Is It Naptime Yet

As described in Eden’s dance class post, today was the day to bring family to the girl’s dance class and my parents were there for support.

Two off things happened this morning. First I only brought one of Lilah’s dance shoes, so she performed barefoot, with tights that showed the dirt on the floor. Second our battery started to die and died about 10 seconds before Lilah’s song was over, but we got the majority of it. (I should remember to charge the battery before important events. It also died the night of my brothers reception.)

Since our battery was dying we didn’t video all of the warm-ups, which is what Jon did for Eden’s class.

So we just have one video.

For your viewing pleasure Here’s Lilah and her class performing Here comes Susie Snowflake and one of the warm-ups they do in class.

Today was a day to invite family to the girl’s dance class. My parents showed up, but my MIL was unable to make it due to the wet weather.

I have two video’s from Eden’s class. Both are very characteristic of how dance class goes every week for Eden, though the second one where the class performs the song is a little less characteristic in that she’s usually standing there, not sitting on the ground. It just happens she never got up from the ground exercises.

One of these things is not like the other. Part I

One of these things is not like the other. Part II

I will say it broke my heart to see her just sit there during the whole performance. I’m not sure if she’s painfully shy or painfully stubborn, but the one thing I do know is she is not searching for the spotlight like her sister.

With Sam’s break we’re going to try gymnastics again, which only Lilah has had a chance to do. Eden seems enthusiastic, but then again she was enthusiastic every week before we went to dance.

Also, I kept her in dance because she did like it and want to go each week and she’s never said she wanted to stop, even though she only regularly participated 60-75% of the time.

On Saturday I remembered Lilah needed to give a talk on Sunday. I don’t have the exact slip with what the theme was anymore but it went something like: I love Jesus Christ and the restored Gospel, or I’m thankful for Jesus Christ and the restored Gospel, or Jesus Christ and the restored Gospel makes me happy.

I really didn’t know what to do with it, so I had her write it by asking  a few simple questions.

Me: Why do you love Jesus?

L: I love Jesus because he was resurrected and Mary put the clothes on him.

Interpretation for talk: I love Jesus because he was resurrected and can resurrect me after I die.

Me: How does the Gospel make you happy?

L: The Gospel makes me happy because I love Jesus and the Gospel.

No talk interpretation needed.

Mommy added the last sentence because Lilah was giving interesting answers.

Because of the restored Gospel I can be with my family forever.

So the talk totaled three lines. I love Jesus because he was resurrected and can resurrect me after I die. The Gospel makes me happy because I love Jesus and the Gospel. Because of the restored Gospel I can be with my family forever.

I typed it up Sunday morning, went over it once with her while we sat in the foyer during sacrament meeting, because we were late and there wasn’t room in the Chapel.

Jon went with her to watch and I asked a leader to help her read the talk, but she apparently had to sit with another child and I had to teach a class, so Lilah was on her own since I could not be there, though I would have mostly stood back and watched anyways.

She read all of it and needed help with only one word, restored, which I expected after our one time run through.  The counselor that was in charge Lilah for her talk said she had done so well and must have been practising it all week, but in reality it just helps to have a child who can read and recognize words in context. (I’m sure if I pointed out resurrected she would have a hard time reading it, but in context, no problem. )

I’m really proud that she was able to give the talk on her own with only a little help. Had we been practising it all week I’m sure she not only would have remembered that one word, but would have had the talk memorized since she’s so smart and I think sometimes it’s my own flakiness/ business that holds her back.

Ever since Halloween and having candy everyday, and yes they have a piece everyday and since they’re happy with one piece a day I just keep letting them eat one piece a day, Lilah and Eden share candy everyday and they make me share too.

Now not only do they share but there is a level of expectancy to share. Like when I eat a tootsie roll I have to give each of them a bite and they in return will give me a piece or two of their candy. If Lilah has a sucker she gives everyone a lick and expects them to then share with her.

All this sharing is a bit out of control.

I love that they’re sharing, I just don’t love the expectancy to share. Sometimes I want my Kit Kat to myself and sometimes I don’t want a lick of a sucker, or perhaps I don’t want to share my own sucker, which I’m sure grosses some people out.

If I didn’t have a headache as I write this I might now compare the mandatory sharing to some socialist or other economy that has mandatory “sharing” but atlas I’m tired so this sentence is all you get.

Besides sharing candy it’s spread into our real meals. Now mind you I’m not a short order cook, so what one gets we all get, except maybe Jon who makes his own food for lunch because he eats differently than us.

So while were all eating the exact same thing, Lilah will  offer some of her sandwich or fruit to Eden and then Eden will do the same. Or Lilah will want to have a sip of Eden’s juice box or hot chocolate which is exactly the same as her own drink.

Now it’s driving me nuts.

Am I strange to not like all this sharing going on all the time? Of course some days there is more sharing, other days less, but without fail their is a sharing of candy.

I just find it funny and maybe a little annoying. Like I said before,  sometimes a girl just wants to eat her candy in peace, or sandwich in some cases.

We have a pretty nice mail lady, and mailman for that matter, but this post is mostly about our mail lady.

I’m not sure how long she’s been our mail lady, but I only really remember her from sometime last year. I think before that we hadn’t had much interaction with her because most of our packages were delivered through UPS, and we just never saw her. Last year we began getting a lot of packages from Amazon through the USPS, and we saw her, even if it was just waving thank you as she pulled away in her truck or seeing her as we came or left our house. She also delivered the doll house we got from Conrad, and mentioned to Lilah that she could not open it till Christmas, since it was addressed to Lilah and it said not to open till Christmas.

Ever since last year we wave to her each time we see her and if she happens to be at the mailbox the girls go over to get our mail from her. They were wary of her the first few times, but now they seem to be a little more comfortable with her, though still wary if I just watch from the driveway.

(The mailbox is in our connecting duplex’s yard, so if it were just one house, it would be in our yard.)

She’s a very nice woman but she has an always busy or needs to be moving type personality. We see her dancing and singing to her i-tunes and when we’ve spoken it’s always been very quick.

Today we got another package and instead of just leaving it on the door and waving goodbye as I got it and she pulled away, she waited at the doorstep and also gave us our mail.

I had been taking a nap so she had rang the doorbell and knocked by the time I got there. She said, “Why so slow, slowpoke?” I replied I was taking a nap and she apologized for waking me and asked if the girls were sleeping too. I replied it was just me and the younger one as Lilah emerged and she commented on her being so quiet for me and then she was gone as quickly as she had appeared.

I really like our mail lady and her little quirkiness. With living in an apartment you got minimum interaction with the mailman and now with living right by the mailbox and receiving packages we see them on average once a week and they know who we are.  Our mailman also directly gave me a package and our mail the other day when I was out doing lights on Monday.

I wonder what it’s like to remember people and their addresses.  I wonder if they first know me by my address or by the name on the package. I wonder if seeing my girls ever brightens their day. In fact I know it brightened the mailman’s day on Monday. He handed me a package and Lilah asked what it was as I handed it to her. I told her it was a Christmas present for Daddy and she immediately replied, “Lets go wrap it right now.” Our mailman chuckled and replied how cute it was that she knew exactly what to do with it.

I wonder if I’m allowed to give gifts to our mail people, and I plan on trying to give them some of the truffles I make to show thanks for being such nice mail people.  I think interacting with them as given me teaching experiences with the girls on friendliness and being polite to those who serve us.

Yesterday the girls and I made pictures to decorate our front window. I cut out some snowflakes, Christmas trees and stars and they colored them.

Then last night we finally got to decorate the tree.

Lilah had been dying to decorate the tree since Jon put it up on Sunday and we finally got to it last night.
(Monday night we fixed the tree and it  got a little late to decorate so we just watched Shrek the Halls on TV.)

We had fun and Lilah loved decorating. Eden loved playing in the stockings.

Believe me when I say we don’t have enough ornaments to have 8 this close together.

It was Eden’s turn to put on the angel. Her mouth is full of a marshmallow that was in her hot chocolate, and it was a large one, not the small ones.

Since we only set up 2/3rds of the tree we had extra lights and I put some in our front window today. Lilah said I was the best at making Christmas fun.

Also, here are some pictures from us making a gingerbread house with Carolyn on Saturday so Jon could study.  She graciously let us give her company all afternoon, and into the evening,  at the house she’s watching since we had to wait 1 hour for the walls to dry and then another 2 hours to let the roof set. The girls played and watched Dora while we talked and took naps  waiting to decorate the house.

Eden eating candy.

Giving a big smile after eating candy.

Lilah eating candy too.

The girls also want to eat it right away, but I’m making them wait till after Christmas.

So shortly after I blogged about Eden being sick I called my parents to find out my aunt and uncle weren’t coming down, so it would only be immediate family. I called my sister Kristi to see if she would be offended if we brought Eden and her reply was “It’s Thanksgiving and we’re family and family should be together on Thanksgiving even if they’re sick.”  Since Eden was able to keep a couple small bowls of applesauce down before we left and I think she was more sick because she hadn’t eaten since 10 o’clock the previous day. so I think her stomach was just sensitive in the morning. Eden had no fever and behaved liked her normal self for the rest of the day.

So we all headed over to my parents house for our first dinner.

Thanksgiving was a cloudy day with some showers. Wednesday we had steady rain on and off the whole day, so the weather was slightly cold, but not that cold, and wet.

The dinner party at my parents house encompassed Carolyn, Kristi and her family, Howard, Howie, Kaitlyn and Adrienne,  Glenn and his new wife Ann Marie, my parents and my family. It was kinda nice to have it be a small group, which made bringing Eden along easier. We ate around 2 pm and left shortly before 3 pm.

We picked up a pie and my rolls to bring to Ann’s house and got there around 4.

Annie was busy picking up my mother-in-law and brother-in-law Rawlin when we arrived. My father-in-law wasn’t up to leaving the house, and my MIL does not like driving in rain and Rawlin’s car battery was dead.

We hung out and people arrived and we ate around 5 pm.

We stayed till 7:30 and had fun seeing and talking with family.

While there Lilah had the camera at one point so the first few photos are ones I took, while the rest are from Lilah’s point of view.

The apple pie I made with the filling I canned with Sam.
I’ve never made pie crust so I cheated and bought some. I did not want my first pie crust to be something I brought to a dinner party.

Eden on Jon’s shoulder. She’s too cute and I guess I need to have her wear a belt with these pants.

Lilah before she got free range with the camera. She looks so old to me in this picture, or like an actual five year old and not the young girl/ child that I think of her as.

Lilah’s pictures:

This is the chair she was just sitting on in the previous picture I took of her.

The wall to the left of the chair.

One of her muses.

Another muse, Uncle Rawlin.

He held this pose for nearly a minute while Lilah tried to get the camera to take the picture, sometimes it just does not want to take pictures.

One of the cards we made for Jon’s family members on Wednesday.

We enjoyed our day and hope that everyone else had a Happy Thanksgiving also.

Last night I made rolls with my friend Beth. She’s attempted to make rolls two or three times and they’ve never risen, so I was there to tutor her step by step and to get the rolls I’m bringing to Jon’s family dinner.

After showing her how to make sure the liquid wasn’t too hot and what not we covered to let them rise, watched to see if hers were rising and I went home to give the girls a bath and enjoy an evening with Jon.

We watched Kite Runner and I baked the rolls. We got to bed really late, around 1:45 am.

At 5:20 am Eden came in saying her tummy wasn’t feeling well. I picked her up to here her kinda breath like she was going to throw up, but luckily she didn’t, at least not at that moment.
I gave her some food, she wasn’t eating it very well, and then she did throw up.
I gave her some crackers  and juice and she came to my bed while Jon got up. Later she threw that up.
We gave her a carrot that she hardly ate and some water, and she threw that up eventually too.
She also gagged at the applesauce and wasn’t able to even get it down.

What a fun Thanksgiving morning.

I was going to make a special breakfast, but decided I was too tired and to wait for a day where Eden can enjoy it too.

Jon’ll be staying home while Lilah and I go our family’s homes. Yes, I’ll even be going to his family’s dinner without him.

He’s not much of a socializer, so it’s not a big loss for him. I’d like to stay home and cuddle with Eden, but Jon’ll do that and I’ll instead get to eat a lot of food and gain 5 pounds, something he could stand to do, and socialize, something I like to do.

Happy Thanksgiving to us.

The girls have been doing a lot of crafts lately. I would let them have free range with the scissors, crayons, glue, and tape until Lilah’s roll ran out.

About two weeks ago I was going to give Eden a haircut after her bath, but it got to late so we just got the girls to bed that Wednesday night.

Friday night Eden was using the scissors and she came over to me and mentioned cutting her hair. I thought she was asking me to cut her hair but as I looked at her I noticed she had a clump of hair hanging down from her hair. I pulled at it and it came out. I didn’t notice the damage at first, but then I went to the table to put up the scissors she had been using and noticed more hair on the floor.

Eden had cut her hair.

Thankfully it wasn’t too bad, like up to her hairline, and I almost kept her hair longer, because if her hair was combed just so you wouldn’t really notice her shorter hair, but for the 95 % of the time her hair is not just so, you could.

So Saturday night I cut her hair short once more.

I’ve been trying to grow out her hair, but keep it short with a cute A line type bob, but I guess I’m back to square one.

She is really cute with short hair, but I think she looks slightly boyish, especially since the pants I thought were girls I think are boy pants, they’re straight legged and just baggy on her.

I also worry that Eden might gain a complex as Lilah’s hair is long and gets done in more interesting ways, and when I have Lilah’s hair curly she gets a lot of compliments, but the one day I had Eden’s hair in pig tails before she cut it off, she wanted them out by lunch time.

She’s cute and I love her no matter how short her hair is.

What Eden cut off.

After I cut her hair.

While at the store on Friday Lilah thought up a smoothie recipe.  She then wrote it down so we could make it Friday night, but Mommy wasn’t up to it Friday night, so we made it Saturday. I was going to take pictures, but I forgot since I was making it, but I have scanned in recipe that Lilah wrote down and my translation for those of you who do not live in our house and know that Daddy’s yogurt is plain yogurt and Mommy’s yogurt is vanilla yogurt.

Here’s what she wrote out:

7 Ingredients

Mommy’s Yogurt (vanilla yogurt)
Daddy’s Yogurt (plain yogurt)
Chocolate (we used chocolate syrup, though she wanted t use the semi sweet chocolate baking chips we just bought at the store.)
Vanilla
Lilah- I think it was suppose to be By: Lilah- she’s not one of the ingredients
Sugar
Milk
Banana

Her S’s are backwards, so they look like Z’s, but she’s had a hard time with S’s lately, they usually come out looking like 3’s, so I’m just happy they’re now backwards, which is pretty typical.
I’m impressed with her spelling of milk even though it has a C instead of a K, they both say the same sound, so I’m also just happy she got all the sounds and especially the vowel. As you can see in some words, like banana, she often doesn’t hear the vowels in the words.
Also, she did this all by herself, with me only telling her that CH made the ‘ch’ sound in chocolate, though I’m not sure how to write that down. I hope you as a reader just know what sound CH makes. 😉

The smoothie was mostly like drinking banana yogurt. We didn’t need to add sugar, but we would have used honey had we needed to. We also keep the chocolate to a minimum.

It was actually pretty tasty and it’ll be interesting to see what she comes up with next.