Is It Naptime Yet

Jon had his birthday at the beginning of May.

For Jon’s birthday he went to work, which he normally does, and was able to enjoy some celebration with his co-workers. He then came home to some excited girls who had him search for his present before he worked out. Lilah made a little “scavenger” hunt. I wasn’t feeling my best so instead of riddles, they went more like, “Go to the microwave. Go to the dishwasher.” etc. Jon followed directions and they lead him back to the couch, where his gift was. The girls colored the box like it was a present, in effort to reuse and recycle, and because I wasn’t feeling well. I was actually able to surprise him for his gift this year. He had told me a long time ago what he wanted, and apparently had forgotten. (It was a CD, Thick as a Brick II, and a Lone Wolf book to add to his collection.)

Jon told me he wanted home-made pizza for dinner, so the girls and I prepared our pizzas and shared in making Jon’s. (He was working out.) We then enjoyed some yummy pecan pie. His boss had made it for him last year on his birthday, and I asked for the recipe because it was delicious. Jon’s boss made him a chocolate coffee cake this year, because she thought I might be making him pecan pie. She was correct in her guess. Eden loved the pecan pie and declared that she wanted it for her birthday.

We then enjoyed a nice evening at home as a family.

For my birthday, at the end of the month, I was able to enjoy a quiet morning at home. Jon took the girls to Science Saturday and I started getting ready to see Mary Poppins at The Smith Center. I decided I wanted curly hair, which takes forever, but allowed me to be extra cute on my birthday. Since the show was Mary Poppins, I took Lilah with me as sort of an early birthday gift. We barely got there in time, and the show started. About 5 minutes in the set to the house malfunctioned, and it was nearly a full hour later when they began again. Lilah was really good and we took a couple pictures while we waited. I called Jon to let him know that we’d be home an hour late and he suggested we go out to eat, because he didn’t want to cook and thought making me cook on my birthday was not very nice. I chose Olive Garden and we enjoyed a nice meal together as a family. Jon almost thought to order dessert, but I reminded him that he and Eden had made me a cake while Lilah and I were at the play.

We went home and enjoyed cake and went to bed as one very stuffed family.

Becoming one year older isn’t so bad when you get to enjoy it in such wonderful ways.

Both:

Helping me make strawberry jam. You both helped to cut up the berries and mash them. I loved working together with my girls, and it made the job go faster.

Hanging out at the mechanic for three hours. We brought school work, which you did without whining, and then you got to play with the legos there. I’m so thankful that you two are such wonderful kids. I can take you anywhere and you’ll behave, even if it means sitting there bored for a while. (I usually try to have things for you to do when we go places.) You’ve been this way since you were little, it’s not just now that you’re older. (I’m sure I have stories of you melting down or being bad in public from when you were little on my blog, but overall you’ve always been excellent children and I really appreciate it.)

Lilah:

Making clues for a scavenger hunt for Daddy to find his gift.

Telling everyone about your lego project that you built in lego club when it was your turn to man the booth at the science expo.

Learning to whistle. You were walking down the hall whistling, and Eden said, “Hey, you know how to whistle.” You replied,”Yeah I’ve been doing it for a few days now.” I’m sure it was only a few days because just the week before we were talking about how to whistle and you could not. 🙂

Teaching Eden how to do the laundry.

Getting your cello. You read the care card and it mentioned avoiding extreme heat or cold. Right after we got it we stopped at Smith’s for me to run inside and get Daddy orange juice. You were worried about it being too hot in the trunk for it, or it being in there for too long. We said it would be OK because even with the stop on our way home, it would be a shorter trip than traveling to your actual lessons.

“This place is so beautiful, and dusty.” referring to Cathedral Gorge, Nevada.

Going to see your first official Broadway play, Marry Poppins, with me. It was a great way to spend my birthday.

Starting cello lessons and thus starting cello practice. I’m hoping we can work together and not drive one another crazy.

I love you more.

Eden:

(This happened April 30th.) Performing on stage with only one other student from your recorder class and a teacher. You did an awesome job.

Helping me find a recipe to use with our very ripe bananas. You found a Banana, raisin, walnut muffin recipe that was in your Highlights magazine. It was a big hit. (We used wheat flour and substituted the raisins with chocolate chips. I don’t really care for raisins in food.)

The speech evaluation came back showing that you would need therapy. We have a plan for you, but now it might not be until the next school year before anything might happen.

Humming. Ever since we had the family night for SEEK you’ve been humming Cold Play, Rule the World. The orchestra played it, and you’ve hear it on the radio. Drives me a little nuts to hear the same little tune over and over.

Cutting your hair off for Locks of Love. You decided last minute that morning, since you had around 11 inches. You now remind me of my toddler Eden.

While hiking at Cathedral Gorge I told Lilah some monster was hiding in the cave and would eat her. You immediately said to her, “If you die, I get your My Little Ponies.”

Throwing up while we were camping. 🙁

I was telling Lilah she only had one mom so she should be nice to me. You replied, “What if we had 13? Then we could be mean to one.” (I have a strict no one can tickle mommy, but mommy can tickle her children policy and I don’t think you’d really like 13 mommies.)

Jon:

Actually being surprised by your birthday gifts. You forgot that you had sent me an e-mail telling be about the gifts I got you.

Planning a day for our May date. Trying to make sure we get a date each month for our ten year celebration, something I suggested.

Getting me orchids for Mother’s Day. They’ve lasted a month and are definitely a cool flower.

Visiting your parents about once a week.

Starting a written journal.

Traveling to Cathedral Gorge to view the annular eclipse at an optimal place.

You were the brave parent and slept next to Eden after she had thrown up that evening. I, on the other hand, freaked out a little when I heard Lilah cough in the night and worried that she might actually throw up on me.

Taking me and the girls out to dinner to celebrate my birthday.

So I turn 29 later this week.
Twenty-nine.

As I tried to be introspective on life, I decided I’d write a poem instead of some post about getting old. (Ha, I’m still writing a post on getting old. Fooled you!)

For some reason I felt that a haiku would be the best way to be reflective. I actually did some research to make sure it was more Haiku than not.
5-7-5 syllable lines:check.
Reference to a season: check.
Be vague: check (This one I made up.)

I decided I’m entering the Summer of my life. Sure my Spring might have technically been over 5 years ago, but I think each season is different for each person, and I’m hoping that I’m just leaving my Spring season. 🙂

So here I am. Nearly 29 with life ahead of me and 29 years lived. I have two children who are not babies anymore. One will soon be nine and her time living with us will begin counting down, instead of up. The other not fair behind.

Most of my peers are just beginning the family part of their life. They’re just getting married, or they’re just starting to have kids. I have a handful of friends who have older kids like mine, but I definitely have the oldest child and I’m fine with that. I’ve experienced a lot, but in other ways I’ve experienced so little.

It’s interesting as Jon and I plan for our future. He still worries about Parkinson’s or not being able to work, but I am just looking forward and wondering what shape our lives will take.
Where will we go over the coming years?
Where will we travel together?
What things do we want to accomplish as a family?
What will I do with myself as the girls get older?
Since I’m “just” a mother and a wife, I see a lot of possibilities for myself. I don’t have a career to tie me down, I can study and do what I like in the coming years and it’s OK if it changes and it’s OK if I stay just a mother and a wife. I know I might short change myself, but in some ways I see there is so much I can do, and much I can become. I hope I’m able to help my girls see their possibilities. I love watching them grow. There are growing pains, but it’s interesting to see who they are becoming.

I’m so thankful to have a wonderful husband who loves me and allows me to be me, with all my weaknesses, I always feel support and love. I know there will be trials in the years ahead, and I hope we can work through them together, as we already have.

I am really enjoying this time in my life, except the getting older part.
I still think I’m only 23.

The Summer heat looms
Possibilities endless
As she starts her life

So here is what is going on in the Blake house.

First, we put an offer in on a house. I actually have a long post about the process and why we decided to buy a house instead of taking my dream vacation on an Alaskan cruise this year, but I’ve decided to keep it private for now. The offer was put in the end of January/ early February, I really don’t remember the date, and it’s now in the banks hands because it is a short sale. There’s a joke about why are short sales called short sales if they take so long? Well I know why, and I just hope that the wait is worth it and everything goes well. Time will tell. We’ll still need to negotiate with the bank, so yeah, we’ll see if we can come to an agreement and if they can come to an agreement with the home-owner too.

Because we decided to try to buy a house right now there are a lot of things in limbo. Trips we aren’t taking, cleaning that’s not happening, and mostly just a slightly anxious Lacey.
We’re going less places because we might need the money for the house, or we might be moving and don’t want to be gone when we should be packing. (Big maybe as the summer approaches.) I’m felling depressed about our current state because all I can think of is how I want a bigger house and if I had a bigger house I could keep all our stuff, useful or not, and we’d have space. I went into full freak out mode on Jon this past Sunday, and instead of just listening to me whine about how I hate cleaning/organizing because there is not enough room, he made me do something. Men. They always love to fix things. Truth be told, it was helpful to go through the kitchen stuff, and it looks tons better, even with a sink full of dishes. He’s even in charge of getting the stuff to D.I.
Cleaning out the kitchen this Sunday helped me have motivation to clean the girl’s room on Monday, and even though we still have the boxes of stuff I pulled out to put away, we now have room to store the cello Lilah will begin lessons on this Summer.

So there is a rainbow after the storm of Lacey. Our new goal is to go over at least one area/room each week together. Our house is full of stuff and it stinks, but if we don’t move, we still have to live here, and we are still living here now, so I’ll continue to try to make it less chaotic.

Lilah will start cello lessons this month. It’s with our homeschooling co-op, or a mom who teaches professionally, so I’m excited. We’ll see how it goes.

Co-op is over and I survived teaching Chemistry! We don’t know what science we’ll be teaching next term, but it will probably be biology or physics.(I team taught with another mom.) I think I can handle biology or physics. While I did alright with chemistry, it’s not something I easily understand. It was a hard class for me to teach, even with very plainly written lessons from a manual for kids. I feel like I get it now, but boy was there lots of discussions to make sure I understood it correctly. We did jeopardy on the final day, and the kids remembered a lot. I was pretty impressed with them.

On a very bright note, the girls and I have been jamming and baking. I bought 24 pounds of strawberries and had to do something with all of them. We sold/gave some to family, made freezer jam, made regular jam and put the rest in the freezer. The girls helped me with the regular jam. Both cutting up the berries, Eden into fourths and Lilah then cut them into the smaller pieces, then they took turns mashing them. I’m so use to doing things alone, or them making the project harder, I forgot how useful they sometimes can be. The work went quickly, especially since I had other things to prepare and do for the canning.
Then last night Eden and I made some Banana, walnut, raisin muffins, with chocolate chips instead of raisins. (Ick, raisins in cooking.) I had some bananas that needed to be used and Eden suggested a recipe she read in Highlights. It turned out delicious. Lilah is now planning on making some cookies with me on Wednesday.

On a last note, we’ve been nursing Lilah’s hamster, Sleepy. He caught his leg on a toy over a week ago and we think broke it. There was no bleeding, except for the bites he gave Lilah and I while trying to help him, so we didn’t take him to the vet. Once freed he was back to his gentle self. He seems to be doing better, but has lost a lot of weight and his fur has thinned. I’m hoping with some added nutrition to his diet he’ll look better. He’s old and the injury was pretty scary. Since we cleaned his cage today, he decided to make the litter box his new sleeping spot. Strange little hamster. I hope he lives for a while longer. (His leg appears to be fine, just not quite right. He never gnawed at it or did anything that made us worry, so we let him be.)

So that’s what’s been happening here.

Have you had any meltdown moments? Have you then enjoyed the sweet things in life?

Lilah:

Being excited when I told you I bought some spinach.

Playing school with your chalk board place mats. You were the teacher teaching Eden.

Liking that babies like you.

Wanting to wear your Easter dress two weeks in a row.

When I told you we would not be able to go to Death Valley you asked if you could go play with Andrea. (Andrea was in town with Zarina and Poppy.)

Complaining about not eating the morning I tried to get your blood taken. It was a fasting blood sample. It was 8 am, and you regularly do not eat till 9 am. The exception being Sunday and Monday.

Bugs. You love them and want to keep some in our house.

Wanting the huge bear at the church auction. We were able to get it, and you were so excited.

Sadly, Sleepy was injured this month. You’ve tried to take extra good care of him. When folding clothes you told Eden to be extra quiet when putting them away so she wouldn’t wake him.

Eden:

Setting aside candy to give to the Easter Bunny, even though you knew the Easter Bunny would not be bringing you candy.

Adding cookie to your breakfast oatmeal.

Not wanting to eat certain food because of your two loose front teeth.

Being excited for your grammar workbook.

My Little Ponies. You love them, or going in a cycle of playing with them again. Mostly because My Little Ponies can now be found on Netflix to watch.

Recognizing the song Funky Town on the radio before me. Just Dance Kids apparently has as one of their songs.

You haven’t participated in Lego Club a lot. At first you kinda did, but as the weeks progressed, you haven’t. You did help glue the pictures for the display board and you’re excited to be getting your own shirt.

Sleeping on the huge bear we won at the church auction. You and Lilah take turns sleeping with “Sparkles” .

Jon:

Hiding the hard boiled eggs for the girls before we got home from church. Stepping up the hiding places and making them harder since the girls are older.

Watching My Little Ponies with the girls.

Working hard on maintaining your weight.

The Smith Center is a new performing Arts building built near Downtown Las Vegas. When we heard about it, we were excited for it to be built since it supported the arts. I was excited because it would be bringing Broadway plays at a more affordable price. I forget when they announced that Wicked would be coming in August 2012, but I was super excited when I found out.

I kept in the back of my mind the knowledge that Wicked would be showing there the Fall of 2012. So last year when I heard a news story that you could buy season tickets for the Broadway series for Spring 2012, and being a season ticket holder would give you precedence in buying tickets for the Fall and Spring 2012-2013 season, when Wicked would be showing, I convinced Jon to buy 2012 season tickets for the Broadway series. (We did not know for sure if we’d be able to get Wicked tickets, it was more a hope.) It was a half season, so it was a nice chunk of change, but doable. Jon being the wonderful husband he is, and a supporter of the arts, agreed. We saw our first play, The Color Purple, on April 7th.

It was a wonderful production, with superb acting and singing. Our seats are the second cheapest in the house, and we were second from the last row on the ground floor, but there is not a bad seat on that floor. It would nice to be closer so I could see more of the facial expressions and details of the costumes, but I’m very pleased with where we’re at and thankful for a husband willing to support the arts and my hobby of musical theater. (It helps that he enjoys it also.)

I am looking forward to seeing all the wonderful shows for the two seasons. We renewed our season tickets after we saw the show and I am so excited that Wicked is a part of the next season! I actually will be seeing it twice, because I’m going a second time with my sisters, minus Carolyn who will be seeing “The Boss” in Chicago. (We’re still seeing if we can change the night to include her.)

Me with the Smith Center Tower behind me. The architecture is really cool. It has a retro 1930’s feeel to it, and is beautiful inside.

Jon and I after seeing The Color Purple. (We did not purposely wear purple. It just happened.)

The next play is Mary Poppins. It’s showing on my 29th birthday and I’ll be taking Lilah with me to see it. 🙂

In February Lilah was able to finally cut off her hair for Locks of Love.
I was wanting her to wait till her horse back riding lessons were over with, but she kept insisting and insisting for her hair to be cut off because it was such a pain to comb out and always knotty.so I finally made an appointment and had her hair cut.
Lilah loves having her hair short, and I admit, it’s much easier to just comb and go in the morning. This is the first time she’s had bangs and they’re already needing a trim. (I don’t like bangs because of the constant need to trim. Not sure why I have them either.)

She was able to cut off just under 12 inches, or just about. I braided the hair to help keep it together better.

Jon and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary last month. Of course I posted something on Facebook, but neglected my blog.

So far we’ve had a little celebration each month. In January we went to The Brad Paisley concert and went out to eat with my sister Carolyn and her husband Derek. Derek got Carolyn Brad Paisley tickets for Christmas, and I decided that’s what I really wanted for Christmas. (Jon had planned on me getting a massage and having a spa day or morning.) Since we were buying tickets just a month before the concert, they were a little more pricey, so we decided that they would be a part Christmas and a part Anniversary present. So now I plan on doing something each month this year to celebrate our ten years together.

The Brad Paisley concert was wonderful. My favorite part was hearing “Whiskey Lullaby” with the lead singer from The Band Perry singing the female part. Whiskey Lullaby is one of my favorite songs, it’s sad, but I love the music. Brad put on an awesome show and it was worth every penny.

Carolyn and Derek.

~

I received compliments on my hair by our waitress and by two women behind me as we were leaving the concert. The first started touching my hair and was amazed at how it wasn’t moving. (I admit I have to use a lot of hair spray to get it to stay this way.)

For our actual anniversary, Jon took the day off. This is the first time he’s taken our anniversary day off. He also had two dozen purple and lavender roses delivered. I wanted him to go to the park with the girls and I, but he said he had to stay home, and that’s when my gourmet caramels from Fran’s came. I think it was good that he was home, because I only expect roses on our anniversary, and wouldn’t have known to stay home. We enjoyed a fun meal at home and just had extra time together.

My roses and chocolate.

Saturday night was when we went out to celebrate our anniversary with time away from the girls. We decided to keep it costs moderate and ate dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. We then had my rings inspected, it was that time of the year again, and figured out our current ring sizes. I told Jon I wanted to have him pick out a wedding ring, and he was very hesitant. Once at the store he liked looking at the rings there, but wasn’t sure. Once home, and armed with his size he went on-line and picked out a ring and ordered it. He was pretty happy with himself. The ring came on the 29th and I placed it on his ring finger as I jokingly asked him to marry me again. He really loves it, and it was nice to see him get so excited over it, especially since I first had to coerce him into getting one.

Us once more, but isn’t Jon so cute?

I’m so grateful for Jonathan and the happiness we’ve found. I’ve been in an especially lovey and silly mood lately, and he puts up with it with a smile. I feel like I really have so much joy in my life because of my wonderful husband and two wonderful daughters.

Thank you for ten wonderful years together Jon. I truly love you more today than the day we were married.

All:
Kissing at 11:11 am on 11-11-11. Eden did not want to kiss anyone, but we all kissed her.

Lilah:
Waiting till after breakfast to have your all day eating candy day, because you knew I wanted you to wait. (Same goes for Eden.)

Wearing your cowboy boots around the house to break them in, even when you were just sitting and reading. I need to add: Wearing your cowboy boots the moment you woke up in the morning, while still in your pajamas.

Being so excited to take horse-back riding lessons. Coming in around 10 am and saying you thought it was lunch time, because you could hardly wait to go.

Beaming after you had lead Boomer around the small corral. Loving your lessons.

Trying to wear your old jeans, now that Eden is also wearing the same brand as you. You’re used to only having to notice the name of the jeans, not just the size.

Wanting me to purchase you footsie pajamas.

Riding a horse!

Trying to convince me to let you carry in what I got at Old Navy, knowing there were presents.

Eden:
Being alright when two of the Girl Scout activities got canceled that we registered you for. 🙁

Playing with the rocks in a candle holder that I have and making them animated.

Sitting in the car with me to stay warm. Making a little hideout under the fully reclined seat. I’m not sure it was very comfortable, but you sat and read quietly while I took a nap and waited for Lilah’s lesson to be over.

Lying on your bed in your blue shirt, with blue sheets on, seeing if you would be camouflaged.

Not wanting to be come out and be kissed at 11:11 on 11-11-11. I had to take you from your room and drag you to the living room. We all kissed you, but I’m not sure why you wouldn’t give us any kisses. You did give me a kiss at 1:11. 🙂

Head-butting everyone, or really pushing your head into everyone. We call you Billy because of it.

Taking lots of core samples from the play-dough mountain I had used for science that day.

Jon:
Sending me monotonous reminders and signing them: Love Jonathan.

Not wanting to do anything that would make someone work on Vetrans Day, even though it would have been the perfect time to go to the Nevada State Museum.

Sending me old journal posts from when we were dating.

Telling me that to stay married you don’t have to love someone, you just have to tolerate them.

I suggested we get you all natural hair gel because I think you look cute with the wet hair look. You suggested a few all natural alternatives like olive oil and lard.