Clubbing

Once upon a time I was in The Best Book Club Ever. That wasn't its official title, but it might as well have been. We would talk for hours about the books we had read. We would share our insights and our questions. We developed wonderful friendships.

When my time in that book club came to an end, I mourned. I missed it terribly. I found another book club in our new ward and anxiously read the assigned book. I arrived the night of my first book club ready to discuss and ask questions and be edified. We talked about the book for thirty minutes, then proceeded to talk about the "super-cute" refreshments for another thirty.

I left crestfallen.

My expectations, it appeared, were way out of whack. No book club would be able to live up to the memory of The Book Club That Filled My Soul. I attended the new group a handful of times, then just stayed home and read books on my own.

I related the disappointing book club experience to a good friend who had been in The Magical Book Club of Wonder with me. She shared her own less-than-satisfactory book club experiences with me. I don't remember who had the idea originally, but in a moment of brilliance we decided that we would form our own book club. We were in two different states, so our meetings would take place over Skype or Google Hangouts. We made a list of books we wanted to read, picked one, and scheduled our first official book talk.

We've now had several meetings of our miniature book club. Last night we talked about To Kill a Mockingbird. I've been saying for years that it was one of my favorite books and I was relieved to find that, in the eighteen years since I first read it, my opinion of the book has not changed. My perspective and understanding have grown, but my love for the book has remained.

My new book club is one of the highlights of my month. Not only do we have wonderful discussions about the books we've read, we also have a chance at least once a month to catch up with each other, which is pretty marvelous. And though I'm no longer part of The Book Club of Mythic Proportions, I'm delighted with my Exactly What I Need Book Club that I have now.

Party Planning

Our hibernation party that was supposed to happen last Friday took place yesterday morning. The kids that attended all seemed to be suffering from various stages of cabin fever. I did my best to keep them moving and engaged, but they were a squirrely bunch. I was glad when we finished the learning/activity portion and moved on to snack time at the end.

As I was gathering my supplies this morning before the party, Phoebe saw me put raisins and fruit snacks, my potluck contributions, into my bag. She was concerned and let me know.

Phoebe: But who's going to bring the cupcakes?

Me: Cupcakes? Phoebe, I don't know that anyone is going to bring cupcakes. I know we had some at the last party, but we might not have any this time.

Phoebe: Mom, what's a party without cupcakes? A meeting, that's what it is.

In light of that knowledge, I can say that we had a fun hibernation meeting.

Ordering In

A little boy from Peter's class knocked on our door a few days ago to see if Peter could come out and play in the snow with him. While Peter scurried to get bundled up, I stood in our entryway and chatted with his friend. This exchange happened at the beginning of our conversation.

Neighbor Boy: Wow! What did you order for dinner?

Me: (totally confused by his question) Umm...

Neighbor Boy: It smells really good!

Me: (finally understanding) Oh. I'm making dinner. I've got bread in the oven and Brazilian beans on the stove.

And that's how the neighbor boy totally made my day.

Vitamin D

We had our first big snow over the weekend. When the kids woke up on Saturday I said that I'd play in the snow with them once all the chores were done and the house was ready for Sunday. I gave them a hard deadline of 4pm. They finished with ten minutes to spare.

The big kids and I bundled up and tromped through the snow for about forty-five minutes.

We attempted a snowman, but the snow was too dry and the kids didn't really care that much. We made a mini-snowman instead.

Bryan and Sophie joined us for the last few minutes, just in time for a father/son snowball fight. Here's Bryan, winding up for the pitch. Peter thought it was great fun.

We finished the day with warm showers, soft pajamas, and homemade hot cocoa. And my house was clean when I went to bed, which was a lovely bonus.

Games Sophie Plays

We're feeling much better, well enough that we all went to church yesterday. In fact, Sophie was already cheerful again by Saturday evening. Want proof? Bryan made this movie after her bath that night.

When you watch this (which I'm sure you will) you're going to want to have your sound turned up.

On Call Nurse

My last preschool obligation, a hibernation party, was scheduled for today. I had been planning it for about a week, but when the kids went to sleep last night I realized the plan was ready but the supplies were not. And so I went to work.

I spent a few hours tracing paper bears so the kids could have their own Build-a-Bear experience during the party. While I was working, Sophie woke up. My sweet girl who used to sleep through the night now wakes up two or three times. Last night she woke up much earlier than usual. Bryan went upstairs to hold her so I could keep working.

I printed and cut and gathered. Finally, I was almost ready; all I had left to do was cutout the bears and staple them together, leaving the top open so the kids could stuff them with cotton balls. I paused my progress to check on Bryan and Sophie. Both were asleep, though Sophie was fitful. As soon as I picked her up to put her in her bed (Bryan had been holding her), she woke up crying. I nursed her and finally she went back to sleep.

At this point it was just after midnight. With Bryan's help we cutout thirty paper teddy bears. I sent him off to sleep while I stapled them together. I fell into bed at 2:13. I figured I could get five hours of sleep, which would be enough to get me through the party and home for a nap before the boys arrived home from school.

At 3:00 Sophie woke up to eat, about an hour and a half earlier than usual. I fed her and put her back in her bed.

At 4:30 she woke up again, crying this time. Exhausted, I wearily slid myself out of bed to see what she needed. That's when I found why she had been fitful, why she had woken so much to eat, why she was crying. Our poor baby was covered in vomit.

I was suddenly awake, and, after I cried out in surprise at my discovery, so was Bryan. He and I worked quickly to clean her up and change her bedding. I held her for the next hour and finally had to put her back in her bed because I had no more strength and was desperate for rest.

At this point I had had two hours of sleep and was looking at the possibility of maybe another hour and a half. That simply wasn't enough to do anything, let alone drive to the party and muster the energy needed to lead twelve small children in lively activities for two hours. And I was concerned that Sophie might be contagious. I debated canceling, or at least rescheduling, the party. I decided to sleep a little more and see if that helped.

That's about the time that Phoebe came in saying she was thirsty and wanted to snuggle. She got her water and used the bathroom (the prerequisite to sleeping in mom and dad's bed) and climbed in next to me. Then she wiggled. And she adjusted. And she asked for more of the pillow. And more blanket. Bryan told her if she moved or talked again she would have to sleep in her own bed. She quieted down, but I woke a few more times before Bryan's alarm sounded at 6:30, alerting us to the start of the day.

It's hard to begin one day when you never really got to conclude the one that came before it.

I was still on the fence about the party. Then Phoebe started talking about how much her tummy hurt. That did it. I sent emails and texts and made phone calls to let the other parents know that we were changing the date. They were all sweet and thanked us for not sharing our germs. 

I was going to wear my pajamas to the hibernation party. I ended up staying in my pajamas all day anyway, wishing I could hibernate rather than teach about it. Bryan worked from home, in part to help and in part because he was running on a sleep deficit as well. My decision to postpone the party proved to be a good one and we all had a low-key, mild-foods kind of day. I napped whenever Sophie did. Phoebe got to binge-watch Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears during the morning nap and emptied the contents of her drawers onto her floor to make a pile/nest for her quiet time activity during the afternoon nap. We continued to take care of sick tummies throughout the day, but by dinner most of the rumbling had calmed.

And now, all I want to do is read and slumber.

Goodnight. Here's hoping that everybody sleeps. And that no one throws up.

Prepared for the Future

As we were driving somewhere on Tuesday I overheard the following.

Cooper: Phoebe, are you scared to get married?

Phoebe: (scoffs as if the question is ridiculous) No.

Gee, that answer scares me a little...

The Same Cloth

You can't tell from this picture. But these two look a lot alike. They have the same nose and the same chin and when Cooper was littler he had those same chubby cheeks. And they love playing together, which makes me happy.

Old and Wise

A few days ago I overheard Peter say to Phoebe, "Now that I'm older, I'm starting to understand everything."

Yes, hubris is alive and well at our house.

Called to Serve

When we were in Washington, Bryan and I both served in the Primary. At first we team taught the oldest group of kids, the ones that were transitioning to Young Men and Young Women. We loved it. We had a wonderful time teaching together. We should be used to that, but most of our team teaching at home is really team wrangling, so it was fun to be with kids who listened most of the time.

Then our assignments changed. I taught the class of kids getting baptized. Bryan, along with two other men, taught the Sunbeams, the youngest class in Primary. Phoebe was in his class. Most Sundays they had ten three and four year-olds. Even with three teachers, it was exhausting. 

A few months after moving here we were both asked to be in Primary again. This time Bryan taught the oldest group of boys and I was the Sunbeam teacher. And I was Phoebe's teacher. I would hold Sophie during the second hour of church while Bryan was teaching, then I would pass her to him during the third hour so I could teach my active class.

At the end of the year our assignments changed again. Bryan now has girls and boys in his class, but they're still older kids. I'm now in charge of the music for Primary! This calling is one that I've always wanted. It's my dream calling. When the member of the Bishopric asked me if I would serve in this capacity I actually said, "Oh yay!"

I took over the first week of the new year. It's gone well so far. I've spent hours pouring over lds.org and Pinterest and Sugardoodle looking at what I need to do and what others have done. I have two file boxes of supplies from the last ten years of Primary music in this ward. And since I've always wanted this calling I've been storing away ideas in case I ever got to serve in this capacity.

Given all of that preparation, it was surprising when I had a total brain block this past week. Each time I tried to plan the music for Sunday I couldn't think of anything to do. A good idea would enter my mind and then quickly exit. I finally settled for a fine, but rather mundane activity. And while I know mundane is occasionally acceptable, it is never my goal. I continued to brainstorm when a quiet reassurance came into my mind. "Don't worry about it, You will be fine." I packed my bag on Saturday night to ensure I didn't forget anything the next morning.

Sunday, as I was reminding the kids that they needed to finish eating breakfast so they could get their church clothes on, I noticed my phone was blinking. I picked it up to see if it was anything important. I had two emails, with three more to follow in quick succession, all notifying me that due to the frozen rain that was falling and the ice-skating-rink-like condition of the roads, church was canceled for the day.

I was indeed fine. And now I have another week to plan something slightly more creative.