Getting into the Christmas Spirit

One things I neglected to mention was that Melanie hit another milestone. The week before Thanksgiving I noticed that she was dry when she woke up in the morning and would often go to the bathroom earlier than usual. So I suggested to her that we ditch the pull-ups at night. She was all for that. With only a couple of incidents she has done great. So glad to be done with pull-ups - until Michelle needs them that is.

Monday there was no school for the kids. Early that morning Amy found Michelle playing with my phone and decided to take some pictures using a filter.

She's pretty silly!

Michelle was doing well with leaving the tree alone for about a day, but then started pulling all of the ornaments off the tree. She tried to put them back on again, but that didn't work too well. So the tree now has no ornaments on the bottom 2 feet of the branches.

It was Cyber Monday, but it was hard to buy things with the kids around. We had already made several purchases though, and the packages started to arrive that day. We had a pretty relaxed day at home. I thought about going shopping and leaving the kids at home, but decided to just hang out with them. We made count down to Christmas chains, at least the younger ones did. That night we made snowflakes for FHE activity.

Tuesday it was back to school. Back to the city for shopping. My Black Friday shopping and the previous month of shopping at Fred Meyer had gotten me 70 cents off per gallon! No picture this time. It was too cold outside. After our round of shopping we headed home, and had a pretty quiet afternoon. Shopping always throws off Michelle's schedule, but what can I do? That afternoon I started my holiday baking by making two banana rolls.

 I loved seeing the lights on the house after I picked Timothy up from robotics

That evening while I was fixing dinner Michelle was playing in the utensil drawer. She pulled out the big metal grill spatula and dropped it on her foot. She started screaming and she was bleeding a lot. I tried to clean it up and saw that the toenail had split. I got a bandaid on it. She still wouldn't calm down. I tried to nurse her, and she still wouldn't calm down. I was amazed at how well the kids cooperated after that. They dutifully cleaned up the living room and helped with dinner. I think they were traumatized by Michelle's injury. She cried for 30 minutes before she finally fell asleep. She missed dinner. Aaron checked her toe when she woke up. She was up until almost 10:00 that night.

eating dinner at 9:30 pm

Wednesday was normal as well. Packages coming pretty much every day now. I can't remember which day it was but I wasn't really good about tying up Max because he wasn't touching the packages. Until my order from the BYU store came. He ripped it up and took off with a leather scripture case I had ordered. Everything else was fine. He must have smelled the leather. Oh I was so mad!!!! He was tied up for the rest of the day, and every day we were expecting packages.

The kids had mutual that night. They had been invited to attend the dress rehearsal of the stake's live nativity event. I wasn't invited to participate this year, which was fine with me. I had too much going on, and wasn't ready to wean Michelle. We were trying to figure out when we were going to see the performance. At first we thought Friday would work. We weren't sure we could get the boys to come again after seeing it on Wednesday, so I decided to just take all of the kids with me that night. Aaron couldn't make it because he had to meet with some people at the church. So I dropped the boys off at the church and then drove up to the stake center with the girls.

It was great to start off the Christmas season with beautiful music. It was the dress rehearsal, so there was chatter at the beginning as they did mic checks and had to cue people on. It was the same script as when they did it two years ago, but a few different songs, and instead of youth with a hand bell choir, they had a children's choir. It was great. The only issue was Michelle, who had a stinky diaper about 15 minutes in. So I snuck out to change it, but after that she didn't want to sit still. That and Amy kept asking me questions throughout the whole thing, and I kept having to tell her to be quiet. I ended up in the back with Michelle until the end when the audience gets to sing "Silent Night". Afterward the boys just rode home with me, so I wouldn't have to pick them up afterward.

Thursday - first day of December! It was a normal day as well. Michelle was giving me a hard time a bout going down for a nap, so I snapped this picture as I laid on the floor trying to get her to lay down.

That evening Aaron had plans to meet with some people from church, but that got postponed, so we decided to do our day of service on time. We got together some decorations for a couple of people we thought could use some Christmas cheer, and might not have anything to decorate with. We drove over and visited with each of them. Michelle was a bit restless, but I enjoyed being there. Then it was time to head home and go to bed.

Friday was pretty good. I had to get the oil changed on the Yukon. Julianna had mentioned the Timothy would love to see Melanie, so I arranged for me to drop her off before the car appointment. I needed to return a large item and I didn't want Melanie to ask questions so I thought this was a perfect time to return it. So I covered it with a blanket and put it in the Yukon before I left to take the kids to school. Apparently it wasn't completely covered so Timothy saw it and pointed it out to Amy. She exclaimed, "I didn't know we had a ....." I was glad Melanie didn't know what that was, and that the gift was for David and he wasn't in the vehicle. It should have been obvious that if it was covered they shouldn't see what it was. But oh well.

So I dropped Melanie off at Julianna's and then drove to the dealership. Michelle woke up as we got there so I nursed her before going in. She didn't really eat a whole lot. The appointment took about an hour. As I went to the bathroom to change Michelle's diaper I saw Mr. R* the guy that owns the car repair shop we usually go to. It was strange to see him out of context. And I felt a bit sheepish as I wasn't at his place! Then as I exited the bathroom I saw his wife and granddaughter. She asked if we had bought a new car, and I mentioned that we did right after Michelle was born. Then I realized I hadn't been to their place since she was born. We'd seen them a basketball games and such, so they had met her. There were two older men there having an interesting conversation. About 10 minutes after I got there one of them left, and the other continued to talk to me the entire time! It was mostly good. Eventually they were done, and I returned the gift to the store (Aaron had found one he liked better at a different store, but the kids don't know I got him a different one).

I went to pick up Melanie and Julianna and I got to chat for a bit as Melanie, Michelle, Timothy and Baby were playing. Eventually we headed home for lunch. Aaron came home soon after that. Since we were no longer going to the nativity performance Aaron thought about getting a head start on his traveling. He had a meeting to attend in Seattle Saturday morning. There was snow predicted, so he thought about taking David with him and heading out that afternoon. So I texted David to not get on the bus and that Dad would pick him up. He didn't respond until the end of school, as I expected. He said, "Why is Dad picking me up?" "Do you still want to go to Seattle with Dad? He wants to leave right now." I told him he'd have time to come home and pack, but that they would leave within an hour. So that's what they did.

Amy and Timothy got home before they left. So they got to say goodbye. Another reason for heading out early was getting the LDS bookstore out there. David was short a scripture tote since Max chewed it up, and the one I ordered for Amy, they ran out of before they could fill my order. So Aaron bought those, plus a few other things. Then they had dinner and checked into a hotel. At home we had a simple dinner and went to bed. That's about it.

Thanksgiving 2016, Black Friday and Cutting Down a Christmas tree

Thursday was Thanksgiving. I had lots to do and Aaron helped. The kids helped a bit, but then mostly watched the parade.
Aaron got up early to put the turkey in the smoker. It was a bigger turkey than the one from the day before, it was also a bit colder 30 not completely defrosted.

 Aaron did bacon weave again - yum!

With Kristy and her family staying home that meant I needed to make rolls, but I was fine with that. So that morning I made 2 pans of rolls (that's 48 rolls) and prepped the stuffing, green bean casserole (Amy helped me make that), mashed potatoes, and got together a relish tray. Aaron used the drippings from the turkey the day before to make a gravy. Aaron went out to grab a paper and set up the tables in the gym.

We were watching the turkey and it wasn't cooking as fast as we had hoped. It was a colder day, and a larger turkey, but it still seemed to take a long time. We had until 1:00, but still needed to get the food to the church. Aaron stayed with the turkey and I took the food and the kids to the church.

Aaron had found the fall napkins, and I had grabbed some decorations to put on the tables. I had David start the oven, and then we put in the green bean casserole and the stuffing. I started the potatoes on the stove. Then I realized everything I forgot - a cutting board and can opener. Br. H* arrived soon after and helped me cut things for the relish tray. Then the missionaries arrived and they helped as well. I whipped up the cream for the cranberry salad. The turkey still wasn't done and Aaron needed to leave to pick up Don A*. So we traded. I drove back home with Michelle, and waited on the turkey. Aaron picked up Don - which is quite a chore as he is in a wheelchair. Aaron got to the church and everyone pitched in to get the food on the table. They mashed the potatoes, arranged the veggies etc. The B*s (Cary and Marlo) had also smoked a turkey, so all the food was there. So I told Aaron to start without me and I would bring the turkey as soon as it was ready.

Michelle a little whiny so I had to tend to her. When it got to 165 I loaded it into the back of the Yukon and turned off the Traeger, and headed over to the church, only 45 minutes late - hahaha!

Aaron carved up the turkey and and I finally got something to eat. I don't think we brought out our pumpkin pie because Mike W* brought a couple of pies. Bob. E* also came, and Trisha T* and Heather S*. It was a really good meal. I enjoyed talking to people and eating my fill. I had a small piece of chocolate pecan pie and a small piece of apple crumble. We left some of the food in the fridge for Sunday's pot luck, including the 3 pies we had left over. eventually we cleaned up and put everything away, washed dished etc. I wished I could have done more, but Michelle wanted me to hold her.  also regret not taking any pictures. Oh well. That evening we just played, and lounged. the only one that slept at all was Michelle.

Aaron and I had discussed some of the items we were interested in for Black Friday. I really don't like the crowds, but I love the deals. I also am not a fan of Shopping on Thanksgiving. So I avoided the crazy stores like Target and Wal-Mart and their super early openings. I set my alarm for 4:00 am an figured I'd decide at that point whether or not I was awake enough to travel. I was pretty alert, so I got dressed and put Michelle in the carseat and headed into town. Almost immediately I remembered to turn on the local Christmas radio station. "Donde Esta Santa Claus" was playing. Then O Holy Night and "Merry Christmas Darling" by the Carpenters followed. I'd say we started off on a good note. I got to Fred Meyer about 4:45. I debated on getting out, or just waiting for the rush. But it wasn't super cold, and Michelle was bundled up. So I got out and waited in line. Michelle woke up almost immediately. I chatted with the people around me and they opened the doors about 5 minutes early.

I usually go to Fred Meyer for the half off socks and buy one get one free games. This time I was actually in the market for one of the big ticket items. I didn't want to get my hopes up, but I thought I stood a better chance to get one of the 10 in stock if I went at opening. I couldn't find what I was looking for right off, so I asked someone. They were behind the counter, so I stood in line (only 2 others in front of me). The first one wanted a TV and the next one wanted a Nintendo DS. So surprisingly I got want I wanted at 50% off! I saw Wendy Ellis out of the corner of my eye while I was in line. However by the time I was done with my purchase she was gone. I did plenty of shopping that morning. Socks, games, clothes, shoes, etc. Not all of it was for Christmas either. Some of it is just stocking up for the year. We also ran in to Erika M*. She was shopping with her family. They were in town for Thanksgiving. We chatted for a bit and eventually I made my purchases and headed back to the Yukon. Next up was Kohl's. I had done some shopping online, but I was looking for a few other things. I saw someone familiar there. I know her from the stake, but I still can't place a name with the face. She knew I was from Zillah though.

Then it was Michael's. Then I went to Shopko. I saw Rose M* and her husband there. I was just finishing my transaction when they were getting ready to leave, so I called out to her. She came over and I finished my purchase. We talked for a bit and then headed out. It seems she has been going through chemo. I had know idea. Last stop was Home Depot. I had forgotten that they give out doughnuts and hot chocolate or coffee. They were out of hot drinks, but still had one box of doughnuts. They were jelly filled, which are not my favorite, but I took one anyway. Lucky me, they forgot the filling! So I shared with Michelle. They helped me find what I needed quickly and then I was done. Until I thought about going to Best Buy. David had mentioned their itunes gift cards were on sale. So I grabbed a couple and then some movies. However the line was ridiculously long. It moved quickly though and we were done in 20 minutes. Finally we headed home. Aaron had gone duck hunting that morning, so David was in charge of the rest of the kids. Michelle fell asleep on the way home. I had the kids scatter while I brought in all of the purchases. I couldn't really have them help me in case they happened upon a gift. Luckily with a large quilt I was able to cover anything that wasn't covered with a bag.

Then we had lunch - leftovers of course. Aaron came home, and decided he wanted to do some shopping as well. He made a few stops including Costco. We had been researching a new computer since ours is several years old. It sounds like an airplane taking off at times. So that evening we doubled checked out hard drive and overnight transferred files to the new computer. Otherwise we had a quiet afternoon at home. That night was just spending time together.

Saturday Aaron took Timothy, Amy and Melanie with him to pick out a Christmas tree up in the mountains. They did their chores and packed a lunch and then headed out. They had fun and got to play in the snow.

 

  They found one near the edge of a drop off.

 Timothy holding it for height reference

Aaron found this interesting bug on the branches of the tree.

Meanwhile at home I took David over to Heather S* to help her with some yard work.

 Michelle found a bracelet and thought it was lots of fun.

Aaron arrived home with the tree and a dirty truck. He put it in water and we rearranged the living room. Then we cut it down to the right size and put it in the tree stand.

 Finally we got it in the house

Aaron and I worked together to put the lights on the tree. For once they weren't all tangled and we were able to get them on the tree without any hassle!

 Then Aaron used an idea from Anthon to use a siphon to water the tree.

 pretty present

 actually a siphon

That afternoon David helped Aaron put up the lights on the house. Amy helped as well, or at least she thinks she was helping.

After dinner we got out the ornaments and trimmed the tree.

 Michelle didn't want me to hold her. She wanted to help "decorate".

 Timothy found the Polar Express book

 The tree is all decorated!

 Michelle found some lights

 Aaron took a picture of the tree trunk to enlarge and count the rings. The tree was about 50 years old!

Bright and early Sunday morning I hear someone going downstairs. I found this: Melanie apparently remembers sleeping under the Christmas tree last year, and wants to do it pretty much every day. Since I won't let her, she wakes up in the middle of the night or early in the morning and brings a pillow and blanket downstairs to sleep under the tree.

So Aaron had meetings in the morning and the rest of us got ready for church. I prepped a few things for the potluck after church. Then we headed to church. I can't recall everything that happened, but I know that I didn't get to hear much of Sunday school as Michelle didn't want to sleep again. Eventually she slept. Then I taught my lesson to the young women on the importance of Education.

After church I helped set up for the potluck, then did a quick choir practice with the choir. Then we ate our meal. The kids always love it when someone brings a huge slow cooker full of hot dogs. After the potluck we cleaned up and headed home.

I'm sure I made something with leftover turkey for dinner. We had FHE and Michelle thought it was funny to stick her hand in my mouth. Aaron had to capture that on his phone.

Thanksgiving Prep

I caught Michelle committing her daily mischief

 Monday the kids went to school, and I had planned to go shopping in the city, but my tire indicator said we had a low pressure, like dangerously low. After dropping the kids off at school I attempted to fill it, but it didn't seem to be working. It was still at 22! So I decided to stay home rather than risk an accident. I got plenty of things done at home.                                                                        

All the kids came home on the bus after school. there was no after school program, since it was only 2 days of school. Other than watching Studio C for FHE I can't think of anything else out of the ordinary.

After kids were in bed Aaron checked the tires. It wasn't inflating because I was filling the wrong tire. Before you think I made a dumb mistake, the indicator told me the wrong tire because the last person to rotate the tires didn't reset the indicators. So I had over-inflated the wrong tire, and the low tire wasn't getting filled. Aaron filled it for me, and released the air in the other tire.

Tuesday I dropped kids off at school again and this time I went over to the tire place. They had about 4 people in front of me so it took about an hour before they even got to me. I had to told to check for a leak and told them the indicator wasn't set last time the tires were rotated. The guys understood what needed to be done. "Do you want me to do that?" He said. I answered "yes, and the tires needed to be rotated too." "OK was his answer." So I was surprised when they came back out 5 minutes after they took it back there to tell me they didn't find a leak in the tire I told them to check. I asked if they had rotated the tires, and they said, "Oh, that wasn't on the order." So I sat back down. About 20 minutes later they were done. They found a nail in one of the front tire, but not the one that was low. Whatever. They didn't charge me for the flat tire, or the tire rotation, just the electrical reset. I was fine with that!

Finally I was on my way up to the city for shopping. We hit Fred Meyer and filled up on gas. Once again I used a 40 cents off a gallon reward.

Then on to Costco. Now I know better than to shop the day before Thanksgiving, but apparently even the Tuesday before Thanksgiving is awful. It took me way too long to find a parking space. It was super busy, and the lines were horrendous! I will not be making that mistake again.

We finally headed home and unloaded the groceries. There was barely any room in the fridge. We were planning to make Thanksgiving dinner for our family, my cousin's family and 7 others. My cousin was bringing the rolls, and One family was smoking a turkey, and we were doing another one. someone else was bringing a couple of pies. That left me to do the rest. So my fridge was full!

It was a bit of an unusual day as David didn't come home. He had a birthday party for Luke. Luke's mom picked them up from school and them went back to his house for a bit. They had dinner and went to the trampoline park. Then back to his house for games and a movie. It was a sleepover, but Aaron picked him up around 11:00 pm.

As for the rest of us, we just played and cleaned and tried to get the house ready for guests. Kristy, David and Seth were coming for Thanksgiving. I was excited, our babies hadn't even met yet! She called me to let me know that David had just gotten over an illness and was done with antibiotics, and that she had some allergy issues and bronchitis. She wanted to know if they should stay home. I told her it was up to her and how she felt. It wasn't contagious, so I wasn't worried about. They decided to come anyway. Aaron visited some people that night so he didn't get home until late. I was grateful he was willing to get David, because I was exhausted.

Wednesday morning Aaron got up at 4:30 am to start the smoker. He was smoking a smaller turkey for work as kind of a trial run. So he got the turkey going and then got ready for work. He gave me instructions on when to turn it from smoking to BBQ. During scripture study that morning I got a text from Kristy. They had gone to the ER the night before because she was having trouble breathing. They determined she had pneumonia! Traveling was not recommended. We were all sad they weren't coming, but knew she needed to take care of her health first.

Just as we were eating breakfast David got the text that his friends were awake, so he quickly got ready to go. It's amazing how quickly he can get ready when he is motivated. Typically he take about 40 minutes to get ready before seminary (from the time he enters the bathroom until he leaves dressed and hair done etc.). That's longer than it takes me. That morning he was in and out in 15 minutes. Hmmm. So I took Michelle with me and I dropped him off. It was really foggy outside. The rest of the kids finished their breakfast.

Aaron came back home around 10:00 and checked on the turkey and cooked a ham along side it. He did a phone meeting while he was home. When everything was done he loaded up the car and headed back to work for the lunch.

I no longer needed the house guest worthy. So it was a bit more relaxing and I started on dinner prep. I cut bread for stuffing, chopped some veggies and made a couple of pies. Heather was making apple pies, so I did chocolate pecan and pumpkin. Yum!

Michelle helped Melanie unload the dishwasher

At 4:00 David needed to be picked up. However Michelle was still sleeping. I would be gone for about 20 minutes. So I decided to leave Timothy home with Michelle, and I took the girls with me. I told Timothy to text me if she woke up. I had picked up David and was heading down the dirt road when Timothy texted. I asked if Michelle was crying and he said "yes". So I called him and tried to talk him through things he could do with Michelle, and had him put the phone of speaker so I could talk to her. We talked the whole drive home (about 10 minutes). I had hoped she would stay asleep, but everything worked out fine. We all survived.

With all of the Thanksgiving Prep I didn't really have a plan for dinner that night. We just had a simple dinner.

Football Playoffs and Videos

I forgot to include these pictures of the beautiful sunrise Friday morning.

Saturday morning started early as I dropped David off at the high school at 7:15 in the rain. There were a couple of buses there for the band, and students. Then it was home to get kids started on chores. Aaron wanted to go to game as well. He was hoping to get some of the young men to come with him, but they weren't available, so he took Melanie. It's about a 3 hour drive and it's pretty close to Daralee. So they went to the game and sat in the rain. We played poorly, and a couple of bad calls didn't help any. So we lost. David came back with the band bus. Aaron and Melanie drove over to see Daralee and any of her family that were there. Afterward they stopped at McDonald's for dinner (Melanie's choice).

At home, we just played and followed the BYU game and had a simple dinner. I think we ate the last of the corn dogs.  David got home before Aaron, so I drove over to pick him up. Aaron and Melanie came home about 30 minutes later. then it was time to get ready for bed.

Sunday was pretty typical. Aaron went to meetings, and the rest of us got ready for church. I can't remember much else. I know that we had a our teacher development lesson a week early. I think that was when Michelle was being really noisy and Aaron and I took turns holding her. I taught a lesson on Seeking Guidance. I think I brought treats for the class. That's about it.

I don't remember much about after church either. I know we stayed after church for ward choir. We are getting ready for the Christmas program. Then we went home and got some lunch and got dinner ready, had FHE and dessert. I really couldn't tell you anything else. Here's a couple of new things from Michelle: Since we got her new shoes she learned the word "shoe".


 We also discovered she figured out how to use a straw.

And the Winners Are....

Aaron said I should do a Facebook Live post as I do the drawing. However I am in my PJ's, makeup washed off and about to jump into bed. So... not this time. Perhaps I'll plan better next year. So, without further ado... I have picked two names at random and they are:

Katy L*

and

Anita V*

Both ladies I know from my home town. Katy I went to church with (girls' camp, and dance groups! Fun memories!) Anita is a family friend. Her two daughters are friends of my sisters and became my friends too. 

Congratulations Katy and Anita!

Goodie Giveaway 2016

I was so far behind on blogging I totally forgot to post my giveaway. I will start baking later this week. So here is my annual Christmas Goodie Giveaway. All you have to do is comment here on this post. I will post a link on Facebook as well, so if you are my friend on Facebook you can comment there as well, for a second entry. I'm even on Instagram now. So there is a third entry if you comment there! If you are having a hard time thinking of something to say just tell me what your favorite Christmas traditions are!

I will draw two names on Saturday around bedtime (10:00 PST). That way I can have time to collect addresses before I mail the packages off on Monday.

I hope you are enjoying the holiday season! Now it's time for me to get baking!

Band Concerts

Monday was another shopping day. On top of our usual Fred Meyer and Costco stops we also went to Wal-Mart. Melanie had a gift card to spend, and I had run out of several things at once. Seriously within a week I ran out of hair mousse, facial moisturizer, deodorant and tooth paste. Luckily I had extra already purchased, but it was time to replace all of those for the next time, plus the kids needed more hygiene items as well. I bought some shoes for Michelle. I couldn't find any of Melanie's old shoes. I looked for new church shoes for Timothy too. He's now a size 7 which apparently is not easily available. Too big for kid's shoes, but very rare for men's shoes. I couldn't find that size in David's old shoes, only size 8s which are really too big. So I'll keep shopping.

Melanie was very pleased with her purchase. She had a stuffed animal in her hand for a while until she saw this puppy house. I was glad we walked every aisle until she found what she wanted. I took a picture to send to Auntie Eva (who gave her the gift card for her birthday). Pure Joy!

David was done with the play but needed to stay after school to take down the set. I still had to pick up Timothy at 5, but David wasn't done until 6. Then we had dinner and FHE (since we were too busy Sunday evening). Then we watched Studio C again for our activity. Michelle's pants had fallen off - they are a little too big still. Aaron thought it would be funny to put them on her head. Michelle thought that was hilarious!

Tuesday Aaron had to come back home after dropping kids off at seminary, and then go back and pick up David early. Mr. S* had asked the jazz band members to come early to help set up the stage for the band concert that night.

Meanwhile at home I decided to make french toast, and Michelle made quite a mess with it.

 Ok, she is done

As for the rest of the day I watched Timothy and I* and baby girl while Julianna went to the dentist. We had fun with them. They played and ate and played. Melanie wanted to show baby girl everything, and helped her on the slide. It was a fun morning. Then it was lunch time and nap time.

That evening we had dinner early and then went to the high school for the Band and Choir concert.  Aaron was on call, but met us there before it started. Michelle was not happy about being contained. I usually don't nurse her in the evening anymore, but that's all she wanted right then.

I meant to change my shirt before I went to the concert, but ran out of time.

 First up was the concert band. I was amazed at how much better they were than the middle school band

  It was also fun to hear a familiar song - The Swan.

David and Alan

 Then the choir

 There's Madelyn and Aryn

 Next up was the jazz band - they were really good!

 Then the women's choir

Both of the W* exchange students are in the women's choir

 

The concert got over around 8:30. So it was too late for them to go out for ice cream, besides Aaron had a lot of work to do. So it was home for bedtime.

Wednesday was pretty normal. I worked on the blog, and did laundry etc. The kids had mutual. I texted Aaron to see if I needed to pick them up. At first he thought he'd be fine, but decided to have me come get them anyway. It was a good thing. He got stuck at the church talking to people. He was coming home around 9:00 and got to our driveway when he got called into the hospital. We talked on his way in. He thought he'd be home in about an hour. I got at text at 10:30 letting me know he wouldn't be home soon. So I set the house alarm and went to bed. I'm not sure exactly when he came home, but I noticed he was home at 1:00. Michelle woke up around 1:15. When I came back into our room Aaron was on the phone again. Luckily he didn't have to go in for that one. He just planned to see that patient in the morning. What a night!

Thursday morning Aaron was so exhausted in the morning that he asked if I would take the kids to seminary. I was fine with that. I got home around 6:20, Michelle was just waking up and the kids were up getting ready for school. We had a simple breakfast. Who am I kidding? Most of our breakfasts are simple right now. Aaron got up and went to work, and I took the kids to school. I don't recall much else.

It was another early dinner for us at it was Timothy's turn for a band concert. We sat in the same place as Tuesday's concert. Aaron got there a bit earlier. That was good since both Amy and Melanie needed to go to the bathroom. Michelle did the same thing as before. She was restless and wanted to nurse. The 6th grade band went first. Then there was a short break and then the middle school band came out. I wasn't sitting high enough to get a good picture of Timothy. Aaron got a couple that were better than mine. They played 3 songs. Timothy played snare, bells, and bass drum.

The concert was over by 7:30, so Aaron took the boys out for ice cream, and I took the girls home to get ready for bed. As we were waiting for the boys to get back Melanie decided to climb on the slide through the hole instead of the stairs - crazy girl!



That night was rough as Michelle didn't sleep well. She was coughing a lot. Almost a croupy cough.

Friday was another fairly normal day. After the kids came home from school I surprised them with a trip to the clinic - haha! I asked them if they would enjoy Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner. They agreed. The catch was we had to pick it up after flu shots! So after snack we loaded up the kids and headed over to the clinic. Aaron was on call until 5 so he was still there. Melanie and Michelle had already gotten their shots, so it was just the older three. Aaron texted to ask if I needed help. I told him Amy was nervous. Reyna took us back to the room. I almost had to drag Amy into the room. Amy refused to go first. So David and Timothy got done and Aaron left with the kids. Then came back to help. I really couldn't hold Amy still enough. So Aaron came to help. She was literally screaming at the top of her lungs "Let go of me". Eventually we got it done.

Afterward we picked up a couple of pizzas and headed home for dinner. Aaron had an interview dinner that he attended. I was planning to go with him, but when Michelle got sick I decided it would be better if she had a normal routine, and I didn't want to ask a babysitter to watch a sick kid. So I canceled the babysitter and stayed home. We had a pretty quiet evening after dinner, and that's about it. David needed to get to bed because he was going to travel with the band to attend the football playoff game. Aaron got home around 9:00, and that's about it.