We had Maggie and Al Long and Jenny and Jordan Peterson over, and Jenny brought monkey bread. She let us keep some of the leftovers, and I fed it to the girls the next morning. They passionately loved it, and Wren declared that she wanted it for her birthday breakfast. Promptly after breakfast, Tiny vomited it all up. Jim said I shouldn't have given her so much sugar.
Ever went on a reading spree. She moved around the room when necessary, nose continuously in the book.
I found these notes in the bathroom from a scavenger hunt Ever had created for the littles - "look under the fire place," "look on the stair," "Look by the play table."
Prayer time turned into a people pile.
As they prepared for lunch, Tiny, who usually sits at the head of the table, walked all the way around the table and scooted right up next to Wren, saying, "Wrenzy, I have to sit next to you because I like you." Wrenzy found that annoying.
Jim's nurse took a Girl Scout cookie order form around his office and collected lots of orders. Ever organized and labeled the cookies for delivery.
Wrenzy continued to work on her kick, arabesque, twirl, plié, curtsy routine.
I won a raffle at the orthodontist's Halloween candy buyback and got a free eight-class session at Callan Swim School in San Marcos. For some reason, it took them until January to get the voucher and notify me. I figured I might as well sign up all three girls for lessons while we were at it. The girls had an absolutely grand time, but they got nothing out of the lessons besides possibly regression. Their teacher was this sweet girl named Allie who never let go of Tiny or Wren the entire session, despite the fact that I told her that last summer, they were jumping in alone and swimming short distances alone (especially Wren).
Tiny was a little out of control, and this place made the kids stay on the bench on the side of the pool when they weren't swimming. It was so lame. Tiny kept venturing too far down the bench into other teachers' spaces, and Ever kept getting off the bench because she already knew how to swim and it was boring to do nothing. Videos of Allie holding onto the littles the entire time and teaching them nothing.
I was so bummed I spent a few hundred dollars on that debacle. I should've switched teachers or talked to somebody, but I didn't want to hurt Allie's feelings or get her in trouble.
I wrote this the evening of February 8 and captioned it "An Ordinary Evening I Want to Remember":
"After Ever got home from school, I took the girls to their swimming lesson in San Marcos (the third of an eight-class session.) The teacher keeps saying Tiny is 'so comfortable in the water,' which I think means she's crazy, loves it, listens not at all, and has no fear. The teacher also said today that Tiny has the best smile. And she does. Those cheeks and sunshine eyes are nonstop while she swims. I could have done without the poop in her reusable swim diaper, which made things hard at the end, but that's OK. She was very patient standing around naked waiting for me to get her squared away.
As we drove down our street on our way home, Wrenny exclaimed, 'Mommy, I see the moony! It's next to me!' And Taylor Swift's 'Tim McGraw' song came on, and I cried because things seemed perfect. As soon as we arrived at the house, the girls ran upstairs to see Jim, who had gotten home and started working on the bathroom while we were gone. Then they ate loads and loads of peanut butter apple, quesadilla, and peas and corn. Ever asked to put a song on while they ate. She chose the Rocky station on Pandora, of course, and made her signature funny face when I laughed about her selection. Then the Bryan Adams song 'Summer of '69' came on, and he was singing about 'the best days of my life,' and I cried again.
Ever started a clap fest to 'We Will Rock You.'
Then I asked Ever to do Wren's bedtime reading with her while I bathed Tiny (on account of the poop). They read bible stories the whole time from the children's book. They were finishing Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when Tiny and I finished. Ever begged to read one more - Daniel and the lion's den - because she loves that one so much, she said. We went upstairs to pray with Jim. Tiny sat on my lap for the prayer. Then Wren and Tiny piled onto Jim's back, and Jim bent over to give Ever loves because she was complaining about not being able to join the littles on his back.
I'm just feeling the love. We're so lucky. Our girls are so wonderful. Things seem hard a lot, but sometimes I know that these are the best days of our lives."
This was part of the "We Will Rock You" clap fest (she lost the littles when she tried to start marching):
"After Ever got home from school, I took the girls to their swimming lesson in San Marcos (the third of an eight-class session.) The teacher keeps saying Tiny is 'so comfortable in the water,' which I think means she's crazy, loves it, listens not at all, and has no fear. The teacher also said today that Tiny has the best smile. And she does. Those cheeks and sunshine eyes are nonstop while she swims. I could have done without the poop in her reusable swim diaper, which made things hard at the end, but that's OK. She was very patient standing around naked waiting for me to get her squared away.
As we drove down our street on our way home, Wrenny exclaimed, 'Mommy, I see the moony! It's next to me!' And Taylor Swift's 'Tim McGraw' song came on, and I cried because things seemed perfect. As soon as we arrived at the house, the girls ran upstairs to see Jim, who had gotten home and started working on the bathroom while we were gone. Then they ate loads and loads of peanut butter apple, quesadilla, and peas and corn. Ever asked to put a song on while they ate. She chose the Rocky station on Pandora, of course, and made her signature funny face when I laughed about her selection. Then the Bryan Adams song 'Summer of '69' came on, and he was singing about 'the best days of my life,' and I cried again.
Ever started a clap fest to 'We Will Rock You.'
Then I asked Ever to do Wren's bedtime reading with her while I bathed Tiny (on account of the poop). They read bible stories the whole time from the children's book. They were finishing Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when Tiny and I finished. Ever begged to read one more - Daniel and the lion's den - because she loves that one so much, she said. We went upstairs to pray with Jim. Tiny sat on my lap for the prayer. Then Wren and Tiny piled onto Jim's back, and Jim bent over to give Ever loves because she was complaining about not being able to join the littles on his back.
I'm just feeling the love. We're so lucky. Our girls are so wonderful. Things seem hard a lot, but sometimes I know that these are the best days of our lives."
This was part of the "We Will Rock You" clap fest (she lost the littles when she tried to start marching):
The Bible story reading:
We got a ton of rain (for us) this winter.
The view from the train to L.A. was much enhanced by snowy mountains. I didn't capture it very well.
Maggie Long threw a Valentine's tea party for the four-year-old girls. It was very cute, although I think don't think all the work was really appreciated by the littles. Afton Long and Wren:
I got called as the Primary president in January, and we were asked to be in charge of decorations for an adult Valentine's dance at the church. That was pretty much my worst nightmare. Melanie Karner is my first counselor, and Meagan Bunnell is my second counselor. None of us are crafty or cutesy. They helped a ton, and we did our best. It ended up looking like a middle-school dance and was super ghetto, but the handful of people who attended did not seem to mind. Daniela Bertolino, the Primary secretary, took on the task of setting up a photo station, and some Karner/Bunnell/Kringel kids posed for a pic.
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| Ever, Kara Karner, Rosie Bunnell, Chloe Bunnell, and Piper Bunnell |
All on his own, Jim ordered "Little Sis," "Middle Sis," and "Big Sis" heart necklaces for the girls and wrapped them up for Valentine's.
He is the sweetest dad. Every time I tell the girls they have the best dad, they answer, "Yeah, because he gives us treats all the time, even when it's not a treat day."
He is also the sweetest husband. I got an unexpectedly loving response to a text about my ETA home from work.
Ever did more reading to the littles. Reading is the best, and I love having a kid who reads.
Jim prepared a snack, and it was amazing. I never do fun things like this:
Anna did costumes for Ever and Leela for dress-like-a-Seuss-character day. There were a lot of Things, but I liked Ever and Leela's outfit the best.
Wrenzy pushed Tiny on the swing during the costume parade.
We started potty-training Tiny (whom Jim is now calling "Boozy," from "Tiny-boo" and "Tiny-boozy"). Jim finally got fed up with my procrastination, ordered undies online, put them on her one day, and said we were doing it. I bribed her with chocolate chips and then, when I ran out of those because of my compulsive snacking, mini baking M&Ms.
Wrenzy brought home a craft from preschool with a most unflattering picture of her. We laughed every time we saw it. Jim realized she looks just like Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone. Nailed it.
Jim is my go-to sub for Sunbeams, and he loves doing it. He usually recruits Derrick Karner to be his co-teacher, and that's cute.
Anna pulled some pictures of Ever off her Daisy troop's website for me.
They did a pinewood derby-type thing, where the girls decorated and raced cars.
We had the Karners and Walkers over for dinner one night. Brandon and Sara Walker have three girls too, so it was quite a girl party. Christian Karner was the only boy.
Somehow Tiny ended up getting carried around in a backpack, much to her delight.
