Thanksgiving!

We had a fun and busy week off school.  As I put Candy to bed tonight, she asked what we were doing tomorrow and I laughed and said, "School!".  And she said, "Not me, right?  I get the whole week off!".  Time flies when you're 5 and having fun--she didn't believe it had been a week.

We started last Monday with picking up our groceries for the week at 8 am.  We met up with Dan's sister and drove down to Galveston just before 10 am.  Stewart Beach was almost deserted and it was the most perfect beach day.  72 and bright and sunny.  We were having so much fun we didn't get home til almost 5.  It was awesome.  Family night was by Megan, she found some Friend articles to share with us (they weren't really related to one another, but she was excited to have planned the lesson on her own--the one I remember most was about how to get more out of sacrament meeting).

Tuesday we walked to a nearby park and my friend dropped her kids for me to watch while she got some packing done.  We all walked home and had lunch and the kids built forts and played.  I finished my Thanksgiving craft at quiet time--just in time!  I ran to Kroger after putting the kids to bed that night to get some last things for Thanksgiving.

Outside in the morning.

Lunch with the friends.

My finished craft (the blocks) and the new shelves.

Wednesday after we all got up, I ran with all the kids BACK to Kroger to exchange the tablecloth I had picked out (I had grabbed the wrong size).  Then Ali called and offered to let my kids come play so I could get ready for Thanksgiving.  I dropped off the 4 big kids at 10 am and came home and BAKED up a storm.  I made Key Lime pie, 96 rolls (I got them all shaped and then stuck them in the freezer to bake the next day), sweet potato souffle-my fave, and green bean casserole.  Dan got off early around 1:30 and I put him to work making jalapeno poppers while I started cleaning.  Ali kept the kids til 3:30!  It was so nice.  I made them stay outside the rest of the day and made a quick dinner and got them to bed.  Dan went to play basketball and I kept on cleaning and got it all done around 11 pm. 

Snuggled in their pjs to watch TV in the morning (a treat since they can't do it on a school day)

Riding the horse at Kroger. It costs a penny.  They each had a turn.

Thursday was just fantastic.  We left at 7:15 am for the parade and met up with Shad and Jamie and their families and Dad there.  Lots of street races, talking, and laughing while we waited for it to start.  Great parade.  We got home around 11:30 and started baking everything we had prepped on Wednesday.  Ali's family and our Bishop and his family came for the big meal at 1:30.  Great food and great friends.  We had 6 adults and 15 kids there.  The elders had been planning to have Thanksgiving with us but realized on Wednesday night that they hadn't updated their meal calendar and another family had signed up to feed them--so they ate there at noon and arrived in time for pies at our house around 4 pm.  They were so funny trying not to offend me and tell me they had eaten one thanksgiving meal already.  We sent them home with plates from ours.  The weather was great and the elders ran around playing football and soccer and racing all the kids.  Everyone headed home around 7 pm. 

 I'm just documenting that my house was actually all clean all at once!

Ali was watching our friend's 3 boys that day (they had a wedding out of town) so they came too

My friend Colette and her fam (her husband is our bishop)

Our family!

Friday we got up and packed and headed to the lake house.  It was great weather and we had a fun day of boating, playing games, and chatting.  Dan pulled his hamstring pretty good trying to get up on the surf board so he was icing it that evening.  We stayed up late playing games til about 11:30.  Dan and I and our kids were all in the bunk room with Carrie and a bunch of the other cousins.  It wasn't the greatest night's sleep (our kids were so excited they woke up before 5!).  

Saturday was another fun day.  With Dan injured, it was my turn to go out and I tubed and watched the kids tube.  It was cold even with a wetsuit!  Dad and SAlly and Sally's boys made it up in time for some tubing and surfing and lunch after that.  I was in charge of lunch that day and we had taco soup--Dan actually got it all ready while I was out on the boat.  Then after eating, we started packing and cleaning and we all were headed out around 4:30 or 5.  Our kids slept the whole way home and after a quick cereal dinner they all went to bed pretty early.  I was wiped out too and fell asleep before 9.  Dan stayed up to watch most of the bYU game (they beat Utah state). 

thankfully Dan wasn't too injured to fish!  He caught a bass (yay!) and a turtle (poor turtle).

It's been a great Sunday despite some meltdowns in the morning.  Our Bishopric spoke about keeping the faith and another sister spoke about prayer.  My class was about Moroni's teachings on faith, hope, and charity.  I had the kids dress in their Christmas clothes today and we took pictures.  I went to choir practice after church and we had a yummy dinner.  The weather has been just amazing so the kids played outside til it got dark.  Then scriptures and prayer, books with mom and dad,and bed.  Dan fell asleep reading a few minutes ago (It's only 8:30!).

Getting spiffed up before church.  Rub a dub dub.

They clean up pretty good.

All of us after church.  We bribed them with cupcakes.

Week before Thanksgiving

It's been a great week.

Monday was the usual.  Grocery swap, Famiy night on being kind taught by me. We all drew names of another family member with the task of doing a secret service for them during the week.  I'm excited to hear the reports tomorrow but I've seen the kids doing it!

Tuesday we hit up library story time which was great.  Then some shopping for new clothes for me.  Piano after school and the missionaries came over for dinner.  One elder is in probably his last or second to last transfer.  The other had been out of the MTC for 3 days.  There was quite the contrast, but both seemed like happy missionaries. 

I didn't realize til we were at the library that Jack was wearing too-big boots with his soccer clothes.  Oh well!  He didn't care :)

Wednesday we had playgroup.  Dan had jury duty so he went to that early, didn't get picked, and worked from home the rest of the day.  It was pretty nice weather (still warm, mid 70s) so when we saw the Tracy's at the park after school we stopped and played for a bit.  One of the little girls we've known since we moved in was diagnosed with bone cancer in her heel (She's 9, in 4th grade), so Ashley and I and another friend from the neighborhood were discussing ways to help while the kids played.  They are still staging the cancer and all that.  The 4th grade was making her a poster.  I'm planning to have my kids help me stick hearts all over her front door one day this week.  I have been extra thankful for healthy kids this week.

The kindergarten had their turkey feast at lunch Wednesday--they always dress up as pilgrims--here is Candy

Thursday was a quiet day for me, so I finally got around to a Thanksgiving craft I've had waiting (painting blocks, but I'm still not done but I'm close!).  I also assembled some shelves for our piano room.  I love them, they are just what I needed to keep the piano books and the art supplies organized.  Dan planned to go to the temple straight after work but his car started shuddering and the check engine light came on so he turned around and I picked him up from the car shop.  I took pics of Ali's family at a park after getting Dan.

Here are my helpers right before I took pics for Ali. They fed bread to the ducks to keep busy.

Friday was a fun and busy day.  Dan took the van to work so I was on a bike all day!  We biked to get the girls to school.  Then I biked to drop Jack off at playschool and then to the school to run in the turkey trot with first 3rd grade (I did 1.5 miles) then with 2nd grade (I did 1.75 miles).  Then we biked home for lunch.  I had a friend bring Jack home.  Then biked back to school to do the kindergarten trot (1 mile).  Then I checked all the kids out of school so I wouldn't have to bike back again!  We all rode home.  It was warm and muggy, near 80 degrees but there was enough breeze to make it pleasant.  I got the kids all packed and then I showered and got ready.  Sally arrived at 4 to take our four oldest kids for a weekend with her and Grandpa!  Dan got home about 15 min later.  We had fun making dinner together, chatting, and watching a movie.  Emily was an angel and slept through the night and even slept in on Saturday!

Jack fell asleep on Emily in the bike trailer on our trip to school for the last turkey trot.  I couldn't wake him up, so I just let him sleep while I took Emily around the track!  He was close enough I could keep an eye on him.  He woke up as we finished our laps.

We got up around 7 am on Saturday (we are bad at sleeping in).  We went for a quick run together pushing Emily in the stroller.  Our first cold front really came through overnight so it was about 50 degrees and great for running.  We did lots of shopping all morning, some for Dan for new clothes and some for Christmas stuff for the kids.  We had lunch at Costco and walked around there for a while and came home and relaxed.  We went out to diner at Maggiano's near the galleria.  It was yummy and Emily was great.  We came home and I ordered our groceries for next week and then we watched a movie again. 

At dinner...

Dan had no meetings this morning so we had the best morning before church!  We slept late (til 7:30!) and ate breakfast together and got ready for church and picked up the house a bit.  We picked up the sister he hometeaches.   She had been awake most of the night and in pain from a fall (she has dizzy spells), but she insisted on coming to church because she'd been asked to say the opening prayer.   She uses a walker and was really struggling, but she came in and said the prayer and lasted through the sacrament.  She had Dan take her to the ER so she could get help with her pain.  They did x rays and nothing was broken which is good, but they kept her for a few hours to help with her pain and some other issues.  Dan made it back for the last few minutes of our block. It was really touching to me to see her struggle so much just to come and fulfill her assignment today.  We drove straight to Dad and Sally's after church to pick up the kids.  We were all excited to be together again.  We came home and had dinner and an early bedtime--those kids were tired after all their fun with Grandpa and Giagia. 

Dad sent me this of Jack after sacrament meeting...

Election Week...

Another fun and crazy week is in the books.  It's not very often that I'm so busy I don't take a million pictures, but here we are :).  I feel like I hardly took any pictures, but that's probably because for the first time in a month there were no birthdays or holidays!

11/7, Monday morning we dropped off a few minutes early for school so Megan could practice her part for the veteran's day program.  She tried out for a solo singing part a few weeks back and got the part!  Then it was our usual grind of grocery swapping, naps, school pickups, dinner time, and FHE.   Dan reviewed the plan of salvation with the kids and they remembered some from his lesson a few weeks back.  They were still pretty out of sorts from lack of sleep and they ended up fighting as we were trying to get treats out at the end, so they got sent to bed without treats.  You would have thought we cut off their arms; they were so upset!  I looked over at Dan as we each dragged 2 screaming kids upstairs and said, "Happy family night!".  Even then it was pretty funny.  We all survived.

Emily napping on Monday.

11/8, Tuesday was election day.  I was worried about long lines, but our polling location was the elementary school here and I was in and out in 10 minutes.  Not bad.  I voted 3rd party for president, so I knew my candidate wouldn't win, but I was interested to see how everything played out.  Megan and Jack had checkups that morning and both are doing great.  Healthy and growing and happy.  When Dan got home from work I hurried to get dinner ready so I could run to the temple.  I missed the session I was hoping for (traffic was heavier than usual), so instead I did initiatories.  It was busy so I had some time waiting to read scriptures.  I went to the celestial room when I was done and was again struck by the quiet there.  It was a great experience to be in such a peaceful place with all the political stuff going on all day.  Dan and I went to bed long before the results were in, but the tide was turning toward trump and sure enough, when we woke up in the morning, that was the headline everywhere.  It will be interesting to see how he does as president in the next few years--hopefully he does well!

I voted :)

11/9, Wednesday.  Megan's veteran's day program was first thing that day.  Dan worked from home so he could attend.  They did two performances right in a row.  Megan was excited and she did great!  She was calm and confident and sang beautifully!  The program was really wonderful to have after such a divisive election--looking at all those sweet kids singing about how wonderful America is definitely made me thankful for our country and hopeful for our future.  After the program we ran to playgroup (we've had awesome cool weather all week--70s in the afternoons).  Then we picked up the girls from early release at noon and went back to the park for more playing.  We headed home for naps and all the girls had playdates so it was a nice quiet afternoon.  We played with the neighbor kids after that--lots of outside time that day!

Brooke swiped the phone for a selfie before dinner on Wednesday.

11/10 Thursday.  I met Shad and Amy at Ikea to pick up Ellie from them (they were headed to Las Vegas for a couple days) and shop for some shelves.  Jack and Ellie had a blast walking around with me and we got lunch at the little cafe there.  Then home for naps before school pickups.  Ellie did great being with us, no tears at all.  I had a baby shower that night which was fun. 

11/11 Friday.  The actual veteran's day--happy 98th birthday to Grandpa Hanis!  I dropped Jack off for his playschool, so it was me and Emily and Ellie all morning.  I did lots of laundry and started prepping for our ward campout that night.  Dad picked up Ellie during nap time on his way out to get the rest of the kids to take to his place.  Dan came home a little early and by 5 we were on our way.  We camped at Lake Somerville (near Brenham).  It took 2 hours to get there, so it was dark when we arrived.  We set up the tent and let the kids run themselves ragged eating smores, playing with glow sticks, and hanging out with friends.  We had fun chatting but turned in just after 10.  Our tent is getting a little small for 7 of us! 

11/12 Saturday.  The kids all slept pretty well.  Emily woke up in the wee hours and was a little cold so she slept with Dan and I the rest of the night.  In the morning Dan fished a little and the kids ran around some more.  We headed home again at 9:30.  Dan and Megan and Brooke helped clean the church while the rest of the kids napped and we hosted babysit swap that  night.  I was TIRED!  I went to bed just before 9 and let Dan stay up to wait for the other parents to get home. 

I took no camping pics.  These are ones my friends sent me!

11/13 Sunday.  Dan had early meetings.  The kids were pretty good this morning.  Megan stubbed her toe while I was showering and it was bleeding pretty good, so when I came out of the shower the house looked like a crime scene!  Bloody footprints all over the downstairs tile, right on up the stairs and up in the upstairs bathroom too where she went to take a bath--what a mess!  We had a nice chat about proper first aid when someone is bleeeding--stay in one spot and hold pressure, DON'T WANDER ALL OVER THE HOUSE!  We got it cleaned up and made it to church.  Dan was the high council speaker in our ward today.  He did a great job and talked about Elder Holland's talk from the April 2016 conference.  Elder Holland talks about the spiritual high that follows a conference and how to maintain that momentum.  Dan talked about being intentional with your spiritual walk so that you can keep that going.  He talked about goal setting and how all those simple daily acts determine where we will end up.  He mentioned how Dad tells people who are new or struggling to "just keep coming" and the rest will work itself out.  Anyway, it was great and the kids were good so I got to listen too!  We had Ali and Ben over for dinner and they watched our other kids so we could take Brookie to the "great to be 8" fireside.  She's so excited to turn 8 next year!