Safety and Peas

We kept ourselves very busy this week so that we wouldn’t have time to think about how long it had been since we saw Joshua. We went to the dinosaur museum with the Wharton Kids’ Club, we had lunch with the Asian crowd at Jinhee’s house, we went to Longwood Gardens with our friends the Mortensons, we did our preschool with Makenna and Asialene, we rode along the Schuylkill River path several times enjoying the beautiful weather, and, of course, we went to gymnastics. Finally, when no one else would to play with us, we went to Wharton and made Josh join us for lunch.

Now, lest you think Josh was completely neglecting us, I have to at least give him credit for working in a record number of trips to the car dealership admits his crazy Wharton schedule this week. Our car has been in and out of the shop so many times I have lost track. Every time, Josh patiently drives the car to the shop, walks from the shop to school, negotiates with the mechanics over the phone between classes and then walks back to the shop after class to pick up the car. We will ALL be glad when this process is over and we will be able to go to the grocery store and stop getting our daily ticket for not having current emissions tags.

Today was our primary program, the first primary program in which I have had a child participate. That must be a rite of passage of some sort. Kate did great. She spoke clearly and slowly so everyone could understand her speaking parts and she sang a solo! Several of the children were asked to sing a verse of Follow the Prophet. When I read Kate’s verse I just rolled my eyes:

Abraham the prophet prayed to have a son,

So the Lord sent Isaac as the chosen one,

Isaac begat Jacob, known as Israel

Israel’s sons were twelve tribes, so the Bible tells.

Begat? Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob? The twelve tribes of Israel? Honestly, my daughter is 4! Well, never underestimate your 4-year-old. We had a Family Home Evening lesson on Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the sons of Israel, which seemed to give her some context for what she was singing, and then we practiced the song every morning at scriptures. Kate and Jane both have that verse down by heart now and Kate stood up there with confidence and sang.

Primary is amazing. What a blessing to learn pure and simple doctrine and, as an added bonus, learn valuable life skills at such a young age. Our primary is quite a sight, obviously not very big since Kate had two speaking parts and a solo in the program. There are children of every race and ethnicity, some new to the gospel, some surrounded by it. Several of the kids, especially Kate, were staring off blankly into space for good chunks of time, but the moment they started singing I Know That My Savior Loves Me the Spirit flooded the room. Thank you to all those serving our children in the Primary!

We had a great Philly moment this week. After we met Josh at Wharton for lunch we left him the car to be taken in yet again to the shop and the girls and I took the bike home. We hooked up the chariot, I rolled up my pants, and we were off. I have pulled the chariot on bike paths. I have pulled it up mountains and through fields of snow. I have pushed it along suburban streets. But I have never pulled it through city traffic. We were “safely” in the bike lane, of course, but when a bus came barreling past just a few inches away I know a few more of my hairs turned white. It was actually quite fun. This city is so alive and so beautiful with the river running through it. I knew we were having a great big city experience, but I was also very happy to pull up to our row home and unload my girls.

We made up for lost time with Josh this weekend and packed yesterday full of fun. Josh and the girls made german pancakes for breakfast. We went to a Penn v Harvard football game. It was a lot like going back to a High School football game, much more about socializing than watching football. (We went with several of the LDSSA families.)Penn won, of course! Down with Harvard scum. ☺ The stadium was incredible. Like all things in Philadelphia, it was the FIRST stadium. My favorite part, however, was the battle of wits during half time. The marching bands were playing and each school had prepared a witty slam of the other school--Ivy League humor. After the game we took our girls to our friends’ house and went out to dinner!

Between adventures this week the girls have had plenty of play time at home. I love to watch them play together whether it is riding their stick horses, practicing gymnastics, playing paper dolls, reading to each other, or coloring side by side. Kate invents what she refers to as her “amazing games” and they pretend to be Indians or cowgirls. Kate will disappear downstairs and set up different props, i.e. mixing bowls, dress ups, stickers, etc., in strategic places. Then she will come upstairs and say, “Hey, Jane, do you want to come play one of my amazing games?” and they will run off together hand in hand. If Jane is asleep then it is, “Hey, Mom, do you want to come play one of my amazing games?”

Jane was dressed in her full princess outfit one day this week: fluffy skirt, fairy wings, pink everything, glittery crown. She had crocs on her feet but came up to me with her sparkly shoes in her hand and said, “Mom, I am a princess. Can you put these on me? Crocs are too mountainy!”

With all the preparation for the primary program we have been doing a lot of singing around this house lately. The girls are always singing something. If it isn’t a primary song it is an Indian song from Pocahontas or the “boy songs” from Mulan. We were singing Keep the Commandments at scripture time one morning. Jane was doing her best to follow along and then all of the sudden her eyes lit up as we sang “safety and peace” and she exclaimed, “We have peas! Right up there!” [pointing to the freezer]. So, if anyone is looking for peas, we have got them on hand. Peace, that may be harder to come by, but we know where to start. ☺