Holay molay

One day Alexis came home from kindergarten and said that when her class got crazy her teacher would just look at them all and say "holay molay." Why that has always stayed with me and I can't remember to do simple things daily, I don't know. But looking back at this week I am saying " holay molay."

I've had a headache for days and on Saturday I felt like I was gonna have a heart attack. And let's just say I haven't been the most patient of mothers. Some weeks are just this way. It culminated with a 4:15 decision to go out on a 5:00 date with this dude.

Sooo needed. And this week is looking a lot less holay molay'ish. Thankfully. 

Marching on

Life just keeps marching on and I just keep trying to keep up. Such a blessing that I can keep up, and only drop the ball on half of my "stuff."

So, first bite of elephant. Yesterday started dark and early when Frank's had a "nightmawe" and came to our bed at 3:30. None of us could get back to sleep very well, and it was a sleepy, dizzy kind of day. 

It's spirit week (one of my favorite weeks of the year!) and for character day, Chris and his crew were ninja turtles, complete with fancy capes. Pret-ty cool. 

The girls got to school late, and Laney and I met up with Chris at his doctors appointment on the verge of late. This is our second new doctor in 7 months, and for this girl that likes continuity, that's not a fun thing. Add to that the fact that, even though we all spent a week going to "new patient" appoints with a Medstar doctor in March (5 new patient appointments in a week add up), we all get to go to "new patient" appointments with Medstar again. Oh bless. 

The good news is that I really like our newest new doctor. (For those keeping track, our old new doctor switched practices and is now only seeing 12 years old and older, and our original doctor is still married to crazy town, so no dice) I quickly texted the friends that have been frustrated with the dr situation in St. Mary's county that this is a good one, even if she is with Medstar. And she basically told Chris that I was right about his bum toe (Epsom salts for the win) and he should pretty much just always listen to me. Love her. 

After the doctor it was gymnastics time, then shower time, and college application time. Then it was our second PTA event of the week time. (For those keeping track, 2 PTA events in 2 days is really 1 too many) 

To coincide with book fair, we had the kids wear their jammies, ate cookies and milk, and had guest readers come read some stories. And we also collected donations to send to the troops and had kids write notes to them, very sweet. The girls ran around and played while we set up. 

I never understood the whole "baby" of the family thing till this precious girl came along. I've so enjoyed having her as my shadow this year! It's been such a fun treat to focus time on just one, and she is so easy!

Frankie is doing well in kindergarten. She is slow to get moving on assignments, (shocker) but once she gets into it, she's good and gets done (shocker as well, but for real). 

We divided and conquered so that Chris took Addie to piano and then brought her to school, then Matt stopped home to get a diaper and wipes for the 3.75 year old who is still not potty trained and had messed her diaper. Bless. 

They each picked a book from the book fair and laid around reading before the readers started.

We had the superintendent of smcps, Mary Washington from the boe, Jamie Jameson, our ap, a fighter pilot in full pilot gear, and my fav, sherif Tim Cameron. Quite the impressive line up, and they all did such a good job!

It was a nice event. PTA is coming along, slowly but surely. I'm so thankful I have the time and means to participate. There have been times that I have questioned my involvement, because really, who has the time? But then I went to an awesome stake rs meeting with our mission presidents wife, sister cooke, who is fabulous, and in her bio she listed all of her activities, one of which was PTA. She said she was involved with all those things because, something to the effect of, she wanted to be involved with anything and everything for the betterment of her kids, but she said it way better than that. And I was like, yes boo, yes, me too. 

Anyways, that was our Tuesday. 

Conference Sunday

Firstly, I have been so rushed and crabby and not so fun lately. I feel like I am swimming upstream, and not doing it well, I might add. And then also wondering why, because I only have the one at home all day and we've been working out such nice kid swaps.

So I looked at my calendar and started calculating. From August 5-September 29, when I got back from Utah (again) was 56 days. I was gone for 24 of them. That's almost half, for those less math inclined. That is a lot for this momma of 5. I've been to North Carolina, Arizona, Mexico, Virginia, road trip through 11 states, and then Utah. #blessed. But also #tired. So maybe I should probably slow my roll and cut myself some slack, right? And also probably cut my family some of the same slack because, again, I have been gone almost half of the last month and a half. 

Anyhow. Today we had the ever elusive pajama day. Seriously, I find it hard to believe we never spent one day hanging out in jams all day out of the whole summer, but it's been on our bucket list all summer and never got done. Maybe it's just that we didn't spend a day relaxing? I don't know. But today was pretty sweet. Started off with Addie coercing Chris into helping her make a keychain craft that I've been "too busy" for (hate that, but refer back to the 24 days thing).

Seriously loving the bed head they're both rocking! And she now has a cute kitty to add to the mass on her backpack.

Then it was Frankies turn for a cute butterfly.

We conferenced it up and will be doing some ponderizing asap. There were so many good talks. Loved the ponderizing, loved elder bednars, and Pres monsons. And I didn't take notes, so I can't remember who else's.

The girls were a little much. 8 hours is a lot of time for 3 littles to sit and quietly listen and they were a little wound up today. Nothing terrible, just a little excitable and i had no daddy to be my backup. We survived. 

I made cinnamon rolls and bread that we enjoyed during the afternoon session since I had gloriously slept in till 9:30. I also threw dinner in the crockpot and tossed a fresh salad, and then had dishes for days tonight, but it was all worth it. The elders came for a visit, and now I'm up way too late, and a sleepy start to a fresh week is never a good thing. Nights. 

utah sunday and monday

Monday:

we had spent the night with mindy and crew sunday night. so on Monday we got up and went with mindy to take the gang to school. when we got back we decided to be productive and tackled her pantry and laundry room. I love that girl and am in awe of all that she's been through and the grace that she's handled it all with. I only wish we lived closer. :/

we headed down to slc that afternoon to head to aunt Jeanne's house. we had some extra time, so we went on a little temple tour. first up was Jordan river. I've never been there and it was so pretty, totally reminds me of seattle, which is funny because when we looked it up it was the next temple built right after the seattle temple.

then we headed to Jeanne and ray's. Delaney had a full on meltdown. she hadn't wanted to leave the hotel, she missed quinnie and brady, then she didn't want to leave mindy's because, after a week of playing with the same 5 toys, she finally had some new loot. anyway, super meltdown ensued. we sat and talked and I rubbed her back for a few minutes, and then bam, sweet Delaney was back. :)

we sent these to grandpa ray and matt to make them jealous. Delaney was totally spoiled there. toys, ipad, movies, she was in heaven when she finally got over herself. it's soooo nice to have fun people to visit when we go to Utah. looking forward to more visits! Jeanne made us a nice home cooked meal (first in a week!) and we were able to go to bed at a reasonable hour to prep for our big travel day. it was perfect. :)

sunday:

every morning we congregated at the free breakfast area at our hotel. we all loved on this little cutie. oliver makes the 4th super blondie in the family: frey, Frankie, Quinn, and oli.

lexi gave Quinn some of her lime salt. she didn't love it.

I had gone down to dads car to get our carseat out, and had left my phone on the table. I came back to an amazing montage of photos like this:

and this:

we said goodbye to lex and papa (he drove her back to school not on his way back home), joe, sara, and brady, then tom/bon's crew, then went to lunch at café rio. then we went with mom to take amy and Quinn to the airport, and then waited for mindy to pick us up. then it was goodbye to nani, and we were on our way for some more Utah adventuring. (is this working my way backwards weird to anyone else? it seemed like a good idea at the time...)

quickie selfie at the new ogden temple! temples, temples, everywhere!

then we decided to pop in on Christina and meet her new baby girl. we hung out outside because brock had a fever. it was a gorgeous night and they have a cute little playground in their frontyard, so it was perfect.

before we left, we took a group shot. all those cute kids!

we picked up some kids on our way back to mindy's we stopped by a natural spring to get the kids some waters. Delaney enjoyed feeding the ducks.

and then we headed back to mindy's. we were super exhausted that night, so when I put Delaney down at 8, I laid down with her, and I texted mindy that I didn't think I could get back up. she was pretty pooped too, so it worked out well.

Conference day #1

Today was a raining, laundry, conference kind of day. This morning, neighbor mike texted and asked if the girls could come play. Since I was still in my robe and jams, I walked them down the street and let them cross and go to the door by themselves. They felt like they were hot stuff. There's Addie at the door, then Frankie and Delaney walking up. 
While they were gone, I sharked the wood floors. I've come around to Matt's way of thinking that a home with clean floors smells better.

These crazies came home at noon and we happily set up for conference bingo. And taquitos. Laney laughed and laughed about how she posed with her taquito in her mouth.

We sent this to the boys to show them what they were missing. Matt worked the navy, and bubba went hoco dress shopping with brenna, her mom, and grandma.

More conference hijinx. There were so many good talks, but I especially loved president uchtdorf and sister Marriott.

Lauren came over and we conference called Jennifer to hammer out a budget proposal for PTA. Much different from last year when I was a budget committee of 1. Grace came too and the little girls had fun playing. 

We watched the last hour of afternoon conference and then the girls took baths while I spent over an hour on the phone with sprint to get Lexi's new phone. Just another Saturday night. 

And looking back to Tuesday. We'd spent the night with aunt Jeanne and uncle ray. I wasn't sure how Delaney would do with sleeping on our trip, because she loves her bed so much, but she was great and really loved sleeping with momma. She is a bed hog though. 

Aunt Jeanne made us chocolate chip pancakes (Delaney's request) and took us to the airport. They spoiled Delaney and she loved her time there! So much so that by tuesday morning she didn't want to leave. She said she didn't want to leave. She didn't want to stay. She didn't want to be anywhere. Poor girl was done with traveling. Thankfully she got over that pretty quickly and went to the airport easily enough. 

We saw this cool giant Halloween bear at the airport.

And we got yummy auntie Annie's.

And lots of Asian tourists took pictures of this cute little traveler.

She was good about it and even cheesed it up a little, until later when one of them reached out to touch her face, which was weird, but it was just a little harmless caress. But Laney wasn't having any of it. She yelled "stop!" and stormed off. Little sassy pants.

And then, after a super fun trip and lots of fun visiting, we were finally back on the plane to fly home. We were lucky enough to get two non-stop flights, which never happens!

4 hours of flying fun with this crazy lady.

She was such a good little traveler. Aunt Jeanne had gotten her some cute sticker and coloring books, and she totally loved them.

She did do this funny thing again. She didn't do it on our flight out to SLC, but the flight home was more turbulent, so out came the hand on head and hand on tummy. I would love to know where this anti-nausea remedy came from.

Here's the first time she did this back in April.

She did this for a good hour, if not closer to 2. My good little sleeper. 

After four bumpy hours our wheels touched down in rainy Maryland. We rented a cart and got creative to transport all our gear and waited half an hour for our shuttle. Finally, another hotels shuttle asked if I wanted a ride, and we said yes! 

home. (:

Our flight landed at 5:30, and we weren't on our way home till 7. Then it was raining so hard and visibility was so bad that it took much longer than the normal hour and 40 minutes to get home. We found out later that bwi broke a record with the rain on Tuesday. Figures. Thankfully our flight and drive were both safe and we were soooo happy to make it home. Traveling is super fun, but there really is no place like 

Stormy

Today it has rained all.day.long. We have had gusts up to 35 mph and it kind of sounds like it's gonna blow the house down. Also, it feels like we went straight from summer to winter and me no likey. 

Delaney had another rough night and ended up sleeping till almost 10 this morning. We puttered and then Carolee came over and we pta'd and talked. Then I blinked and it was time to pick the big girls up from school. Since I needed to make copies and it wasn't raining too hard, we decided to walk and splash in puddles. 

It was fun halfway up, and then not as much fun. The wind picked up and Delaney and her two speeds (slow and slower) were in their lowest gear. Or whatever gear is slowest. Now when I tell her to hustle (or look alive, as the case may be) she says "i can't! I only have two speeds! I'm slow!"

I'm obsessed with rain pictures. Shell love 'em. 

After school I made an apple crisp while Addie wrote her (late) book report. We went to the missionary potluck at church tonight and it was delish. Delaney and Frankie were rough housing (shout out to grandma) and Delaney knocked her plate into her eye? drama and selfies ensued. 

It was a nice night to visit and enjoy eachothers company. 

Now to look back one day. Wednesday!

These two twin sisters were excited to see each other! One phrase that I hear regularly from both A and F is "so am I your mom now?" They love to play like they are Laneys (or anyone younger than them's) momma. And Laney likes being in charge of who her mom is, FYI. 

After school fun at the CWFDES! Where children soar! We really love our fresh and sparkly new school. 

Now that both A and F are in Girl Scouts, we have meetings every Wednesday evening. This week was Addie's brownie day. They play a cute game called "brownie to brownie" where the girls run around and touch body parts as directed - like "elbow to elbow," "foot to foot," etc. it was my turn to be the mother helper, which was kind of crappy because I had just gotten home, but also kind of good. the reason i signed up was because I knew I would be home and available. Seems like i just can't make plans without having something else come up, so I wanted to be sure I could get my helping day in early. ✔️

And those are Friday and Wednesday happenings. Supah exciting. 

Looking back

Sometimes when I'm super behind on blogging, (like, almost every time I blog) I like to start from where I left off. And sometimes, like now, I start from today and work my way backwards. Just like to keep my 2 readers guessing. (;

Today there's been lots of talk about this:

Joaquin!

The good news is that it looks like he's veering off east into the ocean. This is what they were calling for, which would have been a direct hit for us. 

The bad news is that we're still getting pummeled by rain from a nor'easter. The grounds are soggy wet and there's no end in sight. On Tuesday when Laney and I flew in, bwi had a record 2.5 inches of rain. That was fun to drive home in. But back to today. 

This is what life looks like lately. 

Today lady lanes went to preschool at Colleen's. She's been a super momma's girl lately, and is also pretty jet lagged, so she wasn't thrilled to go. But momma was doing some major shopping, so we were able to talk her into it.

My lil' buddy being adorable. 

Today I did some big time couponing. Not as storm prep, but because I was gone for a week and we had no milk, bread, or eggs. Chris was out of deodorant. And the smell coming from Frankie's school shoes has, quite frankly, become a cause for concern. 

I left at 9 and didn't finish till 2. I love shopping, but that was a long day. And I only ate to the first layer of the mint milanos, that's some major restraint. then I got to unload. The exciting life of moms. 

This evening while I drove the preschool carpool, (say that fast 5 times) Matt and Chris picked up sandbags for us and some neighbors. Good boys. (: 

The wind is raging inside and out as the third night of jet lag sleeplessness keeps the baby girl awake. Good thing she makes adorable faces like this so I can love her even when she's difficult.