Getting There

We have a bunk bed & a kitchen table! The long search is over and we are relieved to have it so. I guess all the effort was worth it. We saved a little money and after three weeks of eating and sleeping on the floor we appreciate what we otherwise may have taken for granted. A place to sleep & a place to eat in the same week. Things are really looking up.

Josh skipped a class on Thursday of this week and went to Home Depot with Kate to get boards to hold up her mattress. She was so excited about going on an adventure with her Dad. When they came home we put her bed together with sheets, a quilt, a teddy bear, and a butterfly nightlight. There is still plenty to be done, but Kate is thrilled with everything. She has taken all of her dolls up the ladder to her bed to check it out.

Our house is starting to feel more like home. We have good meals. Everything is finding it’s place. We joined the ward play group. We got into our morning scripture study routine. Our car got hit. We had some friends over to play. Life as usual is starting to emerge from the chaos of moving. If only I can figure out a time to ride my bike.

Friday Josh headed out to a Wharton Leadership yada yada where they build strong relationships and learn about their core values. Well, regardless of what grand lessons they learn from the experience what it really means is they abandon their families and go play around. We decided to play around too instead of moping. There was an exhibit on Napoleon down at the Constitution Center that I wanted to see. So I packed up the girls and we headed out on our adventure. On the way down the street to pick up the trolley I talked to Kate about how she would need to be big and brave and climb on the trolley by herself so that I could carry Jane and the stroller and pay for our ticket. The trolley pulled up, she wove her way to the front of the line, climbed up the steps, found a seat, and grabbed on to the poll ready for the trolley to move. I hadn’t even made it on yet! It was so cute. There is no holding that little one back.

I am really enjoying time to just play with my girls. We go on adventures, eat popsicles on the front steps, read piles of books, play with play-doh, make cookies, visit museums, do workbooks, play with toys, video chat with cousins and grandparents, sing cheesy songs, and make smoothies when we feel like it. We are doing our best to take care of each other.

Saturday we went with another Wharton widow and her two little girls to find the public library. It is a beautiful building from the outside and very well used on the inside. The girls had fun pulling books off the shelf and playing with the little computer station they had for kids. I got them each a library card and we checked out two books each. A couple of hours after we returned home I went downstairs and found Kate cutting the covers off the books we borrowed. They had that clear plastic cover on them that libraries use to protect the books. Well, Kate thought that she had to “open” the books to read them. So the covers of two of the books are now in approximately 500,000 nicely cut strips. Just the way you want to start off a relationship with the library. Needless to say we had a little chat about what it means to borrow a book from the library. I’ll let you know how the apology goes this week as we return what is left of the covers.

I was called into the Young Women today. We have one active young woman and something like 50 on the roles. It should be an interesting experience. I would love some advice from those of you who serve in young women. I have been in Relief Society mode so long that I am feeling rather lost.