Monday, June 9, 2014

it's beginning to feel a lot like summer

107, it was 107 degrees yesterday. blah. 30+ weeks pregnant and it's 107 degrees. yuck. at least it was sunday and we had afternoon church and dinner at the in-laws so we avoided the hot house for most of the day. but when it's 89 degrees at 10 pm it's just too hot. today is only supposed to be 97 I think, but it was 70 at 7 am this morning. so... we shall see.

cassidy lost another tooth, probably a month ago. again the lower central incisor so it's not super noticeable and the other is almost all the way in so only a small gap. she self-taught herself how to do block lettering. she saw some that I had done (poorly) and immediately was off and doing it, pretty adeptly for a first go at it. She's like that, see it a few times and then does it, pretty well.

molly took a running leap into the pool Saturday, totally unplanned, totally Molly. She was pushing a toy around in the yard and walked right off the edge of the pool and in she went. Thankfully she had her suit on already and Joe was in the pool so he was there to lend a hand. She just finished "swim lessons" so she actually did a really good job of keeping her head above the water but the whole thing being unintentional she was a little freaked. It made for a good laugh for the rest of us though.

julia got a haircut a few weeks ago. I thought I would have photos up already but obviously I haven't. Maybe later, hehehe, again, we shall see. It's cut, a little bob right above her chin. It's so Julia. She is learning how to give attitude very well. Her newest thing is to almost yell "you get out" as she points her finger and dramatically gestures toward the door. It would be hilarious if it wasn't done to me when she really is in need of discipline (like when she's hitting :[ )

sean is talking up a storm. he picked up "cool" and even uses it at the right moment, like the first time when I received a book in the mail I had been waiting for for weeks and he said "coo-ool" as I pulled it out of the packaging. He is also finally saying Cassidy's name, "cashie". it's fun to hear him talk. he's such a physically oriented child. a lot like molly was/is. he's always bouncing and jumping and such. yesterday he took a flying leap off the couch, towards the chair I was in and landed just close enough to hit his head on the corner of the leg of my chair. something the girls never would have and never did at his age.

joe and i are tackling our long long list of projects.
   I finished a kimono for a friend who went to the temple for the first time last week. it turned out really cool. i forgot to get a picture of it before i gave it to her, I modified the sleeves so they weren't so long, only 8 inch drape as opposed to the 24 inch drape in the original. i also made the obi a little (lot) more narrow and only one drape in back instead of two, and no pillow or back support. It's definetely still a kimono (she's full Japanesse) but much more temple appropriate. I love that it just screams family history.
   our long list of family names is getting done quicker than I thought possible. I think there were 180 names going back to November of last year and  now all but about 20 are done. our ward has been so helpful in getting the work done. and with the temple being closed for 7 weeks starting next week and not opening until the week before baby is due (but hopefully the baby will already be here by then), i will have lots of time to find more names before I am back going. too bad the next closest temple is almost 2 hours away otherwise I could go to another one (that is one of the aspects of Utah that I am truly envious about, so many temples within short distances from each other.
   I finished about a month ago a blessing dress for our little one. Any guess as to what gender I am 95% certain the baby is?? It is satin and lace and turned out great. I wanted some practice with sewing lace prior to sewing a dress for me with lace so it was great practice. And now I don't have to worry about doing it once the baby is born.
  We are lagging in our raised beds in the garden, but with the severe draught and major water restrictions we will not need them this year so we are doing other projects while looking at the undone one.
  joe made my wheat grinder rolling cart a couple weeks ago. it's great because our grinder is from the early 80s I think and must weigh 30 or 40 pounds and is so difficult to pick up off the floor, especially when pregnant. Now it has a cart which I can just roll out of the pantry and then roll it back.
  I started a countertop to go over our washer and dryer in the garage. Joe cut the wood Saturday and now I just need to stain and seal the wood, then assemble. I am SO excited to get it made. I so want a more useable top to the machines as it is the only flat work surface in the garage and is always crowded with stuff.
  then it's on to the tool shed. and the potting bench. and the raised beds. and the touch up painting in all the rooms. it just never ends. but it's always fun.

we are done with joy school for the year. it was fun. we had a small group, with only one other family, but it was good. I am glad to be doing it and look forward to doing it again in september. i hope to find another couple of families to do it but either way.

so two weeks ago, my dad, sister and i brought my grandma a new bed and couch. she said it was her first new bed since she was married. that's a shame, a new bed is AWESOME. that was ordered over the phone and delivered so that easy peasy lemon squeezy. the couch, now that was another story. as soon as I saw it in the consignment store I knew she would love it. It was goldish with gorgeous carved wood trim. That is the part I knew she would love. and she did. I picked it up from the store and the boys put it in the truck and I tied it down and drove it to her place. there is a gorgeous canyon road I love to take to her house but I was nervous about the couch so I took the longer freeway way.I got there just after the delivery guys had left. so after determining that the couch would not fit through the front door, in any direction, nor would it go through her gate, the only way was to go over the fence and in through her sliding door. So there was a  68 year old man, 29 week pregnant woman, and my little (ie short) sister trying to lift this gorgeous couch over her fence. it must have been a sight. but it worked, barely. it barely fit through her sliding door. but she loved it. truly loved it. and she loved the quilt my mother-in-law had given me. Again I knew my grandmother would love it, way more than any of my girls so with a new smaller bed she needed knew bedding. She gushed over the quilt and insisted it go on top of the other new bedding my dad brought her. what fun to deliver and then leave with everything wonderful and my grandma so happy.
I must say that she has the greatest son-in-law (my dad). My mom passed over 10 years ago, but my dad still goes out every week now and does her shopping and takes her to appointments as needed. he really has shown himself to be a widow's best friend. he's building a HUGE mansion in heaven. what a great example of selfless charity.

on a sad note, we had to move our bees last month. super sad in most ways. joe and i miss being able to just stand there and watch them fly. plus we had to move them to a place that just isn't as good for them in terms of nectar sources. but we had no choice and are having to learn how to make a weekly trip with kids to someone else's home and not enjoy the luxury of letting the kids out during nap time and checking the bees at our house. oh well. it wasn't our choice and we didn't have any other option. but it's worth it to not start issues. we are still waiting on a couple of queens to mate and start laying but our laying queen in a champ. she's great and i kind of wish we had gotten two. but oh well. we are learning a ton and loving it nonetheless. we did harvest honey already this season and that might be all we get for the year unless we get some rain in the summer or fall. please please please, we need rain. and it was might good honey.