SUNSHINE is not usually a defining characteristic of February in the Yakima Valley, so when the first ten days of the month were gorgeously drenched in mellow sweet sunshine, we felt especially grateful for the reprieve from the dark cold tragedy of winter. I have a bit of a backlog of day-to-day moments that never made it to the blog. Alone, they seemed short and insignificant, but together they seem massive. So, here's another wordy Shaina blog post.
Here are a few journal tidbits from our February days in the sun.
Thursday, February 4th: It was a nice day today-- not quite as warm as yesterday (45 degrees today)-- but still warm for this time of year. I still felt super tired and reluctant to exercise, so I committed to a short bike ride. Something is better than nothing, and I always feel better after exercise. I put on my headphones, cranked my newly created "Move" playlist and started pedaling. It turned out to be so much fun cruising to peppy music! I explored a new hill and created a great 15 mile loop, listening to music the whole time. When I got home, I was HAPPY! It was such a good ride. Sometimes (usually) the hard part is getting out the door.
It may have been sunny this afternoon at xc practice, but I did not dress warmly enough to stand around. I was so cold even in the pretty blue sky sunny weather! Ridiculous! Haha.
Friday, February 5th: When I asked "what's your favorite thing to do alone?" during Rose's birthday interview this morning, Jay snuck in the background and whispered "cry" in a high cartoony teasing voice. Bahahaha, his humor is great! Rose organized a front yard sister lunch picnic on this warm breezy February Friday. Amber and Rose are such cute sister friends!
Saturday, February 6th: Rose was tired of Jay messing with her sequined shirt, so she said "sequins are girly, and you keep messing with my sequins, so you are girly! Jay is girly! Jay is girly!" As usual, Jay had a calm confident witty response: "teasing a younger sister is very manly."
Today was bright, sunny, blue sky, and windy. I managed to get a 15 mile bike ride in before the wind picked up. I rode to Grandview and took the long way on country roads to avoid the boring bike path. Later, I ran 3 miles with Jay. He is becoming quite steady with his 10:30 mile pace. We didn't stop at all during the entire 3 miles! We talked and high fived and soaked up that gorgeous vitamin D. I love being active outside with my kids.
At 2pm, Jeff and I went to the school to map and measure the half mile loop for our pursuit style cross country course. The wind was super strong (but thankfully not cold) and we power walked close to five miles in the grass during the 2 hours we were there. It was exhausting! But at last we got the course figured out. Then we had to clean up the cones, so who knows if it will be the same next time we set it up! (We can't use the awesome course we mapped out at South Hill Park last fall for this current season because that park is a Covid testing center or something. So we made a small 6 lap course in the playing fields at the high school.)
Today Rose went birthday outfit shopping with Grama Leslie and her BFF cousin Layne. They went to Target for matching clothes and Panda Express for lunch.
Sunday, February 7th: Happy 10th birthday to Rose! (see separate post for details)
Monday, February 8th: Scripture thoughts from D&C 12:6-9. Zion is the pure in heart. What is the "cause of Zion?" Aka, what is the "cause of the pure in heart?" To me, the cause of the pure in heart is to share light, love, and goodness with others so they can feel God's love. It definitely takes humility, faith, hope, charity, and temperance to do that well (verse 9).
- Humility to say and do what God wants me to.
- Faith and hope in what I'm sharing so I am practicing what I preach/living by example (especially since example is a big way to help the "cause of Zion")
- Charity because without it we are nothing.
- Temperance so we don't overdo it (over share, miss the mark, etc.)
On a less spiritual note, I scored some major "Bad Mom Bingo" today:
- Wear frumpy but comfy jeans: check
- Get mad at kids for barging in on me when I'm getting dressed: check
- Rolled my eyes at a kid's attempted humor: check
- Turned on an audiobook in the car to avoid more attempts at kid humor and general chatty commentary: check
- Felt robbed that my day with all three kids in school only lasts 5.5 hours, and even more robbed when I spent over an hour of that precious time waiting for a boring oil change: check.
- Needed more sleep than I got: check (thankfully not the kids' fault)
- Tried to figure out how to feed the family cheaply by doing as little work as possible: check.
I know, I know, these actions do not make me a bad Mom; they are the actions of a normal mom-- they even could count as good mom. I know that intellectually. But still. My mood was bad Mom before school, through and through. Sigh. I fell asleep before my brain fully recovered from and processed the social intensities of yesterday (Rose's birthday extended family dinner), so at 4:30am I found myself wide awake, my brain picking up where it left off in the processing process. I was tired all day today.
Tuesday, February 9th: I was inspired to vacuum my bedroom when I got back from my mid morning run. Our whole house just feels so clean when it's freshly vacuumed! I enjoyed the quiet and fresh vacuum lines as much as possible while the kids were in school. I threw some chicken into the oven while I ate lunch, then refrigerated it when it was done, so dinner would be ready after xc practice. I played the piano and even sang along a little in my safe solitude.
After that, I snuggled up and finished reading another sweet Regency romance by Ashtyn Newbold. Right when I finished the book, it was time to get ready for school pick-up and xc practice, which I was nervous about because Jeff had meetings and I had to coach solo. And when I pick kids up from school, I arrive at xc practice barely 2 minutes early. Basically, not early enough to do the Covid check-in and temp taking one by one. Today I asked the Covid questions to 10 kids all at once, bless their hearts. We had 16 kids come to practice today--manageable, but still, I still felt my solo coach status. I even remembered to tell the whole team to stick around for core work after the run. I was nervous about leading the core workout without Jeff there, but his meeting ended and he appeared ten minutes before the end of the run. Sweet relief!
At home during dinner, Amber said "I knowed it!" Jeff looked across the table at Jay and said "she knewed." (he pronounced it like "nude"). After a few seconds, Jay caught the naked pun and laughed his head off.
The girls showed us all of their Valentine candy from school. Too much sugar! Rose created a skittle dispenser out of a toilet paper roll and paper cup. I like how her teacher has them combine learning with celebrating sugary holidays. Also: Fun Dip is the most vile of all candy. Undiluted granulated food-dyed sugar eaten by licking a sugar stick and dipping it into the colored sugar? Nasty. Both girls had some tonight. Gag.
Wednesday, February 10th: Amby had too much Valentine sugar at school yesterday and she was extra defiant today. Wednesdays are always tough because she doesn't get to be as wild at school as she wants to on Monday and Tuesdays, so it all comes out at home on Wednesdays. Waaaahhh.
Basically, I did battle with Amber, a formidable opponent, all morning and she drained me dry of goodwill, inner peace, and patience. First I had to take away her playdough so she'd pay attention to her teacher. Then she sat defiantly with her head turned sideways, refusing to look at her class zoom meeting. I had to deploy persuasive mom tactics. I told her "it looks like you don't want any other screen time today." That worked for a few minutes. But soon she was back to inventing other forms of distraction, namely, she started making weird faces in the iPad camera, sticking out her tongue, and not participating in the meeting.
"It's only a 30 minute meeting! Pay attention!" I told her. She ignored me and kept sticking out her tongue. So I took her bag of Valentine candy that she got at school yesterday and informed her "Every time you stop listening and start goofing off, I'm going to throw away a piece of your Valentine candy." I pulled out a Rice Krispy treat and threw it in the trash. Amber shrugged and said "I don't like that kind." So I threw another candy away. She finally paid attention for the final 5-10 minutes of the meeting. About halfway through the 20 minutes that I was doing battle with Amber over her Zoom meeting attentiveness, I discovered that her iPad was NOT ON MUTE. So all of my efforts to discipline by taking away screen time and candy were on full audio display for her teacher, the whole class, and any other parents listening in. Sigh.
I was trying to cook dinner while all of that Amb Zoom drama was happening. I despise cooking dinner in the morning, but I knew I would've have the patience, energy, or inclination to cook it after xc practice, so I cooked that ground meat at 9am. Bleh.
Once Amber was done with her schooling (which I supervised closely for the whole 2 hours), I was feeling justifiably grumpy and drained. Somehow I squeezed on my bike shorts and a bunch of other layers, bid the kids goodbye, and went on a bike ride in the 35 degree sunshine. I was committed to riding just 5 miles in my tired state. But my newly constructed "Move" playlist started pumping and the sun started cheering and I ended up riding 17 miles. It felt good to dig into a physical challenge after losing so much of my essence in the morning's irritating stubborn six year old battle. I got home 90 minutes after I left feeling much more optimistic.
BIG NEWS: Our governor has rescinded the mask mandate for cross country! We don't have to wear masks while running at xc practice anymore! And Jeff and I are going to receive full pay for a normal length season, even though our upcoming season is only 7 weeks long. I'm glad about both of those developments, but I'm also ready to be done having practice every afternoon. It's the wrong time of year for me to spend afternoons outside, and I'm not feeling very mentally strong about it, especially since I've had to coach at least 3 practices by myself in the past 2 weeks. Sigh. It's dumb because I like coaching; I just don't feel like doing it right now. I'm tired and I want to hibernate with good books till spring.
Jay walked into the family room doing a fist pump pose partway through school today to inform me "I got a 6/6 on my math test."
Rose started wheeling Amber around on her hoverboard, riding double. They look hilarious, especially since Rose clutches Amber around the chest with both hands in a very bra-like position, to keep her balanced. I couldn't stop laughing! The carpet was looking kind of mangled after all of Rose's hoverboarding, so we decided that it will only be a basement/outside toy from now on. Plus Rose rides it too fast for our limited narrow square footage and she rolled over Amber's toes tonight, causing loud tragic tears of betrayal that I didn't have the patience to deal with.
Thursday, February 11th: While we were eating oatmeal for breakfast, Amber looked out the window and saw the wind blowing our rope swing. In a calm matter-of-fact voice, she said "The wind is moving the swing. That's force." Even though she hasn't acted like it, the girl has been listening during her kindergarten science unit on force, push, and pull.
[end journal entries]
Sister picnic in February!
These adorable blondies are best sister friends. Their hair is somehow the same exact color, but one is straight and one is curly.
Making cookies together on a Sunday afternoon.
Hair salon time can get intense.
During the first week of February, I was on a cooking hiatus. We had minimal, simple meals: spaghetti with a "fancy" charcuterie board salad.
Another stellar easy meal was Eggo waffles, pre-cooked sausages, and banana whipped into OJ.
And then there was Winco Deli Panda Express-style chicken and rice. SO EASY.
Amber had the Barbie box out for nearly a week. She built a book castle tunnel for them to live in.
Our landlord had a fence put in to barricade the paved pathway from the ATV thrill seekers that often frequent the canal road. I understand why the fence was necessary, but it is taking some getting used to this rather... institutional new look in our view.
We had a few days of SHORTS running weather and I nearly wept with joy (and also with dread at its inevitable end).
At the top of the dead end steep hill of Lewandowski Road, I discovered a ranch at my turnaround point. This was a great climb and a fun 15 mile ride. The hill was so steep that my eyes were streaming tears as I coasted back down it!
When we learned that our high school cross country season would be moved from September to February due to the pandemic, it sounded crazy to do a warm fall sport in the dead of winter. Coaching involves a good amount of standing outside, and I absolutely dread being cold. There aren't enough wool layers in the world to keep me warm while standing outside in winter. Usually I run with the team which keeps me warm, but I'm still babying my ankle a bit, so I've done more coach-standing than usual. I am so glad that the weather was so unusually nice for the beginning of February. I love spending time under the "cross country tree" after practice with my handsome head coach husband, our long shadows stretching far.
Filling out Rose's birthday interview. The kids take our yearly birthday interviews very seriously and they love the ceremony of me asking the questions and writing down their answers.
Rose couldn't resist the Barbie box for long, and these sisters played and played with our eclectically awesome Ebay set of miscellaneous musty ole Barbie clothes.
THE MINT got greener.
I ran past this adorable alpaca one warm day. His knobbly fuzzy knees and poofy head of hair!
Alpaca selfies are my favorite selfies!
SUNLIGHT.
The bulbs I planted back in October started sprouting!
Post 3 mile sun run pic with my son.
Post birthday shopping pic with Grama Leslie.
More barbie-ing. It made such a tangled mess but they were so happy!
All of that Barbie-dressing inspired Amber to dress herself up. Witch Aurora with tickle monster mitts--classic Amber costume. Princess-fancy with an edge of power.
Wheeling the cross country course. Over and over and over. It's a .52 mile course that will be run in 6 laps, so we can follow Covid guidelines and have small groups at multiple starting lines. Kind of a confusing headache, but we'll see how it works!
Still measuring the course.
Some baby Rose nostalgia in honor of her 10th birthday.
It started getting colder and colder at cross country practice.
Jay's post-math test success fist pump.
Another gloriously sunny bright orchard bike ride.
Have I ever worn sunglasses in February before??
I came upon a sibling dance party one afternoon. They were dancing to music from Disney's Aladdin.
Candy overload--this is all from Amber's kindergarten valentine party. Why does excessive kid candy have to stress me out so much?? Maybe I should loosen up. Oh wait, no, sugar turns my children into monsters.
Rose got a kazoo as a valentine from a friend whose parent responsibly looked for sugar alternatives, haha. Noise from a kazoo vs. noise from sugar buzz... is there a difference?
Blinded by love, haha.
Some days we just can't see clearly, even right in front of our faces.
Goodbye, February sunshine. You were a joyful treat.
It started snowing on Friday, February 12th, and by the next morning, our days of sun were done:
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