This last month has been mostly uneventful. Daniel has been
working a ton, poor fellow, and the audit he’s currently working on is super
stressful for him. We’ve both been saying lots of prayers for him, that he’ll
be able to stay calm and at peace even though he’s completely overwhelmed. And
he says that he feels like Heavenly Father is answering our prayers and
blessing him with what he needs.
Meanwhile, I’ve been busy with the kids. Mostly we hang out
at home, as per usual, but over the past few weeks, we’ve been out doing things
almost every day: park days, play dates at friend’s houses, shopping trips, zoo
days, trips to the library. It’s been really nice to get out more, and since
the weather is nice right now, and a little on the cool side, we’ve been taking
walks more and having picnics at the park.
Last month, for Valentine’s Day, I just did something simple
for the girls: little decorated mason jars filled with Valentine’s chocolate.
For Daniel, I decorated the bed with heart stones, flower pedals, and balloons
floating over the bed. The girls were thrilled about the decorations (even
though they had no idea what it was for…) and they loved helping me decorate.
Daniel and I went on a fun Valentine’s Date, just out for some Indian food, so
delish. It was nice to get out together. We haven’t had much time together
lately.
I’ve spent some time over the last months getting Brooke all
registered for school, and it’s making me all sad. I don’t want to send her to
school! My heart and mind are rebelling against this. I had to go to the school
four times to get it all done. One time I forgot some forms, another time, they
told me I didn’t have the right immunization records, and I had to go back to
fill out a transfer form. The school she’s zoned for is not rated very high, so
I’ve thought and prayed about sending her to another school. I felt good about
a school close by called Old Orchard, but I still felt a little weird about
transferring her out of our school, Newhall. Newhall Elementary has a high
population of Hispanic kids, and I felt so prejudiced pulling her out of that
school. But, personal feelings aside, and not wanting to appear a certain way…
all that aside, I have to do what I think is best for Brooke, and I’m worried
she wouldn’t excel in a school where they have to teach English before anything
else.
So, last week, I got a bit of a scare from the schools. I
got a phone call to confirm Brooke’s birth date, cuz I’d written the year
wrong. And after I’d confirmed her birthdate, I got another call to tell me
that because she’d be turning 6 this August, they were going to put her into 1st
grade instead of Kindergarten. And I about flipped out. I spent the rest of the
afternoon with my heart in my stomach, so anxious, either on the phone or
waiting for phone calls to figure this out. But in the end, they decide to
enroll her in Kindergarten because she hasn’t had any schooling yet; no kinder
and no preschool. I’m so glad it worked out, but I’m also kind of incensed that
the schools have any right to make that decision for the parents. I was very
deliberate about keeping Brooke home this year, even though she could have gone
to school. I thought it through and talked to people about it, I prayed about
it, and in my heart I felt good about starting Brooke in Kindergarten when she
was turning 6. That’s what I wanted. And for the schools to be able to say that
that’s not okay, that THEY were going to make the decision for me and Brooke,
well … that doesn’t sit well with me. And even though it worked out this time,
it still doesn’t sit well with me.
Brooke and Camille have been up to their usual tricks:
playing all the time together; occasionally driving each other crazy; making
messes they don’t want to clean up; getting into food; coloring and
‘scrapbooking’ and doing stencils; playing with friends; not sleeping well.
They’re pretty wonderful and I really love them. The thing I’ve been trying to
keep in mind where they are concerned is that even though some things drive me
a little crazy (like the getting into food and the messes and the getting into
things), they are doing what they are supposed to be doing. I would rather have
them making messes and exploring their world and learning than be perfect,
clean little robot children who are afraid to do anything. If I’m honest with
myself, I don’t want a clean house; I want my kids to feel safe enough to
explore and make messes.
Brooke and Camille are seriously best friends. They love
doing everything together. If one is doing something, the other will join in.
And if one decides they don’t want to do something, the other won’t do it
either. You should see them in primary. Camille is a Sunbeam and Brooke is in
CTR 5 class, and their classes sit one in front of the other in primary. So
Camille will sit with Brooke’s class, right next to Brooke. And they sing out
together and cuddle and hug in Primary, and Brooke is always watching out for
Camille and helping her. It’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. Yesterday in Primary,
Brooke got called up to help with singing time. She was just holding up a
picture. And Camille, after about half a minute, got out of her chair and just
went and stood next to Brooke. She wasn’t called up, she wasn’t holding a
picture; she was just happily standing next to her sister. It was pretty funny.
I love that they are best friends and love each other so much. I hope it’s
always like that.
Jack is still the cutest baby on the planet. He’s growing so
much. He’s now crawling on hands and knees full-time, and only once in a while
will he revert back to his army crawl. And on top of that, he’s started pulling
himself up to standing and crawling and climbing over things. The other day, he
pulled himself up to standing with the help of his high chair. And then,
because his high chair is on wheels, he started rolling it and taking little
steps with it! I was so mad! Haha! I mean, not really. But I’m just astounded
at how fast he’s growing and how fast this year has gone by.
He’s also started saying Mama and Dadda, and I think, Baby.
He’s always exploring new sounds with his mouth and making sounds that he hears
us using. It’s very cute.
He still loves his Mamma so much, and I’m still his comfort.
My favorite thing ever is when he needs a little comfort. So he’ll crawl over
to me and get a hand on some part of me and stick his thumb in his mouth and
just sit like that for a minute. The other day, I was in the kitchen making
food, and he crawled over, wrapped his arm around my leg, leaned his head against
my leg and stuck his thumb in his mouth and just cuddled my leg for like half a
minute. And I about died, it was so sweet and
cute.
I love my little guy, and I’m loving watching him grow, even
though it makes me die a little at the same time.
As for me personally, the last few weeks I’ve been keeping
to my cleaning schedule (which keeps my house clean enough for my sanity); I’ve
been running (signed up for a half marathon at the beginning of June, sooo…);
I’ve been adding weight training back into my workout regimen; I’ve been
counting calories and experimenting with eggs and dairy (bleh, I’m over it
already and I’m going back to vegan full-time); I’m working on Jack’s baby
book, which has been kind of fun; I’ve been taking pictures with our good camera
and practicing taking better pictures (one of my goals for this year). I made
some lofty goals for this year, and I’m starting to wonder if I’ll be able to
do all of them. I’m working really hard, most days.
During the day, I don’t do much aside from my cleaning and
taking care of the kids. Last week I tried to work on projects during the day
while Jack was asleep, but the girls were all over me and it took forever to do
ANY LITTLE THING, and I ended up getting frustrated and annoyed, which in turn
ruined the whole day. So, I’ve basically learned a lesson there. I don’t think
it’s good for me or the kids to try and get those kinds of projects done while
they are awake. But then that doesn’t leave much time to do anything, because
by the time I get Brooke in bed, I have like an hour before I should be
thinking about bed time. Which is why I’m thinking that I might not be able to
accomplish all I’d planned to do. But I’m still going to try.
Just some extra things:
- Brooke: “Mom, when I meet Heavenly Father again, I might be shy.” Me: “Why?!” Brooke: “It’s just been a long time since I’ve seen him.”
- Camille: “When I grow up, I want to marry Brooke.” Me: “Why do you want to marry Brooke?” Camille: “Because I love her!”
