You know things are going well if you are excited for Thanksgiving Vacation and a week of kids off of school.
I surprise myself that I am really excited for next week!!
It could be that I have some fun activities planned. It could be that my family is coming to visit. It could be that I am getting enough sleep and I feel like we have a little more control over our lives.
I'm thinking that might make a difference.
Logan is in boy scouts now. It makes for an interesting Wednesday evening as I am trying to get him to scouts, get everyone fed and showered, and get myself ready for and to Young Women's before Joe gets home. I am sure Joe feels overwhelmed when he gets home and there is so much left undone (on most days dinner is ready, kids are ready for bed, and the house is pretty picked up by the time he is home--but Wednesdays have been a little hectic lately).
Anyway, what I started out saying is that Logan made a super-cool tee-pee for scouts, and his awesome dad set it up in the play area. So Logan got everyone dressed in brown clothes (the most "Indianish outfit he could come up with) and made everyone these cute Indian headbands. Ammon wore his around for a good while (and then he ate it).
Joe's practice is going soooo much better than it was a year ago. We even decided that is was probably safe to start giving the kids a small allowance so they can practice paying tithing and saving money. My parents did allowance $1 per year per month, and we decided that that was a good system and decided to copy the idea. As you can see, Ammon really appreciated his dollar. The kids are excited about paying tithing and saving 40% of their money. They also enjoyed going to Half-Priced Books over the weekend and spending their money. :)
Can you see Grant's nose? We have no idea what happened. One day he took a nap in my room. I went up to change into shorts right before getting the kids off of the school bus and Grant was starting to wake up. Usually, if he is not awake, I just go outside and greet the kids when they step off the bus, but this time I asked him if he wanted to go out with me. He said a sleepy "ya" but didn't get up. As I was standing by the curb I heard a wail and saw Grant by the front door crying. I waved for him to come out, but had to hurry and cross the road to get the kids. When we came inside he was laying on the floor and throwing an I-just-woke-up tantrum. His nose was red the rest of the day, and I'm guessing it was a rug-burn (which he just picked and made bleed while I wrote this down).
I put up a pretty big framed white board and bulletin board in the kitchen a few weeks ago. They are practical and fun and they even look ok, too. Anyway, last night during dinner Grant did something that riled Madison up. She got up and wrote this very insulting phrase on the white board. In case you can't read it, it says, "Grant scribbles." We thought that was pretty hilarious. Grant got upset and started yelling that he does NOT scribble. Logan started saying helpful things like, "Madi, you used to scribble when you were 3." and "Grant actually colors better than you did when you were 3." and "Madi, why don't you help him to learn how to color better instead of making fun of him?" The truth is that Grant is a very good colorer for being 3 years old (probably because he sees big brother and sister). He stays in the lines and colors very nicely. I think maybe she was talking about how he draws. . . ?
So yeah, I'm excited for Thanksgiving. I am thankful for these four babies that Heavenly Father trusted me with, and I can't wait to spend hours and hours with them next week. I'm serious!!
