A Day in the Life

Today I will get up first and hurry into the shower before anyone realizes I'm awake. Maddie will come in with a pile of books, insisting that I read them to her, and Alli will get herself dressed and her bed made before the rest of us have time to rub the sleep out of our eyes. We'll eat breakfast. If Dad isn't in a hurry, he'll make pancakes while Alli and Maddie argue over who's turn it is to get the first plate.

If we remember, we'll let Alli read us a scripture and try to explain to her what it means. Maddie will do her best to distract us all. When it's clear nothing is getting through, I'll pass out the toothbrushes in a hurry, but the girls will run away screaming anyway. When I catch them, we'll sing "When you wake up in the morning" or pretend we're brushing dinosaur chompers and hopefully remove some plaque.

Maddie and Alli will play, probably "pee-tend." Maddie will pretend she's the Mom and Alli will pretend she's the baby. Maddie will say, "you be the glirl, otay?" and Alli will agree. Then the real Mom will get something done.

If peeking into the playroom didn't ruin the fine balance of good humor that only occurs right after breakfast, I might see Maddie putting all the dolls to sleep under her favorite "bloppie" (her blanket) and Alli "packing for the trip," gathering fake food and doll clothes and shoving them into bags for easier transport. After a while, Alli might read some books to Maddie or start pushing her around in the play stroller.
After lunch, we'll put on a TV show for Maddie while Alli practices the piano. Alli will play 'the Woodchuck" for me and then try to sneak a peek at the Care Bears. Alli will play all her songs like a pro and then the two of them will lay down on the floor to watch TV under Maddie's blanket.

A few minutes later, Alli will start crying because Maddie hit her on the head with the remote. I'll put Maddie in time-out and come back a couple of minutes later to talk to her.

"Do you know why you're in time-out?" I'll ask her.

"I hit Alli on the head!" Maddie will say, smiling.

"Do you think that made Alli sad?" I'll say.

Maddie will giggle. "Yeah."

I'll try not to laugh and send her to tell Alli sorry, which she will gladly do, adding a hug just for fun.

At dinner, Ty will ask the girls what cup they want today. Maddie will say, "the Ollie cup," or "I wanna Mimi tup," But hopefully she doesn't ask for the "smiley tup" because we haven't figured out which one that is. Alli will take her water with ice or ask for milk, but Maddie will always say, "Want water, no ice." Whatever we are having, Maddie will eat all of it and Alli none, or vice-versa. There doesn't seem to be a food combination that they both eat the same night. They do come together on one thing, however, and I have to agree: Broccoli is the best vegetable ever.

At bedtime, Maddie will climb into her new toddler bed and feel like a big "tid," while Mom and Dad collapse on the couch and hope she doesn't come downstairs more then once.

Barefoot at the dentist

Last Thursday, I had a day... We were leaving for Idaho at 3:00 for a wedding, I had a doctor's appointment in the morning, and my friend from DC was coming into town at noon. Whatever, I had it covered, though. The day before we had run out of gas on the way to the temple, and I was ready to put it all behind me. I just needed to get organized and get it done.

Just as visions of super-me playing car-games with the girls all the way to Idaho were dancing through my head, I realized that my teeth were really hurting. A few minutes more, and it was like my jaw was in a vice and no amount of pain medication had any affect on it. Super-me vanished into thin air, and regular me took over with the moaning and the dying. I didn't sleep.

At 8:00 AM I was sitting by the phone to call the dentist. Luckily my neighbor is a really great dentist and he was happy to see me. I just had to make it to 11:00 AM, and everything would be okay. Oh, the pain...

Went to the baby check up. waited and waited.
...just me and my tooth.
complained about my tooth some more to the nurse. made it out in time. On to the dentist.

There was just one small problem. As I got out of the car, my shoe broke. Damn those Old Navy flip-flops! I couldn't even pretend that I had a shoe. It wouldn't stay on no matter what I tried, so I had to walk into the dentist's office with only one shoe.

You might wonder it one shoe was worth walking on at all and if barefeet would have more, I don't know, continuity, but by this point, everything was just a blur. My tooth and I were in our own little world.

About five minutes after I sat down in the chair with only one shoe, my neighbor decided it was my wisdom teeth causing all the trouble. Twenty minutes later, I was down, still one shoe, and two very large and apparantly wise, teeth.

Let me just say that having teeth pulled is gross. It actually doesn't hurt too much, but it feels very wrong. Maybe it's just the pack-rat in me. In any case, Dr. Curtis did a great job, and my mouth is much happier.

But I still had to walk out of the building half-barefoot, gauze loaded to the hilt, while balancing a pile of papers about when to eat and what not. Meanwhile, I had a day, and time was ticking. I went up to the second floor in my Dad's office building to drop off some work, still shoeless, rushed to the babysitter's to pick up my kids two hours late, and barely made it in the door before my friend from DC came over to say hi. Marathon one: done. Now on to Idaho.

But seriously, do you have any idea how weird it is to walk in public without two shoes? I actually brought the broken shoe with me to all those places. It was kind of like a prop, so I could pretend to be adjusting something in the elevator, or limping in the hall... I don't know. I was in a stupor, so who knows what I came up with to save face. I think Old Navy shoes should come with a buyer beware disclaimer.

the perfect chocolate chip cookie

I have started contributing to a cooking website that my friend Ashley started. Together, we have added quite a few recipes that I think some of you out there might enjoy making. There are chocolate chip cookies, soups, main courses etc- lots of stuff. You can take a look at www.theperfectchocolatechipcookie.com If you like to bake, which I do NOT, Ashley has a bread section that is really great. The cookies, though, even I can duplicate, so try them try them, you will like them.