Where has April Gone?

This week was a bit on the crazy side - and it's only getting crazier from here.  The kids have all the end of school year stuff going on next month and next month is almost here!  So we started the week off by looking at the calendar and putting everything down for the week.  Monday, Dan was still out of town - but he got home in the evening just in time to help me fold the laundry.  James and I did a bit of shopping earlier in the day - so we folded clothes and headed to bed.  

Tuesday, James had preschool and I had a nap.  Then in the afternoon, we had the usual after school stuff - choir for Eileen and piano practicing for the kids.  In the evening, I got to go to institute which was wonderful.  

Wednesday the kids had late start day at school.  James had a dentist appointment.  He was so cute - he was so excited to be there and was really great!  Dan also had a dentist appointment.  Then James and I went and did the grocery shopping for the week.  After school was the usual, and in the evening, was choir and activity days and young men/young womens.  

Thursday was a bit crazy, we started out with James going to preschool, then while he was there, I had an appointment with the OB, then after school, Aaron had an orthodontist appointment - he finally got his spacer out and next time, he will be getting a couple more brackets on his teeth.  Then in the evening, Aaron had cub scouts and I had a YW camp meeting.  

Friday was finally a nice slow-ish day for us.  I went to get my allergy shot and James was great, then we headed home to take it easy until we got the kids from school.  After school, the kids did piano practicing and then we played and had fun.  Evie and James had fun making animals out of blocks and insisted that I take a picture of them.  Then we had a nice quiet evening at home!  

Saturday started out normal.  Flute lessons, piano lessons and then lunch time.  Dan and Eileen went out to run some errands and then came home for a nice quiet evening of games and fun.  It snowed Friday evening and most of Saturday, so we were all content to stay snuggled up inside - nice and warm!

Sunday we had a nice morning with Dan not having meetings then headed to church.  It was nice to see some friends from the Peoria ward come and get to chat with them.  Classes and lessons and talks were great and we had a combined 3rd hour, so I even got to sit with my hubby!  I got released as YW camp director and called as the Ward Music Chairperson and Choir Director, which meant that I got to step in as choir director during practice this afternoon and I had a great time!  We had a good turn out which was great and I hope all went well!  Then we had the new camp director and her assistant and their husbands over in the evening for dinner and for me to talk to them and hand everything over and answer any questions that they might have.  I hope that I gave them everything they need - papers, information and support - they are going to be awesome though and the girls will have a great time!  Then we all sat down to a fun and yummy dinner.   In the evening, we got to chat with Dan's parents for a bit which was great and had fun talking about all that this crazy upcoming summer holds.

Week of Changes

This has been a fun week of changes.  Monday started out normal enough, laundry to do, James to play with, kids at school.  Dan had sold his car and was trying to make do with his motorcycle, so thankfully weather has mostly been good.  James and I made a grocery store trip to get stuff for dinner.  After the usual after-school bustle to get stuff done, Dan was awesome and came home a little early to help get dinner and the house ready for friends.  We had the Wests over for dinner and cake and games.  The food was all super yummy, the little birthday for Kay was fun and company was just awesome!  We had a great family home evening together, then after a great evening, we settled down to fold laundry.

Tuesday, James' preschool group had a field trip instead of a normal preschool day.  We went to the zoo and had a great time!  Plus he was cute and cuddly and wanting to hold my hand the whole time which made it more fun.  The afternoon was the usual and then in the evening, I had institute class which was wonderful as always!

Wednesday was a crazy day.  I had to go in for the 3 hour glucose test at my OB-gyn.  Dan and I were trying to figure out how to orchestrate this with just one car and my poor planning as to time and date.  Finally, he just worked from home in the morning - dropped me off at my appointment in the morning, then went home and took the kids to school for late start, watched James and then came back to pick me up after the appointment and get us some lunch.  The test was mostly uneventful.  They drew blood, made me drink the nasty sugary drink stuff, then drew blood every hour for the next 3 hours.  With no James - I spent my time crocheting and listening to podcasts.  I felt fine all through the test - then during lunch the blood loss and lack of food since the night before plus the usual pregnancy fatigue caught up to me and I was not doing so well, so Dan continued to work from home and let me sleep until we had to get the kids from school.  In the evening, I had choir as usual and once again, we struggled to make it all work with only 1 car and a motorcycle.

Thursday was the usual - preschool for James and the kids at school.  I got to have a friend and her daughter come over for lunch which was lots of fun.  Then I got a few texts from Dan - asking for a ride home from work, when I asked if something was wrong with the motorcycle, he explained that he had sold that too and oh by the way - we may need to get a new car this weekend.  :)  It turned out to be a good thing since later that afternoon - it began to rain hard.  He wouldn't have wanted to ride the bike home in that anyway.  We have been thinking about and planning on a new car for awhile, but things all seemed to come together for this to be the time.

Friday, I took Dan in to work in the morning and James and I mostly just took it easy at home.  He colored, I crocheted and we chatted.  After school, I picked up Dan from work, then we had an early dinner and Eileen babysat while we headed out to look at some used cars.  We had mostly decided on what we wanted already, we just needed to look at the one we wanted and make sure it was right and give it a little test drive.  So by the time we got home that night, we were the proud new owners of a mini cooper.

I think it was just the fun of a new car that made all the driving we had to do on Saturday bearable.  In the morning, Dan took Aaron and Anna to Walmart to get presents for the birthday parties they were invited to.  Eileen didn't have flute, but the kids still had piano lessons.  Anna had a music festival at the mall where she was singing with her school choir, then she had a birthday party to go to, then Aaron had a birthday party to go to and of course, they both needed picking up after.  :)  In the evening, Dan and I went out to dinner with the Haights.  We went to a Korean BBQ place that we'd been wanting to try.  The food was great and we had a great time chatting and hanging out together with friends.

Today, Dan had meetings in the morning, then the kids and I got ready and met him at church for a wonderful Sacrament meeting.  After, Dan headed to the airport for a quick overnight trip for a meeting.  The kids headed off to Primary and Sunday School, and I headed to teach.  Then during 3rd hour, I got to go to a teacher council meeting which was great.  After church, we went home for lunch and some time together before heading back to the church for ward choir.  Then we went back home to play some games and then eat dinner.  After the younger kids went to bed, Eileen and Anna and I stayed up and crocheted together for a bit and had a fun time chatting and crocheting!

Happy Easter

This has been a long and crazy week.  It started with my glucose test on Monday - which meant a nasty sugar drink in the morning followed by a blood draw, which made me tired the rest of the day.  Then we still had the rest of the day of laundry and grocery shopping and such ahead.  Also at my appointment - we set a date for induction of labor - this baby is officially coming on June 26th!

Tuesday, James had preschool, Becca and Laura came over and Dan even came home for lunch!  Then in the evening was the Youth Temple Trip.  Sister Cottrell babysat for us while I went with Dan and Eileen to the temple!  It was wonderful - especially since we had some amazing couples from our ward making their first trip to the temple for baptisms!  After, we did the traditional donut stop at Krispie Kreme before heading home and to bed!  

Wednesday was full of errands in the morning - James and I made stops at Costco, Walgreens and the Pacific Market before heading home for lunch.  In the evening, I had choir - I carpooled with Christina and as always enjoyed having grown-up conversations.  Choir was wonderful!  

Thursday was another preschool day for James - and I spent that time napping.  I feel a LOT better - but I still feel like I'm trying to shake the remains of this cold.  :(  In the evening, Aaron had cub scouts and Dan had a meeting.  We also got to have the missionaries over for dinner.  Eileen (with a little help) did most of dinner using a new recipe from a young women's activity.  She did a great job!  

Friday was a pretty typical morning.  Then in the evening, we went on a group date with Becca and Jeremiah and Natasha and Eldon.  We had a fun time trying to figure out how to get out and made it with some help from the clues - just in time!  We also had a yummy dinner at a BBQ joint nearby before.  Eileen was at a young women's sleepover, so we had the amazing Sister Cottrell babysitting for us again.  

Saturday was a fun and busy day - Dan picked up Eileen and took her to flute lessons, then the kids had piano lessons, then I went to the church to play piano for a baptism.  After, we all went back to the church for the Activity Day Girls parent/girls lunch.  We had fun eating yummy nachos and running silly relay races - where Anna and Dan kicked some serious tushy!  Then we headed home for a slightly more quiet evening.  

Sunday was wonderful!  The talks in Sacrament Meeting were wonderful, I think my lesson went pretty well and Relief Society was great!  After, we headed home for lunch and a little nap before some Easter fun.  The kids made Easter scenes out of Legos and then Eileen hid eggs for her siblings to find.  The kids enjoyed their fun Easter baskets courtesy of a very sweet lady in our ward.  Then after a yummy dinner of pancakes, we did a fun Easter activity that Sister Cottrell had made with our kids while she was babysitting.  It was a carton of plastic easter eggs with scriptures on the outside and things representing the scripture on the inside.  So tonight, we read the scriptures together and opened the eggs and talked about the Easter story!  It was a wonderful way to close the day!  After the younger kids went to bed, Dan and Eileen had fun making an Angel Food Cake for our dessert tomorrow and then the three of us played a quick game of Dominion before sending Eileen to bed.  

Home Sweet Home

Monday, we began our drive home.  Dan had been gone for nearly 2 weeks by this point and was glad to go home at last.  We stopped at Little America for lunch, then made a quick stop at Steve and Claire's - we wanted to say hi to Gene and Ann, but I did't want to spread my sickies (plus James was starting to get it too) around their house with a new baby coming soon.  So we picked up some stuff we left last time, and got back on the road.  We made a quick Wendy's stop for dinner since there was very little food in the house, then we got home, did scriptures and prayers and all went to bed!

Tuesday was our laundry day.  James was not feeling great and went to bed as soon as we got home and slept in late the next day, so we took it easy and didn't go to preschool.  Becca still came over though, and we had a fun time working on blankets.  Baby Laura is really getting mobile now!  By evening, I was wishing I could go to Institute, but I was still coughing like crazy and I was still dizzy and not wanting to spread the cold any further, so I stayed home and went to bed.

Wednesday was more of the same.  James and I taking it easy and trying to get better and me skipping out on choir because I still didn't feel any better.

Thursday things were finally starting to feel like a different kind of icky - feeling more like stuff was changing and hopefully for the better.  Aaron had cub scouts in the evening.  James and I spent more time snuggling and resting.

Friday things finally seemed like they were on the upswing.  I decided to attempt going to the tech rehearsal for the final Lamb of God performance.  My voice wasn't full strength - but it was use-able.  The rehearsal went well enough for me to be optimistic about the concert on Saturday.

Saturday morning started out with flute and piano lessons, plus the final practice for the Stake fireside.  It went pretty well considering - everyone sounded wonderful!  Then I went home and crashed for a bit before the concert that night.  The final Lamb of God was wonderful!  The place was beautiful and packed and the whole thing went as well for me as I could expect.

Today was wonderful - church was awesome - Fast and Testimony meeting was beautiful and lessons were wonderful!  After, we had ward choir and then the Parables fireside.  The whole fireside was beautiful.  The spirit was strong - the church was full and singers and narrators did a wonderful job!  It was so neat to get to do this amazing program again and with such talented people!

And more insanity....

This week was Spring Break for all the kids.  By this point in Dan being out of town, I was exhausted, and we needed to get a lot of packing and such done to get ready for our trip to Utah.  Dan called Monday with the news that instead of coming home on Tuesday, he now needed to go somewhere else to fix an emergency that had cropped up.  So instead of coming home - he was going to end up meeting us in Utah.  So Eileen and Anna were my super helpers as I tried to get everything ready for the trip despite my foggy prego brain.

Tuesday was more prep - we did most of the clothes packing since laundry had gotten done on Monday.  Otherwise we mostly took it easy - some of the kids were at the beginning stages of a cold and we didn't want to spread it and wanted to get better before our trip!

Wednesday was more of the same, plus Sister Cottrell babysitting so I could go to choir and Eileen having young womens activities.  Choir was wonderful and I had a fun ride over with Christina to chat.  After I got home the girls and I tried to get everything ready for the next day that we possibly could.

Thursday morning, we finished loading the van and headed out to Utah.  We had a mostly uneventful trip, with a quick ice cream break at Little America and with me starting to come down with the cough that the kids had gotten earlier.  We arrived in time for a late dinner at Paul and Candace's house.

Friday, my coughing was getting worse - but we still went in the afternoon with Paul and Bianca and Dan and I and Eileen to the Salt Lake temple to do baptisms.  It was so wonderful being in the temple with family members doing work for our ancestors!  We had a fun evening of playing games together.
Saturday morning, bright and early, Dan and I took Eileen and Anna and Candace to the first session of conference.  It was really neat because we got there early enough that we got to listen to the choir having a last rehearsal before conference started!  After, we headed back to Paul and Candace's for lunch and the rest of conference.  I was really starting to feel icky by this point and limited in what I could take medicine-wise - I resorted to trying to sleep it off.

Sunday was more amazing sessions of conference and more of me being sick and coughing a lot (which gets really uncomfortable when you are pregnant) and me sleeping between the sessions.  About 2 in the morning - I realized that the coughing was so bad that I wasn't going to be able to sleep, so we looked online to see if there was any safe cough syrup for pregnant ladies - then I headed out to Walmart to find some.  I finally managed to get some sleep thankfully.