March: running, Pi Day, Richmond and Saint Patricks

Its been almost a month since I last posted on here which is a lot longer than I normally go without posting which means this is going to turn into a marathon post.  March has been busy and its not slowing down anytime soon so I need to get some information on here.

At the beginning of the month I ran the Sugar Hollow 10K.  This fits in nicely with my training for the Charlottesville 10 miler and I really enjoyed the 10K last year.  I drove over with the same two ladies as last year and enjoyed visiting with them.  The race happened to be hours after "Winter Storm Riley" with its 50 mph winds made its presence known in Central Virginia which was not helpful.  The first half of the race had us running directly into the wind.  At times I had to smile day eyes with my hands because I was afraid of getting stuff stuck in them. When I originally looked at the weather it said 13 mph winds but it was much more than that.  Traditionally there is a pancake breakfast after which I have not attended but this year it could not be held because the building did not have power.  We have friends who were without power for over 3 days it was some crazy wind! I felt good during the run and was especially happy to reach the turnaround point and therefore have the wind behind me.  I finished in just over 1 hour.  1 hour and 23 seconds by the official race clock.  That is a 9:43 average pace per mile which I was happy with.  My goal is 10 minutes per mile or less so 9:43 was great. Its a great race and I look forward to doing it next year.

I started training for the 10 miler back in January, the week of the 07th.  Training has gone really well. It was really exciting to get to weeks  7 - 10. Before this year I had never run farther than 6 miles so to successfully complete 7, 8, 9 mile and then a 10 mile run this past Friday was really cool!  Songs from "The Greatest Showman" have been my best running songs.  Specifically "From Now On",  and "The Greatest Show on Earth."  "Come with Me" by Karmin has been great too.  Its interesting to me how the songs that really pushed me last year are often ones I skip over this time. I have also loved listening to the podcast "StoryCorps" It's great.  The race is this Saturday the 24th.  It starts at 7:15 which is great for me, I prefer running as early as possible.  Right now there is rain forecasted but maybe it will hold off. I am nervous about the hills on the course. Charlottesville is not a flat city and I do not like running hills.  To try to mentally prepare I did my 10 mile run on this newer road near our house that is really hilly.  When they completed the road, (Berkmar) I remember being really excited because it has a really nice wide walking path but once I drove it and saw how hilly it was I figured I would never attempt to run on it or even ride bikes on it but I ran from my house to the road all the way down to the last roundabout and back to my house and ran it all.  It was hard and really satisfactory. I left my house at 6:20 (it was so dark because of daylight savings, like not safe dark, but I had to do it to get it in before work at 10:00! Luckily our road has like no traffic at that time of day) and finished in 1 hour 43 minutes. Because it was so dark when I left and we live on a gravel road that had been re-grated earlier in the week I was concerned about getting an injury and how upset I would have been but it all worked out great. I am ready for Saturday and feel excited/nervous: Nervousited.  There have been moments when I was tempted to register for the Charlottesville Half Marathon which is a few weeks after the 10 miler, whats 3 more miles?  But I looked up the date and its April 07th, the day we are supposed to get back in town so it wouldn't work out.  I think I'm glad its that date so I can just put it out of my mind, its decided for me.  Maybe next year, if I feel good after the 10 miler I'll attempt it. Today I saw this article and was amazed by this woman.   Talk about tough and dedicated.

The year was one of the first years I actually remembered Pi Day. Since I don't care for math the idea of celebrating a math thing is not always on my radar. I grabbed some individual frozen pie slices when I did my grocery shopping for the week and that was about it.  At dinner we did talk about Pi and had Jared and Lydia tell us the first numbers.  We did not spend any time memorizing as many numbers as we could.  3.14 is plenty and really I'm not sure when and what you use Pi for when doing math but our pie slices were delicious.  Key Lime and Chocolate Creme.

Besides running a good amount, I went down to Richmond to attend a women's devotional with Elder and Sister Renlund and Elder and Sister Dudley.  The Renlunds are really funny.  I had no idea.  Mark told me that it had been 11 years since a member of the Quorum of the 12 came to this area specifically, Charlottesville which was why they were given the assignment. They are holding a stake conference in our church building tomorrow, hopefully we get seats. I dropped Jared and Lydia off at Mark's school where they had a great time playing in the gym while he played basketball with some teacher friends. We don't go to his school nearly as much as we did in Colorado because its much farther away and the office staff just don't seem as welcoming so they were happy to play there. I had plans to drive down early with some friends to celebrate Julie's birthday so it worked out great.  We went out to eat and then over to the meeting.  Elder Renlund started his message by simply saying, "Thank you." Unbeknown to me there were 2 talks we were encouraged to read before the fireside.  Both were by President Nelson, "A Plea to my sisters" and "Joy and Spiritual Survival".  I will make sure to read them this week.  One part of Sister Renlund's talk discussed the three words used to describe Relief Society.  They are: Faith, Family, and Relief.  She talked about how it seems that sometimes we skip the first one and focus so much on the other 2 but that strengthening our own faith deserves so much time. The talks were enjoyable and I was grateful to attend and have the hour + drive with some great ladies.  We didn't stay to shake their hands but headed out.  We  stopped at Sonic on the way out for a birthday treat.  I meant to take a picture of Elder Renlund on the screen but forgot. I did snap some really quick at the end.  Funny thing is a friend of mine had just given the closing prayer so she's there. I'm not sure if that is highly frowned upon but I did it.  I emailed these to her which she probably thinks is weird but she is very kind and will probably still talk to me.  It was a nice evening.

When I got home last night I worked on some Saint Patricks Day festivities.  All year (since Saint Patrick's day 2017) Jared made demo Leprechaun traps and planned how he was going to catch a leprechaun. Last night he surprised me by making a rest stop instead.  We had talked about he and Lydia sleeping in the basement since that was where the set the traps previous years and they were sound asleep when I went to check on them.  I was surprised they stayed there all night.  Their rest stop was really cute.  There was a Barbie cup of water and a Barbie cookie tray with mini chocolate chips on it and a felt blanket.  They even left a penny for him in case he needed it.  Jared wrote a funny note to the Leprechaun letting him know it was not a trap.  It was sweet.

"This is not a trap. I Pinky Promise. True"

The green is the reply.  Since they did something nice they leprechaun payed it forward by cleaning up their rooms and the basement for them and heart attacking them with green hearts. There were gold coin trails to follow to gold candy and a rainbow treat. I stopped in a grocery store for St Patricks donuts but they didn't have any specifically for that but had rainbow sprinkles which was close enough.  Mark had to be in Richmond for most of the day for training with the Renlund's and others (he shook his hand as I knew he would).  He left just before 11:00 and got home after 6:00.  After he left we watched the Chicago river being dyed green (now we all want to fly out there next year), a few Irish dance performances, bagpipes in parades and celebrations throughout the world of famous icons being lit up in green. 

We did at least have green smoothies today so some healthy foods were consumed amidst all the delicious treats. 

We had our traditional Saint Patricks day drink (sprite and lime sherbet) and I made a layered brownie desert with mint ice cream, chocolate ganache, crushed Oreos, and cool whip flavored with peppermint and dyed green.  It was fun. I was out of town last Sunday and some friends kindly invited them over for corned beef and cabbage so they had a pretty great time celebrating Saint Patricks this year. 

Jared and Lydia also passed the time today by building a mansion fort and setting up "shops."  It was pretty cold and gray most the the day and these were both great activities for a day like today. I loved that they came up with and did them all by themselves.  

Mansion Fort

Jared's Ball Shop: 

Other offerings:  signed autographs by him, ball rentals and basketball exhibitions. He always likes basketball and sports in general but I think March Madness had a play in this.

Lydia's Jewelry Shop.  She also offered dance performances. 

Lastly: Why does Jared look so old in these pictures? My goodness. And Lydia lost another tooth this week.  I think it was Monday.  She has quite the hol-ey smile but the two teeth on top are coming in.  Almost caught up! 

1 year down 4 to go?

Today is February 20th which means Mark has been serving as the Bishop for one year.  I can't believe it has been a year.  Its exciting how fast it went and crazy.  I am so thankful for the many people who work hard fulfilling their callings so Mark can fulfill his and for all the support they give him.

We now have church at 11:00 and this past Sunday was the first time this year he made it home before 3:00. Middle of the day church is probably my least favorite.  Mark often has meetings in the morning and then since church gets out earlier more people want to meet with him after church.  When you finish church at 4:30 everyone is ready to go home and eat, not so with church ending at 2:00.  Its also hard to find good times to do the things we want to do on Sundays.  So we are still figuring things out.  Over the past year Jared has become much more interested in paying tithing. He loves giving the envelope to Mark. Im not sure if he has ever given it to one of his counselors.  He hasn't actually had any tithing he needed to pay since Christmas but is finding other ways to get to hand Mark an envelope.  One Sunday we were looking at the tithing slip and he asked what the other categories were for so I explained each one and the past 3 times he has paid he has given to the humanitarian fund twice and mission fund once. I love this.  We were talking about it this Sunday before Sacrament meeting started and I was sort of trying to see if he got anything out of it besides just getting to turn it into to Mark and he told me that he feels the spirit when he gives and it made me really happy for him.  As predicted, Lydia has been the one who has taken this calling of Mark's the hardest. Well her or Mark?  She is fine but she often talks about missing Mark and when we get to church always rushes in to find him in the halls or on the stand so she can give him some hugs and kisses. We are all fine.  He is gone a good amount and there are many meetings and things he is tying to feel inspired to do but he is working hard and doing a great job. We sure appreciate him.

Last Fall we went to our first ever cub scout planning meeting. (Well Mark had been to many but I had not) At the meeting I volunteered to organize the Blue and Gold Banquet.  Having never been to one before I tried to gauge the level of crazy this ward did.  When you look online at LDS and non LDS troops you can see that this can be made into a really big thing.  I talked to a few people at a committee meeting and started planning.  The pack had picked a Western theme which is pretty easy and I found some cute ideas online.

For the evening we would do the awards and then there would be  square dancing, making a stick horse, horse races and root beer floats. There were so many people there!  Originally I planned to have everyone make their horse at the same time but there is no way that would have worked.  So we had about 12 kids (out of 38) go make their horses and the rest came to learn some square dance moves. I had found 6 or so simple videos online and had the plan to hook it up to a TV and then do the dances.  Sadly the TV had really low volume and it is a large room so you couldn't hear very well at all.  So I watched the videos and called out the moves.  Another sister and I had demonstrated them before we broke into groups.  It was fun and chaotic.  I didn't really get to square dance and was actually kind of disappointed.  I took square dancing as a PE class in College and think its pretty fun. I wonder if I could round up a few families to have a square dancing party with?  After awhile we switched groups but clearly there were more people coming from square dancing going to stick horses so it was crazy but worked out. There were 2 sisters there to help out and lots of parents who helped their kids too but it looked pretty wild.  After they finished horses I had them all line up on one of the lines in the gym and we did horses races 6 kids at a time. It was cute and fun. Then we did root beer floats. It seemed like a really great turnout.  Lots of people helped out the night of and before and there were no real injuries which is amazing considering we had large sticks and 17 scouts plus their families.  As we drove home Mark got a text from the YM president who said that his son said in the car home that it was the best pack meeting ever!  He has 2 older brothers so he has actually probably been to a few so it made me happy.  (@Jessie: good old Eli!) I'm glad it all worked out and am happy its done.

These wanted posters were fun.  I went and took pictures of the Scouts in a cowboy hat and bandana at two different meetings. Then I had the parents send me a "cowboy" name and the Den leaders choose some of the scout attributes to say what they were wanted for.   Everyone seemed to really like them.

For Jared I did: Jared" Money Eyes" Spencer.  His leaders said he was wanted for being obedient and kind.

I loved how these turned out. 

I originally planned for 4 long tables but we ended up setting up 8 which was great but I should have planned for more cacti.  Each table just had one instead of 2 but it didn't matter. 

On Saturday we drove up to the DC temple for the last time for the foreseeable future.  The temple is closing March 03rd and will be closed for the next 2 years or so. We knew it would be crazy busy but were glad we went.  We did the same child care set up as last time. We dropped Jared and Lydia off with our friends the Leavitt's and then while we were in the session they drove them up with their kids.  We met them in the visitor center after we finished and then they went in.  While we were in the visitor center we ran into a friend of ours from Egypt (Perla).  We knew Perla was living in DC and loved getting to chat for a bit.  We also met a couple who drove up from North Carolina (Duke students) and the husband actually had been to and possibly lived in my hometown, Yuba City. (I wasn't sure if he did live there)  We are really far from Northern Ca so its really fun when that happens especially so this time since he is a cousin to my best friends (Kim and Becca I met your cousin at the DC visitors center!) growing up, the Halls. He and his cousin (from YC who is younger than me) are currently students at Duke and we know people who just graduated from Duke (Nancy if you're reading it was Tod and Kaitlyn Hall but they said they were in a different ward it seemed).  We talked about how much we both love Dames Chicken and Waffles and they said if we are ever there again we need to try out "The Parlor" for ice cream.  So, small world it is always fun to have those things happen! Last month it was weirdly warm when we went to the temple so we played at the church up the street almost the whole time but that was not the case this time.  We brought up board games and cards to play with them in the visitors center.  We found a corner on the lower level so we would be out of the way and had a good time.  All the kids were disappointed when Mark and Rebecca came out because there were having a good time which made us feel good.  We are really grateful the Leavitts' were willing to switch with us. I think we did it 3 times?  They are actually moving this summer and we will miss them.  Its been nice to get to know them. I know of 3 strong families leaving our ward this summer so I hope some new families move in too.  While we were in the visitors center there was a beautiful snow storm outside.  The flakes were fluffy and coming down really well. It was so beautiful to watch. I'm really glad we could see it and really glad that it just melted as it fell. We of course stopped at Moo Thru on the way home.  I knew of some other friends who were going into DC that day and we actually passed them on the drive home.  We told them we were stopping for ice cream so they did too. There is no indoor eating there so we just did the drive thru but it was a much needed pick me up. Jared and Lydia were really on one for the ride home. Its already a long drive but add in the snow and kids being obnoxious and it felt even longer.  Thank goodness for ice cream.  We will miss the DC temple but are really looking forward to visiting other ones and taking Jared and Lydia to the open house when its time. 

Valentines

A few weeks ago Lydia saw a sign at school about a Valentines Dance.  She asked if we could go and I suggested she ask her Dad to go with her.  So she did and they went on a little date and had a fun time.  Lydia informed Mark that she wanted him to wear a white shirt and black pants and a tie.  It was cute.  They did very little dancing, Lydia claimed she was too shy to dance in front of everyone but made some valentines and decorated cookies.  Since Lydia asked Mark I told her that she should take some money to buy him a treat so she did.  Good memories.  Jared and I went out too.  He wanted an icee so we headed to Target for an icee and came across a small LEGO set for $3.00.  We bought it and then made it together at home.  All four us had lovely evenings out.  We are again attempting to go on monthly dates with Jared and Lydia.  We were really pathetic last year and hope to do better this year.

We had a nice Valentines day here.  Jared and Lydia put out their mailboxes each night from Sunday - Tuesday and I had little surprises for them.  After Christmas I found a mermaid and shark snuggie on sale at our local grocery store so I grabbed them to save for Valentines day.  Jared and Lydia were really sweet and appreciative which was really nice.  I also decorated their doors with hearts with notes on them.  We had some yummy themed food and Mark brought Jared and Lydia to work last night to heart attack my car.  It was fun.  Lydia and Jared both kind of gave it away so while I wasn't too surprised I was very happy to see it.  They did it last year too. Weird that I worked last Valentines Day and this one.

Also Trader Joes flowers are back!  I will now go there once a week to snag some of these.  

10 Stems for $1.49!

Red Velvet waffles with cream cheese icing.  

Lydia was not impressed but everyone else enjoyed them. 

I felt really creative coming up with these breadsticks.

Cherry 7 Up Floats.  

We make some variation of these each year.  Last year I picked some Strawberry soda and it was so sweet and gross. (Food Lion brand) Even Jared and Lydia said it was too sugary.  So I played it safe with the Cherry 7 Up.  I wanted Strawberry Crush but our store only had grape and orange. 

Mark's favorite Mint Brownies.  

Mark and I decided to make this year a no present year.  We would rather save that money for any trips we want to take.  It was actually really nice to not try to come up with a good present.  We both thought so.  Jared's teacher's favorite treat is brownies so I had him take a plate to her. 

They love me and I love them. 

In non Valentine news, Lydia learned how to do a cartwheel.  She has been trying since she saw lots of kids doing them at school last August and it finally clicked.  It was kind of magical.  She was so excited.  I'm proud of her for trying so hard.  I took a slow-mo video of it and its really fun to watch. Its not loading on here but I put it on Instagram.  I'm happy for her, she wanted to know how so badly and no matter how many times I demonstrated she wasn't quite getting her legs straight and just sort of fell to the ground half way around.

Also, some sweet friends of ours volunteered to watch Jared and Lydia for us last Saturday so Mark and I could go out. We hate paying for babysitters. So much. I mean most of the time we go out after 7:00 and our kids are in bed by 7:30 so it just rubs the wrong way to pay someone to sit at our house while our kids sleep.  And lucky for us our kids are super easy so we are paying them for not doing really anything at all.  They read them a book or two and then are done. Anyway. It was really kind of them.  We talked about a few things we could do but none seemed quite right.  We didn't want to spend a lot of money (again, trying to save money for the many, many trips Mark wants to take with his flight benefits) and it was cold and rainy. Finally I had the idea to go to Panera.  The Panera here has a fireplace so we snagged those seats and enjoyed eating soup by the fire and talking about world events.  The idea was to go to BBC.com and look up headlines and talk about them. This sounds like something we should be able to do at home but there are too many projects and distractions.  Although Mark kept getting distracted looking up trip ideas.  He has it so bad!  I am not sure why but when we lay down to go sleep at night I all of a sudden have tons of things to talk about.   It is unfortunate because we really should be sleeping then.  Or for example, we are driving the 2 hours to the temple and could be having really nice conversations and I end up falling asleep.  This worked out great.  We would totally do it again.  We sure are thankful for thoughtful friends.

Freezing Rain and other January events and thoughts.

January is a pretty long month for me.  Not a bad one just long, yet when I get to the end of it I think, wait, a whole month of the new year is already gone!  It feels like there aren't as many fun events to attend in town and its just cold. I for sure prefer cold weather to hot but it's still cold outside.  Someone told me this past week that February was forecasted to be a very cold month too, but maybe it will bring us more snow.  We got this weird freezing rain Sunday and 2 of the 3 wards that meet in our building actually cancelled church.  Our crazy bishop decided meeting would be fine.  Maybe its because we aren't from here and haven't quite acclimated to the idea that things shut down here whenever there is cold weather and any moisture.  Jared hadn't been feeling well most of Saturday and fell asleep at 9:45 Sunday morning, almost exactly an hour before we would be leaving for church. I was completely ready, jewelry and all and then ended up missing church. He woke up around 11:30 but by then I had found someone to help out in Nursery for me only to find out that numbers were low enough and the rain was really turning to freezing rain (I still don't quite understand how that happens) that there was only going to be Sacrament meeting that day.  It sounded like a really good meeting and some families I really love from our old ward attended since their meetings were cancelled so I really wish I could have gone. Oh well. The nap really did help Jared which made me glad. On Saturday he talked about feeling achy so I was nervous it might be the dreaded flu but he didn't feel as achy Sunday so we were pretty sure it was just a cold.  We had plans to go to a friends house to enjoy some super bowl treats while not watching the super bowl but we are mean, old school parents and if Jared wasn't well enough to go to church he was not well enough to go visit friends.  The weather was really weird Sunday and since this is Albemarle County school was canceled today. It was a 2 hour delay at first but then it got canceled which was fine with me. In the school districts defense the roads were actually quite icy.  Because it snowed Sunday morning for about an hour and we didn't shovel any of it (because it wasn't even an inch) our driveway was completely iced over.  Fortunately we had parked our cars at the top of the driveway near the road and could come and go as needed but we still didn't go anywhere today until well after 11 to make sure the roads were clear.  At the end of January Mark was complaining about the school calendar and how since they took Presidents Day away to make up for the snow days in January they wouldn't have a day off until Spring break, the first week of April.  Lucky for him he got the first Monday in February off so he did get one extra day off.

Two weeks ago we attended Jared's first Pinewood Derby.  Jared really enjoyed making his car.  He chose a money theme (no surprise there) and had an amazing attitude going into the races and at the event.  As I have mentioned his desire to win and be the best often drives me crazy but at this event he was totally at peace with the idea that he probably wouldn't win. It was weird.  He actually reminded me a lot of myself. I rarely let myself get super excited about things. If you keep your expectations low enough then you aren't disappointed.  You can just attend an event and enjoy it. Some people may think that sounds sad but it is not sad at all to me. It has actually worked really well for me the last 20 years or so. Its not to say I don't get excited I do, I just don't let it take over things.  So he had a good experience. Would he have enjoyed winning more? Yes.  But he handled it so well.  I loved seeing him approach an event like this.  There are 4 lanes so each car races 4 times switching lanes each race.  He got 2nd place the first time then 3rd all the others. We didn't bother to enter Lydia in the sibling race and she really didn't mind or even seem to know there was a sibling event.

This is Jared with our friends the Farnsworth's little boy Ethan.  Jared has never been one of those kids who loves other little kids. So when I saw him letting Ethan sit in his lap I was really surprised. It was cute. Ethan is in Nursery so every Sunday when I see him he says "Where Jared? Where Lydia?"  Its kind of our thing. 

In other Cub Scout news I volunteered to be in charge of the Blue and Gold Banquet last Fall and have been working on some projects for that. Our pack chose a country western theme and there are all kinds of fun ideas  online to go with that theme.  At the last committee meeting I tried to get a gauge on how involved our ward was since I had never attended one here and made sure to scale it back quite a few notches from the events online. I think it will be a fun event.

We also went out to JUMP one night with Baker Butler. Once a year the school rents out the whole site and so once a year we pay the money to take our kids to JUMP.  Its nice to go that night since they are sure to see friends there.  They had a great time. Jared was thrilled to get to wear athletic clothes out in public.  He wishes I would be a cool Mom and let him wear clothes like this all the time but I haven't given in yet! I'm not sure why I haven't?  Maybe I'm just being stubborn? A lot of it is that we spent money or were given other clothes so buying just athletic clothes seemed like a waste but next time he does need new clothes maybe I will consider it. He wishes he could wear athletic shorts and shirts every day.  Doesn't he realize we live somewhere with 4 distinct seasons?

 

And on one of the snow days in January we had some cold fun inside.  For preschool I had set up an ice rescue activity to go with our polar animals theme and when Jared and Lydia saw that I had done it they of course wanted to do it too.  We seem to always do it at least once in the Summer and Winter but I think they would be happy doing it once a month.

 

We also had a fun Brazilian food night.  There are quite a few people in our ward here who served missions in Brazil.  One family suggested getting everyone together and having each family bring a favorite Brazilian dish.  Mark made Brazilian Stroganoff, Limeade and Pave.  We used to eat Brazilian stroganoff fairly often in Colorado but then I realized that I don't actually like it that much and Jared and Lydia think its like the worst dinner ever (and I have made a lot of bad new recipes).  I don't actually know how many times Lydia ate it in Colorado but she is not a fan at all.  It was fun to get together and I know they all enjoyed reminiscing about Brazil.  Mark's limeade was a big hit.  Our kids do love it.  Mark has always wanted to go back to Brazil but with his job at the airport it has gotten bumped quite a bit higher on the list.  We will see when he plans that trip.

I was talking to a friend the other day and mentioned how happy I had been just spending time by myself, which actually made me feel a little rude.  I have been thinking about it a lot since school started in the Fall because it has surprised me how much I want time to myself.  I think it has little to do with people (there are quite a few people I would love to just hang out with) and more to do with this idea that I have had since early motherhood where once my children were in school I would be getting together with people all the time.  As I thought about that conversation more I realized that it wasn't exactly that, it wasn't that I didn't want to be with people so much as that I want time to myself while Jared and Lydia are in school after I finish preschool.  But on weekends or after school I am happy to get together with people. I may not be seeking out quite as many opportunities as previously but I do enjoy getting together with people. The hours in a school day just go so fast.  Preschool ends at 12 and after I make sure everything is ready for the next day, eat lunch, read scriptures or a talk and try to practice the piano my "free" time is down to like 45 minutes.  Which is still awesome but it never feels like quite enough time to get together with someone or I want to just read a book or I need to run errands. I also just like the idea of having this little segment of time all to myself. At the same time I know I would enjoy being with other people.  I think there are times in life when you are ready to initiate things and do it a lot and other times if it doesn't happen its just fine.  Maybe I got a little burnt out. It was such a goal of mine when we moved here to be super involved I think I peaked and am retreating a bit now.  I should probably try to work on more balance in my life though. I think once it warms up some I will try to get out on walks with people. But if I don't its okay too. It also doesn't help that I work at Kohl's every Friday so that day that could have been a totally free day is take up. Anyway, balance.

So while January is a long month it was a good one and we really did have some fun.

six

Today is Lydia's birthday.   This is good and fun for many reasons but one added benefit is that she is much closer to being back to her normal easy going self.  The weeks leading up to her birthday are, like clock work, some of the worst weeks of the year with her!  Maybe its a post holiday reaction but we suffer in January.  So her birthday is a much celebrated day! Plus she really is a great kid and we love her so much.

As we talked about her day at talk time tonight she asked if she could tell me her top 3 favorites:  They were:
1. Being surprised by the balloons in her room (which is funny because we have done it every year since her 2nd or 3rd birthday).
2. Working with beads at school.
3. Cake and presents with her friend Abby from her class (and Jared's friend Marcus) after school.

She requested crepes and eggs for breakfast but since crepes are a rather time intensive breakfast we made them yesterday since there was no school.  We did make sure to save a crepe for her to have on her actual birthday.  We actually have scrambled eggs for breakfast every Tuesday and two months ago Lydia didn't like eating them much at all but the past 3 weeks or so she has been excited to have them but I still was not expecting that request. Awhile back a friend offered a really cute (and really large) ice cream truck to Lydia so I decided to save it for her birthday.  I had it on the table for her to see when she got up and she and Jared were both impressed by the size of it. It is actually for a doll like an American Girl doll which Lydia does not have but it has so many cute things its fun to play with by itself.  After that they were off to school.

Funny story:  Typically Mark picks up the balloons for our kids on his way home from work. Then they can be a surprise and its right on his way home.  This year the timing was off so I texted him to tell him we were going to pick them out so he didn't need to make a separate trip into town to get them.  For whatever reason he did not check his phone before heading back into town (unnecessarily) and picked up balloons for her.  So instead of 4 balloons she ended up with 10. Lucky her! Also she looks so old here. 

After preschool (man they were crazy today maybe it was the 60+ degree weather, a little spring fever?) I finished working on her cake. I baked the cakes yesterday morning then did the crumb coat and made the cute add-ons last night.  It was a late night for sure.  I needed to get as much as the cake done as I could plus do some decorating last night. Her cake came together pretty quickly and I was really pleased with how it turned out.  If we come up with a simple enough plan I feel pretty good I can make it happen. I believe it was last year on her birthday that she decided she wanted a fox cake for her 6th birthday. After searching pinterest and a little help from a Christmas present from my Mom, we were able to modify it a little and there was a fox on it. I made arrangements with Lydia's teacher to come to her class at 2:00 for a birthday treat, so I just has about an hour and half to get everything ready.

At school we handed out ice cream sandwiches and then brought Abby and Marcus home with us.  They had a great time playing.  I thought Lydia and Abby might have more fun if Jared had a friend to occupy him and the more people we had to help eat cake the better. We had cake and ice cream opened presents and there was not a single disagreement the whole time.  It was lovely.  Abby's family is sadly moving this summer so we will just have to enjoy seeing them while we can.

Lydia is a fun sweet girl.  She is always happy to have people play with her but enjoys her alone time too and isn't shy about telling you friends when she wants it. She loves Barbies, dressing up like a Ballerina and stuffed animals. She has lost 4 teeth and wants to wear leggings all the time. She is reading great and says math is easy and her favorite. Her favorite activities are ST math on the computer (screen time) and play time.  Her love for school has sadly diminished some. I personally think she might be getting bored, she passed all the Kindergarten benchmarks in the Fall and I think the newness of school might have worn off. Last Fall she was disappointed when there was a long weekend now she doesn't seem to mind.  She doesn't dislike school or complain about it which I'm grateful for.  Her teacher sent home a note this week commenting that her behavior was not a problem bus she seemed distracted and less interested in her work. We talked about it together and she commented that she was missing my Dad.  (Total curveball there)  Lately she has been talking about missing people a lot.  She mentions missing Mark frequently and she also brought up my Dad this week.  We were talking last night and she asked if we had any pictures of them together and if so could I print 2 of them so she could have one in her room and one to take to school with her.  I wasn't expecting that at all. * Her teacher sends home a daily behavior chart where she can earn a happy face in 3 categories: Morning and rug meetings, showing respect and following directions.  Last Fall she got her only sad face and it was for helping a student with their work when she had already been told not to.  Not the worst thing to get in trouble for.  So even though she is less enthralled with school she is doing really well and being kind and helpful. Lydia loves watching movies or shows on TV.  She is always the one to ask about family movie night.  She also has a serious sweet tooth.  Anytime she is going to eat something she asks for something sweet so she gets told she can have a banana a lot. She has been a much more selective eater the past few months.  I remember thinking last summer that packing her school lunch would be so easy but it has not been. She is a sensitive girl and loves snuggling and reading books together.  Me too!  She is my most favorite six year old.

Birthday Interview

1. What is your favorite color? Purple

2. What is your favorite toy? Barbies

3. What is your favorite fruit? Grapes

4. What is your favorite movie? Newsies

5. What do you do well? Play Barbies

6. What do you like to do with Daddy? Play Barbies

7. What makes you happy? Mommy and Daddy

8. What is your favorite scripture story? Noah and the Ark

9. What is your favorite song? Give said the Little Stream and You are My Sunshine

10. What is your favorite animal? Koala

11. What is your favorite book? Fancy Nancy

12. Who is your best friend? Abby

13. Where is your favorite place to go? Home 

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Be on trampoline

15. What is your favorite drink? Root Beer Floats

16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

17. What do you like to do with Mommy? Play Barbies

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Crepes

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Meat Tacos

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Kindergarten Teacher

Height: 45 inches (51% her height seems to have slowed down some this year)
Weight: 48 pounds (71 % )


*I took a quick look through pictures I knew he would likely be in and could only find 2 pictures of her and my Dad together.  Thank goodness we have those!  Looking at those pictures of my Dad and talking to Lydia about it really made me miss him.