia picked out a bunch of fabric for my mom to use in skirts.

Mira, also stole my phone to take selfies, apparently.

I got some gladiolas out of my front flower beds this week, too. They're such a unique flower. So pretty.

Steve and I went on a date Saturday night to the local used book store. It's the first time we've been since they moved to a new location. It's a really fun store with tons of well-organized books. The only reason I remember this is because I took a picture of one of the books I found. I have so many friends with anxiety, I wanted to show this to them.

I didn't take any more pictures this week. And I don't have anything else on my calendar. I know Steve had a game night. And I got to write one night. And I had my weekly writer's group and helped Julia. And we celebrated Father's Day on Monday night when Steve got home by getting take out and eating at a park. I probably went shopping a couple times. But since there are no pictures I'm having a hard time remembering. I'll have to try harder this next week. :)

Summer (not) lazy days

I don't know why I always think summer is going to be a lot of laying around and finding ways to fill up our days. Because it NEVER is. This week was madness.

Megan and her family were still here on Monday, so we went over to my parents' house and did a couple of art projects and put together another puzzle and played some games. That morning, after we'd eaten breakfast, the kids wanted to start working on the custom My Little Pony's we'd planned to do this summer. Making a custom MLP involves getting a MLP you don't mind destroying, pulling their head off and cutting all their hair off, then pulling it out by the roots. Then you paint it with either fingernail polish or regular paint that you spray over with a clear coat. Then you buy this special tool that allows you to re-hair the pony with the hair you buy online. We already bought the hair and the tool and the ponies from DI, so the kids wanted to start with the pulling off their heads part. I thought we should do a few before and after photos, so I took the two ponies outside to take the picture because the cement wall over the cement patio makes for a nice non-distracting background. But all the kids were so excited, they followed me out and shut the door. And we were locked out. In our pajamas. Steve was already at work 30-40 minutes away and he is the only other person with a key. I used to have a key hidden outside for just this sort of circumstance, but of course it was lost months ago and I haven't gotten around to getting a new one made. As I sat fuming on the back steps, Emilia and Mira decided they needed to make sure the front door wasn't somehow magically not locked. I knew I had locked it the night before and no one had gone outside that morning yet, so I knew it would be locked. But by some miracle, the door opened when they tried it. (Sometimes, since our door handles still turn on the inside, even when they're locked, it's hard to tell whether they've latched all the way, or sometimes, the lock only engages after the outside handle is turned to a certain point.) So the girls come running back yelling, "We're saved! We're saved! The door opened!" And I was so relieved that I wouldn't have to make Steve drive all the way home to let us into the house. But the little geniuses were so excited that the door opened, that they shut it again before coming to tell me it opened. That was enough to latch it or to engage the lock, and once again, we were locked out. *palm to face* I ended up calling Steve to come let us in. He was in a meeting and wouldn't be out for a while. So then I called Megan and made her come pick us up so we could at least sit around inside a house while still in our pajamas. Thank goodness my parents only live 10 minutes away now instead of an hour away.

Tuesday, I had a week's worth of housework to catch up on. We needed to go help Julia, do laundry, clean the house, do dishes, etc. I also joined a new writing group and we discussed our submissions via Voxer throughout the day. It took up way more mental energy than I thought it would and made my day feel like it was smashed full of things to do, even though it was really the equivalent of talking on the phone all day. That night, I met up with my friend Gina for dinner and a movie. We saw Ocean's 8 and I was as underwhelmed as I expected to be. Dinner was a tasty GF pizza at Village Baker. Mmmm.

Wednesday we did a TON of running around. I had to get my fingerprinting/background check done for renewing my teaching license. I went to Costco and Macey's (and then Reams later because I forgot two things that I needed for dinner). Then after an early dinner, we went to the library and then to DI where I found a bunch of cute clothes that I needed for summer. My mom also had hip replacement surgery that day and everything went smoothly.

Of course, we had to visit her the next day. But first, I hosted the Activity Days girls. It's my new calling at church. Activity Days are activities for girls aged 8-11 to help them complete the requirements for an award they can receive before they start the youth program (it's a little like cub scouts, but more focused on faith-based activities than all-around life skills). I am only the leader over 10 and 11 year-old girls and there are only 4 of them right now. We made gifts for their fathers (shrinky dink keychains decorated by each girl), and they each wrote a letter telling their fathers what they respect and admire about them (that fulfilled one of the requirements for the award). Then after lunch, I had a dentist appointment. No cavities. Hooray! Then we finally drove down to visit my mom. She was doing well, in very little pain and getting over the itching from the spinal tap. The nurse was nice enough to give the kids double popsicles which kept them entertained for long enough to have a nice chat with my mom. Then as we were leaving, another nurse wheeled a cart by covered in patriotic Flag Day cupcakes and asked if we wanted one. Each of the kids happily accepted, but I made them take them outside so they wouldn't get crumbs all over the clean hospital floors. It was 95 degrees outside, so we sat in the shade of a tree as they ate. All of a sudden, Mira screamed. When I looked over, there was a big splotch of black on her arm. A bird had pooped on her! Of course, it had picked my germaphobe. After rushing inside to wash up in a bathroom, we found the culprit and photographed it. I thought this was all quite hilarious, but Mira was quite a bit less amused.

My dad asked us to stop by DI on our way home to see if they had a walker mom could use. They didn't, but I found some more clothes to buy. I might like shopping a bit too much. Then I had to make dinner and I was pooped after that. Steve ended up taking the girls to feed the ducks while I fell asleep on the couch.

Steve had a flight to catch to Denver Friday morning. He's been there all weekend, and the girls are very sad that he's not here for Father's Day. We'll celebrate tomorrow evening. His nephew, Xander, is leaving on a 2-year mission for our church and he went to celebrate and send him off with the rest of his siblings and parents. The girls and I had a pretty lazy day Friday, though the younger two did have gymnastics and we had fast food for dinner.

Yesterday, we ended up having to take Great Grandma Watts to instacare. Since the rest of the family is in Colorado, I was the only one around to do it. She ended up having both shingles and a staff infection from scratching them, so I'm glad I was able to get her a prescription before Nick came home on Monday. After we dropped her off back at the nursing home, the girls and I went to the bean museum. We were there at the right time to attend a live animal show where they taught the kids about the difference between vertebrates and invertebrates. The young lady doing the show let a tarantula climb on her arm (yech!), then showed us a frog from the amazon rainforest. We couldn't touch either of those. At the end, she brought out a lizard that looked like a baby monitor lizard (I can't remember what she said it actually was), which the kids could touch if they wanted to. Cecily decided that she wanted tons of pictures at the museum, like she sees in movies. The second-to-last picture is Emilia posing like the elk behind her. The last one is Cecily trying not to laugh as she takes a picture with an elk's butt. She's so funny. :D After the Bean Museum, we had ice cream at the BYU Creamery. I heated up leftovers for dinner and the kids played while I cleaned up the house. It was good day.

We are all looking forward to seeing Steve tomorrow. Happy Father's Day everyone!