The Atonement and Cheesecake

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . sleeping in. Thank you for holding down the fort, Phillip.

. . . walking in from the warm outside air to a cooler, air-conditioned home. Aaaah . . .

. . . eating mini cheesecakes with my sweetheart.

And another thing . . .

. . . this evening after dinner I drove to the chapel for my temple recommend interview. As I talked with the bishop about my testimony of Christ, I reflected that my testimony of and gratitude for the Atonement has grown a lot in recent years. I think that is because parenthood has highlighted persistent flaws I scarcely realized I had, and shown me how much I truly need a Savior.

Swim Day and the Peril of Smoothies

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . discovering I've already exceeded the entire month's grocery budget. I think the main reasons for that are all the fresh berries and smoothies we've been consuming lately. Don't worry--we have a rainy day fund--but I'd prefer to get creative with the contents of our freezer and save the fund for an actual rainy day.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . kissing Daniel's hair and cheeks as he sat on my lap.

. . . swimming with the kids.

. . . eating tacos filled with pork cooked in the solar oven.

A Jedi Mob and a Bump in the Night

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . a loud crash in our bathroom around 3am. A picture I'd hung with some newfangled velcro stuff yesterday came loose from the wall and crashed down behind our toilet. This evening we pounded a nail into the wall and hung it the old fashioned way.

. . . when Phillip turned on iTunes on our computer, and played a song that always gets fiendishly stuck in my head. He had just bought it and was pretty excited about it, but he agreed to listen to it with headphones for my sake. Bless him.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . Joy running up to her friend and hugging him at his birthday party.

. . . the party had a Star Wars theme, and at one point the mom handed all the kids inflatable light sabers so they could square off with Darth Vader in the bounce house. They were supposed to go in one at a time, but the whole group mobbed Vader at once, and after a few minutes he fled out the back gate. It was awesome.

. . . a young woman from church offering to watch our kids for free so we could go to the temple.

. . . asking Daniel "Who am I?" and hearing him immediately reply "Mama." Of course, I couldn't resist giving him an enormous hug when he said that. I think he's finally starting to grasp that he can make sounds that have reference to people around him.

Taffy and Pink Blossoms

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . my African violet putting out a little pink blossom after months of monochromatic greeness.

. . . sharing a treat with the kids at an ice cream parlor. We bought some saltwater taffy for Daddy, too.

Why Mealtime Freaks Me Out

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . helping Daniel learn to eat cottage cheese on his own. I realize that getting food everywhere is a natural part of learning to feed oneself, but it still pushes my freak-out button.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . when I asked my neighbor how he was doing, and he replied, "Pretty alright."

And another thing . . .

. . . I never considered myself a neat-freak before I had kids. I have an unfortunately high tolerance for clutter, and I'm a housekeeping minimalist (i.e. I like my house to look decent with a minimum of effort on my part). Today I realized that the latter may explain the apparent contradiction between my mild attitude toward cleaning and my not-so-mild response to mealtime messes. In short, since I don't like to clean, I really don't like avoidable messes that demand my attention (e.g. a glass of strawberry smoothie tossed on the floor, or cottage cheese dribbled everywhere because my son still likes to hold his spoon upside down).

Kisses, Hugs, and Utter Befuddlement

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . don't ask. Just think "toddler" and "eww."

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . kissing chubby Daniel cheeks.

. . . hugging Joy while I sang her a song at naptime.

. . . chatting with Grandpa Hendrickson when he came by to pick up some train track Phillip doesn't need.

And another thing . . .

. . . sometimes Joy makes up games, and I utterly fail to understand the rules. I sit there, my brows knit in profound befuddlement, as English words tumble out of her mouth in patterns that make no sense to me at all. I usually have to ask her to demonstrate how the game works, and sometimes that still doesn't help.

A Happy Birthday

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . camping with my family. I worried the kids would get antsy without the usual distractions, but they were just as content as we were to spend last night sitting around the fire staring at the embers. It's amazing how soothing that can be. The frog chorus in the nearby stream also made a nice contribution to the ambiance.

. . . going to Radhika for birthday dinner. Oh the joy of a mango lassi and curried entrees I can't pronounce.

. . . Phillip planning a few fun surprises for my birthday. He made me feel so special.

. . . seeing pictures of my friend's new baby. Congrats, Vonnie!!