Our Family: Week of 2/10-2/16

On Monday, I realized it had been 4 weeks since Sam was born.

So, I decided to be a big girl and clean my entire house... scrub tubs, dust, organize the closets, sweep, mop, etc.

Which means that now when someone visits I will actually let them in my house... rather than making up an excuse as to why they should stay outside.

;)

Now, I need to deal with the million weeds that have popped up in the last month and clean the van.

And by the time I get those done, it will probably be time to scrub the bathtubs and mop the floors again.

That evening, Adam finished his black history project on Nelson Mendela.  Grace did her spelling homework.  Josh rode his bike around the house.  Sam ate and ate.

Mike slept to get ready for his night job.

And I (grumpily) envied him.

***

On Tuesday, we had some friends visit who brought the best baby gift Mike has ever received:

Girl Scout cookies.

Adam worked on the "Art" Webelos pin at Scouts that night.  Mike dropped him off and then went back into work for 4 hours (a sweet friend brought Adam home for us).  Josh got hit on top of his head with a hoe by our visiting friends on accident (there was blood, but luckily, it was a small cut).

I re-discovered the beauty of the store-bought rotisserie chicken.

And of store-bought Valentine's (they went with Fun Dip ones).

***

For the past 2 weeks, I have been super-spoiled/blessed.  Sam tends to get up around 5:00am.  I nurse him until 5:45ish, get the kids and Mike up, get breakfast and lunches going, etc.  He has to be at work at 8:00, so he has been dropping the kids off at school at 7:45, going to work (while I go back to bed for a little more sleep... Josh is a night owl/sleeping in kinda boy), and coming home at lunch, so I can have the van to drop him back off at work and pick-up the kids.

And pick him up from work an hour-and-a-half later.

It's worth the extra sleep I tell ya!

On Wednesday, he had to be at work at 7:30 (and the kids can't be at school until 7:45), so I had to be a big girl again and stay up and bring them all to work and school.

It made me feel like I deserved a Thin Mint for breakfast.

;)

Josh went outside to play in the sandbox (like he does almost every day) and drug in 1/2 pound of sand with him.

Like he does almost every day.

Seriously, I'm surprised that sandbox has any sand left in it at all.

Cheerleading practice, homework, chores, piano practice, and dinner all happened that evening.

Mike left for mutual.

Then Adam reminded me he had been assigned to bring a Valentine box to school the next day.

(Not his fault; he has reminded me every day since it has been assigned; I just kept putting it off).

So, we started to work on it.

Then Grace told me she had one due, too.

So, we started to work on it.

They both had class parties, so we made pretzel Valentine M&M hugs (here) for them to bring.  They were adorable.

We got finished with it all waaaay late.

Then Grace confessed she had lied; she had just wanted a box because Adam had one.

It had been so insanely hard to make both Valentine boxes, get Josh ready for bed, take care of Sam, clean up dinner, get things ready for the next day, and make the party treats by myself.

Grrrr!

She's lucky that she wrote me that note last week about my hair.

Or she wouldn't be here with us right now.

;)

***

On Thursday, we got Valentine boxes, Valentines, treats, and kids to school; Mike off to work.

And then we went to the doctor for Sam's 1-month well check.

Baby boy is BIG!

11 pounds 15 ounces and 23 1/4 inches long.

Almost 100th percentile for each.

I adore that chub.

And his beautiful blonde/brown/red hair.

(Auburn, maybe?)

Josh and I ran errands, came home, had lunch, took care of Sam, talked to Mike, and went back to pick up the kids.

They were laden with treats, Valentines, and lots of stories of their super-fun day.

We quickly ran to Target (I had accidentally shoplifted earlier in the day, so we went to right my wrong.)

Darn having kids who notice these things!

;)

We came home, where Josh lamented that he didn't have a party.

So we had a little family pre-Valentine party, which involved us eating too many treats from kids' school parties, reading Valentines and dancing.

Afterward, Grace held a crying Sam so I could get a few things done.

***

On Friday, there was no Valentine-themed breakfast or lunch.  My kids didn't wear pink or red.  And Mike had to work late, and wouldn't be their for our traditional family dinner.

And it's okay.

In years' past, I would've sacrificed the 4 hours of sleep I'm getting a night these days to make it the most special Valentine's Day ever.

I've matured/gotten lazy/become realistic/value my 4 hours of sleep too much to make that happen.

And it's okay.

Instead, we stayed home and cleaned bedrooms, while blasting our essential cleaning music (iHeart Radio Kid-Friendly Pop).

Josh played in the sandbox and cleaned the entire backyard by himself, making a nice place for the kids to ride their bikes around.

That evening, we had our traditional meatloaf Valentine dinner, and when Mike got home, the kids opened small gifts from us.

***

On Saturday, we headed to downtown Las Vegas, to the Emergency Arts Center.

The kids' school has an annual fundraiser each year where they have each kid paint a picture on canvas, get the Emergency Arts Center to donate their building for the day, and hold a silent auction to raise money for the school, while the choir and cheer teams perform to provide entertainment.

And, honestly, I would rather pay for a cute piece of my kids' art then a box of frozen cookie dough, so I love it.

I felt very brave, parking downtown, walking the 6 blocks with Sam in my Moby, and Josh gripping my hand tight, with Adam and Grace close-by.

They were all a little nervous.  Downtown Vegas is artsy/vintage.

And slightly creepy/dirty.

As we were walking along, we saw Container Park.

It's a way cool park + shopping center built entirely out of containers.  And it has been on our we've-got-to-do-this-now list since it opened in December.  We were tempted to go check it out, but didn't have time. Now that we know where it is (and I feel much braver about doing Downtown by myself) we are going ASAP.

Container Park is so cool.

(Most especially the slide.  And the fire-breathing praying mantis.)

Anyway, once we saw Container Park, a place that was kinda familiar to us, we all relaxed, found the Emergency Arts Center, and got Grace to her coach.

We watched the cute JV Cheer girls perform their darling dance:

 Walked around, talked to friends, and bid on Adam and Grace's artwork.

Sam started to fuss, so we walked/chased Josh (he was feeling much more brave) back to the car, and headed home to feed him.

At home, I fed Sam, the kids played, and we had grilled cheese for dinner.

***

On Sunday, I taught Sam all about "selfies."

I am almost itch-free (yay to Allegra + Zantac + time + lots of prayers), and the weather has been pretty warm, and we haven't been sick yet this winter (huge blessing), so I think I'm heading back to church next week.

Mike, Adam, Grace, and Josh all walked in the front door and each handed me a couple of Hershey kisses they had saved from their Bishop's-office-candy-jar-raid.

Sweet!

(And, if the Bishop is handing out chocolate rather than Dum-Dums these days, I will definitely go back to church next week).

;)

After changing clothes and eating lunch, the kids headed out to the sandbox where they re-created Lehi's family traveling across the ocean to the Promised Land:

And went out front to play basketball.

And played soccer inside.

I love that Sam only sleeps well if he is in the living room, with everyone playing, laughing, yelling, and kicking soccer balls around him (I guarded him, don't worry).

We finished the day with a visit from friends (who brought us cake + cookies), dinner, baths, scriptures, prayer and bed.

After they were asleep and the kitchen was cleaned, I fed Sam while I watched Blackfish on Netflix and bawled.

I'm not even what I'd remotely call an animal lover, but baby orcas should not be taken away from their Mamas!

I think that means that I'm a hormonal mess.

Still.