Sparklers, take 2

When Phoebe saw the pictures of the kids playing with sparklers on the 4th, she was like, "Wait a minute—when did that happen?" 

So we had to tell her that it happened...after she had gone to bed. She immediately began to have some serious regrets about bedtime, so Andrew promised that we'd pick up some sparklers at the store on Monday and do them again for FHE. 

This sounded like a good plan to her.

Could she remember what they were called?

Absolutely not.

Sprinklers? Spracklers? Spritzes? Sprinkles?

Twinklers? Twizzlerss? Twirlies? Twinkles?

If she was talking about something yesterday, it was highly likely that she was talking about sparklers. 

Or trying to...

Unfortunately for her, there were no fireworks left in the grocery stores on Monday morning—zip, zero, zilch!

Every last firework display had been replaced with back-to-school displays. Yuck!

So I sent out a plea on the good ol' Buy Nothing Group to see if anyone had any sparklers left for my poor youngest child who had slept through the late-night fun the big kids had in the cul-de-sac. 

It took a couple of minutes but soon I had offers pouring in. 

"I have a few boxes!"

"I have so many left over! TAKE MINE!"

"You should have just asked me! The big kids didn't burn through my entire stash on the 4th!" (this last one was from our neighbour who had supplied the sparklers in the first place).

We ended up with plenty of sparklers—enough for Phoebe and all the cul-de-sac kids to enjoy another evening of pyromaniacal mayhem!

Here she is anxiously waiting for her first sparkler to...spark:

4th of July

Seven years ago, our first ward activity was the 4th of July breakfast, just the day after we closed on our house here! It's fitting, I suppose, that our last ward activity here was also the 4th of July breakfast.

This year was much smoother for us than some years have been. Last year we noped out of there because Alexander had a raging ear infection and it was so hot and humid and the pancakes weren't ready and no one had told us there would be swimming so we were just sitting there sick and sweltering. The year before that they started at 8 AM instead of 9 AM and we collectively decided that no one wanted to get out of bed at 7:00 on a Saturday (swim season already has us up early most mornings). We've skipped out on several other years as well... 

This holiday can be a tough one for me. 

Funemployed...in Greenland [Qatar]

We had been operating under the assumption that I could continue working remotely from Qatar, but unfortunately we recently learned that that will not be a possibility. Since I am moving for personal and not professional reasons (unlike Andrew, who is moving for professional reasons), UGA can't allow me to continue to work, which means that I lose my stipend and scholarship. 

Which is all...fine. 

It simply...changes...my path toward graduation a little. I'll still continue my studies, just...differently...than before. 

We're still working out precisely what changes this will entail. But it'll be fine. 

It is a little sad for me because I've liked my job, but it will also be nice to slow down a bit and focus more on being a mom and (Andrew says this part is important) having fun. 

To get a scholarship/stipend at UGA you have to work part-time (13 to 20 hours a week, depending on the contract) and you also have to take 12 credit hours (that's four classes; three classes is considered full time). Last semester, in particular, felt a little rough for me, so I think it will be nice to let that go...and then I can be more present during our homeschooling. The past couple of years I've really had to assign the kids their tasks and work on my own tasks instead of joining in on tasks with them (and honestly the latter can be much more fun—and sometimes effective—for all of us). 

So that will be nice. 

But Andrew also insists that I become like the fancy housewives from, like, a Jane Austen novel and just...frolic about the town...and have mid-afternoon teas...and whatever. 

He insists that it's funemployment rather than unemployment. 

2026 Easter Egg Smackdown

Fitting all of our Easter traditions in between sessions of conference was quite the feat! We dyed eggs after the Saturday afternoon session (shortly before Benjamin and Miriam headed out to a Sunday School party). Here are Alexander and Phoebe waiting so patiently for the dye tablets to finish dissolving:

Easter Basket (cases)

Before we went to bed on Saturday night, both Phoebe and Alexander had to check in about our traditions. Alexander wanted to know if we would be reading our scripture eggs on the way down the stairs (absolutely). Phoebe wanted to know if this was the day the Easter Bunny would be stopping by (she was okay with this...unlike the leprechauns).

I think they're first of all making sure that we're prepared ("Did you get candy?!"), but also just verifying what precisely these holidays are about (religiously and otherwise). My phone camera was rather glitchy today (it didn't want to take any pictures and the pictures it did get were often blurry and I'm not sure why it couldn't focus today), so excuse the photographic evidence of our day.

Here are Benjamin, Phoebe, and Alexander hiding and waiting in our bed while we were waiting for Zoë and Miriam to come upstairs...so that we could go downstairs together:

Just another (manic) Palm Sunday!

Palm Sunday was a doozy of a day! 

• Miriam played a special musical number in the Johns Creek ward
• Miriam played prelude, postlude, and congregational hymns in our ward
• Miriam, Benjamin, Zoë, Alexander, and I sang two choir songs in our ward
• Miriam played a special musical number in the Magnolia ward...as well as the prelude, postlude, and congregational hymns, and also filled in for a sick pianist (getting a 12-page score the afternoon before and practicing until she felt confident enough to accompany a soloist)
• Miriam played a special musical number in Grandpa and Darla's ward
• Grandpa and Darla gave their "farewell" talks before leaving on their mission and they served a lovely little lunch at their house after, which was good because we were all hungry
• Miriam played an organ piano duet for the stake Palm Sunday event, as well as the prelude, postlude, and congregational hymns
• Miriam and Benjamin participated in the youth choir for the Palm Sunday event
• Zoë, Alexander, and Phoebe participated in the children's choir for the Palm Sunday event

It was...a lot...but it was mostly wonderful! I especially loved getting to sing congregational hymns with big congregations (our own little ward is so tiny).

Easter Egg Hunt

This morning I took the kids to the ward Easter egg hunt, which they didn't want to miss...so they skipped out on the second practice for the big stake Easter fireside tomorrow night. It's cool that the stake puts this on, but it does limit when we can do an Easter activity as a primary (though one might wonder whether that's necessary—I don't remember attending many church-sponsored Easter egg hunts growing up and I survived just fine). So, anyway, the little kids skipped the rehearsal, the big kids attended the rehearsal, and Daddy went grocery shopping.

Who's to say had more fun, really?

Here's Phoebe collecting some eggs from the bushes:

Leprechauns, pancakes, and toilet paper

Tuesdays are my long day on campus. I have two classes that day, for about five hours of total in-class instruction. And then I work between classes (either doing work-work or schoolwork) and squeeze in every in-person meeting possible. It's a tiring day often made more tiring since I seem unable to get a good night's rest any Monday night. 

For example, this Monday, Phoebe was very nervous about St. Patrick's Day. 

She couldn't find any pyjamas that had green on them and she was convinced that someone was going to wake her up with a big St. Patrick's Day pinch (even though we assured her that in our house there is a rule against pyjama pinches). So she had trouble sleeping. 

When she got up in the night crying about this I tried to convince her to just put on some green clothes.

But green clothes aren't pyjamas so she wouldn't be able to sleep in those (duh). 

She ended up getting up permanently around 4:00 in the morning and I...got about 3 hours of sleep total. 

Reading skillz

Last night we read a book called This Book is Not a Picture Book! by Sergio Ruzzier. The story itself was fine and the illustrations...let's just say I would like to go back and analyze those a bit more because now that I think about it I'm hoping that they get more and more illustrated as the story is told. The story is about how, from the product description on Amazon they "struggle at first to decipher their book" but "they stick with it, and before long they discover that not only can they read it, but it deserves a place on the shelf with all their favorite picture books" so it would make sense for the illustrations to become more elaborate (and cover more of the page) as the story goes along. I can't remember if that's the case and...that's not the point of this post.

The endpapers (or pastedowns) were phenomenal. 

That, in my opinion, is where the story was—quite literally, but also figuratively. The opening pastedowns drew in the entire family as we tried to decipher what precisely they were saying bcuseae ehty eerw onsennes! 

Nearly every word was scrambled so it took quite a bit of mental power to work out what the story was saying. But the words on the opening pastedowns mirrored the storyline of the book (and were revealed in plain English on the closing pastedowns). 

It was very interesting! 

And, following in the footsteps of my mother (and many other librarians and literacy scholars), I had to annoy my children by pausing between stories to say, "Just wait! I have to check the publication information!"

(I totally understand why my mom always did this...now).

"I just want to see what year this book was published—oh! 2016, so..."

Sweetwater Creek

"Where is my carrier?" Phoebe asked when we pulled up at Sweetwater Creek State Park, hot on the heels of Grandpa and Darla (which was pretty amazing timing, considering we'd come from opposite directions). 

"You're too big for the carrier," I said. "I gave it away to a different baby."

"You mean I have to walk?!" 

Phoebe was aghast, but she soon found her stride. With the trail stretched out before her, she declared herself the leader and started marching down the path in front of everybody.

NYE on the Town Green, etc.

Just kidding! I did take Phoebe to the park another time this winter break! Phew!

My friend Christine invited me and another family to meet at the park so our boys could play. And so our teenage girls could hang out. And so our tween girls could play. Mostly I think she had the boys in mind, though.

But then I realized there was no one for Phoebe to play with (Alexander would have played with Zoë and Kate), so I invited my friend with twins her age. And then Christine told me that she'd invited her sister (who has two little girls around Phoebe's age) as well. And then we decided we should just send out a message to the entire ward (these were all church friends). 

I think two other families ended up coming. It was a real party!

We packed picnic lunches, the kids played at the playground, and many of the kids also walked over to Barnes and Noble to hang out for a bit.

Here's Benjamin (in orange) with his friends, looking like an album cover:

It was a chilly day, but we eventually got smart and set up around the gas fire pit in the middle of the Town Green.

A visit from Diana's brother!

Back in October, Diana's little brother texted me to see if he and his family could stop by for a visit on their way to see April's family for Christmas. We spent the next two months looking forward to their visit (though by the state of our house that might not have been obvious). 

I opened the door and was greeted with a little "Pika! Pika!" from W (who was waving about his Pikachu doll) and almost immediately after got a hug from "Reddy" the red panda (and travel companion of L). April happened to be wearing a Bluey shirt (technically, I suppose it was a Muffin shirt) so Phoebe immediately felt she was pretty safe. And then there's Diana's brother—who had Zoë wondering why he'd write "I can't wait until you are dead" on someone's wedding day.

The very unsatisfactory answer is that he was 13 years old and...that's it. 

We had pizza for dinner on Friday. Andrew had had to take Benjamin to swim practice and then meet up at the church to get a new calling (Elder's Quorum 2nd counselor) and then came home briefly before heading out to pick up pizza. Grandpa and Darla planned to pick Benjamin up from swimming and come over for dinner. I was trying to get the kids to clean up the basement...for the third time this week...and scrounge up enough pillows and blankets...because we had company coming.

Did we have 2 months' to prepare? Sure. 

But there's always time to procrastinate (and always more to do)! 

I think Grandpa, Darla, and Ben arrived first. And then the Gillespies. And finally Andrew arrived with what everyone had been waiting for—the pizza.

We ate dinner, Grandpa and Darla had to run, and then we let the little kids run amok while we played Nerts. I dominated the table. We put the kids to bed and then chatted until late in the evening. 

IOOF's Organ Advent

The International Online Organ Forum asked members to record and submit themselves playing a Christmas piece, which they'd then review and select from the pool to publish during advent. Miriam recorded Angels We Have Heard On High (arranged by  R. Elliott) and submitted it just before the deadline. I'm sure she would have done it sooner but November was a messy month with travel and sickness and (for me) finals so finally I helped her film it on, like, November 30 or something! 

Miriam was thrilled to be selected for December 11 (the 12th day of advent)!

From the other players listed, it's becoming clear why she'd like to go to Europe to study organ (there are a lot more organ(ist)s in Europe). 

Beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I wanted to go outside to take a walk today—it was right around 60°F (15°C) this afternoon—but Phoebe just wasn't feeling up to it. She lazed about all morning (while Alexander and Zoë were at Lydia's baptism (an interesting place for them to be; she is the daughter of my friend and the daughter of Darla's new son-in-law, who is now married to one of Darla's daughters—it's a complex relationship)). 

Instead I threw myself into decorating the house for Christmas.

I've wanted to make a little tree tent for a while now and have slowly collected the supplies from the Buy Nothing Group—a little teepee tent and lots of garland. This year I finally had everything I needed to put it together. Zoë helped me figure out how to do it. We got faux pine needles everywhere.

Zoë made the inside nice and cozy, putting some foam puzzle pieces down on the floor and filling it with all our Christmas blankets and pillows. It's very cozy. 

Ward Christmas Party (in absentia)

Today while I was attending session after session of conference presentations, I started getting pictures of the ward Christmas party. Miriam passed her driving test this morning (hurrah!) so she drove to the church early and started hanging garlands. Andrew and the other kids joined her later to put up some finishing touches...and then the party started. 

And I think it was worth all the headaches and tears putting it together. People seemed to have fun and it was pretty well attended—around 100 people by our estimate. People seemed to understand the roving rooms set up and many seemed to appreciate having various activities to do. 

I...admittedly...wasn't there (off doing actual job stuff), so I have to rely on what I was told and saw. But what I saw was pretty good. 

Here's the nursery room before Miriam got the popcorn strands up:

Lino prints

I really need to finish packing for my trip. But I also had to help Miriam finish some preparations for the ward Christmas party on Friday. I went through...many emotions...when they moved the date to the one weekend I would not be here, but Andrew assures me that he can help Miriam pull it off. 

I will have to rely on pictures to tell me how the evening went.

One of the stations at the party will be a card making/letter writing station. The Young Women (after much insistence on Miriam's part) had a stamp carving activity, so those will be available with blank cards and ink pads for people to stamp their own cards. People are encouraged to write a nice thank you to someone in the ward, and then the Young Women will deliver the cards on a Sunday down the road (after making sure people who need cards got one...). Or people can write to one of the missionaries from our ward. Or to a neighbour. Or grandparent. Or whoever. 

Deep down inside, Miriam wanted the Young Women to make linocut prints...but that activity didn't ever pan out. And it's easier to carve rubber than linoleum, anyway (or wood). So she'll have to live with the stamps. 

But she decided to make a sunstone linocut and it turned out beautifully. 

This card she decided she's keeping for herself (but people will be open to use one of these premade cards if they want to)—started as a mistake because she simply didn't put enough black on the card, so she redid it in blue and it made a stereoscopic/grunge/overprint effect:

Putting up the "Cur-smiss-mas" tree

I might be a little sad that I'm leaving for a conference tomorrow when there are so many Christmas things to be done! But at least I'm not leaving for Ethiopia to help manage a pandemic like my friend (who did negotiate to be home in time for Christmas, but who could do little but wish her husband good luck with all the Christmas prep). I'll be home on the 10th. 

Still! There's much to be done and...I feel like I'm missing a big chunk of it. 

And there simply aren't hours enough in the day! Sunday was a bustling day, with church, followed by a few church friends coming over, followed by a baptism (conducted in Chinese), followed by choir practice...it went on and on and on.

Today I had a meeting in the morning and then we did some school work in the afternoon (the kids also did school work in the morning, but I didn't oversee that bit). Then Benjamin had swimming (and Miriam came to practice the organ at the church) and by the time we came home for FHE it had been dark for several hours and solar-powered Phoebe was beginning to feel sleepy...

But she still wanted to make a start on the advent calendars and we had promised to decorate the tree for FHE. Andrew even hauled up the tree all by himself—we got smart about it a few years ago so he was able to bring the whole thing up by himself. The first few years we had this thing he and I would lug the entire thing out of the basement all at once, box and all. It was unwieldy and heavy and horrible. 

Then in 2021, Phoebe was born just a few weeks before we were set to put up the tree. I was not cleared for carrying heavy items—nothing heavier than my teensy little "gaunt" baby (that's what we called her, Rachel! Gaunt Baby! We were talking about this a few weeks ago—how Rachel had such glorious chubby baby cheeks and Phoebe simply did not. She was such a skinny little thing, not even 6 lbs when we brought her home from the hospital, but we couldn't remember what we called her because no adjectives were right—not skinny, not emaciated...gaunt...but don't worry! She got fatter as time wore on!). Anyway, I wasn't supposed to lift anything heavy, so hauling a ginormous Christmas tree up the stairs was out of the question.

It was then that we put our incredible heads together and realized we didn't have to haul the whole thing up at once. We could just leave the box in the basement and bring up the parts of the tree separately. 

In fact, I believe Andrew brought the tree up by himself that particular year. And he brought the tree up by himself—piece by piece—again today while I was out with Miriam and Benjamin.

So we did the advent calendars. And then we let the kids put one tin of ornaments up on the tree before we did our first Christmas devotional and put Phoebe to bed. 

We will do more decorating tomorrow before my flight...I guess...

Here are the kids looking at the ornaments:

Beanbag toss

We found a jack-o-lantern beanbag toss board in the church closet. 

It's been in the church closet for years. No one knows who made it. No one knows which ward it belongs to. It's simply perpetually there.

Alexander's baptism (and the ward trunk-or-treat)

There's this page in the book I Spy a Nephite (which you can borrow on the Internet Archive if you, like, me only own Where Have All the Nephites Gone?—or worse! If you own none of Pat Bagley's search and find books) which I felt like we were living today! 

This particular page is of a wedding reception. There's a pile of gifts on stage (including a canoe-shaped package) beside a little chamber orchestra. There's a bouquet toss going on, a wedding line, a buffet table, streamers and bells and...a basketball game. As it turns out "somebody made a mistake in scheduling the ward cultural hall."

To be fair, scheduling our building is particularly tricky because we have three units in the building across two stakes. So putting things on the calendar is a bit of a gamble. For example, we booked the church from 9 to 2 today...but when we showed up there was a suspicious number of cars in the parking lot and the door to the church was propped open. 

We went inside and found that one of the other wards was decorating for their Fall Festival this evening. The cultural hall was all decked out in Halloween decorations. They'd even put up a big ol' display directly in front of the doors to the baptismal font. 

Andrew explained that we had a baptism today and...

The lady in charge basically told him he'd have to schedule the building like everybody else and pick a new day for his baptism. 

He said that we...weren't going to do that, that we had booked the church. 

She said that was impossible because she had booked the church. 

They both pulled out their phones to show each other that they had each booked the church. And, indeed, they had each booked the church. Further, Andrew informed her, there was to be another baptism after this one...so...

Eventually the lady decided she could give us one third of the cultural hall, that her crew would move all the decorations into the other part of the gym and...that was kind of them because it meant that they had to undo some of their work (we really couldn't have their display in front of the baptism font). 

And then I just had to kick the missionaries out of the Relief Society room (where they were having a meeting). 

And then we were able to set up for Alexander's baptism. 

Halloween 2025

 

Halloween 2025 is in the books! And what a day it was! 

Remind me never to hold a baptism the day after Halloween (and the same day as the ward Halloween party) ever again! I made about 12 dozen cookies, pureed and froze 20 cups of jack-o-lantern, and made 2 loaves of pumpkin bread (with another 2 cups of pureed jack-o-lantern). Andrew has made three types of soup and some rolls and is working on crackers. 

And I spent like two hours taking kids trick-or-treating. 

And I have a big assignment due on Monday. 

It's fine. It's been...just...a big and full day.