I've been working on a pretty large house project since last Friday. On Monday I started putting together a new piece of furniture for that space. I'm now up to four different cuts on my left hand, all from opening packaging of tools and furniture components. It made doing the dishes rather tricky. Apparently home improvement is hazardous to my health.
Sophie is learning about shadows in her art class. This was her work for last week's assignment. I think it's one of my favorite pieces she's done.
Topher's basketball hoop usually lives in his bedroom. That's why I was so surprised to find it in the Great Room one day this week. I asked him how it got in there. His answer? "With my two little hands."
Sophie gave a living history museum presentation on Helen Keller yesterday. Her class has been working on it for weeks. She had to have two artifacts to share (a tiny water pump and a Braille sample that she made out of glue and glitter), which were obtained a while ago. I knew that she'd been reading the books about Helen Keller that we have in our home library and that she'd written a short essay about her. And I knew the project was due yesterday. What I didn't know until Tuesday night was that she had to have a costume and have her presentation memorized. It appears that Sophie also forgot those two details.
Tuesday evening and night included weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth over a presentation script that hadn't been written yet. And Sophie was stressed too. She finally finished writing it after 11pm and I sent her to bed. She didn't have it memorized, but maybe she could at least read through it several times before the appointed hour.
I had suggested a few different costume options, but none were up to snuff. Then, after I was tucked into bed, an image of a box in the basement came to mind. When I got up yesterday morning I ran downstairs and excavated the box of vintage clothes I inherited from my Grandma Miriam. Sure enough, there was a dress that looked perfect. Sophie agreed and happily put it on. We added a ribbon in her hair called her costume complete.
Peter is mildly obsessed with memes, so it's no wonder that he turned himself into one. The photo credit goes to Phoebe, the caption is all Peter.
While I was trying to get Topher to go to sleep a few nights ago, he had a question.
Topher: (while holding up both hands and looking at them) Mom, why do we have ten fingers?
Me: Because that's how Heavenly Father designed us.
Topher: (sounding disappointed) Oh.
Me: Why?
Topher: Because I wanted fifty-nine fingers. And fifty-nine hands, so I can pick up all the things.
Last week I learned that Peter hasn't grown too old for wearing costumes around the house, just for the fun of it.
Whole worlds lay at my fingertips, unknown.
The feathers as white as those of a dove,
With many characters to soon be shown.
But there cannot be highs without the lows
No stories come, my mind has hit a wall.
All while my lack of motivation shows.
The chasm too wide, and I jump, but fall.
You’d not take water from a dried up well,
You will find nothing more than stale, old, air.
So neither should you force the mind to tell
Such a story that has no thought or care.
And at last pen meets paper, sparks burst through,
You’ll find a tale, created thus by you.
A room of wonders stands before my face,
the shelves as tall as pirate ships, their sails
unfurled and poised to carry me through space
and time and love and war and tears through tales.
They beckon me, these walls of words with wings,
as I draw near my fingers start to hum.
Each spine a well-worn testament that sings
adventure to my soul, and whispers, “Come.”
But how to choose which voice will grab my brain,
and how to haul the stack I can’t turn down?
Ignore advice, the oft recalled refrain,
I pick the books by cover, full arms round.
The library holds magic for my mind,
a haven safe for people of my kind.
All the classes the kids attended at our one-day FSY were great, but one stood out to them. We have a woman in our ward who is a marriage and family therapist. She taught a class on self-compassion that resonated with our kids. On Sunday night the topic of hugs came up and Cooper said the teacher had encouraged them to learn how to give hugs. I guess she had also taught about positive self-talk with phrases like, "You are loved" and "You matter." The boys demonstrated but the words got a little tangled.
Cooper: (after giving Peter a big hug, then stepping back to look him in the face) You are matter.
Peter: Thanks, you are too.
While the older kids and I were at the FSY activity on Saturday, Bryan had the younger two at home. He planned some fun activities for them. That morning, before I left, I heard the following exchange.
Bryan: Topher, do you want to do something fun today? Should we have a movie party with candy and treats and maybe play MarioKart?
Topher: No.
Bryan: (surprised) Why not?
Topher: (totally straight-faced) It's too much.
He changed his mind later and joined in the fun, but I guess even four-year-olds have their limits.
Our ward put together a one-day FSY experience for the youth. FSY stands for For the Strength of Youth and is a weeklong spiritual and social feast. The shortened version consisted of four speakers, dinner, swing dancing lessons, dessert, and so many snacks. I was asked to handle dinner and dessert, mostly because Peter probably wouldn't eat it if anyone else made it. I was given a budget, a main course that the youth had voted on, and told to prepare for 40-45 people.
I'd never been in charge of a meal like this, so I went heavy on the research and planning. Topher and I spent most of one day last week driving to multiple stores and recording prices of ingredients so the budget would stretch as far as possible. Then I made my shopping plan and spent Friday gathering my supplies.
The kids had asked for Walking Tacos, which I had only had once. For those that haven't had them, a Walking Tacos consists of an individual sized bag of Doritos (or Fritos) with various taco toppings dumped into the bag on top of the chips. It's then eaten with a fork right out of the bag. When I ate them before the only meat option was ground beef cooked in taco seasoning. It was okay. I wanted to give the kids a few more options, so in addition to the taco ground beef I cooked chicken in green enchilada sauce and made instant pot refried beans. They also had topping options like cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, and salsa. I kept the sides simple and stuck with red and green grapes and carrots and celery sticks with dip. I also got ice cream and root beer for dessert.
This project took the majority of my Saturday and I was on my feet for most of it. One of the other moms in the ward hung out with me in the kitchen and helped me set up beforehand and wash dishes afterward while the kids attended their classes. I'm happy to report that it was a success! Peter ate everything that was offered at dinner, a rare event for a church activity. The other youth seemed to enjoy it as well, even the slightly overcooked chicken. It was a long day, but rewarding. And I loved getting to chat with my friend while we worked.
Because we have twice as many young men as young women, the moms of the boys were invited to join the dance lesson so everyone would have a partner. I snapped this picture of the instruction before Cooper's partner switched out and I jumped in. Can you spot Peter, Cooper, and Phoebe? It was fun to do swing dancing again after so many years, though this was the first time I've done it to country music.
It was a great activity and I loved getting to be part of it!
After the blessings on Sunday morning, we drove back home so a few of us with coughs (not COVID) could rest and recover. Once home, I noticed a weird dark patch on the ceiling above our dining area.
That's never good.
I touched it to see if it was wet and couldn't tell if it was spongier than the surrounding ceiling. I hoped maybe one of the kids had thrown some greasy food and it hit the ceiling. Unfortunately, when I pointed it out to Bryan he determined that it was in fact wet and set to sawing it out.
Guess who found mold in their ceiling?
We now have a hole above our heads about twice as big as the one in this picture. Bryan thinks he got all the damp drywall (oxymoron, eh?), but isn't exactly sure where the leak came from. The tub is right above the hole, but we don't know if it came from the hot water line or the p-trap. I guess now we'll have a great view to observe the source of the leak.
Phoebe found one of her old sketch books recently and marveled at how much her skill and style have changed. The first picture was drawn two years ago. The second picture was drawn a few weeks ago.
We finally got some snow. There was enough for Cooper and Topher to play in for about thirty minutes before it started to melt. Everyone else was busy doing school. Well, technically Cooper was also busy doing school. However, Topher desperately wanted to go outside and I desperately did not want to go outside. I told Cooper that if he would take a break from school and go outside with Topher that I would cover his chore for the day. Cooper has the dishes this week and readily agreed. He thought he lucked out. Little did he know that I got a clean kitchen out of the deal (without having to wait for him to take care of it late in the day) in addition to not having to go out in the cold. I think I was totally the winner.
Based on the fun he had, I'm pretty sure Topher thought he was the winner.
I took this last night before I went to bed.
