Abundant Recompense Copy

A couple weeks ago, Meg, Sam and Natalie came down to play for the weekend. We had such a good time. We laughed, ate too much, hiked, planted pansies, watched The Terminal, and Nate and Sam went on a man-date to Zaxby's, followed by Meg and I going on a woman-date to Wood Creations. It was such a good time.  It was fun to see Natalie! She is the cutest little thing! She's grown and changed so much since the last time we saw her. I just want to squeeze her chubby cheeks constantly. Leah was completely smitten. She wanted to hold her and peek at her in her bed and was very concerned over her whereabouts at all times. The night they got there. Leah discovered the baby and would not be sent to bed. We hiked a little way up Taylor Canyon, an oldie but a goodie. But we took it from the other end of the trail, which was a fun little change. The weather was perfect. Definitely a good way to kick off the hiking season. Snack break. Leah was, shall we say, high maintenance on our little ...

A few weeks ago (March 12), the commuter train I was on hit a truck. I was on the train a half hour later than the one I usually catch, but I was running late. Five minutes into the trip (between North Temple and Woods Cross) there was a jerk of the brakes (nothing crazy, definitely not the hardest I've felt the brakes on the train) and a distant thump, then we came to a stop and the brakes started stinking. The guy across from me said he saw the remains of a truck as we went by. Long story short, the guy who was driving the truck got stuck on the tracks or something and he ended up with minor injuries. Nobody on the train was injured. Instead of getting home at 5:55 I got home at 9:00, making a commute of 4 hours 15 minutes. I thought the workers on the train did a fine job, and the EMTs who checked on everyone were great. But whoever at UTA is in charge of figuring out what to do in an emergency is completely inept. At first they said they’d bring buses. We sat for over two hours...

We spent every Monday and Wednesday during the month of February at the pool for Addison and Bryn's swimming lessons. They are both naturals, I must say. Leah lived for Mondays, when Nate would take all the kids and swim with her during lessons while I stayed home to teach piano. Every time she'd see the swimsuits hung up in the bathroom, she'd excitedly tell me about the time she got to go "kick kick" with Daddy. Bryn loved her teacher, Lindsey, and was always very excited to find her in the pool with her swim cap on. Addison's lessons were 45 minutes long this time around, instead of the 30 they do in the preschool level, and he definitely got the chance to expel his pent-up, wintertime wiggles. It made for kind of a crazy month, and it was a pain to deal with in the cold, but there were definitely benefits. They both would get home, scarf down anything I'd put in front of them at the dinner table, take a bath, and fall asleep before their heads hit the ...

Today it is supposed to be 65 degrees and sunny! I love it! Cute little toes are running bare through the grass and pasty white arms are coming out to get their first taste of sun. I've enjoyed watching the kids notice the changes happening outside this year. For some reason I think we're more aware than we have been in the past. Last year just as winter set in, some friends of ours, knowing how much Bryn loves birds, made us some birdhouses. Just because. Isn't that the nicest thing in the world? We finally got around to hanging them up a few weeks ago, and were thrilled to discover that at least two of them have occupants! Little chickadees in the one out the dining room window, and a mom and dad sparrow out the kitchen window. Yesterday our sparrows were making their nest. It was so fun to watch. And today, Bryn hopped out of the car and squealed with delight. I actually thought she'd gotten her fingers crushed in the sliding door. But no, she'd just spotted the ...

Here are several cute pics that I've been meaning to post.  So lucky to have a hubby who acts as the good-natured comic relief. Leah headed for the mirror. Our kids love checking themselves out. Addison had the heebie jeebies one night at bedtime, and when we went up to check on the kids, we found that he'd elected to bunk with brave little Brynny. This was Addison's outfit for his "100 day rodeo) in kindergarten. He picked his most cowboyish clothes and wore his cowboy hat (turned sideways). He was adorable and had a great time. I love the stuff our kids get excited over. Bryn on her way to preschool on the day of the Valentine's party. We made this birdhouse to hold her valentine cards from all her preschool friends. She LOVED it and carried it around for days. She even slept with it. A sneak peek at Leah's quilt. Someday it'll be finished . . . Mommy and Leah This was a day that Leah decided not to nap. And mommy really needed a nap and was exceedingly g...

Never in my life did I anticipate that there would come a day when I'd be saying, in earnest, to another human being, "No! We don't put shoes in the potty! That makes them yucky!" The ridiculousness of it really makes it quite hilarious. Truth be told, I should've cleaned the bathrooms this morning, so my little one-year-old potty scrubber extraordinaire could've had my full attention (or at least presence in the room). Instead, Grandma and I went shopping this morning. And so the shoes-in-the-potty incident occurred at 4:20 in the afternoon when I'd left little Leah to her scrubbing as I helped Addison with his piano. And simultaneously tried to be patient as I reminded Bryn that she could not earn a quarter for cleaning a window when it did not, in fact, end up clean, as she and Addison and a step stool and I all danced around each other on our outside step landing that is roughly two feet by two feet, trying not to fall. I returned to the bathroom to fi...

Addison lost his very first tooth! After weeks of faithful wiggling, he bravely let Nate get in there and do the deed last Thursday. I don't think he was sure about whether to laugh or cry when it was all done, but he was very, very proud. The next day he took his tooth and his riches from the tooth fairy to school to show everyone. It's pretty surreal for Nate and I, because visits from the tooth fairy = a big boy. But we're proud, and he's so cute running around with a missing tooth.  Addison dictated this note to the tooth fairy. He couldn't bear to part with the little tooth. Luckily, she's understanding and let him keep it along with an extremely generous cash prize. I like how he traced the tooth toward the bottom of the page.

We had a really, really hard time getting up on Monday morning. Daylight savings time has been an adjustment. It was all I could do to drag my sorry behind out of bed, squinting at the clock again and again wondering if it truly was 6:45 already. As I showered and got ready I gave myself my morning "talking to" and decided that by some miracle I had risen, and now it was time to make an attempt at shining. So I headed upstairs to Addison's room and very kindly and gently rubbed his back until he woke up and expressed his disbelief that it was so dark outside still. I told him that he'd slept through his alarm and we'd better get moving, and offered to grab some clothes for him. This seemed to be the turning point in what was winding up to be a fight to get out the door. He really liked that idea. So I did it, ran downstairs and grabbed out the cereal, and was pleasantly surprised that I didn't have to yell up the stairs for him even once.  Once we got outside ...