Stake conference Sunday!

Holy cow I am tired and I even napped for over two hours this afternoon. I'm guessing that's my sleeping pill taking effect right now. 

This past week was good. I think we went to the pool on Monday and Tuesday, ran errands on Wednesday and Thursday, and stayed home on Friday. 

Notables of the week... 

Chick fil a is great. I got our free chicken biscuits again this past Wednesday and used my calendar card for the free drink. Free free free. 

I'd bought a cheap vacuum at Walmart a week or two ago for $36 but never got it out of the box because I knew I'd hate it. This week, I got a new shark vacuum from Costco and was so excited to use it. It's great. It's not perfect, but I think it'll have me vacuuming a little more frequently and doing a better job now too. Brady has even been excited to use it. 

My friend Sarah is selling me on joining the rec center gym. Everything about it sounds just perfect except for the part that I hate working out or physically exerting myself in any way. We'll see. 

Saturday, Brady was soooo sad not to be able to go to greta's birthday party with Abigail so I took him to the pool instead. I mean, I knew this was coming but even I was surprised how long he cried about it. "But mom, I wrote Greta a thank you note for inviting me to her party!!!" It's true, he did scribble and do that, the only problem is that he wasn't invited. But, I had fun with just him at the pool. We were almost the only people there and the weather was great. 

Friday afternoon, I got stung by a yellow jacket. The pain disappeared when I applied lavender oil but Saturday morning it had started itching. 

The itching and redness and swelling comes and goes. Today the swelling and redness was pretty bad, but I can keep it in check by icing it occasionally so I think we're okay. Tonight it has been practically not noticeable. 

I'm on a roll keeping my house picked up. I clean the kitchen each night before heading to bed. I look forward to packing Abigail's lunches. I'm succeeding pretty well right now at motherhood so that's exciting for me. 

Elizabeth turned 15 months today. She is adorable and getting a bit sassy I think. She claps at any success, real or percieved, and giggles every time she thinks she's going to get food. It's awesome. Also, she still cuddles with me like crazy. After spending time with Walter's walden and his teddy bed, every time Elizabeth cuddles me I just think to myself "I am her teddy bed!" So far, with each kid I have, they are increasing in cuddliness. 

Today was a perfect Sunday. Most aren't because Chris is gone all day. But today was stake conference so he was with us the entire day. We even drove to church together and sat together! The kids couldn't believe it. We had French toast when we got home, quiet time from 12:15-3:15 when Elizabeth, honey, and I took naps while Brady and Abigail trashed the house. We cleaned up from 3:30-4:15 and then took a walk from 4:20-6:20 which included a long stop at Abigail's school to hang out on the playground and run around the field and watch a family with a remote control airplane. We even saw the cottles on the way home. The kids and honey watched a Jesus cartoon from 6:30-7 while I made that garlic butter shrimp pasta again. Abigail set the table again (this is my new favorite thing) and we all ate. Some more than others. I have no idea how Elizabeth can down so much food and so fast. Two large, Costco thick slices of turkey, three or four servings of noodles, some shrimp, two servings of raspberries, and even two servings of jello because we were feeling generous. 

Then the kids all got baths and were put to bed. I cleaned the kitchen and made honey an awesome lunch for tomorrow and we hung out a bit before bed. The day was a huge success. Both kids even mentioned in their prayers today/tonight how they were thankful we got to go on a long walk (the weather was literally perfect) and "thank you daddy can come home" and Abigail told me she loved today because it didn't feel like a Sunday, it just felt like a regular day. Ha. My kids currently aren't a fan of Sundays but we're working on it. 

Here's to another great week. 

Two new discoveries

This past week I have learned about two wonderful little tips/tricks that I plan to use from this time forward whenever necessary. 

My first happy discovery was when I was googling to figure out how to clean my textured shower floor in my master bath. It gets grime stuck on and it seems like no amount of scrubbing or chemical can take it off. So even though it's been sanitized, it still looks horrible. Well in my googling, I came across a number of people singing the praises of WD-40 to life the grime. I have a bottle of chain lube (recommended to me years ago by the Walmart guy who said it was way better than wd40) that I retrieved from the garage with no problem and within minutes and very little scrubbing effort, I was seeing bright white shower floor! It was amazing! The only annoying part is that you have to scrub over it after to remove the slickness (I used liquid dish soap), but it was still super easy. Hallelujah! My shower cleaning experience will never be the same! 

My other happy discovery was today when I was doing yard work and playing soccer with Brady. At one point, I was kneeling on the ground and trimming a bush when I noticed a yellow jacket land on my wrist. I waited for him to fly away and was just slowly moving my hand away when he stung me and flew off. I don't know if it was a lesser of a sting or if I'd just remember stings hurting worse (especially after experience shutting my thumb in the car door which was some of the worst pain I've ever experienced), but it just felt like a pinch at first like when you get a shot at the doctor but then it started to hurt worse with time. I left everything and took Brady inside (because when I got stung, I happened to look down and notice a little swarm of them under the rock ledge right next to where I was kneeling) and was noticing that the area had a defined little spot where I was stung and it was getting a little swollen eyes with surrounding redness), remembering that Charees recently told her daughter cosette that lavender oil worked instantly for their family friend, I went to my bathroom and applied some to the spot. It literally worked within seconds to remove the pain conpletely. I could still feel a weird tingling, but 15 minutes or so later, I applied another dab of the lavender oil and the pain was gone. I have no redness, no swelling, no sting mark... nothing. I told Chris tonight at dinner that we needed to get traps because I'd gotten a sting and when I tried to show him, there was literally nothing there to show... I just pointed to the spot where it used to be. Now I'm not as worried about one of my kids getting stung because I know just what to do to take the pain away. I sent mom a text a short while later thanking her for giving me that lavender oil (she got it for me to help with my headaches, especially while pregnant) and keep thinking how thankful I am for this little series of events. That I'd heard Charees say that lavender oil works in stings... That I actually had it on hand and close by. And that it actually worked! And instantly! A second hallelujah for that! 

So those are my two happiest discoveries as of late. 

Anyone have any happy discoveries of their own to share? I'm all ears. 

Saturday, Sunday

I love when the kids offer to take pictures of me with the other kids. I need to make more of an effort to keep encouraging this behavior. 

I love that Brady is naturally so very affectionate and cuddly. 

This one is super cuddly too. I semi trained her to be that way and it's wonderful. 

Brady initially chopped off Abigail's head. 

With my two daughters. 

And then they want me to return the favor and take a picture of them. 

Saturday, I totally spaced that Chris had a ham radio training thing at church so he was actually gone from 7:45am until that time pm. I was kind of annoyed that he spent 12 hours on it, especially when I learned that he only missed one question (you could miss up to nine) and even passed the test for the next level up. A little frustrated, I was all "ugh, you should have just shown up at 3 for a few hours of class and to take the test and I'm sure you would have passed just fine." I mean, I had all kids awake by 7:20 and by 8:20, I had already lost it on Abigail and Brady and sent them to their rooms. We struggled a bit. ; )  The kids played with the neighbor kids until 3:30 or so running back and forth between houses and yards. It was great weather and great playtime but I was spending the whole day on laundry and cleaning and crap and felt like I barely accomplished anything. It was busy. When honey got home close to 8, we were in the back yard and I was doing yard work while Abigail and Brady played soccer. We hung out out there til dark. It ended up being a good day, but ugh, so busy. 

Sunday was good. We were only a minute late for church and the speakers were all amazing. Two youth speakers and two adults. So so so good. I loved it so much. 

This happened spontaneously. 

Brady was behaving poorly after church while we were eating lunch so I sent him to my room. And he fell asleep. When he's acting out, 90% of the time it's just because he's too tired. For some reason, instead of cuddling in my bed, he fell asleep in this bucket. Filled with toys and blankets and topped with his pillow and a blanket. It's like those staged newborn photos. 

Abigail played with her plays ouch that she got from church. She has a new Primary teacher and she is the best ever. 

We've been getting one of these each week. It's amazing. 

When Brady and Elizabeth and I were at the library Friday, a librarian walked up to us with a bag of cheap little ducks and offered some to Brady. She gave him four and offered some to Elizabeth but I told her our family could just share the four. Somehow, they instantly became Abigail and Brady's favorite toys and they've lived playing with them in the bathroom sink. They asked to bring them to church and were thrilled when I said they could each choose one. Abigail chose purple and Brady chose red. After sacrament meeting I made them give them to me. "I'll put them in my purse and keep them safe so they're not a distraction and you won't lose them in primary. Well, my purse zipper recently broke and Elizabeth took them out at some point during third hour and I forgot to get them back. I took Chris's keys and went back to the church that night to find them and couldn't. I feel like such a horrible mom. Maybe I should let my kids hang on to their own toys for safe keeping. So, now we just have these two. I wouldn't feel so bad except that both of my kids have been so quietly sad and forgiving about it. If they threw a fit I wouldn't feel so bad, but dang it, they're being so nice. 

While Brady napped atop a bin, Elizabeth napped in her crib and I napped in my bed. Chris was gone, of course, and Abigail played with ducks and play dough and did who knows what. But I got a two hour nap and Abigail and Brady both cleaned up in the kitchen before I got out of bed so it was all good. And I let them watch a New Testament cartoon later before dinner. The whole day was just exceeding my Sunday expectations and it was amazing. Can't they all just be like that?! 

It's Friday

And just like that, we're already two weeks into the school year. 

Wednesday, I woke Elizabeth up so we could hurry to get our free chick fil a and then stop by sprouts and get back home by 10:15 to get visit taught so I would be done in time to do my own visiting teaching at 11. 

Yesterday and today, Elizabeth has been awake by 7:45 when I've woken up so I've made it a point to get out and run errands. Yesterday we did Walmart and I left in a bad mood. For whatever reason, I can not make a quick trip to Walmart. Even if I only need one thing. I just want to buy everything because it's cheap and easy. When I go to target, I have no problem walking out empty handed. Anyway, I had to correct several things at the register and still I had to go back today because they charged me full price for something that should have only been three dollars. And a makeup powder thing I got was cracked. I need to stop shopping there like how I quit Facebook. I know my lack of self control and I need to start accommodating that by staying away. 

So today we went to American furniture warehouse to check out sofas again before I order them and then we went by the library to get a few things on hold and then a few things I just couldn't resist (I also have zero control at the library but luckily everything is free and the 99 item limit keeps me in check), and to the Walmart customer service desk and back home for eggs and naps. 

I made Brady take a nap with me upstairs in the guest room after we'd read some books. Of course I didn't sleep thaaaat soundly because I'm forever afraid of sleeping through Abigail's pickup time again, but it was still a much needed nap for both of us. The past several days, I've been walking around like a zombie from 1-4 trying to say awake. The nap today was great. Even though Brady probably won't fall asleep til 10. I'm laying with him still and its 9:12. 

Tonight I actually made dinner. It was this garlic butter shrimp pasta. I can't link to it on my phone but here's the web address. It was delightful and I'm excited to make it again. http://damndelicious.net/2015/03/13/garlic-butter-shrimp-pasta/

We ate the whole thing and the kids were literally giddy about it. They love shrimp and I never cook with it because I hate raw meat, especially with seafood. But costco's cooked, frozen shrimp made all our dreams come true. I actually followed the recipe too!  Except for using slightly less butter, frozen cooked shrimp instead of raw fresh shrimp, and spinach instead of arugula. I served it with a huge bowl of fresh peaches and called it dinner. The first time I make any new fish, it's a huge stretch for me to think about doing any sides or extras, so peaches it was. Anyway, I highly recommend this recipe and I'm excited to try it with chicken sometime too. 

Elizabeth walked with her little walker toy for the first time today. I know she probably could have started it a while ago but I just didn't get around to it til tonight. She's good at it but isn't in love with it. Maybe that'll come with time. I just keep thinking of the hours and hours I spent with Abigail and her walker in our tiny Stanford apartment and how I was wishing for more floor space because I had to turn it around every six feet. Now I have all the space in the world and a baby content to stay a baby. ; ) 

Speaking of that. I think we may be done nursing. I had her to once a day when we were most recently in Atlanta and then every other night for a week after we got back and then I actually didn't nurse her for several days until I made a conscious effort to nurse her this evening after dinner. I emotionally prepared myself that it was probably the last time for us. This is when I start to get crazy wishing for a new baby to nurse. It's okay though. We had it good but it's just time. Now I just need to start being better at remembering to give her milk during the day... I'm terrible at that. 

So, Abigail is still living school. We're in a good routine after school of going through her schoolwork together (and any papers sent home) and finishing any that didn't get done (it's not required but I know she can use the extra practice) and putting away shoes and lunchbox and backpack. School gets out at 4 and today we were done by 4:30. I'm crossing all my fingers and toes that we can keep it up. Abigail is thrilled that tomorrow is Saturday and "I can do whatever I want the whole day!" She's a fun kid. She's also acting more grown up and I'm loving that. She's rising to challenges. Like tonight she cleaned up toys and messes and cleared off the kitchen table and set the table for dinner and loved that she was doing it all. 

Brady is still so sweet and cuddly to me and to Elizabeth although I've been having to give him more frequent reminders that his love is a bit too aggressive for Elizabeth. It's hard for him but he's learning. He loves reading books with me. Why he doesn't care about story time at the library, I'm not sure... But one on one, we read until I fall asleep or tell him I have other things to do. Tonight his last request was "mom, will you read to me when we wake up in the morning?"  I'm so excited for it. Especially since I have Chris to take care of the other kids for me. Just kidding. I know Abigail will be right by my side too. Those kids and reading. I think they love it as much or even more than I do. 

And dearest little Elizabeth. She's so sweet. She's started to wiggle to get out of my arms! She did it at Walmart today  but I wouldn't put her down and she got so upset about it! She's growing up. Every so slowly. ; ) She still loves eating with her whole heart and really likes more everything, especially cherry tomatoes lately, but not really carrots. I had to hide those in her bites of oatmeal this morning. ; ) She goes to sleep great at night. Will sometimes just fuss for a minute but has stopped by the time I shut her door. And she sleeps all night. Last night Brady ended up in my bed twice (he's so sneaky that he purposely doesn't wake me up... He just slides in next to me and I don't even know it until I'm rolling over on him), but my girls... They're OUT. 

So, that's the report for today. I'm excited for this weekend. 

Knock on wood

I'll give credit to full day first grade even though I really don't know for sure, but for some reason, we're having a good streak if getting along and not screaming at each other all day. Morning time before school is going so well. We're never rushed or late and this morning we were so early that we had to wait in the car for several minutes before Abigail could officially get out and go to school. And our afternoons are going better. 4:00 is such an easier time than 12:10 was for getting out of school and coming home. Getting home at 12:20 when everyone was hungry and tired was always so hard. Every single time. 4:00 is so much easier since Elizabeth and Brady aren't needing anything and I can just focus on Abigail and helping her unload her backpack and get her things done as she's getting home from school.

Also, less downtime means less needed which means less cleaning up and less nagging and yelling. Even though we didn't have time for it really, I took the kids to the library tonight from 6-7:15. It was so fun picking stuff out and we ran into Abigail's classmate Riley and her mom Robyn and it was fun to meet them. We checked out 50 things which put me in a good mood. It's like every visit to the library is a shopping spree. I can't help it. It's gonna be hard for the three weeks when our library is closed as they nice everything to the new building. I'm excited for it but also so sad to say goodbye to our current library. So many memories there. I mean, it's been a second home since before Abigail was one. I hope our new library is just as good to us. We'll probably go to the castle rock library a time or two while ours is closed but we won't be able to just make impromptu visits like tonight. And it'll be getting cold by the end of September so we'll be getting out a bit less. This is the time of year when I'm excited for fall and I'm loving Abigail in first grade and it couldn't be going better and everything is great, but it just increases my already heightened sense of nostalgia for, well, everything. 

Anyway, this afternoon was wonderful. Helping Abigail with practice homework, the kids playing with neighbor friends, and our trip the library. And that honey was home by the time we got back so he could help with getting kids fed and to bed. 

The weather was windier and cooler and almost crisp. 

Also, how did brady grow up so fast?! He looks like he's Abigail's age half the time. 

My baseball player

My lovefest for Brady continues. He is so fun and sweet and mature. He throws away or recycles everything I ask him to. He says thank you all day long ("mom, I like saying thank you... For everything"). He snuggles with me and is always asking me to play with him. He always keeps me laughing. 

Yesterday, we were in the car and talking about something completely unrelated when Brady asks out of the blue "mom, tomorrow, can I help you clean the basement? But you can tell me what to do because I don't know what to do. You can tell me what to do and I'll do it."  

Today he was going potty while I was changing Elizabeth's diaper. From the bathroom, I hear the most excited "mom! I pooped a candy cane!!!" I laughed out loud. He is so endearing.

He's back to sleeping in Abigail's nightgowns because "I just want to look like Abigail."  Christopher doesn't love this but I have to remind him that Brady is surrounded by his little sister, big sister, and mother all day long. It's only natural for a little sibling to want to be like their big sibling. Don't worry, we still encourage him to dress in boy pjs... but it's not something I'm going to have him cry over so we let it go. 

He's been extra into soccer and baseball this past week. Yesterday I found a pair of hand me down shoes in his closet that he's never worn. I don't really put my kids in sneakers and looking at these, I thought I should just pass them along because we likely won't have a need for them before he grows out of them. Taking them down to my giveaway pile in the basement, Brady was all "can I try in those shoes?!"  Of course they fit him and he loved them. "Thank you for my soccer shoes mom!"  And that was history. They're his soccer shoes and he wears them to play soccer because he's a real soccer player. 

Also yesterday, something came up about baseball clothes or something and he put on his baseball jersey. I got this bright idea to get his old pair of black sweat pants and pull them up to his knees and pair them with tall socks and his "soccer shoes."  The baseball uniform was born. Brady was pessimistic about it while I was dressing him but oh you should have seen his face when he walked in my bathroom and saw his reflection in the mirror. He was soooo excited. So of course this morning he had to get in full baseball gear for us to play baseball together in the front yard. But he was shy about it (I think) because he hid behind my lawn chair when he saw our neighbor's next door and told me he didn't want me to tell them we were playing baseball. This kid is just so tender and precious. I love him so much. 

So so so so so so much. 

Eating toast

8.11.16, 9:11am

"Mom, will you sit next to me? I want to snuggle with you."

I think he's a pretty nice kid most all of the time, but one-on-one, this kid is pure gold. 

Full day first grade

This full day school thing is super great so far. All three days of it. Abigail enjoys it, I have so much time in the day without having to be home by noon to pick her up, the two kid time and one on one time with Brady is amazing, and Abigail isn't bored when she gets home because there's less time to kill before bed. 

I was still in Georgia on Monday, so Tuesday was my first day with Abigail in school all day. Brady was so insanely polite and adorable and funny. It didn't feel like parenting, just hanging out. We read books a bit in bed until Elizabeth woke up and then Brady started asking to go to the pool. So away we went! 

We were almost the only people at the pool and then when those people left, we actually were the only ones because there's no lifeguard on duty until after school gets out. But luckily, my friend Janel had texted me just a bit earlier saying that she was headed to the pool at one and would I like to come. I texted back "perfect! We're already here! See you soon!"  That's called good timing. Little did I know that Janel also invited Sarah and Shannon. And Sarah had also invited Laura, so really, it just turned into a big party and I didn't even have to worry about leaving to get abigail from school or anything. We stayed til 3 or something and still had time to put Elizabeth down for nap and Brady and me to take a shower before it was time to get abigail. 

This morning, I dropped Abigail at school and then got the kids ready and went through the drive through at chick fil a for our "free breakfast entree every Wednesday in August" thing. It was a chicken biscuit this time and we got three. We ran to sprouts super fast for double ad Wednesday and to use the $5 off coupon that was set to expire and I got sooooo much produce for only $30. We've already eaten several pounds of grapes. They're delish. 

Also, Elizabeth reached a super awesome milestone that she can eat whole grapes now! I used to bite them in half and eat part and give her the rest. Or I'd get a large grape and let her take bites. Today I just watched her take bites to feed herself several grapes and felt comfortable enough with just tossing them on her tray. But then the kids started putting whole grapes in her mouth and she was 100% competent so I realized that maybe I need to not baby her so much. She's good as gold. Also, she eats so much. 

So after sprouts, we hurried home and Syndee and YeunNam got here while I was unloading groceries. I got the kids set up eating in the kitchen and we started our vt meeting in Chris's office. After they finished eating, I put a show on for Brady and just let Elizabeth crawl around and wander. It all went really well for a two hour meeting. 

I got Elizabeth down for a nap around one and soon after, Brady and I cuddled in my bed to read books. I set two alarms to make sure I woke up in time to get Abigail. And I was already dressed cute and had makeup and hair curled. I was feeling accomplished. 

And then I was humbled. I woke up to my phone ringing but didn't get it in time. A minute later, Chris called me all "where are you?!" I'd briefly looked at my watch but assumed it was 3:15, not really seeing the hour. I knew I fell asleep by 2:30 and I knew it couldn't be after 4 because my alarms hadn't gone off. So I told him I was at home and why was he asking "the school is calling wondering what to do with Abigail."  What? Why?  "Because school is out and she needs to be picked up."  WHAT?!?! Yikes. Thank goodness it's so close because we were there within minutes. But still ugh. I had everything all planned out! I did eventually figure out why my alarms hadn't woken me up. When I set my alarms, I always just go with the default sound and never check it. This time, somehow the default sound was set to "none" so the alarm showed up on my phone screen but was completely silent. Ugh. Anyway, the lady at school that brought Abigail out was super happy and bubbly and wouldn't even listen to my apologies because she was all "no problem!" about it. And I'm glad Abigail didn't care at all. Whew! 

The rest of the afternoon was just trying to survive stuff. Abigail's attitude, Abigail and Brady not getting along, trying to keep everything running smoothly when dishes are piling up and the floor is covered in crumbs... Y'know. Life. 

Aside from sleeping through Abigail'a pick up time, it was a good day. I really am loving full day school right now. I think I love very most though that 4:00 is so much of an easier pickup time than 12:10 when I'm rushing to get grumpy kids fed and a tired baby down for nap.

I love that abigail is loving school. She likes going all day and enjoys her classmates and her teacher and everything about full day first grade. I know she doesn't like anything academic (even whines about reading pinkalicious reading books) but she's somehow taking delight in it anyway. 

I'm ridiculously tired so I'm off to bed. I've got a looooong list of stuff to tackle tomorrow. 

Granny's weekend

Wednesday morning we went to the pool with Charees. That was fun. It feels like it been forever since we've gone to the pool together because she was out of town in June and I was gone for July. 

We're loving our new neighbors. Their boys are almost 3 and almost 4 and their daughter is almost 7. Perfect. And their super friendly which is the polar opposite of our last neighbor's who I actually never even met and I never even learned their names. They were polite but completely antisocial. But these new neighbor's... We talked and exchanged numbers the first moment I met the wife and her daughter and I think I went in their house every day after that and was even hanging out in their basement (with several other neighbor's too... It felt like a block party) minutes before we left for the airport this time. Abigail has declared Thalia her best friend and Brady promptly spoke up that Thalia was his best friend too. Ha. It's all going swimmingly well... I have high hopes for our future together. 

Thursday morning I was just doing laundry and packing and stuff. I called Abigail's school at 1:30 or so to find out how much the back to school supply kit was and details of how to order one because even though they're a rip off, I just had been so busy and didn't want to drag three kids to the store for that crap. Well, turns out, they decided not to offer it this year. Of course. So I went to Thalia's house to pick up Abigail to take all the kids to Walmart to buy school supplies but the wife's mom was there and was all "just let Abigail stay and play! The girls are having a great time!" So the mom and I exchanged numbers and are BFF now too. She loves my kids and adores Brady and that he's so scrawny. Ha. 

Two hours later and I was unpacking school supplies and watching the girls and Brady play while Elizabeth napped. Brady fell asleep on my bedroom floor at 3:50 while he was watching me pack and Chris got home at 4 and was all "when should we go to back to school night?!" Ha. So we woke Brady up at 5 or something and our big happy family went to meet Abigail's teacher and see her classroom. I really like her teacher. She is young and bubbly. Brand new to the school and just got married in June. Getting home, we decided to go on a family walk and Abigail invited Thalia and then Thalia's mom and dog came too. Ha. Not what we'd planned but still fun. And after we got home, all the neighbor's were out and it was just fun hanging out with everyone. And then we all ended up in my neighbor's basement because all the kids were excited to see the balance beam. 

We left for the airport sometime after 9 I think. My flight left at midnight. Elizabeth fell asleep right as we took off and didn't wake up until after we'd gotten off the plane. I left her in my wrap the whole time and just let her hang her upper body out. I think that really helped because she acted more like she was buckled in and it kept her from really wanting to explore. But even not contained, it is just her personality to be content hanging out on my lap. Also, I found it humorous that she was seriously perfectly behaved and not a single person complimented her because normally people are so vocal. Maybe because we landed at 2:30am Denver time. It didn't matter, it was just unique. 

Em picked us up and we headed straight to the farm. We stopped at chick fil a for breakfast (for us) and one other time for nursing (for the babes) and it was a great drive. I love looking at all the homes. Even the mobile homes and run down homes and old and new homes and small and big homes. Alllll of them. I love them all. Everything is so pretty and non cookie cutter. It's definitely not Parker. 

We brought our stuff in, did light cleaning, mom and Liza came, and we all put on Sunday clothes (I had my own clothes but I chose one of my favorites of grandmother's dresses and wore that instead) and headed to the funeral home to dress grandmother's body. I'm so grateful that I could be a part of it. I know it's just her body and not truly her, but I loved the time with grandmother. Her petite little figure and beautiful soft hair. Mom, Liza, Em, Harriet, and I dressed her and did her makeup while Nathan, Clara, Collin, and Elizabeth roamed and played. When we'd walked in, I didn't think it looked like her, but by the time we left, she was precious clothed in her full temple outfit. My favorite part was probably fixing her little curls over her ears. It's like I do with my own Elizabeth. 

We ordered a Hawaiian pizza from the buzzery and picked it up on the way home. It was delicious. Dad and Jeff and Skye and will arrived shortly after we did. We spent much of the evening cleaning and decluttering and preparing for the funeral and family dinner afterwards. Walter and bekah and the boys arrived after 10pm. 

Saturday morning was busy. I'd asked mom to wake me up but I think she got busy and forgot because I woke on my own around 9:30. Panic. There was so much to do. Have no fear, it all got done. Dad helped me work on the eulogy while I did my makeup and held Elizabeth. We left by noon and worked on it more while Em drove us to the church building. I was typing on the laptop on the console while buckled in the back between two large car seats. Dad was thoroughly amused. We kept coming up with just so many things we wanted to say. It was hard to limit it and to say things in a cool and collected way instead of my natural tendency to just gush and repeat. 

The viewing was nice. The granny slideshow was great and everyone present was so kind and good to talk to. Dad offered the family prayer in the relief society room. I kept Elizabeth with me during the funeral service instead of in the nursery. For some reason I just wanted her to be there. With me. And at the service. Weed had been texting me just shortly before. Said she had been praying for me and I asked her to pray specifically that I would be able to feel peace and be composed while I did my part with the eulogy. She is such a wonderful friend. I loved loved loved Walters remarks. The stories and commentary were all so funny and endearing. When I first agreed to do the eulogy, the only thing that would come to my mind was granny saying "Yoohoo!" and somehow I completely forgot about it until Walter ended his remarks and mentioned it and said that he's sure on July 27th, papa was just hanging out with his thoughts when he was interrupted with a "Yoo-hoo! Clyde!" That makes me want to smile and cry and smile some more. So precious. The general themes of the funeral service were granny being a good shot and loving her guns, the huge number of snakes she's killed with garden tools or guns  (and turtles she's beheaded with small knives), and that her reputation precedes her and she's a force to be reckoned with. Everything was spot on. After Walter spoke, granny's home teacher spoke, and then the bishop. They spoke along the same lines we did and also focused on her rock solid testimony. We sang because I have been given much and be still my soul was the musical number sang by three women in the ward. The whole service was great. The graveside part was also nice. The weather held out for us. Partly cloudy and a light breeze. The family dinner at our house was wonderful. Publix fried chicken and slaw and Lima beans and white acre peas (is that their name?) and Mac and cheese and cheesy potatoes and spiral ham and all things southern and delicious. People are so kind. 

Most people left by 7:30 I think and we all hung out a bit. Walter and bekah went to the store to get some groceries and black jack cherry ice cream because it was granny's favorite (they were out) and the fixings to make milky way ice cream. We watched the olympics some before going to bed around midnight. Most everyone had trickled away earlier except for Walter and me. We got to brush our teeth together like old times. ; ) I think I went to bed close to 2. 

I made sure to have mom wake me up  at 7:30 (I can't set my alarm because then it'll wake Elizabeth up too) so I would have plenty of time to get ready. Elizabeth had been awake during the night and had a hard time falling asleep again so she slept the second half of the night in bed with me. So when I woke up, I was able to quietly dress and get ready in my room while I kept an eye on her in my bed and then was able to wake her up and get her dressed and fed. Emmy and Collin were running slightly later so we actually had even more time. And then of course Elizabeth pooped in the car on the way to church so actually I ended up being at least 30 minutes late for sacrament meeting. And she pooped again at the end so I was also late for Sunday school. The relief society lesson was great on being a shepherd to other sisters in our ward. I loved it. 

After church we made ham and cheese sliders with our leftovers and took a family picture out front (minus Elizabeth because she fell asleep on the way home from church and transferred to her pack n play which means that she must have been exhausted and I didn't want to wake her). Sunday evening we hung out outside a bit pulling babes on the wagon a bit and then that night, the adults and Collin and Elizabeth hung out and watched granny's slideshow (while Collin and Elizabeth actually fell asleep) and it was the greatest. Commenting on all the pictures and granny and her clothes and activities and things that were just so her. I have no idea how I have such attractive grandparents. I think their younger pictures are so cute and you can tell they were really good looking, but they got even so much more attractive as they aged. I could seriously look at their faces all day long. It's crazy how beautiful they are. 

And today was good. Thankfully Emmy woke me up because mom never did. We all got to work with stuff. Em and mom did yard work. Liza and I searched every drawer, closet, and cabinet for every sheet, towel, and pillowcase in the house so that we could sort and organize everything. The towels got all done. Mom still has to continue working on the sheets next time she goes down, but it was productive. We worked and packed up and left around 4. We visited the cemetery on our way through quitman. When we pulled up, I immediately was cheered by the two piles of fresh dirt next to one another. I've always predicted and hoped that granny and papa would go within just months of each other and I'm so happy it came true. 

The drive up was good, we stopped for gas and chick fil a was all and got to the airport perfectly at 8:45 for my 10:15 flight. Everything was easy and went well. Elizabeth slept for the last hour and a half of the flight. She was good and simple. When I landed I texted Chris. His response. "Sorry, I just woke up."  Ha, so I guess we'll have an even layer night than anticipated since we'll be waiting a while. I'm just thankful he's always so willing for me to visit Georgia and do my airport runs. He's the sweetest. I'm excited to see the kids and nervous about getting into real life. School and a first grader and living in my own house? I have a feeling this'll seem weird for at least a few days. ; )

I'm back in Colorado! 

Afterthought

It's sad, but this little blog of mine has quickly become an afterthought. I'm hoping that when school gets into full swing (it hasn't started yet), then I can get back to some normal schedule with my life and maybe even find time to blog again! I mean, Abigail will be in full day first grade so I'll have more time to myself than what I've had in a long time. 

We got back from Utah on Saturday and I've just been busy unpacking and doing laundry and putting stuff away since then. Right now I just have a mess on my kitchen counter of Abigail's piles of drawing/coloring stuff. She's obsessed with coloring and insists on saving all of her masterpieces to hand out to her friends. Today we all piled in the car to drop off her works of art to several friends in the ward and neighborhood. She had 31 things she wanted to hand out so I had her choose six friends and they each got five things. But even after that, my kitchen counter is full. She is definitely the creative, free spirited, artistic type. 

I leave Thursday night with Elizabeth on a red eye to Atlanta. Grandmother's funeral is Saturday. I was missing her so much this weekend, but Sunday afternoon I had an epic 3.5 hour nap (I could NOT wake up... I've been getting so much sleep since I got home but have been so insanely exhausted. Like my body is catching up from a month of only getting 5 hours of sleep a night) and at the end of it was dreaming that granny was alive and well and was just hanging out at an assisted living place and loving life and I remember I went to help her get up or situate her shirt or something and that she was just fine. I also remember something like "people are going to ask about how she's alive now when she's been gone for three days" and thinking about how her return was only temporary. I'm not going to pretend to interpret anything from it, but I will say that my dreams are frequently very real feeling and this was no exception. That dream has given me such a feeling of comfort and security and has taken away the loneliness I had been feeling. Just spending that bit of time in my dream with granny. And that her body was whole and without pain. That I was there for her and she let me help her but she didn't actually need me. I woke up feeling like she was still alive and with me. And I still feel that way. I felt like she was visiting me for a time and I just cross my fingers that I'll be privileged like that again.  

Brady has been taking naps again. He just starts to get super cuddly around 1:30 or so and I have him lay down and then he's just out. It makes it harder for him to go to a keep at night but right now that's worth it because he is a whiny beast when he's tired and he's just a really cool kid when he's feeling okay. Also, when Abigail is playing at Presley's and Brady and Elizabeth are both napping, I have a bit of time to myself and I can feel my sanity beginning to creep back into my life. ; ) 

We went to Texas Roadhouse tonight at my request. I was really missing that place. 

The kids and I all showered tonight. Great since we're planning on going to the pool in the morning. Somehow that always happens. 

Abigail has back to school night on Thursday and starts school on Monday. Summer was way too short. I feel like it just started. I also feel like it should be at least three months. Also, after Brady begging to go to school all of last year, he's been telling me lately that he would prefer to stay home with Elizabeth and me. There's still time for him to decide, but he's seeking pretty firm about it. I wonder if he'll change his mind when he sees Abigail start school. Part of me wonders if he wanted to go to school last year because he was bored at home but now he doesn't want to go to school because he realizes that he has Elizabeth at home to play with. Brady and Elizabeth really love each other. 

K. I'm off to sleep. Honey and I made a goal a few days ago to be in bed by 9:30 each night. We haven't exactly been succeeding, but we're doing pretty well with it. Except now I just need to work on the going to sleep part of it. 

I hope I have some good dreams tonight. Maybe granny can come visit me again. 

Ps- I transplanted this decorative grass last year the weekend of Elizabeth's baby blessing and it looked great for a few days until it died. But I kept it there, dead, all winter because it blended in with everything else that was dead. But this summer, everything turned green and it was obvious again that my ornamental grass was dead. I've been meaning to pull it out but haven't because I don't have anything to put in its place. Well, tonight I went over to check on it and imagine my surprise that it has started to grow around the dead! Mother, are you as shoved as I am?! I'm so excited. 

That's a result of patience. But mostly laziness. ; ) I've always considered myself a luckier than average person and this plant growing is just one of those little things that reminds me of that. Keep growing little grass!