Christmas Eve

We made it to Christmas Eve!  The kids had this whole week off of school so we've done a lot of shopping and playing games and having fun together.  It was crazy cold, so we didn't do a whole lot outside, but we did manage to make one outing!  The city decorates a park near our house with lights every year and I've never taken the kids so I made that a goal this year!  It wasn't the most impressive display I've ever seen, but it was a lot of fun and the kids loved it.  It only took us about 30 minutes to wander through, but that was okay because it got cold very quickly!

This tree is huge!  The kids were very impressed that they got lights and ornaments all the way up to the top.

Bridge of lights!

Mia really wanted a picture with the deer.

Under the Christmas Tree

 We also did a lot of shopping this week and have been to the store almost every day.  I see people post that they are officially done with their shopping and I always think "How do you know???"  I always feel like I'm buying extra things right up until the last minute in case I forgot something or to even things out or just in case things look too bare when I set it all up.  Honestly, the only time I feel like I'm done is when I go to bed on Christmas Eve because I think "Well, there's nothing else I can do now."

I actually feel pretty good about the presents we got the kids and I hope they love them.  Even if they don't get exactly what they want, I hope they'll at least remember being together and having a good time as a family!

The Week Before Christmas

 'Twas the week before Christmas and all through the house.....were bags of things I have bought and haven't found time to wrap them so I just really hope the kids don't go through the laundry basket because there are like 7 presents in there that are definitely not wrapped and just in grocery bags.... but I actually feel more prepared this year than I have in the past!  I've been able to get a lot more wrapped beforehand because I can do it during the day.  I can also do Christmas shopping while they are at school which is much less stressful!  And when packages come to the door I don't have to rush to hide them so the kids don't get to them first!

I really do love having my kids home and I am glad when they come home after school and tell me about their day, but things are so much less complicated when I can run errands on my own!  But today is their last day of school before Christmas break so I really tried to have most everything done by now.  And I think for the most part I have.  Now they have a full 2 weeks (and a little more) where we are all home together!  I'm pretty lucky in that, while my kids do fight, they really love spending time together and playing with each other.  I have a few activities planned and we have a few things planned with family so that should help too.

Last weekend we had our ward Christmas party and they had Santa there!  I was a little taken aback when Mia said "That's not Santa.  He's just a helper."  And then Asher said "Do you still believe in Santa?" to Mia.  My kids are growing up too fast!  My girls definitely still have the "Christmas Magic", but I think Asher is growing out of it, which makes me sad.  I know he's at about the right age and he's already figured out the Tooth Fairy isn't real (mainly because I'm terrible at being the Tooth Fairy) but I just want to hold on to his childhood just that much longer.  I think he has a half-hearted belief in Santa, but I don't know how much longer that will last.  For now we'll just enjoy the season and have fun together!

As much as I have a hard time with Asher growing up, it's also kind of fun being able to talk with him about bigger topics.  He's always asking me questions that I honestly have a hard time answering ("What happens when people have diabetes?" "What's going on in Ukraine?" "Why is it important to go to school?" "What are Catholics?" "Did God create war?") and sometimes I'm too tired or burnt out to answer them, but I usually try my best to answer them and it leads to some interesting discussions.  He's such an inquisitive kid and has really challenged me as a parent, but it's been so rewarding too.  

Well, I have half an hour before the kids get off the bus so I'm going to enjoy my last bit of peace before the chaos begins!

We got Christmas out!

I meant to get our Christmas decorations out right after Thanksgiving, but we were all sick so that didn't happen.  But last weekend we did it!  When I have to put all the decorations out myself it takes me all day.  With the kids' help, we did it all in about an hour!  They were soooo excited about it and were running around putting everything where they thought it should go.  

Every year I give the kids an ornament on Christmas Eve so that when they move out they have a whole box of ornaments for their own tree (a tradition my mom did with us growing up).  Well our tree isn't very big and it's in a corner so we only put ornaments on the front half, so this was the first year I didn't put all of my own personal ornaments out.  I'm okay with it because the kids were so excited to get out their ornaments!  Mia even wanted a picture with the ornament she got last year.  I'm not sure what ornaments I'm going to get for the kids this year, but I suppose I'd better figure it out fast!

Getting out the ornaments.

Putting them on the tree!

They loved their little ballerinas that I got them last year!  Asher got a Pikachu but didn't want to be in the picture.

Mia's face...someday she won't do that when I take a picture of her and it's going to make me so sad!

Not much else has gone on this week, but I did want to tell a story of something that happened last month.  Since the kids are all in school and my schedule is much more flexible, I've tried to make it much more of a priority to go to the temple.  I went in September, October, and November but haven't made it yet this month.  Mainly because I've had this lingering cough and I hate going to the temple with a cough.  But last month I had gotten to the temple and changed into my white dress.  I don't usually bring my own name to the temple because 1) I don't even think about until I'm already there and 2) I've never done it and am not super sure on what you're supposed to do when you bring your own name.  So the worker there asked me if I had my own name and I told her no.  She picked up a name from the stack she had and said "Well she is very happy about that!"  And I don't know why but that just really touched me and I've thought about it a lot ever since.  Even though I'm not bringing a family name, I'm still doing the work for someone on the other side of the veil who may be waiting and excited for that work to be done.  It just meant a lot that I could be helping them and that we now have that amazing connection.  I'm going to try to hold on to that feeling every time I go.

November

November was a busy month!  I played in a concert with the Idaho Falls Symphony, we hosted Thanksgiving, and everyone got sick.  So here are the highlights!

I came in to check on the girls one night and found Mia like this.  She always sleeps in the weirdest positions.  Here she is half off the bed.  And that is a play sword sticking out of the side of her bed.  My kids all like to stuff so much crap on their beds at night that there's hardly any room for them.

I had a lot of fun playing in the concert!  They weren't my favorite pieces to play, but it was a good experience.  I feel like this year I've been doing a better job at being prepared for concerts.  Not because I didn't practice in the past, but I'm just better able to focus while I'm practicing because I can do it during the day when my kids are gone.  My brother has been playing with the symphony this year, and I noticed how similar him and the other bassist look!  The other bassist has long hair, an earring, and is kind of a hipster, but take that away and they're basically the same person!

Every so often when I look at my phone I see that I've got a million pictures my girls have taken of themselves.  I get annoyed sometimes because I feel like I have to go through and delete them all, but then I realize I know I'll miss it when I open up my phone and I don't have those pictures.  I stopped deleting all of them and keep a few so I can always remember it. ;)

I could kiss her face all day.

Ava is made of jello.  I don't understand how she gets her body into such weird positions.

This picture made me buffaw.

We had Thanksgiving at our house this year.  We had my parents and my brother and his family over.  Everyone was sick, so that was fun.  Not so sick that we were all throwing up, but everyone's voice dropped half an octave and we went through a lot of tissues!  I normally hate cooking, but I like doing Thanksgiving.  It was very relaxed and we were able to talk while the kids played and we had some good food.  I also got to take my mom's new car for a spin around the block, so that was fun!  I've never driven a car with that low of mileage.  It made me very jealous!  It didn't make weird noises when you turned the corner and all the doors opened and shut without any problems!  Oh well, maybe in a few years I can upgrade!

This week the kids went back to school.  A couple of us have a little bit of a lingering cough, but we're mostly back to normal.  Now I'm starting to feel the pressure of getting Christmas ready!  I got the lights up on the house, but no other Christmas decorations yet.  Hopefully this weekend!  

Pretty Good Week

This week had a lot of fun things happen.  First, on Sunday I was straightening my hair and Ava saw me.  She wanted her hair straitened and it looked so nice!  She used to hate having me touch her hair, but now she wants me to do things to it all the time.  She still doesn't like things in her hair, but she loves having it curled or straitened or putting product in.  

Cute little face!

Second, it snowed!  My kids love the snow and have spent almost every morning before school out playing in it.  Asher even made Ava this cute little snowman.  They also play with the little girls next door and they will all be out there for hours playing. 

 Third, there was a development with Asher's sleeping.  I want to say first that I tried so so so hard to make sure there wasn't a mental, emotional, or physical problem that was preventing Asher from sleeping.  I tried so hard to take care of his needs!  But after getting so frustrated (an tired) I decided to use the fail-safe parent fallback: bribery.  And do you know what?  It worked so good!  He's slept through the night 4 times in the last week!  The first bribe....I mean reward...was if he could stay in his room for 1 night, I would get him ice cream.  That took 2 days.  His next reward (bribe) was if he could stay in his bed for 3 nights, I would buy him something at the store valued up to $5.  That took 5 days.  So my plan is to keep this going until he forgets about the reward and just stays in his own room every night.  I'm actually a little annoyed that it's working so well.  I'm getting almost twice as much sleep now!  It's so much easier to do projects and I don't feel like I need a hundred naps!  So yay I guess...

Last, I wanted to share an Ava story (which are always the best kinds of stories).  I was asking the kids what they wanted for Christmas.  Not because I'll buy everything on their list, but mainly so I can make sure I'm on the right path for what I was going to buy them.  Here's how the conversation went:

"Mia, what do you want for Christmas?"

"Polly Pocket!" (already bought it, so good!)  She also added various other girly toys like Barbie's.

"Asher, what do you want for Christmas?"

"Video games." Big surprise.  That's always what he asks for.

"Ava, what do you want for Christmas?" Now, I always get a little excited when I ask Ava preference questions.  And since last year the thing she wanted for Christmas was a cow (a live one, not a toy), I was curious to see what she'd say.  Almost every time I ask these questions, the answer she gives wouldn't have been in my top 20 guesses of what her answer would be.  And I was not disappointed.

"I want a rainbow cup!" (She later added she wanted a rainbow plate to match)  I didn't want her to feel disappointed that Mia got a Polly Pocket and she got a cup, so I asked her:

"What else do you want?"

"Um....a rhombus pop-it." 

"Uh....ok...." I really don't know where that came from.  And feeling like I still don't have a good idea of the kinds of things she wants I ask:

"What else do you want?"

"A big book!"

"Like what kind of book?"

"A Bible!"

So for Christmas, Ava wants a rainbow cup and plate, a rhombus pop-it, and a Bible.  😆

Halloween

I've been trying to write a post every Friday just to recap the week.  That seems like the most manageable amount of time for me.  But last week we were doing all sorts of Halloween stuff that I just ran out of time.  So here we go!  

Another reason I didn't get around to posting last week was because I've been taking a lot more naps during the day.  I actually really hate feeling like I need to take a nap so it's not been my favorite.  But Asher has still been having a lot of trouble sleeping at night.  I'm really running out of things to try.  He has no trouble falling asleep.  He's usually out in a few minutes.  But he's been waking up 3 times a night and that means neither of us get a lot of quality sleep.  Some more things I've tried include: prescription medication from a doctor, meditation, magnesium (supposedly it's supposed to help with sleep), more exercise, less screen time, big dinners, small dinners, keeping his room cool, keeping his room warm, etc.  He is getting better at falling back asleep on his own.  He doesn't need someone in there to help him fall asleep, but he feels like if he wakes up he has to come get me.  Most of the time all I do is send him right back to bed and he falls asleep.  I'm actually surprised he doesn't get more tired during the day.  He never acts like he's tired or that it's taking any kind of toll on him.  He's always been the kid that didn't want to sleep so this doesn't surprise me.  I've actually thought maybe putting back his bedtime might help.  Of course, Daylight Savings is coming and that will mess everyone's sleep schedule up anyways so I'll wait until after that.  And I have been thinking about going back to the doctor to maybe try a different medication.  All that to say, I've been much more tired lately and taking many more naps.  Which Millie loves because she's a spoiled dog and sleeps on the bed with me.

Moving on to more fun things!  Asher had been begging me for awhile to buy the things we needed to make fluffy slime.  It's actually really easy and they spent so much time playing with it!

https://www.thebestideasforkids.com/fluffy-slime-recipe/

 

Fluffy Slime!  I don't know why my girls have such a hard time smiling in pictures...

We got a bunch of pumpkins from my sisters kids and so we painted them!  I don't love carving pumpkins because Asher would always just watch and not want to actually help at all.  Maybe next years we'll actually carve some... but my kids always have a lot of fun painting them!  I wanted to try glow-in-the-dark paint.  I've never done it before and we probably won't again, but I'm glad we tried.  A couple tips if you do want to try it: do a base coat first!  It will be easier to paint how you want if you have a base coat.  Also, put it on very thick.  The day after I did a second coat on what the kids had done because you could hardly tell what it was.  Our door is covered so the pumpkins never got direct sunlight, but at night you could see them glowing a little!  

They always do a big and little pumpkin.  Asher and Mia do faces on both and say they're the Mommy and Baby pumpkin and Ava just likes putting paint on the pumpkin so hers is a little more abstract.

I was given so many apples this year!  It was great!  I dehydrated a lot and made fruit leather for the first time.  It was a multi-day project and I didn't even get through them all before some started to go bad.

Halloween time!  I am all for making Halloween the last Saturday in October and it seems like a lot of other people are too.  Even though Halloween was on a Monday this year, my kids had their Halloween parties at school the Friday before.  They didn't really care because it just meant the fun was spread out even more!  Although that meant that Asher pretty much wore the same clothes 4 days in a row... Saturday we went to a couple trunk-or-treats at businesses and that was when our ward had their trunk-or-treat.  Sunday we went to Grandma's house and had a get-together there and Monday we went trick-or-treating!  I was actually surprised my kids even wanted to go because of how much we had already done.  They each ended up with 2 gallon sized ziploc bags worth of Candy.  Mia is definitely going through hers the fastest, Asher is slowly making his way through, and I'm going to have to start giving Ava's away because she hardly touches it.  I've asked them many times and they said they had a great Halloween weekend!

Mia wanted pictures outside...in the 20 degree weather before school.  So we did!  Also, I used to delete pictures where she was making this face, but this is how most of my pictures of her look so this is more accurate than ones where she's actually look at the camera and smiling!

A couple of butterflies!

Ash Ketchum!  His costume was the hardest because I had to find random pieces of clothing to make it work.  He got the hat for Christmas last year, pants and shoes are his regular clothes, I bought the green shirt from Walmart, the jacket was actually a white shirt and blue jacket I found at DI and pieced them together, and the gloves came from the dollar store and I cut the fingers off.  He looked pretty good and we saw about 4 other kids dressed up as Ash Ketchum too!

Look at those cute smiles!

We did a horse-drawn carriage ride at Reed's Dairy.  The kids loved riding in the cart!  But they had moved all the cows to another farm this past summer so we drove through a lot of empty stalls which was a little dissapointing.

It was fun nonetheless!

Annual Mitchell Family Halloween get together!  You can't see Milan, but he made a great Darth Vader and all the little kids were a little nervous about Nathan's Slenderman outfit.  They love comparing costumes and I think all the kids had fun!

 

Parent-Teacher Conferences

 Last Friday I let Ava stay home from school because I thought she was still not feeling well from the UTI.  She was fine all during the day and even at night.  On Saturday the kids had a practice for their Primary Program.  I had my suspicions about Ava, and it was confirmed when I had the kids start to get ready.  As soon as I told them to change their clothes Ava started telling me she had a stomach ache and tears started welling up in her eyes.  I knew I would have to stay at the church the whole practice at that point.  She was near tears the entire time I was helping her get ready, but I told her she would be going to the practice and I would go with her.  Right as we were about to pull out of the driveway she said she was going to have an accident and ran inside to go to the bathroom one more time.  

She cried all the way to the church.  She cried as we were walking into the church.  I got Asher and Mia into the chapel, but Ava said she had to go to the bathroom again so I took her.  She was so upset so I told her she could sit in the pews with me, but she still had to sing all the songs.  For the first 15 minutes of the practice she ran to the bathroom 3 more times.  I told her she didn't actually have to go to the bathroom because nothing was coming out, to which she replied "But what if I have another accident???"  That's what I was worried about.  She's had so many things happen at school (having an accident, throwing up, getting a UTI) that now she is getting a lot of anxiety about even leaving the house.  I managed to calm her down and for the rest of the practice she sang all the songs and sat and listened to the instructions.  She sat by me in the pews the whole time, but she was there.  They had a little activity afterwards and she even managed to leave my side and go play with Asher and Mia a little bit.  After that we went home to change and then drove to Rexburg to go to a birthday party.  She had so much fun!  We were at the park for at least 2 hours and she didn't have to go to the bathroom once.  

The next day we had church and the same thing started happening when I told the kids to start getting ready.  Ava teared up, said she had a stomach ache, and got very anxious.  Church went better because we were all sitting together for the first hour.  I was a little worried she would get upset when it was time to go to Primary, but she jumped right up and ran after Mia!  

Monday, same thing happened again.  She wanted a piggy back ride to the bus stop and almost refused to get on the bus because I wasn't going with her.  She was crying as she got on the bus and I felt like a horrible parent.  But after school she was all smiles!  Asher said she wasn't even crying after she got on the bus.  Tuesday she was a little upset, but it was getting better.  She was a little teary-eyed getting on the bus, but no actual tears fell.  And the rest of this week she's been great!  I think the more she leaves the house and realizes that bad things don't ALWAYS happen, the less her anxiety is.  

She is just fine now, but she still tells me her tummy hurts until I give her the antibiotic.  When we finish that course I'm not sure how she'll be, but I hope she realizes everything will be okay.

This week we also had Parent-Teacher Conferences!  I like these because it's interesting to see how my kids are when I'm not around.  First was Mia.  Sitting through that was like sitting through my own PTC all growing up.  Her teacher said she was very smart and got along well with all the kids, but she was very quiet in class.  Even when her teacher knows that she knows the answer, she'll rarely raise her hand to answer.  (Hmmm....that sounds familiar...)  It's funny to hear that because at home she is always the one answering questions, even when the question isn't directed at her.  She scored great on all her tests and it fun to have in class.  Her teacher actually said that she almost got a high enough score to pass all the information they're supposed to have learned by the end of the year.  Pretty much what I was expecting!

Next was Ava.  I'm always amazed at what her teachers say about her.  They say she sits still and pays attention and can focus on her work.  A little bit different from the wild and crazy party girl I see at home!  She also tested great and is right where she should be.  I guess she does better when they break up into smaller groups of 3 or 4, which makes sense.  I told her teacher I was sorry for how much school Ava had missed already, but she said it was nothing to worry about.  Ava was apparently one of many kids that missed last Friday so it was no big deal.  She also told me that last week, 10 kids were home sick one day in Mia's class!  I've heard from many people that for whatever reason it's just a bad year for illnesses.

Asher is my one child that I'm never surprised to hear what his teacher has to say.  He's the same at school as he is at home.  His teacher told me he is a very smart kid and is amazing at math.  He understands what they're doing and can explain everything back to her.  He loves math so that didn't surprise me.  She also said he's not afraid to share his opinion.  Again, not surprising.  They're reading a book as a class which Asher is not a fan of and isn't shy about mentioning that fact.  Asher loves reading, but he wants to be the one to pick the book.  Writing has always been difficult for him, but his teacher said he is putting in the effort (even if it is the bare minimum) and getting the work done.  Even if he isn't happy about it.  She also said he gets very concerned with what is fair.  There's a kid in his class (who he has told me about before) who is given a lot of leeway on what he is allowed to do.  He gets the easiest words in spelling, he gets to watch YouTube when everyone else is doing math on their Chromebooks, he doesn't have to follow all the same rules.  I guess Asher takes great umbrage with that.  She told me that this student has A LOT of struggles that they weren't really aware of when he was assigned to her classroom.  Like it's a good accomplishment to get him to sit in his seat in the morning.  I told her that I figured it was something like that and I had talked with Asher a little bit about how not everyone has the same abilities and can do all the things that he can.  His teacher ended the conference by saying "He's a great kid!  He's going to change the world! As long as he can focus that energy." I think she likes him pretty well and I know Asher really likes her.  

So that ends the week!  I also finished off the kids' costumes and I think they'll all look great.  And I did not get one call from the school this week!  There's still an hour of school left....so knock on wood...but I'm glad we finally reached that milestone.  Let's hope next week is even better!

Concert Week

 This week I had rehearsals with the Idaho Falls Symphony.  I really love being able to play my instrument, especially with such a great group.  This concert has a Western theme.  As skeptical as I was when I first looked at the music, I'm actually really enjoying it.  We're playing a piece by Copland, which means I get a headache from counting all the weird rhythms and from all the time signature changes.  

We're also playing with a violin soloist which is a really fun piece.  And we're doing the William Tell Overture!  This piece was on my "bucket list" of pieces I wanted to play for awhile just because it looked so fun.  I did get the chance to play it one other time, but I'm not really counting that.  It was when we lived in Utah and the city we lived in was in their second year of trying to start up their orchestra.  The group was very small.  Like there was one stand each of cellos, violas, and 2nd violins and two stands of 1st violins.  No basses.  And there was only enough people in the winds and brass to cover about half of those parts.  There may have been one drummer covering what percussion parts they could.  And if I remember right we skipped the cello solo part at the beginning of the piece.  That little group was doing the best they could, but it is so much better to have a full symphony!  We are taking it at a crazy fast tempo and it gets my adrenaline pumping!  So to sum up, it's been pretty fun.

I wish I could say that I made it this whole week without getting a call from the school, but I can't.  Thursday morning Ava woke up telling me her tummy hurt.  I couldn't tell if it was for real or not.  But all while getting ready for school she kept saying it more and more.  While walking to the bus stop she was in tears, so I told her she could stay home for an hour and see if she felt better and then I'd take her to school.  She did start to feel better, so I took her in.  Then 2 hours later I got a call from the school nurse saying she didn't want to eat because her tummy hurt and she was afraid it would make her throw up (I don't think she felt nauseous, I think because of our stomach bug she just associates stomach hurting with throwing up).  I went to the school and talked to the nurse and she said that Ava kept needing to go to the bathroom and that maybe it was a UTI.  So I took her straight over to an urgent care center and they checked her out.  While in the waiting room she had to go to the bathroom 2 more times.  Then we got back to the room and they said they wanted a urine sample.  So I had to help her squeeze a few drops out so they could check.  They said they did find trace amounts of blood, but it wasn't enough to do a culture.  The doctor asked us if we could try one more time to get a urine sample, and the second time she finally squeezed enough out!  They started her on antibiotics, but I guess it takes 3 days for the culture before we find out if it's a UTI for sure.  

I tried to get her to go to school this morning, but again she was crying all the way to the bus stop so I let her stay home.  After half an hour she said she was okay, so I got her in the car to take her to school.  We didn't even make it to the end of our street before she said she had to go to the bathroom, so I turned around and kept her at home.  

I sent her teacher a message apologizing for all the school Ava has missed already and that this isn't normal for our kids to miss so much school.  She said it's been a bad year for sickness and the whole class hasn't been there at the same time for weeks.  So Ava and I got some more bonding time and we spent the day going over letters and letter sounds and sight words. 

While I was at home going over all the letters I thought "Maybe I could do home school".  And then I realized I was working with just one child and that child was my most easy going and it would be much different if I had all three, so I'm okay sending her back to school on Monday.  

On a happier note, I had my yearly physical this week.  I got my bloodwork done which I always get nervous about.  But everything was great!  So that made me feel a lot better.  And it was really nice not having to take the girls with me.  This is the first time in a long time that I haven't had to take a child with me to the doctor and it made the whole experience much more peaceful.  I love my kids, but it's very hard to keep a couple 5 year old's entertained at a doctors office!

In between rehearsals and doctor visits, I did manage to dehydrate 2 rounds of apples!  My mom and the mom of David's cello student both gave me a ton of apples.  I love using my dehydrator because it makes the house smell so good.  I've used it for bananas, tomatoes, and apples.  Whenever I get some more time, I would also like to try making fruit jerky.  Maybe once my kids develop their immune systems a little more and aren't home sick all the time I'll break out my dehydrator more and use it to make all sorts of fun snacks!

General Conference

We made it through an entire week without anyone getting sick!  And everyone's appetites are slowly returning so I actually cooked a few meals this week.  Last weekend we listened to General Conference.  For the last 3 conferences I have tried doing a General Conference Store and it works pretty well!  For each talk I have Asher write down one thing either he learned or something to remember.  I ask the girls a question relating to the topic of the talk.  Then I give them one penny and they can spend it at the store!  Basically everything is from the dollar store so it's not amazing stuff, but it's fun and it gives them something to work towards.  Asher also broke out a lego set he's had since Christmas and worked on that.  

The actual weekend of Conference is not relaxing for me because I'm trying to hard to help my kids get something out of it, and then I read all the talks later and actually get something out of it for myself!  It was nice this time that for each talk I was able to have a mini conversation with Asher about it.  I was able to talk to him about many different aspects of the gospel that maybe wouldn't have come up in our regular lives, so it felt good to have that opportunity.

After the last session of Conference the girls and I went on a walk in our neighborhood.  I really love going on walks and it's fun to go with my kids.  Mia really wanted me to take a picture of her with this stick she found.

 David asked me if I was used to being a stay at home mom yet (I think he meant am I used to having all the kids in school) but I told him we haven't had a normal week yet, so it's kind of hard to get used to anything.  Every week it's either been a holiday or somebody is sick or, like this week, the kids didn't have school yesterday and today for teacher in-service.  It's actually been kind of fun having them home!  When everyone is feeling well then they usually all play together really well.  

But I have been reminded how much harder it is to get things done with them all around.  I mowed the lawn yesterday and it took me about twice as long because every 10 minutes someone would need me for something.  I was finally able to get my yard projects done (yay!) and the kids were all out there with me.  I could've finished it much faster, but they all wanted to help so it took longer but they all seemed to be having fun.  Ava especially loved it and was very sad when I said we were done.  She said she wanted to do it again the next day!

Not the most exciting week, but I'll take that over the last few weeks we've been having!

Another awesome week.

In my last post I thought that Ava was just going to throw up that once and be just fine after.  I was wrong.  Really, really wrong.  Ava spent all last Friday throwing up.  I did my best to disinfect everything and keep her away from the other kids so the rest of the family didn't catch whatever she had.  On Saturday she was almost back to normal and running around and playing, so I figured she was okay to go to church on Sunday.  As we were walking to the car after church, Asher says "I feel like I'm going to throw up..." Awesome.  Luckily I had a puke bag in the car!  Whatever stomach bug Ava had had spread to the rest of us.  

Asher spent the rest of Sunday afternoon throwing up and running to the toilet.  By about 7:00pm I had started feeling symptoms, but Asher was feeling a little better by then.  I spent from 7-midnight also throwing up and in the bathroom.  I may have been throwing up so violently that I burst a couple blood vessels in my face.  My stomach hurt so bad and I was so dehydrated (but didn't want to drink water because I knew it would make me throw up) that I just laid on my bed wishing someone would hit me in the head hard enough to knock me out to put me out of my misery.  

Sometime around midnight Mia started throwing up.  I couldn't hardly move so from midnight-5am about every hour or so I would yell to David that Mia was throwing up in her room, he would run in there and try to clean up the mess, take Mia to the bathroom and try to clean her up, change her clothes and put her old clothes in a bag, and take her back to bed.  Ava and Asher usually got woken up whenever this happened.  Needless to say nobody got much sleep Sunday night and everyone stayed home from school on Monday.  Ava and Mia both got fevers on Monday so I kept them home Tuesday as well.  

David got a little sick on Tuesday and Wednesday, but not too bad.  We were all pretty much over the illness, but all of us still had sensitive stomachs.  I haven't really made a full meal all week because all any of us can handle are some snacks and maybe a light dinner.  

Then yesterday Asher came home from school looking pale and with a slight fever saying he didn't feel well.  He had a horrible sore throat and headache and just laid on the couch all evening.  He even asked me if he could go to bed early.  Today he felt a little better, but I took him to the doctor just in case.  He doesn't have strep throat, just a nasty viral infection that gives him all the symptoms of strep but we can't fix it, just manage symptoms.  

So that's how things went this last week.  I had a whole bunch of yard work I was going to do before it got too cold, but that got put on hold.  I usually work out 4-5 times a week but haven't been able to do that at all.  My body is still recovering and even doing housework makes me tired.  On a brighter note, in the past 2 weeks Asher slept through the night 3 times!  Once was last night and I think it was because he was sick and his body was just trying to recover...but I'll take it!  Here's to hoping that next week goes better!

This is what Ava did after I brought her home from school last Friday.  Asher drew her a picture of a cat and Mia put it behind her so she could enjoy it. 😃

Ava was feeling much better on Saturday.  I have about 20 pictures on my phone like this to prove it.

Mia wanted to be Elsa again for Halloween.  Ava wanted to be a spider, but I couldn't find a spider costume so I convinced her to be a butterfly.  I got the costume in the mail and Mia got very jealous!  She wanted to take turns wearing the costume and made me go outside so I could take pictures of her.  Good thing Joni has an extra butterfly costume she's letting Mia borrow!

Cute little bug.