Ever, Recently

Jim took his medicine boards at the beginning of April. He was staying at the office and studying until 11:00 P.M. in the week or two leading up to the test. Not fun. And it turns out being a single mom is not all it's cracked up to be.

The looming test sort of ruined general conference weekend, too. Nevertheless, we did have Belgian waffles for breakfast, and I tried to plan ahead and make conference more engaging for Ever by printing some conference coloring pages and conference bingo sheets. When we got a bingo, we got a little treat (like an M&M or something). We were listening for things like "family home evening," "prophet," "scriptures," "Jesus Christ," etc. It sort of made Ever listen but also sort of backfired. I was playing bingo with her, and she was way too obsessed with what I was doing. If I put a piece on my game, she'd go crazy trying to look and/or ask which one it was, rather than just listen and play for herself. Next time maybe she has to be the only one playing.

Ever is really into the music during conference. That's her favorite part. She heard the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing "Now Let Us Rejoice" and said she liked that song. I can play that one pretty well on the piano, so after conference we started singing it together. In no time, she knew the whole thing.

I've been trying to have Alina Karner over somewhat regularly (aiming for one morning a week) to give Mel a break. Alina and Ever enjoy playing together, which is cute because Alina is significantly younger and doesn't talk too much (although she's making progress on that front). Enjoying strawberries:

Ever started preschool this year obsessed with Ella Rondo. Ella was already also friends with Ellis Martindale, who is in the Oceanside 1st Ward and also attends Little Bugs Preschool. (Ellis's family lives one street over from Paul and Susan Oddou.) After I ran into Ellis's mom, Errin, at the park one day and chatted with her for a while (my first real conversation with her), Ellis got involved in our postpreschool play dates on Mondays. Now Kristi Rondo, Errin, and I rotate picking up the girls and keeping them until 2:45 or 3:00. At some point shortly before Ellis joined the standing play date, Ever got really excited her new friend - so excited that she decided to wrap up the brand-new tea-party set she had just purchased with her own money and give it to Ellis for no reason. And just like that, Ever switched her allegiance and now always wants to be with Ellis instead of Ella. Other than that, they play well and are really cute together, and it's been a nice arrangement.

The first time they all went to Ellis's, Errin texted Kristi and me these pictures of the girls on their way to pick up Ellis's brother from school:

I had to laugh at that series of pictures - particularly the last two. A couple of those girls are a lot better at posing for photos than the other, eh?

We have to skip Ever's nap on play-date Mondays. One Monday at 5:00 P.M., this happened:

Most of Ever's friends stopped napping long ago. She clearly still needs her naps. She frequently sleeps from 2:00 to 5:00 P.M. 

When I had the girls over last week, I let them get out of their seats for the drive into the garage. Cuties:

Sometimes when they're together, they play "baptism." In fact, Monday when we were pulling up to the house, they were all singing "When I Am Baptized (I Like to Look for Rainbows)." I loved it. What I loved less was when they started playing inside and Ella kept saying her doll was going on a date; her doll was 16, and she was going on a date. Hmm. 

At the beginning of April, I started Ever in a weekly ballet/tap class for 4- to 6-year-olds at the YMCA. She LOVES it. She was so excited to go the first day, and she still talks about it all the time. I bought her a leotard and skirt set, which she wants to show to everyone. She also asked to buy ballet and/or tap shoes, but the gym has ones she can borrow for now. She knows plié, relevé, and first position. 

I stood outside and took pictures through the window on day 1:

In her outfit for day 2:

Last Wednesday, Jim had a half-day of work. Wren was sick, so I stayed home and put Wren to bed while Jim took Ever to class. He texted me videos (again, kind of far away, though the window):

One Saturday I made Ever a special breakfast of pancakes (with wheat flour) and Nutella. I love Nutella as much as anybody, but I thought it was sort of a gross combination. She was happy, though:

Tutu gave Ever a book of Shel Silverstein's poetry in December. We read the whole thing really quickly and got a kick out of it. (It also reminded me of how stirring and magical language can be. I miss reading.) Ever's favorite poem is "The Loser." After reading it several times, she pretty much had it memorized. She took the book to preschool one day and recited that poem for her sharing time. When I tried to get a video of it at home, her enunciation deteriorated and/or she started skipping parts. These are the best I could do:

 

We made chocolate muffins the other day. Ever is CRAZY for batter. Any batter. Even bread dough. She makes sure she gets every tiny little speck:

Sometimes she dances and sings quite dramatically:

We love reading with her. After she and Jim finished The Wizard of Oz, they read Charlotte's Web. Now we're nearing the end of Stuart Little.

Lastly, some recent Everisms:

"I don't like being patient, but I do it because I have to." 

One day she was playing by herself and giving a speech or something. I missed some good stuff in the beginning, but after I tuned in and started taking notes, this is about what I heard: 

"They tied up Nephi, and the Liahona wouldn't work. They got ill. No one knew that Nephi could kill Goliath. God helped him. No one knew that God would help him. Nephi got the brass plates so he could teach his family about Jesus. [Something about Joseph Smith in 48 and turning the brass plates into the Book of Mormon. Then more about Nephi.] Nephi and his brothers made a ship. They sailed to the promised land. They had to leave their home, and they left all their beautiful stuff. And I went to a very beautiful house that used to be a house, but it got turned into a museum. There was a library but no books. It was so beautiful. I hope you all saw that house in Florida [Whitehall]. I got to see my Auntie Dawn and Uncle Ed. Can anyone be brave? Ruby Bridges was brave. In 1948, [some stuff I didn't catch] ... white people yelled at her and threw things at her." (Ruby Bridges was the first black child to desegregate an elementary school in Louisiana, not in 1948. I can't remember where Ever had been learning about her. I think they read a book in preschool.) 

Pretty great, right? Despite her confusion about Nephi v. David, etc., I understand she impresses her Primary teachers with her answers/comments. We've read the Book of Mormon and Bible stories for kids a number of times, and apparently she is retaining some of it. The Primary president told me recently that she (the president) asked the kids about the parable of the ten virgins, and Ever rattled off the story totally accurately. 

Last month as we were finishing up dinner one night, Ever told Jim, "I like Mommy a decent amount." Then a minute later, as I was putting away the leftover mashed potatoes (of which she apparently wanted more), she said, "So yummy. I can't wait. My mouth longs for it." Jim asked her how she knows all these things (I believe referring to her use of the word "longs"), and she said, "From books. I know everything except about dinosaurs."