Saturday

Every once in awhile, there's a perfect Saturday.

I love the weekend, and usually they are packed with fun events with family and friends.  The weekends fill up fast and I look forward to them.  Weekends are our time with Daddy, our time for adventures, for going out and doing fun and exciting things.  Parties, family events, playdates, camping, trips, etc.  And it's such a blast.  And at the end of such a weekend, there are mountains of laundry, a haphazard trail of projects/paperwork/stuff, and worn out but happy kids.  But every once in awhile, you just need a "day off" kind of Saturday.  An extra day in the week to rest, get stuff done and spontaneously play with your kids. 

Friday evening kicked off the weekend with a juggle.  The original plan fell through and we decided to take the girls to the movies instead.  "The Croods" was playing in town and we managed to rush through the end of dinner, pile into the car and make it just in time.  We bought our tickets and moved onto the concessions counter for one of my husband's few weaknesses--popcorn.  Tonight we also bought Red Vines, at Butterfly's plea and promise to earn then by helping me clean the floors the next day.  We settled into our seats.  Butterfly, Daddy, Ladybug and then me in the aisle seat, with Lovely on my lap.  Lovely did great for the first half hour, happily munching on buttery kernels and then sneaking m&ms from my bag.  But she grew restless and eventually moved to the floor.  We tried to contain her into the seats between Daddy and me but she slipped away repeatedly.  Finally we relented and let her settle onto the floor in the aisle next to me.  This worked our perfectly.  She happily cleaned the nearby vents with a baby wipe, tried on my shoes several times and played with toys from my bag.  She wandered occasionally, never more than a few chairs away and so quietly that she never disturbed anyone.  It was actually pretty cute to see her eyes fixate in curiosity and her wander around to investigate.  Meanwhile, Ladybug and Butterfly hardly moved, captivated by the movie and clutching Daddy's arms through the final scenes.  Cute movie, fantastic family date.

Saturday morning we slept in.  (at least as much as Lovely lets us, about 8:30)  We had a leisurely breakfast and played for awhile before Daddy left to take care of some errands.  The girls and I also left for errands and went grocery shopping.  Our local grocery store was having a "demo day" and the larger aisles were full of booths offering samples of new items to try.  We browsed, snacking along the way and picking up lunch.  Eventually, we went home and got to work on our self-appointed chores, cleaning the kitchen, sweeping and mopping the floor and cleaning bathrooms.  We worked hard, taking a break for nap/quiet time and settled in for a movie cuddle.  Afterwards, we went back to work and my little helpers were amazingly diligent and productive.  We rewarded ourselves with lounging in the sunshine.  Or at least, I lounged.  They rode bikes, climbed the trees, played on the swings and chased the cats.  Daddy came home and we helped him mow the lawn.  Grandma and Grandpa have a huge yard and riding lawn mower than looks more like a four wheeler.  So the girls went for short rides on his lap, up and down the even rows.  Then they helped me rake together the grass clippings and carry them by bucket to the horses who happily received the plentiful snack.  We had a quick dinner and then went for a family bike ride.  Butterfly and I were a team, riding side by side while Daddy towed the bike trailer with Ladybug and Lovely as his passengers.  Our progress up the hill was slow but I was so proud of how hard she worked.  We rode to an ice cream parlor and treated the girls to cones as we sat outside on the steps.  We rode home, splashed through bathtime and the girls settled quickly into bed.  I puttered while Daddy worked on his truck for a few hours and eventually sleep claimed us too.

And Sunday was another wonderful day.  We overslept, readied for church, loaded into the car and then realized how late we were and decided to drive around for awhile instead of walking in halfway through sacrament meeting.  We drove some of the beautiful mountain roads nearby to admire the scenery before making our way back to church for classes.  After lunch, Lovely napped while we watched "Aslan" (the Chronicles of Narnia) with our big girls and then went for a long drive around the valley.  We drove through new developments and up more mountain roads.  We drove past our new lot to admire the freshly dug hole (hurray! work has begun!) and wandered home for a wonderful Sunday dinner with Grandma and Grandpa.  After dinner, we played outside.  Grandpa had arranged for a friend to visit so they could play guitar together and as the music began to float across the neighborhood, a few more friends began to gather.  The lawn became an impromptu concert with the kids playing to the side.  We finished off the evening with hot chocolate and dessert and bedtime routine with the girls.

quote of the day

The girls got ready for bed, we read stories, said prayers and then they reluctantly settled into their beds.  I kissed them good night, turned out the lights and then took a seat in the arm chair at the foot of their bed.  I do this often, otherwise they pester each other and get wound up.  But with me sitting there, standing guard, they quietly and quickly give in to sleep.  But tonight, the room had been dark for a several minutes and I could tell the girls were still restless.  A little longer.  And then finally, "mom?" (from my little Butterfly) "Is Dad home yet?"
"Sorry honey, not yet.  Let's go to sleep okay?"
"When he comes home will he come give us hugs and kisses?"
"Yeah, I'll ask him to do that."
"You promise?"
"Yes honey, go to sleep."
"what if we're sleeping? does he still kiss us if we are sleeping?"
(If only you knew how much!) "I promise I will ask him to come in for kisses, even if you are sleeping."
"okay mom, thanks.  don't shut the door all the way okay?  then he can come in."
and within minutes, she was asleep.  Such sweet hopefulness makes me melt.

kid land

It was such an adorable moment.  Lovely was standing by the barn door, cheering and pleading, "peas?! peas?! (please) good girl!"  Her two big sisters were pulling and maneuvering to free Lovely's Little Tykes Coupe from it's parking spot and pull it onto the driveway.  As they worked the sang, "What's gonna work? Teamwork!" (from the show, Wonderpets).

The driveway has been renamed "Kid Land".  It was originally "Bike Land" but then Butterfly reasoned that she can't call it Bike Land when she's riding her scooter.  So now it's "Kid Land" and my three wonderful little girls have spent every warm afternoon outside, riding bikes, driving scooters, swinging on the swings and running up and down the driveway as they play together in the sunshine.  Especially little Lovely begs, "outside? outside?" pulling at her jacket hanging on the hook and begging for her "choose" (shoes).  She's especially adorable on the swings, giggling out loud as she sails high and fast.  Butterfly's favorite activity is her scooter (and picking dandelions for me) and Ladybug bounces around from one activity to the next.  She loves her tricycle, then rides her scooter, then swings, then balances on the rocks, plays with the cats and "fights the bad guys".

I love the sunshine.  I love these kids.  so happy spring is here.

another fun weekend

Daddy was gone the whole week.  It was a long week.  Not bad, just long.  We went to preschool, went to the gym, had playdates with friends, etc.  One evening we went shopping with grandma.  Another evening we had a girls' night movie night.  And we frequently bounced off the walls like small crazy people cooped up by cold weather.

But then Friday came.  and the girls awoke, stumbled sleepily to my room, rubbing their eyes.  They saw Daddy, who had slipped in during the night, and immediately shrieked, running to him for cuddled and loves.  Butterfly insisted on helping to make breakfast for Daddy (our favorite, pancakes with nutella, bananas and strawberries) and eventually they let him go to work for a few hours.  But he made it a short day and came home to play with us again.  We went for a drive, ran a few errands and rescued their bikes from the storage unit.  We played and cuddled and life is glorious with Daddy home again.

On Saturday, Daddy attended a training/planning meeting for some upcoming scout stuff.  So the girls and had our usual run to the gym, play time and lunchtime.  When Daddy came home we packed and loaded the girls up for a ride.  We stopped at a few stores along the way and made our way north towards my mom's house.  We stopped for dinner, at a sushi place we found on google maps.  It didn't look promising, located in a strip mall in a run down part of town.  But inside, it was beautiful, clean, inviting and classy.  What a great find!  The food was fantastic, our servers were great and especially patient and understanding with our three little ones.  But the best part was the fish-carrot.  We ordered the sesame chicken (along with our sushi rolls) and were very surprised at the beautiful presentation that included a carrot, standing on one end and intricately carved into a fish dancing on it's tail.  Butterfly went nuts over it and ended up eating the whole thing herself after much admiration.

We finished off the day at a McDonald's playplace to run off some energy and treat the girls to ice cream cones.  Butterfly and Ladybug ran off, with Lovely trailing behind them.  But she bravely followed them all the way to the top of the playplace and then called down to us, over and over.  The big girls raced down the slide, leaving her alone.  Before I could fetch her (as I always have too), I heard her come tumbling down the tall twisty slide.  Probably on accident, she came out on her back, head first and very upset.  Poor kid! But so proud of her first time alone on the tall twisty slide.  And then the best part was when Butterfly and Ladybug had to go in a little bubble at the very top of the playplace.  They declared this to be their spaceship, which they used to go to Costco for me and buy milk, chocolate muffins and spinach.  Husband used this evidence to declare our apparent arrival to yuppie-hood.  The came down the slide, bringing me my groceries, and then made several trips back up to retrieve the next item on the list.

We spent the night at my mom's house, much to the girls' delight because they got to spent the whole day with their cousins who were also visiting.  We played through breakfast, attended church and then played some more.  Butterfly, as usual, disappeared immediately with a cousin a few years older into their own little world of princesses, tea parties and heroines.  Ladybug played more leisurely  bouncing from one cousin to the next, playing with the castle, reading books or playing hide and seek.  And Lovely ran nonstop, cuddling and playing and bouncing from one activity to the next.  She especially loves the lego table and just-her-size shopping cart.  We watched movies, made a huge mess and played all day until it was time to go.

as we drove home, Husband and I tried to go over our calendar, reconciling the many dates and fun plans that keep popping onto the calendar.  Summer fills up so fast!  looking forward to so many fun things...

Quote of the day

My favorite thing that Lovely says (and quite often) is how she encourages and compliments her older sisters, "good girl!"

milestones

A little late, but our latest milestones post...

Butterfly: age 5 (and recently decided she wants to be a music and ballet teacher when she grows up)
Stats:45 lb 12 oz (82%), 46.1 inches (97%)
favorite color: pink
favorite foods: pizza, fish, stuffed mushrooms, nutella, chocolate, apples
favorite shows: Princess Diaries, Beauty and the Beast, Charlotte's Webb, Matilda, Strawberry Shortcake, My Little Pony
favorite activities: ballet, tea party, drawing, coloring, helping me cook, reading
favorite toys: Barbie, her baby doll, puzzles, her books, play kitchen, the Little People princess castle
new achievements:
--we've started reading chapter books at night.  I think I enjoy it as much as she does.
--so proud of her newly pierced ears and taking good care of them
--insists on picking out her own clothes
--draws beautiful pictures, I'm so impressed with how they've become so realistic and detailed.
--no longer napping. so she usually waits obediently in her bed quietly the required 20 minutes and then gets to quietly watch a movie

Ladybug: age 3.5
Stats: 37 pounds, 42.5 inches tall (she didn't have a check up but we measured her for fun)
favorite color: purple
favorite foods: ramen noodles, hard boiled eggs, apples, popcorn.  the only kid without a killer sweet tooth
favorite shows: Curious George, Princess and the Frog, Shrek, Dragon, Tangled, Aslan (the Chronicles of Narnia), Jungle Book, TinkerBell, Mickey
favorite activities: coloring, playing pretend by herself (what an imagination!), tea party, paint baths
favorite toys: her cupcake game, her Pascal stuffed animal (she always has to proudly declare it was from her auntie), doctor kit, play tool bench, animal figurines, soccer ball
new achievements:
--can write her own name
--is always the kid to remind us about brushing our teeth when we forget
--coloring in the lines so well!
--Yellow and Panda stay at home now.  This seems like a big step for us.  She insists on them at night but rarely even asks to take them anywhere now.
--no longer napping.  much to my dismay.  Without a nap, she's tired and cranky by 7:00 but if she naps, she's full of energy (and often belligerence or mischief) until midnight.  So just recently we've begun doing quiet time in her room (she usually plays and needs a few reminders) until she can quietly watch a movie (which usually also needs a few reminders to stay on the couch).

Lovely: age 1.5
Stats: 27 lb 9 oz (93rd percentile), 33.1 inches (81st percentile)
favorite color: too young to have told us but she loves animal prints!
favorite foods: fruit snacks, marshmallows, grapes, bananas (as long as she can hold it herself), pancakes
favorite shows: starting to watch tv/movies, Winnie the Pooh and Mickey
favorite activities: following and imitating sisters, playing outside, swings at the park (love the outloud giggle when she swings), cuddling mom, dancing (usually bouncing at her knees or twirling)
favorite toys: her baby doll, her mini books, her animals (she has a lion, tiger and unicorn and sleeps with at least one under each arm every night), lego blocks, the Little People princess castle
new achievements:
--using utensils at the table
--loves to wash her hands
--speaking more clearly (my favorites are "beebee" = binky, "babull" = bottle, "bane key" = blanket, "malk" = milk, "snacks!" = fruit snacks, "peas" = please, more, thank you, mama, daddy, grandma, papa, hi, bye, horsies, outside, go, up, down, bed, nigh night)
--perfect little kisses and tight hugs around the neck
--she still has her binky at night/naptime but I'm hoping to wean her off both bottle and binky soon
--she's so friendly and no one can resist her beaming "hi!" said so directly and proudly with a happy, beaming wave
--sleeps sounds for nearly 12 hours at night and takes a 1.5 hour nap every day.  She goes to bed without a fuss, such a sweetheart.

conference weekend

I love conference weekend!  sadly, not in a dedicated sit-studiously-and-listen kind of way but in the way that I know we will get to see family and friends and its something special.  Even if we don't studiously listen to every session, there is a particular feeling to conference weekend.  And snow.  Always snow during spring conference.

Friday night, husband and I planned to go dancing.  But as we drove to our friends' house to drop the kids off, we remembered it was spring break and class was cancelled.  So we stayed and played with friends instead.

Saturday morning, I had kick practice.  (We are getting ready to launch a new release, we do this every three months.  It's all new material, usually introducing new moves and we build it up with kind of a pep-rally spirit to reinvigorate our classes.  But what's special about this launch is that it will be the first launch in which I will be instructing, rather than simply attending in support.  It's not a big deal, I teach twice a week now and would get to teach the new stuff in those classes.  But getting picked to teach at Launch felt like an indication from our team leader that I've improved and can represent us well.)

Saturday afternoon we went to the Treehouse Museum to meet one of my best and long time friends for a playdate.  She's my only college girlfriend/roommate that I still talk to regularly, despite the distance between us now.  She was in town for conference weekend and I was so glad we could get together.  I LOVE and adore her and have missed her so much.  Her three little boys ran around with my three little girls in one of the best kid venues ever created as we followed, chatting and catching up.  And then our wonderful husbands let us go to dinner together, sans children, for some much needed girl time.

We wandered up to my parents house to spend the night.  They were gone, having a fantastic time on a Hawaiian cruise.  So we let ourselves in, raided my dad's chocolate stash and watched Wreck-It-Ralph for the first time (so cute!) before crashing for the night.

Sunday morning, we lounged around for awhile, watching "Rise of the Guardians" (another first time viewing, and again, loved it!) and having some breakfast.  Then we drove to visit the Aunties and spend some time with them, as well as some cousins that were visiting.  We talked and played and eventually we all settled in to watch the last session of conference, followed by a family dinner.  We had listened to parts of the previous sessions, usually on the radio.  But we were able to sit and watch this session.  The girls' favorite part is our "conference cups".  We fill several cups with a variety of snacks and treats.  Each cup is marked with a keyword (Jesus Christ, church, prayers, missionaries, faith, etc.)  The girls have to listen for the word and each time they hear it, get a treat from that cup.  Lovely's favorite part of our visit was chasing after the pet dogs that reside there or had been brought along for the visit.  The two big girls dove eagerly into the toy room for awhile, then ran around outside with some neighborhood friends, talked incessantly to any adult willing to listen and overdosed on conference cups treats.  My favorite part was watching Lovely interact with a cousin just a few months younger than herself.  To me they seemed remarkably alike, showing a family resemblance and similarity in age and development.  They warmed to each other slowly but eventually started to interact and I hope they become good friends.  Her parents are wonderful, talented people and I love that they will have a playmate at family gatherings.

On our way home we stopped at the hospital to visit another cousin from a different side of our large and wonderful family.  Her little girl had been hospitalized with a respiratory infection so we brought some books and snacks, hoping to cheer her up.

And eventually we arrive home late at night,tired and worn out but renewed with the strength of family and ready for another week.

Easter

Daddy was out of town for the week leading up to Easter so we saved most of our celebrations for his return.  We had planned to spend Easter with Grandma and Grandpa, and with some family they had invited to join us.  But a week before Easter, Grandma and Grandpa realized they would be gone, still wrapping up a business trip.  We could have gone to visit my parents but they were gone as well.  (Plus, we would now be hosting the family that was invited to join...who ended up cancelling that morning anyway.)  So it was our first Easter without Grandparents.  And while we missed them, we still had a lot of fun.

On Saturday, I took the girls to a local egg hunt.  Typically I wait for Daddy, not willing to brave public chaos on my own since I have three small crazy children.  But this seemed manageable.  It was a local dessert shop and a relatively small crowd.  After some finangaling, we found our spots to wait (the girls were divided by age into two different hunt zones).  The girls bounced with excitement and eagerly raced off at the signal.  They gathered and were soon settled into he grass to enjoy their loot.  Lovely had chosen one egg and toddled around displaying it proudly.  The big girls had filled the small bags I had given them and then generously shared with some late comers that had missed out on the fun.  They lounged on the grass, munching on candy, enjoying the sunshine and it was a pretty wonderful moment.

Daddy arrived home that night and got to cuddle his girls into bed before helping with final preparations.

The girls had slept in the next morning.  So we postponed Easter surprises, dressing them in their lovely new dresses and raced away to Church.  Husband and I were filling in for Grandma and Grandpa in the nursery so we played with the kids (which includes our own little Lovely) and taught the lesson they had left for us.  After church, the big girls came bouncing out of their own classes with Easter-themed projects they had made, treats from their teachers and eager for the fun they knew must be waiting at home.

First was the baskets.  Butterfly led the way into the playroom and her face lit up at the sight of the three baskets, bursting with surprises.  They sorted through the candy with happy exclamations, the ring pops and small chocolate bunny being their favorites.  Then they discovered the silky, elegant nightgowns hiding in the bottoms of each of their baskets.  My true little princesses fell in love and have insisted on wearing their new nightgowns nearly every night since.

They spent the afternoon decorating Easter eggs with Daddy, drawing and dipping and delighting in their creations.  And then they went on an egg hunt in the yard.  I had planned on more kids but since the cousins had cancelled, my girls got more than enough.  Their baskets were overflowing before we finished and then spent a short, but wonderful time, sitting in the sunshine, opening eggs and playing together.

Our Easter dinner was tasty, with some family favorites and we got to share it with Husband's kid sister.  The girls were excited to see her and it made it feel even more like a special occasion.  After dinner we cuddled through a movie and settled in contently from our wonderful day.

and in other news...

two weeks since the last posting.  that might be a new record.  here's what you missed (in a very short, not going to do it justice, but at least it's something kind of way)

--Easter (see separate post)

--I survived another April Fools Day.  Despite the fact that I tell myself I have a sense of humor, I prefer to dish it out, not to take it.   And my mother in law is the queen of pranks.  Since we are living with her, I knew she would come up with something brilliant.  So I waited for it, and waited, and waited.  It never came.  Maybe she knew I was having a rough couple days and probably wouldn't have been much fun.  Or maybe my wary anticipation was the joke itself.  No pranks came, I declared it march 32rd and we moved on.  With no pranks.  Surprisingly, I was a little sad.

--We also survived ear infections. Cranky, crying, coughing, not sleeping.  But doing much better now.

--It was Spring Break according to the local school district.  Which means no preschool, dance classes or library storytime.  But since we already had our fun trip to California, we stayed home.  Daddy worked, the girls and I played around town and tried to catch up on little projects that had fallen between the cracks.  Cleaning, sorting, etc.

--Fortunately the weather was nice and we played outside as much as possible.  Lovely's very favorite place in the house is standing on a little bench by the window.  She jabbers to "her horsies", pointing and begging to go outside.  When she feels especially insistent, she will bring me her shoes and jacket or simply hang on the back door pleading.  Once outside, we run in the grass, play games or her favorite, sit on the edge of the hot tub and continue jabbering to the horsies.

--Lovely has perfect posture.  She sits so tall and beautifully.  Graceful and posed and precise.

--I got out the next size of clothing for little miss Lovely.  It's overdue as she's bursting out of her sleepers.  As I began to sort through the pile I was sad!  She's moving from "baby" to "kid" so quickly as made more obvious by the jeans and tshirts that are quickly replacing the cute and sweet layettes.  Even something as simple as tennis shoes seem to add months to her age.

--In my clothes sorting, I also realized Ladybug needs the next box of clothes.  Warmer weather is approaching and her pants are getting too short. Unfortunately, I can't find that box. But then I realized she's so skinny that she can wear the size 2 shorts and skirts that I was finding for Lovely! Our size 2 box is ridiculously plentiful, having had two kids in opposite seasons need them. So Ladybug is getting the shorts and skirts, Lovely gets the onesie sundresses and few layettes, they both have plenty of clothes and strangely enough I have two kids, two years apart sharing the same size.

--We invited long time friends up for a playdate and had a wonderful backyard picnic.  Once upon a time, our husbands were best friends, we were best friends and our first daughters, born six weeks apart were destined to be best friends.  But then we ended up living 1.5 hours apart and playdates have become rare.  So it was particularly wonderful to spend some time with them.  We fed the horses, ran laps around the house and had a blast.

--In the past week, there have been 4 new additions to family and friends.  New babies were born to a friend from work, a friend from high school, a cousin and my brother and his wife.  So exciting!  It must be spring!  Of course I say that teasingly though because if I could pick a month in which to have a baby born, April would be top of the list.  Most fun for us was the birth of my new little niece (especially because we got to be a part of that one).  We got to keep big sister for the night while my brother and his wife were at the hospital.  So we met halfway between our house and theirs for dinner and to play a bit.  We started our party at cafe rio, with little girls ducking under the table, climbing on and off laps, dancing in the corner and occasionally eating their dinners.  Eventually we moved the party to Kneader's, just a few doors down for pastries   The girls were adorable, sharing and trading and smearing their tiny handprints on the mirror above our table.  Soon I had all the girls loading into my car, we sent my brother and his wife off to the hospital and I brought four little girls home.  They got out all their dollies, practiced being good little mommies and settled in for a bedtime movie.  We made a bed for cousin in their room and they all slept well.  In fact the only trouble we had all evening was my two big girls fighting over their cousin.  The next day we went to the hospital, caused ruckus in the waiting room for a few hours and a beautiful, perfect, brand new little cousin was born.  My girls were broken hearted when we learned they weren't allowed to see her (siblings only) and I've promised them a visit soon, once she goes home.  I got to see her through the nursery window and then for just a few minutes at her side in the nursery.  Since she was on oxygen, I didn't get to hold her yet.  But she's incredible, so wonderful in her delicate newborn perfection and pure loveliness.

more adventures coming soon.