Week In Review

With all the other things cropping up in my life, I feel like this blog has been neglected, which fact makes me terribly sad as this is pretty much our only family record to speak of.
In light of these truths, I made a resolution this week that I will post a weekly review on Sunday evenings. And then whatever other pictures/updates/smidgeons I have time for during the week will be icing. We'll see how I do with this :)

This was a whirlwind of a week, as it seems most weeks are. Oh, and it was rainy, which I suppose adds to most people's doldrums, but not mine. The kids did a lot of splashing in the wet (and in warm soapy tubs afterward). And I savored every soppy day. I could not bake enough to sate my appetite for coziness. Mmmmm.

Monday: I got to spend 4 hours cleaning the temple with some of my favorite women in the ward. I loved every bit of it. I also loved thinking about circles of service (ie my friend Lindsay served me by offering 5 hours of childcare so I could go serve in the temple). Kind of neat to think of our service being intertwined and interdependent. Thanks, Lindsay!
Monday night for family home evening, we baked pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and delivered them to some families/individuals we thought could use a little cheer. Our lesson was about service and how it makes us and other people happy. I've had the impression lately that I need to serve more and that I need to help my children understand the joy and blessings of service by letting them serve with me -- baking and delivering goodies seemed like just the sort of thing they could be involved with and understand.

Tuesday: hmm, having a hard time remembering that day...here's an excerpt from one of the emails Nate and I exchanged that day (slightly edited because apparently I was feeling a bit frisky):

i love you.
i miss you today; i'm sorry we went to bed in a huff last night. i think we're both too passionate and strong-willed to have one of those really mellow, non-confrontational relationships. which is mostly okay with me 'cause when we're good - we're reeaallly good :)

we're just making some bread here at home. in fact, i'm typing this as the Bosch does her six minute kneading stint; bless that machine. i'm so glad we bought it -- and to think, it was your idea. you're a good man. but you're not really doing a very good job of being the "official family wheat grinder" -- i did it outside in the back yard this afternoon and got 4 mosquito bites in the process. damn bugs. i'll be so glad when it gets cold and they all DIE. we're doing the usual bread-making ritual, aprons on, alternating between she & him and Country Roads for our soundtrack and loving it. did you know that when i listen to "you really got a hold on me" i want to kiss you? bet you wish you were home right now...

i finally washed the george foreman after sunday's dinner - not my favorite appliance to wash. not my favorite appliance, period.

went to costco this morning -- spent too much money. i just got carried away buying fun things like craisins and roasted almonds. i'm on a mission to find a delicious granola recipe with coconut and dried cranberries in it -- they were sampling some at costco today and it was so, so good. i wanted to buy it, but $7 for a bag of grains??

couldn't do it.

also, lily needed some footie pajamas. so i bought some with sparkly ballerinas on them. so cute.

and they had bras there -- and we both know i need a new one of those...so i bought a couple to see how they fit. if they're junk i'll just return them, but if they're good, well then i just got 2 new bras for 18.99 (probably too good to be true). speaking of...henry helped me put the costco stuff away when we got home and i haven't seen those bras...how much do you want to bet they're in the fridge?

hmmm, what else? oh. i got some fire roasted salsa at costco today, too. (yes, i went hungry.) it's really good. i can't wait to eat it with you. maybe tonight when you get home from young men's...

k, i need to go. i liked your idea about playing a game together tonight; i was just too snarky to admit it this morning. i'm thinking sequence. mmm, sequence and salsa...sounds nice, huh?
xo
em

* post edit: thumbs up on the bras! and they weren't in the fridge (Henry had put them neatly in my closet - bless his soul. found a granola recipe, made it - double yum!

Wednesday: slow cooker day. went to target and stayed for two hours just to pass the time. High-light: Natalie and kids came over and helped us pass the afternoon hours that otherwise seem to c.r.a.w.l. Natalie and I could probably talk without pause for a fortnight. I love her more than peanut butter. Wednesday night and Thursday morning I just kind of want to omit from the record as they brought a lot of familial discord over none other than ward temple night. I will leave it at that.

Thursday: playgroup at the church was so, so great. just the right listening ears. just the right blend of conversation. i left feeling validated and understood, while at the same time challenged and inspired to change my attitude and buck up about a few things. Thursday was a bit of a long day as I had to do dinner and bedtime alone (Nate was at the temple). We made a late afternoon run to Target 'cause Henry was begging to look at the Halloween costumes. We spent almost an hour in the Halloween section, pushing the "Try Me" buttons on the animated decor, examining every ghoulish trinket and ogling the costumes that involved swords or weaponry of any kind (Henry). We are sooooo excited for Halloween around here. It's all I can do to wait for October to put the decorations up.
Thursday night Henry and I made granola together, which was completely delightful. I honestly cannot get my fondness for that kid into words. He is pure joy ninety percent of the time. After he went down, I listened to Julie Beck's talk, Mothers Who Know, while I scoured my kitchen, which was good'n'grimy from the week's baking exploits. The talk (and the cleaning and the smell of freshly-baked granola) were just what my soul needed.

Friday: Nate and I had a very productive early-morning chat in bed. Worked out all the misunderstandings from the previous few days. Sent him off to work with kisses and a tupperware full of homemade granola :) Played with Nat and kids in the afternoon (loved her alien mod-podge craft right to bits!) Had a family movie party (so fun!) Requested stove-popped corn rather than microwaved -- Nate came through with flying colors. Mmmmm! We even splurged for soda - Henry could not have been happier at Disneyland. Only bummer was the movie we chose (Madagascar 2 -- horrible.) We turned it off after about 15 minutes (the popcorn was gone anyway, so we were all happy to abandon the feature) and played a huge game of Super-Hero Memory. Perfect.

Saturday: Helped friends move most of the day. Had Jon Bryan over for black-bean burgers. Nate had a stake-conference-related meeting in the afternoon. Said goodbye to Dave & Aubrey that evening.
Came home, got kids down, made another batch of stove-popped corn and Nate and I played Mancala 'til our eyelids couldn't take "awake mode" any longer.

Sunday: got to have Nate home with us all morning (such a treat as he's usually in meetings and I have to get the kids ready by myself). He made blender pancakes - yum. We showered together - fun :) and hustled around trying not to be late. Stake conference was wonderful (and crazy thanks to a rambunctious little Lily). We have improvements to make and many things to ponder.

And here it is, late o'clock on Sunday night, and another week's about to start. This update took a long time -- and it is really long.

Hmmm, maybe I'll have to reconsider this format. We'll see what this next week brings.