Feaster and Spring Broke

I had to rename these two events and call them what they really are. You know what I'm talking about. These pictures are fuzzy because I lost the battery charger to my camera and had to use alternate technology.

Feaster:
(Or Easter for those of you who don't understand my imagination. Probably most of you.)


Egg Dyeing. No matter what, there are never enough eggs.



Baskets. Hannah received some high-quality literature.


The Hunt. This year I made things totally random--the eggs were filled with candy and money and the kids were let loose on the yard, finders keepers. It was pretty successful!


Comparing finds. 


Some pretty new dresses. Thanks Grandma! *please not that the elder is not wearing pink or purple


Spring Broke:
(Spring Break for those of you who didn't get it)

Spring Break came at the same time that summer tuition was due, so the week--which is still in progress--is consisting of free or cheap activities.

I asked the girls what the one thing they wanted to do this week was. They both said--at the same time--"Ride Trax." (Trax is the commuter train in Salt Lake.) I said sure, we could do that. Hannah woke up at 6:30 Monday morning and got in my face wondering when we were getting on Trax. I scrapped my laundry day--without much hesitancy--and we drove up to Salt Lake to take the train.

On Trax:


How Hannah "eats" pizza:


Hannah teases, Leah scowls:


She brought some money and put it in her back pocket, then panicked about losing the money. So she walked around grabbing her cheeks, hoping the money wouldn't fall out. It was priceless. (<-a corny money joke.) We spent some time walking around City Creek, then hopped over to Temple Square.



At the Reflection Pool in front of the temple:
(they're in the bottom left corner)

I told them it was a rule that if you visit Temple Square, you have to see the Jesus statue. Then I spent the next 20 minutes trying to explain that I was kidding and it wan't really a rule. I'm turning into my Dad.
A few notes on the whole deal:

We didn't need a stroller. I don't know if I should sob that my girls are so big or cheer that I don't have to carry excess. Probably sob.

Leah wanted to buy lotion at the Disney store instead of some foofy dress-up thing. I don't know if I should sob that she's getting into the girly thing or cheer that we didn't have to fight over the foofies. Probably cheer for this one.

I should mention that Spring Broke doesn't come without some pain. Leah struggles immensely with changes in schedule and it usually comes with hours, days, or sometimes weeks of raging, sassy, uncontrollable behavior. She becomes out of control of herself and is nearly impossible to manage. All the typical strategies don't seem to work for her. I think I'll sob for this one.

Also on the Spring Broke schedule, we have gone to see Mirror Mirror (sob) and a hike in Payson Canyon (cheer). Tomorrow is ice skating and...yet to be determined (sob and cheer at the same time).

Comments

Julianne Howes said…
Haha... looks like a successful holiday to me. I'm enjoying the fact that Michael does not know that we are broke and enjoys the free things just as much as the cost money things. I bet it's the same for your girls. You make me homesick for Utah, too. And I love you. That is all for now. Oh wait, I LOVE the gifts your girls got. The one about gas? You're my kinda mommy. :)
April 12, 2012 at 6:36 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NYE

New Year’s Eve 2009: Mapleton, UT I left Brian  in Logan and took the girls down to visit my parents for the new year. I felt bad and I felt relieved. I needed a break from him. We didn’t have money for food. He spiraled and never climbed out.  New Years Eve 2014: Mapleton, UT I went to Utah with my girls and left Jacob in Miami. He could have come but made up an excuse about studying and visiting his dad instead. Always talked about visiting his dad—alone— when I talked about a family visit. New Year’s Eve consisted of me, my parents and Stephen and laurel. There might have been some others that left earlier. I took no pictures. The new year rang in and felt so alone and empty. Did Jacob even care?  New Years Eve 2015: Vancouver, WA Pregnant with Lucy, unable to work, Jacob had just failed the most important test that would allow him into residency, I decided to wait out the remainder of the pregnancy at my parent’s new house. This move was one of the most humiliating ex...
Read more

Parent Teacher Conference

Dear Mom, You left 4 months ago. You clearly didn't mean to leave when you did, with your shoes sitting by the door and your unfinished paper boxes of chocolates for Relief Society. No one else wants to hear how the girls are doing. No one else has lived with us for so long and understands them and the dynamics of my family like you do. I've retreated into my own silence and my own world, desperately trying to survive each day--sometimes each hour--knowing that although so many friends and family care (and I couldn't survive without their support), there is really no one left that has experienced firsthand the horror story I'm starring in. We had parent teacher conferences last night at Leah and Hannah's school. We had to bring Lucy, who wet her pants twice and cried to go home. Here's a summary of teacher comments: HANNAH: *a natural leader *most well-liked student *grades range from 85 (one class) to 93-99 (every other class) *no missing assignment...
Read more

3 Years

Image
The social media version: “A new burger place in Park Slope— pretty good but girls still love Black Tap better. I love the exposed brick and VW van counter.” The reality: We were supposed to go to burgers last night to remember Dad on the 3rd anniversary of his death. I was very sick this weekend. Leah had a fever of 105— I’m gonna day that again— 105 and Lucy was being picked up by her clown father. No one was ok. We somehow made it out of the house today but we could hardly talk about Dad/Grandpa. Hannah regrets that she doesn’t remember much. Leah is deeply grieving a very special connection they had. She cries silently. I am physically wasted with a chest cold, anxious about how Lucy is doing at her dad’s house and too broken to help anyone. Our world went dark three years ago and the light hasn’t come back on.  The social media version: I can’t even write it because it’s not in my nature to sound so fake.  The reality:  Her clown father took her to a party for the g...
Read more