I had the amazing opportunity to go to Boise, Idaho to help our sister Melissa with her three girls, age 4, 2 and 9 months. The main goal of the trip was to keep the children alive and let Melissa recover from her surgery. (With my substitute teaching job right now, it gives me the ability to go on trips like this. I also have to thank my amazing Jeremy and our friends Merilee and Keith Blake for watching the boys so I could do this).
It was such a blessing to be with these sweet girls and with Melissa. I’m told that I did a lot of good for them, but the real truth is that these ladies did a lot of good for me! Being their pretend mother for the week allowed me to take a step away from my own cares and worries and see things through a different lens. I went home feeling empowered and refreshed for the challenges and opportunities in my own home. That’s why this trip was my #1 favorite in 2018. Below is an account of almost everything we did!
We took an autumn walk to collect leaves, and then turned them into leaf monsters. I didn’t get an up-close shot of the monsters we made, but here is what they sort of looked like. Ours, of course, were cuter.
Then we turned them into a poster display! This toddler was so focused on making pretty circles around each leaf. She spent a lot of time on it.
The nieces got to go to dance class.
Melissa was not allowed to lift anything more than 5 pounds, so this little Dot and I got to be best buds!
Lucy really liked the cucumber cookies we made with hummus frosting.
We did a STEM activity with tin foil boats and penny people. The girls made different models of boats and tested them to see which ones would float best and which ones would hold the most pennies! And then, of course, they tested how tin foil sinks when it is all crumpled up. We tried experimenting with this stuff a couple days later, and it was still a hit!
This girl was so fun to be with.
I found out that the Boise Art Museum has a family art room like the one in Chicago! I am so glad that art museums are doing this. Kids under 6 were free and the girls were entertained for hours.
Melissa stayed home to rest, and I met up with Margi Hill, who moved to Boise from MN a few months earlier. It was really cool to catch up with her. And the best part was how adorably well Margi’s little girl and the nieces played together!
When my baby niece saw this little baby boy, she crawled right over to him and gave him a big slobber on the lips. The little boy smiled and smiled. O’ fer cute!!
The girls enjoyed walking around the galleries to see the art. We didn’t look at each thing for very long, but they did enjoy exploring the exhibits, esp this one, which was all about giant jewelry.
One day, I had the girls play Cleaning Ladies with me. We called ourselves the Happy Hoof Helpers and waited for “clients” to call us, which was Melissa pretending to be old ladies. She would call my cellphone and we would take her address and set up a time to come clean various parts of her house. Then we gathered up our supplies and aprons, walked out of our “office” through the garage door, and came to our “client’s house” at the front door. The girls loved it and actually helped me clean things. Hazel was the best at helping with the master bathroom; I got a lot done because of her! As we cleaned, she asked “why is the old lady’s house so messy?” I told her, “because the old lady has grandchildren that make messes.” After cleaning a little bit more, Hazel said, “This old lady must have a LOT of grandchildren!” Haha. I didn’t get any pictures of us doing the game because we were actually very busy at work, but I got a picture of me to remember that I dressed up with the girls.
I brought some girl outfits that I had been saving if I ever had girls of my own. Since I have all these nieces, it seems fitting to give some of my stuff to them. This outfit is one I wore as a baby. Even though it was too small for the Dorothy, she crawled around in them for a few hours.
One day, we went to the Nature Center because it was free and the Hoofs had never been there. Melissa braved it and came with us. We had a great time walking the short trail together, eating a picnic lunch and exploring the exhibits inside. Since this was in November, they had a lot of stuff about turkeys, and I finally learned what that red thing over their beak is called: snood.
We made ribbon trees while Jon and Melissa went on a date.
I had fun pretending I know how to fix girl hair.
We had a great time at church. I got this baby girl to fall asleep during RS. So so fun to hold her while she slept. Also, I walked all 3 girls to and from church since they live close. I wanted to challenge myself to get some excersize, and afterward I decided that was enough to last me for at least two weeks!
When they showed interest in cleaning the money, I jumped on it. They were occupied for quite a while, and I had time to quikcly do dishes, sweep, rotate laundry, and make some lunch! Notice the cute shirt that Lucy is wearing. It was something I got in Thailand years ago and it looked so cute on her.
I was pretty excited about their hairdos that I managed to do that morning.
Dotty doing her thing! She liked crawling everywhere and played really well all alone in their play space. I wore her on my back a couple times while I did kitchen chores, and she also did really well with the walker, sucking on a wet washcloth or eating cherrios.
A big trick she learned while I was there was to wave!! It was so sweet. Also, with Melissa’s permission, I did baby signs with her, and there were at least 3 or 4 times where I swear she was trying to sign “more.” These cupboards that Dotty is trying to get into are the ones that I reorganized for Melissa, per her request. I also was able to reorganize her junk drawer and the miscellaneous cupboards in her kitchen.
Family home evening was so precious. I mean, look at this adorable family.
Lesson was probably my favorite part. We also painted a giant masterpiece together using homemade paint and actual flowers for the paint brushes. The girls danced for us to the song “Gethsemane.”
Dotty was such an easy girl for me to take care of. She slept in my room and after the 2nd or 3rd night, she slept all through the night the rest of the week.
Saying goodbye was really hard. My heart grew so much for my nieces and for Melissa! I love, love, love them all so much.
