Today is the beginning of Spring Break for Lorelai. She gets two weeks off--yay!! I honestly don't know what we'll do the whole time--and that's kind of a nice feeling. We've been pretty darn busy lately (February in particular was nuts), and it's a relief to have a few more hours in the day to exhale and not do anything I don't want to do. All I want to do today is mess around on the computer and make some homemade pretzels (my friend gave me a delicious recipe and I'm dying to try it; plus I think the kids will have fun shaping their own pretzels!).
Of course, there are diminishing returns on sloth; after a while, the kids get pretty restless and so it's off to the races again. Maybe today, at least, lounging around the house and doing very little will appeal to everyone. Sloth (once in a while!) is a virtue, not a vice!
Here's a quick rundown on this year so far:
-My Primary President calling in church has kept me, how do you say, swamped. So far, we've done a baptism preview fireside (for those kids that will be turning 8 this calendar year); helped out with the ward service auction/camp fundraiser, which I've mentioned previously; and organized a Primary activity (mostly a pizza party and a lot of fun games), to congratulate the kids for their reverence during Sharing Time. Next month, we're holding a training night for Primary teachers, that will include a panel discussion. We also hold presidency meetings twice a month (we had additional mini-meetings over the last month, to finish coordinating everything). I also attend ward council twice a month. I've also attended a baptism, and been to a new member fireside our ward put together, in which we invited all the new move-ins and new converts. I've also attended a church Worldwide Training Meeting for leaders--at 6 am on a Saturday. Oh, the madness of it all!
Here's what else I've been up to so far in 2012; taken dinners to two different families with new babies; attended several birthday parties and baby showers; hosted a book club that doubled as a spa night (we all got facials!); led the discussion of Room by Emma Donoghue at another book club; had the missionaries over to dinner (on Valentine's Day! Hah); taught preschool twice for Celeste's cooperative preschool (more on that in a minute); hosted a Super Bowl party at our house in February; and hosted several game nights with several different sets of friends. I also still teach seven kids piano lessons every week, and have all the other "usual" activities (feeding/dressing kids; housework; etc.). Whew!
Nate's had much of the same going on. He's still learning the ropes of the Pima Association of Governments, but lately he has felt much more confident with his coworkers and his responsibilities alike. His job requires him to visit a lot of different places; he's been up to meetings in Phoenix at least twice this year so far. He's also been to Nogales twice, as well as all over town. He has meetings both night and day, so his schedule can be a little crazy sometimes. He also took an overnight trip to Rocky Point, Mexico, on a business trip. Poor baby! He's been busy outside work as well. He teaches the Gospel Doctrine class at church; he has a monthly game night with friends; he still attends the Sahuarita Planning Commission monthly meetings (he's on the town's planning committee); and he unexpectedly became Lorelai's soccer coach last month, too! He initially agreed to be an assistant coach (since he attended her practices anyway), and then the head coach had to withdraw for personal reasons. Nate knows next to nothing about soccer, but he's trying his hardest and the kids love him!
Lorelai is busy with school, of course--her math skills have really been improving, which is great news! She has finally figured out how to say her "R's," but she still has to think about it pretty hard and contort her mouth in unfamiliar ways. The results can be somewhat comical, but also encouraging...it has taken her a while to get to this point! She is also, as I mentioned above, playing soccer again this winter (and possibly in spring as well; a good friend of hers is on the team and wants her to keep playing!). She loves having Daddy as her coach; however, she is quite the competitive child. Her team has only won a single game so far this season, a fact which leaves her in tears after each game! So sad. However, she is a great goalie, and we are still proud of her efforts.
Celeste has also been a busy bee so far this year. She is still doing her dance class, and she really enjoys her preschool. She is very bubbly and outgoing, and luckily for her there are several cute little girls her age in Primary right now, so she has no shortage of playdates! She has also developed a rebellious streak a mile wide, and it's pretty exasperating. Every sentence she says to me begins with, "But I DON'T WANT..." or "No I WON'T..." Grrr. Other than that, she's quite charming.
The girls have also discovered the joy of riding their bikes outside with the neighbor kids. We are finally starting to get to know some of them pretty well, and it's fun for the girls to have playmates close by! Most of them are boys seven to ten years old, but that has never bothered my tomboy Lorelai before!! Also, Lorelai and Celeste have "moved up" their bikes; we finally put new training wheels on the pink Barbie bike, and Celeste looks quite grown-up riding it!
Most of our kids' afternoons are spent just like this...riding bikes up and down the street with each other, and with their friends! Good times.
Aurora has no trouble keeping up with the rest of us; in fact, I think she has more energy and determination than Lorelai and Celeste combined. She only takes naps every other day or so (sigh), but she seems to get enough rest and function at full speed without them (double sigh). She is starting to talk quite a bit, too--there's still a lot of confusing babble, but every day more and more words emerge fully formed. She is quite adventurous and always wants to do what the bigger kids are doing--up to and including riding bikes and using monkey bars at the playground (with some help from Mama, of course).
And, because I need another photo or two, here's what I cooked up for preschool a couple of weeks ago:
Baklava! I'd never made it before, but it wasn't as hard to assemble as I'd thought. And it was darn tasty, too! It got yummier and yummier the longer it sat around, since the honey and butter had time to fully seep into the nutty filling...let's just say I will be making this again...soon, I hope!
Plus, we were talking about "diamonds" in preschool, and look what shape I cut them in??
Well, here's hoping the next few months of 2012 won't be quite so jam-packed; but I'm not holding my breath either. My parents are coming this weekend for their annual visit (yay!), so we'll have some new home remodeling projects to post to the blog soon.
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