Descending into Fall

This week brought home the fact that we are now quite definitely in fall (the beautiful Indian summer we had been enjoying mostly vanished for the week) and several days have been noticeably chilly. I love fall--but I'm not quite ready for winter, so I hope it warms up a little before snow comes.

Our life continues on apace: Dan works on a daily basis, I teach twice weekly, Andrew goes to preschool twice weekly, and Evelyn mostly just chills, although she's getting better and better at making her wishes known. I think I was a little to quick to relax last weekend after sending off my big project--in addition to my regular class prep, this week I've been working on a paper that I have to present on Thursday up at Snowbird (so far, I don't have anything of my talk actually written--just notes to myself and some research notes. I don't think I've ever been quite this unprepared so close to the actual event! At least, though, I have our research results . . .). At the same time, I'm supposed to be getting my students' first batch of papers back to them (I've already had them two weeks, so I need to get them back soon . . .). So far, I've graded approximately 6 out of the 21 papers I received. Ah well, everything will get done. Eventually.

On Friday, to break up our routine a bit, we went to Jodi's house (Dan's cousin) where the kids got a chance to play and Andrew and Zach rolled out and cut some sugar cookies which we then decorated. We got to decorate a few more the next morning with the leftovers. You can tell that Andrew decorated his own cookie here--it looks like a sugar explosion. Luckily, this is not the kind of thing we do on a regular basis or Andrew would be even more hyper than he already is! I love the way Evelyn is looking on intently from the background, as though somewhat miffed that she's not the center of attention.

Here she is, smirking at me, when she finally gets to share the camera.

Friday night we had a first for our home: our first time hosting guests (my parents don't count--sorry! Especially not since they had to bring their own air mattress). Scott and Kristin got to "break in" our "new" (used) hide-a-bed, and they report that it's the most comfortable hide-a-bed they've slept on (if that's any inducement for any of you who were thinking about visiting). What, you may wonder, brought them all the way from Delaware to our humble abode? Well, it wasn't just the pleasure of our company: Scott ran the St. George marathon yesterday morning. We weren't there to see the finish, but apparently he turned in a quite respectable time (around 3.5 hrs) for a first-timer. Afterward, they brought back a few of their family members. It was fun to meet some new people, but much more fun to get to talk to Scott and Kristin, whom we haven't seen since they were at law school in Virginia. They remind me (as if I needed the reminder!) that we really do have some high-quality friends. And Scott's experience kind of makes me want to run a marathon, although reason (sanity?) compels me to admit that I'm a long way off of that goal--I'd be better off with smaller goals for now, like a 5k at the end of the month, and maybe a 10k later on if I'm really feeling ambitious.

This weekend, of course, we've been enjoying General Conference (when our children cooperate enough for us to actually listen, that is). We had breakfast this morning with Dan's parents: a wonderful starch-fest with bagels, monkey bread, a yummy frittata, fruit, and hot chocolate and herbal tea. Then the adults took turns playing with the kids while the others watched conference. This afternoon we were back at home, but got a few quiet minutes while Evelyn napped and Andrew was supposed to be napping. (I think he's past it, but he gets so wound up in the evenings that we keep trying anyway).

This morning I put Evelyn in a long-sleeved shirt and a matching tutu--she was pretty excited about her fabulousness, so I had to get a picture of her admiring herself in the mirror. Lest any of my readers charge that I'm just aiding and abetting her socialization as a particularly girly girl, let me be the first to admit that this is probably true. But I loved (and still do, in my heart of hearts) dressing up as a little girl, and I can't help feeling some of that same pleasure again when I dress my daughter up and watch her enjoy her finery. I say, let her enjoy it while she can. She'll learn soon enough (though hopefully not from us) learn that society has a fairly narrow definition of beauty, and I'd like her to get her innocent enjoyment from her reflection as long as she can.