Happy Memorial Day! It's fun to experience our house in each new season for the first time. I have a feeling that once our backyard is finished, our house will be a total Summer house--this feels like the season it will shine the most. Because we live in the foothills, we can hear crickets most of the time in the summer, and it just feels like magic to have this corner of the world to ourselves. I'm writing this with our windows opened, listening to Jared and the kids play in our backyard--it's still all dirt, but with the levels in place they can get a game of ball going pretty well. From the view out our bedroom there isn't another house in sight--just foothills and backyard and my family, and the sounds of crickets and birds. The backyard is such a big undertaking that I really don't think it will be ready until July at the earliest, but it's going to be pure magic when it's done. From the front yard we still have an unobstructed view of the entire valley. Eventually there will be houses blocking about half of the view, but I'm hopeful they can hold off on that until after July 4 so we can experience one Independence Day with a view of all the fireworks in the valley.
We reached a new level of adulthood this week when we purchased a Garage Fridge. I've been loosely planning out our summer days now that school is out, and a cornerstone of the plan is going to be making and freezing a hundred pbj sandwiches. Last summer we went to a park or splash pad most days--it's nice to be able to grab a sandwich on the way out the door. Our inside freezer is really tiny though. Our fridge/freezer is counter depth, which I love and prefer for the flow and aesthetics of the kitchen. I even prefer having that reduced fridge space because I find that food is less likely to get lost in the back corners and go bad. The freezer space is really lacking though. We ended up getting a small stand-up freezer rated for garages instead of a chest freezer, because I know us and I know food would just get lost in the bottom of a chest freezer. Exciting milestone in our garage.
I caught a random summer cold this week. It was pretty bad for a day or two, so on Saturday Jared and the kids went to the sheepdog festival in Midway while I stayed home and rested and framed some random pieces of kids art to hang around the home. I love getting an unexpected few hours to myself at home and usually spend that time ignoring the to-do list and puttering around the house doing random house projects that aren't urgent or necessary but do feed my soul. I'm realizing that for me, self-care isn't a nap or a face mask. It's puttering around with the house to myself doing non-essential creative house projects.
For Memorial Day I visited my grandma's grave with my parents and some siblings yesterday. It was a nice time with family--Jared and the kids were having dinner with his parents, who were bringing another moving truck full of things to their house. Today we will likely visit our new neighborhood pool and have dinner at my brother's house. It's good to have family to celebrate with! And now for some pictures from our week:
Big weekend. On Friday and Saturday we attended my Grandma Roper's viewing and funeral. It was a beautiful occasion--wonderful to see all my cousins and the close family she created. I loved hearing the talks by her children and learning things about her I'd never heard before. She was a determined lady--I wish I could have known her at my age. There never would have been enough time with her, but she was 98 and lived a full, happy life.
My favorite story told at her funeral was when my Uncle Delwyn talked about how he was cocky as a 10-year-old, because he could outrun all the other kids in the neighborhood and thought he was the fastest human alive. My Grandma saw him rubbing it into some younger kids' faces while she was inside the house, and she stepped outside in her housedress to challenge him to a race. Grandma was quite the athlete and beat him easily, to the other kids' delight. Uncle Delwyn was embarrassed and expected a rubbing-it-in or a talking-to about humility when she walked up to him afterward to hand him a glass of lemonade. Instead she just gave him a squeeze and told him that he was growing up to be such a good boy, and she and his dad were so proud of him.
I'll write more in the picture captions:
The sun is shining, Alice is out of preschool for the spring, and I'm beginning to wonder if we need to find a new landscape company. These are the days when it would sure be nice to let the kids loose in the backyard, or have a meal on a patio. We have liked our landscaper's renderings, communication, quote, and work they've done so far. But the speed has gotten slow enough that we're wondering if it may halt to a stop before summer, or just creep along at a snail's pace until fall. We are willing to forgive some pacing issues because this is typical in construction, and beggars can't be choosers. But they have been not showing up for entire days more and more often as the weeks go by, even sunny weekdays. They are also working on our next door neighbor's yard at the same time as ours, and at least half of the days they are "here" they don't touch our yard because they are next door. Again, I'm ok if the yard isn't ready by summer (it won't be). But I'm suspicious it won't be finished until summer is completely over and that isn't my favorite. I'll keep you posted.
I had a wonderful birthday/mother's day weekend. I went in with lowwww expectations because Jared has been slammed with work lately, but it was a great day! We started the day off strong going to Original Pancake House for breakfast. I'd never been and was impressed! The kids didn't really touch their food but I devoured my eggs benedict and then ate their pancakes for leftovers the next few days. Jared had the day off from work and we spent a couple hours antiquing during Alice's preschool. This was my activity of choice because I figured, if everyone forgot presents I can at least pick something out for myself while antiquing. We found a cool original painting, and I tried to buy an old wrought iron bistro set, but Jared kept discouraging me and when I wouldn't let up (mind you the whole set was like $40) he admitted that maybe he already got me something for the patio for my birthday. So I let the bistro set go and off we went to pick Alice up from my sister-in-law's house where she was playing. When Jack got home from school we loaded into the car and drove to my parents' house to have cheesesteaks for dinner and open a sweet gift from them. We rented a Wes Anderson movie to watch after the kids went to bed, and I opened some nice gifts, including a sales receipt for my dream wrought iron garden bench that will arrive soon ! We need to go with heavy wrought iron patio furniture because our backyard is so insanely windy, but I actually might end up putting the bench in our interior tree room. The couch in there now is much too bulky for the space and there would be something lovely about having a beautiful garden bench in a tree-mural room.
The next day was another Saturday that felt like a real Saturday! Maybe we are moving into a new stage of parenting where we can catch the occasional weekend breather? Don't get me wrong, this is made possible in part by our longtime system where Jared and I will each take a couple hours for ourselves on the weekend while the other one handles the kids. It's a good system. We went to a football game for Jack that was a nail-biter and lots of fun to watch. I planted some herbs. 10/10
Sunday was Mother's Day. With my birthday so close to Mother's Day, low expectations are key. Good thing I've figured that out because the kids both woke up in weird, competitively clingy moods? I do think Mother's Day was the cause. Jack is an extremely competitive person, and inevitably he has rubbed some of that off on Alice. They can be quite competitive over me. "My mommy!" "No, my mommy!" Jared attempted a breakfast in bed, bless him. But Alice ended up in there with me while he was cooking it, which I loved until Jack came in swinging and competitive and neither of them wanted to share me. Eventually I had to get out of there and shove some breakfast down my throat before anyone could steal it from me. (Alice has a strong tendency to only want what I'm having. Like actually the food that is on my plate. My own food.) After breakfast I decided it would be a good time to sneak away to my mom's house to give her a mother's day gift of a peony plant and a promise to help with the interior design for her bathroom remodel. (I have 60 vanities of the right dimensions for you to filter through by the way mom!)
Jared's parents are moving to Utah !! and drove their first batch of belongings into town over the weekend. Jared and the kids took their mother's day present to his mom while I puttered around before church. Then after church we went back over to their new home for a delicious Mother's Day steak dinner. The kids had a ball running around the new house and yard--the previous owners left their hot tub in the backyard so at one point the kids stripped down and jumped in. It hadn't been heated but at least it looked clean. They had a blast, and no rashes . . . yet.
More I could say . . . including spilling the beans on Jared's Mother's Day present for me, but I don't have a picture of it on my roll yet so I'll save that treasure for next week (it is awful and also it made me laugh so so hard). Now onto some pictures:
^^Antique store date with Alice. We ran into my sister-in-law taking herself on a Mother's Day antique date while we were here. Such a wild coincidence.
May! I'm so excited for the weather, my birthday, and (hopefully) our backyard coming together this month. Nervous about the kids being out of school before we know it. We do have Alice enrolled in a little summer preschool this year though, which won't last all summer but will be life-saving since naps will likely be a rarity.
This week was fun with a football game, the kids' music recital (so fun to have them both perform!), a choral concert my dad performed in, and lots in-between. We had the most Saturday-ish Saturday I've experienced since before Alice was born probably. Jared and the kids left to run errands in the monring, and we got the house cleaned and I fiddled with some plants for the porch. The kids played really well together when they were home, and Alice took a nap so she could do a movie night with her cousin later. Jared and I got to actually watch Jack's football game since Alice wasn't there, and then I left to my dad's concert with my mom and brother, and we all had ice cream at the creamery afterward. I also bought some herbs at a plant nursery. 10/10 Saturday.
Some Alice quotes this week:
"Woof! It's a hot day today."
"I go'd diarrhita and now the toilet is black. Want to see? That's the BAD stuff in there."
Reading Cinderella to me: "This mom is a bad guy. She's yelling. She's yelling, 'Don't take my popcorn!' But Cinderella needed some. That mom is a very bad guy."
And now for some pictures:
^^The kids' music concert. Alice sang some songs with her tots music group, and Jack played Frere Jaques, memorized. I know it's a basic song, but I'm proud of him! He was nervous but played it flawlessly. He started lessons in January and I'm impressed how far he's come with reading music.
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:
The days are long. I had a wonderful reprieve this week when Tim and Abby took Alice for several hours while Jack was in school, to thank me for watching their girls the day before. In my past life I probably would have rejected the offer, but I am just so starved for time to accomplish anything at all these days, that I took them up on it. It was exactly the coming-up-for-air experience I needed after months of no naps for Alice (she isn't taking well to quiet time either) and long work hours for Jared. It was absolutely glorious to spend several hours puttering around the house, taking care of so many micro-annoyances that have been begging for attention for months, but are always bumped off the to-do list by more urgent items. For the first time in . . . years(?) I reached a point in the day after maybe 5 hours of puttering when I thought to myself, "I feel good about what I have accomplished today. It is enough." And then when the kids came home, I played with them without anything nagging in my brain. I relaxed in the evening without scrambling frantically to try to "catch up" with the everyday things that need doing--a fruitless endeavor because this isn't a season of my life where I can ever really get caught up. So it was good to see that it is possible to get to a point where I do feel caught up and content, and all it takes is one day with five hours of alone time. Five hours of alone time is not realistic for me and won't be for years, but one day when Alice is in kindergarten, five hours of alone time will happen regularly. It feels good to know that this isn't where I'll be forever.
Something I will miss about this stage is toddler Alice. She is so kind. She says the funniest things. she is so perceptive and precocious. I am fairly smothered by her, but at least she is grateful and sweet and funny about smothering me, so that's nice. I'm grateful to have a big kid too. Jack came home from school while Alice was away that day earlier this week, and I was like, "hey let's read on the couches by the fireplace for a while." And he did! It was crazy! We just like cozied in and each read our own books by the fireplace for half an hour. Absolutely wild stuff to imagine a future when both of my kids would do that. Bittersweet watching these kids grow up, that's for sure.
We had our neighbors over for dinner this week for the first time! We have neighbors in the house next to us, and in the house next to them. One of them is due to have a baby end of the month, so that was a good deadline for me to hurry and get them over. We had a great time! Jack is the oldest, and then there are 2- and 4-year-old girls and a 2-year-old boy, plus Alice. The kids played spectacularly together while the rest of us got to know each other. It was an easy gathering and I feel so grown up and settled in having made that happen. I'm excited to be able to host in our backyard soon. In the meantime, the kids had no complaints hiking up and down the dirt piles. 10/10.
I am out of time, so let's get to some pictures:
We are just coming off of spring break. We had a great time! Next year hopefully we will be settled enough to have leftover brain power to plan family trips for the occasional school break. Jared was backed up at work with his own patients, the fired PA's patients, and the sick nurse practitioner's patients. Luckily we had some family come to us for some fun Spring Break cousin time to keep us busy. Early in the week Alice got a lot of face time with Aspen, then Jack had a day playing with his cousin Cole, and then Jordan and Amanda's family came for the last half of the week. And the cherry on top has been watching progress in our backyard. So far they have the lower retaining wall nearly finished, as well as the stone steps up to the second tier. I imagine this next week will be mostly grading and leveling of the remainder of the yard, and then later this month the rest of the retaining walls and eventually sod and patio.
A random health journal/update-- my POTS feels really well managed lately! I'll have the occasional flare, but I have the tools to get back on track. I think my cache of supplements is really helping. Something absolutely wild that I'm interested to keep an eye on this year has been the decline of my allergy symptoms. Last year I was down bad with allergies from March until November. REALLY down bad. This year, I had a random bad week in February, but not much since then. If I feel like there might be some allergy symptoms coming on I'll do a spray of flonase, but that's really the most I've needed. Maybe it's just too early in the season for my particular allergies, but I'm feeling hopeful. I do wonder if keeping my POTS well managed this year is helping with MCAS symptoms (which feel like allergy symptoms), or perhaps a big issue last year is that I was in a rental that previously housed a cat? Seems weird that would have affected me for so long when we had that house scrubbed from top to bottom many times. This is a mystery I may never solve, but for now I'm feeling hopeful that maybe I won't have to go down the path of allergy shots. Fingers crossed, knock on wood. Lots of spring left ahead of us.
And now for some pictures from our week:
