Let it Snow... Reprise

This week started off normal enough.  School for the kids, laundry and shopping for groceries, plus some getting ready for Easter.  Aaron had a dentist appointment in the afternoon and did well.  Mostly just a normal day with my sweet wonderful kids and my amazing hubby!  We also had the Elders over for dinner that night and had a great lesson from them for FHE and the kids got to have a cookie for dessert.  

Tuesday was preschool for James and school as normal for the older kids.  Payton came over to play in the afternoon as usual and after school was the normal piano practicing, and homework and such.  Anna was going to have trumpet lessons, but she wasn't feeling good, so we sent her to bed early.  

Wednesday morning, we woke up to snow, lots of snow.  A snow day had already been called and it was projected to snow most of the day - we finally ended up with nearly a foot and a half of snow.  It was enough that even after shoveling the driveway, Dan wasn't able to get past the driveway and get over to the church to help shovel.  We were grateful that we didn't need to go anywhere, because we would have needed 4-wheel drive to get out of our neighborhood.  

Just for reference - in the picture above, that is our picnic table covered in snow. and below is Evie trying to walk through snow that is nearly up to her waist.  The kids had fun trying to walk through snow that was so deep, but otherwise, they didn't spent much time playing in it until the snow stopped.  All activities had been cancelled, so we just snuggled up and home together.  Even Dan didn't have to go in to work.  

Thursday was also a snow day - roads were still too bad the next morning to really be able to get anywhere.  The kids were starting to go a bit stir crazy by the second snow day, and regretting missing school.  They spent a lot more time playing outside and getting wet and cold as the snow melted.  To help mitigate the kids going a bit crazy, we started letting the older kids hold the chicks, and the younger ones got to pet them.  The kids were so excited and the chicks are getting so big!! 

After Dan got home from work, we all headed outside to build a snow man and play in the snow.  The kids had fun having a snowball fight with Daddy and building a huge snowman.  (He has since toppled over and is getting smaller by the Day.)  

Thursday night, I still got to go to Institute and had a great time.
Friday, the kids had to go back to school for one day before starting spring break.  It seemed kinda silly, but the kids enjoyed it and then Anna had Trumpet lessons in the evening, Piano lessons were moved to Friday afternoon, so we were kept busy.

Saturday was our cleaning day.  We spent some time getting the house ready for Easter and playing together.  Eileen wanted to play Killer Bunnies for her hour up and we had an unusual game where so many improbably things happened, it seems unlikely that another game will ever really be like that one.

Sunday was wonderful!  We started off with heading to church early for choir practice.  The choir sang during the program and it was beautiful!  When we got there, I was chatting with Christina for a few minutes and they had just gotten back in town, and since Newell and Becky had cancelled on us for Easter dinner since the kids were all sick, I invited Christina and her family over to join us.  Church was wonderful with some amazing talks and lessons given.  After, Dan and I started getting things ready and then our home teachers stopped by for a bit.  Then everyone started arriving.  The kids had tons of fun playing together and everyone seemed to get along well.  The food was great and we had a great time.  We let Eileen sit at the adult table since the kid table was a bit crowded.  She was so excited by that!  And loved feeling included.  After dinner, we did a little Easter egg hunt before dessert.  After, Becca stayed for a bit to play games with Dan, Eileen and I.  And she creamed us all soundly....twice.  :)

My parents were so smitten with Koopa that they have now gotten their own little Yorkie!  He's a cute little puppy, less than 3 months old and mom is going to bring him with her when she comes out to visit and help out in April!

Cheep Cheep

This week has been fun!  Monday started off with our usual watching Payton, school, and family home evening.  We had fun together and played a game together.  I did the grocery shopping and Dan folded laundry and we went to bed exhausted.  

Tuesday, James had preschool and I got some breakfast and worked on some crafts in the car while he had fun with his friends.  After preschool, we picked up Payton, then we ate lunch and played outside, then headed to the school to drop off Payton and pick up Evie and Aaron.  Then we went back home until it was time to get Eileen and Anna.  Then in the evening, I had a Chorale concert and after, I did a quick work out, then to bed!  

Wednesday, I drove some friends to their appointment, then stayed and helped out a bit at their home when I dropped them off.  Then the usual pick up kids from school followed by some piano practice and homework then we took off for Ortho appointments for Anna and Aaron.  We got appointments set up to get them some actual work done.  Anna will be getting a retainer type thing to help straighten things out a bit and Aaron will be getting a spacer and some braces plus some baby teeth pulled.  It's starting to look like only Eileen so far will need a full set.  Then I headed off for another concert.  It has been a lot of fun to see some friends at the concerts and chat with them.  I've also been carpooling with 2 ladies from choir who are both awesome and I enjoy chatting with.  

Thursday we had preschool here, we had a lot of fun playing games together and the time went quickly.  Then after school, the kids had piano lessons and I had my final concert of the season before collapsing exhausted to bed!  While I was at my concert, Dan took the kids to get chicks.  Eileen texted me a picture (not this one - the heat lamp made all our cell phone pictures turn out red - I took this one later) They got 6 chicks that night.  

Friday, James and I went to do my allergy shot and then headed down to Murdoch's again for more chicks (they hadn't had many the day before) So James and I came home with 12 more, and we now have 18 baby chicks running around our storage room with looking fluffy and adorable!  They are already getting some feathers on their wings and the kids have been loving watching them.  In the evening, we spent the time together for once and rested.  We let Eileen and Anna and Aaron stay up and watch Harry Potter (the first one) and we had a great time, but Daddy got worn out and went to bed after 45 minutes or so.  

Saturday morning, my mom arrived for Uncle Doug's birthday party.  We picked her up from the airport, Eileen had flute lessons at 9, I had a girls camp meeting at 10, Anna had trumpet lessons at 11, then we had lunch before running some errands and getting some stuff ready for the party that night.  Then we headed over to Grandpa's for birthday fun.  After the party, we headed home for bed! I thought this picture of my mom with Koopa was so fun!  Koopa remembered her right away and loved having her visit.  

We've gotten a bit of snow over the weekend and Koopa loves licking it and when he does the snow sticks to his hair and he looks so funny!

This has been a big exciting weekend for Evie.  She finally managed to wiggle her tooth out and was so excited to put her tooth in the tooth box for the tooth fairy to come.  Here she is with her gap-toothed smile!  Evie also finally got to change her earrings for the first time this weekend.  She has had so much fun and has wanted to change them multiple times today.  

Church today was wonderful, but I woke up with a sore throat and so I've been trying to take it easy... but that's easier said than done.  We had some fun cooking adventures and chatted with Dan's parents and played some games.

Tired, but good tired

If life is crazy and busy when Dan is here, it's even more so when he's gone - both because it's just harder to do everything my self, and Dan is such a good husband that he helps a lot around the house and with taking care of the kids, but also because events seem to conspire to make the busiest weeks the ones that he's gone.  Monday was the usual Payton coming over and the boys had tons of fun together.  After school and piano lessons and FHE and getting the kids to bed, I finished up the laundry before heading to bed. 

Tuesday, James had preschool, while he was a preschool, I went and helped my friend's son out with his homeschooling so she could get some other stuff done.  Then I picked up James, picked up Payton.  Picked up Evie and Aaron, dropped Payton off, picked up Eileen and Anna from choir and headed home to try and get all the piano and homework and such done.  

Wednesday was crazy as usual.  The kids had late start, so I dropped them off, picked up Tayanna and Nicole and we went to the library, then I took them home and James and I headed to my doctor for a doctor's appointment to get some anti-biotics for my sinus infection.  Then James and I went to pick up the medicine and headed home for lunch before going to pick the kids up from school.  After getting a rushed Mac N Cheese on the table, I headed out for choir practice - our tech rehearsal at the first venue with orchestra and soloists, running until 9:30.  Then I headed home and tried to get some cleaning done before collapsing for bed.  

Thursday the preschool group went on a field trip to the Zoo.  James had a ton of fun!  The kids each got cute little zoo passports where they could check off the animals that they saw.  James loved it!  The weather was beautiful and it was a great day to be there.  After walking around all morning, James and I were both rather tired out.  We got back just in time to pick the kids up from school.  Then we headed home for the kids to have piano lessons.  Those got done just in time for us to grab a quick dinner and head to Skate City.  

The kids all love going to Skate City. James is so funny - he just shuffles around the rink - sometimes he wants me with him, but other times, he would tell me to go away while he skated on his own.  We had a lot of fun and by the time we got home we were all totally exhausted!

The kids had Friday off school, so Anna had trumpet lessons in the morning, then we came back and packed lunches and headed to the museum of Nature and Science.  I took the kids to an IMAX movie which they loved and we checked out the new Chocolate Exhibit - i thought it was cool, but the kids were disappointed that there were no samples :)  We checked had fun and stayed most of the day, but we had to head home to get me ready for my concert.

After the museum, Nicole came over to watch James and Evie, while I took Eileen, Anna and Aaron to my concert.  Aaron got to meet the percussionist and loved it.  Eileen told me that "She could see that over and over and never get tired of it!"  Then after we got some dinner and dessert at Chili's.
The concert went well, it's such a powerful thing to be a part of!

Saturday morning, we almost overslept through Eileen's flute solo competition time! Thankfully we woke up just in time to throw some clothes on and rush over.  Eileen didn't get much time to warm up or even wake up, but she still did well, and she got a superior ranking (the highest possible) as a 5th grader and the youngest person there.  She got a medal and she has been proudly wearing it ever since!  She did such a good job and I'm so proud of her!

After the kids were so good for all that craziness, I took them to Walmart and let them pick out donuts for dessert and we got some chocolate milk and went home for breakfast.  We spent the day playing and enjoying the wonderful weather and played some games and mostly relaxed at home.  Then in the evening, I took Eileen again to my concert.  We didn't go out for dessert again because we had church the next day and it was late, but she was great and we both got to see some friends there.  I chatted a bit with Bonnie's daughters and when I mentioned that I was in their mom's ward they both said "Ooooo you must be Deanna!"  It really lifts my heart to be valued by such an amazing person!

Today was Stake Conference.  We got up and walked to the church so we could be there on time to practice with the choir.  A sweet sister from our ward and another sweet sister from our stake helped out with the younger kids while Eileen and I sat with the choir.  Dan got there part way though the meeting having come straight from the airport and then I walked home with Eileen and Anna while he drove the other 3 home.  We spent the afternoon playing games and trading off naps.

I'm so glad to have Dan home.  Now, I just need to get through this week - it will be fun, but exhausting!!

Bye Bye Bye :(

This week was crazy as usual.  Monday was the usual laundry and grocery shopping and Family Home Evening.  We had a lesson on how our choices have consequences and when we choose to do something, we have to accept the consequences that go with that choice.  

Tuesday James had preschool, and I took a nap.  I'm still feeling sick - I think I have a sinus infection and it doesn't seem to want to go away.  

Wednesday was the usual craziness.  We had late start day for the kids, library with Nicole and Tayanna and then after school, we met the kids and Brinton and headed into the library for the Dr. Seuss Birthday Party.  The kids had tons of fun reading and eating cake.  It was totally packed, but the kids had fun.  After, we headed home and tried to get all the practicing done and homework done, then in the evening, Aaron had cub scouts, Dan had YM and I had choir.  

Thursday was preschool for James again and then piano lessons after school.  The kids love piano lessons and Evie and James especially love that Rose comes over and plays with them.  After, we put the kids to bed and I went to Institute.  

Friday I spent my morning over at my friends house.  James played with her kids, and I helped out with some stuff around the house since she got injured last weekend and was having a hard time getting some things done.  It was fun to get to sit and chat with her and the kids were great.  After school, we were going to try to get Anna's passport, but realized that we would have to wait the rest of the day and still might not get done.... so we put it off until Saturday with a plan to go an hour early.  Friday afternoon, Anna had her trumpet lessons.  After the kids went to bed, Dan and I watched Star Wars: Episode II.  (Well Eileen and I watched it, Dan watched the first half, then dozed off.)

Saturday was busy, Dan went early to the passport place and got us at the front of the line.  Then Anna and I met up with him and 8:45 and we were done by 9:15.  By the time the place was open, there were at least 50 people in line behind us.  After that, Eileen had flute lessons at 11, and I had a Relief Society activity at 11:30 and got a surprise when we got a lovely fashion show put on by some of the men in the ward... including Dan!  Here he is in his fashionable new outfit with his alligator handbag.  After that, Dan spent some time cleaning the garage with the kids and Eileen and I went to the grocery store to get groceries for next week.  In the evening, we had Becca, Natasha and her boyfriend and the sister missionaries over for dinner.  The food was really yummy and we had lots of fun.  After the sisters left for their next appointment, we watched "The Martian" Then Dan packed up for his trip and we headed to bed.  

Today went pretty well.  James was decently behaved during church, then we went home for a early dinner/late lunch, followed by stake choir and then we all headed over to Stuart and Rebecca's for a birthday party for Grandpa, Rebecca and Sarah Jean.  We had fun, then headed home and now I need sleep... :)