Some weeks I have upwards of 125 photos to sift through that document our adventures for the seven days gone past. This week I had a mere 50, which tells you exactly what my speed for the week was. Fast and furious. Not furious as in angry....but as in efficient. This was Mike's week to work the evening shift (10 a.m. - 9 p.m.) and it was also supposed to be our first week of baseball and soccer. Our schedule had practices for one child or another listed every evening M-Th....and I was alone. Ha. God sent the rain, so some practices were canceled, but I did try to stay on top of the week as to not get overwhelmed by it.
Sunday we went and worshipped at a church that has grown exponentially and done some church plants. It was mostly just out of interest and upon the invitation of some friends of ours. The middle three kids tried out the children's programs. Overall it was a fine experience with some mixed reviews from our crew. We went to lunch with some friends and then were able to meet sweet baby Lindly that our friends (and neighbors) Landon and Madi brought home last week. She came a month early but is a precious tiny little soul of whom I forgot to take a picture. Sunday evening we did some family worship and our Bible studies and just had a quiet evening at home together.
Monday I was up and at 'em early to make Mike a birthday breakfast before he went to work. I put bacon and hash brown patties in the oven, scrambled up some cheesy eggs, and made some toast. His favorite breakfast.
We finished building our 50 states from LEGOS last week so we took a picture so they could be dismantled. The Legos from the eastern states have been built since August! This was such a fun add on to our Notgrass 50 States unit.
To the best of their ability they made each state a solid color - you can tell the farther west you get the more difficult that was. Overall, they did great!
Natalee was first done with school, so she helped me get the week's meals prepped in the kitchen as best we could. She browned 5 pounds of ground beef - 2 for Mike's birthday lasagna and 3 for tacos (enough for 1 supper and a lighter lunch for the kids the next day). I worked up some beef meatballs to brown and put in gravy and that left only the pork burgers that needed made up for Tuesday's supper. Having the meat thawed is a huge help to meals, but having it completely prepped was so nice!
The kids played outside for a couple hours Monday while the rain held and the sun shone. The three littles greeting daddy home from work for supper!...
Mike's Monday evening schedule coupled with a practice on our calendar meant we ate supper at 4:45. I was pretty determined that we were going to eat together so I fed the kids a light lunch and no snack so that they were ready to eat.
Lasagna, lettuce salad, and garlic bread to celebrate my main squeeze. On paper plates. Because mom's sanity is important.
I made apple pie and vanilla wafer banana pudding "like Grandma Betty used to make." Or my best attempt at it anyways!
Tuesday was gray and chilly!
Evalynn had gymnastics, and since Mike was home then no one needed to come along.
She and I went and were back in a flash. We gathered up Xavier, Ameliya, and Zayden and went to mom's group where the kids played and I visited. When we got home, those who needed to finished school. I had a meeting for Ameliya's speech evaluation at 3, so ran quickly to that. Soccer practice had been canceled so we knew we had a slower paced evening ahead of us. The boys could not take being indoors any longer and went out to shoot hoops in the mist.
Ameliya had gymnastics and so she and I went to her class. There were no other parents there this week so I read my book while she had her class and that wasn't all bad. I must have been hungry when we got back (I skipped breakfast). I mixed up a double batch of sourdough waffles, put some sausage patties on the cast iron, and then made scrambled eggs in the waffle maker. Sausage, egg sandwiches on sourdough waffles. The kids loved them for an early lunch.
Thursday brought snow/sleet. I know. It's April. It was not warm.
Evalynn asked me to play fox and chickens after breakfast and I said yes even though we weren't yet dressed or ready for our day. When I have these "go hard" weeks sometimes I forget to stop and look my kids in the eyes, play the game, read the story. I tried to be more intentional about that this week.
I lost the game by the way. She cheats.
Natalee finished up a math lesson with a missing piece to the puzzle. We found it in the trash later but she decided she'd had plenty brain challenge putting it together the first time.
Thursdays are hippotherapy days. We listened to Wind in the Willows on the way to therapy and got there early enough for me to pop into the thrift store and get Xavier baseball pants in the color he needed and a baseball belt in the color he wanted.
Evalynn has discovered our Eloise Wilkin illustrated Little Golden Books and fallen as in love with them as I was when I was little and Ameliya was as a tot. Baby Dear has always been my favorite little picture book.
Soccer was again canceled, which meant a very chill night, but also a disappointed Mia.
I tackled laundry Thursday afternoon/evening, as I tend to do on Thursdays. Zayden and Evalynn napped, big kids played Big Boggle,
and Ameliya worked with her hair styling head.
When Zayden woke up we found him some baseball pants for his season that starts in May. He's so excited!
Ameliya was very patient with her little stylist assistant when Ev woke up from nap.
A round of Big Boggle for these two while the others showered and got through evening routines. Then we ended the night with another Little House episode.
We made it to Thursday! Praise, hallelujah!!
Friday we slept in a bit, but not much because our children don't understand sleeping in really. We got up to run to Menards, Aldis, and a couple other stores in the town neighboring ours. We hit Menards first, and unloaded in great spirits. I walked across the parking lot carrying Evalynn when all of the sudden, with no reason at all, my ankle completely rolled. I hung on to Ev barely, conscious enough to be afraid to set her down in a parking lot, lest she go running to Mike (I couldn't see him), until Xavier could see I was hurting and took her. Mike was helping Natalee with her chair. The pain was enough I felt immediately sick to my stomach. I have no level idea what exactly I did, but once I could stand it, I hobbled to the store where I tried to ignore my anger and frustration (and pain) and continue on our family day out. That was probably a mistake. I'm pretty stubborn.
After Menards we went to Pizza Hut. We got there right after they opened so no one else was there yet. Some of the kids had Book It certificates and we had a gift from our friend Kathy that she'd sent a couple weeks ago for a meal out the next time Mike worked the night shift. I know I could have used it for one of the weeknight meals, but honestly, we are both so tired by Fridays that it felt so good to have the treat while Mike was along, too. It felt like a "hurrah we got through" reward. And supper Friday night was leftover pizza, so it was two meals, truly! Thank you, Kathy. We love you!
Home it was.
My crew carried in the groceries, put away the groceries, and then went outside to play because the sun was shining-ish. We really like outside.
I iced and elevated my ankle, had Mike check it for breaks (just swelling and sprain he thinks), and finished a good read.
Saturday had no agenda. Nothing on the to-do list except our normal cleaning but I was hurting badly enough that I was worthless help.
The kids watched their version of cartoons and tidied their rooms before heading outside. Because sunshine. Mia did play with her hair styling head that she's named Sharena and tried her hand at using a heated tool on it. I started her on a small size curling iron that is easy to handle.
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