how to tell when your son is ready to move from playtime to dinnertime

trade-off

Neil and I did a skills swap this morning: I wrote his NSF grant proposal while he folded laundry and played with the kids.

We both thought we got the better end of the deal, which is always a good sign.

**note: normally I would have written this in the evenings so he could keep working, or just edited it after he wrote it, but his professor emailed him in the middle of the night about applying; the deadline is today, hence the rush. lucky man, to have his own in-house technical writer.

best morning ever

How we spent Friday morning: in an enormous room filled with inflatable toys with the girls' best friends.

Isaac slept in his stroller the entire time, and I ran around and played with the girls (I was watching at first until Juliet got lost inside one of the inflatables and started yelling frantically for me; she then insisted that I accompany her everywhere). Best part: hardly anyone else was there and the place was super squeaky clean.

I seriously cannot remember the last time I had so much fun. It was amazing and wonderful and reminded me why I love being a mother. It was just what I needed after a week where I had several of those "I'm a failure, cue the crying" nights after the kids were in bed.

Seriously. So. Awesome.

Nauvoo pictures

First of all, I probably would never have actually posted on this if my sister Elise hadn't kept nagging me about it. I have a hard time wanting to post about vacations and things like that, because there's so much enjoying the moment and forgetting to take pictures and then it just seems too enormous to tackle. Even a three-day trip. I didn't take very many pictures on this trip, mostly because I felt kind of rude snapping away while the senior missionaries were giving us tours of the homes, and also because it just isn't really an experience that you can capture with a camera, if that makes sense. What's so wonderful about Nauvoo is that it's a very spiritual experience--which isn't something you can photograph very easily. Anyway. Some pictures, mostly of the temple, because how can you not photograph it every chance you get? It's so beautiful. I like this picture with Abigail and Juliet on the steps because it gives a sense of how large the temple truly is. One of my favorite shots--I really liked the reminder that this temple was rebuilt on the original site and with the same architectural plan. A view of the temple on the bluff, shot through the window of the Scovil Bakery. Old Nauvoo is a combination of homes furnished in period style, which you can tour and learn about the people who lived there, and craftsman's shops, most of which offer demonstrations. We visited several homes, but spent most of our time wandering around from shop to shop, since this is what was most interesting for the kids. Our first stop (literally, five minutes after we pulled into Nauvoo, and after we went to the bathroom, where Abigail asked FIVE HUNDRED TIMES "Is this Joseph Smith's bathroom?) was the tinsmith. The most polite way to say this is that the girls had zero interest in learning about tin and just wanted to run wild like banshees outside (can you blame them after six hours in the car?) We did not stay at the tinsmith very long. We walked down the street to the bakery, where we learned about the people who built the bakery and all ate a gingerbread cookie (the sister missionary there told me that they had just finished the summer baking of 59,213 cookies, which they stashed in freezers all around Nauvoo in preparation for the mass migration of Utah tour buses). We walked around the grounds at the bakery and Juliet found the outhouse (why was that restored) and didn't want to leave, of course. Then we went next door to the assembly hall and listened some more and then decided that we needed to go check into our cabin and eat dinner, so that Neil could leave in time to go to the temple. After dinner, we went to go walk around the temple grounds (this statue of the Prophet's last ride to Carthage was new since the last time I'd been there). It was beautiful and sunny, and the girls got to touch the temple, which for some reason they'd been talking about for the last week. After Neil went into the temple, I took the kids down to the visitor's center and we wandered around the Women's Garden, which has always been one of my very favorite places (this statue of Joseph and his wife Emma is also one of my favorites). While we were there, I struck up a conversation with another woman who was there with her children, and discovered that she was in one of the other wards in our city. When I introduced myself, she said, "Oh yes, I've heard of you!" which is always an interesting conversation-opener. When we were leaving the garden, I realized that Isaac didn't have his pacifier, which was the only one we'd brought on the trip. We went back to the cabin, got everyone ready for bed, and proceeded to rifle through everything we'd brought, search the car multiple times--no pacifier. I prayed that we would find it--no pacifier. I put everyone in bed--the girls were quiet and presumably falling asleep, but Isaac was screaming like a banshee. He wouldn't stop. So I got the girls back out of bed, loaded everyone (in their pajamas) into the car, and started driving around to gas stations to see if I could buy a pacifier (remember, this is Nauvoo, where the only tiny corner grocery store closes at 7 pm). No pacifiers for sale. So we drove back to the temple and I hunted all over the grounds. No pacifier. Screaming baby. Tired kids saying, "Mommy, I please go back to the cabin and sleep now?" To make a long story short, we drove around Nauvoo and watched the sun set on the Mississippi, drove through all the darkening streets, watched some raccoons and cats hanging out amiably by someone's trash cans, and finally wound up on the bluff near the temple eating the "emergency suckers" I'd stashed in my purse while I told the kids stories. Isaac calmed down with all the driving, but I decided that we would wait for Neil to come out of the temple so that if he didn't have Isaac's pacifier, we could drive to another town to buy one ASAP instead of waiting for Neil to walk back to the cabin. Fortunately, Neil did have the pacifier, and at the end of it all I was glad that we'd had that evening together. It was beautiful watching the sunset and seeing the temple gradually begin to glow up there on the bluff, lit from within. The next morning we got up bright and early. Our first stop was at the wheelwright and blacksmith (Juliet is standing at my elbow right now explaining everything that's happening in the pictures), where we learned all about making wagon wheels (very cool!) and then watched the making of a tiny little horseshoe, which the girls got to keep. They also got "prairie diamonds," or horseshoe nails bent into the shape of a tiny little ring for their fingers. Then we walked down Parley Street to the river and talked about the pioneers leaving their homes. I got very teary-eyed, Juliet was very interested in the stories I was telling, and Abigail kept whining that her legs hurt and she couldn't walk this far, whereupon Neil and I said things like, "If you were a pioneer you would have to walk for months, and pick up buffalo chips while you're at it!" Such sympathetic parents. Next, we went to the brickyard, where we learned about the process of making bricks (most of the homes in Nauvoo are brick) and ended up with our very own brick to take home. During the course of the day, we also visited the Brigham Young home, the gunsmith (Neil's favorite), the Joseph Smith home, cemetery and Red Brick Store (owned by another church, so it's more a commercial endeavor, but we bought lemon drops there and the kids were in heaven), and the Family Living Center, which was my favorite--it was a huge room with all these different "stations" all around the room, where you could learn about pioneer things like making bread (very yummy!), spinning flax and wool into thread, weaving rugs and clothing, dipping candles, making buggies, and--my favorite--making rope. There were demonstrations for everything, and we ended up leaving with a ten-foot length of rope that Abigail and Juliet had made (see, I told you it was awesome!!) and wax candles. Oh, and we ate some bread. Then we had a picnic outside. The weather was beautiful, and the kids ran around laughing and happy and climbing trees. So, so, so fun. After lunch we went back to the visitor's center and watched the film Joseph Smith, Prophet of the Restoration. It was about the Prophet's life and was very, very, very moving. I was really impressed. And then we went to the John Taylor home (the third president of the church), which was one of the things the girls were most excited about. There was an article in the Friend a month ago about a little rocking horse that John Taylor went back to Nauvoo to retrieve (after the mobs have driven them out) when he realized that his son was very distressed about leaving it behind. Abigail and Juliet were SO excited to see this horse that the sister missionary asked them if they'd like to go under the rope (protecting the furniture) and go stand next to it for a picture. They don't look so happy in this shot, but trust me, they were. Overall, I was amazed at how gorgeous the weather was--we all discarded our coats and were just running around laughing. It was gorgeous. Oh, and since I'm not in any of the pictures, this is the best I can do to show I really was there: food I cooked. On Saturday morning, when we woke up to go to Carthage, it was snowing. So...not many pictures (if you're curious, the upper window in the left side of the picture is the window of the room where the Prophet and his brother Hyrum were killed--also the window that Joseph fell from). Short version (if you've read this far): PERFECT trip. Absolutely lovely--we had a wonderful time. And once again, I need to stop blogging and get everyone out the door for church, although Neil and Isaac are happily playing a game right now that involves Isaac rolling off the couch, laughing hysterically, and being caught by Neil right before he hits the floor. Oh boy...

saturday morning running

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This morning we went for a 9-mile run. It was absolutely idyllic. Our children were at their friends' house (we had their kids over for breakfast while they went running), and it was just Neil and I out in the brisk spring air. We ran all our favorite trails past the lakes and ponds and woods. Daffodils were blooming, the geese were honking, and I was with my favorite guy ever. It was so perfect--we talked the whole way, except the last mile or so when we were really picking up the pace (note: Neil paid me my second-favorite compliment ever--at one point around mile 8 I said, "Is this pace okay? Am I slowing you down?" and he said, "Nope--the opposite, in fact." Which was awesome for my self-esteem, since he's ten inches taller than me!) We both felt great afterward, probably due to our awesome carb-loading beforehand, which may or may not have included steel-cut oats, blueberries, and ground flax with a chaser of Ghiradelli double-fudge brownies.

We ended up running the 9 miles at about 9:30 a mile, including a couple of stretching stops (it was pretty cold and our muscles were tightening!) and another stop for energy gels and water. I was really happy with our time; we won't win any races, but I feel like we've made great improvements. It was a year ago on Saturday that I had abdominal surgery while I was 24 weeks pregnant; I am so grateful for the health I've enjoyed over the past year, and that my sweet little Isaac is safe and well and growing so happily.

On the docket for the rest of the day: first round of planting in the garden!

Foodie Friday: Roasted portobellos with focaccia and red-onion dressing

I'm flirting with the idea of regular-ish Friday food postings. If this is something you'd be interested in, please leave a comment letting me know (I'll be much more motivated to continue if I know that there's interest!) I'd also love to hear if there's a meal I've described that you'd like to see featured here as a recipe; otherwise, I'll probably just post recipes for something I made during the previous week.

Today, head on over to my food blog to find recipes for focaccia, roasted portobellos, and red onion dressing. This is a perfect springtime meal; enjoy it this weekend!!

where do you buy your groceries?

A couple of weeks ago, I was reading this article in the Atlantic Monthly. Essentially, it talks about the gigantic strides that Walmart has made in raising the quality of its produce--the author did a blind tasting with critics and foodies with foods sourced from Walmart and from Whole Foods. Surprise, surprise--Walmart came out ahead in many instances.

I used to hate Walmart (actually, I still dislike it). Just walking inside made me feel like I needed to wash my hands (still do). It always seemed to be full of people you'd never see anywhere outside in the "normal world." Their produce was wilting and the selection limited. When we moved here, I always shopped at the Pay Less/Smith's/Kroger, which was considerably more expensive, but boasted fresh sushi (made while you watched), a big section devoted to natural foods, and organic options for just about everything. Plus, I didn't have to wait in line for what seemed like a gazillion years. The cashiers were efficient and I never had to park a quarter-mile away at the edge of the lot. And best of all, there were book-return drop boxes for both local libraries right in front of the store.

Fast forward four years, and now I shop almost exclusively at Walmart. Food prices have gone up. The quality of produce at Kroger has gone down--I bought cilantro there a few weeks ago that wilted into brown nasty in a matter of days. I ended up going to Walmart for kale and parsnips after that same trip, since Kroger was out. Plus, have you tried the organic onions and Walmart brand of vanilla soy milk? Really good. And let's be honest, Walmart is way cheaper. Their lettuces are better. (Have you tried the Marketplace bagged spinach? Could not live as happily without a crisper drawer stuffed with those bags.) The apples are firm and crisp and juicy. Some of the produce is still hit and miss, but by and large, it's a better value than the other grocery stores in my area (the nearest Whole Foods is an hour away...and I must say, I wasn't super impressed the sole time I visited. Maybe I was just there on an off day, but the bulk bins were pretty disappointing and the produce section was smallish).

The only thing is, I don't like supporting Walmart. I wish I could afford to buy food only from the local farmers, but let's face it, my husband is a graduate student, and we have three small children.

What do you think? Where do you do your grocery shopping? Is it worth the extra money to avoid the big-box retailers, or do you think the changes make them worth patronizing? Have you noticed any changes in the quality of big-box store foods over the last few years?

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log cabin lodging

One of the things the kids liked most about our trip to Nauvoo is that we stayed in a log cabin. It was seriously awesome! Essentially, the guy who owns the cabins goes all over the West looking for original log cabins, then he disassembles them (numbering each log), and rebuilds them later on site. They were building a couple while we were there and it was pretty cool to watch.



closeup of the detail on the headboard--the temple! pretty cool, eh? The whole headboard was carved out of one big log.



The cabin that we were in was supposed to just be for 2 people--when I made the reservation, it was the only one available; when I asked about anything else available in the area along similar lines, and explained that it was for my daughter's birthday trip, he said he could put mats down on the floor for the kids.



Only problem: there was no way the kids would go to sleep if all 5 of us were in the same room. So Abigail and Juliet slept in the bathroom (fortunately it was quite spacious and the mats were super thick!) and Isaac slept in the little galley kitchen. It actually worked quite well--we all got more sleep than we usually do, probably because it was so dark!





The kids thought the cabin was the coolest thing EVER. Juliet has been asking constantly when we can go back (she says "De log cabin is my home, NOT dis house!"). One other thing that we thought was pretty neat was that the cabins all had these little books telling the history of the people who originally built it and lived there, etc. Our cabin happened to belong to a champion sheep shearer, so his prize-winning shears were hung up on the wall (not your typical hotel decoration...)

I also liked the fact that it had a kitchen (tiny little fridge, sink, microwave, and stove) so I could cook there and we didn't have to go out to eat, which is good, because there is like NOWHERE to eat in Nauvoo. And the heating was great, which I can attest to, because it snowed while we were there. Good water pressure, too (another thing I always pay particular attention to when staying away from home...)

To learn more about the cabins or to make a reservation, go here.

for your information

I read this post today at new-to-me blog Simple Organic (which has some great articles!) and thought it was a great overview of why anyone would choose cloth diapering.

As a sidenote, we've been cloth diapering for nine months now, and I don't even think about it anymore. It is SO easy, and so not gross at all. I asked Neil the other day if he would cloth diaper our kids if I died (I always ask him things like that when I'm wondering if he's really invested in something or just humoring me), and he said yes, he would, because the cloth diapers don't stink like disposables and we haven't bought diapers in months.

Seriously, I can't say enough good things about cloth diapering, and it was really intimidating to me at first. Go read that article! It's short. :-) And please feel free to email me if you have questions about diapers or about anything. I LOVE getting emails from readers!! (just ask Necia, who didn't know what she was getting into when she asked me about bread recipes...)

recharged

Today I am rejoicing in life. Everyone is healthy and happy, my girls spent two hours at their best friends' house this morning (they missed them so much the last two weeks!), my muscles have just the slightest stretched-out feeling from this morning's 5-mile run, and my house smells like clean laundry and baking bread. I'm riding high on the bliss of spending four whole days with my husband this weekend and the chance to go to the temple. The broccoli sprouts are up in my bathtub (yes, my bathtub), and the crocus are blooming by the patio.

And I am planning to spend the next two hours reading stories with the girls and planting our pepper and eggplant seeds--we are (literally) doubling the square footage of our garden this year! (we mapped it all out last night--crazy puzzle-piecing the whole thing together. If everything grows as we're hoping it will, our lives are pretty much going to be garden garden garden all summer long. Welcome to weeding, little children!)

Nauvoo--a bit of background first

After the governor of Missouri made it legal to murder Mormons in 1838 (an order which was not rescinded until 1976), the Saints left Missouri and gathered in Illinois on the banks of the Mississippi, where they built a city they named Nauvoo ("city beautiful"), incorporating the existing small town of Commerce. After the marshy and swampy land was drained (and everyone stopped suffering from malaria!) it truly became a beautiful city; seven brickyards supplied brick for the homes and a nearby quarry provided limestone for the temple. On Friday morning when we were visiting the Joseph Smith homestead, I looked out over the river and thought that I'd seen few more beautiful places. The sunlight was sparkling on the river, the first spring flowers were poking their heads out of the ground; ancient trees dotted the grass, and I could hear the water birds calling to each other from the marsh. Today the town is one of the finest examples of restored pioneer life; many homes and workshops have been beautifully restored and are open for free public tours. Some of my favorites are the brickyard, the gunsmith, ropemakers, bakery, and blacksmith, all of which give demonstrations (and you take home whatever it is you've helped to make or seen made!) More about these later in the week. The Nauvoo temple was first begun in 1841; when most of the Saints left Nauvoo in February 1846, a small group stayed behind to finish the temple. Many of the pioneers' accounts of the exodus westward talk about looking back on last time before crossing the Mississippi and seeing the temple up on the bluff, then turning their backs on the city and the temple they had worked so hard to build. We took that same walk down Parley Street early in the morning on Friday, and I looked back to see the temple glowing like a jewel in the spring sunlight. Tears came to my eyes as I thought about the pioneers trudging westward--they'd already been forced to leave their homes so many times before and buried so many of their loved ones. Many of my ancestors were among the pioneer companies (our son Isaac is named for Isaac Perry Decker, who was one of the only 2 children in the original company traveling with Brigham Young [also a family member] to Utah in 1847). The trail to the river is lined with plaques bearing quotes from the pioneers, two of which really touched me. The first was from Newell Knight, who wrote " . . . here we all halted & took a farewell view of our delightful City. . . . We also beheld the magnificent Temple rearing its lofty tower towards the heavens. . . . My heart did swell within me." And the one that really got me teary-eyed was from Bathsheba Smith, who recorded that "My last act in that precious spot was to tidy the rooms, sweep up the floor, and set the broom in its accustomed place behind the door. Then with emotions in my heart . . . I gently closed the door and faced an unknown future; faced it with faith in God. . . . " After the Saints left, the temple fell victim to arson and was almost completely gutted. A tornado took down some of the remaining walls; the rest of the structure was dismantled in 1865 in the interests of public safety. We visited the temple lot many times in my childhood; I remember it as an enormous depression in the ground with a few scattered foundation stones. The rebuilding of the temple was announced in 1999; this visit was the first time I've ever had the opportunity to go inside and perform ordinances. As Latter-day Saints, we don't photograph the interior of the temples after their dedication (although visitors of all faiths are welcome during the temple open houses prior to dedication), so while I don't have any photographs of the interior of the Nauvoo temple, I can tell you this--it is absolutely beautiful. All the temples are beautiful, but several things are really striking about Nauvoo: it has exquisite woodwork throughout and beautiful painted murals on the walls (and whoever selected the carpets and upholstery did a fantastic job; several times I caught myself thinking, "I'd love to have that in my own home!") On Saturday morning, we visited Carthage Jail, which is the site of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum. As mayor of Nauvoo, Joseph had ordered the city marshal to (peaceably) destroy a printing press and paper which had been cited as libelous and declared a public nuisance (after considerable earlier debate about the subject and legal research). Charges of riot were brought against Joseph, and he rode to Carthage (the county seat) with the assurance of the state governor that he would be protected. Joseph said that he was going "like a lamb to the slaughter; but I am calm as a summer’s morning; I have a conscience void of offense towards God, and towards all men. I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me — he was murdered in cold blood" (D&C 135:4). The jailer at the Carthage Jail asked for militia support to ensure the safety of the Smith brothers and the other men who had accompanied them to the jail (10 friends stayed with them the first night, 2 were still there when the mob attacked), but none came. Concerned for their safety, he moved them to his own bedroom on the top floor of the jail, but on the morning of June 27, 1844, a mob of 200 men stormed the jail. Hyrum Smith died almost immediately from a shot fired through the door; Joseph was shot multiple times and fell from the window, crying out, "My Lord, my God!" The mob rushed downstairs to see if he was dead. John Taylor (the third President of the Church) and Willard Richards, who were also in the room, survived the attack. John Taylor was severely wounded; Willard Richards dragged him to another room and hid him beneath some mattresses hoping that the mob would overlook him when they returned. As it happens, the mob did not return for them; someone yelled "The Mormons are coming!" and the mob scattered (no one was coming). Joseph and Hyrum's bodies were returned to their families the next day. Brigham Young, the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, eventually became the next Prophet. Incidentally, the original door of the room where Joseph and Hyrum were killed is still intact. It's sobering to walk through that door and see the shattered lock, the splintered edges, and the bullet holes in the center. *** More later in the week on our family's little trip; I need to go to church now but I wanted to write about the background of Nauvoo today.

four years before that in the Uinta Mountains (seven years ago this August)

Love this man. Love this place. Looking forward to the time when our kids don't need sippy cups and Goldfish and high chairs and we can all just throw some extra socks, a waterbottle, and a sweater into our backpack and head for the mountains.

three years ago

four years ago

nearly wordless wednesday: welcome, spring!

here's what we did for two hours yesterday afternoon...