Mike’s sister, Giolina, got married! We’re so excited for her!
Gia is fantastically gorgeous, and I even got to see her in the wedding dress a few times between runs in search of Carter. Once, the cameraman cornered Carter at the fence separating the temple grounds from downtown roads. That was a close one. I successfully kept Carter’s finger off the cake, his head of wild, blond hair away from the ring ceremony procession, and his screams out of hearing range during the family toasts. I know, Gia, I know, but I love you and I knew it was up to me to see that your wedding came out okay.
Mia was her typical fearless self and had many admirers during the reception. Hello, guys, she’s four. Reception dancing=awesome. Gia and Chason even provided half a dozen friends who knew Latin moves and we rocked out. Lina was too shy to show off her break dancing. She can roll from a kneeling position into a shoulder/forehead head-stand. It’s so amazing. I have literally started an upper body workout challenge so that I can keep up with my girls. Cora can hold a handstand for like five seconds.
During wedding festivities, Mike’s sisters, dad, and stepmom stayed with us part of the time. Right as they were leaving, the worst thing happened. My sister, Karen, and Gia, the lucky bride, moved to California. So sad. At least Karen and her family stayed with us one night, the night that my brother, Nate, came to town to party between semesters of med school. A few weeks later, almost my whole family met up in Colorado near Rocky Mountain National Forest to camp. In tents. With twelve kids under the age of ten. And it rained five of the seven days we were there.
And it was awesome!
Wild flowers everywhere, Mike and Sandi’s wonderful shade canopies that protected us from rain. We had clotheslines up to dry wet things. We had bins full of larval praying mantises and obscure, enormous beetles courtesy of Ryan’s insect-catchers and nature-prowess. We had “the camp chef”—a griddle worthy of feeding twenty-five per meal. Mike and my girls made breakfast every morning WHILE I SLEPT IN. Blueberry pancakes, ham ‘n eggs on English muffins, biscuits and gravy, bacon burritos. Bacon burritos? Yes. It was heaven.
Plus, kids love dirt. I should give up on carpet and install dirt. My kids never said they were bored, rarely fought, never whined about when the next meal was coming, and willingly submitted to round after round of sunscreen and bug spray applications all because of dirt. It’s a canvas, a pottery medium, a pillow, a camouflage, a stage, and a provider of the other camping favorite: rocks. Rocks to eat (Graham loves dirt, too, don’t get me wrong), to throw, to hit, to stack, to fill up pockets, to smash things. Oh, the things you can do with rocks and dirt!
A few days after getting back, Nate had to say goodbye and pack up for Pennsylvania via a New York mini-vacation. Go Nate! Med school will be worth it in the end, I’m told.
After that, we rolled up our sleeves and painted two rooms and nearly all the trim in the house. I put the stencil on that you see in the picture. Yes, that’s my front room. I took me four days with several midnight-plus evenings. It was worth every second. Mike was a little wary during the idea stages. (Mike: Wait, buy the paint? Don’t you want to think about the colors more? Nikki: It’s the color we picked out with your dad last year, and again Karen last month. And remember I showed it to you when we finished the basement? Mike: But I thought the colors were just an idea. Nikki: They’ve been just an idea. For a year. I’m buying them). But Mike was totally great during the actual painting and he might even love it as much as I do.
Later, we assembled a set of bunk beds for Mia and Cora. Lina’s bed is coming Wednesday, but we’ve already moved the girls downstairs and they love it. I love it because Carter is all by himself in a room at bedtime, where he sings for an hour about Super Why and no one is bothered. It’s incredible.
Besides all that, we’ve planted seven trees out back and, thank the heavens above, got a fence installed finally. Hallelujah! Mom sent a slide and a sandbox kit for Carter’s birthday and those are up. Let’s hear it for warm breezes, late afternoon clouds, a little fall garden budding in the background, and children laughing. Cora and Lina are back in school, so that means they have to get right to work enjoying summer every afternoon. I block them as much as possible from homework and other distractions. Play of this sort is precious. Yay, summer!
Now for a few quotes:
Carter: No, Graham! Not the penis! Not the penis! (What you’re picturing is correct.)
Carter: (showing me his doll, which he pats tenderly) Here’s my baby. This my Graham cracker. (Sorry to keep interrupting, but Graham cracker is what we call Graham. And isn’t Carter so cute?)
Carter: (after burping) I bupt. Accuse me.
Uncle Nate: That was a mighty big fart, Carter. What do you say after a fart like that?
Carter: (shocked) What da heck?
Carter: That’s yours keys, Daddy.
Mike: (correcting Carter) That’s your keys.
Carter: Not my keys, that’s yours keys!
Me: Carter, stop, stop stop!
Carter: (silence as he stomps on my cellphone after the password he entered wouldn’t work)
Mia: (while praying) We’re thanks for this day. Please bless that we can have a gospel. Please bless that we can feel the strongness.
Oh by the way, Carter is now potty-trained. Sort of. Carter faces the toilet bowl to pee and sticks his fingers in his urine stream. He insists on totally privacy, and then calls me back inside the bathroom to make faces at me. “Go away!” he yells to me again. Finally I’ll hear a small trickle of water and Carter giggling. “Mommy!” he calls. He sings and flushes the toilet—five times if I don’t stop him. He waves, “Bye, bye, pees! Go away! Go away!” He wiggles and squirms so I have to make him get dressed. Even his socks had to be removed for potty-business.
Poppy (AKA Grandpa): (offering a celery stick) Want a bite?
Mia: (being polite) I’ll lick the peanut butter off.
Another update: not only does Graham eat from the floor, he bypasses his hands sometimes and pecks directly at yesterday’s crumbs with his mouth like a woodpecker. Graham also prefers walking to crawling. He toddles fastest the closer he gets to the verge of falling. Then, wham! And he has four older siblings ready to comfort him.
Carter: Dad, there’s a necklace in your mouth!
Mike: Those are braces.
Carter: No, a necklace! (Weeks have passed, and Carter continues to call Mike’s braces a necklace.)
So yes, Mike now has braces. I’m so excited for him! He hates them, but has wanted them for a long time. He only has them on the bottom teeth and will get Invisalign on the top. He’s getting so good-looking these days. His tan is much better than mine, he’s lost weight, and he’s got muscles everywhere! Seriously, he’s been doing great on this new workout plan he follows.
And finally, in the past month, I’ve had one rejection from an agent with my manuscript, but five others still have it, so I’ve got my fingers crossed. Separate from that, I’ve partnered with a number of other young adult writers, some with publishing contracts, some agented with important New York people, and some with blogs on writing with hundreds of followers. I’m pretty excited to be accepted. We’ve started a website called RealWritersWrite. We’re still setting it up, but letting friends and family see it. My post last week was:
“Is Your Main Character Smarter than a Fifth Grader?”
I love writing! Click on the picture and check out my post. And go get some sunshine while the getting’s good!
