Lasts

We’ve got ourselves a 1st grader! Such a big boy. And he’s his nanny’s great grandson, always with the head cock. 

Today was the last day of seminary! Alecia came and made everyone brekkie burritos and brought smoothies and we got to chat and everyone was excited. I forgot a group pic but remembered before these girls headed to the bus. This was after they told me relief society is for old ladies that can chicken, which to be fair our ward did just do, but still. 

That’s a wrap!

I had a presidency meeting this morning and an area relief society meeting tonight. In between I organized the girls bathroom and made a dinner that “wasn’t very good.” 🤷‍♀️ it was kind of a hodgepodge but still. And Delaney requested a picture of her last $100 bill I don’t know why. 

Donut day

Melissa sent donuts this morning and the kids, ok and the Rays, polished off 2 dozen quickstyle. 

I took two lame pictures today. Well, one screenshot and one picture and they’re both dumb. 🤣 Room to improve. 

It’s Michelle day and cute Lydia let me know. And dang it, I forgot about it till now and so I missed out on my special day. 

This was my other gem and it was mostly to remind me of the all day rain and what I did today. Anyway, I met the missionaries for an appointment but their friend didn’t show up. And oh yeah, it rained all day. 🤣

I ran a few errands and made chicken tortilla soup in the crockpot. It was Adi’s lucky coupon with mom day and she was actually into it so that was nice. We dropped my Madewell purse at Loveville Leather to be cleaned and conditioned so I’m excited to see her all fresh and new next week. D had ballet and the girls had young women and I started a fun new book. 

Also, Matt talked to Richard and Richard told him they have to turn in all their seminary stuff on Thursday so they told him he could cancel Friday so long story short, tomorrows the last day of seminary! I’ve loved having the youth in our home everyday  and I’ll love to see seminary go! Is that easy come, easy go? How about grateful come, grateful go. 

Status quo

I’m a bad picture taker lately but I did snap this one as I waited *40 minutes* at the high school to pick Frankie up for an appointment. They were testing (Frankie wasn’t, but other classes were) so they couldn’t do an announcement so they emailed teachers and waited. It was bananas, but thankfully the Dr was able to push back her appointment. 

McKenzie sent bagels and strawberries and chocolate milk for seminary and there’s not anything new going on at the Rays. These are some boring but blessed days of our lives. 

Cinnamon rolls

Alecia came up with a fun idea to have moms send a breakfast treat every day for this last week of seminary. Monday was Erin’s delicious cinnamon rolls. Delaney and I appreciated that there was enough for everyone. 😋 

Speaking of seminary, graduation is this Sunday and the RS and YW will have a temple set up with some small gifts, a little goodbye from the young women and welcome to the relief society. Upon consultation from certain young women, I got Chelsea to make these cute stickers. 

Scoop got a haircut and her new bows are on point! Scoop was Jeanne’s mom’s dog and Jeanne couldn’t part with her. So this year these two will be adding a dog daughter and a human daughter. 

I stayed up late and among other things made Delaney’s candy bouquet. 

Summer is barreling towards us and it’s exciting but there’s also lots to be done and planned and with a new baby coming, planning is proving tricky. We’ll figure it out!

Mormon Prom

Saturday was a fun one! Adi and Frankie went to St. Clement’s Island for their annual cleanup. They said there wasn’t much to do but it’s always fun being out on the island.

Matt took Delaney to her 3 hour ballet rehearsal. He was just going to be studying at home, so he was happy to take her and study in the car. ❤️

We hosted these cute girls for getting ready and dinner before Mormon Prom.  

We listened to fun dance songs while we ate to really jazz them up and get them excited. 

Adi is such a fun girl but she is shy and feels awkward around other people so I’ve been trying to build up her confidence and encourage her to be her fun silly self outside of our home. 

She wasn’t stoked for the dance, but she did go and I think she had a good attitude? I haven’t talked to any of my sources yet. 

Matt and I are on a documentary kick and I’ve got a list on my phone we’re working out way through, so it was a lazy Saturday night. 

Sunday was a quiet one too. Matt and I met with Bishop Wiest to talk seminary after church but we brought two cars so the girls could go home. Adi had a camp meeting, and then we relaxed. 

We talked to the boys and I made Debby’s Greek meatloaf and we watched the Paradise Fire documentary that was horrifyingly scary, and we ended the night with a tearful family council that was hard and frustrating but I think ended well.

Tender mercies and little miracles

Alecia, Kimmy, McKenzie, and I went to the temple yesterday. On our way out of the neighborhood McKenzie saved a turtle. Just a wonderful relief society President out saving the world. ❤️

There was a whole group of missionaries taking pictures in front of the temple so we grabbed a quick one off to the side. 

It was a special day. On our way up we hit tons of traffic and the car immediately behind us got rear ended. Then we saw 2 very near miss accidents. I couldn’t help but think the adversary did not want that car full of ladies at the temple that day. Or any day. I love the temple, but it’s been hard for me to commit to a day and then to see such opposition was a good reminder for me. And then in the celestial room the largest chandelier tinkeled for a good minute. I had never experienced that before and it was just another little miracle reassurance that it will all work out. Heavenly Father knows us and there are angels all around us. 

Thankfully our ride home was much faster and no accidents or near accidents. 

We had the missionaries over for dinner and it was so good to get to chat with them, I only wish I had more time, but we had a joint presidency meeting with the young women presidency so I had to go upstairs after an hour and 15 minutes. Frankie had makeup tumbling since she missed on Tuesday to babysit, so she and Adi had to leave. It was a bit of a fiasco that ended up going well. 

Our meeting with the yw presidency was tricky. Working with the youth has been such a goal of mine since I was a ward president but it has always been challenging. Well keep trying. 

Tonight while D was at ballet I went to Marshall’s and Dollar Tree and as I was taking my Marshall’s bag to the car I realized I didn’t have my phone. I ran back inside and looked in my cart and at the register and then asked it borrow someone’s phone to call my phone and thankfully a wonderful pregnant lady answered and she had found my phone and brought it up to me. Soooooo grateful! A lost phone would be the worst! This was the sky going into Marshall’s, and when I left to walk to dollar tree it was a full on hurricane. I thought I wouldn’t get too wet because I stayed under the eaves, but I sure did get wet. 

We’re all excited for the weekend and then 5 more days of seminary and 15 more of school!

Teeth, et al

I removed a garbage bag full of rags, 3 sets of sheets, and extra/old medicines. Why was all of that stuffed inside? It looks so much better and makes so much more sense. And also #ihatewireshelves

Our best 5-year-old is a kindergarten graduate! Wish I could have been there!

I volunteered at the freshman academy for their post Mcap ice cream party. They had ice cream sandwiches and I helped with toppings. Then when I remembered I hadn’t gotten any pictures I grabbed this beaut as I left. Frankie said hi and it was good to see her teachers and I know volunteering makes a difference. 

As soon as the big girls got home from school we headed to the dentist. I loved my tech! And I had a new dentist I’d never met and she raved about my teeth so yay for me. Unfortunately Frankie and Delaney both have tiny cavities that need taking care of so boo for me. 

We hit cvs where I had a very good coupon haul and then it was Chicfila time!

Military Appreciation Night and it was packed! We waited outside in a horseshoe line for 30 minutes, it’s never been so busy!

Thankfully I had my best girls to keep me company and we made it fun. 

We’re having missionaries for dinner tomorrow so I hit up Aldi while Lanes was at ballet and then when we got home Delaney got a fun birthday surprise. May isn’t too late for a January birthday treat. Not in my book at least. 

Lexi sent me these new stripe lover magnets and this stripe lover loves them!

Frankie made me the most beautiful cards. She always comes up with something creative and beautiful. The mom and daughter walking, the mom whale and daughter whale swimming, and the mom crab and the daughter crab scuttling along. 😢❤️

And then this one! She drew each petal! These 2 are keepers for sure. 

Delaney and Frankie went to duke to babysit for their annual PTA meeting. Delaney really didn’t want to but it’s such easy money that Frankie was able to talk her into it. Matt and I took Adi to an awards night at the school.  

These kids all won silver medals in their Skills  USA competition. It was short and sweet and a nice time with our Adi girl. 

When we got home we had family night. We followed up on some goals and family council kind of things and then started watching Childhood 2.0. We paused it several times to talk about it and so far it’s been really interesting and lead to good conversations. I love the internet and I also hate it. Both things are true. 

A million papercuts

Sometimes when I look back on my day I wonder what it is I managed to fill it with. 

A few moments from one such day. Walking downstairs I grabbed Frankie’s winter coat that we had set on the banister that didn’t get put away with the others after our Seattle trip so I took that to the garage bin, then I saw the tp i bought on sale so I rearranged the top garage shelves to make room for it, so then I took down some cases of water to make more room for the tp and that make more sense to keep with the 72 hour kits. Dropped off ice cream sandwiches for Frankie’s class and called T-Mobile to figure out why our automatic billing hasn’t been working and scheduled my mammogram and talked to the termite guys and made dinner and planned a grocery trip and planned a family night and planned a RS meeting and started writing Adi’s youth conference letter and and and. Not really busy but also busy. Just all the little things that end up taking the whole happy little day. 

Mother’s Day

Projects continue slowly. How did all of this fit into our little storage room? Messily, that’s how. 

And just about done. 

The problem is I live with 4 other people that don’t put things away. It’s a problem. 

Anyways, the boys started soccer and are having so much fun. 

I met with another of my presidents Friday during the day and Adi and Frankie babysat Friday night while Delaney was at dance. Matt and Frankie went Mother’s Day shopping before her babysitting. 

I wanted a family outing so on Saturday we went to see Thunderbolts and it was so funny and had a really good message, minus all the killing and stuff. Then Adi babysat and the rest of us watched a documentary Delaney found. It was a nice mix quiet Saturday because I forgot about Morgan’s baptism. 🤦‍♀️

I told my family not to worry about breakfast in bed and it all worked out because we got treats during RS. It was combined women and young women and sweet Adi (and Lily) sat with us. Delaney said absolutely not and Frankie didn’t get woken up in time and had cramps. It was a rocky start to the day. But then the Mother’s Day messages were lovely and it was nice to chat. I heard recently that a lot of people are choosing to remain childfree in part because parents complain so much, and I’ve been trying to be more aware of that and share how much joy motherhood brings me. It is so hard but also so wonderful and I wouldn’t choose different in a million lifetimes. It’s what I always wanted to be, just a mom, and my children and family make me so happy. 

Adi made crepes and she did such a good job!

We FaceTimed the crew and these 2 took turns screenshotting their conversation. 🤷‍♀️

Matt made a delicious salmon and Frankie made two beautiful cards and the big kids sent gifts and everyone told me things they love about me and overall it was a pretty sweet day. 

23 and 11

More days of school and seminary, respectively. 

I met up with my counselor Sarah at Mezah which is one of my most favorite restaurants and we had a wonderful lunch. 

The girls came home from school and I encouraged their homework and piano and we had dinner and then took Delaney to ballet while Matt and the big girls went to a school concert for some girls at church. 

Simple, typical, ordinary day. 

Colors and shades

No actual pictures today but I did play with chapgpt. 

It’s not perfect, some of the colors it used were other shades on the color swatch and then I ran out of my free options before I could really figure it out. 

I met with one of my presidents and accidentally stayed with her 2 hours. I really try to keep it to 1 hour since I know how busy they are, but she was very chatty and so was I and we did talk business and important things. 

Frankie had tumbling and she was so happy because she got her backtuck. One of her cheer coaches was there and gave her some nice praise and she’s really enjoying that class. 

But the biggest news of the day is that after 5 years, Matt has a desk again on base. Traffic was a fiasco and the future of seminary is unclear and it’s been so long that he’s been home that it feels real weird but I guess we’ll see. 

The Mondays

My Monday started in the 4 o’clock hour, and that just seems so much more extreme than the 5 o’clock hour that I’m begrudgingly used to. I went to Wawa to pick up pastries and coffee, which is wild to order when you don’t drink coffee and don’t know a lot about it, and then Panera for bagels. 

For some reason one of the assistant principals took over this year and just gave me one day, and I was totally fine with that. 🤣 It looked really cute, and I was able to get everything set up pretty quickly. 

I hung out refilling and cleaning and packing up all my recycling for awhile and then I dropped Adi and Frankie’s Oh the Places You’ll Go books at the high school because I will be ahead of the game this May, darn it!

I finally caught up with Amy and we talked until I had to go back to the school to clean up. She hung out with me through my exercising, cleaning out of our master bathroom cabinets, and various other household tasks, also several phone and AirPod charging sessions. It was lovely and we could have kept talking. 

We had a ton of leftovers! I always take pictures at the end to keep track of how much we’ll need, but do I always go back to see when planning a fresh year? Only sometimes. 

And my last hematoma update. Yellow is good! And now I’m double nervous to give blood again. But I want that gallon, dang it!

The girls had virtual piano which meant as much of a treat since I don’t drive them anymore, but still nice because I like having them around. Then I took D to dance and did my European grocery shopping. Being in town 3 times a week has gotten me to the point where I go to Aldi for just a few things at a time, which has been nice for produce longevity because we haven’t thrown food away in ages. We were all tucked snuggly into our beds by 10:00 because it’s May and we’re tired. 

Movies and more

I made oatmeal Friday morning and broke my spoon! This was my new very creamy delicious oatmeal and also my very old marriage spoon, meaning it was either a wedding gift or I had it before we got married. I’m not that sad about it breaking because my kitchen isn’t red anymore but still. 

On Friday Frankie babysat and I took D to ballet.

Matt is building relationships with his seminary class so we went to see Grant at work at Noli’s. I love supporting his calling especially when we get a date out of it. 

How about this cutie? He’s almost 4 months old and that’s one of my favorite baby ages! Can’t wait to see him at the end of the month!

We watched the FLDS documentary called Keep Sweet and it was so sad and made us feel sick and people doing evil in the name of Christ is the most heart breaking. 

Sunday was lovely. I haven’t been in our ward in over a month with conference and Seattle thrown in and it was quiet and sweet. Throughout the day my staff appreciation committee was dropping off food for Monday. 

Look out world, this girl learned how to use ChatGPT! I mean, sort of. Anyway, this is the color I initially wanted - Indigo Batik. 

This is the one none of us liked - Rain. 

And the one everyone else liked - Krypton. 

I don’t know which to choose. Making decisions is not my favorite. 

Hematoma update. 

It’s looking so much better. We’re almost done. 

Sleep troubles have been plaguing me for awhile now so it was wonderful to be able to sleep in for the weekend. Who would have thought 7:00 on a Sunday would be sleeping in, but here we are. 

We watched a true story TC Christensen movie called Escape from Germany and it was so good! It was a very movie weekend. 👌🏼