Last night, Andrew was so hungry that he didn't wait for anyone else to sit at the table before saying his own prayer. Then, not unnaturally, he protested when we told him we would need to say another prayer after everyone sat down, saying that we weren't supposed to pray all the time. I suppose I have to admit I was feeling a little facetious; I told Andrew, "In the scriptures, Jesus says that we're supposed to 'pray always.'" Andrew said, "No, that's not what Jesus said. He said we only have to pray once in a while. That's what he said."
***
Andrew must have been on a roll yesterday. In the car on our way to visit my sister, he told me a couple of things that made me laugh, so I thought I'd pass them on.
First, he asked me why we lived at grandma's house. I explained that we wanted to save money for a house, so we didn't want to pay rent on an apartment.
"What's an appomo?" He asked.
"Apartment."
"Apamotat?"
"Apartment." Finally, after three or four tries, he got it.
"Mommy! You shouldn't say that word."
"Why not?"
"Because you might confuse people."
Almost immediately afterward, when I was telling him we'd have macaroni and cheese for lunch at Jeni's house, he said, "Oh good! I only like food that doesn't have cheese in it."
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Moving Day
Has come and gone, and we're still living with my parents. No, not that anything drastic has happened--in fact, everything went pretty much according to plan. Thursday afternoon (in the blazingly hot July sun) we picked up the moving truck and then started to load, with my dad directing the arrangement of furniture and boxes inside the truck. We'd been working hard for an hour plus (well, Dan and my dad had been working hard--I'd been working hard sporadically, in between putting the baby to bed), with no sign of the elder's quorum (who were, in theory, going to help us load the truck--apparently moving right before a holiday weekend is not a good idea if you want people to show up). So my mom called a member of the bishopric, and within minutes we had a whole scattering of people--mostly high priests--arriving to help us. Our basement was cleared out pretty quickly after their arrival.
Bubby and Popy arrived shortly thereafter (they drove the truck down for us early Friday morning), and Sarah and Aaron sometime after that. I'd give Aaron a hard time and say that he delayed on purpose just to avoid having to actually work, but I know he'd never actually do something like that (he was on call and got called in).
Friday morning Bubby and Poppy left at what they call "o'dark early" (i.e. around 4:30) and were almost to their destination before we finally hit the road, sans kids. (We couldn't leave too early, because we wanted to get the kids settled with grandma before leaving). We arrived around 10 and started to unload. Again, we unloaded for an hour before help showed up--in the defense of our help (and we truly are grateful for all the help we received--even if my facetious retelling doesn't suggest that), we'd said we didn't need them until 11. At any rate, we finally got everything into the house, although we realized fairly late in the game (i.e. as we were trying to move it) that one of the couches that was supposed to go downstairs was never going to fit through the narrow doorway and equally narrow flight of stairs. So our TV room remains unfurnished (aside, of course, from the TV and stacks of boxes).
We spent Friday night and Saturday morning making some minor repairs, putting together our new table and chairs, and unpacking, unpacking, unpacking. But, most of the main rooms are finally habitable--the kitchen, bathrooms, and main living areas are all unpacked, and the kids rooms are more or less in order. And we only broke a couple of lightbulbs in the process.
Friday night, to celebrate our sixth anniversary and Dan's birthday, we went to dinner with Bubby and Poppy to a local sushi restaurant, where I tried my first real sushi (aside, of course, from a California roll). It was pretty good, but a lot more filling than I expected. (And, truth be told, a little spicy for me--at least, the ones we tried). Afterwards, Bubby and Poppy went home for some well deserved rest, and we went to the Shakespearean festival to see As You Like It. I'd never seen it before, but I read the play a long time ago and was looking forward to it. The first half was pretty slow and I wasn't sure Dan was going to make it. But a coke and a brief intermission later, and we made it through the second half, which I enjoyed, but Dan still found pretty long.
We came back Saturday to pick up the kids, and here we still are. Some family birthdays and a doctor's appointment for Evelyn are keeping us around town a little longer--I'm looking forward to the break since, with nothing to pack and nothing I can unpack, I can pretend for the moment that the mountain of work awaiting us at our house doesn't really exist.
Bubby and Popy arrived shortly thereafter (they drove the truck down for us early Friday morning), and Sarah and Aaron sometime after that. I'd give Aaron a hard time and say that he delayed on purpose just to avoid having to actually work, but I know he'd never actually do something like that (he was on call and got called in).
Friday morning Bubby and Poppy left at what they call "o'dark early" (i.e. around 4:30) and were almost to their destination before we finally hit the road, sans kids. (We couldn't leave too early, because we wanted to get the kids settled with grandma before leaving). We arrived around 10 and started to unload. Again, we unloaded for an hour before help showed up--in the defense of our help (and we truly are grateful for all the help we received--even if my facetious retelling doesn't suggest that), we'd said we didn't need them until 11. At any rate, we finally got everything into the house, although we realized fairly late in the game (i.e. as we were trying to move it) that one of the couches that was supposed to go downstairs was never going to fit through the narrow doorway and equally narrow flight of stairs. So our TV room remains unfurnished (aside, of course, from the TV and stacks of boxes).
We spent Friday night and Saturday morning making some minor repairs, putting together our new table and chairs, and unpacking, unpacking, unpacking. But, most of the main rooms are finally habitable--the kitchen, bathrooms, and main living areas are all unpacked, and the kids rooms are more or less in order. And we only broke a couple of lightbulbs in the process.
Friday night, to celebrate our sixth anniversary and Dan's birthday, we went to dinner with Bubby and Poppy to a local sushi restaurant, where I tried my first real sushi (aside, of course, from a California roll). It was pretty good, but a lot more filling than I expected. (And, truth be told, a little spicy for me--at least, the ones we tried). Afterwards, Bubby and Poppy went home for some well deserved rest, and we went to the Shakespearean festival to see As You Like It. I'd never seen it before, but I read the play a long time ago and was looking forward to it. The first half was pretty slow and I wasn't sure Dan was going to make it. But a coke and a brief intermission later, and we made it through the second half, which I enjoyed, but Dan still found pretty long.
We came back Saturday to pick up the kids, and here we still are. Some family birthdays and a doctor's appointment for Evelyn are keeping us around town a little longer--I'm looking forward to the break since, with nothing to pack and nothing I can unpack, I can pretend for the moment that the mountain of work awaiting us at our house doesn't really exist.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Tooting my own horn
Since I've been posting a lot about myself recently, I may as well add one more thing:
I found out a few days ago that I won the 2009 RSA dissertation award. (That's Rhetoric Society of America, for you non rhet/comp folk). Not bad, considering I finished and defended the dissertation while I was pregnant with Evelyn! And no, if you were wondering, it doesn't come with any money. But still an honor, nonetheless.
I found out a few days ago that I won the 2009 RSA dissertation award. (That's Rhetoric Society of America, for you non rhet/comp folk). Not bad, considering I finished and defended the dissertation while I was pregnant with Evelyn! And no, if you were wondering, it doesn't come with any money. But still an honor, nonetheless.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Welcome to the jungle
This last week has been kind of a blur--a very busy one. Evelyn came through her surgery with flying colors, only to come down with a high fever the next day. We were worried that it was a post-surgery infection; a long visit to the after-hours pediatrician told us that it was not, in fact, a bacterial infection in her ears, but a virus: hand-food-mouth, to be precise (not to be confused with hoof and mouth, or mad cow disease). She wasn't down for very long, but she did manage to get Andrew sick, and we kept both of our kids out of church today.
We've also spent a fair amount of time packing (naturally). But I did find some time to pick up some new furnishings for the kids (on sale at Big Lots). Evelyn thought she was big stuff in her overstuffed chair. And Andrew might be persuaded to finally give up his spiderman chair.
This week also featured another trip down to the house to get things in order: Dan and his dad put some light fixtures in and tried to fix the sprinklers; I spent the weekend decorating Andrew's room. To be specific, I painted a mural on his wall. Not a full-scene mural, but a series of safari animals around the walls of his room. I think part of me has wanted to do something like this since before Andrew was born; the fact that Evelyn's room already had a mural was only added inducement.
I think it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. (As well as I could have hoped, in fact). I was a little nervous going in that I'd simply mess up the walls and have to repaint. And it was fun to get paint under my nails again. It's been a *long* time since I've done that.
Here are a couple of distance shots to give a sense of the walls (you'll notice the larger giraffe cuts across the corner):
And then some close-ups of the individual animals.
We had to have an elephant, which is Andrew's all time favorite animal.
Close up of the baby giraffe:
And a monkey between the window and the closet. (Appropriately enough, since we often call Andrew our monkey). The monkey wasn't part of my original plan--I'd sketched all the animals on the wall and told Andrew what I was doing and he asked, "where's the monkey?" So monkey there is. It's tailless in the picture--I finally figured out why it looked so strange and added a tail after I took these pictures.
All I can say--I hope Andrew appreciates this!
We've also spent a fair amount of time packing (naturally). But I did find some time to pick up some new furnishings for the kids (on sale at Big Lots). Evelyn thought she was big stuff in her overstuffed chair. And Andrew might be persuaded to finally give up his spiderman chair.
This week also featured another trip down to the house to get things in order: Dan and his dad put some light fixtures in and tried to fix the sprinklers; I spent the weekend decorating Andrew's room. To be specific, I painted a mural on his wall. Not a full-scene mural, but a series of safari animals around the walls of his room. I think part of me has wanted to do something like this since before Andrew was born; the fact that Evelyn's room already had a mural was only added inducement.
I think it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. (As well as I could have hoped, in fact). I was a little nervous going in that I'd simply mess up the walls and have to repaint. And it was fun to get paint under my nails again. It's been a *long* time since I've done that.
Here are a couple of distance shots to give a sense of the walls (you'll notice the larger giraffe cuts across the corner):
And then some close-ups of the individual animals.
We had to have an elephant, which is Andrew's all time favorite animal.
Close up of the baby giraffe:
And a monkey between the window and the closet. (Appropriately enough, since we often call Andrew our monkey). The monkey wasn't part of my original plan--I'd sketched all the animals on the wall and told Andrew what I was doing and he asked, "where's the monkey?" So monkey there is. It's tailless in the picture--I finally figured out why it looked so strange and added a tail after I took these pictures.
All I can say--I hope Andrew appreciates this!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Update on Evelyn's surgery
Evelyn had her "myringotomy with tube insertion" this morning--that is, she had tubes put in her ears. Despite my worries (the risk notice on the anesthesia is always alarming), everything went smoothly. She woke up extremely cranky from the anesthesia and cried uncontrollably for about fifteen minutes, but I'm told that is normal. She's home now, getting ready for a nap (actually, trying to climb on the computer, which is about as normal as her behavior can get), and we are extremely grateful that everything went well. Even if it is the most common surgical procedure for small children. The doctor reported that her ears were pretty bad--lots of fluid and mucus and pus--so it's a good thing she had the surgery when she did.
Hopefully now she will start sleeping through the night, now that all the ear pressure is removed!
We'll keep you posted.
Hopefully now she will start sleeping through the night, now that all the ear pressure is removed!
We'll keep you posted.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Seasons of quiet and culinary disasters
This week has been fairly quiet (in comparison with previous weeks)--the only downside to this is that Andrew asks with annoying persistence each morning: "What are we doing today? I want to do something fun. Let me think about what fun things I want to do today." (For Andrew, "fun" usually translates into something that requires a lot of effort on my part).
We did manage to do a few "fun" things this week. On Wednesday we went to the pool with Jeni and her kids; on Friday, we repeated the pool visit with my friend Karin and her boys. I find that I enjoy the pool outings a lot more with other adults; typically, we sit in the shallow end (well, shallower end--it's pretty much all shallow when the deepest part of the pool is 18 inches) and chat, while we watch Andrew and whatever kids are close to his age climb the stairs, slide down the slide, splash in the water, and generally wear themselves out. And I'm getting to be a pro at the packing for the pool thing.
In between "fun" activities, we've been slowly but surely packing. Andrew has discovered in the plethora of boxes a new love for them: here he is in his box costume (he discovered seconds later that you can't really walk in boxes--I had to help him get up because he couldn't move once he'd fallen down).
Then he discovered a much more workable variation: his robot. He was particularly proud of this one--I love how you can tell he's smiling even though all you can see are his eyes.
On Saturday, we had a barbeque with some old friends from State College--Sam and Steph Sturgeon. It's pretty sad: they were some of our closest friends in State College (their daughter Gaby was Andrew's first friend and Steph used to watch Andrew for me on a regular basis), but we haven't seen them much in the two years we've been in Utah, despite the fact that they live a mere 45 minutes away. I've seen Steph a couple of times, but this was the first time we all got together. It was funny, too, how easily we slipped back into old comfortable friendship routines; at the same time, a little bizarre how much our respective lives have changed since then. (We both have two kids now; we both own homes; we're all done with our degrees, etc.). But we had a great time with them--unfortunately, this meant a later than usual bedtime for Andrew (worth it, I might add!), with its accompanying earlier-than-usual wake-up. Andrew was up at 4:30 this morning. We *think* he went to back to sleep after we (er, Dan--I was tending to Evelyn who was awakened by Andrew's cries) harried him back into bed, but judging by his behavior this afternoon, that wasn't entirely certain.
My mom took off (again) this week--this time for my cousin's wedding in Washington. (My poor mom has been gone as many weekends as she's been home--and I mean this in all seriousness; I think she's exhausted by all the travelling, most of it for business rather than pleasure). In her absence, I took over some of the gardening--meaning, I picked the bountiful raspberry and zucchini crop and tried to figure out what to do with all of the produce. I'm not a big berry fan (I know, I know), and my mom had charged me with making sure the cherries she'd bought got eaten. Faced with raspberries that weren't getting eaten (well, they were, but not quickly enough) and a bunch of cherries, I got on the computer and found a dessert recipe that combined both raspberries and cherries. Unfortunately, I got a little carried away. After all, I'm always up for chocolate. And if I don't really like raspberries, maybe raspberries with chocolate would do the trick? So I tossed a handful of chocolate chips into the mix. By all accounts (my own included), that was probably a mistake. The resulting crisp was okay, but a little strange. The cherries were a bit much, and the chocolate was even more so. Anyway, not something I'll be making again. But I was proud of my attempt to venture out of my comfort zone.
Today's culinary adventure was a little better. While Dan made a yummy dinner of bacon and tomato pasta (minus the red pepper flakes for our conservative eaters), I used up some of the zucchini to make Paula Deen's chocolate chip zucchini bread. More chocolate, again, but this time I think it worked. At least, I like it. Dan's not so enamoured--but he says the bread tastes too much like zucchini and he only tolerates zucchini in dishes that hide the flavor.
At any rate, we're looking forward to eventually having a garden and trying out more new recipes with fresh produce! Since I will be cooking at least some of those, I can pretty much guarantee a few more disasters enroute, but hopefully we'll all survive anyway.
I'm not sure how much I'll be able to blog in the next couple of weeks as the packing intensifies and we actually move. (I know, we've been talking about it for so long . . . people at church keep coming up to me and asking: "When are you moving again?" As in, weren't you supposed to be gone by now?). But know that, even if the posts decrease in frequency, we will, eventually, be back . . .
We did manage to do a few "fun" things this week. On Wednesday we went to the pool with Jeni and her kids; on Friday, we repeated the pool visit with my friend Karin and her boys. I find that I enjoy the pool outings a lot more with other adults; typically, we sit in the shallow end (well, shallower end--it's pretty much all shallow when the deepest part of the pool is 18 inches) and chat, while we watch Andrew and whatever kids are close to his age climb the stairs, slide down the slide, splash in the water, and generally wear themselves out. And I'm getting to be a pro at the packing for the pool thing.
In between "fun" activities, we've been slowly but surely packing. Andrew has discovered in the plethora of boxes a new love for them: here he is in his box costume (he discovered seconds later that you can't really walk in boxes--I had to help him get up because he couldn't move once he'd fallen down).
Then he discovered a much more workable variation: his robot. He was particularly proud of this one--I love how you can tell he's smiling even though all you can see are his eyes.
On Saturday, we had a barbeque with some old friends from State College--Sam and Steph Sturgeon. It's pretty sad: they were some of our closest friends in State College (their daughter Gaby was Andrew's first friend and Steph used to watch Andrew for me on a regular basis), but we haven't seen them much in the two years we've been in Utah, despite the fact that they live a mere 45 minutes away. I've seen Steph a couple of times, but this was the first time we all got together. It was funny, too, how easily we slipped back into old comfortable friendship routines; at the same time, a little bizarre how much our respective lives have changed since then. (We both have two kids now; we both own homes; we're all done with our degrees, etc.). But we had a great time with them--unfortunately, this meant a later than usual bedtime for Andrew (worth it, I might add!), with its accompanying earlier-than-usual wake-up. Andrew was up at 4:30 this morning. We *think* he went to back to sleep after we (er, Dan--I was tending to Evelyn who was awakened by Andrew's cries) harried him back into bed, but judging by his behavior this afternoon, that wasn't entirely certain.
My mom took off (again) this week--this time for my cousin's wedding in Washington. (My poor mom has been gone as many weekends as she's been home--and I mean this in all seriousness; I think she's exhausted by all the travelling, most of it for business rather than pleasure). In her absence, I took over some of the gardening--meaning, I picked the bountiful raspberry and zucchini crop and tried to figure out what to do with all of the produce. I'm not a big berry fan (I know, I know), and my mom had charged me with making sure the cherries she'd bought got eaten. Faced with raspberries that weren't getting eaten (well, they were, but not quickly enough) and a bunch of cherries, I got on the computer and found a dessert recipe that combined both raspberries and cherries. Unfortunately, I got a little carried away. After all, I'm always up for chocolate. And if I don't really like raspberries, maybe raspberries with chocolate would do the trick? So I tossed a handful of chocolate chips into the mix. By all accounts (my own included), that was probably a mistake. The resulting crisp was okay, but a little strange. The cherries were a bit much, and the chocolate was even more so. Anyway, not something I'll be making again. But I was proud of my attempt to venture out of my comfort zone.Today's culinary adventure was a little better. While Dan made a yummy dinner of bacon and tomato pasta (minus the red pepper flakes for our conservative eaters), I used up some of the zucchini to make Paula Deen's chocolate chip zucchini bread. More chocolate, again, but this time I think it worked. At least, I like it. Dan's not so enamoured--but he says the bread tastes too much like zucchini and he only tolerates zucchini in dishes that hide the flavor.
At any rate, we're looking forward to eventually having a garden and trying out more new recipes with fresh produce! Since I will be cooking at least some of those, I can pretty much guarantee a few more disasters enroute, but hopefully we'll all survive anyway.
I'm not sure how much I'll be able to blog in the next couple of weeks as the packing intensifies and we actually move. (I know, we've been talking about it for so long . . . people at church keep coming up to me and asking: "When are you moving again?" As in, weren't you supposed to be gone by now?). But know that, even if the posts decrease in frequency, we will, eventually, be back . . .
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Language school
While my youngest brother is busy frolicking about Germany and attending a language school, we've been slowly conducting our own school here. The result? Evelyn is slowly but surely accumulating English words. Recognizable thus far:
Mama
guck ("duck")
hi
uh-oh
Adju (like "achoo" with a "d"; for Andrew)
And Poppy is convinced she said "shoe" to him the other day. So, still not much, but moving in the right direction. With any luck her surgery next week will make it even easier for her to pick up on words. Noticeably missing: dada.
Mama
guck ("duck")
hi
uh-oh
Adju (like "achoo" with a "d"; for Andrew)
And Poppy is convinced she said "shoe" to him the other day. So, still not much, but moving in the right direction. With any luck her surgery next week will make it even easier for her to pick up on words. Noticeably missing: dada.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Images of summer
In yet another attempt to procrastinate packing, I'm blogging . . . (this needs to be done, too, right? Right?)
Here are the pictures from the last two weeks (mis)adventures.
First, pool pictures from our time in Park City. You should take special note of this picture since you may never before have seen (and probably never will again) pictures of me in a bathing suit. Evelyn looks good, though.
Jacob:
I love this one of Emi, how she's half buried behind other floats. I also love the sad little look in her eyes. Emi, it must be confessed, for all her love of mermaids is not most comfortable in water.
Enoch, with his mom. Enoch liked the water as long as he could cling to Jeni. I'm not sure how it worked out that my kids both act like they were born to be in water, but two of Jeni's three have to be coaxed into it. I certainly don't think it has anything to do with their mothers' respective aptitudes in water.
And more pictures, from our time with the in-laws. Here are the kids, waiting for the Fourth of July parade. (I can't think of the fourth without thinking of an interesting little book on memory in America--John Bodnar's Remaking America--since it serves as one of his signature examples of the conflict between official and vernacular commemorations, but since probably no one else who reads this blog is interested in stuff like that, I'll stop now.) We were on the side of the street facing the sun, so none of the kids could look at us without squinting. Notice Andrew has rocks in both of his hands--I'm not sure if he was preparing to stone the less successful floats or just being a typical three-year old.
Evelyn, in her pretty dress that matches her cousins' dresses (courtesy of her Bubby).
Also in keeping with family tradition, we left the parade early and retired to the Top Spot (more familiarly known as "The Cow" for the large cow on top of the roof--not quite as compelling as the bull in Boalsburg, but noticeable nonetheless). The kids love to "play" the arcade games while the adults sip sodas and enjoy the air conditioning. I love the look on Lydia's face, here. And on Evelyn's, when she got to "help" Andrew drive the race car.
Last, a video of Andrew doing what he loves best at the swimming pool: jumping in. I have to admit he frightens me just a little when he does this--I can't help remembering that I was only a little earlier than he is now when I got my first set of stitches jumping in the swimming pool (backwards, no less). That traumatic moment also, incidentally, forms my first real memory.
Here are the pictures from the last two weeks (mis)adventures.
First, pool pictures from our time in Park City. You should take special note of this picture since you may never before have seen (and probably never will again) pictures of me in a bathing suit. Evelyn looks good, though.
Jacob:
I love this one of Emi, how she's half buried behind other floats. I also love the sad little look in her eyes. Emi, it must be confessed, for all her love of mermaids is not most comfortable in water.
Enoch, with his mom. Enoch liked the water as long as he could cling to Jeni. I'm not sure how it worked out that my kids both act like they were born to be in water, but two of Jeni's three have to be coaxed into it. I certainly don't think it has anything to do with their mothers' respective aptitudes in water.
And more pictures, from our time with the in-laws. Here are the kids, waiting for the Fourth of July parade. (I can't think of the fourth without thinking of an interesting little book on memory in America--John Bodnar's Remaking America--since it serves as one of his signature examples of the conflict between official and vernacular commemorations, but since probably no one else who reads this blog is interested in stuff like that, I'll stop now.) We were on the side of the street facing the sun, so none of the kids could look at us without squinting. Notice Andrew has rocks in both of his hands--I'm not sure if he was preparing to stone the less successful floats or just being a typical three-year old.
Evelyn, in her pretty dress that matches her cousins' dresses (courtesy of her Bubby).
Also in keeping with family tradition, we left the parade early and retired to the Top Spot (more familiarly known as "The Cow" for the large cow on top of the roof--not quite as compelling as the bull in Boalsburg, but noticeable nonetheless). The kids love to "play" the arcade games while the adults sip sodas and enjoy the air conditioning. I love the look on Lydia's face, here. And on Evelyn's, when she got to "help" Andrew drive the race car.
Last, a video of Andrew doing what he loves best at the swimming pool: jumping in. I have to admit he frightens me just a little when he does this--I can't help remembering that I was only a little earlier than he is now when I got my first set of stitches jumping in the swimming pool (backwards, no less). That traumatic moment also, incidentally, forms my first real memory.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Homeowners
It's official. As of this morning, we are the proud owners of a set of keys to a cute little brick house near the university. Perhaps more importantly, the title to said property is now in our name. To those of you on your third or fourth (or more) home, this may not be a big deal, but it's a pretty big deal to us. We went down tonight to admire the property and managed to get out just before the skies opened up (thereby solving a problem for me: how to water the lawn and garden until we get the water in our name).
It's pretty exciting. It would be even more exciting if I didn't feel like we were hemorrhaging money . . . I have never spent so much money in one week in my life (Monday: down payment and closing costs; today: washer, dryer, and dishwasher.)
Still, it feels good to have passed one more milestone on the road to adulthood.
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