St Patricks Day 2021
Our area is experiencing a cold spell this week. Brrrrr! Back to puffy coats in the morning and pants during the day. The girls shivered in their cute St Patrick's dresses for 10 minutes outside in a really short slew of photos. Tuesday night the kids realized the deadline for their leprechaun trap was due. Josie suggested a bowl of Lucky Charms mixed with fake gold coins to lure the leprechaun. We put the bowl in a tall bucket covered with a plastic bag, the bag had a small hole in the middle. Everett and Evelyn propped up the bucket with weights and two stools so it would not tip over. The boys heard a loud crash around 10:30 pm that night, they discovered a falling glass made the noise. The didn't see the leprechaun but saw the trap didn't work.
Our leprechaun this year was spitting mad, it must've taken some effort to get out! He strung mermaids and a bottle of siracha from the ceiling fan, sent a loaf of bread to school, hid the stools (one in the fridge), turned our milk green, decorated the toilet, and sent the hoverboards on a picnic with hair supplies to eat. Lots of photos were flipped about and even the piano bench overturned. It was a hoot to hear Josie explain that the sneaky leprechaun put her elephant in jail behind a photo frame. We met Justin for lunch that day because his office was opening for the first time that year! Before lunch we all invaded his office. I heard one lady exclaim..."the kids keep coming," as we all paraded past her office! Justin introduced us to some of his office mates. It was nice to see faces clearly instead of over zoom meetings. The kids and I had a field trip at the Meridian Children's Museum thanks to Tech Trep! The museum was geared towards younger kids so Josie and Evelyn had a great time. The older three did their best playing with the girls for an hour. I tried to get our St Pat's dinner ready but there was too much going on, dinner was still in the pressure cooker at 6:30 and the rainbow jell-o only half completed. Justin and the boys went to YM at the Ostlers where the boys learned to make muffins. The girls all headed to Sister Miner's for YW. I taught a fun class on photography, mostly focused on posing and composition. The girls used my cameras and studio equipment after learning some tips. Evelyn was thrilled to pose for the older girls. Amelia was a complete dork in front of the camera, her poses were something to behold. I was grateful for the many hands to help schlep all my studio stuff from here to there.
Thursday the kids were on their own for school. I had a short dr appointment that took 4 hours instead of the promised 60 minutes. Instead I sat in a quiet exam room and read my nerd book. I quite enjoyed the rest, the staff was quite worried about me but I was happy to wait alone. I was at the gynecologists office for a pap smear and check up. Two other expectant mothers were sent to Labor and Delivery so that took my dr some time to sort out. During the exam the dr removed two polyps. When she related her find about polyps the first image that popped into my mind were the polyps growing outside Ursula's cave in The Little Mermaid. I restrained myself from singing Ariel's song. I get to return on Monday for an ultrasound, the Dr wants to see if I need an intrauterine ablation. It's so fun to be a lady! Yipee. Justin rallied the troops and filled the garden boxes with a foot of topsoil and two feet of garden box mix. Ambree joined the fun shoveling into our large mounds of dirt. Everyone worked really hard. I tried to time corned beef and veggies with the end of the work. My timing failed...our dinner was quite soggy, tasty but soggy. We invited the Ostlers over to enjoy our amazing rainbow jell-o dessert that took hours to make. I mixed half the jell-o with sour cream for the pastel layers, let that set for 40 minutes then added the plain jell-o, repeat 5 times. Freshly whipped cream topped off our lovely dessert. Justin introduced the Ostler's to Darby O'Gill and the Little People.
Friday morning a short but powerful thunderstorm delivered a beautiful rainbow! We experienced wind, rain, sleet, hail, and sunshine in less than 20 minutes! Josie woke up with another bout of tummy troubles. Evelyn went swimming with Sara this week. I had a newborn session starting at 9:30 am. We kept Josie separated from my working areas until the session was finished. The baby was absolutely not sleepy at all even after being awake for 4 hours. He finally conked out for a short while, long enough to grab some sleepy poses. That was as long session! Finished with 15 minutes to spare before piano lessons started.
The boys joined the Elder's Quorum raking leaves for a Sister Smith in our ward. Everett was quite adamant he not participate because he served twice in one week helping out the Activity Boys pick up sticks and shoveling dirt for mom. We grabbed that teaching moment by the horns. Everett turned his shorts into strange undies and gyrated on the floor in protest. He went because his choice was lose all electronic privileges or go serve. Little stinker. He came home smiling because he got doughnuts and had a fun time! Justin and I went shopping for a dishwasher that actually washes, a new clothes washer, and a new clothes dryer. Did you know there is a shortage of appliances? There is. Manufactures are only making their best (and expensive) sellers, stock is completely backed up. Bottom of the story is we paid $500 more than our budget because the models we wanted are unavailable for months and months. I am so excited to get a real dishwasher for the very first time. I am over the moon to get a top-loader washing machine, no more funky front-loader odor. Justin checked all the consumer reports so we could get the best bang for our bucks. Next we went to Home Depot for a new sink faucet, pitch fork, and a cute forsythia bush. I have many good memories of forsythia bushes from our home in Italy and Grandma Baerwaldt's bushes. I do love a good harbinger of spring...meaning forsythia bushes. It's so fun to step outside to daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths growing in the front garden. Welcome Spring!!!!!
Evelyn taught a little girl in front of us at church to shove her fingers up her nostrils. Proud parent moment! It was so difficult to not laugh. Piper had us all in tears once her parents noticed her nose picking. The kids are all excited for Easter now. I decorated my Easter table with Evelyn's help. Evelyn used the Easter squishmallows to decorate my table. Josie is spouting off all kinds of theories about Easter eggs from the eggs coming from the bunny's bum, to magically appearing from the Easter fairy, to baskets teleporting from the North Pole. She is very excited. We enjoyed watching the Youth Music Festival after church today.
Our family discussions during devotionals are quite stirring. We had some good talks this week about prophets. I listen to several podcasts throughout the week learning about the Doctrine and Covenants. The Proctors referenced a 1980s talk by President Benson, I looked it up and we talked about 14 Fundamentals in Following the Prophets. Justin is taking an active role in our devotionals, he is way more eloquent that I am in spiritual things. The assist is quite welcome.
A couple funnies from this week:
Josie after a huge truck honked it's horn: That big honk was scaring my ears
Everett: a local company has a fun jingle "Nobody knows like Zam Zows!" After hearing the commercial Everett piped up, "You mean they know how to pull off a romantic dinner for a dollar?!"
Phillip: Asked a question while cooking eggs, "Just a moment my brain is sock-u-lating"
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