Simple Pleasures

Retraction: the 5-way stop is, in fact, 6-way.

I braved it tonight for story/craft night at the library.

The theme was recycling. After a story, the kids made flip-flops from newspaper and book bags out of old, pit-stained tank tops from the Salvation Army. The book bags slightly gave me the willies. But as with most projects around here they will mysteriously disappear after bedtime.

Ethan and Addie said they had a good time as they left with lollipops, or "larrypops" according to Adelaide. And I am reminded it does not always have to be a some big thing to be fun for the kids.

Ethan and Adelaide sporting their recycled projects. Yes, I am aware Ethan is due some pants reaching further than his ankles. And yes, Adelaide did wear her pajamas to the library. They're new and she wants to wear them everywhere. That's my girl!

We have some neighbors, an older couple, who occasionally leave treats and things in the mailbox for Ethan and Addie. How nice is that!? After coming home from the library, Ethan ran to the mailbox to discover today was one of those special days--cookies to be specific. He was thrilled, yelling across the road, "Mom, you're not going to believe it! There's cookies in the mailbox! Now you don't see that everyday!" Sometimes he can really make me laugh.

Even before all the excitement of recycling and cookies Adelaide and I hung our with friends in Ithaca, Ethan started learning to ride his bike without training wheels, the kids collected tiny pine cones in the yard and I managed to sneak in a little nap.

Sometimes I wish I could bottle up days like today.

To the Victor Go the Spoils

Saturday, I did something that had become long overdue. I went somewhere far...by myself.

I've had a rough week. I won't bore you with the reasons, but it was a week that required a little retail therapy. And not the kind where I'm dragging kids whining an complaining all the while.

We have a mall in town. And a Target. Both are small. I was looking for some serious shopping. My goal was to come away with a pair of jeans that actually fit. I've already tried on all the jeans in the mall and Target.

An hour and a half away are some outlet stores. Perfect. Randal and Adelaide happily took Ethan to his ballgame without me. And I set out to overcome my fear.

I haven't been too daring in my NY travels. Upon moving here, my first solo adventure was to the library. I mapped it out beforehand. Mind you, our town is small with little traffic so there isn't much to justify all this this anxiety except one thing...an unforeseen 5-way stop. Yes! And not just any 5-way stop but one where one lane does not stop. Have you ever heard of such a thing? I think from that moment on I've subconsciously avoided traveling any path, near or far, where I haven't first been the passenger, except when forced like to the podiatrist and the accountant.

What I loved from my little trip:
1. Peace and quiet in the car while I listened to The Book Thief on my Ipod...with no interruptions.
2. Gorgeous weather.
3. A very helpful GPS.
4. This tree:
Or at least one exactly like it. I was mad at myself for having not taken my camera. I don't think I have ever seen a magnolia tree before. At least not one in all its springtime beauty.
5. And...drum roll please...I found some pants. Hallelujah!
6. Lastly, driving home I didn't find myself dead on some dark, deserted, country road. I'm not being melodramatic. Every horror movie I've seen has roads like these.

What I didn't love:
1. Swerving to avoid hitting a turtle knowing full well the chances the slow little guy would actually make it to the other side were zilch.
2. The thought that all the folks I was seeing visiting the wineries would be driving on the road with me.
3. The pants I found were in the curvy girl section. "Curvy"--that's what they're calling it these days. Still hurts.


Today, I feel strangely liberated. Weird. I know.

However, I'm still going the long way to the library.

Fruity Fun

Ethan has shown recent interest in cooking after watching the cute, little chef Luis on Noggin's website.

Ethan's latest culinary attempt--fruit salad. He is very proud to be allowed to slice more fruits than just the bananas.

In an effort to encourage more of such activities, I told Ethan his fruit salad was the best I'd ever had.

He oh so humbly answered, "I know."

Critter

Last night, on our front door, we had a visitor to greet us. We've been listening to these little guys out in the woods for weeks so it's good to finally meet.

Some Numbers

60

The number of cans of food storage items I brought home from the cannery yesterday. Five of us went and rocked that place. The sister missionary in charge even agreed to use us for the next training video. (I'm going to hold her to it.)

48

How many cans of different colored Play-doh would you consider to be too many? My answer: 48.

I can't say I exactly love Play-doh. It's a mess for me. But the the kids love it. The Easter bunny was feeling very generous and hid cans from a 24 variety pack around our house.

This same Easter bunny had purchased said Play-doh at the big-box-superstore-who-must-not-be-named for $10 only to find the exact same thing on sale at Toys R. Us for $7. Of course, the Easter bunny decided to return the first set for the $3 savings.

Before I was able to make that happen, Ethan found the unreturned pack and felt entitled to open every can to add to their already humongous collection. So irritating. Plus I had to make up an elaborate tale why I had the same Play-doh the Easter bunny had hidden. And I have now been robbed of the satisfaction of returning something to Walmart. Dang!

1/2

The length (measured in inches) of the burn on Randal's forehead where he absentmindedly leaned against a hot pipe coming from the boiler.

7

The number of carrots and snap peas my children ate at lunch without complaint. Of course they got to add a pom pom to the Wii fit jar. (In case that doesn't make sense, our family is earning a Wii fit by filling a jar with pom poms for great things we see one another do to benefit family unity and well-being.)

1

The additional pom pom Ethan earned for finally choosing, at the dinner table, to burp with his mouth closed rather than his usual m.o.

120

The number of wasps' nests Randal knocked out from behind the shutters. I'm not kidding.

2

The fawns we saw in our backyard. There is nothing unusual about seeing deer in the backyard; however, if you look closely one of them is ghostly white. White deer are rare and specific only to certain areas of the world. We happen to live in one of them. Awesome!

The Truth About TX

Today Adelaide woke up from her nap feverish and congested. Poor girl. I overheard her telling Ethan Jesus would make her feel better. He agreed.

She went on to say, "And Jesus died for us." Again, Ethan agreed.

He then added, "Yah, He died for all of us, even for people in Texas."

(So Crystal you're in luck!)

Weekend Wrap

Addie turned three. For weeks she has been obsessed with her birthday. After all the hype I felt we had to be sure to deliver. Her birthday consisted of a primary Easter party she was convinced had been organized just for her and a family trip to Chuck E. Cheese. All in all a super fun (her words) day.











She wanted a Dora the Explorer birthday cake. I'm still without water in my kitchen so the idea of baking and decorating a cake seemed more complicated than usual. My friends kindly offered their places to decorate, but I eventually settled on store-bought cupcakes atop Dora plates. In the end Addie didn't seem to mind.

Our bedazzled 3-year-old sporting all her birthday-won PLING
(term coined by Randal for plastic bling)

As if a birthday sugar high wasn't enough, we had Easter the following day. Thankfully the Easter bunny hid more Play-doh than candy. He must have known our kids would still be buzzed.Sacrament meeting was wonderful. The music and talks were excellent. The primary took great care to teach the children about the Savior's resurrection. Ethan had so much to tell us about what he had learned. As a parent I am so grateful. There was even show-and-tell with an adorable baby duckling.We spent the evening with our friends the Wilcoxes and the Becks for Easter dinner. Randal and I consider ourselves very blessed/lucky to have made such great friends. In fact, I may not even tell our friends when our kitchen is done so that we can continue to receive such generous invites!

We had a wonderful weekend. Because of the non-stop fun, both my kids are napping right now so I continue to consider the weekend a huge success.

Lastly let me say, I am so grateful to a loving Savior who would condescend to come to earth and sacrifice His life on my behalf. I love the springtime. Every year it seems to awaken in me a renewed desire to live the gospel. I'm thankful for this sacred time of year.