It Seemed Like a Monday--Part 2

Part 2:

While all that was happening, I received a phone call asking me to practice at the church for a song I will be singing (in a group) on Monday at our community Christmas program.  I didn't realize that I would be doing this, and I had a pot of turkey stew cooking--so I said I would be there, but a bit late because I needed my potatoes to be done before heading out.  (I sang the same song last year, so it's not new to me).  After we practiced, I went to shut my van door (driver's side) and it wouldn't shut.  Rusty had shown me where the latch wasn't fully opening & how to fix it, so I tried & (of course) it wouldn't budge.  So I finally decided I would just hold my door shut the 1/2 mile home.  Thankfully Rusty was able to fix it when he got home, but I felt better when it didn't work for him the first time & he had to find a screwdriver to make it work.

The song we're singing "Oh, Hush Thee, My Baby" is quite a high song & so I knew the lds.org web-site has a way to transpose the music to a lower key.  I thought I had the site bookmarked so I could get right to it, but (of course) I couldn't find it.  It took me about 20 minutes to figure it out, but I finally found it and printed our music into a lower key.  By then, all the kids were getting home from school and I needed to start on my pie crusts.  (My "original" plan was to have all the pot pies made & started baking before the kids got home from school.)  I only made 3 pot pies because I ran out of flour (I have more in storage out in our freezer shed, but didn't want to have to go and re-fill my container) so I just put one in the oven for dinner & said I'd have to finish making the other 3 after my primary presidency meeting.

So at dinner, Ben, Emmalee, Brienna and Callum all said they didn't care for pot pie (that's me saying it politely) so I told them they had to eat something left over from the fridge (we had 3 choices).  None of them were happy about that (they wanted corn dogs).  I'm just glad Rusty loves pot pie & he said how much he appreciated it.  Then Rusty said since the other kids don't want pot pie when we cook it, we might as well not make anymore pies and just freeze the rest of the stew into a few containers.  So that made my life a bit easier.  We quickly cleaned up and did family scriptures & prayer before I left for my meeting.

We put together all the primary teacher's binders for 2013 & finished making all the copies of schedules/lists that go in them.  I got home around 8--so it didn't take us quite 2 hours.  There are still a few things we need to do to be ready for Jan. 2013, but it feels good to have so much done.

I had to finish 2 more loads of laundry, make my bed, and find blankets to use until the comforter was cleaned (didn't finish the last load until 10:30 pm).  I can say that I was glad when all the kids were finally in bed the day was over!

It Seemed Like a Monday

Thursday started out a bit crazy--but I didn't realize how crazy it would continue to get.

Benjamin always needs time to fully wake up in the mornings, and most mornings we are late for pre-school.  So this morning isn't any different.  He decided he wasn't hungry for breakfast so we went through all of his shirts until he decided who he wanted to be this morning (who is on the shirt--today he was Garfield).  He wanted a pair of pants that were in the dirty clothes, so he finally decided on a different pair.  We got him bundled up and started walking to school when Ben said he needed his hat and gloves. So I went back in and got his hat and gloves.

We got half-way down the street when Ben rubbed his tummy and said, "I hungry" and I knew he couldn't last until snack time so we went back inside and made him oatmeal.  He chose strawberry the first time, but then decided he didn't like that kind, so we made banana.  We finally made it to school but by the time I was back home to make breakfast, it was almost 9:30.  I decided to make a smoothie and by the time I had all the fruit cut up & prepared & the rest of my breakfast ready, it was almost 10.  I got busy with laundry and cleaning and almost forgot to get Ben at 11.  We started to walk home, when the breeze picked up and Ben said, "Brrrrr".  So I went to get his hat and gloves out of his backpack and they weren't there.  So we went back into the classroom and found them on the table.

I had 30 minutes until Rusty comes home for lunch, so I started downloading & getting Christmas songs on my computer to burn to a CD for Ethan.  My computer cooling pad stopped working before Thanksgiving (and I forgot to buy a new one when I was in town last week) so when I over-work it (and it overheats), it shuts down on me.  Of course that happened, so by the time I started it back up and opened the files again, Rusty walked in the door--and I didn't have his lunch ready.  (He only has about 25 minutes here so I try to have it ready so he doesn't have to rush through lunch).  So I quickly made lunch.  After he left, I decided I wanted home-made salsa for my lunch so I chopped up the rest of my tomatoes and made a small batch of salsa (it was delicious).

Today was the day I needed to make my "after-Thanksgiving" pot pies--I usually make 4-6 of them which requires a huge pot of turkey stew and 4-6 batches of my delicious pie crust.  So I sat at the table peeling 10 pounds of potatoes and a couple pounds of carrots, chopped up the veggies and got that cooking.  I 'm glad it doesn't always take me 3-4 hours to make dinner every day!  I put a Christmas movie in for Benjamin to watch & about 45 minutes into it, he came waddling in saying he was all wet.  Yep--he hasn't had an accident for months, and today when I'm super=busy he wets his pant.  That wouldn't be too bad in itself, but he was sitting on my bed and so all the blankets ended up wet.  Thankfully we have waterproof mattress covers on all the beds, so the mattress was still dry.  But that meant I had to strip the bed and start more laundry (remember I was already doing the "regular" laundry).  So I quickly folded the clothes out of the dryer and went to get the clothes out of the washer only to discover that I had never started the washer.  Grrrr.

Pamela's House Thanksgiving Break

 Grandma playing Connect 4 with Ben (and Emmalee).  I love Benjamin's excited face in this picture.

 The family had fun helping Pamela decorate for Christmas.

 Zane had the fun job of putting up the outside lights.

 More decorating.

 Everyone pitched in to get her decorations up.

 The outside light decorations

 Emmalee playing the piano--all the kids put on a mini-recital for Grandma, Grandpa, Laurie, Pamela & Mom & Dad.

 Brienna & Zane playing the trumpet. 

Callum playing the "drums" (an empty container)

 There were beautiful sunsets every evening.   This is Pamela's view from the window by her piano.

 We took advantage of the beautiful scenery and took pictures--me by myself.

 All the girls--having fun holding Emmalee.

(Standing) me (Michelle), Grandma Carter, Pamela

Brienna, Emmalee, Laurie

Sisters!  How fun.  I have 2 beautiful girls!

Thanksgiving Decorations

 I guess since I'm getting the house ready for Christmas, I should post our Thanksgiving decorations.  This is our thankful turkey we make each year.  We write things we are thankful for on the feathers.  Benjamin came up with his own ideas this year, and his 2nd feather was "Jesus".

Now I just have to make the time to get all my nativities up in the next week.  I think I'm up to 76--all different sizes.  I can't wait to get them all up!

Thanksgiving at Pamela's

 Breakfast at Aunt Pamela's--they love all the "sweet, sugary" cereal choices.

 Visiting, relaxing, and eating--Plenty of space at Pamela's!

 Ben "exercising" on Pamela's treadmill downstairs.

 The view of from Pamela's bedroom window.

 Thanksgiving feast--plenty of food to eat for the next few days!

 Aunt Laurie came with Grandma & Grandpa (Michelle's parents) to spend Thanksgiving at Pamela's.

We have been having fun visiting, playing the Wii (the kids esp. liked this since ours isn't working), going on walks, and playing hide-and-seek-dark. 

We're going to decorate Pamela's house for Christmas today and tomorrow.  I'll post pictures after we are finish.

Ben & Fall Sports Awards

 Everyday after pre-school, Ben likes to play with the cats...

 ...and wants lots of pictures taken with him and the cats.

 and more pictures!  And these are only a few that I have taken the past week ;)

 Rusty folded these dollar bills into a shirt and pants to send to Ethan.  Pretty cool!

 Last Wednesday was the Fall Sports Awards night.  It was also Roundtable for scouting.

 Normally I will go to functions/activities involving family before Roundtable, but this month I had a "beading" (from Wood Badge) scheduled that a lot of people were coming to (from out of town).   One of my "Owls" from Wood Badge finished her tickets/goals & we scheduled this in September.  The awards night was scheduled about 1 week ago.

So Rusty went to the awards night with the boys & Brienna stayed home with the 2 little ones. 

 Callum received a trophy along with the other Jr. High football team--he was the team manager.

 Zane's basketball practice has been at 6:30 every evening except on Fridays (when we don't have school) and then it's at 6 in the morning.  So he was able to have a bit of a break on this night since the awards were at 7 & they didn't have to practice until after the awards (and then it wasn't very long).

 Zane received his letter & a football pin.

Life has been a steady-flow of activities and events with all of the kids and Rusty and me.    We are getting ready to head to Pamela's house in the morning for Thanksgiving.  I am looking forward to a "break."

Emmalee's Family Project--Nov. 2012

This month's family project (from the 2nd grade teacher) was to disguise a turkey and write/tell why he/she was NOT a turkey (and try to convince everyone that he is not a turkey).

 I think Emmalee did a great job!  She did most of the disguise except for the bag of "gifts".

 She sure is proud of her project!

 Her "Santa Claus" turkey with it's story.

This is what it says:  "I am Santa Claus.  I bring presents to children.  The North Pole is my home.  I only like Thanksgiving because my favorite holiday comes next.  I was checking the list yesterday.  As you can see, I am NOT a turkey!  I am Santa Claus."

She is taking it to school tomorrow.

Veteran's Day Program & Dinner Nov. 2012

Callum & our Boy Scout troop presented the flag at our Veteran's Day program today.

This is our elementary school (K-5).  Emmalee is in the middle.

Here is a close-up of Emmalee with all the other kids.

Rusty sitting with the other veterans.  (Connie Barg & Julie Baker are the other 2)

The elementary kids singing one of their songs.  Here is a copy of their program.

Our Boy Scout troop watching the program.

The elementary children singing 2 patriotic songs.

Emmalee--our 2nd grader!

Rusty shaking people's hands afterwards.

All the vets stand at the front so the kids can go through shaking their hands and thanking them.

 And then this evening, the 4-H council & National Honor Society host a veteran's dinner.  They had ham, turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy, dressing, squash, cranberries, rolls, veggies & dessert.  It was very, very delicious!

 The NHS presentation.

3 of the Stewart veterans--Rusty, Keith (his Dad), and Reed (his Uncle & Keith's brother).

Callum stayed home with Ben and Emmalee so we weren't just "babysitting" at the dinner (families were invited).  But Callum made mac & cheese & chili for the kids.  And then they unloaded the dishwasher & watched "Open Season" while we were gone.  (Zane has basketball practice at 6:30 every night).