Wait...WHAT???????

Dan and I have been a little shocked to discover that we have a 17 year old daughter.  I'm not sure how that works when we are totally not THAT old....  However, it has been an amazing 17 years.  She is an amazing young woman and the last couple months would not have been possible with out her help with the younger siblings and her patience with all the crazy busy schedule we have had lately.  

She has been planning for this month all year, and no, not because of her birthday - she's officially deep into NaNoWriMo.  
 

It's been rather rainy this week and David keeps wanting to pick up all the worms he finds and show them to me, and it takes a bit for me to convince him that the worms would much rather be in the dirt and to let them go back home.  But he really wanted a picture with this one because it was big. 

This week was crazy - at least for me.  I had offered to host a pasta dinner for the water polo team before heading into the State Playoffs.  So I spent Tuesday running errands and getting the fall decorations out and set up.  Then I spent Wednesday making masks for the girls who are not always good at remembering to bring masks on deck.  Then I spent most of Wednesday afternoon Thursday and Friday cleaning the house and getting things ready for the dinner.  

The dinner went well, but as usual, we made way too much food!  :)  We are going to be eating spaghetti for awhile.  :)  David was in heaven surrounded by teenage girls who all thought he was the cutest thing ever.  

Saturday was a busy day - James had his final soccer game.  He liked the season well enough that when we asked if he would be interested in doing it again, he said yes, so I count that as a win.  In the afternoon, Anna and I headed down to Corvallis for the Water Polo State Playoffs.  Our first two games should have been easy wins, and while we won easily, the first of the games was not an easy game - the team was brutal and vicious and while the score board showed that we beat them easily, the girls were all feeling a bit battered by the end of the game.  Thankfully the second game went better.  While some one of the girls took a bit of a hit, she was feeling much better and despite having a ref that we have had bad experiences with in the past, things went pretty well for us and we finished the game strong and excited for next week!  Plus we had a couple awesome goals scored by our second string players!  

While Anna and I were at the playoffs, Dan took the rest of the kids to OMSI for a couple hours, and they had a great time!

Church today was wonderful!  We had a great fast and testimony meeting, then after the block of meetings, we got to have our first ward choir rehearsal since COVID!  It was wonderful to be singing again, and we had a great turnout!  

This is Halloween

 Our week started out much like most weeks.  School, sports and other fun stuff.  James has soccer practice on Mondays, so we have moved family home evening to Tuesday nights while soccer is going on.  We had, of course, planned on carving pumpkins for family home evening this week, so in the bit of time we had between dinner and Anna and I leaving for our water polo match, we had fun carving pumpkins.  

Tuesday evening was our last in-season game, the girls will be going on to playoffs and then state, but for the boys, this was the end.  We had some fun games and we finished the season with all of our players having scored at least once which was exciting.  The girls won and the guys lost, but a good time was had all around and we had our senior night before the game.  We have some amazing seniors on the team and it was wonderful to be able to honor them, though it will be sad to see them go.  

David is still loving preschool, though it often feels to me like I still can't get anything done, at least he's learning and having a good time!  He was so excited that he got to wear his costume to preschool on Thursday!

On Wednesday, Anna had her final cross country meet of the season - It was the big metro meet and she got a new PR again!  She has PR-ed in every race this season!!  She has done so well!!

Saturday was a busy day as usual.  James and Aaron both had soccer games.  

Dan took Anna to watch and support the marching band - Anna has become obsessed with my cloak recently - and David was cold while watching the band, so Anna kept him warm.  :) 

In the evening, Dan and I went to the temple, then we dropped Anna and some friends off at a youth dance before heading out to dinner at Outback.  We had a fun time together and it was so wonderful being at the temple!  

Sunday was the Primary Program.  It went so well - the kids did an amazing job - it's crazy to think that we only have 2 kids in primary now.  James and David both did really well saying their parts and singing!  

Right after church, I had a water polo seeding virtual meeting that I needed to be at.  I was a bit stressed about the meeting, but it all worked out the way we wanted it to, and we are excited to head into the upcoming playoffs next week! 

And of course, it's halloween!  The kids got all dressed up and Dan and I took them out trick-or-treating with another family in the ward.  They loved it - especially after last year when there was no trick or treating.  Of course, now we have way more candy than we need....  It was so fun though, because the whole neighborhood was out!  

Life and other things like it

 This has been a busy and tiring week - but good!  When weather has been good, James and David and I have been going to the play ground after school so James can run around and play with friends for a bit.  We've had rainy days - but mostly sunny afternoons.  

This week was kinda crazy for Anna and I - we had 3 water polo games this week, including one all the way down in Eugene and one very stressful one on Thursday with a ref that didn't seem to care about the safety of our players at all.  They did well in their games though!  It's crazy to think about just how close we are to the end of the season.  

This weekend was a busy one as usual.  Aaron and James had soccer games on Saturday.  James took a ball to the head during his game and sat out after that.  But he did well while he was in.  Aaron has been working hard and practicing a lot in hopes of getting to play high school soccer.  

After James' soccer game, I took Evelyn out for a make over.  I had promised her that when she was 12, I would get her some make up and do some of those grown up girl things.  We had a fun afternoon together and she had fun getting her eyes all prettied up.  Then we picked out some make up for her and got her a case to keep it all in.  She had a fun time and I did too!  

before

after

After we got home, we headed out for the Ward activity.  We had a chili cook off and of course there were game for the kids that were run by the youth and after, there was trunk-or-treating!  The kids had a great time and came home with WAY too much candy! 

After, we got the kids to bed, then Dan and I went to go see the new James Bond.  We had a fun time together and enjoyed the movie! 

Church today was wonderful!  The talks were all amazing and during second hour, we practiced the primary program for next week!  The kids did a great job and it's going to be wonderful!  Our afternoon was spent playing games and talking to family, then in the evening, the Sister Missionaries came over to share a lesson about service and sharing God's love.  Then we had some dessert and got the younger boys to bed before playing a couple more games!  

Icky Sickies?

Well Monday started off normal, but by the end, I was feeling pretty rough.  The next morning, I was not feeling good at all, and David claimed he wasn't feeling well, so I kept him home from preschool and took us to get tested.  He did great and mostly seemed to be feeling fine, but he and I stayed home and rested most of the day on Tuesday.  I was feeling lousy that night, so I bowed out of practice and took a hot bath and went to bed early.  Wednesday morning I was feeling a bit better, so I walked James to school, but after that, I was exhausted.  I took David to preschool and then went to practice the organ for Sunday, but when I got back from picking up David, I could hardly climb the stairs, so Dan (who was working from home) took David and told me to go to sleep.  I did - for like 4 hours.  After that, I was feeling much better!  So I went to practice that night. 

The next day was much better - Aaron and Evelyn had Thursday and Friday off of school, so they helped out with David (who hates walking to take James or pick him up from school) and I was mostly able to take it easy and get my organ practicing in and have energy for water polo.  We had a game Thursday night.  Dan was able to come and watch Anna play - and we had a good game!  

Friday was a bit crazy.  I was supposed to have a dentist appointment Friday evening, but when I got there with David in tow, they were running behind and David's appointment earlier that week had been cancelled, and I had a zoom meeting to be on, so they did David's appointment and rescheduled me and it all worked out.  I love our dentist - now I just wish I could find a doctor that would be like that!  

Saturday was a usual crazy day.  Aaron and James had soccer.  Dan took the older 4 kids to the temple in the morning.  In the afternoon, Eileen and I did an outing together and went boot shopping since she really needed new boots.  In the evening, Anna went to the school Homecoming Dance - she was just meeting up with a bunch of friends from cross country, but she had a great time!  While she danced - I made music - on the organ, yep, more practice time.  

But the practice time mostly paid off - and despite them being rather harder songs, I mostly did ok.  :)  We spent our afternoon playing games together and having fun together and chatting with family.  Evelyn practiced her hand stands and wanted me to take this picture, so she could see what she looks like.  Church was wonderful - the talks were great, and the practice for the primary program went great!  

Museums and Sports and more Sports

It's been a busy but fun week.  Dan was putting David to bed one night and David told him "I'm going to sleep like this so I can stare at your face."  He's such a funny kid! 

Tuesday while David was a preschool, I had the chance to meet up with Sara and Emily for brunch.  We had a great time chatting about conference, our families and everything going on.  It was such a nice break and so great to be with such amazing women! 

I got the wipers on my van replaced - and David had fun helping - mostly because it meant he got to sit on the hood of the van!  

On Wednesday, Anna had a cross country meet after school and then a water polo game in the evening.  She did awesome in both - including a new PR on her run!

The kids were off school on Friday for a teacher work day, so I took the kids to OMSI.  It was fun getting to explore a new museum.  Eileen was ecstatic about getting to hold and touch animals in one area including some awesome Australian stick bugs and a couple snakes.  Evelyn and James were almost as excited as she was.  

There was so much to do and see - and we didn't even get to see all of it before we had to head home so we could get Anna to XC practice.  

Our membership also gets up tickets to the planetarium shows, so we picked a show to watch and had a fun time learning about our solar system.  David was excited, but kept asking when the movie would start and the people would be there.  He didn't quite understand the idea of a planetarium!   But I think he still enjoyed it!  

In the evening, we spent some time cleaning up the house and Aaron had a D&D party with some other boys from church.  They have a group of boys about his age that he's been having fun playing with!  

Saturday was crazy as usual.  We had soccer games for the boys and in the evening, I had the water polo fundraiser party.  It was so different than what I'm used to, but it was nice to get to spend some time getting to know the other parents of the team.  It's such a nice group of people!  

Some where in all of that, I had to find time to practice the organ and get ready to play on Sunday.  Thankfully, the hymns were ones that are easier for me.  Next week is going to be a bit harder, thankfully I have a bit more time!  Church today was wonderful, and the organ went pretty well thankfully - I just hope and pray that I play well enough that I don't distract from the spirit there.  

This evening was Anna's appointment with the Patriarch of the stake.  It was an amazing experience to be there with her during her blessing.  We have been so blessed with amazing children and there was such a powerful spirit there.   

Water Polo and General Conference

This week was crazy.  Dan was out of town until Wednesday night and we had to try to figure out how to make everything happen with only one driver and not enough adults!  But the kids and I survived and the house was still in tact when Dan got home late Wednesday!  My sanity may have been less so, but we survived.  

Monday, my throat was a bit sore (I think now that it was really just from too much yelling at the boys tournament) and Evelyn was a bit sniffly and David was coughing a bit, so I kept Evelyn home and took us all for quick COVID tests.  Thankfully they all came back negative.  

Thurday, was a Water Polo game and that would have been plenty of excitement for me, but Dan thought it was a bit too mundane, so we ended up having to take him into the ER.  He had the same problem he had back in Colorado that ended up with him in the ER.  Thankfully, they were able to get some meds into him pretty quickly and to get him feeling better and on his way home.  I got him home and resting before taking off for what was left of the games.  I got to see most of the guys game and the girls game - and it was exciting since we won - both games!   

Friday was the beginning of the girls Water Polo Tournament.  The first two games were easy ones, but after that, they got much harder.  We won the 3rd game also - against a team we had lost to earlier in the season, but then on the 3rd game on Saturday, they were all burnt out and playing one of the best teams in the nation, and things didn't go as well.  

Saturday also included James and Aaron both having soccer games and Evelyn having a birthday party.  And that was all on top of General Conference.  Thankfully, the Water Polo game times meant I could watch/listen to most of conference, but it was a rather exhausting day!  

Sunday, I had asked Nate to cover the tournament so that I could focus on the last day of conference and being with my family, it was good - much needed, for both me and Anna.  

Conference was amazing as usual and as usual the kids were excited about the fun food.  :)  

Crazy Week

The week started off normal enough.  Grocery shopping and sports practices and school and everything.  Our mornings are still pretty quiet, I found Aaron and David cuddled up while Aaron read scripture to him.  It was so sweet!  

Anna has been giving David a little bit of piano lessons.  She sits with him at the piano and helps him play songs!  It was so cute to watch them together and David was so proud of himself when he played the song by himself!  

David is still loving preschool and is so happy to go and tell me all about what he learned.  School is going well for the other kids too.  Anna is now trying to learn the Euphonium - because she doesn't already play enough instruments!  

This weekend was the boys water polo tournament.  In some ways it was a rough tournament with some of the other teams playing really rough and brutal and refs not seeing it.  But we were able to get our first two wins of the season which was great.  We were also able to play girls with them for the tournament.  We ended on a win for the boys in sudden death overtime!  

Saturday also included a soccer game for Aaron, a D&D game for Aaron, a huge XC meet for Anna - where she PR'd again - a baptism and Dan getting ready to leave town for a few days.  

Anna colored her hair - it's much redder in person than it looks in the picture - but it looks awesome either way!!  

This next week is going to be a bit rough with Dan gone early on, but I think we have it mostly figured out....  

Birthday Week!

My mom came in last Sunday evening to help out with things while Dan was having and recovering from his surgery.  Dan went in for his surgery on Monday afternoon.  My mom drove him there while I handled getting the kids to and from everywhere.  With Covid, the hospital wouldn't let anyone in with him - even for the pre-op stuff.  We just had to drop him off and then pick him up when they called to say he was ready.  The surgery went well and his recovery went well.  Mostly he was just tired.  As he felt better, he would try to do a bit of work during the day, and by the end of the week, he was back in the office.  He is feeling good and just has to be careful about lifting anything over 20 lbs. 

Tuesday was my birthday!  Dan is such an amazing hubby that he already had everything ready for my birthday!  My mom and David made my cake and we all managed to squeeze a fun birthday dinner and presents and cake in before evening stuff started.  I made cupcakes for the water polo team for my birthday and we had a fun and tiring practice.  

David loved having Grandma around.  Since the older kids were gone at school most of the day - he got the most time with her.  She would play kids music on her phone and he would dance and sing along - or tell her to skip that song.  He had so much fun with her!!  

Tuesday was also David's first day of preschool.  He was SO excited to go.  He had his backpack all packed up and he was ready to go early that morning.  So far, he is loving preschool and loves feeling like he is a big kid!  I have spent most of his preschool time so far running errands, we will see if that changes.  :)  

Wednesday was a momentous day for our family.  We took Anna to the DMV to get her driver's permit.  We officially have another driver... kinda.   :)  Dan has taken her out to practice driving, but she has her papers and she has passed the test!!  

Our evening was as crazy as Wednesday evenings usually are.  I got in the water at water polo practice and put the goalies through a goalie workout - and did it with them.  I kept up, but I was exhausted by the end!!  It was fun working with the goalies!  

Thursday was Evelyn's 12th birthday!  She was so excited about her new scriptures and CTR ring!  She wanted Chicken and Sundried Tomato Pasta for her birthday dinner and an ice cream cake.  I found her an M&M ice cream cake and she was so excited!  

Friday, my mom had her flight back home.  I'm so grateful she was able to come this week - I don't know how we would have done it without her!  I think she left thinking we were a bit crazy though!  :)  Friday evening, we held a non-mandatory water polo practice since there was a home football game that night, so we only had 4 people show up, but we had a great practice with them and were able to really go through some particulars and nail down some stuff since the coach/player ratio was so good!  Nate and I both got in the water with the kids and had a great time!  

Saturday was soccer games for the boys and David was invited to a birthday party.  They had it at the bowling alley and David had a great time!!  Aaron's team won their game, James' lost, but it was a good game and they played well.  

Evelyn wanted to have a birthday party, so she invited some friends over and we painted nails and had a piñata and snacks and played games.  Evelyn had a great time and was sad when it was over, but she had a blast!  We tried to mostly keep it outside, but since we were finally getting rain, there was a point when it started coming down and we had to move it inside.  

After we cleared the kids out from the party, Dan and I took off on a date night.  We went for dinner and then we went to see Free Guy.  We had a great time together as always and then headed home.  

Church today was great!  Great talks and primary was fun!  I spent some time in my craft room again making masks and working on Eileen's pencil pouch.  We had fun playing some games and chatting with family and eating waffles.  Then Dan and the older 4 kids went to the Youth Fireside.  

School and Sports

Monday morning, we packed up and headed home from Idaho.  We stopped at a swimming spot on the river where Dan used to go swim as a kid.  We ate lunch there and had fun playing around there and getting our legs moving before we had to get back in the car and finish our trip home.  We still managed to get home in plenty of time to eat dinner.  

Tuesday morning was mostly spent doing laundry and getting unpacked.  The younger 3 kids went to a music camp with Sister Shum on dinosaurs - they had a great time, and I had a couple hours to try and get things done.  

Wednesday, it began.  School that is.  Well at least it began for James.  Bright and early, James and Caleb headed down to school on their bikes.  We got him to the school and they got their bikes on the bike rack, then we found classrooms - for James and Caleb, and then for like 4 other kids too... lol  James had a great first day of school and even rode his bike home with out any help!  

Thursday was the beginning of school for the rest of the older kids.  Eileen and Anna had seminary in the morning and then school.  Evelyn and Aaron caught the bus.  Evelyn wanted her hair curled for the first day of school, but since I was at Water Polo practice until past her bedtime, and she was at a youth activity before that, Dan did it for her - and it looked so cute!  School went well for everyone, though Evelyn was disappointed to not have a certain friend in any of her classes.  Eileen is doing band again this year, so she has been having to carry her flute to school too, but I'm glad to see her using her music talents again!  

Thursday evening, Anna had a Water Polo game.  The other team didn't have enough eligible players to field a boys team and girls team, so we played one co-ed game.  It was a fun game, one that our strong players could have easily won, so we were able to give our less experienced players more game time.  They did great, and it was awesome hearing them cheer each other on! 

Friday after getting the older kids to school, I took David to his preschool for a little Meet-the-Teacher thing.  David got to meet the other kids and see where his preschool is - he was so excited and can't wait to have his preschool for real.  He keeps asking when he gets to go to preschool and when it starts.  He is so excited to be like his big siblings!  

Saturday was a bit nuts.  Anna had a cross country meet that we had to drop her off at the school for.  She dropped a few minutes off her time - turns out the cross training with Water Polo is doing good for her running too!  Then Aaron had a soccer game - his team won 7-2 and while he didn't score, he had a couple good blocks and did a great job!  James also had a soccer game and his team won too - 6-2.  He also played well and had a great time! 

I had a Stake Relief Society conference.  It was really great!  I missed the first session, but the other two were awesome - one was about introverts and extroverts, and I feel like maybe I understand Eileen a bit better now, and maybe myself too.  :)  Dan took Evelyn out to pick out her scripture case and CTR ring which is what we get the kids for their 12th birthday.  She is so excited to get them - now she just needs to wait until her birthday on Thursday!  

In the evening, the ward had a ward BBQ, lots of yummy food and games and fun.  The kids had a great time and even Eileen wasn't happy when it was time to go!  But we had to get home and do scriptures and prayers and lots of other stuff.  Eileen had an appointment to get her hair trimmed too.  

Sunday has also been busy.  We had church which was wonderful!  After church, I had a quick meeting with the Primary Activities leaders, then there was a couple girls from the ward who were getting baptized which was wonderful - the room was packed, it was awesome to see the love and support there!  After church, Dan had an appointment to get a pre-surgery Covid test.  The test was negative and he is all cleared and ready for his surgery tomorrow.  We had dinner, then I drove over to Sandi's to pick my mom up!  She is in town to help me with getting people to all the places they need to go while Dan can't drive.  I'm excited to have her here for a couple day, and after going over the calendar for the week - I'm especially grateful she is here - I think I would have gone nuts otherwise!  

Water Polo and Idaho

We've had a busy week.  Between James with soccer on Monday and Wednesday and Aaron with soccer on Tuesday and Thursday and Anna with Cross Country and Water Polo ever day, it's been kinda nuts.  During the day, the kids and I keep busy with games and toys and house work and crafts.  Eileen has been a huge help in the afternoons, as have Aaron and Evelyn.  Dan finally got a date for his hernia surgery, so his workouts have slowed down quite a bit.  The surgery will be right before my birthday.  My mom has agreed to come out and help, so I'm excited to see her!  

Tuesday night, the girls had a combined young women's activity with another ward.  It was a big clothing swap and the girls had a blast!!  

Evelyn's friend Abri came over to hang out Wednesday morning, and the kids had a blast with her.  Wednesday evening, Anna and I went to a little get-together the water polo team was having to make signs for the car wash.   

Then Thursday morning, a lady from the ward was moving and I took Anna, Aaron and David over to help.  Anna and Aaron were a big help, David we mostly were just glad he stayed out of the way of the people carrying big stuff - but he was actually really eager to help too.  Her daughter sent him home with a couple of things too - so he was SO happy.  

Thursday afternoon was Anna's first Water Polo game.  Both the guys and girls played well.  The boys lost - but it was to a much larger team with a greater number of experienced players.  The girls won their game, but it was a super close game!  Dan and some of the kids came to watch Anna play!  We were the home team (in dark caps) after the game, David told us he had been cheering for the white team...  

Friday morning was spent getting ready for the trip and attempting to get the kids packed, and the car packed and everything else ready.  We managed to get on the road shortly after noon.  We hit traffic through Portland, but otherwise, we had a nice easy drive.  We stopped at a rest stop for dinner and ate some Onigiri that Eileen made for us for our dinner.  It was yummy and fun!  We got it just a bit after James and David's bed time, so we did some scriptures and prayers and got them to bed.  

Saturday, for some reason we were almost all up early.  I hadn't been able to sleep hardly at all, so some of us were up by 5 am and all but James were up by 6 am.  James managed to sleep til 9. After James was finally up, Grandma wanted Evelyn to open her birthday present so that she could make adjustments if needed.  Evelyn loves her dress, and Grandma shortened it for her just a bit.  She looks way too grown up in it though.  

 Anna and I went out with Sarah to do some thrift shopping.  Anna had a blast finding clothes, and we had fun picking out things that we were going to try to alter and have some fun with.  While we were out, Dan took the younger kids on a walk and they ended up playing in the water. 

After Anna and I got back, we all headed down to the pool in Grandma and Grandpa's neighborhood and had fun playing and swimming.  I brought my water polo ball, and Anna and I had fun practicing skill and playing together.  

Sunday, we went to church with Grandma and Grandpa and after wonderful church meetings, we headed back to the house for lunch and games and naps!  In the evening, Rob and Sarah came over with Lucy and Riley and Emmalee and Johnny who were staying there for the night.  So we had a fun evening playing together outside and enjoying the beautiful weather!  

It's been a wonderful weekend visiting with Grandma and Grandpa and it's been great to have a little break from the crazy-ness of life these days.  The kids are sad to leave, but I'm so glad we made the trip out here for Labor Day!