Last week, on Saturday night, I took Ben out on a ice cream date. The kids are all earning jewels for good behavior and when they fill up the jar they get a date or prize of their choice. I like being able to reward the kids for good behavior- it helps keep things for getting too negative in our house. Anyways it was a nice ice cream date with Ben- even if it was freezing outside and we were like the only people there. Ben loved being able to pick out his own toppings and we had fun chatting. I looked up some family table questions and asked him a bunch of those. I learned that if he was invisible for a day he would pester Steven, if he could be any animal he would be a penguin and if he could go anywhere in the world he would love to go to Arizona. My kids miss their Arizona family.
This week was super busy and rushed on by- nothing like last week. I subbed all day Monday. When I went to pick up Penny after work from her friend Eliza's house, I heard her shout "no!". Eliza's older brothers were there and she just adores them. She did not want to go home! That night I attempted to have the kids watch the Christmas Devotional from Sunday for FHE. It felt too much like General Conference (the kids did not want to sit still and listen) so we ended up just watching the prophet's talk and calling it good.
Tuesday morning I volunteered in Ben's class. While I was working with students Penny was a bit of a distraction with Ben's friend, Jacob. Afterwards she informed me that she like Jacob and he was her friend now too, ha ha! She really has a thing for older boys. After volunteering she whined to me that I never take her out to lunch. While that is untrue I also didn't really feel like having her mess up the kitchen (it was cleaning day) so we went to Wendy's. The chocolate milk and toy were really her favorite part as per usual.
Tuesday night I went to a movie with my friend, Stefanie. We saw "Instant Family." It was one of those movies that makes you laugh and cry- pretty good story about the struggles of adoption. It takes a special person to do that. I think sometimes I would like to foster or adopt but I don't know if emotionally I could handle it. Anyways, it is always nice to hang out with Stefanie and I always feel so grateful that we moved next door to her almost 5 years ago.
Wednesday morning I subbed for kindergarten teacher. This was a a sub job that I knew about ahead of time so Tyler had taken off to watch Penny. It's so nice when he does that so I don't have to worry about getting him to work and back and also getting Penny to a friend's house. The kinder job was exhausting- the kids were so hard to keep focused and it was a huge reminder to me why I don't typically sub for kinder. Afterwards I stopped by the kids school (since this was at their old school) and picked them up early so we could avoid lines and go visit Santa. I figured since Tyler was off this was the perfect opportunity. They were all very surprised when I picked them up. Lucy thought I was taking her on her special date, Steven thought he must have an orthodontist appt and Ben thought somebody was in the hospital or something- really shows off their different personalities.
Before we left the kids came home to eat some lunch and change. Lucy decided she wanted to dress fancy but when we got in the car I noticed she had put tennis shoes on with her tights and dress. When I asked her why she was wearing non fancy shoes she got super defensive- I guess footwear doesn't count in the grand scheme of a Lucy outfit?
It was a very successful outing to see Santa. There were only two families in front of us so we didn't have to wait too long and Santa took his time chatting with the kids. Also, for the first time ever, Penny was NOT scared of Santa so we got a nice kid picture. I was glad to not have to be in it for once. Funny story is that I convinced both Lucy and Ben that they want Magformers from Santa but neither one of them could remember what they were called. They had to ask for several reminders before telling Santa. I'm sure they'll love them- too bad they can't remember the name of them.
Afterwards the kids wrote and mailed their letters to the REAL Santa (they all know this one is just a helper that reports to the real Santa). They also had fun playing with the various things Bass Pro Shop had out- lazer guns, remote controlled monster cars, coloring pages, large legos and Lincoln Logs.
When they were done playing I made the poor choice of trying to take them to another store in the mall so that we could pick out a Winter Hat for the Giving Tree at our church. Tyler was off getting lunch so I was trying to tote my 4 kids through the mall and they were all apparently hungry and had to pee- not to mention Ben lost his jacket somewhere. It was the longest walk of my life but thankfully we made it to the store, found an awesome Unicorn hat and then Tyler caught up with us and I made him walk them to our car while I bought the hat.
Thursday I had another sub job at the kids old school. After a week of no subbing, it was hard to have 3 days of it but I got through. My voice was just a little tired at the end of it. That night I was pooped but I had signed the kids up for an event at the library- Ben's buddy Jacob was going so his mom had told us about it (Jacob lives across the street from us). The boys got a little crazy with their friends before it started and a little crazy when the Yeti showed up but overall it was pretty fun. They made a notebook in which they pasted facts about yeti, they broke an ice cube to retrieve a Yeti claw, they made fake photos of Yeti's and they made binoculars. Afterwards they followed Yeti evidence and found the Yeti. Such a nice library worker to put on that fun costume ;)
Friday was a nice chill day at home- it was just what I needed. I got some Christmas tasks done and even did some puzzling. Also had a friend over in the afternoon and it was nice chatting with a grown up for once. She has a 3 month old and it was fun to hold her baby but also a little hard to talk to her about the troubles of newborn. It makes me nervous about possibly having one of my own in the near future.
On that baby note I had made a pre pregnancy appt with a new obgyn for next month and I just hadn't been feeling great about it. I was starting to wonder if I even should be trying for another baby and was doubting previous promptings/feelings. So on Fast Sunday I decided to fast about it. During church a testimony someone shared made me feel very strongly that I need to stick with the obgyn practice that delivered Penny. The testimony just reminded me of the missionary experience I had with one of the dr's there and I think that's partially why I need to stay there. It all feels crazy but after making an appt at my old office I feel so much better about things so I am grateful for these personal revelations that I receive.
Lucy had filled up her jar on Monday and had been dying all week to go on her ice cream date. At last on Friday night I had some time so I took her out for ice cream. Another fun ice cream date in the books. I enjoyed chatting with her too. She wants to be a teacher when she grows up, she loves basketball and she wishes she could have a pet unicorn.
Final note, I don't if I blogged about this before but we have started eating with better manners at family dinner and it has really made a difference in general in our home. The kids now help set the table, they stay seated (and they sit nicely) until they are excused and they don't complain about food. We started it off by using M&M's for bribery (they would get 8 and loose one every time they did something they shouldn't and then they got to eat what was left in the end). The M&M's have left but they are still doing much better. It's so nice to have more calm meals and have a better chance to chat with the kids at the end of their days.
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