29 November 2015

It was a glorious week!  I cleaned and baked on Monday and enjoyed time at home.  I was able to run in the afternoon and was happy to see kids coming home from the bus.  Monday afternoon was very busy with school projects that needed to be worked on.  Helen did a poster project about Desert Tortoises.  I helped her print out the facts that she had found and she included a picture of her and Ammon her baby tortoise.  When we were done with Helen’s project we moved on to Felicity’s Million dollar project.  It was such a challenge to work on this with Felicity.  She had $1M dollars to spend with some guidelines.  She just could not get the hang of spending that much money.  She initially picked out a house for $125K and a used minivan from Craigslist and then when I told her to find a pool for her house, she found one on sale at Walmart.com for $200.  Ahh!  So I had to do a fair amount of hand-holding and helping her out.  Her finished PowerPoint presentation was nice and I think she started to understand the concept.

 Tuesday I continued on in my quest to get ahead of Christmas projects and then in the afternoon I went to the salon for a trim.  My mom picked up the kids from school and when I was done I met them for dinner and then we were off to the district auditorium for Helen’s 2^nd grade musical performance.  It was cute and she had a good time.

Wednesday morning I got all the kids off to school and then headed to the Gilbert temple.  They were closing early for the holidays, so I hurried to get there in time.  I ended up having plenty of time and enjoyed myself greatly.  It’s so nice to have the opportunity to feel refreshed and recharged as I try to attend the temple once a month.  The sky was really pretty and I got a couple of nice pictures of the temple before heading back home.  We enjoyed the evening together and ordered a pizza and had movie night.

Thursday morning the kids were picked up early by their dad to spend the holiday with him.  I made a birthday cake for a friend’s daughter and after that, I snuggled into a couple of movies and some sewing.  I had purchased several yards of cute flannel at Jo-Ann’s the day before on sale, so I made each of my kids a couple of pairs of PJs for Christmas.  I had several invites for Thanksgiving dinner, but just really was happy to be home and being productive, so that’s where I stayed.  The kids got home Thursday evening and pretty much went straight to bed after a long fun turkey day.

Friday the girls went to a birthday party and Arlo and I went grocery shopping and to pick the last of the ingredients for the holiday baking and the goodies for our 8^th annual Gingerbread Family Home Evening.  I was grateful the grocery store wasn’t too crowded even if the shelves were pretty picked over!  When the girls got home, Felicity helped me make some candy and then in the evening we went over to Nana and Papa’s to help them eat some of their Thanksgiving left-overs.

The kids went back with their dad Saturday morning and I went with Mindy to her parent’s house to have yet another Thanksgiving lunch and to help take family photos for them.  I always love being with their family and this time was no exception.  The kids came home in the evening and we went to bed fairly early so that we would be ready for church.  Our meetings went well and after church on Sunday we went back to my parent’s house to finish off the pie!  And now I find that my week of vacation has sadly come to an end.  I did manage to make seven home-made Christmas ornaments, two sets of painted gift blocks, five pairs of PJs, 21 mini loaves of sweet bread, 6 lbs. of fudge (edible fudge none the less), two batches of haystacks, three dozen Hawaiian Moon Drops, Angel Sweets, Sugar Cookies, and enough dough for six dozen cut-out cookies, and three dozen gingerbread men, and two-tier birthday cake among progress on several other gifts.  It was a happy Thanksgiving week and I feel ready for the holidays. 

I have so much to be thankful for: my family and friends, my children, our health, our home, the wonderful country to live in, my job, the temple, and most importantly the Gospel truths.  I hope that everyone had a wonderful and happy Thanksgiving as well.

22 November 2015

What a week!  I spent quite a bit of time working this week so that I will be able to have next week off for the Thanksgiving holiday.  It has made for some pretty long nights!  Felicity presented in class this week on career options, I love these photos of her with the pointer.  I’m grateful for Primary, because I know that it’s opportunities to speak in Primary and participate in Primary programs that has made her more comfortable speaking in front of people.  She is getting so big, it’s hard to believe that she’ll be ten in the coming year!  She helped me make dinner one night this week, and she also helped me prepare our family home evening lesson for Monday.

Tuesday was nice, we had our home teachers come by in the evening and we were able to get homework done and everything else we needed to do.  I taught a lesson on gratitude for Activity Days on Wednesday and we made “Thankful Paper Chains” to decorate with at Christmas.  I had visiting teaching on Thursday night, and that’s always nice to get out and visit.  The kids went to their dad’s Friday night and I started my vacation!  I stayed up far too late making Christmas gifts and loved every moment of it.  In the morning I went for a run (brrr!  It was cold) and did some chores around the house.  I also started my Christmas baking, which I love.  In the evening I pulled myself away from my craft table long enough to attend the adult session of stake conference, and enjoyed that.

Sunday morning I met my mom and we drove into Tucson to pick up Grandma and go have a Thanksgiving dinner with Grandpa.  He was asleep when we got there but woke up enough to have lunch with us and seemed to enjoy it.  My heart aches at how much he’s changed, but I’m grateful that he knew me and laughed when I teased him, so I have that to be thankful for.

I’m excited for the week off to do things that help me feel normal.  I look forward to making meals and baking and crafting and spending extra time with the kids.