Not Too Much

Saturday, James and I went out for lunch and checked out the thrift store. I found a few pairs of pants for Kenny. It's so hard to keep everyone in clothes that fit! I thought I'd sorted that out a few months ago when we went through every single dresser and bin of clothes in the house, but apparently that wasn't true. Oh well. Devin and his kids came over for a while, so that was fun.

We had a busy Tuesday with flu shots and tithing settlement. Kenny also had an activity, but we made it to all the places on time and even found time to get Frosties in between. The shot really hurt this time. My arm is red and a little swollen, but the pain is getting better.

The weather has been perfect lately. I really love September and October in Vernal. Our highs are in the 70s and lows in the 50s. We hardly need the AC and haven't used the heat yet either. We also don't have to water the lawn much to keep it beautiful and green. I love it.

Another Flat Tire, Sickness, Babysitting

Friday did not go as planned. First of all, Kenny had an orientation for the gifted program. It said it was an hour long. I noticed that a tire on the Yukon was flat, so I went to Walmart for them to add air since I didn't have time to get it fixed. When I showed up 2 minutes late to get Kenny, he was in tears and thought I'd forgotten about him. I guess I was supposed to go to the meeting, but I somehow missed that and the meeting was shorter than expected (which means everyone else left and he was there waiting with a teacher). I felt terrible! He was okay by the time I dropped him off at his friend's house for a playdate.

I quickly went home to drop off a few groceries and went back to Walmart to get the flat fixed. Thankfully, it didn't take too long so I just read a book while I was waiting. I had about 25 minutes at home before I had to get Kenny from his friend's house, so I made a batch of muffins to bake when I got back. They turned out great! I'd been craving pumpkin muffins, and these got eaten pretty quickly since all but 1 kid liked them.

We had a game night, so that was fun. My stress level was definitely high for most of the day.

Saturday, James was gone for a good chunk of the day, but I stayed busy with books and crafts.

Monday and Tuesday, I watched a neighbor kid from 9-5. We also cleaned the church on Monday. It was incredibly stressful, and most people in the house are a little sniffly, so I didn't get much sleep. Somehow, I found the energy to make a batch of salsa. Some of our neighbors gave us a bunch of tomatoes, so I got 5 pints of delicious salsa.

Despite all the challenges, the past 2 days have been okay, much calmer and easier since I only have 1 kid at home. I've really appreciated morning kindergarten. It means I can clean, exercise, and get other tasks done without kids fighting in the background.

I've been thinking about upcoming projects. I really want to paint the house again, but I don't think it makes sense to do the main rooms yet. I want to start with things I've never painted, like the laundry room, my closet, and the kids' closets. Sometime in the future, I also want to paint all the cabinets in the kitchen and bathrooms, but that will be a huge undertaking. Maybe when Samantha goes to school next fall?

Wedding, Flat Tire

Samantha and I went over to Blakely's house on Friday. I think it'll be a weekly thing for them to have a playdate. They love playing together.

I'd been a little grouchy on Saturday, so it was nice to go to a wedding for Sis. Bristol in my ward. It was short, but really touching. I went to the reception for a minute, then went home to eat dinner and get the kids and James. He was supposed to take a separate car so he could take the girls to Homecoming, but that didn't work out since it had a really flat tire. Instead, I took the kids to the reception (where they got chocolate all over their church clothes), went home, and put everyone to bed after a little dance party in the cabin. James quickly went to the reception and got to Homecoming a little late, but it worked out.

Monday after school, James attempted to pump up the tire, but it was too flat. The spare was no good either, so he took the wheel off and went to Walmart to get another, then put the new one on. Everything's fine now. It just made things kind of frustrating.

James and Joseph had a temple trip yesterday. I'm glad Joseph knows how to take family names. :) I was his age when I started doing family history.

I've gotten a few projects done this week. Since it's been raining and the car seats got all wet, I took them apart and washed the covers. They were beyond nasty. Thankfully, by next year, Lewis and Samantha should be in boosters. I also cut the boys' hair and made a couple of sleep masks for the kids out of scrap fabric.

Paperwork, Packards, Labor Day, Shoes

I ended up finishing the paperwork for Rex in good time. It really ate up all my extra time so I couldn't read or spend time with Samantha. I'm so glad it's over now.

Saturday ended up being really boring. I hate it when I have a couple of days where I'm really stressed and too busy, but then I have a day where I'm super bored. I wish I could have the average of those days.

Sunday, we went to a get-together at the McClellans' for the Packards, who moved away 2 years ago to WY. It was really awesome to see them again. All the kids played together while we enjoyed some dessert.

Monday, Labor Day, ended up being too busy. We deep cleaned the cabin and added some more shelves by the big octagonal window. It took much longer than expected, but I got some reading done in between tasks. I'm glad we did it even though it was a huge pain. We went out to dinner, but that didn't go quite as planned. Denny's was super busy, so we ended up waiting an hour for our food. (When we did get it, we had no leftovers because we were SO hungry.) Kids' meals aren't free anymore either, so it was more expensive than planned. Oh well. It can be for special occasions from now on.

The rest of the week has been somewhat uneventful so far. Hurray! It's exactly what I wanted.

I'd been experiencing foot pain because I'm too old for cheap shoes. After doing a little research on flat feet, I bought some Dr. Scholl's shoes from Amazon for 50 bucks. So far, I love them, and my feet don't hurt anymore. I also haven't had any problems with lower back/sciatic pain either. It's crazy how much of a difference such a small change can make sometimes. When it's less hot, maybe I'll start biking again. It's been in the mid-upper 90's all week, not at all typical of September.

Dino-Soar, Nash, Kindergarten

School went all right last week, even Friday, which can sometimes be tricky. (The kids get bored and fight when they're all together sometimes.)

Friday, we did our first movie night in a while. I love having the cabin as a special place to do things like that.

Saturday, we went to the dinosaur museum party and the farmer's market by the library. It was part of Dino-Soar Days, which includes hot air balloons. Unfortunately, we missed the balloons. Nash unexpectedly came to visit for a couple of hours around dinnertime. It was great, so I didn't mind missing the balloons. There's always next year.

For FHE, we played some board games with the kids.

Tuesday, we celebrated Samantha's birthday a day early since we knew Wednesday would be crazy. My first cake, an angel food cake, was a failure. When I turned the pan over to cool it, it fell out and collapsed. I'm going to blame being really distracted at getting kids out the door for school. That ended up okay because I made actual shortcake, which I like a lot better. We had grits, eggs, and bacon for dinner and were joined by James's dad, who worked in Vernal Wednesday and Thursday. Samantha loved getting Katie's old Barbies for her main present and has played with them a lot since then.

Wednesday was also crazy. I did paperwork for Rex, and it took a lot longer than expected. Though my computer is a lot better than Anna's, my scanner is really slow, so it took me the same amount of time and frustration as it normally would. Hmph. Lewis had his first day of school, so I walked him to the bus stop and got him at 11:40, which ended up being 12. I was really hot and a little grouchy when we got back since I hadn't finished the paperwork. I thought it would take an hour, but it took 3. Now I know. I've agreed to do all 3 days' paperwork, which means 25 more stacks. I'm going to pace myself over the next few days.

The rest of Wednesday was good. I had a little time to relax. James brought home pizza for dinner, and we hung out until he and Joseph had to go to Mutual. The rest of the evening, I sat there in a stupor and watched TV. Haha.

The next few days, I have 12.5 hours of paperwork if all goes well. Wish me luck.