I am not the energizer bunny (but Andrew might be)

Sometimes I feel like I have no big projects going on. Other times I feel like projects pile up into a big monster and attack me from behind. March is turning out to be one of those months. This week is turning out to be one of those weeks.

Andrew was sick all week but by Thursday he was starting to feel better. I'd been asking him to get boxes of kid clothes down from the attic so that I could sort through them before Trading Tables.

"Next week," he kept telling me. "Next week."

The poor man was in the middle of trying to throw together his dissertation committee and working on a billion other things, so it's not like he had anything else to do. But I'm nesting! Where are his priorities?!

Finally we came to this week—the week when there was no "next week" on which to put off a trip to the attic—and he comes home from school throwing up. So I waited some more. I waited until Thursday night when I came home from book club. At 11:30 PM.

"Did you make it up to the attic?" I asked.

"Not yet," he said. "But I'm planning on it. Just let me finish a few things here and then I'll go up."

So at 1:30 AM (yes, you read that correctly) he went up into the attic to find the boxes of kid clothes, which were a little all over the place, especially the box of baby girl clothes, which was way at the back because we haven't needed it in years.

"It's kind of a mess up here," Andrew said. "I'm going to organize it really quick."

"I know I said I really wanted these boxes," I said. "But do you know what I want even more right now? Sleep. I want sleep. Right now."

"I'll be fast."

He eventually came out of the attic and announced all the Christmas stuff was together, etc. etc. etc. And we went to bed. Hallelujah! But then I had the worst heartburn of my life. Heartburn like "wake up at 5 AM literally choking on stuff that exited your stomach the wrong way" heartburn. It was the worst night ever. I could hardly get out of bed on Friday morning...and kind of didn't.

Women and church and change and why it'll probably be okay

In 1979, President Kimball "gave" an address at what was then called the "Women's Fireside Address" where he charged women to be "sister scriptorians," a phrase that didn't take long to be inducted into standard Mormon vocabulary.

Andrew and I were having a conversation today and that phrase popped into my head so I used it...and  then I figured that I should probably read the talk so I knew the context around it. I've said it a million times before and have heard it even more times, but I've never read President Kimball's talk.

In my defense, I wasn't even born when it was given so...I'm not entirely culpable.

But how in the world did I not know that his wife read his talk on his behalf?! And why in the world did that shock me so much?!

I think it's a beautiful sentiment that The Prophet of God sent his wife to read his address to the women of the church (he, meanwhile, was sick in a hospital bed), especially when his talk begins with him assuring us that "the ways of the world will not prevail, for the ways of God will triumph."

He then states that "we had full equality as his spirit children. We have equality as recipients of God's perfected love for each of us"

Then he quotes Elder John A. Widtsoe, who wrote, "The place of a woman in the Church is to walk beside the man, not in front of him nor behind him. In the Church there is full equality between man and woman. The gospel, which is the only concern of the Church, was devised by the Lord for men and women alike" (that's from the Improvement Era, Mar. 1942, p. 161).

Sending Sister Camilla Kimball—his equal partner, his "special helper"—to fill in for him proves to me that he believed those words fully. I just can't get over my surprise that a woman acted as the mouthpiece for the prophet. Still, another part of me can't believe that I should have cause to be surprised.

It's official

Well, I finally got the test results for my three-hour glucose tolerance test and, like I knew I would, I failed spectacularly. My fasting numbers were too low and my 1, 2, and 3 hour levels were too high. Yes, all of them.

I have another check up tomorrow, so I'm sure I'll get to learn more then. I already have a prescription for a glucometer, test strips, and lancets. Yippee. My favourite.

It's a good thing I wasn't checking my numbers today because I'm sure they'd be all wonky. Andrew—of all people—developed a sort of stomach bug. Usually it's the kids who get sick first and then the parents inevitably get it later. This time Andrew was the first to go down.

I started feeling queasy last night and although I haven't thrown up I haven't felt great all day. Andrew gave me instructions to let the kids watch Netflix all day long. So I did. And I only felt slightly guilty in the few minutes I managed to stay awake between 7:30 AM and 2:00 PM. Who knew it was even possible to sleep that long after sleeping at night?

Then when I finally ate something I ate a hefty meal of...chicken broth. Miriam made cheese and crackers for herself and Benjamin because she was my "super duper helper" today, which basically meant she was in charge of changing shows on Netflix and opening packages of fruit snacks.

Benjamin fell asleep on the couch this afternoon and when he woke up it took him a long time to perk up. Here he is lying on the floor, telling me that his "all me" hurts:

It's possible he'll be the next to come down with whatever this is (because my "all me" certainly hurt today) though I'm sincerely hoping that the only person who responds to this bug with vomit is Andrew.

Now even though I still don't feel great, I'm going to do some yoga with the kids...because that cereal I had for dinner probably needs to be worked through my blood stream a bit more efficiently than my body is able to do on its own. 

You should have heard the cheers when I announced cereal was on the menu for dinner. 

What can I say? I'm a crowd pleaser.

Science Fair

Phew! We made it through the science fair! Rachel seemed to have a good time; she was a little shy about explaining her project at first but she got braver as the night went on.

Here she is setting up a little quiz about her project:

Weekend Ramblings

Yesterday Andrew took Benjamin out shopping while I had a nap and the girls had quiet time. I'm not even sure how long I slept or how many books the girls read or how long the boys were gone. They were on a quest for chilis and couldn't find any at our usual stores. They also picked up some angel food cake and sugar-free angel food cake (which is still rather high in carbs) because we were having friends over for dinner. Benjamin was quite exhausted when they got home.

"Us got food at Costco," he told me.

"You did?" I asked. "Did you eat lunch there too?"

"No," he sighed. "Us just...got cake...go nuzzy store...get more sood...go nuzzy store...get more sood...go nuzzy store..."

"You did a lot of shopping," I said.

"Yeah. My tummy is so dumpy! Me need 'unch!" he said.

So we gave him some lunch. At around 3:00. No big deal. And in our defense he got free samples at Costco so it's not like he was starving.

We had one of Andrew's colleagues and her husband over for dinner. We've been meaning to be more social with people in his program, but we're a little introverted and have a billion kids. Perhaps those are lame excuses but it's all we've got.

There is safety in following the prophet

Miriam's been trying to give a talk in primary for three months now. We were on the schedule in January but it was our first week back from our trip to Utah and we didn't get a reminder email so we completely spaced it. So we were put on the schedule for February, except the day that we were scheduled for ended up being the special stake conference. So we were put on the schedule for March and...we're so ready for this.

When I told Miriam her topic she asked for a paper, went into her bedroom, and emerged a few minutes later with this:

Little things

"Me need change my pants and my underwear," Benjamin announced when he came inside for dinner last night. "But!" he explained, "But, me not pee my pants. Me just fall down in a puddy!"

And indeed he had. He was soaked with muddy water, which I'll take over pee any day.

We went on a mile-long walk this morning, going down a dead-end street we don't ordinarily walk down because I calculated it out and going down to the end of that street puts us at a half mile. The last time we went down that street was on the great sand-gathering expedition of 2014.

Miriam said, "Oh, I remember this street! It's a dead end! And I was so tired I had to ride home in the wheel barrow! I have such a good memory!"

We passed a perfectly normal-looking house and Benjamin said, "Ooh! That's Santa's house! Me found Santa's house! Me so happy!"

"Why do you think that's Santa's house?" I asked.

"Cuz," he said.

We kept on walking and turned around at the end of the street. On the way back Benjamin said, "This is Santa's house! Mom—look at the mailbox!"

On the mailbox was a blue and white candy cane made out of jingle bells, evidently forgotten when Christmas decorations were pulled down.

"See? It's Santa's house!" Benjamin insisted.

I'm not sure a leftover decoration means Santa lives there and I tried to explain that to Benjamin but he's fairly certain that remnant was The Sign he's been looking for.

Other than our pleasant walk, the children were anything but pleasant today. Bedtime was more than welcome this evening. For real.

Ramblings on the day

Rachel took the bus this morning because Miriam, Rachel, and I all had to be somewhere at 9:00 AM. Andrew's been driving Rachel to school this week since he's "on spring break" and no one wanted to get up early enough to put her on the bus. But apparently she doesn't hate riding the bus to school because when we told her she was going to be a bus rider in the morning she said, "Finally! I haven't taken the bus once this week!"

"I thought you didn't like taking the bus," I said.

"I like it in the morning," she said. "I don't like it in the afternoons. I think people are too tired in the mornings to misbehave so they all just sit quietly and I like that."

The afternoons can get a little wild. She rides home with our neighbour to avoid the chaos. I suppose she could ride to school with our neighbour as well but she enjoys taking the bus and is worried about being late (sometimes our neighbours run a little behind schedule in the morning).

After she was on the bus we finished getting everyone else ready to head out the door. I got dropped off at the doctor first.

"Have fun, Mommy!" Benjamin told me.

"Oh, I will," I said, and then Andrew drove off to drop Miriam at preschool.

I suppose I did kind of have fun. I had my blood drawn. And then I sat and crocheted. And then I got my 17P shot. And then I sat and crocheted. And then I had my blood drawn. And then I sat and crocheted. And then I had my blood drawn. And then I sat and crocheted. And then I had my blood drawn. And then it was time to go.

I've finished 75 flowers for Zoë's blanket, so I only need approximately 125 more.

I'm trying to do as much as I can before I have to start pricking my fingers.

I don't have the results of the test back but I'm 100% positive that I failed with flying colours because my fingers and toes were tingling, which is just not a good sign. Who even comes up with these tests? I realize that the answer to that question is "pretty smart people," but the pregnant lady that I am wants to answer "twisted sadistic people."

Fasting over night isn't terrible and in fact is rather normal, except for the whole no water thing. What is that about? Then they poke you. And then they make you guzzle 100 grams of sugar and tell you to just keep not drinking anything else for the next three hours and to just sit in the office because physical activity can throw off the results of the test. Then they poke you a few more times and laugh to themselves as you leave their office in a lightheaded stupor.

Does anyone respond well to that sort of treatment?

Andrew arrived to pick me up with a grocery bag filled with protein-heavy snacks.

"You're awesome!" Miriam said when I opened the door.

"No! Mom's not awesome!" Benjamin yelled. "Mimi—you're awesome!"

"Did you hear what he said?" Miriam gushed. "He said I'm awesome!"

Somehow she's trained him to believe that she's awesome. She'll say, "Hey, Benjamin, you're awesome!" and then he'll say, "No—you're awesome!" and then she'll gush about how he just called her awesome. It happens frequently enough to not be a fluke.

I'd like to know how she managed to pull that one off. I really do.

Black, Vixie, Hangrabetant

I decided to forego napping today in favour of earning an earlier bedtime. Benjamin's been staying up way too late at night and I figured napping was probably the culprit since I think he's now napped longer than either of his sisters (not counting that 6–9 months he spent not napping when he was around a year old). 

Nap time was getting a bit ridiculous, too. I'd spend an hour coaxing him to stay in his bed and fall asleep to earn a half hour of shuteye. Not a great tradeoff. 

After dinner I was so exhausted that I had to sit down and rest. Andrew and Rachel went into the bedroom/office to work on Rachel's science fair project and Benjamin and Miriam were commanded to have a few minutes of quiet time. Miriam pulled out a Junie B. Jones book and started reading to herself on the couch. Benjamin curled up beside her to listen to her mutter the words under her breath and sneak a peak at any accompanying illustrations. I just sat and relished the silence.

When I looked over at the kids on the couch I was surprised to see Benjamin nodding off (yes, he's sitting beside a pile of unfolded laundry)...

Compound Words

Benjamin has recently begun to string his sisters' names together, turning them from Rachel and Miriam to Mimi-Sasha. He speaks of them as if they are a single entity.

"Mimi-Sasha want to play outside," he told me the other day. "That's fine. That's fine Mimi-Sasha play outside. Me want to play inside. Me play ogi* inside. That's fine. Mimi-Sasha outside. Me inside. That's fine."

And it was fine, though he did eventually join them.

The truth is that quite often it's Mimi-Sasha against Benjamin. He's the little brother who, though more useful than a newborn, can't really do much yet. They're able to pal around more. He'll feel like less of a third wheel when he's older, I'm sure.

Today he called Miriam Mimi-Sasha to her face. Usually when he says it he really is talking about the two of them doing something he's not. But today he walked right up to Miriam and said, "Mimi-Sasha, want to play with me?"

"I'm just Miriam," Miriam pointed out.

"Okay," Benjamin agreed. "Want to play with me?"

The truth is that Benjamin probably spends more time playing with Miriam than Mimi-Sasha spends playing together, and that might be why he feels so left out when Rachel comes home and she and Miriam morph into Mimi-Sasha.

He doesn't seem to mind too much being the uninvolved quasi-participant in their games, like the little brother in And You Can Be The Cat by Hazel Hutchins. The only thing he really can't stand is when they close a door in his face. Then he'll cry to me, "Mimi-Sasha shut me out!"

Anyway, I just had to write down that Mimi-Sasha thing because it's adorable. He makes up a lot of compound words like that.

"Thank-you-me" is how he says thank you, but the other night when he was praying on behalf of the whole family he realized that he couldn't really say "Thank-you-me" because there were a whole lot of us so he end up saying, "Thank-you-me-us for the day! Thank-you-me-us for our family! Thank-you-me-us for our house!"

This boy.

Remember when I worried he wouldn't ever learn to talk? Now he talks all the time. All. The. Time.

He's too sweet. He has my whole heart.

*LEGO