Week Ten: Amazing neighbors = amazing week

On Monday when I abandoned my kids at my parents I did a lot of thinking about how I could avoid ever getting to that much of an emotional breaking point again.  I decided that 1. I needed to take more time for myself, and 2. I needed to start actually using the many people who have offered to help me.  

This was a much better week than last week.  Mostly because I didn't have the stress from Birthoween to deal with.  But also because I was able to better manage the little stresses in my life. Throughout this post I'll talk about some of the changes that helped make things better. I also started reading the Mistborn trilogy.  Taking time to sit down and read instead of frantically trying to get things done while the kids are asleep has helped me be a lot more productive (and happier) while they are awake.  So here's the run down of my fun week.

Tuesday gave me an opportunity to do both.  In the morning I called on my neighbor Marleen to come over and watch the kids while I went to vote.  The girls love her because she lets them watch Bambi (Lydia calls it  Bammy) on her iphone.  In the evening my neighbor Alex came down and watched the kids while I went to Enrichment.  I had a lot of fun talking to the women in my branch.  We did a "Thanksgiving Taste Test" and I brought bread sticks because if I ever have to host Thanksgiving by myself I'm going to serve pizza.  

My neighbor Danielle was at Enrichment and we had so much fun talking that we decided to continue the fun after we got our kids to bed.  So about an hour later she came over to my house and we had a "writing party" and worked on separate writing projects while talking and watching election returns.  (And of course more talking than actual writing occurred.)

I babysit Danielle's four year old daughter on Wednesdays.  Usually I park all four kids in front of the TV and just go about my usual routine.  However, this week all three of my kids ended up going down for a nap while she was still here.  So she and I made count down chains.  Her's counts down until her birthday (in March) and mine counts down until the day Brandon's Christmas leave starts (less than 40 days!)

 On Thursday I made sure we spent a lot of time outside soaking up the last of the glorious Indian Summer we've been enjoying.  I took the kids to the park.

 And then we went and gathered over-sized acorns for my mother in law at an oak tree I discovered last year.

 The girls had lots of fun picking up the acorns.

 We also (finally) put away a huge pile of laundry that had been dominating my bedroom.  The kids enjoyed the three empty laundry baskets.

 Then we went outside and played in the leaves some more.  The neighbor boys have been making huge piles of leaves and we've been able to play in them.  But on this day the girls wanted to gather own leaves.

 All we had were brooms, but they didn't care.

It was such a perfect afternoon and I hated knowing that a storm was on its way. 

 That night I took Derrick with me to throw away the garbage.  The wind was blowing really hard from the south.  He loved the wind.  We sat on the porch together and listened to the wind for a while.  It was a really special moment for me.

The next day, as predicted, we woke up to snow!   During breakfast the girls saw the snow and wanted to go out and play in it.  It took us almost an hour to finish breakfast, get 4 people dressed, change 3 diapers, put on 3 snow suits, put on 4 pairs of socks, put on 4 coats, and put on 3 pairs of boots.  By the time I was trying to put Lydia's boots on she'd forgotten what we were doing.  She was crying and resisting all my efforts to put boots on her feet.  Derrick was crying because he couldn't move in his snowsuit and coat.  And Charlotte was crying because we weren't going outside yet.

Finally I opened the door so Charlotte could go out and that reminded Lydia of why she needed to wear boots.  So she let me put them on.  And once I picked up Derrick he was happy again.

 The girls were fascinated by the snow.  They saw snow a few weeks ago, but this was the first time they were able to walk in it.

 Derrick seemed a little unsure.

 We all had a great time in the snow.  That is until the girls' hands got cold from eating snow and they both wanted me to carry them home.  (Something that is IMPOSSIBLE to do while carrying Derrick.)

 Once we were inside we had hot chocolate and warmed back up.  Lydia has started playing with the bathroom sink.  She was so determined to play with it that she would climb up on the toilet and then lean way over to reach the sink.  I finally admitted defeat and put a stool between the toilet and the sink.  On this particular day she had put my bobby pins into the soap like they were candles in a cake.  She was even singing "Haaaaaapppppeeeee, Haaaaaaapppppppeeeee."

 I would have been content to stay inside the rest of Friday, however I'd made plans to go to Provo to hang out with Cheysi, one of my best friends.  I might have cancelled those plans rather than risk driving in the snow, but I knew my brother was counting on me to be his ride down to Provo for an important date.  So I packed up the kids, picked up my brother, and drove to Provo.

We arrived while Cheysi was in class so we decided to kill time at the Museum of Art.  Occasionally they have child friendly exhibits.  This was NOT one of those time.  They did have this balloon room that held the girls' attention for about 5 minutes.    

 After spending as much time at the museum as possible (less than 30 minutes) we took the kids on a little walk in the snow.  This is what they looked like.

 Derrick was just fine in his carrier with the cover - though he didn't like when we closed the flap.

 I thought this picture was just adorable.

 I can't believe this picture was taken less than 24 hours after the ones of the us in the leaves.

 Finally Cheysi was done with class.  She met up with us and took us back to her apartment. (Billy left to hang out with his friends.)  The girls immediately felt at home at Cheysi's and climbed all over her furniture 

Year ago Cheysi and I worked together for two summers as "hosts" for the youth conference program at Snow College.  We were co-workers the first summer, and inseparable the second summer. One day when I start doing my "memory" posts again I will tell you all about our crazy adventures of water fights, ropes course challenges, and dressing up for dances.  Cheysi is absolutely one of my favorite people.  She is the physical embodiment of the work FUN.  When I'm around her I just relax and enjoy everything - no matter what happens.  Seeing her was exactly what my slightly frazzled nerves needed this week.    

 Derrick charmed all of her roommates - including Cheysi's sister Solana (another of my favorite people).

 We had pizza and Cheysi had the girls literally eating out of her hands.  I have to mention that for a very short time I actually considered naming my girls Charlotte and Cheysi.  That didn't last, but Cheysi still made her mark on the twins birth.  I was on the phone with her when my water broke on Halloween night.

 Cheysi's brother Talon also showed up and the girls had fun with him too.

 The kids and I could have stayed and played with my friends all night, but I didn't want to drive in the snow and the dark.  So, all too soon I had to pull myself away.  Back at home we watched the original Star Wars for our movie night.  It did not hold the girls attention at all.  They kind of liked R2D2, but mostly they ignored the movie.  I guess I'll have to try again in a few years.

On Saturday we cleaned the house a little.  In the afternoon my mother-in-law came to watch the kids while I went to the temple with my neighbors Alex and Melody.  I was able to be there as Alex went through for the first time and then see the two of them get sealed.  Many, many people from our branch were also there to support them.  It was great to be in the temple with so many friends.  As an extra bonus, Alex and Melody were sealed in the exact same sealing room that Brandon and I were married in!  I kept thinking about how Brandon and I had made those same sacred covenants, and received such wonderful promises at that same alter. It was a nice little tender mercy.

Then we all went out to dinner.  Our group was HUGE so the Sr missionaries ended up going to another restaurant so the wait wouldn't be as long for the rest of us.  I stayed and sat at the table with the rest of the branch members.  We had a great time comparing proposal stories and talking about other things.

The kids were all asleep when I got home.  But that didn't last for long.  Charlotte woke up while I was planning my Sunday School lesson.  She was super cute and sat next to me and drew while I worked on my lesson.  Eventually she went to sleep.  Derrick on the other hand woke up about every two hours. He was teething (his first tooth popped through on election night) and was not very happy about it.  In the morning all three kids woke up before I was ready to be awake.  Thankfully Alex and Melody answered my text for help and came down to watch the kids while I went back to bed for an hour.  Yeah - they are the best neighbors.

Here is the view outside my patio.  This picture doesn't do it justice, but it looks just like a Christmas card.  It snowed basically all day Friday and Saturday.  We have a least 6 inches of snow.  On Sunday I was a little apprehensive about taking the jogger stroller to church in the snow, but loading the kids into it is still easier than loading them all into the car.  We live only 5 minutes walking distance from the church so it's not worth the hassle that putting them in the car generates.

So I put them all in the stroller and went out in the the deep snow.  It worked just fine.  Have I mentioned lately that I love that stroller?

I was also more strategic about entering the church than I have been in the past.  Up until last week I used the same entrance that everyone else uses.  The problem with that was every tries to make conversation and ask how Brandon is doing as I walk in the door.  That would be fine except I'm trying to maneuver the little stroller that I put Derrick in as well as keep tabs on Charlotte and Lydia.  I always enter the chapel feeling overwhelmed.  This week I went to the door on the other side of the building.  No one from the branch uses that door. I was able to get the kids out of the jogger, put Derrick into the little stroller, enter the building, take everyone's coats off, change from my boots into my church shoes, and enter the chapel while only seeing one other branch member (who was kind enough to guide Charlotte and Lydia to our bench for me.)

Sacrament Meeting itself went so much better than last week.  Derrick was back with his usual adopted church parents (they were out of town last week).  He loves them, and even though he was teething and had been kind of cranky all day he was just fine during church.  Despite skipping nap time, Charlotte and Lydia were good too.  Charlotte adopted herself out to the Sr Missionary couple that sat behind us.  She went back to their bench and played with all the interesting things they had.  Lydia sat on my lap and made me draw for her.  For some reason she loves stop signs so I drew a million of those for her.

After sacrament meeting Charlotte and Lydia zipped off to nursery.  I made sure their teacher showed up and then I went to teach Sunday School.  I have to say I LOVE my calling right now.  I've always wanted to teach gospel doctrine so this is a dream come true.  And I love that I teach every week.  Thinking about my lesson all week long is a nice distraction from missing Brandon and stressing about raising the kids.

After church the girls fell asleep almost as soon as we walked in the door.  They slept until about 6:30 and then stayed awake until about 11:00.  It had been such a nice day that I didn't even mind.

Today we had another great day.  We cleaned the house/played for most of the day.  Then this evening we had a real family home evening for the first time in about a month.  Which means we made cookies together for the first time in a month.

 We even got down our plant and looked at how much it has changed in the past two months.

After bedtime Danielle came over and babysat (aka sat on my couch while the girls slept) so I could run to the store and buy important things like milk and formula.  Have I mentioned lately that I have great neighbors?  I love the fact that I have so many awesome people living within a few feet of me.

So that was my totally awesome week.  It's amazing how asking for help and taking time for myself helped create such a good week.  And I feel so on top of things again. Hopefully, I can keep this up for the next month.