Salt-Lake-Cation, Dressers

We left Thursday after school, and our drive was uneventful. The Airbnb had plenty of space for everyone even though it wasn't very accessible for Jacob. My family took the downstairs, where we had 3 bedrooms and a bathroom. James's parents and brother arrived about an hour after us, so we just hung out and talked the rest of the evening.

Friday morning, we had pancakes and then went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity in Lehi. The kids had a great time, and we even got there before it got super crowded. It was so much easier than the last time we went. The older kids kept track of the younger ones, so I didn't really have to worry about anyone or feed any babies. We went to the mall in Provo for lunch (shawarma) and then looked around at the stores. After that, we went to the giant D.I., where I found lots of leggings for Katie. She's pretty tall for age, but I've discovered that Lula Roe leggings (the adult size) fit her really well and are very comfy. At D.I., they are only 3 bucks! She also loves the bright, colorful patterns. We had pizza at the Airbnb, and the kids got in the hot tub afterward.

Saturday, we cleaned and packed up after having pancakes again. We went to the Bean Museum on BYU campus, then got ice cream at the Creamery. For lunch, we went to Nazca, a Peruvian restaurant that James's cousin Hillary works at. The food there was absolutely amazing! Afterward, we went to IKEA and got James a new dresser. We then headed home and arrived without incident with enough to unpack stuff.

Monday, we didn't have school. James took the little kids out while I put together his dresser. The kids deep cleaned their rooms. Since James got a new dresser, we gave his old one to Katie, Katie's old one to the boys, and did a lot of cleaning in spaces that are normally covered by furniture. I was completely wiped out by the end of the day, but in a good way.

The rest of the week has been all right so far. We had a few warm days, then a bunch of snow. :( Hopefully this will be the last big storm. I visited my ministering sisters yesterday after spending the whole afternoon making sugar cookies. I was really tired by then, but I felt that it was important for some reason.

James and I are going to the temple today. I'm excited because I heard there are some changes.

Things are going well with the blog. I've done over half of the recipes now. My goal of finishing by my birthday will definitely happen!

Capitol, Playdate, Conferences

James went to the Capitol on Friday, so it was a bit of a long day. The O'Crowleys came over for a playdate (all 4 of them), so it was a busy afternoon.

I had parent/teacher conferences for all of my elementary kids. Everyone is doing well at school. Lewis is the only talkative one, which I find funny. I think he's my most extroverted kid.

The kids had a good Valentine's Day at school. I wasn't feeling well that day, so I didn't get anything for James. He brought me some chocolate. We went out for a milkshake on Wednesday when I was feeling better.

We're leaving for our annual Salt-Lake-Cation today. It's been such a brutal winter that it's really needed. I've had enough of it already. Some of the kids are anxious about the trip since they came back somewhat sick from our last one, and I can't blame them.

I'm supposed to be packing right now, but I don't have any desire to do so. One anxious kid threw up, so he's home from school, and I think he broke our Roku remote. Another anxious kid called me from school saying her arm is completely numb and won't move. (I'm pretty sure she's sore from P.E. yesterday). Ugh. I hope in the next few days I can find some time to relax. Travel will never be my favorite as long as there are kids coming along.

Baptism, Jury Duty, Heavy

Friday night, we went out to dinner and helped a friend who needed a new battery for her car. It was freezing, but I know she was really grateful.

James was gone all day on Saturday since his coworker who normally drives the girls' lacrosse team had a heart attack. I went to a baptism and ended up having a pretty good day.

This week has been a bit stressful. I had jury duty on Wednesday, so I had Joseph stay home from school to watch Samantha. I didn't get chosen for the jury, so I ran a few errands and got home by 11:15. It was supposed to be a relaxing afternoon, but I got a call from Katie saying she felt like she was going to throw up, so I picked her up from school. She then proceeded to bounce off the walls for the rest of the day.

Today, I've got grocery shopping and a well check for Lewis. I hope he's okay too. He said he felt a little sick this morning but seemed to be doing fine by the time he needed to go to school. Kenny is also home not feeling well, but he might improve enough to go late.

My Primary calling feels really heavy this week. I was getting excited about a new family of kids who started coming to church, but their dad took them from their mom. She has a restraining order against him, so she can't get them back since they have no custody arrangement, and the court date is in a few months. I went to see her and give her a loaf of bread, and I could tell she was feeling terrible, but I had no idea of how to help her. My other friend (and one of my teachers) just had a baby and had to bring him home on oxygen. I've been talking with her every day, but I don't feel like I'm all that helpful. I'm going to take her some ice cream later on.

The weather isn't helping. It's been sunny, but it has yet to be above 0 during the night or above freezing during the day. This is the worst winter of my entire life.

On the plus side, things are coming along nicely with my blog. We're also going on a little "Salt-Lake-Cation" next week with James's family. I really hope everyone is healthy by then.

More Texas, Party, Lewis's 6th Birthday, The Other Blog

The rest of the week without James went fine. I Googled the heater issue and figured out that I was expecting too much of it when it was below zero at night. I set it to 68 instead of 65 and didn't try to have it jump 5 degrees in the morning. It's still below zero at night, and the heater is doing just fine. There is some frost on the inside of our windows. I really want winter to be over! It's not snowy anymore, but it's way too cold. So far, our lowest temp was -17.

I took the kids to McDonald's for breakfast on Saturday. We then went to Walmart to buy Valentines. James got back around 2, rested, and then we went to a birthday party for Danny (Devin's middle child). It got really long at the end. Lewis threw up and Kenny had a minor breakdown. It ended up okay, though.

I've been sleeping restlessly this week, and I hate it. It means I have a slump around 4 each day, which is right when kids start getting home.

Lewis is 6! He opened his presents already. For dinner, we're having sausage, egg, and cheese muffins with blueberry ice cream and blueberry cheesecake to follow. I didn't have the greatest day 6 years ago since Lewis's birth was excruciating and he ended up in the NICU. I'm so glad to have that little boy in my life, though. He has a really happy temperament and snuggles with me every morning when I'm having a hard time getting going.

I felt that it was time to write my recipes in print-friendly form, so I'm working on that right now on my other blog. It's actually been really fun to learn a new plugin and not as hard as I thought. As a bonus, I'm revisiting all the recipes. About 10% of them need new pictures, and there are a few I'd forgotten about that I really want to try again. It's a good thing to keep my mind off of the crappy weather. Maybe one day, I'll even make money on it. That would be nice.