Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

So…on Saturday the 6th the older girls and I went to see their cousins in a local theatre production of “Descendants”, after which they slept over with said cousins and I headed home. We did family dinner at my in-laws’ on Sunday the 7th–where we celebrated our immediate family’s July birthdays as well as the August ones, since July was crazy–and left for Kanosh on Monday morning to spend a couple of days with our friends there. (I watched my 7-year-old wander around outside in the grass and brush, playing with and cuddling their kittens, and it tugged at my heart–it may be the closest any of my children will ever come to experiencing what my own childhood was like.) We hit up the Merc for candy and went to the Indian bathtub–a dammed up swimming hole in Corn Creek–where I managed to bang my shin spectacularly while getting out of the water. (It was totally fun, though.) On our way home on Wednesday we grabbed my Provo nephew and took him to lunch; we made it home in time for an appointment at 3 and then the littles went to bed early (the older girls had Young Womens). On the 11th my oldest got her braces off (yay!) and her gums lasered (yuck), after which we headed down to Pleasant Grove to visit friends. On Friday I walked over to the school for PTA stuff, dropped my oldest off for an appointment at 11, and then helped with a birthday party to which my littles were invited while my hubby picked up my oldest, got her to the orthodontist for her retainer, and worked from home.

Last weekend, thankfully, was relatively chill–which was good, since on Monday my oldest took her permit test (and drove briefly around the church parking lot), my second went to the orthodontist and had her gums lasered, and my niece went swimming with all of the kids while I made dinner and tidied. Yesterday my oldest and I had the podiatrist at 8:30, so my hubby dropped the 3 younger kids at piano. After the podiatrist we headed to the high school for the oldest’s school picture and a brief schedule walk before picking up the other three and hitting the library and the pharmacy. We did manage a half hour at home after that, heading out to meet my hubby at the Pretzelmaker by his work around 1 for my second girlie’s (early) birthday lunch. We made it home from THAT just in time for my littles to go swimming with friends–although they ended up at a splashpad instead, since all of the rec pools apparently switched to non-summer hours this week–and then it was back to school night at the junior high, followed by a few minutes of child directions before I headed off to a bridal shower. Today we had a birthday breakfast for the birthday girl–I now have TWO teenagers!–and I dropped my son off at a friend’s at 10 before settling in to dishes and laundry and cleanup. I did manage dinner in the crockpot, followed by a brief lunch with the birthday girl and me, even briefer trips to the bank, the orthodontist, and Ream’s, and then back to school night at the elementary school at 4. After taking my kids to meet their teachers they walked home with an older sister while I helped man the PTA table. (This was crazy, and bless the other two board members for making the bank deposit afterwards so that I could get home and feed people, even though we didn’t end up able to do presents before YW.) My older two still aren’t home, which is frustrating–it was supposed to be a “short” activity–but the youngest is in bed, my hubby’s finishing up with our son, and I’m going to review Firefly Hollow, because I finished reading it aloud with my 7-year-old tonight before she went to bed.

You know those books that aren’t quite sure what age they want to be for? Alison McGhee’s Firefly Hollow is totally one of those. I could see story nuances in ways my girlie couldn’t until the very end, and yet the concept–a cricket named Cricket, a firefly named Firefly, and their friendship with a lonely boy–feels young. (Then again, the nature of that friendship AND the characters of Cricket and Firefly are more complex, so maybe it’s just less my thing?) There are occasional full page illustrations, which my girlie enjoyed, and at the end of the day, I think this is a Velveteen Rabbit sort of tale. (Only longer.) Animal lovers and thoughtful, perceptive readers should enjoy this one.*

*Sorry for the abrupt ending…it’s a long post and I just kind of petered out…