What's new with us this week? Well, Jared is still plugging away on the foundation, with a few pallets of cinderblock left to lay before we can start moving dirt and finish grading the backyard. His hands and arms are a testament to the many hours of hard work he's been putting into this project. I tell ya, if Jocke had never left the family farm in South Dakota, Jared would have been completely in his element there. (Of course, he'd also have ended up one of those crusty old Norwegian bachelor farmers, since he never would have met me. . .)
I finished the new garden bed in the front yard. It's looking a little better now that I've filled in all the gaps with annuals, but I'm afraid I completely did in the daisies that I moved in the process. There's still another bunch waiting to be divided and transplanted, so maybe I'll get it right next time. My plan now is to overhaul the foundation bed--move the rose bushes, put a gravel pathway along the back, and turn the front into a shrubbery (One that looks nice. And not too expensive.)
Elizabeth has one week left of preschool and is already peppering me with questions about kindergarten--mostly WHEN DOES IT START?!? It's going to take all of my energy just to keep her busy this summer, I can tell. Weekly trips to the library should go a long way toward that; she's becoming quite a little bookworm. We found a series that she has been devouring. Actually, it's a series of series. First there were the Rainbow Fairies (one book for each color of the rainbow), and now the author has gone on to write series about the Gemstone Fairies, Weather Fairies, Days of the Week Fairies, Pet Fairies, Music Fairies. . .and it goes on. Maybe not the caliber of writing I'd hoped for, but at least the author is prolific!
Anna is turning three in just a few short weeks, though it's hard for me to believe. I've been asking her what she wants for her birthday. Her requests thus far:
1) a banana cake
. . .with chocolate
. . .and polka dots.
. . .BLUE polka dots ("like my eyes are blue")
2) a tiny house
Thanks to her big sister, Anna is quite advanced in the arts of arguing and persuading. The other day I took her to run errands, and she asked if I would take her to "the big grocery store". I said no, but we were going to Target, which is very much like a big grocery store. She replied, "But Target doesn't look like a big grocery store to ME." Again I said no, and she decided to try a different tactic: "But Mommy, the big grocery store has floooowers. And the big grocery store has fruuuuuit." What she should've pointed out is that the big grocery store also has drop-in child care; by that point I was about ready to turn her over to someone else for awhile.
We've also had someone new at our house this weekend: Duncan, Sarah and Seamus' mini Dachsund puppy, has been staying with us while S&S have been in San Francisco. He's about as adorable as they come, and we've had a lot of fun with him this weekend. His only major flaw is that he refuses to poop where he's supposed to--but then again, so does Anna, and we still think she's pretty wonderful, so I suppose I can excuse him as well.
We're looking forward to a wonderful June, starting with Anna's birthday and culminating in a campout/reunion with my mom's side of the family. Whew. All those Torgersens in one place at one time. Bear Lake won't know what hit it.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Date Night
On Friday Jared and I went on a "mini-cation" without the girls. They spent the evening with Aunt Amy and then went to sleep over at Nonny's house while Jared and I enjoyed a nice date night downtown. I'm embarrassed to tell you when our last night out together was. (Wait, do we get to count the adult session of Stake Conference? Sweet. Then we've had TWO dates this year!)
Anyway, some thoughts on our date night:
1) Why does movie popcorn smell so darn good? I rarely buy it, because there's something in the butter-flavored liquid topping that makes me queasy. But oh, that smell is intoxicating. Right up there with new crayons, Pink Pearl erasers, and Play-Doh.
2) Peanut butter M&M's are still one of the best candies ever created.
3) The Starburst jelly bean is no slouch, either.
4) Eating a Starburst jelly bean when you're expecting a peanut butter M&M is startlingly disappointing.
5) We saw "Babies", which documents the first year in the life of four babies from around the world. What I learned from the movie: Parenthood presents challenges regardless of culture, but in many regards we American moms have got it pretty easy. I've never had to skin a dog for dinner.
6) Also, I can handle a little innocent nudity when it's part of the culture--say, among the indigenous people of Namibia who always walk around shirtless and, well, don't even OWN shirts. But I'm sorry, if you're an upper-middle-class Caucasian woman in San Francisco you don't have an excuse. I don't care if it's your hot tub.
7) The ambience at Wasatch Pizza may be lacking, but the pizza is sure tasty.
8) Sausage gives me a wicked headache. Next time, this:
9) You know you've arrived when you can afford a room at a hotel with complementary bathrobes.
10) Even at 9 PM, long after the last wurst has been served, Siegfried's will still smell like brats and sauerkraut. . .which is a little disturbing when you're eating chocolate raspberry cake.
11) I wish we had a king-sized bed at home. Compared to our queen bed, it felt kinda like this:
12) There are too many TV channels out there. We watched an intriguing program at 9 AM on the History channel called Alien Engineering. This whole show was based on the premise that UFOs *do* exist and went on to explain just how they were able to travel thousands of light years, fly silently, defeat inertia, etc. The fact that a show like this managed to score air time is proof positive that there must be a vast surplus of programming slots needing to be filled.
13) Question 1: Why are UFOs almost always shaped like saucers, instead of the more traditional rocket shape? Then again, THEY'RE the ones who've accomplished intergalactic space travel, so maybe the real question is:
14) Question 2: Since alien technology is so obviously superior to ours, how come NASA hasn't tried to replicate the flying saucer design?
15) Question 3: Did that theoretical physicist just say "wet smear"? Ew.
16) Absence makes the heart grow fonder, at least until the kids come down from the "high" they've been riding while you were gone and realize their parents are kind of boring. I think by the time they'd been home for two or three hours, they were ready for me to take them back to Nonny's. So was I.
Thanks again to our wonderful babysitters. We really owe you!
Anyway, some thoughts on our date night:
1) Why does movie popcorn smell so darn good? I rarely buy it, because there's something in the butter-flavored liquid topping that makes me queasy. But oh, that smell is intoxicating. Right up there with new crayons, Pink Pearl erasers, and Play-Doh.
2) Peanut butter M&M's are still one of the best candies ever created.
3) The Starburst jelly bean is no slouch, either.
4) Eating a Starburst jelly bean when you're expecting a peanut butter M&M is startlingly disappointing.
5) We saw "Babies", which documents the first year in the life of four babies from around the world. What I learned from the movie: Parenthood presents challenges regardless of culture, but in many regards we American moms have got it pretty easy. I've never had to skin a dog for dinner.
6) Also, I can handle a little innocent nudity when it's part of the culture--say, among the indigenous people of Namibia who always walk around shirtless and, well, don't even OWN shirts. But I'm sorry, if you're an upper-middle-class Caucasian woman in San Francisco you don't have an excuse. I don't care if it's your hot tub.
7) The ambience at Wasatch Pizza may be lacking, but the pizza is sure tasty.
8) Sausage gives me a wicked headache. Next time, this:
9) You know you've arrived when you can afford a room at a hotel with complementary bathrobes.
10) Even at 9 PM, long after the last wurst has been served, Siegfried's will still smell like brats and sauerkraut. . .which is a little disturbing when you're eating chocolate raspberry cake.
11) I wish we had a king-sized bed at home. Compared to our queen bed, it felt kinda like this:
12) There are too many TV channels out there. We watched an intriguing program at 9 AM on the History channel called Alien Engineering. This whole show was based on the premise that UFOs *do* exist and went on to explain just how they were able to travel thousands of light years, fly silently, defeat inertia, etc. The fact that a show like this managed to score air time is proof positive that there must be a vast surplus of programming slots needing to be filled.
13) Question 1: Why are UFOs almost always shaped like saucers, instead of the more traditional rocket shape? Then again, THEY'RE the ones who've accomplished intergalactic space travel, so maybe the real question is:
14) Question 2: Since alien technology is so obviously superior to ours, how come NASA hasn't tried to replicate the flying saucer design?
15) Question 3: Did that theoretical physicist just say "wet smear"? Ew.
16) Absence makes the heart grow fonder, at least until the kids come down from the "high" they've been riding while you were gone and realize their parents are kind of boring. I think by the time they'd been home for two or three hours, they were ready for me to take them back to Nonny's. So was I.
Thanks again to our wonderful babysitters. We really owe you!
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