Another Week

Yesterday was kind of a crazy day ... well, the morning part, anyways, so I'll start there and then fill in the rest of the week.

Getting to church and Sacrament Meeting went well enough. I was running a little late (for me), but I manged to remember everything I needed to bring (i.e., snack for Nursery, lesson stuff for Nursery, my scriptures, my tablet and phone ...).
My partner in the littles side (those who won't turn three until 2015) wasn't there. And I didn't know she wasn't going to be there. ... And since T, with the older kids (those who are going into Sunbeams -- the 3-year-old class) had them in Junior Primary, I was on my own [responsibility-wise] that first hour. Snack time was ... interesting. We had two little girls that kept bickering. *sigh* And a lot of kids kept trying to eat while NOT at the table.

I was just glad that we had some visitors of the adult variety during that first hour. And, that T roped Brother McC in to help supervise while I taught a lesson and she took kids to go potty.

Let me just tell you that after church, I came home and collapsed on the foot of the bed.

But then I got up to watch The Best Christmas Pageant Ever with Michael and the kids.
Then we ate lunch and drove out to a friend's house, who was hosting a little Nativity display at her house (and Bubbles and Bucket got to pet some of her family's yaks. Bruise didn't care to).

And we scurried home for an impromptu dinner with the missionaries (Sister B is being transferred tomorrow. They needed to get laundry done ... and no one had signed up to have them come to dinner that night), so we fed them spaghetti and watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional together.

And my wedding band snapped. So I'll need to get that fixed. After payday, though. Poor ring. It's only almost 14 years old. But, like I joked to the missionaries, NOW I have an ADJUSTABLE wedding ring. (Not really.) I should call the jeweler's and get an estimate (I figure that it should cost about the same as having it resized ... we'll see, though).

Which leads us to today ... where I haven't even showered yet, since I was doing some housework (like ATTEMPTING [not succeeding, mind you] to get the bathroom counters back in order to free up the laundry baskets so that I can get THOSE out of the bathroom and start painting the bathroom cabinets and finish painting the cupboard in there. THEN, after touch-ups, the bathroom SHOULD be mostly done (for now. We're thinking of changing the door and we'll replace the fan and the lights ... but that'll all be done in the new year.

I've worked my way through most of the laundry, about half the dishes, and picking up the front rooms (should vacuum and do a million other things ... like clean my desk AGAIN)...

Okay, going BACK in time ... I watched T and L one day last week. Mom came up the next day. We took the kids out to McDonald's. Bubbles had one of her more epic tantrums before we headed out. She had hit both her siblings in the face and wouldn't say sorry. Once I got her to take some deep breaths, though, she calmed down enough to have a time-out. Bruise had a pack meeting (getting ready for Lock-Down in a month and the Blue and Gold and the Pinewood Derby). I have one more patch to sew on his shirt.

Bubbles and I got our new WIC vouchers (just waiting until they get it so that it's all on a card. That'd be nice). I worked on painting the frames of the mirrors in the bathroom and finishing caulking up around the window in there. Decided that I wasn't feeling up to social things and skipped the RS activity ... Not great, I know. But, well ...

Friday, Vesper and I went to the kids' school for their assembly. I knew that Bucket was being recognized for good behavior, but I didn't know (until I got there) that Bruise was ALSO being recognized, too. (So were a couple of their friends ... like T. I was able to send a picture of him to his mom, who had another appointment, so couldn't make it out that time.)
After that, I took Bubbles to the library to pick up my holds and to the Toddler Storytime. (I hadn't been taking her to storytime after the occasion where she wouldn't sit down enough for the librarian. I was told that Bubbles needed to either sit down or sit with me. ... And strong-willed daughter of mine, she didn't want to do either of those. So, I had to take her, SCREAMING, out of storytime. ... Times like that, I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY miss one of the librarians who recently retired. Or the storytimes at the next town's library, which were REALLY geared for littles. ... Since then, they've started the toddler (and another one for babies) storytime.
Bubbles had a GREAT time. I know that we're going to have to make this a weekly/regular thing.

We missed the school's movie night fundraiser (the kids had already seen the movie, so they weren't TOTALLY bummed), since it was dependant upon them FINALLY getting their room clean.

Saturday, we took them to Home Depot for the kids' activity (building Christmas/Holiday-themed yard stakes -- Snowflake, Gingerbread person, and a snowman on them). Then we worked on the bathroom some more. Then we went to a baptism. After that, we headed out to a local Nativity Festival (over 300 nativities ... and there's also concerts and kids' activities. Good stuff.

Then, we went to look at our favorite lights display ... which had moved. We didn't remember at all, since we missed it last year (due to a taquitos-induced DISASTER), which was the first year it had been moved ... and we hadn't made it out to its new location.
Thank goodness for smartphones. We were able to look it up and get out there.

And it was totally worth it. With Bubbles being two now, she is TOTALLY INTO all of this.
"KISSMIS IIITES!!!" It's pretty adorable.

And, since I already told you about Sunday, that brings us current with everything.

And, golly, I'm tired. I'm sure Michael would tell you that it's due to my staying up too late.
I just haven't been sleeping all that well. I'm sure that I'll sleep better after my traffic ticket is taken care of. Ugh. And after this month of teaching in Nursery is done. And I'm done Christmas shopping. :P I know, I know, I'm getting caught up in the minutiae of life. But I also know that I'll feel a lot better once I have a pretty, organized bathroom again. (In related news to THAT, Bucket is getting a slew of new-to-her lip glosses. Lucky girl! And I've tossed out a shload of old makeup I never really used.

Well, I should get Bubbles some lunch (something besides THREE cuties/tangerines). And I should eat, too.

Well, I'm not dead ... Just busy and lazy ...

Wowzers ... it's been a while. Like a WHOLE MONTH (and some extra days).

Whoops.

Now to TRY and get caught up on what all has gone on around here ...

Let's see ...
We'll start with Halloween ...

Bruise was the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith). Bucket was her own version of Madeline/Maddie Hatter (from Ever After High). Bubbles opted to go as Princess Sofia the First (it was either that or Princess Anna from Frozen). We went to the mall for their trick-or-treating, then stopped by a neighbor's house, then went to a local Halloween party for all the kids. Bruise and Bucket ran into their friends (that sometimes come over after school so I can keep an eye on them since their folks are both working for a while).

We helped my dad and L move some of their big things (like my dad's shop contents) to their new house. It was a (busy) day trip. They had ME order the pizza for dinner ... and I got two of their addresses mixed up, so pizza took just a little longer to arrive. Whoops!
(That'll teach them, right?) ... But, on the bright side, Michael and I got the wifi password for their new place. So we're ready for spending the night in the future. (And Bruise and Bucket LOVE the cupboard under the [garage] stairs. They feel JUST like proper Muggles, I tell you!)

Freyja-cat got her shots. And Bubbles got to pet the office cat at the vet's.
Bruise, Bucket, and I have all joined Bubbles in getting OUR flu shots (Michael never gets one).

We had a gamut of disease going on in our house: Bruise came down with a case of pink-eye. He shared it with Bubbles (giving eye drops to a toddler? AWFUL). Bubbles got a double ear infection ... right as she was done battling a case of impetigo (on her leg and back). Bucket also came down with an ear infection (just the one, though).
And I STARTED to come down with a cold. But, thanks to my array of DoTERRA samples, I kept that puppy at bay. Phew. Since I didn't have time to be sick anyways.

Bruise got to be in his first Veterans Day parade ... in related news, I got my first traffic ticket for making a right turn without coming to a complete stop as I RUSHED to drop him off (and, of course, I shouldn't have stressed/rushed, since NO ONE WAS THERE FOR ME TO DROP HIM OFF WITH so that the girls and I could go downtown and get a spot for the parade. *SIGH*).
This is my life.

It appears that Freyja-cat has more special needs ... in this case, besides her standing prescription for "kitty-Prozac," she also is showing signs of a food allergy ... so the fact that she'd licked off most of the fur on her hindquarters was related to the fact that she's my SPESHUL BAYBEE and I need to get her some non-poultry/non-corn based food at the local feed store.

The kids have had a lot of time off school ... two days for Veterans Day ... and a whole week for Thanksgiving. It's been nice, getting to sleep in and all that. But they were missing school ... what will they do later this month when they have TWO WEEKS away from class?
(Answer: They'll finish their second-grade workbooks, drink lots of hot cocoa, clean their room, and visit family! That's what!)

Bruise's picture retakes came back. They're ... better.
But this is why I don't pay full price for them (online coupons!!) and why we get FAMILY portraits done ... so that I can MAKE SURE he looks decent and actually SMILES with his eyes and all.
(I love my son. But if he brings back home ONE more picture where he looks like a stoned juvenile, OY TO THE VEY, Y'ALL.)

We had parent-teacher conferences before Thanksgiving week.
The kids are doing well in everything ... they are being progress monitored for Spanish. But their teachers are sure that they'll reach the standards goal by the end of the year.
Also, Bruise has been falling asleep in class.
I think that for the next session of Strings lessons, we'll be moving to the afternoon class.

We got our house decorated for Christmas. The kids helped decorate the tree for FHE (Family Home Evening) last night. I got my nativities set up ... and my Charlie Brown Christmas tree. And my Linus-as-a-shepherd figurine. Michael got lights up on the house.
We have a star on our tree this year ... it's time to try something new, right?

The other thing to write about is that Michael and I have been working on our bathroom. Two weekends ago, we textured the walls (finally) and I started painting. I put white primer on the ceiling (it was NEEDED) and spray painted the fan cover with white spray paint (it looks TONS better). Then Michael and I painted the walls. They're now the slightest whisper of blue.

Today, I put primer on one side of our (huge) cupboard in there and primed the window sill and frame. In a bit, if it's dry, I'll start to paint that the other color we picked out -- the cabinets and cupboard and trim around the mirrors will be a dove grey. And I'll need to spray paint the trim around the shower and tub white ... and OF COURSE it's started freezing, so I'll need to figure out how/where to do that.

Michael also put up some shelves for me. Now I can get all my stuff off the counters, right?
He's also putting up some shelves above the toilet. And he got me a shelf-thing for the bathtub, which is awesome. Once I get that window painted and the trim back around the tub, I can load that up and the bathtub will look tons better.

We really didn't do much Black Friday shopping this year. Just went out in the afternoon to pick up some stuff for the bathroom ... and we hit Target for the DVDs. (Great Gatsby, the Baz Luhrman version, for $4? Don't mind if I do!)

I also need to take the hardware off the cupboard doors so that I can spray paint it ... it'll either be white (to pop against the grey cabinets), brushed nickel (to coordinate with the tub shelving, our new toilet paper holder, and the towel rack we're going to buy ... and the new faucets we haven't bought yet), or oil-rubbed bronze (for added contrast). We'll see.
But, again, since the weather's turned, it's going to be a challenge to figure out how/where to spray them all.

Michael also put in a dimmer switch for the bathroom lights. And we'll be replacing the light fixtures (and the old fan) sometime.

It's really coming along, though. We've been in here for about seven years now. You'd hardly recognize the bathroom. And it's just getting better and better. (and it'll be amazing once I get stuff organized/get rid of a lot of junk ... HOARDER!!)

And I've been reading some library books lately.

One of our Christmas traditions is reading "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever."
We finished it last night.
I cried. Like I ALWAYS do.
Every year, I think, "MAYBE I can get through it THIS year without crying."
Nope.
And Michael says that he's glad for that. Apparently, my crying at the end of it is another of our Christmas traditions.
I'm also going to read the kids (again) "A Christmas Carol." ... And, if we can make it, "The Forgotten Carols," since I LOVE that story.

Since it'd been AGES since I last watched "While You Were Sleeping," (and technically, it's a holiday movie!) we watched it (again) last night. ... I'm still so very impressed with how awesome the writing is and how VERY well the casting is. Everyone plays their parts so darn well! And it's wonderfully quotable. Yeah, I adore it something fierce.

My Christmas present from my mom arrived -- She got me a DoTERRA kit. And I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Thanksgiving night, Bubbles was starting to HACK-cough. I got her home, slathered a few drops of Breathe and OnGuard on her ... she slept through the night without coughing at all. Pretty awesome. And I'm enjoying my diffuser. My DoTERRA gal came over to teach me about how to use my stuff and using the LRP (loyalty rewards points) for ordering and all that. AND to bring me some freebies and my bottle of Holiday Joy (Bucket's favorite. Bruise really likes Wild Orange. And Lemongrass).

I've only had them for about a week now, and they've come in VERY handy. So that's nice. And I'm saving a lot of the stuff for Christmas. Unless Michael needs me to get out the Deep Blue (muscle) Rub. But I'm looking forward to trying the OnGuard toothpaste and all.

Okay. Time to paint some more.