I was on the phone making a dental appointment at the time, so the receptionist had to listen to me cheering and giving Eva high-fives, helping her flush and wash her hands, and giving her M&M’s. “Sorry”, I told the lady, “I’m potty training a toddler right now.” “I figured it was something like that,” she laughed. Success is such a rare opportunity, I wasn’t about to make Eva wait for her reward, for fear she might decide it wasn’t worth it and not do it again!
Eva has become more and more adamant that when it comes to getting dressed, she wants to do everything by herself. In fact, she gets really testy and tries to yank the clothes out of my hands if I try to dress her because I’m in a hurry. She can pull up her underwear and pants, although she gets confused about which side is front or back. She can pull a shirt over her head and put her arms through the sleeves. Sometimes she can put on her socks, but usually needs help. And she can put on her shoes, although she makes the typically adorable mistake of putting them on the wrong feet. She still wants me to change her diapers, which is ironic. We’ve switched completely over to training pants, which she’s proud of, though she still uses them as diapers. We had a small victory yesterday when she actually used the potty for Daddy and got an M&M, but then she had an accident only an hour later.
I got sick of our kitchen being only half painted while we tried to decide what to do with it, so this weekend I finally went out and bought some sage green paint. I started with a test wall, just to see how we liked it, but before long Dave had pulled everything into the middle of the room, and we painted it all in one afternoon. It looks sooo much better! The old dark green just sucked the light out of the room, and the beige was too boring and bland, but the sage is a wonderful compromise. I can’t believe how warm, bright and cheery it is. What a difference one can of paint can make! Now, to replace those cabinets….LOL!
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Music |
| Genre: | Christian & Gospel |
| Artist: | Steven Curtis Chapman |
Aunt Nanci sent Eva a beautiful little playhouse for her third birthday, and already it’s a big hit. Eva plays with the toy phone and pretends to call Grandma, “washes” toy silverware in the sink, and “eats” play food on the table. Dave put her potty chair in there, hoping it would encourage her to use it, but so far no dice. Amanda just sits on the floor in wonderment at her sister’s antics, or sometimes pulls herself to a stand to peek out the window.
Eva was really bummed yesterday because I couldn’t let her go outside and play in it while it was raining, and there it was, taunting her through the sliding glass window overlooking our back patio. I made her a tent out of blankets and furniture in the living room instead, which seemed to help for a little while. Aunt Laura sent Eva a portable camp chair shaped like a monkey, so that was another early birthday treat for her.
We arrived home on Sunday, on the tail end of a weekend heat wave. It was still warm enough to wear shorts and a T-shirt when I drove to the airport to pick up David & Eva. When we got home, the house was 82 degrees – the warmest it has ever been since we moved to Oregon. It was wonderful to open all the windows and let the fresh air in, after months of winter cold. Snow levels all over the Northwest melted up to 26 inches in two days, causing flooding in several rivers. Newscasters have been warning people to stay out of the icy waters and rapid currents, and there have been road closures in some areas of Washington and Idaho.
With such warm weather, I let the girls play outside in their new playhouse, on the grass and the concrete patio. Poor Amanda’s knees and feet were getting red and raw from crawling, areas that up until now had been covered by clothes. Even when I brought her back inside, it was painful for her to crawl on the carpet.
Oddly enough, only two days later, the weather already chilled back down to the 60’s with clouds and rain, and some of the mountains are receiving new snowfall. We’re already back to wearing long sleeves and pants. Hopefully this will give Amanda a change to grow some calluses. It’s supposed to continue like this for the rest of the week. What weird weather! I don’t think I’ll ever fully get used to it.
The past few days have been focused largely on catching up on lost sleep, aggravated by the time change. Saturday, after the wedding, I stayed up visiting with friends and packing until 1am, and then woke at 5:15am (3:15am Pacific Time) to head to the airport. After arriving home, I spent the rest of the day unpacking, doing laundry, and menu planning, apart from heading back to the airport for Dave & Eva. By the time I got to bed it was 11pm (1am Wisconsin time), so I had been up for almost 20 hours on about 4 hours of sleep (not counting interruptions to nurse). It really caught up with me on Monday. I tried to get back into the groove, but was so tired I started getting headaches and nausea. I actually crashed at 9:30pm (which for a night owl like me is VERY rare). I think the problem is aggravated by the fact that what little sleep I DO get is interrupted to nurse Amanda, so I get a series of short sleep intervals instead of one long, deep sleep. Oh, well, a few more nights and I should be back to my normal (only HALF sleep-deprived) self. 
Suzanne has lived in the UK long enough that she now intones her questions like a Brit, though her Canadian accent hasn’t changed. She loves kids, and Amanda fell asleep for a solid hour in her arms at one point during the reception. She’ll be a great mother, whenever that dream comes true for her. Lori is the same generous, artistic, fun and crazy girl I remember. She used to drop in for impromptu dance parties with us (yes, Lori, I have photographic evidence…hahaha!), and you always know you’re in for a good time when she’s around. She arranged the flowers and designed the guestbook beautifully.
Eva was her sweet, helpful self, jumping in with a smile to tackle anything that still needed to be done, from washing dishes to chopping veggies for the food trays. Her encouragement and servant’s heart dispels the stress within seconds, and her cheerful spirit gets you laughing in spite of yourself. She has a ready arsenal of comebacks for the inevitable short jokes from strangers, too, which is always entertaining. The only person missing was Nicola, who had to fly home to Germany to attend to her father, who is gravely ill. We really missed having her there.
I love this group of girls so much, and cherish every brief moment we get together. The wonderful thing about our friendships over the past 12 years has been that time and distance seem to have no effect. No matter how long it’s been, you can drop us in a room together and we pick right up where we left off, as if we’d never been apart. Amanda warmed up to these “strangers” much better than I expected, letting them hold her with an ease that would have been unthinkable just a couple months ago. Hooray for little miracles! J
Everything about this wedding fit Kate’s personality perfectly, and I couldn’t imagine a better one for her. From her Old English style gown worn with funky glitter sandals, to tea and scones for the reception, to classic dance music. The wedding was held under a tent in a clearing of the woods outside her parent’s home; a small gathering of about 50 people. The house has a large living room with a pool under the floor, with a kitchen in a balcony overlooking it, and bedrooms, office and sitting room on either side. Friends and family did most of the preparations, from food to flowers, so the house was always bustling.
Kate walked down the aisle to the theme from “Emma”. Scattered throughout the service were worship songs led by our friend Eva. I did a reading of Psalm 100, and her sister Jane read Colossians 3: 12-19. After the vows, the kilted minister gave a short message, followed by a formal signing of the register (apparently it’s a British custom to sign the marriage contract as part of the ceremony). Then came more worship and the recessional, as Kate and her new husband skipped back down the aisle (it’s an old joke that Kate and her friends enjoy frolicking through the fields).
A hunt for a lost camera put the dancing on hold for about ½ an hour at one point. Amanda was tired and wanting to nurse, so I went ahead and changed back into jeans and a nursing top. So there’s a few pictures of me in jeans dancing “YMCA” while everyone else is dressed up. Oh, well, I know Kate didn’t mind! J Finally the bride and groom took off in their rented Mustang, bearing their “Team Allen, 2008” sweatshirts provided by Eva, while we all tossed rose petals. Phil’s family were unfortunately unable to fly across the pond, but they were able to watch the wedding and reception from England via live feed through Skype, and even respond back through a microphone and speaker. They’ll have a chance to celebrate with Kate and Phil after they return to the UK.
After they left, I hung out for the rest of the evening with Eva, Lori and Suzanne. My flight was early the next morning, so this was the last time I’d get to spend with them for a long time. We noticed the guest book was only half full, so we spent the rest of the evening filling blank pages with entries from bogus guests, complete with pictures cut out of magazines. We included a guy in a bathtub, a group of Arabs dressed to the nines (congratulating Phil on his “first wife”), and even an avocado (congratulating our favorite vegetarian, while complaining it wasn’t included in the menu). LOL! What can I say? You never know what goofy schemes we’ll come up with while exhausted and giggly. 
All too soon it was time to go, so Eva & Suzanne drove me back home to pack. I stayed the weekend with Kate’s sister Jane, her husband Todd, and their two boys, 2-year-old Nathan and 3-month-old Zachary. They were such generous hosts, I can certainly see that Kate’s gift of hospitality runs in the family! Jane had a welcome basket filled with snacks in the finished basement where I slept with Amanda, and Todd would stoke the fire occasionally at night to keep us warm. It was nice to stay with another family with young children, and spend time with another nursing mom. It was a wonderful weekend!
Even with the hiccup in getting there, I hear they had a great time. Dave took lots of video of Eva playing at the beach, with Nanci’s dogs, and at Grandma’s house in her new summer outfits. San Diego looks as warm and sunny as I remember, and everyone looks like they haven’t changed a bit. I look forward to going again as a family in August, so I can visit with everyone, and they can see Amanda, too.
That’s a real blessing, since we found out our stimulus check (part of which was originally going towards fence materials) will be delayed for at least another month. When we filed online with TurboTax, it asked us if we wanted the fees taken out of our refund, and we checked “yes”. That one choice means that our direct deposit came through TurboTax, not the IRS. So instead of getting a direct deposit in May, we have to wait for a paper check in July. It’s amazing the impact that one seemingly meaningless, little choice can make!
But if I want to put them down at the same time, I have to juggle a little. Putting them both down at the same time, awake in their beds, is completely useless. They chatter and giggle, and keep one another awake (I know, it starts young! LOL!). Inevitably, I have to put Eva down first, and nurse Amanda to sleep in the other room. Then when they’re both asleep, I lay Amanda quietly down in her crib. Amanda is almost certainly the first to wake, so I have to rush in the minute she starts crying to keep her from waking Eva. If Eva wakes, but is still really tired, she’ll just say drowsily, “Shhh, Amanda!”, roll over and go back to sleep.
He told me it was quite a ride, though in Mianyang, it was "only" a 6.0. Even for earthquake-seasoned Californians like us, that's still a jolt. Poor Ayrian isn't used to earthquakes, being from Montana, so it was really a scary experience for her. Their apartment building is fine, and so are all the newer buildings in the city, but the older ones that weren't reinforced just crumbled. Tim said he could see dust clouds billowing outside his window as a building collapsed. Though most of the city residents decided to sleep outside in the street, Tim felt being inside their reinforced building was safer. Almost all of the buildings are high-rises, and if they start to topple over you don't want to be in their path. Even so, they had to open the windows for cooler air, and were plagued by mosquitos. They had about 40 aftershocks during the night, too, which made it difficult to sleep.
One of Tim's buddies went to a store to try and stock up on more food, but the line was so long he knew it would take him at least two hours to get his turn at the register. Suddenly there was an aftershock and everyone ran outside, but he stayed behind and walked up to the empty counter. When the cashiers returned, he just paid for the items and left. 
They're doing OK for now, so we're very relieved. Their main concern right now is buying food and bottled water, since many of the shops have spiked their prices already. They also got hit with an unexpected $500 charge for a new visa, because the Chinese government is cracking down on visas prior to the Olympics, and would only give them visas for one month instead of the usual 6 months.
They have a website here: http://www.stonehousehold.org/index.html It hasn't been updated since last year, but there's still good info on there, and a link for donating through PayPal, if you're interested.
We have not yet heard from Tim or his family. My mother spoke to one of their supervisors in Washington, who said they heard from another team member that they were OK, but they don't know anything more. We are relieved to know that they are alive at least, and hopefully not injured. The only new coverage coming out of Mianyang right now shows people sleeping on the streets for fear of aftershocks and unsound structures. We don't know the state of their apartment or what resources they have access to. This map shows their proximity to the epicenter: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/pager/events/us/2008ryan/index.html 
