Rendezvous in Utah

We geared up for another daddy-free day today. Wednesdays are usually daddy-free so it wasn't too much of a change from our regular schedule. Andrew was technically "home" but I didn't know if the girls would get to see him so I didn't let them get their hopes up. I told them that he'd probably get to say goodnight to them and that's all.

This morning the girls played a lot. Here is Miriam building a block tower. Rachel asked that I take Miriam's picture because "Miriam has a real talent for building towers, don'tcha think?"

Miriam's wearing her...equinox dress. It'll likely end up being her Easter dress but it was delivered to us as a "week without Daddy" gift on Monday night. Rachel got one, too, and it was really perfect timing because I struggle motivating Rachel to get dressed in the morning but she got up on Tuesday morning and got dolled up in her new dress before even coming out of her bedroom. She was ready for school in record time.

Anyway, here's Miriam adding another level to her block tower:

Her hair is a little out of control but I love the look of determination on her face.

The purple collar on her dress, by the way, is actually a t-shirt that she's wearing underneath. She also has a skirt on, as well as a pair of pants. I did the laundry today and I had well over twenty outfits from Miss Miriam alone. And those were just the ones she managed to get in the laundry basket. 

Her tower fell shortly after this but she just said, "Oh! I will build it again!" and got straight to work. 

After lunch cousin Kayl came over for a few minutes, which the girls loved. They showed him some of their toys and their tent in the living room. And then he had to leave to have lunch at his house and we had to do nap time. I was almost falling asleep on my feet. 

I put Miriam down for her nap and then after Rachel finished unloading the dishwasher we went downstairs to choose a show. She chose "Babar" on Netflix (which I love because there aren't any commercials) and I told her that because they were only twenty minutes long and because I didn't want to be disturbed for at least an hour that she could watch three episodes. 

Nap time was divine. 

Even if all Rachel did while I slept was watch television and Miriam announced that she'd "played with the finger muppets in [her] bed!" instead of napping, it was so worth it. 

Yesterday Rachel wasn't allowed to watch television but I still wanted a nap so I set the timer and told her that she had to play by herself until the timer went off and then (and only then) could she disturb me. The timer went off and she turned it off and then came and whispered to me, "You know...I'm still having fun so you can keep sleeping and I'll let you know when I get bored."

She went through a whole pad of sticky notes but I got a nap.

And, I should mentioned, that later in the day Emma Lewis, our little friend from Cairo, came over after school to play with the girls and it was fabulous. They went into the backyard and were screaming and running around and I didn't have to worry that their screams were because they were trying to kill each other because Emma has turned into a perfectly responsible babysitter and had them involved in a snowball fight (using the remains of the snowmen we built on Monday).

Anyway, today after Miriam and I woke up from our naps (or at least...after I woke up from my nap) we made some pizza dough and then went for a little walk while it was rising. The girls noticed all the flowers that are popping up in yards and when we got home Rachel asked if she could stay outside and draw the flowers. I told her she could so she got some paper and the box of crayons and headed outside to be artistic. I don't know where she put her pictures...

Miriam came inside and helped me get the toppings (or fillings, as it were, since we were making pizza pockets) ready for our pizza pockets. Then our friend Emily came outside and Rachel asked if they could go over to her yard to play but by the time we'd walked over there to ask she had been called inside to help her uncle with his homework—he had to read to her. I'm not sure what class that was for but it turned out alright because Rachel and Miriam were invited inside so that he could read to them, too, which meant that I got to finish making dinner in peace.

I thought it would be a dinner that the girls would enjoy helping with—and I'm sure it would have been—but it was also kind of nice to not have little helpers around. Cooking with children takes a lot of patience but it's good for them to learn such things, I suppose.

On Sunday I asked Rachel to peel a cucumber for dinner. It was her first time peeling a cucumber and it took her the whole time I was making dinner to do it. She was so pleased with herself.

"I can't believe I'm opening a cucumber," she said. "Dad will never believe it! When he gets home I will show him that I can shred a cucumber and he'll be so embarrassed that he'll fall over!"

It's nice to have them helping but sometimes it's stressful to have them in the kitchen so I was happy for the break. They came running home just in time for dinner and actually ate it (which means that it was good).

After dinner we were doing some things that needed to be done—I was cleaning up from dinner (still need to finish that...) with Miriam and Rachel was out in the garage with Grandma finding some tools that someone had asked to borrow—when all of a sudden a car drove up honking wildly. 

"DADDY!" Rachel yelled.

Miriam quickly ran to the garage door and started pounding on it so I let her outside, too.

Andrew's evening class was dismissed an hour and a half early, which meant that he was home an hour and a half earlier than we expected him. The girls were so happy to see him. Rachel showed him how she could run to the corner and back by herself while he "watched" and twirled Miriam around.

Rachel ran back up the hill and was slightly out of breath, but I think mostly out of excitement at seeing her Daddy than anything else.

Here are my three favourite people:

This cherry dress is Rachel's new dress. I had to wash it this morning before she would get dressed (she had better not expect me to do that before school tomorrow because it's not going to happen). Miriam is no longer wearing her new dress because she is incapable of staying in any given outfit longer than an hour (so if you see her wearing the same clothes two days in a row, chances are it's because I made her put them back in her drawer instead of in the dirty clothes basket and it's only the second hour it's been worn since being washed the last time).

They had a lot of fun being silly together.

We went into the backyard and found a patch of snow—the very last remains of our snowmen—and Daddy challenged Rachel to snow-standing contest. Whoever could stand in the snow (barefooted) the longest would be the winner!

It went over well.

After everyone stopped crying (and their toes had warmed up) we helped Daddy repack his suitcase for his next adventure. Daddy helped the girls get ready for bed. Then we had scriptures and prayer together and sent Daddy to the airport with Grandma.

His parents have been so wonderful about taking him to the airport and picking him up from the airport and then taking him to the airport and, in a couple more days, picking him up from the airport. Not to mention the huge help they are with the girls. I'm lucky to be surrounded by so many helpful people when my husband's out of town.

We certainly enjoyed this little rendezvous with our daddy. Here's to hoping we all survive until Sunday when he gets back home!