Family Fun!

We had a busy week as always.  We have been trying (and failing) to potty train James.  I've been going in for allergy shots 3 times a week.  Monday was typical laundry and grocery shopping.  

Tuesday, I had a dentist appointment in the morning, after which I dropped James off with a friend and went to the temple - it was a really nice morning, and next week I'll watch her kids so she can go!  Tuesday night, I had a concert -  I picked up Christina and we drove over to the High School where the concert was - it was a benefit concert, so we were just a small part of the whole, but it was a really neat performance and a really neat thing to be part of.  

Wednesday was our library day - James just loves going to the library with Riley and Tayanna.  It's funny because both James and Tayanna love to talk about each other and always want to see each other, but when we get them together, they rarely play together!  I didn't have choir since we had the concert the night before so I got a relaxing Wednesday evening at home.  

Thursday James and I went up to Becky's house.  Adena's first comment when we came in was "BAMES (she can't say James) I MISSED YOU!"  and gave him a big hug!  It was so cute. and they played together well so Becky and I got to have fun talking and crafting!  

Friday, I picked up Heather after the allergy shot and we chatted about food and decorations for her wedding, then I packed up the van and after I picked up the kids from school, we grabbed Dan and headed off for the ward family campout.  I felt sadly un-prepared, but next time, I'll do the planning instead of expecting Dan to do it all :)  We had a great time hanging out with friends and chatting and eating and fishing.  The kids all got to do some fishing, but didn't catch anything.  The only down side was that it got REALLY cold that night.  James couldn't manage to stay in his sleeping bag or under his blankets, so we brought him into bed with us, and he promptly passed out.  Evie had to go to the bathroom around 3am and was freezing by the time she got back, so she joined us too - it was nice and warm on our air mattress by that point, but poor Dan kept falling out of bed....  

Here's a great shot of Eileen fishing near our gorgeous camping area!

Saturday morning, we ate breakfast, then had to pack up to get home in time for Eileen's flute lessons.  We got home in time to be there for the men to come do the concrete in our back yard.  The kids all loved trying to help out - and they were very patient (helps that they are in our ward) with them.  James woke up from his nap and went straight outside and stepped in it - but the guys were still there and able to smooth his little footprints out!

Dan and I put the 3 younger kids to bed and left Eileen and Anna in charge and went out to dinner for my birthday.  It's our first time leaving them for more than just a few minutes, but it went well and they were SO excited, they practically kicked us out of the house!

Today was my 35th birthday!  Dan made me a yummy chocolate cake.  All the primary kids sung to Evie and I and I got some beautiful clothes, some fun kitchen gear, a fun game (which we all played after dinner) and some Calico Critters for my birthday, plus two sweet notes from my kiddos.  So here's a rare picture of me and my brightly glowing cake.  (James helped me blow out some candles, but other than that, I managed to get them all with one blow!)