Three years of "poke-ah-hannas, dotter of chief"

First incarnation: Abigail, age 18 months

Second: Abigail, age two and a half


And third: Juliet, age (almost) fifteen months. Face paint (markers) to follow! (and notice that this is actually Pocahontas after she's met Davy Crockett).

back to normal, just in time for halloween

It's always so refreshing when I finish a big chunk of grading--like I can breathe again and start to enjoy life again and be productive. Not that fun things don't happen during grading weeks, or that I don't get things done, but everything seems so gloomy when there's that menacing stack of papers waiting for me at naptime and after the kids are in bed. Yikes.

But since I handed back an ENORMOUS stack yesterday, I was free to enjoy my day today and do all the things that I've been thinking about mournfully for the past few days. And enjoy it we have been doing most whole-heartedly.

We started off with a leisurely breakfast of steel-cut oats mixed with frozen blueberries. While we ate, Abigail narrated the picking of each berry this past August. It got us through about half of breakfast. Then she started to recap Blueberries for Sal. And by the way, if you've never had steel-cut oats, try them! So much better than rolled/old-fashioned oats--flavorful, nutty, and with real texture, not just gooey gluey bland (and I actually like old-fashioned oats, but these are WAY better).

Then the kids got baths, for the first time since Saturday night. I kind of feel bad about that, but they're clean now. Do you like how Abigail's hair is actually straight, not a fluffy aureole?

And then Elise and Eva came over for a couple of hours. It was great! The girls had so much fun together and once again reminded me of how much I can get done when they're happily occupied--I cleaned the 'fridge while they ate their snacks, answered emails when they decided to play in the study, and mopped the kitchen floor while they played nearby in the living room (but guess what, I got to mop it again an hour later when I dropped a 46-oz bottle of V8. And the splashes shot--I am not exaggerating--twenty feet, which I know because that's how far it is across my kitchen from end to end. Not to mention the enormous puddle at the center, and the splashes all over the walls, cabinets and appliances. And me. And the carpet in the hall). Wonderful wonderful. Plus, since they get out almost all the toys, it's a good excuse for me to do my weekly toy overhaul to make sure everything is back where it really belongs, not just where Juliet hid it or Abigail "put it away."

One thing we've been doing a lot this week--Halloween dress rehearsals. I think Abigail is still undecided about her costume (Sleeping Beauty? Snow White? A dancing fairy princess?), but what really strikes me about this picture is how old she looks. Three going on sixteen.



And then while the girls ate lunch I baked some pumpkin muffins for our snack this afternoon. Don't they look tasty? Go here for the recipe. And speaking of recipes, we had these last night--super tasty (especially if [like me] you think ground beef is sort of gross), and especially tasty when served with these.

And best of all, I have plenty of time to just sit and cuddle my babies. Abigail is always willing to snuggle, Juliet has suddenly decided she loves it (she really is awake in this picture). And I couldn't be happier.

grading with the engineer

I bet Neil wishes he got to get this dirty at school, but it's just from working on the Jeep's engine. But it's still my favorite "engineer husband" picture.

Sometimes when people ask me what classes I teach, and I give the generic "business and technical writing" response, they say, "Just don't teach engineers!" and I say "But I love teaching the engineers!"

And today, when I was grading, I realized why I'm fine with teaching the engineers.

Because I'm married to one.

And I was the TA for lots of engineers (yes, I, an English major, had my two years of glory days running TA sessions on particle physics and cell biology. I think I'm pretty cool. Also, it helped being married to an engineer).

Anyway, being married to Neil for almost six years means that I've picked up on lots of engineering things, so I can write comments on resumes like, "'MATLAB' is all caps" or "What about other CAD programs--SolidWorks, IronCAD, CATIA, or Unigraphix?" And when it comes to grading, my science background and my listening-to-Neil background get me through just about all the technical issues.

But every now and then, I get a particularly convoluted (which generally means it's poorly written in the first place) paper, and I take it to Neil, and I say, "Is this a real equation? It looks made-up to me. And do airfoils really have anything to do with noise reduction?"

And he says things like, "This equation is worthless, and this guy doesn't know noise theory, and plus that graphic is a fighter jet engine and that one's a commercial jet engine, and let me explain this particular theory to you..." and then he explains some more things and I write everything he says down, and then I give him a kiss or two and change Juliet's next diaper to even things up. And think about how lucky I am to be married to such a clever guy, even if he is in school for about eleventy million hundred years doing fancy-pants things with lasers.

And that is why it's nice to be married to an engineer.

my best friends, circa 2001

Do you ever have days where you just get all memory-sick? Sort of like homesick, but is there a word for it? Anyway, I found my journal from freshman year today--I think the girls were playing with it--and I sat down and started reading. And it made me miss all my friends so much! (so I emailed them, and they better email me back, and you, you, and you know who you are).

Seriously though, my freshman year of college was a blast. I learned so much, not just in school, but about life and about how to be a good friend and a nice person (okay, I STARTED learning, since some of you who were my really good friends that year may agree that I needed a lot more lessons). I was blessed to have a roommate who I absolutely adored, and a bunch of guy friends who made things so much fun and who were honestly like brothers (except for the ones I dated). We did everything together--studying, cleaning, eating, grocery shopping, football games, hikes, growing up.

But what I miss most, I think, are just the little things that made it so fun. Driving up in the canyon at odd hours of the night. Hiking the Y after BYU whipped the U of U. Burning endless amounts of things in the canyon. Endlessly dissecting dates, and sometimes being really obnoxious about it (like when I wouldn't shut up about Christian, or when Paul taped those pictures of him kissing Amber to the fridge). Crying together on September 11th while we watched the news. Hiking to Stewart Falls. Burning more things in the canyon. Having an entire ROOM in our apartment devoted to clothes that smelled like woodsmoke, because we couldn't be bothered to wash them (Jen, I miss you). Scrounging for quarters so that we could have clean clothes (although I will never, ever, ever forget Bob telling me, "I don't have time to wash my sweater [before his date that night], so I think I'll just throw it in the laundry with a sheet of Febreeze--do you think she'll notice?" and how incredibly hard I laughed). Crying together when relationships ended, or just didn't work out, or couldn't get started. Learning that you could microwave ice cream to soften it up (again, this is a Bob trick). Painting Paul and Dan for the BYU football games. Messing around with the moving shelves in periodicals (I think our record was 8 simultaneously). The blessing John gave me that was so powerful that I immediately wrote it down in my journal. The Testing Center, and Bob's cry for "freedom!" Everyone being patient with me for being perpetually stressed out. The time when the security guard at the temple thought Jen and I were runaway sister missionaries. Cheap tickets at the HFAC. Staple-gunning tulle to the ceiling of the Morris Center for Invitational. Tuesday nights at the CougarEat with a chaser of International Cinema. Watching movies out on the balcony after curfew. Eating spaghetti coated in sugar sprinkles. The "ACT 33" club. Opening mission calls. Subsisting primarily on a diet of chocolate milk and Creamery rolls, with the occasional pot pie thrown in for good measure. Buying things to send the guys a greenie package in the MTC--and then eating all the green cookies before we sent it (sorry, they were really good, and I don't think we ever confessed). Singing at mission farewells. Calling at 3 am for a priesthood blessing, and having Bob there five minutes later in a shirt and tie. Getting stood up on dates, getting out of dates, getting dates. The fish date! The Gone With the Wind date! Planning our futures. Drawing everyone's faces on baked potatoes and serving them up for dinner--except Jen's. The Kristyn and Landon pumpkin. Plum pants boy and his thank-you pumpkin. Dirty Josh and Dirty Kevin. M. Scott. Small Scott. Jessica of the Large Hair. Oh Holy Brad, and Greek God Brandon. One dozen muffins downed in twenty minutes. Red Baron pizza, endless letters and emails, and AOL instant messenger. And best of all, Raquel, Juanita, Pablo, Juan Paco, and...Antoine.

I am so grateful for all of you.

So you better email me back.

juliet snapshot

Juliet Elizabeth, age 14 months and 20 days

Favorite activity: illicit and incredibly rapid table-climbing, alternated with pushing confiscated chairs back across house to table in order to table-climb again.

Today's new word: "happy" (it was actually the very first thing she said to me this morning when she saw me).

This is what happens when you frost cookies as a family. It was sure fun!!!

New trick today: deciding she wanted milk during family scriptures; running to the fridge and checking to see if it was open (aka is Abigail standing there, and will she interpret a yell of "Mah! Mah!" to open the 'fridge and hand me my sippy?), then returning to the living room, grabbing my hand, and tugging me into the kitchen and then running over to stand expectantly by the fridge.

Hair status: curly curly curly in back--little teeny ringlets that curl right around your fingers. A fine downy fluff on top that stands up rather rakishly. Eyes continue as a beautiful gray-green.

Loves to give kisses. Loves, love, loves to give kisses--runs around smacking her lips. Never fails to come running with an ENORMOUS grin and giggle whenever I kneel down and hold out my arms to her.

Wants to be a "big girl." If Abigail does it, she's sure that she can too. Even if her chin is barely above the table.



Best moment with her today--reading her favorite book at bedtime while she alternated between pointing to the animal on the page (so I would make the appropriate animal noise), then looking up at me with her big beautiful eyes, smiling, and cuddling back down against me.

Growing up: very fast.

this is why my Gmail away message is somewhat frantic:

7:00 am--get up, get ready, read scriptures while eating oatmeal. last "relaxation time" for next 14 hours.
7:40 am--walk .7 miles to the bus stop, take bus to campus, do last-minute printing of grading sheets for oral presentations
8:30-10:30 am--teach
10:45-12:10--visiting teaching
12:20--feed kids lunch while making phone calls
12:30--eat lunch standing at counter while sorting grading into stacks
12:45-1:20--start grading at kitchen table while kids dance in living room. wish self were dancing too.
1:30--read stories, sing songs, wipe backsides. children down for naps.
1:55--grading starts again (oral presentations, reading responses, and research papers).
2:30--finish grading oral presentations and responses. give self a brief stint online before beginning research papers.

tentative schedule for rest of day...

2:45-3:45 (hopefully children will sleep this long!)--research paper grading
3:45-4:00--magically create very fast and comprehensive grocery list while kids eat snack
4:00--grocery shopping. really wish could wait another day, but neil requested that we make sugar cookies for family home evening. no eggs (had omelettes and pumpkin muffins for dinner on saturday. very tasty, but used up all available eggs). must hie self to store.
5:00--very fast dinner-making. mushroom and chile carbonara? prep time less than 20 minutes; sounds good.
6:00--make sugar cookie dough while simultaneously doing dishes (translation: make dough while Neil does dishes).
6:30--Family Home Evening on baptism. oh--need to prepare lesson.
7:00--bake sugar cookies, frost, devour, and deliver some to next-door neighbors. oh wait. need to bake earlier to ensure frostability. make dough while making dinner?
7:30--start putting kids to bed. read lots of stories to compensate for way too busy day with no down time.
8:00--run three miles, shower, prep for tomorrow
9:00--fall into bed. feel sympathy pang for husband who is still working. feel deep gratitude for husband who did all the laundry and changed the sheets this morning so there is a clean bed to fall into.

and now it's 2:45, which means I should be grading again. adios!

If you haven't yet seen this beautiful article about Christian and Stephanie Nielson in the Arizona Republic, check it out. It's very, very, very touching.

family night at the home improvement store, or why i love ebay, or how christmas is coming a little early this year

The mission: replace our cheapo builder-installed leaky broken kitchen faucet with something that makes doing dishes a bit of a thrill.

The time frame: we've been debating relative merits of faucets for over two years (yes, you read that right).

The method: visit Lowe's, Home Depot, and Menard's all in one night to compare and contrast.

The criteria: Gooseneck (Rachael). Pull-down sprayer (Neil). One-hand adjustment (Neil). Slender profile (Rachael). Not ugly (both, plus emphatic Abigail).

The realization: pretty faucets are expensive.

The mood: glum. considering reconciliation with the ugly old crappy faucet and purchase of many many O-rings.

The solution: Ebay. How we love you. And finding this beauty at a price that made it affordable, rather than the budget-breaker price at the brick-and-mortar stores. It was like when we found our dream stroller on four years ago on eBay [except ours is a much cuter fabric] and suddenly it was magically within our just-married price range (and seriously, it's the best stroller ever. I might even buy it at full price). Or like the time that Neil bought me some sweet parabolic skis for my birthday at a steal of a deal. Don't you love online auctions?

Happy dishes to us!!! And don't you love how this faucet is like, SO super-exciting to everyone in this household? Seriously, we all have dorky grins on our faces.

Next house project--follow the Family Handyman's guide to installing a ceramic backsplash (in the November issue, if you're curious). We're sick of artfully draping towels to protect the drywall behind the sink.

Anybody have a tile saw we can borrow? (and you just think I'm joking. seriously--any tile saws out there?)

And do you want to come wash dishes with our super-exciting new faucet? It would be a total party. We'll provide the dishes.

And what cool things have you found on eBay? Do share!

And now I'm going to go watch Pushing Daisies with my husband, because I love them both. And eat grapes. Because I love those too.

gal pals

Dear Abigail,

When you're old enough to read, I want you to know that you're one of my very best friends. We hang out together. We read stories. We cook up elaborate messes. You always ask me, very seriously, "How was your day today, Mommy?" and listen with great interest while I recap whatever we've done all day.

Today when I came back from the dentist and smiled a lopsided-mouth-still-numb smile at you, you made me laugh so much when you gently suggested that I try smiling like you, 'cause "look Mommy, I smile with both sides of my mouth." Last night when we ran around shaking boxes of pasta while we waited for the water to boil, you made me laugh even more. And today when we crunched through the leaves, and I called you "Crunchagail" and you retorted, "Okay, 'den you're Crunchamom," honestly, is it any wonder that I just have to squeeze you? And I love it when you walk over to me and say, "I just love you, you know that?" I love reading stories with you and making up silly songs and dances (I'm so glad you've inherited that trait, even if Daddy does think we're crazy). I love being friends with you so much. Thank you for being my buddy. I love watching you grow up and make your own choices. It's exciting (and a little intimidating sometimes!) watching your little personality blossom and develop as a unique individual, seperate and distinct from me.

Oh, and sorry about that whole time-out thing. I guess that's not very friendly, but hey. You'll thank me for it some day.

Love,

Mommy

thankful bits and pieces

I've been pretty lachrymose on here lately. Today when I was dancing around the living room with the kids (stylishly bedecked in a straw hat and flowered tablecloth tied around my waist) I started thinking about all the things I am grateful for.

Like this adorable chickadee and her rockin' footwear.




So here are a few of the "gratefuls" that keep popping up, both big and little.

• Neil's pneumonia is much less awful than it was last time. His fever is gone. He's mostly back to normal, except for the cough (last March it took 3 weeks to get to this point).
• Yesterday I was buying some makeup and Abigail commented that the bare-backed model in one of the advertisements nearby "was not being modest." That was just great to hear. I'm so glad that she understands that concept and sees it as worthy of attention (and five minutes later she reminded me that "we cannot buy Oreos, Daddy likes them but they have yuckies in them." Brainwashing them young--that's what I'm all about).
• The endodontist (that Neil saw for a second opinion) doesn't think he needs ANY root canals. Perhaps a crown, perhaps not, but NO root canals. This makes me ready to dance with joy.
• It's cold here! It's winter shoes time! Standing next to Juliet on Sunday made me smile when I looked at our feet. I love winter shoes. And I love, love, LOVE baby feet (and guess what? My tights were like the best child entertainer ever. I think the girls found my feet vaguely hypnotic all through church).




• Last night I was rereading Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure and I got to the part about how the one little boy kills his siblings because he thinks that they are too great a burden on their parents (have I mentioned how incredibly incredibly depressing that book is? I suddenly remembered why I've only read it once) and I was just really, really, really grateful that when I say to Abigail, "How much do I love you?" she yells "Lots, lots, LOTS!" at the top of her voice. I am grateful that I get to see my kids every day and that I can kiss them until they giggle like crazy from the sheer silliness of it all.
• I'm grateful that my pants were falling down in aerobics yesterday. Embarrassing and irritating, yes, but it means that I weigh a lot less than I did this time last year two months post-baby.
• We have a new futon, thanks to someone in the ward who is moving away. This means more comfort for visiting family. And it's built in the Shaker style, which is an added bonus since it unintentionally matches the existing furniture in that room! It's nice and comfy--Neil and I broke it in last night with an evening showing of The Incredible Hulk (much better than the 2003 version, but still enough silly bits to make us laugh and dissect it later).
• Clear duct tape. It has prolonged the life of so many of our children's books. I did my bi-monthly taping session this morning and I'm looking forward to having those books back in circulation!
• I'm grateful that my house stays pretty clean (okay, I'm grateful that everyone around here cooperates in cleaning it up). It keeps me sane.
• We picked up an illustrated children's cookbook at the library last week (instead of written directions, it's all pictures). Abigail told me she wants to make "ginger baby-mans" this afternoon. I'm really excited! I love cooking with the girls. I love the fact that they look forward to it too!
• The department (at least in theory) has approved my request to teach a 7:30 and 8:30 am class next semester. This means more research time for Neil and more time for me at home with the girls. I'm really glad about this--not being done until 10:30 has been a bit of a strain this semester.
• Grapes. I love grapes. I could be a locavore except for grapes.
  


• Remember those Anthropologie bowls I bought a couple weeks ago? I could tell when I bought them that Neil was totally humoring me. And now he LOVES them. He told me last night that he looks forward to breakfast because he gets to eat it out of those bowls. It sounds a little silly, but get yourself some of those bowls and you'll see what I mean. It's like this little thrill to pick what color you'll use this time (especially for Abigail), and they are seriously the most perfect size for anything. If you like milk on your cereal, the circumference is just right so that everything doesn't get soggy all at once--it delivers cereal down perfectly into the milk as you eat so everything is just the right consistency (or so I hear from Neil, since I don't like milk in my cereal). It keeps soup warm, but not blazing hot. They're the perfect size for serving a small family as well--our burritos have never looked so stylish (oh and also I'm grateful for homemade refried beans and tortillas. Cannot. Be. Beat). Okay, I know I'm really going on, but I just love these bowls. They're my kitchen favorites right now.
• Juliet has really got the hang of picking up toys. And she repeats "tank oo" when you thank her for putting the toys away.
• We're more than halfway through the semester! That means only nine weeks until I get to see Mary Beth, Ruth, Jordan, and Elise home from BYU for Christmas. I am so, so, so, SO excited. Like, I cannot even tell you how excited I am. I love my family so much and I miss them like crazy.
• Abigail really loves praying right now. We went through a couple of months where it was like pulling teeth to get her to pray in an audible voice. Now she always volunteers to say the prayer, and she is so specific and so sincere that it just warms my heart to listen.
• I'm grateful for all the growing up I've done in the last few years. I think I'm becoming a much nicer and more patient person. I still have a long way to go, but I'm really happy with the choices I've made and how I've spent my time. I'm grateful for where I am developmentally and the people that surround me. I'm grateful for all my opportunities, especially lots of service opportunities. Someone told me about a year ago that she didn't know anyone who was more quick to serve than I was/am, and at the time I felt like that was a really sweet thing to say and that I really wanted it to be true. So I've been trying. A lot. Still have a lot of work to do, but I'm working at it. I'm especially grateful for how forgiving my husband and children are while I struggle to figure everything out. They put up with a lot, and I'm grateful that there's always a forgiving hug and kiss when I need it most.
• I love fall. This is my favorite time of year. Sweaters, apple cider, pumpkin chocolate-chip muffins, crunchy leaves, princesses and pirates parading around the neighborhood. It just doesn't get any better than this.

What are you grateful for today?

and another link

I don't have any great posts today, but my dear friend Rachel does. I love the fact that she is treating the topic of breastfeeding children with the same intellectual approach (a combination of keen perception and personal anecdote) that made her papers so interesting to read in grad school.

Today I am having a day where I would very much like to be at lunch with my witty grad school pals discussing everything and anything. My friends, I miss you!

some links

If you have a Delta crib (sold at Toys R Us under the name "Jenny Lind") you may want to take a look at this recall: http://www.deltacribrecall.com/

Essentially, the mechanism that raises and lowers the sides of cribs manufactured in China before 2007 can fail and trap a baby's head so that it suffocates. If you want to read the article about the recall, go here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27294553/?GT1=43001

And on a lighter note (now that I'm terrified of our crib and thinking we should have sprung for the $500 non-lethal version), Neil sent me this earlier: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1086

and then to make you feel better about being in academia overall (if such is the case):

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1077

Always good to put things in perspective!

deja vu?

Remember last March when Neil decided to one-up me on the whole "I'm exhausted because I'm pregnant" thing by coming down with pneumonia? Like, RIGHT after his area exams when I was ready to put him back to work on a mile-long to-do list?

He's always trying to do that. I'm pregnant, he gets pneumonia. I get my wisdom teeth out, he gets a root canal. I mean, honestly. It's not a competition for who gets to lounge around in bed ordering room service from the kitchen. I'm going to have to come up with some ailment fast if I don't want to be doing all the work around here for the next week.

Just kidding. I'm trying to laugh off the fact that he's back on the Z-packs, feverish, and coughing. The doctor prescribed treatment as if it were pneumonia based on his history without even bothering to do an X-ray.

Seriously though, keep us in your prayers.

And now I'm off to call the pediatrician about Abigail's cough and sideaches. I am very much hoping that we're not getting hit by viral pneumonia. That would so not be fun right now. And after hearing about the very nasty stomach flu spreading through our ward, I am REALLY glad that I took the kids home after sacrament meeting yesterday. I figured we were sparing the nursery from the infection of our runny noses and coughs; it sounds like we may have saved ourselves from a particularly unpleasant couple of days.

family date

Here's what's nice about going to a graduate program ranked in the top ten: they have no problem pouring money into activities. One of our semester family favorites: free bowling, billiards, and dinner (and it always makes me chuckle to see that the only people with kids there are all Mormon).

So on Friday we had some seriously needed family time (seriously needed. Neil was working like crazy all week--he got home at 3:30 am on Thursday, I was gone the only night this week that he was actually home, and everyone but me is sick. Again. I saved the woe-is-me entry about all this for my journal).




Abigail had a BLAST. What kid doesn't love being given a heavy ball and hearing that they're supposed to chuck it as hard as they can to try to knock things down?

Especially when your best friend is standing next to you giggling like crazy?



But as much as Abigail liked the actual bowling part...

...she liked the ball return best. It elicited a shriek of joy from her every time.

Then we went over to teach the girls how to play billiards (no, she didn't sit here the whole time).

Neil demonstrated his flawless technique.



Then I took a turn.

And then Abigail used her cue like a broom across the table to whack all the balls to the sides.

fairyland surprise

Today a package arrived in the mail for Abigail and Juliet from my dearest friend and former roommate Jen.

Much excitement, giggles, and twirling ensued.

Did you know my girls had a fairy godmother? Who sent them this delectable surprise?

It's true. Abigail told me so herself.

Thank you, Jen!!

soapbox #3: creating lifelong readers

One of the very best things that my parents did for us was not having a TV in our home until I'd been away at college for a year (and my mom was called as seminary teacher and had to have a TV to show all the seminary videos).


Why?

Because we spent our childhoods either a) running around like crazy outside or b) draped over furniture inside reading, reading, reading. Even today, I love how it's totally normal for every one of us to be sitting in the same room immersed in our various books, even if we've traveled 2000 miles to be there.

So here's my third soapbox: read to your kids. Every day. Read, read, read. I'm not saying you have to teach them to read, or totally ditch having a TV in your house (Neil and I do have an ancient 12-inch TV/VCR that somebody gave us that we break out every now and then), or spend every second of your day reading the same four books over and over. But I really honestly think that reading to your children every day, for a decent amount of time, is one of the best gifts that you can ever give them. Absolutely read books that they're interested in, but also read books that "stretch" them a bit, whether the subject matter seems a little complex, or maybe there aren't a ton of pictures, or the book's a bit longer than they usually sit through. Give them the chance to reach and to grow (and plus, you can only read so many Berenstein Bears books before you really have to break out in a little Laura Ingalls Wilder).

I read to my girls at least fifteen minutes a day (although it usually stretches out to quite a bit longer, but that's our minimum)--this doesn't include stories at naptime/bedtime or family scripture study. We usually sit down together in the morning before lunch or right after naps and just work our way through a pile of books. Some benefits I've seen already in my very young children:

• lengthy attention span
• large and increasingly complex vocabulary
• attention to small details that comprise a whole
• ability to follow stories and notice any discrepancies in logic
• increasingly rapid grasp of correct sentence structure and verb conjugation, with ability to self-correct errors
• imaginative play building off of stories
• quality time together--something I really value, as everyone is still, attentive, and focused, and we generally sit snuggled up together while I rub little backs and smooth tousled hair. It's a very affectionate bonding time as well as reading time.
• and last but not least--having a three-year-old who will stay in her room for two hours every day (during Juliet's naptime), entertaining herself solely by looking at picture books.

On a larger scale, in my own life I've seen the immense impact of my childhood reading experiences. Reading so much means that I read very quickly. I write easily, because I've read lots of good writing. Both of these abilities have really helped me to excel intellectually, which in turn means that I went to college for free, I finished grad school at the age of 22 with a year-old baby and a 4.0, and I can juggle teaching university courses and being a full-time SAHM (reading very fast = way less time grading).

I don't mean to sound like I'm bragging about my success, or to say, "If you don't read to your kids, all kinds of dire things will happen!" but I do want to show some of the really positive things that I've seen in my own life from being a reading addict (although the downside is, of course, that when you spend an average of 4-6 hours reading every day, you're often a little sleep-deprived because the book (or books!) was so good you just had to finish it. That was me last night).

So think of it this way: read to your children to create a time where you are focusing wholly on them, where you are cuddling together and not thinking about the stresses of the day. Read to your children to teach them about the world, to show them the possibilities in their future, and to give them the tools to create that future. Read to your children to enhance their vocabularies, their attention spans, their interests. Read to your children to create people who are genuinely interested in learning and who are able to do so quickly. Read to your children.

And perhaps, in return, they'll pay you back with some full-ride college scholarships. Now that's what I call a sound investment!

**I also highly recommend attending the story times at your local public library--it's a great way to make reading seem super fun to your kids. Plus you get to bring home all sorts of cool new books that make everyone excited for reading time! And then you can say things to your kids like, "When you are four, you can have your very own library card" in a very dramatic and awed voice and they think it's the best present ever and hurray for you, it's free!

the best of consolation

Abigail and Elise in the middle of one of their Thursday morning parties

Have you read the book Alexander and the Very Bad No Good Horrible Awful Day (or whatever it's called; I can't remember the exact title).

That's my day so far today. Any day that starts out with having to do a post-emergency load of laundry, a 2 hour dentist visit (and another $400, eek), and a total meltdown at husband and children for no good reason other than my own frustation is not going so well. Let's just say that it's a good thing I'm taking dinner to someone tonight; otherwise my family would probably be eating pancakes again for dinner (which is what I made last night when I was feeling sick and Neil was coming home late. And then Juliet ate more pancakes than I did). Plus the fact that I just finished reading 2 classes of student papers and I'm pretty irritated at the oblivion of half the students to a) the detailed discussions in lecture and b) the even more detailed guidelines I emailed them after class, just to reinforce the principles. Overkill? I don't know. I know some of the other teachers have mentioned that this year's crop of students doesn't seem as motivated as in years past, so who knows (but I guess half the class paying attention is good; it's just frustrating because I want EVERYONE to learn and do well, it's hard to remember sometimes that not everyone cares as much about their own success as I do on their behalf). Sometimes I miss teaching at BYU where everyone was a super over-achiever. It definitely has its perks.

Anyway, I am grateful that today was a switcheroo day for the girls (they went off happily to Andrea's to play with Elise and Eva as is usual on Thursday mornings) so I had two hours to grade and calm down. And then post on my blog about how fun my kids are, because that always cheers me up (and now that I've posted now, maybe I can run during naptime instead of posting then, since I missed aerobics this morning because I was at the dentist for an hour longer than it was supposed to take. Which I'm still kind of irritated about, because I don't like running two days in a row (I like to space it around aerobics for muscle happiness) but whatever. Enough stream of conciousness).

Speaking of playing with Elise and Eva, every time it's my turn to watch the girls I always have to take a few photos, because they're so darling together. Juliet and Eva are really starting to have fun with each other--they squeal when they see each other and it's so cute (even if they don't look very involved in this particular picture).



Lately Juliet has been climbing EVERYWHERE. And screaming really really really really LOUDLY when she can't get up. Like, really super loud. So loud that you have to double-check to make sure she really is a baby and not some crazed rock star concert (not a rock star, but an entire concert). She is really loud.

Anyway, she likes to climb. And she especially likes the computer. She will play around with the mouse for awhile, and then she licks the bottom, because it has a red light. Then the mouse doesn't work and whoever uses it next is really grossed out because it's covered in slime. Oh, and look at her little curls!



She's also getting more into playing with Abigail (and interested in Abigail's favorite toys, which is not so fun for Abigail--Juliet keeps running around corners with fistfuls of Barbies while Abigail is in hot pursuit).

These are two very characteristic shots of the girls after naps. Abigail is sitting on the couch eating an apple while she looks at books (and she put the rest of them behind her head to keep them away from Juliet).

And Juliet has emptied all the board books out of the basket, climbed in the basket, and is rocking wildly. Pretty soon she'll get stuck and start yelling. Loudly. LOUDLY.

prayers of a child

*beginning and ending omitted to avoid guilt feelings of sacrilege on part of chronicler**

"...thank you for this day, thank that we read scriptures and learn about Moroni, thank you that the wicked people get killed, thank you that Jesus not save them but only save the good people, thank you that we can turn on yoga, thank you that we can do yoga, thank you that we have a good day, bless us to have a good sleep..."

**aside from the sheer sweetness of that funny little three-year-old prayer, I love how her prayers are just lots of thankfulness. what a wonderful attitude that little girliekins has.

cookies with the chickies

"Cooking is 80 percent confidence, a skill best acquired starting from when the apron strings wrap around you twice."

--Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Vegetable Miracle

Last night after dinner, the girls and I made cookies together (of course, Neil wasn't around to photograph the preparation our infinitely more healthy dinner: broiled salmon, freshly baked whole-wheat bread, steamed broccoli, baked potatoes, and ripe plums. No, we document cookies).



I love cooking with the kids--it's so much fun (I just have to watch Abigail very carefully when she cracks eggs. I've gone fishing for many an eggshell).

Abigail is at the stage now where she not only wants to gather the ingredients and dump them in, but she's interested in what they do and how they work together. It's fun to explain to her.

Juliet just wants to eat dough. This is the kind of face she makes when she's denied.

And then, when everyone else is distracted (by putting the cookies in the oven), she takes care of the issue herself.

Fistful of dough...

...insert in mouth. No juvenile worries about salmonella poisoning (or obviously, maternal ones for that matter, since I was more worried about capturing the moment on my camera).

So deliciously fun, both for the body and the spirit.

And then that sweet man I'm married to sent me off to the library (all by myself! for two hours!) while he cleaned up the cookie-making things and put the kids to bed (although to be honest, he did suggest more than once that maybe I could leave AFTER the kids were in bed. Then I reminded him about how many nights he's been gone this past month, and he sent me off without another protest).