Sweet Sunday

It usually seems that Sunday is the perfect ending to any kind of week and the perfect beginning to the next. It's a day to rest from the past and prepare for the future. I think a lot on Sunday. All my thoughts that didn't get adequate attention during the week pile up and Sunday is my day to sort through them.

I had a nice balance of work, fun (lunch dates, swimming, play dates) and responsibility this week. I almost feel caught up on laundry, most of the rooms in my house are almost clean and Ialmost got everything on my to do list marked off. Saturday was the first Saturday in a very long time that was completely unscheduled. It was so nice to be able to clean and not worry about having to be anywhere at a certain time.

I have so much stuff in my house. I kept waiting to have a garage sale, or sell it online, but last night I read a conference talk about helping the needy and then today in our program at church I read something about DI needing donations and I decided I really just need to donate it. That's my goal this week: get rid of everything I have been hoarding for a garage sale. That's an easy way to help those in need.

I think one of my life long quests is going to be to lighten up. It's hard for me to just lay on the floor and play with my kids when the house is a mess, to go out to eat when we have dinner at home and to stop, pay to go to a swimming pool when we can swim for free and read a book or two to Clara when I have work to do. I did good this week.

I know life is one big game of two steps forward and one step back. However, knowing that doesn't make it any less discouraging for me when it happens. During the step back, it is hard to remember the two steps forward was worth the effort. Just when I think we are going to make it through the month on our budget, a large expense comes up. Just when I think certain issues are behind me, they come back to haunt me. Just when I think Hazel is getting over her waking up before the sun, she starts it again. I guess that's why they say life is a journey, not a destination.

I love my garden! I finally picked one of my bell peppers. I don't know if I'll ever get over how amazing growing food is.

I was so focused on my cute, tiny little fuzzy melons and the curly cues that I didn't notice a rapidly maturing melon that made me smile when I first saw it. I first noticed it when it was about the size of a men's softball, and now it's probably just smaller than Hazel's head. Neat!
For lunch today we had meatless taco salad and used lettuce and tomatoes from our garden. It seems my Sweet 100's tomato plant has kicked production up a notch.

Does anyone else think it's funny that a certain member of the household just checks out every Sunday afternoon for several hours? Or is that just in our house? Every week it makes me chuckle a little that they assume they have no responsibility for most of the time between church and dinner. What would happen if the moms did that? I kind of want to try it sometime, on a day other than Mother's Day. It'd be really funny to test it out next week on Father's Day. Just kidding.

My little Hazel basil. She rolls and rolls and rolls and then sucks/bites on whatever she lands on or next to. This is cute when I find her sucking on a toy. It's not cute when she's sucking on my shoe or the metal closet door track or chewing on the piano leg.

She cut her first tooth today. I knew it was close, but that is little comfort that she's not even six months yet. As if it didn't feel like time was already flying, now she's getting teeth 3+ months sooner than Clara did. This is a picture I took on Friday of her bulging little gums. If you look closely, you can see the little white teeth just under the gums.
I hope this explains her extra early morning crying. I thought it was because she kept getting her chunky little legs stuck, but it happened again after lowering her crib and putting the bumper back in. I guess now I'll blame it on the teeth. She's been such a good baby and a good sleeper that I feel caught off guard when she starts waking up early and I don't know what to do. Clara started crawling around 6 months old so I laid a few inches from Hazel to see if she appears interested in moving forward and she just sat and smiled at me for about 5 minutes. I'm thinking she won't be crawling any time soon, but who knows. I think I'm having a harder time being okay with her growing up, but the excitement of her new phases, accomplishments and milestones certainly do a good job of keeping me from focusing too much on the past.

And now this girl.

She has the cutest little face, complete with beautiful blue eyes, little red lips, tiny little button nose, soft skin and the cutest little dimples. I guess it all offsets her little attitude that is anything but cute. About a month ago I was having a really hard time with her disobeying and throwing fits over just about everything. After pondering and praying over the situation, I decided to implement a 3 strikes plan. If Clara could go without 3 strikes during the day, she would get a book read to her at night. If she threw a fit, she didn't get another chance, she immediately got a strike. This lasted less than a week because it snapped her out of her wild streak. We still have disobedience and fits, but not all day every day like before. We recently started reading chapter books together. The first was Stuart Little. I am amazed at her level of reading comprehension. Hopefully this is a sign that she's not taking after me in that department (trust me, I have the ACT score to prove it). While at the library I saw the American Girls series so I grabbed one. I loved those as a kid. After we finish this one, I'm thinking we won't explore any more of that series until she's older. They aren't really age appropriate right now. Luckily the one we have is only 4 chapters so we can start on our next one soon. Clara loves Hazel. She's recently found out how to make her giggle and laugh even more than Jason. I love watching them and will always remember how cute they are when they interact.
While I was typing this, Clara was supposed to be having quiet time. I went to check on her when I heard something in the kitchen and found this.
I am glad I didn't get upset over it because she told me, "I'm so sorry, Mom. I said a prayer to Heavenly Father so He would forgive me because I did something wrong." Looks like the primary lesson on forgiveness came at the perfect timing. My goodness she makes me laugh.

My heart is full.