Forty days

Un-blogged highlights from the last forty days: Looking the those pictures helped me see so much beauty and joy in the little everyday parts of life. I'm pretty sure I could've written a blog post about each one of these 24 highlights. But I had to be realistic so I summarized our busy move-in time in a highlights reel instead. When it comes to recording, something is better than nothing! Thank goodness life is settling down again. Hopefully I won't have any more massive generalized posts anytime soon--this type isn't nearly as fun as when I actually have something to say. 

Highlights:

1. Black and white pictures: from orange-ish snapshot to artistic photo in a jiffy. My favorite fix!

 Evening snuggles with my Jay.

 Window gazing: taking intensity to a whole new level. A flock of pigeons lives underneath the canal bridge by our house, providing endless bird watching from our big front windows.

 Story time can be a bit overwhelming for the reader.

 A girl and her daddy.

2. Jay's and Rose's first ever solo piano recital was on May 20th, 2017 at the Sunnyside Presbyterian Church. They bravely played their songs in that big room and requested the semi-stale donuts leftover from Jay's birthday party for their post-recital celebratory treat. I was prepared to offer ice cream, but who was I to interfere with their plans?

We misbehaved just a little during the long middle part of the recital, then sat in awe when the last few advanced students pounded out Rachmaninoff and Mozart like professionals. 

We love our piano teacher so much and feel very glad that we get to keep her even though we moved. 

 Donuts!

3. The last day of school. Did I really never write about this? Since we withdrew Jay and Rose early for our move, their last day of school came almost three weeks early this year: May 26, 2017. They grew a LOT, surprise surprise.

These two best friends. They look like twins, but they are 20 months apart.

Kindergarten Rose, first day and last day. Sniff.

 Second grade Jay, first day and last day.

4. SUNSETS in Sunnyside! I love snuggling up on our couch with a book or a show and watching the sun set. It is magical and gorgeous and feeds my soul somewhere deep down.

 (this one was sunrise along the canal)

5. Our rope swing! On June 1st, Amber was running rampant and making it impossible for me to unpack. So I left the boxes inside and we hung a rope swing from a tree in our yard instead. When I was growing up, my dad hung a rope swing from a tall tree in our yard, and I have so many fond memories of swinging, swinging, swinging. Hanging a swing of my own was quite the process. First, the kids scouted out likely trees and ranked them on branch thickness and strength. We agreed on one in the front yard. Then we gathered our supplies and really got started. After about 20 minutes of the age-old throw-and-hope technique, I managed to loop the rope over the branch. The next part was even harder: I had to pull the rope down so I could tie the slip knot. Enter the branch loppers. I stood on a chair, taped two pieces of our longest old curtain rod onto the end of the lopping tool and used it to pinch the tip of the rope in the tree and slowly tug it down to where I could tie the knot. It was a very long process--nearly an hour of painstaking aiming, pinching, and pulling. Rope sticks to bark--it does not slide. Eventually the rope was tied to the tree. Then I had to hack and drill my way through the piece of wood (an extra board from the deck at our old house). That was HARD. At long last, I jammed the rope through my jagged hole in the wood, knotted the end, and we had a rope swing straight from my childhood. The whole swing hanging process took over two hours, start to finish. I was sore for days from all of that reaching and pulling, but the swing is awesome.

My rope reaching and tugging tool. Note the hooked stick we taped to the other end--that helped push the rope into tugging position. It was all quite tricky to do, standing 25 feet below the branch.

 Like mother, like daughter.

6. Jeff's birthday. Jeff turned 35 on June 1st. He's halfway to 70! Our house was still in major move-in flux, but we invited the family over last minute for brownies anyways.

I could not find the birthday candles anywhere (so many boxes!), so we improvised with three tealights and a number 5 candle. Three 5 = 35.  

 It's always a party when the cousins come over!

I snagged our first-ever seven cousin picture with baby Cole in it after the birthday brownies. 

 Boy cousins: Jay, Cole, and Tate.

Girl cousins: Amber, Grayce, Layne, and Rose. It was definitely a come-as-you-are birthday bash (ahem, bare Amby). 

In order of age and height, minus Cole. 

Birthday pictures with my favorite. We are weird. But at least we are weird together.

7. Amber started potty training (again). She had her first round back in December, but lost interest and refused the potty after two weeks, so we took a break. For some crazy reason, I thought that it would be a good idea to get her undies and start the process right after we moved, with boxes and chaos everywhere. She had zero successes on her first day and zero accidents on her second day! She is good for at least a couple of accidents per week now, a month later, but hey, it beats diapers! 

 Even though we had about 25 pairs of old undies from Rose, I let Amber pick out two packages of pristine princess underwear of her very own. She wanted to wear all of them at the same time.

She would carry her pretty undies around the house and then sleep with them on her bed for the first two weeks. She was NOT HAPPY to be put in a diaper at bedtime, so we put underwear on top of her night time diaper to appease her sense of dignity.

 Just reading books with a dozen pairs of underwear around her knees.

8. Our first Sunday in the Sunnyside Ward required a pre-church family picture.

9. I got my Sunnyside Library card and felt like a true Sunnysider.

10. I also got my first new Sunday dress in five years and felt like a cute trendy mama, even if I still don't know what to do with makeup or a curling iron.

11. Family run! We went on our first family run in June and it was quality bonding time. We walk/jogged a 15 minute mile together along the canal.

11. Unpacking and organizing. It is a long, ongoing process that will probably never be all the way finished, but once the kitchen and the books were unpacked, I felt a whole lot more moved in.

I threw the boxes I unpacked one by one down the stairs, then heaped them in the basement kitchen.

Eventually I flattened and stored all million of our empty boxes. It's crazy that we've had most of our boxes for the past 8 years! Used and reused, then used again--it's a miracle they lasted for another move!

 Possibly the only thing I miss about our old house is the giant wall of bookshelves we put in the basement there. Squeezing my sizable book collection onto two meager bookcases was an exercise in self control. I took the books the kids are less likely to read (reference books and old textbooks mostly) and put them in the basement.

Resting in my bedroom after a tiring morning of hefting heavy book boxes down those skinny steep stairs and putting the books on the shelves.

 Our front room/family room is all fixed up minus some pictures on the wall. Still not sure how to proceed with that project, though, so we're calling it good until inspiration strikes. I wish there were more bookshelves, but I think I'll always wish that. 

I hung my homemade decorative shelf over the hall table and put everything on it in exactly the same place as it was in our old house. Change is usually refreshing, but that familiar shelf feels like home.

12. Fudgesicles on the front porch: always a highlight.

13. Planting a "garden." --a questionable highlight. We got three tomato seedlings, six pea seedlings, and one zucchini seedling from Walmart and put them in the ground during the first week of June. The peas are withered and fried from the hot hot sun now, a month later, but the tomatoes and zucchini seem to have taken root.

We don't have a watering can, and we accidentally left our hose at our old house, so we watered with a pitcher until we got a new hose and hooked it up. Our landlord employs an awesome guy named Juan to do yard work and farming and a little bit of everything. When Juan saw us planting our garden, he tweaked the sprinkler nearby so it rotates enough to water the garden for us. Seriously, Juan is so nice and helpful!

14. The view: always a highlight of my existence here.

Even though the irrigation canal is not a natural river with clear water rushing over rocks, it is still pretty.

15. Watching Beauty and the Beast with my girls.

We loved it.

16. My new running buddy! Christy wants to train for her first-ever marathon so I agreed to run with her. We ran together for a whole blissful week before our summer plans took us apart for three weeks. Marathon training alone is not easy. Marathon training in general is hard and exhausting. I feel existential about it all every time I plan a new week's running and the miles stack up past 40. I have already run a marathon--why do another? One more, just to see if I can run the whole way without walking this time, and maybe to see if it really is actually as painful as I remember. Weird reasons, I know.

Our mid-run selfie picture cracks me up.

17. Running kids! SUCH a fun highlight of the past month. One of the kids' daily summer requirements is to go on a one mile bike ride or a half mile run. Rose has started loving to run! She's only six, but she is speedy--she can run a whole mile without stopping. Finally, an outlet for her iron will and fierce determination: she pours it all into her daily run (well, she does reserve some to use on me, but the running is good). Jay runs sometimes, but he prefers to walk or ride his bike instead (or swim when he can get to a pool), which is perfectly fine too. Amber just wants to do everything and touch everything and throw everything, and then wipe it on her face.

I love the sight of a girl and her dad running. It brings back so many childhood memories.

Amby wanted to go on a "run-run" too. The girl has stamina. Staying power. We are hard-pressed to find enough constructive outlets for her boundless energy each day, even after a mile long trot together. Yes, the two year old can run a mile. She walks every now and then, and stops to pick up rocks or nutshells, but she is all forward motion. 

 Running with my Rose-girl is so much fun.

18. Our nephew/cousin Cole's baby blessing at church (June 4, 2017). Always a special family day.

 I was pleased that I managed to cram all of those loving family members into one picture!

19. Bubble blowing! It is so easy for the kids to go right out the front door and play, and I love being able to see what they're doing out there. Our old house was a split level, which makes going outside a bit more of a process.

Bubbles in the sunshine--camera zoom for the win! (this was in early June when the mornings were chilly and before the temperature cranked up to 100 degrees)

20. Jay's first Cub Scout activity. They went on a hike, then got ice cream and went swimming at the bishop's house. When I dropped Jay off, he was quiet and apprehensive and gave me a rather clingy hug goodbye. When he got home (the bishop drove him home on the dusty back farm access path in his Gator), Jay was bubbling over with enthusiasm, stories, and news. I'd say it was a success!

The Cub Scout.

21. Impromptu picnic. The girls were feeling rather lost and lonesome (and a little jealous) while Jay was at his cub scout activity, so I helped them prep a picnic outside in the sunshine. 

THIS is summer. They both lounged in the sunshine after eating their lunch. Thankfully it was a warm day, but not too blazingly hot.

22. Sunday afternoon family walk. It was a pristine day. We walked straight out our front door and down the canal road into that big sky.

22.  When everyone looks and smiles! Happens about once or twice a year at best.

23. My first love note from Rose. I keep it hanging on the fridge and I read it every time I run up against her willpower. We are working on spelling her middle name right (Rose Meri White)

I am the best of the butterflies.

24. Dinner on the front porch--again, before the killer summer heat set in. We had such a marvelously mild May and June, the heat only caught up to us at the very end of June. 

Burrito buffet.

24. These faces!

Their personalities, both preserved in one picture.

Conclusion:

Whew, that was 100 pictures. The end!