For the record

I hate Spring Break.

I never want to make dinner again.

Tomorrow will be different. Hopefully better :)

So many pans on the stove...

I have quite a few projects in the works, but not much to be done this moment, so I feel like I have NOTHING in the works. Awkward place to be: looking for something more to do while knowing it will be impossible to follow through.

Kitchen remodel: We ordered cabinets and hired the contractor. They're just waiting for building permits right now before the work can begin. Maybe in two weeks?

Garden 2016: started tender seeds indoors, planted hardy seeds outdoors, now I'm waiting for things to grow (and the weather to warm up) before transplanting everything outside. The new chicks are growing so fast, but still don't have enough feathers to keep themselves warm outdoors. Their chick fluff has been spread out over a larger surface area, so they look all pink and vulnerable in the last few places without juvenile feathers. They poop and eat like mad, though, so it won't be long. I'm ready to move the chicks out of my bathroom. Gotta wait, though. The old birds are only producing 2 eggs a day, so it's almost not worth it (to me) to keep them around. I went to feed/water them the other day and one hopped over and flapped onto my back. What?! Why?! I shook her off.

Spring Break: completely caught me by surprise. The first day was torture. Second day was better. Third day was the best yet. I feel like this is a big project, but mostly it just keeps me from doing my usual stuff :)

Learning Spanish: kinda hit a low point recently. I've continued my daily 10-minute practice, but it's barely holding on to the vocabulary I've learned. I like it enough to keep practicing, but without people to speak it with, my interest is waning.

Physical activity: going strong! I'm still visiting the gym regularly and enjoying my time there. I just met my first goal, though, so I'm casting about for another one to help keep up this momentum.

Encouraging my kids' education: I don't know if this would classify as a "project" per se, but it's something that takes up a lot of my time these days. I'm working on incorporating their learning into more daily activities (e.g. any time I perform arithmetic for cooking or cleaning or timing or anything, I ask the kid(s) to do it, too. Or when they ask me about something, I use the first words that pop into my head without dumbing it down too much). That takes effort, man. And that kid Robert is full of questions. This evening, I found myself trying to explain why raw chicken in a hot pan of oil produces explosive popping. James asked me this morning about whether sharks eat alligators or alligators eat sharks.

Keeping tabs on my kids' health: I worry a little about Matthew's slow language skills, so I've been signing more with him, and he LOVES it. I worry a little about Alice's checkup last week and her failing a hearing test in her left ear. We go back in a couple weeks to test again. She also complains of blurry vision now and then (while confessing that she desperately wants to join the "glasses club" at school). No medical concerns for Robert and James, thankfully. Or should I say "yet"? ;)

Summer plans: I'm starting to plan summer activities and lessons (swim? music? sports? camps? travel?) and trying to find that sweet spot in the middle of what I want and what they want. So many options, not many quiet moments to ponder the possibilities.

Teaching Primary: I teach a group of 5-6 year olds at church every week. I have seven students. Some more disruptive than others. The moment-by-moment discipline stuff uses the most energy, but I like the kids. Most weeks it's a fun challenge. I just feel like I'd be a better teacher if I had fewer students :)

I'm sure there are a few other projects I'm working on...oh yeah! My Lent goal. Kinda lost track of that one. Hmmmmm.

Recent photo of me. I took it for my texting profile photo, but now I can't figure out how to get it there :) Ha ha ha! Add that to the list of projects.

Dirty boys, Parent'Teacher Conference, and Luncheons

I love to see my kids in the garden, even if they're digging for treasure.

Another beautiful, warm spring day! I prepped a part of the garden bed for planting snap peas, but I'm afraid to plant just yet...the boys are accustomed to tromping wherever they like, so I'll need to develop a fence first.

James' Parent-teacher conference was today. It's just preschool, so I felt kinda silly about it, but I did actually learn something about James today. He knows a few letters and shapes. More than I knew he knew. He's also a good citizen in class, a contributor, and super independent. He's getting better at expressing himself verbally, too, which is especially important when he gets frustrated/upset. His favorite color is currently orange. His favorite dinosaur is ankylosaurus (the one with the club on its tail). He's been talking at home about things that are real and not real. Every once in a while he'll say something out of the blue like, "Did you know that rockets aren't real?" or "Dinosaurs are real, but only a little." He's asked about Jesus being real, and ghosts, and monsters, and dragons, and magic. They're all in the realm of "known of, but not really seen"...kinda confusing for him.

I attended a ladies luncheon today with a bunch of women I don't know very well. Ugh. It was really, really hard. I almost went home after the first 5 minutes. Really. But once the eating started and people broke out into other rooms to watch kids or feed babies and whatnot, it got less painful. There was one person there who knew me from before Bobby became bishop. She asked me a question about raising chickens and suddenly I was me again. Well, I was "me on stage", but it was more comfortable than "me wanting to get the heck out of there."

I don't know what I'm looking for socially anymore. Don't know if I really want to invest energy in getting to know all these new people all the time. It's so much easier to fall into my kids and the old, familiar relationships I've already worked on for so long. So why did I go to the luncheon? I wanted to support the host. I wanted to get to know her a little better. And I did. I'm glad I went for that reason alone. I'm just so darn slow at this social stuff, especially in unstructured groups, that I don't give the best impression. Bah humbug.

This luncheon also confirmed for me that I am so glad I don't have an infant. Everyone else can want/have one, but I am quite content to never have another one again :)

"Climbing is my talent"

That number on the wall means he's 25 feet above the ground. Bobby took this picture from the second story balcony.

Robert managed to climb all three rock faces this week! If only he could be so brave in swim lessons ;)

Lemon Cranberry Scones

Proud baker and disgruntled assistant (who must settle for the SECOND largest scone).

She made them herself! They were divine. There's something to be said about kids making pastries...they don't overwork the dough. And when you can use fantastic recipes from America's Test Kitchen, success becomes routine :)