School's End

It's been an insanely busy week.  We started out Monday still needing to recover from last weekend, and of course doing laundry, grocery shopping and school and piano practicing and such for the kids.  In the evening for Family Home Evening, we went to a park and took some ice and went ice blocking.  The kids mostly had a great time.  We spent some time after the ice broke into pieces that were too small to use any more, playing on the nearby play ground, and they had a great time, but when it was time to go home, James was not happy and when Evie realized that our friends the Crockett's weren't meeting us there after all, she bawled the whole way home.  

Tuesday was another rather busy day.  James had preschool, I had stuff to get done around the house, the kids had school, after school was piano practicing and then we had the Elders over for dinner, and after that the Crockett kids came over to play while Dan went over to their house to help them load up the truck for their move.  The kids all had a ton of fun playing together outside and were so sad to have to separate at the end of the evening.  I made pudding for them and they had a blast. They loved playing with the chickens, so Eileen took a bunch of pictures with the kids with the chickens on their heads and shoulders and other silly places (I'm just glad that none of them got pooped on!)

Wednesday was field day for the big kids.  They were all so excited - they love field day.  I'm glad we had something fun planned for James or he would have been very upset when i told him he couldn't go on the big inflatable water slide that was visible when I dropped the kids off at school.  After dropping them off, we picked up Tayanna and Nicole and headed to the zoo.  We all had a great time, we even got to see some baby goslings and had a lot of fun seeing things that we don't always get to see when the older kids are here.  In the evening, Dan had a service project with the young men and Aaron had cub scouts and Eileen and Anna had Activity Days.  We let the kids ride their bikes to the church and home after since it is still light out at night when they are coming home.  It was a good thing too since Evie and James were really tired and cranky and Dan didn't get home until after 9.  

Thursday we had James' end of preschool party.  The kids had a ton of fun playing, the adults had fun chatting and we all enjoyed yummy food.  After, we cleaned up a bit, but didn't worry about it too much - James and I were both tired, so we snuggled up together and took a little nap.  When we got up to get the kids from school, it was pouring and hailing (and I'd left the picnic blanket and chairs outside getting wet....)  

Here's James' preschool class!

We got the kids from school - the hail had mostly stopped, but it was still pouring, so no after school party and no pictures with teachers (who were all inside - kids were being shuttled out to cars by school employees with umbrellas.) So here they all on their last day of school, with out their teachers with the (once again) crazy Colorado May weather on the last day of school.

Friday was long and stressful.  The kids had to get some things done before we could go have fun - but instead of doing them and then going, they spent the whole morning fighting over stuff and arguing with me, despite that, they managed to pull it together enough to still be able to go to the museum for a couple hours.  Then we headed home and dropped the kids off with their babysitter so Dan and I could go to the temple.  Dan and I had a wonderful time, and the kids did too.  Apparently James flirted with all the girls there...

Saturday included cleaning the house, running a ton of errands, getting Anna packed and ready for Scotland, picking my dad up from the air port, Eileen's flute lessons, cleaning the kids rooms, doing laundry for Anna and having fun with Grandpa.

Sunday, we walked to church and had a wonderful sacrament meeting - it's nice that the kids are finally getting old enough to mostly be reverent during the sacrament and that we can usually listen to most of the talks now.  :)  After church, we walked home, had a quick late lunch/early dinner with Grandpa and Anna before taking them to the airport.  Their flight was delayed so they got in to Texas late - but Anna will have tomorrow to recover before the long flight to Scotland.  She is so excited about her trip!  (Grandpa might be a bit excited too)

After dropping them off, Eileen said she would miss Anna - and I know I will too.  We played some games and played outside, then put the littles to bed and Eileen and Dan and I stayed up playing games together.  This is such a fun age with Eileen, and it's so fun to have this one on one time with her.

The Penultimate Week of School

I can't believe that the school year is almost over.  The kids have been busy with all the end of year fun and James and I have just been busy with our normal stuff.  

Monday was the usual, we had a fun family home evening lesson and a got the usual shopping and laundry done, and Payton came and played as usual.  I took Eileen out with me for a quick trip to Goodwill and Walmart to get her some new pants and PJ's - all her's are getting too short.  It's crazy how big she is getting so fast - she is starting to look more like a young woman and less like a girl.  

Tuesday, James had preschool during the day and then we had Payton over after.  While James was at preschool, I picked up a food order for a friend from the Bishop's Storehouse.  It was a neat experience to see how it's done and I was so grateful that she let me help her in this little way.  After school, Anna had her dentist check up, Evie was being beastly, so I let Eileen stay at the house and get her piano and flute done instead of having to come along and listening to Evie's tanturm.  

Wednesday was late start for the kids school, after dropping them off, I picked up Nicole and Tayanna and we headed for the Museum.  Nicole agrees with my philosophy of not telling the kids where we are going until we get there so they don't throw a tantrum, so she had only told Tayanna that they were going on an adventure, so Tayanna decided that McDonalds would be a good adventure, but was understanding when we told her today was a different adventure, and she could go to McD's another time. The kids both had a blast at the Museum.  James loves that place - no matter how many times we go.  After school, Eileen had her dentist appointment, and then in the evening, Dan and Aaron headed to the church for their stuff.  

Thursday was Dan's birthday.  He took the morning off, but James had preschool, I had some errands to run and he was getting some work done around the house, so I didn't get to see much more of him than usual.  After preschool, we picked up Payton and had lunch at the park.  Dan joined us and we met up with our friends the Reese's.  The boys all had so much fun playing together, and they did not want to leave.  After school was piano lessons, I made Dan's cake and after, Dwayne and Nicole came over bringing Dan's birthday dinner - Dwayne's YUMMY chicken curry.  The kids first was reaction was that it looked gross - but then they tasted it and realized how good it was!  

Thursday and Friday were immersion for the kids at school.  Friday, I went in with James to help out for Anna and Aaron's Hogwarts End of Year Feast.  The parents really outdid them selves and we all had a lot of fun.  Then I got to watch them play "Quidditch" which was really fun to watch, then we got to see the house cup awarded to Anna and Aaron's Slytherin house.  They all had a blast!  After school

Friday, evening, the boys headed up to the Father/Son camp out.  They had a great time getting wet and playing around - so much so that Aaron got to stay up way past his bed time!  Then Saturday morning, they headed home.  The girls and I had some favorite food, cleaned up a bit then watched movies until bedtime.  Eileen got her house up and watched Star Trek then I hustled her and Anna (who wasn't asleep yet) to bed.

Saturday started out with getting up around 8 so we could get Eileen to her flute lesson - this was apparently too much for Anna to handle because she spent the better part of the day thinking that I was the worst mommy in the whole world.  Then she managed to get a little nap in and felt better.  I let Eileen watch the girls while I went to my camp meeting and then after that we had lunch and started getting everything ready for Dan's surprise party.  The party went great - we had a great turn out and the food was great.  The kids had lots of fun playing with their friends.  Then Dan and I did a minimalist clean up after getting the kids to bed - we both were tired with sore feet, and headed to bed.

Sunday morning came a bit too soon, but it was still a wonderful day.  Church was awesome.  The talks were wonderful - my lesson would have been a lot better if I hadn't been so scatter brained as to leave half of my lesson at home...  Oh well - maybe we will start next week out with that... Relief Society was great and after church, choir was wonderful.  Weather has been amazing, so we walked to and from church.  Then Dan gave the kids motor cycle rides and we had dinner and sent the kids to bed - they (especially James) were tired and cranky and needed sleep and getting back to a routine.  Oh wait - school is ending and it's time to throw routines out the window... oh well!

Busy at Home

This has been an insanely busy week!  Dan had Monday and Tuesday off, and he spent them building our new chicken coop for the chickens who are big enough and well and ready to be in more spacious living quarters.  He got most of it done Monday and Tuesday, then finished it up on Saturday and in the evenings.  The chickens are now happily settled in.

Monday was the usual laundry, babysitting Payton, grocery shopping, school for the kids and practicing and homework and such after school.  We had a fun little family home evening together and had s'mores around the campfire.

Tuesday was Preschool here - James loves his preschool friends and we all had a fun time learning and playing.  Then after, Payton was over again in the afternoon, finally an afternoon of homework, piano practicing, and helping daddy outside.

Wednesday was late start for the school kids, then James and I picked up Tayanna and Nicole and headed to the library.  After a fun morning where James played on the computer at the library the whole time we were there.... we headed home for lunch.  In the evening, I had a girls camp activity, Dan had Young Men's Eileen and Anna had Activity Days, Aaron had cub scounts and James and Evie came and played pretend victims while I taught girls camp first aid certification stuff.  They both had fun showing off and being center of attention.  :)  James of course loved flirting with the girls...

Thursday was another fun day of preschool and Payton coming over to play.  We made a quick trip to give our friends daughter a quick ride to a dentist appointment then dropped her off with time to go pick up the kids from school.  The kids had piano lessons, I mowed the lawn and then after getting the kids to bed Dan got me some weed and feed which I put on the lawn to hopefully get rid of the dandelions.

Friday we had Adeline over to play and we went to get my allergy shot, then went home for lunch and play until we picked the kids up from school.  The afternoon was the usual homework and piano practicing, then we did a quick dinner of hot dogs around the campfire.  Dan went to go play D&D with friends and i made cupcakes for the kids while they cleaned up and watched a movie.

Saturday was full of yard work.  Finishing the chicken coop - Tina came and picked up her chickens and so we are now down to our own 6 chickens.  And we planted a peach tree in our yard.  After a long day, we had dinner and headed to bed.

Today was church which was awesome as usual - we have a really great ward.  Ward choir was great - after, we played games and played outside and rested.

I was awful about taking pictures this week.... I will do better next week... probably....

Half a World Away

We had a crazy busy week.  Getting ready for Dan to be gone takes some prep work!  Monday was laundry and grocery shopping as usual.  Eileen and Anna had needle arts club after school and Payton came to play with us.  James and I also made a Costco trip after taking Payton to preschool in the morning.  

Tuesday James and I had his preschool field trip in the morning, then in the afternoon, we went to the park with some friends.  Eileen and Anna had choir after school - they are getting excited for their big concert next week!  

Wednesday the kids had late start, then James and I went to the Teddy Bear Picnic special story time at the library - it was a little chilly - but not too bad and James had a blast.  After school Eileen and Anna had orthodontist appointments.  Anna got her retainer and is slowly getting used to how it feels and talking with it.  They mostly just looked at Eileen's mouth and said "yep - your teeth got pulled - now we gotta wait and see if your other teeth move into place."which was kinda what we expected.  In the evening, Eileen and Anna had Activity Days, Aaron had Cub Scouts, Dan had Young Men's and I had choir.  

Thursday was again, crazy busy.  Preschool for James, then picking up Payton, then piano lessons, then Evie had her 1st grade music night, followed by getting the basement cleaned up and the kids to bed before I headed to Institute.  

Friday morning, really really early, Dan headed out of town to Korea.  I went and got my allergy shot, then after lunch, James and I headed to the school for Eileen's "Author's Tea" where we got to eat cookies and drink water - and best of all, we got to see Eileen's awesome book that she wrote and got published through her class.  We had lots of fun, then headed home after to wait for Grandma to arrive.  My mom drove up from Texas to help out while Dan is gone, she had hoped to be on time for Eileen's thing, but she hit some really bad weather on the way up.  It snowed Friday, Saturday and some of today.  It barely stuck at all up here, but it was falling constantly.  

Saturday mornng, Eileen had flute lessons, and we spent some time getting the house cleaned up and nice.  My mom brought their new puppy up with her and the kids have been loving having another puppy around - and Koopa had been loving having him around too.  They play together all day and then get exhausted and collapse to rest before the next bout of play.  Evie and James were having fun being silly - so they wanted pictures taken.  My silly kiddos!  

Church today was awesome!  Fast and Testimony meeting was wonderful.  Sunday school was great - I hope the students got as much out of my lesson as I did.  And Relief Society was wonderful too!  After, was choir which was great and then when Eileen and I got home from choir, Grandma and the younger kids already had dinner started for us!  We spent the afternoon resting and playing and then cleaning.  We got to talk to Dan for a bit and he showed us a bit about where he is (we Face Timed) and it was fun to talk to him and see the diversity that is Korea!
Now I'm kinda ready for the next week...