tonight

I'm wearing seahorse pajamas and seahorse socks.  (Or as Ellie says, my "Sea Otter Pants!")  I bought the pajamas a few weeks ago, and then at the reunion, one of the sweet little surprises Teresa left for us girls each night was this pair of perfectly matching socks! What a happy coincidence!
I like to wear them together, and I may even wear the socks more than one night in a row before washing them....

I'm also wearing a jacket.  And I may have turned on the heater today. Just a tiny bit.  It was 45 when we woke up this morning, and it didn't get much warmer than that.

But I'm thinking this is a genius idea.  Having a few days of mini-fall in the middle of summer?  So much fun!  We stayed inside, watched the clouds roll past the windows, made homemade play-dough stars until our fingers were crusted with salt, rolled golf balls back and forth across the floor, read books, and took a cozy little mid-day nap.

I'm thinking it would be super fun to always have a mid-season break.  Can you even imagine how much we'd all enjoy three days of summer smack dab in the middle of February?  Pull out the grill and swimming pool for just a few days before getting back into winter?

Tonight, I'm listening to the Andersen Family Reunion Playlist.  Shannon gathered everyone's favorite song from the past year and put them all together.  We listened to these all through the week, when we were playing in the pool, hanging out on the patio, cooking and visiting.  I just can't listen to these songs without grinning.
Our family's contributions?  Kent picked Safe and Sound-Capital Cities. I submitted On Top of the World-Imagine Dragons. Nicholas, of course, chose Radioactive-Imagine Dragons, and Ellie added Whole Wide World-Mindy Gledhill.

I'm smiling as I remember how Nicholas knew the words to almost every song on that playlist, and he'd sing along at the top of his lungs as he paddled around in the pool.

I'm remembering how absolutely gorgeous it was tonight as the sun was setting. I was driving to Walmart, and I had to pull off the road to take a few quick pictures.

These don't do it justice, but across the valley, fresh from today's rain: blue-gray lake, green trees, golden fields, white mountaintops, blue sky, pink clouds, golden sun.  Amazing.  I love this place where I live.

Tonight, I need to replace lightbulbs.  Has anyone else noticed how lightbulbs across the house all seem to go out at the exact same time?  We currently have nine burned out.

I'm dreaming of making a fairy garden with Ellie next summer (or maybe the summer after that....)  Like this one. Or this one. And here's the ultimate fairy village. I'm pretty sure I'd have more fun with this than she would.

I just finished reading The Light Between Oceans, by M. L. Stedman. Whew, what a book! I loved it. The writing, oh the writing!



Tonight, I'm yawning.
Good night.

reunion: where we stayed

 We're back. From a fantastic week with all of Kent's family together in one house, in the foothills a bit north of San Diego.

The house, the foothills, wow.
This place was awesome.

 We spent hours in this pool.  And who wouldn't?  Caves, waterfalls, built in waterslide, 15 person hot tub, wading pool sections for little kids---it was so much fun!

 Me sitting in Ellie's favorite spot: the top of the waterfall (while it's turned off and dry).  We had to keep a careful eye out for her little body clambering up these rocks; she'd sneak her way up here when no one was paying attention, and we'd find her up here singing songs about rocks and telling herself how good she is at climbing.

 I have to include this picture of the room our family stayed in, even though it's post-bedding removal right before we left, because 
this room was so comfortable.
I don't know if it was the beautiful wall of windows, the ultra-plush carpet, or the just-right beds, but I slept better this past week than I have in a long time.  And I'd wake up as the sun rose, before the rest of my family, and just lay in bed with nothing to do but enjoy the peace and quiet and closeness.  

 Our bedroom view was pretty awesome, too.

I think my favorite part of the location, though, was the just-before-sunset lighting. Every night it was the same; warm golden sunlight so thick you could almost breathe it in.  This light was magical.

We had the most delightful week, and the best part was having our family all together, all 22 of us.

Kent's family is loving, tight-knit, teasing, and close.  Everyone works together and gets along beautifully. Even the children, all ten of them, get along well; I don't think we even once had a fight or problem with any of the kids.  And that? That's amazing.  

I'm so very grateful I get to be a part of this family, and I'm so glad we had such a week together in a beautiful place.

To my Nicholas

My dear boy,

You love oatmeal.  Really.  When I bought a case of it for our food storage, you snuck two containers up to your room.  I later found them tucked into your bed--on the pillow, with the blanket up around them.
You are continually trying to convince me that oatmeal is the healthiest food in the world.  Healthier than carrots, strawberries, peas, and cucumbers.
At breakfast yesterday you sighed and said, "I am the luckiest boy ever, because yesterday I got oatmeal."

You told me that you can run as fast as a horse.  I showed you the Kentucky Derby on youtube.  You were amazed. "Did this really happen in our world, Mom?"  We watched it twice. 

You are a sweetheart.  You are thankful and gentle and tenderhearted.  
You are good.  I've watched and listened as you play with your friends, and I'm so proud when I hear you helping them remember to make good choices, and not doing things that "aren't appropriate."  You like to be the leader, and I hope you always lead your friends to doing what's right.

Picking out your own clothes every morning is a recent thing, (you still call a single item of clothing a "clowe" like "clothes" but singular) and often you'll decide you want to wear two shirts at once.

The more orange you can wear, the better. If we see anything bright orange in the little boys section of a store, that's it. You must have it.  Your eyes light up and the look on your face is so happy, so excited, I just can't resist.  And so, neon orange is quickly taking over your wardrobe.

You learned to read in preschool last year.  Your books from school are about Tig and Ed and Doll and Flit.  I think you enjoy reading, but boy are you wiggly.  We start out fine, with you seated next to me on the couch, but as we go, you twist around-head on the floor, legs on the wall, head on my knees, attempting to read with your eyes closed, laying straight, curled in a ball; you go everywhere.  Reading this way takes a long, long time.  

You are giving a little talk in Primary this week.  It's about temples.  You helped me write it for you, telling me that you wanted to say things like "I love to see the temple.  The temple is a place where we learn to be good and nice. Once I got to go inside a temple before it was dedicated. It was so beautiful. I am so excited to go back inside when I'm twelve years old."

Nicholas, to hear your desire to go to the temple fills my mama heart with joy.  Please, please keep this desire as you grow.

You love to play.  Especially if it involves some sort of battle.  Your cars start out racing, but eventually you are mixing them around in a loud, clashing heap on the floor to see which car will "win."  You want to wrestle with me, but I'm not very good at it, so you've learned to ask me if we can "have a soft fight" with our hands and tickling.  I like these much better.

When I practice the piano, you and Ellie like to play freeze dance, wiggling and spinning until the music stops, then you try to freeze and fall over laughing.

You love your sister.  You have your disagreements and problems at times, but for siblings, I think you get along exceptionally well.  The two of you have grand adventures, hours of playing, imagining, racing, and just being silly.  There's nothing I love more than to hear you two playing and laughing together.  Unless it's that unmistakable laugh-right-before-someone-gets-hurt.

You are growing and getting braver and happier each day.  Our friends got a big puppy, and for the first few weeks you were terrified of her.  She's jumpy and excited and big.  But all on your own one morning, you walked over to their yard while we were getting ready to go on a walk, and you approached Timber so bravely to pet her.  I was shocked, and so happy.  

When my friends come over, I find myself sitting back while you do all the talking. You are incredibly social with adults.  
We went to a neighborhood street party last week, and instead of sitting by me and our friends, you found two other moms under the shade tent and you placed yourself right between them and you talked and talked and talked.  At one point I asked you to come back and sit by me and you said, "Maybe next time, Mom. Right now I'm being friends with those nice girls over there."  

You are silly.  Sometimes I hear the things you say and just wonder what is going on in your little head.  Like at lunch the other day when you looked up out of the blue and said, "Mom, did you know that cows' heads are always empty?"

No, I did not know that.  What could have possibly led to that train of thought? Also, what would I do without you, Nicholas?

I love being your mom. I am so very glad you are mine.  You fill our home with light and laughter.  
Love, 
Mommy.

twirling

Dearest Ellie, 
you are a dancer, a twirler, and the bounciest child we've ever seen.  If you're going somewhere, you're either dancing, skipping, bouncing, or jumping to get there.

You've started directing our conversations.  Ever since you learned to talk,  you've dominated dinnertime and other times where normally the rest of us would talk too.
Dinner is a running commentary from you that goes something like this:

"Mine cup is pink! Pink's mine favorite color!!  Mommy's plate is blue, and Nickus's plate is blue--they match!  Daddy and Nickus are boys.  Everyone is a boy! Except Mommy. And Ellie. We're girls.  I can roll my tongue. So can Mommy, Nickus, Sarah, Grandma, Grandpa, Jonah, and Nathan, and Josh! But not Daddy.  Look at mine cute baby lion!" (as you hold up your hands to show us your imaginary pet) "He's so cute and so little! Mine baby lion needs to eat his dinner."

The rest of us would simply eat in silence while you talk.
But now, now you want us to speak up in return,
and we have to say what you want us to say.

"Mommy, say 'Oh Ellie, that is a beautiful dress.'"  "Mommy, say 'Come here little puppy!'" "Mommy, say 'Thank you, Ellie, for eating your lunch.'" "Mommy, say 'Ellie, don't color on the walls!'"
Yep, you've even started dictating how I should stop you from doing something you know is wrong.

And you toss your head from side to side while you talk, curls bouncing, in the sweetest little girly way.

 You love to read. You practically force us to read to you, bringing a book and never relenting until we've agreed to read, even after we've already read seven or eight books.
I hope you always love to read.  I try my best to always read you the books you bring me.


You try so very hard to be brave.  When you're feeling shy or unsure, in a big group of people, or when we're with our neighbors and their big puppy, you press your soft little body against mine and say, as a sort of self-pep talk, "Me brave.  Me brave to pet that doggy, Mommy. Me brave."

Ellie, my girl, always be brave. 

 Ellie, I adore listening to you play.  In the car, at home with your toys, anywhere you are and no matter what it is you're using, you start dialogue between two characters of your imagination.  They go to the store, they take a bath, they eat their dinner, they pick flowers...
I love to listen when you think I'm not paying attention; I love to glimpse into your beautiful world.

You often hand me something (like a toy zebra) and say, "Okay Mommy, you be this guy. I'll be this one. Let's play!"
I hope I say yes often enough.

If you trip or fall down you jump up and ask us "You like mine trick?"

Your favorite joke is "How about Ricky Island?"  You say this randomly, and you and Nicholas laugh wildly.  The funniest part is that neither one of you will tell me why this is so funny.

You refer to everything, whether it was not even 2 seconds ago or last summer as "a week ago." "Mommy, um so, a week ago...." and then you tell me a story.

You are incredibly affectionate--always giving us hugs and kisses, with the sweetest adoring smile on your face. You, like your brother, love to snuggle with me.  I haven't figured out how to get you two to share my lap, and snuggling usually ends with fighting.  Which leads to tears, which leads to more snuggling.

When you're sad (usually when you're hungry) you follow me around (usually in the kitchen where I'm trying to make your food) and say "Um, so, pick me up, Mommy!"

Anything we give you is suddenly your favorite color. "This pencil is blue?? That's mine favorite color!!"

You are creative. And determined.  You'll do anything to get where you want to be.  As hard as it is right now, when that means climbing up into the fridge, going outside whenever you please, screeching during Church, and coloring on the grout on the dining room floor,
I hope you always know what you want and do everything you can to get it.

You live outside.  Always asking to play outside, always heading out to play in the sandbox or ride your bike.  And while you're out there, you take off your shoes and have me put them back on for you several times over.

Ellie, not only do you love to dance, but you also like to ask me to dance for you while you sing in the toy microphone, and you love to pull things over (boxes, toy totes, stools, pillows) for you to stand on while you sing for us.

Your songs vary from combinations of Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam, As I Have Loved You, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Let it Go, and always include the line "People were sleeping..." which is from your favorite bedtime song, Gethsemane Song.

"Love one another, like a diamond in the sky, cold doesn't bother me anyway, people were sleeping!"  is a typical Ellie-song.

When we put you to bed, after lots of hugs and kisses, songs, and requests/demands that we read you more books, when we finally say goodnight you always ask us "Stay by mine door?" and me and daddy sit out in the hallway and whisper to each other until you've fallen asleep.

Ellie, my girl, we adore you.

Always just outside your door,
Mommy.

getting it done (or trying to): our backyard

 A few weeks ago, we realized we were ready to be done with the haphazard rock border/weed fest at the back of our backyard.

So we picked up rocks.

Lots and lots of rocks.

On Friday night, we rented a tiller, and Kent got to work.  

And, lucky us, we found....more rocks!

So Saturday morning and evening (gotta work when it's not hot; and yes, my Texas friends, I know "hot" is relative.  But if we can work when it's 73 degrees or when it's 93, we're going to pick 73, okay?) 

we set about finding something to do with all.those.rocks.

So we moved rocks.

This used to be a waist-high weed garden; the side of our house near where we store our garbage cans, between our house and the neighbor's. We never see this side, but now that it looks good, maybe I'll make a point of it.  Picnic in the alley, anyone?

And then, we moved some more rocks:

 We'll be putting a raised garden bed here, so we left a space for it.
We also added extra rocks to our flower beds in the front and side of our yard.

And after moving rocks all day, we were left with this:

 Hooray, more rocks!   
I just love rocks. 
No. I can't even say that with the slightest convincing enthusiasm.
Rocks are heavy. My thighs hurt. (lift with your legs, you know?)

In the coming weeks, we'll be working little by little because eventually we are hoping to do something like this, or like this.

Good thing we have lots of rocks!

practice

We're heading to San Diego in just over a week.  Kent's family is having a "reunion" (just his parents and all his siblings...but these are the only times that all of us are all together at the same time.)

As part of this reunion, we have a traditional Family Talent Show.  Think, the talent show from Dan in Real Life.   Silly, happy, easygoing fun.

One of my goals for myself that I set on my mommy vacation last month was to learn a new piano piece.  What better motivation than to do it for an actual talent show?

So, I picked a song a couple of weeks ago, and I've been practicing. And practicing. And practicing.  
I may have picked a song just a tad bit too difficult....
BUT, it has been so wonderful to have a reason to practice this hard.  I'm talking at least an hour a day, some days more (which isn't much if you're a real piano performer....but for a mom of very young humans, this is a rather daunting task.)

There are six measures in this song in particular that have been incredibly challenging for me.  
I kinda love it.
I love to feel my brain working, my posture improving (sitting at the piano has always been good for that,) my fingers moving. I actually love the relentless metronome, pushing me forward, no chance for hesitation.  I love to finally be at a point where I know the notes and can work on the musical side.  Phrasing, motion, tension, release.  

I'm still not sure if I'll be ready in time, thankfully I know I'm loved enough that no one will care if it isn't perfect.  (...right?) 
I'm going to need another talent show after this one so I have a reason to keep playing. 

Nicholas "graduates"

 Last week was Nicholas's preschool graduation.
I have to admit, I was surprised at how much fun this was for him, and all of us.
At the start, they marched around the room to Pomp and Circumstance, and Nicholas had the proudest perma-grin on his face.  I might have teared up a little bit.  He is adorable.

 Mrs. Redd has been one of the best things that has ever happened to Nicholas.  When he started school a year ago, he was shy, cautious, uncertain of new situations, and had zero interest in learning letters, numbers, or really anything from me.  
In Mrs. Redd's class, he blossomed.  He thrived.  The school environment, the structure, the fun, and the love she so obviously has for her students was exactly what he needed.  
And now? He's reading, guys.  Really truly reading.  It's incredible. 
(And I've learned so very much patience is required in helping an emergent reader. Whew!)

The day after the graduation, they had a little last hurrah at the splash park.  It was kind of windy and chilly that day, so Nicholas and his friends spent their time happily running around on the grass, playing some bad guys/good guys game.  

Up until this year of school, whenever I'd take Nicholas to a playgroup or a friend's house, he'd opt to sit quietly by me, watching the other kids play.  He never felt comfortable actually joining in.

So to see him running wildly, laughing, playing, even sometimes leading, with the kids made my mama heart so very happy.

It's been a great year for my Nicholas.

He's done with Mrs. Redd's preschool, but we're going to be sending him to another preschool for next year.  He's one of those mid-August birthdays....we had the hardest time deciding what to do for him, but we have chosen what feels right for our family; holding him back one year, one year to play and grow and get new experiences, before we start the whole "school" thing feels best for all of us.

And Mrs. Redd better still be teaching in a couple of years, because Ellie is already talking about when she goes to Mrs. Redd's school. ;)

water table

A few weeks ago, Kent told me he wanted to build a water table for the kids.

I thought that sounded like a fantastic idea, so we started researching, made a rough plan, and then, just went for it.

Version 1.0:  

 Had a few kinks to work out:  the table's walls were much too short, the pump was too strong for the amount of water the table could hold, and our tote at the top completely cracked and broke apart when we tried to drill holes into it.
Also, the plastic sheeting tore and leaked.

A few days later we tried again.  Kent worked on it all Saturday afternoon, and by evening, this is what we had: 

 I'm not even sure what that girl's name is that Nicholas was playing with....the water table has become a child magnet for kids from all over the neighborhood.  

We still have many improvements to make--we need to waterproof the wood or find some other material so we don't have to use plastic, we need to widen the waterspout so the water doesn't get so high in the table, we'd like to get some sort of shade tent to put up during the mornings so they can pay with it in the shade, etc.

We're figuring we won't keep this up permanently--just set it up for a week or so, then store it away for a while so we can pull it out again and have it be new and exciting all over again.

All on his own, Nicholas figured out how to rig up a pulley system with yarn to lift his toys back onto the table.  I was quite impressed.

I think this has been one of the most fun projects we've done together as a family. Working on construction, noticing flaws (typically involving someone getting really wet when something breaks,) and seeing how. much. fun. the kids are having with it. 

Yesterday I counted seven children other than our own playing with the table.  Yep, that's just the way we wanted it.