Boldog Szulinapom!

(For those of you whose Hungarian is a bit rusty, that means "Happy Birthday to Me!")

Although blogging is inherently a bit narcissistic (more than a bit, actually), and birthdays are the perfect excuse to indulge in a bit of narcissism, I'd rather spend the bulk of this post talking about the people who mean the most to me: my family. (Cue sentimental music here.) I was lucky enough to spend some time (both this past week and weekend) with some pretty terrific people.

However, before I go on, I have some unfinished business to take care of: pictures of Andrew in multi-faceted moods from last Sunday. (Those of you who know me well will notice that Andrew is wearing *my* signature colors. You'd never be able to guess who does the shopping around here.)



Speaking of shopping, this week was a great opportunity to indulge in some. My mom and I took Wednesday evening off (although, with our big staff meeting at 7 a.m. Thursday morning I really should probably have been working) and hit both of the Gymborees in town in a quest to spend our "Gymbucks." (Those of you who know what these are will understand. Those of you who don't know what they are probably don't want to). I even managed to save some for Sarah to spend on Saturday. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Thursday was a busy day--for me, the day started at 4:30, when Evelyn woke up. (This after going to sleep about one, because my mind was racing with all the things that needed to be done). Since she had wet her pajamas and had to be changed, she decided that it was evidently morning. It took me the next 40 minutes to persuade her that it wasn't really morning--at that point, there wasn't really any point in my going back to bed. We tried to prepare a light breakfast for our staff meeting, but I was worried we didn't have enough, so I was out the door at 5:45, scraping off the car and then heading to the grocery store for some bananas and bread. I'd forgotten how bitterly cold it can get in winter in the predawn hours. (Not, apparently, as cold as it's been in Chicago these last few days, but cold enough). Our staff meeting went well, despite the early hour. I taught that afternoon and then decided my brain had had enough for one day and went home early to play with my kids instead.

Dan and I went to the temple that evening, despite exhaustion on both our parts--and the slight sacrifice proved to be well worth it. I think we both came away with more energy and clearer insights into some things that we should currently be working on.

Saturday, though, was our truly busy day. After Andrew's swim lessons ended in the fall, we decided to enroll him in the winter session because he enjoyed them so much. We also signed Evelyn up, but my memory now is hazy enough that I can't quite remember why that seemed like a good idea at the time. At any rate, Saturday was the first day of swim lessons. Andrew was so excited that he just ran up and down the room for twenty minutes before we left. Evelyn, having no idea what was in store for her, was just her usual placid self. And me, well, I got involved in a book, lost track of time, and nearly caused the lot of us to be late (a fact that Dan didn't exactly appreciate!).

We tried to get some pictures of Andrew, but none of them turned out. We did get a little video (see below). Initially, it seemed as though the longed-for swim lesson was doomed for disappointment: Andrew refused to get in the water with the rest of his little class. For the first couple of minutes, he just sat on the steps and watched the other students. Then he decided the water was okay, so he headed into the shallow end, intent on his own business. One of his teachers had to head him off and literally herd him back to class. For the next five or ten minutes, he was her sole priority, while the other teacher instructed the more obedient (less adventurous?) children. Finally, he agreed to cooperate with the rest of the class and seemed to really enjoy it.

As for Evelyn? She seemed to enjoy splashing in the water and she definitely enjoyed the face time with her mom. But I think on the whole she was rather indifferent. She makes a cute little swimmer, though, with her little swimsuit and CRTs (charging rhino thighs, for those unfamiliar with the term).

When swim lessons were over, we herded the kids back into the car and headed up to Salt Lake. (This was really a much bigger ordeal than this simple sentence makes it out to be. Have you ever tried to change a tired, wet, hungry baby in a locker room and then tried to find some where to put her while you got dressed yourself? Needless to say it wasn't easy and it involved a lot of crying. Meanwhile, it was all Dan could do to keep Andrew relatively stationary).

Not surprisingly, Evelyn slept most of the way up to Salt Lake. Andrew nodded off five minutes before our arrival, so I offered to sit in the car with him for a while until he woke up. We went inside to find that Sarah and her family had anticipated our arrival: the front room was festooned with balloons and a birthday banner and Sarah had made a yummy lunch of macaroni and cheese and chocolate raspberry cupcakes. (Never mind that I'm not a berry fan--anything with that much chocolate has to be good.)

Sarah couldn't resist using the netting from one of my presents as a bow for Evelyn. They also found some lovely plastic glasses for her to wear. She certainly looks stylish, doesn't she?

After lunch, we loaded all the kids up in the car again for a trip to the zoo. It was a little cold, but all in all a great day to go--because of the cold, the zoo was relatively empty, so the kids could run around without disturbing anyone but their parents.


Of course, the best feature of the zoo is the carousel. Even Evelyn got to ride this time, although I'm not sure she was very impressed by it. (The blurry patch below is Evelyn--Poppy took a better picture, but I liked this one for the sense of motion it conveys).




After the zoo we had an early dinner at Red Robin (or "Little Red Robin," as Andrew has been calling it all week). Then Robert took Sarah and I to the mall for a little shopping while Bubby, Dan, and Aaron manned the forts at home. By the time we did get home, both of our kids had been asleep for a while in the car and were more than ready for their beds.

Today has been nice, if quiet. I got to sleep in (!) and Dan made breakfast for me. We have the late block of church, which means Andrew is always a bit of a handful, but Evelyn was a nice antidote. I taught the lesson in Relief Society today (on my birthday, no less!) and, as usual, probably got more out of the lesson than anyone there. We talked about Elijah and the sealing power of the priesthood, and I realized, as the lesson was ending, that although I cannot always do the things I wish I could do to protect my children (I wish I could make sure that life never hurts them, I wish I could make sure that they will always want to do the right thing--realizing, even as I wish this, that I probably wouldn't do it even if I could, because that restriction on their agency would ultimately be damning)--but I realized that the one thing I *can* do is honor my covenants with God, trusting to the binding power of the sealing ordinance that binds us together as a family to protect my children where I cannot. I believe there is a real power in that binding, and I am profoundly grateful for it.


Evelyn discovered a new trick in the last couple of days: waving. If you watch this little video to the end, you'll see her flopping her arm in the air. At first I thought this was just accidental, but if you wave at her, this is exactly what you'll get in response. (Blogger isn't cooperating with this video just now, so we'll try to post it another time.)