My grandmother passed away this last week. I've always kept up on these blog posts for her, so it feels a little empty writing this post today. She was 98 years old, and her body had been failing her for a month or two. We knew this was coming and I am grateful she passed in her sleep, but it's still hard. I haven't experienced much loss in my life so far, and it does feel like there's a strange hole that she left behind. She's this wonderful person who has always been there. I've never known life without her, and just like that she isn't here anymore. I could go to her home and see her things, but she wouldn't be there. It is strange and sad. I was home with Alice when I found out. Alice asked me why I was sad and I told her I would really miss my grandma. Alice said, "It's ok mom, you'll die soon and then you can see her again!" Thanks Alice🙃
While I mourn, life keeps moving. Jared doesn't get Wednesday afternoons off anymore, but he does get Fridays now, starting last week. During the summer this will be great for being able to take weekend trips without using vacation days. But the week feels longer for me now without getting a break in the middle.
Jack is enjoying school and flag football. His team won their first game over the weekend and then he spent the rest of the day playing at team members' homes. Happy for him.
Alice is taking some naps again! Sometimes. Last Tuesday I was frankly feeling depressed and knew I couldn't get through the afternoon without a break. I told Alice we were taking naps again, and she took it oddly well and took a great nap three days in a row, which meant her attitude was much better in the afternoons. Then she didn't nap at all over the weekend. Too much going on. I hope we can settle into a routine of napping during a few weekdays, and skipping naps on the weekends when we have more going on in the middle of the day. We'll see.
Speaking of Alice, two quintessential Alice moments from this week. I just walked upstairs to get Alice after her quiet time timer went off (no nap today). I saw her two little legs poking out from behind her curtains, in the middle of a big pile of all her blankets that she had corralled into a blanket stage. As I walked into the room, she emerged and stood up form behind the curtains and told me to lay down on a pillow she had put by her "stage," and then she improvised several song and dance numbers for me on the spot. That girl is a natural-born entertainer.
Another Alice moment from the week: Alice found a new friend to play with at the park. They tucked themselves into a corner with Alice's big bag of sour-patch kids Jared got her earlier in the week, and played "guess the animal." When I went over to tell her it was time to go, an older boy near Alice asked her if he could have one of her candies before she left. She thought about it and say, "Why sure! Sure you can!" And then she gave him the bag and he grabbed several while she was saying goodbye to her friend. When she grabbed the bag back to walk away the boy said, "Actually can I have one more?" This time she thought about and said, "Hmmm, no. That's enough. That's enough for today. Maybe next time." Everything she says you have to imagine with a WIDE range of vocal intonations and a slurpy lisp. She is a 10/10. I love the Alice approach to life.
I'm trying to think if there's anything fun and new from me. I am enjoying getting our home more put together. I have to be careful because it's easy to take my fun interior design hobby and twist it into stressful home projects with imaginary deadlines. I often remind myself that I've put myself in design jail for the rest of the year. Once Alice is doing another day of preschool in the fall I'm hoping I can make time for bigger projects, but for now I'm having fun with art and the occasional Facebook Marketplace find (I found a STUNNING brand new chandelier for our dining room this week at a phenomenal price). My little joy each morning when I wake up before the kids is watching an episode of the "Homeworthy" YouTube channel. It's a channel where they do home tours of all sorts of normal people's beautiful homes. It's like AD, but not for celebrities and with real, attainable design inspiration. This week I watched a home tour of a bungalow in Texas that was done in an Arts and Crafts style--a design style I didn't previously think I was interested in but now I'm so intrigued by it. I guess that's my fun lil' somethin these days, is Homeworthy home tours. They aren't all my taste and I probably only watch 20% of the videos they upload, but they upload like 4 new tours a day so there are lots to choose from.
Now for some pictures form the week:
