man about town

Max finished his driver's ed. class (whew!) and has been driving quite a bit lately. He's got to get 40 hours of driving under his belt before he can get his license.

Last week he drove us to Salt Lake and back for a Mother's Day celebration with Marc's parents.

It was raining the whole time. Really raining. Put the windshield wipers as high as they can go raining.

I hate driving under those conditions. It makes me nervous.

He, on the other hand, was perfectly calm.

Did I mention this was his first time driving on the freeway?!

I was a tad bit nervous, but I did my best to hide it. Not so Eva: she asked if I would make sure that we were all safe.

Jessie's visit

I've let too much time elapse since Jessie's visit, and I have too much blogging to catch up on. I can't face multiple posts, so I've elected to post my favorite photos, all in one!

3 girls in a tub. Crowded chaos, shrieks of delight that can quickly become whines or protests: it's pretty much the way the whole 12 days went. As Grandma used to say when the children were babies, "Happy turned sad!" Things can turn on a dime.

We started out with all 3 girls sleeping in Eva's room. She was delighted. And then, she wasn't. She hurt Bella's feelings, and Bella wanted to sleep in my room. Suddenly, everyone was in agreement that Bella and Fiona should sleep in my room with me and Jessie.

I've learned not to be surprised by these turns of events (especially when Eva is involved). You just never know how it's going to go, so I'm getting better at going with the flow.

As previously reported, we braved the dinosaur museum during Spring break. Enough said.

I love Fiona's expression.

We went to a quilt shop in American Fork I had never been to before. Danger, danger! I wanted so many things. I'm sure I will be back.

Jessie talked Emily into cutting her hair! (She had had it cut shortly before her arrival, but wanted some changes.) I have never, ever cut anyone's hair, and was too terrified to oblige. It looks cute!

Jessie also cut Fiona's hair one morning. Fiona wasn't even particularly cooperative, and it turned out darling! It made me wonder if I could cut Lucas's hair. Marc put the kibosh on that idea.

We were able to sneak away to the temple one afternoon. We haven't been to the temple together other than Jessie's sealing! We did sealings, and it was a very sweet experience.

temple SP

We enjoyed a Creative Friday with Jill. It was quite the day of chaos, especially when my piano students turned up unexpectedly.

Jill brought little packs of m&ms for the girls, and Bella organized hers by color. I used to do that, too.

Jessie reading to all the girls.

Fiona appropriated the Snow White dress and was terribly distressed if anyone else tried to wear it. Jessie said that one of their friends calls Fiona a cartoon character, and the description is so very apt. Her expressions are varied and big.

Cute Bella on the slide. The weather was cool and rainy (or snowy) for much of the time they were here, so when it was nice, they played outside. Hallelujah.

Bella wanted to take Jack for a walk.

I thought the whole thing was doomed to failure, since he has never learned to properly heel and tends to pull horribly, but she would just sit down if she wanted him to stop. Worked like a charm!

Eva had to get in on that action.

Eva, reading to Fiona to cheer her up. She seemed to champion Fiona mainly when she and Bella were on the outs.

We got to see a lot of Emily while Jessie was here, since she had reading days for finals. She is so entertaining and such good company - we are always happy to have Emily around!

We played quite a few rounds of Bananagrams. Max loves it; Lucas hates it.

The plum trees bloomed! Always my favorite 2 weeks of the year.

Bella's treasures.

I love this picture of Fiona (not to be outdone, she had to have treasures as well).

Eva did, too, of course.

No visit to Utah is complete without a trip to the distribution center.

One day they spent the whole morning making a dinosaur museum in the family room.

Bella made everyone name tags, which consisted of names and eye color. (Except for Marc's, which simply said "happy customer.)

Later, Eva had to go to school, and the museum was closed, obviously.

Check out that static-y hair!!

Bella and Eva neglected to finish their yogurts, and my favorite cartoon character took over, two spoon-style!

Emily bought us all fountain drinks.

We did a decent amount of baking. One day, Jessie and Emily pulled out no less than 7 bags of coconut in various states of fulness. I endured much teasing about it. In my defense, I can only say that my lazy susan has been non-functional, so it was hard to see what I had and what I didn't. I guess I was making damn sure I had coconut on hand!

The girls enjoyed watching Lucas play video games in his room. One day, he told them he wanted a little alone time, so they migrated to the hall and took up a new position there.

(Incidentally, Lucas was very sweet with them. He was quite the peacemaker and broke up many arguments. He also played with them on multiple occasions. I love that guy.)

A collection of the friends Jessie has made for Eva over the last several years. (I love them all, but Fox is my favorite.)

We were hoping that, now that the girls are older, we wouldn't have so many sharing boot camp issues, that they would just go off and play and leave us in peace. Not so. But we're holding out hope for next time! It was definitely trying at times, but all worth it in the end.

I wish my sister didn't live so far away!

Huh.

I went to get a pedicure right before Women's Conference, and I let myself get talked into trying "Sheekee Nails," just on my big toes.

I think I'll be sticking with regular polish from now on.

(By the way, Emily looked them and asked if there was a cat on my toe! A cat. That sealed the deal.)

tales of a somewhat (but not too) unusual Monday

Today started at 4:15 a.m., when Eva called out for me to tuck her in. Exasperated, I reminded her that I did not want to be awakened for such paltry needs. Repeat at 5:45, but with my exasperation exacerbated. Although I fall asleep easily, I have a devil of a time going back to sleep when wakened in the early morning hours. Sleeping through the night is definitely the exception, not the rule, with Eva around. (Can someone please tell me why I can't reliably get a good night's sleep when my youngest child is nearing 6?!)

I thought that maybe, just maybe, today would be one of those rare days when she sleeps until 8:00. And since I knew that Max was going to be staying home from school today (sick), I was hoping that I might actually get to go back to sleep and stay in bed until 8:00. Guess who called out, chipper as could be, and ready to start her day at 7:00? Sigh.

Lucas developed what appeared to be an abscessed tooth last night, so I called the dentist's office as soon as it opened. They wanted us to come in right away. We found out that it was not an abscess, but an infection that developed near two loose teeth and that two new teeth were trying to come in, with nowhere to go. He had the teeth pulled and we were home by 8:30!

I called the pediatrician's office as soon as it opened, as well, and got an appointment for all of the kids: Max has had some hearing difficulties and what he describes as, "everything sounding robotic." Eva and Lucas seemed to have a recurrence of their sinus infections. Just another day at the Olivier household!

We walked out of there with 3 prescriptions for different antibiotics. We stopped at Sonic for milkshakes and a vanilla diet Coke for me. I dropped the kids at home and went to pick up the meds, plus cough drops with zinc and echinacea for good measure.

While I was there, I decided to make myself a salad at the beautiful salad bar at Harmon's.
Because they are pricey, this is a rare treat. And apparently I am nostalgic about this salad, who knew? It takes me back to my days as a new bride, when I had a full-time job as the receptionist/office manager for Ballard Technology, a small engineering firm in Seattle. I didn't have enough work to do. I was bored. But there was a QFC nearby, and I would go build a big beautiful salad during my lunch hour about once a week.

I know that I could make salads like this for myself at home, but the fact is that I do not. Maybe because I like having a vast array of choices, and when making a salad for myself, I make do with just a few add-ins. Here's what goes into my ideal salad bar salad:

mixed greens, plus some spinach
cucumbers
peas
cauliflower
grape tomatoes
hard-boiled egg
green onions
sliced black olives
cooked chicken breast (or sometimes cubed ham)
mushrooms
artichoke hearts
crumbled feta or blue cheese
sunflower seeds
raspberry vinaigrette

When I got home, all the kids were playing on Lucas's new PlayStation. In his room. In other words, not in the family room or kitchen. Ahhhhh. I sat down and ate my scrumptious salad with some homemade bread I made in-between appointments this morning. I sipped my Sonic drink. It felt like a nice reward for all the smotherhood I have been dealing with.

Here's the thing about having sick kids: it's almost better for all of them to be sick, because then they're all home and they can hang out and be sick together! Less clinging to me, fewer demands to field.

While the kids were occupied, I put in my headphones and resumed listening to my book club book (for tomorrow!) and worked on putting away Christmas. Yes, Christmas. We only started taking down the decorations last night! Not because we still wanted them up, just because of overall busyness. And general fatigue.

It felt very productive and satisfying.

In addition, I did something I have been wanting to do for months. (I am not exaggerating.) I started a seed culture. A seed culture ferments over time and becomes a starter for making bread. I read in one of my bread cookbooks that baking with a starter instead of yeast results in bread that is so complex, so rich and flavorful, so good, it is like bread to the max. But making a seed culture and starter requires a little babysitting – stirring several times a day, watching, adding, and so on for almost two weeks, so I just haven't had the time. Until now. I really want to taste bread to the max.

At this point, it was time to take Eva to dance. Because although she does have another sinus infection, she doesn't feel all that sick. I sat and listened to more of my audiobook (Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet).

After dance, we dashed home, and the boys got in the car. We drove to BYU to meet Marc at the Museum of Art to see the Carl Bloch exhibit about the life of Christ. (It was my turn to plan Family Home Evening.) Even though Lucas and Eva get museum burnout much faster than the rest of us, resulting in a quicker tour than I would have liked, it was worth it. The paintings are stunning, and I was surprised by how many of them were familiar to me. Evidently, the LDS church uses a lot of his paintings that depict the Savior's life.

When we came home, I made peanutty noodles for dinner. (Lucas and Eva ate plain fettuccine, let's not get too excited.)

I read the second to the last chapter of Charlotte's Web before bed. How I adore that book! I do not want it to end. (It's gratifying that she loves it as well.)

And now I'm blogging. I don't even feel like a zombie! The Route 44 drink must have helped me to get through the day on 4 hours of sleep. And that's it. My long, busy, somewhat unusual Monday. Even with all the craziness, it was a pretty good day!

Creative Friday x2

Last Friday was lovely. Jill and I had a nice chunk of time to chat and get things done.

Eva was excited to show Jill her new bookcase. Her room is a work in progress right now, to my delight.

She didn't even scream when I brushed her hair for school. (It was green day for kindergarten, which is the only reason she wasn't wearing pink.)

After she went to school, we had potato soup with fresh whole wheat bread and apples with caramel dip. I had been wanting apples with caramel ever since Jane posted about her friend Susan bringing some over as a gift. It was truly delicious. (At first I was concerned that I was down to one apple, but Jill pointed out that we could eat it with anything, including plain on our fingers.)

I finally had the time to write some notes. But not all that I wanted to write. Yet.

Jill got the chore sticks she had made the previous week ready for mailing. What a happy surprise that friend received!

But my favorite part of the day was probably Jill re-enacting her spidey sense in action.

It was awesome and made me laugh so hard.

My cute, funny, photogenic friend.

Now yesterday, yesterday was a different story. It wasn't purely delightful. But it was okay. As Jill said, it was better than nothing.

Eva working on her paleontology project. She bought this dinosaur egg at the dollar store, and I assumed it would be one of those things that falls apart the second you have at it, but was I ever wrong! She has been patiently chipping away at this thing for weeks, brushing away the dust, trying to excavate those tiny little bones. I thought she would quickly become frustrated, but she is thrilled that she's getting a taste of what she calls "real paleontology."

Then she sat on my lap to share some of the Reese's Pieces that Jill brought. Sneaky.

Emily came over to do laundry and some studying. I felt terrible, because something is wrong with our dryer and it does not work. I'm talking 3-4 times through to get things dry. We make a horrible laundromat.

This cracked me up. I looked over and Emily was reading the Wall Street Journal. (She's an accounting major at BYU.) I have never once read the Wall Street Journal. It looked so grown-up!

Jill took this picture of my empty chair. That was the not-so-good part of the day. By the time I dropped Eva off at school, ran to the store to get some bread and mailing supplies, and later picked Max up from swim practice, I was only present for about 1 1/2 hours of C.F. Not cool. (I seem to be becoming one of those moms who is always shuttling the kids around. I so do not want to be that mom.)

Jill cut out many, many labels.

All I was able to do between the driving and the food prep was prepare 3 birthday packages for mailing. As in, stuff the envelopes and address them. Crazy.

We ate leftover roasted red pepper/artichoke that Jenn sent home with me after book club (yum), chunks of soft bread, tiny bell peppers and carrots and sugar pea pods, and then more peaches with cream and peach sauce. Not bad.

Self-portrait with our guest Emily.

Better than nothing isn't much to shout about, but hey, it was. I'd still rather get together than not.