Friday

We've had a good week this week, although we are all tired and glad that it's the weekend. 

1-A typical day this week has been: Wake up bright and early, try to convince Lydia to snuggle in our bed for just one more minute, David gets ready while I make him some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, David heads to work and Lydia and I try to entertain ourselves for hours on end. We do a pretty good job until about five or five thirty and then we struggle a bit - usually Lydia watches some Daniel Tiger while I make dinner. David gets home around seven-ish. We eat dinner, play with Lydia (who is SO glad to have daddy home), then scripture/song/prayer before bed at 8. By the time I get back downstairs after rocking Lydia for a minute and putting her in her bed, David already has his work computer out and set up on the coffee table and is working away. I might pop a bag of popcorn and grab a water bottle from the fridge before I come and snuggle up next to him under a blanket. I watch the Olympics and he works until I fall asleep. He wakes me up around eleven and we move upstairs where we get ready for bed. I'm asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow (whether David has finished getting ready for bed or not), and David crawls into bed with the iPad and takes a few minutes to read some articles on ESPN so he can wind down for the day. I can't believe what a hard worker David is, he works so hard the whole day and I'm pretty much the only one that complains. It's been a hard week - and it's pretty similar to the week we had before and the weeks that are coming in our future. I know that we will make it through, and this summer we will be loving all the time we get to spend together, but right now it's a little... exhausting. 

2-On a happier note: This week we bought a membership to Thanksgiving Point. It's basically unlimited access to a whole bunch of activities/facilities that are super fun for kids and I already know that it's going to be worth it. Lydia and I went to the farm with the Coopers on Monday (Presidents Day) and we loved it. Lydia was running around scream-giggling because she was so excited. She loved the goats, and the chickens, and the cows. She was so excited about the horses, until it was actually her turn to ride one of them and then she freaked out. In retrospect, I should have done more to prepare her (talk her through the process, and explain that when the other kids were riding she would get a turn to sit on the horse and that I would be there with her the whole time), but she was just so excited I didn't think about it. As soon as I set her on the horse she lost it. She was crying and wanting me to pull her off, so after the first circle we made a quick exit. As soon as I set her back down on the ground she started laughing and talking and I swear I could hear her saying "Did you see that? That was awesome! I rode a horse. I'm awesome!". When Ashley asked her if she liked riding the horse she responded "Yeahhhh." To which we both laughed because she obviously did NOT love riding the horse. But she did love following Carson around and playing with Elsie in the little worm-tunnel at the "Soil Market".  

3- On Presidents Day, two years ago, Ashley texted me and invited me to go fabric shopping with her. We had chatted a few times because David was the Coopers visiting teacher, and because his companion wasn't able to go with him I had tagged along. We seemed to have a few things in common (like we were both teachers, we were both pregnant with baby girls, and we both liked sewing, among other things). I went and had a nice time, but even then I could not have known what a great friend Ashley would be in my life. We love this Cooper Family. (Also, I love this picture and think that it is equally  1-funny that none of the kids are smiling even though we were having a great time and 2- amazing that both Lydia and Elsie are both looking at the camera, because that is quite a feat.)

4- One of my friends posted this poem on Facebook yesterday and it really touched me. It's from 'The Parent’s Tao Te Ching' by William Martin. 

"Make the Ordinary Come Alive" 

Do not ask your children
to strive for extraordinary lives,
Such striving may seem admirable,
but it is a way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder
and the marvel of an ordinary life.
Show them the joy of tasting
tomatoes, apples and pears.
Show them how to cry
when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure
in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself. 

I think that this is so beautiful that it makes my cry. It gives words to something that has been flitting around my heart for a while now. For surely, there is marvel in this ordinary life that we lead. And all the seeking after the elusive "extraordinary" should not overshadow the greatness that is life itself. 

5- I was feeling a little crummy this afternoon, overwhelmed with several different things, and so I ate ten jet-puffed marshmallows. Surprisingly. I feel better.