feelin' the love - Valentine's Day 2013

David pretty much hates Valentine's day.  He thinks it is just another commercial holiday meant to trap people into buying more crap, spending money, and losing sight of what is important.  I half agree with him.  I read that Americans spend something like 2 billion dollars on Valentine's day.  Seems a little excessive, but great for the economy?  

Whatever the case, we don't spend a lot on V-day.  Sometimes we go out for a nice dinner.  Sometimes we do something thoughtful for each other.  I always get the girls a small gift and some candy, but nothing big.  I still remember the Valentine's day I was 8.9999 months pregnant with Grace.  I headed out the door to teach at Olympus High in the bitter freezing cold inversion Salt Lake weather, having just returned to work from being on bed rest and feeling so pregnant and miserable that I could have died from my own thoughts.  We had a 1 car garage and my car was out on the driveway.  I went out to scrape the windshield and get in, only to find that David had started the car, scraped the windows, and made a mix tape (CD style) with all my favorite songs to listen to on the drive to work.  Something nice (I can't remember what, probably a note) was taped to the steering wheel.  It was so NICE!  Now, that definitely doesn't happen every year, but that's how we try to roll on Valentine's day.  It's not about spending tons of money on each other to feel like we have been validated.  (disclaimer - if you bought your Valentine an ipad or dropped $400 on dinner, you can still be my friend.)

I digress.  THIS year was not nearly so thoughtful, but still great.  My Valentine's gift to David was picking up my own 2 dozen roses at Costco so he didn't have to worry about it.  Win win.  I get cheap, but gorgeous flowers, he gets off the hook.  That's what 16 years together will bring you.  

Speaking of 16 years...

I found this rad picture from our first Valentine's day together.  1997.  We were at the University of Utah Valentine's dance for my sorority at the Capitol building.  Pre-engagement.  Just dating.  (were we 12? we couldn't possibly be 21...) My mom still has that dress somewhere.  David asked if I could still fit in it.  I'm quite sure I could not.  It was so tight and skinny that even THEN when I weighed barely 100 pounds I couldn't breathe, eat, or sit down comfortably.  

This year, our big V-day deal was to host our first Valentine party.  David loves nothing more than cooking a fancy dinner for friends.  I like to set a pretty table.  So, we invited a few couples we like over for a candle-light dinner.  It was tons of fun.  I might be convinced to do it again.  

We left the table set up and had our own family candle-light dinner on Valentine's Day before heading out to evening lessons.

The girls celebrated at school, as usual.  Grace's 4th grade teacher (he is her homeroom teacher and does the math rotations) is trying to make the most out of his last year of teaching (SADLY, he will leave our school at the end of the year and move out-of-state to start a business with his wife.  I keep trying to convince him to stay long enough to get Harriet through 4th grade!  Good math teachers are so hard to come by at the elementary school level.)  He asked me again, to plan something awesome for his class party.  Since he was just starting to teach fractions, we decided to do a fraction lesson with baking and make chocolate chip cookies from scratch at school.  It was kind of crazy - picture 25 kids reading a recipe and mixing dough.  But, they actually did a really good job.  Then, (after baking/burning them in the kindergarten kitchens) the kids wrapped them up and delivered them to all the staff at school for a little service "spread the love" project.  Secretaries, janitors, principals - they all got some love from us.  It was so much fun to bake with the kids and teach a little math.  He always lets me do the teaching part when I come in.  I'm sure he's happy to have the break from teaching,  but it is fun for me too.  I really do miss teaching, even if I hated BEING a teacher so much that I will never go back to it if I don't have to.  Apparently I was way too busy to take a single photo that day.  You're welcome for the party Grace.  Sorry I don't have a picture of it.  I'm kind of truly sorry actually, now that I found out that it would be her last Valentine party at school.  Apparently the 5th graders don't do it.  Too awkward.  I get it and I can see it, but we did parties 'til 6th grade and it turned out fine.  Sigh.

Harriet's teacher decided to go low-key and not invite parents or do a party.  She let the kids trade valentines and made treats for them.  I was able to be there because I was already there for reading that day.  Harriet was so glad that I could come to her "party" too.  

Speaking of love and school... David gave up practically a whole friday off to attend both girls' Superbowl Dad lunches in the school cafeteria.  No better Valentine for a girl than her Daddy.  

the girls, so far, in 2013

Today... on the plus side - the kids both went to school at a normal hour for the whole day (after days at home sick, holidays, 2 hour snow delays, half days, and other such things in the last 2 weeks.)  David went to work and I have nothing on the calendar, no appointments, no obligations at school or anywhere else (a WHOLE Friday to myself?!)  On the down side - I am spending said Friday home on the couch with a gnarly head cold.  Thanks a lot, winter viruses.  We managed to avoid them for several months, but they have snagged 3 of us in the last 3 weeks.

Really, though, it feels like forever since I blogged about something besides a holiday or a trip or an event.  Every post has at least 32 pictures.  I've decided to make this post "photo free."  So, if you're only in it for the visuals, you'll want to skip to the next post.

I wanted to take a minute and talk about the girls.  It's my blog, I can brag if I want.  I know - people get all upset about how blogs only highlight the good and make everyone else feel bad that their lives aren't as perfect as the lives they read about on the internet.  Let me start with the disclosure that my kids have brought me to raging tears multiple times this year already with their sometimes embarrassing behavior, foul treatment of each other, lack of personal responsibility, refusal to practice instruments, refusal to listen, pick up after themselves, and get ready for school or bed. But who wants to blog about how terrible their kids are?  (We could talk about all my faults too, but that would just take up too many volumes.)

Even with their faults, Grace and Harriet are really great kids.  Sure, they don't practice as often as they should, but when a finished song finally does come out of the piano or the guitar, a mom couldn't be prouder.  Grace just learned the guitar solo in the new Muse song "Madness."  It makes a rock loving mom's heart sing.  (I may have to sign up for my own guitar lessons someday.)

Some of the biggest accomplishments made by the girls so far during 2013:

Grace:
*some kind of switch got flipped in her and she finally does, actually, get ready for school without too much intervention from me.  (Once I get her out of bed of course - that proves to be a continual battle.)  She also gets ready for karate and guitar lessons on her own.  I know she should have been doing those things a long time before (nearly) 10 years old, but for us it is a huge victory.

*scored 100% on the district math test for the trimester.  She had scored an 89 the previous trimester (still a great score, but not what Grace was capable of doing.)  I knew it was because she had been lazy with answers and not paying attention to details since she is a total math wizard otherwise.  She felt bad about it and truly tried to do her best the next time.  Really, I couldn't care less about what a standardized test score says about my kid, but I was proud of her determination to improve and do her best.  She and one other GIRL in 4th grade scored 100%.  Go math girls!  I pray that they hold onto their math love through middle school so that they can really shine in high school.

*REALLY REALLY LEARNED HOW TO SKI!!!  Oh my gosh, did she ever come a long way after 2 days with our favorite ski instructor at Santa Fe (Dale - we love you!)  She got off the mountain the first day looking completely, totally wiped out.  She could barely walk to the car.  She had been on the upper mountain runs for most of the day (I hadn't even been up there once.)  Dale reported that they would head for the blacks on day 2.  The BLACKS?!  Crazy!  I am really so proud of her.  She doesn't often improve at a fast rate when it comes to things like this, but she really went over the top of any expectation I ever had for her on the ski slopes.  Can't wait to see how she does skiing with Daddy next week at Sipapu.

*finished all the Harry Potter books.  She was so diligent in reading each one and moving to the next one.  Those books are so long, I am still amazed that kids are able to get through them like they do.  Credit to JK Rowling for creating such a literary gem.

Harriet:
*has become the best reader in her class.  I'm not just saying that because I'm her mom.  I go in every week and help administer one-on-one reading assessments.  Harriet is one of maybe 3 kids who can read a sentence without pausing between every word, and she's the only kid who seems like she knows what the sentence said or meant when she's done reading it.  She is definitely the only one who includes appropriate inflection in her voice as she is reading.  This means so much to me since I was so worried about her at the start of kindergarten. She refused to even try to read until a few weeks into kindergarten.  You hate to compare your kids, but when one is reading at 3 and the other doesn't even try until 5 1/2, you worry - at least enough to worry that one will always be behind, or have to struggle in the shadow of the other who doesn't have to work hard at school.  She still doesn't like reading chapter books on her own (Grace was well into chapter books at this point.)  But, I've decided that Harriet's reluctance to leave the picture books behind is that she just loves the pictures so much.  She is kind of a little artist and just hates to pick up a book that doesn't illustrate the story as it goes.  I am reluctant to force her because I love the picture books too and I will be sad when no one reads them anymore at our house.  She will let Daddy read to her though and they have started the first Harry Potter together.

*has gotten over many of her sensory issues when it comes to getting ready in the morning.  It has made things so much easier now that we don't have to fix the socks 100 times, keep retying the shoes until they are perfect, try on 6 pairs of pants until we find the ones that feel just right.  Thank goodness for these time saving accomplishments because, unfortunately, Harriet has also entered, what seems in our family, the 3 year lolly-gagging phase.  She will take 7 minutes to go from the bottom of the stairs to the top as she heads from breakfast to get dressed.  4 minutes to put toothpaste on a toothbrush.  10 minutes to pull on a shirt.  It's the kind of slowness that increases the more you encourage hurrying...  and when left to her own devices, she will be found in the center of her bed staring at the clothes she should be putting on, like they might eventually just put themselves on.  I'm thankful the mental hang-ups are lessened.  And, now that I know the lolly-gagging is not a permanent condition, I can remind myself every morning that it's just part of being nearly 7, 8, and 9 years old.  That, in itself, is an accomplishment when I can do it well.

*is coming out of her shell and deciding what she really likes in life on her own.  I think sometimes she has "little sister syndrome" and isn't sure what to do.  She decided in December to quit karate (for the 2nd time in her life - we won't try that one again.)  After going to the Nutcracker ballet, she decided she wanted to be a ballerina.  Well, there are 2 problems with that.  1- she has also quit dance in her life (leaving me hesitant to rearrange our lives to sign up again.) and 2- the good ballet schools are all expensive and a long drive across town.  After looking for many weeks for a convenient west-side option, a gal in our neighborhood decided to host some little in-home dance classes for the neighborhood kids.  She is formally trained in Irish dancing at BYU.  Irish dancing doesn't exactly equal ballerina, but the price, driving distance (3 neighborhood streets away!), and convenience (can drop her off, come home cook dinner, and go pick her up!) won out.  Plus, Harriet gets to go to dance class with all the girls from church and really loves it.  She comes home counting the steps out loud and every once in a while I will see her skipping out a little Irish step.  She is always excited to go to dance which we have never been able to say about dance or karate before.  She even puts on her TIGHTS without a single complaint.

*is making good progress in piano and really loves it.  Harriet will practice without being asked (not always, but it's still nice when it happens.)    She strives to learn each thing right and is even getting good at memorizing things.  Memorization hasn't been a strong skill for her before.  I get so used to Grace who looks at something once and remembers it in detail for the rest of her life.  I forget that isn't normal for a kid.  Harriet has to diligently work at it, but is eventually successful.  I think it's helping her in school too.

Ok, that's it for now.  They do a lot of other great things too, but none that my benadryl-clouded-head can think of today.  I do love my girls and I'm so glad I get to be their mom.  They feel like my sisters sometimes and I have to stop myself and be reminded that they really are my little sisters.  I just got here first.

New Year, New Baby, Girls' Trip to Salt Lake

It was well worth the winter trip up to Salt Lake to meet the little Sloan dude:

I cannot say how much we instantly fell in love with him.  He is such a dreamy baby and so stinkin' cute (let's face it, few babies ARE actually CUTE.)  Harriet would have held him for the entire time we were there if she could have.  She has been talking about seeing him since the day we found out Jessica was pregnant and continues to talk about him daily since we left.  It is really too bad she can't be a big sister.  She would make an excellent big sister.

 Grace maintains her strict "no baby holding" policy she has kept since she was one year old when she threw her new baby doll from Santa over her shoulder and never touched it again.

 I had to wait a day to hold him since I had just been so sick (this also happened when I went to meet baby Kate.)  I was still a little sick when we got there and I wanted to be super sure I was well so that I could snuggle him up to my face and kiss him and touch him.  Good job, Jessica and Nick, on making such an adorable kid!!

 Whoa, Aunt Shell must have been really sick.  She doesn't look so hot.

aaannndd... the only cousin picture we took.  totally blurry.  totally full of rug-rats.  

(wait, there's one more, but Kate, Harriet, and Sloan won't look at the camera.)

So, since baby Sloan really didn't want us holding him for 7 straight days, we did have to find a few other things to do.  With the FA-REEEZZZZZING temps in Salt Lake and the icky air inversion, we mostly limited ourselves to inside activities.  However, Grace and Harriet could NOT resist the amazing fluffy snow they found in Aunt Lissie's back yard.  We do not get snow like this in Albuquerque and they were mesmerized.  (Even in New England where we got a lot of snow, it was never fluffy and sparkly and dazzling.)  Grace could swear she could see the patterns of the individual snow crystals.

 So pretty much every single day, no matter how cold, Grace would gear up and head outside for at least a few minutes of "going snowing."  She tried to soak in as much as she could.  I am really going to cry when she grows up and moves to Alaska where her soul belongs.

The cousins decided to make real "snow cones" out of ice cream cones and fresh snow.  I warned them to watch out for the yellow snow (one cousin may be known to pee in the yard, as well as neighborhood cats.)  No one wants a lemon snow cone from the yard.  

We celebrated the heck out of the New Year.  It's Grandma Pearlie's birthday on New Year's Eve.  We went over to blow out candles with her and have a piece of birthday cake in the afternoon.  It's pretty cool that the kids can get to know their great-grandmas.

Grace had fun with Grandma's player piano.  

Then, Uncle Randy never disappoints with his awesome firework shows.

you have to bundle up to enjoy New Year's fireworks in SLC.

Throw in Grandma Debbie and Aunt Lis and their good food, we were set for a great night in - waiting for Taylor Swift to take the stage on TV.  She was such a tease, she didn't play until midnight.  The kids went to bed at 11:40 and missed her.  Although, Grace was watching her clock on her ipod in bed and at midnight I heard her weakly call out "appy nw yr" from her bed.  Funny kid.

My mom had a pretty New Year's Day brunch.  I miss my mom's table during the holidays.  Something about the way your mom cooks and decorates and sets the table always feels just right, doesn't it?

Aunt Em and Grandma pulled out the gingerbread sleighs to make.  It has become a tradition to make something gingerbread with Grandma during the holidays.

Then, Grandpa Lyle invited us over to his house.  The kids don't get to play here much because he is hardly ever home and often just comes to see us at Aunt Lissie's.  But, it is a fun treat when it happens.

The girls both got to spend some one-on-one time with Grandma.  Grace really wanted to go to the special Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit.  She saw a billboard for it on the way into town and instantly started asking to go.  It turns out Grandma wanted to go too, so I took the two of them down to The Leonardo museum in the old Salt Lake Library.  No photos were allowed inside and it was too cold to stand around outside taking pics, so we took one when we got home.  It was truly an amazing exhibit and a rare chance to get to see some of Leonardo's inventions and paintings up close.  Grace constantly amazes me.  One of the installments was a military bridge that Da Vinci had invented for soldiers to make a quick bridge with nearby trees - no hardware or carpentry needed.  Totally ingenious.  There were supplies to try to recreate it, so Grace sat down on the museum floor and made the whole bridge.  Such a cool kid.

Harriet chose to take Grandma to the Utah Museum of Natural History.  Why didn't I take pictures there?  Who knows.  But, I didn't.  That is one of our new favorite places to visit when we go to Salt Lake and we love taking Grandma with us.

We spent the rest of the trip just trying to visit and hang out with family and a few friends as much as possible.  One of the girls' favorite things is to go visit Aunt Jess's dog Dante.  I never get over how big he is.  He is a very cool dog with a great personality too.  

Soaking up more Sloan time.

Oh, whew, here I am looking a little less like a dead corpse while holding the baby.  

 Grace would like to take the dog home.  Harriet would like to take the baby home.  I love them both, but I'm also happy to let Jessica raise them and just visit sometimes.

Grace and Sean are rarely seen without electronics in hand.  They get along so well and will play for hours together.  I'm so glad that even though my kids don't really have cousins their exact ages, they get along with all of their cousins really well and have a great time.

Salt Lake, you treated us well once again.  We love our trips to Salt Lake and can't wait for the next one.  Although, I think I will wait until summer for the next one.  You can keep your cold and inversions and snowbanks.  

We are very much looking forward to having baby Sloan, Aunt Jess, and Grandma visit us at our house next month!  Thank you so much for planning the trip so we don't have to wait too long to see the little guy again.