Savannah's Birthday Party

Last Thursday was Savannah's friend birthday party. Savannah has a lot of friends, and she thinks that all of them are her best friends. So, her list of invites was quite lengthy. She invited 18 girls, but luckily only 15 could make it. Add Savannah and Sara to the mix, and it made for a very full house. Scott took the day off work, and took the boys upstairs during the party. After the party was over and everyone had left, Josh said, "There was a lot of screaming during the party". Yes, Josh, there certainly was.

We made pizzas for lunch. Savannah wanted to do individual pizzas like we did for Sara's party. Sara had only three friends here for her party, and it still seemed like a lot of little pizzas, so I didn't want to attempt 17 individual pizzas. So we made 4 big ones and the girls split up into teams to top the pizzas. I was too busy trying to keep my kitchen from being destroyed to think about taking pictures during the pizza making. But, the pizzas turned out yummy and all the girls seemed to have fun making them.

After eating pizza, we moved into the living room to open presents. While the girls were in opening presents, I hurried and cleaned up the kitchen, then joined them for the present opening (and remembered to take pictures). Savannah got a lot of fun presents--she has some great friends.








After opening presents, we went back into the kitchen to make our craft. We decorated the cover of notebooks with scrapbook paper and mod podge. The books turned out cute, but it was pure chaos trying to have all the girls make them at once. During the book making, Scott put candles in the cake and led the girls in a round of "Happy Birthday" and then served the cake. I was too busy trying to get the notebooks done to even think about taking pictures (again). When I downloaded the pictures off the camera, I was surprised to find that Scott had taken some for me. He doesn't use the camera much (I'm always the one taking pictures), so it wasn't on the right setting and the pictures turned out a bit blurry, but at least I have some pictures. Thanks Scott! (Notice the notebooks on the counter standing on end to dry.)


So, we all survived the party, and I know Savannah had a great time. I love getting to do special things for my kids--it doesn't get to happen very often. Afterward, Savannah told me it was her favorite birthday party ever. She says that every year, and every year I love hearing her say it.

A Little Stressed

I've been a little stressed lately. I get this way every Fall. And that's because every Fall, Scott travels...a lot. Alaska is coming up, and I'm not handling it very well.

I know that those perpetual optimists out there would tell me to be thankful that my husband has a good job, that I have this beautiful house, and that I'm blessed with so many children. And I know. And I am very thankful for all of those things, I really am. But sometimes the pressure gets to me. I totally feel like I'm failing keeping up with the housework. I feel like I'm failing my kids trying to keep up with all their homework and activities. And I'm scared to death about how I'm going to handle it on my own for so long. I am really struggling to keep things together. It's really hard when so many people depend on you (and only you) to keep things running smoothly. You don't get the option of falling apart, or even taking a little break.

And so I'm stressed. And I'm grouchy. And I'm having a really hard time not being grouchy with Scott for leaving me alone for so long. Even though I know that makes absolutely no sense. He doesn't want to leave. In fact, he's stressed too trying to get everything ready to take for these enrollment meetings. And I know he worries about how we'll handle things here at home. I know he doesn't want to leave. But, on Saturday he is going to leave for Alaska, and I'm going to be left here at home with 6 kids, and it's really hard to not be just a little grouchy at him for leaving me.

Savannah Turns 10

Savannah's birthday was on Sunday. She turned 10. Where has the time gone? I can't believe she is 10 already. She should still be my little baby like this....

We celebrated all weekend. On Friday, the whole family went to Red Robin (Savannah's pick) to celebrate Savannah's birthday with dinner. She got sung to, and got a free ice cream sundae (which is why she wanted to go there, I think).

On Saturday morning, Josh had a football game that we all went to. His team lost for the first time this season, but Josh was happy still the same. After Josh's football game, Scott and Savannah headed off to a BSU football game. Scott's office bought box seats for the season, and has divided them out evenly throughout the office. Scott had two tickets for the game. As a birthday present to Savannah, she was the lucky girl who got to go with her dad to the game. She thought it was amazing and had a wonderful time. After the game, the birthday presents continued. Grandma Jo and Grandpa Mike came over. Scott when with his dad to the priesthood session of conference, and Grandma Jo took Savannah for her birthday outing. They went to dinner (Savannah picked Red Robin again) and went clothes shopping. I know I've said this before, but I LOVE this birthday tradition that Scott's mom created. My kids love the one-on-one time that they get with this outing (one-on-one time is pretty scarce when you have 6 kids). Savannah was very excited to come home and show the clothes she had picked out.

Sunday was conference, so we didn't have to go to church. We watched the morning session, then had Scott's parents and brother and his wife come over for a crepe lunch during sessions. Crepes are Savannah's favorite, so we celebrated her birthday with a crepe lunch. Scott's parents stayed and watched the afternoon session of conference with us, then we did cupcakes and ice cream. Savannah picked cupcakes instead of cake, and she and her grandma got to do the frosting and decorating of them.



We decided to let Owen have a cupcake (he needs to get practiced up for next month when he turns one). He made quite the mess, but loved it.



We didn't have any presents for Savannah to open because her gifts were the football game and getting to go shopping with me for church dresses (I don't dare try to pick them out without her--she's got a very strong opinion on clothes). Monday night we had gymnastics and dance, so we had to wait till last night (Tuesday) to do the dress shopping. Savannah decided to let Sara come along, and we made it a fun girls' night out. We went to JC Penney in the mall and found 3 beautiful dresses for Savannah (and one for Sara). Then we went to The Body Shop and got some fun lotions (Scott had won a gift card there at a staff meeting). And we ended with a treat from Mrs. Fields. As we were walking from JC Penney to The Body Shop at the other end of the mall, Sara said in awe, "This place is huge!" I think it's the first time in the girls' memory that they had been to the mall.

This week is a short week of school. The kids are off Thursday and Friday for teacher inservice. We are having a friend birthday party for Savannah tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon. Our house will be filled with twenty 9 and 10 year old girls. It should be an adventure!

Busy Times

I find myself amazed at how busy things are these days. I keep thinking that things will slow down and I'll be able to get caught up on everything, but it's yet to happen. I always feel like taking time to sit down and blog is a frivolous use of my time, but I want to have a record for our family to look back on some day to remember this crazy, busy, wonderful time in our lives. So, I'm pausing my work on house cleaning and laundry to sit and report on this past week.

Friday night Scott and I wanted to get out for a date night, but discovered when trying to find a babysitter, that it was Eagle High's Homecoming game. So, we gave up trying to find a babysitter, and just did a family date night. We took all the kids out to dinner with us, then went shopping at Home Depot for lumber for a home improvement project we have in the works.

Saturday was another day of football. Josh's team won again. And this time, Josh actually got to touch the ball--like three times! He got one really good run in, and would have made it for a touch down, but he forgot to tuck in his shirt, and a kid grabbed his shirt tail and wouldn't let go, so he couldn't get away. But, Josh came away feeling so happy and proud of his game. I love seeing his excitement and love for this game.

This past week brought sad news. My brother-in-law's parents have been serving a mission in Texas, and on Thursday night, there was a fire and his mother was badly burned. She passed away the next morning. Thankfully, his father was unharmed. I can only imagine how hard it has been on my sister's family. I cry every time I think about it. Her funeral is tomorrow in Utah.

Saturday evening brought a visit from my parents. When we had planned to go to Sun Valley three weeks ago, we had reserved two nights in a hotel room in McCall for my parents, to say thank you for watching our kids. But then my Grandma died, so I didn't get to go to Sun Valley. We called the hotel in McCall, and they let us move the reserved dates. Scott had another work trip to Sun Valley planned for this week, so my parents agreed to come watch our kids so I could go with him. We moved their hotel reservation to this past Sunday and Monday night. They came on Saturday, stayed the night, went to church with us Sunday morning, then drove up to McCall. The plan was for them to come back Tuesday night, then I'd leave with Scott Wednesday morning for Sun Valley and they'd watch our kids till we came home Friday night. Then they'd be here on Saturday for Josh's football game, and here on Sunday for Savannah's 10th birthday.

But....they needed to go to Utah for Shauna's mother-in-law's funeral. So, once again, my planned get-away with my husband to Sun Valley got canceled. My parents came back from McCall Tuesday evening. And on Wednesday morning, I sent Scott off by himself to Sun Valley and sent my parents off to Utah, and I'm on my own with the kids for three days. I think I'm just going to stop planning vacations alone with my husband. Scott and I did sneak a date in on Tuesday night while my parents were still here, so we did get a little bit of time out together.

Today after school, Savannah gets to go to a friend's birthday party, and then we've got Joshua's football practice. Tomorrow I get to take treats into Savannah's class for her birthday. And I'm trying to get invitations done and plan a party for her next week while they are out of school (school is out Thursday and Friday for Teacher In-service). This weekend we've got more football and Savannah's birthday, so things won't be slowing down quite yet. I'll just be glad to get Scott home tomorrow night. Then we've got just one week before his big Alaska trip.

Ok, now back to the laundry....

Tired Little Nate

On Saturday after our full day of football games, I found Nathan on the stairs asleep. Yes, that is Sara's nightgown (he LOVES wearing her nightgowns). All the kids had been sent up to bed. Apparently, he was too tired to make it up the stairs. What a sweet little boy he is!

Scissors

Now that Aaron is in Kindergarten, he gets to use scissors. He uses them in school, and comes home with homework assignments that have to be cut. The other night, he was doing one such assignment. Scott and I were busy putting kids in bed, and Aaron was in the kitchen finishing his homework. When he finished, he went straight to bed. The next morning I woke him up and was shocked to see his hair. He had taken the scissors to his hair and cut a big patch of hair off the top of his head. He claimed it was an accident. I'm not sure how much of an accident it really was, but it earned him a nice short buzz cut on Saturday (I had to send him to school that day looking like this). The hair cut almost hides it, but not quite. I couldn't go short enough to even it up (I would have had to shave his head to get it as short as he cut it), but it looks alright (I still need to get a picture of his new haircut). I don't think we'll have him cutting his hair ever again, he's learned his lesson.

Getting Better

I'm happy to report that after about 6 weeks of being sick, I am getting better. I started out with a cough, then the cough got worse and I came down with a full blown cold. It stretched on forever. Then the headache and fever came. Finally last Wednesday the doctor called in an antibiotic prescription for me. And that has done the trick. I'm still a little congested, but on the whole I'm better. It really felt like I had been sick forever. My house has suffered through it because I just didn't have the energy to pull things together. And during the time I was sick, Scott traveled on three different trips, and I took the kids to Eastern Idaho. Scott was always too busy through it all to take off any time to give me a break or give me time to rest. I just powered through it the best I could. But my being sick really took a toll on everyone and everything. So now that I am feeling better, I'm trying really hard to get everything pulled back together, cleaned, and organized. I'm hoping by the end of the week that I'll feel like I've got everything back under control. Wish me luck!

Football

Josh had his first football games on Saturday. His team played their first game last Saturday (and won!), but we were in Eastern Idaho for my grandma's funeral, so we missed it. So, this Saturday was Josh's first game. We played a double header, one game at 1:00 and one at 3:00. Josh needed to be there at 12:15, so we went and spent most of our day at the football field (and all came home more than just a little tired and sunburned).



Sara got to spend her morning with Grandma Jo doing her "birthday shopping with Grandma". I love that Scott's mom does this. She takes each kid for their birthday out for some shopping and lunch. The kids look forward to this special time every year. Sara was especially excited to go shopping with Grandma. I was creating a list of things she needed that she and Grandma could look for (tights, socks, etc). Sara stopped me and asked, "Do I have to just get things that I need, or can I look for things I want". I told her she could look for things she wanted. She got excited and said, "Good! Cuz there is this bracelet at Old Navy....". And she did come home from shopping with all sorts of fun things (headbands, belts, bracelets, etc). Grandma Jo does a great job spoiling my kids.

After the morning of shopping, Scott's parents came with Sara to watch Josh's first game. Scott had volunteered to be the downskeeper for the game, so Scott's parents sat with me and the kids and helped keep the kids in line.






Josh's team won their first game! After the game, we said goodbye to Scott's parents, and just hung out for an hour till Josh's next game. This time Scott had to keep score, so he took Aaron over with him so I wouldn't have to keep track of as many kids. By this game, Owen was really tired, and finally fell asleep half-way through the game.





Josh's team won their second game (they are undefeated!). I love seeing how much Josh is loving playing football. He LOVES football. And he loves that he's on a real team and plays real games. I think Scott's loving getting involved, too--one of the joys of having a son. He takes Josh out in the backyard and throws the football with him and goes over the plays. It makes this mom very happy seeing her boys happy.

Sara's Surprise Party

On Friday we had a surprise party for Sara (to make up for having to go to a funeral on her actual birthday). Scott came home a little early, and took Sara with him to run an errand. In the meantime, we had three of Sara's friends come and everyone hid till she got home. When she walked in the door, everyone jumped out and yelled "Surprise"! It took her a minute to realize what was happening.


Three of Sara's favorite friends, Emily R., Emily M. and Ady.

We made our own individual pizzas and the kids thought it was great that they got to create their own any way they liked. While the pizzas baked, we painted fingernails, then the kids played outside till it was time to come in and eat.


After we ate pizza, the kids decorated their own cupcake and ate it (I didn't get any pictures of that). Then we went in the living room for presents.





It was a fun little party, and I love that Sara was surprised. I think she felt really special knowing that I had gone to the work of giving her this party. She is very special, and I'm so glad she's part of our family!

Scott's 35th Birthday

Scott's birthday was last Thursday. It was a crazy busy day, but we did find time to do a little bit of celebrating. He had to work all day. After school, Savannah had gymnastics from 4:15-5:15. From there, I took Josh to football at 5:30. Then I came home and got dinner ready (but stuck it in the fridge instead of the oven). Scott went straight from work to pick up Josh at football and they got back just minutes before 7. In the meantime, I'd had Claire come over to babysit the kids. As soon as Scott pulled up, Josh hopped out of the truck and I hopped in it, and Scott and I headed off to "Meet the Teacher" night at the kids' school. I left instructions for Claire to put dinner in the oven while we were gone, so it would be ready when we got home. We got back from teacher night just before 8:30, and that's when the celebrating began.

We had dinner, then went in the living room to open presents.


Scott got all his favorite treats--Whoppers (I love how he tried to fake surprise when he opened them--he gets them every single year), Dr. Pepper, and Baby Ruth candy bars. He also got some aftershave.







Then we headed into the kitchen for his birthday brownies and ice cream.


Happy Birthday Scott! We love you!