misc. updates

Yes, it's that time again -- time for miscellaneous updates! (cheers all around) I'm trying to follow Ali E.'s advice to tell just one story every day, but even with that most unintimidating of dictates, I am still falling short. (thus the misc. updates...)

On Saturday, we finally found the tile we're going to use in our kitchen! It's proven much more difficult than we anticipated to find what we wanted (black & caramel checkerboard), but when we re-visited a store I had already been to, a very helpful woman pointed us to some special-order options.

In the afternoon, we went to Marc's parents' condo in Salt Lake to celebrate his step-dad's 70th birthday. They always go all out for family dinners.

How could anyone resist fruits and vegetables so beautifully displayed?

Eva adores birthdays, even when they're not her own. This is just one of the many reasons she loves going to Grandma and Grandpa's:

I had a nice Mother's Day.

Marc made really really good belgian waffles, and brought me one in bed. (I've never really understood the so-called luxury of breakfast in bed -- it seems like just a more difficult way of eating your breakfast to me.)

The kids all made me cards. Max went all out, using punches, stamps, markers, torn notebook paper and graph paper, and even definitions taken from an old dictionary! Pretty cute.

Our ward even gave out these sophisticated little gifts to all the women. (two truffles inside) Good move on the chocolate. I think I can safely say that no one wants another single carnation. Am I right?

The kids semi-cooperated for some photos after church. I went down to my studio and sewed for awhile while Marc made me dinner! (pork tenderloin with mustard sauce, radicchio and endive with blue cheese and raspberry vinaigrette)

He even made this delicious lemon custard pie with a pâte sablée (cookie crust). Yum. He did the dishes and he put the kids to bed. This all had the pleasant dual effect of giving me a break and making me realize how much I usually do! Nice.

This was the view out our back door yesterday. It ended up being a delightfully rainy day, with two hailstorms thrown in for good measure. Eva couldn't remember the word "hail" for the life of her, and kept calling it "jail".

Amy H. tipped me off to this great old-fashioned general store in Lehi. Eva and I went to check it out on Monday and we both enjoyed it quite a bit. I liked the fabrics.

Eva liked the toys, the little girl she found to chat with, the bath bubble animals that remind her of the ones we got in Paris, and this display!

{Apparently from this moment on, I forgot to take any pictures.... argh.}

When the boys got home from school, I took all the kids in for their dental checkups. No cavities! I can't remember the last time I said that. Eva isn't too keen on sitting in the dentist's chair, even though it's kid-sized, but fortunately she has two big brothers to show her the way, and that makes everything a little easier.

Lucas gave our FHE lesson, which consisted of a re-telling of a story he'd read in The Friend and a role-playing game he made up to go with it. Surprisingly, Eva really enjoyed it (she usually struggles through FHE) and said she wanted to have "Family Home Meeting" for a long long time.

Today we went to the library and the mall. I made the amazing discovery that Eva loves shopping at the mall! (and she's only 3...) I usually avoid it because it seems like too much hassle, but she enjoyed herself immensely and didn't want to leave! Always surprising me. She was tickled by the escalators, the puzzles in the children's department of Macy's, and especially the fountain with coins in the bottom. I gave her some pennies to throw in, but she wasn't really getting the concept of making a wish. Can you even remember not knowing what it means to make a wish? Anyway, I enjoy my little errand buddy -- or "go-with guy", as Jessie says.

She actually took a nap today, after resisting for 3 days, and while she napped, I prepared some good mail and made a necessary run to the post office. Note to self: never ever arrive at the post office at 4:50 p.m. I couldn't use the self-serve machine and had to wait in line for 25 minutes!

Tonight was a nice relaxing one, complete with folding all the laundry and watching American Idol. And David Archuleta sang Billy Joel's "And So It Goes"! That's one of my all-time favorite songs -- sometimes Paula surprises me by making a really good call.

One final note: I think my kids are really enjoying our family dinners. They've quickly caught on to the fact that it's a perfect forum for everyone to have a chance to talk and be heard. They joke with each other. Everyone knows what's going on with everyone else. It's so much more than just the food.